Breafast on the cheap

Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but if you don't plan ahead it can break your budget.  This week I've been using my Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast.  I know you're probably thinking "WHAT, Thanksgiving and breakfast don't match." But I promise they do.  AND it's yummy.  I used leftovers of my scalloped sweet potatoes and made them into a mash.  Then you just smear it between two tortillas and cook it.  I melted some butter in a saute pan and "fried" it, but if you want you can use some cooking spray or bake it on the oven for 10-15 min.

When it comes to breakfast be creative.  You don't have to eat the typical breakfast foods for breakfast, make what makes you happy.  And if you love breakfast, great news you can eat it for dinner.  I love breakfast for dinner.  Waffles, pancakes or french toast easy and cheap.  So have a little dinner for breakfast and save the good stuff for when you're awake enough to enjoy it!

Week 3

Well I went grocery shopping for two weeks.  I've found that planning out a two week menu helps me to more effectivly use what I have.  I can make the rice, pasta, tofu, ect. go farther which meas that if something is a little expensive for one week I can make it worth it my spreading the cost over two meals.  This week I went to two stores and spent $38.42 and $20.04.  The two stores I went to were just my regular grocery store and a natural food store.  OK so you're pobably scratching your head at that one right, a natural food store aren't they really expensive?!?!?!  Well yeah, ussually they are more expensive, BUT the reason I go it for the bulk section.  I can get my rice, TVP, broth, spices, beans and pasta in bulk, buying in bulk means that you're cutting out the packaging costs and you get to buy what you need.  I can get a pre-packaged .5 lb bag of TVP for about $6.50 but if I buy in bulk it's $3.99 a pound.  I went to the health food store just to buy my bulk items but I always take the time to look at the produce.  This week I was able to get sweet potatoes for 99 cents a pound, a 3 pound bag of onions for less than I spend on one pound at the grocery store and purple potatoes for less than plain old russet potatoes.  Purple potatoes taste the same but I think they're pretty.  Feel free to roll your eyes at that, I did as I typed it.  :)

So it's starting to get cooler in Kansas, and it's pretty much always windy.  This puts me in the mood for soup, and guess what soup is cheap!  It's so easy to make a big pot of soup for dinner and have plenty for soup and more to freeze for next week.  This week I have two soups and chili on the menu.  Chili is another great cheap, hearty meal solution.  I use dried beans, just soak them overnight in your crockpot.  First thing in the morning out your spices, tomatoes and anything else in the crockpot and set it on low.  Let is cook until dinner time.  Since I don;t have anything to wory about at dinner time I'll make cornbread.  Cornbread is cheap and easy, even the mixes are cheap and tasty.  I stay away from Jiffy brand because it uses real lard, but if you don't care about eatting animal fat go for it.  I've seen Jiffy boxes on sale for less than 33 cents a box.

Thanksgiving, Part 2

I always try to make Thanksgiving as stress free as possible.  Breakfast is either the cinnamon rolls in a tube or cereal.  I love to cook but when I'm looking at a day of kitchen time I do what I can to make the morning easy.  Another of my tricks to a stress free Thanksgiving is to do as much prep as possible the day before, or the morning of since I'm slacking this year.

At my house we always have Thanksgiving dinner around 4:30 - 5 in the afternoon.  I have easy apps that I put out a lunchtime to keep us fed and give me time to cook the real dinner.  This year I started my morning by roasting chili's in the oven and making the cornbread for my stuffing.  Both of these things need time to cool before cooking with them and they're really easy.  A way to keep the cost down for stuffing, and the other 90 recipes that use stock, I make sure I have the dried bullion cubes they have the flavor you want but are much cheaper than the liquid chicken or vegetable stock.  Next I'll look at all of my recipes and set out a schedule for the day.  I try to do prep throughout the morning and early afternoon so that when cooking starts it's just a matter of popping things in the oven at different times.  I have a toaster oven that I use for the few small items that I need to cook at a different temp or won't fit into the oven. 

My policy is dessert first.  Dessert is always one of my most involved recipes and it requires a few different cooking and cooling times.  Since I'm making a cake this year I only have the one cooking time, but I'll need to let it cool before I can frost it.  Frosting will be easy but messy and can be left for when everything else is in the oven and I have reclaimed counter space.  And if something doesn't work out as intended, don't stress  be creative or just dump it.  If you don't have one of the side dishes or if you need to send someone to the store for a last minute side or frozen pie IT"S OK!  Thanksgiving is about spending time with your family, not trying to live up to Leave it to Beaver!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Tips and Tricks 1

First let me say that I am not trying to turn anyone toward a vegetarian diet, but I will say not eating meat makes my job a LOT easier.  Rice and dry beans are quite inexpensive and allow for many different possibilities.  When I did eat meat that's where my weekly grocery money went.  But buy not eating meat I can afford some fresh vegetables and a few other items that I think are necessity, like flour and TVP (Textured Soy Protein). 

You may have noticed that my menu for the week did not include either breakfast or lunch.  I actually have a good reason for that, and it does include eating both meals.  When I make dinner I make enough for 4-8 people, this leaves plenty of leftover for the next days lunch and tupperware is much cheaper than McD's or the like.  Breakfast is also easy, no not the granola bars, I happened to have on had what I needed to make some very yummy banana nut muffins.  The recipe makes enough for 8-12 muffins depending on size, so they make enough for breakfast for two adults for two weeks.  Since the recipe uses wheat flour, bananas and applesauce they are healthy, low fat and filling.  This is also why I find flour a necessity.

So this weeks tips,

Forgo meat in favor of cheap high flavor veggies, like red peppers onions and sweet potatoes.

Always have bananas, flour and applesauce on hand.  They make for some yummy breakfast options.  Including an egg less french toast that I love.

Leftovers are great for more than dinner, have them for lunch the next day and you'll save money and calories.