Cass Cooks, Too!

posted by Cass on Oct 24

It’s week #52 for Four Foods on Friday!

#1. Name something you use cream cheese in/on.
#2. Do you use yogurt in any recipes?
#3. Macaroni salad. What do you like/put in yours?
#4. Share a recipe that you use sour cream in.

1. I use cream cheese on turnovers. Yum!
2. No, but I would love to learn how to make cucumber yogurt sauce. And also the gyros that goes under it..
3. I made this tonight! I used radiatorefor the pasts. I mixed a packet of ranch mix with 3/4 cup or so of mayo. I added canned mushrooms, tomatoes, and some salad topping. It looked like this:

and it was sooooooooooo good!

4. Another recipe? Geez! You’re killing me here!
Okay, Easy Cheater Beef Stroganoff

Diced leftover steak or roast, or meatballs, or stew meat, browned
Cream of mushroom soup
mushrooms, canned or fresh
onion, if desired
garlic
sour cream

Brown the onions if you are using them. Throw the garlic and mushrooms (with a bit of the liquid if canned) and diced beef in the pan. Add the soup. When it’s bubbly, add the sour cream. Serve over egg noodles.

posted by Cass on Oct 6

Boy, am I glad this week for a full pantry and freezer. Times are tough all over, and we didn’t have much money for restocking this week. That’s not a huge issue, because I’ve been shopping the good deals, and also, there is still a lot of food left from Angel Food. A little milk and oatmeal, and I can eek us out for another week, and we can eat well without taking out a personal loan for food.

Learning to shop frugally is an ongoing adventure for me. Right now, we are spending between five and six hundred dollars a month. 6 months ago, we were regularly spending between eight and nine hundred. I’ve shaved the equivalent of a auto loan payment off our grocery choices, just by making better decisions in the store. We are eating healthier and we are eating a better variety, and we are doing it for less. I’m really happy with that, and I haven’t even started using coupons yet! I said yet, because I do plan to start using them as soon as I make myself sit down for a few minutes and figure out how to start getting my hands on the Sunday paper for less than 2 bucks a week.

You may notice some repeats on this weeks menu. There were several nights last week where we had something off the “official” menu. Both of my older girls like to cook, and so if they have something they want to make, I let them do so, as long as we have the ingredients. This week’s menu is a little more rigid, since we will be using up the tail end of the frozen foods. That’s ok, because I will be going shopping this coming weekend. I don’t know exactly when, since we have football all day Saturday, and I have church on Sunday morning and I am singing in a talent show on Sunday night. Anyway, here’s the menu:

~pintos (these are already cooked and the famfam says they are delish. I started them before I left for the day yesterday, just adding a large can of diced tomatoes, about half a cup of dried cilantro and a bit of salt to a pound and a half of pintos, then cooking all day in the crockpot.)

chicken on a can
ribs
chicken and pastry
fried catfish
burritos

Hey, here’s an question for ya. How do you think the recent bailout will affect food prices? I know at first glance it seems like the two are unrelated, but I’ve found that everything effects food prices in one way or another. Is the government’s 700Billion dollar attempt at saving the banks a good thing for the people? Or do you think more families will be needing debt consolidation just to afford the basics? And if they do need it, will they be able to get it with the tighter strictures on lending?

posted by Cass on Sep 26

#1. Melon. What’s your favorite kind?
#2. Orange citrus. What’s your favorite – oranges, nectarines, navel oranges, tangerines, etc.
#3. Oreos. What kind is your favorite? (Don’t eat Oreos? What about olives?)
#4. Pot pie. Share a recipe. (No pot pie recipe? What about a casserole or some other hot meal you bake?)

This is my first time playing Four Foods on Friday, and I am excited about it. Of course, if I didn’t like to talk about food, I wouldn’t be having a cooking blog, now would I?

1. I like honeydew the best, I think, but I eat mine with salt. In fact, I eat all melons with salt, so there ya go.

2. Oh my. I don’t know about the orange citrus, but maybe tangelos. Tangerines are too small for the effort involved, LOL.

3. Chocolate stuffed Oreos. D’uh.

4. Take some cooked deboned chicken, canned will do if that’s what you’ve got. Throw in a bag of mixed vegetables, or a few cans of different vegetables, if that’s what you’ve got. Add a large can of cream of chicken soup, or cream of mushroom if that’s what you’ve got. Top with garlic biscuit mix, or frozen biscuits or canned biscuits if that’s what you’ve got. Cook until the filling is bubbly and the bread is browned. Can you tell that I am all about using what you’ve got?

posted by Cass on Sep 23

How much do you guys pay for microwave popcorn? I seem th remeber it’s about $2.50 for a 15 bag box. Does that sound about right? And pulling out my handy dandy calculator, I’m guesstimating you get about 180 cups of popcorn out of that, and it’s full of trans fats which will lead to high cholesterol and clogged arteries. Let me introduce you to my friend “old style popcorn”. Now, before I begin, let me tell you I used to do it the microwave way, too. But I can’t do that anymore because I have…wait for it… high cholesterol.

So, popcorn. I pay less than $1.50 for a pound of it, and here’s how I make it. I found this method on the internet, but I can’t track it down again. If it’s you , give me a shout out, and I’ll link you up!

Add about a tablespoon of oil to a heavy saucepan, and place 2 or 3 kernels in it. Turn the heat to one notch below high, and wait for your test kernels to pop. When they do, add 1/4 cup of kernels and remove from heat, placing the lid on the pot. Count to 30 slowly. You can use this time to get out your bowl or pour some wine . Put the pan back on the heat and shake it slightly while the corn pops. It won’t take long, because the kernels have taken up some heat while they were sitting in that hot oil.

This method leaves very few old maids, and it makes awesome, tender popcorn. I use olive oil to cook my corn or bacon grease for an extra treat. Yum, yumminess! You can increase the quantities as needed, just keep the proportions.Be sure that your pot is big enough, too. I have made that old Orville Redenbacher commercial come true in my own kitchen with this recipe. You know the one where the lid comes off the pot? yeah, that one. Except I use Great Value, because it is so cheap!

posted by Cass on Sep 10

Here’s a little trick I use to save money on ribs. We love ribs, but I don’t like paying for so much bone, especially since I like mine falling-off-the-bone tender. To stretch the actual ribs, I buy boneless pork neckbone trimmings. I don’t know if they are available everywhere, but if they are, check them out. You can pay a bit more per pound for them that you do for the ribs, because it’s all meat.

Yesterday, the kids had pizza for lunch. I decided to try making it at home to see if I could make a good tasting pizza that was cheaper than the box stuff in the freezer section. Turns out I can, and here’s what we used:

2 packets of Great Value pizza crust mix at .44 each
1 can of mushrooms at .94
About a buck worth of grated mozzarella
leftover spaghetti sauce from the night before, original cost $6 because I added sausage to it

The kids all said it was fantastic, and the one bit I had left me drooling for more, and glaring at my soup balefully. Total cost, assuming $1 for the sauce: less than $4 for two good pizzas. As a comparison, 2 crappy Tony’s pizzas were $5 total.

Did I take a picture? Noooooooooooooo. Sorry.

Also, I am leaving tomorrow for a little fun. I’ll be in Orlando hanging with friends and learning some stuff. I’ll be posting more foodie goodness on the 18th.

posted by Cass on Sep 5

That’s right, ya’ll! You heard me correctly. And it cooks in the crock pot, so you don’t have to steam!

You will need:
4 chicken thigh, approx. cost $2.55
1 20 count pkg small flour tortillas, approx cost $1.90
salt and pepper

Throw the chicken thighs in the crock pot around lunch time, on high, with salt and pepper and just let them cook. And cook. And cook.

About half an hour before you plan to eat, take the thighs out of the pot, get out your tortillas, and cut them into 8 sections each.

Deal them into the pot (just like cards, LOL) one piece at a time, stirring after each stack is added.

Now, remove the skin and bones from the thighs, shred the meat (if you need to–it will most likely fall right apart) and add the meat back to the pot. Cook until the tortilla pieces thicken up, adjust the seasonings to taste, and serve. Yumm!

Now, I am not going to lie and tell you that this chicken and pastry tastes just like your Grandma’s. Or even your Mama’s. But it is pretty tasty, it’s fairly easy and quick, and it’s filling. And also, very, very cheap. This recipe fed my family of nine, with broccoli on the side, and we had leftovers.

posted by Cass on Aug 28

Recently, I gave in to temptation, and finally purchased some jasmine rice. I had long wondered how it compared to regular white rice, and now I know! Jasmine rice is sweet, and the grains separate very well. I served it in this Jasmine Rice with Seafood. (Gratuitous Food Picture: No Charge)

Now, I did cook the jasmine rice according the directions 2 parts rice and 3 parts water. I have always cooked white rice with 1 part rice to 2 parts water, and I am curious if it would come out as light and separate better if I followed the 2 to 3 ratio. That’s going to be my next cooking experiment, and I will report back in a few days.

posted by Cass on Aug 15

Ok, I hope you are ready. I told you you would need:

2 pounds of pinto and/or black eyed peas for around $4
A hunk of salt pork (or bacon ends) for around $3
Rice, 5 pound bag for around $3
Tortillas for around $2
A bag of precooked sausage patties for around $4
A chub or roll of sausage for around $2
Shredded cheese, 2 cups for around $2
Sour cream for around $2

I’m estimating prices, and I am estimating high. Like, Rachel Ray, spices are freebies, but you’ll need salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil, and thyme. So, we are coming in under $25 and I can feed my family of 9 at least three times, and there will be some sausage patties and rice left, along with sour cream.

So, the first day, around noon, wash your beans and put them in a pot with the salt pork. Cover them in fresh cool water and bring them to a hard boil. Let them boil maybe five minutes and then turn them down to medium. Let them simmer for several hours. Check the water now and again so they don’t cook dry. When it is time to eat, cook enough rice to serve with the beans, and also one sausage patty per person. Just before you serve, season the beans to taste with the spices listed above. You can discard the salt pork as well, unless you can afford the fat and calories. This is meal one.

For the second meal, fry up the chub sausage, and make sure it’s in small pieces. Heat up the beans and mix them together. Heat your tortillas and spoon the mixture into them, about 1/3 cup for the small tortillas and top with a little sour cream and a bit more of the bean and sausage mixture. That is meal two.

Meal three (and possibly four) are repeats of those two meals. We love the Mexican food around here, so we chose the tortilla option for lunch on the third day. Yum, yum!

To get the absolute most use out of the $25 you spent, add some eggs and a loaf of bread to your shopping list. Then you can serve scrambled eggs and toast along with the remaining sausage patties for breakfast one day.

I think that would bring us up to 4 meals for 9 people for $30 or less.

posted by Cass on Jul 23

My mom and I have spent a lot of hours so far this summer shelling peas and butter beans. The ones we have gotten have not been the best as far as being easy to work, and it’s been mighty tiring and aggravating sometimes. OTOH, all that frustration kinda melts away when you put a bite of these in your mouth.

These are snap peas, and you can relax, because that white stuff is just congealed bacon grease. That’s a food group, you know, bacon grease. I brought these to a boil, added a generous dollop of the grease and salted them. Then I let them simmer about 30-40 minutes, and they were just about the best thing I’d ever eaten. It had been a very long time since I had had field peas. Worth the aggravation, for sure!