Comments on: How to cook during a recession

By: Dianne

Dianne — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:13:47 +0000

My mom is QUEEN of budget food, even though she has no more need.She still challenges herself to make dinner for less than a dollar per person. Some tips I got from her :
If your cheese has dried out at the end, cut off the piece and put it in a freezer bag in the freezer. When you’ve collected enough make mac and cheese – once you melt it you can’t tell.
Steal a Tbsp of veggies that you’ve cooked for dinner every day. Place it in a freezer bag. You won’t notice the 1 Tbsp missing. At the end of the week you have enough for veggie soup.
Save all the things like ends of celery, onion skins (give beautiful colour), that you normally discard when preparing vegetables. Freeze and use them to flavour stock when you have chicken or turkey bones. They give a rich, complex flavour to stock. You can also make veggie stock.
Stale bread can be used for croutons and breadcrumbs.Also for bread pudding and breakfast puddings.
Dried up, soggy or broken cookies can be ground up and used to line bottom of fruit pies to keep crust from getting soggy.
Leftover cake can be used in cake pudding.
Dried out chocolates can be melted and used as ice cream topping.
Leftover gravy is a good addition to soups, stews and sauces.
Leftover wine can be used in sauces or Jeannette Seaver’s incredible wine tart.
If fruit has a spot, just cut around it and use the good pieces in crumbles, cobblers, muffins or stuffings.
If a banana is overripe use in banana bread or muffins or freeze in chunks and use to make smoothies. It acts like ice cream.
Hope some of this makes you rethink what you throw out!

By: shelley

shelley — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:25:54 +0000

Eat a meatless meal a couple times a week. Meat is what costs the most in meals. Growing your own vegies, fruits n herbs worked well for me.

By: Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:57:34 +0000

All great ideas. Be frugal and we’ll all survive this economy.

Reward yourself once in a while for your all you’re saving. If you cook at home, you can afford to spoil yourself now and then. Enjoy.

By: EconomyBeat.org - user-generated content about the economy » Blog Archive » Recession cooking

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:55:16 +0000

[...] How to cook during a recession- tips from Eating out Loud [...]

By: eve

eve — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:26:42 +0000

I try to catch ground meat and pork butts on sale. I take about eight or ten lbs of hamburger and fry it down with some onions, then I add some chicken stock and cook it way down until it is mostly just the meat and onions left. This has a nice intense flavor. I freeze it in one lb bags so when I want to make chili, or sloppy joe’s, tacos, fried rice, spaghetti sauce, etc..I have my meat already to go. This is a great time saver for me and saves us money too.
With the pork butts, I just cook them until tender, pull it apart into pulled pork and freeze it in meal size containers. When I am ready to make Pulled pork sandwiches, Bar b Q sandwiches, pork and rice, or pork and noodles, etc,,I have the job half done. I can catch these on sale for eighty eight cents a lb sometimes and this saves a lot of money and a lot of time. It is just so comforting to know I have this meat all ready to go. .

By: Asta

Asta — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:19:21 +0000

Great tips! Nutritious, delicious, and you save $$$! I would just add how important it is to shop locally during these hard economic times. It supports your community, it’s environmentally more sustainable, and it encourages diversity.

By: Mel T

Mel T — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:48:31 +0000

Excellent points, Allen.

I’d also emphasize the importance of menu planning. If done right, it can drastically cut down how much you spend on food.

By: chefsue

chefsue — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:14:08 +0000

Now and again it’s a fact we get bored even with our own excellent dishes and cuisine. Tap into a friend or neighbor who does cook for their own family. Plan to swap food now and again. Meaning make a pot of delicious soup and give your friend or family a huge portion of it ~ for their meal. They too can make a stew or chili or soup and give you a nice portion of it. That way you are trying new things ~ and don’t have to cook that night. Your friends will savor your Navy Bean soup because it’s something perhaps they just don’t ever make. You will love the Polynesian chicken casserole because you would never think to make it, nor perhaps know how. I always somehow think a salad tastes better when someone else makes it ~ so swap salads perhaps. Same with baking ~ make a double batch of cookies or some bar treat……….give an entire batch to your friends………in turn accept the whole fruit pie they made for you. It can start as just a once a week thing ~ and you can teach children how to cook and the joy of giving and receiving as well. Don’t like to eat leftovers? It’s not a leftover to your food swap buddies ~ and you may just enjoy the spaghetti sauce they’ve “oops” made too much of. Good food needn’t go to waste when you work with friends who appreciate your love expressed as cooking.

By: kittie

kittie — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:52:08 +0000

Lots of great tips there!

I love ginger, so am going to try the ginger syrup drink for sure!

By: Susan from Food Blogga

Susan from Food Blogga — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:23:26 +0000

What a wonderful post this is, Allen. I would add to shop seasonally. Food is generally fresher, and you can catch some good sales. I also see what’s on sale each week and try to plans some meals around those ingredients. I always have a shopping list with me to prevent any impulse buys. I make my own salsas and salad dressings, which are really expensive bottled.