Common Cuisine |

In light of my recent recommendations to spend smart, I am trying to put my own words into action. I have a responsibility to be a good manager of my household budget, and to provide a nourishing menu for my family at the same time. But I have got to tell you, as I try to become more conscientious about both nutrition and cost, I am encountering a bit of a pinch. Actually, quite a serious pinch. Nutritious, “real” food just costs more.

My first foray into nutritious cooking came about the time my first child began solid food. At first it was simple enough to buy a bag of dry peas, cook them, freeze them, and feed them to her. What you could buy in a jar for 60 cents, I could feed her for 10 cents.

At this point I was not even into organics. I began to spend more time around the edges of the grocery buying produce, dairy and meat, and less time in the center buying box mixes and prepared food. When I do shop in the main aisles, I conscientiously check the labels of crackers, cereals and the like, for protein, fiber, whole grain, and other nutritious features. I try to limit sugars, eliminate certain fats, and the like. In so doing, I now just buy known brands instead of whatever is on sale. But do you know what happened? Food began to cost more.

This past year I finally got on the bandwagon with organics. For those of you that still don’t get the big deal about organic food, see my thoughts on the matter. Now that I have added organic milk, butter, eggs, flour and apples to the lineup, I have increased my bottom line by about another $60 a month. All this in a time when food prices are rising at a faster rate than they have in 18 years, so all the other things I buy are now taking a bigger chunk of change than even a year ago. Yikes!

I have come to the point that I am ready to take back my grocery money. I need that money for other things! So I am developing a plan. Time will tell if it is a good plan, but you may come along with me on my journey.

Step One: Coupons
Yes, I am joining the ranks of coupon clippers. Don’t know exactly how well it will pay off for me, but I am going to give it a try for at least four weeks. Maybe another 8 after that, depending if I get any momentum built in the first four weeks.

Today was my first day of using coupons. I spent probably about three hours over the course of the past week, between collecting four weeks of papers from the local newspaper office, clipping, sorting, cross checking with the weekly circulars, and making my shopping list. I visited three stores: the two local groceries, and CVS. I could have visited two other stores, but had a toddler with me so I decided to limit myself.

I tried to purchase only things I would need within the next four weeks, that were on sale, and for which I had coupons. I purchased my organic milk at the further grocery, in full gallons instead of the half-gallons I usually get at the closer store. Saved almost a dollar a gallon. Got four boxes of name brand cereal for $1.25 each; that was great, too.

I used a couple of coupons at each grocery, but did better just buying things on sale with my shopper card. By the time I was finished I had saved 50% at one store. My usual average is 10%. But at the three stores combined, I spent an amount equal to my biggest stock-up shopping weeks. So I may have gotten a lot for my money, but saving money? Not this week yet.

So far I have a few conclusions. First, toiletries are the best item for coupons, and CVS is a great place to use them. CVS rotates pretty much all toiletries on sale sooner or later, so you can get what you want if you are patient. Plus they will have items for sale that give you credit back for spending in the store on a future visit. It is a self-perpetuating cycle. How cool is that? So I will definitely keep that in mind when it’s time to stock up. I believe some of the other major drugstores have this same program.

Second, I can do pretty well just by making my list from the sales circular. I am going to have to do that more often, coupons or no. I did very well today with focusing on sales. I bought 9 pounds of chuck roast for $18, it regularly would have been almost twice that. Convenient, since I am having a barbecue tomorrow.

My third conclusion is that coupons and sales are part of the answer, and it is worth my time to go through the coupons and make a plan to shop from the sales flyer. But they are not the whole answer. My organic and other quality brand choices are still important to me. This leads me to the second part of my strategy.

Step Two: Farmers’ Market
I am fortunate to live in the southern part of the US, where there is a Farmers’ Market year round. I have yet to make it to one, but I have been told that the prices are at least fair, and produce lasts much longer than grocery store produce.

I was unable to attend our local farmers’ market last Saturday, so I am eagerly awaiting this week’s occurrence. I also discovered that there is a store called “The Farm Patch” in the next town, that sells local produce and whatnot. I’ll get up there as soon as I can to check that out, but there is a limiting factor that frames both parts of this strategy.

Step Three: Go Green
All of this smart shopping means more driving. We live out in the country, and driving is a huge part of shopping. At the moment I do not have the option of switching out my vehicle for another that would hold my family and also be more fuel efficient. But with the rising awareness of my environmental responsibility, I have to evaluate both the cost and the impact of my intended course of action (save money and give my family better nutritional value).

I calculated that I spend $2.50 in gasoline every day when I go pick up my daughter from school, six miles away. The closest grocery is another four miles, with the above mentioned Farm Patch another 7 miles beyond that. I believe the gas cost would work out to about $6 for that trip. I really have to have a strategic plan in order to inclusively a. save money; b. buy fresh; and c. be environmentally responsible.

Can I do it? I hope so. It almost seems easier, with such a limiting set of parameters. I know I have lots of room for improvement in all three areas. Wish me luck. Any suggestions would be welcome as well.

In my search for less expensive food, I discovered that I can make pizzeria pizza in my very own kitchen! Not too long ago, I was shopping for an “It’s Not Delivery…” pizza in the freezer section. My family will tolerate freezer pizza only if it is a certain brand. We have our standards, after all.

It so happened that my brand was not on sale that day, and I was outraged at paying $6.89 for one when I normally buy at the sale price of 3 for $10. I thought, surely I can make a pizza from scratch for less than that!

So off I went in search of ingredients. Turns out I was right. For a net price of $5.10 (after dividing out the appropriate percentage of larger packages), I was able to get frozen dough, pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, pepperoni and canned mushrooms.

Not only that, preparation only took 15 minutes longer than traditional frozen pizza. I just had to set out the dough far enough in advance to thaw. After that, the hardest part was getting the dough to stretch out to the perfect size and shape. I just let it rest while opening up the other ingredients, then came back for more pulling and stretching. The dough eventually came around to my way of thinking.

What I know about authentic pizza is this: the secret of good pizza is to bake it on a stone, with cornmeal to keep it from sticking, and to bake quickly at high heat. I didn’t have cornmeal so I used polenta. I thought it was a little gritty but nobody else noticed.

Despite how beautiful this pizza turned out, the real test was the taste. I had made this as a peace offering for the troops since Mommy was headed out the door for a playdate that night, and I was floored to come home and find not a scrap of it left. Two small children and two grown men with average food intake managed to polish off the entire thing. And to hear them talk about it afterward, apparently I am on to something good. I wish you could have seen the look in their eyes…

I think one could easily make this pizza without a recipe, but here is my formula:

• 1 loaf bread dough

• 1/2 jar pizza sauce
• 8 oz (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3 oz sliced pepperoni
• 2 oz drained canned mushrooms
• 1 Tbsp butter
• garlic salt

Preheat oven to 475. Sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza stone. Stretch out the dough using a combination of pulling, throwing, and rolling pin, until it is just larger than the stone. Tuck the edge under.

Spread pizza sauce on dough, leaving an inch clear around the edge.

Reserve 1/2 cup cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese on sauce. Arrange toppings over cheese, then top with remainder of cheese.

Melt butter, then brush on edge of crust. Sprinkle garlic salt on buttered area, or over entire pizza if desired.

Bake 15 minutes until top is golden brown and bubbly.

Make sure you lick your fingers for every drop of deliciousness!

Would you like to give yourself a break from the kitchen for a week? It’s not hard to do, it just takes a little bit of strategy.
I know that planning is the hardest part of keeping up with the family’s needs, but it really involves about the same amount of thought it takes to get dinner on the table on any given night. You just have to do a little more thinking at one time, instead of a little bit every day. If you want to really knock yourself out and cook meals for a whole month in one weekend, I’ll address that in another article; the following are just a few strategies for how to slowly build up a surplus so you can take a sanity break when you need it.

Double Up So here is what I recommend: Look at your roster of freezable dinners. If you need ideas, check out our quick lasagna, layered enchiladas, chicken pot pie, and invent-your-own casserole recipes. Plan to make one of those for your family each week for the next three weeks. When you purchase supplies, get enough for twice what you need, and when you make it, make two. It doesn’t take that much more work. Then by the fourth week you will have three dinners already made. You can take three nights off that week, or you can keep going until you have enough to take a serious break all at once.

Before beginning this strategy, take a look at your baking dishes. If you don’t have enough to keep so many in the freezer, you can invest in disposable containers or else try the lift-out strategy. With the lift-out strategy, line the pan you intend to eventually bake the dish in with a layer of aluminum foil, then a layer of plastic wrap, each with enough material to eventually wrap over the top. Make sure to spray the plastic wrap with cooking spray; assemble the dish and freeze it, then lift it out and finish wrapping it with the plastic wrap and foil. Mark the item name on the foil with a Sharpie marker, then you are ready to add it to your treasure trove of pre-made dinners!

Intentional Leftovers Another way to cook less is to make a huge dinner one night, knowing you will see the rest of it in three days. That’s the limit in my house for how soon we can repeat a meal. When I want a break and really have my act together (doesn’t usually happen at the same time, but on occasion it does!) I will make roast beef on Sunday, layered enchiladas on Monday, and some kind of baked chicken on Tuesday. Then Wednesday we have roast beef again, Thursday is nachos and the rest of the Mexican sides from Monday, and Friday we either have chicken salad or eat out and have the chicken salad for lunch on Saturday.

Recipes I recommend for this strategy are any of the freezable dinners, chicken stuffing bake, chicken zucchini bake, roast beef, and deluxe macaroni and cheese. Or use your own family favorites.

Pre-cook and Pre-portion I always watch the circulars for meat sales. I just won’t buy it at full price. We eat a lot of Italian sausage, so when that goes on sale for half price, I stock up. But instead of freezing whole links, I crumble and fry up the whole batch as soon as I get home. I divide it into small portions and freeze it that way. Then when spaghetti night comes, it’s a snap to thaw the packet for a minute before throwing it into the sauce. By the time the water heats and the noodles cook, the sausage is heated through (not to mention the salad is made, the garlic toast is broiled and we are ready to eat)!

Another excellent item to have on hand is cut up, cooked chicken. So when the roasting chickens go on sale, I buy a couple and cook them up that afternoon. It takes a little work to debone them that day, but by the time it is done I have enough cut up, cooked chicken pieces for four meals, with the same amount of work it would have taken to cook one of those meals.

Mix it up When you have full dinners on hand, you may find you have more energy to occasionally make something that doesn’t repeat as well. Ideally I like to have something like stir fry, spaghetti, jambalaya, or even a big salad on a regular basis so we don’t get burned out on freezer fare.

Even if you are not a vegetarian, you may entertain one sometime. Or you may find you enjoy taking a break from meat one or two nights per week.

You can still get protein from cheese, nuts, eggs, and any two of beans, rice, or corn. Tofu is also a great protein that takes on the flavor of whatever it is cooked with.

You can sometimes modify a regular dish to be vegetarian by substituting the above choices for the meat part of a dish. Here is an example: Turkey Surprise is made by layering turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes into a casserole. You can turn it into Nutty Surprise by layering stuffing, chopped walnuts, slices of mozzarella cheese, and mashed potatoes.

Pastas and enchiladas are easy to remove meat from, because they usually contain cheese.

Another way to try vegetarian cooking is to feature a special vegetable dish (like artichokes, butternut soup, or a spinach quiche), served with rice and beans, mashed potatoes piled with cheese, or cheesy garlic bread. You could make a vegetable stir-fry with corn and peanuts, served over rice.

Do you ever wonder what makes a dish Chinese, or French, or Italian? These are some spice and herb combinations that distinguish certain national cuisines.

By using these combinations you can stick with a family of flavors and turn your otherwise ordinary meat and potatoes dinner into something with ethnic flair. All of the following spice combinations include onion and black pepper. Take a look at some of their distinctive flavorings.

Note that I have listed cuisines with which I have more experience. If you have knowledge of a national cuisine I have not listed, please feel free to submit a list of distinctives for that cuisine to be included here.

You could invent meals for a month if you had all these things at one time! Try to keep all of the must-haves in stock, and a good variety of the useful items.

MUST-HAVES

• Bread
• Butter
• Cheese
• Chicken Broth
• Eggs
• Flour
• Garlic
• Ketchup
• Mayo
• Milk
• Mustard
• Olive Oil
• Onions
• Pepper
• Potatoes
• Rice
• Salad Dressing
• Salt
• Soy Sauce
• Spaghetti (noodles and sauce)
• Sugar
• Tuna
• Vegetable Oil
• Vinegar

USEFUL ITEMS

• Aluminum Foil
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Brown Sugar
• Canned Black Beans
• Carrots
• Celery
• Cereal
• Chocolate Chips
• Cornstarch
• Crescent Rolls
• Cans of Cream Soup
• Green Onions
• Horseradish
• Hot Pepper Sauce
• Lemons
• Onion Soup Dry Mix
• Parmesan Cheese
• Pillsbury Pie Crust
• Plastic Wrap
• Pickles
• Relish
• Salsa
• Tortillas
• Vanilla Extract
• Worcestershire Sauce

USEFUL DRIED SPICES

• Oregano
• Red Pepper
• Bay Leaves
• Cayenne Pepper
• Celery Seed
• Chili Powder
• Curry Powder
• Dill
• Thyme
• Garlic Powder
• Ground Cinnamon
• Ground Cumin
• Ground Ginger
• Dry Mustard
• Paprika

USEFUL FREEZER ITEMS

• 1-meal portions of chicken
• 1 lb portions of ground beef
• 3-4 pound roast (beef, pork, or whole chicken)
• Frozen Spinach
• Frozen Peas
• Frozen Fruit
• Bread Dough

When you have company over and they’re ready but dinner’s not, you’ll be glad you thought to have one of these ready. Personally, I think some starters also make a great simple dinner for two.

Some of the easiest starters include:

• Corn Chips and Salsa
• Veggies or Potato Chips and Dip
• Cheese Ball and Crackers
• Shrimp Cocktail (easy AND fancy!)

For more great starter ideas, visit our Appetizers section.