Stretching the Dollar -- Smaller Portions for Two

There are several things I do to stretch our food dollar, one of which is buying meat in bulk, cutting it up myself, and packaging it in portions. This is two fold -- it eliminates waste and also controls portion size and fat content.

The other day I purchased a double pork butt pack from Costco and went to town doing my thing -- trimming and making cuts. The result? Over 20 meals worth of meat for @$1/meal. Pork steaks, mini pork roasts, ground pork, and pork chunks.

I threw them into double portion-sized labeled bags and popped them in the freezer. All I need to do is thaw the bag, and cook away. I do the same with beef roasts as well. I'll take a 3-pound chuck roast and halve it. No use cooking all three pounds for two people -- always seems that some of the leftovers don't get eaten. This makes it perfect for a roast and a sandwich or two.

Whole chickens are another good thing for us. Again, at Costco, you can get them in a package of two for a decent price. Depending on what I do with it, I can get three or four meals out of a typical chicken. First I bake it, then we get our first meal from eating the wings, legs, and thighs. The white meat either becomes a casserole, chicken salad and/or soup. Then I throw the carcass  (neck, and giblets) into a pan, cover it with water, add my holy soup trinity (carrots, celery, and onion) some minced garlic, a bay leaf and pepper to make stock for soup. I strain that and chill it overnight, skim off the schmaltz (fat), and I have a base for yummy soup. Use now or freeze for later. I even save the schmaltz for a batch of matzoh balls, should I decide to make those...

So there you go. Just a simple way that cooking for two doesn't mean tons of leftovers and big expenses....

Beef short ribs a la Trella....

We're on the road in our RV. Not for work, this trip is for pleasure. We just attended an airstream rally in the North GA mountains.

Yesterday we lazed around and then drove around the mountains. Folks, this is just beautiful country. We stopped off on a couple of scenic overlooks and took in God's glory. It took my breath away!

My crackberry photos don't do the colors justice. Imagine a dry brush painting technique using green, ochre, yellow, red, orange and a bright magenta/purple...

These were taken on the road to Franklin, NC (Hwy 64).

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We celebrated our last night here with a wonderful dinner of beef short ribs. They are a dream in the crockpot! How did I make them? Please forgive my lack of measurement. I'm a dump and throw type of cook.

I threw some beef stock into my crockpot. To this, I sliced an onion, a handful of carrots, and a bit of celery-- just enough to cover the bottom of the pot. I was using the veggies to flavor the meat and stock. I also added some garlic powder. I didn't have any, but I'd also recommend a little worcestershire sauce, too.

At this point you can dredge the ribs in flour, salt and pepper to make a gravy in the crock pot then sear them -- I skipped the flour part. In a hot skillet I poured in a bit of oil (hot pan, cold oil -- food won't stick) and browned/seared the ribs. Then I threw them into the crockpot for a heated swim. I de-glazed the pan with some Merlot and poured the wine-y goodness into the crockpot.

Two meals worth of short rib goodness!

I was a bit lazy in getting this going, so I set the crockpot on high and cooked them while out on our drive. When we got home, I took some of the stock/juices and poured it into a skillet, added more merlot, and reduced the liquid down (I used a skillet on an outdoor grill, but you can easily do this on your stove.) To finish the sauce, I added a bit of butter, and poured it over the ribs.

 I like using the crockpot while camping. I have a table set outside under the awning just for cooking. The best part is that the trailer doesn't smell like what you just cooked. Believe me, that helps with cleanup as well. Oh, and those crockpot liners... they're da'bomb! Remove the liner and the crock is uber-easy to clean. Don't travel without 'em!

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We toyed with going somewhere else, but nothing is really "hitting" me. Plus everywhere we can go, it's gonna rain. No fun! We thought about  going to the smokies to camp, but we're not prepared to boondock.  This morning we found out about the rock slide on I-40 so that further knocked East TN out.

I think we'll head toward home and park the trella at Gladys and Darryl's farm. This way hubby has a place to work on the trella and putter around. Plus, the campground is free... It comes complete with two puppies and loving family... now that's a bargain!

So this morning we'll ready the trailer for travel and head on out.

See y'all on the flip side...

Hubby said it was sooo good!

Comfort Foods for a Chilly Autumn Day

It's an overcast Saturday that's extry cool for this time of year. We're staying in. So I'm nesting (cooking, cleaning, and organzing).

crackberry photo

This past week was a rough one and I'm ready to put it behind me. My therapy is cooking. Made a big ol pot of soup yesterday (recipe courtesy of Linda at Are We There Yet?). I added my own  touch to it. And today I have a pot of Saturday Italian Gravy going (with two lamb shanks for hubby braising in it -- he loves them so). Saturday gravy is my latest concoction - not as fancy as the Sunday Gravy. Same principles, but less meat and work. It's in the crockpot now and smells sooooo good!

Salt this to your taste. My palate is salt-sensitive, so I don't add a lot of salt these days.

Another crackberry photo... LOL!

Lois' Saturday Italian Gravy
In my crockpot I poured in two boxes of strained Italian tomatoes, one can of diced tomatoes, and one large and small can of tomato sauce. I added one tomato sauce can of water to it as well. I tossed in some parsley, and fresh ground black pepper. Turned it on the higher heat setting to get to temperature.

Meats - beef stew chunks, mild italian sausage (I cut links in half and pierced the casings so the juices and flavor can get into the sauce), 2 lamb shanks (normally I'd add some pork and veal chunks to the mix, but I just wanted to keep it simple this time).

I browned the meats in a skillet with olive oil and pepper. You can add salt if you wish. You don't have to cook them all the way through, just get a good sear on the meats Set the meats aside. They will cook/braise in the sauce.

In the meat skillet add 1/2 chopped onion and three minced or pressed garlic cloves. I added a tad of water to "deglaze" the pan and then threw in a small can of tomato paste. I let it cook for a few minutes, scraping the wonderful brown flavor bits from the skillet. Stir into the crockpot mixture. Add the meats and the juices from sitting aside to the crockpot, turn heat to the lower setting, and simmer, stirring regularly to keep the sauce from burning on the bottom.

I normally don't add the diced tomatoes, but Since hubby was going to be chowing on the lamb shanks, I thought that would be good with the lamb. Plus the extra liquid will give me some extra sauce to freeze for later (grin). There's a method to this madness!

I'll add some grated Locatelli romano to it later... That will be enough salt for me...The cheese rounds out the flavor. Please don't skip this step. If you can't find the Locatelli brand, any good brand  or romano, gran padano, or parmesan will do. I just take the wedge and run it over my microplane grater into the sauce. It melts easily into the sauce lending a richness to the flavor. Trust me on this step.

So that's it. Hoping for a better week next week.

Pumpkin? Did someone mention pumpkin?

A friend of mine reminded of this recipe. It's perfect for this time of year and is sooo yummy!  Luckily, I recently found this cookbook. It's been lost for a while. Now I can share this great recipe with you. This recipe is from Irma Oliver, and can be found in the "Wildwood Manor House Kitchen Secrets" cookbook, published in 1981.

Preheat Oven to 350-degrees

Crust:
1 box yellow cake mix (Less 1 C)
1 stick butter, melted
1 egg

Blend first three ingredients and pressed into greased (bottom only) 9x13x2 inch pan.

Filling:
1lb can pumpkin
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup marshmallow cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup milk (1/3c canned and 1/3c whole)

Mix filling and pour over crust layer (the marshmallow cream will be kinda lumpy... that's okay)

Topping:
1 cup cake mix
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup soft butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over filling. If desired, add 1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans are best choice) on top before baking.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Soups On!

There's a coolness in the air... Autumn is here...

Bring on the soup pot. The season has begun!

Tony Packo's Cafe

Yesterday was a wonderful day. A perfect birthday. Hope everyone enjoyed eating cake with me.

I'm in the Toledo, Ohio area. This is where I grew up. yep, I was raised as a southerner up nawth...

I planned a special birthday dinner at my favoritest restaurant in the world, Tony Packo's. This is their original location that Jamie Farr, Corporal Klinger, used to talk about in M*A*S*H.

Inside you can find hot dog buns signed by a myriad of famous people.  Their signature menu item is the Hungarian hot dog, a spicy chili dog. These were the buns near our table. I kinda knew the night was meant to be when I was near Jordan Clarke's (Guiding Light) and John Glenn's signed bun. Isn't that awesome? Go ahead and biggify the photo to see some buns! (I just had to say that!)

But this is the stuff Lois' dreams are made of. I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed. They changed their sausage. So going forward I'll just order my cabbage and skip the sausage. The cabbage has changed a bit as well, but that I can manage. Now the pickles and peppers are awesome. Seriously.

If you're a pickle fanatic and like things with a little spice, these are your pickles! If you're fortunate to live near a Fresh Market grocery store, you can get two varieties - the sweet hots and pickles & peppers. But if you want the full monte, I suggest ordering a sampler pack from their store. Oh, and the Brittany Tomatoes (pickled green tomatoes) are da'bomb. They're our favorite!

But best of all, I was able to spend my birthday with special friends. Recently I caught up with a bunch of folks from high school. I went to an Catholic girls school in the area. Several of us have re-met through Facebook.

Today's trips will be a breakfast with an old college friend, drive around the old neighborhood, visiting the parents' gravesite, and a trip to the apple orchard. Oh, and more cabbage. (Shhhh, don't tell my big brother that I'm going to try to take some home for him, frozen of course).

All of this made it the bestest birthday evah!

Holiday Food Porn

This morning found me with an upset tummy. I started to feel fine, then we went out to run errands and such. While at the Lowe's I spied this little gem, Cuisine at Home's Holiday Baking issue, in one of the racks. Now I'm all about holiday cookbooks on baking. That's my type of food porn! Cuisine at Home does it right, too. Lots of pictures to ogle and it helps to see the end product.

The nausea is back again, so I'm sitting in bed with a ginger ale (An Ale8one) while going through this magazine. I've already seen a few recipes I want to try -- a sweet potato pie bread, a caramel coffee cake (looks to die for!), and some chai flavored shortbreads (perfect with a cup of English breakfast tea), and an eggnog layer cake (sounds like a foodgasm waiting to happen)

Now if I can get my ginger ale to work, I'll be one happy camper. In the meantime I'll be starting my holiday baking list. Don't be surprised if you see a few new things in my repertoire.

:-D)