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Frugal Food: A recipe that stretches your food dollar
Posted by SweetViolet • 8/09/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: boiled dinner, cooking, food, frugal, frugal food, ham, recipes
I was poor for a long time and I learned...or created...numerous recipes to make your food dollar go further.
What would you think of a dish that tasted better the second night than the first, (which was was excellent) and the leftovers provided the basis for a third night's dinner...also a frugal, but tasty meal? Well if the idea appeals to you, try this:
svcooks.blogspot.com/2009/08/washday-supper-new-england-boiled.html
I use the leftover veggies and broth, put through a blender, as a basis for a rich split pea or ham and bean soup.
Any other ideas for that third night?
User Comments
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My go to poor girl food is rice. I have a rice cooker, a couple times a week I will make a pot full of rice. On night one, I usually have it plain with some stir fried veggies/chicken. On night two, I mix it with red chili paste, soy sauce, a fried egg, and the left over veggies to make a spicy rice bowl. It's usually gone by day three, but if there is any left over, I'll make myself some miso soup and dump it in there.-
That's great for one person, but this recipe will feed a family of four to six for three nights with only the addition of a bag of dried peas or beans.
I like rice...my husband is diabetic so I have to use basmati rice, but my favourite is pearl rice because it is sticky. I could eat rice every day and when he goes on business trips, sometimes I will make up a pot of rice and use it much the way you describe...not because I have to watch my food budget (he is generous with that), but because I like rice with chicken and steamed veggies a lot!
Basmati rice does not hang together like pearl rice, so I have found it has improved my chopstick skills, learning to use them to eat basmati rice dishes! -
I prefer to use Nishiki sushi rice (which is essentially the same as the Korean rice I grew up with). It's slightly sweet and when you pressure cook it, it's sticky and soft, rather than firm.
Flavor wise, it's comparable to jasmine rice. I'm not a big fan of basmati, but will admit that basmati tastes the best with Indian food.
It's interesting that you use chopsticks with rice, because Koreans don't do that. We eat our rice with spoons. Chopsticks for everything else, but spoons for rice and anything liquid. -
My husband's dietitian says that basmati rice is the lowest GI of the rices, so that it what I use for everything. I can't find pearl rice here is South Africa, but it was a staple on the supermarket shelves in California. I used to buy it in 5lb bags (that's a lot for a two-person household!) about every two months. I don't care for sweet rice, but love the sticky rice. (I am a huge fan of Taiwanese cooking, and Silicon Valley has an abundance of Taiwanese restaurants...and they serve wonderful sticky rice!)
I get basmati in a local Indian shop $10 for 11lbs (5 kg) (that is about half the supermarket price. The grocer imports it from India...but my husband is Indian, so the flavour is not a problem for him. Me, I miss my sticky rice...I haven't figured out how to cook basmati to make it come out sticky. Anybody got any ideas? -
Well, I don't think Basmati can be sticky. I tried to cook Basmati in a pressure cooker once and it came out terrible. Rice that is sticky is because it has high starch content and high glucose that breaks down in the pressure cooker.
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Well, that would explain why it is the lowest GI and therefore best for my diabetic husband.
*sigh*
Why is it always the really good-tasting stuff that is bad for you??
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