Food Prep And Ideas

[w0nderer]

This discussion thread is pinned.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/03/bean-recipes-we-love.html

https://cookbooks.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf
(i'll download this and see about posting it elsewhere for future use)

--crockpot--
tender as all get out, but still dry - until I finally learned that my meat shouldn't be sitting in liquids, but should be supported and essentially steaming above the liquid. That was a trick I wished I'd learned about a dozen years earlier than I did.
--end crockpot--

---untried---
https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/comments/3js9aq/snapfood_stamps_challenge_my_sister_and_i_live/
---end untried---


credits (i'm sure i missed someone)
F4lconF16
Warpy
summersnow
Erich Bloodaxe BSN

more to come

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I looked at some of the recipes, when I got to chocolate zucchini muffins, I was hooked.

So now have the pdf in my recipe file.

Thanks!

can I be in this group if I am a retired poor person after years of working poor?

[w0nderer]

2. of course you can

[Ed Suspicious]

3. Our t-fal nonstick cookware has turned to complete crap. Planned obsolescence? I'm done with that.

Instead of trying to replace that I've begun cooking with cast iron. An 8 inch pan is big enough for me to cook two chicken legs and a can of green beans in one skillet. Rummage sale cast iron, even if rusty and nasty, is easy to bring back to life.

I just order http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-LCC3-Pre-Seasoned-Cast-Iron-3-Quart/dp/B0009JKG9M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1444362540&sr=8-2&keywords=lodge+cast+iron for a bit more options.

Cast iron is amazing. It's cheap and it lasts forever. No carcinogens that I'm aware of and it's a buy it once use it the rest of your life sort of purchase.

I use it to cook chicken leg quarters which are always pretty cheap in America as the breast and wings are the most sought after by fools who don't know any better.

[w0nderer]

4. i run

cast iron
stainless steel (ok if you keep the temps low and the stainless has a good layer)
and
carbon steel (wok)

[KentuckyWoman]

10. Just be a little careful with the cast iron

Being from East Kentucky I cook a lot with my great grandma's cast iron. Got this idea in my head to take multi-vitamin with iron once I hit 40 (never took vitamins before) and next thing you know I'm in a doctor's office with TOO MUCH iron.

I would never think cast iron that old would still be putting it off in the food but it does. Plus I always that was an old grandma's tale.

2nd that it's amazing stuff. Keep a light coat of whatever fat / oil you use and it will last generations. Pick a rusty one out, scrub it good with steel wool, put in on the heat to dry completely and oil it up inside and out while it's still warm. Every time you use it oil it up good and try to avoid using commercial dish soap on it (strips the oil out of the pores). You want it to keep just a little bit oily all the time.

That and my mother's "Revereware" which she got free using S&H green stamps is all I use to cook.

[SheilaT]

11. One of the wonderful things about cooking with cast iron is that

you then get iron in your diet.

Too bad you didn't know that before this, but now you do.

[ladyVet]

5. I love my cast iron pan, which I've had for at least two decades.

Best thing to cook cornbread in. Get it hot, pour the batter in, get lovely crust. Yum. It's also great to make things like shepherd's pie, or a casserole in. I brown my ground beef, drain, mix in the other stuff and put it in the oven.

I still have the triple-wall stainless steel waterless cookware set I bought in 1976. I made payments on it for months, and for years I thought I'd been a fool to buy it, but it's lasted all this time. The biggest pot (stock pot) has lost it's bottom layer, but it still cooks well. Tip: don't ever set one of the pans on a hot burner without something in it. DH (damned husband) never learned that, it eventually messed up the pan.

Still have the crock pot my mother gave me for Christmas in 1981. Works great, cooks the best pot of pinto beans, makes good stock, love cooking a whole chicken in it. I really need to use it more.

Theme of this post: I seldom get rid of things. Use it up, wear it out, make do, do without.

[Ed Suspicious]

6. Tell me, what do you do with pinto beans. I love them in chili, but haven't figured out what

to do with them to make them tasty as a stand-alone, but I would love to.

[awoke_in_2003]

7. When I do pinto beans

I put either salt pork or a ham hock in it, as well as garlic and cilantro.

[ladyVet]

8. Sorry I missed your question!

Fat back is the best thing, with some salt and pepper. You can use bacon (some places you can get the "ends and pieces" packages, which work fine for this and are usually fine just to fry up and eat as well). I usually don't have anything but bacon bits, so I'll use that.

I also chop up some onion -- biggish size, not diced or minced -- and add that to the pot. Some like to add garlic, or chili powder (here's one recipe for pinto bean seasoning mix: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/condiments/pinto-bean-seasoning/ ), but I just like salt and pepper.

I can get about half a bag of beans in my crock pot, which is smaller than most you see today, and that's enough for the four of us. I make some rice to go with it, and it's great. And leftover beans can be mashed for refried beans (then you'd add the chili powder, garlic and whatever, like maybe some cilantro), or added to a batch of chili.

[Ed Suspicious]

9. I just made this white chicken chili. I used a little less chicken than was called for, and I had

to use pinto beans instead of white beans, but it came out absolutely delightful, and not too dang expensive. Good, cheap, healthy, hearty meal.

http://www.food.com/recipe/white-chicken-chili-28659?soc=socialsharingfb

[SheilaT]

12. Here's one of my favorite recipes for a kind of chicken soup.

It's adapted from a Middle Eastern recipe, and acquired the name from a friend because I had no better name for it.

Chicken of Muchness

2 chicken leg quarters
3 or 4 carrots
1 cans of diced or crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion
1 small green pepper
3 or 4 cups of chicken broth
3 bay leaves
3 cinnammon sticks
½ to ¾ tsp each of celery salt, marjoram, thyme, basil, and tarragon
olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour

Bring the chicken to a boil with just enough water to cover. Turn heat down to simmer and skim off scum and fat that comes to the surface. This will take ten to fifteen minutes.

Once skimming is done, put the bay leaves, peeled carrots, and cinnamon sticks in pot with chicken, cover and let simmer for an hour.

Remove carrots and chicken. Let them cool while you sauté the sliced onion and green pepper in a little olive oil. You want them to get a little brown. Put in soup pot. Add the tomatoes.

Make a roux with the butter and flour in that same pan, then add a cup or two of broth. Stir and let it thicken over the heat until it seems thick enough. Pour into pot.

Cut up the carrots, strip the chicken from the bones and return to soup pot. Now add the other seasonings. You will probably need to add more chicken broth to have the right amount of liquid.

Cover and simmer for an hour or so.

Make rice, which takes about 20 minutes, when you’re ready to eat. Put rice in a bowl, then add the chicken of muchness. Ground pepper and some salt and enjoy!

[dembotoz]

13. thank you have a copy of cheap eats but the other 2 are new to me

a bit of inspiration is always welcome....

[SoBlueInFL]

14. Here are some .pdf books with really good info on stretching food dollars: r/o

https://goodcheapeats.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/GCESampleBookV2.pdf

https://depc.org/eat-well-on-4-day-good-and-cheap-cookbook/

and the previous version, http://ongov.net/dss/documents/good-and-cheap.pdf

[dembotoz]

15. how to cook a wolf by mfk fisher

old book
ww2 with rationing and all

influenced how i look at food and meal prep.
how to make something out of nothing.