Cooking on a Budget

It can be very difficult to cook on a limited budget. Rising food prices, lower wages, and expanding palates all play a role. There are some things that you can do to get the most out of your money.

Cook at home

Stock up on items that are on sale as long as they won't go bad soon (store meat in freezer or keep canned goods)

Cook dry beans (black, pinto, lentils, etc.) in a slow cooker. Make the ultimate "I've got no money" food -- rice and beans.

1 Tbs. oil
Piece of green pepper
Slice of onion
1 c. Rice
Black beans (about 1 cup +liquid)
Salt to taste

Add the oil to a medium frying pan and heat to a medium temperature. Add the pieces of onion and green pepper and saute for 1-2 minutes (until it flavors the oil).
Add the rice and let it cook a little in the oil, stirring to make sure it doesn't stick.
Add the beans and enough of the liquid to cook the rice in.
Cover and cook on low heat until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, but not mushy.

This recipe can be easily modified to make larger or smaller quantities or to incorporate different ingredients (don't like black beans? add your favorite kind).

Rice and beans is a complete protein, if you don't eat meat or can't afford to eat it at the moment. It goes well with eggs, fresh cheese (panela or queso fresco) or cream (sinful, but delicious) and many other things.

If you find yourself low on dough, give this recipe a try. It makes good leftovers and will fill you up for not much money.

Mixing up Powdered Milk

A few months ago, I ran out of milk and wanted some coffee, so I mixed up some powdered milk. First adding the powder to the cup and then I added a small amount of water so that I could avoid it getting lumpy.

However, after adding all of the water, it had a very strange consistency. Some kind of strange emulsion or even more like a suspension: particles not mixed in but just floating there looking very unappetizing and completely unlike milk.

I decided to read the container for instructions on how to mix it, because I was sure that it couldn't have gone bad and that it shouldn't look like that.

On the package it suggested that you mix the powder directly into the water to avoid lumps, which goes against everything that I have learned about mixing together liquids and powders.

But I gave it a go and amazingly enough, it yielded the milk the way it was supposed to be. For what reason, I have no idea, but it worked. So that is the way that I mix it up, when I need some milk and I forgot to buy some fresh.
I keep powdered milk for the making of bread, and I always have it around. It doesn't run out as easily or need to be used up quickly like regular milk does. Very convenient. At least now that I can mix it without being disappointed.

Insect Infestation of Food

I was going to cook black beans yesterday, but I discovered some small insects inside the container and also plenty of beans that had been burrowed into and also some with what looks like eggs on the surface.
Needless to say, I didn't cook the beans and I threw them out (after taking some pictures of course).



I found a helpful article about insect infestation in food and how to prevent/get rid of it.

There are a variety of insects that can inhabit and spoil foods like flour, dried fruit, nuts, beans and dog food. I'm not sure what this kind is, but they ate up my beans!
There is a very large possibility that the beans were already contaminated when I purchased them, because they have been stored in an airtight container since I brought them home.
I will be much more careful next time.

While the risks of eating infested beans are fairly slim (due to very long cooking time), it is unhealthy to eat anything that is contaminated in any way. Always inspect your food for pests and be sure to store everything properly.

What is TVP?

What exactly is TVP?
I ran across the term TVP when reading Linda McCartney's Home Cooking Vegetarian Cookbook. I wasn't quite sure what it was. Even hearing that it meant 'textured vegetable protein' didn't clear it up for me.
Now I grew up vegetarian (not vegan, however) and I have eaten plenty of different vege foods over years of potlucks and class lunches. I was so unfamiliar with what exactly those same vegetarian meats are made up of in the first place. Several times throughout my childhood, my father made gluten chunks, known offically as seitan, from flour. Although it is fairly simple to prepare, it is quite time consuming, involving a thorough washing of the starch from the flour, leaving only the gluten behind.
TVP, on the other hand, is made from soy. Check out the Wikipedia article about TVP for more info about the making of TVP.
Turns out, where I live, TVP is really cheap, much cheaper than buying real meat.

For this 350 gram package of TVP it costs about $1.50 (USD). Pretty cheap considering that it is a dried product that requires the addition of a liquid to reconstitute it, if you will.
I don't think that being a vegetarian is for everyone. But it is an inescapable fact that it is unhealthy to eat too much red meat. I stopped being completely vegetarian years ago, but I have found that I cannot always find quality meats. To supplement our food supply, I decided to give the TVP a try. I have been able to make some pretty tasty vegeburgers with the TVP, some meatballs too.
In this time of money woes, it is important to spend what we have wisely. I am so happy that I (re)discovered TVP, because just having it in the kitchen with a few other ingredients (onion, egg, oatmeal, ketchup, soy sauce, etc) and I can make some pretty decent, and cheap, vegetarian dishes.

Dinner Tonight

So I've been cooking black beans in the slow cooker, and tonight I will cook a bit of lomo, which I think is some kind of beef loin. Anyways, it is the most tender meat ever. I will cook it as a stew, with tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, garlic and potatoes. I'll try to get some pics and post them soon. That aside, pictures never are as good as the real thing :D

Cucumber Sandwich

Here is a delicious sandwich made with cucumber, avocado and provolone cheese.

For 1 sandwich:
cucumber, sliced very thinly
avocado, sliced or scooped out
provolone cheese, sliced
2 whole wheat bread slices (toasted, if desired)
mayonnaise


I know that I am not inventing this sandwich, but I just recently had these ingredients on hand and tried it out. For a person who hated cucumber as a child, this is now one of my favorite sandwiches. It is very fresh and goes excellently with a small bowl of soup for lunch.

Not Here

I've been away for so long now. Its even hard to come back. My blogs have suffered because of my house cleaning/organizing. But I have been eating well! I'll tell you all about it. The new recipes I've run into, or figured out will be among the first things I post.
So, even though I've not been here, I will be now.
My apologies for the long absence.