Here in New England, January brings us three annual truths: completely unpredictable weather (I was running around outside barefooted on New Year's Day); a renewed sense of Yankee frugality when the post-Christmas bills arrive; and that that the New England Patriots will be making yet another run for the Lombardi trophy (note that I show my NFL loyalties by referencing the Lombardi trophy and not the game one must win to earn it).
With the exception of my football loyalties, I am no different than the typical New Englander. Due to the fact that our economy is in a constant state of recession (with the exception of Massachusetts, which is why we all work there), I have developed an All-Star ability to save money on necessary purchases. Whenever something I know I will need goes on sale AND I have a coupon for it, I stock up on the item and plan my cooking and baking around how much product I have to use before the freshness date is reached. This practice took some practice to perfect - I once ended up with 25 pounds of sugar in my pantry (I am diabetic) - but in time, I got it down to a science and it serves me well every January.
Each season has it's food specialties - summer is all about watermelon, corn on the cob, and foods you can cook on a grill or over an open flame; winter is about eating until I no longer feel cold, so calorie dense meals are a must.
Having been out of full-time work (partly by choice, partly by fate) I have had to keep a strict eye on my spending this past year as my side-gig was never designed to provide a full-time income. Come January 1, a look inside my pantry showed shelves and shelves of ingredients, but no actual food. This meant I was going to have to cook.
To me, there is a huge difference between meal preparation and cooking. Meal preparation involves no thought; it involves throwing together a plate with all four food groups properly represented (sorry, Reaganites, but ketchup is not a vegetable). A sandwich (protein, starch, and a few salad veggies) covers three of the four; add cheese and my work is done. You want fries with that? Cooking involves a recipe; that means I must inventory and gather ingredients, which means I must plan ahead. If I cook for you, it means I love you.
Based upon my existing inventory, I menu-plan all of my main dishes via the use of cookbooks. I realize that I could use an online website like AllRecipes.com or any number of Food Network sites that are regularly updated with new ideas, but I would be there for days looking at 5,000,000 ways to prepare chicken.
Upon recent investigation of the inside of my pantry I discovered:
- 10 boxes of Prince pasta (68-cents a box when you buy 10!)
- 10 cans of various Pastene canned tomato products (when that stuff goes on sale 1/2 price, stock up!)
- 10 pouches of Knorr Pasta and/or Rice Sides (also 10/$10)
- A plethora of canned goods - Campbell's and Progresso canned soups (on sale for a song, and great to serve when you don't feel like cooking, but also great for use in recipes), various beans (Cannellini, garbanzo, baked), tuna, chunk chicken,...you name it! I am ready for the Zombie Apocalypse!
- An entire shelf of baking ingredients - flour, sugar, Bisquick (for when you are undeserving of my homemade best), chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruits, Crisco, cocoa, coffee, syrups, and various grains and meals (oat, corn, quinoa, rice, etc.)
- A wide variety of crackers and snack foods left over from Christmas
- Enough potatoes to supply every citizen of Russia a lifetime supply of vodka
Inside my freezer is a wide variety of meats that I secured on sale and froze (I find that meat generally goes on sale the first week of every quarter, but you can always find it discounted just before the weekend hits). Since I refuse to freeze meat for more than 4 months - it loses it's flavor - I label and date my stock so I know what to use first. In addition to all this is your standard frozen veggies, quick-bites/appetizers, and my soapstone whiskey rocks (it's good to be prepared!).
From these simple ingredients, I have been cooking meals for two weeks now. My trips to the grocery store are for perishables that I refuse to freeze - milk, bread, fresh fruits and veggies (I live in small-farm country; once you've had these things same-day fresh it is hard to enjoy them any other way). My meals this month have included:
- Soups and stews (chicken, beef, vegetable, Portuguese Wedding, and homemade chili); I have a cookbook dedicated to soups and stews, which is also why I have a food processor and two blenders - traditional and immersion - as well as a large spice rack with cooking spices (which reminds me, I need a second one for baking spices); Tuesday night is "Soup and Sandwich night".
- Pasta dishes - baked ravioli/ziti, lasagna, spaghetti with homemade meatballs, homemade mac 'n' cheese, and pasta e fagioli (Wednesday is Pasta Night)
- Roast chicken dinner, Yankee pot roast with root vegetables, barbecue pork ribs with all the fix-in's (Monday and Thursday I do a full dinner, and invite others to join me)
- Homemade pot-pies (chicken, beef, or pork depending on what I have leftover!)
- Quesadillas, tacos, Sloppy Joe, calzones, and other sandwich-like eats for quick, weekend cooking (I'm not a big fan of actual sandwiches).
As you can see, all of these meals use inexpensive, simple and healthy, whole-food and minimally processed, readily available ingredients and are easy to prepare on a weeknight or can be prepared in advance and refrigerated until ready to cook. The ingredients all go a long way, too - I still have enough food in my pantry to cook another two weeks worth of meals! Now all I need are a few new recipes to keep from getting bored. Tune into my upcoming post about "Adventures With Cookbooks"!
KJM
01.17.19
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