help! i need motivation to get back on the tf wagon

[Vaquitita]

We've been eating mostly TF for 4 years. But our budget has gotten tighter and tighter. We are now getting $400 EBT and I'm trying to stick to that. I stand there in TJ's and waffle between the $6/lb grass fed hamburger (I can get it cheaper direct, but then I can't use my EBT) and the $2/lb. stuff. Do I say this is the area I need to splurge on and get it? Between trying to spend less on food (I use to spend twice that much) and some recent house upheaval where I couldn't cook, I'm totally not into food planning and cooking right now. I'm tired of spending my whole life in the kitchen. I'm confused and depressed about the whole thing. And I'm out of meal ideas.

I've been buying cookies (obviously not the way I should spend my limited budget), frozen chicken strips (I stare at a whole organic chicken and just can't figure out how to make that into chicken strips. ), and some frozen meals too. I do buy some bulk grains and veggies from azure each month. We are still taking FCLO, eating TJ's organic butter (no more raw butter ), and are nearing the end of my 5 gallon bucket of unrefined coconut oil. Also, my kids can't eat cow dairy (other than butter). They can do goat milk (in the summer we spend $40 a month to get 2 quarts of raw goat milk each week). We do have chickens (recently went up to six hens) but they are not laying at all right now. I should also say we are big meat eaters.

Here's what we're eating right now:
breakfast- eggs (though I'm heartily sick of them) or muffins (the one thing i am still making) and sausage.
lunch- lately it's been quesadillas. sprouted wheat or corn tortillas stuffed with goat cheddar and leftover meat or tj's frozen grilled chicken strips. i'm so uninspired i have not been packing up lunches when we go out, which is of course costing us money. we usually eat el pollo loco drumsticks or in-n-out burger.
dinner- everything i make we eat twice. roast whole chicken (been buying a bunch of these when safeway has them on sale for $.79/lb.) or something from hamburger- meatloaf/shepards pie/meatballs or bolognese sauce and pasta or those chicken strips.

I know we could be eating better than we are right now, even with this limited budget. just cause i can't buy everything grassfed and organic is not a reason to give up.

[Vaquitita]

things i need to start making again:

*crackers (ok i've only made these twice before, but would like to make them regularly)
*bread (i haven't been buying bread, but i need to make it every week and then eat it instead of frozen rice or something)
*desert (which i need to just cut out, but at the very least making my own would cut us back. no more middle of hte afternoon cookie/chocolate binges. oatmeal cookies or fruit and cheese would be much healthier.)
*kombucha (i'm spending $20 a month to buy this right now)

i'm off to dig up all my grocery receipts from the last month to see what i've been buying...

[chattyprincess]

I find when I am horribly unmotivated to cook that picking one thing I love and making that helps move my spirit. Maybe not a ton but enough to remind me that I love home cooked food. Maybe you can try making one small change at a time I think its so overwhelming to look at a huge change and try to hit it head on. I like picking away at it slowly until its all done.
I think for me I would sit down with a calender and start marking days..."okay by the 1st of feb I want to have my budget under control and a solid grocery list made" "by march 1st I want to be only buying organic/best quality meat "

[Vaquitita]

here's what i've bought this month so far:
Butter x3
Eggs x4
Milk, quart x2
Cheese x4
Bacon x2
Sausage/Hot Dogs/Salami x6
Whole Chicken x1
Organic Chicken Thighs x1 (i am going to try making my own chicken strips!)
ground beef x2
Sprouted Wheat Tortillas x2
juice x2 (the kids and i use this to take our FCLO, unfortunately dh drinks huge glasses of it. i guess i need to figure out if the cost of buying some of the more expensive juices i like (vs. cheap, onsale w/coupon sweet juices) is offset by the fact that dh won't drink it.)

Veg (some organic/some not):
garlic, broccoli x3, avacados x8, artichokes, red potatoes, lettuce x2, pears, mushrooms, 50lb yukon potatoes, 25lb carrots, 3lb yams.

Mineral water x11 ($6.60)
Chocolate candy x6 ($18)
kombucha x12 ($22)
ok, cutting those things out would right there give me an extra $46

and this: Frozen foods x10 ($48.50) could be spend better, I could maybe buy some pastured meat.

sorry this is so long, i'm mostly talking to myself i guess. though any help would be appreciated.

eta: I've spent $225 of my EBT so far this month and $87.50 on the bulk veg and kombucha from azure.

[Vaquitita]

Originally Posted by chattyprincess

I find when I am horribly unmotivated to cook that picking one thing I love and making that helps move my spirit.

I will try this. Not eating roast chicken AGAIN, might help. Last night I mixed it up a little (my sister came over) and made more variety of side dishes. Acorn squash, yams, and salad. Usually it would just be broccoli and maybe potatoes or bread.

I found in my freezer I still have 2.5 packages of grassfed liver. Need to start taking my liver pills again! Haven't taken them in a few months, that would help with my run down feeling.

[chattyprincess]

or you could bake a batch of delicous home made cookies...cause you didn't buy any yet this month that always motivates me better then "real" food...lol...j/k(kind of.)

[velcromom]

What helps me not get burned out in the kitchen is batch cooking. That way I have things I can get out of the freezer and throw together to have dinner ready in a half hour. So with that in mind...

Mineral water x11 ($6.60)
Chocolate candy x6 ($18)
kombucha x12 ($22)
ok, cutting those things out would right there give me an extra $46

and this: Frozen foods x10 ($48.50) could be spend better, I could maybe buy some pastured meat.

Here's almost hundred dollars to reallocate.

I'd suggest some inexpensive protein sources to stretch the good meat. We are meat lovers too so anytime I make a low-meat meal to be frugal, it has to taste really meaty and savory. If your family can eat beans, some organic legumes would be a good addition to your frugal pantry. Cheapest are pintos, but white beans and lentils or split peas add variety.So get a few 10lb bags of legumes, and then use some of that money to buy pastured meat. I think ground beef is probably the least expensive, except for soup bones.

Speaking of which, are you using the bones from your whole chickens to make bone broth? If you do, you can make your meals more filling and make low-meat meals very meaty tasting so you don't miss the larger portions of meat as much.

Also you might compare the price of butter at TJs to the grassfed pasture butter at Azure, it might be a better deal for you.

back to the batch cooking idea to minimize your kitchen time -save up the chicken bones and make broth once or twice a month, soak beans and make a month's worth at at time, make pizza and enchilada sauce once a month as well.

Would having some frugal recipes help for a little inspiration? I have some links I can dig up if you would like.

[Vaquitita]

Originally Posted by velcromom

Here's almost hundred dollars to reallocate.

yes, it's surprising how those little things add up. Seeing that $100 is really helping to motivate me to change things, it really may be possible for me to buy more grassfed/organic meat. Before it felt rather hopeless.

I'd suggest some inexpensive protein sources to stretch the good meat. We are meat lovers too so anytime I make a low-meat meal to be frugal, it has to taste really meaty and savory. If your family can eat beans, some organic legumes would be a good addition to your frugal pantry.

well, none of us like beans much. with the exception of mexican refried beans. i tried making some once and they were horrible. i need to try again. if i could make some we like (we live in an area with lots of GOOD mexican restaurants and it's hard to settle for less tasty beans) that would stretch things when i make tacos/etc. this has reminded me i found a store that sells grass fed ground beef and lamb for $4.29 & $3.99 a lb. AND they take EBT. I will have to make a trip over there and stock up. Ground beef is really the only beef we eat. I need to make myself a list of all the things I can make with ground beef (including things that don't require a recipe) so that I can vary it more, rather than make the same few things over and over. I would like to try and order some meat from my grassfed farmer, even if I do have to pay cash for it. He has a variety of cuts for $4-5 lb. Stew meat, roasts, minute steaks, and a bunch more. It would be so nice to eat something different.

Speaking of which, are you using the bones from your whole chickens to make bone broth? If you do, you can make your meals more filling and make low-meat meals very meaty tasting so you don't miss the larger portions of meat as much.

Yes, I do. Still soups never fill dh up. Stews do. If I could get the hang of beans, then I could stretch the meat in a pot of chili. I'm not sure what other kinds of stews i could put beans in. Chicken and dumplings, no. beef stew? I haven't made beef stew in awhile, because (at tj's atleast) stew meat costs so much more than the ground beef ($2 vs. $7).

back to the batch cooking idea to minimize your kitchen time -save up the chicken bones and make broth once or twice a month, soak beans and make a month's worth at at time, make pizza and enchilada sauce once a month as well. Would having some frugal recipes help for a little inspiration? I have some links I can dig up if you would like.

yes i do a huge pot of broth once a month, or every other month. beans and sauces in large quantities is a good idea. i did that recently with meatballs. I've only made enchiladas once in my life, years ago, and everything was out of a can. If you had a recipe to share, I would definitely appreciate it. Pizza is hard, goat milk mozzerella is hard to find and expensive. I've made pizza with other goat cheeses, and well it's not great. I've always wanted to try making mozzerella, though I'm not sure how economic would be. And I'm having trouble finding rennet.

[bagare]

.

[velcromom]

Here's my enchilada sauce ( I use it not only for enchiladas, but as a base for chili, to add to meat for tacos, burritos or nachos, add to browned cubes of beef to make a decent chili colorado, and if you add more broth, a base for tortilla soup).


this recipe makes 3 cups, I quadruple it to freeze extras.

2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
3tbs oil
2tbs flour
2c. broth
15oz. tomato sauce
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
chili powder to taste
1/4 tsp sea salt or to taste

In a saucepan saute the garlic in oil for about 30 seconds then stir in flour. Cook one minute and stir in the chili powder and other spices. Add the broth, mix well. Add the tomato sauce. Simmer 20 min.

Here's a recipe for lentils

Lentil soup
I would use broth instead of water & also add some other veggies & probably some meat too - bacon or sausage would be good.

Since you have a lot of potatoes at the moment, here's a good side dish that turns out really different from most oven roasted potatoes - crunchy on the outside and creamy in the center.

Crispy Roasted Potatoes

2.5 lb potatoes
5 tbs oil
fine sea salt

slice potatoes in half & boil until the outsides are soft but the middle is still firm. Drain and place in a bowl with half the oil, sprinkle with sea salt and toss. add the rest of the oil, sprinkle with more salt, toss again. The goal is to break up the outer soft cooked layer so that the slices are all coated in a layer of what looks like mashed potato.

Arrange on a parchment line baking sheet and bake at 450F til golden brown, about 20 min, turning halfway thru baking.

The best tip I ever got for cooking beans was from Cooks Illustrated. They explain that soaking beans in salt water softens the skin and results in a creamy texture inside the bean. I like to soak them til they begin to sprout, I feel pretty sure it accomplishes the same thing as soaking in vinegar water. I used their method last time I made ham & bean soup and couldn't believe the difference it made.

Beans go well with pasta, if your family can't get into eating a primarily bean dish. I like to add white beans to sauted chicken in its own gravy with pasta. Rosemary and a few cloves added to the seasoning.

ok hungry now! gotta go make dinner!

[Vaquitita]

Wow, thank you velcromom. That is very helpful. I can't wait to try those recipes. I have a question about soaking the beans. Do you drain and rinse? or just soak them? And how much salt do you use?

[Otto]

Originally Posted by Vaquitita

well, none of us like beans much. with the exception of mexican refried beans. i tried making some once and they were horrible.

A lot of it's in the fat. I'm not crazy about the Armour lard that is readily available in supermarkets--bacon fat's an improvement. Here's Rick Bayless's general procedure, paraphrased from Authentic Mexican:

Frijoles refritos (yields ~2-1/4 cups)

• 2 T lard, bacon drippings, or fat rendered from chorizo (can be increased)
• 1/2 to 1 small onion, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 large clove garlic, minced (optional)
• 2.5-3 cups pot beans, undrained (follows)

Melt the fat over medium heat. If using aromatics, brown the onion and then add garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Add 1/3 of the beans with broth and mash coarsely. Repeat twice with the remaining beans. Simmer, stirring, until they're a bit looser than ultimately desired. Salt to taste and remove from heat. To serve, heat over high; if they've thickened too much, stir in a bit of water, broth, or bean liquid. Garnish with a mild crumbling cheese if desired.

Pot beans (yields 5-6 cups)

• 2 cups dried beans, cleaned and rinsed
• 2 T pork fat (as above)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 sprig fresh epazote or 1 tsp dried, if available (or sub a couple bay leaves)

Soak the beans if desired, by whatever method you see fit (discard floaters). Drain. Combine beans with 6 cups of water and remaining ingredients.

This is where the salt issue comes up--I don't soak or add salt until the end of cooking. I do, however, usually add about a 3-inch piece of kombu when cooking beans. Obviously, if the beans were "brined," don't add any more salt to the cooking liquid; if you want to salt at the outset, a teaspoon now should do.

Bring slowly to a simmer, partially cover, and simmer (not a low boil) until completely tender. Maintain water to keep beans covered by half an inch. Fish out the kombu and/or epazote, and season to taste with salt, if necessary.

[Rasa]

Do you have a pressure cooker? Refried beans are SOOO easy that way. I just soak pinto beans overnight, drain/rinse and cook with a giant scoop of bacon grease. Pressure cook (it takes 10-12 minutes once up to steam in mine), remove most of cooking liquid (but save to add back), mash up with a potato smasher, add back cooking liquid and extra salt to desired consistency and taste. You can get all fancy and add onion and all that but I find that just the beans and bacon grease are VERY flavorful. I freeze these in individual or family-sized portions for quick snacks, bean burritos, beans and cheese, or taco-bowl night (or whatever).

What about a big hearty chili? I just made a big chili pot of chili with 2 lbs of bulk mild italian sausage (no weird additives) and no beef because I forgot we were out (oops!) and kidney beans and left over cranberry beans from the freezer that had already been cooked, canned tomatoes (I had some jars of tomatoes that I canned over the summer), chopped onion (didn't need garlic cause it was already in the sausage), spices, and water (could use broth up this way too but we were low). We eat this over roasted butternut squash or sweet potato and it's SO filling and delicious. Plus I had enough for leftovers today and a batch in the freezer for another day.

Pressure cooker split pea soup is easy too...bag of split peas, chopped carrot/celery/onion, bay leaf, basil, bacon grease (can add ham later if you have it) plus water and I add in chicken stock after the fact to get the consistency right. Add salt and pepper. Even on the stove without a pressure cooker, split pea soup is pretty fast and it gets nice and thick (= filling) and the bacon grease is a great stand-in for the meat flavor if your meat budget is stretched. We splurge on some good bacon so that we know the fat is full of great vitamins, etc. and find lots of ways to use it.

[Vaquitita]

i don't have a pressure cooker. now that you've put me in mind of it, i do have a couple pints of bacon grease in the back of my fridge. i was saving and using it for awhile, but then stopped. it's been back there awhile, i wonder if it's still good? stuff on that top shelf freezes so it's probably good. serving chili over roasted yams sounds really yummy. i'm going to try that.

[velcromom]

Originally Posted by Vaquitita

Wow, thank you velcromom. That is very helpful. I can't wait to try those recipes. I have a question about soaking the beans. Do you drain and rinse? or just soak them? And how much salt do you use?

I never really measure, it's probably a generous tablespoon in a large mixing bowl filled 2/3 full with water. I like to drain & put in fresh salt water after 24hrs. I drain & rinse before cooking. If I want plain beans that I can puree and sneak into baked goods, I cook in water, otherwise I like to cook them in broth.

[Teenytoona]

Can we make this a tribe?? I'm reading up on all these posts. I've found myself lately just feeling less inspired to get into cooking, and also feeling like I have no time to do so. The second part is sort of true, but that's been the case for so long I should ignore it. Really, we're not home until 6 and the baby goes to sleep at about 8, so time's short. (I frequently, though not always, fall asleep with her.) I think I feel like time is mostly short because we just cannot get on top of the dishes. Ever. meh.

And then, the saddest of all, is I cracked my crock pot insert. Ahh the one big helper, the thing that made my life easier. Sigh.

[Vaquitita]

after posting this, i found out (surprise!) i'm pregnant. which only means i need this even more so.

[Amanda Williams]

I could have written you entire post.... to a T! Wow, crazy!
My hubby is working out of town full time right now and that makes me even more lazy in the kitchen!

This week I plan on making:

Chili with grass fed beef and canned organic beans, bone broth and a carton of org. tomato soup. My kids LOVE this with homemade muffins.

Homemade mac and cheese (good butter from TJs, Tillamook cheese, non-hom. milk) with brown rice (Azure) elbows

Homemade chicken taquitos(sp?) with organic corn tortillas (Azure) and chicken from TJs.

We also buy the strips from TJs and their organic cheese pizzas and a few other convenience foods. I don't have an issue serving those every few days, but I do really want to get back to TF for dinners and breakfasts. And desserts... I've had way too much white (organic ) sugar over the past few months... I have tons of honey and maple syrup here to use!

PM me if you want to keep each other accountable!

[Teenytoona]

Originally Posted by Vaquitita

after posting this, i found out (surprise!) i'm pregnant. which only means i need this even more so.

Hey! Congratulations!!

AW sounds like you're doing pretty well to me! I've been seriously off the wagon, like as in DH went out for KFC last night because he was feeling too tired to cook and I didn't even blink or consider a protest. Oy!!

I know all the stuff I should be doing, I know all the reasons for it, I'm mentally convinced, but I get lazy. And then there's the whole thing about my lunchtime at work. It's too cold to go to any park right now and eat my lunch, so when I want to get out of the office, which I usually do at least once a week, I go somewhere not so great. And then, that begins my downfall. Ugh!

[Vaquitita]

this week i made bread and crackers. i made my own chicken strips from organic chicken thighs. i froze half, but then ended up eating them the next day. it wasn't too hard. and for the same price as the frozen ones we got organic higher fat meat fried in coconut oil. i will do that again, though i will try to make a whole bunch next time. i used organic white flour for dredging, i'd like to use whole grain flour but i don't see any way to soak it. i went over to a different store and bought some grassfed lamb ($4/lb!) and we had burgers twice this week made with that. it shouldn't be so hard to go there, it's very close. it's just that they only carry a couple things i want to get.

i made chili with grassfed ground beef (from my freezer) and my first successful batch of soaked pinto beans! they turned out great. we all liked them, they were soft and creamy. i used 1.5lb of meat and that pot of chili is lasting us 2+ meals! usually 1lb. of ground beef only makes us 1 meal. i don't want to cut way back on our meat comsumption, but if I can stretch it a bit like this that would be great. I froze the other half of the pot beans and intend to make them into refried beans next week. I'm cooking a turkey this weekend, so I may make turkey enchiladas. another first.

yesterday i bagged up all desert items (cookies/chocolate/licorice) except the very dark chocolate. i put it in the cupboard above the fridge with the booze. so dh can still eat it, but it'll keep me out of it.

and when i went grocery shopping this week i came home with out a single cookie/desert or any frozen convenience foods! i was hungry when i went shopping though, so ended up buying a beef roast and curry chicken that had to go into the freezer. we can eat them next week.