My daughter worked at a fish market for a while, and I couldn't resist the lure of free fish heads. I made a lot of fabulous fish stock (Fumet de Poissons). We go through our homemade chicken, pork, and beef stock regularly, but not the fish stock. I have 5-6 quarts of it in the freezer, and I seldom find a recipe that uses more than a cup or two. Many seafood soup recipes generate their own stock. Anyone care to share a recipe that requires fish stock?
Thanks for the smoked turkey idea - I will need to find a good local source. I have had "straight" smoked turkey legs and I love it right off the bone - I feel like a Henry the 8th skit when I eat them. They are a bit of work, to remove the meat from the connective tissue in a leg, but they could be a nice ham alternative.
Making my own bread and pasta are the next frontiers for us. I have carpel tunnel and can't knead, but I am looking for a decent used bread machine and a pasta machine at this summer's yard sales - someone must have gotten one for Christmas a few years ago, and has now accepted that they are not going give it a try. I want to get rid of the high fructose corn syrup we get in most commercial bread (even whole grain), and artisan bread can be a budget killer.
We have always been a family of limited means, 2 adults and 2 kids. We have always had a limited budget for food, usually $40-80/week. It's insulting and glib to imply that the rise in food prices will force low-income families to stop wasting their food stamps on junk food. In many urban neighborhoods, there is very little fresh food available. It takes hard work and planning to eat better, and many families don't have the skills or transportation. Fortunately, we do have a car, although it is not a late-model high-mileage vehicle. The price of gas hurts. We plan our trips carefully - we can't just drive out into the boondocks to visit the cute lil' organic boutique farm every weekend.
Our two "farmer's" markets are mostly not producer-markets - so often the supermarket has cheaper produce sales. "Eat local" is hard when most of your area's produce is shipped to a larger regional Northeastern city to be sold in trendy urban neighborhoods at a premium we local schmucks can't match. But I do score organic chicken backs at $5 for a 2-lb bag, to make stock for soup, sauces, grits, rice, beans, etc. Smoked ham shanks are one of my favorite budget-stretchers.
The Food Network is fun food-porn, but what I have really been studying is peasant food from various cultures. Notice, there is no cooking show aimed at poor people. You have any idea what that meat costs for those trendy grilling shows?
We do buy bulk - the Hispanic stores have the best bean and rice prices. I make my own stock, sauces, soup, etc. We buy almost nothing name-brand. We braise and slow cook a lot - I am planning to build a solar oven to try slow-cooking in it. We don't drink soda or coffee; we brew our own herbal tea. We have as large a vegetable/herb garden as we can in a small city yard. We bake our own snacks and desserts. We buy day-old bread to make bread pudding. I've tried to justify paying $7.99/gal for raw milk, but I cannot when commercial milk is half the price. I barter for pastured eggs, and go to pick-your-own orchards - fruit is harder to find and more expensive than veggies.
There is no slack in our budget. I admit to stockpiling rice, cornmeal, dried beans, spices, sugar, honey, and flour - I buy an extra bag as often as I can. I watch yard sales for working manual old-timey tools - meat grinder, grain mill, apple peeler, etc. I have not been able to stand canning in an airless city kitchen with no air-conditioning in the middle of summer - which is when the food wants canning - but I will try again this summer.
The global food news is scaring me - my family does not have the means to adapt as fast as the world can crush us.
I have a small city yard, but I try to pack a lot into it, some in containers, some in the ground. So far: White, yellow, and green onions, carrots, beets, parsnips, peas, shell beans, spinach, lettuce, mustard greens, thyme, sage, parsley, several basils, garlic chives, mint, zucchini, eggplant, several sweet peppers, red potatoes, sweet potatoes. I don't grow tomatoes or hot peppers - I trade for them with neighbors who grow too many.
Kugel! Sweet noodle kugel, especially. I am not Jewish, but my brother converted for his marriage to my sister-in-law. I got to cook the wedding luncheon, in the kosher synagogue kitchen, under the close supervision of the cantor. Made three kinds of kugel. (I had worked for a kosher caterer for a few years - it's not like they let just anyone wander in and take a shot at kosher food). It remains a favorite cooking memory of mine.
Latkes are a pretty close second, though! I can never decide between apple sauce and sour cream on top, so I go back and forth with each bite.
Thanks, folks! The risotto was one I hadn't thought of - great idea. I've made some sauce for grilled fish, but maybe we just need to eat *more* grilled fish. The paella and lobster potpie ideas makes me drool, but are too pricey just now. I will watch for a lobster sale.
I live in the area that has Sheetz markets. Sheetz is a convenience store and gas station chain. I have not tried the Frickin' Chicken, but I have eaten other Sheetz food (when I had no other choice) and found it to be at the very bottom of the convenience food scale. Over priced, poorly prepared, stale, over-microwaved, tasteless. But the stores are bright and colorful, and apparently they have clever marketers. I wish I felt confident enough to try the chicken sandwich, since I think the objection to the advert is silly, and I would vote with my wallet.
Roast Chicken was one of the first "grown up" meals I learned to make when I moved out of my parents' house into an apartment in 1979. I didn't have much in the way of cookware or kitchen, but I had an old cast aluminum roasting pan and an oven. I would rub butter all over the bird, then salt it. I put an apple and an onion in the cavity, tuck the wings under, and pop it into the oven. The smell filled the two tiny little rooms. I would sit in my only upholstered chair and read, inhaling deeply, until I just had to take it out of the oven. I have no idea how I knew when it was done; I am sure I didn't have a meat thermometer back then. But it was always perfect. It made me feel like I was more than just "scraping along" - I was living!
What does "healthy" mean? To me it does not mean just low-fat or even vegetableness. It means nourishing to the body and to the soul and to the family. On one day, healthy may be ham and bean soup made with homemade stock, perfuming the house all day from the crock pot. Another it is a child's delight in making whole-grain waffles in her own waffle iron. A third day it could be the harvest of a tiny urban backyard, roasting with garlic in the oven.
A Smokey Bones chain restaurant is pretty much the only option here.
You say "taking care of" the garden - like garden-sitting? A temporary thing? If so, your first and most important source should get be instructions from the current gardener. Inventory the tools, water sources, and compost piles. Make a map of the plantings, if you can. You will want to learn about the general needs of your plants - water, sun, fertilizing, pruning, etc. Ask about bugs and signs of disease for your plants. Know what pests to watch for in your area - deer, raccoons, neighbor children, etc.
Rather than try to learn everything about gardening, try handling problems as they arise, and GardenWeb is a great place to start. Another fabulous source is your state's Agricultural Extension program, usually affiliated with your state university. They may have a local Master Gardener or garden advisor program, and can also probably point you to a local garden club. The web is a fabulous source of information, but you also want people on the ground that know your local conditions and resources. Your local library also probably has a selection of books for local gardeners.
Prepare to enjoy yourself. Put a chair in the garden, and a table for a drink and sit out there with a book. Watch the bugs and birds interact with the plants. Watch the fruit and veg ripe for the kitchen. Yum.
Matriarchy, you have got to jump on the no-knead bread bandwagon. No special equipment required, just a lidded pot that can take high heat in the oven.
Also, the great thing about using the turkey legs in soups/stews is that the long simmering times makes the meat just slide off the bones and tendons behind.
Thanks for the smoked turkey idea - I will need to find a good local source. I have had "straight" smoked turkey legs and I love it right off the bone - I feel like a Henry the 8th skit when I eat them. They are a bit of work, to remove the meat from the connective tissue in a leg, but they could be a nice ham alternative.
Making my own bread and pasta are the next frontiers for us. I have carpel tunnel and can't knead, but I am looking for a decent used bread machine and a pasta machine at this summer's yard sales - someone must have gotten one for Christmas a few years ago, and has now accepted that they are not going give it a try. I want to get rid of the high fructose corn syrup we get in most commercial bread (even whole grain), and artisan bread can be a budget killer.
Wow matriarchy, it sounds like you are doing a phenomenal job of feeding your family with scarce resources. I am truly impressed. The difficulties you described finding fresh, high quality produce make me realize how very lucky I have it in Austin.
Can you get smoked turkey legs where you are? I started to like them for the flavor they bring, but also because they seem to have a lot more meat on them vs the ham. They are 1.69/lb. in my local Mexican market. Simmered with some collards a la Alton Brown and served over rice, it's very good stuff.
On a frivolous note, you should keep an eye out for Dave Lieberman on the Food Network, if you want some more accessible food porn. Maybe you're already familiar with him, but he always has an eye to the budget, and in a sincere way (vs., eg. Michael Chiarello's budget dinner that featured boneless chicken cutlets).
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Tomatoes...there's nothing better than fresh tomatoes!
I just went and picked up stuff for garden today. I got some cucumbers, tomatoes,cantaloupe, onions and jalapeno peppers.
If I could - I would grow bell peppers, we go through them so quickly. But the deer around here would eat them all and if they didn't get to them, the rabbits, raccoons and other "critters" would!
Asparagus, leeks, shallots, 4 kinds of tomatoes (2 heirloom brandwines), corn, 2 kinds of cucumbers (one is lemon flavored), mixed pan patty squash, mixed radishes, wax beans, carmel flavored canteloupe, 3 kinds of watermelons (one seedless), and blueberries. I love growing unusaual veggies
I have a "tub" garden and am growing tomatoes & peppers.
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