Use CSAs or Farmers Markets’ Organic Produce and Use Harvard’s Healthy Eating Pyramid

I cook fresh daily by using seasonal, organic, local produce either from CSAs or Farmers Markets and by following the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Department’s Healthy Eating Pyramid (available online) guidelines. That means less meat and more fruits and veggies.  One pan is frequently all I use to first saute in olive oil the aromatic veggies, then add the main veggies. I scrape up any veggie pieces after removing them from the pan, add a liquid of my choice (wine, broth, a little water) to poach the meat (usually chicken or fish).  This creates a nicely-flavored sauce (once the liquid is reduced and flavored with balsamic or a seasoned vinegar and a dab of butter) to pour over the meat. Salad or sides follow the pyramid guidelines.  Fruit and yogurt (with crunchy toppings) is a favorite dessert. Healthy eating accomplished and only one pan to wash!

slow food challenge

I buy a whole free range chicken, roast and debone, while it is cooking i make homemade pasta and boil. Take cooked, deboned chicken and cut or shred to bit size pieces. Put cut chicken in pan (wok is better) and stir fry with olive oil. drain pasta and add to chicken. then add what veggies from garden you like (onion, pepper, squash, chard’s, spinach, ect…..) cook till greens are wilting. Season to taste. (if you like your onion, pepper and squash cooked more then me add in pan with chicken, but not greens they will over cook. That will feed 6 to 8 people for under $5.00 each ( about $2.00 per person.

Delicious lunches from leftovers

My husband cooks all our suppers from scratch, using mostly low cost ingredients, excellent use of spices, and fresh herbs from our garden during the growing season.  He’ll usually make a batch of something that will last the two of us for two days.  Often there is a delicious broth left, or maybe even some of the main ingredients like a bit of cooked rice.

My husband is a pbj fan for lunches, but I make leftovers from supper the previous night (that were immediately refrigerated) into wonderful single servings of soups, salads, or stir-frys for myself.  Because I can eat lunch at home, I eat tasty healthy lunches on what many people would have thrown into the garbage. 

To make these lunches, the slow part of the cooking is already done in the tasty leftover.  Depending on what the leftover is and the form of lunch I’m making with it (soup, salad, or other) I add combinations of these items:  torn lettuce,  chopped cooked egg, fresh veggies that can be eaten raw, fresh or dried fruits, grated cheese, yogurt, olives, nuts.   Just be creative and experiment.  It never comes out the same way twice, but it is always delicious.

Retired Cooks Weekly Dinners

Myself along with several friends have weekly dinners. The cast changes by the week. Three of us are former restaurant line cooks. We are the most consistent attendees. Generally 6-8 people attend the dinners. We devise a menu and assign people a course/ingredient to bring to the meal. It keeps it interesting, since the meals have a bit of a surprise factor. Be it that either the meal, dessert, or any course can be a surprise. Depending what is brought by the guests. Sometimes we will have a themed meal depending on holidays or the occasional bounty such as a turkey someone gets at work. For us cooks it tests or skills to team up diverse ingredients.

Cooking from Scratch

I grew up in Australia before fast food eating delicious home cooking which included fruit and veggies from our backyard garden. We are a family of 8 so eating out is not in our budget and home cooked food is so much more delicious and nutritious. My favorite cooking utensils are my wok, rice cooker, my cast iron pans and my oven. These enable me to prepare food quickly. We love brown rice and veggies of all kinds. Homemade jam is my new summer favorite, I use very little sugar and reuse jars.

Plan-(Stick to it), and save…

New to cooking for yourself/Family? First plan your meals for the week, shop accordingly (at one time if possible-daily trips add to food bills with those “extras) and stick to the plan. I cannot stress how important it is to stick to the plan. That means if you plan Mac’n’Cheese for monday with a salad, make it, don’t decide you’d rather have pizza (and don’t offer the “troupes” a choice - it’s a kitchen, not a restaurant!) Stick to the plan and it’ll soon be second nature. Planning also reduces waste, don’t shop in a hurry, and keep that fridge clean (the 1/2hr you spend a week will more than pay for itself.)

Plan out a week of Menus

One trick I use personally and teach clients is taking a few minutes to plan out a week’s worth of menu’s - breakfast, lunch, dinners, snacks as well as any special items needed (ex. bake sale at school or guests for dinner). Write down all ingredients needed for a shopping list, working with the sales that week if possible - don’t forget to work with what might already be in the pantry and freezer! After shopping, do any possible prepping (chopping, separating meat bought in bulk, etc.) to save time when you are crazy busy during the week.  Cooking or preparing 2 of the same and freezing for later saves time, too. 

It takes longer the first few times you do it, but once you have the system down it greatly reduces the time and money spent on fast food when it will be quicker, cheaper and more tasty to make what you have instead of running out again!

Is $5 per person supposed to be some kind of good deal?

We have 4 people in my family, and yes, we cook almost every meal.  However, I consider $2.50 per person for a dinner a good deal.  Once in a blue moon for a special occasion we may cook something really pricy like good seafood that might come out to $5.00 per person.  That is not a realistic goal for daily dinners though.  For someone like me who cooks day after day, if I am going to splurge and pay $5.00 per person, we are heading to a restaurant.  I find you to be completely out of touch to say it is a challenge to feed your family for $5.00 or less per day.  If you are telling people that is some kind of bargain, then they are going to head out to the nearest fast food joint and hit the dollar menu, because they can sure as heck feed their families on less than $5.00 per person there and not have to cook it and then believe that they did themselves some kind of favor.  I routinely cook dinner for my family of 4 for about $10 to $12, and that does not account for the fact that there are leftovers that we can pack for lunches.  And no, I am not feeding them gruel or even processed foods, and our kids eat a LOT.  If I spent $20 or more per night on homecooked dinners we would be destitute.  I find that you are completely out of touch with the reality of people’s wallets and even a little bit patronizing.  $5 per person may be a difficult goal for people who are used to eating at high quality restaurants a lot or living on filet mignon and lobster, but for average people, that is really not any kind of target, certainly not one that would save them any money.  I suppose a big problem is that people just don’t know how to cook.  I can’t relate to that.  It’s not rocket science, people—just do it.  

We live the $5 challenge every.  It’s as easy as 1,2,3.  1. Start at farmers market, or your closest farm stand and buy what looks good. 2. Make a menu from your purchases (factor in your busy schedule). 3. Prep as much as you can as far in advanced as you can.  4.(Bonus) If it’s in season buy extra and put it up for winter. Right now I’m freezing whole cherry tomatoes for winter.  They make PERFECT salsa and marinara.

buying in bulk

If you have access to a good food co-op, they usually have bulk bins for dry goods like beans and oats that are much cheaper. In addition, my local co-op has a member sale once a month and I stock up on items that I use a lot of like beans, grains, rice. We eat mostly vegan and I am a huge fan of one pot meals like stews and chillis in the colder months,  and stir fry or grilling with my summer bounty. We grow a lot of our own produce and get the rest from local organic farmers. I have several routine meals that I rotate and then plan ahead to make sure I always have staples to make something special. This summer I have set a goal of stocking up through canning, dehydrating and freezing as much as I can afford and process. I am looking forward to a winter of produce that was produced locally and preserved in the freshest state possible!

Under $5? Easy!

we have a large vegetable garden. This time of year, between that and our local Farmers’ Market, i always have more than enough food for dinner for just $2 or 3. Per person. Tonight I made brown rice & black bean burgers, served on good organic rye bread, with tomatoes and lettuce from our garden.
We usually have corn on the cob and new baby potatoes several times a week in August & September, served with a summer squash, tomato & basil dish, or a tomato & cucumber salad with fresh herbs, or just a good green salad, with some beans thrown in for a bit of protein. Yum!

It’s that good!

Indian Dahl and rice.  It’s the cheapest most delicious most healthful way I’ve found to eat.  Simply cook yellow or orange lentils, fry up some onions, add curry seasoning and mix together.  Top it over brown rice (really yummy with more sauteed onions added to it).  This is less $$ than a cheeseburger costs.

Slow food on a budget - how about just food on a budget.

1980-1998 We didn’t have money for extras.  No one was talking about slow food and we didn’t have money for fast food.

A large bag of potatoes, large bag of onions, large bag of rice, you get the picture.  Add the tiniest amounts of beef or bacon fat or ham hocks for flavor.  Lots of cabbage, canned tomatoes and greens for veggies.

There wasn’t any discussion about whether or not the kids liked something - these were the options that were available so that is what we ate.

Thier favorite dinner was Poor Mans’ Sloppy Joes:

Brown 1/4 pound ground beef. Add a very large amount of homemade baked beans, homemade BBQ sauce, a couple of large chopped onions and green bell peppers if they are in season.  Add hot peppers or hot sauce.  The mixture should be rather ‘juicy’. 

Pour over chunks of bread.  We used the heals from the loaves for meals like this.  The hotter I made it the more they liked it.  By using only a 1/4 pound of ground beef I could make a pound last for 4 meals. 

Use every part of the plant, animal you grow, get in CSA, market

Most of the veggies we grow or purchase come with stems, stalks, leaves that I use to toss in the compost, until I learned how great they taste.  Now I use the chard stems for a separate dish (bite sized pieces, steamed until tender, plunged in cold water, drained, add a small amount (tablespoon for the stems in a bunch) of vinaigrette, cool for several others then serve at room temperature.)   I use the beet stems with the beet greens; the kale and collard stems in the same dish with the greens, but chopped fine and cooked for a longer period than the greens.   I save the radish and kohlrabi greens until I have enough other greens to blanch them then use all in any recipe calling for blanched greens.   

Similarly with a whole chicken from a local farmer, I make use of the bits that fall off the bones after an hour of stock making, then add the bones back into the stock for another hour or so of cooking without herbs or veggies.  

It would be great to have  recipe books that acknowleged the value of including more of the plants and animals we grow or purchase in our meals.

How we do it,

First we buy dried goods in bulk, thus reducing the cost and the waste in volved in smaller packaging.

Next I make large batches of soups and stews that are frozen in single servings for lunch at the office.

We cook larger amounts of rices, pastas, potatoes, etc. and have left over nights 2 days a week. This saves energy and time on busy nights.

All in all we eat for less than fast food more often than not.  I was raised the slow food way and at 54 years old I still cook my dinner almost every night.  My wife and daughter are happy to have dad cook for them.

Top