Cooking..Ugh!!

How to Cook With Almost Nothing

The key to stretching food and eating reasonably well is 75%planning, 15% shopping and 10% time in the kitchen.

First I must say that I am not a good cook. I hate to cook and consider every minute in the kitchen time better spent elsewhere. That said, I do like to eat and always had kids that were notorious for the amount of food they required at regular intervals. (Neighbor kids whose mother’s complained about what their kids wouldn’t eat, ate like horses at our house.) I do not like to eat in restaurants and have been unable to find anyone willing to cook for me. So the following is my compromise with the kitchen trap.

Incidentally, if you think leftovers are a bad thing go to someone else’s Blog.

Also if you think that you deserve to eat whatever your whim dreams up today and you can afford to snatch up those $15 per pound T-Bones, go to someone else’s Blog.

However, if you have figured out that you’re going to be hungry periodically but would rather spend time with your dog, watch the chickens go to roost, have a few laughs with friends or relatives, this is the place for you.

Rule #1: Plan meals ahead and work your plan.

Rule #2a: Until you really get good at this..

Don’t go to the store without a list and buy only what’s on the list

Rule#2b:

Buy what’s on sale and use the“Stretch” concept you are already so familiar with that you can now “improvise”.

My Shopping Rules:

Rule#1: Buy food that will make at least two meals, particularly meat. You may refer to these purchases as a roasting chicken, beef roast, ham etc.. I just call them hunks of meat. The only thing I buy that only makes one meal is pork chops and chicken drumsticks. I always buy family packs of these items and divide and freeze for another day.

Rule#2: Don’t buy any more of that crap in boxes than you have to. It is never good for you and seldom even pretends to taste good. The rule about staying on the outside aisles is a good one. Of course no one does this totally but make an effort. Good food is cheaper than meds.

Rule#3 Keep a tally as you shop so you will learn not to overspend.

The next page or two are the procedures I perform in the kitchen ..perfected over those earlier years while I became even more motivated to avoid cooking but still not have to suffer the irritation of small children whining for food. This can be very annoying.

In order to cook the following there is some basic stuff you need to keep on hand.

My basic stuff is:

Flour, shortening, sugar, eggs, oleo,salt, pepper, onions, carrots and potatoes.

Recipes:

What to Do With a Hunk of Beef.

Day One: Pot Roast With Carrots and Potatoes.

We’ll start with beef because it is my all around fav. First buy about a five pound hunk of beef. Chuck roast or Rump Roast is what they call it in the store.

I have a small roaster pan..one of those dark blue things with the black flecks..that I use when I’m home.. If I’m not going to be home I use the crock-pot.

Stick the meat hunk in the roaster pan with a half of an onion, a celery stalk if you have it and a cup or two of water. Put the lid on and let it bake for about 2 hours at 350degrees. I like meat tender.

You can do a lot of really fun stuff in that 2 hours so don’t hang around the stove worrying about the meat hunk.. Trust me..it’s cooking.

Peel enough potatoes and carrots for a meal and stick them in with the meat..put lid back on and cook another hour or so. You need something green to go with this so you need to keep a bag of salad stuff in the frig or frozen peas..gr beans etc.. I grab a handful of green stuff out of the bag, (it keeps in the fridge a week or so) swish it under the faucet real good..and B has a good salad. I never buy ice-berg lettuce..so little food value.. hot rolls are good also but not necessary. Remember you don’t have to bake the whole pack of hot rolls.. Keep a bag frozen..it’s a little wasteful energy-wise to just heat up a couple of rolls but nobody’s perfect.

Take meat and vegs out of pan and onto serving platter bowl etc.. See all that brown, half-burnt scummy looking stuff in the bottom of the roasting pan? Pure gold.. Do not discard.. In a bowl, old jar, plastic butter thing..mix 3 cups cold water with a hefty bunch of flour. I think about 1/3 cup. Blend it well. Set roaster over stove burner on medium (or high if you can stay focused) and pour in flour and water stirring constantly for a few minutes until you’re looking at gravy. If it’s too thick pour in another cup of water..if too thin make a little paste of two heaping tbsp of flour in ¼ cup cold water and pour in to thicken more. DON”T PUT FLOUR IN HOT STUFF OR IT JUST MAKES LUMPS.. I always have a little water set on the stove in case I have mis figured on the thick part. Lumpy gravy still eats well but some people are particular about it. It takes a little practice.

AFTER MEAL PREP FOR NEXT MEALs: Cut remaining meat in half against the grain if possible and put in baggies to freeze or refrigerate if you will be using it the next day. Pour cooled left over gravy into baggies and freeze for later. This will be used in other meals and can be used in soups, hash, pot pie beef and noodles etc

Meal Two: Hash Assuming you still have at least half of the roast left (if you don’t buy a bigger one next time) fry a skillet of potatoes, carrots and onions (do not brown but barely if at all) and cut into them with spatula to make them small pieces, I like to toss in a handful of frozen peas..cut one of the left over beef hunks into small pieces and toss it in, dump in one of the bags of left-over gravy and simmer on low (medium if you’re still focused) until all is tender and mixes well. Salt and pepper.

You can 1. eat this as hash with bread and butter or 2; add more water to make it soupy..put canned biscuits on top and cover to simmer for about ten minutes for stew and beef dumplings ( add water if it gets too dry) or 3: put frozen (I don’t like canned for this) biscuits on top and bake 10minutes for a Beef and Biscuit pot pie.

Meal Three: Hot Beef Sandwich

(I use instant potatoes (HungryJack brand is best) for this because B likes them.)

Thaw and heat bag of leftover beef gravy in microwave. Remember to open the bag and place in bowl so it doesn’t explode.. bad news that.. If you bought a rump roast and can cut it against the grain (so it will be tender enough) you can make hot beef sandwiches by:Slicing for sandwiches and set aside to nuke until hot. Cut a couple slices of bread triangle-wise and place one slice on plate with room between triangles for mashed potatoes, place nuked beef slices on triangle, cover with other slice-triangle, scoop mashed potatoes between sandwich parts and cover with hot gravy.

*There is no such thing as too much left over gravy. I like to keep little baggies..about 2/3 cup..of gravy frozen. It is good for flavoring up Hamburger Stew..Beef and Noodles etc.

(I like Hamburger Stew. It is good, hot and very good for you.)

Hamburger Stew

Brown a pound of hamburger with chopped up onion, toss a handful of flour over it (to thicken a little) add a can or two of mixed vegetables, a can of tomatoes and a bag of left over gravy. I also use any appropriate leftover veggies in fridge. (not broccoli,asparagus, radishes etc) I like to put in a cup of chopped-up cooked cabbage but the cabbage has to be cooked separately or the other stuff is over cooked.If you don’t do the cabbage this takes about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper.

Well, all this cooking has made me tired so I will tell you how to stretch a chicken next time. Home made noodles are really good and very easy to make.