So how do we try to keep our food budget under control?
First, Menu Planning, at least for dinners, has kept me from wasting or accidentally letting food go bad. By knowing what you have and what you need to make recipes, you cut out the waste. Fresh, unprocessed foods go bad faster, see above media for details, so careful planning in necessary with these items.
Second, when you do go to the grocery, try to make nearly all your purchases from the outer walls and produce sections. I go into the isles for specific things like flour, nut butters (almond is my favorite), bread if I am not making any at the time, baking needs, and crackers (the items we found are too difficult right now to give up from the processed foods.
Third, stretch your meats as far as possible. I know this is about to make some of you no-fat purist gag, but we save bacon grease. I use this lard for cooking just like my grandmother. It fries our eggs, makes biscuit and pie crusts silky smooth, and adds a subtle bacon tastes to corn bread my children love.
How to stretch a farm chicken!
We get our chickens now from a natural farmer. He grows them, takes them to the Amish to kill, gut and package. Then sells them to us. I pick them up looking like the whole chickens you see from the grocery store once you take it out of the packaging. I cook the whole chicken in a crock pot with about 2 cups of water and some spices (usually garlic, pepper, onion, parsley, maybe sage or bay leaf depending on what I will make later). I cook this all day causing my kids to drool over the dinner yet to come. About an hour before dinner, I turn the heat down on the crock pot and remove much of the juices to make gravy. I add a little cooking wine, corn starch or flour (because my kids can not wait long enough for a reduction sauce), and a little more spices. I whip up some mashed potatoes and a veggie side of either salad or green beans from the garden. This is meal #1.
Depending on the amount of meat left over and the plans for the week, we might have the same meal the next night or modified with chicken cooked with remaining gravy thinned with chicken stock. If it was a smaller chicken, I take the remaining carcass, meat, and juices from the crock pot and put them into a large pot with about 10 cups of water, celery or celery seed if I have it, and an onion. After boiling down for 4-6 hours, sometimes adding more water, I turn off the heat and let it cook to a temperature I can work with. Now, I strain the juices removing bones and veggies to the trash, and meat to a holding container. If I have a lot of stock left, I will freeze it in 2 cup measures for later. The meat and stock then go on to the next meal options; filling for pot pie, chicken soup, chicken and dumplings, chicken with biscuit top, shredded chicken for enchiladas or cannelloni, etc.
For the pot pie option: I thicken the stock to a gravy constancy (Adding a splash of white wine, sherry or Marsala wine gives it more depth), add mixed veggies and chicken. When the mixture has cooled, I pour it into two crust lined pie plates and cover with another pie crust. One is wrapped in foil and placed in the freezer for later use the other is baked for dinner.
For Chicken soup, dumplings or biscuit top: I put the chicken, bay leaf, and as much stock to make my larger bottomed pot about 1/2 - 2/3 full. I let the stock cook down to a slightly more concentrated amount keeping in mind the noodles or biscuits will absorb and thicken the stock also. For soup, add noodles, celery if not added before when making stock, carrots or mixed veggies, and more garlic. When noodles are done, serve. For the dumplings or biscuit top, I add mixed veggies and onion. When the chicken mixture has reached a full boil, drop dough in pot by spoon fulls for dumplings and cover for 10-20 minutes, checking to make sure it does not get too thick or scorch. For biscuit top, pour mix into 9x13 and drop spoonfuls of dough on top. Place into a preheated 350 degree oven till biscuits are golden and cooked through.
For shredded chicken options: Freeze the stock. Take the chicken meat and make enchiladas or cannelloni as your recipe entails. For enchiladas, I put the chicken in a pan with enchilada sauce, about 1/2 - 1 cup of cheddar cheese, black beans (either canned and rinsed or softened from dry) and water equal to Enchilada sauce. I let this thicken by boiling off excess water, if I goofed and added way to much liquid, I might add rice. When cooled enough to work with, I spoon mixture onto burrito shells, roll up and place in 9x13 or 8x8 pan. Add more enchilada sauce and cheddar to cover tops of burritos. Put one pan in oven with a foil cover poked with steam holes in oven for 45 minutes. Wrap remaining pans with foil and place into the freezer for later use.
I use this concept with minor alterations with other meat options. If using beef, I will use red wine and thyme. With pork, I tend to see how I feel and pick accordingly leaning more towards rosemary or oregano. Roasts tend to become beef stew if I have large amounts of meat left over.
This is the way I tend to drag our meats out to 3 or 4 meals with lots of marrow soups on those chilly days. Soups are also a great way to use leftover produce and freeze well as long as you do not put potatoes or noodles in it before freezing. I also end up having one intensive day to shred/make stock but the results give me several days of already prepped meals for those activity intensive days. I have also started to use my delay start on the oven so as to have meals ready when we return home hungry to avoid picking to stave off hunger. Coming home hungry to a wholesome home cooked meal reminds me of my childhood when I came home from school to the wholesome smells of mom's preparations for dinner. It is one of those small ways to link back to simpler times and enjoy the moment with my family.
