How to Stretch Food because prices will go up six percent

a reply to: chris_stibrany

Kidney and white beans, ground beef cooked in sunflower oil on low temp, tomato, maybe tomato paste, koreander, cumin, salt, pepper, red peppers, chili, bit water and maybe a bit starch to emulgate the added water and oil from cooking (they mix). A bit of sour cream or even sweat cream (taste not marginally different) mixed under if it's a small batch, otherwise serve sour cream separate or the batch spoils faster.

Serve with rice or eat with bread / toast if you like it hot / spicy. I consider it a mix of baked beans and what I know as Mexican chili but I am sure the original tastes different. Never was in a Mexican restaurant and had the chance to get the original taste, not the Germanized version.

Just go to an Asian grocery store, or Indian one. Big bags of jasmine rice, sushi rice, basmati rice.

a reply to: crayzeed

My favourite is just plain with butter or black pepper so i can taste the egginiess ..eggyness... eggy-ness


a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

I buy large packs of meat them break them up into meal portions, freeze them on trays, then vac lock them.

Pork cutlets, and chicken breasts can be pounded out thin, dipped in egg and a thick coating of Panko and fried. Then served with Ton katsu, or thick Teriyaki.

If you get stocked up now, vac loc everything, and keep it in a smaller chest freezer, you will be fine. Especially if you have a small solar array, and a small battery bank for insurance.

Have gardens year round, if your area permits. I have a winter garden full of beets, swiss chard, turnips, Chocolate mint, parsley, Purple collard, oregano, thyme, onions, and potatoes.

Oatmeal is better in cookies then in ground beef. Try mixing in some sweet chopped red pepper, onion, parsley, and tomato.

a reply to: JAGStorm

man, i run pretty lean for what i do. Chicken bones and beef bones have a bag in the freezer. I make big batches of broth, vac seal, and freeze. Ill run bones in a crock for 24 hours.

All food gets vac sealed and stored, fed to the dogs, or shared with the deer.

a reply to: infolurker

I believe the industry standard is flour, soy or sawdust. They can add up to 30% sawdust without people noticing. FDA approved. The funny part is that it may be actually healhtier than grains

a reply to: chris_stibrany

The yellower the Spätzle, the better

At least 1 middle sized egg for 100g flour, but I have a big spoon where I know it's one spoon as it comes out of the flour bag for one egg. Rest is thumb nailed, beating the dough for a while is a must. The wheat glue needs to activate and glue it all together, it needs to rip in strands.

It's easier than it sounds even.

Some add a bit nutmeg, depends on the dish it goes with.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: JAGStorm

Ugh, I don't eat oatmeal to begin with, it's just empty carbs. I am 100% not going to waste meat by mixing it in there. Put a minced/shredded onion and some herbs if you want to stretch chopped meat, at least they add some flavor.

If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but It’s been done for a long time, and it’s actually quite good. Yes onions and vegetables and spices should also be added.

i've stretched ground beef with ground pork.. for meat sauce, bolognaise or burgers or meat loaf, chili. if not oatmeal, use some of your croutons or bread.

yeah, nabe or hot pot is fun.

cheaper cuts of meat/beef, treated well is an option.

lentils, potatos, pastas beans. eggs, can be used to make a nice meal. make your own breads. pizza dough.

i made
black beans and rice with a couple chicken breast cutlets we had left over from the night before.

soups are easy both making and money wise.

then again, things depend on your skill level and what's available.

i'm a sucker for lamb rack tho. i can get 3 plates from 1 rack. usually its 2. with a chop or 2 leftover for the pups, depends on how good they were that day. or a snack/ lunch with a tomato salad.

crap, now i'm hungry, lol.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: rickymouse

I am a fantastic cook, many people rave saying what I have made is literally the best thing they have ever tasted.

The area that I lack is bread making. I seriously suck at it.
Give me your best tips, especially for the rolls.

I like the two extremes in bread, extra sweet like brioche and not sweet at all.
I do not like typical American bread, it’s awful.
This is not to be disrespectful to the US, because I love my country, but the whole world knows our bread is absolutely terrible.

I have my new revised update of the recipe in my bread thread I made at the end in a post. I stock all the flakes, oats, barley, and rye....but a coop does sell most of these individually and a pound of them lasts a long time.

By the way, I really suck at writing recipes, hope you don't get confused.

I follow a few rules to save money. i always plan my meals by what is on sale at my local shoprite. I use coupons.I stock up on staples if there is a good sale. Make meals that can make quite a few meals. A big pot of soup is nutritious, and makes a whole bunch of meals. Do not waste. Any left overs, eat for lunch or freeze for another meal. Limit going out to eat. Going out to eat is expensive so save it for special occasions.a reply to: JAGStorm

originally posted by: rickymouse

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: rickymouse

I am a fantastic cook, many people rave saying what I have made is literally the best thing they have ever tasted.

The area that I lack is bread making. I seriously suck at it.
Give me your best tips, especially for the rolls.

I like the two extremes in bread, extra sweet like brioche and not sweet at all.
I do not like typical American bread, it’s awful.
This is not to be disrespectful to the US, because I love my country, but the whole world knows our bread is absolutely terrible.

I have my new revised update of the recipe in my bread thread I made at the end in a post. I stock all the flakes, oats, barley, and rye....but a coop does sell most of these individually and a pound of them lasts a long time.

By the way, I really suck at writing recipes, hope you don't get confused.

oh ok, i'll look for it. i'm all thumbs when it comes to breads. i tried a no knead bread recipe i found that came out pretty good.

i tried making bagels. i liked them but they came out like a cross between a real ny bagel and a crumpet. lol. good tho if ya thought of it as it's own animal.

originally posted by: HODOSKE
I follow a few rules to save money. i always plan my meals by what is on sale at my local shoprite. I use coupons.I stock up on staples if there is a good sale. Make meals that can make quite a few meals. A big pot of soup is nutritious, and makes a whole bunch of meals. Do not waste. Any left overs, eat for lunch or freeze for another meal. Limit going out to eat. Going out to eat is expensive so save it for special occasions.a reply to: JAGStorm

100%. also if fortunate to live near a farmers market. seasonal produce in bulk is an option. maybe throw in with friends and/or neighbors and divide it up.

we do a bunch of eggplant dishes, too. versatile veg.

My Kind of Music and Living.
a reply to: Gothmog

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Adding oatmeal to meat is typical for meatballs, meatloaf and other meat dishes, so yeah lots of people use oatmeal in meat.

originally posted by: starlahazelnut
Adding oatmeal to meat is typical for meatballs, meatloaf and other meat dishes, so yeah lots of people use oatmeal in meat.

If you try to put oatmeal in meatballs I may axe murder you. No sane Italian puts oatmeal in meatballs. Not ever.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Well already compost and garden, tge compost goes to our banana plants that we have. We have meat rabbits, so their poop is also used for gardens, we will be breeding them soon.

One tip Khave not necessarily foid but we bought a bunch of cleaning rags, I use those for almost everything, wehave cut down dramatically on paper towel use.

I agree that while meat is fine to have but you can make meals out of beans, rice, yams, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. Pasta is unlimited with what you can make and you don't need meat for it. Peanut butter, if you're not allergic is great have on hand. For chicken and egg lovers, getting your own chickens, is better than store bought and you geteggs from them as well. You can doa ton of recipes with just eggs, and it's good protein.

When I do have meat, I use everything, the bones for stock and so on.

I also recommend experimenting with vegetarian dishes to see what you like and stock up on those items, meat prices are getting to the point where no one can really buy meat, so I think people are gking to get meat by buying animals for meat or go full vegetarian.

Also, another thing we have is a food saver, when you buy extra meat, you can preserve your meat better with it, because it takes all of the air out of the bag your storing it in, so meat lasts way longer. One last thing I would recommend is canning, I don't care for it personally but if I had, I would can food.

a reply to: incoserv

Yes, it's so hard to soak them overnight. Lol! Itj ust takes a little bit of planning, plus 1 cup of drid beans goes a long way! I have canned beans for something that I need a pinch but dried is theway to go.

We have chickens. I just drive a couple posts about 3 feet apart, grab a chicken out of the pen and tie each of its legs to a post. The I have a micro come- a -long that I use to increase the tension over a long period of time, weeks maybe. Its not inhumane because I really take my time, keep it fed etc. After a month or so they're funny as he%$ to watch them try to walk.

The other way I found to stretch food is to not eat as much..Some religions/philosophies say one should only eat when about to starve.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Mixing oatmeal with meat? Is that some sort of even more disgusting version of Hamburger Helper?

It’s so good you’ve never even noticed. Moms and grandma’s have been doing this for as long as there have been those two foods!

As for not tossing things, that's what I typically do. I debone my own cuts and make stock with the bones. Veggie scraps go either in the compost, used in stocks/soups or mixed in with the dog food depending on what they are.

People that don’t cook a lot (like most people these days) don’t know these things, especially the veggie scraps.
They don’t realize that’s where the flavor and vitamins are.

My doggo got some tenderloin scraps last week. She was in doggie heaven.

We always used bread for this. Just put it in a food processor and mix it it. It's called rough, it's why British sausages taste so different from American ones, and are slightly better for you.

Great information! We also built a tunnel house out of cow panels and greenhouse plastic and scrap lumber last fall. Mainly to keep my citrus trees alive through the winter. We also have raised beds and a small garden. My Grandparents and Parents survived the depression with large families by farming, fishing and one made moonshine. Wish I had his recipe.