|
The ways we used to live was so very different from today,
probably because of packaging and commercials. I thought I'd take you back, a few steps, and show you how we used to run our households, which was traditionally very thrifty and can be done again. It's true that your parents or grandparents didn't have to hold down two jobs just to maintain a home and of course, having the woman at home makes a huge difference. More homes are held together by a single parent and that's makes it all the harder, but we also have better tools to help us today. I'll give you the lowdown on the old ways and then we'll see what we can do to update that system, using modern day tools. I probably ate more beans, growing up, than most folks today could ever imagine. The fact is, beans are very nutritious. My mother was a nurse and highly regimen about dietary needs. I wouldn't drink enough milk so she cooked with milk instead of water. One way or the other, she got the milk into me. As an adult, I followed the teachings of my mother while sticking to a very limited budget. This is how I did it. Mind you, at that time, there was no microwave or crockpot to plug in and I was working 8-5 and still having to cook a full meal every night. I'll help you to cut down on the work as well as the budget. Meat was only about half the protein, in our diets, as I relied heavily on beans of all sorts. For every week, I purchased one large piece of meat. Rump roast, chuck roast, pork roast, whatever. I bought what was on sale, so our diet pretty much followed the seasons. With only two people, in the house, a 4 lb. roast just about fed us all week. I would first prepare the meat as a roast, with lots of potatoes, carrots and onions. The second night, I would slice off thin layers to warm over and serve with mashed potatoes or rice and a green veggie. The third night, I would cube what was left of the meat, add gravy and serve over bread, along with a light and dark veggie. If there was anything left, I'd carry it over for yet another night by adding more gravy and different veggies. You can get a lot out of a roast, if you really want to. The rest of the week was dependent on beans, usually pinto beans with cornbread and a green veggie. When you count the cost of cooking in this way, you'd be amazed at just how cheaply you can eat and it's nourishing. When it comes to buying meat, I always look for that marble of fat. A nice pattern of marble is a juicy piece of meat but too much and you're wasting money. Once a year, the picnic hams went on sale for .69 a lb, which was a good deal only if there was plenty of meat for the size of the bone. You have to look closely and guestimate the percentage you're getting in meat versus bone. Sometimes, judging by the size of the bone, that meat was more like 3 times that price. |
When you buy a picnic ham, don't throw away the bone. That bone is
chocked full of vitamins and minerals. Through it into a large pot of water and boil
it until the remaining pieces of meat are falling off. Then cool that stock and freeze
it. Every time you have leftover veggies, put them into a large freezer container reserved for you future soup, until it's full. When you get around to making the soup, throw in your ham stock that you froze. You will make an amazingly nutritious soup with your own table scraps. Just throw it all together, along with a can of tomatoes and let it simmer until you're drooling. Throw in a handful of rice or elbow noodles about 20 minutes before dinner. You'll have a great meal, and you haven't wasted a single drop. Just by doing simple things like this, you can cut your grocery bill almost in half. Now for those who are working all day and driving the other half of the day just to get home. That crockpot will pay for itself in a month. Definitely worth the investment. If a microwave will keep you from dropping by McDonalds, it too will be worth the investment. For that single parent, cooking in this manner is highly nutritious for the kids, they will eat well every night and you've saved a lot of money. It may seem like a lot of work but in truth, it's not. You'll get used to the routine and be happy for it. Just a note about those generic brands. When they first started introducing generics, I tried a few different things and turned away in revulsion. I think they've improved things since then but I'm still careful what I'll buy. So many times, things like the greenbeans are a waste of money as they are full of stems and water. Did you ever eat your weeds? Really! We do it all the time. Dandelions are just as nutritious as any dark greens and people just walk over them. Naturally, you don't want dandelions growing out of the sidewalk where a dog might have watered it but you know your own yard pretty well. Catch them when the plants are still young and tender, long before they bloom. The small tender leaves can be eaten raw in salads. The larger leaves, you can collect into a pot, boil them for awhile then drain and add new water to finish cooking. That gets rid of any bitterness. Add a piece of bacon for flavor, if you like. Cook them down until they look just like those canned greens and they're ready for eating. Talk about saving money! |
Index to Site
|
If not for my mother's strict food regimen, I probably would not be as healthy as I am today. I'm 61 years old with a little back problems but aside from that, I still climb trees. Considering lifes trials, I haven't eaten as well as I should for many years out of my life. I thank my mother for her dutiful attitudes. Mother was no nutritionist but she was a nurse. Her rule of thumb for any sit down dinner was, protein source (meat or beans) and 2 vegetables:one white, one dark. That could mean a combination of potatoes and leafy greens,corn and spinach, whatever but one had to be light the other dark. Since we were started out from babyhood, knowing no different,stewed prunes were a weekly dessert and we loved it.Boil the prunes in enough water to cover them, with some sugar and cinnamon. They're great! We never had things like instant pudding, we cooked it the old fashioned way using milk. In this way, mother made sure we were getting milk and we never even realized it. I'll be back to add more. Tune in again. Get Paid to Post |