Stretching Your Food Budget

A recent Marketwatch interview with a Popeye's fast food chicken chain executive revealed that the recession may not yet be over. No news to any of us. Also no mystery is the news that families are cutting back. They may skip the soda with their meal and share their chicken and sides. But what happens when you can't even afford that?

Here is a list of sub-dollar menu foods that you can make at home using leftovers and common ingredients.

Baked potatoes. Buy a big sack and a roll of tinfoil. Whether you are cash-starved, or just looking to save time or lose weight, a bag of potatoes is your friend. And if money is really tight, you can buy loose potatoes.

A baked potato is an easy way to use up left over cheese, chili, salsa, onions, and herbs. When you tire of baked potatoes, mash them and add butter and garlic for a tasty side.

Chili. A pot of chili improves as it ages. Make a big pot up at the start of work week. You never have to make it the same way twice. Just keep some assorted beans, chili powder, some kind of meat and cheese available to serve as a base. You can add scallions, wine, cocoa and many other ingredients. There are loads of recipes on the internet, but chili is made for experimentation. Add different types of hot peppers, sweet peppers, you name it.

Pasta. Manufacturers are consistently adding high quality sauces to their line-ups, but mastering a basic gravy takes no more than a few minutes on the internet, a can or two of crushed tomatoes, some herbs, garlic and vegetables. With those you can make enough for several meals. How about adding some butter to your pasta and mixing in the left-over vegetables? Or maybe you might like to add some salad dressing and left-over ham, bacon, and cheese for an antipasti.

Eggs. A carton of eggs will make you enough omelets to feed yourself for several days. Combine eggs in a bowl with: vegetables, sausage, bacon, cheese, herbs, beans, avocado, you name it. An excellent way to get rid of left-overs for pennies. Just lightly grease the warm skillet and pour. As soon as the edges of the omelet firm, carefully fold it over. The key to a good omelet is low temperature and speed. Don't let it burn. And if you goof, well, scrambled eggs are good too.

Tuna. Buy it on sale. Keep it around. Spike it up with mayo, onions, celery, and pepper for a traditional tuna salad. Serve it on a roll with a little lettuce and tomato. Keep it at home though. Eating fish at your desk is not the way to make that temp job permanent.

Chicken cutlets. Toss a few cutlets into a salad-dressing marinade. Cook for a quick supper with a potato and vegetable side, or cut into slices and serve on a toasted tortilla with salsa, cheese and sour cream. Cut into pieces and serve as a salad with left overs or stuffed into a pita bread with feta cheese, walnuts, lettuce and tomato. Go wild.

Day Old Bread. Buy from a bakery outlet. Buy in quantity. Freeze the bread, it will last. If it gets too hard to finish, grate it into coarse flakes to make meatloaf or meatballs. Soak it in egg, vanilla, milk, sugar and cinnamon for French toast.

Ends of cheese and meat. Ask your deli man for the cold cuts that the machine cannot slice. These bits and pieces can be mixed with celery, small tomatoes, carrots, peppers and other vegetables for antipasti or salads, to top your baked potato or add to a pasta dish.

Over-ripe fruit or vegetables. Sometimes these are available for immediate consumption at a reduced price in your store, or they may result from your own goofs. Over-ripe bananas, mangoes and other fruits can be mixed with vanilla yogurt, milk, ice, preserves and other ingredients for smoothies. Instead of buying that expensive Tropicana Orange juice with the mangoes or peaches, use a can of concentrate and a blender full of your own salvaged mangoes or peaches. The additional fruit can make a concentrate taste like a more expensive with pulp selection and it is more nutritious too.

Vegetables that are past their peak can be incorporated into stews or goulashes with some left over meat, spices and potatoes.

Lemonade. Add a slice of lemon or lime to chilled water or take a pitcher, fill it with lemon slices, water and sugar to taste. Skip the Gatorade and soda. Americans drink many times the recommended sodium. Lemons and limes add the potassium lacking in most diets and are better for the heart. Lemons can be re-used again and again. Just add more water and sugar to the pitcher in your refrigerator. Pack this in your thermos instead of buying lemonade, soda or iced tea when you are out.

Homemade iced tea or coffee. Save your left over coffee or tea. Serve over crushed ice. Add mint, lemon, lime to tea. Coffee can be served alone or with a shot of chocolate syrup, cream, sugar, flavored syrup or non-dairy creamer. How do you think those $5.00 lattes in Starbucks are made anyway?

Just because you are broke doesn't mean you have to eat like it.

Sources:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-fried-chicken-indicator-isnt-bullish-2010-04-16?pagenumber=2
http://allrecipes.com/
https://www.angelfoodministries.com/
http://www.sharedc.org/