Fabulous Cabbage

Do you eat cabbage? We love the stuff. Raw, it's crunchy and a bit peppery. Boiled, it tastes buttery and smooth. And the great thing is, it's super cheap--30 cents a pound the last time I bought some!

Here are three of my favorite cabbage recipes:

Cabbage Patch Soup from allrecipes (pictured above). This recipe is easy and tasty. We use real bacon, double the cabbage, and leave out the peas.

Chicago Dog Salad from Rachael Ray. It sounds weird, but it's really yummy. We shred the cabbage ourselves; it's easy.

Jeanne's Vegetable-Beef Borscht from the Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook. Borscht is a traditional Russian stew. It is usually made with beets, which turn it bright red. I was excited to find this recipe which is as flavorful as the traditional recipe I use, but much simpler. Preparation still takes some time, but it's worth it! The recipe works best in a 5 quart slow cooker. You could go larger. My alterations and substitutions are in parentheses. Please forgive me if they annoy.

1 lb. beef roast, cooked and cubed (I used less, cut small, and browned but not cooked through)

half a head of cabbage, sliced thinly

3 medium potatoes, diced

4 carrots, sliced

1 large onion, diced

1 cup tomatoes, diced (I used a 14 oz. can stewed tomatoes)

1 cup corn

1 cup green beans
2 cups beef broth (I doubled this, 4 tsp beef broth concentrate)

2 cups tomato juice (I used 1 cup tomato sauce)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp dill seed (really it's optional; for more authenticity add chopped fresh dill to each serving)

2 tsp salt (I used 1 tsp)

1/2 tsp pepper

water

(I also added a bit of honey after cooking to complete the flavor, maybe 1 tablespoon for the whole batch)

sour cream

1. Mix together all the ingredients except water and sour cream. Add water to fill slow cooker three-quarters full. (At this point the vegetables are piled way over the water line. They will cook down.)

2. Cover. Cook on Low 8-10 hours. (Or on high 2-3 hours, on low 4, if you're a little slow like me).

3. Top individual servings with sour cream.

Variation (which I highly recommend!): Add 1 cup diced cooked red beets during the last half hour of cooking. (I peeled a large beet, pierced it with a fork several times, cooked it in the microwave until tender, and then diced it.)

Kids and Food

A while back, I wrote about food waste and how much of my kids' food ends up on the floor. It's something I'm working on, and so I appreciated finding this post from WiseBread with ten good tips on how to keep calories out of the trash.

10 Ways to Cut Waste When Feeding Kids

Thanks to Cheap, Healthy, Good for the link.

Great Source for Recipes

I told you I'd get back to you about Cheap, Healthy, Good. The verdict? Great recipes. Useful tips like the top ten cheap & healthy foods. Recipes are simple and straightforward. Leans towards vegetarian, but there are recipes with meat as well. Plenty of blog-style fluffy entertainment (usually I just skip to the recipes). Check it out. The above picture is of Broccoli with Roasted Red Peppers.

Finding a Happy Money Medium

I just read a great post titled The Balance Between Splurger and Miser. It's from one of our favorite sites, Get Rich Slowly. April Dykman writes about how she has struggled with money, first spending money she didn't have, and then later almost refusing to spend at all, even though she had money to spare. Now she's finding a happy medium. Everyone should read it.

Dykman's post is a reminder that money is not just something to keep or lose. It is a way of expressing our priorities. If we truly value something, maybe we should spend more on it. (And we can always cut back on things we care less about.)

At the end of her post, she makes a list of things that are important to her, things that are worth a little extra.

My list would include eating healthy food, having supplies to build and create, helping people, and visiting family, among others.

What would you include? Does your spending reflect the things that are most important to you?

Tip of the Day: Freeze Rice

When I was in college, someone told me that rice freezes beautifully, and that it doesn't go dry and stale nearly as fast as refrigerated rice. I wish I could thank her a hundred times!

Rice was one of the staples that helped us survive working/teaching/studying/pregnancy the first couple years of our marriage. I would cook up a big pot of rice for dinner and freeze the extra in individual portions. Then we could take it with us whenever we had access to a microwave.

Now, my kids love rice. I mean, really love it. Cooking brown rice takes an hour, but I freeze it in bags so we can eat it whenever we want.

To reheat, I open the bag partway and microwave as is. For bigger bags, I stir the rice halfway through cooking time. Don't overheat! The bag can melt.

Four ways to make sure it tastes great:

1. Start with cooked rice that isn't too wet or dry. Rice that is wet can take on a funny texture when frozen.

2. Add a little oil sometime during or after cooking. This also enhances texture.

3. If you find your rice is coming out of the microwave a little dry, just sprinkle a small amount of water on it before reheating.

4. For rice on the go, sprinkle seasoning on individual portion bags of frozen rice and take them with you. We love lemon pepper or seasoning salt on rice.

Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions

Last night we ate Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions for dinner. This dish is thoroughly unglamorous, the ingredients are simple, and we love to eat it. Add a side of beans or meat for protein.

Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions (Julianne's method)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
2-5 Potatoes
3-6 Carrots
1 Onion
Salt and Pepper to taste

Wash the potatoes; peel the carrots. Chop the onion. Put water on the stove to boil, enough to cover the potatoes and carrots.

While you wait for the water to boil, heat about a teaspoon of the oil in a skillet or frying pan over medium heat, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender and translucent. Cut the potatoes and carrots into half-inch chunks.

When the water starts to boil, add the potatoes and carrots, boil about 9 minutes, or until the potatoes are just barely as soft as you like them.

Drain the potatoes and carrots. Add the rest of the oil to the frying pan, then add the potatoes and carrots. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Cook a few minutes more, stirring continuously, adding salt and pepper to taste, until the potatoes and carrots are brown around the edges.

Serve immediately, with ketchup.

Necessary Skills

This month's visiting teaching message is titled
"Managing Resources Wisely and Staying Out of Debt."

Each of the church leaders quoted in the message talks about skills we need to take care of our families and avoid debt, among these are cooking, learning "emotional resiliency," saving money, and having faith.

Recipe for Tuna Rolls

Make these instead of tuna boxed dinner! They are cheaper, faster, and just as handy. Jeremy remembered them from his childhood, and I made up my own version. Try them, they're tasty.

Tuna Rolls with Special Sauce

1 batch of biscuit dough (use your own, or see 60 Second Biscuits post)
1 can of tuna
2 tablespoons mustard
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup relish, chopped pickled banana peppers (yummy!), or finely chopped onions


Preheat the oven to 400°. Make the biscuit dough. Roll out dough to form a rectangle, approximately 8 inches by 12 inches. Open and drain tuna. Spread tuna evenly over biscuit dough. Roll up dough with tuna inside to form a log 12 inches long. Use string to cut dough into 3/4 inch thick rolls by wrapping string around the log and pulling it tight. Place tuna rolls on a cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake until light golden brown on top, about 12 minutes.

While rolls are in the oven, combine mayonnaise, mustard, and relish to make the sauce.

Eat the rolls warm, topped with sauce if desired.

Two Recipes for Bean Soup

Beans are one of my favorite things. They are cheap, nutritious, and filling. Make them a staple, and you will save money.

Here are two recipes for bean soup--one simple, one fancy, both yummy.

Bean Soup, adapted from a recipe in the 1976 edition of the Crockery Cooker Cookbook by Better Homes and Gardens:

2 cups dry pinto beans
half an onion, chopped (or 1/4c dry chopped onion)
1 1/2 tablespoons chicken broth concentrate or 4 cubes bouillon
1 teaspoon salt (I sometimes leave this out)
pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoons dried marjoram
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon flour
grated cheese, bacon pieces, and/or sour cream for toppings

Sort through beans to remove any pebbles or dirt. Rinse thoroughly and soak overnight. Drain beans and put them in the slow cooker with the onion, broth concentrate, salt, pepper, and marjoram. Add enough water to cover all the ingredients. Cover and cook on high 6-7 hours, or on low 12-14 hours. 20 minutes before you eat, mix the flour with the milk and add the mixture to the slow cooker, and continue to cook 15 minutes. Serve with topping.

Caribbean Black-Bean Soup, from the 2007 edition of Light and Healthy Recipes, by Good Houskeeping:

1 package (16 ounces) dry black beans
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium red onions, chopped
4 jalapeno chiles, seeded and minced [if you carefully remove the seeds, these won't make the soup spicy hot]
2 tablespoons minced, peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
8 cups water
1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (2 medium), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 limes, cut into wedges (optional)

1. Rinse beans with cold running water and discard any stones or shriveled beans. In large bowl, place beans and enough water to cover by 2 inches. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. (Or, in 6-quart saucepot, place beans and enough water to cover by 2 inches. Heat to boiling over hight heat; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour.) Drain and rinse beans.
2. In 6-quart saucepot, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add jalapeno chiles, ginger, garlic, allspice, and thyme; cook, stirring, 3 minutes.
3. Add beans and water; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Add sweet potatoes, brown sugar, and salt; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until beans and sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes longer.
4. Spoon 1 cup bean mixture into blender; cover, with center part of cover removed to let
steam escape, and puree until smooth. Return to saucepot. Stir in green onions and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges, if you like.

Grocery Buying Thought #1: Staples

One way to reduce the amount you spend on groceries is to figure out which foods are staples in your family's diet and make adjustments. For example, convincing your family to drink water instead of soda will save a lot of money, and it will make everyone healthier.

For my family, throwing out the granola bars made a significant difference. At first it made sense to me to buy low-sugar granola bars in bulk. They were relatively healthy and we could eat them on the run. The problem was, I liked them so much, I ate them all the time. Eventually, I realized I ought to be eating whole grain bread or rice, nuts, and fruit instead.

The great thing is, any one of these things cost less per ounce than the bars. The grains--which made up the bulk of the bars anyway--cost much less. I stopped buying the bars and, when they were no longer an option, I started eating healthier replacements. I save money every month, just by cutting them out.

Here are a few other adjustments we are working on:

-more beans and lentils, less meat
-whole grain bread and rice as staples (good, cheap, solid, healthy calories)
-more seasonal fruits
-only very inexpensive, healthy cereals
-more whole vegetable, fewer prepared veggies
-no more frozen pizza (I have to admit, sometimes I get nostalgic about these)
-if I am desperate for cookies, then I have to make them myself

The Step-Down Method

The key to spending less than we earn is simple—it is called discipline. Whether early in life or late, we must all eventually learn to discipline ourselves, our appetites, and our economic desires. How blessed is he who learns to spend less than he earns and puts something away for a rainy day.

N. Eldon Tanner, Constancy Amid Change

When I was at Utah State, I took an excellent family finance class taught by Alena Johnson. In addition to teaching classes, she worked in a financial counseling center on campus helping people who had found themselves in difficult financial situations. One of the gems I picked up from that class was something Alena called the "step-down method." Simple and adaptable, it is the best method I have found for reducing our family's expenditures.

Here is how it works: In any given situation, you have a variety of options, and some cost more than others. The example used in class was waffles.

Restaurant waffles: a few dollars
Frozen waffles: about a dollar
Waffles from a mix: less
Waffles from scratch: pennies

Sometimes people think that in order to cut back, they have to drop from expensive end of the scale to the cheapest end. This can be kind of depressing. The point of the step-down method is that, wherever you are, you take a step down. If you are eating waffles at a restaurant every Saturday morning, you will save a lot of money by eating frozen waffles at home. If you make waffles from a mix and you still need to cut back, you can start making them from scratch.

You can apply this principle just about anywhere. How do you watch movies? Where and how often do you eat out? What makes for a good family vacation? Where do you buy your clothes? Take a step down in several areas and you will find more room in your budget. You may also find that there are some areas where you are willing to pay for the nicer option, and some areas where spending more hardly made a difference.

Biscuits from Scratch in 60 Seconds Flat

In the family where I grew up, pancake/biscuit mix was a staple. I never really considered that it might not be necessary. Then I got married. Jeremy thought I was crazy, because his family never used the stuff.

So, reluctantly, I tried the from-scratch method. To my surprise, I realized that it was not much harder at all. And, while pancake/biscuit mix is cheap, the ingredients are even cheaper. I now make biscuits from scratch every time. I am having some fun with them, and working to perfect my super-quick version. These are convenience food at its best, because you end up with something hot and fresh that only cost you a few cents to make. They are not much to look at, but you are going to eat them anyway.

Unsightly but tasty, here is my special method for biscuits from scratch in 60 seconds flat.

Turn the oven on to 400 degrees.

Get out flour, baking powder, salt, milk, vegetable oil, 1 cup measuring cup, 1 tablespoon, a medium bowl, a fork, and a cookie sheet.
 
Start timing...

Scoop two cups of flour into bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and then use the tablespoon to eyeball measure 1/3-1/4 of a tablespoon of salt. Stir with the fork.

Pour 1/3-1/4 cup vegetable oil into the measuring cup, and then fill to the top with milk. Stir with fork until it looks like dough.

Grab small handfuls of dough and squish them onto the cookie sheet into roundish biscuits.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until they just start to look golden at the edges.

Makes about ten (depending on the baker). If you want to make these more healthy, just substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour for half of the flour.