The kitchen is truly the heart of the home. From here flows comforting smells, healing and fond memories. My kitchen is plain and simple with only the necessary items to produce some tasty treats. Most of my childhood memories originate in the kitchen. This is a place to connect and learn. Children find ways to create and simply hang out and watch mom cook. They learn to cook whether they want to or not. This is the place to create cheap gifts from homemade muffins to holiday cookies.
There are several things I constantly keep in my kitchen as far as food goes.
Rice, beans, lots of pantry food (especially here where hurricanes occur), boxed milk, powdered milk, concentrated juice mix that doesn’t have to be refrigerated, pasta and sauce, simple tomato sauce when jarred sauce is not available, cereals and oatmeal, all purpose flour or economy sized muffin mix, bread and eggs. I also make sure I keep up the bottled water supply -I live in a very old house and I don’t trust the pipes.
Stuff like spices and cooking oils and butter last longer for some reason. Spices are rarely replaced as I try to keep the taste of food more natural and low salt. I don’t care for very spicy foods. If it was up to me, I’d eat with no added flavors what so ever. I do have a little secret I want to share with you though, I keep a box of Sazon Goya with Safron and use it in almost everything. The unique formulation makes everything taste even better. I especially use it in Spanish cooking (when money is good), pasta sauces, egg noodle sauces, soups and stews and even scrambled eggs and omelets. I never add anything to canned or already prepared foods as they are already high in salt. I try to buy low salt items whenever possible.
One thing that saves me money and turns out to be a healthier alternative is, I always think of replacements for conventional snacking and sweets. We eat cereal and milk for sweet snacking or homemade muffins from my restaurant economy sized bag. Canned fruit is also a cheap alternative. Buy the big cans and save what’s left in a covered container in the refrigerator. Avoid individually packaged fruit chunks. They’re really expensive and it’s easier to recycle the cans.
I take my cans to the recycle bin behind the Baptist church at the same time I visit the clothes closet every Saturday morning. They also have a paper and plastic recycling bin. There are lots of companies out there charging to have your recycled trash picked up. Don’t fall for that. They’re there to make money and they charge quite a bit. Look for places where you live that will take your recycling trash. Sometimes schools and libraries offer recycling services. My son’s school recycles paper and electronics. My daughter’s school takes your old cell phones. You don’t end up filling the dump and the schools get money for needed items. We all win.
If you cook big meals on the weekend, store individual leftovers and use that for snacking the next day. We do that a lot with hardboiled eggs. By the way, if you eat the white and yolk of a hard boiled egg, the cholesterol is counteracted, according to a nurse I know. Any other way of cooking eggs will give you unwanted cholesterol.
Buy fresh fruits and vegetables in season and try co-ops or local outdoor markets for best prices. I shop at discount grocery stores and take my own canvas bags. They won’t offer bags unless you pay for them and the food is half the cost of other big name grocers.
If you feel your tap water is safe, powdered milk is the way to go. Even if you have to use bottled water, you’ll still save over half the price of fresh milk. Mix up a couple of quarts in the evening and let cool over night. My daughter drinks soymilk but my son loves the powdered milk and doesn’t taste the difference. I buy the economy can and use it for cooking and baking. I always have milk on hand.
Concentrated frozen juice is also more than half the price less then prepared bottled juices. Again, if you use tap water it’s even cheaper. When I do buy prepared bottled juice, I wait till it goes down half way and fill it up again to the top with water. It still tastes just as good and lasts longer.
I do the same with liquid soaps, shampoo, dish liquid and laundry detergent. Diluted dish liquid has come in handy as an emergency alternative to laundry soap.
More to Come-