response 30 of 68:

Dec 24 23:34 UTC 2002

Is there some reason you prefer not to cook your own dinner instead of buying
it prepared?  You could get better quality for less money.  Also these weight
watcher's things don't have much bulk and will probably leave you feeling
hungry.  When we took a visitor to Jim's relatives, his brother in law told
the visitor to be sure to eat two of them at a time as they were not filling.

response 32 of 68:

Dec 27 08:31 UTC 2002

resp:30 au contraire, they work just fine.  One dieting tip says eat a 
King's breakfast, a Prince's lunch, and a pauper's dinner, so it's 
fine.  We are not vegetarians, so all of them have some kind of meat-- 
mostly chicken.

I have a hard time with preparation, Sindi.  I don't necessarily have 
tons of time and I just don't have the patience sometimes to cook for 
people that don't always wait or appreciate it much.  Or maybe I 
haven't gotten into a routine habit-- cooking is a big deal thing for 
me.. I really get into it once I do.  I like super quick, super 
simple.  Nuke it and eat it.  And I don't like cooking one night and 
eating the leftovers the following nights.  So I must be spoiled, I 
guess.

resp:31 I don't know why, but ugh.

response 34 of 68:

Dec 29 21:49 UTC 2002

You can also freeze them for a little later.

I just used the leftover mashed potatoes to make a vegetarian Shepards 
Pie.  YUM.

response 36 of 68:

Jan 1 11:17 UTC 2003

   Cheater's Stew:

  1 to 1-1/2 # stew beef (the really cheap stuff)
  Seasoned flour (flour, salt, pepper, other spices to taste in a paper
bag)
   2 or 3 potatoes, cut in chunks
   2 or 3 onions, quartered
   Some carrots, cut in chunks
   Some celery stalks, cut in chunks
   Mushrooms (optional)
   Garlic to taste (optional)
   3-4 cans Franco-American Beef Gravy

   If it's not in pieces already, cut up the beef.  Put it in the bag
with the seasoned flour and shake it around.  Brown it and drain it.
Place the beef, vegetables, and gravy in a large pot and simmer, covered, 
at least until the potatoes are done.  The longer it simmers, the more
tender the beef will be.  

   It ain't fancy, but it's cheap and palatable.

response 38 of 68:

Jan 2 08:13 UTC 2003

Never heard of canned Franco-American beef gravy.

response 40 of 68:

Jul 26 10:10 UTC 2005

New situation, new digs.

We eat oatmeal a lot more frequently now, and remember Sindi and Jim's
tip on cooking it without burning :)  We try to get old-fashioned when
we can, more fiber that way, but we get a lot of quick oats from the
food bank.

Beans are a marvelous thing.  I made a mix from some I had in storage
(some we had gotten from the food bank, again) and added a soup mix to
it which had letter pastas and lentils in it.  I usually soak them
overnight or Julie might boil them if we are pressed for time, and
usually slow cook it until it gets to a chili-like consistency.  I add
spices on hand, of course, but I recently got some dried chiles from the
Farmer's Market that work super.

We don't have it down perfect-- I tend to eat out a lot, usually at
Subway to float between meals.  It is my lazy man's out when I want to
get a lot of veggies and I'm not ready to prepare something.  Of course
I know it is hardly cheap.

I've found frozen foods are really great-- frozen veggies, frozen
fruits-- often cheap and I understand they usually retain their
nutrition a little better than fresh.

We get bulk food now too at the store we usually frequent.  We can
usually get most of our spices there and even 'prepared' foods are a
little more reasonably priced.

It's a work in progress, but we'll get better at it.  Was reading this
again and made a note that I should find Jeff Smith at the library. 
Should be easy to do online and my sister works at our main branch so
getting and returning books is a snap.

response 42 of 68:

Jul 26 15:08 UTC 2005

'Ello! (just joined the conf, so I thought I would say 'ello).


The whole 'eating at home' thing is kind of new for me- but I'm finding
that it can be quite enjoyable.

response 44 of 68:

Jul 26 19:32 UTC 2005

Yes but that's not particularly healthy...

response 46 of 68:

Jul 27 09:56 UTC 2005

almost forgot.

sister brought by the Jeff Smith cookbook from the library.

also found some frugal-type recipes on the Internet, both from the
Frugal Gourmet and from other sources.

response 48 of 68:

Jul 27 14:20 UTC 2005

Well that requires purchase of stuff to put in sandwiches. and plenty of
time. Hmm, I wonder where in my teeny kitchen I could fit a bread maker...

My Beau and I are having difficulties keeping salad stuff fresh for very
long in our fridge. Gets quite annoying really.

response 50 of 68:

Jul 27 14:39 UTC 2005

It can be- but honestly the problem I often run into is the quanity that
needs buying. If it doesn't get all used up and goes bad than it's a
waste of money. What this really means is that my planning skills need
work. ;) As for the time... when you put it like that, I have to agree
with you.

For the bread machine, I have a fairly good sized apartment- it's just
got stuff in many places- and boxes of books since we only have two
bookshelves. Putting a bread machine somewhere other than the
counter/cupboard isn't likely to happen. And running it... with two
cats, one of whom earned the nickname Danger Boy!, I would rather have
the bread machine running in the kitchen where I can better protect it. ;)

response 52 of 68:

Jul 27 19:20 UTC 2005

No, not opening lids- chewing cords. I used to joke that my Sasha was a
great mouse hunter- except the mice she killed were connected to computers.

Part of the problem is also that we don't have a great refrigerator-
it's very damp. So things like lettuce, onions and tomatoes (well
they're okay) go bad more quickly than they should. Getting a new fridge
means arguing with the landlord.

As it is we buy 4 tomatos and they go bad before we eat them all.
Usually it's because we're lazy and get the 'bag' salad and that almost
always goes bad before we eat it all. Like I said, poor planning in
terms of what meals will be eaten in the coming week and shopping
accordingly.

response 54 of 68:

Jul 27 19:55 UTC 2005

The problem seems to be the freezer automatic defroster- it drips into
the fridge. I actually keep a small bowl in there to catch the
condesation, it gets emptied every few days or so. So that would be
where the humidity comes from. Sadly our fridge really is a joke and
while we try to put the veggies in some other container and in the
crisper they just don't stay crisp.