Don’t forget to enter my giveaway to win a dang iPod. Also, check out today’s Secret Society of List Addicts list of totally insane things I do when you stupidly leave me alone in your room. (Then delete “ask TKOG over for weekend!” from your Google Calendar.)
NTKOG #104: The kind of placid, capable girl about the house who spurns pre-packaged this and processed that, opting to cook in grand old pioneer style.
I am: a typical busy/lazy broke early-20something.
I am not: Laura Ingalls Wilder. Pa would play a low, mournful tune on the fiddle if ever he witnessed my domestic laziness.
The Scene: The refrigerator box that I rather grandly call a kitchen in my Brighton studio. When I’m at home I eat fairly healthily: an almost entirely vegan diet (yogurt is the only moo product I keep in the house); low-fat this and low-sodium that (’cause I enjoy being able to fit into my bathtub). I’m generally okay about cooking two big meals a week and living off of the leftovers, with nutritional cracks filled in by whatever snack I’m currently obsessing over — usually some variation on the life-giving peanut butter.
Where my basically sound food and financial strategy falls apart (I mean aside from random convenience store jaunts) is the amount of pre-made ingredients and snacks I rely on out of convenience slash “dude, you can make that?!” ignorance. Last week, inspired by your comments on my broke and hungry post, and heedless of the time and expense of the project, I set about to live a more home-made life.
After I was done chopping up the veggies, all the scraps went into homemade vegetable stock. Ma Ingalls is so proud she's probably knitting me mittens AS WE SPEAK.
Black Beans: Full disclosure: not only do I only eat beans made from a can, but I’ve sworn multiple times I couldn’t handle the pressure of the other way. Justice has been on my case about it for months, telling me that home-made beans are cheaper, tastier and no more difficult to cook. I assumed this was just her leftover un-American spirit.
A pound of uncooked black beans set me back $1.69 — same cost as a can of black beans if you’re silly enough to buy them not on sale. Set ‘em in cold water in the base of my crockpot while I slept, then while I was at work, let them simmer in vegetable broth and a container of (deli-section) fresh salsa. Came home to some really delicious black beans that were promply mashed into like sixteen black bean and sweet potato burritos. Dude, let me tell you, when I made my next grocery stock-up, didn’t buy a single can of legumes. Home-made is cheaper, tastier and not a huge pain in the ass. Why didn’t someone tell me?!
Vegetable Broth: While peeling the potatoes, it occurred to me: no one composts out here, so is there something more clever to do with my veg scraps? Quick google search told me I should be saving ‘em in my freezer, then churning out delicious homemade veggie stock. Once my bag was totally full, I surveyed the ragtag assortment of motley scraps, and filed this one away as a loser: sweet potato peels, onion, bitter eggplant peelings, a few apple cores, and some slightly past-prime tomatoes and bell peppers. Wrapped the refuse up tightly in cheesecloth and simmered it for two hours in a gallon of water — and can you imagine my surprise when the whole thing turned out so delicious that I actually ate a few ladlefuls straight?! Unlike store-bought vegetable broth, the smell of this won’t magically take you back to ninth grade bio.
Granola: Holy shit, people make that?! I’d always assumed granola was one of those things, like batteries, that you either had to buy or live without. Dude, screw you, granola lobby — I am no longer your pawn. I used Alton Brown’s recipe and was blown away by how fucking good it was. It’s a little on the spendy side (due to the price of maple syrup and the fact that I stupidly bought nuts at Whole Foods instead of Trader Joe’s), but everyone I fed this to raved about it. Plus, seeing simple, boring oats transform into golden clumps of lightly sweetened granola? Made me feel like a sorcerer on a terrible Voyage To Health Food ’70s cartoon. My favorite feeling.
Popcorn: Did you know you can make your own popcorn in a brown lunch bag? All you have to do is put in a quarter cup, fold the bag over a bit and staple it or close it with a bit of tape, then put the bag vertically in the microwave and nuke ’til the kernel pops slow down to two seconds apart. That is INSANE. I always imagined there was some kind of miracle air inside the bags or something, to justify the exorbitant taste.
The only problem with learning how easy and cheap it is to make popcorn: it may or may not lead to you blogging at 8am while finishing a bag of cardamom-sprinkled breakfast popcorn…
The Verdict: Whoa! Completely successful NTKOG! I was obviously expecting to Learn A Lesson, but I wasn’t expecting for every single instance of home cooking to be cheaper and easier than the pre-packaged crap. Plus, my sodium intake was insanely low, which makes my inner 50-year-old man happy (you know, the part of me that smokes cigars and sports a badass fedora).
As a result of this experiment, I want to start taking on another pre-packaged kitchen culprit every week or two and giving it a healthy make-over. Any suggestions for me to get started on, you brilliant foodies, you?
{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
Take that Pop Secret. Unh.
Have you tried rice? I always thought that you pretty much had to have a rice cooker or you shouldn’t even bother trying because you’re always hearing about how hard it is not to burn it. Then one magical day I didn’t have a rice cooker and I wanted rice, so I figured I’d try it…. And it came out perfectly the first time! There’s pretty much zero effort involved. And man is rice awesome. And cheap!
What’s a “rice cooker”? ;)
For a plain boiled rice I do like this:-
Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil.
Add rice, bring back to boil, cover and reduce to simmer. Wait for this time for each type. Do not lift the lid on the pan once it’s covered:-
Pure Basmati (the expensive stuff) – 12min
“American” Long grain white – 15 min
Brown long grain – 30 min
Green or red – 25 min
Now drain and serve or refridgerate if storing overnight.
If using a mix of above and “wild rice”, no worries. Timings are the same.
For the “absorbsion method”, put 1 part rice and 2 parts cold water in the pan, bring to boil, cover and reduce heat to minimum. Timings as above.
You can microwave staples without blowing yourself up?! Finding out how much metal can you zap without firemaggedon, a NTKOG vs Mythbusters very special crossover event.
Dude, I would, but the Mythbusters guys have stopped returning my emails. I assume it’s because I keep asking them if I can bear their skeptical children. Their friggin’ loss.
Also, Alton Brown says you can microwave up to two staples, and I’ve found this to be true. Not sure I’d try any more, though…
I want to have Grant Imahara’s baby so badly.
Also, you should make hummus. It’s so easy to make, though I’m not sure it’s any cheaper because Tahini only comes in big tubs and it’s kinda expensive.
Nikki! I am 100% going to try this! What a great suggestion! I eat hummus like it’s going out of style (hummus + english muffin = my favorite lazy lunch or dinner). I’ve always wanted to try making it fresh, but was too lazy.
I’ll see what I can do about picking up tahini cheap at a Middle Eastern store and totally add this to “pioneer cookin’: round two”.
Make your own wraps. Buy tortillas, and fill it up with whatever veggie delights and condiments.
Being a rare user of microwaves.. would metal staples spark & explode in one?
Okay, okay. I, like you, eat a lot of fresh stuff. So those scraps that I actually DO compost? I’m gonna have to try this homemade vegetable stock of yours.
And the black beans? Which are like my fav? PLEASE FIND MORE RECEIPES (Julie) TO DO THIS.
I need more answers. And I will make those black beans of yours this weekend.
Thank you for sharing because, dude, I am totally with you . . . I am a strictly fish chick for the most part (uh, mind that half pound burger I ate last night . . .), so I am digging this.
If you’re interested, this is the recipe I used: http://www.thefeastwithin.com/2009/01/28/crock-pot-black-beans/
Probably would have tasted even better if I’d had the foresight to use my homemade veggie broth (soooo good) instead of the nasty store-bought stuff. And obviously no ham bone. The only Ham Bone I want in my life is the brilliantly nicknamed leader of a lesbian biker gang.
Also, these are good any which way, but might I particularly recommend them mashed up and then rolled with equal parts baked sweet potato in a whole-wheat tortilla?
What goes around comes around; I’ve blagged off with this recipe. Fair exchange for “how to cook most types of rice without buying a rice cooker”? I can cover coriander/tumeric and pilau rice as well, if people are interested.
How about macaroni and cheese? I used to be a sucker for boxed Kraft mac and cheese, until my mom showed me how to make an amazing homemade version. I haven’t bought the boxed stuff since!
Ooooh. I don’t usually keep cheese in the house, just because I don’t use it fast enough, but I could imagine making a big batch of m&c and freezing individual servings. Care to share that awesome recipe?
Might I suggest 30 different recipes? (i absolutely adore cheese)
http://www.30days30waysmacandcheese.com/
your skills and moxie never ceases to amaze me.
question, you don’t need to put some kind of oil in the bag for popcorn?
and i share the same sentiment about granola/batteries.
Alton Brown’s original recipe calls for two teaspoons of oil and some salt, but I found that it pops just as well without the oil (although it takes a little bit longer), and seasoning the popcorn before popping it wasn’t flavorful enough for me.
Here’s the original recipe, though, if you want to try it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/plain-brown-popper-recipe/index.html
You can also make popcorn in a skillet! Saves on brown bags and tape/staples. Some other things I like to make are pumpkins or winter squashes! They’re super easy. You can nuke the halves in a microwave for 7 minutes after scooping out the seeds or roast them in the oven for 40 minutes if you don’t have a microwave like me. Try going without a microwave for a month. You’d be surprised at what you can do! I like to scoop the pumpkin flesh out of the shell, mix it with some garlic, onions and cayenne pepper and make spicy fried wontons. DELICIOUS!
I would have suggested roasting a chicken, but it looks like you’re a vegetarian/almost vegan. That’s also super fun.
Ooooh, I kind of like the idea of roasting a whole chicken and freezing the parts separately for when I have a meat craving and don’t feel like going out. Do you have any advice on how to roast a chicken without a roasting rack? (Zero storage space in kitchen = getting creative without all the cooking implements I’m used to.)
Roasting rack! As if you needed such a thing. I’ve got just the recipe for you and all you need is kosher salt and pepper: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Simple-Roast-Chicken-231348
I suggest 20 min per pound and adding potatoes to the pan for them to cook in the juicy wonderful chicken juices. You can also take the giblets out of the turkey and make a great gravy. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Giblet-Gravy (but don’t waste the liver. it’s delicious!) Let me know how it goes! Also, the “chicken oysters” mentioned in the recipe truly are delicious.. if you can find them! :)
Oh! And kale chips! Super delicious alternative to potato chips! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-kale-chips/Detail.aspx
Don’t know if the USA is the same, but in the UK boxes of aluminium cooking foil have cooking temperatures/times for meat and poultry on the side of the box, and they work, subject to the caveat that you need to know how hot/cool your oven is relative to the thermostat.
Also, if you road a whole chicken, and have a pressure cooker, you can make the most boss chicken stock in about 2 hours working time!
1) Strip the meat off the carcase.
2) Put the bones and cartilidge in the pressure cooker, add 2 tsp of salt, and water to cover.
3) Cook at 12 to 15 PSI for about 2 hours, then allow to cool back to room temperature.
4) Strain the liquid to get the bones back out.
NB. Don’t stress how long the cooker sits there cooling; The contents are totally sterile until you open it.
Oh yeah, and Danielle is right about the roasting rack; it’s another thing I don’t own because there’s no need!
Danielle! You’ve totally scheduled my cooking Sunday this week! I love it! I’m highly partial to a roasted bird, but I’ve always kind of been afraid of doing it at home any time other than the big turkey holidays.
And I used to actually buy kale chips at the farmer’s market back home, but had no clue how to make them. Kale may just be my favorite green. (But don’t tell spinach that — spinach and I have a pretty intense relationship.)
Ken O: I don’t even use a pressure cooker! I find using a regular stock pot will work just fine. A slow cooker works as well and you can toss in lentils and yummy beans.
TKOG: I totally had a love affair with kale and cheated on spinach as well. I definitely need to get more greens back in my life!
Danielle, I’d have expected a room pressure boiling to take 4 or 5 hours, not 2, and need several water topups, cos you need to keep the whole caracse submerged throughout for best results.
As for adding stuff, I’m making a stock right now. Once I’ve done that and have a clear stock, I can make a thin soup (chicken and rice, “Chinese” chicken noodle, chicken & mushroom, chicken & sweetcorn…), thick chicken broths of ll sorts, use it in a risotto. I lose most of those options if I put lentils or beans in when I’m boiling the carcase for stock!
You can freeze cheese, especially if you’re going to melt it – not as great for sprinkling on tacos.
I just read yesterday how to make your own mozzarella – kinda awesome, not sure if I’m ready or not. I googled it and it seems not too awful.
Make your own tortillas. THIS I have done. I takes up an afternoon and rolling out is a bitch, but they are so much more yummy than anything you can buy.
seriously…popcorn in a brown paper bag?? that is SO awesome. i want to go home and try it right now. i’ve made it in a pot on the stove…but then a pot is dirty. and i’m not one for making unnecessary dirty dishes.
btw alton brown = awesome.
I love this TKOG mission!!! I recently started eating at home/cooking and now im addicted. Btw, I practically live off of crock pot black beans. Literally. I make a pot every sunday night and make bean bowls, burritos, flautas… and I prepare them different every time!!
Yes! It was your comment about beans in my last food-related post that finally kicked my ass into making them!
I remember when my brother got an air popper. Suddenly every night was movie night.
All of this sounds stunningly delish.
I’d like to recommend homemade spaghetti sauce.
Every single time I throw out half a loaf of bread (that is, every single time I buy bread) I feel like a moderately terrible human being, but then I learned how to make croutons. Cut day old bread into crouton-sized pieces, toss with a little olive oil and whatever seasonings you like, and bake until just beginning to brown.
I can’t wait to make my own popcorn! That Orville guy is kind of prohibitively creepy anyway.
home-made hummus is SO good. blend up some chickpeas in a food processor add olive oil until it’s a consistency you want then add lemon juice and spices :D
you can make your own pita chips if you buy cheap pitas cut them into strips or triangles. put them on a baking sheet and then drizzle with olive oil and cook for 5 min on 350. i like to sprinkle mine with garlic powder afterwards.
homemade chili is ridiculously easy. cut up a bunch of chili type veggies and seasonings throw them in your slow cooker. call it a day. a few hours later you have a weeks worth of dinner. the fresher everything is the better!
oh make your own cottage cheese it’s super easy but you’ll want to look up a real recipe.
you basically boil milk on the stove and then add lemon juice. then you boil some more and strain in through a cheese cloth.
it’s so much better than store cottage cheese and the texture is sort of like feta, but more crumbly.
i know you say that you don’t buy a lot of dairy but it’s still a fun experiment.
Oooooh, that sounds heavenly. I usually avoid buying cottage cheese because the weird watery stuff that builds up on top of it (whey? is that whey?) kind of squicks me after a few days, but a thicker version would probably solve that.
I’ve been meaning to try making my own yogurt, so this is what I’ll do with the rest of the gallon o’ milk!
mmm, i want ot eat a gigantic pepper now.
All sounds like waaaayyyy too much effort for me.
Kudos to you though. :)
Beetroot dip!
Roast a few (wrapped in foil with a splash of olive oil) in an oven at 180 degrees celsius for an hour, or until tender (check with a skewer). Then grate ‘em up, mix with some natural yoghurt and a clove or two of fresh crushed garlic. Deeeelicious in wraps or salad or with bread/crackers. Plus it’s an amazing purple colour. Double win!
Wait till you start menu planning and you’ll notice how much you save.
I try to cook as often as possible and love the leftovers for lunch.
Oh lady! Talk to me. I will SCHOOL you in being domestic. And help you save a lot of loot, too. I’ve got about a billion tricks up my sleeve. Two of them (black beans and vegetable stock) you found out.
I’ve gotta teach you the finer points of coupon cutting sometime in the near future…
Umm. I think I am totally in love with this idea. I am definitely going to try beans and veggie broth. Any clue how to make bean patties for veggie burgers? Hmm…I may have to use the trusty google.
Oooh, yes! Here’s a link to my favorite black bean burger recipe (with an orange-basil salsa, but when I’m feeling lazy, I’ll sub that for store-bought peach salsa or pepper jelly): http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=644
The burgers can come out a bit on the dry side, so I usually add two extra egg whites. Even serious carnivores like this recipe, though. It’s a good one!
Oh! Would you mind me asking for an elaboration on these black bean and sweet potato burritos? It all sounds like an amazing combination and I have to try it right now.
Oh man, you WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! They are beyond delicious! For these beans, because they were already nicely spiced, all I did was take five medium sweet potatoes, wrap ‘em in plastic wrap and jab some holes in them, then nuke them (in two batches) for eight minutes each, ’til they were cooked tender. Then nuked ten whole-wheat tortillas for thirty seconds to warm them up and one each one, mashed half a sweet potato and then scooped a big spoonful of the black beans. Roll and enjoy! (My freezer’s full of them. Too delicious.)
When I’m starting out with canned or plain beans, though, I make a recipe from Spark People (here’s a link), which I like even a bit more. In it, you cook plain black beans with onion and cumin, then mash them up with a few wedges of Laughing Cow cheese to make a really decadent, delicious faux refried black bean. The Ex and I used to eat these like three days a week.
Dude! YES! I’m always so excited when people discover the amazingness that is cooking! Here are a couple of my standbys, for future reference:
Red Lentil Soup (sometimes I’ll add chard and a potato for more healthiness and heartiness, respectively): http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Red-Lentil-Soup-240287
Saag Tofu (DIY Indian food? Yes! And you can sub in frozen spinach if you like): http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/saag_tofu.html
This weekend I’m going to try these peanut sesame noodles, which sound like a simpler version of the ones I usually make:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/peanut-sesame-noodles/
I’m also a huge proponent of homemade pesto, though it can get a little spendy. But you can whip up a big batch and then freeze whatever you don’t use.
Okay, I’m going to stop nerding out over food now.
Tofu saag aloo then (Tofu with potato and spinach in English).
Indian cookery is not hard, beyond the seed money to fill your spice rack the first time!
I’m a little bit obsessed with Indian cookery. If you can find a store that sells bulk spices (which I highly recommend!), the initial investment isn’t even that bad.
One of my favorite “Holy Crap!” moments was when I made homemade crackers. I love hummus (also made at home, terribly cheap and very delicious) with crackers, but I was hooked on those Vinta crackers by Dare. Mark Bittman has a recipe for Parmesan Cream crackers that are a) really easy b) super delicious and c) rather cheap. You should try it! Here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/dining/04mini-web.html
<3
“cause I enjoy being able to fit into my bathtub”
Was that a sideways dig at William Howard Taft, our chubbiest and stuck-in-the-tubbiest president?!
“fold the bag over a bit and staple it or close it with a bit of tape, then put the bag vertically in the microwave”
I just did a double-take about that. I thought metal in microwaves is a no-no.
A bit of internet research suggests that a staple or two is unlikely to cause sparks or fires, but the below site’s answer sounds scary enough that I’d probably use tape or just fold up the brown paper bag a few times.
http://www.hps.org/publicinformation/ate/faqs/microwaveovenq&a.html
EEK!!! DON’T PUT STAPLES IN THE MICROWAVE!!!
Tape should suffice, though. Sweet post! Keep up the awesome work :)