As I said at the cooking class, pasta, rice, beans, potatoes, soups and salads are the least expensive things you can cook. Since pasta, rice, beans and potatoes are often added to soups and, sometimes, salads, these are great meals to make when trying to reduce your food budget.
When trying to save money in your food budget, you need to have a new mind set about meats. Americans think of meat as our main dish and pasta, rice, beans and potatoes as sides, you need to reverse that and consider these ingredients as your main portion of your meal and meat as the side dish. We should only be eating 3 ½-4 ½ oz. of meat per meal. That’s a piece of meat about the size of your palm, before it’s cooked.
If you’re concerned about carbohydrates or overly “processed” foods, here’s some information for you: Beans are a great source of protein and fiber; You can always purchase wheat pasta, or make your own, as we did in class; brown rice is a high fiber alternative to processed white rice with a nutty flavor and chewy texture. Just remember brown rice takes longer to cook and doesn’t store as long as white rice, so if you’re buying in bulk, refrigerate or freeze for longer storage. Potatoes are actually pretty good for you, especially if you don’t add all the toppings. Be sure to eat the skin, as in baked potatoes, that’s where most of the nutrients are and sweet potatoes are one of the best foods for you. Check out this link to see the nutritional value of sweet potatoes, I think you’ll be surprised:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2667/2
Tips for cooking pasta:
When cooking pasta, use plenty of water. You want the pasta to be able to move around as it boils and don’t forget to stir periodically. Pasta is done when it has some chew, but is not hard. Do not over cook your pasta.
Always add pasta to boiling, well salted, water. If you do this, you won’t need to add salt at the table. Your water should taste like “salt water”.
Do not rinse the pasta after it’s cooked, just drain and return to the cooking pot.
If you’re adding sauce, add it immediately. The starch remaining on the pasta will thicken your sauce and help it to “stick” to the pasta.
Never oil your water or pasta when cooking. This will interfere with the sauce sticking to the pasta.
There is an exception to the oil; if you’re holding the pasta for some time, add some oil to keep the pasta from sticking together, but be frugal.
Remember that pasta will absorb whatever sauce you put on it, so make sure you have enough sauce to keep the pasta moist. Spaghetti will absorb more sauce than macaroni, such as rigatoni, mustocolli, or penne. If you have less sauce, use macaroni instead of spaghetti, angle hair or fettuccini. Remember that if you’re adding chicken to your pasta, it will absorb sauce as well and allow for that. It’s better to pour the sauce over the pasta just before it’s served instead of trying to hold the dish. When you hold pasta it has a tendency to be dry and gummy, so you may need to re-sauce your pasta if it’s sat for any length of time. If you are reheating pasta, add a little water and reheat in the microwave. Do not over cook.
Tips for cooking rice:
Some recipes tell you to rinse your rice before cooking; this is to reduce the amount of starch in the finished product. I don’t usually rinse my rice. The worse thing you can do to rice is to overcook it. When boiling rice, I suggest you use a good rice cooker. The one I prefer is the Pampered Chef microwave rice cooker. The rice cooks perfectly every time in 20 minutes. The great thing about it is that I can leave it and not worry whether it’s going to overcook or burn.
Seasonings and spices can be added to rice before cooking, which allows the flavor to be absorbed into the rice as it cooks. If you’re adding something like tomatoes, for Spanish rice, be sure to make allowances for the liquid factor when adding the water or you’ll end up with soup.
Rice is a great staple in your pantry and very versatile. It can be used in soups, salads, main dish casseroles, as a side dish or dessert. It can be fried, browned, baked or boiled. Whether using white or brown, it’s something to consider in your pantry.
Leftover rice can be easily reheated by adding a little water to a microwave safe dish, covering and microwaving for 45-60 seconds or till heated through.
Cooking with beans:
Beans are cooked by boiling; after they’re boiled, they can be used in many different ways. Different beans have different flavors and strengths. Pinto beans have a much stronger taste than white beans. You can easily add lentils to your bean selections. These are great for adding protein to your diet without adding a lot of meat. Beans can be used in soups, salads, breads, cakes, cookies, candy and many vegetarian and ethnic dishes. Beans are versatile and are very adaptable. You’ll learn more about beans in the “Food Storage” cooking class in May.
Potatoes:
Oh, what can we say about potatoes? I’ve given you several recipes for making your own fries. Try them oven baked, it cuts way down on the grease and calories.
We’re all familiar with the “baked” potato. Next time you’re baking your spuds, rub them with oil and roll them in a salt and pepper mixture. Bake them on a cookie sheet or piece of foil, unwrapped, and you’ll get a great crispy crust and a great salt crusted flavor that’s wonderful. You could even use flavored salts, such as garlic or mesquite. When I bake potatoes, I usually bake some extra so I can make Pampered Chef’s Baked Potato Soup, one of our favorites (it’s in your recipe file). Because the potatoes are already baked, this soup can be ready in less than 30 minutes.
You know how I feel about ricing potatoes. This is still my new favorite thing. I had a bag of red potatoes a couple of weeks ago which I peeled, boiled and riced. When they’d cooled off, I scooped the potatoes into Ziplock bags and stacked them in the freezer. This is so great, I just pull out a bag, bring it to room temperature, or thaw it in the microwave, add some butter, milk, salt and pepper, and you have “crazy good” mashed potatoes. What’s not to like? My favorite for mashed potatoes is still Russets, Yucon Golds are second and Red’s are my least favorite, but it all works.
You can use mashed potatoes in Suzy’s Cinnamon Rolls – remember how great they are? I also use leftovers to thicken soups, if you have enough you can use them for a base in Shepherds Pie, scoop them on top of a casserole, or mix them with shredded zucchini, a little bread crumbs, egg, seasonings and some shredded cheese, pan fry them and you have some amazing potato zucchini pancakes. I like these best served with a little sour cream and applesauce – oh sooooo good!
Boiled and cubed, potatoes are great in your grandmother’s or mother’s potato salad. Breakfast is great with shredded hash browns or cubed fried potatoes. Potatoes can be use as sides, main dishes or in desserts.
Don’t forget the power, taste and nutrition of the sweet potato. Bake it, boil it, fry it, you won’t be sorry. Use it in a casserole, salad, as fries or substitute it for pumpkin in a “sweet potato” pie (you can use the Libby’s Pumpkin Pie recipe – yummy).
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