NEVER MIND CLOUDY, IT'S RAINING MEATBALLS

Meatball multiplication and division. It’s a problem that originated over 40 years ago.

As a young bride, Old Mother Frugal brought to her bride kitchen recipes from home.

Among those recipes was one for Italian meatballs.  It was most likely a recipe passed down from one generation of Italian mothers to another in our family.

Back from a most memorable honeymoon, it was time to begin testing those non-existent cooking skills with a basic meatball recipe.

When the first batch was done, there were 20 tennis-ball sized meatballs for the bride and her groom. That was Old Mother Frugal’s first lesson in freezer cooking “cook once/eat twice”.  Alas, what else does one do with all those meatballs!

Fast forward 40 years to a few weeks ago when those gastric juices beckoned for Italian Wedding Soup. 

The freezer was stocked with half pound packages of ground chuck but that was too much for the soup.

Only two adults were dining that night. Defrosting two hamburgers seemed to be the obvious solution.  From there began the formation of tiny meatballs for Italian Wedding Soup.

Here is where the multiplication and division came into play….

Two hamburgers weighed half pound.

D-u-h…yes, the same half pound weight as in the packages of ground chuck.  Half of those hamburgers, one-quarter pound or one hamburger, would have been sufficient to make meatballs to feed 2 adults.

By the time the meatball mixture was made and the meatballs rolled into dime size balls, there were no less than 41 tiny meatballs for 2 adults.  Meatballs had taken over the kitchen.

As was learned over 40 years ago, the cook once/eat twice strategy is a frugal path to saving time and energy.  Old Mother Frugal just needs to revisit the lessons from her youth  of multiplication and division!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s Tip:  Serving a homemade soup before or with a meal is a healthy meal extender when trying to stretch food dollars. Soup is very filling; you need less of your entrée when serving your family or guests.

IT'S THOSE LITTLE THINGS

When Old Mother Frugal’s “One and Only” Mother’s Little Helper was seven years old, she wanted a food item at the grocery store. It was explained that Old Mother Frugal had spent all the grocery money and she’d have to wait before we could buy more food. She was assured there was plenty of food in the house and she’d have to make another request, one which was already in the pantry. Those of you that are monthly grocery shoppers most likely can relate to such a conversation.

A few days later, “One and Only” Mother’s Little Helper came home from school with a stack of cookbooks from the school library.  It was a 2^nd grader’s contribution to the food situation at home.  There was bound to be something in those cookbooks that Old Mother Frugal could use to make her something special to eat without spending money at the grocery store.

It’s a favorite memory.  So thoughtful. It’s those little things that mean so much.

It’s also those little things of food items that can be made so much of as well.

Old Mother Frugal has a passion of no food waste.  

The problem…those little items in the freezer can easily get lost and unused which defeats the entire purpose to re-purpose!

Today that changed…all those little things came out of the freezer and into cooking appliances for re-purposing.  A small container of chopped spinach, leftover homemade ricotta, marked down pizza down will transform into a calzone or pizza.

Packages of cooked chicken bones and cooked turkey wings with some veggie scraps and leftover vegetables into the largest crock pot in the kitchen for a low and slow stock.

Scraps of pork from pork loins and Italian sausage went into a large pot of homemade red sauce and three loaves of stale bread into the oven to dry for homemade bread crumbs. 

Yes, all these years later and it’s still those little things that can amount to so much!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s Tip:  Take inventory of what is in your freezer by writing the items down on an index card and tape to the inside of your freezer.  As you add/remove items, update your list.  It serves several purposes.  First, you will know what you have on hand. Second, instead of having that dazed, "deer in the headlight look" of “what should I cook for dinner”, a quick glance of your inventory may spark an idea or two!

THE BORED ROOM

Oh gosh!  How many times did Mother’s Little Helpers utter the words “I’m bored” when they were youngsters?  I wish I had a nickel, as the saying goes, for every time that phrase came out of the mouths of those babes.

If Old Mother Frugal recited those words when she was a youngster, Old Grandmother Frugal would say “If you have nothing to do, I can find something for you to do”.  It usually was not fun and it always required an expenditure of much energy on my part. Dusting the baseboards around the house.  Ironing the pillowcases.  Drying the dishes.  Hanging the wash to dry. Folding the laundry.

Obviously, Old Mother Frugal’s boredom was to be relieved by any chore Old Grandmother Frugal did not care to do, or so it would seem. Keeping busy was key to avoiding unwarranted chores. If not busy, it was equally obvious that there was a chore to be done, you just didn’t know it!

To this day, Old Mother Frugal has to stay busy.  There is a reel going ‘round and around inside her head “if you have nothing to do, I can find something for you to do”.  There are lists of sticky “Post It” notes on the refrigerator, the kitchen cabinets, the counter top, the oven door and even a list stuck to coupon box for shopping. Lists of busy work because with aging, Old Mother Frugal can’t possibly remember everything!

It was well into adulthood before Old Mother Frugal understood the lesson she learned about boredom and staying busy.  Productivity improves one’s self-esteem.  A sense of “mission accomplished” is a sense of pride.  Old Grandmother Frugal knew that you can’t put a dollar price on something like that.

Sound the Bugle: Today’s tip – when life seems crowded with chores and busy work, set a block of time to allow yourself to work on that task.  Write down what needs to be done. Organize the list as which to do first, then second and multi-task whenever possible!  

                                       COOKING ON ALL BURNERS

                             
                                         LET APPLIANCES DO ALL THE WORK