THICK AS A BRICK

Chicken remains one of the least expensive meat proteins that one can prepare on a shoestring budget and still serve an elegant meal. Buying the whole chicken is the most economical use of your grocery dollars.

The price point that Old Mother Frugal targets is less than .99/lb. To find whole chicken at .69/lb or even .53/lb is stockpile time!

If you have concerns that you don’t know what to do with a whole chicken, most butchers will section it for you at no charge. Just remember to ask for all the parts. You will need and want them for soup stock.

However, if the butcher is not available, you can roast the whole chicken or place it in a large pot of boiling water and reduce to low boil for about 45 - 60 minutes. Once cooked, save the liquid stock for soup and remove the meat from the chicken carcass. The cooled chicken meat can then be placed in Ziploc bags and frozen.

Recently I experimented with a cooking technique called “Spatchcocked”. It required removing the breast bone between the two chicken breasts of a whole chicken and frying the chicken flat, under bricks that were covered in aluminum foil.

Marinating the meat in the refrigerator for two days with ingredients from my pantry, the end result was a scrumptious and moist piece of chicken for a price of .53/lb. The pressure of the bricks gave the meat a crispy sear that made for a lovely presentation on the dinner plate.  

All this to say that even Old Mother Frugal, who may be “thick as a brick” on occasion, can still learn a thing or two about cooking and trying something new!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Price points. A “price point” is the amount of money that you are willing to pay for an item. My price point for chicken is the following:

§  whole chicken is .99/lb or less;

§  leg/thigh quarters are between .39 and .49/lb;

§  breasts on the rib cage are .99/lb. I make my own boneless, skinless chicken breasts by removing the skin and the meat from the rib cage.

§  boneless, skinless chicken breasts would be $1.99 or less.

If you are squeamish about touching raw chicken, disposable plastic gloves at the Dollar Tree stores are great barriers between your hands and your chicken. Depending on where you live, your price points may be slightly higher. Find your price points and you will find savings in your wallet!

 

 

                                      SPATCHCOCKED METHOD

 

                                             MARINATED CHICKEN LAYING FLAT
                                              BEFORE GOING INTO PAN

 

 

PRESSURE FROM BRICKS

GIVES A GOOD SEAR TO THE CHICKEN

 

 

READY FOR SERVING

 

STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS...WHAT?

Could it be that Old Mother Frugal is bringing back ironing?

In all honesty, it never went away for me as it had for others.

As a new bride, I've recounted how I did not know how to cook.

The other skill that I did not acquire was ironing shirts.

I excelled at pillowcases and handkerchiefs. However, much like cooking, mom never delegated shirts to me. But I spent hours observing her technique.

My lack of precision pressing became abundantly clear to the new groom’s coworkers.

Unless he told them about the non-existent cooking skills, they were none the wiser. However, it didn’t take much to realize the new bride had no idea how to press a shirt.

I had to learn to hone my skill because in keeping a frugal household, sending shirts “out” to be laundered was not a chore that I was willing to pay someone else to do.

When money is tight and you need to be on a bare-bones budget, if you are sending out the shirts/blouses to be laundered, help is on the way.

Once washed, the first step is to toss the shirts into the dryer for no more than 5 minutes.

Then hang and allow to air dry. This step will take many of the wrinkles out of the shirt. Not sure of the science behind this phenomenon, but it works. It will also prevent undue shrinkage.

Next step is to set up your ironing board with iron in front of a TV or some music in your ears. It makes the time go faster.

Ready…Set…Press!

Start with the collar. Then the left sleeve and cuff. Flip it over and do the back of the left sleeve and cuff.

Now press the right sleeve. Flip it over and press the back of the right sleeve.

Turn shirt to the pointy side of the ironing board and press the narrow strip that runs below the collar. I never knew what it was called; I just call it the narrow strip under the collar. [See photo].

You are now ready to press the body of the shirt. Right front, back and then left front. Be sure to press the button holes flat as well.

Well done!  Hang it…button it…and admire your work and the money you have saved!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Some dry cleaners offer special discounts and coupons to frequent customers. As a regular customer, my discount is 20% on services. Check with your dry cleaner and see if any discount is available to you too!

                                               Start with the collar

 

 

Move to the left sleeve

 

Back of the left sleeve

 

Front of right sleeve

                                                               Back of right sleeve

 

Narrow strip below collar

 

Top of right side of shirt

 

Right front

                                           Move to back once right side is done       

 

Once left front is pressed, iron the button holes

 

Finished product

 

TWENTY MEATBALLS FOR TWO

In the second part of this series, unofficially entitled “The Evolution of Old Mother Frugal”, a serious miscalculation in meal preparation over 35 years ago led to what became the “cook once, eat twice” or "batch cooking".

For those who have not read “Saga of a Soggy Burger”, your humble blogger could not even cook a hamburger when she took her marriage vows.  There was some quibbling over the “obey” wording in the vows, but there was no mention of being able to cook and provide sustenance in the form of an edible meal.

Mom was a good cook and she cooked for a family of five. She learned from two, good cooking Italian women. Working on the premise that copying mom’s good recipes would surely make this new bride a good cook too, all mom's recipes came along with me into my new life as a young wife.

Not that I asked, but mom never taught “Meatball Math”. As the saying goes, you don’t know what you don’t know.

One week after the honeymoon, spaghetti and meatballs were on the dinner menu. I diligently followed the recipe. When done, there were 20 meatballs for dinner but only two adults.

Calling my cooking lifeline (one of my dearest best friends from high school) with this "Meatball Math" crisis, the kitchen was being overrun with these round mounds of ground chuck.

After suffering through the failed boiled burger experiment and “must cook” potatoes before mashing debacle, the new groom was facing life with 16 meatballs unless a back-up plan was in place and in place mighty darn fast. My cooking lifeline informed me to freeze the meatballs. There were enough meatballs for a month but that was okay, meatballs freeze well. Good to know.

And so it began, cook once and eat twice…or three times or four times. Meatballs with spaghetti or meatballs with mashed potatoes [see “Saga of a Soggy Burger”] or meatball sub sandwiches or meatballs parmesan, when one needs to plate 16 meatballs for dinner ideas, the options are many!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Buying meat in bulk can often save money. To save time, divide the bulk meat into smaller portions. When the meat is ground sirloin or chuck, section the meat. Use some for hamburgers, some for taco meat, and some for meatballs, enough for a meatloaf and sloppy Joes or stuffed shells. Label and freeze so that you don’t have to waste time thinking “what’s for dinner”. If you happen to have time on your side, cook ahead and freeze.

 

 

SAGA OF THE SOGGY BURGER

Well fellow readers and followers, can it be the one year anniversary of this blog?

In honor of this occasion and it being Throwback Thursday, Old Mother Frugal is going w-a-y back to a time very long ago for this entry of "Frugal Bugle".

Recently, the opportunity presented itself to have dessert with one of my dearest high school best friends at her dining room table. The topic: my very first venture into cooking.

As a teenager, my dinnertime chore was to take a pound of ground chuck and make burgers. Mom could only yield four burgers whereas I could yield five burgers. Since Mom needed five burgers, she would assign that chore to me.

But that was the extent of my meal preparation. Make the burgers. Cooking the burgers was not in her lesson plan. Mom only thought I needed to know how to create the burger, not cook it.

As this dearest best friend recalled with great accuracy, my first attempt at cooking the burger was to place it in a frying pan with boiling water.  That’s right, a boiled burger.

Yes, that burger went into the frying pan with boiling hot water, covered and simmered for however long for it took for it to turn white. Once it reached its degree of doneness, it was served to my fiancé.

It was not a pretty sight and the burger did elicit some odd looks. After that, there was no more cooking until the marriage vows were exchanged and the license signed by all parties.

By now, this dearest high school best friend became my cooking lifeline. When I called my lifeline “hey, how do you make mashed potatoes”, she began with adding the butter and milk presuming that the potatoes were already cooked and ready for mashing.

Oh no, no, no!

Mashed potatoes first needed to be cooked and I was clueless. It was at this moment when that pot of boiling water was resurrected as the appropriate cooking method for potatoes.

Cooking [and Old Mother Frugal] has evolved over the years. There are microwave ovens to aid in the cooking process. There is the internet with you-tube videos, websites and recipes to get a novice cook through cooking a meal.

Had those options been available eons ago, what memories would two old friends have to laugh about over a cup of tea or a pot of coffee?

Equally memorable by this dearest best high school friend is the story of the “twenty meatballs for two” which is when my foray into cooking once, eating twice, three or four times first began. That my followers, is another story for another blog entry!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Tap into the talents of your little helpers for meal time preparation. Solicit them young and early on. Little Grandmother’s Helpers can hold a carrot or mix the waffle batter. They’ll love it and you’ll enjoy the memories created when many hands make light work!

                               WEAPON OF BURGER DESTRUCTION

 

 

OLD TIMEY HAMBURGER PRESS

 

RUB-A-DUB FLUB

Calling out Old Mother Frugal’s February grocery spending for what it has been…a total flub.

The ability to limit the money in my grocery budget this month was an epic fail.

So what happened??

First, I found savings of unused money in my gas account. This, combined with room in my freezer and some spectacular meat sale prices, sent me stockpiling and spending.

After the Super Bowl, I found deeply discounted hams, whole chickens, flat iron steaks and sausage. All items were significantly below my price point. Had I waited until I needed those items, I would have had to pay full sale price. Sale prices, as with “everyday prices” of meat, have escalated in recent months with projections of this trend continuing into the year.

Net weight on some items is shrinking which means less meat for the “sale price”. The rotisserie chicken on sale at $4.98 weighs 29 ounces. That chicken is less than 2 lbs.

My benchmark for whole chickens is between .95 - .99/lb. When I see them at .65/lb, it is time to stock-up. Some are left whole for roasting while others are sectioned into eight piece parts. Backbones and rib cages are saved for soup. This is a “bonus” meal for the family.

When buying a whole chicken at .99/lb, my cost of $4.98 will be a roaster that is 5 lbs in weight and not 29 ounces. In the span of one hour, a roasted chicken is ready for the dinner table.

At the end of the month, a combination of coupons and sale prices on canned vegetables caused a spending spree for Old Mother Frugal’s cupboards with tomatoes, green beans and corn.

Marching into the new month the new goal is to stock up some dollar bills instead of food, for the next time an unexpected sale comes along!

SOUND THE BULGE! Today’s tip: One of Mother’s Helpers loves rubs. He uses them on pork and poultry alike. Due to the high content of sodium in many pre-packaged rubs, consider scouring the internet for home-made rub recipes to marinate and flavor meat. The spice ingredients are in your pantry, saving you the expense of finding a pre-packaged product to purchase. Eliminate the salt for a sodium-free rub. Double or triple the recipe to have on hand for another meal.

 

THE YOYO EXPERIENCE

Several months ago, I came across “yoyo” in a sentence and instantly became baffled as to why the context of “yoyo” didn’t match up to my vision of “yoyo”.

My vision of “yoyo” was a toy made by the Duncan Company. Anything other than a Duncan yoyo was an imitation yoyo. It was either wood, and then plastic in later years, that was two pieces of roundness with a long string wrapped in the middle of the spool.

Easter time was yoyo time. Once springtime came along, out came the yoyo. Hours on end were spent trying to master yoyo tricks. There was “walk the dog”, “around the world” and “rock the baby” to name a few.

Nothing was more frustrating than the string knotting itself and becoming unusable until the knot was removed from the string. The string was rather long and this tedious task of unknotting was not for the faint of heart.

The yoyo was popular in the 60s and again when Mother’s Little Helpers were growing up, it made a resurgence in toy popularity. Of course, that was when school children had something called “recess” and you could bring your yoyo out to the school yard to play and show off your yoyo talents.

Toys are different in the new century. There are games to be played, still using your hands, but on one’s phone.

When “yoyo” appears today, it is an acronym for the phone text message “you’re on your own”.

If you need to use that acronym, it would be something like “what’s for dinner” and the reply is “YOYO”. “You’re on your own”.

Now that I’ve been enlightened to the new meaning of “yoyo”, I find comfort in that a toy from the past is not being served up on a platter for dinner tonight.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: If you have leftovers in your refrigerator but not enough to feed the entire family the same meal, consider hosting “yoyo night”. Reheat the leftovers, place all on the table and everyone can select their favorite dish for dinner. Not only is this a good way to use leftovers, it gives the cook a night off from dinner preparation!

                                         A RECENT YOYO MEAL

                                             Poached egg on a waffle

PETER PIPER'S PEPPERS

As a young child growing up in an Italian-American home, it was customary to visit one’s grandparents either every Sunday or every other Sunday for a seven course dinner.

This was a time before microwaves and dishwashers or large refrigerators. Dinner was at noon so cooking began at the crack of dawn.

I would hear the stories how blocks of ice were purchased to keep food from spoiling. Eventually Grandma did buy a small refrigerator however she never kept much food in it. Today and tomorrow’s meat; the freezer was for ravioli and ice-cream pops for her grandchildren. Habits were hard to change.

Grandma shopped daily. She lived above the market. It was one flight of stairs down to street level and around the corner to the market for groceries. The apartment building didn’t have an elevator. It was a “walk up”. With string bags in hand, she’d cart back to her apartment only what she could carry in her bags and nothing more.

Everything was fresh. Only the ravioli came from a box in the freezer because it was made fresh, stored and sold to the grocer.

Grandpa liked her cooking. And he liked it spicy. Very spicy. To add this dimension of spice to her meals, she would dry her own peppers. The market sold “hot peppers” and Grandma would string these peppers from the pipes in her apartment until they were shriveled and so dry that they would crumble upon touch.

The heat of the pepper was so intense that she would caution never to touch the hot peppers and use your hands to rub your eye. The burning sensation was immediate and uncomfortable.

When she wasn’t drying hot peppers, she was roasting red bell peppers. As you see, peppers were a staple in her cooking and Grandpa’s diet. He must have had a cast iron stomach to consume all that spicy food. Had he been alive today, the variety of peppers with their associated levels of heat would have most certainly pleased him.

Old Mother Frugal’s stomach is not as strong as Grandpa’s but my memories of the peppers are as strong as ever.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Bell peppers freeze well. Once washed, slice in half, remove seeds and placed in plastic bags. No prior cooking required. Red bell peppers, when roasted, make for a delightful sandwich or sandwich topping. Stockpile when on sale and treat yourself to a wonderful veggie sandwich!

                      BROIL PEPPERS ON ALL SIDES UNTIL CHARRED

 

PLACE IN ORDINARY BROWN PAPER BAG

 

STEAM IN CLOSED BAG UNTIL COOL

 

REMOVE CHAR SKIN AND SEEDS FROM PEPPERS

 

WRAP SEEDS AND SKINS IN PAPER

 

ROASTED PEPPERS ARE READY TO EAT

 

RED PEPPER AND SWISS ON PITA