A "RADISH"CAL EXPERIMENT

Old Mother Frugal is fascinated with how women during the Great Depression fed their families. In some cases, as with her own Old Frugal Grandma, fed other families as well as her own.

Old Frugal Grandma fed her family of four and other families in her apartment building. It was a walk-up in New York City and legend has it that she had her son as the runner up and down the stairs delivering food.

Her son is now 91 years old. If prodded, he will tell stories of his youth during the Great Depression.

From various readings, dandelion salads using dandelion leaves were common during those days. While staring at a bunch of radish on the kitchen counter that little bit of information posed the question in Old Mother Frugal’s mind…why are radish leaves tossed as trash? 

Dandelion greens are edible. Some greens gathered from foraging are edible. Beet greens are edible. Why are radish greens being tossed as trash?

A little bit of research and recipes pop up en masse for radish leaves or radish greens. The most popular of which appeared to be a sauté of olive oil and garlic, then adding greens.

With a sale on radish bunches, the radish experiment took off. Each bunch had 10 or 11 radishes to it with a bounty of leaves. This week, three bunches for $1.00. Not a heavy investment for a culinary experiment.

The leaves filled an 8-cup bowl. But as with any greens that cook, they shrink in size. In this case, 8 cups yielded a half-cup of cooked greens.

The culinary challenge began!

First experiment was adding the cooked radish leaves to an English Muffin breakfast sandwich with an egg and a slice of Baked Forest Ham deli meat. With such success, more radish bunches were purchased.

The next experiment was adding the leaves to soup. Old Mother Frugal found a bag of homemade gnocchi in the freezer. A meatless soup of cannellini beans, gnocchi and radish greens made for a delicious and eye-appealing entrée.

The last experiment was adding the leaves to a pasta recipe with cooked salmon, capers and olives in a marinara sauce.

So give that radish leaf a second thought before tossing into the trash. What you discard are valuable high concentrations of vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, calcium, and vitamin A. There are also antioxidants, protein and dietary fiber in radish greens as well as potassium and folic acid!

Apparently, Grandma knew best!

Sound the Bugle! Today’s tip: While the focus of today’s blog is the greens of the radish, the radish itself should not be overlooked as a source of wonderful nutrients.  A light summer salad of sliced radish coins with salt or with a vinaigrette dressing is a refreshing accompaniment to a meal and economical as well!

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW

Old Mother Frugal recalls reading books of Mother Goose nursery rhymes to her Mother’s Little Helpers when they were little babes. 

“Mary, Mary quite contrary…how does your garden grow?”

Ah…the tale of how the garden grows!

Fast forward several decades to an area in the yard designated for gardening.  Year in and year out, futile attempts are made to grow vegetables and herbs.

And year in and year out, the neighboring deer find their way to Old Mother Frugal’s small garden patch and nibble through her garden as if it’s their own appetizer patch.

This holiday weekend another attempt will be made to plant, with the intent to reap what will be sown. Besides the standard tomato, and zucchini plants, this year may include radishes. 

Old Mother Frugal has recently rediscovered this vegetable.  A local market sells them in bunches, right from the ground – mud included. That means, the greens are still attached to the tops of the radish.

When selecting radishes, search for the bunch with the most radishes. The price is the same whether the bunch has 8 radishes or 14 radishes!

Old Mother Frugal has been reading, with much interest, about foraging.  Locally, greens are treated with “fertilizer” from animals which prevent harvesting them for consumption.  

Which cycles Old Mother Frugal back to the local market for her "greens".

When buying radishes by the bunch with greens attached, it may seem so easy to just discard the radish tops as trash.  But have you ever considered cooking them for use in a recipe?  Much like spinach, kale or any “greens”, radish tops are edible greens.

Old Mother Frugal has used them on egg sandwiches and in soups. They can be used in pasta dishes, to make pesto or as a vegetable side dish sautéed in olive oil and garlic. With a bitter taste to them, it may taste like a mustard green or broccoli rabe.  

Fifty cents is a small investment for a bunch of radish. Use the radish in a salad, or in a sandwich for added crunch or as a snack. The use the bonus radish greens for an entirely separate recipe.

The next time you are in your local market seek out these bundles of red roundness with green leafy tops.  If you really don’t like them, well…there is always compost for your garden!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip:  Buying seasonal fruits and vegetables are good ways to save money in your food budget.  In summertime, scoop out watermelon pulp; use the rind to make relish.  Lemon, lime and orange rinds make for homemade cleaners.  Begin to use all parts of your food items before you toss your money in the trash!

                                                         RADISHES

          

ICE WATER BATH

                                                                  

SAUTE IN OLIVE OIL AND GARLIC 

                             SERVE ON ENGLISH MUFFIN WITH HAM AND EGG

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

GONE FISHIN'

Old Mother Frugal likes to take time off from cooking and hang the “Gone Fishin’” sign. 

Well, not literally gone fishin’. 

Figuratively, gone fishin’. 

This episode of "Frugal Bugle" is dedicated to using the oven as my ‘fishing hole’. One strategy to defer cooking is to cook several meals at one time.  Sometimes it’s using three slow cookers simultaneously or the main oven. Today, it’s the stove-top and toaster oven.

Simultaneous cooking is a frugal use of time, energy (both physical and gas/electrical) and keeps money in the wallet by not dining out.

First, there is the time issue.  Plan to cook a minimum of three meals at one time.  Allocate about 2 hours maximum to this endeavor.  You may use only 60-90 minutes. There are only 24 hours in a day but preparing several meals simultaneously in advance gives you an extra 30-60 minutes per day.

Yes, Old Mother Frugal has figured out how to add extra time to your busy day. If you are a full time working person, slot 7-9PM one night when your Little Helpers are busy doing homework or 7-9AM on Saturday.  Maybe Saturday/Sunday afternoon works better for you. 

How are you saving time?  You are not repetitively taking utensils out of drawers and cabinets, not repetitively washing dishes, pots and pans.

This strategy works for dinners and it works for desserts (muffins, cupcakes, cakes, quick breads, etc). Start with your lightest color batter first and work up to the darker color batters (vanilla, banana, carrot, red-velvet, chocolate).

One and done.

Next is the issue of expending energy.  Physical energy.  Cooking can be tiring.  All that walking around the kitchen, back-n-forth.  If your oven is low, all those knee bends and squats!  Bending down to open and close drawers, reaching up to open and close cabinet doors. Cooking three meals in the oven at one time is less tiring.  

This brings up the next energy-drainer, the utility bill.  When you can turn on the oven one time and cook multiple meals, you are saving electricity or gas. Washing dishes one time conserves water and cost.

Dining out is pricey.  If you’re too tired to cook…not in the mood to cook… sick and tired to cook, how wonderful it is to reheat and eat!  No loading up the car with the Little Helpers. No waiting for a table or in a line to be served dinner for two or three or four or five.  No embarrassing public meltdowns by Mom due to hunger. [The Little Helpers never have public meltdowns]. No shocking bill at the end of the meal. No remorse the following month when the credit card comes due for payment.

Now, Old Mother Frugal has no qualms with dining out, but it’s budgeted in the spending plan.  When looking to find ways to save in the budget, look at money spent dining out.  You may be surprised!

There are three new meals in Old Mother Frugal's refrigerator for this week: one for chicken fajitas; one for chicken scampi and spaghetti and one for salmon patties over noodles. Extra meatballs from Sunday's dinner means a meal of meatball leftovers, maybe a meatball sub sandwich! 

What does one do with the extra time? Write a blog entry, of course!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip:  If possible, make an extra serving when doing your dinner prep. Build up your freezer with these extra meals so that you can periodically have meals from the freezer without having to cook that day’s dinner. Serve it buffet-style and let family members select which entrée they would like for dinner! 

                                                   SALMON PATTIES

ONE-PAN CHICKEN FAJITAS

                                                  CHICKEN TENDER SCAMPI

MASHED POTATOES

THE FORTY YEAR BURNOUT

Old Mother Frugal’s cupboards are full but sometimes the imagination is empty.  Gazing into the panty or the freezer can be daunting.  What is there to eat?

When the youngest of Old Mother Frugal’s Little Helpers was a child, a sign was created and erected onto the refrigerator door. It read “some assembly required” because too often, the refrain “there’s nothing in here to eat” was repeated over and over again. 

Friends would come over and read the sign as if Lego’s had found their way into the refrigerator.  “Some Assembly Required”???? 

The fact is that Old Mother Frugal suffers from “cooking block”.  Yes, as if “writers block” isn’t bad enough, what to cook for dinner has become, at times, a challenge.

Forty years of cooking and burnout eventually set in.  Factor in the budget or the ‘spending plan’ as it’s called in Old Mother Frugal’s kitchen, and well, cooking can be a lot less fun.  

Who amongst us isn’t constrained by tight finances?  Not seeing many raised hands out there in cyberspace.  Add some dietary restrictions and ‘less fun’ morphs into ‘no fun’.

To keep fresh and engaged in cooking, some weeks have designated cooking themes. Meals are planned around a movie, book or song title, a phrase or a play on words.  Just about anything to keep interest from drying up and dying out.

The idea of a “theme” came from The Little Helpers. For years, birthday parties were constructed around a party theme.  With a theme came direction. With a theme, there is laser-like focus. With a theme came a plan. Like a road map from the week’s topic to the kitchen table.

Some of Old Mother Frugal’s favorite themes have been…

§     -  A Wrinkle in Time – using canned foods with “wrinkles” or dents

§    - Top Shelf – a twist on the TV show “Top Chef”

§    - What Lies Beneath – movie reference to freezer foods hidden beneath other foods

§    - Outside the Box –recipes that have been collected for years in a box but never used

§    - State Fair – eating foods sold at the state fair

§    - You ‘Can’ Do This – using canned food at meal time

§    - Building A Mystery – song title reference using whatever comes out of the freezer

§    - The Cookbook Challenge – all meals for the week come from one cookbook

And there you have it, a focused plan with direction on what to cook for the week. It’s a bit Goofy and Daffy, but hey….that may be next week’s theme! Looney Tunes!

And so, as this entry comes to a close, you know what Porky Pig would say …"Tha Tha That’s All Folks!"

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s Tip: Using websites such as www.allrecipes.com and www.myfridgefood.com can plug you into a recipe by listing the ingredients you have on hand into a meal that your family will enjoy!

                                                 A WRINKLE IN TIME