I just baked the best loaf of bread in my life. Even my dad was speechless. He actually said it's "fluffiness was freaking him out.". Haha, he expected the usual dense loaves of white my mother bakes. He doesn't realize I'm a mad scientist in the kitchen. No recipe goes untweaked - although I will readily admit to some failures in my time. (my overly salty rice and lentil congee for example)

I have been saving this box of Total I got on sale but didn't like, so it's become slightly stale.  I knew I could find some use for it. Like toast them and use them as breadcrumbs, or to coat something friend.

The cottage cheese and herb loaf last night was OK, but a bit too dense. I'm going to make a bread bowl out of it I think. I decided I wanted to make a new loaf, so I went to check recipes. I found an oat one I liked, but I'm out of oats. That's when I remembered the Total. It's very whole-grainy. Why couldn't it stand in? I put all the wet ingredients in my bread pan first. I substituted Johnnie Fair maple syrup for the honey. I put in the flour and then made a little safety well in the flour for my yeast.. (don't let your yeast come into contact with the salt, sugar or liquid until it has to) I then used the Total instead of the oats, in equal amount.

Your liquid ingredients must come to room temperature before kneading in most bread recipes, or your loaf won't have as pleasant a texture. It hinders the yeast growth and the gluten. I am forgetful, I burned my kosher soup earlier when I didn't remember to check on it, so I put the ingredients in exactly how I specified every time I bake, and then set the timer for about 20-30 minutes. Of course if you have eggs or milk in your bread, you may have to adjust this for safety.

The full recipe is as follows, and can of course be made using these same items for dough made by hand. If a using bread machine put the ingredients into the pan in this order:

Maple Total Bread (1.5 pound loaf)

8-9 ounces of water (add 8 oz then check on the dough to see if it needs a bit more moisture)
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter/margarine or oil. (I bet olive oil would be amazing)
2 tablespoons of maple syrup (most types of syrup would work, or honey, etc...)
2 1/2 cups bread flour (I confess to being out of BREAD flour, so I used all-purpose...the shame...)

Now make a little yeast well in the flour with your finger to protect it...

Then lightly drop the Total on top. We're putting the flour BEFORE the Total to keep the cereal  from totally disintegrating in the water before we knead the dough.

1/2 cup Total (I'm sure any flaky, whole grain cereal you have on hand would suffice)
2 1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast

Set your timer for 30 minutes to allow the wet ingredients to come to room temperature.
Use the Basic Bread setting, and your desired crust color. I personally used Light.

In about 3 hours, you'll have a super fluffy loaf of pale amber goodness.

My fruit leather was, mostly, a success. The whole time I thought I was spreading it too thick, but now I've decided I need to possibly double the thickness of the puree on the drying surface.

A cup or so of apple sauce (I like to experiment small when in doubt so I don't waste) became two good sized sheets of fancy facsimile fruit roll up, with no added sugar. (except the spoon of jam in test plate A)

I'll never feel the urge to buy overpriced fruit leathers or roll-ups again. These taste as good as the ones from Ozark Natural Foods, but I got much more leather from two single serving sized portions of unsweetened apple sauce (taking up space in my cabinets) for much cheaper.

I do have a dehydrator somewhere in my garage I'm going to dig out tomorrow, so hopefully I can dry in quantity without having to use my oven.
( ..... )

By the way LJ, I'd love to live in Star Trek world.

Today's experiments thus far are:

Carrot soup, because I found organic carrots for less than "normal" ones
Fruit leathers
Attempting to alter a pickle recipe
( Fall is the best time of year for soups... )

What's-in-the-cabinet Soup was taken to Beau and Nate's apartment in Fayetteville for taste-testing...

Beau gave it a 3.5 out of 5, his reasoning was that if it had had meat in it it would have been at least a 4.

Nate is a (sort of) vegetarian, and was slightly more favorable towards it - but Tim (aka Mr. Double Meatlovers Pizza) thought it was awesome and enjoyed the slight spiciness the red peeper flakes added.

Today is Experiment-with-Cauliflower day.

( Why I eat very little meat, and a small rant about the overuse of antibiotics... )

By the way...I promise to start using more LJ cuts! I just realized how much room I'm taking up.

Sorry!

I have cast iron that my grandmother passed down to me that is older than my parents - possibly older than my grandmother herself. Cast iron is not only non-stick when seasoned correctly, it is nearly unbreakable, shows no wear, can go from stovetop to oven, is a great heat diffuser under aluminum pots for more even cooking (thank you Alton Brown!) and makes a handy weapon in case you're attacked in your kitchen.

If you've ever tried to purchase cast iron new you know it tends to be rather expensive. Used cookware, especially of this type and quality makes good sense. Even if it has seen some stickage it can easily be reseasoned to it's original glory.

From the Kitchen Emporium website:

New Pans

1. Heat the oven to 250o - 300o
2. Coat the pan with lard or bacon grease (I use vegetable shortening - SM). Don't use a liquid vegetable oil because it will leave a sticky surface and the pan will not be properly seasoned.
3. Put the pan in the oven. In 15 minutes, remove the pan & pour out any excess grease. Place the pan back in the oven and bake for 2 hours.

Repeating this process several times is recommended as it will help create a stronger "seasoning" bond.

Also, when you put the pan into service, it is recommended to use it initially for foods high in fat, such as bacon or foods cooked with fat, because the grease from these foods will help strengthen the seasoning.

Pans needing Re-Seasoning

If the pan was not seasoned properly or a portion of the seasoning wore off and food sticks to the surface or there is rust, then it should be properly cleaned and re-seasoned.

1. Remove any food residue by cleaning the pan thoroughly with hot water and a scouring pad. I understand that heating the pan first to a temperature that is still safe to touch helps open the pores of the metal and makes it easier to clean.
2. Dry the pan immediately with dish towel or paper towel.
3. Season the pan as outlined above.

Caring for Cast Iron Cookware

Seasoning a cast iron pan is a natural way of creating non-stick cookware. And, like you cook and clean the modern non-stick cookware with special care to avoid scratching the surface, your cast iron cookware wants some special attention too.

* Clean the cookware while it is still hot by rinsing with hot water and scraping when necessary. Do not use a scouring pad or soap (detergent) as they will break down the pan's seasoning.

* Never store food in the cast iron pan as the acid in the food will breakdown the seasoning and the food will take on a metallic flavor.

* Store your cast iron cookware with the lids off, especially in humid weather, because if covered, moisture can build up and cause rust. Should rust appear, the pan should be re-seasoned.

Other used kitchen items I own:

Fondue sets - (these are technologically the same as they ever were, and many people received them as wedding gifts and had no interest in ever using them) A new fondue set can cost anywhere from 30$ and up (I've seen stainless for as much as 150$), but I have a swanky orange vintage one, complete with forks, that I got for 2 dollars and I don't think it was ever used.

Bread Machines - Check the machine before you purchase, and decide what shape loaf you'd prefer. I like a rectangle pans personally, because the round ones are harder to cut without smashing your loaves out of shape or make sandwich slices from. A new bread machine can be very costly, but most thrift stores have a large variety for under 10 dollars - many of them much higher quality models than you might be able to afford new. I rarely use many of the settings, so a lot of buttons don't impress me. I DO like to be able to choose loaf color (I like mine lighter) and a knead-only option is a must for when I want to make a traditional looking loaf in the oven, but would rather not spend hours kneading and rising my dough.

Crock pots - these are a fantastic way to do everything from chili to whole chickens. (I don't eat poultry, but I have seen my mother make a badass looking bird in her much-loved crock pot - that she received second hand from my great-grandmother. It's hard to ruin something in a crock pot, and it can be left to simmer on low for hours, overnight or while you're at work. Look for the kind with the removable crock, as these will make clean-up much, much easier. Crock pots are another expensive item to purchase new, but can be found second hand for less than 10 dollars.

Metal cookware - teflon I don't recommend used, because scratches and flaking in the coating *may* have health concerns, but large stewpots and things of this nature can be gotten for a few dollars. Woks are another often seen item in thrift stores, and as long as the metal has not rusted or deteriorated in some visible way these items are a good bargain and once you've used them a few times you won't be able to tell the second hand goods from the ones you bought new.

Weird kitchen gadgets - I've picked up strange things like handcranked coffee grinders, jerky drying racks for my oven, and dehydrators for pennies on the dollar used. The jerky racks were still in their original packaging, unopened! These are the types of items I couldn't rationalize buying new, but for a dollar or two I can try them out - and if they end up being useless to me I only wasted a buck, and then I just donate them back to my favorite thrift stores for someone else to try.

Old canning jars - these, with new lids (if they came with lids, check these for rust or faulty seals), make great places to store dry goods like beans or lentils. Learning to can is my next step, and a glass jar is infinitely reusable. These are also great containers for making refrigerator pickles, homemade jams, etc...

My coffee maker, toaster, and toaster oven are all second hand as well, and none have ever given me any problems - except that I have to remember that my toaster toasts slightly darker than the dial indicates. Knowing this I just set my toaster slightly light.

Last weekend I was down to the bare minimum in my cabinets, and I was trying to find something - anything - to cook. I remembered an article in The Tightwad Gazette in which the author recommends putting a jar in your fridge for leftover bits that may not be enough to save on their own but could eventually make a great soup base. This always struck me as a bit, well, icky...mostly because she puts in some very odd bits and pieces with the assumption that the rest of the soup additions will cancel out anything not quite right.

I figured that the same could be done with small amounts of anything, as long as the basic rules of flavor were considered.

With this in mind I began to ransack my cabinets and discovered:

a can of diced tomatoes and green chilies

a handful of brown lentils

frozen corn

a handful of shell style noodles

a smidge of my current favorite freezer must-have, "seasoning mix" which is just diced and frozen onions, red peppers and celery. When you're in a hurry or cook for one quite a bit as I do this mix is a life-saver at about a buck for 12 oz.

about half a cup of milk that was starting to taste slightly wonky - but was still a-ok for cooking (cooking is the best way to use up milk on it's last few days of fridge life)

I threw all of these items (except the shells, these require less cooking time), with the addition of a little oil and some garlic, salt, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce and sugar (to bring out the flavor of the corn) into a large pot and crossed my fingers.

It turned out much better than I had hoped (in three days I had eaten the entire batch, although I did have to add more liquid as the lentils absorbed more liquid with refrigeration and reheating), so I'm attempting to make a bigger batch as I type.

Remember that I am a dab, handful, smidge and pinch cook so all of my recipes are easily altered to fit individual tastes. Feel free to substitute, add or subtract as you like, as these are only rough guidelines.

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Choose your pot size wisely. I just had to run to the kitchen to stir and reduce the heat on my dish because I overfilled my largest pot (a pressure cooker sans lid). *note to self, find a large stock pot*

Into your pot add:

frozen or canned corn (if you have access to fresh that is cost effective, feel free to use instead) I used about 1/2 of a bag of frozen, but less or more would not be an issue.

1 can of diced tomatoes and green chilies, any brand - I honestly prefer Aldi's as it is about 4oz larger than other store brands for the same price, and the quality is much better.

a good-sized handful (roughly one cup depending on your vessel size) of either seasoning mix or diced onions (green peppers and celery are optional - but while I hate raw celery I find it helps the texture and flavor of a soup when cooked down)

lentils, I use roughly 1/3 of a bag of dry - but I'm a huge fan of lentils for both taste and texture. These will absorb a lot of water, so make sure you have enough liquid in your pot to retain some stock after the legumes have cooked down.

sugar to taste. this batch I added about 1/4 of a cup, but this is entirely optional. I find that corn does well (especially if it's a bit dry or frozen) with a smidge of sugar to plump it back up.

a splash of milk, this also helps the corn to plump and stay sweeter - but this could be eliminated for vegans or substituted with *non* flavored soy milk. I would add soy milk much later in the process though, as I find it cooks down slightly different than regular milk.

spices very up in the air on this one, but I used italian seasoning, salt, red pepper flakes (these add a nice heat without over spicing), Worcestershire sauce (optional for vegans and vegetarians, as this normally contains anchovy paste) and garlic - with a splash of oil. This is the only real fat in the dish - and is once again optional - but a little fat helps the flavors and makes the stomach feel more full.

and finally water to cover. You may need to add more water as your soup cooks down. I like mine pretty broth-y but when thicker this soup resembles more of a chowder.

bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and cook as you would regular lentils.

When the lentils are close to a texture you like (I like mine slightly firm, but mushier lentils would thicken the finished dish and add to a chowder-like texture) add the shell noodles. Any shape would of course be fine, but because this will be refrigerated and reheated the denser the noodle the better. Farfalle, spirals, shells, elbows...these are all good choices. Avoid spaghetti or anything that would just turn to mush. Think of the types of noodles you see in minestrones or other hearty soups.

Continue to cook until all the elements are to your desired level of doneness, then taste and adjust your spices to suit your needs. Serve with crusty bread, or perhaps even in a bread bowl.

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I have done some math on this one and the way I have prepared my large pot the final price comes in at around 3.00. If you consider a can of Progresso at almost 2 dollars a can you end up with well over 4-5 cans worth of this soup for less than the cost of 2 cans of storebought, preservative-filled junk.



I'm about to add the noodles, that's the face I make when I've tasted something waaay too hot, haha. I think I burned my tongue!

Other additions to consider:

cauliflower
okra (this is where soup might diverge into a form of gumbo)
some form of stew meat, polish sausage, whole shrimp or tempeh
other lentil types, like red, yellow or green (perhaps even a combination of more than one for added color)
beans, such as kidney or black

I'm taking my pot of soup over to Beau and Nate's tonight for taste tests. I told Beau he he was conscripted into the goodcheapfood Army as my official #1 sampler. He didn't seem to mind, haha.

Since cholesterol is only found in animal products, reducing our consumption of these food sources automatically reduces our cholesterol intake. Many of the recipes I suggest will contain little if any meat, but by all means feel free to experiment - just remember to keep it in moderation!

Not only is "real" food more cost effective than convenience food - it's better for our environment, our bodies and our taste buds - at least once you get used to actual tastes and textures!

Items I cannot live without in my pantry:

* lentils, as many varieties as I can find. These keep well in old sauce or condiment jars with tight lids, why pay money for cute little containers when you throw away perfectly serviceable ones on a weekly basis? Each color of lentils has a different taste and texture - so if you didn't like the brown ones the last time you tried them, this time why not try the red or yellow?

* rice, which comes in a rainbow of colors and flavors. If you think all rice is the same, think again! Rices come in short, medium, long grain and sticky varieties. Each has it's own place in cooking. Some are culturally specific, like Jasmine rice with Thai dishes - but everything is up for experimentation. Try a few new varieties to see what textures and aromatics please your palette.

* canned tomatoes and green chilies. Sometimes a can IS better than fresh, especially when you are strapped for time or find that too much fresh produce in your crisper tend to rot before you use it all.

* canned beans, depending on variety. Some beans and legumes take so long to soak and cook that the few cents difference between canned and dried is negligible.

* frozen vegetables. Once considered bland and nutritionless these have come back to the forefront for those of us with a limited storage area for fresh vegetables. Studies have also shown that these frozen wonders have as much or MORE nutrition than some fresh, because they are picked and flash frozen at their peak - instead of being dyed and irradiated to keep on store shelves. Always check the sodium content on frozen and canned veggies though, sometimes the added salt preservatives are a bit gratuitous. Look for low sodium options.

* brown sugar.

* vegetable bouillon.

* TVP. Once dismissed as "hippie food" Textured Vegetable Protien gets the short end of the stick. It comes in a wide variety of sizes and shapes and can be either used to extend meat dishes, like spaghetti or meatloaf, or as it's own protein source. I make a vegan taco that will blow your mind, and so far not once has a non vegan guessed the meatless secret until their 3rd helping! The flakes are the most versatile, but many Asian and Indian markets carry what I jokingly refer to as "kibble" - large chunks that are more suited to curries and savory dishes.

* soy sauce. This is one area I don't skimp - because bad soy sauce tastes like ass. hit up Asian markets to find large quantities of authentic soy sauce at amazingly affordable prices. I recommend Kimlan. They even make a "cooking" variety that is more akin to a thin paste than a dark water. with this ingredient you can make your own authentic teriyaki sauce, and almost all Asian dishes require soy sauce in some capacity.

I tend to buy staples like bread and cereals, but I'm trying to change that. Homemade bread, with a second-hand breadmaker, is not only cheap but delicious. You can add anything from cheeses to spices and the varieties are endless! If you do decide to bake your own bread, I recommend finding a slicer. These are plastic bread boxes with slots cut in the side to facilitate slicing, and they offer a variety of slice thicknesses. These help to keep the bread from "squashing" as you slice, and allows you to cut more perfectly even and slender pieces for sandwiches - or thick texas toast styles - all from the same loaf and with ease.

You'll also notice my hardcore thrift store "suggestions". I never buy anything new, from high heels to cookware, most of these items can be found gently (if at all) used and at a fraction of their original prices if you know where to look. I have found that this is the only way to give in to my kitchen gadget obsession without breaking the bank. From crock pots to casserole dishes, fondue sets to toaster ovens - you can get anything in your local resale shop for next to nothing.

Perhaps I should have called this blog "goodcheapliving" instead, because thrift and recycling go hand in hand. For example, I buy the jelly in the "glasses" jars so I can get a new (sturdy and decent looking) glass every time I use my red plum jelly - a personal favorite since it also goes well with meat marinades and makes an excellent on-the-fly plum sauce dip for Asian foods.

Creative consumption kept our grannies full in The Depression, and it can do the same for us as another one looms on the horizon.