Archive | May, 2008

In an effort to cut back on grocery costs, eating nutritionally on a budget, I have found the most successful means of completing this is to learn how to make things on my own. Ketchup is one of those useful condiments that I personally can’t live without! Everything from hot dogs to sloppy lentils! Ketchup is often loaded with preservatives, or else the organic ketchup version is loaded with organic sugar! Sugar is sugar in my book, and I would rather substitute with a more natural alternative. After some experimenting, here is a rather tasty alternative!

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons white vinegar
3 tablespoons Rapadura (rapadura is a wonderful natural sweetener, great replacement for brown sugar! I would imagine this would also be successful with replacing rapadura entirely with honey! Worth a try!)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon molasses
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup water

Mix together all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat; simmer gently until you get the consistency of ketchup, 30-45 minutes. Add a little more water, if necessary. Taste and adjust salt if desired before serving. Makes about 1-1/2 cups. On average, homemade condiments last anywhere from 2-3 weeks.

Visit Tammy’s Recipes for further kitchen tips.

It Frugal Fridays! This is our frugal and nutritious (F & N) meal of the week! This is a variation to sloppy joes without the meat, and is actually quite good! Served on a sprouted wheat bun (I haven’t had success making my own buns yet…), topped with raw cheddar cheese and peas and corn on the side! Yum! We are eating lentils once a week now and it is a great way to save money on the food budget, cutting back on meat while still eating healthy!

3 cups water
1 cup lentils, rinsed
salt to taste (optional)
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
15 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2-1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
3-5 tablespoons rapadura, molasses, or honey
1 Tbsp white vinegar
salt and ground black pepper to taste
4 hamburger buns, split

Soaking Step (for benefits read here), optional: Allow lentils to soak over night in warm filtered water with 2 Tbsp acid medium. Rinse and cook as described below.

Combine water and lentils in a saucepan; season to taste with salt if desired. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cook onions with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the onions have softened and turned translucent, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, ketchup, mustard powder, chili powder, molasses/sweetener, vinegar, salt and pepper; simmer 5 to 10 minutes until thickened.

Drain lentils and reserve cooking liquid. Stir lentils into sauce mixture, adding cooking liquid or water as needed to obtain the desired “sloppy joe” consistency. Serve on buns.

With a recent stop at my local Costco, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much organic products they are carrying now! I found tomato products (diced, tomato sauce, paste) with the best prices I have seen, they even top Azure Standard! For example, organic tomato sauce (12/15 oz. cans) for $5.95, Azure sells same quantity for $15.95!

Check out my updated list with all the organic products that our local store carries in case you have one nearby.

Bulk Guidelines

Buying in bulk has it’s pros and cons, as discussed in where bulk buying goes wrong.

First, don’t buy what you don’t normally eat or would use. It might be a great deal, but if it is not a standard purchase or a staple item, don’t buy it. Don’t be tempted by organic pop tarts, please!

Secondly, limit your visits to these bulk warehouses and keep a budget! It adds up fast! I make a monthly stop at Costco and have a set amount to spend. Bulk buying is something to budget in because you may find a deal at one time that you aren’t prepared for if you haven’t set some aside specifically for bulk purchases.

Lastly, my solution with making sure bulk items are not used up too quickly (because we have a natural tendency to think because there is more, I can use more!) is to date them. I put the date they were purchased and then the estimated time it is required to last before restocking (based on previous wise usage).

For example, I have decided that one 1/2 gallon of coconut oil should last for about three months, so I wrote “mid-April-June” on the container, meaning it was purchased in the middle of April and must last through June. Or my large container of detergent should last 3 months as well, so I marked March-May. This has been extremely helpful and assists me in stretching all my bulk purchases to get there full value! I keep an eye on it…only use 1/3 each month!

Bulk buying can definitely save you money, but only if it is done wisely!

Recently, I shared our chili recipe with the secret ingredient (at least in my book!): taco seasoning mix! Maybe its the addition of paprika & onion powder that does the trick for my chili! Making it yourself prevents the additions of MSG and other additives that are very often included in these types of mixes. These are my favorite seasoning mixes and are frugal and natural alternatives!

Taco-Seasoning Mix

This works splendidly for seasoning up refried beans and fajitas or any Mexican dish!

6 tsp chili powder
4 ½ tsp cumin
5 tsp paprika
3 tsp onion powder
2 ½ tsp garlic powder
1/8 – ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Mix all the ingredients, and store in an air-tight container. The homemade mix is twice as strong as the store-bought one, so add only half as much.

Seasoned Salt

If you want to add a little extra flavor and zest to practically any dish, dash a little seasoning salt on it!

8 Tbls salt (we use realsalt)
3 Tbls pepper
2 Tbs paprika
½ Tbls onion powder
½ Tbls garlic powder

Mix together in a bowl and store in an airtight container (an empty spice shaker works great).

Rice Seasoning Mix

This is a yummy seasoning mix that we used frequently growing up!

1 cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped
½ cup chicken bouillon granules
½ cup dried parsley flakes
1 Tbls dried minced onion
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning (or 1 tsp pepper, and then add a a bit of grated lemon peel to the batch of rice when cooking)

Additional ingredients:

1 cup uncooked long grain brown rice

2 cups water

Combine the first nine ingredients. Store in airtight container for up to 6 months. Yield: 10 batches. To prepare rice: Combine 3 tablespoons seasoning mix, rice and water in a rice cooker or over the stove. Yield: 4-6 servings per batch.

Enjoy and may it spice up your life!

For more tips on using herbs & spices in your cooking, check out this post.

It’s Kitchen Tip Tuesdays!