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Posted
May 07 2008, 10:48 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
We're in awe of the way "HollyM" does lunch. This thrifty reader starts by cooking big batches of soups, stews, stuffed peppers, lasagna, casseroles, enchiladas and other goodies -- all of it made with on-sale ingredients. The entrees get frozen in individual servings because variety is the spice of lunch.
"No boredom. Lunches ready to grab. Saves time/energy/money."
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Posted
May 07 2008, 10:34 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Having raised eight kids, reader "SGW" can make a little bit of meat go a long way. She would buy a chicken on sale and make a huge pot of soup -- but they didn't eat the chicken itself, just the broth with vegetables. Then SGW would cut up the bird and freeze it in one-cup portions.
"Yep, I make chicken enchiladas, chicken chow mein, chicken salads, you name it for a family of 10 using only one cup of chicken each meal."
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Posted
May 07 2008, 10:00 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
"Frugal-Cook" doesn't skimp on ingredients. Check her shopping cart and you'll find stuff like shallots, fennel, olive oil and fresh herbs. Yet she spends only about $500 a month to feed her family of five-going-on-six -- the mom of three is expecting again -- even though she lives in spendy Chicago.
Frugal-Cook bases her meal plans on weekly grocery specials, viewing the ads online at http://www.centsible.net/groceries.shtml. She also hits smaller markets in ethnic neighborhoods. Then she cooks one and only one type of cuisine per week.
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Posted
Apr 28 2008, 09:22 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
It's not your imagination: Restaurant meals are shrinking. According to a Washington Post article, restaurants are downsizing meats, retooling sauces and using trompe l'oeil trickery to make little shrimp look bigger. (Skewer 'em before boiling and they don't curl up!)
Portion sizes had previously gotten out of hand, so much so that many Americans are unable to perceive when they're overeating. Still, it's no fun to pay $25 for filet mignon and be served two petite steaklets, or to plunk down $6 for a dessert the size of the lid on the salt shaker. Cute food is irritating.
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Posted
Apr 24 2008, 07:07 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
This post comes from Linsey Knerl at partner blog Wise Bread. The cost of food isn't going down, and for some, it's making the task of feeding a family more painful than ever. It doesn't help that ad agencies and PR companies are getting better at creating snazzy gimmicks to get you to buy.
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Posted
Apr 17 2008, 09:18 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Who is this Billy Vasquez, who prowls the aisles of 99ยข Only stores for ingredients to make ribeye steak in a red wine reduction with mushrooms, Armenian salad, and poblano chiles stuffed with raisins and other yummy things? ("A poblano chile imparts a mild heat that sweet raisins undercut nicely," he purrs.) He's the blogger at The 99 Cent Chef, sometimes referred to as "Rachael Ray on crack."
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Posted
Apr 11 2008, 05:38 PM
by
Karen Datko
For those skeptics among you, there really is a coffee made from beans passed by an Indonesian cat-like critter. It's called kopi luwak, sometimes indelicately referred to as cat-butt coffee. A post here by colleague Donna Freedman about $81 burgers and $15 cups of joe triggered our curiosity, and an e-mail from a friend led us to this strange and rare beverage. According to Indonesian company Animalcoffee, one of the outfits that sell these beans, ripe coffee berries are eaten by the cat-like luwak, aka Asian palm civet, which then deposits the beans on the jungle floor. Some fans say the digestive process produces a sweeter coffee. This ain't your grandpa's morning brew. Animalcoffee's Web site claims the Royal Family of Kuwait among its "select group of regular clients." For normal folks, pouches range from $30 for 2 ounces to $110 for a pound of the lowly robusta. Prices for arabica are $40 to $180, respectively. If you buy it in a box, the company includes a natural sample, apparently as proof of the coffee's authenticity.
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Posted
Apr 04 2008, 09:04 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Who's up for a $15 cup of coffee, a $35 movie ticket, an $81 burger and a $480 cocktail?
Oh, and I'm not buying.
I'd be awfully surprised if you were buying, either. Those who read this blog are not likely to want to spend $81 on a sandwich.
Not that this is just any old burger. It's a 14-ounce Japanese Kobe beef patty formed around a quarter-pound seared Kobe medallion, according to an article at wcbstv.com. No plebeian Heinz or Hunt's for this sammich; it comes with house-made sake onion catsup and a miso and ginger aioli.
And if that doesn't fill you up? It also comes with a side order of Tater Tots. Honest.
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Posted
Mar 26 2008, 06:21 PM
by
Karen Datko
Cooking at home is a great way to save money, but what if you don't know how? Turn on the tube. Your TV is a great source of cooking instruction and inspiration, and it's free because you're probably already paying the cable or satellite bill. Which shows should you watch? Kris at the excellent Cheap Healthy Good provides a beginner's guide to 21 cooking shows, explaining what they focus on, and whether they're for newbie cooks or those already in the know. Her descriptions are not without humor. About "Everyday Italian" with Giada De Laurentiis, Kris writes: "Dubbed 'Little Big Head' by the denizens of Television Without Pity, the quality of Giada's food is in direct proportion to the fabulousness of her cleavage. In other words, the lady can cook." Kris adds, "GD takes a lot of flack for being an abnormally attractive, thin chef (well, that and the claw hand), but the haters need to back off."
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Posted
Mar 20 2008, 02:30 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Melissa at A Penny Closer used to be skeptical about all of the gloom-and-doom talk about the economy. No longer. Now she's having a very difficult time staying within her $75-a-week food budget, even though she's buying less meat. "In the past I could shrug off the pessimism," she writes, "but now it's hit home in a new way and I'm a little nervous." Even pet food costs more. The sale price for the same can of cat food at her local store went from 33 cents to 44 cents in two weeks. What is her plan to cope? No more monthly $50 donations to the "fun money" savings account, even fewer meat-based meals, and more soup-and-sandwich dinners are among her strategies.
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