I don't know if this is food storage related necessarily, but one thing I've found that can be a money saver, is when you boil any meat, be it sausages or chicken, save the water you boil it in. It makes a simple broth for soups and other things. Very very easy, nothing really required apart from the initial boiling as all the juices from the meat permeate into the water as it cooks.
Quoting: ajkThat's a great idea and a frugal one too. What impresses me is that you cook. So many don't know how and don't want to learn. It's going to be the downfall of many people when the frozen dinners and box foods aren't available.
You're making good use of your vitamins that would be poured down the drain. I make my own broth, but it's hard to get enough to bother canning unless it's a turkey. With that, I use the bones and some of the skin, adding a carrot and some celery. Then I cook it, strain it, and can it.
Enough broth can come from a chicken to make a nice soup, dumplings, gravy, etc. On the first page of this thread is an instant bean soup recipe. I bet your broth would be excellent with that. Thanks for contributing!
Oh I know, I shake my head watching my mom and grandma rely on all the processed stuff all the time or how much money is spent going out to eat in a given week. When my mom's boyfriend stayed over here last weekend and into this week past, I counted at LEAST 7 different times within 4-5 days where a meal either they ate or all of us ate came from either a restaurant or takeout food. It was insane you know? Probably spent a good $100 on all those meals combined, and that's in less than a week!
Don't get me wrong I don't mind going out from time to time and I do it semi-regularly at a few small places around here, but when you're consistently doing it day in and day out in some fashion, that's going to add up you know? That's to say nothing of the costs of all the canned and boxed goods you buy that you use once, and when it's gone you have to get another to compensate, vs. something like the broth thing where you can get 2 or 3 meals out of one item. It's amazing how much we tend to waste or overlook really, I always like to try and extend leftovers like that where I can.
Yet I'm looked at as the weird one, when I could be saving them money if they'd actually take some of what I say to heart more, to say nothing of making them healthier especially my mom. It gets a little frustrating, they just don't seem to care enough to change anything beyond what they know. I'm the only one that bothers to try and do things, even if they don't work at least I try.
I've really taken a huge interest into cooking my own stuff more in the last year or two, or at the very least eating a lot less processed goods in favor of things that I know what goes into them by and large, and staying away from big chain restaurants. It's really been good for me, I eat less now than I once did, generally a couple meals a day and a sweet or two. Very little snacking if any, though I notice when my grandma is snacking a lot more now at night. Like she'll eat something and then like an hour or so later maybe less, she's munching on something else. Funny how you tend to pick up on that more when you're not doing it yourself.
I've lost a considerable amount of weight as I've made this change, was over 200 some time ago, in fact was probably around there yet when you had visited the one time down here a year or so back now. Now at last count I'm at 165, so it's really made a big difference, and that's without exercising anymore than I usually do, which generally consists of just walking to places nearby if I go out somewhere. Just shows you how much extra weight we are putting into ourselves with this processed stuff you know?
Thanks for the tip on the soup recipe, will take a look at that. I've only done this broth thing once, but I quite liked it. May try adding something the next time I try it for the hell of it.
In the past if I was gonna need a broth or something for a mixture I'd have to use the canned stuff, same with gravies. That was the one processed good if I have had to, that I've still used sometimes. If I could cut it out too it'd be great.
Sort of wanna start experimenting with gravies too, and saving meat drippings and such for other uses. I tried it a little tonight with hamburger meat to warm an egg roll, but was more a test than anything. But that's the next thing I think now.
