Stretching Those Meals

 Prices are rising and it's getting difficult to put decent meals on the table. What to do? Stretch those meals to last two even three days.

I found this out when I had a lot of pasta and a little sauce left. I decided to add one of my favorite ingredients and a low cost one too -spinach. 

it just takes a few leaves (about two cups added to Stop & Shop's chunky tomato basil sauce. I already added chopped portabellos for more heft and protein. This enabled me to stretch this for two days. The spinach definitely added to the sauce , giving it a nice fresh taste.It livened up the flavor, cutting the heavy tomato taste. Keep in mind you can add almost anything to a sauce. Grill eggplant and add it or toss in a few cut cherry tomatoes to add some sweetness.

The same is true of any ingredient. Leftover chicken and steak can easily be cut up and put into any salad. Add vegetables which are still relatively inexpensive right now.Homemade croutons. easily made with leftover bread and your sir fryer can round out the salad. They'll add crunch and flavor especially if you coat them with a mix of garlic and onion powders. Ham can easily be stretched into deviled ham by putting it in the food processor with a teaspoon of mayo.This creates a creamy spread perfect for sandwiches along with being perfect for a dip. You can do this for shrimp too, turning it into a paste for sandwiches and hors'd ouevres. All that shredded cheese you used for tacos one night can make for a nice cheese frittata the day after. This gives the egg dish more flavor and heft. You could also drizzle in some leftover salsa to create huevos rancheros.Leftover veggies can be used in a minestrone soup for a tasty and healthy light meal.Grilled veggies can be chilled and added to salads too.

Stretching those meals are a great money saver. Home chefs need to do this during these financially rough times. Leftovers repurposed means a few pennies saved .

Hurricane Cuisine Part One

As everyone is well aware of, Hurricane Irene is about to visit the East Coast this weekend. This is a monumental one - almost on a par with the lethal Hurricane Katrina.Power will definitely be out and that means no refrigeration and possibly no stoves or microwaves. This is going to be a tricky time for those who are staying home and cooking. What to do?Improvise.

Everyone should have stocked up on the basics by now. peanut butter is an excellent source of protein and can making tasty and filling sandwiches for those of any age. Other good sources are deviled ham and chicken . Again these can work as tasty and filling sandwich spreads and add herbs such as tarragon and celery seed to liven up their flavors. Think Italian cold cuts too to get you and your family through these upcoming days. Salami is a good choice. It can last up to a week along with some others such as capacolla and soppressata. You can make sandwiches and even add them to omelets (more on those later).

If you're lucky enough to have gas then use it. You'll have to especially if you have perishables such as eggs or even raw meat in your fridge. Be creative. With the eggs you can make omelets along with the English breakfast style fried bread for breakfast or even lunch. Another good idea is pasta. Just boil water to cook it and use canned sauce. Another spin is utilizing milk for cream sauces . Remember use the perishables first so they don't become rotten or spoiled. This is also a good time , believe it or not to , clean out the freezer. Most people probably have enough in theirs to last them through to Tuesday or Wednesday. There's no need to go out and get more food. Most supermarkets will be closed or worse - damaged by the storm.

Hurricanes play havoc with everything - including people's meals. However you can restore order to your eating routine with everything from canned goods to some creative cooking. Don't let Irene spoil your meal plans. Fight back with some good food.

Cooking After A Busy Day

The last thing you want to do after a busy day is cook. The problem is what to eat? Do you go for a quick but fattening take out? Eat dinner at yet another restaurant or food court? Whip pout the microwave dinners? Or just eat another bowl of cereal and call it a day?
You can create easy and filling meals even when you’re too pooped to care what you eat. The key is to shop when you have the time and anticipate dinner hours like this. You can also shop on the way home to ensure you get fresh ingredients as well. I like to stock up on cans of deviled ham and chicken. Mix these with mayo, some tarragon or celery seeds and I have a creamy and tasty filling for sandwiches or a spread for crackers. Another must have is a can of tuna, whether plain or flavored. I usually have a tin of the Bumblebee lemon pepper flavored one. I love this in a simple salad of Romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes and assorted other veggies. I just put a simple vinaigrette on I,t serve it with crackers and it’s a filling yet light dinner. There’s also very little clean up too,

Of course there is the lure of a hot meal , especially after a hard or trying day. To me there’s nothing like a hot open faced roast beef or turkey sandwich. Just buy some fresh sliced meat at your deli counter, along with a jar of gravy and Kaiser rolls. Pour the heated gravy over the open faced sandwich and - voila- a hot comfort food. You can whip up some instant mashed potatoes if your prefer that with your meat and gravy. Another good idea is Knorr‘s Soup mixes. Their cream of leek and cream of spinach is a nice spin on soup and tastes like homemade. You can also cook up their spring vegetable a thin kind of soup, and load it up with orzo or pastina. This creates a flavorful and filling dish in no time. It’s better than a plate of pasta and just as satisfying.

Don’t despair after a busy day. There are plenty of easy , hot or cold filling dinners to make and create. They require very little time and very little effort. All you have to do is just kick back and savor them.

An English Tea Food Elegance At Its’ Best

There’s nothing like a proper English tea. It has all the feel of a Merchant Ivory or Masterpiece Theater period piece. There’s something inherently elegant about sipping a fine Darjeeling or Earl Gray out of bone china. The sandwiches and sweets are perfect, delicate yet satisfying. It’s not hard to recreate one. Even for us Yank foodies who love fast food and messy dishes.

There are actually three kinds of tea to consider. The first is the cream tea. This is where tea scones and jam are only served. For a more substantial fare there is light tea which has sweets added to the menu and then there is the full tea which adds savories and a dessert (possibly a light trifle or small cakes). Savories usually mean small sandwiches , usually watercress or egg salad. Most English hotels serve the last , and cater to American tastes. The entire tea idea started during the Victorian era when Anna Maria Stanhope, Duchess of Bedford and one of Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting felt a “sinking feeling around four in the afternoon. Borrowing from the Continental idea of having tea she arranged for the drink to be served with small sandwiches and cakes. This helped sustain her and her guests until the main meal which was probably served at seven or eight. Hence a British tradition was born.

Creating a full British tea is easy to do in this former colony. You can serve any kind of tea and have with it light sandwiches and scones. Supermarkets sell smaller loaves or what’s known as party loaves . These can be filled with cucumber, watercress, and cream cheese. You could put an American spin on them and use deviled ham or chicken as fillings too. Scones can be bought or made. The question is acquiring the clotted cream to go with them. Luckily it can be bought in any major city or on the Internet. As for having small cakes think cupcakes dusted with powdered sugar as opposed to being topped with a large mound of frosting.

An English tea is an elegant way of getting together with friends. It symbolizes timely elegance with delicate food. It's wonderful to indulge your foodie side while being civilized at the same time.