Roasting a Chicken

Chicken is a relatively cheap source of protein. Many buy roasted chickens from supermarkets or national chains such as Boston Market, but if you roast it yourself you’ll pay a lot less and probably get more, as most store bought are tiny. This recipe is so easy, you’ll wonder why you ever paid more.

Ingredients:
1 Whole chicken
½ Lemon
3 gloves of Garlic
2 T oil (olive oil or melted butter)
1 T dried spice (thyme, sage, etc.)
Salt and Pepper

Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Mix salt, pepper, and dried spices in a small bowl.

While the oven is heating, wash the entire chicken (inside and out) under cold running water. Be sure to remove the package containing necks and gizzards that may be inside the cavity of the chicken.

Once washed, pat the outside of the chicken dry with paper towels.

Rub and squeeze the half of lemon over the outside and inside of the chicken (Do not discard).

Rub oil over the outside of the chicken.

Rub this spice mixture over outside and inside of chicken.

Place the spent lemon and garlic cloves inside the chicken.

Before placing the chicken in the oven, the chicken must be raised from the bottom of your roasting pan/dish (ensures crispy skin). This is usually accomplished via a roasting rack. If you do not have a rack you can use aluminum foil. Simple tear off a piece of foil approximately 1 foot long. Roll the foil into a cylinder. Then curve the cylinder into a ring (think donut or bagel shape). Place this aluminum ring in the bottom of the roasting pan. Place chicken on top of the ring. And place in the oven.
Roast the chicken at 400 degrees until an internal temperature of 165 degrees is obtained. This will take approximately 45 minutes for a 3.5lb bird. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, buy one. If you refuse to buy one, make a small incision at the joint between the thigh and the bird to be sure that all juices run clear.

So let’s do the math. A 3.5lb chicken cost $5.92 at Safeway. You may be able to get a better price. See the previous on cutting your grocery bill in half. The additional ingredients should be less than $0.50. So this totals $6.42 and should easily make 4-5 servings.

That’s it. We’ll talk about making gravy in another post. Enjoy. Sphere: Related Content

Make a better French Fry, I dare you.

Last night, I ran to the supermarket to pick up some quick items. In line, just ahead of me, was a young man buying 2 bags of Ore Ida frozen french fries and ice cream. I wanted to tell him that he could save gobs of money by making his own fries, but I didn’t. Let’s do the math. He paid $3.50 per 32 oz. bag. That’s $0.11 per ounce.

Whole raw russet potatoes are $0.59 per pound or less than $0.04 per ounce ($0.036875 to be exact). That’s less than half the price. You may be wondering what about oil and salt. Vegetable oil (corn, peanut, or blend) is approximately $0.05 per ounce. Most likely you can reuse most of this oil, as your fries shouldn’t dirty the oil much.

So, what to do with the potatoes to make fries?

Step 1: First, wash your potatoes. Then cut them into fries. Be sure to make them all approximately the same size and shape. This step is critical, as you want them to cook uniformly. Larger pieces will take longer to cook than ones that are smaller, so if you have small slivers from ends, consider discarding them.

Step 2: After you have the uniformly cut pieces, you must wash them. Wash them in cold water either by running them under the tap or repeatedly submerging them. Wash them well, as you must wash the excess starch from the outside of the pieces. This will ensure that your fries are crisp and light in color.

Step 3: Dry your pieces! Use a kitchen towel. No need to waste a multiple paper towels. Drying ensures crispness, minimizes splattering from water being introduced to oil, and maximizes your ability to use the oil for the next time you have need to get your fry fix.

Step 4: Oil blanching. Blanching allows the inside of your fries to be cooked and tender. Add oil to a large pot, enough to cover your fries while leaving at least half of the pot empty. This ensures than when fries are added you will not overflow the pot. This should be done over medium low heat. Your oil should not be very hot. This step is not like traditional frying, there should be just a few bubbles coming from the fries once added. I usually turn off the flame when adding the fries; to ensure that oil splatter doesn’t create a fire.

SAFETY: When cooking with oil please remember the following,
1. Cover yourself. Don’t cook in the nude (not that you would) and don’t wear large loose sleeves, as they may be a hazard.
2. Keep a fire extinguisher handy. This is just a precaution, but if you turn off the flame when adding the fries you should be pretty safe. If you don’t have an extinguisher have plenty of flour or baking soda and a lid for the pot. DO NOT USE WATER ON A GREASE FIRE!!!!

Step 5: Keeping the flame on medium low, wait for your fries to float. This is your signal the inside of your potatoes are cooked. If you have kept you flame low, there should be very little browning.

Step 6: Remove the floaters from the oil and let them drain and cool. I use a stainless steel colander with a pie pan below. Once the oil drains into the pie pan, I add it back to the pot.

Step 7: Heat your oil until hot, not smoking. You can test if the oil is hot enough by placing one fry and seeing how fast it bubbles. This time you’re looking for real frying action. Once sufficiently hot, shut off your flame and add the whole batch of oil-blanched fries. Turn the flame back up. The fries are technically cooked, but now you’re going for the crisp outside. Cook the fries until, when you touch them with your slotted spoon, they “feel” hard on the outside.

Step 8: Line the colander with paper towels. Remove the crisp fries to the lined colander and immediately season (to ensure the seasoning sticks). Give a shake to ensure coverage. Salt is fine. Salt and pepper is better. Or, try this seasoning blend.
1 t Salt
½ t Pepper
½ t Onion powder
1 t Chili powder

That’s it. Enjoy! Sphere: Related Content

Half off Food and Groceries!

If you have a really large family, this deal is an easy one for you. If you’re in a small family or an individual, you may need to find a few friends to pull this one off. Regardless of size, you will need a business license or tax-exempt certificate from your non-profit. Is that hard, with so many fully or partially self-employed people in our new economy? I’m sure you know someone. Get your church or social group involved. Find a few like-minded people. Use the previous blog post Start a Business for Free.

No standard supermarket will be able to come close to the prices you’ll get at Restaurant Depot on staples like pasta, rice, or potatoes, not to mention bath tissue or paper towels. How cheap, you ask. In this month’s Northeast flyer (see for yourself), ground chuck is $1.85/lb. I don’t know where you shop, but that’s almost half price. Thinking of the season, turkeys are $0.99/lb. I suspect that you’re paying at least $1.50. To add to the savings, because Restaurant Depot is wholesale, there’s no sales tax. What’s the catch? Well… it’s a big one. Aside from the business stuff mentioned previously, the box is big. This place is made for restaurants. And while you can buy one turkey, what would a restaurant do with one chicken? Expect 30 chickens in a box.

Just writing that reminds me of a friend in college that had this friend that worked for a poultry company, who convinced us to chip in and get an obscene amount of wings at some ridiculous price. At the time, I had a thing for Buffalo wings. When it was all over, I couldn’t eat chicken for a year.

No, not again! As much as I like chicken, I can’t eat a whole chicken everyday, nor do I have the freezer space for that much chicken. Yes, this is where your friends come in. Any friend, group of friends, or newly found friends (because of this plan), that cook or have a family will gladly share low prices with you. Be communal about it. Pool your money together and get lots of stuff.

If you’re going communal and have a designated shopper for the group, consider giving that person a 10-20% discount on their purchases. It’s only right, as there’s some work to be done at Restaurant Depot. All of the sizes are large, there’s travel to and from, and occasionally shopping at Restaurant Depot can be a bit stressful. Maybe the business owners are stressed seeing money go out the door, but you should be whistling a sweet, sweet tune. If you’re the designated shopper, please remember the following:
• Eat before you go. You’ll need the energy for walking, lifting, and packing.
• Take a winter coat. Even if it’s 115 degrees outside. Restaurant Depot has a walk-in cooler and freezer section that will chill your bones. Really!
• Leave you coupons at home. They’re not going to take them, but at these prices, who cares?
• Be prepared to wander. Sometimes things are not where they’re listed.
• Pick up some extra plastic storage bags. You’ll need them.
• Keep your membership card with you and handy. You’ll need it when entering the building and again to check out.
• Shop for the specials. In general the best deals are seasonal and excess supply. If you are willing to be a generalist, you’ll get a better deal. One cut of meat, as opposed to another, may be on sale this week.

Go forth and save! Sphere: Related Content

Pizza (Saving while making dough)

I love pizza! And it’s cheap! Ever wonder why there are so many pizza restaurants? I usually use the same dough recipe, which takes about a day. I was going to write a complete post about making pizza dough and sauce, but why do the parts that I can get for free? Hey I like free too.

I scoured the Internet for a recipe and method that would easily describe the hardest part, making dough. You can search yourself. On first read, many of the recipes seem a little dubious, but here’s a gem from a nice little blog that I can relate to called Fun Foods on a Budget. Stephanie does a quick and easy dough that almost anyone can make. Why bother with tons of work? Check it out (link). Divide the dough in half and make 2 pizzas, Half bake one and freeze it for later.

Need a quick and easy sauce from our grocery list try:

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients
1 Can 6 in 1 Ground Tomato
2 teaspoon Sugar
½ Onion Finely Chopped
3-5 Cloves of Garlic
1 Tablespoon Olive oil
1 teaspoon Basil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation
Cook this sauce before you make the dough in the recipe above to allow time for the sauce to cool.
1. Heat a dry sauce pan on medium heat
2. Add Oil, Onion, and Garlic
3. Cook until translucent maybe a little brown
4. Add 6 in1 Ground Tomato
5. Stir in Basil and Sugar
6. Bring to a simmer
7. Reduce heat and allow to cool
Now follow the pizza crust recipe. If you have too much sauce, save it for later or make more pizza.

Doing the math:











This is at least 2 to 3 servings per pizza, bringing the cost down to under $1.50 per serving. At these prices, you can throw in a salad. Enjoy! Sphere: Related Content

What’s for Breakfast?

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day, comes at the worst time. You’re rushing to get out the door, but you need to eat. Should you stop at McDonalds or just grab coffee and a donut from who knows where? How about a real meal? Nice strips of crisp bacon, some home fries, eggs, and toast. The toast and the egg seem fast enough but I know you’re thinking…. home fries maybe on the weekend.

You can have it all quickly, maybe faster than driving to and through McDonalds.

Your secret weapon… the microwave. I know that you’re thinking the only good things that come out of a microwave are popcorn and left-overs, but here... two more uses.

Home Fried Potatoes
Summary
You can quickly make these potatoes each time you want them for breakfast or you can make a batch, store individual servings, and have them as fast as you can re-heat. You could purchase frozen potatoes at $3-5 for 20 oz (4-6 servings), but you can have pounds for that price. Really! A 5lb bag of potatoes is less money. See shopping list is the first Eat for less than $5 per day post.

Ingredients:
1 medium to large raw potato
1 T Oil (Vegetable, Olive, Corn, or Peanut, DO NOT USE BUTTER)
Seasoning to Taste

Preparation
1. Wash potato by hand under cold running water
2. Use a fork to poke holes to pierce the skin. These holes don’t need to be deep, but you should get them around the potato. 4-5 pokes should be good. These holes ensure that when microwaved, the potato will not explode.
3. Place the potato into the microwave oven. There’s no need to cover it or even place it on a dish. It should be fine all by itself.
4. Microwave the potato for 3-7 minutes. I wish that I could give you an exact time, but I don’t know how big of a potato you have or the power of your microwave. You’ll know that it’s done when you use the fork to poke the now microwaved potato and it’s no longer hard. Ideally you want the potato cooked and still slightly firm, but not mushy.
5. Heat a dry skillet on medium high heat atop the stove.
6. WARNING: After being microwaved that potato is HOT! Remove the potato from the microwave with an oven mitt or towel to a cutting board.
• If you’re prepping this ahead of time for the week and you’re making batches, you can let the potato cool so that it’s easier to work
7. Cut the potato into bite size pieces
8. Add the potato pieces to the dry heated pan in one layer. Do not crowd your pan. Do not stir!
9. Drizzle oil over the layer of potatoes. Do not stir!
10. Reduce heat to medium and wait until the bottoms of you potato pieces start to brown. You’ll see some color around the sides of the pieces.
11. Once browned on one side, give the pan a shake and a gentle stir to move the potatoes to another side.
12. Add salt and pepper. You can also add chopped onions and peppers now, or just sprinkle with a little onion powder
Aside from the initial microwaving preparation time is about 2-3 minutes. If you want to batch this, just remember not to place more than one loose layer of potatoes in your pan per batch.

Makin’ Bacon
Summary
I like crisp straight bacon, like the bacon I see on TV ads or the pre-cooked bacon in supermarkets these days. Hello again to my friend the microwave. It’s easy and clean up is a breeze. Use a plate, oven safe or paper, NOT Styrofoam. Cover the plate with a paper towel. Layout your strips of bacon on the paper towel. Place another paper towel on top. You could repeat this with a second or third layer of paper towels and bacon. I’ve done up to 4 layers at once. Just remember that you‘ll always want a layer of paper towel on top an bottom. Microwave the bacon on high for approximately 1 minute/ slice. This time will vary depending of the thickness of your bacon slices, power of your microwave and the amount of bacon on the plate. 45 seconds per slice could be enough, but each time you stop the microwave to check it will lengthen the cook time. After your first attempt at this, you’ll be a pro. If you over cook it the first time, you can save slightly overdone pieces for bacon bits on a salad. Once done, use a pair of tongs or chopsticks to remove the hot bacon from the paper towel. You may notice a lot of grease on the paper towel. Let it cool before you discard it. Excess cooked bacon (DON’ T EAT ALL OF IT) can be placed in a plastic bag or wrapped in aluminum foil and enjoyed later. Sphere: Related Content

Eat for less than $5 per day.

For $5 you could get a foot-long or maybe a burger and fries off the dollar menu, but that’s one meal on one day. How about $5 for three full meals?
This first Why Pay More post is all about eating well at rock bottom prices.
Food, we all must have it and I’ve feed myself well for a month for less than the cost of a night or two out. If you want to try this you’ll need to do a little cooking, but it’s not hard and I’ll take you through it step-by-step. Yes, you’ll need to invest a little time, but I’ve found that most of it can be done on the weekend while you’re doing you other chores, like cleaning or washing clothes, usually an hour or two on Sunday for me. Throughout the week when you’re busy with work and life, you’ll simply heat up a meal. There’s little real cooking during the week.
You will need some kitchen basics, which I’ll go into detail about later things like pots, pans, plastic wrap, etc. So, what on the menu? No, you won’t be eating Ramen and cornflakes like a college student.
Here are some sample menus
Menu 1
Braised Short Ribs
Buttered Noodles
Green Beans
Menu 2
Roasted Chicken
Mashed Potatoes
Corn
Menu 3
Lasagna
Salad
Menu 4
Fried Chicken
Rice and Beans
Menu 5
Pot Roast
Roasted Potatoes
Roasted Vegetables
Menu 6
Pasta w/meat sauce
Broccoli
Menu 7
Chicken Salad
Pasta Salad
Menu 8
Pepper Steak
Rice
Vegetable
Menu 9
Curried Chicken
Rice
Peas
Here’s a look at the shopping list. The prices were sourced from Safeway’s website. Feel free to research the prices or maybe find better prices elsewhere. I am not, nor do I expect you to be, a calorie counter, but the average adult needs about 2,000 calories per day, so this list calculates the minimum number of calories in this list to ensure that there are at least 60,000 (2,000 per day for 30 days)
Shopping List

To download an Excel version click Shopping List

Here is the first recipe. Check back for more.

Braised Beef Ribs

Summary
This recipe delivers a hearty, simple, one pot, stove top dish that allows you to start cooking then walk away as it finishes itself. Take the simmer time to read a book, watch TV, exercise, or do house chores. You’ll be well rewarded when you’re done. True oenophiles may choose to substitute wine for the water or some of the stock mentioned in this recipe.

Ingredients
2 tablespoon oil (olive oil, butter, or blend)
4 pounds beef back ribs – individually cut (big ones, not thin cross cuts)
1 onion - chopped
3 carrots - chopped
3 celery ribs - chopped
2 tablespoons flour
4 garlic cloves – peeled and chopped
2 cups beef stock, homemade or reduced sodium chicken broth or bullion
1 cup water
One 14 1/2-ounce can tomatoes
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
black pepper to taste

Preparation
1. Heat a large pot or stovetop safe casserole dish on stove top using medium-high heat until warm
2. Add onion, carrots, and celery (do not stir)
3. Add olive oil, butter, a pinch of salt and pepper (do not stir)
4. Once onion, carrots, and celery slightly brown, stir
5. Remove onion, carrots, and celery to a plate or bowl, once slightly browned but still firm (do not reduce heat or clean pot)
6. Add beef back ribs to pot in batches to pot to quickly brown outside (do not cook through) after browning set aside on a separate plate.
7. Add one half of the slightly browned onion, carrots, celery back to the pot along with chopped garlic
8. Reduce heat to medium
9. Cook until vegetables are soft
10. Add flour and stir until incorporated and slightly browned (not burned)
11. Add stock and canned tomatoes
12. Use a potato masher, whisk, wooden spoon, mixer, or blender to blend cooked vegetables, smooth (or at least less chunky)
13. Reduce heat to medium low
14. Add browned beef back ribs and any juices to pot
15. Add water as needed to slightly cover ribs
16. Add bay leaf
17. Skim any excess fat
18. Simmer uncovered until braising liquid is reduced by half (1 to 2 hours)
19. Remove and discard bay leaf
20. Add remaining half browned but firm vegetables
21. Heat until vegetables are warm
22. Season with salt and pepper to taste then serve
Makes 8 servings. Eat one now.
Once you’re done. Bag or plate the other 7 individual servings and refrigerate or freeze them for another day.


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