Sunday's Plate

In a discussion last week with a couple of our Garden School mothers, it was proposed that I offer some insight into keeping the food budget way down and still making great meals every day. I've been buying for home since 1970, and I added school in 1983, so I've had lots of practice. I once made the newspaper in an article about managing a big family on a small budget.

My issue has always been providing the best food I can for as little as possible, providing that food with as little trouble as possible, and always being able to provide it simply because it is easy, quick, and tastes good with the added bonus of being very healthy. I've learned a lot over the years from constantly reading about health and nutrition, from using foods differently and lots and lots of experimentation.

Shopping is important, but it's not so much where you shop as what you buy when you shop. There are times when it's necessary to buy the more expensive cut, the more expensive product simply because it's a better overall buy for health. Slowly you figure out where it's necessary to spend money, and when it's just silly; what stores provide the best bargains, and when to buy in bulk. The big question to ask is: What is draining the budget?

The next question is: "How much do you WANT to spend?" What is that "perfect" number. I know at school that my budget is about $250.00 per week. If you break that down into meals, it costs me 42 cents a meal per child and that includes milk. Does 42 cents a meal seem like a good number? Today we will eat roast pork and home baked fries, corn, biscuits and applesauce. We had fresh apple/orange muffins for breakfast and homemade chocolate cake will be served for snack. At 42 cents a serving, that's not a bad deal.

So here are a couple of ideas to ponder: Number One: If you can make it at home, don't buy it. This applies especially to bread, and baked goods so we will concentrate on those right now.

That includes all the treat foods you buy. That's easier said than done. Or it is at least easier thought than done. The response when I say this out loud is, "I don't have time." That's the escape route most people choose to saving money and making healthier meals, and it always makes me smile. The truth is, you do have time, and the time is well spent, and the result is saved money and better health.

Let me use one of my favorite examples: If I "bought" muffins for our children every Monday, it would cost me $48.00 per breakfast. By making the muffins, it costs me the price of flour, sugar, baking powder, oil, eggs and milk and whatever extra I put into them. It probably costs $2.00. By not spending the $46.00 on muffins, I can spend my money elsewhere.

The problem and frustration of baking usually lies with the kitchen. Canisters kept full for baking are a must. A mixer left out is a must. The other thing to remember is that we don't need 24 muffins for breakfast for a family of three, four, five, or six. We need six. Buy a six muffin tin because you don't need more. Keep left over batter in a plastic container. It does expand and using glass can make a mess. Then, when you want muffins again, the batter is made. I never bake more than half a cake, a quarter of a muffin recipe, or more than a dozen cookies at a time. That way, it's quick, done, and nobody puts on the pounds and there is a next time soon.

Setting up the kitchen means keeping your stove empty, your equipment available, your mixer out and your ingredients within easy reach. When you set up your kitchen to be able to bake quickly, you can get a cake in the oven in 4 minutes while you are making that last effort on the phone, texting a friend or even using facebook. It's four minutes. You do have time.

The latest studies on nutrition say we need six helpings of grain product every day for good health. But the grain products should be whole grains, and that's not going to happen with white flour pre-made junk in a cellophane container that has a shelf life of 400 years. At the same time other things easy to make are noodles, cereal, and crackers - more about that later.

"But don't I have to have a lot of extra food in the house to do a lot of fancy baking?" The answer is for most cakes, you need flour, sugar, oil or butter, eggs, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and perhaps some chocolate. You also need a pan. Most people have these things in their homes. But don't get me wrong, it's not all the cheap stuff from Walmart. I don't buy bulk white flour products because it's not good for you. I use some occasionally, but for the most part I do buy the expensive whole wheat pastry flour at $5.00 per bag. It's still cheaper to make than to buy premade. I also mill my own flours from beans and rice, but that's a whole other ballgame.

Bread is extremely expensive, and again white bread is horrible for your digestion. It's as bad as inviting cancer to be your friend. Studies have shown that white bread and white flour products are suspects in causing intestinal cancer, so be careful. I rarely if ever buy a loaf of bread because there are so many other choices out there. When you are in the sandwich rut, it's hard to think outside the sandwich box, but there are a lot of things that can be used in place of sandwich bread.

In figuring the cost of sandwiches for picnics during the summer at school. Multiply forty children by sandwich bread and you get a cost of $15.00 just for the bread. That three times a week is just painfully expensive. So we use alternatives. We use long hoagy buns, tortillas and sometimes homemade buns.

When you look at the ingredients in any bakery cake, cookie, or muffin, the flour is not even enriched because it is not even trying to be healthy. When the sugar content is listed before the flour, you know you have a "winner" to contend with. When the fat is something you never even heard of, you know you are eating something one molecule away from plastic, so the excuse, "I don't have time" is like saying, "I don't have time to lock my doors and turn off my lights" at the end of an evening.

Baking is a habit. It's something you do while you are making other things in the kitchen, and after placing your equipment within easy use, and filling your canisters with baking ingredients, and making sure these things are on your regular shopping list, you will be surprised by how much you save.

Here is a shopping list to help:

Whole wheat pastry flour - can be used in place of white flour
Brown sugar - is better for you than white, but your product will be slightly heavier.
White sugar - can be reduced from 1/4 to 1/2 on most recipes.
Confectioners sugar - a little goes a long way.
Butter - much better for you than margarine.
Canola oil - best oil for baking.
Cocoa - is a wonderful antioxidant and has a lot of nutritional value.
Coconut - makes muffins/cakes lighter and more nutritious. Coconut is the highest quality nut.
Baking powder - always use generously.
Baking soda - add a little when using fruit.
Salt- use as needed but don't over do.
Chocolate chips - buy good dark chips. Milk chocolate has no value and is cloyingly sweet.
Eggs - best buy is free range, but an egg is an egg.
Milk - make sure your milk is vitamin D.

Here's an easy muffin recipe:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar ( can be reduced)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1-2 cups milk

add nuts, cold cereal, raisins, coconut, cinnamon, berries, chopped apples, cranberries, orange or other fruit or vegetable. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Next time: vegetables and fruits