How To Eat On A Dime

So many of us and close friends and family are feeling the pinch; the money pinch specifically more than ever. I fondly remember my mother who grew up in the Depression of the 1930’s whose comment regarding today’s economic crisis was rather simple, ‘we (Us Americans) have gone through this once before you know…there’s nothing new about trying to save money when feeding your family. You simply have to be creative’.

Now my mother was one of those who taught me much in the kitchen, whose home cooked meals mostly from scratch since I think I can only recall two or three ‘pre-made’ products in our home, the occasional Campbell’s soup can, the box of Biscuit, and the Manischevitz Split Pea Soup Mix which we would make often when there was left over ham, yeah, I know, not very kosher, then again we were not Jewish or other religion that would make eating ham a naughty thing.

But here starting with a ham, I share my tips and ideas on how to eat healthy and affordably stretching your meals into more, just by getting a little more creative and learning how certain foods can go a long way to feeding your family. Dorothy Parker probably quoted Irma S. Rombauer (Joy Of Cooking in the 1930’s) who coined the phrase; Eternity is two people and a ham. And these women were both correct, regardless of who actually came up with the phrase that still holds true today as it did in 1930’s.

But I share this with you; ham is one of those affordable meats that once cooked, can turn into a variety of dishes with a little forethought. I chose to list a main dish which then can be turned into many other dishes along with links on how to make them.

The chosen foods for today are Baked Ham and Roast Chicken.

Baked Ham Dinner – can then be turned into these favorite meals…

• Navy Bean Soup
• Quiche with ham
• Western Omelets with ham, sliced bell peppers and onions
• Pasta Carbonara or Penne a la Vodka
• Sliced Ham Sandwiches
• Ham Hash
• Grilled Cheese Sandwich with ham
• Go all out with Eggs Benedict – from the food network website

Roast Chicken can then be turned into these fine meals:

• Chicken Quesadillas with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese
• Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
• Chicken Soup
• Chicken Tetrazzini
• Chicken Salad – a list of their favorites from Epicurean.com

How to Throw Your Own Stimulus Pot Luck Party

The other week, I decided to throw a party. I realized I hadn’t thrown one of my infamous Dinner-n-Jam parties in awhile, and also noticed it seemed like everyone including Wal-Mart was creating their own stimulus savings plan – and knowing I was on a limited budget – I decided to throw my version of a stimulus Pot Luck Dinner and Jam Party – it went off without a hitch this past weekend.

Here I show you some tips on throwing a good party where all have a great time, even when your own budget is tight.

Tips and Tricks

• First and foremost – Be Organized – set up a date anywhere from 3-6 weeks ahead.
• Second, Be Flexible – A relaxed host/hostess during the party ensures everyone will have a great time.
• Decide if any ‘theme’ for the party you might wish to use.
• Make up your guest list. Make sure to invite people from your gym, some good friends, and even people you would like to know more about. A group party is a great environment to learn a little more about people.
• I highly recommend using an online free source such as evite.com to create your invitations, manage your emails and guest lists. This is so useful, nowadays, saving you monies on stamps, it’s eco-friendly and really helps set the tone for your party. You can set it up, so that you receive text or email alerts when people R.S.V.P. and you can easily add people and send additional invitations on the fly.
• Create a list of what guests should bring. When using evite.com for example, you can create a list of items for guests to choose for themselves what to bring.
• In my version, I requested people to bring what they drank, and/or to provide one dish.  Leaving said variety of possible options allows guests to bring things they can easily afford. What to put on this list? Put things such as cold appetizers, hot appetizers, cheeses, main dishes, bottle of wine, ice, dips, chips, music. On evite.com for example you can set up your needs such as 3 cold appetizers and 4 bottles of wine. As people R.S.V.P. and select off this list, the items needed will automatically reduce, and therefore reduce your need to go off and buy loads of food for your party.
• Be open and allow guests to bring people to your party. I find if I mix it up (inviting different types of people) to every party, I find I have more new people I can invite the next time. Besides, these parties allow for having a nice mix of people which certainly adds something to your ‘group’.
• Allow your friends to help when they ask what they can do when as they arrive at your party. Why get stressed out? Something my Mother taught me years ago, and she was the queen of parties – by allowing guests to help gets everyone involved in making an OK party, become a great party. Allow one person to be the ‘bartender’ whiles another stirs up the chili and another sets up the cheese platter.
• When people ask if they can help you clean up, say yes! Many hands make for light work! Don’t be too bashful, and you will only be more than grateful after everyone leaves.
• Set up tables the night before, so you are not stressed on the day of your party. I usually keep the selected tablecloth folded on top of each of the tables. Set aside serving spoons and forks to help serve the foods that will arrive. At times, when I am planning a sit down, I have been known to set up the table and then place a sheet over the entire table to keep it clean right until guests arrive.
• Set up areas for trash – allocating receptacles for cans, bottles & trash.
• Designate a smoking area if you have any friends who smoke.
• Keep scented candles to a minimum, one small ‘gentle and light’ scented tea light will do. Use flavors such as ‘clean linen’ or ‘ocean breeze’- avoid vanilla, or heavy scents such as food-related strawberry cream or coconut for example since some people can be ultra sensitive.
• Set up an area where coats, bags and other items can be kept as people arrive.
• Make sure to have ample toilet paper.
• Clean only those areas you know your guests will mingle in – the kitchen, living room, bathrooms. I tend to do a little of this every day starting a week before, thereby; I don’t have much to do at all on the day of the party, but to relax.
• As people R.S.V.P. review the list of items they will bring. If you know someone will bring cheeses for example, make sure to have a cheese plate or wood cutting board handy and related cheese utensils and knives – cheeses should be set out at least one half hour prior to people arriving to become room temperature. Reviewing will let you know if you need to supplement a dish or two.
• Set out wine opener, bottle openers, cooler filled with ice for possible beers and wines prior to people arriving.
• For music, I personally chose some CD’s to rotate until the live music started.
• Prepare any foods you can a couple of days before, dips, soups, etc.
• Relax and let people be themselves.
• Turn down the lights a little and remember to have fun yourself.
• Mingle around introducing people to one another is a great way to get people to start talking with one another.
• Finally Good luck!

Why don’t you share your party success stories with us all? We would love to hear about it.

Jerked Oven Roasted Country Pork Ribs Recipe

Super tender and tangy country ribs are a great way to entertain affordably – made these up last night, couldn’t be easier – my guy went for seconds…quick too as they cook themselves. Serve it up with oven roasted veggies and fresh salad for a complete meal.

I also share a nice quick roasted veggie recipe which you can use anytime. This is one of those dinner meals that basically cook themselves and when you may be feeling tired but still need a good affordable meal, try this one.

Not only are country pork ribs more affordable than your usual ribs, there is a lot of meat on them and are quite tender. The spices and seasonings used in this recipe give a nice smokey flavor that has a gentle heat without sending your taste buds over to hell. Enjoy this easy to make dinner then next time you want to try country styled pork ribs making for an affordable dinner when you are on a tight budget.

Ingredients:

Country Pork Ribs, 1-2 per person depending upon size. These usually have a lot of meat on them and are more affordable than other sorts of ribs – they look slightly like your normal pork chops gone skinny and are usually about 1 inch thick.
**Sauce**
3-4 scallions sliced
2 garlic cloves minced
good amount of fresh pepper
3 tablespoons or more jerk season (separate recipe posted if you would like to make your own jerk seasoning)
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons lite mayonnaise
3 tablespoons ketchup
Large soup pot, cookie sheet with rack

Directions:

Place ribs into soup pot covering with water and allow to come to a boil.
Then turn down heat and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes – remove any scum that may float to the top.
In bowl, add all the ingredients for the sauce/marinade.
Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
Drain country ribs and dip into sauce and place onto rack on cookie sheet.
Once country ribs are on rack, this will allow the fat juices to fall away from your country ribs.
Add any remaining sauce to the tops of the country ribs before placing in the middle rack in your oven.
Bake for 45 minutes and allow to rest for five minutes before serving.
I served these up last night with oven roasted veggies which cooked on a separate cookie sheet on the top oven rack simultaneously.

To Make Oven Roasted Veggies:

Slice all into chucks: 4 potatoes or 8 red small potatoes, 2 onions (I used 1 bermuda, 1 yellow), 3-5 garlic cloves minced, 2 or 3 bell peppers in different colors (I used red and green).
Place all ingredients into bowl, add good amount of kosher salt, pepper and add 1/3 cup olive oil.
With spoon or hands, turn to coat with seasons and olive oil.
Place in a shallow cookie sheet with sides to make one layer and place into oven. Turning over once or twice during cooking time while doing ribs.