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

Easy and Quick Roast Jerk Chicken for Two

This is one of those super easy phenomenal tasting spicy roasted chicken dinners that takes no time to prepare. simply set it up, throw it in the oven, and voila, it’s done an hour later or less -no fuss cooking with the feel of a fine French Restaurant-looking lovely fresh roasted chicken with a jerk twist.

Ingredients:

• 1 split down the middle small chicken.
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• red chili flakes (optional – but oh so good!)
• kosher or rock salt & fresh cracked pepper
• 2 teaspoons dry jerk seasonings
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• hot preheated oven 350 degrees
• cast iron or clad skillet – or shallow pan, anything that can go into the oven.

Directions:

1. Start your oven, and set chicken skin side up in skillet or shallow pan.
2. Pour and rub olive oil over skin. Add salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, dry jerk seasonings and fresh rosemary.
3. I also place one sprig of rosemary under wing as it laid across the chicken half.
4. That’s it! Throw it into the oven, cook till internal temperature in breast/thigh reaches 165 degrees – depending upon size of bird, mine took 55 minutes.
5. Let rest out of pan on a plate before splitting in half to serve on two plates.
6. My dish shown has roasted bell peppers and potatoes that I inadvertently left in a little too long – but still had a nice bite to them.

Though the photo is not very good, my pal and I were too eager to stop long enough to set up the photo, but I assure you that it was mighty tasty!

Spring is Here – How Does Your Garden Grow?

I love Spring. After the hard winter of cold temperatures, windy sleet and snow and too high heating bills, thick stews, bone-warming hearty chili and large roasts, I am always ready for those first signs of Spring to show up around my hometown.

Whether it be crocus and snow drops popping up through the weeds and storm-tossed flower beds, or green tips of tulips, hyacinthia and daffodils peaking up through leftover leaves from winter’s past just make me smile, it always seems worth suffering through the winter to have the renewing reminder of Spring starting to adorn your neighborhood with all its showy glory.

So why bring this up at all? Well, it turns out that in my own case where I live, I currently have access through a window to have containers that keep herbs and a tomato plant close by to my kitchen for easy access and my cooking needs on an extended roof top. And just the other day I was thinking to myself, ‘I would love to be able to have access to a larger garden and plant a few things such as butterfly-attracting flowers like black-eyed susans and butterfly bushes to other interesting vegetables like a jalapeno pepper plant’. Well my prayers were answered – and maybe more than I wished for.

So yes, be careful what you wish for, you have heard that before, but in this case, I am absolutely thrilled. My local church put in their bulletin the need for volunteers to work on their various flower beds to be groomed having been somewhat forgotten about, to allowing people to adopt a small portion to be able to grow almost anything in them. So I not only get a larger flower bed that I thought about – it even comes with its own official name; they call it the St. Francis Garden which already has lilacs, several rose bushes, a hydrangea and lilacs -all of which are terribly have been neglected.

A small statue of St. Francis with his usual birds on his shoulders and one in his palm adorn him and his robe as he stands looking at the garden which I now am responsible for. I will not only be able to plant those jalapenos peppers, but that butterfly bush and some black eye susans and cone flowers among other flowers both perennial and annual that attract the butterflies. Of course, I will give some space and respect to all that is already planted, and to the lovely statue of St. Francis, but I am so thrilled for my new adventure and to help put back in place my own little secret garden that can be shared to all who just look beyond a side fence and around the church’s corner.

The best part is that this side of the church where this flower bed exists is not seen by many people since it is somewhat hidden, yet since I live right next door, I will be able to see it from the side of my building as I look out hopefully fondly as I see the growth and results of my hard labor. I was able to get out today a little and started to attack some of the forsythia  – with my dog in tow, tethered to the dogwood tree. He was happy laying in the grass under the tree while I worked a few miracles on a few of the bushes and even got to take some of the forsythia into the house to ‘force’ their blooming – just what the early spring-gal like me loves. Live Flowers. Love Flowers. Enjoy Spring. And there’s even a spring in my step now, a reason to wake up extra early, and relearn what I love about gardening.

As time comes soon, I will share photos of the garden how it stands currently and in its soon to be glory.

So share with us all, what is in your garden and how do you enjoy Spring and all its’ early signs.

~Chef Maven