Pantry Party Part I

Good Wednesday morning! I'm in NY, posting from the beautiful Hamptons...there's a ton of snow here, but it's still nice to get out of the city and relax. I love being home for a bunch of reasons. I obviously love seeing my family, and I love that I don't have to clean, or run errands, or even really cook for myself. It's great. The flip side of that, however, is that I have to wake up with the baby every night by myself (last night from 1 am to 3:30 am).

Anyways...Dylan's napping and I am here to talk to you about stocking your pantry. This is part one of a series...today I will discuss your dry cabinet pantry which includes: grains, dry beans, and pastas.

What do I mean by pantry?

*Pantry refers to all of your non-perishables or foods that stay fresh for an insanely long time. My pantry includes my cabinets, my refrigerator, my freezer and my fruit and vegetable bowls. Today I'd like to share with you tips for building your cabinet pantry.

Why stock a pantry?

*I believe stocking your pantry is one of the most budget friendly tactics you can employ to keep your food costs low, low, low. By having your basic essentials on hand, you eliminate the need to buy a ton of ingredients for every meal you cook. If you have a well stocked cabinet pantry, you can just buy perishables every week, and rest assured knowing you have most of what you need at home.

*Many items in your cabinet pantry are amazing multi-taskers. All you need to do is buy one jar of dried basil, but that one jar will take you through tons (probably hundreds) of meals! The same goes for most spices. This applies to oils, too. You will probably use some sort of oil in almost everything you cook, so it's important to always have it at hand.

*You can often throw together meals entirely from your pantry in a pinch. A little garlic, oil, pasta, and a can of beans goes a long way when you have nothing in the house (like when you get home from a vacation - or you've exhausted your grocery budget for the month).

What's in a cabinet pantry?

I have organized my cabinet pantry into 3 sections. This works for me, but feel free to organize yours any old way! I will draw a beautiful picture:

Grains and Dry Beans

These are staples of meal planning in my house. Here's what I keep on hand at all times. Those with a "*" are bonus points!

• Steel Cut Oats (for breakfast and babies)
• Brown Rice (use like pasta under chilis, baked beans, in soups)
• Rice Sticks* (for stirfries and asian)
• Quinoa* (use as you would rice)
• Barley* (soups)
• Dry Red, Black, or Pinto Beans
• A 16 Bean Mix*
• Lentils
• Split Peas

By keeping the above items in your pantry, you can be sure you'll always have the ingredients to make a healthful meal on hand. From the above, depending on the quality of your overall pantry, you can make: fried rice, rice and beans, stir fry, and a bunch of different soups.

Pastas

I cook with pastas a lot - especially whole wheat ones (which are as good as any other whole grain, nutritionally). They're a great, inexpensive option for dinners, and I try to cook with them several times a week to keep the grocery costs down. Keep a variety of pastas on hand for different uses.

• Penne (stands up to fresh vegetable toppings and heavy sauces, also good for ziti)
• Farfalle - bowties, or literally - "butterflies" in Italian (perfect in place of noodles in casseroles)
• Spaghetti and/or Linguine (perfect for lighter sauces, but also stands up to meatballs and other toppings...can be used in asian cuisine as well in place of noodles - as in sesame noodles, yum!)
• Lasagna noodles (for lasagna...duh)
• Rotini (perfect for all sorts of pasta salads and baked macaroni dishes)

If you stock your pantry correctly, you'll always have a pasta-based meal just 20 minutes away.

Canned Goods

Having canned goods on hand ensures you always have at least something to eat. They're a great way to stretch your grocery dollars and always have something to cook with at hand.

• Beans (for dips, pastas, and soups)
• Clams* (for clam sauce and chowder)
• Tomatoes (for sauce and chili)
• Soups (especially cream of mushroom for casseroles)
• Olives* (as a throw in to pasta salad or topping for pizza)
• Artichoke hearts* (for use in pasta, pasta salads, or pizza)

If you keep some of the above on hand, you'll always be able to make a bean dip for entertaining, a pot of sauce for dinner, or some garlicky bean soup...assuming your refrigerator and basket pantry are up to par!

My scrimpyPantry Tips

Here are some tips to help you stock your pantry as inexpensively as possible.

Brown Rice - WFs has a good deal on organic, TJs has sells conventional at around $1/lb.

Beans - if you're going conventional then Stop and Shop is the way to go @ 3 cans/$2. Organic go for about $1/can at both TJs and WFs.

Dried Beans and peas and lentils - Whole Foods has the best deals on these. A pound of organic will cost you $1.99 across the board, only $.50 more than what conventional costs at Stop and Shop. TJs does not carry dry beans. TJs does, however, sell a 16 bean mix with some grains in it for $1.29 (or something like that).

Clams - these go on sale at Stop and Shop and CVS 4/$5. I stock up then. 2 cans makes clam sauce for 4, and with a pound of pasta this is a $3.50 dinner.

Canned Beans - if you're going conventional then Stop and Shop is the way to go @ 3 cans/$2. Organic go for about $1/can at both TJs and WFs.

Pasta - hands down, TJs has the best prices on pasta in town. White will cost you $.99/lb and organic whole wheat will set you back a mere $1.29/lb. Amazing!

Tomatoes - if you're going conventional then TJs, WFs, and S&S are all comparable. Organic are cheapest at WFs at $1.79/28 oz. can...that's a GREAT price considering you generally pay $1/28 oz. conventional can.

Soups - Campbell's coups can often be found buy one get one free making them under $1. Add in some sale tuna and organic whole wheat pasta for a $5 casserole that serves at least 4.

Olives and Artichoke Hearts - Unlikely versatile ingredients that can be added atop a pizza (prepared crust from TJs @ $.99 + a handful of organic canned tomatoes @ $.75 + can of olives @ $1 = a vegan pizza for under $3) or a pasta dish. Also good for a quick antipasto platter for entertaining!

Jarred tapenade or bruschetta - I like to keep a $3 TJs jar of these on hand in case of entertaining or dinner emergencies. The tapenade can be served along a loaf of bread or with crackers to make a quick platter, as can the bruschetta. Alternately, the bruschetta can be tossed with hot penne for a $4 dinner for 5.

I hope this post helps you develop and build a working pantry. Stay tuned in the coming days and weeks for:

• tips on stocking a refrigerator pantry
• how to build a fruit and veggie pantry
• spice, seasoning and oil pantry
• building a baking pantry
• creating a freezer pantry
• pantry recipes

Whole Foods Pick of the Week!

My Whole Foods Pick of the Week is Arrowhead Mills Flax Seeds. At $2.99/lb, these are quite the nutritional value. A great source of fiber, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids, flax seeds make a welcome addition to baked goods, oatmeal, smoothies, and yogurt. Flax is an amazing thing to add to your diet, and is the most cost effective way I've found to get omega-3s. I'm not too much of a fish eater (I know, I know..."but it's so good for you"...but it's SO expensive! Not exactly in the budget right now, although if anyone in the city needs a sushi date...) so this $2.99 Flax is a great alternative. Between my $4.29/lb walnuts from TJs and my WF $2.99 Flax I'm good to go on omegas!

The nutrients in flax are MUCH better absorbed if the flax is ground (or else it stays a little seed in your belly!) so I always grind mine fresh. You can buy it ground up, but it's best to grind it as you use it...kind of like coffee.

Try it, you'll like it! I love eating it throughout the day, a little sprinkled here and there.

Oh! The baby loves it in his food too! Try mashing a banana up with a tablespoon of flax for a fiber, iron, and omega boost for your baby. Here's a link to the benefits of flax for babies, and some guidelines on its use. You shoudn't give the baby too much, as it can have laxative effects.

And there you have it ladies and gentlemen...My Whole Foods Pick of the Week. Stay tuned for more Whole Foods best buys!

-Add them to muffin batters, breads, and cookies

-Sprinkle by the tablespoon full over cereals, oatmeal, and yogurt

-Mix up in a smoothie

-Sprinkle in baby foods

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

In honor of the CVS sale on almonds here's the recipe for cinnamon roasted almonds. I make this recipe for my dad all the time. He loves it, and it makes my apartment smell like Downtown Crossing (um...yeah, well sometimes it actually smells good down there when you catch a whiff of the cinnamon nuts!).

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
makes about 3 1/2 cups

• 1 egg white ($.29 - organic)
  
• 1 t cold water ($.00)
  
• 1 t vanilla ($.17)
  
• 2 1/2 c whole almonds (plain, not salted!) ($3.56)
  
• 3/4 c white sugar ($.23)
  
• 1/2 t salt (<$.01)
• 1 t ground cinnamon ($.06)

Total: $4.32...this makes enough for 2 gift sized jars ($2.16 each)

1. Preheat the oven to 250.
2. With a mixer, mix up egg white until it's a bit foamy and then add 1 t. of water and 1 t. vanilla. Split this mixture in half (I know, there's like, nothing there...but split it in half anyways, please!)
3. Combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon and split that in half, too.
4. Toss nuts in one half of the egg mixture.
5. Toss nuts in one half of the sugar mixture.
6. Arrange on baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone liner (nothing sticks to this baby) in one single layer, spreading nuts out so they all have some room around them. If they're too close together, they won't get nice and crunchy!
   
7. Bake for one hour, mixing them around half way through.
8. Take them out after an hour and let them cool (if you don't let them cool they will cook the egg whites during their second coating).
9. Coat them in reserved egg white wash.
10. Coat them in reserved sugar mix.
11. Bake again for one hour, mixing half way through, being careful not to burn them (you will smell it, so just keep an eye out for them, and taste them halfway through - they're amazing).

scrimpyTips:

-One pound of almonds is 3 1/2 cups (approximately)
-This is just as good (if not better) when made with unsalted cashews, which are also on sale at CVS (this recipe is flexible, you can just sub. a canister for the 2 1/2 cups and decrease the sugar to 1/2 c.).
-When I make these with nuts that already come in a little canister, I rip off the label (it's silver underneath the CVS brand label) and tie around a ribbon. This makes them perfect for gift giving. You could also cut a piece of used brown shopping bag and glue it around for a cool look.
-You should wrap these up as soon as you make them if you plan to give them for a gift. You will eat them all (personal experience).
-These make great holiday gifts and party snacks.
-You could use a mix of brown and white sugar for this recipe.
-If you want more coating, just decrease the amount of nuts you use.
-They stay good for weeks (at least 2...most likely longer)

Making Babies (OK...making baby WIPES)

This bum's feeling good with these homemade baby wipes!

As I was typing "baby" the song on the radio said "baby"...I live for coincidences like that.

So, I make my own baby wipes (you need paper towels, baby wash, water, a stove, a wipe container, and oil - optional) here at Casa Fitzgerald. I'll give you some food for thought:

The cheapest wipes cost $25.99/770 wipes. This means they're $.033 each.
My paper towels are Bounty $6.99/12 rolls on sale at CVS. Follow me through the breakdown:

There are 56 sheets in a roll. Times 2 because you cut it in half. That gives you 112 wipes/roll.

112 wipes/roll x 12 rolls = 1344 wipes. That's $.0052/wipe. That means these wipes are 6.35 times cheaper than the wipes you buy. Oh, and you know what's in them, so that's nice...no chems. Oh, and you have to account for the soap you put in them but trust me that's nominal. OK fine, I'll do the math since every cent counts...

We use California Baby which is the creme de la creme of baby washes...all organic etc etc etc...
It's $1.00/oz. That's expensive - shit. Fortunately, in these wipes you use about 1 1/2 teaspoons per batch, which is .25 oz which means $.25 per batch. Half a roll makes about a batch, so that'd be $.50 of wash for every roll. That means $6.00 of wash for every 12 rolls of paper towels.

The wipes now cost $.009/wipe, which is still more than 3.6 times cheaper than store bought wipes, and they're organic and natural. So you win, basically.

Here's how you do it:

1. This part's a pain in the ass. Prepare the rolls of paper towels. You may want to do this all at once (like when you buy the pack just cut them all). You should use the sharpest knife you have. Serrated ones will produce a bunch of ripped off paper pieces, so a knife like a meat cleaver is best to work with (I have my Miracle Blades!). I hear an electric carving knife works well, too.
2. Once it's cut, you can do two things. One is purchase a plastic cylindrical container that will hold the roll. The other thing you can do is fold the whole roll accordion style in a way that makes the wipes fit in your old wipe container. This is what I do, it's time consuming but relaxing. You just fold each sheet in half until it's a nice stack that will fit in your tub. I leave them all connected and just rip as I go. Half a roll = 1 batch.
3. Take the water (about 2 cups) and boil it for a few minutes (this helps remove the possibility the wipes will mold). Then let it cool to room temperature. When it is room temperature, add the soap (1 1/2 t. soap) and mix it up (You can also add some vitamin E oil or Olive oil at this point to make them more moisturizing for sensitive bums...that would make these wipes a full $.01/wipe. Still 3 times cheaper than store bought)
4. Pour the mixture over the wipes. You can pour it all in and wait for the towels to absorb it, but since the tub container and number of wipes you'll have will vary, I like to play it safe and avoid having too much extra water in there. I just pour the solution over the wipes slowly, and add more and more until the wipes are wet all the way through. If you've used the cylindrical container method, you can now pull the cardboard out of the middle and pull the wipes from there.
5. Voila. You have homemade baby wipes for your baby or yourself!

scrimpyTip:

- You have to use good quality paper towels or else they will fall apart.
- You can add all sorts of essential oils like lavender for scent.
- You can use any type of baby was you'd like

scrimpySnack of the Week

Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone!

I'm sick, so I'm sorry if I sound a little bit stuffed up. Just ask me to repeat anything you can't understand (oh my god HA HA HA!).

Every Sunday I try to make a delicious snack to go in Mike's lunches. Sometimes it's banana bread muffins and sometimes it's cookies, and then other times when I'm lazy he just gets 2 pieces of fruit. This Sunday, I came across a recipe that's great for two reasons.

Reasons this cookie recipe is great:

1. It's delicious
2. It uses vegetable oil instead of butter which is convenient if you:

1. Don't have any butter (on the off chance you have MOLASSES but not butter...)
   
2. Have a dairy allergy or something else like that

Molasses Crackle Cookies
(Oh, and another cool thing about these is that they actually crackle on top and look really pretty...next time I will try rolling them in confectioner's sugar...on that note, is it "confectioner's sugar", "confectionary sugar", or "confection sugar"? From now on I should say C. Sugar. OK solved.)
Makes 32 cookies (enough for 2 days...they're pretty good)

2/3 c. vegetable oil ($.58)
1 c. sugar ($.31)
1 egg ($.29 - organic)
1/4 c. molasses($.42 - organic - TJs)
2 c. flour ($.30)
2 t. baking soda (not powder...quadruple check this PUH-LEASE) ($.02)
1 t. cinnamon ($.06 - CVS)
1 t. ground ginger ($.06 - CVS)
1/2 t. ground cloves ($.06)
1/3 c. sugar ($.10)

Total: $2.20 (that's $.07/cookie (Seven Sent Cookies, like Heaven Sent, just Seven Cent!) The molasses makes them a little more expensive than some other cookies...)

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Combine oil and sugar then add egg and molasses.
3. In a separate bowl sift together (or just whisk together if you are LAZY - like me sometimes) flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
4. Add the dry mixture to the wet.
5. Roll into nice sized balls (ha)...about 1 1/3"-1 1/2" and then roll those balls in sugar (HA).
6. Place them with about 3 inches in between each other on the cookie sheet (they are going to flatten out and spread...hopefully...)
7. Bake for 10 minutes, or until they're crackled on top.
   
8. Let them sit on the baking sheet to get hardened a bit, and them remove them to a plate to cool.
   
9. Store them in an air-tight (preferably glass with a plastic top) container. I stored them like this and they have stayed really soft and chewy. Trust me, I just had 4. They're still good to go.

scrimpyTips:

- I found that when my oven got a bit too hot, around 360ish, they crackled better, so I don't know...you may want to put your oven a TAD bit higher than 350. My first batch came out the least crackled, and the subsequent batches came out better...
- If you don't have ginger or cloves, you could easily omit them. Granted, they wouldn't be AS good, but they'd still be good, just a little different.
- If you only have one good cookie sheet, put the dough in the fridge in between batches.
- These would be great with soft vanilla ice cream in between them.
- These make great Christmas cookies

A note about sale shopping

So, while reviewing my CVS sale post, I got to thinking about how it is I manage to buy so many things on sale.

I want to share some of my sale shopping tactics with you.

It's only a sale if it's:

• something you would need to buy in the future at full price
• something you currently need
• something you will need in the near future
• more than 25% off

It's NOT a sale if:

• you're only buying it because it's cheap
• it's not something you usually use
• it's something you don't need
• it's something you're trying to find a use for because it's cheap
• it's less than 25% off
• it's more than you can reasonably use before it goes bad

Pay attention to generics. Most generics are the same exact thing for less money. Even if Tylenol is on sale, there's a good chance that the CVS is still cheaper every day. Always check labels to see when you can get the same product as a generic.

When something is on sale 2/$5.00, you don't have to buy 2 to get the price. You can buy one for $2.50. Because spending $5 when you only need one is NOT saving you any money! I guess that crazy store Kroger will even apply this to "buy one, get one" deals. You only need to buy one, and you'll get that one half price. I will investigate this in the Boston area for you, but it could never hurt to ask!

Keep a list of household items you use. Make note as soon as you realize you're running low. This way, when something goes on sale, even if you're not out of it, you can take advantage of the sale. For example, when I know we're running low on garbage bags, I make a note of it in my head (or on a running list). Then, for the next few weeks I watch the sales at CVS, and when they go on sale I buy them. If I hadn't kept note of that, I would have discovered I was out, and been forced to pay full price for them. The same goes for everything you use! Pay attention in your household, and you should never have to pay full price for household goods again. Plus, there's nothing better than running out of dish soap and just opening the cabinet and taking out a new one! This is a great technique for:

• Toothpaste (often goes on sale 2/$5.00 at CVS)
• Toilet Tissue
• Dish Soap
• Dish Detergent
• Garbage Bags
• Paper Towels
• Plastic Wrap
• Aluminum Foil

You get the idea!

Make a meal plan when you shop, and only buy things that fit into the meal plan. Also, you should aim to purchase items that do double duty. For example, I can buy 2 cans of tomatoes, take a few out for a pizza and use the rest for sauce. Another example is how I can buy a package of mozzarella cheese and make both a pizza and a baked ziti with it. Bacon is another great one. It's so fun to have bacon for breakfast, but then you can also make BLTs and Bacon Corn Chowder!

Bulk up when things go on sale, but make sure you use them! If I buy $30 worth of tomatoes when they go on sale, and then continue to grocery shop for everything else I usually buy, then all I did was spend $30 extra dollars. Instead, I try to make a committment to cook with those tomatoes at least once a week, thus lowering my overall grocery cost for the week!

I don't really purchase meat, but from what I can tell a great strategy is to buy in bulk on sale, and to break it into portions and use as needed. A while ago I bought a package of chicken strips, and used half in a pot pie, and the other half on sandwiches for dinner. I can't stress enough how important it is to buy ingredients that you can use for more than one thing.

Oh, and ALWAYS eat your leftovers...it's such a great way to really stretch your grocery dollars. Even if there's only a little left, I always save it, and a few times a week I just make it a point to have a lunch of all leftovers. It may be a small cup of soup, a few bites of pasta, and a piece of fruit, but I used up all the leftovers and am fed!

How to make tomato sauce

Hey! Making red sauce is a great way to keep dinner costs down. I buy my organic tomatoes at Whole Foods. Their diced organic 365 brand are $1.79/can. I paid $1.67/can when I got the Muir Glen ones on sale 3/$5.00, but I'll use the $1.79 price since that's what you, the reader, can pay all the time, regardless of the sale. It's really easy to make a tasty red marinara style sauce. The sauce is so versatile. I make it, eat it over pasta once, make a lasagna or baked ziti with a little bit more of it, and then have pasta once again, or make meatball subs! You can also freeze it if you have extra, and always have an emergency dinner on hand with a little pasta, or half the recipe! My recipe makes a nice sized pot of sauce. Enough for 8 meals of spaghetti. Add in some meatballs and you've got yourself a good time (my family is from Italy, and they put raisins in the meatballs...this is delicious, try it!).

So, I am going step by step here so you can see what I really do. To test it out, I'm going to have Mike try to make it based on the blog. I will update you on how that goes!

First I cut up an onion. Here I used red, but I really prefer yellow. This was just what I had. It happened to be a cup. Most baseball sized onions will produce a cup. I chopped it like so:


I then add these to the pot along with:
2T sugar
2T olive oil
1 t salt
1 t dried basil
1 t dried parsley
1 dash black pepper

Like so:


I then pop the top on these bad boys and let them cook until they begin to become translucent. The top helps keep the moisture in. Once they become see through, you can take the top off and continue to cook everything. The liquid will evaporate, and the onions will soften and brown a bit, and that's what you want!

By the end of this step, your sauce will look like this:


At this point, you add two 28 oz. cans of tomatoes and then fill the cans up with water and add that. For a total of 2 cans of tomatoes and 2 tomato cans of water. That's confusing. But it's not. Your pot will look like this (but a little fuller because this is only with one can of water added):


(You may say, "my pot looks nothing like this". And I will tell you that we are talking about two very different types of pot, my friend).

At this point, you crank the heat up to high and put a top on it to get it up to a boil nice and quickly. Once it's boiling, take the top off, lower the heat, and allow it to simmer and reduce to the thickness you'd like. You simmer it longer for a thicker sauce, shorter for a thinner sauce.

At the end, if it is too "tomatoey", I like to add a tablespoon of butter, which isn't traditional and kind of a cheat, but whatever. Oh, yeah, and P.S. this has no garlic in it. I never liked making it with garlic, and my 94-year-old Grandma from Italy was watching me make it...I told her that I didn't put garlic in it, and she exclaimed she didn't in hers, either! Wow!

This whole process takes about 2 hours I'd say.

So the ingredient list is:
2 cans tomatoes, organic ($3.58)
1 c. onions ($.07 - Haymarket)
2 T. extra virgin olive oil (doesn't have to be extra virgin...$.24)
2 T. sugar ($.04)
1 t. salt ($.01)
1 t. dried parsley ($.01)
1 t. dried basil ($.01)
1 dash black pepper (<$.01) 1 T butter, optional a couple shakes of red pepper flakes (for spicy heat - to be added to onions and oil in the beginning of cooking - optional) Grand Total: $4.06 (with the butter), $6.04 with 2 pounds of spaghetti ($.99 at both TJs and WF). That would serve about 4 hungry people twice (or 8 hungry people once). That means that it's actually $.76/serving. Wow! I will come back to share my Italian bread recipe with you, too!

scrimpySauceTips:
- You can half this recipe to make enough sauce for 1 box of pasta.
- You can use this sauce for so many things: Chicken parmesan, Eggplant parmesan, Baked ziti, Lasagna, Stuffed shells, Calzones, etc...
- This makes a great freezer meal. Just freeze half for a quick weeknight dinner,
- You could use this for pizza, I'd just add an extra T, of sugar, and reduce it until it's thicker.
- I like this sauce thin and smooth. To get it thin and smooth, I use an immersion stick Braun hand mixer. You can also put it in a blender. Just be sure it's cooled off because the heat could blow the top off.
- If you like it thick and chunky, use diced tomatoes and just serve it as is. And if you only have whole tomatoes, just crush them in your hand before you add them to the pot.
- You can use any type of canned tomato: seasoned, crushed, pureed, whole, you name it!
- I have heard that all soups and sauces are better if given some time to rest. So usually, I'll make this at 3 pm, let it sit on the stove off the heat once it's done cooking, and then heat it up while I cook the pasta around 7 for dinner.
- It's good with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan or Romano. I use Romano because it's so much cheaper and serves the same purpose. Again, when I have money, it'll be Parmesan. And it'll be the expensive Parmesan.