Budget Saving Menus

Saving money in your budget doesn't only mean cutting back but it mostly means being good stewards of the resources that God has provided.  That's why when I begin to plan the next week or two of meals I take a look first at what I have on hand.

Sometimes planned meals just don't work out and I have to do a quick substitution so I often have a few things purchased that I didn't use.  Menu plan below.

As I go through this post please remember that we grow all our own grass-fed, free-range meats and our freezers are generally full of anything we might need.

This week I have some things in the frig (or will have after Christmas Day) that need to be used up:

Wine-Braised Short Ribs with Vegetables

3 medium carrots peeled
2 medium parsnips peeled
2 stalks celery
2 pounds beef short ribs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oilive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 cup red wine
1 cup diced tomato
4 cloves garlic
9 inches fresh rosemary sprig
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 pound Broccoli florets

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Julianne carrots, parsnips and celery in 3 inch lengths.
3. Sprinkle short ribs all over with salt and pepper.  Heat olive oiil in 6-8 quart pot over med-high heat.  Brown ribs in oil in skillet on both sides, 5 minutes per side.  Transfer to roating pan.  Pour fat from pot and reserve.
4. Add 1 tablespoon fat or olive oil to skillet.  Add onions, stirring often, until lightly browned (8-10 min).  Spoon over ribs.  Add additional tablespoon fat or olive oil to pot with vegetables.  Cook, stirring often until golden (5-6 min).  Spoon into seperate bowl with uncooked broccoli, sprinkle with chopped parsley, salt and pepper.
5. Pour wine, tomatoes and remaining parsley into skillet.  Be sure to scrap the bottom.  Bring to boil over high heat. Pour over ribs, Scatter garlic cloves and rosemary on tip.  Cover tightly.  Braise in oven for 2 1/2 hours, turning meat every hour.
6. Add vegetable mixture to rib mixture in pan.  Cover and bake 25-30 minutes.

This is great served with mashed potatoes and Horseradish Beet Sauce.

Making Four, Plus, Meals from One Chicken

Today I finished just one experiment on what I could do with a 4-5 pound free-range chicken.  Yes these chickens can get expensive.  Had I not grown it myself it would have cost me upwards of $15-18, but divide that by 20 and that's $.75 cents, or so, per person for the protien portion of each meal.  Let's look further.

**NOTE** This method can ONLY BE DONE with a 4-5 pound pasture raised chicken from your local farmer.  It would take 3-4 of those sale priced $.78 a pound chickens you get on sale in the store.

The first meal was Roast Chicken, Stuffing, Smashed potatoes, Creamed Green Beans and Pumpkin Cake Pudding (all gluten-free).  This served 4 adults and 2 young children.

The remaining chicken was saved including the remaining chicken from the bones.  The bones were saved and placed into a stock pot with a gallon of water, one onion, two stalks celery, two carrots and 4 cloves garlic.  It was simmered with 2 tablespoons pure apple cider vinegar for 12 hours covered.  The bones were given to the barn cats and the vegetables to the chickens after the broth was strained off and reserved.

Great Mashed Potatoes

The Great Potato Cooking Hint

Did you know that you can peel and cut your potatoes up and put them in your pot of salted water well ahead of meal time? In fact, you can do this up to two days ahead if you are planning a huge meal and need the extra time on cooking day.  My mother taught me to just quarter the potatoes and the cook time was sometimes over thirty minutes.  Now I cut my potatoes in one inch or so cubes.  This reduces the cook time to 10-15 minutes. 

• Always put your potatoes in cold water immediately after peeling and cutting to avoided the dreaded brown potato.
• Always begin cooking your potatoes in cold water.
• Always salt your cooking water.  This will be the only time to get some seasoning in those spuds.

Creating Smooth Mashed Potatoes