4x4 It's the little things!

Some days it’s really the little things that make you the happiest. When you’re doing a social experiment to see if you can feed your family on $400 a month and you’re running way a head of schedule, finding pasta on sale 10 for 10$ and Tuna 10 for $10 just makes me giddy with happiness. In my house, you can get a lot of mileage out of a box of pasta and a can of tuna!


One of the cool things about this challenge, to me, is that it forces me to pay attention to what’s in the pantry and not just get to the store list in hand and not remember if you have something and then when you get home you find out that not only did you have turmeric, you have 4 unopened bottles of turmeric! So the net effect of paying attention meant that my Harris Teeter weekly tithing was a mere $65. Can you imagine? I’m going to feed my family all of next week on only $65 dollars worth of new stuff! This is like earth spinning backwards, cats lying down with dogs, Y2K significance. Quite noteworthy!


What are we having? Some seriously yummy stuff that’s what.



Weekend treat is going to be empanadas, a jicama salad maybe some salsa and other Mexican accompaniments depending on if I get to the farmers market on Saturday.

I found a huge package of cube steak on mark down so country style steak, mashed potatoes, steamed cabbage and onions and pinto beans are on the menu and depending on again if I get to the farmers market, I will probably make some eggplant parmesan, I'll save that recipe until I make it so I can measure! Lunches and breakfasts are leftovers, soups, pasta salad (love me that dollar box of pasta with some veggies, maybe a can or two of tuna, some hardboiled eggs and mayo, we’re good to go for DAYS!)



Empanada

1 Box of Pie crust with two crusts. Yes you can make your own pie crust but the store bought stuff is SO good and so consistent, unless you’re a master pie baker, why bother. If you’re a vegetarian though, pay attention, sometimes the shortening is actually lard. Ghastly, albeit delicious, lard.

1# of browned hamburger meat, drained. You can really use just about any kind of meat here. I’ve made it successfully with chicken, pulled pork, left over roast and even vegetarian “beef” crumbles.

Olive Oil

1 Large Onion, sliced

1 Large Green Pepper, diced

1 small jar green salad olives with the pimento, rough chopped

2 TB Chili Powder

1Tb Cumin

1Tb Garlic Powder

1 Tea Onion Powder

Salt Pepper and Texas Pete to taste

2 Tb Flour

½ cup of water



1 egg white beaten with 1 TB of water for an egg wash



Extra flour



Brown and Drain the meat if using beef, if using leftovers just put them in a pan and if you’re using raw chicken cut it into thin strips (maybe 2 big breasts) and cook. Reserve the meat on a separate plate. Add olive oil to the pan and add the Onion and Pepper and sauté until they are translucent. Add the meat back in and the rest of the list up to the two tablespoons of flour. Cook for a few minutes to blend, then sprinkle the tablespoons of flour, stir well and cook for a minute or so longer. Add the water and simmer until the dish is thick and smells great!



Unroll the pie crust and dust one piece with flour then invert on a cookie sheet or pizza pan. Spread the meat mixture over the top leaving a 1 inch border. It’s ok if you have to pile it up. Gently stretch the second crust over the “pie” and roll and crimp the edges. Brush the whole thing including the crimped edge with the egg wash. Cut an X in the center of the crust and roll back the edges so the steam can escape. Bake at 425 until golden…maybe 30 minutes I’ll update this after I actually make it to give you a time



Jicama Mango Salad. This is Tyler Florence’s recipe and it’s perfect for summer. Crunch, fresh and just a wee bit of heat. It’s easy and cheap. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/crunchy-jicama-and-mango-salad-with-chile-and-lime-recipe/index.html



Country Style Steak

Cube Steaks. However many you want. Doesn’t change the recipe

1 – 2 BIG onions slivered

Flour, Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Paprika…how do you like those measurements, huh?

Water

Olive Oil.

Kitchen Bouquet



In a plastic grocery bag, make sure it doesn’t have any holes. Add 1 -2 cups of white (do NOT use whole wheat) flour, grind in a bunch of pepper, a little salt and a few shakes of the rest of the seasonings. Fluff the bag to mix every thing. In the mean time, heat olive oil up in a good sized skillet that has a lid. Put the meat in the bag and flop around to evenly coat the meat. Fry the meat in olive oil until it just starts to brown on both sides. Add the onions. Add most if not all of the seasoned flour, cover the whole thing with water, put a lid on it, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover and leave alone for maybe 20 minutes. Check, if it’s two thick add water, if too runny add more flour. This is going to be gravy so use your judgment to decide if the consistency is right. Keep cooking until the meat is tender and the gravy has “gravified”. You’ll know it when you see it that it’s right. Take the meat out of the pan, add maybe a couple of tablespoons of the kitchen bouquet, stir, adjust seasoning, add the meat back in and go another 5 -10 minutes for good measure.



Milk Free Mashed Potatoes

1 Carrot, cut into big chunks

1 Onion, Peeled, cut an X over the root in but leave whole

1 Stalk Celery, cut into big chunks

1 Bay Leaf

Salt Pepper

Baking Potatoes, diced…don’t use waxy potatoes like white or red ones, the mashed consistency is gross!

Water.

Add it all to a big stock pot and cover with water. Boil until potatoes are cooked but not mushy you don’t want them to lose too much of their starch or the finished consistency will be soupy.

Pull out the vegetables, drain the pots saving the water. Mash with ¼ cup of margarine or butter and add in just enough of the cooking liquid to get the right finished consistency. Adjust seasonings.



Steamed Cabbage and Onions

So easy and even if you think you hate cabbage you’ll love this.

Cabbage

2 Big Onions

Olive Oil

Salt and LOTS of pepper

Sliced the onions and caramelize to a deep golden brown in the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the cabbage. I usually use a ½ a head of green cabbage. Stir to coat the cabbage in the oil. Add water. You don’t want to cover it just give it enough to steam in. Maybe a couple of cups depending on whether you have a wide or a deep pan. Put a lid on it, reduce to a simmer and cook until the cabbage is translucent. Check it every now and then to make sure the water hasn’t evaporated.



Pinto Beans

I like to cook my beans from a dried state. I like the smoky flavor of cooking them with a ham hock but won’t use one so what I’ve found instead is that if you add 2 cubes of bouillon (chicken or vegetarian) a splash of olive oil and a cap full of liquid smoke, no one knows you didn’t put the piggy in the pot! You can use this as a cheat for collards too! Chop a Vidalia onion over the top of the cooked beans before serving.



Have a good week of eating on the cheap!