ORChick's "Is it really that hard?" journal

[pinkfox]

wil be interesting to see price flutcuations across the country, i can see right off the bat whole milk here costs $3.89+ a gallon and youd never find taters for $1.50 for 5lbs (i dont even think you can buy seed taters for that price lol)

 

[Bettacreek]

Yeah, milk is crazy here as well. It's basically the same price as gas! Produce looks to be cheaper there as well. Eggs are the same price though, lol.

 

[luvinlife offthegrid]

Well apparently lots of you are doing this. I just reviewed a few journals. Good luck, everyone!

 

[ORChick]

We have an incredible supermarket here. It is part of a chain, but a very small chain, just three links, and so is fairly local. There is one in our town, and another about an hour and a half south of us, and one more over the Cascades in Klamath Falls. It is a "pack your own bags" store, but the prices are really great, especially the produce. They also have quite a few bulk bins, so you can buy as much or as little as you want/need. I must admit that I don't go in there very often as it is usually packed, and unless I have a full cart it is really annoying to wait in line behind 4 others who have full carts, and me with just a handful. But I went in yesterday, and did the rounds, and realized that they have spiffed the place up a lot, and have a larger *natural foods* section - and I was able to see more clearly just how fantastic their prices are. Now, those 1.50/5# potatoes were a special, but I don't think it is all that much more usually. (What I really like about this store is that they make an honest effort to get local products, and support the community. They always get a good selection of the 4-H animals after the fair, for example. Supports the kids, and sells the meat locally)

luvinlife offthegrid - Quiche is a favorite standby here. DH doesn't eat cheese, but quiche can be quite good even without - lots of veggies and herbs, and we can eat from that for 2 days.

 

[Denim Deb]

Normally, potatoes go for around $2.99 or more for a 5 lb bag. If I can, I buy them in Aldi's since I can normally get a 10 lb bag for not much more.

 

[ORChick]

I dismantled the chicken - two leg sections (drumstick and thigh), 2 wings, 2 breast pieces with the *tenders* separated. The remaining carcass went into the slow cooker with a couple of carrots, a stalk of celery, about half an onion, and some peppercorns. The fat and skin got rendered down for the fat, and *cracklings* (these to sprinkle on a salad). For dinner I will cut one of the breast pieces in half, pound the pieces thin, bread them, and grill quickly - a vaguely Japanese way of cooking them. Steamed rice and carrots glazed with butter (I would use a spoonful of marmalade if I had any) to go with the chicken. And I made vanilla cornstarch pudding for DH, which he can have with some sliced banana on top. I'm not much of a one for sweets, but he certainly is, and I don't indulge him as often as perhaps I ought to.

The leg pieces and wings will get grilled tomorrow, for dinner and the next day's lunch. The remaining breast piece, and maybe the tenders, will be ground, and added to ground beef for meatballs.

After the carcass has cooked for a little while I will remove the bones, and remove the pieces of meat still clinging to them. Then return the bones to the pot and continue to cook, for stock. The removed bits of meat will end up in a gravy, maybe with mushrooms, over pancakes or pasta. Other people might make soup, but DH doesn't like chicken soup.

 

[Denim Deb]

That sounds interesting. I've never had gravy over pancakes!

 

[Bettacreek]

A big thing here is chicken and waffles... Chicken gravy poured over the waffles. I'm not a huge fan of waffles though, and I'm not a fan of that meal either. But, it's cheap.

 

[ORChick]

Yeah, I was thinking of waffles, but DH isn't so fond of them. I sometimes do this with crepes, which are really just thin pancakes. And sometimes with biscuits. Pancakes are really handy though, as they aren't by themselves sweet - its the topping - jam, syrup, etc. If the topping is savory then they will still taste good, just different.

Made a cucumber salad to go with dinner - thinly sliced cucumber topped with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, and a dash of paprika. My MIL would have let the cucumber marinate in a bit of vinegar first, but her son, my DH, doesn't like sour

 

[ORChick]

The leg pieces from the chicken went on the grill this evening, along with the wings. I *roasted* some potatoes in a pan on the grill at the same time, along with a couple of thick slices of onion. Part of the cauliflower was steamed to go with the rest. A little salad made for something green. The wings will be my lunch tomorrow.
The leftover chicken breast and *tenders* went through the meat grinder, and were mixed with 1# ground beef (would have used less, but it was a frozen hunk, so it all needed to be defrosted) Mixed in a handful of breadcrumbs (did I mention that I made a loaf of bread yesterday?) soaked in a few tablespoons of milk, some chopped onion, and herbs & pepper, and formed meatballs. These went on a pan into the oven for 30-40 minutes to brown. Got 34 meatballs from the mixture, which should make nice additions to 5 or 6 meals for the two of us. They will cool overnight, and then go in the freezer.
DH had some more of the vanilla pudding for dessert.
Oh, almost forgot - egg and toast (butter, jam) for breakfast. And tea - lots of hot tea.