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| 10 Ways to Enhance Inexpensive Meals |
Submitted by:
Arlene123 05/10/2009 11:27 AM
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Before I was married I had limited cooking skills and a lot of money to burn. When I had guests for dinner, I would simply broil expensive meat or fish, and steam gourmet vegetables. For example salmon steaks and steamed artichokes made an impressive meal.
Now with a family of six, I no longer can afford make impressive meals by "throwing money at the problem." As soon as I started to cut my grocery bill, expensive foods were eliminated, leaving me with a much more limited range of foods that I actually purchase. To keep food interesting, we use several strategies to enhance the meal.
- Get creative. Although the actual list of ingredients we buy is more limited, there are an infinite number of combinations that those ingredients can be put together. Instead of pan lasagna with broccoli on the side, I recently tried lasagna roll-ups, with broccoli inside the roll. Same food but varied. I'm always trying new recipes that use the ingredients I keep on hand. I more frequently look for recipes online, than in my cookbooks. But I also find cookbooks at yard sales. Cookbooks are usually very cheap (a dime or a quarter). I look for ones with nice photographs and have attractive-looking recipes that use inexpensive ingredients.
- Put in more effort for special occasions. On a daily basis we may eat fairly routine breakfast options, but we pull out the stops when a child has a sleepover party. It takes a bit more work and planning, but it really costs no more to make up homemade cinnamon rolls with glaze on the top. Sometimes we've had breakfasts of homemade raised doughnuts, and let sleepover guests dip the doughnuts in glaze and sprinkles. This costs the same as if served pancakes. If we're having adult guests, I serve something like a turkey pot pie with woven lattice-top crust. In the days prior to their visit, we cook up a turkey purchased back during the holidays when turkeys were cheap. I save some turkey and gravy to make pot pie. Very few people have had homemade pot pie, and so guests are always impressed with this inexpensive dish.
- Serve it with bread. If I tried a new bread recipe every week, I would likely never run out of bread recipes. Bread is fun, cheap and infinite. It can be baked in interesting pans, with interesting shapes, interesting seasoning and with a variety of grains. A homemade bread is always special, since few people make it anymore. I will serve a bread on evenings when the meal is otherwise humble, or make up a bread if guests show up unexpectedly and I am not sure I have enough servings of my planned meal. It takes just about two minutes to mix up popover or cornbread batter. As for yeast breads, we've recently made flatbread (pizza without sauce and toppings, but with olive oil and seasonings), chili in homemade bread bowls, homemade soft pretzels, garlic crescent rolls, and homemade hamburger buns. We do have a bread machine (bought at a yard sale), but are more likely to make dough in a food processor (bought on ebay), or by hand (I was born with two).
- Grow your own gourmet produce. We enjoy experimenting with interesting varieties of garden produce... like rainbow chard, little colored potatoes, and various salad greens. We also have an asparagus bed, and grow strawberries.
- Dress up meals with interesting serving pieces. When I go to yard sales, I look for inexpensive sundae, soda and parfait glasses. Usually I get one or two at a time, so collect ones that are similar. And if a visiting child breaks my parfait glass, no biggie because it cost only a dime. During holiday meals, kids think it special to have cider or gingerale in a wine glass. For years I have wanted a trifle bowl, never found one at a yard sale, so during the holidays I decided to buy one new, and was surprised it cost only about $10 at Wal-Mart. A trifle is like a big parfait... lots of recipe combinations. The bowl can also be used for layered fruit salads. I am still looking for ramekins, and may try ebay.
- Invest in kitchen equipment. I inherited my cake decorating equipment, but you can also pick up a few tips at a time. I collect interesting cast iron for baking, for example, pans that make breads in different shapes. Instead of a plain pan of cornbread, I like my corn-stick pans, which make cornbread in the shape of ears of corn (and also uses less oven time to bake as compared to a large cornbread). We also own a waffle iron that makes heart-shaped waffles, and use it on Valentines Day. Sometimes we have fun with our fondue pot.
- Change the environment. Think nice table cloth or place mats, and cloth napkins. Put out some candles and dim the lights (has dual purpose as dim lights also conceal a ho-hum meal). One of my uncles has white Christmas lights strung in his dining room year round... it makes dinner seem more special. Put a nice centerpiece on the table. Have background music. Or maybe have an outdoor meal, with these same elegant touches. Sounds corny, but kids especially love these grown-up touches. I do these things a few times a year, because if I did them every day, they would no longer seem special.
- Send kids and hubby outside for exercise and fun an hour or so before the meal, especially on a cool day. Food always tastes better after a good dose of fresh air.
- Get kids and hubby in on the act of preparing food. When their pride is wrapped up in the food preparation, they're usually inclined to think the meal tastes better. The last time my daughter prepared a whole meal on her own, she just glowed to watch her family enjoy her efforts. In addition, it's handy to have kids who know how to cook when I have a time crunch.
- Complete your meal with a pot of tea, or fresh-perked decaf coffee. Tea tastes better brewed in a tea pot. We actually have pots of varying sizes, depending on the number of people eating. When we have may guests we get out the jumbo teapot that requires two hands to pour... a fun item my husband found for a few dollars. We've always served tea after dinner, and so teenagers also drink it. Most often we do this instead of a high-calorie dessert. I can eat a smaller portions of the meal, follow it with tea, and feel full. Family members seem less likely to overeat, when they know there's tea after the meal. And because we sit and linger drinking our tea, dinner conversation goes on long after we're finished eating.
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