Grocery Shop to Cook on a Budget

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Cooking at home is certainly more cost effective than eating out. But in order to cook on a budget, it doesnt mean that you have to buy cheaper food. Generally, cheaper food is less healthy for you, and everyday cooking should call for the most wholesome ingredients you can find.

If you have stress over cooking at home while still cooking on a budget, the first place to start is in the grocery store where your food bill originates. There are some simple ways that you can lower your grocery bill without having to buy inferior products and still make cooking at home nutritious and fun.

First, know your basic portions for the people for whom you cook. The following list gives you the averages for each type of food product that Im going to discuss today (per meal): Protein = 5 ounces raw protein Vegetable = 4 ounces raw vegetable Starch = 3 ounces raw starch

What this means is that if youre cooking for four people, 5 ounces of raw protein times 4 people is 20 total ounces. Thats less than a pound and a half total. Now, you have a quantifiable number to buy. Dont buy the three pound container of chicken breasts, youll over-cook, over-portion and waste food and money.

Be able to do some simple math while in the grocery store, because packages are down-sizing. Notice that many boxes of pasta are no longer a full pound. Many have been down-sized to 12 ounces, but the price not down-sized appropriately. You need to figure out the cost per ounce, or some common denominator so you can compare the products correctly.

However, you also have to keep this in mind when you are thinking about portion sizes. In my household, I prepare 5.3 ounces of dry pasta for two people. This gives me three meals out of a 1 pound box. However, if I can only buy a 12 ounce box, its easy to just make the whole box. Dont! The result will either be that you overeat or have to throw leftovers away. Be aware of the portions and save the uncooked leftovers in the box for another day. Your stomach and your pocket will thank you.

Cooking at home can save you more money than ever when you know your portions. Knowing your portions and paying attention to package sizes will make you able to purchase with your cooking in mind and not over-buy, pay the highest price per ounce, or throw the leftovers away. Your goal for cooking on a budget is to purchase only what youll cook, and cook only what you purchase. This is everyday cooking with your budget in mind.

How to Prepare Kenya Bagia za Dengu Recipe

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Home style Bagia za dengu recipe is wonderful as a main dish, and perfect as a side dish for your favorite vegetable, meat, poultry, or seafood entre. Bagia za dengu is plentiful throughout the year, Have you ever tasted Bagia za Dengu? This site will teach you how to prepare dengu bagias and make money out of this recipe. INGREDIENTS TO MAKE BAGIA WA DENGU

1 cup Chick pea flour ( Unga wa dengu)

tsp curry powder

cup onions (finely chopped)

tsp garlic (crushed in a pistol)

1 tsp hot pepper (Chopped)

cup red pepper or sweet pepper or bell pepper

1 tbsp parsley

tsp Caraway

tsp yeast or 1 tsp baking powder

cup water

tsp salt or more

oil for deep frying

DIRECTIONS TO MAKE BAGIA WA DENGU

1. A mixing bowl, mix chick pea flour and onions.

2. Add garlic, then parsley and curry powder, mix well.

3. Add caraway, red pepper, and hot pepper, mix well.

4. Then add baking powder, mix well again.

5. Add water a teaspoon at a time, until it becomes a heavy mixture. Almost like a heavy cake mixture.

6. Leave it to rise for a few minutes.

7. In medium-high heat; Heat the oil in a pan, for deep frying.

8. Drop a teaspoon full of the butter mixture in hot oil to deep fry until it turns golden brown color.

9. Remove from pan, put on paper towel or (chujio la nazi if you are in Tanzania) until it cools down.

Call you guest to enjoy our African Bagia Wa Dengu

Who said that you dont know how to cook? Having been born from a family of many girls, I was not supposed to cook when all my sisters are present but when I joined work and start to live on my own, thats when cooking lessons became a reality.

Of course not every person like cooking but for those who enjoy to explore new foods and have the taste for delicious yummy yummy, this recipe in a must not miss

How to Cook Pork Shoulder Its All In The Rub

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Fall, Football and BBQ at the tail gate or on the patio; how can it get better than this?

Pork Shoulder is a great choice for a main fare feature at your next gathering and it has two great advantages. First, it is easy to prepare and second, you can feed a group for somewhere south of three dollars a pound. The pork shoulder is the front leg of the pig and comes in two different cuts. I like the butt cut, which is the top side of the leg and has less bone in it than what is called the picnic cut. The one we recently prepared was a six and a half pound roast, which served twelve people, with some left over.

Most pork shoulder recipes call for using a smoker, which is the key to cooking a pork shoulder, mainly because it is an indirect heat source and allows for a long slow cooking process. Dont have a smoker? No problem, neither do we. Just remember that the process requires indirect heat. Here are the keys to grilling a pork shoulder, using a three burner gas grill.

It starts with the rub. In a small bowl mix the following ingredients:
cup organic paprika
2 Tbs Salt
2 Tbs Pepper
2 Tbs organic cumin
2 Tbs organic garlic powder
2 Tbs. chile powder
3 Tbs brown sugar

Coat the pork shoulder with the rub. Be liberal. A 6 8 lb. roast should use the entire rub mix. By the way, dont cut off any of the fat on the roast. The butt cut usually has one side with a layer of fat and you want it. Once you have the roast well coated with the rub, put it in the refrigerator and let it set. Overnight works best, but if time does not permit, at least give it a couple of hours.

Using a three burner grill works great. You will need an aluminum pan, a raised rack and some foil. Follow these steps:
Turn the two outside burners on at low heat.
Place the pan, with the rack directly over it, on the middle burner.
Put your pork shoulder on the rack, fat side up.
Close the lid.

Dont open the lid for three hours. No peeking! At the end of three hours check the internal temperature of the roast. If its in the 130 140 range you are right on track and your roast should look like its done, but its not. Next, cover the roast with a tent of foil, reduce the heat to one burner and close the lib. In about 2 -3 more hours you should have a pork shoulder ready to serve at an internal temp of 185 degrees.

Enjoy!

Cooking with recipes from restaurants

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You may be astonished and amazed at all the sinfully wealthy and delicious meals and side dishes which can be out there, that are amazingly quick and easy to arrange. This means that you will not run the all too standard disaster situations that you hear about and will still manage to get a wonderful meal that is enjoyed by all.

The trick is in choosing a one of the recipes like meat dish and dressing it up with the more decadent side dishes. Incredibly rich side dishes that are simple to prepare are enhanced in number than meat dishes that require little culinary effort. You should also keep in mind the visitors for your special occasion. Sometimes a loved ones favorite makes the occasion seem much more special than an all out effort for chicken cordon bleu or veal Marsala. There is no point in going to an extreme effort to create a culinary masterpiece if this can be going to be riddled with picky children proclaiming that they do not like this or that about your meal.

Another great idea when it comes to cooking for special occasions is get those recipes from America’s favorite restaurants. You will be amaze how easy to make them at home. Those dishes can be the base and with a little imagination, you can make them your own.Imagine the KFC Original Chicken Recipe or the Olive Garden Lasagna with own twist.

The event and to allow you more time to enjoy the event rather than dealing with the details of meal preparation. The greatest gift you could possibly really give yourself when cooking for special occasions is the time necessary in order to enjoy these moments. This is not to say that there isn’t some cooking that will need to be done.

Foods that can be prepared ahead of time and reheated just prior to serving are from time to time the best when it comes to cooking with recipes from restaurants. There are all kinds of appetizers, entrees, and desserts that will work perfectly in this particular instance. For special occasions I recommend that you get special yet effortless to made restaurants recipes You can often find them by performing a simple Google search online just look for “Recipes from restaurants” or “Kopycats recipes” . The important thing is that you do not get so caught up in the idea of cooking for special occasions that you forget to actually enjoy the occasion.

Some of us do thrive in high stress scenarios. The key for those who prefer to do all the meal preparation when cooking for special occasions at the time of cooking is planning properly and allowing plenty of time for possible hiccups in the process. Mistakes occur when people feel rushed and hurried in their culinary efforts.

Another common mistake that is made when cooking for special occasions is cooking outside of your comfort zone. When you are preparing a challenging recipe it is best if you do this during a time when you are not going through the stress of potential visitors or insuring the best possible of circumstances. In other words, it is best to challenge your culinary talents when you do not have a vested interest in success.

Cooking With Fresh Herbs

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Herbs are fun and easy to grow. When harvested they make even the simplest meal seem like a gourmet delight. By using herbs in your cooking you can easily change the flavors of your recipes in many different ways, according to which herbs you add. Fresh herbs are great in breads, stews, soups or vegetables. Every time you add a different herb you have completely changed the taste.

If you are a beginner start slowly, add just a little at a time adjusting as you go along until you have it just right. You will see in most instances that an individual herb is associated with a particular food item. Basil is paired with tomatoes, Oregano with sauces, Rosemary with lamb and Chives with butter or cream cheese. Of course, none of them are limited to these items, but you will see them paired most often with that particular food. Use your imagination and experiment, experiment, experiment!

You can make herb vinegars for salad dressings, marinades, or soups. Herb oils are very useful in cooking whenever a recipe calls for it.

Fresh herbs as garnishes dress up any dish making it look truly spectacular. Lay individual sprigs of rosemary over broiled lamb chops. Chop fresh parsley and sprinkle it over the top of your potato salad. The combinations are endless and the outcome delicious.

Fresh herbs will keep in the refrigerator for several days but then you must freeze them. They can be frozen by laying them a paper towel and putting them in a plastic bag. Once they are frozen only use them in cooking not as garnishes. A friend of mine washes them, puts them an ice cube tray, covers them with water and then freezes them. When she needs them for soup, stews or sauces she just drops a cube in.

My favorite herbs to grow are basil, oregano, lemon balm, parsley and mint. Mint is great but is careful; mint can over run your garden. A tip here would be to bury an empty coffee can and plant the mint in it. The can prevents the mint from “creeping” all through your garden.

I love to make herb butters. Take a half of a cup of softened butter and mix in about 4 tablespoons of a fresh herb. Lay out a piece of saran wrap, place the butter in the middle roll the saran wrap up to form a “log” out of the butter. Put in the refrigerator and anytime you need a pat of butter just cut it off the “log”. (Hints for “log” butter: potatoes, bread, steaks, noodles or any kind of sauce).

A fresh herb in any salad dressing really makes it sparkle. You can use any herb or a combination, be creative.

I learned a trick a long time ago using basil, lemon and avocados to create and instant natural face mask. Put a big handful of basil in a blender and run it on high. Once the basil has been pulverized, throw in a half of an avocado and a large teaspoon of lemon juice, mix until smooth. Wash your face, pat it dry and gently rub the avocado mixture on. Leave it on as long as you like, then use warm water to it wash off.

These are just a few ways you can use fresh herbs from your garden. I am sure you will come up with many more. Happy cooking