The Tyranny of Poverty

When I noticed the Slate article floating around on my Facebook feed, originally titled, “The Tyranny of the Home-Cooked Family Dinner,” my first thought was, “Well, you can always find a study to support your choices.” But after reading the article, and the original study out of North Carolina State University, my response grew stronger.

As someone who teaches cooking workshops at a food pantry, I am familiar with the many barriers low-income families encounter when it comes to cooking at home. However, I disagree that the “tyranny” comes from the ideal of the home cooked meal.

The study follows several low-income households through their daily routines and reveals many of the struggles that make cooking at home difficult.  Among them, low wage jobs with unpredictable schedules, unreliable transportation, lack of nearby grocery stores, inadequate kitchens and lack of cooking gear.

Remarkably, many families facing food insecurity, and the obstacles mentioned above are cooking at home. From scratch. Those experiencing generational poverty may know this way of eating as a necessity. Perhaps they grew up with simple, affordable meals that stretch the budget and fill all the bellies in a large family; meals like ham hocks and cabbage, or red beans and rice.

When I prepare a dish from scratch as a demonstration in our food pantry, patrons stop to talk about their own variations, or how their grandma used to make it. A mom and her 9 year-old son sample diced, roasted eggplant; she asks about the smoky flavor (I season it with smoked paprika), the boy tells me about making a zucchini fritter recipe after sampling it here. It’s clear that many of the families using our food assistance program are cooking meals at home, in spite of the many, very real, obstacles.

The authors of the study remind us that the family meal is often used as a “hallmark of good mothering,” and claim that food intellectuals like Michael Pollan idealize home cooking while failing to recognize the elitism of the foodie movement.

From sustainable agriculture guru, Joel Salatin, to feminist-bashing bloggers at The Federalist, the critique of the article either takes aim at middle-class white people, whining about how hard it is to cook dinner or, emphasizes how important the family dinner is for preserving wholesome family values. The conversation about how to nourish a family has been dominated by upper class lifestyle bloggers, right-wing traditionalists and celebrity chefs.

I see myself as someone with a foot in two worlds. I’ve dabbled in lifestyle blogging, I read Martha Stewart’s Living cover to cover each month, my partner and I cook almost all of our family’s meals at home, from scratch with whole food ingredients, and I’m a nutrition educator at a food pantry. Our income has, at times, been low enough for us to qualify for food assistance, so I have also been a patron of the food pantry.  I know first-hand how elitist and out of touch the foodie movement can be (see Mark Bittman’s take on the word Foodie). Assumptions are written into the appeal for homemade everything, and cozy, locally sourced, family dinners. These are assumptions that completely miss the realities of wage workers’ lives, not to mention those living on the outer margins of society, without jobs or stable housing.

But the glaring error of the North Carolina study, and all the media coverage it has generated is this: the tyranny low income families are facing is not coming from the foodie movement. It is coming from the forces that create poverty. It is coming from a congress that refuses to raise the minimum wage and from employers who fail to pay a living wage, or to offer a predictable work schedule. It is coming from an out-of-whack food system that makes overly processed junk food more affordable than basic whole foods.

The outrage of the Slate article is misdirected. It’s easier to point the finger at those advocating for healthy eating than it is to take on agri-business or to spend time dissecting the farm bill in order to uncover its impact on our food system, and on families living in poverty. Let’s shift our gaze to the real tyrants, and search for ways to dismantle barriers that stand in the way of healthy eating for all of us.

Kayte Young
Nutrition Education Coordinator
Mother Hubbard's Cupboard

Update: Here are responses to the Slate article and the NC State Study that I really appreciated. 
Megan McArdle of Bloomberg View
Bettina Elias Siegel of Huff Post Food

Roasting Fall Favorites

Thanks to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank's Garden & Gleaning Program, the Hub is well stocked with delicious and utterly autumnal acorn squash. These petite, late season squash have also come to us through our CSA with Heartland Family Farms, along with some lovely delicata squash.

Both of these beauties are perfect for roasting, and simple preparations, since they are packed with flavors that will warm your palate, while the oven warms your kitchen.

Our pantry patrons enjoyed sampling these two recipes: Basic Roasted Acorn Squash and Roasted Delicata (or Acorn) Squash with Red Onion.

Sweet, Sweet, Sweet Potato Harvestin'

This Thursday morning at our Crestmont work-date, all of the interns and volunteers got together to begin the big, exciting task of harvesting sweet potatoes. Like normal potatoes, the edible part of the sweet potato is the tuber which grows underground, but first we had to clear away the thick, vine-y foliage which covered the sweet potato beds. We dug in, taking turns pulling vines, picking out the oh-so-evil bindweed, and sending wheelbarrows full of leaves up the hill to be composted. 

As we cleared away the foliage, we started to see the round, orange tops of sweet potato clusters peeking out of the ground. Excited to find out what was beneath the surface, we took our garden forks and started digging in; only stabbing a few potatoes in the process! Our hands and shoes were covered in dirt, but we all had smiles on our faces as we uncovered the little treasures we had been watching grow for months. It was amazing to see all the different shapes and sizes the sweet potatoes had grown into. Long-time volunteers Dan and Jordan found one neat cluster of several potatoes all wrapped around each other, and Garden Coordinator Kendra unearthed one the size of a football!

After harvesting only one of our two sweet potatoes beds at Crestmont, we sent almost 3 big buckets back to the Hub to be either cured or given out immediately! If you'd like to get in on the fun, make sure to stop by our next Crestmont work-date on Tuesday, October 14th from 5-7pm when we dig up the second bed.  Be sure to check our Facebook page for possible cancelations due to weather.

Building Community Food Security

MHC's guest column from the Herald Times October 7, 2014

As an emergency food provider, it is easy to get wrapped up in the business of just getting food out the door, and to avoid looking at the larger systems that lead to poverty and food insecurity.  After many years of working at Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, I was thrilled to work with the Bloomington Food Policy Council and the Local Growers Guild to organize the recent panel discussion, Food Chain: A Discussion of Policies Affecting the Monroe County Food System.  Here at the Hub, we have always done more than distribute food, and helping to organize the Food Chain panel is one way we are advocating for a stronger local food system.

As Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard aims to increase access to healthy food for all people, it is well within our mission to work toward a stronger local food system.  The stream of food assistance in the United States comes from four general sources: food stamps, USDA commodity food, food donations (food drives or produce donations), and corporate donations diverted from the waste systems.  Some of these streams are already inconsistent, and when any dry up or are reduced, it takes more than an increase in food drives to support the food insecure.  New sources must be found, and as a community we increase the chance of meeting that need by developing a strong, sustainable local food system.

When I first got into the work of emergency food provision at Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, I did so because I believe that issues of social justice and the environment are interrelated.  I saw in MHC’s vision and values not only a focus on food distribution, but a focus on upholding the dignity and respect of all involved, and on caring for the earth.  When we compost food and garden waste we grow healthy soil.  That healthy soil grows nutrient dense food, and nourishes our community. Healthy soil and shared knowledge around food production and preparation offer our most basic community food security.

Sanitize Potting Soil for Reuse

Did you know that sanitizing soil is a great way to save money, while ensuring optimal health for your plants? And all you need is an oven, a cooking tray, some tin foil, and a meat thermometer! And the soil you want to sanitize, of course.

Obviously, reusing your old potting soil is cheaper than buying new. But why should you sanitize it? Heating your soil to high temperatures in a microwave, oven, or pressure cooker kills the pathogens that could cause plant disease in your future plants. Sanitizing is especially important if your previous plantings had problems with pests, fungus, or disease. Be careful though; if your soil gets too hot, it could produce unhealthy toxins!

How to Sterilize Soil in the Oven

Don’t spend money on new soil when you can reuse!

·      Preheat oven to 200°

·      Put 4 to 5 inches of moistened soil into an oven-safe container and cover with aluminum foil

·      Put soil in oven

·      Use a cooking thermometer to find when soil reaches 180°, then cook for an additional 30 minutes

·      Do not allow soil to reach a temperature of higher than 200°, as this may produce toxins

Sterilizing soil is a good idea to ensure optimal growth and health of your plants!

Seed Saving with Sherry

Last week the Hub offered our annual Seed Saving Workshop with master seed saver, Sherry Wise of Indiana University's Wylie House.  The evening was warm and beautiful, and we walked through the garden collecting seeds and learning the different methods of seed saving used for each plant or plant family.  Pictured above are bolting lettuces ready for a seed harvest.  Sherry taught us that only open-pollinated, non hybrid varieties would offer a plant true to the characteristics of the parent.  She shared an excellent resource from Carole B. Turner's book, Seed Sowing and Saving, Characteristics of Common Vegetables Saved from Seed. 

Cool Evenings Call for Warm Soup

We are fortunate at Mother Hubbard's Cupboard to have our produce shelves regularly stocked with some of the finest food on earth. During the growing season here in Indiana, we regularly receive fresh veggies from our own Hub Gardens, as well as donations from the gardens of our neighbors and friends.  The supplier of the majority of our food, Hoosier Hills Food Bank, also maintains a large garden, though I like to refer to it as a small farm. Their gardens at Detmer Park feature long rows of expertly managed crops of cabbages, beets, tomatoes, kale, radishes, eggplant...and it comes to us clean and organized, in large, black pop-up crates. I feel so proud to offer this high quality food to our pantry patrons, knowing it was grown without chemicals, less than 4 miles away, and harvested the same morning it appears on our shelves.

This week gorgeous bouquets of rainbow chard graced our produce cart, and we had the chance to share with our patrons a delicious soup I had just discovered in Deborah Madison's latest book Vegetable Literacy. A smooth and creamy green soup, spiked with sharp hints of cumin and lime seemed just the right thing for these cool autumnal days. Our patrons enjoyed samples as they passed through the pantry, and you can find the recipe here.

Real Men Do Eat Quiche! and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Aldi has grape tomatoes for 99 cents a pint and cauliflower for $1.29 a head. Don’t know how big the heads are. Red and green grapes are $1.78 for two pounds, or 89 cents a pound. 85% lean beef burgers are $8.99 for three pounds, or $3.00 a pound.

Marsh has ground chuck for $2.99 a pound in the family pack and bacon for $2.99 a pound. There’s a limit of two pounds of bacon, which isn’t surprising since that’s a great price.

Kroger has eggs for $1.25 a dozen (four dozen for $5.00). Cheese is three packages for $10.00, or $3.33 per package. The packages range from twelve to sixteen ounces. That’s $4.44 a pound for the twelve ounce packages or $3.33 for the sixteen ounce. It’s an ok price for the twelve ounce and a good price for the sixteen ounce. Broccoli crowns, Bartlett pears, romaine, red and green leaf lettuce, and tomatoes on the vine are all 99 cents a pound.

I wasn’t really checking prices at the Farmers Market on Saturday, but here are a few of the prices that I noticed. Some vendors had tomatoes for $1.00 a pound, and they went up from there. Zucchini were 75 cents each (I got a great big one at that price). Seedless cukes were 40 cents each. Eggplant was $1.00 each. Huge heads of cabbage were $3.00 each.

Don’t forget that you can exchange your food stamps for Market Bucks, which basically means you can buy produce, dairy, eggs and meat for half price.

Bacon and eggs are both on sale this week. Let’s work with that.

The problem with bacon is that it cooks down so much. It never really seems like a protein source; it’s not satisfying like meat usually is. It’s more of a flavoring. It does have a lot of flavor, though. You can take advantage of that by using all of the bacon. Save the bacon grease and use it later to fry or scramble eggs, use it to cook the onion and pepper for a Denver omelet, or use it pretty much any time you need oil to cook something. It adds a great flavor.

BLTs are great summertime food, when the tomatoes are garden fresh. When you don’t eat bread, you make BLTS’s instead. That’s Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Salads. It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Just bacon, lettuce and tomato with a mayo dressing. And very good. A pound of bacon, a head of lettuce, a pound and a half of tomatoes, and a cup of mayo will run $6.03. You shouldn’t need anywhere near a cup of mayo, though, so it should stay under $6.00 for four big main dish salads. You can get other salad dressings for about the same price.

I like breakfast food any time of the day. Not cold cereal, but real food. Omelets or quiche or scrambled eggs. Things like that. I make a lot of quiche because it’s good, it’s easy, and it’s cheap. Well, the basic quiche is, though it can get pricey depending on what you put in it. My BASIC QUICHE recipe calls for six eggs, half a pound of cheese, and two cups of cream or milk. Using half and half, it comes to $3.35 and makes anywhere from four to eight servings. Let’s call it four. You could stop with this basic quiche (a blob of mustard is good in it and practically free) or you can start adding extras. A pound of broccoli would bring it to $4.35, leaving plenty of room for a lettuce and tomato salad while staying under $6.00. Or make six servings at 75 cents per serving ($2.90 for four servings) and add some grapes, too.

One of my favorite main dish salads is a big CABBAGE SALAD. I’ve talked about them before, and probably every time I do I give a different recipe. That’s because it’s so versatile. The base is cabbage and onion in a mayo dressing, but then I add eggs and/or cheese and/or meat of some kind (bacon, smoked sausage, ham, etc.) and/or sunflower seeds. Half of one of the huge heads of Farmers Market cabbage is plenty for four big servings. Add a third of a pound of bacon, half a pound of cheese, and six hard-boiled eggs and you’ve got a wonderful supper for four for under six dollars. Worried about all the cholesterol in that salad? One of the great things about eating low carb like I do is that you don’t have to worry about cholesterol. (There’s a lot of research that says that cholesterol is not an issue for most people who eat a low carb diet. If you are concerned about it, you should of course talk to your own health care provider.)

For more recipes using eggs in a starring role, check out the after Easter blog post and the EGGS category under the Cook tab.

Eggs keep in the fridge for a long time. I’ve kept them up to three months and they were still fine. Use your own judgment, but remember that the date stamped doesn’t mean that you need to use them by that date or toss them.

Eat well!

Mary Anne

Tomatoes - Red, Ripe and Juicy

Summer’s over. Doesn’t seem possible, but so it is. Highs in the 60s later this week? Yikes!

There are still tomatoes at the Farmers Market, though, and on the tomato plant in my garden. Might as well take advantage of them while we can!

We’re getting to the end of the picnic/BBQ/grilling season, too. CHEESE TOPPED GRILLED TOMATOES, with blue cheese and bread crumbs, is a great way to celebrate both the end of the picnics and BBQs and of the tomatoes.

ZUCCHINI, TOMATO AND SWISS CHEESE PIE is a quiche sort of thing, with veggies, eggs, milk and cheese. Eat it for breakfast or with a salad for lunch or a light supper. Or, for another take on zucchini and tomatoes, try TOMATO AND ZUCCHINI SALAD, topped with feta or mozzarella.

If the only pasta sauce you’ve had came out of a can, even it was doctored up with meat and herbs, you’re in for a real treat with RAW TOMATO SAUCE. Just garlic, olive oil, fresh basil (not dried!), and the very freshest and ripest of summer’s best tomatoes. Yumm!

In a couple of weeks I’ll talk about what to do with green tomatoes, but let’s enjoy them vine-ripened as long as possible.

---Mary Anne---

Fall is Falling! and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Summer finally arrived – briefly – and now it’s back to cooler weather again tomorrow. I have to admit the idea of cool and less humid is very appealing. I love Fall weather – cool nights and brisk days and blue skies. And have you noticed that the leaves are starting to fall already?

What makes it official, though, that it’s almost fall is that Marsh has pumpkins for sale. Honest! Already! It’s one thing for them to be at the Farmers Market, but on sale at a grocery store? Don’t worry, though. I’m not going to be talking about how to cook them today, though there are some recipes here for things to do with pumpkins that don’t involve making pumpkin pie…

Marsh has pie pumpkins for $1.99 each. These are smaller than field or jack-o-lantern pumpkins and better for making pies or using in other dishes. Gala apples and Bartlett pears are $1.29 a pound. Family packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts are $1.88 a pound, as are pork chops. Milk is $2.99 a gallon, but if you buy five of a various things you can get a dollar off of each of them, bringing the price down to $1.99 a gallon.

Kroger has broccoli crowns, Roma tomatoes, and romaine and red and green leaf lettuce for 99 cents a pound. Two heads of cauliflower or celery are $3.00, or $1.50 each. Iceberg lettuce is 99 cents a head. Bone-in turkey breast is $1.29 a pound and chicken wings are $1.99 a pound. Milk is $2.69 a gallon. Cottage cheese is $2.29 for 24 ounces and cheese is $3.79 for twelve to sixteen ounces.

Aldi has green and red grapes $1.98 for two pounds, or 99 cents a pound. Navel oranges are $2.49 for three pounds, or 83 cents a pound. Avocados are 49 cents each. 32-ounces of non-fat Greek yogurt is $3.89.

And there’s still lots of great produce available at the Farmers Market. If you receive Food Stamps, don’t forget that you can exchange up to $18 of food stamps for up to $36 of Market Bucks, effectively getting your produce, meat, eggs, and dairy for half-price.

It’s way too early to be thinking about Thanksgiving turkeys, either, though turkey breast is on sale this week. That’s ok, though – just the turkey breast. I can handle that all year long. And better to be talking about it now than closer to the big day.  If you think about it, turkey is just another kind of meat. It’s really the side dishes that make it seem Thanksgiving-y. So let’s steer clear of candied sweet potatoes and green bean casserole and pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce for now, shall we?

I did some looking around online, and came up with an average size turkey breast is between 4 and 8 pound and that you should buy about half a pound of turkey per person. SLOW COOKER TURKEY BREAST calls for a six-pound turkey, so that falls right in there, and should make about twelve servings, or three meals for four people each. Each serving will cost about 70 cents a serving, or $2.80 for four servings. A bit less if you make your own ONION SOUP MIX, a bit more if you a commercial mix. Don’t throw out the cooking liquid when you cook the turkey breast! It makes a great soup.

Let’s start with hot sliced turkey, broccoli, and CARROT SALAD. The turkey is $2.80, a pound and a half of broccoli is $1.50, and the Carrot Salad is $1.30, for a total of $5.60 for four servings, or $1.40 per serving.

The second meal will also be sliced turkey breast, either hot or cold, with FAUXPOTATO SALAD and sliced tomatoes. (What on earth is Fauxpotato Salad? It’s just potato salad made with cauliflower instead of potatoes. Sound strange? Well, remember that I don’t eat potatoes. Oddly enough, cauliflower makes a pretty good substitute. You could make your own potato salad, but at least try your recipe once with cauliflower instead of potatoes!) The turkey breast is still $2.80, the Fauxpotato Salad is $1.75, and a pound of Roma tomatoes is 99 cents (let’s call it $1.00), for a total of $5.55. How about half a pound of grapes to go with it, which brings it to $6.05. You can back off a bit of either grapes or tomatoes to get rid of that extra 5 cents and bring it back to $6.00 or less for four people, or $1.50 per person. How much Fauxpotato Salad you’re going to get depends on how big your head of cauliflower is, but I’m assuming you’re going to get at least four cups of florets from half a head of cauliflower.

The third meal will be a leftovers kind of meal. You should have roughly a third of the turkey breast left, but it might be in scraps instead of nice slices. No problem. Use it to make EASY CHICKEN DIVAN, but use turkey instead of chicken and use fresh broccoli. You could use a combination of broccoli and cauliflower if you wanted to, or even all cauliflower for a different dish. It depends on how big the heads of cauliflower are. Either way, it should make six servings and cost about $6.90, or $4.60 for four servings, if you use CREAM OF WHATEVER SOUP MIX. At least another dollar if you use canned soup. Add half a head of lettuce, a couple of Roma tomatoes and some salad dressing for a whole meal for right around $6.00, depending on how much salad dressing you use.

Budget Lunch

And finally, there’s the cooking liquid from slow cooking the turkey breast. I hope you didn’t throw it out! Skim off the fat (optional) and add enough water to make between four and six cups. Heat it and add half a head of cauliflower (about six cups). Cook it until the cauliflower is very soft, puree it in a blender or food processor or using a stick blender (Don’t have any of these? Borrow a food processor or stick blender from MHC’s Hub Tool Share Program. It’s free!) Add a cup or so of half and half and you’ve got about ten to twelve cups of really tasty soup. Enough for four good sized servings at a cost of about $1.15, or less than 30 cents each! That’s figuring that the cooking liquid is free, since we’ve counted all the cost in the turkey. Instead of using the cauliflower you could use the leftover Easy Chicken (Turkey) Divan, which would bring the cost up to $2.70, or about 70 cents per serving. Myself, I’d save the Turkey Divan for another meal and make the cauliflower soup. But it’s up to you. Just be sure that you don’t toss the cooking liquid from the turkey!

Even with pumpkins and turkey on sale, it’s much too early to be thinking about Halloween, let alone Thanksgiving. But turkey is much too good to bring out only on holidays. Enjoy it all year long, when it’s on sale.

Happy Eating!

---Mary Anne---

Do You Carry?

Salads make great lunches, but they’re hard to carry with you to work or to school, even if you have a fridge when you get there. The salad dressing gets on the lettuce and other veggies and you can end up with a yucky slimy mess by the time you get around to eating lunch. It’s not so bad if you have a place where you can store things like an opened bottle of salad dressing, but many of us – especially students – don’t have that luxury. So what’s a body to do? Go without salads?

Nope. You just have to plan a little bit differently. I have two suggestions for you. First, change the way you pack and carry your traditional lettuce based salad, and two, switch to different ingredients that hold up better to sitting for hours with dressing on them.

The first isn’t so much a recipe as a concept. Most salads are built with lettuce on the bottom, then other veggies, meat, etc., and salad dressing on top. The salad dressing works its way down through the other veggies and meat and ends up dressing the lettuce on the bottom. Which is great, as long as you eat the salad right away. Not so great if you’re not eating the salad for a few hours, especially if you’re carrying the salad so it gets bounced around the dressing reaches the lettuce even faster. The solution? Basically, just put the dressing in the bottom of a jar, then the meat, then the wet veggies like tomatoes, then dry veggies, and the lettuce on top. The lettuce stays nice and crisp and dry until you turn the salad upside down on a plate or bowl, and then you have the lettuce on the bottom and the dressing on top, just like usual. As I said, it’s more of a concept than a recipe, but there are some ideas at SALAD IN A JAR. By the way, they say that the salads keep for several days, so you can make a week’s worth at the beginning of the week and just pull one out each day to take. Don’t know, haven’t tried it, but that’s what they say.

I have a few actual recipes for salads using sturdier veggies like cauliflower, broccoli and celery instead of lettuce, or you can make up your own using your favorite ingredients. One of the best things about salads is that they are so adaptable!

The one I make most often is CAULIFLOWER AND EGG SALAD. Pretty much what it says. Cauliflower and hard-boiled eggs in ranch dressing, with some sunflower seeds if you happen to have them.

A close second is PACKABLE PORK SALAD, which is leftover pork (any kind – pork roast, pork chops, pork neck bones, whatever – boned, of course), cauliflower and celery in a mustard-mayo dressing.

One that I keep forgetting about for some reason, is PACKABLE CHICKEN SALAD. Leftover chicken and celery in a slightly teriyaki-mayo dressing.

And finally, CAESAR-STYLE SALAD, with broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots and peppers a Caesar-style dressing with parmesan cheese. It doesn’t have much protein, but you could add some chicken to it or have it as a side salad to some chicken or other protein that you carry with you.

Eat well!

---Mary Anne---

Labor Day, and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Aldi has “vine tomatoes” for 99 cents for 24 ounces, or 66 cents a pound. Whole seedless watermelons are $1.99 each. Strawberries are $1.49 a pound and blueberries are $1.49 a pint. 85% lean ground beef is $2.99 a pound. Prices good through Tuesday, September 2.

Marsh has peaches for 99 cents a pound and corn on the cob ten ears for $3.00, or 30 cents an ear. Prices good through Wednesday, September 3.

Kroger has sour cream for $1.25 a pint. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are $1.99 a pound. Green beans, peaches, zucchini, yellow (summer) squash and hot house tomatoes are 99 cents a pound. Iceberg lettuce is 99 cents a head. Sweet corn is ten ears for $3.00. Asparagus is $1.99 a pound. Prices good through Wednesday, September 3.

IGA has cucumbers and green peppers for 79 cents each. Prices good through Sunday, August 31.

And, in honor of Labor Day, I’m taking the week off! Hope you have a great, and safe, holiday weekend.

Cheap, Quick and Easy Cooking for Those Without Much in the Way of Cooking Equipment, Ingredients, Time or Knowhow, and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Aldi has avocados for 49 cents each. Seedless watermelons are $1.99 each and cantaloupe are $1.49 each. Strawberries are $1.49 per pound and blueberries are $1.49 per pint (about 12 ounces).

Kroger has boneless pork loin for $1.99 per pound. Milk is $2.69 per gallon. Indiana sweet corn is ten ears for $3.00, or 30 cents an ear. Bartlett pears, Gala apples, red and black plums, black seedless grapes, and Roma tomatoes are all 99 cents a pound.

Marsh has red, white and black seedless grapes and red grapes with seeds for 99 cents a pound. Large seedless cucumbers are ten for $10.00, or $1.00 each.

IGA in Ellettsville and Bedford has several things for 88 cents each – 24 ounce cans of pasta sauce, 12 ounce bags of frozen vegetables, 20 ounce bottles of mustard, 24 ounce bottles of ketchup, 12 ounce bottles of hot sauce, 18 ounce bottles of barbecue sauce. Cabbage is 59 cents a pound. Cucumbers and green peppers are 79 cents each. Zucchini and yellow squash are 99 cents a pound.

Did you know that you can exchange food stamps for twice as many Market Bucks to use at the Farmers Market? You can get exchange up to 18 dollars of food stamps for up to 36 dollars of Market Bucks, and then you can spend the Market Bucks like cash at the Market. That’s like getting the food from the Market at half price! And speaking of the Farmers Market, here are some prices. They vary from week to week, of course, and from vendor to vendor, but cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash are about 75 cents each or three for $2.00. Peppers are about the same. Tomatoes start at about $2.49 per pound, though you may be able to find “seconds” or “ugly tomatoes” or “canning tomatoes” for less, sometimes for half price. Green beans are about $3.50 per box, or two for $6.00. These are all guesstimates, as I haven’t been there for a couple of weeks.  

Lots of sales on produce, but not protein, so I can’t build my post around a sale item. I could do the chicken leg quarters for 69 cents a pound in a ten pound bag at Walmart again. I haven’t done that for a long time. Or I could build my post around something that’s happening now. Labor Day is coming up, and picnics, or just people wanting to get in picnics while they still can. And then there’s IU students moving back into town this week and classes starting next week. I’ve already given menus and recipes for picnics, so I think I’ll go with IU students coming back. Now to figure out what there is about that to talk about. Hmmmm.

What do college students lack? Time and money. And usually anything more than just the most basic ingredients and cooking equipment. And frequently culinary knowhow. That’s it! Let’s see what I can come up with that’s cheap, quick, easy, and doesn’t require much in the way of cooking equipment or knowhow or very many ingredients. Should be a snap, right?

There are a lot of cookbooks that deal with each of these constraints. Eating on a budget. Quick and easy recipes. 15 minute (or 20 minute or 30 minute or…) recipes. Cooking for dummies and/or idiots. 4 or 5 ingredient recipes. I think I even remember a cookbook along the lines of cooking when all you have is one saucepan. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book of cheap, quick, and easy recipes for dummies and idiots who don’t have anything but the very most basic of ingredients and cooking equipment and appliances. Maybe I should write a book? Or maybe I should start with a few menus and see how far I get before I get too carried away.

I figure that to really qualify as a “meal” you need about three parts. Almost always a protein (meat, chicken, fish or eggs), and two of the following three – salad, vegetable, or fruit. Sometimes you can get by with two or three of them in the same dish – a casserole, for example, that has protein and vegetables in it, or a big salad with protein. And sometimes you can get by with just a protein and vegetable or salad, if the portions are big enough. But I usually aim for three parts to the meal. So I’m going to give some ideas for all three, give you the costs of the different meal parts (using this week’s prices, so the costs may not be valid any other time) and then some ideas for how to put them together into meals.

Pork loin is on sale this week. It’s not a great price, but because there is practically no waste on it you can start with a smaller piece than you would with, for example, bone-in and skin-on chicken legs, which is the other protein I’m going to talk about. The pork loin (a lean, boneless strip of meat from the back) is $1.99 a pound at Kroger this week, and I figure that one serving is about 6 ounces. That’s about 75 cents per serving. The chicken leg quarters are 69 cents a pound for a ten pound bag, or $6.90 a pound, at Walmart. I figure that a leg quarter, or at least the drumstick and thigh together, is one serving, for about 69 cents. That’s the usual price there, and I rely on chicken legs a lot. Higher price per pound for the pork, but the price per serving is almost the same.

 At $6.90 cents for a ten pound bag of chicken leg quarters, they’re a great deal. There are usually about 10 leg quarters per bag. A leg quarter is a thigh, a drumstick, and a piece of the back where the thigh and the back intersect. You can cut the leg quarters into the three pieces, but I’m going to assume you don’t have the interest and/or energy and/or time and/or knowhow to do that. No problem. I figure that a whole chicken leg quarter is one serving. I’ve found that if I take the meat off of the bones and measure it, it comes out to about one cup of meat.

Chicken legs are very easy, versatile, and forgiving. Because there is more fat in the legs, they aren’t as likely to turn out dry as chicken breasts are. I’ll start with some very easy, two ingredient recipes.

1.    BASIC ROASTED CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS. Just salt and pepper them, put them in a single layer in something that can go in the oven and that has sides at least an inch high (there will be some juices, and you don’t want them to spill in the oven or on the floor or on you), and bake them at 375 for about 45 minutes.

2.    BARBECUED CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS. That’s oven barbecued, not grilled. As in pour some commercial barbecue sauce over them after you’ve put them in that baking dish with sides, then bake them at 375 for about 45 minutes.

3.    TERIYAKI CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS. Same as barbecued, but with commercial teriyaki sauce instead of barbecue sauce. You could put the teriyaki sauce in a plastic bag, add the chicken, and smush it around so the chicken has sauce all over it, or you can just put the chicken in the pan and pour the sauce on the top.

4.    ITALIAN CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS. Use Italian dressing (the kind that’s based on oil and vinegar and is sort of clear, not the kind that’s thick like ranch or blue cheese or that orange French dressing) instead of the barbecue or teriyaki sauce. Again, you could do the plastic bag thing to get the dressing all over the chicken or you can just pour it on top.

5.    CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS MARINARA. At its simplest, it’s just chicken baked with pasta sauce instead of barbecue or teriyaki sauce or salad dressing. You can sprinkle it with some parmesan cheese if you want to, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.

So there are five quick and easy ways to fix chicken leg quarters, and you only need one ingredient in addition to the chicken. (I’m not counting salt and pepper as ingredients. I figure that everyone has those. Don’t they?) Actually, it’s more than just four, because there are so many different kinds of barbecue sauce and teriyaki sauce, or you can use a commercial marinade or sauce. There’s lots of scope there.

Assuming that you really don’t know what you’re doing, figure that it will take you about 10 to 15 minutes to prepare the chicken and get it in the oven, and then about 45 minutes for it to cook, while you don’t have to do anything. Be sure to turn on a timer, though, so you don’t forget to take it out. I’ve done that with more things than you can imagine, and it is really annoying for everyone who’s planning to eat whatever it is I just burned.

All of these recipes meet the quick-and-easy-recipes-for-dummies-and-idiots-who-don’t- have-much-cooking-equipment-or-many-ingredients test. But what about the cheap part? Well, a chicken leg quarter (a thigh and a drumstick plus a little bit more) will run you about 69 cents. A jar of barbecue sauce or teriyaki sauce or Italian dressing or pasta sauce will run you 88 cents this week at IGA and is enough for all ten of the leg quarters. (I’d suggest getting two or three different kinds, though, unless you’re feeding more than just yourself. They’ll keep in the fridge and you’ll be glad of the variety.) So that’s 78 cents for a leg quarter plus sauce, but let’s call it 80 cents. I like round numbers. They’re easier to work with and think about.

And now for what to do with a pork loin. It should run about 4 or 5 pounds and you’ll probably want to have the butcher cut it up for you. I’d suggest that you get half of it cut into pork chops and the leave the other half as a pork roast. Ask to have the pork chops cut about ½” thick. That way, one pork chop should be a serving.

The pork roast can be cooked pretty much the same way the basic chicken legs are cooked. Just rub salt and pepper all over it, put it in a baking dish with sides about one to two inches high, and bake it in a preheated oven at 350 for about an hour. Let it “rest” for about 10 minutes after you take it out of the oven. That means that you drape some foil over it and let it sit before cutting it so the juices get reabsorbed. It makes for a juicier roast. You can put some peeled carrots and onions around it while it roasts, and that takes care of your side dishes. Some potatoes, too, if you eat potatoes. Just don’t crowd the veggies.

As for the pork chops, you’ll want a heavy skillet. Turn the heat on under the skillet and let it get hot while you salt and pepper the chops, then put them in the skillet in a single layer. Let them cook for about 5 minutes, or until they’re nice and brown on the bottom, then turn them over and brown the other side. Turn the heat down to low and add about a fourth of a cup of water (you can use part orange juice if you want to), cover and cook them for about 30 minutes. The first time you cook pork chops you might want to check them after about 15 minutes and make sure there’s still some liquid in the pan. Now you have two choices. You can take the lid off and turn the heat up and boil off the liquid in the pan, which will make a nice finish on the chops, or you can take the chops out of the pan and cover them to keep them warm while you make gravy out of the drippings. To make gravy, put a tablespoon of flour in a small jar with a tight lid and add a cup of water. Shake it up really well so there are no lumps, then add it to the skillet. Stir it constantly as it thickens, and when it gets as thick as you like it, pour it into a bowl and serve it with the chops. An easier but more expensive way to make the gravy is to use condensed cream of mushroom soup. Carefully pour the juices from the skillet into a measuring cup and add enough water to make one cup. Pour it back into the skillet and add a can of mushroom soup. Stir it well so it doesn’t get lumpy and heat it until it just starts to simmer. Remove it from the pan and serve it as gravy.

If you’re trying to control your costs, you need to be aware of how big a serving is. A six ounce serving of pork will cost about 75 cents this week if you buy the pork loin at Kroger. That’s six ounces raw, not cooked. Weigh your roast and figure out how many servings you need to get from it, and then cut it into that many pieces. You should get five or six servings from a two pound roast, for example. The pork chops will probably be about 6 ounces each if you have them cut 1/2" thick, but weigh a couple of them to make sure. You may need to adjust the cost if they’re more or less than six ounces. There really isn’t any other cost to the pork, so just figure 75 cents per serving.

I had planned to talk about side dishes, but this is getting awfully long already, so I’ll do that another time. Just a few quick comments here.

First, plain lettuce makes a good salad. It’s usually 99 cents a head at Aldi and you should be able to get four to eight servings of lettuce from a head, depending on how big they are. (They vary a lot, so try to get big, heavy heads.) That’s about 15 to 25 cents per serving. Aldi has salad dressings for $1.29 for 16 ounces, and there are two tablespoons per ounce. A 16 ounce bottle of salad dressing is 16 servings of two tablespoons each, which is a reasonable size. That’s about 8 cents per serving. A simple salad of lettuce and dressing will run about 20 to 35 cents.

Roma tomatoes are 99 cents a pound at Kroger this week. There are usually four to five Roma tomatoes to a pound. Let’s say four of them, which means they cost 25 cents each. Tomato adds a lot to a salad. Figure on one Roma tomato, sliced or chopped, for two to three people.

Corn on the cob is ten ears for $3.00 this week at Kroger, or 30 cents an ear. If you have a microwave, pull off the silk that sticks out from the husks but leave the husks on. Set the ears of corn on a plate or a paper towel and nuke on high for about 4 to 6 minutes for two ears. Cook them one or two at a time. If you’re cooking very many, you might want to boil them instead of nuking them, but that takes a pretty big pot. Put enough water in the pot to cover the ears and bring it to a boil. Don’t add the corn until the water is boiling. Add about a tablespoon each of salt and sugar to the water and be sure it dissolves, then add the corn. Cook it for about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove it carefully, using tongs if you have them. Actually, if you don’t have tongs, you probably shouldn’t boil the corn because you won’t be able to get it out of the pan. You could get to the corn by pouring out the water, but you’re likely to (or I would be likely to) scald yourself with the steam and/or pour out the corn, too. I guess pouring the corn out too wouldn’t be too bad, as long as your sink is clean and you don’t splash yourself with the boiling water.

And finally, since I said I wasn’t going to talk about side dishes today, don’t forget fresh fruit. Whole seedless watermelons are $1.99 each at Aldi and cantaloupe are $1.49 each. You should be able to get a minimum eight servings from a watermelon and six servings from a cantaloupe, either of which would be 25 cents per serving. You may be able to get a lot more than that, depending on how big the melons are. You know how to fix watermelon, I’m sure. To fix cantaloupe, start by cutting it in half, then scoop out the seeds from the half you’re going to eat first. Cut that half into serving pieces. Cover the rest with plastic wrap. Frozen green grapes are a special treat. I don’t know why it’s just green grapes, but that’s what I’ve heard about. Just wash them and lay them out in a single layer on a plate or cookie sheet, preferably without touching. Freeze them for at least an hour and serve frozen.

So there you have it. You now know how to make Plain Roasted Chicken, Barbecue Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken, Italian Chicken, Chicken Marinara, Pork Roast, and Pork Chops. And know how to make a simple salad and corn on the cob, and how to fix watermelon and cantaloupe and frozen grapes. You can put together any number of three part suppers for under $1.50 per person by combining different meat dishes with salad and corn, or salad and watermelon, or corn and grapes, or whatever. You’re well on your way to becoming a chef!

Bon Appetit!

Mary Anne

PS – Wondering where the cheapest place to get groceries is? For general non-sale prices, I find that Aldi is usually cheapest. They’re across from Sam’s, just past the Steak ‘n’ Shake. Turn at the stoplight between Sam’s and Walmart. They don’t have a lot of variety – usually no more than one brand or size, and mostly just the basics. I do most of my shopping there. Walmart is usually next cheapest, and is usually cheapest for anything that Aldi doesn’t carry. For meat, I usually wait until Kroger or Marsh has it on sale. They sometimes have really good prices on fruit, too.

Check out the weekly specials online, and be sure to check the dates. Aldi’s sales run Wednesday through Tuesday, and Marsh and Kroger run Thursday through Wednesday. IGA (Bedford and Ellettsville) sales run Monday through Sunday.

Aldi – aldi.com – the sales are posted shortly after midnight Wednesday morning.

Kroger – kroger.com – the sales are posted early Thursday morning.

Marsh – marsh.net – previews are posted about 8 Wednesday morning for the following week, starting Thursday. I’ve gotten burned by this when I wasn’t paying attention to what was the current week’s ad and what was the preview.

MyIGA.com – ads are posted Monday, but not sure when.