Less than a week ago, my husband, Rob, had gone through the freezer and pantry. He realized we were running thin and decided it was time to go grocery shopping. We gathered a list, coupons and noted current advertised pricing at various stores. Being a fair drive from any major store, planning is time and money saving, though it's standard around here. The one place we never work out items for purchase is the local Mennonite grocery, which has an ever changing stock of retailer cast-offs from unsold or damaged items.
Normally, all we buy from the Mennonites are things the kids go through often, like cereal, juice and granola bars. Once in a while the store gets frozen goods from a wholesale bakery distributor and, because no one seems to know how to bake them, I can fill a freezer full of breads, cookies and specialty items, for next to nothing. I've worked in a commercial bakery, though, and am experienced with baking off the boxed, frozen dough. All anyone needs to do is ask their local grocery's baker what temperature and time is needed for baking the product.
This day of our shopping never gained any frozen treats, which is good because we've incurred far too much. It did, however, land us a fantastic deal on rice. I was excited after seeing the price, forty pounds for eight dollars! We bought eighty pounds; that's a lot of rice! I figure it gave the ability to offset future expenses elsewhere. When there are many mouths to feed, you tend to think in this fashion.
Our next store was good for saving money on meat, the store after that on things that are shelf stable. The big winners from those two stores were bacon, frozen turkey legs and dried beans. With plenty frozen and refrigerator items, it was time to head home and put things away before they became too warm. Any other stores on Rob's list would wait for another day.
At home, after unloading everything, Rob put the cold things away while I got busy putting together a stock using the turkey legs. I grabbed my largest crock-pot and put both legs and a cup of white wine into it. After filling the crock up to an inch below the top rim, I put the lid on and set it to cook on low for eight hours. I never add seasoning or vegetables to my stock, opting to flavor it at the time of use and match the flavors to the recipe I intend to use. The wine does give it a good flavor base for any meal, although its' purpose is to break down the collagen and create a good gel.
It came out beautifully. I strained and cooled the broth and put it into the refrigerator overnight. The next day, the meat was removed from the bone and I scraped off the small amount of white fat on the surface of the thick gelatinized stock. Later, soup was made from the stock and meat, bread baked from sourdough, and a salad created by my middle daughter Erika.
Building the soup was easy, and I cleaned my vegetable drawer in the process. I diced all remaining onions and celery left from the last shopping trip and fried them in the remaining bacon grease from the refrigerator. I used half an onion and a stalk of celery fried in around a tablespoon of that grease and after the onions had become translucent, I thru the stock in. I also added about one chopped carrot, some of the turkey meat and parsley from the garden. I seasoned it further with a teaspoon salt, half a teaspoon pepper, a few bay leaves, basil and thyme.
The soup simmered until the carrots were done. I was thinking to add some of the rice I had bought, when I added the carrots, but Jessica insisted it should have noodles instead. I'm glad I did as Jessica wanted because she ate two large bowlfuls of soup! Erika's salad turned out excellent, consisting of baby spinach, kale and collard greens with walnuts and dried fruit. The bread, with home ground flour, rounded the meal perfectly, and I was pleased with the results. Tomorrow I am preparing a favorite for the kids - biscuits and bacon gravy for dinner. That should replenish my store of bacon grease nicely!
Normally, all we buy from the Mennonites are things the kids go through often, like cereal, juice and granola bars. Once in a while the store gets frozen goods from a wholesale bakery distributor and, because no one seems to know how to bake them, I can fill a freezer full of breads, cookies and specialty items, for next to nothing. I've worked in a commercial bakery, though, and am experienced with baking off the boxed, frozen dough. All anyone needs to do is ask their local grocery's baker what temperature and time is needed for baking the product.
This day of our shopping never gained any frozen treats, which is good because we've incurred far too much. It did, however, land us a fantastic deal on rice. I was excited after seeing the price, forty pounds for eight dollars! We bought eighty pounds; that's a lot of rice! I figure it gave the ability to offset future expenses elsewhere. When there are many mouths to feed, you tend to think in this fashion.
Our next store was good for saving money on meat, the store after that on things that are shelf stable. The big winners from those two stores were bacon, frozen turkey legs and dried beans. With plenty frozen and refrigerator items, it was time to head home and put things away before they became too warm. Any other stores on Rob's list would wait for another day.
At home, after unloading everything, Rob put the cold things away while I got busy putting together a stock using the turkey legs. I grabbed my largest crock-pot and put both legs and a cup of white wine into it. After filling the crock up to an inch below the top rim, I put the lid on and set it to cook on low for eight hours. I never add seasoning or vegetables to my stock, opting to flavor it at the time of use and match the flavors to the recipe I intend to use. The wine does give it a good flavor base for any meal, although its' purpose is to break down the collagen and create a good gel.
It came out beautifully. I strained and cooled the broth and put it into the refrigerator overnight. The next day, the meat was removed from the bone and I scraped off the small amount of white fat on the surface of the thick gelatinized stock. Later, soup was made from the stock and meat, bread baked from sourdough, and a salad created by my middle daughter Erika.
Building the soup was easy, and I cleaned my vegetable drawer in the process. I diced all remaining onions and celery left from the last shopping trip and fried them in the remaining bacon grease from the refrigerator. I used half an onion and a stalk of celery fried in around a tablespoon of that grease and after the onions had become translucent, I thru the stock in. I also added about one chopped carrot, some of the turkey meat and parsley from the garden. I seasoned it further with a teaspoon salt, half a teaspoon pepper, a few bay leaves, basil and thyme.
The soup simmered until the carrots were done. I was thinking to add some of the rice I had bought, when I added the carrots, but Jessica insisted it should have noodles instead. I'm glad I did as Jessica wanted because she ate two large bowlfuls of soup! Erika's salad turned out excellent, consisting of baby spinach, kale and collard greens with walnuts and dried fruit. The bread, with home ground flour, rounded the meal perfectly, and I was pleased with the results. Tomorrow I am preparing a favorite for the kids - biscuits and bacon gravy for dinner. That should replenish my store of bacon grease nicely!