Friday, March 14, 2014

Spa Water

For a cheap and healthy drink, add a few slices of fruit or cucumber or some fresh herbs like mint or lemon balm. This week I have made lemon-lime, lime-cucumber, and strawberry-cucumber. I bought the contaner for $ and each 8 cup batch costs about a quarter. Give it a try! 

Monday, January 6, 2014

Frugal Healthy Broth

One thing that you will always find in my freezer is homemade broth or stock.  This was from the turkey we had at Christmas.  It is absolutely amazing.

Today, I bought a 4 pound family pack of lean hamburger for about $12.  I am pre-prepping it for multiple recipes.

I decided to start the cooking by boiling it.  The advantage of this is that it keeps the texture of the meat as the long "strings" rather than "clumps".  I prefer it this way, and that is the appeal of fast food taco meat for many of my clients.

I added a heaping spoon of Crab Boil to a 1/2 pot (1 gallon?) of water.  I used to live in Louisiana, so I always have a 4 pound container of this around.  I wonder what the statue of limitations is for secret recipes that you have sworn not to pass on.  I'm not willing to chance the bad Karma.  Let's just say it's an undisclosed amount of salt, black pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, chili powder and MSG.

After pulling the meat out with a strainer and let finish draining in a colander, I threw in some "Dutch Yellow" baby potatoes that we bought for Thanksgiving and never used.  And an onion and garlic.   Cooked all of that for 20 minute at a rolling boil.  Those will turn into a meal yet to be disclosed.

The liquid reduced by about 20%.  It's now cooling to be a spicy beef broth.

Home made broth has so much more flavor than store bought and is FREE from leftovers!  Make some.  Freeze it.  No matter how little space you have in your freezer, this is worth it.  Pitch the Hot Pockets to make room.