Hospitality and food costs

[7schmicks]

Okay, here's another question that I've been thinking about. Americans average about 8% of their income on food costs. My husband figured out that ours was closer to 30% because of our low income and number of people we are feeding! This makes it hard for him to "Use hospitality without grudging" when people (family members, especially, who don't offer to bring stuff...) drop in near meal times and expect to get fed. What are ways that all of you keep food costs down and enable you to always be prepared to offer hospitality, even when it is difficult to afford it.
I know we should always be willing to share, and that the Lord will provide for us, but what can I do to help the situation?
Sister Brenda

[SisterNancy]

Sister Brenda, I struggle with this very thing. One I am on a very special food plan because of health issues. Two, my husband only works 36hrs a week and does not make enough etc. I use to be one of those ladies whose gift was hospitality...I would share everything even to my families detriment. I loved having people over and I loved cooking for them...However our situation has changed.

I can't do that anymore because it would literally mean we would not have food to eat. So, I offer popcorn, we make it on the stove with oil etc. the most expensive item being the oil. We have on occasion changed our meal time. I finally had to tell one friend who always came at lunch time which is our main meal time that I would love to offer for him to have lunch with us but that I did not have anything to offer him. He understood and now comes after mealtime. that was extremely hard for me to do but honestly that time I didn't even have anything for us to eat. Ususally, I just share what we have and supplement with the popcorn.

[mitchell]

I've come to the place and time in life where I have cooked for a lifetime (almost). Now I'm tired and I have warned everyone that my cooking from now on will be simple and plain food. I've had enough of those back-breaking holiday meals that *have* to be this and *have* to be that or this one or that one is not happy with it. Some meals, I just cook a pot of beans, pinto or white beans with just a little country ham (we don't eat much pork as I don't think it is a particularly healthy meat to eat) and a bit of cracklin' cornbread (to please my husband). With a little sliced onion or even green onions, that's a meal. I also do stir fries with maybe a little thin sliced chicken or beef and lots of any kind of sliced vegetables (onions, snow peas, red, yellow or green pepper sliced thin, a little chopped broccoli or even a bit of cabbage diced thin, or a little sliced squash - you get the idea) served on a generous serving of brown rice and a little bit of low sodium soy sauce and that's a good, full meal. Soup is also a good, cheap thing to serve. I roast a chicken with McCormicks all purpose seasoning, salt and pepper. One night we eat roasted chicken, the next night I fix chicken salad with chopped pecans, chopped celery, chopped onions, and white grapes served on a little sliced cantalouple and/or strawberries and honeydew melon, the next night I boil the chicken bones with what little bit of meat is left on them (with a tsp. of vinegar to bring out the calcium from the bones), then I strain any errant bones out of that and add frozen mixed vegetables and make chicken vegetable soup and we have that with plain old soda crackers. That's getting a lot of mileage out of one chicken.

I don't use a whole pound of ground chuck in our spaghetti. We don't need as much meat as we eat generally. I fry about half a pound and mix it in with prepared spaghetti sauce in a can (cheating), cook up the spaghetti noodles, set out the parmesan cheese, maybe fix a little French type bread toasted in the oven and buttered (most times I don't feel like we need bread and noodles necessarily). Sometimes, just dressed eggs served with some cooked dried blackeyed peas and cornbread is a good cheap meal. Lentil soup with cornbread is also a good, solid, cheap meal (lentils cooked in a bone broth with chopped onions, chopped celery and sliced carrots).

Simple is my answer to the food question.

W.

[allglorytogod]

just dressed eggs served with some cooked dried blackeyed peas and cornbread is a good cheap meal.

Simple is my answer to the food question.
W.

Wanda ... simple is good ... What is a ' dressed egg ? ' ... and how are blackeye peas eaten ... plain, in a sauce , or buttered ?

[mitchell]

Dressed eggs are just boiled eggs, sliced in half; the yolk is scooped out, mashed up with some mayonnaise, a tiny bit of relish and salt, pepper and paprika sprinkled on top if desired. (Oh, yeah, the mashed up yolk mixture is put back in the cooked egg whites.) Put in the refrigerator for a few minutes before serving. It takes the place of meat for one meal at least.

Blackeyed peas are just purchased dried (or precooked canned in a pinch), washed, drained and then boiled until they are soft. They don't take long to cook as a rule. I usually put a little bit of bacon or country ham in them because my husband likes them that way.

Wanda

[SisterNancy]

Dressed eggs - sounds like deviled eggs. yumm! I love your ideas.

I never knew you put vinegar in the soup to get the calcium out of the bones. awesome!

I made a really good soup using all the left over veggies in the fridge. I browned up ground meat that I made with taco seasoning and used beef broth. it was awesome! I don't usually have beef but I often have turkey or venison that works too.

[allglorytogod]

Dressed eggs are just boiled eggs, sliced in half; the yolk is scooped out, mashed up with some mayonnaise, a tiny bit of relish and salt, pepper and paprika sprinkled on top if desired. (Oh, yeah, the mashed up yolk mixture is put back in the cooked egg whites.) Put in the refrigerator for a few minutes before serving. It takes the place of meat for one meal at least.

Blackeyed peas are just purchased dried (or precooked canned in a pinch), washed, drained and then boiled until they are soft. They don't take long to cook as a rule. I usually put a little bit of bacon or country ham in them because my husband likes them that way.
Wanda

Thanks for the explanation ... I've always called these ' deviled eggs ' ... lol

The blackeyed peas with the bacon or ham sounds good

[allglorytogod]

Sister Brenda, I struggle with this very thing. One I am on a very special food plan because of health issues. Two, my husband only works 36hrs a week and does not make enough etc. I use to be one of those ladies whose gift was hospitality...I would share everything even to my families detriment. I loved having people over and I loved cooking for them...However our situation has changed.

I can't do that anymore because it would literally mean we would not have food to eat. So, I offer popcorn, we make it on the stove with oil etc. the most expensive item being the oil. We have on occasion changed our meal time. I finally had to tell one friend who always came at lunch time which is our main meal time that I would love to offer for him to have lunch with us but that I did not have anything to offer him. He understood and now comes after mealtime. that was extremely hard for me to do but honestly that time I didn't even have anything for us to eat. Ususally, I just share what we have and supplement with the popcorn.

Sister Nancy

I have to say this was hard for me to read ... I will continue to pray for you and husband ... that all your needs are met

[SisterNancy]

allglorytoGod, THANK YOU!

[mitchell]

Well, actually, the teaspoon of vinegar is put in a pot with chicken or beef bones and a good bit of water, brought to a boil and then simmered for an hour or more in order to make bone broth. The longer the bones can boil in the water, the stronger the broth will be with calcium that the vinegar extracts from the bones. (Even fish bones can be boiled in this fashion, but you have to be careful to be absolutely sure the bones are strained with none left in your broth. This fish bone broth can be used to make chowders; add a little flaked fish of any kind, some chopped cooked potatoes, cooked corn and chopped onion into your fish bone broth and you have some chowder from scratch. Just the vegetables without any fish in the fish bone broth makes a hearty bowl of chowder.)

They usually put carrots, onions and a stalk of celery in the pot if they want to call it "soup stock", but the vegetables cook so limp and watery by the time the stock is done that you have to throw away the vegetables because they're not too good to eat. So, I just make bone broth and add any vegetables I want to my soup so I don't waste good vegetables.

I like to make beef bone broth, but it's got to where beef bones are hard to get around here unless one raises their own beef.

Wanda

[Tammy]

Ladies, these are all wonderful ideas for frugal meals! We eat beans with cornbread, too, and I never have ANY complaints. Sometimes I steam some greens or some rice to go with it.

Some other frugal ideas are potato soup, cauliflower soup, pasta with tomato sauce and veggies on the side, and linguine with alfredo sauce. Well, "fake" alfredo sauce - I make white sauce (like cream gravy, with salt and a dash of paprika and curry), pour it over the cooked pasta and only sprinkle the cheese on top.

There are lots of ways to make a meal seem special for the family, or for company, without spending $50 on the groceries.

As far as people dropping in unexpectedly, that can certainly put you in a bind. I think you were right to be frank and honest with your uninvited lunchtime guest, and there was no need to be embarrassed about it.

Here in Guatemala, the culture is a little bit different. It is acceptable for people to drop in at any time, and when they do, they are invited in and at least offered something to drink, but usually something to eat as well. Here they have a wonderful thing called pan dulce - sweet bread - that goes with coffee or tea, and makes a nice refreshment. It is very cheap; people keep it on hand.

That gives me an idea. Perhaps for those unexpected dropper-inners, some inexpensive cookies can be kept on hand, to be served with tea or whatever. You can still be a gracious hostess without serving anything that will put your family into a financial bind!

[Tammy]

We usually have beef just once a week, and that's for lunch on Sunday. I fix a beef roast in a crock pot the night before, with lots of carrots and potatoes or cabbage. (It really doesn't matter how big or small the roast is b/c we all love the veggies!)

After we eat that for lunch, I make the most of the broth and meat bits by dicing up some raw carrots, squash, china peas, whatever is on hand, throw them into the crockpot to simmer until supper time. Makes a nice soup. And I only have to clean the crock pot once, lol!

lunch time which is our main meal time

That is so much healthier than eating the larger meal in the evening!

[SisterNancy]

Sister Tammy,

I like your ideas about pasta...I had forgotten about that because we don't eat WHEAT at all. So, I never have pasta or bread or cookies around. the closest you'll get to that at my house are my black bean brownies which are expensive to make because of the stevia I put into them. LOL

however, I do share my popcorn!

[Sister Penny]

It is hard in this day to provide a lot of extra food for visitors, but I have been known to use tofu and tvp in the sauces as it helps stretch the protein and tastes the same as meat.

Popcorn is a welcomed treat at our home, I do not buy chips or any of those packaged treats. We prefer the old fashioned popcorn over the microwave stuff...

God bless
Sister Penny

[benshelpmeet]

Dear sisters,

This is a helpful thought provoking post. We use alot of rice. It is still pretty cheap, even though it has gone up in price, it costs $25.00 for 50 lbs.

We make lots of different casseroles with only 1 lb of meat and that feeds 10 people, 6 of us eat like adults. Some of our younger ones eat alot too. ;D

I would say if you have company unexpected add potatoes or a pot of rice to help stretch the meal.

I love pop corn, thats a nice thing to feed visitors for a snack.

We drink water and also give our guests water, we rarely make tea. Raw sugar costs alot.

Deviled eggs - Dressed Eggs...we call them Stuffed Eggs. ;D Sometimes we still refer to them as deviled eggs.

Glenda's boy ''James Michale'' calls them... Egg-a- ma- bobs, he says he really likes them. Isn't that cute! ;D

Ok let's see I would like to have a few recipes here...

Tammy, do you have the recipe for ''pan dulce - sweet bread? '' I would like to try it. I love the simple but sweet idea about tea or coffee and bread or cookies.

Sister Nancy can I have your recipe for ''black bean brownies? '' Now that sounds interesting! I think I would like that. I love black beans. Do you use cocoa or carob powder?

Thank you ladies!

Love, ~ sister Darlene ~