Low-Carbing on a Budget
This is from lowcarbbudget~yahoo.com and has a lot of good advice whether you are on a budget or not.
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 21:51:02 -0700
From: Angela
Subject: The freezer -- a low carber's best friend
From: "ruthee"
As I am having a strongly transitional period in my cooking due
to the pregnancy and changing needs, I have been thinking a lot about how to plan meals, especially for the time when I return back to fully eating LC, providing the breastfeeding and such is not affected by the low carb. I don't believe this will be an issue, however.
That said, I have been trying to think my thoughts through on a number of things - ever notice how when you are pregnant, your mind just goes INSANE with thoughts and crazy night-time dreams? Being that we are in a full moon surely doesn't help things. *sigh*
I was absolutely ASTOUNDED by the response to the database...all the people who wanted it. I have to wonder if this is because people don't have enough recipes or they are recipe collectors or what. I will never know. But what I *do* know is that the key to successful and long-term low carbing is the planning of meals. We all cry the same things...how to cook for families when our dietary needs are so different as well as how to and stay prepared and even how to stay motivated to cook.
As a long time LOVER of OAMC cooking (once-a-month cooking where you do big batch cooking for a full day and then eat out of the freezer for a month or so), I am very enthusiastic about using this tactic mixed with others to deal with all that we face as low-carbers. There are also options like "dump" mixes, where you dump marinades and seasonings into bags with chicken or beef, etc and then freeze. You pull them out and let them defrost and boom, you have fully marinated meats ready to cook.
I work for a law firm and luckily work from home doing my job full-time. This does make being prepared so much easier, to be sure. But it also makes the ability to run into the kitchen and snack on stuff so much easier and tempting as well. However, I have only been working at home for 3 months so I did encounter the same things that a lot of you do. I realize that I do indeed have a method to my madness and one that seems to work well for me and I thought to share it with you all...hoping maybe some of you will find reprieve as well as excitement on how to achieve long term WOL eating changes as well as extended enthusiasm about cooking.
OAMC is a key thing and it doesn't have to be on the grandiose scale of 1 day for 30, especially if you don't have a stand-alone freezer. I am also a big fan of the "Tightwad Gazette" and many of the strategies she sets forth in her books, which are readily found in the library. They make FUN reading. She is not writing about low carbing but she does write about how to do just about anything else to make your life cheaper and more successful.
So, here are my thoughts..
1. Look into OAMC on ANY scale. A good 80% of the meat recipes we do are suitable for the freezer and cooking double batches of something you are already cooking ONE batch of does not take any longer. If you cook double batches once or twice a week, you can have 8-10 meals, casseroles or leftovers in your freezer within in a month and then replenish as you go. If that is too big of a scale, cook ONE double batch a week. Another possible method is to cook double batches twice a week, and ONE set of the double batch stays in the fridge for lunches and quick leftover dinners during the week as well as quick access meals during the week to prevent eating something that is not on your WOE.
2. I KNOW this will sound super redundant but seriously...only cook things you really DIG eating. Being on insulin during this pregnancy has made me have to change the way I eat and the schedule on which I eat. Having things in the fridge that I love eating makes me so much more comfortable. I keep a standard file of 10-15 recipes I love. One of these gets cooked in doubles every week. One for a dinner, one for the fridge for lunches and quick dinners, if necessary. This falls in under OAMC somewhat...
3. Avoid thinking in the realm of cooking ONE meal for you and one for your family. This is a major downfall to eating in this WOL. It is easy to get burnt out on it and *too* easy to cheat and munch on what you are cooking for the family at the end of a long day. Build your meals for your family around what you will cook for YOUR core meals. For example, cook double batches of your pot roasts - the family can have egg noodles with it and green beans or fruit, and you can have what you need.
4. If you have a picky eating family and many of us do, this is another reason to do batch cooking of low carb things. All you have to do is pull out your low carb stuff out of the freezer and you only end up cooking ONE meal at night - reheating YOURS while cooking for the family.
5. Many discussions on lists crop up about the costs of the meats and such that this WOE brings on. Bulk buying is very helpful, if you can, in meats. Some serious OAMC cooks get hamburger for $0.50 a pound if they buy 20 pounds or more. I know that sounds like a lot but it can be easily stored in a regular freezer, broken down into 3-5 pound batches, still leaving space for other freezer items. Costs of this WOL can be cut down by cooking at home from scratch, per se, rather than convenience foods. Even buying 10# packs of hamburger can yield hamburger patties that you freeze and have for quick frying, already browned ground beef for an endless variety of meals and meatloaves.
6. The key to cooking for a week period is pick out the following:
a. 1-2 dessert recipes that you can keep on hand to keep your sweet tooth at bay
b. 7 meals for you that you can either cook easily for yourself - and pick two of these to double for freezer, lunches and quick bites
c. 2 heads of lettuce cut up with other veggies you like thrown in for quick salads
I have begun to keep menus on the computer that I can refer back to. Some people keep them in a notebook. This allows for quick planning. My food bill has gone from $150 a week for a family of three (crazy, I know...but it includes everything from paper products to toiletries to groceries) to $75 a week with using a small upright freezer.
With all those points being made, in quick commentary to equipment for cooking batches, here are some basic truths. Yes, you need some extra pans but you can buy them at a dollar store, literally. All you have to do is line them with aluminum, freeze and when the casserole is frozen - the next day - pull out the casserole and place in a large Ziploc or wrap well with aluminum. You can get 3 9 x 13 pans for $2 apiece. Ziploc bags are also cheap at the $1 store but you may have to double bag. But what you don't need is a lot of extra appliances and fancy stuff....this is basic down-home cookery going on.
I urge any of you to try some of the recipes that have been floating around recently, the chicken in aluminum ones especially because they are perfect to start with this.
Being in the kitchen for 3 hours on a Saturday morning may not be what any of you want, which is why I suggest cooking double batches. But on a Wednesday when you are driving home from work, trying to decide what to cook....you will not have to worry any more. There will be plenty to choose from and you will be much relieve with that, I guarantee. If you doubt me, try it for a few weeks and see.....and then decide for yourself.
I can start to post my menus if any of you would find it helpful....I would love to see people start cooking to keep themselves excited and interested in this way of eating. So many people have downfalls due to the financial constraints, lack of time, lack of interest, boredom and such but there are ways around it....it is just time to get creative when these things face you.
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Hi Karen ...
I have one of those husbands that doesn't want to give up his junk food ... and while he's really very good about trying to behave himself around me ... I still have to make 2 dinners at night ... and at the end of the day, cooking is the last thing I want to do ... so normally I try and plan for the week (lunches and dinners) ... gather up all the recipes that may apply, and go cook-happy on Sunday mornings ... and/or all day on Sundays (ie ... pot roast in the slow cooker...)
Whoops!!
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