Cooking Cheap

I haven’t written much here in the last few months. That’s because I haven’t done or discovered anything all that news worthy.

I’ve pretty much dialed in my sourdough bread. No doubt someone does better and good for them. Mine’s what I like (or vice versa). I play around with hyrdaton and shaping and stuff but it’s all good enough for me. I bake weekly, more or less — that’s all the bread I need. It’s a plateau in baking that I’m happy with.

Likewise I haven’t done much in the meat and carbs area. A recent experiment of use all the left overs in a tortilla quiche like egg pie. Didn’t suck but not really good enough to bad enough to write about. I ate the left overs two days later so it didn’t suck. Just not worth writing about.

I did discover something which I hope to remember. A long time ago I asked for suggestions on turning a 3 for $1 box of Mac and Cheese into something tasty for adults. There’s a big difference between your $0.25 and $0.33 and the Kraft (my standard just because it’s my standard). Anyway, there was a sale at the mega mart on the Kraft - yup 33 cents a box so I bought a box of white cheddar flavor and I made it tonight (enhanced) and you could do a whole lot worse and I have, making your own from scratch.

White cheddar may not appeal to the kids but I’d used up my Cougar Gold block on that quiche thing and this Kraft box was pretty close. Yummy. I goosed mine up with a 1/2 cup ( after grating so maybe 2 oz) sharp yellow supermarket brand chedder and maybe a 1/4 (after grating )of decent parmesan). For flavor or texture or those other foodie terms. It was pretty damn good. Watch for a sale. Get some.

I don’t make box brands often enough to dial it in without looking at the instructions so I read the directions and I was stunned. Four table spoons of “spread” with a little picture or icon suggesting that would be a half stick of butter. Butter I have and the use by date is approaching fast. I have no idea what “spread” is, it’s probably not going to save the planet whatever “spread “is. Not to use my butter would be wasting resources, no? That’s a lot of butter. I used whole milk, and the cheese additions (not really a lot) and It really was good. If I had added a touch of nutmeg and ground pepper, and a crumb topping and browned it, you’d be hard pressed to tell it apart from your scratch recipe. Es Verdad. It’s not going to save you any fat from the traditional.

I wonder if there are adults in PC America who think “spread” is something other that butter. How very sad that we let that happen. Shame on us. You could boycott Kraft for that pandering but stock up on their white cheddar boxes when on sale first. Yes, everything is going to taste good with a half stick of butter. Don’t eat it all at once. I saved some tor tomorrow.

A finely diced onion, garlic, more butter, some flour and milk and a bit more cheese. Maybe one of those shallot things in the garden instead of the onion.. That’s a lot of sauce. I have bread. Might want more cheese. And some refried beans for the tortas. Beans, bread, cheese sauce which might have macaroni in it. Touch of hot pepper sauce in the cheese sauce perhaps. Whatever raw veg in the fridge chopped up across the top, Sounds good now.