Bob's Red Mill founder transfers business to employees. (OregonLive.com)

Just had to share this tidbit. As a longstanding buyer of Bob's Red Mill products I am so happy to see that the business won't be sold to some mega-multinational-corporation upon the owners retirement but rather will go to the employees that made this business top notch.

See full story here:  http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2010/02/bobs_red_mill_natural_foods_ro.html

Frugal Feeds | 5 Basic International Veggie Sofrito's

So far I have been covering a lot of pantry staples because it is an important part of frugal shopping but in order for your diet to be healthy you need to incorporate an abundance of fresh ingredients. Today we'll start looking at the fresh staples needed.

When you start to put fresh ingredients in your shopping list you want to mix the inexpensive staples with low cost seasonal produce. Certain staples are consistent throughout many cultures cuisines. By having them at hand you can create meals from many different cultures. Let's look at several cuisine basics to get you started.

French:
Carrots, Onions, Leeks, Celery, Thyme and Bay leaves

Called Mirepoix: Saute in a bit of butter 3/4 cup carrots, 1/2 cup onions and 1/4 cup celery. 3/4 cup lean ham is often added. Use with braised or pot roasted meats. For seafood dishes, eliminate the ham and replace the carrot with leeks.

Italian:
Onions, Carrots, Mushrooms, Celery, Basil, Parsley and Garlic

Saute in olive oil until browned 1 cup onions, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/4 cup mushrooms, 1/4 cup celery, herbs and 2 cloves garlic. Used with meats and basis for sauce. 4 cups pureed tomatoes is often added.

Spanish:
Yellow Onion, Sweet Green Chile (like Anaheim), Garlic, Tomatoes and Paprika

Saute in a bit of olive oil until browned 1 cup onions, 1 chile, 1 clove garlic. Add 4 cups chopped tomatoes and 1 heaping Tablespoon paprika.

Mexican:
Yellow Onion, Bell Peppers, Chiles, Garlic, Tomatoes

Saute in a bit of corn oil until browned and blistered, 1 cup onions, 1 cup bell peppers, 1 hot chile, 1 clove garlic. Separately broil 4 tomatoes until blackened. Place tomatoes in a brown paper bag and close it. Let the tomatoes sit for five minutes. Remove tomatoes from bag and peel off the skin. Crush the tomatoes and add to the sauteed vegetables. If making a sauce from the vegetables, puree. Often served with cilantro.

Cajun:
Green Bell Peppers, Onions, Celery and Flour

Called the Trinity: Saute in a bit of butter 1 Bell Pepper, 1 onion and 2 stalks of celery. When the vegetables are browned add 2 Tablespoons of flour and allow it to brown lightly. Use for gumbo and with braised meats and vegetables.

As you can see, with just a handful of staple vegetables you will have the basis for several different cuisines. With each of these types of sofritos you can make them ahead of time in larger quantities and just measure out one cup of the sofrito into each freezer bag. Label it and date it. Then you will have handy, versatile starters to many recipes.


Keep the following vegetables on hand and you can always throw these together with a few spices:

carrots
onions
leeks
celery
mushrooms
green chiles
garlic
tomatoes
bell peppers

Frugal Feeds | Meat Shopping Guide

Buying in bulk works for most of the things that you need that aren't fresh. Now lets talk about the fresh meat ingredients.

Beef and Pork: If you eat meat you will find that it is the most expensive ingredient you buy on a regular basis. But there are some things you can do to cut down on your meat costs. First of all, if you are eating whole grains, beans, peas, corn, eggs and dairy then you don't have to eat meat to get your proteins. That means that you can use meat for flavor instead of for nutrition. If you think of meat as a flavoring aid then you can significantly cut down the amount of meat you buy. In most dishes 1/4 cup, or 1/4 pound of meat is enough for a meal that makes four servings.

Let's do some math here. I am going to use the spaghetti meal as an example because the spaghetti meal is one of the least expensive meals that the family eats regularly. If we can reduce the costs on this meal then we can gain even higher savings on the meals that cost more.

If you normally use 1 pound of ground beef for a spaghetti recipe it might cost you $1.69/# for super lean ground beef in a 4# bulk package. That would be $6.76 a month, or $81.12 a year for just one spaghetti meal a week.

One pound of bulk super lean ground beef is 1/4 cup (4 servings) at .42 each, or 1.69 per meal.
One pound of store brand dry Parmesan cheese is 1 Tablespoon (90 servings) at .18 each, or .72 per meal.
One pound of store brand fresh grated cheese is 2 teaspoons (88 servings) at .14 each, or .56 per meal.
One pound of frozen green peas is 1/2 cup (6.6 servings) at .12 each, or .48 per meal.

So, if you reduce your meat to 1/4 cup for four servings and add 8 teaspoons Parmesan and 2 cups of peas you will save .23/ meal, have a wider variety and by the end of the year you will save $11.96 on this meal alone. If you were to make these changes to all three of your daily meals, over the course of the year you would save $251.16. Remember though that this is one of your least expensive meals that you can save on. For your more expensive meals the savings will be higher.

Not every meal will be great if you replace meat with cheese and peas, so lets look at ways to extend the meat, and alternatives to the meat.

Using bread crumbs to replace a portion of meat called for in the recipe. See the Frugal Feeds blog about that here: 15 Ways With Bread Crumbs

Using beans or peas to replace a portion of meat called for in the recipe.

Using low fat cheeses to replace up to half of the meat.

Using textured vegetable protein.

Using savory vegetables, like sauteed onions, celery, mushrooms, garlic, potatoes, carrots, etc...

Using seasoned tofu or tempeh.

Using eggs.

Let's look at a few other dishes.

Bacon is a great flavor booster. Think of bacon not as the side dish to an egg breakfast but rather a seasoning, like you think of salt and pepper. When you fry up your bacon make it extra crisp. Place it between paper towels and pat it completely dry of oil. Then crumble it up into tiny pieces. Place it into a covered canning jar in the refrigerator. Every time you need to pump up the flavor of a dish, sprinkle a Tablespoon of bacon onto it. Works for pasta dishes, egg dishes, bean dishes, vegetable dishes, salads and casseroles. At around $2.50/# it is more expensive per pound than ground beef but you only need a little bit to make the flavor really come through. One pound of bacon will give you about a cup of bacon bits. (It depends on how fatty that bacon was because the fattier it was, the more you will cook off from it and drain away). So, if you have one cup of bacon bits, you will have 16 Tablespoons and can flavor 16 dishes with it. The cost will be around .15 per meal, or about 10% of what the ground beef costs.

Sausage is also great but not quite as versatile. While bacon goes with almost everything (there are even many desserts and chocolates out there that feature bacon) sausage needs to be considered more thoroughly. There are tons of sausage types out there and each has its special qualities. Breakfast sausage is a good basic sausage for a lot of dishes but remember that it has sage in it that can be the wrong flavor for some dishes. Kielbasa's, German sausages, Italian sausages, they all taste remarkably different so use them where you know the flavor will work before experimenting. To use sausage, slice it lengthwise and then cut it into small cubes or half moons. You want to cut it down as much as possible so that you can cook off the fat. The more surface area that you saute the more flavor that sausage will impart as well. Once it is fully cooked, drain it in a colander lined with paper towels. Put another few paper towels on a plate and top with the drained sausage. Using another bunch of paper towels, pat the sausage dry. Reserve 1/4 cup of the sausage for your recipe and place the remainder of the sausage into small freezer bags, each bag holding 1/4 cup. Label the bags with the sausage type and the date. Use it all up within three months.

Using Textured Vegetable Protein (textured soy flour nuggets) can be effective but if you use too much in the dish it will over power the flavor of the meat. I recommend no more than 1/4 of the meat in the recipe be replaced by TVP. I use low sodium beef broth to reconstitute it and then cook it with the rest of the ground meat and no one can ever tell that it is in there. TVP is exceptionally inexpensive. You can get it for as little as .11 cents per quarter cup and a quarter cup is all you need to replace 1/4 of the ground meat in a dish. If you figure that 1/4 cup of ground beef is .40 cents, you can see how replacing it with the TVP will give you a lot of savings in the long run.

Some meat cuts to look for:

Ground beef, extra lean
Flat Iron Steaks--incredibly flavorful, very inexpensive, makes small delicious steaks that cook up quickly.
Chuck eye steaks--very flavorful, inexpensive, diced up it goes with a lot of dishes
7 bone roast--flavorful and has a great many uses, but you will have to work around the bones
Pork shoulder--very flavorful, but can be fatty, so use for flavoring a dish in that case. Otherwise cook it on a low heat for a long time in a braise and use it shredded into dishes.
Skirt steak--very flavorful for when you need a little meat to make a big impact. It is often used for fajitas for that reason, but you can use it anywhere that sliced steak would work.
Tri-tip--When you need a steak to be a steak but a little flat iron steak won't do. Very flavorful when cooked slowly.

So, lets recap. Use your meat as a flavoring aid rather than the major component of a meal. Buy it in bulk if you can cut it down to 1/4 cup or 1/4 pound servings and freeze the remaining servings. Remember that you will have to defrost the meat in the refrigerator at least one day before using. Look for the low cost meats listed above. Try using meat extenders.

Frugal Feeds | Shopping Guide

Shopping is one of the most complicated parts of frugal living. Here we will discuss techniques for you to employ that will give you the best opportunity to save money while buying fresh, wholesome food.

First, you want to become acquainted with your store's bulk section. Bulk sections have bins that carry pasta, rice, beans, baking items, cereal, dry fruit, snack foods, dry mixes and nuts. They often have large bottles of bulk spice too. The bins, containers or bottles will have a label telling you how much that item costs per pound or ounce.

The price can look really low, like .10/ounce or really high like $21.00/ ounce. The prices vary so extremely for two reasons. One is that the items have different weights per volume and the other is that some items are hard to get and more people want them than they can sell to. The weight of an item makes a big difference though. When you buy a cup of raisins it is going to weigh a lot more than a cup of potato flakes.

When you choose the bulk item you want you can put as much or as little of that item into the bag as you need. By doing this you only buy the amount that you wish to use. If your store has customers that buy in bulk regularly you will be getting your goods cheaper and fresher than the boxed items in the aisles. Where I live most of the bulk bins are filled with Bob's Red Mill products. Buying Bob's Red Mill in the bags on the shelves generally costs 25% more per ounce than it does in the bulk bin. Check it out yourself by picking an item in the bulk section and note its price per ounce. Then go to the aisle section where you normally buy your items and look at the tag on the shelf under the product. Most stores list, in small print, on the shelf price tags how much an item costs per ounce. If it lists it per pound, just divide by sixteen and you will have your ounce price (or alternately multiply the bulk price by sixteen to get the price per pound). Exceptions to this are bulk items like Oatmeal that are subsidized by the government and generally cost the same for most of the manufacturers whether they are bulk or aisle items, unless you are buying organic.

After looking at the prices per ounce you decide to buy the bulk items. How do you do it? The way bulk sections work is that you pick up a plastic bag from the bulk area and a blank twist tie tag. On the item container will be a bulk bin number. Usually the number is four digits long but organic bulk items are usually five digits long. Write the item number on the blank twist tie tag and fill your empty bag with as much of the product as you need. Some bins have tongs, some have scoops and some have levers that you pull down to release the contents into your bag, be sure the bag is held tight to the opening of the lever type of bin. Close the bag and tie with the twist tie tag. The cashier will type the twist tie tag item number into the register and be able to ring up your purchase that way. There will be scales in the bulk area that you can use to weigh how much of an item you have put into the bag.

Many store have liquid bulk items too. In that case there will be empty jugs, jars or bottles in the bulk area. Write the bulk item number on a blank twist tie tag and twist the tag to the handle or neck of the jug, bottle or jar. Nutbutter machines also are found in the bulk sections. For these there are tubs that you can fill with as much as you want. Usually you will also see a special black waxy pencil attached to the machine. You are to write the bulk item number for the nut butter on the lid of the tub in that case. At home, using a funnel, pour your bulk items into jelly and canning jars. The jelly jars are great for spices and the wide mouth canning jars are great for everything else. Put the lids on the jars and attach a label. Use sticky dots, like the ones they use to price items at a garage sale, to note the day you bought the bulk items--that way if you don't use something up super quick then you will know that you need to replace it within three months of buying it.

Not everything is sold in the bulk section so you will want to go to the canned food aisle and canned broth aisle next. You will need tomato sauce for a great many of your dishes so buying four 15 ounce cans of tomato sauce is a good start. Canned broth is more expensive than homemade, and doesn't taste as good, but not everyone can make a gallon of broth from scratch each week. Most dishes call for broth so having a gallon of broth, or four quarts of broth, is a good start. Buy all of these with Low Sodium labels. If you find that a recipe needs more salt you can always add it yourself, but if the manufacturer uses more salt than you need you can't take it away. Plus several dishes require that you boil the broth until it is evaporated by half of the original amount for a richer flavor, but if it already is salted then the half evaporated broth will be too salty. (Canned tomatoes can have far too much sodium in them so by getting low sodium tomato products you give yourself the control over how much sodium your family is getting).

After hitting the dry and canned goods aisles you will want to head over to produce. Pick your produce, wrap with a paper towel if the produce is damp, and place in a plastic bag. Produce is usually sold by the pound. There will be scales in the produce area that you can use to weigh how much of each item you are getting. I will do a post later that will tell you what to look for in each type of fruit and vegetable for freshness.

The remainder of your shopping should be meat next, then milk, eggs, dairy, then frozen foods.

So how do you know how much to buy and what?
At the beginning of each month you will want to go through your cabinets, pantry, refrigerator and freezer. Look at all of the ingredients that you have. Write down how much you have left of items that you use regularly. Then write down the items that you have some of, but not alot of. Next you will need to write down the things that you don't have in your cabinets or pantry that you use constantly throughout the month. Compare the lists and figure out what you are going to need for the month, broken down by each week.Write up something like this:

Here is a typical American family of four example:

Week One, 7 days, 21 meals, 84 servings

Breakfast--quick breads, cereal
Lunch--Soup and salad
Dinner--pasta 2x, Mexican 1x, Asian 2x, Roasted Meat 1x, Vegetarian 1x

You want to think through each meal. What does that meal include? How much of an ingredient do we need to buy without buying extra? Here is an example:

We eat a pasta dish twice a week. For a family of four we need 1# of pasta for each of those meals. 1# of pasta multiplied by two servings per week multiplied by four weeks is 8 pounds of pasta, or 128 ounces a month. Half of that pasta needs to be medium sized pasta shapes for the casseroles.

At least one dish per week is sauced with a tomato sauce so I use four cans of tomato sauce a month. I will need four 15 ounce cans of Muir Glen No Salt Added Tomato Sauce.

To season the tomato sauce I need to get 1 Tablespoon of Italian seasoning a week, or 4 Tablespoons=1/4 cup so I will need 1/4 cup of Italian seasoning for the month.

I use half of a pound of meat in the pasta so I will need to add 1 pound of meat for two pasta dishes.
I can only buy 1 pound of fresh ground beef if those pasta days are both going to occur within four days of when I buy the meat. But buying the meat in one pound packages is not the way the stores sell at the best price. You can freeze ground beef very nicely so if you buy the 4 pound bulk pack of ground beef, just divide it into 4 pieces and then divide each of the 4 pieces in half. Put each of the pieces into individual quart freezer bags. Put on the label that it is ground beef, what the date is and that it is half of a pound in weight. Put all but one of them into the freezer and put one of them into the refrigerator. The hard part about storing your meat in the freezer is that you will have to pull out the 1/2 pound meat from the freezer and put it into the refrigerator one day ahead of making each recipe all month, or know how to defrost it properly in the microwave.

We like cheese on our pasta so I need to add 1/4 cup cheese for each serving. 4 servings per meal multiplied by four pasta meals means I need 4 cups of Parmesan cheese for four pasta dishes in one month. If I buy the dried out cheese that is sold on the shelves, I can buy all of that Parmesan at the beginning of the month. But, if I use the fresh cheese in the refrigerated section I need to buy no more than two weeks worth or it can start going stale or moldy.

One of our pasta dishes each week is a casserole. The casserole is made up of leftovers and pasta. I need a medium sized pasta to mix into the casserole. Rotini, Ziti, Fusilli, Egg Noodles, etc.

The casserole dish needs a sauce. I will need broth, flour and fat for the sauce. 2 cups of broth per week. 2 Tablespoons of flour per week. 1 Tablespoon of fat per week. If I want to add herbs and seasonings I will need at least a Tablespoon of those each week. So, since all of these things can stay good for a month in the cabinet I will need:

2 quarts of broth
1/2 cup of whole grain flour
1/4 cup of oil
1/4 cup of dried herbs

So, that covers two meals per week. Consider what your meals will be for the week, and what you can expect it to be for the month. Buy in bulk all of the items that you know that you will use. Then, if it is on sale, buy a months worth of the canned items you know that you will use. If it isn't on sale just buy what you need for that week. Maybe later in the month it will go on sale and you can buy what you need for the rest of the month. Buy the produce that you will use for no more than four days. If you buy a weeks worth of produce some of that produce is going to spoil and get tossed out. Buy the milk, eggs and dairy that you will use for a week. Buy the fresh meat that you will use for the next two days. Buy the frozen foods you will use for the next month. Go to the store every two days for fresh produce and meat. Your family will be eating fresher food and you will be able to specifically buy items that work with what you have for leftovers and what is in your pantry. Plus you will see the items that go on special and stock up as needed.

Here is the shopping list for one month's worth of pasta meals:

8 pounds pasta (128 ounces), half of it in medium sized shapes, Rotini, Ziti, Fusilli, Egg Noodles
4 fifteen ounce cans Muir Glen No Salt Added Tomato Sauce
1/4 cup Italian seasoning
4 pounds of ground beef, divided into eighths, 7/8 placed in freezer bags in the freezer
4 cups Parmesan cheese, or two cups of fresh Parmesan cheese, refrigerated
2 Quarts low sodium broth
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup oil or fat (olive oil, nut butter, corn oil, butter)
1/4 cup dried herbs


Sometimes though you can't find what you need at your local store and will want to shop online. In that case, here are some resources for getting the specialty foods at frugal prices:

Auntie Andies Grocery and Kitchen Wares: www.frugalfeeds.com
For Thai food go to http://www.importfood.com/
For organic dry goods go to http://www.bobsredmill.com/
For dry beans go to http://www.purcellmountainfarms.com/
For just about all of your organic and unique pantry needs go to http://www.barryfarm.com/
For dry pastas go to http://www.hodgsonmill.com/
For low sodium tomato products go to http://muirglen.elsstore.com/

For low sodium broths go to www.pacificfoods.com/where-to-buy/buy-our-foods-online

That's all for this time.

Frugal Feeds | Figuring out Minimum Servings per Day

Understanding how much food to give to your family is as important as which types of foods. Serving sizes are averages--some people eat twice as much and some eat half as much while both maintain solid health and good body weight. Serving sizes are a good guideline for figuring out what you need to buy and cook but they need to be adjusted based on your family's body types, activity level, health and metabolism. That said, this is the average for an adult who consumes a healthy 2000 calorie diet.


Serving Size of Proteins:
4 oz. Unprepared Meat
3 oz. Prepared Meat
4 oz. Tofu, Nuts or Beans
1 Egg
8 oz. Low Fat Milk, Yogurt or Curd Cheese
2 oz. Low Fat Cheese
2 oz. Nut Butter

Serving Size of Whole Grains:
4 oz. Uncooked Grains
8 oz. Cooked Grains

Serving Size of Produce:
4 oz. Fruits or Vegetables
6 oz. Juice



Now serving size is not the same as how much of protein, whole grains and produce you should eat each day.  There is always debate about how much of anything is the right amount for the average person but there are minimums that are set because if the average person doesn't eat a minimum of those foods they will develop serious illnesses. But it isn't as difficult as so much hype out there leads us to believe.

First off is Water. In order for your body to work properly to digest food and maintain organs, cleansing and moisturize your skin you want to drink a minimum of Four glasses of water a day and eat fruits and vegetables because you will get the equivalent of several cups of water per day from your produce. Remember, we are talking about minimums here and if you want to drink 12 glasses a day go right ahead. Your water can be a cup of tea at each meal and a glass of water when you first wake up each day as long as you eat a diet that includes leafy vegetables, squashes, fruits and juicy vegetables like carrots, celery and tomato.

Next is Protein. On average an adult needs somewhere around 50 grams of lean protein each day. More active, pregnant, tall, short, inactive people need higher or lower amounts. Use an online protein calculator to get your exact needs for you family. Too much protein leaches calcium from your bones while too little lowers your immunity and weakens your muscles. So, what is 50 grams of protein in a serving? Well, it depends on how dense the protein structure is in that food. One glass of milk is 8 ounces but only provides 7 grams of protein (more depending on whether it is skim or low fat less if it is full fat) while 3 ounces of steak provides 26 grams of protein. Then there are grains that combine with milk, cheese, and nuts to make complete proteins. So the general average ends up being around 2 servings of lean animal protein or three servings of vegetable protein per person per day. Remember, these are minimums and differ by body types and activity levels.

Whole Grains should be a part of everyone's diet for some vitamins and minerals as well as helping the digestive system. How much? At least three servings a day. That can be a slice of toast in the morning and a sandwich at lunch. Two servings of pasta plus garlic bread on the side and you are covered for the day. It doesn't take a lot but some recommend five servings a day as a minimum. Just like with everything else there is ongoing debate as to what is the right amount.

Fruits and Vegetables--Two servings of fruit a day. You don' t need more than that and eating too much fruit can lead to a host of health problems. How much is too much? Again, there is debate. I know of fruititarians who only eat fruit and nuts, and eat a lot of them, but I also know people that eat four pieces of fruit a day and end up with terrible digestive problems and bleeding gums. So, go with what makes sense for you and your family. You need a minimum of three servings a day of vegetables. Vegetables are an area where you can be abundant though. The only ones that you need to be careful about over consuming are probably carrots and potatoes. Too many carrots turn your skin orange and too many potatoes slow your metabolism and in turn put on extra weight. Otherwise vegetables are very nutritious and very inexpensive. You can eat alot of them without alot of calories and they don't leave you feeling heavy after the meal.

So, to recap, the minimums per day are:
4 glasses of water
4 ounces of pure protein or around 50 grams of protein
3 servings of whole grains
2 servings of fruit
3 servings of vegetables

To make this happen easily, here is a sample menu for one day:

Breakfast
Glass of water
Cup of tea
Slice of whole grain toast with nut butter

Snack
Piece of fruit

Lunch
Whole grain sandwich with 1 ounce of protein, 1 ounce of cheese, two leaves of lettuce, sliced tomato
Glass of iced tea

Snack
Piece of fruit

Dinner
2 ounces of protein
1 cup of salad
1/2 cup mixed vegetables
Cup of herbal tea
That's it.

Frugal Feeds | Making Gravy Six Ways and Create Endless Variations for your Table

Making gravy can spruce up the flavor of left over meats, vegetables and breads. Gravies often use the browned bits from your roasted meat but they can also be made without the meat drippings. Here we will cover the usual gravies and some that you have probably not tried yet.

Beef Gravy
After roasting beef drain the fat from the roasting pan. Using a spatula scrape up the browned bits and place the browned bits into a sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk in 2 Tablespoons whole grain flour and 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 2 Tablespoons red wine, 2 Tablespoons dried parsley and 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. Add 1 cup low sodium beef broth while whisking the whole time. (Or 1/2 cup plain dairy or non-dairy milk with 1/2 cup either low sodium beef broth or water). When mixture begins to boil reduce heat to medium-low and continue whisking until the gravy is the consistency you want. Serve over beef, potatoes, roasted carrots, brown rice or biscuits.

Poultry Gravy
After roasting a chicken or turkey drain the fat from the roasting pan. Using a spatula scrape up the browned bits and place the browned bits into a sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk in 2 Tablespoons whole grain flour and 1 teaspoon thyme. Add 1 cup low sodium chicken broth while whisking the whole time. When mixture begins to boil reduce heat to medium-low and continue whisking until the gravy is the consistency you want. Serve over chicken, turkey, lean pork, potatoes, whole grain biscuits or use in a casserole.

Sawmill Gravy
Use your Basic White Sauce #2 made with low sodium chicken or low sodium beef broth. Grind in fresh black pepper and stir in cooked minced lean beef, chicken, browned and drained breakfast sausage, browned and drained Italian sausage or lean bacon. Serve over whole grain biscuits, mashed potatoes, oven fried chicken, chicken fried steak, beef, chicken or use in a casserole.

Nut Gravy


4 tablespoons nut butter or ground nuts
1 cup low sodium broth
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
Pinch of garlic
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 Tablespoons whole grain flour

In a food processor or blender ( I use a stick blender ) combine nuts, broth, soy sauce, garlic and onion powder. Whiz until thoroughly combined. Transfer to a sauce pot over medium heat. Stir often until bubbling. Whisk in flour. Simmer for five minutes or until it is the consistency you want. Serve over poultry, mashed potatoes, green beans, whole grain biscuits, stuffing or use in a casserole. Nuts used can be Cashew Butter, Almond Butter, Soy Nut Butter, Peanut Butter, Ground Smoked Almonds, Ground Dry Roasted Nuts or toasted pine nuts.


Nutritional Yeast Gravy

2 Tablespoons corn oil
1/2 cup Nutritional yeast or 1/2 teaspoon vegemite or marmite yeast spread (each will result in a different flavor)
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups low sodium broth
1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce (do not add this if you are using a yeast spread--it will be too salty)


Heat oil in sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in the nutritional yeast, whole wheat flour, onion powder and garlic powder. Stir until it is all fairly well mixed together. Pour in the broth, a little at a time, while whisking the whole time. When it begins to bubble, reduce heat to low and let it simmer for two minutes. Taste the gravy and either add the soy sauce or don't. Serve over vegetables, mashed potatoes, stuffing, whole grain biscuits, turkey, chicken or pork.


Mushroom Gravy

1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup sliced onions
1 Tablespoon low sodium broth
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
5 Tablespoons white whole wheat flour
3 cups broth

In a medium sized sauce pan over medium-high heat add the mushrooms and onions to 1 Tablespoon low sodium broth. Add the herbs and saute until mushrooms have lost their liquid and the onions are well browned. Stir often. Add the whole wheat flour and stir until all of the mushrooms and onions are well coated. Whisk in the broth. Simmer over low until it is as thick as you like. Serve over vegetables, potatoes, brown rice, whole grain noodles, barley, pork, chicken, beef, biscuits or use in a casserole.


With each of these gravies you can change the flavors easily by changing the type of broth used, the type of flour used, the type of nuts used, the type of yeast used, the type of soy sauce used, the types of herbs used, and what you serve them on.

Frugal Feeds | 8 Pudding Ideas and How to Make Multitudes of Puddings from Scratch

These puddings are the type of milk based puddings that most Americans think of when they think of pudding. Pudding can be a healthy option for desserts and snacks when made with 2% milk or low fat non-dairy alternatives. It can be your basic vanilla or chocolate but it can also be so much more than that. We'll start with the basics and then get on to some more creative ideas.

Plain Pudding

4 1/2 Tablespoons starch
up to 3/4 cup sweetener (I use 1/2 a cup of most sweeteners)

3 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon flavoring


Starches:          Best For:
Corn Starch      Low Shine
Arrowroot        High Shine, Fruit Puddings, Freezing
Tapioca Starch High Shine, Fruit Puddings, Freezing
Tapioca Pearls High Shine, Tapioca Pudding, Freezing
Kudzu                Expensive, so only use it if you have to
Rice                   Rice Puddings

Starch                Sweetener            Milk                    Flavoring

Corn Starch       Raw Sugar           Cow's milk           Flavor Extract

Arrowroot         Brown Sugar        Coconut Milk     Chocolate

Tapioca Starch Agave Syrup       Almond Milk      Cocoa

Tapioca Pearls Maple Syrup        Rice Milk             Nuts

Kudzu                  Honey                    Oat Milk               Coconut         

Rice                      Stevia (Tiny bit) Hemp Milk           Fruit

Choose one starch, one sweetener, one milk and one flavoring the first time you use this chart. Once you get accustomed to their properties you can blend them into custom puddings that suit your tastes. Because each type of milk, each type of sweetener and each type of starch work differently you will want to start with what you are familiar with and then the next time change only one of the ingredients. Do that each time until you have worked out how each of those ingredients delivers taste, texture, structure and how it cooks.

Basic Pudding Instructions:
Mix together the starch and sweetener and then whisk in the cold milk. Using a large cook pot, fill it half way with water. Place a large glass or metal bowl onto the pot so that it does not touch the water and has enough height that you can easily hold the bowl steady with a pot holder on your hand. Turn on the stove top burner to high heat. Pour pudding mixture into bowl. Once the water starts to boil be sure to whisk the pudding regularly. When smooth, carefully transfer to a skillet over very low heat. Continue to whisk until the pudding takes on a thick and creamy consistency. When it does, remove from heat. Add the salt and flavoring to the pudding. Cool. When cool pour into a bowl, place a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the pudding and chill. Remove the plastic film when fully chilled and you shouldn't have a film of pudding on the surface. Serve with stewed fruit, berries, sweetened apples, braised bananas or broiled pineapple slices. Top with toasted nuts or sweetened coconut. Using different starches results in different look, feel, taste, texture and thickness. Use cornstarch the first time you make it. Using different sweeteners results in different tastes, textures and thickness. Use raw sugar the first time you make it. Using different milks results in different tastes and thickness. Use cow's milk the first time you make it. Use vanilla flavoring the first time.

Variations on Plain Pudding


When using Cocoa add 1/2 cup cocoa to the starch/sugar mix.
When using Chocolate add 1 ounce of chocolate to the bowl over the pan of boiling water and let it melt before adding the milk/starch/sugar mixture.
When using Nuts, toast them first.
When using Fruit add 1/2 cup to the milk/starch/sugar mixture but don't use acid fruit like lemons, pineapple..
When using Tapioca pearls simmer the tapioca and milk for 20 minutes and slowly add in two well beaten egg yolks, then the salt and sugar. Cook 15 minutes more. Beat the 2 egg whites fluffy and fold in to the tapioca pudding mixture.
When using Rice use 1 cup rice and 3/4 cup raisins or currants. I like to add cinnamon too. Try it with Maple Syrup as the sweetener. Adding two beaten eggs makes it hearty.
To make Butterscotch use brown sugar and add a Tablespoon of butter.
To make Caramel place sugar in a dry saute pan over medium-high heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir constantly until the sugar melts and turns dark brown--do not let it go too brown or it will burn. Add a teaspoon of water and stir well. Mix the carmelized sugar with the milk and allow to cool completely. Then add the starch and proceed as usual.
When using Stevia only use a small amount. Stevia is a powerful sweetener so you must decide by taste how much is enough. Generally two small drops is equal to one teaspoon of sugar.

Some Popular Pudding Types:
   Almond
   Banana Cream
   Berry
   Boston cream
   Butterscotch
   Chocolate
   Coconut Cream
   Caramel
   Dulce De Leche
   Lemon
   Orange
   Peanut Butter
   Pistachio
   Pumpkin
   Rice Pudding
   Strawberry
   Tangerine
   Tapioca

Again, once you get the basics down you will be able to create many recipes on your own and adjust the ingredients to suit your taste.