Thrifty Is As Thrifty Does

Times, they are a-changing. For many of us, the spendthrift lifestyle we have grown accustomed to has gone beyond the occasional guilt-twinge and become downright problematic. As I, and everyone I know begin cinching our belts ever-tighter, I have been looking around for painless ways to stretch our groceries without having it feel too spartan around here.

But hey, while I am economizing, why not also economize on the energy used to prepare our food? And what about my time spent making it? Why not economize there, as well?

Here are some of the top tips I have been using lately to stamp out excess in all three areas.

1. Pickle Juice - Don't throw it out. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil while you wash and carefully dry the jar and lid. Pack the jar with fresh carrot or celery sticks, radish halves or other veggies and pour the pickle juice over them. Store in the refrigerator. The lightly pickled veggies are good to eat almost immediately (give 'em a few hours at least) but they get even better after a week or more has past. Over time as the pickle juice is depleted top it off with the juice from another emptied pickle jar.

2. Cooking Starches and Grains - If you're going to use the time and energy to boil a huge pot of water, make it do the maximum amount of work. Cook a whole pot at a time. Use what you need, put the rest into single serving portions and freeze for later. Not only does this save energy, but it saves your food prep time many times over. It can also save you money on fast food if you know that the fixings for dinner are only a few microwave minutes away at home. This works well for all grains as well as pasta and potatoes.

*Bonus* - When cooking potatoes, buy organic. The extra cost is worth it because root vegetables tend to really soak up the chemicals buried in the soil. No need for extensive scrubbing, just a quick rinse and slice them in half before boiling in water. Later, when they are cooled, it's a simple matter to peel the skins off with your fingers and there is a lot less waste than when using a paring knife. Plus, the nutrients in potatoes are very close to the skin, so you lose less nutrition that way.

3. Recycled Produce - If they are in good shape, there is no need to toss fresh fruits and veggies left over from salads or packed lunches. I toss all the leftover fruit bits into a bag and then on Saturday mornings I simmer them in syrup to top pancakes. You can also cook them down with a chopped apple (natural pectin) and some sugar to taste in order to replenish your jam jar. Or toss them into muffin batter for fruit muffins. As long as they get cooked, it's all good.

For raw veggies, I save them all up, along with bread heels, cracker crumbs and bits of cheese and make a veggie quiche on the weekends. Again, as long as they are in good shape and they get cooked, no harm is done.

If the produce is not in good shape when it comes back to you, you can still get maximum use from it by tossing it into a compost bin rather than the garbage.

4. Scraps - Before you toss peelings into the compost bin, consider whether or not they would make good soup stock. Asparagus ends, carrot tops, onion and garlic peels, celery stems, tomatoes and even lettuce cores add nutrition and flavor complexity to your next batch of stock. Leave out strong, sulphur-y veg such as broccoli, brussels sprouts and cabbage, but with everything else simply toss into a freezer bag and save it up until you have a bunch. Then simmer in water with herbs until cooked down soft. Strain and continue cooking the stock to condense the flavors. Now you can make soup, or freeze the stock for later use. The leftover veggie mush can still be tossed into the compost bin now.

5. Whatever Soup - Often we will end up with little bits and pieces of leftover food in the fridge. Not enough to feed everyone for another meal, but too much to feel good about throwing away. I love to save these bits up and whenever a cool or rainy day approaches, I toss them all together in a soup pot. Tweak it as needed by adding extra grains, meats, veggies, spices or a can of stewed tomatoes, but this basically creates a huge pot of food for pennies. So far, we have never had a combination that wasn't tasty, but if it ever happens, very little has been lost in the process, right?