I’ve gotten more and more fascinated by home cooking, since my leap into more frugal living. I dabbled some in gardening this summer. I learned a lot and hope to have even more success next year. The more I cook, the more I realize that I am a little short on some really necessary tools. Starting this week, I’m going to inventory the items I have in my kitchen, get rid of the things I don’t need, and make room for the things I do need.

Good Set of Heavy Duty Pans – We got a new set of pans at Costco last year that have been amazingly wonderful. They’re all thick and conduct heat evenly. They are easy to clean, difficult to damage, and do an all around fabulous job of not burning my food.

Wooden Utensils – Most pans come with a non-stick coating these days. Even the ones that don’t could be better cared for by using non-metal utensils. I like the wooden ones most because plastic conducts heat far too efficiently, and even melts if you leave it sit in the wrong spot (or forget to remove it from the pan you’re stirring).

Cook Book – The one tool I couldn’t live without is the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. It’s got a ton of great basic recipes, sections in every chapter for types of foods, cuts of meat, seasonings, suggested preparation tips, and very plain language. It’s best to always keep a basic cookbook around. Specialty cookbooks are rarely worth the space they take up in your kitchen though.

Food Processor – I had a food processor with TOO many gadgets and plastic pieces. It was a pain in the tush to store, but it had a lot of great uses. I wonder if this is worth replacing with a simpler device. I’m going to give it a try. We’ll let you know how that goes.

Knives – Anyone who spends much time cooking can tell you the importance of a good set of knives. Trying to do food prep with dull knives is frustrating at best and dangerous at worst.

Bread Machine – I don’t need anything fancy or gadgety, just a simple bread machine that will make it possible for me to make fresh bread without spending hours in the kitchen.

Stand Mixer – Ok, so this one isn’t so much a NEED as a want. It would make my life infinitely easier, especially during holiday cooking season. (Why no, I’m really NOT sighing wistfully….honest)

Canner – I love everything to do with Pumpkin. This year, I really want to can as much pumpkin butter and pumpkin puree as I can. I would love to have this available for recipes all year.

I’m not buying anything new. I’ll be liberating items that friends don’t use anymore, checking out Freecycle and Craigslist, and even the local thrift stores for great deals on used kitchen tools. Do you have a Kitchen Favorites list? What can’t you live without when you’re cooking?

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A couple of weeks ago, Kristina at A Gaggle of Girls posted this recipe for Amish Friendship Bread. I really really wanted to try it, but was a little apprehensive about begetting all of those starters! Well, I did it anyway. Against my better judgment, I gathered the ingredients for starting my own starter, and went to work.

It amuses me that everyone in my family is incapable of walking past the starter without “mushing the bag”. Trust me, it got plenty of mush! I admit, though, that I probably took, more like 11 or 12 days to make it and not 10. It doesn’t appear to make a difference, so no worries if you add the 2^nd set of flour/sugar/milk on day 7 instead of day 6 … or mush the bag an extra day.

Seriously, I did not want to have to find 3 friends to give this starter to on Tuesday, so my diabolical mind went to work… and folks… I have defeated the ever expanding circle of starter baggies! Are you ready? Let me show you what I did….

Ingredients/What you’ll need to make the first starter: (DID THIS)

1 pk. active dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 c. warm milk
wooden spoon
non-metal bowl

To make the original starter: Soften the active dry yeast with 1/4 c. of warm water for about 10 minutes.  Stir with a wooden spoon, not metal.  In a non-metal bowl, combine 1 c. flour with 1 c. sugar.  Slowly stir in the 1c. of warm milk and the dissolved yeast.  Cover loosely and let stand.  Mixture will become bubbly.  This would be considered Day 1.  On Day 2, pour into a gallon ziplock bag.  Mush the bag. 
Day 3 - Mush the bag.
Day 4 - Mush the bag.
Day 5 - Mush the bag. (stating to see a pattern here?)
Day 6 - Add 1 c. flour, 1 c. sugar, and 1 c. milk.  Mush the bag. (OOPS… DID THIS ON DAY SEVEN)
Day 7 - Mush the bag.
Day 8 - Mush the bag.
Day 9 - Mush the bag.
Day 10 - Pour the mixture into a non-metal bowl.  Mix with a wooden or plastic spoon.  Add 1 1/2 c. flour, 1 1/2 c. sugar, and 1 1/2 c. milk.  (THIS WAS PROBABLY DAY 12)

Measure out 4 “starters” of 1 cup each into the gallon ziplocks.  (DID NOT DO THIS… instead, I did this….)

Measure out 1 cup of starter into 1 gallon zipper sealed bag. Divide the rest of the batter into 2 batches… amazingly enough, both batches are 3 cups exactly! Those other 3 starters are exactly enough to double the batch! So, I weighed the options… 4 starters on my counter… or 4 loaves of yummy bread.

Date the bags.  Keep one for yourself and give three away with a copy of the recipe.  For the copy you give to friends, just make Days 1 and 2 and mush the bag, and use these directions for the rest.  Now my friends don’t want to choke me! After this, you use the mixture left to bake bread. 

Add to the remaining mixture the following: (Double this recipe and ENJOY!)

3 eggs
1 c. oil
1/2 c. milk
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. flour
1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix (didn’t have any, so I added a 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of corn starch to each batch)

Grease two large loaf pans, and in a separate bowl mix 1/2 c. sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.  Use this mixture to dust the greased pans and pour in the batter evenly between the two pans.  Sprinkle the remainder of the mixture on top of the bread.  Pop in the oven and bake at 325 for 1 hour.  Cool about ten minutes until the bread loosens from the pan, and pop out. 

I’ll be making these loaves to freeze for Christmas gifts. Every 10 days, I’ll make a double batch. Give 1 loaf to the family (so they don’t disown me… and so they’ll keep mushing the bag!!!) and freeze the rest. This will make a nice addition to my other baking and candy making for the holidays.

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Wednesday was an anniversary of sorts for Wes and me. Not our wedding anniversary, but it was the day we pledged to be together forever (neither of us was certain we ever wanted to take the “Legal” Plunge again). Our normal anniversary celebration includes dinner at a nice restaurant to the tune of $100 or more. No expense is spared. This time, we just had to spend $1200 on transmission repairs to my trusty workhorse of a minivan. It was very disappointing to shell out that cash from our reserves and make the sacrifice of alone time with Wes.

Wes laid out chicken for dinner, which wasn’t particularly inspiring to me… because I was still pouting about the car and the lack of a “special” evening. Since his hand is broken (that’s TOMORROW’S post), I promised to make dinner. So, when I pulled into the driveway after work, I got my sulky self out of the car and made my way up the front walk… then I saw it… our OVERFLOWING herb garden filled to the gills with Basil! I plucked two or three leaves… then just pulled a whole stalk up. I had a PLAN.

We love Thai food. It’s where most of our date nights end up taking us. With that in mind, I went on a mad hunt for a recipe. This is what I found:

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs (you can use breasts, but the thighs are more flavorful)

1 large red onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
2 Tbsp olive oil or grape seed oil
1 14-oz can coconut milk
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger

Hot cooked rice

Method

1 In a small bowl, mix together the salt, ground coriander, cumin, ground cloves, cinnamon, ground cardamom, black pepper, chili powder, and turmeric. Set aside.

2 Rinse chicken, pat dry. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Put into a bowl and sprinkle the spice mix over all the pieces. Coat well and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.

3 In a large skillet heat 1 Tbsp oil on medium high heat. Add the onions and jalapeños and cook for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Remove the onions, peppers and garlic from the pan and put into a medium sized bowl. Set aside. Use the same pan for the next step.

4 Add 1 Tbsp oil to the skillet and heat on medium high heat. Add one half of the chicken pieces, spreading them out on the pan so they are not crowded. Brown for a few minutes on each side. When the chicken pieces are cooked through, and no pink remains, remove from pan, add to the bowl with the onions. Cook the second batch of chicken pieces the same way. Remove from pan, add to bowl with onions.

5 Add the coconut milk, minus a couple tablespoons, to the skillet. In a small bowl, mix the remaining coconut with the corn starch to dissolve the corn starch. Add the corn starch mixture back to the skillet with the coconut milk. Cook on medium heat and stir till thick and bubbly. Mix in the Worcestershire sauce. Add chicken mixture, basil, and ginger. Cook 2 minutes more to cook through.

Serve over rice. Serves 4.

Simply Recipes http://simplyrecipes.com

This was quite possibly the BEST homemade Thai dish I’ve ever tasted. It’s simple to make, very flavorful (halve the salt though!) and everyone loved it. Even the children ate it!

Even better, it was SO cheap (I doubled the recipe):

• Chicken Breast 2 lbs @ $1.99 per pound
• Coconut Milk 2 cans @ $.79 a can
• One onion @ $.50
• Spices @ $.25
• Garlic @ $.10
• Peppers (free from garden)
• Basil (free from garden)
• Rice @ $.50 for 2 cups

So, I fed my family of 5 an amazing celebratory dinner for less than $7.00 total.

Even better than having the great food for really cheap… for me, the disappointment of not having dinner out evaporated the moment Wes took his first bite of dinner and proclaimed it some of the best Thai food he’s had.

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I have a love of cooking and fun recipes. I have almost a dozen cookbooks, but only one that we use religiously. It’s a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook with all the basic instructions for types of food and base recipes in the front of each section. This has, many times, been invaluable to me.

I also have a drawer full of printed pages from various websites I use to track down recipes for specific things. This houses our favorite Tilapia recipe, the Cranberry Crumb Pie that we are required to bring to all gatherings between November 1st and New Year’s Eve every year, and a few dozen hand written attempts at keeping track of my waffle recipes.

One thing that most of my recipe favorites have in common is simplicity. They have basic but versatile ingredients and I don’t have to stock exotic items to have our favorite meals. They don’t require a lot of steps to make wholesome and fun meals for my family.

Recently, I was hanging out a friend, pilfering her basement for interesting items for our upcoming costume party, and spotted FOUR boxes of the old recipe cards from the 60s/70s. Noticing my interest (squeal of delight), she kindly offered (was thrilled to be rid of) them to me. Since then, I have been happily experimenting with these recipes. One thing I’ve noticed is that the ingredient lists are much simpler than anything in my cook books.

My family loves the foods I’ve been experimenting with. They are relatively inexpensive and quite likely to use ingredients I have on hand, or need to use up anyway. I have a feeling we’ll be adding a few new frugal and fun favorites to our lists.

If you like what you’re reading, visit http://3princessesmomma.blogspot.com to check out some of my olders posts.