REAL Exclusive Magazine

“Recessionista” In The Kitchen – Part II

By Tracy Eisnaugle

Last month’s column was Part I of “Recessionista” In The Kitchen, we embraced our inner lunch lady and learned how to pinch a penny by multi-purposing our proteins. Being that I love to cook and enjoy the creative process almost as much as I enjoy eating and saving a buck, it was difficult to fit all of the kitchen related Recessionista tips into one column. So this month we finish off the kitchen with a few cooking, prepping, shopping, and dividing techniques.

Living in Florida is a wonderful experience, but our hot and humid climate along with our close living quarters creates some distinctive dilemmas. We don’t have basements to store items or to support buying in bulk, then to make matters worse we have tiny garages that are too hot for deep freezers or at least efficient freezers. Our local markets don’t have nor can they afford to have great deals and if you live in our area you already know that we are lucky to find one or two useable coupons a week. Therefore we have to think outside the box and work with what we can.

Being a Recessionista is not only about saving money, it is also about saving time, as we find ourselves working three times as hard for half the compensation saving a few hours and a couple dollars is priceless. Everyone who knows me knows that I love my crock-pot and it is the gift that I give to everyone who gets married, because I swear it saved my marriage during those sixty-hour work weeks. Using a crock-pot makes even the cheapest cuts of meat tender and tasty. Once you get used to using your crock-pot and figure out the liquid to solid ratio you would be amazed at what you can create. There are no limits, the best banana bread I have ever made was in my crock-pot, meatloaf never dries out, and chicken with rice has never been so nice.

Another technique for saving both time and money is pre-making your weeks breakfast or lunch items on your prep/shop day. Let’s face it breakfast can be a pain, being half asleep and having to figure out what you’re hungry for, cooking it, then cleaning up the mess is not the best way to start off your day. So I create our entire week’s worth of breakfasts on Sunday, which conveniently is also the perfect solution for cleaning out the refrigerator. All of the leftover vegetables, eggs, cheese and bread come together to become a tasty layered breakfast casserole that is cooked on Sunday and a simple daily reheat away for a thoughtless yet healthy morning. To break up the sack lunch sandwich and chips routine try making a refrigerator cleanout pasta salad to spice things up. Reducing your food waste and recycling what is in your refrigerator can create simple meal solutions that are always changing with nothing wasted and less time in the kitchen.

With more people packing their lunch, us included, it is easy to get tempted by those pre-packaged “convenient sized” items, or snack size chips, raisins etc., when you compare the cost to the quantity these are a super expensive. Purchase the large size and divide them up yourself, it only takes two minutes, but saves half the cost. You can purchase the large size plus a hundred baggies for less than the cost of the “convenient” packs, with the advantage of being able to control your portion size, which is not the same for a thirty-something man and a school aged child.

Let’s talk about generic food choices, even with coupons or the popular buy one get on free deals the generic is always cheaper. I started buying the generics about two years ago and I will never go back, there is no brand loyalty in a recession and I truly cannot tell the difference. Some of the generic products actually taste better and come in larger sized containers.

Just a little time in the morning throwing some ingredients into a crock-pot, precooking the week’s breakfasts and lunch treats, going generic and making your own snack packs can save valuable money, time and energy. For questions or comments on the Recessionista techniques or to share some of your own techniques please feel free to contact me at TLEisnaugle@msn.com. Play with your food, go generic and get creative, saving money and saving time is the key our future, a wise women once said “if you spend less than you make, you will always be rich.”

Tracy L. Eisnaugle has practiced interior design in Sarasota since 1997 and is currently self employed providing design consultation services in the area. She is a graduate from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design and continues her education by attending annual conferences. Her past experience includes, Design Center Manager for Lee Wetherington Homes, high-end residential design and model merchandising. Tracy may be reached at 941.232.3358 or by e-mail at tleisnaugle@msn.com.