Diabetes Meals on $7 a Day?or Less!. Patti B. Geil

COOKING

      “I said to my wife, ‘Where do you want to go for our anniversary?’She said, ‘I want to go somewhere I’ve never been before.’I said, ‘Try the kitchen.’”

      —Henny Youngman

      Cooking is becoming a lost art, but it is one that you’ll need to rediscover if spending less and eating healthfully is your goal. Fast foods and convenience foods do save time, but they are real budget-busters. Don’t assume that saving money requires you to become a master chef. Start by looking for recipes like those in this book-quick to assemble, with few ingredients and simple cooking techniques.

       STOCK UP

      Keep your pantry stocked with low cost, healthful grocery staples to save time and trips to the grocery store. With a few basic foods from these parts of the MyPyramid, you’ll be ready to cook cost-wise meals in just a few minutes.

      

Grains, beans, and starchy vegetables: flour, oats, whole-grain breads, cereals, crackers, dry or canned beans, rice, pasta, canned corn, and potatoes.

      

Vegetables: fresh or plain frozen vegetables, tomato sauce, and canned tomatoes.

      

Fruits: fresh and plain frozen fruits, fruit canned in juice, applesauce, and frozen concentrated 100% fruit juice.

      

Milk: fat-free milk, nonfat dry milk, and nonfat yogurt.

      

Meat and others: chicken, fish, turkey, ground beef, eggs, peanut butter, cheese, and water-packed canned tuna.

      You should also have the right kitchen tools on hand to make cooking easier. Important pieces for healthy cooking include a pressure cooker, good-quality sharp knives, a grill, and nonstick cookware. Less expensive tools that should be in your kitchen are a cheese grater, kitchen shears, a steamer basket, a kitchen scale, a cutting board, and a microwave.

      READY, SET, SHOP! SHOPPING LIST

      Fill out this shopping list and take it with you on your next trip to the grocery store to keep your fridge stocked with all the good-for-you essentials that you need in your diet.

       NOW YOU’RE COOKING!

      Once you’re in the kitchen, make the most of your time and money by cooking and baking in large quantities and freezing a portion for future use.

      This technique-one way to get planned-overs-is known as batch cooking, and it can be as simple as cooking a few extra chicken breasts to freeze for later use. The idea is to cook once and serve the food two or three times. For example, if you are making pasta at your evening meal, throw some extra noodles in the pot to use in a cold pasta salad for tomorrow’s midday meal. Or prepare a large quantity of a standard recipe, such as “Spunky Spaghetti Sauce” (see Recipes: Meat and Others), to use immediately, then freeze the remainder for use in lasagna or stuffed peppers. Make a large batch of waffles on Sunday morning, serve a few for breakfast, and freeze the rest to pop in the toaster on a busy weekday morning.

      You may not have time to cook during the workweek, but you may have some free moments on the weekend to start preparing food for the week ahead. This saves not only time, but also money because you can buy larger amounts of basic ingredients more economically. Make your own healthful microwave meals by separating your planned-overs into microwave-safe dishes in portion sizes that are right for your individual meal plan.

      Knowing there’s something in your freezer that is just a few microwave minutes away from a meal may be just the incentive you need to skip the expensive fast-food drive-through after work.

       GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR MICROWAVE

      A microwave is handy for reheating planned-overs, but you can get even more savings from the microwave by using it to:

      

Crisp up stale or soggy crackers, cereals, and pretzels. Microwave them in a baking dish on high power until they’re very warm (1-3 minutes), stirring once. Let them cool thoroughly to crisp.

      

Get more juice from lemons, oranges, and grapefruits. Slice the fruit in half, then microwave it on high power for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

      

Extract the last drops from a bottle of pancake syrup. Remove the cap, then microwave the bottle on high power for 20-30 seconds. An empty-looking bottle may hold as much as 1/4 cup of syrup.

      Clever, cost-wise cooks know the value of casseroles. These one dish meals can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator or freezer, ready to bake at a moment’s notice. Casseroles are a great place to use leftover turkey, chicken, beef, rice, and vegetables. This makes for less expensive meals and faster baking. Casseroles can be designed to provide you with foods from each of the food groups in your diabetes meal plan. Take a look at the inexpensive, mix-and-match ingredients in the “Quick Six” casserole plan at the end of this chapter and invent your own one dish meal.

      If you plan to cook your prepared casserole within 24 hours or so, store it raw in the refrigerator and allow about 10-15 minutes of extra oven time to make sure the chilled ingredients are baked through. If you decide to freeze the casserole for future use, wrap the dish securely and freeze it for up to six weeks. Defrost it thoroughly and safely before baking.

       SAFETY FIRST

      Economical eating requires special attention to food safety particularly when using planned-overs and storing large amounts of food. For the person with diabetes, the nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and inability to eat that accompanies foodborne illness are not only unpleasant, but may also have serious effects on blood glucose control.

      For safety first in the cost-wise kitchen, pay attention to “sell by” and “use by” dates on the canned, jarred, and packaged foods you purchase. Safe food storage is essential. Store flour and grains in airtight containers and your canned goods in a cool area. Your refrigerator should be set at 40°F or below, while your freezer should be 0°F or colder. When putting away your groceries, keep these additional safety tips in mind:

      

Eat canned and jarred goods with a high acid content (tomatoes, grapefruit, and pineapple) within 18 months. Canned foods with a low acid content-meat, poultry, fish, and most vegetables-will keep for 2-5 years.

      

Use eggs within three weeks of the expiration date, and keep them refrigerated at all times.

      

Refrigerate fresh poultry or fish for no more than two days after you buy it. If it won’t be used within two days, freeze it. Other fresh meats will keep in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.

      

A food that has been cooked, served, and refrigerated within two hours can be stored safely in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. In the freezer, most planned-overs will store well for 2-3 months.