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philosophicalparadox · 2 days ago

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Got a Japanese grocery store near me. It IS kept very meticulously neat and orderly, but in a completely different way than what we usually see in the US — the “flow” of foods breaks up differently I guess.

Even so, despite now living on the East coast where literally anything from Japan is easily three to six times the cost as it was in California, many foods are still much cheaper.

And there’s WAY more variety. If you ever wanted to know about 21 different types of edible seaweed, and how to use them, that’s the place to go, and they WONT bankrupt you like a health food store.

The exception is some snack foods and other imports — but largely, the produce in that store actually comes from California; it often says so right on the boxes.

You see, the US has very weird food standards aesthetically, so we import a huge quantity of produce, and export the stuff that’s Ugly or that we just aren’t interested in.

But some of it stays here — and goes principally to markets aimed at minorities.

SO if you actually want to support US agriculture AND get cheap groceries, do absolutely find an Asian or even Hispanic / pretty much any minority market/store. I grew up next to the latter, with a similar butcher shop across the street. It was often times the only way we even could afford produce and meat; neither store was pretty by US standards, but it was INFINITELY better than relying on the quite literally rotten food that came in the food boxes. At some point FREE just gets used as a convenient excuse to dump waste somewhere and make it someone else’s problem; and while we did need to rely on those boxes at times, you bet your ass we nickel and dimed our way into those produce markets and learned to make preserves, because nobody should have to eat f-ing rotting food. But that is another story for another day.

Point is you are doing a lot more good for a lot more people shopping in a store like that than feeding the corporate overlords.

(And for the record, when I say cheaper, which is not a term most Americans associate with Japanese anything, I mean it — a bushel - that is about two pounds- of apples at Acme/safeway is like 4-6 bucks, so 2-3$ a pound. At this particular Japanese and sometimes Korean market, THE SAME APPLES are like 50c- 1.00 a pound, because They’re From The US and often are just not as pretty as ones you’d buy elsewhere. Yeah, you’ll have to cut around some nicks and bruises on that pear (and OMG do they have pears! Like 6 varieties!) but it’s perfectly edible and delicious.

Same goes for herbs. Whole Foods is a freaking rip off selling fresh mint for 2 dollars for like 12 stems. The Japanese market? You can get an entire damn mint plant for that price. Dried spices are sold in bulk like at Winco, from hoppers with bags. You pay by weight, not brand. So you can in fact get more than 6 stamens of Saffron for the 9$ that freakin’ McCormic sells that stuff. (You pay for the glass bottle more than anything).

The ONLY thing that makes this market unappealing to people: They put just about everything they can in Metric. Weights are sold by mg and kilo first; there are numbers that correlate to the respective pound /ounce on some things, and others are just in US imperial like the apples. But if you weigh the spices or pasta or anything like that, you’ll be charged for the metric conversion. Which apparently upsets dumb people who don’t understand that a gram is far more precise than an ounce, and that it keeps them from losing stock too fast since they’re pretty small fish — it’s owned by two people, and staffed by maybe 7 at a time. They don’t get priority on restock.

Anyway, small business grocery = best place to buy food

How to Shop at an Asian (or other ethnic) Grocery Store

Do you live in or near a city in the US?

Need to save some money on groceries?

Might I introduce you to... shopping at the local Asian grocery?

Asian grocery stores aimed at an Asian-American customer base almost always beat the prices of their western (or for-western) counterparts. Often by a significant amount, especially in categories like produce, meat, rice, and spices. Plus in addition to lower prices, you get the satisfaction of supporting a small, local business instead of a larger chain store.

(Note that a lot of this information applies to other ethnic grocery stores as well, but we're using Asian because they're common in many cities, and have particularly good prices on produce.)

But it can be a little bit of a learning curve when you first start to shop at them. This post will give you the information you need to navigate them.

So how do you find a good Asian grocery store?

First, go on google maps and search "grocery".

Note that you are NOT googling "Asian Grocery" or "Cheap Grocery". If you search "Asian Grocery" you will get results for Asian stores marketing toward a western audience, and because of this, will be neat, shiny, and very pricey. If you search "Cheap Grocery" you will get stores marketing themselves as cheap, which generally are only slightly less expensive than their "expensive" counterparts (think Aldi). Okay in a pinch, but you can do better.

Second, look at the pictures of all the stores you can easily get to.

Here's what you want: not a lot of printed ads, pictures of hand-written signs (especially in languages other than English), food in cardboard bins, and you want it to look kind of "junky". Bonus points if you can see prices listed in the pictures or the people shopping there are mostly older, ethnic women.

Third, If you couldn't find anything like this, go on your city's subreddit.

Search "cheap", "cheap grocery" and "expensive grocery". Why "expensive grocery"? Because you want to find people complaining about grocery prices, and you want to see the advice they get. Many times, that advice is Asian or ethnic grocery stores.

If you're still not getting anything, google "[city name] cheap grocery" and "[city name] expensive grocery" (see above). Scroll until you get to FORUMS discussing groceries in your city. You DO NOT want blogs or articles. Again, you're looking at the advice people are given when they complain about grocery prices.

One of the first questions people ask upon walking into an Asian grocery store of the type discussed in this post is:

"Is the food I'm getting here safe to eat?"

The answer is just as safe as anywhere else you might shop.

You're probably used to very clean, pretty, well-lit, well-organized stores. This will probably not be that, but it will be regulated by the same health department that regulates those stores. They are held to the same standards.

It's a lot of work to keep a store looking like a western consumer expects. It's a lot less work (and thus less money) to keep a store looking like an ethnic career housewife or grandmother expects. That is largely where the savings comes from.

What's a good deal at an Asian grocery?

Produce. You're probably used to things like onions and carrots being the cheapest per pound. Here it's going to be greens, apples, pears, radish, cabbage and maybe squash and sweet potatoes. Check unit prices and prepare to try some new things. Also a pound of greens is a LOT of greens. Keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that you might see a few pieces of produce that are bruised or have mold on them. That's okay. Just don't buy those pieces. The rest of the batch is probably fine. Wash produce when you get home if you're concerned, though you should be doing that anyway.

Rice and dry beans. If you like to buy in bulk, you're in luck. Don't expect to walk away with a pound or two of these. They come in 40lb packages. But if you tailor most of your meals around them, those meals will be cheap af. There are also lots of different types of specialty rice if you want to make your own sushi or mochi. Learn how to soak and sprout beans.

Tofu. Tofu is expensive when you buy it at a health food store. It is not when you buy it at an Asian grocery. It probably won't be in pretty packages, but again, cheap is not going to be super pretty.

Meat and fish. Meat is generally going to be cheaper here, though maybe not by as much as the produce is. Pork will probably be your cheapest option. You may also see cuts you don't normally see, like tongue, intestine, liver, kidneys, blood, etc... "Weird," however, does not automatically mean cheap in this context. Check unit prices and prepare to be adventurous. If you don't know what else to do with them, dried fish and animal organs make fantastic stock when boiled.

Spices. Again with the extremely large quantities here. But very inexpensive compared with their western counterparts.

Candy. This makes a great inexpensive gift if you need one, since the candy sold at these stores is fairly exotic for a western audience.

What isn't a good deal at an Asian grocery?

Dairy. This includes fresh milk, butter, cheese, etc... If they have it, it will be very expensive. Consider buying elsewhere.

Eggs. Again, this will probably be as expensive or more than the eggs you could get at a western supermarket.

Snacks. Pre-made items will be expensive in general, even though they may be tempting because they are different from what you are used to and you don't need to learn to cook a new thing. Do your best to avoid these and make your own if you can. If you can't, frozen pork or vegetable dumplings are probably your best bet for a quick meal.

Bread. It's pricey. A lot of Asian cuisines use rice, noodles, or buns for their starch instead of western-style bread. So if you can find it it will often be a novelty item.

What else do I need to know?

It's okay to be overwhelmed by new ingredients. Look up some YouTube videos on how to cook certain ingredients if you're not familiar with them.

These are not supermarkets. They sell food and sometimes the kitchenware (steamers, woks, chopsticks, etc...) needed to cook it. You will probably need to get your soap and household items somewhere else.

Pay in cash if you can. Most of these are very small businesses and paying them cash makes it so they don't need to pay credit card fees. At the very least, make the minimum purchase before paying with a card.

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kathyklonecke · 4 years ago

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SQUASH FOR DESSERT

1 32oz (4 c.) canned pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling as it has sugar)

Note: Any baked squash like kabocha has a sweeter taste than pumpkin. I prefer but canned is available during winter. You can use a mix of baked squash to equal 4c.. I haven’t tried acorn or other sweeter squash but I will.

6 chopped seedless Medool dates ( I buy in bulk at Winco)

1c. soy or similar beverage

1t vanilla

1/2t pumpkin pie spice or a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or allspice. Anything you like in pumpkin pie. A little grated ginger would be nice.

Blend in vitamix until creamy. Add a little more beverage if too thick for scooping into baking ramekins like above. Not runny though.

Evenly pour into 6 ramekins. Sprinkle with topping. Place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 20-30 min or until topping gets golden. IServe with a tablespoon of vegan ice cream. .

Topping:

1/3c organic rolled oats

2t olive oil or vegan butter

3 chopped whole Medool dates without seeds. Blend in small cuisinart until they resemble small crumbs. Sprinkle 1T on top of each filled ramekin.

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brendamariesmith · 5 years ago

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WHAT NOT TO STOCK FOR AN APOCALYPSE, PART TWO

Today for what NOT to stock, we have WEIRD POWDERED FOOD SUBSTITUTES—things with no nutritional value and no conceivable practical use but that are still inexplicably available to buy in bulk.

In good fun and in celebration of the novel IF DARKNESS TAKES US, coming out October 15th from @SFKPress. Pre-order here: https://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Takes-Brenda-Marie-Smith-ebook/dp/B07WK9BQHN/ref=sr_1_1?

[Photos taken at a Winco store in California, courtesy of my good friend, the novelist & poet, George Randall Leake III.]

3. CHEESE SAUCE MIX (What the !!?)

First of all, out of the many bulk products we’ve seen in this series, why is this one the only item with a “NO SAMPLING” sign? Presumably, they’ve had a big problem with people munching on scoops full of dry cheese sauce mix? And what exactly IS dry cheese sauce mix? In an apocalypse, water will be in short supply so you will have to eat your cheese sauce powder dry.

Unless this stuff comes with jalapenos, Ro-Tel tomatoes, and tortilla chips, and unless it tastes a whole lot better than it looks, you don’t want to buy it, and, if you do, you won’t want to waste your water mixing it up in the middle of the end times.

Alternatives that should have enough preservatives to last for decades without refrigeration VELVEETA and CHEESE WHIZ (which comes sealed in a jar for double protection).

Not that there’s any food value in these cheesy-tasting chemical products either, but it can’t be worse than powdered cheese sauce. And they will have calories, something you’re going to need.

4. POWDERED FRUIT PUNCH & ORANGE DRINK MIXES:

K, even if you like this chemically-colored stuff, in an apocalypse you will have NO WATER! I suppose you can sprinkle it on your mashed cricket dinner to help you choke it down.

I don’t have an alternative for these drink mixes, unless you want to stock expensive cases of fruit juice. Better plant some fruit trees to see you through. With the planet heating up, you should be able to grow citrus trees farther and farther north, if you can protect them from random freak snow storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Indoor fruit trees might work if they get enough sunlight.

Powdered Vitamin C or Vitamin C tablets could be good, if you think you can choke them down with little or no water. Chewable tablets might be best.

STAY TUNED FOR FUTURE INSTALLMENTS OF ��WHAT NOT TO STOCK FOR AN APOCALYPSE.”

NEXT UP: ODDBALL FOOD-LIKE PRODUCTS

#scifi #dystopian post-apocalyptic novel

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vanillamouse · 6 years ago

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Something I’ve ranted about before but am still upset about, so I want to try to provide some actual help for y’all:

Eating healthy on a very tight budget

“I can’t afford to eat healthy”

Buddy, you can. I’m your friendly neighborhood cowgirl here to say hang on tight buckaroo, I’m about to hit you with some broke girl wisdom.

I made enough vegetarian mushroom soup for literally 8 people for about $7.50 (mushrooms were the most expensive ingredient, everything else was under a buck). I live alone, so look at that, I have 8 meals. You could cut the portions or just substitute certain ingredients and it’d be even cheaper. This was honestly more expensive than most things I’d want to cook. You can make most soups for a lot less than this.

(I used a red onion, 2 shallots, two carrots, 5 green onions, one can store brand cream of mushroom, two cans of store brand vegetable broth, a lot of mushrooms (probably should have used a fourth of what I actually put in there). I specifically bought all of this at winco, so it was pretty cheap. Winco is great if you’re broke.

I also got ingredients to make a relatively lunch tomorrow for myself for ~$0.98

(I bought a pretty large potato that I’ll probably eat half of for lunch and half for dinner, a shallot (I just really like putting shallots in baked potatoes).

Shit, as long as you aren’t over eating you could eat instant ramen for three meals a day for like $0.45 a day. Not a lot of nutrients there, but you’ll be eating something and you won’t be eating more than like 1300 calories tops. I’m pretty sure you can’t gain weight on 1300 unless you’re underweight. And it’d be better to just eat vegetables obviously, but still. And peanut butter is a great source of protein and is super filling.

I’m making $20 a pay period because of my cunty boss and I’m still able to eat healthy. Like, I’m getting help with rent but everything else is on me (gas, groceries, all that jazz).

Spices are tricky. It’s one thing to cook food when you’re broke, but it’s another thing to make it taste good. I will say that I’ve gotten rosemary, cloves, turmeric, and paprika for under $3 at winco in the bulk section in the past, but generally in pretty small amounts. Dollar general has some spices for $1-$3 for fairly generous portions, but I’ve never seen them have a big selection. They definitely have louisiana hotsauce, cholula, and a couple other hot sauces for $1-$2.

“I don’t have time to cook”

You can bake a potato in the microwave in literally 7-8 minutes for lower watt microwaves. Potatoes are shit tier vegetables because they’re so high in calories, but fuck, it’s better than stuffing yourself on hot pockets?

You can actually cook most vegetables in the microwave in just a few minutes.

Also, eggs take like a minute and a half to cook in the microwave? And they’re a great source of protein if you can’t eat peanut butter?

Beans are also a good, cheap option if you have time to soak them. If you don’t, then canned beans are a faster but slightly more expensive option.

tl;dr: you aren’t too poor to eat healthy, you just don’t want to eat healthy.

ps: If you’re a minor and don’t buy your own groceries this obviously doesn’t apply to you

pps: Trust me, I’m a broke bitch, and the queen of spending less than $10 on groceries in a 2 week period, sometimes 3 if it’s really rough.

#people are just really testing me today #I swear #I may delete this later tbh #I was in a mood when I wrote it #As someone who's trying to lose weight like let me tell you it gets annoying when i lose weight and people assume i'm rich or some shit

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milly111 · 3 years ago

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dea-certe · 4 years ago

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Specifically an anecdote about point 8:

I have been grocery shopping for a family of 5 for 3 years now (before that it was a family of 6 for 2 years and then prior to that it was a family of 5 for 2 years). We use Aldis because it is without a doubt the cheapest way to get groceries. Screw Sam's, screw Winco, and especially FUCK Wal-Mart. Aldis is where we've shopped since we discovered it. I can, usually, spend about $300 for 2 weeks of groceries for us. This is just for the basics, and has very very few fruits and veggies outside of canned corn and green beans. The avergae week looks like below

Sun tacos

Mon meatball subs

Tue chicken tenders and fries

Wed chili cheese tots/dogs

Thu spagehtti

Fri meatloaf

Sat pizza

Taco meat, Lettuce, Tomato, Hard shells, Shredded cheese, Tenders, Tots, Chili, Hot dogs, Buns, Spaghetti meat, Sauce, Meatballs, Meatloaf meat, Noodles, Water, Hot pockets , Cup Noodles, Kool-aid, Sprite, Lunch meat, Taquitos, Coffee, Cream, Suagr, Eggs, Bread, Oatmeal, Goldfish crackers, Gummies.

Those are just the dinners on that list. Lunch consisted of chicken tenders, cup noodles, or hot pockets (the kind you can buy in bulk and those ones never have vegetables in them). Breakfast is eggs and toast or oatmeal. Snacks are goldfish crackers and fruit gummies. You drink water or koolaid or sprite (and you only get 1 12-pack of sprite so once its gone, its gone). That doesn't include things like paper towels, toilet paper, dish soap, laundry soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, etc. You know I spend for 2 weeks of that menu there? $197.16 at Aldis and $89.42 at Walmart. For 2 weeks. Walmart, we only use for hot pockets, cup of noodle, koolaid (because my kids drink the ones in the little plastic bottles), and then the hygiene stuff and paper goods. Not bad for two weeks, especially when your check is only $950 and you have to drive an hr one way for your commute so gas alone is $120 for 2 weeks.

Now like 3 weeks ago, I started getting more hours at work (yay) and I've got an extra $100 on each check. And so we decided to splurge on the more expensive stuff. We made a menu that included stir fry veggies and fresh broccoli and zucchini boats and porchetta and veggie quiches for dinners. We also got some berries and oranges and apples and bananas for snacks and for breakfast smoothies, and cut back on the oatmeal and gummies and goldfish and meatloaf and chili cheese dogs.

And you know something? I spent $287.16 at Aldis and $85.12 at Walmart. I spent an extra $85.17. And the fresh produce didn't last all week. Here we are, 4 days away from the next time I go grocery shopping, and we ran out of fresh produce yesterday. Most of it got used. The rest just....went bad. I get paid bi weekly and only have Sundays off. I use every other Sunday to do stuff like laundry and dishes and see my girlfriend and take the kids to the park. The other Sunday is for fixing the car and grocery shopping and library day and laundry and cleaning upstairs and washing the beds. I dont have time to go shopping every week.

So yeah, fresh fruits and veggies are more expensive and also don't last as long. And it sucks. So when people pull shit like what OP said, its obvious they've never actually tried to live by the advice they're selling.

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kaiserwellnesscenter · 6 years ago

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Minestrone Soup 1 large onion 8 cloves garlic Sautee 3 quarts water 4 peeled, cubed tomatoes Simmer 15 minutes 6 carrots 6 celery stalks 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes 2 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp sea salt 1/4 tsp black pepper Simmer 15 minutes 2 C green beans 4 C zucchini 4 C cannellini beans, cooked 4 C elbow macaroni, cooked 3 T dried parsley Simmer 15 minutes Serve with Parmesan cheese Caution: This legit took me 8.5 hours to make. But all the fresh ingredients are in season now, we got them at the farmer's market. The macaroni and beans were in bulk bins at WinCo.

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die-spaces-blog · 7 years ago

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Thyemo's Seitan recipe #vegan

To understand the Tao of Seitan, AKA wheat gluten. We must think about flavour and hydration; cooking and prep.

This is a simple Setian recipe to be fried in patties. You dont need to boil the seitan before frying, but remember it will be chewy if not prepared correctly. The recipe will be in parts like a spell. Major shout out to Black Metal Vegan Chef who inspired me to pick up the ingrediant at Winco, in the bulk section.

Here it is!

THYEMO'S FRIED SEITAN

1 *large* bowl

Frying pan//'oil'

Salt (moar than u think)

:makes 7 patties

Ingredients

8 parts Wheat Gluten (Seitan)

3 parts water

2 parts soy sauce

1 part cayane

2 parts *choice* hot sauce

1 part salt

2 parts ketchup

1 part mustard

Black pepper

:mix in a bowl:

{In order of the list}

It shouldn't look like pancake mix.

It will be like a loaf

Cut this on a chopping board

{Fucking make sure the oil is hot Fucking come on???}

Fry on medium-low

On each side for 5 minutes

Or until

G O L D E N B R O W N&D E L I C O U S

P.S. you dont have to use wheat bread and vegan mayo and eat it with fritos with a lemonade to be vegan. You just need +8 cooking and time to put wheat gluten in your shopping cart :+)

theprimordialemo.tumblr.com

#vegan #seitan #foodie #food #cook #chef #thyemo #picturesofgrey #theprimordialemo

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deadmomjokes · 7 years ago

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Beginner’s Guide to Going Gluten Free

So, just discovered you have a sensitivity or allergy? Want to see if you might be gluten or wheat intolerant? Just found out you have a thyroid issue, or your doctor wants you to try going off gluten for the two-week test? Been there, and yeah, it’s super confusing and really intimidating.

My mom had a gluten sensitivity, so I was lucky to have lived a few years in a household that navigated the gluten-free world. It really helped me out when my wheat allergy developed, but I still had to learn a lot as I went, and you don’t need me to tell you that trial and error isn’t a good way to go when health is involved. So here are some basics and tips for if you need to go gluten free.

1. Don’t do it unless you need to. Not only does it make it harder for people who need gluten-free products, people who go gluten free as a fad generally have no health benefit from it, or, at worst, get malnourished from doing it wrong. Not only that, but it’s wicked expensive. (But seriously, it makes it so hard for those of us who need it, because then food service industries see it as just a fad and cut corners, which could literally kill some of us. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen something labeled “gluten free” and then also read a “made in a facility with wheat” warning. That’s kind of mutually exclusive.) If you are wondering if you have a sensitivity, by all means, try it out. But don’t think that gluten free is inherently healthier, because it’s not.

2. Basic Flour Blend. Yes, GF baking is really hard and it doesn’t taste the same, but I’ve found that a 2:2:1 blend of White Rice:Tapioca:Corn Starch works pretty well. 1tsp of xanthan gum per cup of blend and you’re good to go. (It’s all going to be dense, sorry, no getting around it. Dense and crumbly and dries out easily, but at least it’s a baked good. Makes a tasty pancake and crepe, tho.)

2.5, regarding flour: Don’t scoop directly from the flour into the measuring cup. Pour it (with another scoop if needed) into the measuring cup. GF flour, particularly ‘starch’ flours like tapioca and corn starch, pack down ridiculously, and it will ruin the dry/water ratio.

3. Do not knead bread made with gluten free flour. Kneading is to exercise the gluten and make it rise more. No gluten, no knead. You’ll make it turn into a dense brick.

4. Find a bulk food store and buy your flours there. Good stores for finding bulk barrels are places like WinCo or Sprouts. Pre-mixed flours are expensive, so make your own to save money. (Though if you want to splurge for a dedicated gf bread flour, go ahead, it’s worth it.) Make sure the barrels of gluten free flour are all near each other in one area. If they are spread out in and amongst gluteny flours, don’t touch it. Not everyone will use the proper scoops in the proper barrels. If your GF flours are near each other, who cares if a little rice gets in with a bit of garbanzo. On that note:

5. Don’t let anyone trick you into thinking garbanzo bean flour is a suitable substitute for wheat. You can taste the beans even after it’s cooked. It is an abomination and should only be used for things like falafel.

6. DO NOT EAT RAW GF DOUGHS OR BATTERS. It won’t hurt you or anything, they just nasty as all heck. They taste like feet, sand, and regret. That Betty Crocker GF Cookie Dough may look tempting, but it’s the actual devil in disguise.

7. Learn to read labels. Avoid Wheat (all varieties, including spelt, semolina, kamut, etc), Rye, Triticale, and Barley. Look for the bold warnings at the end of the ingredients list first. But don’t take it at face-value. Scan through that list, too. They don’t always list allergens. EX: Kit-Kat doesn’t list any allergens in bold at the bottom of the list, but a main listed ingredient is wheat flour.

7.5 ALWAYS read the label. Even if it says gluten free, scan that label. Even if you can’t see a way for gluten to be in there, scan that label. Twizzlers have wheat as a main ingredient, and idk about you, but I would never have guessed. A lot of canned foods have added wheat as filler. Not necessarily a bad thing, but bad if you can’t have it.

8. Do your research before eating out. Never trust a verbal statement in a restaurant without a dedicated menu or breakdown being shown to you, or having looked at it beforehand. Ask sit-down restaurants for an allergen menu, or ask if they have a gluten-free menu. As for fast-food, you can find allergen menus online. Personal recommendation: Chic-fil-a is a good, safe place to eat, as long as you let them know when ordering grilled chicken anything that it’s an allergy, not preference.

9. Udi’s Bagels are totally worth the cost. Treat yo self. Same with the muffins.

10. hmu for recipes if you’re stuck, but a generally good way to go is a protein, a veg, and a starch for each meal (except breakfast if you just want something like cereal or yogurt. I get it.). Frozen veggies are a amazing and easy. Beans and chicken are good, cheap protein. Rice, potatoes, and gluten free pastas are my go-to starches. Just mix and match for mealtimes until you find some good recipes. You’ll probably have to start cooking for yourself a lot more, so just buy up lots of veggies you enjoy and freeze the ones you don’t use immediately if you get fresh. Also, snack on fruit. I found when I went GF that I wasn’t as full between meals, so I gained weight at first from eating chips to fill the corners. Fruit has a lot of fiber and will help you stay full.

11. Take a multivitamin, if you don’t already. Wheat flour has a ton of added minerals and vitamins, which is great for keeping down rates of malnutrition. But it also means that if you’re not getting vitamins and minerals from the other parts of your food, you’re going to start getting low on them once you cut out wheat.

12. Eat more fiber. Not to be gross, but a lot of people get constipated when they first go gluten free. The American diet in particular relies heavily on wheat products, which also contain a lot of fiber, so cutting that out cuts out a lot of dietary fiber. Add something like Metamucil if you’re really having trouble, but adding more foods like carrots, leafy greens, corn, beans, and apples can usually get it taken care of.

13. Throw out everything that has gluten as soon as you know you’re going gluten free for good. Don’t learn the hard way that you can cross-contaminate yourself.

14. Get a new toaster. I know you can super-deep clean toasters, but it’s so difficult and you might still leave remnants behind.

15. If you live with anyone who isn’t gluten free, label everything. You do not want to be scrounging at 3am and grab the wrong toaster waffle.

16. Clean your oven and microwave, too. Spilled remnants can still get in the air and bake into your food. Plus it’s always good to have a clean oven.

17. Always ask somebody if you have questions. You can always come ask me, I’m more than happy to help! Seriously, you have no idea how much I love to cook.

#good luck!#gluten free

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magicalfloraldork · 5 years ago

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Just as important is the grocery shopping... so heres my Quick adulting tips on grocery shopping from living off welfare as a kid to learning to adult now

-Get shit you know can be used In many types of meals (I’ll provide a list of my personal ones below)

-Buy in bulk if you can. Save serious 💰 there specially at stores like winco

-Canned and frozen is your friend for veggies as they take forever to go bad and you don’t have to feel discouraged when you throw out that unopened bag of spinach you meant to eat (yes you can get frozen spinach!)

- In most cases off brand tastes same as the brand flavored stuff so save yourself those extra couple cents, trust me they add up

My personal list of grocery staples to stock my fridge+ pantry:

1. Potatoes- quick and easy to prepare into numerous dishes including mashed, scalloped, fried, etc. Perfect filling side dish for any meal.

2. Bulk pasta- I get spaghetti and penne and those two generally cover all my pasta needs

3. Gravy packets- you can put it on pasta, you can put it on potatoes, you can use it for making a shepherd pie or some random casserole.

4. Bulk cheese mix- gotta make that Mac n cheese and yes there is a way to make it even cheaper than the boxed ones. For a bonus add ground meat/meat substitute(prepared separate) and peas to zhuzh it up.

5. Pre-grated cheese- I like to get the larger bags they take longer to go bad and I put cheese on everything

6. Frozen/canned veggies- my go to are peas, Lima beans, corn, spinach, and carrots but get anything you know you’ll enjoy

7. Ground/ pre-cooked frozen meat/meat substitute- easily kept in the freezer and can be used for hundreds of meals

8. Bulk seasonings/Spices- gotta give the food some flavor

9. Eggs

10. Dairy products- butter, milk

11. Rice! -seriously one of the cheapest things that also fills you up my personal favorite is Bastami but buy whichever one you like!

Again this is my personal list feel free to adjust accordingly to your needs/dietary restrictions

Lastly preparation: A good rule of thumb for any meal is Starch(potatoes, rice or pasta), protein (beef, poultry, pork, mushrooms, tofu or other meat substitute) and veggies. With this you can make any rounded meal with the list above and it gives you options for what you can have. Keep inventory of your regularly used groceries (I make a list on my phone) and stock em when you can specially if you know you’ll be reaching for them again.

With that happy adulting ♥️

My friend asked how I learned to cook and the answer is I didn't. I know like 5 things about cooking and they are:

Always use more garlic than the recipe calls for

"Ehhh fuck it close enough" is a great measurement tool

Find like 5 recipes that you like, adjust them how you like them, make them until you hate them

Clean as you go

If a recipe is from a mommy blog, you will need more spices

If anyone wants to add, please do

134K notes · View notes

birdshirt1-blog · 5 years ago

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Brown Butter Pasta

Brown Butter Pasta is so decadent and flavorful that you will be surprised how easy it is to pull together. The combination of garlic, spinach, tomato, hazelnuts and brown butter sauce is unforgettable. The perfect meatless dinner option.

I have always been one of those moms that usually fixes a big dinner on Sunday, but this Sunday I just wasn’t in the mood. It had been a busy week and I hadn’t planned very well. I had to make due with what I had in the house, so I got a bit creative.

Then I remembered this yummy brown butter pasta dish I had had at a local restaurant several years ago that used a brown butter sauce, tomatoes, hazelnuts, garlic and spinach so I decided to recreate that for our dinner.

Because I am an Oregonian I had some toasted hazelnuts in my pantry. Hazelnuts are the State nut for Oregon. Does your state have an official nut?? My hazelnuts came from the bulk section of Winco but you can usually find them in the baking aisle too. If you can’t find hazelnuts, walnuts. make a great substitute.

How to Brown Butter

When browning butter, heat it over medium heat. I like to use a light colored pan so that you can see the change in color more easily. (Even though I used a dark pan in the photo!) It can go from browned to burnt quickly so keep a close eye on it. Stir it constantly until it starts to turn golden brown and then remove it from the heat.

The butter will get really foamy and then start turning brown. Don’t worry if there is sediment in the bottom of the pan that is fine, you can strain it off if you want but I just always add it in.

After it is browned I pour it into a bowl so that it doesn’t continue to cook in the hot pan.

Brown butter will get a yummy nutty smell to it as it turns golden brown.

Brown butter can be made ahead of time and then refrigerated until you are ready to use it.

After making the brown butter, I then sauted some garlic in some olive oil and added in two handfuls of fresh spinach. As soon as it starts to wilt, add in the chopped fresh tomato. Then add in the precooked pasta, the nuts and the browned butter and stir.

The pasta is then topped off with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and dinner is ready. Dinner doesn’t get much easier or more delicious than this!

Another quick tip: I often will precook my pasta the night before or morning of so it is ready to go. Just cook it al dente (still a little firm) and then put it in a strainer and run water over it to remove the starch. Then put it into a zip loc bag and refrigerate it. When you are ready to use it, put it back in the strainer and run some warm water over it and it’s ready to eat! Just add it into your browned butter sauce.

I love the flavor of browned butter on just about anything but it is especially delicious on pasta. A nice change too from a traditional red or alfredo sauce. Not bad for a last minute, throw together kind of dinner. So what are you making for dinner tonight?

Some other ways I like to use brown butter.

Brown Butter Sauce

Brown Butter Pasta Recipe

The combination of garlic, spinach, tomato, hazelnuts and brown butter sauce is unforgettable. The perfect meatless dinner option.

Course: Main Course, Pasta Main Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: brown butter pasta, brown butter sauce

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 579 kcal

Author: Leigh Anne Wilkes

Ingredients

1/2 C butter

2 handfuls of baby spinach

1 clove garlic minced

1 C chopped tomatoes

1/2 C Parmesan cheese grated

1/2 C hazelnuts toasted and chopped

8 oz. pasta cooked

1 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Instructions

Brown the butter in a pan, watch closely so it doesn't burn. Should be golden and smell wonderful. Remove from heat and set aside.

Add olive oil to pan and saute garlic.

Add spinach. Cook just until it starts to wilt.

Add in tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add cooked pasta and and browned butter to pan. Toss to distribute evenly.

Sprinkle with hazelnuts and cheese.

Salt and pepper to taste

Nutrition Facts

Brown Butter Pasta Recipe

Amount Per Serving (4 g)

Calories 579 Calories from Fat 333

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 37g 57%

Saturated Fat 17g 85%

Cholesterol 69mg 23%

Sodium 498mg 21%

Potassium 394mg 11%

Total Carbohydrates 48g 16%

Dietary Fiber 4g 16%

Sugars 3g

Protein 15g 30%

Vitamin A 31.6%

Vitamin C 10.7%

Calcium 21%

Iron 12.9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Originally posted Oct. 3, 2012

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Hi – I’m Leigh Anne! Food, family and friends are three of my favorite things. I love sharing easy, delicious recipes and entertaining ideas that everyone will love. When she started her blog, Your Homebased Mom, over 9 years ago she had no idea that it would one day house over 2,400 recipes and ideas! .