In an economic crisis, people who may have never known the concept of "budget" are forced to confront it. What can you do to really stretch your food budget without sacrificing flavour and nutrition? Answer: sauces!
Whether you live solo or have a brood, money issues today will take a hit on your food budget so now is the time to make a real effort to use what the world of food and cuisine have offered up for generations. Sauces in every cuisine are essential and you can use them to liven up a tight food budget and give yourself a morale boost simultaneously. In the humble opinion of PovertyFood, these three basic sauce recipes are the holy trinity of sauces. Used wonderfully on pasta, rice and cooked vegetables, each can be made for roughly one dollar per six ounces of sauce.
Basic White Sauce
2 tbsp. butter
1.5 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
Melt butter in saucepan then simply stir in flour and salt. Add milk and whisk together. Allow to simmer until nice and creamy in consistency. Only takes a few minutes to cook fully. For variety, you can cook grated onions in the butter before adding flour. Or, add a few dashes of grated parmegian, your favorite herbs like dill or even course prepared mustard for a fabulous creamed mustard sauce that is delicious on chicken or potatoes. The basic recipe is your foundation.
Simple. Heat oil in pan. Add chopped tomatoes and chopped scallion, salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer and cook down until tomatoes are essentially dissolved. Stir frequently to avoid caramelising. ** Of course, you can add a dash of white wine and your favourite herbs. I add a slice of lemon to mine to give it a zing! But really, if the tomatoes are nice and very ripe, their flavour is all you need! And there is no reason you can not use canned tomatoes, but fresh is best if your budget allows it.
Garlic Spread
One head of garlic
One tbsp. olive oil
One tbsp. mayonnaise
salt and pepper
This one I picked up in France. It is a typical southern French spread or dip. Simple. Place the garlic head on a cookie sheet or tinfoil and bake in oven at about 350 for about 30 minutes. The garlic is done when it comes out the consistency of mashed potato. Once cooked, squeeze all the garlic into a bowl and add oil. Blend with fork. Now add mayo and salt and pepper. Done! Again, you can really experiment with this one! Hot sauce, lemon, curry...virtually anything can be used to vary this sauce. Use as a dip, on bread....spread onto uncooked pork, chicken or beef. Delicious!
Pinch those pennies and enjoy it!
Whether you live solo or have a brood, money issues today will take a hit on your food budget so now is the time to make a real effort to use what the world of food and cuisine have offered up for generations. Sauces in every cuisine are essential and you can use them to liven up a tight food budget and give yourself a morale boost simultaneously. In the humble opinion of PovertyFood, these three basic sauce recipes are the holy trinity of sauces. Used wonderfully on pasta, rice and cooked vegetables, each can be made for roughly one dollar per six ounces of sauce.
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| PovertyFood pays homage to the American classic, Martha White flour! |
2 tbsp. butter
1.5 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
Melt butter in saucepan then simply stir in flour and salt. Add milk and whisk together. Allow to simmer until nice and creamy in consistency. Only takes a few minutes to cook fully. For variety, you can cook grated onions in the butter before adding flour. Or, add a few dashes of grated parmegian, your favorite herbs like dill or even course prepared mustard for a fabulous creamed mustard sauce that is delicious on chicken or potatoes. The basic recipe is your foundation.
20 Minute Tomato Sauce
2-3 ripe tomatoes
One scallion onion, chopped
salt and pepper
1 tbsp.olive or other vegetable oil
Simple. Heat oil in pan. Add chopped tomatoes and chopped scallion, salt and pepper to taste. Allow to simmer and cook down until tomatoes are essentially dissolved. Stir frequently to avoid caramelising. ** Of course, you can add a dash of white wine and your favourite herbs. I add a slice of lemon to mine to give it a zing! But really, if the tomatoes are nice and very ripe, their flavour is all you need! And there is no reason you can not use canned tomatoes, but fresh is best if your budget allows it.
Garlic Spread
One head of garlic
One tbsp. olive oil
One tbsp. mayonnaise
salt and pepper
This one I picked up in France. It is a typical southern French spread or dip. Simple. Place the garlic head on a cookie sheet or tinfoil and bake in oven at about 350 for about 30 minutes. The garlic is done when it comes out the consistency of mashed potato. Once cooked, squeeze all the garlic into a bowl and add oil. Blend with fork. Now add mayo and salt and pepper. Done! Again, you can really experiment with this one! Hot sauce, lemon, curry...virtually anything can be used to vary this sauce. Use as a dip, on bread....spread onto uncooked pork, chicken or beef. Delicious!
Pinch those pennies and enjoy it!
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