More on Feeding the Multitude

A while ago I did a post of feeding a sort of large family. We only have 5 children each evening, but 3 are teen aged (or almost) boys and one is a 9 y.o. girl that can put away the food.

The most expensive thing out there is meat and next to that is milk...I just saw that Swiss brand was over $4 a gallon at Wallyworld today. Maybe we need to go time share on a cow.
For meat I shop at a bulk food/almost expired food store. In this area there are many large families and we have a number of stores like this. The chicken I referred to in my other post had been frozen, probably just before its expiry date. Each bird was tied like the rotisserie chicken you buy at the "clubs" so it probably came from a place like that.
I honestly don't know how I would feed this bunch if we did not have a store like this.  I do know that soups  make the meat stretch further.

Last night I made a soup with some left over ham...I had bought a bone in ham a while ago and after I baked it I sliced and froze the rest. I threw the ham (almost 2 pounds) and about 12 potatoes and 7 carrots in a big kettle. Added some chicken bouillon/broth and a bit of pepper. Cooked it till the carrots were soft. Added a few slices of American cheese and served.

Now...the biggest waste at our house is the leftovers that get shoved to the back of the fridge and when I find them...well, lets just say that green ham and eggs makes a good story, but lunch?
I try to be prepared for leftovers and if I purposely make a big pot of soup, I have a couple of quart jars ready  along with lids and rings. Fill the jars with boiling hot soup. Wipe the rims, pop on the lids and tighten the rings.  With a pot holder, flip the jars upside down (careful!!)  and let set for a few minutes. (Doing this makes the lid hot and helps seal the jar.)  After supper is cleared away. Store these quart jars in the back of your fridge...if they stay there a month they will still taste good, as long as they stay sealed.

The reason I scoop out the soup before I serve the food?  There are fewer contaminants in the food at that point than if you wait till the whole family has scooped around in the kettle and it has cooled.

If the left-overs are a surprise....put the kettle back on the burner and bring everything to a good boil...add liquid if needed...then place in the jars like explained above.

Now remember I am not an expert...these jars should stay in your fridge. If you ever open a jar and it smells "off"   don't eat it!  But this has saved me a bunch of waste and is a quick meal for one of those busy nights.

Sandwich meat is the other expensive thing. I don't pay $3 a pound for the meat I put on the supper table, why would I spend that much for a lunch box?  I have not broke them of the habit of good sandwich meat (turkey and ham)  so I only buy a pound and by Wednesday or Thurs. it is gone and they get peanut butter...that is a bit less expensive.  ( Our schools do not have a hot lunch program..well, if you don't count the mom-run program that gives us hot lunch twice a month)

Breakfast?  finally I can make oatmeal for breakfast and they all eat it...the picky eater got married :^)  (see if he reads the blog)

Use milk instead of water for cooking the oatmeal and add pancake syrup for sweetening.   Or if I'm on time, I flip pancakes...add an egg or two to the batter for some protein. And some vanilla and cinnamon for flavor.

Oh and spinach? Buy it in a big tub. I had this one for almost 3 weeks, bought it at Sa*'s Club and frying it and eating it with odd things like pizza, mix it raw with spaghetti. Some of the kids are trying it (Joe) and I like it...maybe it will catch on.
Actually the best way to eat this stuff is ...
Heat oil in a large frying pan...add some minced garlic...after that turns nice and brown...throw in the spinach and turn off the burner...it cooks very quickly..do this at the last minute.

You can do broccoli like this too...it takes a bit longer to cook and usually need to add water to help steam it a bit.