I’ve always liked my yolks runny and sunny side up. Only slightly thickened, just shy of a custard-like consistency.

Recently I discovered poaching. All my life I either scrambled or fried them, sometimes over easy. Often we made quiches, growing up, to use all of the muddled egg we had from draining them for my mom’s beautiful Pysanky art.

I always knew what poaching was, I had just never attempted it. Sometimes we all like to stick to what we know works. But the other night I decided try it, so I went with a simple dish in which to nest my first poached eggs.

Duck vs. Chicken

I chopped a pound or so of fingerling potatoes into halves and cubes and sliced some carrots for more color and variety. I browned a couple tablespoons of butter in a heavy pan and tossed in the potatoes to fry up for a bit, followed by the carrots.

While that was cooking, I boiled the water to poach the eggs. I was following meticulous instructions, I so desired for this not to fail. I poured in a little rice vinegar (it’s the only clear vinegar I had) to prevent sticking, and I carefully slid my first duck egg into middle of the pan. I hit the timer for 2 minutes.

I carefully took my slotted spoon (a slotted spoon doesn’t hold much soup, but it sure holds a poached egg!) and lifted my first specimen out of the pan and into a little prep dish. I proceeded to repeat the process once more. By this time my potatoes and carrots browning along the edges with a little crispiness. I sprinkled it with sea salt, pepper, and a swizzle of honey and let it crisp just a little bit more.

I dished it up in bowls and plunked the poached egg on top. I nervously broke open my egg and it’s yolk spilled forth perfectly. It’s a rich dish to be sure, but that first bite was absolutely heavenly. It’s a 4 ingredient dish and it took all of 20 minutes. Sold to the girl destined to have high cholesterol!

*I’m thinking that some spinach would be a nice addition to this dish, especially for color. I usually add chicken to incorporate more protein, but it usually makes it too heavy for me.

Total Cost for Breakfast: $1.25

Now then, I started off my frugal day with a slice of .16 oat bran bread with a .15 slather of pure peanut butter. On the side I had one 1/2 cup of defrosted frozen strawberries (.25 from $1.69 package) in one 1/2 cup of plain yogurt (.31 from $2.50 quart). I drank 1 cup of organic milk for .37 (from a $2.99 half gallon).

Total Cost for Lunch: $1.46

For lunch I had a citrus salad made from a grapefruit (.20, bought on sale for 5/$1), a navel orange (.33), and 1/4 cup organic arugula (.50). I also had 1 pan-fried egg (.20) with a negligible sprinkle of sea salt and some baked potato wedges (.10 for 1/2 pound) with ketchup (.08). I had water with lunch.

Total Cost for Snack: $0.47

For snack I had 1 cup (after popping) air-popped popcorn (.15), with a little olive oil (.32) and sea salt.

Total Cost for Dinner: $1.67

Dinner was a delicious Pineapple Coconut Chicken Curry, but I warn you that it is a rather untraditional recipe. It includes 2 cups brown rice (.90), 3 chicken tenders (.90), 2 potatoes (.15), 1 red bell pepper (.69), coconut milk (.99), pineapple chunks (.79), 1 tablespoon yellow curry paste (.08) and broccoli (.70). Total cost of all these ingredients is $5.20, but it makes 4-5 servings. At 4 servings it is $1.30 per serving. This will be lunch or dinner for a few more days. I had 1 cup of organic milk with dinner (.37).

If you would like to make Asian food for cheap, I suggest buying ingredients at an Asian grocer. The yellow curry past only cost me $2.29 for 14 ounces and the coconut milk was .99 for 14 ounces. The vegetables were not organic, but I picked those up from a discount produce stand. I could have added more meat, but it’s expensive and I don’t always need to eat that much of it. This recipe is very flexible and forgiving, you can find a variant of it here. Keep in mind that to make it more inexpensive I change a few of the ingredients than what is listed in the recipe.

To read more about the Hunger Challenge, visit the United Way Hunger Challenge website. (Hunger Challenge Week was actually 2 weeks ago in Seattle, but shhhhh)

Total Cost for the Day: $4.85

I surprised myself that I spent so little, but I also found a lot of these things on great sales, like the grapefruit being 5/$1 or buying frozen fruit instead of fresh. Planning your meals around produce that is in season is one of the best ways to eat on a $7 per day budget. Incorporating cheap proteins, like eggs and peanut butter, and buying in bulk will also cut costs.

One last tip, learn to cook a few fast and healthy meals that use fresh ingredients (like curry). Then you will be more willing to cook a fresh meal (benefiting your health and budget) than choosing convenience food.

P.S. That weird looking long, dark object in the photo of the curry is a green bean. In the picture it looks a little like something inedible…

Post previously published by me (Carrie) here on Foodista.com.

Now I menu plan every week and I spend a tenth of our income on food. When my husband was working full time (he’s now working on a masters program) that same amount would have been 6% of our income. The average in the U.S. is hard to pinpoint, as of 2005 (US Labor Statistics) the average was 13% but other sources say it’s more like 15-20%. Yikes.

My secret? I do 4 things, each becomes easier with diligence and planning.

1. Menu plan

Let’s be honest, those of us who menu plan do not always stick to the plan. You can’t plan for everything. But you can be prepared. Buy only grocery items you need for the meals planned that week, and have a few standbys for company or for a night you want something quick to eat.

Key: Only go grocery shopping once per week. More trips equals more impulse buys.

2. Keep to the list

This is the hardest part. I stray from my list a lot. It’s difficult, all those products that you want to try calling to you from the shelf, “Carrie! Please buy us! Carrie!”

The solution? Allow yourself a certain amount to spend on impulse buys. Maybe there is something on special that you buy a lot and you didn’t know it was on sale, or maybe you just really want to try those Russian blue potatoes. Go ahead, just stick to your impulse budget so you don’t go overboard.

3. Keep a price list

This is the real fun one. I have an Excel spreadsheet (ah Excel, how I love thee) with columns for product, brand, weight/count/volume, price, price per serving, store, and whether it was on sale or not. It sounds complicated and like it’s too much work, but it’s really not once you have it set up. It takes 5 minutes to input a receipt. And it only takes 5-10 minutes to scan the sheet for to estimate the cost of a product, figure meal price per serving, compare prices between stores, or to see if something is at a good price. It works for me. Just play around with it and see what it can do for you, it doesn’t need to be precise or perfect, and I think it could shave at least 15% off of any bill. I swear I’m not a geek! I do don’t watch Star Trek and Dr. Who in my spare time. You can download a sample Excel sheet by clicking the link below.

Sample Grocery Worksheet

4. Buy primarily only sale items with or without coupons

You don’t need to cut coupons, just buy what’s on sale. Buy two or three chickens when they’re .79/lb. and throw them in the freezer. This alone will cut costs. Check store ads too. They’re in the Sunday paper and usually at the front of the store or at the help desk. You don’t have to cut coupons out of those, you can just show them to the cashier and they’ll scan them. This could easily save you a $10 per trip depending on variables.

In addition to these I visit the Rising Sun Farms vegetable/fruit stand (on 15th and 65th north of the U-District) once per week. This is a great place for those of you in Seattle. It’s not all organic, but sometimes it is. I come out of there with enough fruit and veggies for 2 people for one week and it costs on average between $10-15. I get several bursting bags for that price. It’s cash/check only, let me know if you go!

Tune in tomorrow for a great post on exciting cheap meals, I can feed myself for less than $5/day! And that includes a yummy curry recipe for only $1.30 per serving.

Photo by Bruce Turner.

-

My father-in-law, Chuck, probably eats more sustainably and locally than the average person. He hunts, he fishes, he raises chickens and goats, and his wife grows a lively garden. When my husband and I visit we eat elk that he shot. In the morning it’s the most perfect omelets made of eggs from their chickens. They serve truly delicious and nutritious food. The fact that it’s all produced by their efforts makes it even better.

When my in-laws were newlyweds with a pair of twins on the way, one of them being my husband, times were tough. Chuck had a cast up to his thigh from a work accident, and the newlyweds were low on funds. So, the resourceful man that he is, Chuck took his rifle and a kitchen knife (he couldn’t locate his hunting knife) and had his 6 month pregnant wife drive him to the edge of a cabbage field. A farmer there had been complaining that moose were eating his cabbages.

For awhile Chuck attempted to hunt in his usual fashion, but with a leg in a cast and unable to bend his knee, it just wasn’t working. He took up watch in a dried up pond behind some saplings and waited. After a time, he heard a branch snap and caught a glimpse through the bushes—it was a bull moose! It was a difficult shot, the moose was hidden behind willows and his vitals behind a tree trunk. Through one of the luckiest shots he killed it cleanly, hitting the base of the neck and narrowly missing a nearby cow moose (which was illegal game). It’s a harrowing tale, only he can give it the justice it deserves.

That moose fed his family for a long time. A bull moose can produce anywhere from 300-600+ lbs. of mild, lean meat. My husband told me that growing up he and his brothers used to joke that the moose in the freezer somehow kept reproducing. That’s how long it can feed a family. Let’s just hope it wasn’t the same moose that their father shot before they were born.

If you can get game meat either yourself or through a friend, it would be an even better choice than buying a share of a cow. To quote Chuck, “There’s nothing more sustainable and local than taking your bow and arrow and harvesting a bull moose.” And yes, he often hunts with a bow and arrow, how awesome is that?

Here is a recipe from Chuck for moose stew, you can find it at Foodista:

Oh and the plural is ‘moose’, I checked. I always hoped it was meese.

P.S. What does moose taste like? According to my husband it tastes a lot like chicken beef. Just leaner. His dad is a great hunter and knows how to make sure his meat doesn’t taste game-y. But the flavor also depends a lot on what the moose’s diet consisted of.

Photo by Al_HikesAZ

One site that I frequent to find some good deals is FatWallet.com.

I’ve found some decent deals there, like Women’s Day Magazine (15 issues) for $4.99 or Asics sneakers for $24.99. They also have cash back through the site, but I still recommend using Mr Rebates, Cashbaq and the like for all your online shopping.

The primary way to use this site to find deals is through the forums, and through the Top Deals list. If you take the time each day or every other day to at least skim the Top Deals, I’m sure you’ll find a diamond in the rough.

Today they have a 45% off coupon for Michael’s and black satin sheets on amazon for $15.99!

Happy deal finding!