Frugal Kitchens 101 - 25 Ways to Eat Eco-friendly

One of the best places in the home to become eco-friendly is in the kitchen.  The benefit of becoming eco-friendly not only reduces your carbon footprint and reduces your impact on the environment, it can end up saving a substantial amount of money.  This involves becoming a pro-active, informed consumer.  With each of the following points you incorporate into your lifestyle, you will eating healthier while saving money.  You don't need to incorporate all of them at the same time.  Gradually work these tips into your lifestyle as the opportunity arises.  The more you use, the greater the savings.

1. use reusable shopping bags
2. choose foods with minimal packaging
3. choose non-disposable water bottles and hot beverage mugs
4. avoid anything disposable (eg. paper plates, paper towels, disposable cutlery, food wraps)
5. shop at eco-friendly places (eg. roadside stands, health food stores, farmer's markets, orchards)
6. buy local and/or local organic produce
7. eat at least one meatless meal weekly
8. eat produce raw
9. eat in season produce
10. preserve your produce (eg. home canning, freezing, drying)
11. grow you own
12. join a local food co-op
13. buy locally grown organic meat (eg. no anti-biotics, no growth hormones, free range, grass fed)
14. check seafood labels for sustainable aquaculture practices (eg. Marine Stewardship Council certification)
15. avoid CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) meats
16. check seafood labels for source of origin
17. avoid endangered fish or those posing high contamination risks (eg. Chilean seabass, Atlantic cod, imported king crab, orange roughy, farmed salmon, canned and Bluefin tuna)
18. avoid farmed fish
19. choose organic, hormone-free, local dairy 
20. avoid commercially prepared convenience foods (anything in a box, jar, bottle or can)
21. choose raw, non-pasteurized milk if possible
22. compost food scraps except fat, dairy and bones
23. eat you leftovers
24. double your recipes - one to eat now, one to store for a later meal
25. cook one or more local meals per week

Frugal Kitchens 101 - The Economics of Home Canning

Home canning is a cost effective way to put high quality foods on the table for a fraction of the price for store bought.  You can easily put up unique home canned products (eg. pineapple jelly, pulled pork, rhubarb pie filling) that you cannot buy in the stores while preserving your garden harvest and taking advantage of sales.  Contrary to some beliefs, home canning is not labour intensive or time consuming as some make it out to be.  A batch of jam takes about 10 minutes to prepare the fruit and cook the jam then another 10 minutes for processing.  You have 20 minutes invested into 5 or 6 jars of jam that will keep you in jam for 6 weeks or more assuming you use one jar of jam per week.  Unlike freezing foods, home canned foods do not cost you any electricity during storage.  It really is one of the most frugal kitchen activities you can do.   That being said, there are associated costs of canning that need to be considered.  These include equipment, supplies, cooking fuel, and cost of acquisition for food and/or equipment and/or supplies.

• equipment - Equipment for home canning includes BWB canner, pressure canner, jar lifter, wide mouth funnel, lid lifter, jars, reusable lids, metal bands, a food strainer and up to date recipe book (eg. Bernardin Guide to Home Canning, Ball Blue Book).  Other standard kitchen equipment such as knives and food processor can be of use as can specialty equipment like a cherry pitter or apple peeler but they are not must haves.  The necessary equipment pays for itself usually within the first year of canning depending on how much canning you do.
• BWB canner (for high acid foods) - A large enamel boiling water bath canner complete with rack will cost about $25.  You can retrofit a large stock pot to use as a BWB canner for about $2 or you can use your pressure canner as a BWB canner by leaving the gasket off or leaving the lid loose on a metal to metal seal pressure canner.
• pressure canner (for low acid foods) - A pressure canner will range in price from about $65 to $400 depending on the size and brand.  Some pressure canners (eg. Presto, Mirro) require rubber gaskets that need replacing (about $12) but the All American has a metal to metal seal so no gasket is required.  Used pressure canners can be found that will cost less than new.
• lifters, funnel - Both Bernardin and Ball sell a home canning kit for about $15 however, you can buy just the jar lifter (a must) and a large mouth funnel for about $7.  Use silicone tongs to lift the lids from the hot water.
• reusable lids - There are two types of reusable lids, Tattlers (plastic) and glass inserts.  While they are expensive, they will pay for themselves in about 7 uses after which they cost nothing to use.  Both can be used indefinitely but be warned the glass inserts will break if dropped.  The rubber rings for Tattlers are still in production are $2.85 per dozen.  They need to be replaced after several uses.  The rubber rings for the glass inserts (2  - inch inner diameter) are very difficult to find as they are vintage, no longer in production.
• jars - New 500 ml (pint) jars cost on average $6 per dozen.  Larger and smaller jars are priced higher.  The jars are reusable with a payback period of 4 uses.  However, you can find used jars at yard sales and resale shops for less than half the price of new.  Check Freecycle and Kijiji for free jars.
• supplies (consumables) - Consumable supplies include the metal snap lids, pectin, ClearJel, citric acid, Pickle Crisp and any ingredient you normally would not use for day to day cooking.
• metal snap lids - My cheapest price here is $1.50 per dozen or 12.5¢ each so when using the metal snap lids that 12.5¢ has to be factored into the overall cost of each jar.
• pectin - Pectin ranges in price from 70¢ per batch (Pomona's) to $3.49 per batch (Certo liquid) with pectin crystals and Quickset falling between that range.  Regardless of the type of pectin used, factor in the cost per batch which can then be translated into cost per ml.
• ClearJel, citric acid, Pickle Crisp - None of these products contribute a significant cost to the final product.  Keep the cost of citric acid low by buying in bulk from a wine making shop.  In general, factor in about 4¢ per batch if using these ingredients.
• cooking fuel - The cost of cooking fuel should be factored into the overall cost of the final product.  Here, a 2,100 W electric burner running for one hour will cost about 25¢.  A large natural gas burner running for the same period of time costs 8.3¢ so clearly it is less expensive to can using natural gas if at all possible.  In general, never run a partial canner load especially when pressure canning if at all possible.  Some foods need to be processed as long as 90 minutes in the pressure canner.  It costs the same amount to run a full canner load as it does a part load but when calculated over the cost per jar the full canner load is less expensive with respect to cooking fuel use.
• cost of acquisition - Cost of acquisition includes shipping & handling, travel costs, Cost of acquisition should be factored into home canning costs.  Clearly if I walk to my backyard, pick the produce and can it the cost is considerably less than if I drive 10 miles to pick up free produce.  If you have to drive, get the maximum amount of whatever you will be canning that you can comfortably can within a day or two.  For example, my comfort zone for canning tomatoes is 2 - 3 hampers in a day or day and half.  It is not cost effective to drive 10 miles for 2 quarts of strawberries with today's price of gas but driving that same distance to stock up at a farmer's market can be worth it.  Always reduce the cost of acquisition whenever possible.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Coupons

We have always lived rather close to the US border so quite often we cross-border shop in the US.  We also own a vacation home in the US.  At one time my husband would have been considered the coupon king!  He used to clip coupons from a locally available US newspaper each Sunday then when he had enough we went on the dreaded shopping trip.  His best score was close to $400 worth of groceries/sundries for 49¢.  The Canadian customs agent was so impressed he did not even charge duty on the purchase!  Fast forward to 2012 and we very seldom use coupons.  The reason being most frugalistas do not view coupons as being frugal.

Coupons are usually not the bargain they appear to be.  In the US, some stores would double the face value of the coupon meaning they actually paid you to take the product out of the store.  Then they went to double the face value to a dollar so you only had to pay a few cents for the product.  Those days are behind us.  I haven't seen any stores recently doubling the value of the coupon.  In Canada, doubling the value of a coupon is unheard of and coupons tend to be few and far between.  In general, coupons are not frugal for the following reasons:

• While there are Canadian coupons via various sources, they tend to be few and far between so availability becomes a real issue.  Even with using a coupon exchange, finding good Canadian coupons can still be a challenge. 
• The effective use of coupons takes a lot of time, effort and organizational skills something that may be better spent in other ways to cut costs in the kitchen.  I know first hand how much work my husband put into coupons and while it worked for a young, larger family it really is not something many are interested in committing to.
• Coupons tend to be for higher priced, brand name and heavily processed foods rather than those foods in the outer perimeter of the grocery store where the healthier foods are.  Even with a coupon for something like canned green beans, store brand or home canned is still less expensive.  It is not often that coupons are available for fresh fruits or vegetables.
• Coupons are rarely available for locally produced foods, farmers' market or farm stand where the real food bargains are.  They are seldom available for the staples (eg. sugars, flours, salt, pastas) that every home cook must have on hand.  
• Coupons are really not eco-friendly and while some would not concern themselves about this issue, any time I can reduce the use of paper I will.  Some grocery stores are now offering a discount at the check-out if you have their store loyalty card which is a nicer, eco-friendly solution however, you may be paying extra through higher prices so even that is not always a bargain. 

Frugal Kitchens 101 - The Brand Name Fallacy

Years ago when the commercial canning industry was born there were only a couple of brands.  Over the years grocery stores introduced their own brands.  The brand name fallacy has been perpetuated by the big brands.  They have convinced shoppers that the brand name is somehow better than store brands.  Well, in some cases it may be better but the reality is for most commercially prepared foods the store brand comes from the exact same processing plant as the brand name.  For example, when a wagon of tomatoes arrives at the processing plant it is washed then peeled and transferred to large vats.  The tomatoes move down a conveyor belt where they will be packed into tin cans, sealed, processed and on to labeling.  Half of that wagon load may be labeled as a brand name while the other half will be labeled as a store brand.  They are the exact same tomatoes just with different labels!  This week's Frugal Kitchens 101 discusses brand names, when to use them and when it really doesn't matter.  In general, propriety foods (eg. Kraft Dinner, Alpha-ghetti, Campbell's condensed soups) will differ from store brands simply because the recipe used will differ.  In some cases, you may find a store brand superior to brand name.  Here are a few food items where brand really doesn't matter:

• canned fruits or vegetables - In most cases plain canned fruits or vegetables are the same whether they are brand name or store brand.  They have all come from the same food processing plants using the same fruit or vegetable and the same processing methods.  The only thing that differs is the label.  Save money by buying the store brand.
• fresh fruits or vegetables - Many grocery stores are getting away from branding their fresh fruits and vegetables but some branding does still exist.  Aside of ethical and environmental practices, an Ontario potato is an Ontario potato regardless of the 'brand'.  The only difference is one may be organically grown and the other not but essentially they are the same potato.  Save money by buying according to cheapest per unit pricing.
• dairy - Did you know that dairy products must meet a certain criteria to be labeled as such.  That means the store brand eggs are the same as brand name eggs, store brand cream cheese is the same as brand name and store brand butter is the same as brand name. Again, processed dairy such as butter and cream cheese often come from the same processing plant simply switching labels as needed.
• frozen fruits or vegetables - There is no difference other than store brand being less expensive.  Read the label to be sure no additives have been used then go with the least expensive per unit price.
• frozen meats/poultry/fish - Some brand names actually add water, brine, colourants or flavourings to their products.  Use whatever brand is the purest with the least amount of or no additives.  Do not buy farm raised salmon as it often contains colourants other than that brand name really doesn't matter.  Do check for any additives though and choose the brand with no additives.  Buy hormone free, locally raised meats and poultry through local butcher shops.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Buying Incentives

Buying incentives are a normal way of manufacturers, growers and stores to get you to buy there.  The premise is if they offer you a little extra or some type of reward, you will not only buy the first time around but you may even become a repeat customer.  This is a proven method to get folks to buy.  If you shop the way we do for a large portion of our food by going to the source you will come across the baker's dozen.  A baker's dozen is thirteen meaning you pay for a dozen and get one free.  It was common in old fashioned bakeries hence it's name and it remains a common practice at many farmer's markets and roadside stands as well as mom & pop bakeries.  There are several other buying incentives for food, some of them better than others.  Today's Frugal Kitchens 101 focuses on food buying incentives.

• baker's dozen - Essentially you buy a dozen and get one free.  This is a common practice when buying corn at roadside stands.  The main caveat is to know the current going price for any produce where this special may be offered so you aren't inadvertently paying a higher price for thirteen than you would for twelve.
• the prize - A prize in the package was first started by Cracker Jacks then spread to other foods.  During the Great Depression it was common to offer by today's standards some rather nice prizes for buying the product.  Now, prizes are still included in Red Rose Tea in the form of collectible porcelain figurines and before discounting these some of the earlier figurines bring in a rather pretty penny for their antique value.  By far the heaviest users of prizes in the box are the cereal manufacturers.  In most cases the prize is just a gimmic and you are paying for it in the price of the product.
• the free offer - Some manufacturers use free offers as a buying incentive.  Usually you have to collect a certain number of the require proofs of purchase (eg. UPC codes).  Since this is an offer over and above the cost of the product some can end up being rather good deals basically for the price of the samp to send in the proofs of purchase.
• BOGO - This acronym stands for buy one get one free.  It is a common grocery store technique that is also used by manufacturers.  In this case it is important to know the regular price of the item and if it is an item that goes on sale often the regular sale price in order to determine whether the BOGO price is a good deal.
• coupons - Coupons have long been a manufacturer's way to get consumers to buy their product as well as try new products.  There are several problem with coupons though.  First they tend to be for brand name products that are often still more expensive even with the coupon discount than similar generic products.  Second, coupons tend to be for heavily processed foods that a significantly higher priced than the whole foods.  For example a store bought cake mix with coupon off may end up costing 99¢ but the ingredients from scratch total less than 20¢ meaning even with the coupon you pay 79¢ for the packaging.
• in store specials - Along with advertised sales many grocery stores have in store specials that aren't advertised.  In most cases these are rather decent savings.  For example last year one of the grocery stores had an in store special on 50 lb bags of potatoes for $3.99 when the going rate at that time was $7.99.  Another time one of the stores had a whole frozen salmon about 20 inches long as an in store special for $2.  In store specials tend to be very much being at the right place at the right time.  This is one reason why $10 to $20 of your grocery store budget per shopping trip should be set aside to take advantage of these types of specials that are always an excellent deal.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Social Responsibility and the Frugal Kitchen

Quite often despite all the measures we take to keep our kitchens frugal it is very easy to overlook a very important frugal living concept.  That concept is social responsibility.  Two excellent videos I highly recommend that will give a rather good perspective on how your food is produced is Food Inc. and the importance of putting nutrition first  Food Matters.  I also encourage you to read the books  Fast Food Nation and The Hundred-Year Lie.  Food production is the primary human activity world wide.  Yet of the foods produced 30% of that goes to food spoilage at many stages from the farmer to the grocery store to the consumer.   Think about it 30% of food produce goes to spoilage yet how many people go to bed hungry each night?  And that really is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to food production whether commercially or privately grown.

Food consumption cannot come without a social awareness as to the plight of those producing the food for our tables.  The bottom line is if we don't support local growers so they too can feed their families our communities are weakened.  The end result is the very people responsible for producing our food have to turn to social assistance paid out of our tax dollars, food banks and charitable organizations.  Worse than that, small scale farmers no longer able to afford to keep their farms operating are forced out of farming, often selling the land to developers that will use it for another purpose besides growing food.  On a global level, many farmers do not earn enough to feed their family as much as one meal a day.  At the same time the choices we make with respect to food can harm or benefit the environment both locally and globally.  It is our responsibility to be good stewards of the land, whether used directly (eg. gardening, own land) or indirectly (eg. farmland, countrysides).  This really is what social responsibility is all about when it comes to food!

How can we incorporate social responsibility into our food choices while maintaining a frugal kitchen?  This week's Frugal Kitchens 101 discusses a few ways to be socially responsible while saving money:

• organic - Growing organically or buying organic produce makes good sense both in terms of your health and the environment.  Organically grown produce is not contaminated with synthetic pesticide or fertilizer residues.  Organic produce is labeled as certified organic or grown organically or simply organic.  Certified organic produce must be the standards of the certification body.  In many cases organic produce will be comparable in price to if not less expensive than produce not grown organically.  Pricing is always influenced by regions so in some cases organic produce will be higher priced but in many areas it is the same price with some organic fruits and vegetables priced lower than non-organic.  Packaged organic foods often are higher priced in the grocery stores but some are not. 
• fair trade or ethical trade- Fair Trade and Ethical Trade are organized social movements and marketing approaches that strive to ensure those growers in developing countries receive a fair price for the crops they produce, develop local crop sustainability as well as workers receiving fair wages and descent working conditions.   Look for the logo of either organization on products (eg. coffees, teas) you buy.  It makes little sense that farmers are not paid enough to be able to put food on the table for their families or that workers don't earn enough money to feed their families or work in unsafe conditions.  Food producers can apply to have Fair Trade or Ethical Trade certification.  Once certified these food producers can display the Fair Trade or Ethical Trade logo on their products so consumers know the product meets all of those standards.  Products certified as Fair Trade or Ethical Trade are competitively priced to non-certified products.  They often go on sale as well and coupons may be available so the choice really is between buying a product that supports fair and ethical trade verses one that does not. 
• union made - Canadian unions ensure that the factory workers in food processing plants have fair wages, fair benefits, adequate and safe working conditions, as well as representation in the event of employee/employer disputes.  Union made products will be indicated on the label but there is no logo just the words.   Workers in non-union plants are not protected in such a fashion.  Now this one is a bit hard because some non-union workers actually have better conditions than union workers.  Products from non-union food plants may be slightly less expensive.  If in doubt, Google the company to find out what their employee policy is and how they treat their employees.  Any substantial problems in this respect will be covered in the media as well.
• grown locally - Recently the grocery stores have been pushing the grown locally and grown close to home labels for produce.  Buying locally produced produce is not only eco-friendly as it reduces the carbon footprint due to transportation, the produce tends to be less expensive because the cost of transportation is reduced.  Local produce is higher in nutrition as it gets from the farmer to your table considerably faster after being harvested as opposed to imported produce that can spend days in transit losing valuable nutrition in the process.  Local produce is usually less expensive than imported produce.  Locally produced packaged foods may be slightly less expensive because they have lower transportation costs associated.
• produced in Canada - Canadian grown/produced foods tend to be slightly less expensive than similar imported foods.  This is not always the case especially if the company is not Canadian or the company is Canadian but the parent company is not.  Paying attention to where the food is actually produced (country of origin) can save a bit of money at the check-out.
• ethical treatment for animals - The ethical treatment for animals is a movement to ensure the animal is raised in a good and caring environment frees from stress, with adequate health care and at slaughter time given a humane death.  The food industry doesn't market the ethical treatment for animals using these words though.  The buzz words are: hormone free, grass-fed, free range, dolphin safe, farm fresh, and wild (as opposed to farm raised, eg. salmon).  In many cases these buzz words are just that.  Despite their cutesy commercials showing an old fashioned chicken coop with chickens happily laying eggs to be collected each day the reality is unless you buy from a local farmer who raises a small flock of chickens both your eggs and chicken is coming from large, commercial, over crowded chicken farm factories where the chickens have anything but a good life.  Chickens have been breed to have larger breasts thanks to the consumer demand for boneless, skinless breast meat.  The problem is these chickens are so heavy they can barely walk.  A the list goes on with autricites in each sector of the livestock industry.  Refuse to buy meat and poultry produced under such conditions and make your voice heard regarding why you won't buy. 
• being involved - Change comes through being concerned enough to become involved.  There are several ways to do this.  On a local level, get to know farmers and producers.  If you aren't happy with certain product packaging, write a letter to the company expressing your concerns and/or possible solution.  Write your local councilman, MPP, MP and even the Prime Minister with your concerns over farming issues in your area and across Canada.  Of particular concern currently is the food insecurity being faced by many Canadians so this is one area where aside of donating to the local food banks, a letter writing campaign is more than warranted.  At the community level, pressure the municipal government for proactive change that supports community gardens and weekend farmer's markets.  Become a member of a local service group and/or church group or similar organization that works to combat hunger.  On a personal level, promote healthy eating and cooking.  Volunteer at a soup kitchen or school breakfast program.  Take a new cook under your wing and teach them how to cook.  Offer to show other in your church group, or friends and neighbours how to preserve foods as well as supply and use a well stocked pantry.  All of this gets the ball rolling and while it doesn't save money on your food costs although if you are able to lobby for changes it may, it does save at the societal level in less reliance on food banks, less social assistance and less hunger.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - The Rising Costs of Food

Over the past year or so there have been rumours of food shortages combined with rising food costs.  In some cases the price increase were quite noticeable (eg. chicken now $1 per lb cheapest compared to the previous 69¢ per lb cheapest) but in other cases it has been a bit more hidden (eg. slightly smaller package with slightly higher price).  Despite reports of certain food shortages with the currently reported one being sugar, there have been no signs of food shortages here.  Yet the World Food Bank has declared food costs at an all time high with dire predictions they are going to get worse.  Food shortages are expected due to adverse local and global growing conditions that will affect the availability of some foods.  This week's Frugal Kitchens 101 addresses a few issues with the rising costs of food and how you can create a bit of a buffer against them.

• stay informed - In this day and age it is easty to stay informed with respect to food availability and predicted shortages.
• ignore the fear mongering - Back during the y2K scare there was a lot of fear mongering centred around not only food availability but the availability of essential services and the collapse of our monetary system.  In the end all this did was cause wide spread stockpiling often unorganized that resulted in an increase of food spoilage.  Fear mongering creates temporary, local food shortages like we are currently seeing in some areas with sugar.  The reason this happens is folks panic then over buy that product creating empty spots in the stores which feed into the panic of others who heard there may be a shortage.  A vicious circle is created.  The best reaction is to stay calm and do not panic.
• act accordingly but systematically - Once of the best defenses you have against food inflation is a well stocked pantry.  Ideally your pantry will be stocked with a 6 month to 1 year supply of foods necessary to sustain your family.  Your pantry stores should be constantly added to and rotated.  Cherry pick the sales to build your pantry supplies.  For example, pastas and a limited variety of condensed soups have been on sale here so the focus is replenishing the pantry with these foods. 
• stock the instants - This is a good time to stock a few valuable instants in your pantry to be used in emergencies.  These include: powdered honey, powdered milks, powdered peanut butter, powdered eggs, and powdered cheeses.
• stock the basics -  Focus on the whole ingredients like flours as well rather than packaged foods.  If buying canned foods get those that can go towards making a dish rather than the convenience canned foods (eg. canned pasta or stews).  This makes the food stock a bit more versatile for later use.
• move towards self sufficiency - It is not too late to learn a few basic skills to help ensure your food security.  Topping the list is growing as much produce as you can as well as raising rabbits and backyard chickens where permitted.  Learn to preserve foods (canning, drying, freezing) as well as cure meats (extremely easy and cheap to do).  Fishing, hunting, trapping and foraging are all good skills to learn if possible to help ensure your food security.
• change your eating habits - Now is the time to move away from heavily processed foods that will see the greatest increase in costs towards raw and homecooked foods. 

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Calculation Your True Food Dollars Spent

In these hard economic times it becomes even more important to know where your food dollar is being spent.  Whether you buy your food at a grocery store or grow and/or preserve your own food, eat mainly home cooked or eat out there are associated costs that should be factored into the true cost of your food dollars spent.  Consider many families do their grocery shopping on Friday night.  They have budgeted perhaps $150 for groceries but some of that isn't edible.  At the same time before they stopped at the grocery store they ate at a fast food restaurant for about $20.  Their actual food dollars spent then on that particular day would be $170 plus acquisition costs (eg. gasoline or public transit), plus the lunch they ate out earlier in the day, their morning bagel and coffee bought on the way to work and perhaps a stop or two during the week for an impulse food purchase.  If you want to save money on your food dollars you have to get very honest with yourself.  Face it that $1.25 cup of coffee every morning on work days ends up costing you $325 total annually and that is part of your food dollars!  If you take those little food expenditures that you never really think about like the vending machine snack, the quick run through the drive-thru,  the coffee shop morning coffee and doughnut, and those impromtu grocery store stops.  This week's Frugal Kitchens 101 focuses on those extra costs that most people don't factor into their food budget and how to get them in check.

• get honest - If you don't know exactly where your food dollar is going there it will be very difficult to control or reduce.  Get a small notebook to record each and food purchase made for a month.  Include: purchased lunches, coffee and specialty drinks, vending machine snacks, take-out or delivery, and etc.  At the end of one month you should have a fairly good realization that you are spending a lot more food dollars than you think.  You will end up with a very good idea of where you should start trimming your food dollars.
• be realistic  - When making changes that will help save on your total food costs, start small and be realistic.  Quite often socializing plays a large part in spending food dollars.  For example one of our friends who has an amazingly gorgeous kitchen got into the habit of eating breakfast out during the work week but now he has retired he continues to do this at a cost of about $7 per day or $1,820 per year.  Eliminating even one breakfast out would save $364 so he could easily save just by cutting back by one breakfast per week. 
• consider all costs - All food requires some acquisition costs that's a given but if you are driving 5 miles out of your way to save 20¢ on a particular food item it's time to rethink that plan.   Any time you cook anything it costs you in terms of cooking fuel so choose the most cost effective method for cooking that particular meal.  Home canning saves a lot of money and I can't stress that enough but you do have to buy at the bare minimum canning supplies (eg. pectin, lids, canner) and if you want to can low acid foods you need a pressure canner (free to $250+).  If you home garden, unless you use seeds collected by yourself and others combined with using compost and a rainwater collection system then the garden comes with a price.  Some seeds can be expensive per packet too as can plant plugs.  That all adds to the cost of food your garden produces.  It is a very low cost but it is still a cost.  Consider our neighbours who put one of the most amazing raised bed systems in last year at a cost of well over $500 but realized almost nothing as far as a crop.  It's going to take them a long time to recoup their costs.  Driving through the countryside for a foodie trip is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon but that price of gas really ads up!  It is also wonderful that many foods are available online but shipping and handling can really add to the cost of the food purchased.
• recognize the facts - In general and there are very few examples where this does not hold true, home cooked or homemade is less expensive using store bought whole foods than commercially prepared foods, eating take-out, ordering in or eating out.  If you like eating out reduce that to once or twice a month at a sit down restaurant where you will get a better quality of food.  
• stock-up  - Each and every time you shop for groceries set aside $5 to $10 of your grocery budget to stock your pantry and freezer.  Focus on whole foods like dried beans, dried pasta, rices, as well as foods in the perimeter of the store as these can be preserved at home.  If you use coupons, take the savings to help you buy extra for your pantry supplies. 
• stay out of the grocery stores - It goes without saying if you want to save on your food dollars stay out of the grocery stores.  Shop only when absolutely necessary which will reduce your cost of acquisition and lessen impulse buying.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - The Rising Costs of Food

A few days I followed a thread on a forum I participate on regarding the rising costs of food.  Some were reporting an increase in a box of cereal from $2.89 to $3.59 so on that box the price increased by 60¢ almost overnight.  Similar increases are being reported across North America.  According to one article I read, there is a predicted food shortage as a result of changing weather patterns, natural disasters and rising oil prices.  On the Canadian front, food insecurity has been a topic I have addressed a couple of times on my Canadian Perspective blog.  Food insecurity is growing in Canada.  More Canadians are going hungry with the largest sector being singe moms with children.  With the ever rising costs of food now is the time to make those frugal food choices that will enable you to continue to ensure your own food security.  This weeks Frugal Kitchens 101 discusses ways in which you can increase your food security.

• cook from scratch - By far the greatest increases in food costs will be seen in heavily processed foods.  This will widen the price gap between whole foods and those already prepared or partially prepared for you.  Avoid buying any processed foods you don't really have to especially if you are on a bare bones food budget. 
• watch the global food market - Certain foods will increase in price due to their adverse local growing conditions.  Avoid these foods if at all possible during the actual crisis.  However, if a potential problem is announced (eg. recent rice shortage scare) make an informed decision as to whether to stock up a bit on that particular food. 
• grow what you can - The first bit of frugal advice when trying to curb your food dollars is to grow whatever you can.  The problem is this takes a bit of planning as the food will take a couple of months or longer until you can harvest You do not need a huge garden to supplement your diet with home grown fruits, vegetables and herbs.  Most herbs will grow nicely indoors on a sunny windowsill.  Leafy greens, strawberries, tomatoes and peppers can be grown indoors as well.
• raise your own - There is a growing trend of families where permitted raising backyard chickens mainly for their eggs.  Many more are raising rabbits as a meat source because there are few restrictions as to where you can raise them.  Some enterprising families are keeping bees where permitting and have even turned backyard swimming pools into small trout farms.  Before you even think about doing any of this, any type of raising your own must be researched fully so you understand exactly what is involved.  If your lifestyle is such that you are gone most of the day or you go on extended vacations, raising your own likely is not for you.  In the case of chickens and rabbits, if you are not close enough to a feed lot, feed may simply be too expensive to make raising your own worth your while.  Another thing to consider is chickens that have stopped laying become a liability in that they are costing you money in feed and you are getting nothing out of it.  That is time for the chicken to go into the stew pot but slaughtering a chicken and prepping it for the stew pot is a bit more involved and not something everyone is comfortable doing.  The same goes for rabbits.  However, in times of food shortages and rising prices it may be necessary to overcome this
• preserve what you grow and raise - Preserving the excess bounties of your garden and the animals you raise is an easy way to line your pantry shelves with good, wholesome food ready for use when you may not be able to afford to buy food.  Preserving includes: curing, drying, freezing, fermenting and canning.
• establish a pantry - Ideally aim for a one year supply on all foods your family enjoys.  Initially focus on those foods that have a long shelf life and are inexpensive to buy in larger quantities: dried beans, split peas, dried pastas, rices, flours, sugars, grains (eg. oatmeal, bulgar, couscous,  salts, preserving supplies (eg. Pomona's pectin, citric acid, Morton's Tenderquick).  Add in smaller quantities of the powdered extras like: cheddar cheese, peanut butter, butter, eggs, honey, and milks.  From there start stocking with home canned or commercially canned fods and extras.
• establish a network - Establish a network of family, friends and neighbour with whom you can share in food acquisition, preserving and in time of need a helping hand. 

Canning Experiment - Reusable Canning Lids

Over the past couple of years I have been focusing on getting plastic out of my kitchen so this canning experiment is not exactly what I would have expected.  The reason is this actually introduces plastic into my kitchen but in this case the benefits outweighs the negatives.  Let me explain a bit further.

The regular canning lids (pictured to the right) I use are metal ones with a plastisol attached that forms a seal during the canning process.  At best price I can get them for 10¢ per lid in a box of 12 at the dollar store.  I go through over 1,000 of these lids in one year.  Three problems arise with the lids.  First all canning lids as well as cans holding foods or beverages in North America have a plastic coating.  This coating contains Bisphenol-A (BPA) a suspected carcinogen.  When the coating is exposed to acidic or high temperature environments as happens with home canning the BPA leaches from the plastic into the food.  This is one of my major reasons for experimenting to find a better solution for canning.  The second problem is the metal lids are not designed to be used more than once.  This not only adds to the cost of canning each year but is also not eco-friendly.  While our recycling company is finally allowing us to put the lids in the recycle bin there is a fair amount of packaging wasted each year just in lids alone.  If I can reduce this my using reusable lids I can not only cut my costs but also reduce my carbon footprint by not using disposable lids.  The third problem is and many home canners have been voicing this concern is at some point canning lids may not be available.  I honestly don't see this happening due to the resurgence in home canning but the possibility is there.  We depend on home canning as part of our food supply so like many I stockpile the lids.  I have older jars that use rubber rings and glass lids but nowhere near the amount needed for our annual canning needs.

I discovered Tattler reusable canning lids doing an online search.  While these lids use FDA and USDA approved materials they aren't actually approved for canning or at least I could not find anything that said they were.  The company has been in business since 1976.  The lids are made of BPA-free plastic and according to the manufacturers are indefinitely reusable.  Separate rubber rings are necessary to create the seal.  Essentially the lids work exactly like the disposable lids but both lids and rings are reusable and when properly cared for will last several years.  There are reports of 20 year old lids and rings used multiple times still in use.  I bought 3 dozen of the lids at a cost of $30.28 or 84¢ per lid which is 8 times the cost of regular lids.  That means I have to use each lid at least 8 times to realize a payback.  After that using the lids will cost me nothing.  I'm not going to gloss it over as switching to the Tattler lids is pricy but they will eliminate the BPA concern, eliminate the disposability issue and guarantee a reusable source for canning lids.


I am currently in the process of testing the Tattler lids.  If they test to the performance I want with very low seal failures I plan to make a bulk order for the lids.  Five hundred lids with rings will cost me about $300 so this is an investment.  Canning is an ongoing process here so there is a high turnover of jars that would also apply to the reusable lids.  I will be seriously putting these lids through the wringer washer so to speak.  I will be looking for ease of use, stainability, cleanability, initial performance, performance after multiple uses, storage, processing methods, and aesthetics.  My first test run using the Tattler lids was quite promising.  I will do a full review of these lids along with my unbiased opinion once I have finished the testing process so please watch for that sometime in September.

Introducing Frugal Kitchens 101

Not even 2 days into the last poll it was quite apparent that the readers of this blog are very interested in a weekly article on saving money on their groceries. With that in mind I set about making a banner to identify these entries. These entries will be known as Frugal Kitchens 101 leaving the category open to bring in energy savings as well which also affect the overall cost of a meal. A new label has called frugal kitchens 101 has also been created to make searching the archives for these tips easier. As it stands right now I plan on making these posts each Monday to give ample opportunity to put things into practice for those who shop weekly Friday night or Saturday morning. I can't make any promises that each tip will work for everyone but I can guarantee you that consistently using at least one of these tips you will save money on your groceries.

I will leave the results for the last poll up for a couple of days. I am surprised at receiving any votes for "not interested". This could be that those folks don't have to pay for their own food or are independently wealthy so price is no option or they have mastered the skills of total food self sufficiency. I do hope they drop by to share why the rising price of food is of no concern to them.

Please watch for this weeks Frugal Kitchens 101 article tomorrow after which time you will be able to find it here each Monday and in the archives under the label frugal kitchens 101.

Thanks to all who voted :)

Enjoy!

Traditional Stewed Tomatoes

If you have been reading this blog you will know that the majority of tomato products that I put up are something other than plain tomatoes. One reason for this is to stock my pantry with convenient, ready-to-use homemade products. This ends up saving me both time and money through-out the year. It also maximizes my use of mason jars as well as freezer space for those tomato products I freeze. Instead of using three mason jars to can individual components for a sauce, I can use one mason jar by canning the finished sauce something that is important when finding storage room for a year or more worth of home canned products. This also makes good economic sense as the number of times the canner is run is greatly reduced as well as the number of jars and lids needed. Each lid costs 8¢ (or more depending on the source) which doesn't sound like a lot but averaging a little over 1,000 jars that works out to $80 so every time I can reduce the number of lids used is ultimately a savings. Each time run the canner costs about 31¢ so running it less saves not only money but reduces my carbon footprint.

Why am I stressing the economics of canning? Home canning can save you a substantial amount of money on your food budget even if you do not grow your own produce. For example using my free source of tomatoes which compares to home grown, 9 hampers averaging 14 - 500 ml jars is 126 jars of finished product at a cost of $10.08 for lids, $2.79 for electricity and about $8 (likely less) for miscellaneous ingredients or about 17¢ per 500 ml jar. This is considerably cheaper than even the dollar store! Even though the products are so cheap there is always ways to reduce the costs and every time you reduce the cost that's money in your pocket!

Why am I stressing being eco-friendly when canning? Canning is very eco-friendly. I have jars that are 30 years old or older still in use. Think of how many tin cans that has saved over that period of time. This year I will hit very close to the 1,500 jar mark for a yearly total. In one year that means I will have not used that same amount in tins cans! Just with that I have greatly reduced our household carbon footprint but because the jars are re-usable they continue to reduce our carbon footprint. To reduce further always run the canner at full capacity (not always possible) at the lowest setting to maintain proper pressure and where ever possible use a pressure canner instead of a boiling water bath canner especially for tomato products.

Traditional Stewed Tomatoes

Traditional stewed tomatoes are a must have pantry item! You can used them as a base for soups, stews and casseroles. Pictured are 3 litres and on 500 ml jar of stewed tomatoes. More jars of stewed tomatoes will join these in my pantry shortly. They are very easy to make.

Traditional Stewed Tomatoes
source: Bernardin, Tomatoes Canning & Specialty Recipes. 2000. Pp. 60

16 c prepared tomatoes
1 c chopped celery
½ c chopped onion
¼ c chopped green pepper
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dried basil

Wash, peel and chop the tomatoes. Prepare the other ingredients. Mix all together in large stock pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer. Simmer 10 minutes. Ladle into hot sterilized jars. Remove any air pockets. Wipe rim. Process at 10 lb pressure for 20 minutes (L jars) or 15 minutes (500 ml jars) at altitudes below 1,000 feet above sea level. Adjust for altitude if necessary (chart here).

Buying Locally

Despite growing a lot of vegetables and herbs as well as living in a rural area we simply cannot produce all the food we eat. We are very fortunate to live in an area where I can buy a fair amount of locally produced foods directly from farmers, orchards and roadside stands. This includes beef, pork, eggs, fruits, vegetables We also take advantage of local hunting through friends and fishing ourselves. Why do I stress buying locally?

Buying locally ensures you get the freshest produce often shortly after picking or in some cases you can pick your own. The produce is at its peak when purchased in season so always tastes better. Both fruits and vegetables begin losing nutrients as soon as they are picked. Ideally for canning or freezing you want to have as short of a time frame between picking and processing. When you buy locally you get to know who is growing your food. You get to know the animal husbandry practices as well as their field management and produce growing practices. Buying locally keeps local farmers in business creating a stronger community. Did you know the average food travels 1,500 miles from farmer to your table? Buying locally greatly reduces this distance quite often to well under 10 miles. Talk about an effective way to reduce your carbon footprint while saving money on food! Finally buying locally is in my experience always less expensive than buying in the grocery store. So if you want to save money on your food bill, buy locally produced fruits and vegetables.

My Purchases

Imagine my disappointment when the closest orchard/farm stand closed up shop last winter. This is a place I frequented two or three times a week! It is normal for some of these types of markets to close over the winter but this one had always remained open. The reason for the closure was mis-management by the new owners of the business end. As produce came into season it looked more and more like this farm market would not be re-opening. Resigning myself to that fact I set about finding a weekly farm market, a traveling weekly farm stand and an amazing organic farm market. All of them are local within about 30 to 40 minutes drive, not the best solution but better than nothing.

A week ago Monday I was reading through the paper last week when I noticed an ad. The former owners of the farm market had re-opened the market under their own management. The still owned the land, orchard and buildings so rather than let the community down by keeping the market closed and despite being well beyond retirement age, they opened it back up under their old business name. I excited called them to thank them for opening back up and told them I would be there that afternoon. Suddenly a day that really was making a valid attempt at being very much annoying took on a whole new meaning. I finished what I was doing in the kitchen, quickly changed and grabbing by eco-friendly cloth shopping bags headed out the door.

It was like greeting a long lost friend when I walked through the door. We chatted for awhile then I set about choosing what I wanted. I bought 10 lb cooking onions, 10 lb Spanish onion, 10 lb L-star apples, 3 nice looking field tomatoes, a quart of peaches and a quart of grapes. The total cost was $16.50, definitely under grocery store prices and oh so much fresher. The L-stars had been picked that morning! The price was a bit higher because of the smaller quantities I bought as well as the apples just starting. The prices will drop within a week or so as larger quantities become available. I noticed the potatoes were $12.95 for a 50 lb bag so at 26¢ per pound is a good deal but she assured me the price would be going down to my familiar $7.95 which works out to 16¢ per pound, a better deal. All of the variety of apples they grow will quite inexpensive as will the squashes and other root vegetables. Spanish onions will likely be down to their normal $3.95 for 20 lb. I have to tell you I am a very happy camper!

Pot Roast Using HamiltonBeach® Roaster

We bought our previous home solely on the basis of location. Unfortunately storage was almost non-existent so I decided to eliminate as many single use appliances as possible. We also bought this house because of location however, there is more than ample storage here. Still I stuck to the decision to not buy any single use appliances. A countertop roaster was tempting after a couple of overnight boat trips as a few of our fellow boaters swore by their Nesco^® roasters. While I could see the usefulness of such an appliance, I kept putting it off buying one because of the size as storage on a boat is always limited and because it reminded me too much of a slow cooker, something I'm not really fond of using despite owning two.

A couple of days ago I asked my husband to stop at the hardware for a couple of items needed for doing the preliminary prep work on the kitchen for the remodel. He came home with four appliances! The hardware store was having an appliance clearance and he just had to take advantage. Three of the appliances were stashed for gift giving but I decided to keep the fouth, a HamiltonBeach^® countertop roaster, for myself. The HamiltonBeach^® countertop roaster had an original price tag of $59.99 on sale for $15.99. Similar savings were on the perculator ($66.99 for $20), hand held blender with chopper ($29.99 for $10) and personal coffee maker ($19.99 for $10).

The Roaster

The HamiltonBeach^® countertop roaster is smaller than the Nesco^® roaster (18 qt) at 6.5 qt. The outside is a crisp white with black lettering. The white metal lid (not shown) has two small vent holes. The black metal roasting pan is large enough for a 5 lb roast or large chicken and is removable for easy cleaning. It does not have a non-stick surface. The temperature range is 200ºF to 450ºF controlled with an easy grip knob. There is an indicator light as well. I was disappointed that instructions and a recipe book were not included with this appliance. The box was still factory sealed so obviously these were simply not included. I was also disappointed that the temperature markings are in fahrenheit only.

Cost of operation is always something that should be considered for any appliance. Remember every kW counts so we should always be striving to use less electricity. This roaster is 750 W compared to my oven element that is 2400 W. In terms of cost the roaster will cost $0.09 per hour where the oven costs $0.28 per hour. Unlike the calculated costs for my slow cookers that end up being more expensive to operate than using the large burner (2000 W) and a pressure cooker, the roaster appears to be on the money saving end.

I placed a frozen blade roast in the roasting pan, seasoned it with Montreal Steak spice, sliced onions and added about ½ c of water, put the lid on the roaster then set the temperature to 250ºF much the same as I would do if roasting in the oven. After two and a half hours the roast was progressing quite nicely so I added the potatoes, carrots and corn but unlike doing a pot roast in the oven, I did not increase the temperature to 350ºF. It seemed to me that the roast was cooking too fast so I was immediately concerned that it would not be tender. The vegetables took about 40 minutes to cook. Instead of removing the vegetables and roast as I would with oven cooking, I poured the cornstarch slurry directly into the juices and allowed it to thicken about 5 minutes. This eliminated using the large burner (2000 W) on the stove but the real reason for doing so was to do everything in the same dish.

Pot Roast

I have to admit I was very surprised at the results. Normally a roast done this way would take me 4 to 4½ hours (10.8 kWh or $1.29) but it only took 3 hr 15 minutes using the countertop roaster (2.44 kWh or $0.29). So on the green scale for energy use, the countertop roaster used about ⅕ the kWh of the oven.

The next test was the appearance. In comparison to oven cooked the vegetables and roast were more than comparable. There was a bit less caramelization likely because I did not increase the final cooking time. The vegetable colours were bright and enticing with a firm texture without being overcooked and mushy that often happens in a slow cooker . Making the gravy directly in the pan was a simple convenience for me and I often do the same when using a slow cooker. The end result was stew-like vegetables with the meat separate. The final test was of course the taste.

Plated

Unlike cooking this type of dish in the oven or slow cooker, the vegetables and meat were still steaming when being plated even though we let the meat rest for 5 minutes. One notable difference is the house was not filled with the smell of dinner but more of a hint. Despite my reservations, the roast was extremely tender, almost melt-in-your mouth tender. The vegetables were very impressive, cooked perfectly! The gravy was tasty giving a nice addition to the vegetables even though there was not extra for the meat.

So I am quite impressed as I ended up with quite a nice meal while saving a lot of kilowatts, both of which are very important to me. Given this was the first time using this appliance, I was pleased. The results were definitely better than a slow cooking and far superior to a microwave oven. However, next time I will cook the roast at a lower temperature (200ºF) to get the end result medium rare. I will also add a bit more liquid for extra gravy. Mushrooms would have been a great addition to the vegetables as well.

All in all, I'm pleased with the energy savings and cooking results of this countertop appliance. The size is just right as well. Depending on what you are cooking, a meal for four is easily obtainable and I think it will be perfect for baked beans or casseroles. It is also small enough that it doesn't take up a huge amount of room for storage. We often have fresh baked bread with dinner so that means juggling the oven space sometimes so this is an easy solution as well. It will also be ideal for my bulk cooking sessions.

Bulk Beef, Road Trip and Chicken Stock Revisited

Saturday finally arrived. After several weeks of eating from the freezers the day to pick up our beef arrived. I should point out that bulk meat purchases are the norm for us and they usually come with a phone call from one of our farming friends to say they are butchering a cow or pig and do we want any. So it was with this purchase. It was a good deal so we had to act and right then. My only concern was the meat was going to an abattoir's we have not dealt with before. When making a bulk meat purchase the cutting is an additional fee and the cutting options as well as pick-up is left to the buyer not the farmer. With all of the arrangements made, we headed out on a road trip Saturday morning.

The Beef

The total dressed weight for the whole cow was 820 lb. Initially two of our kids were taking 1/4 each and we were taking 1/2 but then one kid's friend wanted in on the deal and one kid decided that was a bit too much red meat. Sound confusing? What ended up happening and good thing for us is one kid and the friend took 1/4 each, the kid's inlaws took 1/4 and we took 1/4. The abbatoir divided the meat for us. It was cut to our specs of 1 inch thick steaks, 5 lb roasts, 1 lb packages of burger and keeping the soup bones. We had to bring boxes for the pick-up.

It was a bitter cold but bright sunny winter day when we left home for the hour drive to the abbatoir's where we picked up the entire dressed meat. The photo is of two of the bins in the trunk. Four smaller boxes went into the trunk and the back seat was filled with the other half of the meat. Each couple ended up with a bin as shown and two boxes of meat (205 lb total) at a cost of $1.89/lb plus $0.60/lb cutting and wrapping costs. It was a bit higher price total than we normally pay but still a great savings. After leaving the abbatoir's we headed to a truck stop some 40 minutes away to meet up with our kids and grandbaby where after eating (see below) we divided the meat in half. They headed back to drop of their small freezer and half of that meat at their friends then headed home while we made our way back to our home stopping to drop off half of the meat at our kid's inlaws. Ok that should be as clear as mud :)

Eggs & Pepperettes

I have to tell you, I love farm fresh eggs! I buy mine from a farmer not far from us who free ranges so the eggs are wonderful. Well, I knew we were getting low on eggs at home and it is the norm for country abbatoirs to have eggs for sale so I wasn't disappointed. I picked up 30 white and 19 browns for a very good price of $5 figuring my kids would take some but they didn't so that left me with 5 ½ doz eggs with what I had at home. No problem as another kid with spouse and soon to be grandbaby was home when we arrived home so I thought they would take some. Nope! So I have lots of eggs to use up.

I couldn't resist the fresh pepperettes either. One of these days I'm going to make my own pepperettes because not only are they perfect for snacking they are great for entertaining. I just had to try one after getting the car loaded. They were tender and beefy, just perfect hitting back with a nice peppery after taste. Yummy!

On the Road Food

As mentioned our first stop was meeting up with our kids and grandbaby to divide the meat. We stopped at a Flying J as it was a convenient meeting spot for both of us. We decided to get lunch while we were there so the five of us settled in. The adults enjoyed the generous buffet while grandbaby ate from everyone's plate.

I think I've mentioned before here that we would rather stop and get a buffet meal than a fast food meal when on the road. One of the reasons is for the price you end up with better food for the most part. Saturday's offering was fried and barbeque chicken. I chose the barbeque chicken with roasted potatoes, stuffing, steamed carrots and green beans along with a tossed salad for a starter and fruit bowl for dessert. For $10.99 is was a very substantial meal. My only complaint was they used margarine on the carrots and beans but that was indicated on the labels above the dishes. I don't use margarine so I would have liked to see these vegetables offered plain for the customer to add what they wanted.

Mesclun Salad

Normally our heavy meal is at dinner somewhere between 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm usually just after 6 pm. Eating a heavy meal as we did at lunch time had me thinking light foods for dinner. Seriously, we were both stuffed so come dinner time we didn't feel like eating much. A mesclun salad was just perfect because it was light and filling at the same time.

Mesclun mix is my number one favourite green mixture for sandwiches, salads and growing. The mixture differs from grower to grower but normally consists of lettuces, mustards, dandelion, cresses and parsley. If you want bang for your buck, mesclun mix sometimes called spring salad mix in the grocery store is the way to go!

I like keeping mesclun salad simple because the greens add a lot of flavour themselves. This was a dinner salad so I added tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, carrots, green onion (not shown), hard boiled egg slices (not shown), cheddar cheese cubes and simple fresh lemon juice for the dressing. Lemon juice makes all the flavours sparkle!

Concentrated Chicken Stock

Chicken stock is something I make from scratch and keep on hand. My basic method can be found here. Now chicken stock or any stock for that matter can be made fresh for immediate use, froze or my preferred method is to can. I like canning my stocks because it becomes a convenient food ingredient for me at a later date. However, concentrating the stock is an ideal way for preserving stock for those with limited storage.

My freezers are so stuffed a flea would have a hard time finding a spot in them. Getting the freezers ready for the beef purchase meant a few thing had to come out and one of them was the chicken bones I save for making stock. The problem was I really didn't have time to can the stock and I needed to free up freezer space so concentrating the stock made very good sense.

Method: Concentrating stock is not difficult. Start with your favourite stock recipe or use my basic stock recipe from the link above. Take it to the point of draining but not defatting. Bring the stock to a boil then reduce to a low simmer. Simmer until the stock is about 1/3 the volume of the original. Cool. Remove the fat layer on top. The bottom layer should be as pictured like gelatin.

This is a concentrated stock of which you do not need a lot of to add a good impact of flavour. Spoon the gelatin into ice cube trays (about 1 oz) or into muffin tins (about 4 oz). Freeze then vacuum seal in individual packages (preferred method) or pack into a zipper style freezer bag to use as needed. Because this is concentrated stock you only need one cube or puck (muffin) depending on the size of dish you are making. The main bonus of course is the flavour punch but because this is concentrated it eliminates water that would have to be boiled out for some dishes. So even if you can or freeze chicken stock keeping concentrated chicken stock on hand is a very good idea.