Hunkering Down in the Kitchen

Am I glad that I sat in the kitchen at the feet of older women when I was growing up? I learned kitchen frugality, creativity and general food strategies from some major, full-time homemakers.
To the memory of Aunt Fae, Mrs. Doviak, and mom I am launching the Queen of Bargains Guide to “Hunkering Down in the Kitchen, 101.”
First, take stock of what you have. In a specially designated “Kitchen Kommand Notebook” use dividers. Let your first section be “What’s on hand.” List all perishable and long shelf life items, even those way back on the top shelf of the cupboard which you use least.
Categorize what you’ve got: staples – flours, sugar, cornmeal, etc.; condiments, seasonings, perishable necessities, long shelf life necessities, i.e. mustard, peanut butter, jellies, sauces.
Next to every perishable staple in your refrigerator, write down a nonperishable substitute that you can use in a pinch. For example, for fresh milk, there is boxed soymilk and powdered nonfat dry milk. For butter you can use spray on olive oil. For old fashioned “refrigerate after opening” peanut butter, there is a “not necessary to refrigerate” kind. Mayonnaise comes in individual packages, like those found in tuna kits.
Make a section on this page at the bottom or on the next page for “Meals that can be made with only the ingredients I have on hand.” (I had a friend whose mom was a missionary in the field a lot. She would make any dish she wanted to even if she had only one of the necessary ingredients. Her stroganoff might have no beef, no sour cream, but perhaps macaroni and mushrooms.) Get creative naming your meals. This stroganoff could be called vegetarian stroganoff or New Age Stroganoff or whatever you please.
Update this list weekly and show your family where you keep the notebook. In case you are not at home at mealtime, you will have already recorded your genius for them to use as a guide. This is especially good for family members who get limp as they approach the kitchen and love to moan, “There’s no food in the house.”
Second, make a list of every food source within one to two miles of your home, including those that are what you would call walking distance. Record their phone numbers and web addresses. Include food coops or wholesale sources. Periodically, call them for prices of three staples on your shopping list or three splurge items. Prices shift faster than the wind and saving money on your food bill adds up.
Third, put all coupons in an envelope and circle expiration dates. Group them in the order that products they feature appear in your grocery aisles.
Fourth, consider forming a dinner group with friends and neighbors. You cook less and enjoy company more while you save money, energy and time. If four families or individuals form a group, you cook only once every four days. On your day everyone eats at your home. On the other three days you eat at a different home.
“Hunkering Down” can include energy rationing and other deprivations that we have not yet experienced. Sharing meals with a group can turn the sacrifice into something good for all.
Fifth, make meals that keep on feeding. A roasted chicken or turkey can be served hot, then cold as salad and then mixed with veggies as a casserole. Chicken and turkey meat freeze well and the bones can also be bagged, frozen, and boiled later for soup.
Sixth, inventory your cookbooks and start to meal plan to eliminate waste, unused leftovers, and the stress of mealtime blues that get us to order “take out” a bit too often.
One night a week spent getting this organized will reduce stress in the all too stressed, hunkering down, times.
Seventh, find food storage areas for nonperishable cans and boxes of staples in places you haven’t considered before: under stairways, under beds, on the top of armoires covered with a pretty fabric, and behind furniture. Always make a list of what’s where and keep it in your Kitchen Kommand Notebook.
I hope I am overreacting.
In case I’m not, I’ll have lots of hints in future columns for these unique times, which I am calling, “The Hunkering Down of America.”