Oatmeal Pancakes with Ham and Two Syrups

Pancakes in various stages of grilling

Tonight between the football games, we tried the healthy oatmeal pancakes from the New York Times.  They were easy to make (tended to fall apart a bit) and I cut up a ham steak and served it along with the pancakes and apricot and maple syrups instead of honey.  Quite tasty and filling and there's enough left for tomorrow morning, always a bonus.  Here is how they looked on the table, and they kinda sorta matched the tablecloth.  Who knew?

Ready, Set, Eat!

Oatmeal Pancakes Deluxe  

For delicious apricot syrup and dried apricots and other goodies, order at 

The Apricot King

Nita's Banana Bread, The World's Best Banana Bread

Here, as promised, is the banana bread recipe.  I've had it since my neighbor Nita gave it to me when I was still a bride. 

Nita’s Banana Bread

1 cup sugar

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

pinch salt

2 eggs, beaten

3 ripe mashed bananas

3 Tablespoons sour milk, buttermilk or sour cream

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups white flour

Cream butter, add sugar, mix well and add bananas.  Mix salt, flour and baking soda and add to banana mixture alternating with sour milk.  Mix together lightly.  Pour into a 9 x 5  inch greased loaf pan.  (Non stick is great!)

Bake in slowish (325 degrees Farenheit) for 45-60 minutes, until tested inserted in middle comes out clean.   Cool on rack and remove bread from pan.  Eat and enjoy.

A handful of blueberries or raisins may be added after dry ingredients. 

Oatmeal Pancakes, the epitome of cheap eats

I like oatmeal, not the instant flavored variety, but Old Fashioned Quaker Oats.  I also like Silver Palate Oatmeal, which can sometimes be found on sale or at Ocean State Job Lot here in the Boston/Providence area.  Ocean State Job Lot

Silver Palate Oatmeal takes even longer to cook than Quaker Oats.  Of course the Irish steel cut oats are totally delicious, but pricey, and this blog is about pinching pennies.


So imagine how pleased I was to find this recipe in the New York Times Wednesday food section.
Oatmeal Pancakes


I like it for several reasons:  1)  it's nutritious 2) I have all the ingredients 3) not high-cal 4) looks pretty tasty 5) can be served for dinner with some grilled ham and a fruit salad.    Oh, and did I mention EASY?  And Different? 
I'll let you know how edible the oatmeal pancakes are. 
I also have an Austrian recipe for noodles with bacon and cheese that looks pretty good.  At the end of the month when the money might be tight, you need cheap, filling food.  This is the time to go to those bought-on-sale frozen vegetables.  Or to pick up a 99 cent head of iceberg lettuce.
We keep dried fruit on hand:  cranberries, raisins (golden and dark) currants (sometimes) apricots (always) and sometimes dried cherries or whatever I found on sale.  With an apple, orange, banana or grapes and a handful of dried fruit, you have a delicious dessert.  These days, if not on sale, an apple or an orange costs over a dollar.  Bananas are still relatively cheap. 
Banana bread is a killer dessert/breakfast/snack dish. 
Find a recipe that calls for 3 bananas.  That's the whole secret.  Two won't do.  As you acquire overripe bananas, you can pop them into the freezer with skins on, and when you have the magic number, zowie, it's banana bread.  You can toss a handful of fresh or frozen blueberries in for extra taste and nutrition.  Or raisins.  A tad of grated orange rind.  Yummy!  Good for kid's school lunches. 
I'll report back on the pancakes.  With photos if I remember.   And dig up my banana bread recipe.   So easy, so delicious.  And in keeping with our commitment to frugality.
In the meantime, long live oatmeal. 


The Cheeseparer

Comfort Food and Cheap Eats

It's been good lately, with the snow piled thigh high or in some cases over one's head.  We feasted on homemade Chinese (yakisoba) and some Korean shrimp and scallion pancakes.  Think MEAT AS FLAVORING.  The Yakisoba called for one pork chop and I used 1/4 pound of med. shrimp for the pancakes. 


Then we moved into Swedish Meatballs. Meat as Meat.  One night I served them with mashed potatoes and last night with noodles.  Tonight we're having a Minestrone with Italian Sausage, something always on sale in the Boston area.  Soup is good food. 
  Minestrone soup with sausage

We did a chili earlier, using reduced for quick sale steak.  Zowie!   And a diet rice pudding that was so flavorful, thanks to currants, cinnamon and nutmeg.


Cherries on sale brought forth a Caflouti.  Nonetheless, it seems like grocery prices are higher and one has to shop ever cannier.  Are you a canny shopper? It pains me to pay over a dollar for an apple or an orange.  Still, it is better to spring for produce and to cut back on processed food and meat.


Here are some photos of the good meals we've been indulging in.  We haven't eaten out for weeks.  Maybe that's why the grocery bill is higher.  Unless you buy filet mignon and caviar,  eating out costs a lot more than from scratch cooking.  But you knew that.


Today the New York Times had recipes for some pancakes that would work great for dinner, with whole grains and I would serve a few ounces of sauteed ham with each meal. Amd a fruit salad. Remember: meat as flavoring. 

Cherry Caflouti

Yakisoba with Pork and Cabbage - yum! 

Korean Pancake just beginning to cook

Finished Korean Pancakes with scallions and shrimp - good as a snack, too!

Julia Child's French Onion Soup and a recipe for food processor French bread

The onion soup recipe is super cheap to make.  A few big onions (I didn't go for the high-priced ones) and some broth and you're good to go.  I used 1/2 chicken broth and 1/2 beef broth, both purchased on sale.  The wine is from an open bottle in the fridge. (Pinot Grigio).  Keep some chilled white vermouth on hand for recipes. This recipe takes some time, so plan on reading a newspaper or book in the kitchen.  As always, set a timer.

French Onion Soup

 


The French bread recipe I've been making for years.  I bought a pan at Amazon that holds two loaves and it has been a stalwart.  You need a quick read thermometer to get the water temperature right, and there are ten minutes of intense activity during which you can't leave the kitchen, and after that, it's incredibly easy.  I used two timer's for the bread and three would have been even better.  With supermarket bread prices in the stratosphere, this is a good recipe to master.  
What comes out of the oven is  unbelievable, especially for the small amount of effort.  I have another recipe (focaccia) I will share after I've tried it.   Over the holidays I stocked up on flour on sale.  Broth, too.      

Food processor French Bread  

Kitchen tools such as quality pots and pans, timers, thermometers are necessities rather than luxuries, and will save you ruining expensive ingredients.  They easily pay for themselves over time.  We will eat the soup and bread for two days.  I'll serve a green salad and make a fruit salad for dessert.  

I have Swiss cheese to melt on toasts for the final assembly of the soup, but Parmesan will do as well.  Of course, the toasts will be made from my newly baked bread.  It would make wonderful French toast, too.  

By the way, if you have a couple of overripe bananas, they can be mashed and put into pancakes or waffles.  You can also freeze over-ripe bananas in their skins.  When you have three, make banana bread.  Always use three bananas for banana bread.  Two is not enough.  A handful of raisins or blueberries are also a good addition to banana bread.  Pack a lot of nutrition into all  your meals for taste and health. 

Aloha, 

The Cheeseparer

                                                          

Cheap Meals for Winter Evenings

We had one pork chop, and it wasn't huge, but I sauteed it with a little Sezchuan pepper.  Cooked a cup of rice.  Scrambled an egg without stirring, so it was nice and flat.  Found two slices boiled ham in the fridge.  Here we go! 


Stir fry is the next best thing to "soup from a nail."    I had some scallions, fresh ginger (I keep it around) and a little bit of baby spinach.  We always have a bag of frozen peas in the freezer.  I keep soy sauce and sesame oil around, too.  I bought a box of mushrooms and divided them in two for separate meals.  Sauteed everything including the rice.  Topped it off with a handful of almonds for crunch.

You shred the egg with 2 forks into little pieces.  The dish is colorful. 

The interesting thing is that every bite had some meat which I had cut into small squares.  If I hadn't had spinach, I would have used a crown of broccoli.   There were plenty of leftovers for lunch.


Tonight we had Swiss steak, which I used to make all the time when the kids were little.  I had some round steak, an onion, the rest of the mushrooms, an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce and some herbs.  Cheap ingredients!  I used oregano, marjoram and a little smoked paprika for the spices.  Oh, and 2 garlic cloves.  Pounded the meat and dipped it into flour.  

In Paris at the Pompidou Museum

We ate it with lots of Brussels sprouts and some noodles which sopped up the sauce.  I used to braise it, but I put tonight's Swiss steak in the oven to bake.  


Tomorrow we're having French onion soup and I'm baking a baguette and have some Swiss cheese to make the soup in the traditional way.  Many years ago, in Paris, we wanted a late night snack and we each ordered a bowl of soup and a Croque Monsieur.  Enough, easily, for four people, maybe six. 


I'll publish my onion soup recipe tomorrow. 
This is the month to buy bed sheets and linens.  Also, pick up any needed cards, wrapping paper, and ornaments.  We've done this for years, and I always had a tradition of hitting the sales on the 26th.  This year, we were racing from New York back to New England before the blizzard.  You can still get very nice Christmas tablecloths at rock bottom prices.  How nice to have a fresh one for the 2011 holidays. 


Pare  yourself some cheese! 

The World's Best Macaroni and Cheese

This dish is complimented by a green salad, and doesn't cost much to make.  The taste and the lovely crumb topping can't be beat.  If your January feels cold and bleak, make this recipe. 


World's Best Macaroni and Cheese  


 For dessert, use a pie crust from the dairy case and make a free form tart with blueberries (on sale, of course), mixed with sugar,  instant tapioca, a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg and dotted with butter.   Brush the crust with an egg beaten with a little milk.  This gives you a lot of bang for the buck. 


January is a hard month, with all the Christmas bills coming due.  Clip coupons and watch  your grocery bill.  Turn down the heat a bit.   Find some cheap but decent restaurants.   A  quiche makes a tasty dinner.    We like spinach and broccoli.   The classic "Lorainne" is hard to beat.   Find some turkey kielbasa on sale and make up a big dish of sauerkraut and kielbasa.   Add some boiled or mashed potatoes and you're golden.  Do eat some fresh fruit everyday.  This morning we had glasses of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice.  So tasty and refreshing. 


 The Cheeseparer