In a pinch and other kitchen miscellany

It doesn't cost a lot to make great food. Just use some imagination. I've electrical taped 5 cheap steak knives together to make a temporary egg slicer, and used parchment paper (unbelievably strong stuff when wet) to lift roasts off a pan.

Most of my recipes, anyhow, are geared to a budgeted household...and people who are too busy to cook everyday.

 

Penny pinching

• Don't have a casserole pan? Line your roasting pan with a most clean towel, then cover with parchment paper and glue the leaky parts with 1 part water 2 parts flour and a pinch of salt.
• Need to decorate a cake but don't have an icing bag? Roll up some parchment paper and cut yourself a decorating tip. An alternative would be a zip lock baggie with a tip cut out, but that's more effective with filling up pasta shells.
• Don't buy anything pre-grated. You can do it yourself, and it's not really that much work. Spray the grater down with cooking spray if you dread cleaning it afterword.
• Don't get a glass cutting board. They're expensive, and they DULL YOUR KNIVES. Splurge on a bunch of acrylic ones instead and replace as they get rough.
• To avoid freezer burn, wrap with plastic wrap (keeps the air out) then zip-lock bag them.
• Do make a bunch of sandwiches at the same time and freeze them. To avoid a soggy sandwich, try to let in as little air as possible when you zip-lock, and then let it thaw in room temperature IN THE BAG and only take it out when it's ready. You can freeze chocolate the same way.

Weird stuff that works

• Can't get the burned starch off the bottom of the pot? Throw in a handful of salt and add a layer of water, bring to a boil. Rinse, and wipe the bottom off with a paper towel or a j-cloth. Whatever's going ON that cloth, it's NOT going to come off. If there's still stuff on the bottom, repeat the process with vinegar and water.
• Don't have a dutch oven and want to put that plastic handled pan into the oven? Wrap the handle with a moist kitchen towel. Wet it every 30 minutes if you're baking any higher than 350. I use my pan to make frittatas all the time.

Cooking Essentials, if you have NOTHING ELSE

• Whisk made of acrylic - $1
• Nylon spatula - $1
• Nylon soup scoop - $1
• Good, big heavy bottomed pan - $30 & up
• Big, and I mean, big enough to feed 20 - heavy bottomed soup pot - $30 & up
• Metal tongs - $5 and up, or you can use chopsticks. $3 a pack of 8.
• A roasting pan with a rack - I got mine for $10 at Benix & Co. and I've had it for 5 years.
• A decent rice cooker - these things are getting cheaper and cheaper. - $20
• Wooden spoons, replaced every 8 weeks. - $2 for 3 at a dollar store.
• Metal strainer for pasta - $5
• Aluminum foil and parchment paper - $2 each roll.
• Lots of Tupperware containers and zip-lock sandwich bags.

Nice to haves

• Dutch oven - it's amazing how much food you can make in that thing.
• Slow Cooker - There are lots of good slow-cooker recipes out there, and it's nice to come home to the smell of food.
• Rice Cooker - yeah, it's in the above list, but it is sort of a "nice to have." You'd use less oil in your rice (none at all) and it's cooked perfectly every time.
• Ceramic oven pans for all those nice casseroles
• Bread pan for those great banana loaves. It's cheap too. And you can make Cinnamon buns in it.
• Food processor - a luxury, but great for making sauces, cutting veggies, emulsifying sauces, chopping nuts, kneading dough. It will save you a bundle of time in the long run, although they are QUITE expensive.