Potluck Dinners

My daughter had to take something for a potluck lunch at school today. As I was helping her to prepare her dish, we discussed what other kids were bringing. She commented to me that a number of the kids didn't know what a potluck meal was. I dropped my spoon. How is that possible?

Potlucks are a great custom. I don't know if it's a regional thing or if it's a small-town thing. I just know that they've been a big part of my entire life. As a child, I recall potlucks at church after services, family potluck gatherings, club potluck gatherings, community potluck gatherings. And, as an adult, most of these continued and even included potluck meals at work.

At one place I worked we had a weekly mid-week potluck. Employees could either bring something or they could donate a $1 to our employee benevolence fund and just grab a plate. At another place we held a potluck once a month for fellowship. When I was a younger, single, working mom my co-workers and I decided to do potluck with a twist. We took turns cooking lunch and bringing it for everyone in the group. You only had to bring something one day a week and the rest of the week, enjoy everyone else's cooking. This helped all of our budgets.

In fact, potlucks are a great budget stretcher for families. I lived in a friendly neighborhood as a young mom and we often held neighborhood potlucks to stretch our budgets. It's a fantastic way to get to know your neighbors and create connections.

Today I sent Cranberry Meatballs for the school meal. The teens always love this and I think it's pretty good... and simple. As far as potluck dishes go, it's not too spendy. When I was at the store, I calculated that the cost was going to be about the same whether I bought the ground meat and made them myself or if I just bought them prepared. So, for time savings (also a part of being frugal) I opted for the prepared meatballs.

Cranberry Meatballs

1 can cranberry sauce
1 jar chili sauce
80 count bag of meatballs (2 1/2 pounds prepared, cooked meatballs)

Place cranberry sauce and chili sauce in sauce pan and heat until cranberry sauce has melted. Place meatballs in crockpot. Cover with sauce. Turn on high, stirring occasionally for 1 hour. Switch to low and cook for 2 - 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Serves up to 20.

Bulk Meat Saves Time and $

You know those big bags of chicken leg quarters sold inexpensively at the store? It's a 10 lb bag for about $5. Most people skip past them unless they are hosting a barbecue or have a huge family. I think they are overwhelmed by the size. Some frugal folks do purchase them and then repackage them in appropriate portions for their families and freeze them. But, what else can you do with these bulk bags?

Well, I discovered a few years ago a very nifty way to use them. I place as many as will fit into my crockpot, put the lid on and turn it to the "high" setting. I don't season them at this point... though you could salt and pepper them. I leave them to cook for several hours, until the meat is falling off of the bones. I drain the juice and fat into a container and debone the chicken. The juice and fat can be used to make chicken stock and frozen or poured over dog food (especially in the winter when they need extra fat).

The deboned chicken is then packaged. Some goes into vacuum sealed bags and into the freezer for later use and some goes into the fridge for immediate use. I use the pre-cooked chicken in a number of ways:
- Add barbecue sauce and make barbecue chicken sandwiches
- Place with cheese between two tortillas and grill for chicken quesadillas
- Use for chicken salad
- Use in recipes such as chicken enchilada casserole

The same concept can be applied to bulk ground beef. Simply brown the ground beef, drain the fat and juices (I pour it over the dogs' food) and repackage it. Then it's available for many recipes as well:
- One-dish-meal
- Spanish Rice
- Sloppy Joes
- Taco's (I like to go ahead and season some for tacos and label the package accordingly)

For just a few dollars, I've got the base for several meals and I've saved myself time. It's great for those days when we have a lot going on and want to grab something quick.

Making the Most of What you Have

I'm not so good at planning ahead when it comes to shopping and cooking. I tend to buy what is on sale in addition to what I need. Or, I'll buy the 10 lb. bag of potatoes when I only need a few at the time, because the 10lb. bag is actually cheaper than the 5 lb. bag or buying only a handful of potatoes. It's hard to pass up a good bargain.

The problem with this can be not using the food that was a bargain before it spoils. Then, it just becomes a silly waste of money. The extra potatoes from the huge sack are often forgotten until they are a little funky. We don't eat that many potatoes apparently.

To resolve this and make the most of my budget, I prowl through the fridge and pantry at least once a week (sometimes more often) and see what needs to be used. Yesterday, it was potatoes. I had about 1/2 - 1/3 of a 10 lb bag left that needed to be used before they found their way to the compost pile. In addition to potatoes, I found some celery, carrots and a bit of onion all left over from holiday cooking and still in good condition... for now.

Being a chilly day, it seemed perfect to make a big pot of potato soup. Yum! I'll include my recipe, but I have to say that soups are one of those things I don't really follow a recipe to create each time. Usually the first time I make something new I do follow a recipe. Then, after that, it becomes my own and I will adjust things here and there for what's on hand. That's what I did with the potato soup I made last night and it turned out wonderfully delicious!

Potato soup is a great budget stretching item. Potatoes are inexpensive. You can get enough to make a huge pot and feed a crowd for only a few dollars. It is very filling and can stretch a meal when served with sandwiches or as an appetizer. Personally, I like a steaming bowl with some crusty bread or rolls.

Potato Soup

3 tablespoons butter
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbspns flour
4 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cans chicken stock (or add chicken bullion cubes to water)
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper

I had about 3 times the amount of potatoes needed, so I used a bigger pot and adjusted the recipe. I used a bit of oil with the butter to stretch it. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions and garlic, cooking until soft. I added 1 carrot, peeled and sliced and 1 stalk of celery, chopped to this recipe last night. If you add additional veggies like this, do so when you are sauteéing the onions and garlic. Add flour to make a roué, then add potatoes and chicken stock to barely cover the potatoes. I had on hand some chicken broth powder that we picked up inexpensively at the local bargain store. I used water and about 2 tablespoons of the powder. Cook, covered, until potatoes are tender (15 to 20 minutes), stirring frequently. Add milk and season to taste. Milk was in short supply last night, so I skipped the milk and added more water to the cooking process. The flour had thickened the broth nicely and I used my spoon to mash some of the potatoes to make it a bit thicker. It worked fine without having milk in the recipe. Heat until thickened and creamy.

This made a decent pot of soup and we have some leftover in the fridge. I took a picture of some in the pot so you could see how yummy it looked... too bad we still don't have smell-a-vision. Today I'll freeze some of the leftovers for another day.

Enjoy!