“Mom, Michael says that cooking is for girls,” My 9 year old son shared as he came in from playing with the neighborhood kids to cook dinner. 

“What do you think?” I asked, wanting him to to express his feelings on the subject, especially in light of the boy’s critical remark.

“I think he’s going to be very hungry when he grows up,” my son says. And after we laugh at the remark, he explained his thoughts – that there’s not always going to be a time when mom or a girl is going to be around to cook for him. And he’d like to eat. 

The whole situation was good for my son to figure out what he truly thought about boys cooking. It was the first time he had really encountered any opinions that boys shouldn’t learn to cook – that it is a girl’s job.  

But it does bring up a question, as moms I think we should ask ourselves: “Should we teach our boys how to cook?” 

It takes more work to teach our kids to cook than to do it ourselves. And yes, Cooking is traditionally “for girls”. Even in today’s “equalized” world, mom is the one responsible for cooking and feeding the family.  But yet many chefs are men.

My son cooked his first pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving 2008

I come from a family culture where it’s not unusual for the men to cook. Though I have never seen my dad cook outside the grill, one of my uncles spent time as a chef and is a wonderful cook. And, I learned a great deal about cooking, baking, and canning from my grandfather, who is the least ”girly” person I know. 

Personally, I’ve required all my kids  to be kitchen helpers, and we’ve done cooking activies together as a family. My son’s favorite memories are those when we all cook together – like the few times we’ve canned or for holidays when there’s so much to cook, we split up the jobs.

Last year when I gave my oldest daughter a day to cook dinner for the family, my son and both his younger siblings wanted their own day to cook. I was almost out of a job.  It became a time to learn to cook a meal that not only they like, but would also please the other members of our family. A practical on thinking of others and feeling that pleasure of serving a meal that others enjoy.

But this is our family. Where do you fall in on this? Do you think boys should learn to cook? Why or why not?

Please leave a comment. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

…Shannon

So far in this series on lowering the cost of meat in your grocery budget, I’ve covered my three key strategies:
- Knowing my buy price
- Buying in larger quantities, and
- Doing the prep work one time.

In the last post, I shared the simple method I use for ground beef and ground turkey. The principles are the same with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but it does require a little more prep work.

Again, my goal is to handle the meat once, usually with a day or two of buying it. That way, when I’m ready to cook, I just pull a bag out of the freezer, and either cook it (if the dish allows) or defrost it so I can cook it the next day without any extra prep work.

My husband and I have been using this method since we were first married, when it was just the two of us. Then a meal-size package was only two peices of meat; now it has to contain enough for six of us. But the methodology is exactly the same.

Preparing Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breats for the Freezer and Future Meals:

To start, I gather up my tools:
- the platter of chicken
- quart-sized,  Ziploc freezer bags
- kitchen shears (scissors)

Kichen shears, chicken, and freezer storage bags - all ready to go.

For the storage bags, be sure to use Freezer grade bags. After trying multiple different brands, I’ve chosen to stay with Ziploc, but if you don’t have them available or you are not using freezer-grade bags, be sure to double bag your meat so you don’t get freezer burn.

Also, kitchen shears (scissors) are a must! Trimming chicken with a knife is a major pain (in my opinion). If you don’t have a pair, I highly suggest investing in some. They are indespensible for preparing chicken and other types of food.

Also, if you don’t like to handle raw meat, you might want a pair of sterilized rubber or latex gloves.

And as always, be sure to follow proper food handling guidelines, especially when working with raw chicken. My rule is that no one can do the prep work with me unless they wash their hands before and after touching the meat. And they can’t touch anything else while working with the meat.

For each piece of chicken, I do two things:

1.  Trim all the fat and gristle off using the kitchen shears. I am not gentle. And I probably chop off more than most would. But I save all the trimmings for making chicken stock later and/or for pet food.

Trim the fat and gristle from the chicken breasts

2.  Cut the chicken breasts into serving size peices. Now that there are six of us, I have different size peices for different members of my family. But remember a recommended serving size is not a whole breast of chicken; it’s 3 oz or the size of a pack of cards. Most chicken breasts can be cut in half or even thirds to get good sized chicken.

For thick peices, I’ll also use the scissors to butterfly cut the thick parts so that each peice is of similar thickness.

If stir fry chicken is on the menu, I’ll cut up a breast or two into stir fry sized strips.

And if chicken strips are on the menu, then I’ll do the same – cut some into the size I use for chicken strips.

Cut the chicken breasts into serving size pieces

Then I bag up the chicken into meal-size servings. So each Ziploc bag contains exactly the amount of chicken needed for one meal. For our family of six, a tray of chicken usually yeilds 3-5 meals (bags), plus a bag of trimmings.

Marinade can also be added before freezing

When you are done you’ll have several meals worth of chicken and one bag of trimmings for stock or pet food later.

Ready to freeze and cook later

To save freezer space, flatten the bags and stack them in the freezer.

Flatten bags fit better in the freezer

 
I like to have a consistent place in the freezer for each type of meat (poultry vs. beef vs. trimmings for stock). But if you don’t have a system like this in place, be sure to label the bags with a permanent marker (don’t use water based, it won’t be readable later).

Now, all I have to do  is grab a bag and throw it in the heated pan and start cooking.  This really works well for baked chicken dishes, stir-fry, and sauteed chicken.

For fried chicken or breaded chicken, or marinaded grilled chicken, I’ll pull the bag out the night before and let it defrost in the refigerator. Then it is ready to go the next night.  And, if you have the marinade in the bag already, all the marinading is being done during the defrosting. (works wonders and saves a ton of prep time.)

So, if you aren’t doing something like this, I highly recommend giving it a try.

Other Posts in This Series:

Saving Money on Groceries: Meat

Save Money on Groceries: Meat – Part 2

Previously, I shared one of the key strategies I use to save money buying meat. But there are two more keys strategies I use to keep our meat grocery costs low: 1) how much I buy and 2) when I do the prep work.

Using these strategies, I not only save money on groceries, but also in eating out, and in time it takes to prepare meals.

Basically, when meat, especially boneless, skinless chicken breasts or ground meat, is on sale at my buy price, it usually is in large quantities (sometimes called family-size or bulk packs). So I buy as much as I can afford or that meets the purchase limit.  

For example, this week, boneless, skinless chicken breasts were on sale for $1.47/lb – definitely below my buy price, but with a purchase limit of two. So I purchased the two. Sometimes I’ll go back on another day and buy the limit again. 

So right now there are two trays of chicken breasts in my refrigerator. Now I what I do, is within a day or two of buying the meat, I’ll take 15-20 minutes and prepare it all into meal size packages and freeze it.

My husband and I discovered this tactic when it was just the two of us; and we’ve been doing it for the last 15 years – with chicken, with ground turkey, and with ground beef (our staple meats). Granted the size of our “meal-size” package has changed over the years as we grew from us the two of us to six of us; but the process is exactly the same and the savings both in time and money is significant.

For ground beef or turkey, I simply  break the bulk or family size pack  into meal size chunks, and put each chunk  into a quart-size, Freezer Ziploc bag. I press it flat to save space in the freezer. Then, we squeeze out the air out of each bag and seal them. And finally, we nealy stack them in the freezer, in an area I’ve designated for that type of meat. 

meal-sized packages of ground beef, stacked in the freezer ready to go

When I need meat, then I just pull a package from the freezer and put it directly into the pan. And, it’s the exact amount that I need with no other prep work involved.
 
Next in this series, I’ll show how I process boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It takes a little more work than ground meat, but makes cooking with chicken very fast and very simple!

Other Posts in This Series:

Saving Money on Groceries: Meat

Saving Money on Groceries: Meat – Part 3

Meat. It’s a centerpiece of most American meals, including ours. While at one time I was a vegetarian and now only eat small amounts of poultry, my husband is a meat eater. Every meal needs to have meat. But being on a budget, sometimes a very tight one, I’ve had to learn some strategies to keep our meat costs down.

First off, we have our staple meats:
- Whole chicken
- boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders
- lean ground turkey
- lean ground beef

And then we have our splurge meats:
- beef roast
- beef tenderloin (filet mignon)

Now others I have talked to about this think I’m slightly crazy to buy the lean ground meat and the boneless, skinless chicken, but I have found that by strategic shopping and buying the meat on sale  or from the grocery store that offers the best price, I get more actual meat (vs fat & bone) from which I can make a wide variety of dishes; My family is eating healthier; and I can still make my budget.

For chicken, both whole and boneless, skinless, I watch the sales. Grocery stores (in the U.S. anyway) have their sales on about a 12 week cycle. And I know that there’s a surplus of chicken in the Spring and the Fall, so prices are consistently low for a few weeks during that time.

I also know what my “buy price” is per pound. A buy price is the price that I know is low enough for me to buy it. For example, if I know that the stores around here usually carry boneless skinless chicken breasts for $2.99/lb or more. But when it goes on sale, the price is usually $1.99/lb or less. So when I see boneless, skinless chicken breasts  for $1.99/lb or less then I know it’s time to stock up.

Now, each area is different and each item (and family) has a different buy price. But by paying attention to what we are buying and paying, we’ve been able to strategically lower our food bill, especially for meat.

In my next post, I’ll share how I  prep meat for the freezer so that when it’s time to cook, I don’t have hardly any prep time.

Other Posts in This Series:

Save Money on Groceries: Meat – Part 2

Saving Money on Groceries: Meat – Part 3

For weeks I’ve been craving chili. Because I can only eat Turkey or Vegetarian chili, my options in the grocery store are limited and unfortunately not as healthy as I would like.  So I gave in this week and made up a big batch of chili in my Crock-Pot (slow cooker).

I have several recipes, depends on what I have on hand. But this Turkey Chili recipe is one that nearly everyone in my family of picky eaters likes. Adapted from a Tex-Mex Chili recipe found in the Hands of a Child‘s Texas lapbook project pack, it’s a little spicier than my mild crew usually eats, but with sour cream and shredded cheese they really like it.

I make chili in as big of a batch as I can (doubling or tripling the recipe) and then package it up in snack and lunch sizes and keep it in the freezer for quick meals later on. (See below for some serving ideas.)  If I make a big enough batch, I’ll also freeze another meal size portion and have it on hand for those nights that I’m too busy or tired to cook.

Turkey Chili

1 pound lean ground turkey* (I use 93% fat free)
2 14 oz cans red kidney beans**

1 cup chopped celery (optional)
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped green pepper (optional)
½ cup or more of shredded or minced carrots (optional)

1 pound can of diced or pureed tomatoes
10 ounce can of tomatoes with green chilis (Mexican style or Rotel work)***
1 can of V8 vegetable juice (or another brand that is available to you) (optional)
6 ounce can of tomato paste

3 cloves minced garlic
4 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1. In a sauce pan, sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent. Then brown meat with the onions.
2.  Pour mixture into slow cooker.
3. Add all other ingredients and mix together.
4. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

Serving ideas:
- Serve in a bowl with shredded cheese and sour cream available for toppings.
- Serve with corn bread
- Serve on top of baked potatoes with cheese and sour cream.
- Serve on top of steamed rice
- Use to make chili nachos with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, and olives.

Substitutions:
*Instead of ground turkey, you can use 90% or better lean ground beef. Try to stay with the lean ground beef to keep the fat content down.

** I’ve also used ½ kidney beans and ½ pinto beans with success.

***If you can also use a 10 ounce can of canned tomatoes with 1 small can of chopped green chilis.

A note on optional items:
If I have these itmes on hand, I put them in, especially since they boost the nutritional value. But I have children who don’t like to recognize hunks of vegetables in their food, so I cut these as small as I can or shred them. By the time they cook down, they aren’t recognizable and my crew will eat them with no problem.  (They don’t care that the vegetables are in there, they just don’t want to see them when they are eating them – go figure)

Cost savings tips:

• Buy dried beans and make them up ahead of time and keep them in the freezer for later use in Chili and other dishes.

 

• Buy lean turkey (or beef) on sale and/or in bulk, package it in the sizes you need, and keep in freezer for later use in chili and other recipes. I’ve found by shopping around that Sam’s Club in my area has the best price on lean ground beef and lean ground turkey.  In another area we lived, we had another store that offered 10lb bulk packs of lean ground turkey for a lot less than buying it in smaller amounts.

 

• If you have fresh tomatoes in your garden, use these instead of canned tomatoes. They add wonderful flavor, especially if you mix the types of tomatoes.

 

• Buy canned products when they are on sale and, if you have them, with coupons. Then keep them on hand for when you are ready to make up a batch of chili. (If you don’t have a pantry, try storing canned goods in unused spaces, like under beds.)

 

• If you don’t have the spices on hand and don’t usually use these particular seasonings, look for them in bulk spice bins and buy only the amount you need.