This is a call to help from you, my gentle readers. In two weeks the Wednesday night Relapse Prevention Group which I lead is joining all the other support groups at my office for a Thanksgiving potluck. This sent the men into a greater tizzy than the thought of returning to prison (which, frankly, many of them don't seem too concerned about). So I thought I might help them out by coming up with a list of suggestions of things they might bring.
They are always complaining about lack of cash, and since none of them seem particularly domestic, and since most of them have to take cabs or buses or get rides since a condition of their probation is having their license taken away, I think the main criteria should be:
*inexpensive ingredients
*no prior cooking knowledge required
*easily portable
Ideas? Suggestions?
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3 comments:
Off the top of my head:
Mashed potatoes (potatoes are cheap, just boil and mash up with some butter and milk, salt and pepper)
Rolls (I usually support making things from scratch, but in this case I think going for those refrigerated ones you buy in tubes and bake would be fine)
Dessert -pumpkin or apple pie, either picked up from the store, or else homemade with a purchased frozen crust (homemade is better, but pastry is definitely daunting for beginners). Depending on where you are in the world, apples are in season and therefore inexpensive. Or if preparing the apples is too much, I think you can get canned pumpkin and the cans come with easy pie recipes. The frozen crusts come in a little tin, so if one is careful one should be able to take it on the bus without incident.
Carrots -lightly boil some carrots and then saute them in a little honey and butter to make a glaze (or even skip that part and just add butter/margarine and maybe a little parsley, salt and pepper). Super easy.
Broccoli, green beans, or whatever veg are in season in your area would be easy and good too. Just cook them up (boil for a couple of minutes), and add some stuff, like butter, lemon, garlic, olive oil, chives, etc..
Green salad. To keep costs down, he could buy iceberg or a head or two of romaine lettuce (should be less than $3), and add some inexpensive veg (onion, grated carrot, perhaps sliced mushroom). If he has oil and vinegar he can mix them up into a dressing, but if he doesn't he can just buy a bottle of no-name dressing from the grocery store.
Celery and onion stuffing. Take a loaf of cheap white bread and cut them into stuffing sized cubes. Let them go stale on the counter for a couple of days. Then saute some onion and celery in a pan and cook it. Mix that together with the bread, and add sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Put in a casserole and add some broth, dot butter on top, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Or just buy a package of the boxed stuff!
Cranberry sauce. Buy a bag of cranberries (4 cups or so) and add one cup of water and one cup of sugar. Put in a pot on the stove and boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 or 10 minutes (basically until the berries break and it looks like a sauce). Voila, cheap and easy.
that is when i jump in the car and head to costco!!!
Thanks, Monkey. Tracy-- I'm not sure people on Federal probation are allowed to get Costco cards. Something about shaky lines of credit...
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