The start of wise and cheap

When I was growing up I did it poor and surrounded by loving family.  We ate what was available from the local farmer's market - because we lived in farmland and that was the only market around.  Everything was fresh and cheap and bright and colorful - like a food carnival to a little kid.  Not a lot of pre-packaged food to be had back then except twinkies and other Hostess goodness, occasional bottles of King syrup or Aunt Jemima for pancakes.  I grew up eating an obscenely healthy diet.

Mom would get ingredients and make food from her homeland, Korea, from scratch. I learned to eat kimchee very young.  She would cut it into little strips and swish it a little in water, had all the flavor but lost some of the heat.  The swishing got less and less as I got older and now I can eat blazing hot without batting an eyelash.

Dad insisted on middle America food which she eventually learned to make, and very well I might add.  I have my Grandma and my Aunt Ellie to thank for that.  Good, basic stuff. Meatloaf was a favorite, fried chicken and green beans, a lot of fried chicken with green beans.  Most meals came with mashed potatoes and gravy.  The gravy was phenomenal and a roux was never used back then. Mom used to use one of those shakers from the instant breakfast packages to get the lumps out of her water and flour mixture by shaking the crap out of it - worked wonders.

My dad was in the army, met my mom when he was stationed in Korea back in the 60's.  His best friend married my mom's best friend and set them up.  So dad is tall, blonde haired (well now it,s grey, dad says it's just the blonde coming back) and blue eyed.  Mom is short, at the time had black hair and was beautiful.  Dad was pretty goofy looking with his sticking out ears and lanky frame.  How he scored Mom is still beyond me, but they've been together now since 1964.  Not too shabby.

I started this blog because I watched a show one time called "Chopped" in which contestants opened a basket of ingredients and made what they could out of it to win money.  I could do that show, I live "Chopped" pretty much every day.  I have five people I have to cook for every day and when I go shopping I try to buy only things that are on sale at the time.  You learn to get very creative because you never know what's going to be on sale at the time.

I'm making teriyaki tonight. I haven't made this in a long time but I saw the beef on sale at my local grocery store and I had to get it.  It was paper thin shaved beef in shrink wrap packages.  I'm guessing it's normally used for carne asada or some such.  I have other ideas.

We'll start by marinating it in soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, grated fresh ginger (I also freeze it depending on how much I have on hand), pineapple juice, black pepper, a pinch of powdered dashi stock and chopped spring onion. Will let that sit for about half an hour, then stir fry over frighteningly hot heat with a little more sesame oil and then serve over rice - tonight it's short grain white rice for a change. Will serve sauteed spinach and onions on the side. Simple, delicious and no one really dislikes it - and oh boy we have some picky eaters to contend with.

I'll try to start posting pic soon.  Right now I don't have a digital camera, just a phone that pretends to take pictures.  The latest and greatest  camera at Walmart, you know the one on the cheap electronics aisle that goes for 29.99 (think Earl Scheib's voice for a moment) takes better pics.

So be patient, something fresh and cheap and bright and colorful forthcoming.