Monday- getting short

We finished the corned beef yesterday, with corned beef hash. We had enough to have lunch today.  Three meals from 2 1/2 pounds of corned beef, not to bad.Tonight we had a ham slice, a squash;that I bought the beginning of week two, biscuits and kale. I still have 2 chicken thighs  and a half pound of hamburger that I got in the Ebox  in week one. ( I froze them.) I will have to see what is at the food bank tomorrow to figure out the next three days.

I have most of Thanksgiving  figured out the turkey  will be bought with food stamps. I have enough potatoes from the food bank. I also got cranberries from the food bank. I can make stuffing with bread I got at the food bank. I  also got yams from the food bank. I got a pumpkin from the food bank. I am still short, something green; beans,brussel sprouts or the like, peas would do. You will notice that most of the food came from the food bank. Thanksgiving  would not have been possible with out being able to use the food bank. I am still short on appetizers and something to drink. We usually have Martinelli’s. I would have to buy a case. So instead I am making Cranberry Shrub. Shrub is a vinegar drink that was made in colonial times. I will include the recipe at the end of this blog.

I have used my recipe boxes ( I have three) a lot this month and I have also used several cook books. The  2 that I have used the most are; “Cooking in Everyday English”, by Todd English and the “More-with-Less Cookbook ” by Doris Longacre. Cooking in Everyday English is a new cookbook but he uses fresh vegetables and lots of his meals are vegetarian. I  got his cookbook at the library and liked it so much that I bought it. I have not had a bad recipe out of this cookbook. The More-with-Less cookbook was first published in 1976 and I have used it for many years, it is a great book if you are trying to eat cheaply. It contains lots of recipes for soups and casseroles and uses little meat.

Cranberry Shrub:

2 cups cranberries

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 cup Sugar

Heat vinegar and cranberries on sauce pan until simmering. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and put mixture in non-reactive bowl, cover and leave on kitchen counter for 72 hours.

Strain out cranberries and reserve vinegar. Throw cranberries away. Heat vinegar with sugar until dissolved and simmer 5 more minutes. Cool, store in refrigerator in a glass jar. This keeps forever.

To use: add one or two tablespoons to a 8 oz glass of water, tonic or soda water. Makes a beautiful pink, refreshing drink.

You can use almost any fruit in this mix. I have used rhubarb, ginger and raspberries and of course cranberries.