Cooking Cheap and Healthy(ish) for 1 - Part 1

The last blog was food for thought, now some thoughts on food!

Moving to Panama has challenged me in a lot of different ways. It has provoked many sessions of self-reflection and evaluation. My blogs are very much a byproduct of the new life I am experiencing and my desire to share it with anyone willing to listen.

Not everything I deal with is something that shakes my moral compass. Many times I am just trying to adapt to this new city and lifestyle. A big change that has nothing to do with my geographical location is that I am living on my own for the first time in my life, and because of that, the concept of cooking and grocery shopping only for myself is a truly foreign concept for me.

Some Cuisine Context:

In my childhood home, there is a magical place that is my mother's kitchen. The pantry is loaded with pastas, rices, boxed and canned ingredients, some bought and forgotten long ago. The spice cabinet is several shelves stocked high with most any seasoning you could possibly imagine. The freezers (yes plural) contain meats, fruits, breads and more! (no one really knows what lies at the bottom of that icy parallelepiped). The refrigerator is typically full of fresh vegetables, cheese of all sorts, more seasonings and sauces, and wonderfully delicious leftovers. Also to be found in this kitchen is almost every earthly invention one could desire to supplement the cooking experience.

Present-day Provender

With the move to my apartment in Panama City came the daunting task of making my own kitchen. Now, the kitchen itself was architecturally in-place, what I mean to say is that I needed to stock up on supplies that would allow me to cook for myself without needing to buy for a specific recipe every time I went to the supermercado. What I have learned may be of use to those of you out there who are also trying to cook for yourself on a budget. However, I believe I have found some tricks that may be useful to even those who are cooking for more than one, but who hate wasting food. It has taken 2 months, and I am definitely still learning, but there are a few tricks of the trade that I have learned while here.

Part I of this series of Kelly's Kitchen is about how to prepare your kitchen:

Supplies:

I was lucky to find an apartment with a fully stocked kitchen. We have an oven, stove, microwave and toaster. The kitchen interments are nothing close to my mother's. However, I find I don't have many problems cooking for myself with these essential items:

1. Knives: a pairing knife and a bread knife

2. Wooden spoon

3. Pans: a small frying pan and both a small and large sauce pan have helped me from everything from eggs to stir fry.

4. Cutting board: if necessary a plate or a clean counter can work, but you will probably end up ruining both that way.

5. Can opener

Non-Perishables

1. Sugar & Spice

The big three are a must: Sugar, Salt & Pepper. But what can really help out a bland dish are having a couple other spices such as curry, oregano and some form of cajun seasonings. Cinnamon is another wonderful spice to have that can be used for sweet and savory dishes. Vegetable or chicken broth packets/bouillon cubes are another kitchen must.

2. Sauces

For sandwiches, salads and stir-fry I keep mustard, italian seasoning and soy sauce on hand.

What's great about these is that each one can also be used to make great marinades.

Tomato Sauce: Sometimes you just don't want to deal with making sauce from scratch. You can get pre made jars or bags of tomato pasta sauces, which are always on-hand. I recommend getting the most basic ones, that way you can add your own flavoring to it. Tomato sauce is great for pastas, poultry, pizza, salsa or soup.

*New to the list, to be added once I go to the grocery, will be boxed wine for marinating and sauces.

3. Oil 

I have yet to buy butter since I have been here. Olive oil is healthier, and I find it to be a better way to cook as it doesn't give as heavy of a flavor to your food. It also does not require a refrigerator, which is nice when you are only allotted one shelf in the communal fridge. 

4. Cans

Canned vegetables are great additions to fresh vegetables, pastas and other dishes. Canned fruit is good to eat just as itself. A good note is to save the liquid that the canned fruit comes in. I like to add it to the juice concentrate I buy at the store; it makes it last even longer and gives it a new and tasty flavor! Both are good to have in case you run out of fresh fruit or vegetables or they go bad. When I came back from a week in San Blas/Guna Yala, I had remembered to get rid of any perishable items, but I had nothing but rice and spices to eat for dinner when I got home. 

5. Grains and Pasta

Rice is one of the best things to have in a kitchen. It's cheap and lasts for awhile. Pasta is another good thing to stock up on to add a little variety to your meals.

6. Chocolate

I try not to keep too much chocolate around. Fun-sized bars or individually wrapped Dove chocolates are good to satisfy my cravings for chocolate but keep me from over-indulging (most of the time).

7. Peanut butter (and Jelly) and Crackers

If you are allergic to peanuts this is a bad idea.

I am not allergic peanuts and I love the stuff. It's great as a snack or as a quick lunch. Besides having bread, I like to have crackers on-hand at all times because it takes a lot longer for them to go bad. Peanut butter can be used in a lot of things to help you get some protein in your diet and for a nice flavor. You can use it in stir-fry, your morning oatmeal, or with fresh fruit. Add some chocolate for an extra treat, like this chocolate peanut butter "fondu" I made in the microwave. Great with pineapple!

The empty jar is also super handy as tupperware.

Save $ & the environment by reusing jars.
The peanut butter container is now my salt holder

The Perishables:

1. Vegetables

These are the most important in terms of keeping you healthy and from just loading up on the carbs meal after meal. The kinds of vegetables to buy are really a preference thing for everyone, but try to buy local and in-season. Lucky for me there are fruit stands near my house open every day. Garlic should always be on the list. Besides that, I like to buy onions, red and green bell peppers, tomatoes and carrots. Unfortunately spinach is not widely available otherwise that would be on the top of my list as well. Try to buy smaller onions and tomatoes and peppers. That way you can use a whole one each time you cook, rather than half of one and trying to keep it from spoiling in the meantime. 

2. Fruit

This is the best snack to have on-hand. Again it's best to buy local and in-season. Another trick that I am still learning is to buy different levels of ripeness, that way the fruit can last you throughout the week rather than having to eat it all the first day or wait 4 days before you can eat any of it. If you find the fruit is getting too ripe before you have a chance to eat it, cut it up and freeze it. You can use it for smoothies, in your yogurt, or just as a snack. Frozen cantaloupe is delicious by itself. It gets a bit of a sorbet texture after being in the freezer for an hour or so. 

3. Bread

I finally stopped getting sliced bread and took a note from the French. Baguettes are the way to go. Good for sandwiches, easy pizza, dessert, etc.

4. Meat

I don't eat a lot of meat, but chicken is one of the best things to add to any meal. Buy several pieces of chicken (or any meat) at once and freeze most of it, SEPARATELY. Separate the chicken into ziplock bags of however big of portions you will want at any one time. For example, I buy boneless chicken breasts and freeze them separately.

5. Cheese

Again, this is your choice, but I like to keep around Monterey Jack or Sharp cheddar cheese. Something with a kick but that is also generic enough to be used in a lot of recipes.

So now that you are set with you kitchen, stay tuned for the next installment of Kelly's kitchen 

when I talk about how to make the most out of leftovers.