Home cooking a resolution that's clearly in focus
KITCHEN ECONOMIST
A new year is full of I wills. I will lose weight. I will call my mom more often.
I will cook more.
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
In these tough economic times, that last resolution is the one that just might stick.
In fact, when it comes to our main meal of the day, cooking at home isn't a departure for most of us.
Americans have been cooking dinner at home more and eating out less since 2000, according to Harry Balzer, vice president of the market research firm NPD Group, which tracks people's eating habits. In 2008, Balzer says, we made 243 dinners at home.
"It's the thing we do," he says. And it's a trend we'd like to see continue.
Today we debut a monthly column on cooking on a budget, something many of us are concerned with in these days of shrinking 401(k)s.
We'll give you tips and recipes from cooking experts to help stretch your food dollar. We also want input from you about what works in your own kitchen; we'll print some of your tips, too.
The economy will eventually improve. Our hope is that you won't stop cooking.
There are those who take classes at World Kitchen in the Gallery 37 Center for the Arts just for kicks. They already know how to cook.
Then there are those, says instructor JoAnn Relf, who come because they haven't the first clue how to cook but need to learn. Relf is seeing a lot more of these people.
"Before, it was, 'I want to cook at home because it's healthier,' " Relf says. "Now, it's, 'I need to save money.' "
The first class of the year at World Kitchen, 66 E. Randolph, is at 6 p.m. Thursday. Titled "The New Economy," the class aims to show you how to "do more with a whole lot less."
Relf will demonstrate between eight and 10 budget-friendly dishes. As with all World Kitchen classes, students get to eat what they make. For $30, that's quite a deal. (For more information, call 312-742-8497 or go to www.city ofchicago.org/culturalaffairs.)
Relf will cook dishes that can carry through several days -- for example, a Sunday roast that begets Monday stir-fry and Tuesday tacos.
Even before she was making a living as a culinary instructor, Relf cooked this way at home.
For 15 years, she was an office manager at SBC. Five years ago, she took a buyout and enrolled at Washburne. She has been cooking with the city's Cultural Affairs Department since 2005.
But it wasn't until just a few months ago that she decided to open up her freezer and see what was really in there.
Bags of leeks and tomatoes. Shrimp shells and turkey bones. All kinds of berries. Roux, already made and ready for gumbo.
"I had too much," she says. "I freeze everything, and I was surprised at how much I had."
After tossing out three turkey carcasses and two bags of shrimp shells, she made a list of everything in the freezer and taped it to the outside. She did the same with her refrigerator and cabinets.
On Christmas Eve, Relf made quiche Lorraine. No need for a supermarket stop -- she had 3 pounds of bacon in her freezer.
Relf and her vegetarian daughter update the lists weekly. Now, she says, "my freezer isn't as full because I'm not constantly buying and putting stuff in there."
"When I first thought about doing this, I thought this was so anal," Relf says. "But it's stopped me from buying too much."
If you can name 10 items in your freezer without looking, you're in decent shape.
But if your freezer is stuffed with foil-wrapped packet upon foil-wrapped packet of vaguely shaped items, the time is right to take inventory (that goes for your pantry and refrigerator, too).
You might find that keeping lists like Relf works for you. Or you'll figure out your own system. Either way, it'll make your foray back into the kitchen that much easier.
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Starting Jan. 21: A monthly column by food marketing analyst Phil Lempert, a k a the Supermarket Guru, on how to be a savvy supermarket shopper.
Send your secrets to cooking on a budget to Food Editor, Chicago Sun-Times, 350 N. Orleans, 9th floor, Chicago 60654, or e-mail jfuller@suntimes.com.