bread making, Uncategorized

Getting An Unruly Overproofing Bread Maker To Cooperate

This post is for those of you who have a bread maker that consistently overproofs your loaves.

If you have read my posts, you know I love machines and love comparing one machine to another. I like kitchen machines as they tend to be simple and understandable, given my non-engineering scope.

I have been playing with bread makers since the late 1980s, and I have used over 20 machines during that time. In fact, I have quite a few of them as I write this. You may think I have spent a fortune on these machines, but I buy almost all of them used and have spent as little as $4.99 on a working one.

Bread maker components are all the same. That is not to say that they are all of the same quality; instead, all bread makers have the same types of components.

All bread makers have a simple display with a tiny microcomputer that controls things like kneading and baking times.

All bread makers have a heat system with a thermostat and one or two heating elements that are used for baking and sometime proofing.

All bread makers have a motor that turns a kneading paddle in the bread pan.

Add to this a case, buttons, and a bread pan, and you have a bread maker.

Manufacturers may program their bread makers slightly differently, so one brand may knead a bit more, another may use a different proofing schedule, and another may have a slightly different baking temperature or baking time. That is why one brand may make a loaf that is more to your liking. However, all should be able to make a decent loaf of bread.

Since most of my machines are used, I always run them through their paces when they are first acquired. I’ll make sure that they power up and that all of their buttons work. I then make sure the paddle turns and the heating elements warm. If all is good, I’ll bake a loaf of bread. Typically, I’ll use the white bread recipe from the machine’s instruction guide at the machine’s maximum loaf size. If that is not feasible, I’ll use a standard white bread recipe that I know has worked in a variety of machines. Surprisingly, the majority of these used machines continue to make excellent loaves of bread, even my 30-year-old ones.

However, on rare occasions, I run into a clinker. I got a used machine on Amazon for a great price. It worked perfectly, except the paddle wouldn’t turn. I was able to send that one back to the seller. And then there was this machine, a Cuisinart CBK-200 bread maker, gotten at an amazingly low price on eBay. It passed all of its preliminary tests with flying colors, but my test loaf came out hopelessly overproofed. Returning something to eBay is not as easy as doing the same on Amazon. This would be a good time to apply the scientific method and develop a solution.

The Cuisinart CBK-200 is a classic bread maker that has been sold for over 10 years, suggesting that there was something specifically wrong with this unit. Likely the reason that they were selling it on eBay.
I made this loaf using the 2-pound white bread recipe from the Cuisinart instruction manual. I was very meticulous, weighing and measuring all ingredients. The bread was made at home at around 70°F and with normal humidity. Bread was made using program 1, medium crust, 2.0-pound loaf. What a disaster!

Cuisinart has sold this particular model for over 10 years, so its overall design can’t be flawed. Therefore, the problem had to be with this machine. The solution was to find a workaround that was as simple and reasonable as possible.

I was a research scientist before I went to med school and am well-versed in setting up experiments. Experiments have constants, which don’t change, and variables, which do. Many experiments involve adjusting variables and recording the outcomes from those adjustments. In a perfect world, an investigator changes one variable at a time. However, I’m just trying to get a bread maker to make a good loaf of bread, not publish a paper. I don’t want to have to make a dozen loaves, each with a slight change. Besides, my funding director (AKA my wife) would disapprove of me wasting ingredients! I needed to be as efficient as possible.

If you make bread the traditional way, there are quite a few steps you can take to address overproofing. However, many steps in a bread maker are fixed and therefore constants. On this particular machine, kneading, proofing, and baking times, as well as temperature, are fixed and can’t be changed.

There were some variables that I could change, so let’s take a look at those.

Environmental

Excessively hot or humid conditions can affect yeast growth, leading to overproofing. However, my room temperature was around 70°F, and the humidity was within normal limits. This was a variable that I couldn’t easily change.

Baking programs

Like most modern bread makers, the Cuisinart has many preset programs for making various types of bread, such as white or whole wheat. Cusinart thoughtfully provides a timetable for these programs. Some did have shorter final rise times (which would reduce overproofing), but they also had changes to other parameters, like kneading times. I didn’t want to have to experiment with every bread recipe, trying multiple programs until I found the one that worked with that recipe, so that option was out.

Another possibility was to use the dough function, terminating the last rise early, and then using the bake function to bake the bread. Honestly, that would be more trouble than it was worth for me. I have other machines. If this one was going to enter the rotation, it had to be as easy to use as the other ones.

However, I was willing to try one option. I usually make 1.5-pound loaves instead of 2.0-pound loaves because the bread is the same length but shorter, and more “store-bread”- like. I knew from experience that sometimes a machine does a better job making a 1.5-pound loaf vs. a 2.0-pound loaf. I decided to give that option a try, and in this case, I used a Betty Crocker recipe that works in multiple machines. Here are the results:

This loaf looks better, but the top has collapsed, a sure sign of overproofing. The loaf color is good, but a bit dark. I made this loaf on the medium crust setting, but it looks like I used the dark crust setting. Could the thermostat be off? Perhaps the baking chamber is overheating during the proofing cycle. However, I have no way of changing that.
Here is that loaf sliced. Wow, many indications of overproofing, including the top of the slice being missing and huge air holes throughout. This bread was edible, but hardly ideal. Time to do another experiment.

Impact of Ingredient on overproofing

Every ingredient has an impact on the final loaf of bread. The good thing about experimenting with simple white bread is that the ingredient list is short. The only additional ingredient in the Betty Crocker loaves is a little dry milk powder. That may add some sugar, but it wouldn’t be the first variable I would test.

Flour

Bread flour works best, and I was using a quality bread flour. If the dough is too wet (slack), it doesn’t provide enough resistance to the CO2 gas bubbles and will overproof. However, I always check my dough during kneading, and it was fine.

My dough ball was smooth and slightly tacky. Just the way it should be.

Sugar

Sugar adds flavor and helps the yeast grow. Sugar could be reduced, but by how much? Also, sugar varies from recipe to recipe. I didn’t want to have to calculate a sugar amount every time I made a different loaf. How much should I reduce 2T of sugar? What about a recipe with 3T or 1/3 cup of sugar? Too complicated for me; pass on this variable.

Salt

Salt controls yeast, so adding a bit more should inhibit the yeast. But how much? Plus, I don’t want salty bread. I would consider adjusting salt, but it would be an option of last resort.

Yeast

Now we are talking. Yeast can be adjusted easily. Most advise a reduction of 10-25%. This recipe uses 2t of yeast, so I could easily change it to 1 and 1/2t (25% less). But heck, let’s make some other changes too. I had used instant yeast, which can be a bit more active than active yeast. For this round, I went with active yeast. Lastly, I changed the loaf color from medium to light to see if that would make a difference. I know, I know, I’m changing three variables at once. However, this would be my third loaf in less than 24 hours. I needed to be flexible. But what were the results?

Here is the loaf. It looks pretty good! Let’s see how it compares with the other 1.5 pound loaf that I made.
Much better! Look at the difference between the beautiful dome of the 1.5t yeast bread vs the loaf with 2t of yeast! However, it remains the same color even after selecting a light crust. Clearly, the temperature is a bit off, which is why the machine is overproofing. However, I can change the yeast variable and compensate for that.
This slice is just about perfect. Job done!

If your machine is overproofing, check the obvious things first. Is the room too hot or humid? Did you measure everything correctly? Is your dough hydrated correctly? Are you using a recipe that you know works across multiple machines, or one that was specifically designed for your machine? If you have done everything right, then look towards the ingredients. Many of them will impact the rise of the loaf. However, adjusting the amount of yeast is the simplest option. I also changed from instant to active yeast. I’ll continue that too.

In this machine, I think it is increasing the temperature slightly. I’m basing this on the fact that the light crust still looks pretty dark. I can’t change that, so luckily the yeast trick works.

Think like a scientist, bake like a chef!

Mike

frugal cooking, frugal living, Uncategorized

Save Money, Make An Anglo-American School Lunch For Dinner!

Inflation, the Trump tariffs, and the country’s general negative disposition have me a bit down. It is time for me to return to a simpler time, and what better way than with a nostalgic meal?

This idea started a few weeks back when the family was watching an episode of “The Great British Baking Show.” During that episode, the contestants had to make school lunch items, including “school cake.” School cake is a cake with simple white frosting, set in a pool of custard.

The cake was especially evocative for Julie, who spent a semester in England during her undergraduate days. She was housed in a dorm, and they often served school cake for dessert. She has talked about it ever since.

It would be interesting to combine her school-day favorite with one of mine, Sloppy Joes. Since I was going to make the combo for dinner. I decided to class it up just a bit by making the buns and the cake from scratch. However, I was completely uncertain about the custard, as I had tried to make some in the past and was told it was incorrect. Because of this, we found some Birds Original Custard powder at the World Market. I would use that mix for the custard sauce.

Naturally, it would be just fine to make this meal more simply by buying the buns and using a cake mix. However, I had the time, so I decided to go the homemade route.

Let’s go through the recipes!

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Recipe from Ourlittlebluehome.com

I made the dough in a bread maker using the dough setting.

I divided the dough into six pieces (I really could have done seven or eight) and formed each piece into a ball, which I placed on a greased cookie sheet. I slightly flattened the dough balls, covered them, and let them rise for 30 minutes. I then brushed each bun with egg wash. I baked the buns at 350°F (175 °C) for around 12-15 minutes until nicely browned.

Here are my buns. These were Will’s favorite part of the meal. I did an entire post on making hamburger buns on October 10th. You can find that post here: https://www.drmikekuna.com/2025/10/10/

Homemade Sloppy Joes

Don’t use the canned stuff. Making Sloppy Joes from scratch is super easy.

Recipe from NatashasKitchen.com

I’m using frozen ground beef from a year ago. However, because I vacuum-sealed it, the meat was as fresh as if I had bought it yesterday.

These are kid-friendly, simple ingredients. A small onion, 1/2 of a pepper (traditionally green, but this is what was in the fridge), and some garlic.

The sauce is equally simple: Tomato sauce, yellow mustard, a little brown sugar, and some Worcestershire sauce. Just mix it all up.

I’m using an electric Dutch oven, but you can use a pot on the stove or even a frying pan.

Brown the hamburger, then season it with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and cook for a minute, then add the chopped pepper and onion, and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Add the sauce mixture and bring the mixture to a boil, then down to a simmer for around 15 minutes. That’s it!

I toasted the buns in a toaster oven and heaped on the meat. I’m serving today’s meal with chips, but I also recall having these sandwiches with fries and sometimes tater tots. The Sloppy Joes were my favorite part of the meal.

And now for the dessert. I had tried to make school cake once before, but I had no reference point. I simply guessed. Today, I used Dame Prue Leith’s recipe, modified to a smaller quantity by the bakers at theviewfromgreatisland.com. This is a much heavier cake; it is more like a flat pound cake, but it was delicious!

Cream the softened butter, then slowly add the sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla and mix in.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between additions.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined

Pour into a greased 9 x 9 baking pan. The batter is very thick, and you will need to “maneuver” it into the corners of the pan.

Bake at 350°F (175 °C) for 22-30 minutes. Bake until lightly browned, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Wait until the cake has cooled completely and frost it with the simple frosting listed above. Apparently, sprinkles are an important part of this recipe; naturally, I included them.

I wasn’t certain on the custard, so I went with Bird’s, a British brand.

Here is the school cake. The custard (per Julie) is supposed to be as thick as gravy and warm. The school cake was Julie’s favorite part of the dinner.

Tonight, we went down memory lane and had a delicious, economical dinner. Everyone liked it. I will definitely be making it again.

Nostalgia rules, at least it did today!

Mike

Baking as science, frugal cooking, frugal living

Save Money: Bake Your Own Multi-Grain Bread!

In a recent post, I discussed rediscovering my long-neglected bread maker. In reality, I have several bread makers, as you can buy used ones for very little. I love to compare gadgets.  That is just me.

It was very inexpensive for me to make bakery-quality white bread using simple, readily available ingredients.  The bread was delicious, but my wife believes that white bread isn’t as healthy as other types of bread, and so I’ll try baking a multi-grain recipe.  Today I’ll be using a 20-year-old Zojirushi bread maker using the whole wheat setting.  It is very likely that the following recipe will work with any 2 pound bread maker that has a whole wheat cycle.

Don’t have a bread maker?  Shop second-hand stores or Facebook Marketplace.  You can buy bread makers for less than $10 at secondhand stores, and I have seen many in the $10-$30 range on Facebook Marketplace.  

Just a few bread makers that I saw on Facebook Marketplace.

The least expensive bread makers have a loaf pan that is more vertical than horizontal. The bread will taste the same; it just doesn’t look like a traditional loaf.  If you cut the bread perpendicular to the pan, you will get nice “sandwich-style” slices. Horizontal loaf pans make more traditional loaves, but the slices are pretty tall.  I’m using the Zojirushi today, because its two-paddle, long-pan design produces a horizontal loaf similar in size to the bread you buy in the store.  

If you buy any machine second-hand, make sure that the bread pan and paddle are included.  Plug the machine in and check to see if it powers up and the buttons work.  The majority of machines will work if they don’t look abused, come with a pan/paddle, and power up. I think you are best off with a machine that makes a 1.5- to 2-pound loaf.  However, one-pound machines will work too if you are a small family. Making a 2-pound recipe in a 1-pound machine will result in a mess, so make sure that you use a recipe sized for your machine. Often, you can download the instruction manual for your particular machine, which will include many recipes.

The loaf that I’m making today is from the Zojirushi instruction manual.  There are whole-wheat versions of multi-grain bread that can be found on the internet, but I thought I would start with a recommended recipe before attempting an internet recipe.  It makes a two-pound loaf.

This is the recipe that I used. Please make sure that you add the ingredients in the order listed for optimal results. This machine uses active dry yeast for regular cycles. However, some machines may require instant/bread-making yeast. Check your manual.

Like everything else, bread prices are rising steadily due to inflation and the Trump tariff taxes.  There are reports online of people spending $8 to $10 on a loaf of bread.  I’m in Chicago, and we are not that high as of November 2025.  However, multi-grain breads are still pretty pricey.  A Brownberry 24-ounce multi-grain bread is going for $4.99, and a half loaf of Lewis 12-ounce bread is $3.79 at my local store.

$4.99 for 24 ounces, and that is the sale price!
$3.79 for only 12 ounces of bread!

The multi-grain bread that I’m making today is 2 pounds, or 32 ounces.  I sourced the ingredients from Amazon, Costco, and my local market.  I did try to get good prices, but I would have saved significantly more if I had bought some ingredients, like the bread flour and 7-grain cereal, in bulk.  

Making the bread was beyond simple and took me less than five minutes to put together.  A few button presses later, and the machine took care of the rest.  It truly is a set-it-and-forget-it operation.  I buy my active yeast in a two-pound bag from Costco.  It is very inexpensive when purchased this way.  I keep it in the freezer for future bakes.  The only addition that I made to the recipe was ½ teaspoon of diastatic malt.  I read reports noting that a tiny amount of this ingredient helps the bread rise.

The only addition that I added to the recipe was 1/2 teaspoon of diastatic malt, which helps with texture and rise.

Here is a cost breakdown based on price per ounce of bread:

-The 12-ounce Lewis bread costs: $3.79   Almost 3 x more than homemade

-The 24-ounce Brownberry bread costs: $4.99 (on sale!) Almost 2x more than homemade

-My 32-ounce bread maker bread cost was only $3.60

It is not only more accurate to weigh your ingredients, but it is also faster and involves less cleanup.
All it takes is a few clicks, and the machine does everything else. I had to run some errands, and the bread was done when I got home.
Bread machines mix, knead, proof, and bake bread automatically.
A few beeps lets you know that it is bread time!
A beautiful loaf. Let it cool until it is barely warm; otherwise, you will rip the bread apart.
A crispy crust and soft interior. What more could you want? How about that it is significantly less than store-bought!

You simply can’t beat the quality and cost of homemade bread made with a bread maker.  The varieties of bread that you can make are endless, and it is possible to buy a used machine for next to nothing.  Why not give it a try!

Peace

Mike

images are my own or screen captures of images on websites. All are used for educational purposes only.

frugal cooking, frugal living

Save Money, Make Chili

Today was another beautiful fall day. The weather is cooling off in the Upper Midwest, making it a perfect time for hearty dinners. Today I will be making chili, an economical and delicious dinner, as we all battle inflation and the Trump tariff taxes.

There are as many ways to make chili as there are people making chili. Today I’ll be making some “from scratch.” However, if you want to take the easier route, you can buy a chili spice packet at your grocery store. My chili tastes better, but spice packets do a fine job, and they are inexpensive, especially if you buy the house brand.

Chili is another one of those dishes that is easy to stretch. If you have a bigger crowd, you can just toss in another can of beans. Let’s take a look at today’s recipe.

This recipe is from Budget Bytes.

A fall day’s chili

In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, brown a chopped onion, then add a heaping spoonful of jarred garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds. You can use real garlic (a few cloves) or powdered garlic (1-2 teaspoons) instead if you like. Don’t use garlic salt, as it is mostly salt.

Add around a pound of hamburger and brown it.

Prepare your spices: 1T chili powder, 1t ground cumin, 1/4t cayenne pepper powder (a little more or a little less depending on your taste), 1/4t garlic powder, 1/2t onion powder, 1/2T brown sugar, 1t salt, 1/2 t black pepper. Where T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon.

Add your spices and cook them for around 30 seconds. Then, add one can of chopped tomatoes, one can of tomato sauce, and one can of drained beans. Traditionally, kidney beans are used, but you can use any canned bean that you have on hand. I also added some canned corn for fun.

Stir, bring to a boil, and then turn the stove down to a simmer. Cover and cook for at least 15 minutes. However, I like to turn the heat down a bit lower than simmer and cook the chili for a couple of hours for maximum flavor.

Here it is, served with oyster crackers and green onions. Sour cream is also a nice addition. For those who like it super spicy, have some hot sauce on hand for “self-administration.” I’m serving it with some yeasted cornbread. That recipe is as follows.

Yeasted cornbread in a bread maker

Recipe from the Betty Crocker Bread Baking Cookbook

Add ingredients in the order listed to a bread machine pan.

1 egg plus enough room-temperature water to equal 1 and 1/3 cups.

1/2 cup or 170 grams of honey

1/4 cup or 60 grams of softened butter

4 cups or 480 grams of bread flour

2/3 cup or 100 grams of cornmeal

3 tablespoons or 25 grams of dry milk

2 teaspoons salt

1 and 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast. Make a little divot for the yeast.

Use the basic or white bread setting for a two-pound loaf.

The bread was immediately removed from the bread maker when the cycle completed, but it was allowed to rest in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it onto a rack. I then let it cool almost completely before I sliced it.

Here is the bread sliced. I sliced it thick and then cut it in half. It was a cross between corn bread and regular bread. It was slightly sweet and delicious!

This is another one of my posts, written to show those afraid of cooking how easy it is to make a delicious, inexpensive meal. You could skip the yeasted cornbread and use a quick-bread cornbread mix. Or, you could omit cornbread completely, as the chili can stand on its own.

Happy cooking!

Mike

frugal cooking, frugal living

Save Money, Make Homemade Beef Stew

We are entering fall in the upper Midwest, a perfect time for stew. The great thing about stew is that it is very flexible and can be made economically by adjusting the ingredients.

I have another reason for making stew today: I’m trying to clean out my freezer because I need the space. Once a year, I get a rebate check from Costco, usually for hundreds of dollars. That check has to be spent by the end of the year; otherwise, it becomes void. Traditionally, I have used this bonus money to buy Costco meat, which I’ll then divide into vacuum-sealed pouches and freeze. In fact, this stew meat is from last year’s haul.

It’s now November, so I’ll be going on a meat run soon. However, with inflation and the Trump tariff taxes, I may not have the bounty I had before. I hope my freezer cleaning wasn’t just wishful thinking!

Let’s get into this simple and delicious recipe. I’ll be using an Instant Pot type pressure cooker, but you could also make this recipe in a slow cooker or a Dutch oven. With that said, you would need to adjust your time and possibly liquids if you chose one of those methods.

Brown 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of stew meat in a little cooking oil. Browning isn’t necessary, but it seals the meat, making it more juicy, and adds depth of flavor to the dish.

Add 1 chopped onion. Your chopping doesn’t have to be precise, as the cooking process will dissolve most of the onion.

Add a heaping spoon of jar garlic. Naturally, you could use a couple of cloves of real garlic, or even some powdered garlic. I would not use garlic salt, as it is mostly salt, and could over-salt your dish. If you do decide to add garlic salt, use only 1 teaspoon, and add additional salt only when you adjust the seasonings at the end of cooking. If you don’t like garlic, omit it.

Add some spices. If all you have is salt and pepper, that’s OK. However, I like adding spices to my dishes for extra interest. Today, I’m using around one teaspoon each of thyme, parsley, and rosemary. I had one sad, broken bay leaf, so that is also going into the pot. I also added around one-half teaspoon of pepper and a scant teaspoon of salt. I’ll further adjust the salt and pepper at the end of cooking. Remember, once you add salt, you can’t remove it.

I then added about 4 peeled and cut-up potatoes, a big fistful of washed and peeled carrots, and about three stalks of celery. There are no absolutes here. If I only had two stalks of celery, that is what I would have used. If I were trying to get rid of more carrots, I would have added more. You get the picture.

If you have other vegetables, consider adding them. What are good choices? Green beans, peas, and corn come to mind. I personally love peas in soups and stews, but my wife has an aversion to them, so no peas for us! Fresh or frozen work, and if you want to bolster up your stew, you can even add canned veggies at the end of cooking.

My kids were over for brunch today, and two were remaining at dinner time, so I put them to work. One peeled and cut the potatoes; the other peeled and cut the carrots. Bonus for me!

I added one can of tomato sauce. This adds another flavor layer, but it isn’t required. If you don’t use it, you’ll end up with a traditional brown stew. If you go the tomato route, you can use what you have on hand. If you don’t have tomato sauce, you could add tomato paste or canned tomatoes. It is all good. I then added two cans of water. You need liquid when using a pressure cooker. Why two cans? Why not? I could have added one can instead. By the way, two cans are around 4 cups of water.

Here is another optional ingredient. I added a couple of tablespoons of cooking sherry to add acidity, which wakes up the dish. A little vinegar would do the same thing. If I were using vinegar, I would add around one tablespoon.

This is also optional, but almost a necessity in my book. I added a heaping teaspoon of beef bouillon. These products have a lot of salt, which is why I make most of my salt adjustments at the end of cooking. Remember, you can’t remove salt from a dish once it is there.

I pressure-cooked the stew on high for 40 minutes, and then let it rest for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure. Immediately removing the pressure can draw out the moisture from the meat and make it dry. This is the same reason you let meat cooked in other ways rest for about 10 minutes before carving them.

Here is the stew. I like my stew a bit thicker, so I mixed a heaping tablespoon of cornstarch with a little cold water and drizzled it into the boiling stew while stirring. However, adding a thickener is totally optional. This is the time when I would adjust the salt and pepper. The stew is ready to serve and is a complete meal. It fed four of us, and there is a lot left over for lunches. If cooking for one or two, leave out enough for an additional meal and freeze the rest for an easy future supper.

To make the meal special, I baked some delicious onion-and-cheddar bread in a bread maker. I have done quite a few posts on using a bread maker. You can often pick one up very inexpensively at thrift stores; make sure it powers up at the store and that it comes with the baking pan and kneading paddle. I love playing with gadgets and have more than one bread maker. The last one that I bought cost $4.99! It was pretty grubby, but cleaned up very nicely.

Here is the recipe for the Cheddar Onion bread. I made a 1.5-pound loaf and sliced it thick (after it cooled a bit). The recipe is from the Betty Crocker bread-making cookbook. I added 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning to their original recipe.

Cheese Onion Bread

3/4 C pluse 2 T of water

3 C Bread flour (you can also use AP flour)

3/4 C shredded Cheddar cheese

2 T Sugar

1 T Dry milk

2 t Instant minced onion

1 t salt

1 t Italian seasoning (optional)

1 and 1/4 t instant or active yeast (I used instant)

Note: T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon

Add ingredients in the order listed and use the basic or white bread setting for a 1.5-pound loaf.

This Cheddar cheese and onion bread is really delicious and is a perfect foil for any soup or stew.

Here is my $4.99 thrift store purchase. She looks pretty dirty, but she lit up when I plugged her in, and her buttons worked, so I took a chance.

Here she is after some elbow grease, soapy water, rags, and an old toothbrush. Now she looks brand new!

I’m writing these posts to encourage people to cook from scratch. Cooking at home will save you money, and it is much more economical to cook from scratch than to buy pre-made, highly processed foods. I taught my kids how to cook, and they make food and portion it into containers for easy meals during the week.

If you can’t stand leftovers, freeze your remaining food into meal-size portions to defrost for future use. Lastly, the more you cook, the easier it gets, so don’t be discouraged if your first attempts seem like too much effort.

Cheers

Mike

bread making, frugal cooking, frugal living, Uncategorized

Save Money, Make Sally Lunn Bread In Your Breadmaker.

Inflation and the Trump tariff taxes have moved me into savings mode and I’m returning to my cooking roots. I love bread, but artisan and specialty breads are expensive. Yet, their ingredients are relatively cheap.

Kneading homemade bread can be therapeutic for some, but for me the process is too time consuming. However, with a bread maker making bread is literally, “set it and forget it.”

Making a custom loaf of bread takes about five minutes of adding ingredients to the bread pan then pressing a button. Three and a half hours later I have a fresh loaf of bread. This has allowed me to customize a bread for a particular dinner that I’m making, such as making a herb bread to accompany a hearty stew. I’m not baking bread for every meal, but I do it often enough that the process has become routine.

My bread maker is accessible; I don’t have to get it out of a basement or the garage every time I need it. The same can be said for my ingredients which are handy; putting a loaf together is effortless.

As far as measuring ingredients is concerned, I do the easiest accurate method possible. Some recipes are listed by volume (measuring cups and spoons). This isn’t the most accurate, but if that is what’s listed, that is what I’ll use. The one exception is that I will always weigh the flour (roughly 125 grams/cup of flour) as measuring flour by volume is notoriously inaccurate. If I’m given a recipe by weight in grams, I will gladly pull out my food scale and use that. Baking by weight is not only more accurate, it is less messy as I can weigh everything directly in the bread machines baking pan. In this case I may still measure very light items, like salt and yeast as I find scales are a bit flaky when measuring very small amounts. No mater what method I use, making bread is very simple, even when making loaves that include a few extra ingredients.

Today’s recipe is for Sally Lunn bread from The Betty Crocker Best Bread Machine Cookbook.

Sally Lunn bread has a brioche quality, but it is a bit less sweet. Its texture and color are similar to brioche and it makes a wonderful sandwich or toast. In fact, I toasted some this morning for an open face PB J sandwich for breakfast. Delicious!

A word about keeping bread fresh. All homemade breads will stale much faster than store bought breads as homemade breads lack preservatives. I have tried a variety of methods and in general two works the best. If I make a specialty loaf that I know won’t be consumed at a meal I’ll freeze half of the loaf for a future meal. If I make a general purpose loaf I have found that a traditional breadbox works the best to keep the loaf reasonably fresh and mold free. In my climate I can still use bread that I made five days earlier, although I’ll likely be toasting it towards the end. Plastic bags will keep the bread softer, but mold usually appears in 3 days. The fridge tends to make the bread go stale faster, so that is a no go. However, if you don’t want to buy a breadbox and want to keep your bread out for a few days then do what my grandmother did. She would wrap her bread in a clean cotton kitchen towel.

Here is the recipe for Betty Crocker’s 2 pound recipe for Sally Lunn bread:

I put two eggs in a measuring cut and added enough water to make 1 and 1/3rd cups of total volume. Not shown: I also added to the bread maker 1/3rd cup softened butter.

I added 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of regular table salt.

Then 2 tablespoons of sugar.

The recipe calls for 4 cups of flour. I always prefer to weigh my flour. Four cups should be around 480 grams (120 grams/cup), but I’m finding that I have to add more flour when I check my dough ball in the machine. Now, I weigh a bit more flour, 500 grams (about 125 grams/cup). That has been working out well.

Finally, 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of instant yeast.

I set my bread maker on basic white bread.

The bread maker has beeped. Bread is done!

Always allow your bread to cool before slicing. I know that it can be hard to resists immediately cutting it, but that will result in a lot of torn and squashed bread.

Here is a slice. Rich, very slightly sweet, wonderful!

Happy bread making!

Mike

disaster preparedness., Uncategorized

There Are No Emergencies For Those Who Are Prepared

If you asked my kids for a dad quote, I’m sure that “There are no emergencies for those who are prepared” would be in their top five.  They have heard me say that hundreds of times over the years, and they have taken it to heart. 

I’m not saying that all problems are solvable. Instead, that quote conforms to my belief that many emergencies are entirely avoidable with a little planning and thought. Case in point, this weekend.

Julie and I had planned a long weekend getaway for the last few months.  Originally, we were going to go to Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. Still, those plans were dashed with the government shutdown and the knowledge that everything, including the bathrooms, would be closed.

Julie had just read the book James, which reimagined The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, telling the story from the enslaved man James’s perspective. Hannibal, Missouri, is only about four and a half hours from our home, so going there to see the caves, the town, and the birthplace of Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain, seemed like a good idea. 

We would travel and camp in Violet, my adventure van, a vehicle designed to handle whatever obstacle that came her way.

I bought Violet in 2018 as an empty Promaster high-top van and initially camped in her using an air mattress on her bare steel floor. Later that first year, I drove out to Colorado Springs and had Wayfarer Vans install basic camper structures, including a laminate floor, ceiling, and bed platform.  However, the real work on Violet has been ongoing, and a project shared with my friend, Tom, who is an expert builder. 

Violet was an empty cargo van when I bought her in 2018.

The idea was to create something more functional than a typical RV.  The plan was to design a vehicle that could be independent of society’s infrastructure. Violet is just that.  Every year, she has been modified as I learn more about her strengths and weaknesses.  

Here are some of the things that we have changed. In 2018, we installed 400 watts of solar panels on Violet’s roof. This year, I purchased and installed a much higher power alternator as a backup to charge Violet’s house batteries on cloudy days when the solar panels are insufficient. I installed a much more sophisticated navigation system and sound system.  Tom and I installed cruise control, and I installed a center console for more storage and to create space for atlases and camping directories.  We installed 12-volt lights in the ceiling.  I installed an advanced 4KW battery system to power everything in the cabin, along with a 2KW DC-to-AC inverter as a backup.  Tom and I installed a Wabasto heater that connects to Violet’s gas tank and can keep the cabin warm on wintery days.  Tom and I built an elaborate storage system under the bed that holds a fridge, pantry, storage boxes, and even a secret compartment.  We built a newly designed all-electric kitchen with a built-in induction cooktop and microwave oven.  The kitchen also sports a three-quart Instant Pot, a small air fryer, and an electric coffee pot, all powered by Violet’s solar panels/battery bank.  The kitchen countertop was made from wood we harvested from a fallen tree. We even installed a turntable so the front passenger seat can rotate to face the cabin, which adds extra seating.  And, by the way, when I mention “we,”  when talking about construction, I need to emphasize that I’m just the assistant, as my friend Tom is the man with the tools and knowledge.

We built an all-electric kitchen that is powered by solar energy.
From the bed looking towards the front of the van.

Violet is designed to function off-grid.  Cooking, refrigeration, heating/cooling, lighting, and entertainment systems are all powered by the roof’s solar panels combined with Violet’s 4KW house battery system. She carries water, but she can also purify stream water if needed.  She carries tools and emergency supplies.  She carries electronic test equipment and has advanced two-way radio gear, and she can even communicate via satellite in an emergency. She is built for adventure, and she has camped everywhere from a Walmart parking lot out east to a National Forest in Wyoming to the desert plains of Arizona. She has taken me to all parts of the eastern, southern, northern, and western states.

The “garage” side of the cabinet that we built under the bed.
The front side shows the chest refrigerator and the basket pantry. The kitchen to the right was replaced by our new design with a built-in induction cooktop and microwave oven.

I have upgraded her mattress, and sleeping in her is almost as comfortable as my home bed. The bed is very comfy for one, and acceptable for two due to space constraints. Violet even has a toilet, although the preferred option is to use external facilities. 

Despite all my preparation, things can still go wrong on any trip, and the journey to Hannibal was no exception. 

I usually borrow a sturdy ladder from Tom to wash off Violet’s solar panels before a trip. I did this two days before the Hannibal trip, and my roof inspection looked fine. The day before the trip, I was loading up Violet’s refrigerator with supplies. The fridge is right below Violet’s vent fan.  Then, too, everything looked fine.

We drove to the Mark Twain Cave campground, which was 2 miles outside Hannibal. By the time we got there, I was tired.  I told Julie that I was going to lie down on the bed for a few minutes and did so.  I looked up at Violet’s vent fan in the ceiling and saw that the Lexan plastic cover over the fan had been shattered.  This had to have happened on the day of the trip —how? The broken cover was a disaster as the fan is directly over the bed, and any rain would destroy the mattress.  I have a genuine fear of heights, and Violet is over 8 feet tall, but I needed to get up to the roof and fix the problem.  What to do?

Violet’s roof fan cover was shattered!

In 2018, I bought a collapsible ladder that was buried in one of Violet’s side compartments.  I can’t tell you how much junk I store in that spot, but it all had to come out so I could wiggle out the ladder. Without the ladder, there would be no way to patch the broken fan cover. Luckily, I had also stored some plastic sheeting and tape just in case of an unknown emergency. That would also come in handy.  I placed one piece of plastic over the fan base and closed the cover. I then put another piece of plastic over the cover and tapped it liberally. I did this standing on a fairly rickety ladder. I was grateful to be prepared to handle the emergency, but getting up high on a ladder was frightening.  However, I had no other options.  Survival tops fear in my book, so I just did it. I told myself that I could be afraid after the job was done.

A few other disasters occurred over the weekend, but they were minor compared to the shattered fan dome.  I’ll try to correct them today. Because we were prepared, we were able to complete our mini-trip and had a great time.  My favorite event was touring Mark Twain’s cave, which is very different from the other caves I have been in.  

I really enjoyed touring Mark Twain’s cave.

We decided to drive side roads along the Mississippi and started back on Sunday morning after we toured Mark Twain’s boyhood home.  We planned to stop for breakfast, but we could not find a restaurant along the way.  Planning once again came to the rescue. We got gas for the car and bought some coffee at the gas station.  We still had plenty of food left in the fridge, so we had a little in-van picnic at the gas station.  Our preparation paid off.

A gas station picnic.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and we arrived home around 7:30 PM.  I brought in the refrigerated foods and settled in. However,  within 10 minutes of being home, the power went out and stayed out for hours. 

It had been cold, and the weather was not suitable for going to the unheated bathhouse to take a shower, so a hot shower was a top priority on our return.  No power equals no lights.  What to do?  I keep battery-operated lanterns on every floor of the house, and one came in handy to illuminate our bathroom. We got our showers!  Then Julie told me her phone was almost dead, so I went back into the camper and bought her a large battery bank to charge it.  Additionally, I have a battery-operated radio, which we used for information and entertainment, so the whole situation became an event rather than an emergency.  

Showering by lantern light.

All of these things could have been “emergencies,” but they were not because of a little planning. There are so many simple steps anyone can take to plan for unforeseen events.  Have some emergency food and supplies on hand to stay safe during a winter storm. Make sure you have a light source and a portable radio with batteries. Consider your individual needs. Do you have infants?  Buy an emergency pack of diapers.  On medication?  A little extra supply wouldn’t hurt. Think about what problems you may face and have a plan of action.  Do you know how to turn off the main power to your house? Do you know where your house water valve is? 

Have basic tools in your car.  Have an alternate way to charge your phone both at home and in your vehicle.  Keep several simple first-aid kits: one for the house and one for the car. Wear appropriate clothing when driving so you are prepared if you get stuck. Keep a winter kit in your vehicle with some non-perishable food, a blanket, hat/gloves, jumper cables, and a flashlight.  Make sure you take your cell phone with you when you are out and about.. 

Run scenarios through your mind and come up with solutions to the problems they raise.  Your situation and place of residence will determine your needs.  You may not need an emergency winter kit in Florida, but you might need some hurricane supplies. 

Be prepared and turn emergencies into inconveniences. Remember, there are no emergencies for those who are prepared!

Cheers

Mike

frugal cooking, frugal living

Save Money: Make my Sister Carol’s Pot Roast Dinner

With inflation and the Trump tariff taxes, grocery prices are insane, and meat prices lead the pack, but sometimes you want meat.

I was surprised that the price of a pot roast was actually less per pound than some hamburger offerings. Yet, a delicious pot roast dinner feels a lot more special than a hamburger on a bun.

You can see that this boneless chuck roast is $7.99/pound, which is less than some varieties of hamburger.

Back in the 1960s, my sister Carol was having dinner at a friend’s house. Her friend’s mother made a pot roast, and Carol thought it was the most delicious pot roast that she had ever had. She felt so strongly about it that a few weeks later, she made it for our family. Those were the days when people were discovering using convenience foods, like condensed soups, as ingredients. It turns out that her friend’s mother was doing just that, and the pot roast recipe became an absolute classic because it was not only delicious, but it was also incredibly easy to make.

The other day, my son asked me if his girlfriend could come over for dinner. “Of course,” I said. Usually, I keep my cooking simple on weekdays, so my goal was to make a simple dinner that tasted great. I went back to my mid-century roots and resurrected Carol’s pot roast recipe.

I’m using a 3.5-pound pot roast.

In a bowl, mix up one can of undiluted condensed cream of mushroom soup with a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce. You can omit the soy sauce if you wish.

The mixture will look like this when mixed.

Add some oil to a heavy pot and brown the pot roast on all sides using medium heat.

When browned, remove from the heat and sprinkle on a package of dry onion soup mix. If that is too salty for you, use some sliced onions instead. However, using the soup mix is very convenient.

Pour the soup/soy sauce mixture over the roast.

Add your vegetables on top. I’m using some carrots and baby potatoes. You could use cut-up regular potatoes just as easily.

Cover and place in a 325°F (160°C) oven for 3.5 hours. For a smaller pot roast, use less time; for a larger one, use more time. The roast should be fork-tender.

When done, remove the vegetables to a serving bowl.

Here is the pot roast. It was so tender that I had to be careful when removing it to a cutting board. The juices make an instant gravy.

Plated up. It was really delicious. I’m serving it with a slice of “All American Beer Bread.” That recipe is coming up later in this post.

Today was a typical retirement day for me. I listened to some medical lectures to keep myself current. I then drove out to my friend’s worksite and brought him a cup of coffee and borrowed a ladder.

I was off to the self-car wash to clean Violet the camper van, and I needed the ladder to rinse off her solar panels. Afterwards, I felt an urge to go to Goodwill to check if they had any bread makers. Dear reader, you know that I have been posting about saving money using a bread maker. If you have followed my posts you likely realize that I already have several bread makers, so why in the world would I want another one? To be honest, it is just one of my quirks. I love machines and I love how subtle differences between manufacturers can impact outcomes. When you study machines you need machines to study (awkward sentence-I know).

Naturally, I wasn’t going to spend a fortune, but my eye spied a dusty, but cleanable bread maker from the mid-1990s for only $5.99! I had to have it, and I used it to make bread for today’s dinner. Of course, I scrubbed it from top to bottom before using it. Let’s go over that recipe, shall we?

Here is my $5.99 find.

The recipe that I used is from the book “More Bread Machine Bounty.” My only addition was to add 1 teaspoon of Italian Seasoning to give it more of a savory flair. The recipe is called “All American Beer Bread.” I used the basic (white) bread setting which worked out fine, but I probably should have used the whole wheat setting as the recipe was more than 50% whole wheat flour.

Adding the ingredients took all of 5 minutes. I weigh a lot of my ingredients because it is not only more accurate, but also less messy.

The final product. This was a 1.5-pound (750 g) loaf. The crust was very crunchy, and the bread was the perfect foil for the pot roast.

The crumb was soft and the crust was crunchy!

It is my goal to show others that cooking economical meals can be both simple and delicious. A pot roast may be a bit of a luxury for a weekday meal in 2025, but there will be plenty of leftovers for sandwiches. Additionally, the bread was very inexpensive to make, but it tasted like it came from a fancy bakery.

We all have to eat, and cooking from scratch is one of the easiest ways to save money. I mentioned in that past that one of my daughters makes scratch meals for 4 and divides the food into 4 containers for 4 days of suppers. This way she has a delicious hot meal within minutes of coming home from work. She rotates around 10 different menus to give her variety over the weeks and never feels deprived while saving time and money.

Dear reader, I would like you to consider the art of simple scratch meal preparation.

Peace

Mike

cooking, Electric Pressure Cooker, frugal cooking, slow cooker advice, Uncategorized

Save Money, Make Sausage Lentil Soup.

Another in my series to battle grocery inflation and the Trump tariff taxes. Live your best life!

The combination of inflation, ‘shrinkflation,’ and the Trump tariff taxes is increasing food budgets to out-of-control proportions for many U.S. citizens. Generations have been raised on convenient, ultra-processed foods that are tasty, easy to prepare, and inexpensive.  However, they are not only unhealthy, but they have also been steadily increasing in price. Food costs are now so high that individuals and families are struggling to afford enough for their weekly meals.

I was raised in the 1960s in a family of 7 with one parent who worked outside of the home. We always ate well because my parents practiced skills that they learned during the Great Depression. Convenience foods were available, but not to the same extent as they are today.  It was common to eat at home and prepare food from scratch.  

I found myself in an unusual situation, as I was retired yet still had children living with me.  Feeding them nutritious food was important, and I also wanted to teach them some of the money-saving skills that I learned as a child.

Cooking basic foods from scratch is a critical skill to have to survive inflation and the Trump tariff taxes.  It still “hurts” to go grocery shopping, but I know that there will be food on the table.  Currently, my one son is in grad school and at home, but my other kids frequently visit, and I’m always happy to feed them a meal.

In today’s post, I share a recipe for lentil soup with sausage.  This recipe is very flexible and can be made with a variety of sausages, including cut-up hot dogs.  Additionally, it can be made as a vegetarian dish by omitting the meat and using a vegetable broth.  It relies on lentils, which are very inexpensive, and whatever sausage you have on hand.  Unlike beans, lentils don’t require soaking, and they easily cook in this soup in under an hour.

I made this soup yesterday, and three of us ate to our fill.  There is a lot of soup left for lunches, and I’m certain I’ll have to freeze some in vacuum bags for future meals. This recipe makes quite a bit.

Lentils come in a variety of colors and varieties.  Although they have slightly different characteristics, they are all high in carbohydrates, protein, and fiber.  They are also excellent sources of some vitamins and minerals and are low in fat.

You can buy lentils in cooked in cans, but they are the most inexpensive when purchased dry.  All grocery stores sell lentils, and you can find them in the same area where dried beans are kept. A pound of dry lentils yields approximately 2.5 cups.  Many recipes use one to one and a half cups of lentils, and you can buy a pound of them for around $1.50, even less if you have access to a bulk store. 

One pound of dry lentils for only $155? That is a bargain!

Lentils are grown in the US, with Montana being the largest producer.  Inflation has impacted costs, but the Trump tariff taxes will have a less significant impact on their price. Unfortunately, the U.S. exports a lot of lentils and that will be impacted by retaliatory tariffs from other countries. This may negatively impact independent farmers.

I make this soup in a heavy pot called a Dutch Oven.  My Dutch oven is pricey, but you can find inexpensive ones online and at places like HomeGoods. Inexpensive Dutch ovens may have less durable enamel, but they will perform just as well as the high-priced versions.  Don’t have a Dutch oven?  Use a large pot with a lid.  Like many soup recipes, this recipe can also be made in an Instant Pot or slow cooker.  If you go those routes, you may need to adjust liquid levels, and you will need to adjust cooking times.  Simply Google for a recipe, for instance, “Lentil soup recipe for an Instant Pot” to get an idea of the changes you need to make.  Of course, you can use your found recipe, but I know this one tastes great, even if you modify it somewhat.

Sausage Lentil Soup

-Cooking oil

-1 pound sausage.  You can use more or less.  If you are using a smoked sausage, such as Polish sausage, you can slice it and add it directly to the soup.  However, I like to brown it as it adds to the flavor.  If you are using fresh sausage, such as Italian sausage, you need to brown it first.  Use whatever sausage you like.  I have made this soup with hot dog slices that I browned, and it was delicious.  Also, don’t get hung up on the amount of sausage.  I had a package of Polish sausage in the fridge that was 13 ounces, and it was enough.  

Use whatever sausage you have on hand. This package was only 13 ounces, but it was still enough to make a delicious soup.

-1 onion, any type, diced.  I had some red onion, so that is what I used.

-2 to 3 stalks of celery sliced.  A great way to use up limp celery.  Don’t have any fresh?  Use dehydrated.

-3-4 carrots diced.

-jar garlic, heaping spoonful.  Of course, you can use a couple of cloves of fresh garlic or even some powdered garlic.  This is home cooking after all. 

-heaping spoon of tomato paste.  Don’t have it?  Omit it.

-1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning.  You can also use Oregano, but cut down the amount to a teaspoon.  

-½ teaspoon of fennel seed.  You can omit this, but it really adds to the soup.

-1 or 2 bay leaves. You can omit these, but they add a subtle “something.”

-¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes.  You can omit this, but it really adds to the soup.  If you like foods to be “hot,” you can up the flakes to around ½ teaspoon or a bit more.

-1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.

-1 teaspoon salt to start.  Adjust this seasoning at the end of cooking.  Remember, you can always add salt, but you can’t remove it. If you are using chicken bouillon, start with even less salt, as bouillon is salty.

-28 oz can of tomatoes.  If using whole, break them up.

-5 cups chicken stock.  I only had four cups, and so I added a cup of water; all was good.  You can use vegetable stock, chicken bouillon/water (reduced your salt content), or even water alone if that is what you have.  Stock does add complexity and flavor. 

-1 and ½ cup dry lentils that you rinse in water (using a sieve or colander).

-Some greens like spinach, kale, or even salad greens (optional).

Dice carrots and onion, and slice celery.
Slice the sausage of your choice. If using a fresh sausage, remove the skin and brown it. Browning a smoked sausage is optional, but I think it adds flavor.
Soften onions in a little oil. Then add carrots and celery. Continue to cook for a few more minutes or until they slightly soften.
Add garlic and spices and briefly cook, being careful not to burn either.
Add the tomatoes. I also had an overripe tomato that I chopped up and added. No sense in wasting it just because it was no longer sandwich-worthy.
Mix it all together.
Add the broth (or water) and the sausage meat. I brown the Polish sausage for more flavor, but it is not required if the sausage is already cooked. You will need to brown fresh sausages, like Italian sausage.
Add the rinsed lentils to the soup.
Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for around an hour. You can simmer much longer than that if you wish. If you like a thick soup, you can remove 1/3 of the soup (minus the meat), blend it in a blender, and return it to the pot. I thought my soup was thick enough without blending.
I added some greens at the very end of cooking to add some color. Stir them in and they will wilt in a minute or two.
Ready to serve.
Plated and served with some oyster crackers and homemade bread. Delicious! You can add a drizzle of olive oil to the top of your bowl for extra luxury.

Soup is a great way to stretch your budget and there are many different soups so you will never tire of it. You can be very flexible when making soups and still get a good result. The more times you make any soup the more comfortable you will become in adjusting and substituting. Plus, soup is really easy to make. Once in a pot, it does its own thing and there is no problem cooking it for a long time as that often enhances its flavor.

Make some soup today, and save some money!

Enjoy!

Mike

cooking, frugal cooking, Uncategorized

Save Money By Making Potato Pancakes For Dinner!

Here is another recipe in my series to help you reduce food costs.

I grew up Catholic in the 1960s, and during that time, we had meatless Fridays.  Well, they weren’t exactly meatless, as fish wasn’t considered meat and could be consumed. I think of the Fridays of my youth as times that I dipped my appetite into being a vegetarian or at least a pescatarian. I have many fond memories of the non-meat dishes my mom would make on Fridays.  I never felt that Fridays were deprivation days. 

Growing up, I was told the Pope conspiracy story where some maniacal Pope made a pact with the fishing industry to promote the sale of fish.  That is a great story, but unfortunately, there isn’t any real data to support that conclusion.  Rather, the history of meatless Fridays seems to stem from the fact that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, so as a measure of respect, no warm-blooded animal could be eaten on that day. Fish, being cold-blooded, was fair game.

As we deal with runaway inflation and the additional burden of Trump’s tariff taxes, food has become increasingly unaffordable.  This is especially true for beef, where even a simple hamburger now seems like a luxury food. 

Potato pancakes are a dish that is prominent among many cultures, particularly among the various Eastern European groups with which I am familiar.  The ingredients are simple, and the results are delicious.  Growing up, we often had them as a Friday main course, served with applesauce or sour cream. I always liked dipping a piece of a potato pancake into the apple sauce, as the result was sweet/salty goodness. Sometimes, my mom would make them with fish sticks. By themselves or with fish sticks, we loved them.

When we make potato pancakes now, we still serve them with applesauce and sour cream. It is the end user’s choice which condiment to use.  Sometimes I choose both and alternate my dipping, one piece into the applesauce and the next into the sour cream. We add a side of bacon or sausages so the meal is no longer meatless.  However, it is still very economical.

Now, some people prefer whey protein bars or a tofu stir-fry over traditional foods.  I do not argue with your food choices.  However, I ask that you be respectful of mine.

Potato pancakes and many other meals served in the 1950s and 1960s would be considered “unhealthy” by current food gurus.  However, look at the obesity rates then and now. Most were of normal weight in the 1960s, and they ate those foods. Food fads are constantly being pushed on us.  No sugar, no fat, high protein, low protein, only raw foods, and so it goes.  Yet, we have been a nation that has moved from being mostly normal weight to one of being overweight, and we are now a nation of obesity.

I have battled obesity all of my life, and I have great respect for those who also deal with that affliction. There are many reasons for obesity in America. I believe that it is contributed to by the amount of engineered ultra-processed food that we consume, coupled with the high availability of food designed to be irresistible, and possibly by the high amount of sugar we ingest. Methods for losing weight have long been promoted. Drink some strange juice, eat only meat, don’t eat meat, fast, only eat soup, and so on.  Honestly, I have tried just about every diet to lose weight, and some of them do work.  The problem is that eating a diet that restricts entire categories of food is impossible to maintain.

My current view of “healthy eating” is not a radical plan that involves eliminating food groups. Instead, it is simple-minded.  I try to limit my intake of ultra-processed foods and aim to eat a diverse range of foods.  Additionally, I try to reduce snacking and cut back on the amount of packaged foods I eat.  Unfortunately, I’m still a sugar junkie (I’m doing my best). Lastly, I attempt to limit my eating to three meals a day, with a rare small snack around 4 PM, only if I’m feeling extremely hungry. 

I find that if I eat a lot of packaged foods or diet foods, I’m starving an hour later.  If I eat traditional foods, I’m satisfied until the next meal. I would rather eat a smaller portion of a food that I enjoy than a larger portion of some concoction with lower calories that tastes like it was manufactured at DuPont Chemical. 

Beyond being real food, potato pancakes are incredibly economical. The ingredients are simple, and most households have everything on hand. My mom would spend a lot of time shredding potatoes with a box grater; however, I use a food processor to shred both the potatoes and the onion. I’ll start with the shredding disc to shred and then use the “S” blade to turn the shredded potatoes into pulp. This is a speedy process. 

After I initially shred the potatoes and before I use the “S” blade, I use a colander to press out as much liquid as possible from the potato-onion mixture.  This results in a better product.  However, at times, I’m lazy and skip this step, and still get acceptable pancakes. However, the extra water in the mix will result in more splattering when you fry them. 

One of my kids prefers chunkier hash-brown like potato pancakes, which can be achieved by only shredding the potatoes.  However, I prefer more traditional potato pancakes. An egg or two, a little flour, garlic, some salt, and pepper, and your batter is ready to go.

Add some oil to a hot pan, drop in the batter, and use the back of your spatula to press it into a pancake. Cook one side until browned.  Turn the pancake and repeat…done! I’ll toss our pancakes into the oven at a low temperature (as close to 200°F as your oven will allow) to keep them warm so we can all eat together.  You can use your regular oven, but I prefer a toaster oven because it is more energy-efficient.    

Here is the recipe.

Simple Potato Pancakes

4 large potatoes or equivalent

½-1 medium onion

2 eggs

¼ cup all-purpose flour

½-1 tsp. salt or to taste

1 heaping tsp. of jar garlic (you can use real garlic or powdered garlic if you wish).

¼ tsp. black pepper or to taste

  1. Using a grater or food processor, shred the peeled potatoes and onion.
  2. Place the grated mixture in a colander and, using a paper towel, gently squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
  3. Replace the shredding disk on the food processor with the “S” blade.  
  4. Return the potato/onion mixture to the food processor and use the pulse control until you have a slurry with some chunks remaining. 
  5. Transfer the contents to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients, then mix them all together.  You may need to adjust the flour slightly to achieve a lumpy pancake batter consistency. 
  6. Heat some cooking oil in a pan and drop in dollops of the potato mixture. Flatten into pancakes using your spatula (pancake turner).
  7. Cook at medium heat until one side is brown, turn the pancakes over, and repeat.
  8. I’ll turn my toaster over to its lowest heat setting (a bit over 200°F) and transfer the cooked pancakes to an aluminum foil-covered dish, so all the pancakes are hot when served. 

Served with a side of bacon, applesauce, and sour cream, this meal is truly delicious and satisfying.  

Peeled potatoes were shredded along with the onion. I then squeezed out as much liquid from the mixture in a colander. I replaced the food processor’s shredding disc with the “S” blade and pulsed the mixture until it resembled the texture in the photo above. I put the potato mixture in a bowl and added flour, eggs, and seasoning.
When it is all mixed, it will have the consistency as above. You may need to adjust the flour a bit.
Add dollops of the batter to hot oil in a medium heat frying pan. The top left pancake has been flattened with a pancake turner (also known as a spatula). I’ll do the same for the remaining three in the pan.
When one side is brown, flip it over and repeat the process on the other side. I keep my potato pancakes hot by placing them in a warming oven as I go. That way, everyone gets hot pancakes, and we can all eat together.

Bon appetite!

Mike

Random thoughts and my philosophy of life.