Welcome to Slo Coast Cooking!
by Elise Griffith
We're very fortunate to live in an area where there's an abundance of fresh foods available throughout the year, much of it produced here in SLO County. From Cal Poly eggs to See Canyon apples, Arroyo Grande cabbage, Harris Ranch beef, or locally caught seafood, we have a wide variety of choices for delicious, healthy meals. California's coastal cooking is—in one word—FRESH.
Cooking Begins at the Markets
Many prefer one-stop shopping for groceries, yet prices vary widely from store to store. The same week Von's advertised fresh cantaloupe for 69 cents per pound, Cookie Crock Warehouse offered it for 29 cents per pound. Albertson's advertised five-pound bags of potatoes that week for $3.49 per bag, while Spencer's Fresh Markets had five-pound bags of Russets for 99 cents. Meanwhile, Albertson's had whole fryer chickens for 99 cents per pound and the Farmer's Market had gorgeous, huge bunches of leaf lettuce for 75 cents each. Be willing to change the way you shop, and you'll whittle 40% or more from your monthly food costs.
My goal for this column is to highlight what's on sale and in season and offer quick, simple recipes to prepare using the bounty available to us. With ever-rising grocery prices, I'd like to provide you with ideas to eat well for less. Let's start with $50. How much fresh food do you think you can buy for $50? You might be surprised! Here's what I was able to buy one recent afternoon . . .
 Ten minutes total time at Albertson's for:
- 2 whole fryers at 99 cents per pound, $9.23
- 1 bottle of wine for $2.50
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Fifteen minutes at Cookie Crock Warehouse for:
- 1 large cantaloupe at 29 cents per pound, $1.42
- 4 nectarines at 97 cents per pound, $1.36
- 3 tomatoes at 97 cents per pound, $1.20
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, 97 cents
- 5 pound bag long grain rice, $2.50
- Sunny Delight juice, $1.98
- 1 package cream cheese, $1.98
- 1 package frozen, multi-grain waffles, $1.99
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Fifteen minutes at Farmer's Market in Spencer's parking lot for:
- Half flat of strawberries, $7.00
- 1 pound of green beans, $1.00
- 2 large squash, $2.00
- 1 bunch golden beets, $2.00
- 1 large bunch of Romaine lettuce, 75 cents
Five minutes inside of Spencer's Fresh Market for:
- 1 fresh loaf of French bread, $1.39
- Large pork shoulder roast at $2.09 per pound, $10.28
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In under one hour, including driving, parking and check out—with a total under $50—you, too, can have a trunk filled with fresh, healthy food!
Shopping this way has helped my family of four reduce our grocery spending from $700-$800 per month four years ago to an average of $400 per month now. In that time, prices have continually climbed. Instead of planning meals and shopping for those ingredients, I develop meals according to what's on sale. Every week when the sale fliers arrive in my mail box, I spend about 15-20 minutes going through them to plan a grocery shopping excursion, and then I stop by two or more stores accordingly . . . not always on the same day.
If you don't already do so, keep a list of food items you regularly use in recipes.
For example, I often use celery, garlic, onion, and tomatoes for soups, stews, and sauces. When those items are at rock bottom prices, I buy enough to dice or slice and freeze. For $2.50, the five pound bag of rice from Cookie Crock was added to our airtight storage container, becoming 15 pounds of a staple food in our household. A quick check of previous receipts shows I spent a total of $6.28, and I shouldn't have to buy rice again before 2012. The half flat of strawberries, washed, trimmed, and frozen, will become part of desserts, preserves, and pancake or waffle sauce for a month or two.
Honey-Wine Strawberries for Freezing
- ½ flat (6 dry pints) ripe strawberries, washed and trimmed
- ¾ cup white zinfandel or white merlot wine
- ¼ cup pasteurized honey – it's very important not to use raw honey
- 7 cups very cold water
- Place strawberries in 2 large, rectangular storage containers with a lid.
- Using a spoon or whisk, dissolve honey in the wine. Pour into a pitcher or re-purposed plastic bottle. Add cold water, stir or shake and pour over berries.
- Cover; refrigerate for an hour or two. Using a slotted spoon, transfer soaked berries to labeled, dated freezer bags for later use.
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Few "comfort foods" are as simple as an oven-roasted, whole chicken . . . unless you're buying a precooked, deli department rotisserie chicken for $6.99. At an average weight of 30 ounces, you're spending $3.73 per pound. Instead, try the following two-ingredient recipe with five minutes preparation time.
Easy Oven-Roasted Chicken
- 4-5 pound whole fryer chicken
- Wildwood Blends Pork & Poultry Marinade (dry seasoning from a local company)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9 X 11 ceramic baking dish or roasting pan with canola oil spray.
- Remove chicken from packaging, reach in and remove any parts from cavity, rinse under cold water, drain and place in baking dish or roasting pan breast side up then, using a piece of string, tie legs together. Sprinkle with seasonings.
- Place uncovered in oven and roast for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Turn the baking dish or roasting pan around 180 degrees for even browning and continue roasting at 350 degree heat for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to rest and carve.
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From where I cook . . .
You'll never need to buy canned or packaged broth again if you're willing to invest about ½ hour while tackling other household tasks. Homemade chicken broth is as easy as boiling the remaining bones and skin from your chicken in a pot of water, with or without added salt. Strain, pour into clean jars, cool to room temperature, seal, and freeze.
Vegetable broth is nearly as simple if (as I did) you peel and boil those wickedly delicious golden beets or any number of fall/winter vegetables. (I do not recommend cabbage family vegetables.) My beets boiled for ½ hour, then I removed them to cool before dicing, but I didn't discard the golden beet water. Instead, I added some celery trimmings and chunks of yellow onion, boiled those for another half hour, removed the vegetables and allowed the broth to reach room temperature. All the while I was busy with other tasks. Again, pour the broth into clean jars, seal, and freeze.
Elise Griffith has been a food writer for more than 16 years. She had two cookbooks with Prima Publishing, Busy Mom’s Lowfat Cookbook in 1997, and Working Mom’s Fast & Easy Kid-Friendly Meals in 1998. In 2003, Gramercy Books/Random House republished the latter cookbook in hardcover under the title, Working Mom’s Fast & Easy Family Cookbook. Since that time, she has developed recipes for food manufacturers.
With two sons now in college, her passion is helping families eat healthy meals without spending a fortune at the market. Elise understands many people today crave convenience when it comes to cooking, and through her blog, Coastal Cooking Online, strives to show readers that a small amount of time or effort can reap huge rewards.
A nine year resident of Morro Bay, Elise lives with her husband of 26 years, Steven, two sons, Robert and Zachary, and a huge rescue cat named Jellybean, along with three abandoned strays, Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, who live and hunt among the vegetables, herbs, and old roses. For any cat lovers out there, Elise wishes to assure you all her cats have been spayed or neutered. |
Contact Elise
Image on Banner by Nathan Drew
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