Tag Archives: #Save money

Save Money, Make Homemade Beef Stew

November 3, 2025 Dr. Mike

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

frugal cooking, frugal living, Uncategorized

Save Money: Make Your Own Yogurt, It Is Super Simple.

September 28, 2025 Dr. Mike

In today’s world of inflation and the Trump tariff taxes times are rough. This is another in my series on how you can save money on groceries by simple actions.

I not exactly sure when I first had yogurt; possibly when I was in late grade school. I do remember it was the Dannon brand and that it had some syrupy fruit on the bottom that you mixed into the yogurt. I liked it.

In the 1970s I was doing research on Multiple Sclerosis at the University of Chicago. A fellow researcher made her own yogurt and that intrigued me. I bought a Salton yogurt maker which made 5 cups of yogurt. I used that machine for quite some time, but I lost it in a divorce.

This looks exactly like my original yogurt maker. It was simple to operate and made enough yogurt for five workday lunches.

Yogurt is one of those foods that is better than the sum of its ingredients. It was likely discovered by accident and can be traced back to Middle Eastern civilizations as long as 10,000 years ago. That is way before the pyramids.

Yogurt can stay fresher longer than regular milk, is thicker and creamier, and is loaded with good bacteria that enhance gut health. Many people who are lactose intolerant can still eat yogurt.

Yogurt is extremely versatile and can be used in countless savory dishes. It can also serve as a substitute for other dairy products, such as sour cream.

The opposite end of savory is sweet, and yogurt shines there, too. Who doesn’t love frozen yogurt, and most yogurts sold in the store are flavored and sweetened, making them perfect for a snack or for a quick breakfast.

Yogurt consists of milk that has been inoculated with a specific bacterial culture, usually containing Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. The milk is placed in a warm environment, and 6-8 hours later, you have yogurt.

I like both regular yogurt and Greek-style yogurt. What is the difference? Greek-style yogurt is regular yogurt that is strained through a sieve, allowing some of the whey (the liquid) to drain away. This makes the yogurt thicker and increases its protein content because it is more concentrated.

You can use a bit of unflavored active culture yogurt from the store as a starter or buy freeze dried starter. You can use any type of milk, but whole milk is preferred for the best results.

Making your own yogurt is not only simple, it will save you money. A four-pack of Oikos yogurt costs $5.79 as off this writing, which yields only 21 ounces total (4 x 5.3 oz).

A gallon of whole milk can be had for as little as $2.65. This will make 128 ounces of regular yogurt or 64-96 ounces of Greek yogurt (depending on the thickness).

It is likely that you have all of the tools needed to make yogurt, but you can certainly up your yogurt making game with dedicated equipment if you wish.

These costs are for unflavored yogurt. There are dozens if not hundreds of ways to flavor yogurt, and none are terribly expensive. I’ll discuss some sweet options later in this post.

Here are the simple steps to make yogurt.

Ingredients:

Whole Milk

Starter Yogurt culture.

Starter yogurt can be a few spoonfuls of unflavored active culture yogurt from the store, a bit of your last batch of yogurt, or a dedicated commercial yogurt starter powder. Once you are making yogurt regularly you can simply reserve a few tablespoons of your current batch in the fridge to seed your next bath. In that case, the only cost, beyond a few pennies of electricity, is the cost of your milk.

You can inoculate a new yogurt batch with a few spoonfuls of unflavored yogurt (active cultures) from the store, some reserved yogurt from your last batch, or, as in the photo above, some commercial freeze-dried yogurt culture.

Using a clean pot, heat whole milk on medium to medium-low heat until it steams and is 180°F (82°C). Remove from the heat and let cool. I use a kitchen thermometer. Pro tip: Swish and pour out a little water in your pot before adding the milk. This will prevent burning. Also, don’t crank up the heat; go slow. Heating too quickly will burn the milk on the bottom of the pot, and that is a mess to clean up. Heating to 180°F is necessary to kill competing bacteria. In addition, the heat will have a positive effect on the texture of the yogurt.

The milk will form a skin. Remove the skin using a spoon and discard.

Wait until the milk temperature is reduced to approximately 110°F (43°C). If it’s too hot, you will kill the bacteria; if it’s too cold, the culture won’t grow. Add your yogurt culture. In this case, I’m using a commercial culture. If I were using actual yogurt, I would use around two tablespoons per 2 cups. However, this is very flexible. Some recipes use more, while others use less. If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, you can use the “baby bottle” test. Spoon some milk onto your wrist. It should be very warm but not burning. If that is the case, you are at the right temperature to inoculate.

Thoroughly stir the culture into the warm milk. Now transfer your milk into the vessel(s) that you will use for the yogurt.

Now it is time to incubate the milk to turn it into yogurt. This can be done in a variety of ways. You can placed your your container in a warm draft free spot and cover it with blanket or heavy towel. You can place it in a cooler in a bath of warm water, Both of these methods will require longer incubation times as the heat is not regulated.

Another common method is to use a slow cooker. Heat the milk to boiling then turn off the slow cooker. Wait until the milk is 110F and inoculate with around 1/4 cup of yogurt culture for a gallon of milk. Wrap the slow cooker in a heavy towel and let the mixture incubate for 8-12 hours. Give it a peak at 8 hours to see if it looks like yogurt. Too liquidy? Give it more time.

In general, the longer you incubate the thicker the yogurt. However, it will also be tangier (more sour) the longer you incubate.

There are many appliances that allow the proper temperature for a controlled yogurt environment. Using one of these appliances will give you consistent results.

Many electric pressure cookers have a low-temperature yogurt setting. Additionally, some multi-cookers and sous vide machines also allow for a controlled low setting that can be used to make yogurt. In these cases, try to incubate between 6 and 8 hours. You can always add a bit more time if your milk has not turned to yogurt.

I like using a dedicated yogurt incubator. This little guy makes 1 quart of yogurt and isn’t much bigger than a coffee cup. It was less than $20 on Amazon.

This yogurt incubator can make eight jars of yogurt at a time. You can switch out the jars for 2, 1-quart containers if you prefer. Like the incubator above, it will make yogurt in 6-8 hours. I usually wait 8 hours for the consistency that I like.

After your yogurt has incubated it is important to refrigerate it for at least several hours, preferably overnight. This enhances its favor and thickens the yogurt.

This gives you an idea of what the yogurt will look like after it has been incubated. Remember, you still need to refrigerate the yogurt for maximum flavor.

Greek yogurt is just yogurt with some of the liquid (whey) removed. You can use a sieve over a bowl with a coffee filter in the sieve. Add the yogurt and refrigerate the contraption. When the yogurt is thick enough, remove it to a covered container. I like regular yogurt, but if I want it thicker, I reduce the volume by 25%, which takes a few hours in the fridge. You can use the whey for all sorts of things, from drinks to soup. It is high in protein.

Here is a dedicated gadget to make Greek-style yogurt. It is a bit more convenient than the sieve method. It was very inexpensive and recommended if you always want to turn your regular yogurt into Greek-style yogurt.

Here is some Greek-style yogurt that I made by draining out some of the whey. You can tell that it is thicker.

You can eat your cold yogurt as is, but I prefer adding sweeteners and other add-ons.

Sweeten with honey, or maple syrup, or brown sugar or whatever you like.

Adjust the flavor with a little vanilla or add fruit or granola. The options are limitless. I know of some who actually flavors their yogurt with Crystal Light.

Here I’m flavoring some plain yogurt with leftover cherry pie filling and some nutty trail mix.

Here I added a little vanilla, honey, granola, and some fresh berries.

Last Mother’s Day, we brought my wife breakfast in bed, featuring homemade yogurt. This was plain yogurt with Maple Syrup, strawberries, and granola. The options are limitless.

Making yogurt is super easy and very satisfying. You know exactly what is in it, and you add exactly what you want. To use the example above, the Oikos yogurt is $0.26 an ounce vs. my standard yogurt make from milk at $0.02 an ounce. MY Greek-style homemade yogurt would be $0.03-$0.04 an ounce. The electricity is negligible.

Of course you will incur more cost with your add ons, but home much does a spoon of strawberry jelly or a drizzle of honey cost?

Making yogurt is very easy, inexpensive, and satisfying. The end result is chemical free and tastes fresher than store bought. Making your own yogurt vs. buying it is a no brainer.

Peace,

Mike

Uncategorized

Save Money, Make Biscuits and Gravy For Dinner.

August 26, 2025 Dr. Mike

Let’s face it, not all of the meals that you make have to be cross-checked with the Department of Agriculture’s nutritional guidelines or some TikTok influencer’s biased opinion. Sometimes you just need to eat something that fills your stomach, or you need to use up the food in your fridge. That’s okay, life isn’t about being perfect.

I’m close to my kids, and they are close to me. All but one have launched into their own apartments, and it is clear that we miss each other. We have had plenty of times to get together, but my one daughter wanted to formalize another activity where we all could participate. She suggested that we have regularly scheduled rotating Sunday brunches. I was immediately on board. Naturally, all were welcome, including their significant dates (I’m not sure what the proper term is for a boyfriend or girlfriend in 2025).

The family brunch rotated to our house a week ago, and we made sure that there was plenty of food. We had freshly baked cinnamon rolls made by my daughter, an egg dish casserole, fresh fruit, juice, and all sorts of other goodies. When I was at the store, I spotted some precooked turkey sausage patties on sale, and so I picked those up too. However, I forgot about them in the fridge. The other day, my wife asked me, “So, what are we going to do with those sausage patties?” Hmm, sounds like an easy weekday dinner idea.

It was great to have the kids and their friends over for brunch, but I forgot to make the sausages!

I love having traditional breakfast meals for dinner. Heck, sometimes I eat dinner leftovers for breakfast. I have no shame. My kids are used to this flexibility and are fine with it. It was a Wednesday night, and it was my turn to make dinner. What to do? Hmm, I’ll make some biscuits and gravy for dinner! Being a weekday, I lazily used some tube biscuits, and I had to be somewhat creative with making the gravy, as precooked sausages don’t render a lot of fat. However, all worked out.

My son was afraid that he would still be hungry, so he took on the task of adding some scrambled eggs. Honestly, they were not needed, but it made him happy, and he even washed his pan, so I can’t complain.

Biscuits and gravy are a soul-satisfying dish. I probably had it for the first time at a Shoney’s on a trip down South. I instantly loved it as it was strangely familiar. It dawned on me that it was very similar to a no-meat Friday dish my mom used to make, called creamed eggs on toast. In that dish, the biscuit were replaced with toast, and the sausage was replaced with slices of hard-boiled eggs. Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it!

The recipe is super simple and very inexpensive. It easily fed three of us, and both Will and I had the leftovers for lunch. The leftovers reheat in the microwave.

I suppose this would be called a struggle meal, but it doesn’t feel like one when you eat it. Refer to the photos for my step-by-step recipe.