There is one eternal truth that
you will all come to know over
your lifetime at one time or another:
that cooking food at home is a
lot cheaper, and sometimes even
more satisfying than buying
out at a fast food place.

Most people cannot afford $6
a day in carryout food that
only serves one meal, and one
alone.

The VA's bungling and malpractice
in processing claims, keeps us
all just enough at bay so that
the "convenient" thing to do
for our daily eats is just out
of our reach until better financial
times are upon us.

To that end, I want the men
readers in particular here to
get comfortable in their kitchens
and discover just how easy it
is to take care of yourselves
inside your own homes, even if
ya don't have a girl on board
just yet (or lost one along the
way). Don't sweat the small stuff.
You are a Veteran and can do all
things important to sustain your
needs in the field !!

Getting mens brains to think outside
of a beefsteak almost 3 times a
day is a pretty hard task. Poverty
will force you to change your ways.
But instead of worry and overwhelming
feeling of "blank" letting you take
over, let's get you into the grocery
stores and start looking at the
possibilities.

Plain, fresh fruit and vegetables,
in case ya didn't know it, are
actually cheaper than prepared foods
say in the freezer section. So
you would want your grocery choices
to target the produce section as
well as you can to apply all of
your valuable food stamp dollars
in the best possible way.

There are monthly basics that you
can get without a whole lot
of thinking or brain energy. You
can work from the same lists every
month when your social security
checks or welfare checks or partial
VA that you are appealing checks
all comes in.

Baked potatos are incredibly easy
to make, and if you pick out the
large sized individual potatos
which are not bagged, each large
potato can mean a full meal for
you. Put the potato in a toaster
oven or regular oven wrapped in
aluminum foil for 1 full hour
until it is tender in the center
when poked with a fork. If you
are cooking it in a microwave,
wrap it in plastic wrap.

Put a little butter, salt and pepper,
shake on some Chives which are
bought in small bottles in the
Seasoning aisle, or sprinkle on
some onion powder and then top
with a spoonful of sour cream
which you can buy in small containers.

Here is a basic lunch that I
will eat and see what ya think:
1 large baked potato, 2 ears
of fresh corn on the cob, and
a freshly sliced tomato on the
side with a little salt or
squirt of salad dressing --- iced
tea and I'm good to go.

You will be amazed at how filling
this is and the cooking is incredibly
easy. You can put this meal together
during TV commercials in a football
game.

Always pick up a bunch of celery
and a bag of carrots. You can
eat both cold, and make some
veggie sticks for a snack and
dip into salad dressing such
as Ranch or some dip that comes
in small containers. The carrots
can also be cooked as a hot
vegetable with you baked potato
later on. Broccoli also can be
eaten cold or hot, with carrot
sticks and dip.

Always pick up onions and at least
one garlic bunch and keep those
in your refrigerator for cooking.

Also consider a fresh tomato
now and then or a cucumber to peel
and cut up as a cold side. No
cooking needed.

I keep the following monthly staples
in my kitchen as I make different
things from the same basics of
food: carrots, broccoli, potatos,
onions, celery, 1 small head of
green cabbage, garlic.

Here is a simple veggie combo I
make as a sidedish perhaps with
a baked potato or other things
like macaroni and cheese:

Peel and slice up 2 good sized
carrots into a small fry pan.
Make 2 slices off a medium onion,
and then chop up the 2 slices
into pieces, and put those into
the fry pan also. Then whack off
2 slices of green cabbage. Remove
the outter leaf and then criss
cross cut the slices of cabbage
into pieces and put those into
the fry pan too.

Add about a tablespoon of butter.
Heat the fry pan on low heat letting
the butter to melt. Then saute the
carrots, onions, and cabbage
until the vegetables are tender
with a fork. Spoon it into a bowl
and sprinkle with a little salt.
Add it to your meal. You can get
about 5 servings of this over the
week out of the stock that you bought.

Another variation is to peel
and cut up 2 good sized potatos
and put them in a baking pan
with a lid (usually these are round).
Cut up on small onion into rings
and spread those around. Peel
and slice 3 carrots and put those
in. Then whack off about 1/3 of
the head of cabbage, remove the
outside layer of leaves, and
put that on top. Salt and pepper
the veggies. Add enough cold
water to cover the bottom of the
pan. Put the lid on the pan, and
bake in the oven at 400
degrees for about 45 minutes
until the potatos are tender with
a fork.

Take the pan out, put the veggies
on your plate, spread margarine
on everything and mash the potatos
down on your plate, and eat it up
with a slice of bread and butter.

You will be surprised how good
all of this stuff is to the taste,
but you have to separate your
brains from the requirements of
meat on that plate.

With meat, here is another tip.
Simply buy a bottle of chinese
Soy Sauce and sprinkle that all
over your chicken or pork chops
when you fry or grill them up.
Nothing else, just Soy Sauce.
Bake your pork chops instead of
frying for a change and enjoy
how tender they become. Just
cover a flat baking sheet with
aluminum foil, put the chops
down on the pan, shake the Soy
Sauce on both sides, then
bake in the over around 375 degrees
for about an hour or until they
become brown enough and tender
enough in the center for your
liking.

You can also chop up the broccoli,
cabbage, carrots, onion, and garlic
pieces in a fry pan and cook in
Terryaki Sauce also found in the
Chinese food section of the grocery
store and then put everything
on cooked rice. Be sure to buy
Long Grain Rice when you pick that
up because all rice is NOT created
equal, boys.

Also along with your basic monthly
food list, keep track of canned
food SALES at the store. This is
something you can pay attention
to both at the grocery store and
at the food pantries too. Figure
out in advance what kind of canned
food supplies you can use in your
kitchen because when those sales
happen at your local stores, you
absolutely do have to run right
up there to get the first pick
of everything.

After a lifetime on MRE's, the
prospect of canned food is not
going to be your favorite while
waiting on the VA to stop goofing
up your disability case.

But when the canned food sales
happen, there are a few choices
you can make which will supplement
your kitchen without taking
your entire living check in
the process.

Applesauce, cranberry sauce make
every meal a little sweeter. Go
after those. Spagetti Sauce is
a good buy. Chef Boy R Dee Ravioli
is a safe lunchtime meal if
you put a vegetable with it
and a slice of bread. You can
make something as simple as
cold carrot and celery sticks
on the side with a little ravioli
heated up. Just how hard can
this really be ??

Hunt's brand ManWich sauce --- cook up
1 lb. of ground beef then add the
ManWich sauce and then eat
on a hamburger roll with a fork.
Put a vegetable with this too.

Peaches and pineapple bits in
juice will make a nice desert
for you or in between meal snack
so get those in the canned
section. Keep these in the fridge
and serve it cold. Pickles or hot
dog relish. Canned baked beans and
New England Brown Bread. Brown Bread
is sold in cans right in the beans
section, and this is kind of like an
old time molasses bread. Eat this
for breakfast with cream cheese
or butter spread on top. Remove
it from the can, put the roll
on it's side, and slice it up
into round slices is how this
goes. Keep it in the refrigerator
thereafter wrapped in plastic wrap.

Canned peas to add to your
macaroni salad, or canned
mushrooms or sliced olives to
add to your spagetti sauce,
don't forget.

Canned yams or "sweet potatos"
to have on the side with a ham
slice or a piece of chicken.
Tuna or canned chicken to make
up sandwiches with. Just drain
it, and cut the meat up into
pieces in a bowl and add Mayo
and salt and now you have tuna
salad or chicken salad for your
next lunch.

Whether you are buying your canned
supplies with food stamps, or picking
them out at the food pantry, it
doesn't matter as long you have
your confidence in your pocket
and your list in your hand of
what it is that you need for
your house so that you can live
like a regular human being again
in spite of all the efforts of the
VA to make you feel less than one.

You can do this, the rest of us
do, so you can too. It's easy.
So put your gear on and let's
all go to the SuperMarket and
eat like real people.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: McClellanVet,