Glenn Reynolds notes that for some at least, a home-cooked spaghetti meal costing $35 for 4 people is eating on a “shoestring”.
(CBS) Amanda Freitag is all about feeding the family. She’s executive chef at The Harrison, in Manhattan’s trendy Tribeca neighborhood. Freitag treats guests to an inspired New-American menu that tourists and New Yorkers alike can’t seem to get enough of.
As The Early Show Saturday Edition’s “Chef on a Shoestring,” Freitag sought to take a traditional, three-course spaghetti dinner and give it a little twist any family would love – on our new, lower, recession-busting budget of $35.
Of course the menu — “Beet Salad with Crushed Pistachios & Soft Goat Cheese, Lamb Ragu with Rigatoni and Fresh Ricotta and Greek Yogurt with Blood Oranges, Honey & Mint” just exudes excitement. And since ‘excitement’ is at the heart of eating out, the Frugal Cook describes the thrill of opening canned spaghetti at home.
Recently, I decided to look at whether spaghetti sauce is cheaper from scratch or from a can. … At Winco Foods, I bought 26.5-ounce can of Del Monte Mushroom Spaghetti Sauce for 78 cents. At most stores, in fact, I can find canned spaghetti sauce for one dollar or less per can. For comparison purposes, I also purchased one 14-ounce can and one 8-ounce can of tomato sauce, and one four-ounce can of mushrooms (stems and pieces). This came to over a dollar – and that doesn’t even include the onions, herbs and spices that I already had at home.
In terms of price alone, the canned spaghetti sauce is obviously the better buy. But for me, there’s more to it than that.
Maybe there is more to it than that; and not just the taste difference either. Once upon a time meals at home were not just about saving money; they were about dining among those you loved in a place the winter winds would never reach. So whether it is Lamb Ragu with Rigatoni, spaghetti out of a can or something made up by the shaky hands of mom or dad, maybe its the sound of the shoes and not the shoestring.
Some hae meat and canna eat,
and some wad eat that want it,
but we hae meat and we can eat,
and sae the Lord be thankit.
PJM Home
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
31 Comments
1. Anton:Curse my proletarian tastes, that seems like too much work, not to mention too much money for a bowl of pasta.
I agree wholeheartedly with your observations about house and home being more significant than the meal being served.
BTW where do you get those amazing quotes? You either have read the Library of Congress and have a photographic memory or have the happy circumstance of being able to rmember the best bits of everything that you have read.
Either way I’m jealous.
Jan 14, 2009 - 11:58 am 2. Sgt. Mom:A variant of the he quoted prayer was known in our family as the “Scotch Grace” and we sang it often, as a pre-meal blessing:
“Some have meat, and cannot eat,
And some have none that want it,
But we have meat, and we can eat,
And so the lord we thank it.”
Oh, and a budget of $35 dollars for one meal? Obviously, New York is on another planet. On my own planet, $35 is about half my grocery bill feeding two people for two weeks. And once upon a time, when I was really on a strict budged (junior NCO living in family housing with an enormous weekly bill for child care) I spent $25 on the 1st and 15th of every month for groceries. Yes, I made a lot of stuff from scratch. And no way was anything like lamb and chevre in my budget at the time.
Jan 14, 2009 - 12:31 pm 3. Talnik:I just had two bowls of Ramen for 35 cents.
Jan 14, 2009 - 12:32 pm 4. Michael Hoskins:Sgt. Ditto. Two people $100/wk, to include all those other things from Grocery store. (Detergents, TP, dog treats, a little of the grape) BTW that was just last week.
Grandma had a garden, everywhere she lived in a 26 year military career. So did Mom in her 25 year tour. We got lazy after 24.
Jan 14, 2009 - 12:48 pm 5. bob:Racoon Makes A Comeback
From the Catskills to Appalachia to the Ozarks, a fine meal for the cost of a .22 shell.
Jan 14, 2009 - 12:49 pm 6. trangbang68:I can make spaghetti sauce to die for from scratch for about $15.00. It will feed 4 or 5 people with left overs.
Jan 14, 2009 - 12:55 pm 7. mohammedan:My wife makes a loaf of bread and its all good.
They have become lazy and addicted to life without cooking. Better start learning, it is going to be a long long downturn in America. Stop dreaming that the crisis has hit rock bottom. It has not.
Never thought I will see a day when a third world country (china) will refuse money to American banks with all their (dubious) AAA ratings. The US government has effectively become the middleman but for how long will that continue? We have seen Iceland’s ratings go down and Spain’s is on the way. Things will never be the same.
Whatever happened to the American dream?
Jan 14, 2009 - 1:11 pm 8. Al_Batross:“Racoon Makes A Comeback” – bob.
I am sure old Possumtater would have something to say on that subject, possibly “never been away” ?
Jan 14, 2009 - 1:24 pm 9. Michael Hoskins:Mo. You wish. What is Hamas’ rating?
Jan 14, 2009 - 1:29 pm 10. programmer:mohammedan asks:
Whatever happened to the American dream?
programmer responds:
It is alive and well. And it is infectious. China and India are acting more like Americans every day. In a sense, the American dream is not just confined to the borders of the United States of America. It has spread and will continue to spread. Part of the American dream is to face difficulties and overcome them. Drain swamps and build high rises. Take the best ideas of other cultures and incorporate them into the zeitgeist of our culture. Progress is not always in a straight line, but is always moving toward higher ground. Very few people dream about leaving America and going to…, well I’ll let you fill in the blank. Even the celebrities who threaten to move to Europe if events don’t favor their ideology always seem to choose to stay. (IMHO, I think we should hold them to their promise,…).
Jan 14, 2009 - 1:47 pm 11. Mike Sylwester:I never understood the extravagance of buying a can of tomato sauce. Why pay for all the water in the sauce?
I buy a can of tomato paste and then add water from the kitchen faucet to expand the paste to a sauce.
And I usually buy my cans of tomato paste at estate sales. Every old lady who has died and left her household for her children to sell usually has several cans of tomato paste in her cupboards. Tomato paste never goes bad, as long as you don’t open the can.
Jan 14, 2009 - 1:57 pm 12. Joe_C:@Mike Sylwester – you really go to estate sales and buy tomato paste?
Jan 14, 2009 - 2:04 pm 13. programmer:programmer says in awe:
As I read the above comments, I am in absolute awe of the ingenuity and acumen exhibited by some of the members of this club in these parlous times. I am humbled in the presence of greatness.
Jan 14, 2009 - 2:10 pm 14. Lifeofthemind:There is always room for more in the literary genre of self parody. Today I caught a moment on Martha Stewart’s show where she was touting the virtues of an eco-friendly electric car made from recycled parts that can go 25 mph and will sell for only $12,500. The bad news is that Washington will probably shovel billions into such schemes this year. at least the bien pessants of NYC’s Chelsea rough it on their own dime. I do have soup out of a can, and know it is a vice, but still make my own pasta sauce even if store bought is cheaper.
Jan 14, 2009 - 2:18 pm 15. mohammedan:‘10. programmer:
mohammedan asks:
Whatever happened to the American dream?
programmer responds:
It is alive and well.’
Alive and well my a**. I bet in your world you define any success as the american dream, i tell you what. Bernard Madoff is the new definition of the american dream. And while you are at it add Lehman, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley etc to the list.
Jan 14, 2009 - 2:53 pm 16. ElMondoHummus:“… a home-cooked spaghetti meal costing $35 for 4 people is eating on a “shoestring”.”
Heheh… in my area, one of the store’s is advertising a for 4 “Dinner at home” for $9.92 total:
http://marsh.net/srb_under10b.html
Granted, that’s not a 4 course meal with beet salad and lamb ragu rigatoni, but still… my point is that I don’t think those elitists at CBS understand what a true “shoestring” budget meal is.
Oh, another nitpick: Rigatoni is not spaghetti.
Jan 14, 2009 - 3:01 pm 17. JOG:You can eat healthy and cheap if you try. I make liberal use of potatoes (10 lb bags can be found for $3 at Walmart), frozen vegetables, ground beef, chicken and eggs.
The dinner fare for our family of four this week:
Mon: Baked chicken quarters spiced with garlic salt and Greek seasoning, baked potato and vegetable of choice. Approx cost: $4.25.
Tue: Shepard’s pie. $5.50
Wed: Egg 0mlets, with cheese, sausage, peppers and mushrooms, home made hash browns and vegetable of choice. $6.50.
Thur: Home made 1/4 lb burger with cheese on home made bun, home made fries and vegetable of choice. $5.65.
Fri: Vegetable burritos containing eggplant, zucchini, refried beans, onions, cheese and seasonings. $8.
Sat: Chicken soup containing chopped chicken thighs, parsnips, celery, potatoes, carrots, seasonings and chicken stock served with home made bread. Half was left over, to be eaten next week. $7 or $3.50 per meal.
Sun: Homemade pizzas. Ingredients: Dough, cheese, four sausage links, Ragu pizza sauce, onions, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. $11, with half a pizza leftover for lunches next week, or $8.25 for this meal.
These are (mostly) healthy, nutritious meals that cost $41.65 for the week, a little more than the $10 per person I bet my wife I could deliver. (I track this so carefully because I recently took over these duties from her and made her that bet, a bet she conceded I had won.)
For breakfast, I offer my wife and kids a choice of oatmeal with cinnamon sugar/honey and raisins/brown sugar and maple sugar mixed in or waffles with syrup. $1.25 per day, tops.
Lunches consist of sandwiches, chips and an occasional pickle wedge. Peanut butter is $0.10 per serving; egg salad about $0.35; meat w/cheese about $0.90 or so. Chips are $0.40 per serving. Pickle wedge is $0.17.
We let our kids have whatever they want (within reason) for snacks. But including milk, orange juice, snacks and juice bags, the grocery bill for our family of four is usually less than $100 per week.
Jan 14, 2009 - 3:06 pm 18. Bret:This is why the elites think that poverty is rampant in the USA. When it costs $35 to just “squeak by” for dinner, you need a lot of money to survive and the poverty line really would be quite high – perhaps higher than the median family income.
Jan 14, 2009 - 4:04 pm 19. Steve Skubinna:Best canned (bottled) spaghetti sauce, ever: Newmann’s Own Sockarooni. Discussion closed, the science is settled, the debate is over. I always keep a couple in my pantry for when I don’t have the time to make it from scratch – and the time savings with prepared foods is not to be scoffed at.
Sure, it’s more satisfying to fiddle around in the kitchen all day, but as a single man living alone, and not inclined to eat out very much, I often take shortcuts because I have others things I’d rather do with my time when home. But it is amusing, that these people offer up this odd menu as a thrifty alternative for hard times. Real wokring class people aren’t going to be checking on the effete for tips on stretching the budget.
Mo, keep whistling past the graveyard. Your retarded death cult is literally a dead end. The sixth century gets further away every day, and so does the promise and vitality the Muslim world once possessed.
Jan 14, 2009 - 4:47 pm 20. Staring in Disbelief:mohammedan: This thread is about FOOD you moron. Take your “America has had it” kindergarten grade analysis over to the DailyKos where they will shower you with Allahu Akbhar’s or whatever the hell it is you animals say.
What a twerp.
Jan 14, 2009 - 7:12 pm 21. feeblemind:As the other commenters have noted, it is possible to eat well at low cost. If one restricts their purchases to staples such as fresh meat and produce, pasta, rice, flour, sugar, coffee and the like, the cost per meal can be astonishingly small. What runs up the bill for most of us is the processed foods. Chips, cookies, pop, frozen heat-and-serve meals….. those are what really run up the grocery tab.
Jan 15, 2009 - 7:09 am 22. Agoraphobic Plumber:“Alive and well my a**. I bet in your world you define any success as the american dream, i tell you what. Bernard Madoff is the new definition of the american dream. And while you are at it add Lehman, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley etc to the list.”
Heh. The info war is still in full bloom, I see. FWIW, I know it’s alive and well because I’m living it, and have been for a long time. Neither I nor anybody I know has had any dealings with Madoff, Lehman, et al (unless maybe somebody has a 401K with Morgan, not sure on that one). Those are the New York City dream. For the American Dream you really should look at flyover country.
RE spaghetti, it happens to be my favorite food ever. And for $35.00, I could easily feed 8 or 10 people not just the sauce but the noodles and garlic bread, and probably some soda with it, plus salad from the garden when it’s in season. With a little education (to avoid sickness or death), wonderful mushrooms can easily be had for free in my neighborhood (during non-snow months) by checking out some logs and stumps in the woods. I don’t currently have one, but a small windowbox spice garden can provide everything necessary to make a sauce better than anything you can buy. If you have the time and inclination, you can make your own sauce with simple tomatoes from the garden.
I’ll leave it to Martha Stewart to try making your own pasta noodles, though. Life is too short for some things.
Jan 15, 2009 - 7:16 am 23. Killersaurus:Spaghetti sauce = can of tomatoes, squirt of tomato paste, two crushed garlic cloves, and a few shakes of crushed red pepper < $3. Add in noodles and you’re looking at less than $5 for a meal that’ll feed four people.
Jan 15, 2009 - 7:51 am 24. Richard Aubrey:Having spent a bit of time in La Mancha–with the requisite picture in front of Don Q’s statue–I was interested in a recipe that required manchega cheese.
Jan 15, 2009 - 9:41 am 25. Kelly B:Looked for it. Only available in the top-dollar deli. Cripes. Only saffron cost more per (tiny) unit of weight and gold wasn’t even in it.
House brand muenster did just fine.
What is it with these people?
Thing is, they’re perfectly sincere. They have no clue.
Two things come to mind reading this.
Jan 15, 2009 - 10:38 am 26. kevIN:First, a long time ago, I read the following in a collection of old Readers’ Digest stories:
The daughter of a Hollywood producer was asked to write a story about a poor family for a school assignment. Her effort: “Once upon a time, there was a poor family. The father was poor, the mother was poor, the children was poor, the chauffeur was poor, the maids were poor…”
Second, this historical gem: “Qu’ils mangeant de la Brioche!” (french may be a trifle rusty, but I think that’s how it went).
Sheesh – I can make Peppercorn Filet Mignon with Garlic Mashed Potatoes for under $15.
Jan 15, 2009 - 12:41 pm 27. Al_Batross:“You can eat healthy and cheap if you try” – JOG
That was a most mouth-watering menu from the JOG household !
Jan 15, 2009 - 2:19 pm 28. naman:$35 a shoestring budget?!? Maybe for wealthy east-side Manhattanites…
I always hated spending money for spaghetti sauce. I just buy those 8oz jars of tomato sauce (usually 45-60 cents) and add whatever herb/spice combo to flavor it (usually garlic/basil/parsley). I rarely spend over $2 total to make sauce.
Also, the “American Dream” crack from that previous poster: I don’t know what that guys definition of “The American Dream” is, but I always thought it was about having the OPPORTUNITY to chase your dreams and even potentially achieve them. It’s not about money/power, it’s about dreams and hopes, which that guy obviously doesn’t have.
Jan 15, 2009 - 2:53 pm 29. Karla:Try living on just a buck a day!
We’re on Day 17 of our month long “Dollar-A-Day” Challenge.
Billions of people around the world really do survive on a dollar a day. We’ve been doing this as a social experiment as well as a way to raise money in support of my upcoming Habitat for Humanity trip to Zambia; a country where living on a dollar a day is the norm.
We invite everyone to come check out our progress: http://1-dollar-a-day.blogspot.com
Thanks!
Jan 17, 2009 - 9:04 pm 30. no mo uro:Karla
Catch your own fish. Hunt your own game. Grow your own veggies, even if it’s just a couple of whiskey barrels full.
Learn to cook it all.
You’ll have fun doing it, and once your savings have paid for the cost of equipment and licenses, the rest is, if you’ll pardon the expression, gravy.
Jan 18, 2009 - 5:11 am 31. woowoo:can’t believe people actually eat canned spag sauce anyway.
Jan 20, 2009 - 1:54 amSorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.