This month, Cate, from Liberal Simplicity, opened up her kitchen and cooking experiences for our Frugal Foodie Interview. I’ve been inspired by Cate in many ways, and I hope this peak into her kitchen encourages those of you who have been doing this frugal healthy cooking for years and those of you who are just starting.
Cate, I enjoy reading your Frugal Meatless and Almost Meatless recipes on Liberal Simplicity. Have you always enjoyed cooking or did something inspire you to learn?
Thankfully, I’ve never had a negative reaction to cooking…my mom was always a fabulous cook and enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen. But I didn’t do much of my own cooking until I briefly became vegetarian and then vegan as a teenager. Since I couldn’t eat what the rest of my family was eating, it was up to me to come up with my own meals. You can only eat so many Boca burgers before you find yourself on the internet searching for better recipes.
You’ve mentioned on your blog that your family eats a largely vegetarian diet so that you can afford to buy high-quality local meat for a few of your meals. What led you to make that decision?
My husband and I both read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle around the time of our wedding and we were really disturbed to learn more about factory farming (though that’s not the main focus of the book). We started going to a farmers’ market in the area and after buying some local, organic meat, there was no going back! It was so much tastier than what we’d been eating that we were more than willing to pay more for our meat and eat less of it.
With all of the different things to focus on for eating healthier (organic, whole wheat, local meat, etc.) how did you decide to make local meat a priority?
Well, we’re always trying to eat healthier. We buy organics when we can, we planted a small garden last year, and I’m trying to convince myself to cut back on the sweets. But I guess we chose meat because 1) the taste difference is so huge, 2) the health benefits of local meat are astronomical compared to meat from CAFOs, and 3) It made us miserable thinking about eating all of those mistreated animals.
What is your favorite part about eating mostly vegetarian?
It really keeps things interesting! I can’t often fall back on the standard supper of meat, vegetable, and starch, so it forces me to be more creative with my cooking. I find that our meals contain a lot more produce when I’m cooking vegetarian, as well as great sources of protein like beans, etc.
Do you ever find yourself in a frugal and healthy cooking slump? How do you deal with it?
YES! In fact, lately I’ve been in the mood for Chinese takeout and pizza pretty much every night. When I get into a slump, I don’t give in to my desire for constant takeout meals, but I do try to plan no-brainer menus for a couple weeks until I get inspired again.
If you only had $25 a week to spend on food, what would you spend it on?
Wow, this is a tough one. We’ve been very lucky to be able to increase our grocery budget recently and $25 would be hard! Assuming I have some basics in my kitchen already, like spices and cooking oils, and that I don’t have a flourishing garden at the moment, I think I’d go with: milk, dried beans, rice, oats, and some inexpensive produce like bananas and whatever vegetables are on sale.
I know my son and your daughter are close to same age, and I often struggle with getting him to eat what I think is a balanced diet. Do you struggle with this for your daughter? Do you have any tips for encouraging young children to eat healthier?
I frequently struggle with this. My daughter isn’t the pickiest eater in the world, but like any other preschooler, her food preferences are a frustrating mystery to me. I try not to panic if she has a few days of eating a less-than-ideal diet, but in general I try to steer her toward healthy choices. Some winners in our house include oatmeal, bran cereal, yogurt, sliced cheese, almost any kind of fruit, boxed macaroni and cheese (I pick up Annie’s when it’s on sale), sweet potato fries with ketchup, and homemade baked goods of any kind. In fact, she is obsessed with these super-healthy pumpkin carrot cake muffins.
What are your family’s favorite quick, cheap, healthy meals?
For breakfast, we’re big fans of oatmeal! It’s easily adaptable and can be made in the microwave or on the stovetop. My husband prefers regular rolled oats, but sometimes I make a big batch of steel-cut oats and then keep the leftovers in the fridge for a few days. They reheat well and streamline our mornings.
For dinner, I love to make a big pot of soup. It’s not necessarily quick, but the prep time is limited, and I can go about my daily activities while dinner cooks itself. Beans or lentils, some vegetables, and some spices can really form a transcendent meal, especially alongside a good loaf of bread. I adore this spicy black bean soup, which actually does fall under the "quick" category. I serve it with a little sour cream, cheddar cheese, and some tortilla chips for dipping.
What do you think are the 3 most important things to know how to make yourself when trying to save money and increase your health?
Desserts and baked goods in general would be my first pick, if that’s not too broad! Storebought versions are often packed with creepy ingredients, and the markup is just ridiculous. Buying baking ingredients is so much cheaper than buying pre-made baked goods, especially if you buy them in bulk. I also save a lot of money making a lot of my own condiment-type items, like jam, salsa, hummus, and chocolate syrup. Lastly, I vote for yogurt! It requires very little hands-on time and for some reason yogurt is always pricey at the grocery store. This way, I can just buy a gallon of milk and make my own yogurt, without any gelatin or random additives.
What is, in your opinion, the strangest thing you do to save money in the kitchen?
I don’t know that I really do anything very strange except for saving every little bit of everything that I can, which is probably strange to some people. If I have a cup of buttermilk in the fridge that I can’t use right away, I freeze it. If I have two carrots I won’t use right away, I cut them up and freeze them. I hate waste, and those odds and ends always come in handy.
As a mom and blogger, how do you find the time to cook and clean along with everything else there is to do?
Well, the cleaning really doesn’t happen as much as I’d like it to. 
As for cooking, I’m extremely lucky that my husband gets home in the afternoon each day, so he’s around to play with our daughter while I cook dinner. That’s a lifesaver. Other than that, I just try to plan ahead and make cooking for my family a priority. I could use that time for other things, but good food is important to me. I’m hoping that once our daughter is a little older, she’ll be able to help out more in the kitchen and that cooking will serve double-duty as bonding time for us
Do you have any suggestions for people who want to start eating healthier and more frugally, but don’t know where to start?
Pick something small! Start packing your lunch. Eat oatmeal with fun add-ins for breakfast. Brew your tea or coffee at home. Try cooking one or two meals from scratch a week. Don’t try to do it all at once, or you’ll get burnt out. I’m still working toward making my family’s food healthier and more frugal. It’s a process.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Do you have a question for Cate? This weekend she is going to hang out in the comment section and be available for any questions you have for her. So speak up!
11 comments
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Jen @ Dear Mommy Brain
04/06/2012 at 1:31 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Love it! And I totally agree, baking from scratch is where I started. So much cheaper and even if you are eating sweets, at least they aren’t chock full of HFCS or hydrogenated oils.
Jen @ Dear Mommy Brain recently posted..Food Waste Friday | The Motherload
Cate
04/07/2012 at 3:01 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Exactly! If I’m going to eat dessert (and I am), I’d much rather just be eating sugar and flour and unhealthy things of that nature, instead of sugar and flour PLUS HFCS, hydrogenated oils, weird food colorings, etc.
eemusings
04/06/2012 at 10:13 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Baking was what really kickstarted my interest in cooking! I’ve never looked back (though still enjoy the odd bought cake or pack of Tim Tams).
I definitely agree that cutting back on meat forces you to be more creative. We still eat meat at most dinners (though less of it) and while we do have vegetarian dinners sometimes, creating something filling and tasty without meat is often a challenge for me.
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Cate
04/07/2012 at 3:04 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Me too, honestly. Sometimes I wish we ate more meat just because menu planning would be easier.
Athena
04/09/2012 at 8:10 AM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m still trying to find vegetarian recipes that my husband doesn’t turn his nose up to. He gets rather cranky if I cook more than one meal a week that doesn’t include meat. We purchased 1/4 cow from a local ranch, so at least our beef is local, but it’s still a stretch to include organic chickens at $12-$15 a chicken. Luckily, wild-caught fish is easy to find and affordable on sale. But it really is a challenge. Any suggestions on how to create vegetarian meals that will leave my must-have-meat-or-I-throw-a-tantrum hubby satisfied?…
Cate
04/09/2012 at 2:08 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Actually, I have a recipe series called Frugal Meatless Meals! http://catelinden.com/category/frugal-meatless-meals/
I’m sure not all of the recipes will appeal to your husband, but there are a lot of hearty dishes in there. Otherwise, have you tried using less meat in recipes–more as a condiment than the main thing?
Athena
04/10/2012 at 7:31 AM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Looks great! Thanks! Meat as a condiment… hmm, I’ll have to try it.
Katie
04/11/2012 at 8:40 AM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hey Cate,
I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog!
My husband and I watched the documentary Forks Over Knives earlier this year and determined that we agree with a lot of the content in the film. We spent 40 days eating as Vegans, but have chosen to add meat and dairy products back into our diet (in much smaller quantities than what we ate prior to watching the film).
We also live in Louisville and I was wondering specifically where you buy your meat from here in Louisville.
Cheers!
Cate
04/11/2012 at 3:09 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
We get our red meat and eggs from Dream Catcher Farm. They have booths at the Bardstown Road farmers’ market and at the Beargrass Church farmers’ market, and their products are amazing! We know the owners personally and they are wonderful people.
We usually buy poultry from Schacht farm, though we’re not as loyal to them as we are to Dream Catcher.They also have a booth at the Bardstown farmers’ market.
And hey, my fellow Louisvillian!
Mary
04/12/2012 at 11:52 AM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Another great interview, Steph (and Cate!). Thanks for the link to a great new blog too.
I saw your comment earlier about using meat as a condiment and as strange as it sounds, I’ve done that for a number of years. I often reduce the meat in a recipe by 1/2 or a 1/3 and just increase the vegetables. It helps the budget greatly and the flavor is still there for my meat-loving family! I’ve made a whole lot of soups with as little as 1/3 lb or 1/2 lb of meat in a huge pot of soup.
Wishing both of you a great day!
Cate
04/12/2012 at 6:28 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I do that too and I’m always amazed by how much the “meaty” taste is still there!