Money Matters

Stress-Free Holiday Cooking: Tips for Budgeting, Leftovers, and Efficient Meal Prep with Anne Milneck

Brought to you by Neighbors Federal Credit Union Episode 70

Discover the secrets to stress-free holiday cooking with our special guest Anne Milneck, the savvy owner of Red Stick Spice. Anne brings her expertise to help you conquer the kitchen this holiday season, whether you're whipping up a small family feast or hosting a Friendsgiving extravaganza. From freezing portions of classic dishes to choosing smaller proteins like turkey breasts, Anne shares innovative ways to keep your meals delightful and your budget intact. We'll also explore how global spices can transform any side dish into an extraordinary culinary experience.

Unleash your creativity with Thanksgiving leftovers as we tackle the art of reinventing cranberry sauce and turkey. Imagine turning cranberry sauce into an exquisite charcuterie spread or adding leftover turkey to a soul-warming soup. We also offer practical tips on saving time during Thanksgiving prep, including planning ahead and using handy gadgets like air fryers and potato peelers. Efficiency is key, and with our guidance, you'll breeze through your holiday preparations with ease.

In our final segment, we focus on kitchen efficiency and the art of enhancing store-bought foods. From ensuring uniformity with cookie scoops to elevating frozen apple pie with a spiced topping, learn how to make the most of pre-made items. We also prepare for the new year with simple meal prep and budgeting strategies to keep you on track with healthy habits and sustained motivation. Join us for an episode packed with practical advice that promises to make your holidays as enjoyable as they are budget-friendly!

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Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need and save the money you want – brought to you by Neighbors Federal Credit Union.

The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need and save the money you want Now here is your host, ms Kim Chapman.

Speaker 2:

All right, welcome back to another episode of Money Matters. I am so thrilled to have Ann Milnick, owner of Red Stick Spice, return as a guest, and today we're going to talk about how to do the holidays on a budget. It's something we deal with every year, multiple months of the year, but I tell you, it really hits us hard back to back Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's like how do you do it? Whether you're just cooking a meal for your family, whether you're preparing that potluck dish to bring to work, or if you're having a little get together, you know how can we do that on a budget without breaking the bank, because we still have Christmas gifts to get? And then also, what do we do with all those leftovers? So, anne, thank you so much for coming back and joining us Always a pleasure.

Speaker 2:

I'm excited about this talk today. Oh yeah, I am too, because you know well, normally in my head there's a particular art. I like to ask questions. But you know, I want to start backwards this time when we even talk about leftovers, because I'm thinking about this year. I'm going to Florida. It's only going to be me and my son. This year we're splitting up going to different places and this kid wants me to still cook a turkey and dressing and greens, and so that's not going to happen. So I want you to tell me what are some non-traditional things that people can do if they have a small family and that turkey is just going to be a bit too much. What are some?

Speaker 1:

suggestions. So one suggestion would be to go ahead and make it and, immediately after you cook it, freeze half of it and then that could be a meal during December. That could be your Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meal. If you wanted to, you could definitely do that. If that doesn't work for you, then you want to think about could you buy a turkey that's been cut and only do pieces of it, or just buy a turkey breast? That would be another way to approach it. And another way to approach it is just to do something completely nontraditional that's smaller and now he does want his dressing and turkey and all the usual things, but I would just think about mainly that protein, trying to buy it in a smaller portion or pre-cut up. That way you could freeze half of it and only cook a portion of it.

Speaker 2:

That's a really good idea. I actually think we did that one year. We actually went to Honey Bake Ham and instead of buying a traditional ham, they sold us a couple of slices by the pound. So maybe I can get away with doing the ham and not so much the turkey. What do you think are some? What have become some more popular non-traditional dishes? You know we like to think of Thanksgiving turkey dressing, mashed potatoes, the whole yard. But I know a lot of people want to move away. I actually told them hey, let's just go to a steak restaurant. But what are some things that people can consider? Or what do you just think is more popular these days for families that just don't want to have turkey again?

Speaker 1:

So that makes me think of the Friendsgiving trend that's been going on for years. So a lot of people friend groups will do Friendsgiving outside of their family's Thanksgiving, and there's rarely a turkey or a ham. It's more about sides, and more about heartier sides, more like casseroles, so just a whole bunch of casseroles that are really filling and really delicious and they can still have protein in them. But I think of Friendsgiving and how, like my kids, approach Friendsgiving as an alternative. It still feels very much like a gathering where people are giving thanks and spending time together, but it doesn't necessarily have that centerpiece turkey or centerpiece ham and it's more casseroles, even like a lasagna or a baked ziti or something like that. That's really filling, has protein, but not the traditional turkey.

Speaker 2:

And you say Friendsgiving and even if we're talking about something at work, you know you have and you want to bring a dish. And some people are really, really phenomenal cooks and I'm sure you're definitely on their list. And then some people, hey, they're just average cooks. How can they use spices? How can they use everyday spices to take something that may just be an ordinary bland dinner that your family's okay with, but to kind of put a little blur in it so that all your friends are saying, hey, did you check out her dish? It was really really good, when all they did was maybe add some of your spices to it.

Speaker 1:

So I would. I would think globally. So let's say you make a roasted sweet potato and what you can. A sweet potato is actually a blank canvas. In my opinion, sweet potatoes can go to the sweet in the sweet direction. A lot of people will do like the brown sugar and pecans on top, and then some people do marshmallows.

Speaker 2:

I love the marshmallows.

Speaker 1:

But a sweet potato loves to be on the savory side as well and it loves warm North African and Indian spices. So a curry powder roast on sweet potatoes and then you roast them, or a Moroccan spice would be a really interesting way to change up those sweet potatoes and take them in a different direction. So, and that's, I can bring any non-cook into the kitchen and get them to roast a sweet potato. It's doable. So that would be. That would be a great way to bring some like global flavors and and chances are, at your gathering no one else is going to bring some like global flavors and chances are, at your gathering no one else is going to bring something like that. So you're going to be you're going to get a lot of questions and a lot of interest around those that flavor profile on those sweet potatoes.

Speaker 2:

Oh, that's really good. That's a really good spin on things. So even you know we'll get to talking about how to do the leftovers, but I want to talk a little bit about how can we prevent doing leftovers. What approach should we take when we're? You know, if we know how many people we're going to feed, or at least a good estimate, you know how do we decide whether we're getting a 10 pound turkey or 20 pound turkey ham dressing. How can we take these dishes and make them the right size so that we don't have tons of leftovers?

Speaker 1:

So I believe the rule of thumb on turkey is four ounces per person. But here's the thing Don't get so caught up in how much turkey you need. Make sure you make a dish, a really hearty dish, that is part of your menu that's really filling. Make sure you have a pasta dish maybe a seafood pasta or some, maybe even something Italian like a baked ziti or a lasagna. I tell people, worry less about the turkey and make sure your other dishes that round it out. One of those dishes could be a main dish on its own, so that could be a meal on its own. Lean on those hearty casseroles that have meat in them. My family does a dirty rice that has ground pork and ground beef in it and that could be a main dish on its own. Make sure you have side dishes that are really hearty and really filling so that you are not leaning on that turkey. I think there's a lot of worry and drama around the turkey.

Speaker 2:

Way too much.

Speaker 1:

Right and I think there are ways to have a really lovely meal and have turkey but not be so dependent on the turkey being first of all enough but also perfect. Turkey being first of all enough but also perfect. You know people are so worried about is the turkey going to be too dry? And worry less about that and put some energy into making some big nine by 13 pans of something really hearty and really filling. I guarantee you your guests are going to be happy.

Speaker 2:

So now let's talk about maybe transitioning. So we've got all these leftovers, or maybe we're intentionally buying a lot of things for Thanksgiving. How can we use some of those and refresh them and present them for Christmas?

Speaker 1:

Okay, so we on my podcast years ago we did an episode around using gadgets and appliances and there are some gadgets where people are like, why did I buy this, why don't I have this? And one of those that a lot of people talk about is a waffle iron that you don't use your waffle iron too often. So then we started talking about things that we waffle and we started having a joke around the shop will it waffle? So we have folded the sweet potato casserole from the day before into waffle batter and made waffles the next day. We've waffled mashed potatoes Delicious, really, really amazing. We've waffled cornbread dressing and bread dressing. So waffle.

Speaker 1:

You could make waffles the next morning and approach it like brunch the next morning. You could make waffles the next morning and approach it like brunch the next morning. The thing that ends up being the leftovers the most in my family is cranberry sauce. And first I want to say one thing about that situation If there is a dish that you make because it's Thanksgiving and we have to have that dish, but no one eats it, I give you permission to stop making that dish. We are that close.

Speaker 2:

A lot of people need to hear that.

Speaker 1:

We are this that close. On cranberry sauce, in my family we make it, it's not a big deal, it's pretty easy to make and it just doesn't get consumed and I'm I'm close to calling on the cranberry sauce. However, the next day on the cranberry sauce, However, the next day I'm stuffed from the day before. I don't really want a huge meal and I'm also, you know, relieved and trying to relax after that big day. So a lot of times in the afternoon or evening the next day I just want like a glass of wine and a snack. I'll put the cranberry sauce over. I take either feta or goat cheese and whip it with some cream cheese and put that in a dish and put the cranberry sauce on top of that and it's like a great spread. That could be something you could put with a charcuterie board, but it makes a really great spread and with a nice sip the next day. So that's one way to make use of your cranberry sauce.

Speaker 1:

I think turkey is probably the easiest. We live here in South Louisiana. There's a whole lot of turkey gumbo the next day. Yes, there is. We never have an issue with turkey because my husband loves turkey sandwiches. But if there is an excess of turkey. I definitely think about those long cooking soups and stews. What sort of soup could you make the next day to put the cooked turkey in? Just know that that protein is cooked so it doesn't need to cook in the soup or stew you put it in.

Speaker 2:

It just needs to go in there and warm it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, just right at the end to warm it. But you can make a lovely brothy and warm it. Yeah, just right at the end to warm it. But you can make a lovely brothy like a chicken noodle soup, but add your turkey. So I think turkey is the less problematic and I think it's a lot of the sides folks don't need to don't know what to do with. So pull out your waffle iron, put that cranberry sauce in a really lovely appetizer and have a sip the next day with it. And just remember, with that turkey you want to. If you do have it, you want to add it at the end of the cooking process and not overcook it.

Speaker 2:

So time is money, and preparing for Thanksgiving, oh my goodness, takes a lot of time. I know women that get up, or even men, you know, before the chickens are up and they're cooking, or even men you know, before the chickens are up and they're cooking. Are there any suggestions or tips that can help you cut down on time for preparation? That, may you know? I don't know. Have they started putting turkeys in air fryers? Now you know they can cut down on the time that it takes to prepare so many different dishes.

Speaker 1:

So I have multiple answers to that question. First of all, in terms of time. Is money also? Think of it in terms of If you were working at this at the last minute. If you're scrambling at the last minute, I can almost guarantee you you're going to spend more money. So if you can have a plan, even part of a plan, even just small things that you can tuck in the fridge and freezer, you will definitely save money. The other part of saving time is to think about you know, in the five days prior, what small things can you do to get you to where you need to be, whether it's peeling the carrots or I do a make ahead turkey gravy, where I go and I buy a turkey neck and I go ahead and make the gravy. I don't make the gravy the day before.

Speaker 1:

The other thing I'm going to encourage people to think about and it's a funny word, but it is such a great technique and it's called spatchcock and it's where you cut the backbone out of the turkey. Now you need good poultry shears and some elbow grease, but you're going to cut the backbone out of that turkey. Now you have that backbone that you can throw in the pan with some water to make a stock, but you're going to. That's going to allow you to flatten the turkey. You are going to cook that turkey in easily. You're going to save easily 30% of your cooking time, but for me it's more like 50%. Oh, wow, yes. So that's going to save you a lot of time. But planning ahead as much as you can, the more you plan ahead, I guarantee you will save money. Those last minute purchases, those sort of panic moment, rushed purchases, you almost always spend more.

Speaker 2:

So I want to talk a little bit about gadgets. Just the other day my daughter I asked her to peel potatoes and ironically she went in the kitchen drawer and she found a potato peeler. I think I forgot that I had that. I never use it. I use a knife, but I can say for sure that she wastes a lot less of the potato than I do, because she probably just actually got the skin off. When I use a knife I'm cutting into probably 10, 15 percent of the potato. So are there other kitchen gadgets that could actually stretch the food a little bit more?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, I think about when you're making cookies using a. They make dishers, cookie scoops, those are. A lot of people skip that and say, oh, I'm just going to use my spoon. But when your cookies are all exactly the same size, they cook more evenly and you won't. The smaller ones are going to burn and those go in the trash and we don't want cookies to go in the trash. So you know, making sure things are a uniform size, that's really helpful and not really a gadget but more of a tip. Your kitchen knife needs to be sharp. Sharp is safe, but sharp is also faster. You're just going to get there faster and you're going to be. It's going to be less frustration but also less waste when that knife is sharp because you were peeling potatoes with a knife. If that knife was also dull, I guarantee you you're taking off way too much potato.

Speaker 2:

I know that I am because, like I said, I saw those little bitty, tiny shavings and I think about when I cut a potato, you know hands down, I know that I'm wasting more. And then it makes me think about what other gadgets do I own that I could use? That would save me so much more of the food itself, versus just the way that you know steamer and if you have foil, you can ball up foil in the bottom of a pan and put the water where the balls of foil is and then your vegetables sit on top of it.

Speaker 1:

You have a steamer. So I know I'm answering your question differently, because I just it's less about do you have this gadget and more about me saying you don't necessarily need to buy that gadget, that there are ways to get there without buying that gadget. I'm not a big fan of single use gadgets. I like gadgets to be multitaskers. So I'm always thinking about do do you need that item? Could you get there without having to buy that, that gadget and having that drawer full of gadgets? But I'm glad you found your potato peeler.

Speaker 2:

It's back in the drawer. Now there are going to be some people listening that says, hey, I will never, ever cook a dish. I'm the go to the store and buy it, or go to the restaurant and buy it. So let's talk about those store dishes again, because you have so many options with these spices. You know how can we take maybe a store bar little dish and, you know, dress it up so that it is presentable for a Thanksgiving dinner or a holiday party.

Speaker 1:

So let's think about, let's say, you bought pre-made mashed potatoes and you want to turn that into like a twice-baked potato casserole. You definitely want to get those potatoes in your buttered 9x13 pan. You want to give them a taste and make sure they have the salt and pepper that they need, and then what you can do is fold an herb blend in there, like an Herbes de Provence, or we have a blend called Spud Spice that's all those you know, chives and yummy potato toppings, exactly and fold that in there and then top that with cheese and bake it. That saved you a ton of time peeling and boiling and mashing potatoes. So that would be. That would be one store bought cookie dough, refrigerated or frozen cookie dough. One thing you can do. Chocolate chip chocolate, mainly talking about chocolate chip cookies. One thing you can do. Chocolate chip chocolate, mainly talking about chocolate chip cookies. One thing you can do with that chocolate chip cookie dough is, before you bake it stay with me sprinkle it with smoked salt.

Speaker 2:

Really.

Speaker 1:

Yes, so salted caramel, salted chocolate, salted shortbread cookies. You know that's a, that's a thing, that salt is lovely on sweets, and so that would be one way to jazz it up.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and everybody be like what do you do with these cookies?

Speaker 2:

And it doesn't.

Speaker 1:

And it's not like oh, this is a smoked salted chocolate chip cookie. It's just a little something where you go, what's going on with this cookie? This is really interesting. Another thing you could do is buy a frozen apple pie and then we have lots of baking spice blends. We have an apple pie spice, we have pumpkin pie spice, we have something called British cake spice. All those spice blends in that world are those warm Thanksgiving spices cinnamon, clove, cardamom, nutmeg. Warm Thanksgiving spices, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, nutmeg. So you've got all those beautiful warm spices. You would combine that with some oatmeal and brown sugar and a little bit of butter and top that frozen apple pie and then bake it and then you've got this beautiful crispy, crisped up sugary topping on top with all these wonderful spices. Because a lot of times those store-bought pies don't to me, don't have quite the oomph that homemade pies do. But you can get there by playing around with a topping.

Speaker 2:

So, speaking of frozen things, you know, with all the leftovers that people are going to have and maybe they don't even want them the day after Thanksgiving let's talk a little bit about the proper way or the best way to store things in the freezer so that you know when we do want to pull out a piece of you know meat and maybe have a ham sandwich, or get ready to maybe do turkey gumbo in February instead of the day after Thanksgiving. What's the best way to preserve this food so that it doesn't get freezer burn and we can use it at a later time?

Speaker 1:

So the first thing you want to do is make sure your food is cooled properly before you freeze it, and that's from a safety standpoint. From a quality standpoint, you want to think about air surrounding that food, and any moisture in that food that condenses is going to freeze into ice crystals. So the way you prevent that is by making sure there's very little air in whatever container it is, so that there's no room for that to form. So zip top bags are a great way. Definitely getting slices of the meat into a zip top bag and just pressing out all of that air.

Speaker 2:

That's a staple in my house. I put everything in zip lock bags.

Speaker 1:

But vacuum sealers and a lot of people have one.

Speaker 1:

They'll see us in the teaching kitchen Our chef, Matt, does a lot of portioning and food storage and they'll see him with our vacuum sealer and they'll go oh, I have one of those and I used it one time during deer season and you know they forget they have it and that's a.

Speaker 1:

It's a very, very handy and important tool if you're doing a lot of freezing. So getting all of that air out, whether you do it with your hands, with that zip top bag or with a vacuum sealer, is the best way to preserve that food for as long as possible. Most pre-cooked food in the freezer has about a six-month life, so you want to be prepared to use it within six months. The other thing I would suggest is portioning properly before you freeze. So I remember my mother would get a big pack of ground beef and then break it down according to how much she used to make us a meal and then portion it that way rather than just putting that whole big pack of ground beef in the freezer I do that all the time Come home from the grocery store.

Speaker 2:

That's why I keep the Ziploc bags. I will, you know, take that big pack of chicken legs, chicken wings, and then you know, like if we cook four at a time, six at a time, and freeze them accordingly.

Speaker 1:

Right, Right. So portioning properly is another way to make sure it's also a great way to make sure you're going to use it, Because a lot of times if it's portioned too big when you go to cook something you're like well I don't need that much, and you keep pushing it aside and pushing it aside and before you know it, two years have gone by. Here comes a hurricane. You got to clean out your fridge. You know it gets thrown away. So I think portioning is one of the smartest things you can do. Portion for your family size or portion for your recipe. Like, if you say I'm going to use this turkey in a gumbo portion, according to what you would use in that gumbo, versus just freezing all the turkey.

Speaker 2:

So I have to ask at this time of year, do you specifically offer cooking classes? Because you have the cooking classes that focus around holiday meals, because, you know, every year there's always that new naive bride that says, hey, let's invite all the family over to my house, and and then she wakes up. She realizes, oh my God, what have I done? I don't know how to cook a turkey, I don't know how to do a ham. Do you offer, you know, those specialty classes? And then is it too late you know whether this is December 1st, that they're hearing this for them to sign up and come learn how to cook something real quick.

Speaker 1:

We teach around the holidays. We teach around the holidays, we teach classes. We teach a class called holiday sides. We also do holiday appetizers because we don't get a ton of turkey questions or ham questions. We get sides, questions like what's a new and interesting side, what can I do with the green bean casserole to make it more interesting? Or what is something like my family's game, like what could be something completely different that we do? So we teach more sides and appetizer classes because we haven't noticed. We know we hear it with our own ears. That's a pain point for customers and so we have both of those classes on the schedule and then going to our website and putting in search bar Thanksgiving sides, it'll populate recipes that we've done over the years for Thanksgiving sides and Thanksgiving desserts. We also offer that class. We get that question.

Speaker 2:

You can't have a holiday without desserts.

Speaker 1:

Right, a lot of people looking for I need a different pumpkin recipe. Nobody eats the pecan pie, the pumpkin pie you know. So we teach those. They're more side oriented classes.

Speaker 2:

So if I come in and I'm just a blank slate and I just say, please, somebody help me, will I leave feeling like I'm going to go home and be a professional chef you are going to leave very, very successful, feeling very successful.

Speaker 1:

One hundred percent. That's what we do all day is solve problems.

Speaker 2:

Okay. So if you've got a problem for the kitchen, ann's got a solution. So any last minute tips for our holiday listeners that you know whether it's how to stretch a budget, just how to make something gourmet or just how to jazz it up and make it different, because we're all so tired of turkey I do.

Speaker 1:

I learned something from my daughter recently. My daughter is in her early 20s, just starting out in her career. She lives in New Orleans and she does something that made me chuckle because it's something that my mother did and I don't really do it, but she watches the circulars from the local grocery store. Lot of people think your best bargain is at a big big box store period hard stop. That's where things are the cheapest and Emma spends a lot of time reading the circulars. She's a librarian so they have the paper newspaper there and she'll read the circulars for the small, your little, small neighborhood grocery stores, which every community has them, and she finds some great bargains.

Speaker 1:

So don't pass over your little local grocery store when you have your big Thanksgiving list and you've got your budget in mind. Don't assume that the big box store is going to be the solution. The solution could be at your neighborhood grocery store and they would so appreciate you shopping there. Number one and number two, you're going to get in and out way faster than the big busy grocery store. So I just loved listening to her tell me what food she bought that week at what price, based on her. It just made me think of my mother reading her little grocery store circulars and I just love that.

Speaker 2:

And I actually think, now that you mention it, that this is a really good time for somebody that wants to think. You know, fast forward into the new year and when you think about holidays, things like cake box mixes they're they're on sale for dirt cheap. You know, bakery things that may have a long shelf life, even if you're not cooking those items now. This may just be something that you normally cook all the time.

Speaker 2:

This may be a good time to you know, stock your pantry because I tell you flour, you can get things like flour, sugar, things that really do have a good shelf life, that you can buy now for pennies on the dollar. I went to a little local store a couple of months ago. I'm not a big canned good person, but I mean they were three, four dollars. You know canned goods and I mean you just can't go wrong with that. And I mean canned goods, what? Three, four, five years shelf life, so you can't pass up that bargain, whereas you know January, february they'll be back to two dollars a can, where February they'll be back to $2 a can Right, right Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, Anne, thanks again for stopping by. Hopefully you are saving the life and the holiday dinner for some folks that are listening. But I can't wait to have you back next year because we're going to definitely talk about how to start the year off right, how to meal prep, stretch that dollar and, of course, if you're going to be dieting and we know we always want to diet at the beginning of the year we start off just all gung ho and then we lose. You know, we kind of lose the momentum. We're going to have you back to help us keep. How do we keep that momentum? How do we take those supposed to be lifestyle changing foods? But how do we take those foods and keep them interesting so that we can stay on our go? So look forward to having you back. Looking forward to it, Thank you.

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