Monday Q&A | Winners, Mixers, Leftovers, and White Wheat
Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
First, a reader recently asked how I choose the winners for the giveaways that I do over on my review page (and I'm sorry, but I can't remember who asked!). I always choose winners using random.org so that the choosing is completely impartial. You've got as good a chance of winning if you're the first commenter as you do if you're the last or anywhere in between.
Speaking of which, today is the last day to enter in the current $50 Visa gift card giveaway from Kellogg's. My last few winners have all been in the last 50-100 comments, so do go enter. You might be $50 richer for it! 🙂
I've had a look at some KA mixers, but there seems to be many different models. Which one would you recommend?
Is it at all possible to get a machine that does the work of a stand mixer as well as a food processor?
-Franci
I own the Kitchen-Aid Artisan mixer
(I have the black one) but I originally had the KitchenAid Classic 
(I burned up the motor in that one by leaving it unattended. The screw-on piece that covers the front (where you attach attachments!) fell off and got stuck while I wasn't paying attention.).
The Artisan mixer has a slightly bigger bowl than the basic Kitchen-Aid does, and I'm glad that I chose the upgrade.
There is a larger Kitchen-Aid mixer available, but I find the large size to be frustrating when I want to do a small task (the bowl is so big that beating a single egg white is impossible). So, the Artisan is a good middle option for me.
The Kitchen-Aid does have some attachments for meat grinding, grating and such, but I've always felt that the food processor is really simpler to use for that kind of task. The attachments are kind of expensive too, so unless your main consideration is space, I'd recommend purchasing a food processor separately.
How do you work leftovers into your menu plan? I struggle to know how much of something will be left and some weeks we have too many leftovers and end up with waste...and other times I plan on leftovers and then we have none and end up scrambling for a meal. I guess I have a hard time planning portion sizes in general. It's just me, my husband, two preschool girls and a baby. And appetites tend to fluctuate so much...I never know if we'll have too much or not enough. Do you have any tips for me?
-Gina
We rarely eat leftovers for dinner but we do deal with them in several other ways.
My husband eats them for lunch. Unless we eat everything I made for dinner, my husband eats leftovers every day in his lunch. This is hugely helpful to me!
I eat leftovers for lunch when necessary. My husband prefers leftovers over a sandwich, but I'm not like that. However, when we have more leftovers than I can send with my husband, I eat them at lunchtime. If the leftovers are something my kids really like, they help me eat them at lunch as well.
I use the leftovers to make something else. This only works when the meal is a fairly simple one (you can't exactly remake a casserole!). If I've got leftover grilled chicken, some leftover pasta, and some random veggies, I sometimes combine them and make a salad (same goes for leftover taco or fajita fixings). Leftover grilled sausage makes a nice addition to scrambled eggs, and sometimes leftovers can make a pretty good soup.
I freeze leftovers. If I've got enough leftovers to make an entire meal, I sometimes freeze them to use later.
Predicting the amount of food you'll need at a meal is a fine art, and I don't know that anyone has it down pat. Since my family generally prefers leftover side dishes (salads, breads) to leftover main dishes, I usually plan on a fairly minimal number of main dish servings and figure that people who are still hungry can always eat more side dishes.
For example, if I'm making panini sandwiches, I make one for each of us (small ones for Sonia and Zoe) and make plenty of corn and fruit salad. I can repurpose corn and fruit salad much more easily than I can paninis, I'd rather make more of those and fewer paninis.
I know that won't work for every family, though, so hopefully my readers will have some good ideas to add to mine.
I was wondering what kind of wheat you use when you grind your own? Soft white, hard white, hard red, etc.?
I just purchased my first bag of bulk wheat, and it is an organic hard white wheat...just wondering if this should be treated as wheat for wheat breads only or if it can be used as regular unbleached flour?
-Jill
I usually buy a bag of hard red wheat and a bag of hard white wheat. The white wheat is still whole wheat...it's just a lighter variety. The flour made from white wheat will not behave quite like unbleached flour (that's had the brand and germ removed). However, it does generally produce a lighter product than hard red wheat flour, which means that it's a less noticeable substitute for white flour.
I wouldn't use it to bake a cake, but you can definitely try it in muffins, quick breads, and yeast breads. If you're adding it to a recipe that normally calls for white refined flour, I'd use a 50/50 combo of white refined flour and white wheat flour and then go from there based on the results.
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Readers, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on mixers, leftovers, and white wheat. Comment away!
Today's 365 post: "Can I have da state puzzle down, please?"
Leftovers can be pretty frustrating. I remember I made this huge pot of frugal bean stew a while back, and I was so happy at the gargantuan amount I was able to make for like $1. When we were still eating it 4 days later, some of the charm had definitely worn off! That bean stew was actually very tasty, but it's been three months and I still can't bring myself to make it again!
When I make a big pot of bean soup I make enough for several meals (about 4-5 days worth). The first day I serve it as is with corn bread. The second day I will add browned ground beef and some jalepenos and serve it over rice. The third day I will add any leftover rice to the beans and let them simmer for an hour or so to allow the rice to soak up some broth. then I drain the beans and smash them. we eat them on tostadas. whatever is left over on the 4th day, we use as a side to migas or huevos rancheros for breakfast. we still eat the same beans for 4 days or so, but we eat them in different ways each day.
Liz-- do u mind sharing the recipe for that bean soup? Thanks 🙂
If I want a leftover for another dish or to freeze for later use, I'll cook or serve it in it's own dish. I usually cook extra rice (cause it takes so long) and then measure out what I need for later and only serve what isn't needed. Same for things like stuffed peppers, etc. I may make two baking dishes and put one on the table and let the other cool for later lunch packaging. Like you, we don't usually eat the exact same leftover later in the week, but rather incorporate into lunch menu or as I mentioned use parts as ingredients later.
The Artisan is really the best size, in my opinion. Occasionally I will have to do things in batches but I find it certainly adequate for my needs.
My biggest problem is that I bought the pistachio colored one as it was the cheapest that day on Amazon. Now I'm getting married and someday I will be getting a house and my fiancee doesn't care much for the light green color. Oh well, a cover is cheaper than buying a new one. 😉
1. Leftovers.
I recommend not making a huge amount when you're trying something new (ask me how I know). Little bits of leftovers can sometimes be combined, or put them separately on your plate as if you were at a buffet. I freeze leftovers a lot, ready to take to work as needed; it's so important to label and date the container.
2. KitchenAid Standing Mixer.
You know how there are so many studies coming out that the satisfaction one gets from purchasing something new, fades pretty quickly? Not for me and my KA! Mine is almost 20 years old and it still makes me grin just to have it. I got the 5 qt size, which means the bowl drops rather than the mixer head rotating up. It is too big for small things but I don't mind beating an egg white by hand - fewer dishes that way. Mine has, literally, never had a problem. My friend uses to use his to grind wheat; he burned out the motor 3-4 times but since he was following instructions KA replaced it each time. (Then KA changed the instructions.)
You can get attachements for it, including slicing disks, juicers, meat grinder, grain grinder, and several others. Using attachments can be awkward because the bottom of the attachment mounts on the KA head, making them inconveniently high for the shorter chef. I use the meat grinder. You can also buy an ice-cream making bowl but it's both more expensive ($70) and bulkier than a Cuisinart ice cream maker ($50).
I'm not anti food processor per se, but I already have a KA and a blender and I don't want yet another large kitchen machine. There are blenders that come with mini food processor heads, I have one of those for when my knife skills or patience aren't up to the task.
KAs are quite pricey so before you buy, I'd research online customer feedback for newer machines. Manufacturing processes and quality levels change over time, better to see how recent machines hold up than to rely on reports of one that's almost old enough to vote.
How do you know?
namastemama, I wrote a lot (more than I realized, actually) - so I have to ask "how do I know what?"
That gave me a good chuckle.
I, too, LOVE my kitchen aid mixer. I got it at apost-Christmas sale one year, and I use it at least once a week. My husband's very happy with it because it means he gets more bread. I burned out a couple hand mixers before I got it. I do enjoy having two bowls for it, so I can use one for cake and one for icing and then put them both in the dishwasher instead of washing them by hand (I really like having a dishwasher).
Leftovers: That's kind of all we eat at my house because I'm HUNGRY when I get home from work and don't want to wait 30 minutes to eat. So we'll make 3 dishes on the weekend and then just rotate them for the rest of the week - lunch and dinner - and fill in with fruits and veggies as needed.
We treat leftovers the same way you do...my husband takes them to work through the week and I eat them for lunch as well. I also plan our Friday night to be a leftovers/fend for yourself night unless there isn't much for leftovers by Friday, in which case I just whip up something quick and easy 🙂
Thanks for answering my question about the wheat! That really helps!
Love it! We even call it 'fend for yourself night'. Might be a busy weeknight or a tired Friday night. Works great because everyone gets what they want and all you need is a microwave.
Another idea is to PREPLAN what you will do will the leftovers. For example if you make a whole chicken. I have at least 4 different rotating dishes that the leftovers will be used for excluding sandwich or salad.
I always make a plain pot of beans then you can vary the dishes you make with them. Make an enchillada - put an egg on top the next day for breakfast. From these comments looks like Latinos know how to use up the leftovers 🙂
We call it "Finders Keepers" night. I cam up with the name when my kids were smaller to make it sound like something fun - and it usually works!
I do this too! Probably not every single week, but often. Whenever the fridge seems unreasonably full, I just take everything out and put it on the counter so we can all pick and choose what we want for dinner. The kids love it, because they get to decide for themselves what they want. And I love it, because it means very little cooking and less food waste. I love the "finders keepers" name -- I may start using it!
my mom used to call it "saturday suprise". every saturday afternoon she would clean out the fridge and all the leftovers from the week were served for lunch. anything that was left got served for dinner. my sister and i used to love it. we would have the strangest meals on saturdays. but it was fun.
We called it "Million Dollar Buffet!"
Leftovers in general are very few in my house. Ever since I started trying to eat healthier my poor family has lost out on leftovers. I slice, dice and chop on the weekend for the week and portion out everything into baggies or bowls with lids. That way when I cook, I just grab what I need. I will make extra veggies but the main dish is portioned out. On the rare occassion that we do have leftovers, we eat them for lunch the next day. The only exception is bean soup, rice and caldo de res. When I make those items I make enough for 4-5 days at a time. We have so many ways to eat the bean soup that it's not really like eating leftovers. Also, for my house at least, Caldo de Res never lasts more than a couple of days because we will eat it at every meal until it is gone no matter how much I make. As for rice, we use it in everything at our house so I like to make a big batch at least once a week.
I use leftovers quite often in my meal plans but sometimes we do end up eating more than I had planned. I've found that the best way to deal with this is to have a backup meal that's made with staples that are always found in my house. For instance, I have a recipe for a pasta dish that uses small size pasta, garbanzo beans, canned diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, oil & spices. I always have these things on hand, so if we eat all of the leftovers I had planned on, I know I can make this dish instead.
I think I have the same KA as WilliamB. I love it! I've had it in for servicing once in 21 years and it just keeps going and going. However, I do have a small hand mixer for things like 1 egg white or other small needs.
I freeze leftovers in reusable single-meal containers. With 4 kids in various sports, somebody frequently needs dinner early, or needs to take dinner, or comes home hungry long after dinner. I label them with a masking tape label and the kids can choose what they want and microwave it.
One more thing for Franci--some time back I bought a machine that had one power source to which I could attach either a blender or a food processor. It was cheaper than buying 2 separate gadgets. I don't remember exactly what happened, since it's been awhile, but one of the parts gave out and then I couldn't use the other one either, so I ended up having to replace both at the same time, which ended up costing me more money in the long run. Ever since then I've only bought single-purpose machines.
I love my KA mixer. It is the best!
I bought my one and only Kitchenaid mixer almost 20 years ago because I was tired of burning out mixer after mixer. I finbally sucked it up and spent the $200 or so bucks it took and have not looked back since. I just got the base model and I use it a lot. I love that mixer, and if and when it finbally dies I will happily shell out the money for another one. Of course I will try to work the best deal to get it, but I will get it. 😉
The good news is you can probably still get your old one repaired should that happen. KitchenAid mixers and Electrolux (now Aerus, not the new Electrolux with Kelly Rippa on the commercials) are the only two small home appliances I hear of people getting repaired these days.
I'm the only person I know who hates the Kitchen-Aid, but I do. I grew up using my grandma's Sunbeam stand mixer (to make icing for cake decorating, which will burn out a less-than-quality machine). She had it for 20 years before it died, and she replaced it with a KA. Neither of us were happy. She has the large model, on which the bowl rotates up. So, when I got ready to buy a mixer, I bought the slightly smaller version with the lifting head. Still hated it. If I spend that much money on a mixer, I do not expect to have unmixed bits left in the bottom of my bowl--and the funny bowl shape (not a smooth bottom) makes that inevitable.
So, leaving the KA with my parents when I got married, I chose a classic-series Sunbeam like I had grown up with. I love that it has 2 motors--one to spin the beaters and one that rotates the bowl. It also comes with 2 bowl sizes, which is very helpful for small things. So far, so good. My initial purchase died the 2nd time I used it, but the company replaced it, citing a manufacturing defect, and I've had my replacement for about 5 years now. I've made and decorated dozens of cakes, and it's still going. It's cheaper than the KA, too, so if it doesn't last as long, I won't complain.
You probably just need to adjust the head. See KitchenAid's website for more info. Basically if you have a dime in the empty bowl it should swish the dime around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocnETNExLc0
This video shows what I mean.
How did we ever manage before YouTube???
Seriously! That's not sarcasm.
A company is producing an improved beater for several standing mixers including KA. It has plastic flaps on the metal beater head that act as little spatulae, getting every bit of food in the bowl. It also makes mixing go twice as fast. I can find the name if anyone's interested.
Yes, please! I haven't heard of this one.
http://www.sideswipeblade.com/
I've had mine for about a year, using it ... at a guess, more than once a month and less than once a week, and handwashing it. It's a pain to wipe the batter off of the spatulae (although I bet whomever gets to lick the beater will be happy) but it does a great job. The company website reports only KA beaters but I'd contact the company for updated info - the website copyright date is a very out of date 2007.
I have a 6qt pro model KA and LOVE it! Esp for cooking from scratch, I can do double or even triple batches in there. They are deff strong enough to purchase a second hand model, check craigslist or Ebay, although shipping may be pricey, these things weigh a ton. I found mine at a dept store, it was returned because they didn't like the color, bright green, and the store just put it on the clearance rack because it wasn't a standard color. My win, and I would have purchased it regardless of color!
i also have a KA food processor, and between those two things they do almost all the work in my kitchen. I esp like it for large slicing or grating tasks, and it makes great sauces, bread crumbs, pie or pizza dough or cake batter. I also made all my baby food from scratch. Yes they are bulky, but I use them so much it is worth it.
I used to think that stand mixers were about the silliest thing to waste money on....until I got my own a few years ago. I just love it. My bread maker failed on me and when I was shopping for a replacement uni-tasker, I realized that for just a little more money I could get the KA classic refurb, and use it to mix cookies, whisk cream into butter, and so much more. We enjoy it so much that I bought a refurb pro model for my 17 year old daughter for Christmas last year. I don't think I've ever seen her so excited by a present, even when she was little. How many college students are making bagels in their own kitchen?
My question for Kristen is this - whenever your recipes say to take the dough out of the mixer and knead it by hand I have to confess that I ignore that part and just keep on kneading in the mixer. Am I really missing out on better bread that way?
A tip for leftovers - get the plastic lids for mason jars and store your leftovers in the jars. You don't end up microwaving plastic containers that way. Glass also cleans up much more easily in the dishwasher than flimsy plastic. All those plastic containers will shatter or crack sooner or later and get thrown into the land fill. While glass can break, it would take quite a whack to do it, and you can recycle. (ok maybe you can recycle the plastic ones too - I need to check) And there are SO many sizes available! I just love mason jars.
I heart mason jars!!! I recently found some large half gallon ones, and some wide mouth half pint jars. squeee!
Rebecca I thought I was the only one who could get excited over glass jars! I also save the lids from mayo jars - they work on a regular mouth mason jar too. And when I'm making yogurt, I put the colored mayo jar lid on one jar of yogurt - then I know NOT to eat that one because it's my starter for the next batch. It doesn't take much to keep me entertained!
F.Y.I...Soft white wheat does well in cakes, cookies, and muffins. I used it to make Betty Crockers Classic Chocolate Cake for my son's birthday one year and I got more compliments on that cake then I have on any other cake!
I prefer to buy Prairie Gold Wheat, it's delicious, but since moving from NC to CA I can't get my hands on any. So now I am using hard red wheat. It's also fabulous and if you mix in some unbleached flour with your bread your loaves will turn out less dense. Don't be afraid to throw in some rolled oats too.
I bought the KA 610 because my first one (14 years old) burned out when using it to make bread after I had switched to fresh milled wheat. I wasn't using it to grind my wheat only to mix the bread dough. Having the 610 has worked out best for us since we are a family of 9.
I love my KA mixer too! Mine is almost 15 years old and still going strong. I was acctually hoping it might give out soon so I could get a pretty color one and not just white! Haha! I was worried last year cause we used it to grind over a 100 lbs of elk meat but it did great! I also like it cause its easy for the kids to use. They like to help in the kitchen and they know how to operate this one just fine.
Another must in the kitchen is a Cuisinart! I love mine. I use it non-stop. Although both of these appliances take up space on my counter they are not going to be moved any time soon. They are time and back savers!
This was a great Q&A week post! I always love reading these! So informative!
I am not a fan of sandwiches, so we try to make extra servings of dinner that my husband and I can have for our lunches. We also try to plan for leftovers. We buy rotisserie chickens--I know we can buy chickens to roast ourselves more cheaply but the time and the mess it makes in the oven is worth the extra money to me--and we really stretch a roast chicken a LONG way. On warm weekends we sometimes roast a chicken in the gas grill. Anyway, we get two or more meals from a roasted chicken. We eat the dark meat at the first meal, and then use the white meat and a variety of leftover vegies in a homemade chicken pot pie that is just awesome. In warmer weather the white meat becomes chicken salad for a cold salad supper or we slice it for chicken tacos.
We also make a lot of rice and serve it plain with chinese food or fish for the first meal, then add tomatoes and chili powder for Spanish rice on "burrito night". I like to have enough to have an excuse to make rice pudding sometimes, too. Leftover beef becomes corned beef hash for our "breakfast for dinner" night.
My mom was big on making food ahead and using the freezer, but we don't have a very big freezer. I don't want the extra "carbon load" of a separate freezer right now. But I do try to make big batches of some dishes and freeze lunch sized portions for a quick grab on a work day. Two of my favorites are crock pot chicken cacciatore and stuffed cabbage leaves.
My Kitchen Aid was a wedding gift almost 22 years ago and it's still going strong. I also got a lot of the attachments at that time and we use them instead of a food processor. I must admit the attachments are a bit of a pain to take them out and attach them--I'd probably use a food processor more. The plastic housing on the meat grinder and the shredder are cracking after all these years, but I doubt a food processor would have held up as well for so long. I still use the attachments but clean them extra carefully.
I have a "Little Oscar" mini food processor I had for years before i was single--it's going on 25 or more years. All it does is chop and puree, the slicing and grating blades don't really do the job anymore. The white body is yellowed, but it still works, and we use it for pureeing small batches, chopping nuts, bread crumbs, etc. I almost wish this would die so I could get a real food processor, but I'm also pleased that I don't have to spend the money and we're keeping this out of the landfill.
Whew! Loved all these comments today. I do hope this means that things are returning to their normal happy places in TFG world.
BTW - Congratulations appear to be in order. I've never clicked over to your site, but we seem to have quite a few others in common. If you've posted this news elsewhere, I've missed it until now. Are you planning a frugally wonderful wedding?
Thanks! We're trying to keep our side of things frugal (not cheap) but a lot of it is because my fiancee and I aren't really extravagant people.
Oops! Kristin, I know you're married, my comment was for Battra92!
Two mistakes in a row...must be time to shut down the computer and go. to. bed. Sorry, K-r-i-s-t-e-n.
I have a few ideas for leftovers:
- If it is a stew or one pot meal, anything slightly liquidy, I put two portions in the fridge in separate containers for my lunch and for my husband's lunch the next day. Everything else goes into the freezer. I might freeze enough for one dinner (so, 2-4 portions) and then I put the rest in individual containers. These we use for lunches when there is nothing else in the house. A frozen soup, a slice of bread, a small salad = a very nice office lunch.
- When I make meatloaf, I make it in muffin tins so it is easy to freeze individual portions for lunches.
- When I have too much of something, I often bring a quart sized container of it to a friend of mine. She does the same for me - we have similar food habits and a friendly (no score keeping) relationship around this. These things are often things that freeze well in case it doesn't fit in the menu that week.
I like that meatloaf muffin idea. Not that my meatloaf gets leftover a lot but next time I can put half in tins and half in the loaf pan. If you have kids do you make mini-muffin meatloafs?
LOL, WilliamB, about the mini-muffins for kids!
I make meatloaf in the muffin tins, too. I love it. They cook a lot faster than a whole loaf, and they freeze beautifully. The thing to remember is that unlike baked goods, meatloaf actually gets smaller when it is cooked. So rather than rising like a light muffin, meatloaf in the muffin tin gets smaller. You want to really pile the meatloaf mixture into the muffin tin in order to get a reasonable size. We usually call two meatloaf-muffins equal to one serving.
I made a huge batch of these for my mom when she had surgery. It was so great, she could just take out a few from the freezer, as many as she was hungry for or more if she had a guest, and a few short minutes later she had dinner. With a veggie and a slice of bread, she was a happy camper.
I had coveted Kitchen Aid mixers for years but resisted because they were too expensive and I had no counter space. When I moved into a bigger place, a friend gave me a kitchen aid she had bought refurbished for $99. She had since received a different model as a gift and passed her starter Kitchen Aid down to me. Everytime I see it, I think how lucky I am and I use it all the time so it is totally worth the counter space. If I had known I could buy a refurbished one for $100 I might have had one a lot sooner.
Where do you buy your hard white and hard red wheat flour? And is this flour or the grain that you grind yourself?