Mmmmm Let's talk about food! (buy, live, costs)

[kiliki]

After doing quite a bit of reading I am seeing a lot of talk about the cost of food and how important it is to stay away from the processed, pre-packaged food at the grocery in Hawaii. So, what do you eat? What are some of your favorite meals? Photos and recipes welcome!

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Food that is eaten isn't going to be much different for those who already cook and eat a balanced diet. Those who live on packaged food can expect a big increase in their grocery costs if they intend to keep eating the same way, but they are most likely going to be able to continue as before if that is what they choose.

People who cook can buy fresh local fruit, vegetables, and fish. Maybe not cheap, but at least not including high shipping costs. People who have always lived on packaged foods have the option of switching to cooking and using fresh local fruits, veggies, and fish. That will help with the grocery budget as well as being healthier.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

I eat a lot of produce that we grow in our community garden. Besides the good old beans, peas, potatoes, onions, leeks, squash, lettuce, carrots, etc. we also grow yacon, some strange black radish, bok choy, jicama, and kale.

I have a neighbor who is a commercial fisherman, and periodically he'll sell ono and ahi to us. The Choice Mart in South Kona on the BI has some great fresh fish at a reasonable price.

My favorite pot luck meal is pulled pork. I wrap a pork shoulder in tea leaves and banana leaves, add some liquid smoke, and slow cook it in the oven (I haven't dug an imu in my yard yet) at 250 for about five hours. Since it slow cooks for so long I can buy a cheap roast at Costco.

Staying away from pre-packaged food is a good idea no matter where you live.

[hotzcatz]

Hmm, I hadn't thought of wrapping the meat with banana and ti leaves if it is going to be cooked in the oven, but that's a good idea! I'll try it for the next pulled pork/poultry/beef in the oven.

Currently we are eating leftover turkey. The bones were put into a stock pot along with the pan scrapings and the leftover brown bread & pumpkin dressing. It was simmered a bit, then the bones removed. We've been serving that over the left over mashed potatoes, although it would be good over rice. Probably later today I'll make some noodles to toss in it, then we will have it with salad and bread instead of over mashed potatoes, but it would still be good over 'taters or rice.

Otherwise, we are eating a lot of avocados and bananas since those are falling out of the trees at the moment. Oranges and tangerines, too.

In general, we eat a lot of salads since we have a vegetable garden. We also eat a lot of soups since they are easy to make. Rice, sandwiches, pizza, all sorts of things, mostly depending on what it on hand at the time. Most things, including bread, noodles, mayonnaise and salad dressings are made from scratch due to cost of pre-made items. Some are made because they taste a lot better scratch made, too. Saves money, tastes better and is healthier without all those weird chemicals food manufacturers put in things, what's not to like?

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

hotzcatz, I put aluminum foil in the pan first, enough to completely cover the pork. Then I line the foil with banana leaves and then ti leaves (oops I just noticed my typo from my previous post!). Then I put the pork in the center, poke some holes in it and pour on the liquid smoke. Also season with garlic. Then I wrap the aluminum foil over all of it to completely seal in the pork.

It comes out yummy and I get rave reviews.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

It comes out yummy and I get rave reviews.

I'll bet!

What time should we be there?

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Hey, OpenD, I'm cooking a pork tomorrow for a potluck dinner. Come on by around 5:00! You know where Na'alehu is

[hotzcatz]

Is that a whole pork or a portion of pork? Didja dig a hole? Imu is always best if you can manage it. Maybe we should throw a party and roast a whole pig. Haven't done that in ages!

Hmm, we don't use a lot of aluminum foil since the stuff is pretty expensive. But a big covered roasting pan with a lid (that's redundant since it's a "covered" roasting pan, but you know what I mean) should work fine. Anyway, spray that with cooking oil (to make cleanup easier) then a layer or two of ti leaves, a thick layer of banana leaves, pork, butterfish - garlic? I hadn't thought about garlic? Hmm, should the liquid smoke be spritzed on, or put in a bit of water in the bottom of the pan? Or mixed with the garlic and slathered on top of the pork? (We need to do a study! This will take lots of study!) Wrap up the pork, tie it with string and then put about a scant half inch of water in the pan. Adding the liquid smoke there would be an option. Also carrots, potatoes (sweet and Irish) maybe some laulaus. Hmm, could just wrap about two inches of taro leaf around the pork and call the whole thing a big laulau.

Hmm, I wonder who has the pig trap at the moment, maybe we should go refill the freezer with pork now. There's room now that a few turkeys were removed. Hmm, betcha you could do the same thing with a turkey instead of pork, too, huh?

What's a good recipe for avocado? These things are falling all over the yard and we are getting tired of guacamole. They get sliced onto salad and diced into omelets, what else is good with avocados?

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Is that a whole pork or a portion of pork? Didja dig a hole? Imu is always best if you can manage it. Maybe we should throw a party and roast a whole pig. Haven't done that in ages!

Hmm, we don't use a lot of aluminum foil since the stuff is pretty expensive. But a big covered roasting pan with a lid (that's redundant since it's a "covered" roasting pan, but you know what I mean) should work fine.

I can attest that my cast iron Dutch oven with a tight lid does the trick very nicely, which I appreciate greatly, since I detest sending aluminum foil to the landfill.

Hmm, should the liquid smoke be spritzed on, or put in a bit of water in the bottom of the pan? Or mixed with the garlic and slathered on top of the pork? (We need to do a study! This will take lots of study!)

I go for the top-slathering approach, using liquid smoke and copious quantities of freshly squeezed garlic, for which I use my trusty RÖSLE GARLIC PRESS, finest culinary tool of its kind in the world. Why, you don't even have to peel the cloves first!

Rösle Garlic Press

What's a good recipe for avocado? These things are falling all over the yard and we are getting tired of guacamole. They get sliced onto salad and diced into omelets, what else is good with avocados?

Avoritas! A Tex-Mex delight! Just make a good tart margarita and then add 1/4 of a ripe avocado per person to the blender, and blend until creamy. I find it is unusually easy to foist off extra avocados on the neighbors when you deliver them in this fashion.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

My favorite pot luck meal is pulled pork. I wrap a pork shoulder in tea leaves and banana leaves, add some liquid smoke, and slow cook it in the oven (I haven't dug an imu in my yard yet) at 250 for about five hours. Since it slow cooks for so long I can buy a cheap roast at Costco.

You can cut the cooking time in half if you use a pressure cooker. I wrap pork shoulder or pork butt with ti leaves, add some water, Wright's Mesquite liquid smoke, and a little Paʻakai brand ʻalaea salt, and cook it for a couple of hours at 15 PSI in my electric pressure cooker.