Happy New Year, everyone! My New Year's resolution is to cook more beans, chickpeas, and lentils. (The added advantage is that they're one of the main crops near where I live, enabling me to eat locally and organically as well as cheaply. Ah, two birds with one stone--feelings of virtue and middle-class preoccupations!)
Here are some links to recipes from around the internet that I plan to try this year. As you know, I despise recipes that don't work, so I am a terrible snob about where I get my recipes from. Fine Cooking is 100% reliable, in my experience, so a lot of them come from there. Food Network is pretty hit-or-miss, but it depends on the author, and Nigella Lawson recipes are usually fine. Martha Rose Shulman's Recipes for Health in the New York Times are really good, and from time to time I find a Jamie Oliver recipe I like. I don't know anything about thekitchn.com, but their recipes look interesting, so I guess we'll find out. All these recipes look like they'll be reasonably cheap to make, and nutritious, and, I hope, delicious too.
So here goes:
In my neverending quest for the perfect vegetarian burger...
White Bean Burgers with Tomato-Olive Relish from Fine Cooking
Mexican Black Bean Burgers from Fine Cooking
Seared Turkey and White Bean Burgers from Fine Cooking
Soupy things, since it's soup season...
Jamie Oliver's Corn Chowder
Eggplant Ragout with Tomatoes, Peppers, and Chickpeas from Fine Cooking
Chicken Soup with Lime and Hominy from Fine Cooking
Chickpea Soup with Crispy Kale from Fine Cooking
Nigella Lawson's Rice and Tomato Soup
My other quest, which is to make myself like chickpeas...
Chickpea Casserole with Lemon, Herbs and Shallots from theKitchn
Chickpea of the Sea from theKitchn
...and a cottage cheese pasta recipe from the New York Times that I think Baby B would like.
...and Slow Cooker Black Bean Enchiladas
Happy cooking and eating! May the year 2014 be a good one!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
The $15.01 grocery bill
No, I didn't push my thriftiness to new brilliance, but $15.01 was all I needed to spend because of the giant amounts of food I still have in the house. I had resolved not to buy food at all, but it transpired that I did need a few things. It's hard to feed a toddler when you don't have bread, and since I'd run out of both white flour and bread flour, I did need some more of those. (By the way, plain white flour works fine in bread, but the higher gluten content of bread flour improves the texture.) Also, eggs: Baby B loves a soft-boiled egg for her lunch, and it makes a change from the endless peanut butter sandwiches when we're at home for the holidays. Onions and garlic were necessary for most of our planned recipes, and the broccoli is so we don't get scurvy.
Planned meals:
1) We still have another vast container of creamy chicken spaghetti in our freezer. We've established that it tastes better when smothered in sriracha.
2) Mr. B will pan-sear some pork tenderloin, after tenderly anointing it with seasonings and so on. We'll have that with some broccoli, and bake some of the potatoes we have left from Christmas dinner.
3) I'll make Butter Chicken with the chicken thighs in the freezer. We don't have coconut milk, but I will substitute some of the cream left over from Christmas. Sides of basmati rice and broccoli.
4) I'm going to make a Shrimp and Pea Risotto, but with luxurious jumbo shrimp instead of the usual shrimp meat I use. (To be honest, I haven't bough shrimp meat for a while because I kind of stopped liking it. It simply doesn't have the flavor and bite of larger pieces. Jumbo shrimp will be heavenly, though.)
5) Tonight we made this Steak and Mushroom Cobbler with these (mysteriously named) Elvis Biscuits.
6) I also made a huge vat of Split Pea Soup and a loaf of Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread.
All of the above will have leftovers to tide us over so we don't have to buy any more groceries for a week. Ah, leftover leftovers, how postmodern, or something. Lunches will be soup and toast, eggs on toast, peanut butter sandwiches, leftovers from previous dinners, etc.
Observations: My goodness, the steak and mushroom cobbler was good. We wouldn't have bought flank steak if it had been up to us, because that stuff is expensive, but thank you, mother-in-law, we really enjoyed it. Baby B approved, too. Mr. B made the stew, and I made the Elvis Biscuits, my first foray into using lard. I assume they're called Elvis Biscuits because the tremendous amount of fat in them would probably cause you to meet an unfortunate demise like Mr. Presley's. I don't know why I experienced revulsion when I opened the container of lard, because it's really no different from using butter, and I've even used rendered bacon fat in baking in the past, but the unctuous white goo disgusted me. I cut it into the flour using a pastry cutter, but because it was much softer than butter, it was a little more difficult to work with. I'll admit that the biscuits were amazingly light and fluffy, but I doubt I'll be doing this again once the rest of the container is used up.
Today's groceries:
1.08 lb unbleached flour 0.36
1.01 lb bread flour 0.42
1.48 lb basmati rice 2.66
12 eggs 1.59
1 gallon Organic Valley reduced fat milk, 7.20
1.82 lb onions 0.87
1 head garlic 0.48
1.12 lb broccoli crowns 1.43
Total: $15.01
Planned meals:
1) We still have another vast container of creamy chicken spaghetti in our freezer. We've established that it tastes better when smothered in sriracha.
2) Mr. B will pan-sear some pork tenderloin, after tenderly anointing it with seasonings and so on. We'll have that with some broccoli, and bake some of the potatoes we have left from Christmas dinner.
3) I'll make Butter Chicken with the chicken thighs in the freezer. We don't have coconut milk, but I will substitute some of the cream left over from Christmas. Sides of basmati rice and broccoli.
4) I'm going to make a Shrimp and Pea Risotto, but with luxurious jumbo shrimp instead of the usual shrimp meat I use. (To be honest, I haven't bough shrimp meat for a while because I kind of stopped liking it. It simply doesn't have the flavor and bite of larger pieces. Jumbo shrimp will be heavenly, though.)
5) Tonight we made this Steak and Mushroom Cobbler with these (mysteriously named) Elvis Biscuits.
6) I also made a huge vat of Split Pea Soup and a loaf of Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread.
All of the above will have leftovers to tide us over so we don't have to buy any more groceries for a week. Ah, leftover leftovers, how postmodern, or something. Lunches will be soup and toast, eggs on toast, peanut butter sandwiches, leftovers from previous dinners, etc.
Observations: My goodness, the steak and mushroom cobbler was good. We wouldn't have bought flank steak if it had been up to us, because that stuff is expensive, but thank you, mother-in-law, we really enjoyed it. Baby B approved, too. Mr. B made the stew, and I made the Elvis Biscuits, my first foray into using lard. I assume they're called Elvis Biscuits because the tremendous amount of fat in them would probably cause you to meet an unfortunate demise like Mr. Presley's. I don't know why I experienced revulsion when I opened the container of lard, because it's really no different from using butter, and I've even used rendered bacon fat in baking in the past, but the unctuous white goo disgusted me. I cut it into the flour using a pastry cutter, but because it was much softer than butter, it was a little more difficult to work with. I'll admit that the biscuits were amazingly light and fluffy, but I doubt I'll be doing this again once the rest of the container is used up.
Today's groceries:
1.08 lb unbleached flour 0.36
1.01 lb bread flour 0.42
1.48 lb basmati rice 2.66
12 eggs 1.59
1 gallon Organic Valley reduced fat milk, 7.20
1.82 lb onions 0.87
1 head garlic 0.48
1.12 lb broccoli crowns 1.43
Total: $15.01
Split pea soup
Further to my resolution to cook more with beans and lentils, I present my much-experimented, hard-won split pea soup. I was raised on split pea and ham soup: I have many memories of my dad boiling up a ham bone to make the stock, and sauteing the mirepoix (a thing I actually don't bother doing). His soup tasted pretty good--salty, savory, comforting and filling on a winter's day.
However, I find that split pea soup is something that I tire of pretty quickly, because the texture of split peas can so easily become sandy and grainy, leaving a chalky taste in the mouth. So over the past several years, I've experimented with various add-ons to smooth out the texture and give it a better mouth feel. The ultra-smooth texture of the sweet potato balances the graininess of the split peas, the red lentils add extra softness and thickness, and the addition of a thick béchamel at the end gives it a creamy finishing touch.
Oh, and I found out something else that is pure genius: you aren't supposed to add salt to beans and lentils while they're cooking, because it can toughen them and make the finished product less soft. I had no idea! So that precludes using a homemade ham bone stock, which is a very salty thing. I used homemade chicken stock, but you could just as easily use water. I add a ham steak right at the end, and season the soup with salt once I've blended the soup and added the béchamel. (The animal-based ingredients can all easily be left out if you want to make this vegetarian or vegan.)
Speaking of flavor, I got the idea of adding allspice and thyme from an old recipe book, and I find that they give the whole thing a real depth and complexity of savoriness that you wouldn't otherwise get. However, if you're feeling really poor and hungry and don't have them, it'll still taste perfectly fine if you leave them out. Ditto the ham steak and the chicken broth. I love the flavors they provide, but good old salt is the main thing you need here, and most of us can still afford salt (just).
It's a funny thing; in the past, I used to read recipes that instructed one only to use unsalted butter and low-sodium stock, and I assumed that they writers were solicitously concerned with the health of my arteries. But now I realize that it's so that you can control the amount of salt yourself. On the rare occasions I buy chicken broth, it drives me bananas if I accidentally get the kind with salt in it. It's usually too salty, and because of that, I can't season my ingredients as I go for fear of the end product tasting like seawater. Oh, first world problems!
Last comment: I got an immersion blender for Christmas--thank you, darling husband!--and I was longing to try it out, so split pea soup was going to happen today, by hook or by crook.
Split Pea Soup
Ingredients:
For the soup:
1 cup yellow or green split peas, or a mixture of both
1/2 cup red lentils
10 cups of water, or stock: use homemade chicken broth, or, if you're buying the broth, get the kind with no added salt
2 onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 celery sticks, coarsely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped medium
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into rough cubes
1 ham steak, cubed (optional; leave it out if you're making this vegetarian)
For the béchamel:
50 grams unsalted butter (margarine would be fine if you're making this vegan)
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup plain flour
1 cup milk, warmed
Salt and pepper
Put the split peas, lentils, water, and vegetables in a very large pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, clap a lid on, and boil for about 90 minutes, or until the split peas are very soft. Add the ham steak, if using. Using an immersion blender, zap the soup until it's perfectly pureed. (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can whiz it in the food processor. When I didn't have either of these, during my student days, I would push the lot through a sieve.)
In a small pot, melt the butter. Add the allspice and thyme, and stir gently until fragrant. Add the flour and whisk until no lumps remain, and then start adding the warmed milk little by little to make a thick sauce, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.
Add the sauce to the soup, and whisk thoroughly to blend. Cook at a low temperature, whisking, for a few minutes to let the soup thicken. If it's too thick, add some more milk; if it's too thin, you can make a slurry with some cornstarch and milk and add it to the soup. Season generously with salt--start with a teaspoon, taste it, and keep adding more, up to about 2 teaspoons. (I know that sounds like a lot, but this recipe makes a lot of soup, so you need it.) Add pepper to taste.
Serve with toasted slices of whole wheat sandwich bread, or hunks of whole wheat-yogurt baking powder bread, or dear old grilled cheese sandwiches.
This recipe makes enough for three meals for our family of two adults and one toddler. Cooked split peas go bad quickly, so I typically eat it the day I make it and the day after that, then freeze the other third of it for another time. Because of the large amount it makes, and because of the cheapness of most of the ingredients, it's a very economical meal, super-filling, and really satisfying when it's cold outside.
However, I find that split pea soup is something that I tire of pretty quickly, because the texture of split peas can so easily become sandy and grainy, leaving a chalky taste in the mouth. So over the past several years, I've experimented with various add-ons to smooth out the texture and give it a better mouth feel. The ultra-smooth texture of the sweet potato balances the graininess of the split peas, the red lentils add extra softness and thickness, and the addition of a thick béchamel at the end gives it a creamy finishing touch.
Oh, and I found out something else that is pure genius: you aren't supposed to add salt to beans and lentils while they're cooking, because it can toughen them and make the finished product less soft. I had no idea! So that precludes using a homemade ham bone stock, which is a very salty thing. I used homemade chicken stock, but you could just as easily use water. I add a ham steak right at the end, and season the soup with salt once I've blended the soup and added the béchamel. (The animal-based ingredients can all easily be left out if you want to make this vegetarian or vegan.)
Speaking of flavor, I got the idea of adding allspice and thyme from an old recipe book, and I find that they give the whole thing a real depth and complexity of savoriness that you wouldn't otherwise get. However, if you're feeling really poor and hungry and don't have them, it'll still taste perfectly fine if you leave them out. Ditto the ham steak and the chicken broth. I love the flavors they provide, but good old salt is the main thing you need here, and most of us can still afford salt (just).
It's a funny thing; in the past, I used to read recipes that instructed one only to use unsalted butter and low-sodium stock, and I assumed that they writers were solicitously concerned with the health of my arteries. But now I realize that it's so that you can control the amount of salt yourself. On the rare occasions I buy chicken broth, it drives me bananas if I accidentally get the kind with salt in it. It's usually too salty, and because of that, I can't season my ingredients as I go for fear of the end product tasting like seawater. Oh, first world problems!
Last comment: I got an immersion blender for Christmas--thank you, darling husband!--and I was longing to try it out, so split pea soup was going to happen today, by hook or by crook.
Split Pea Soup
Ingredients:
For the soup:
1 cup yellow or green split peas, or a mixture of both
1/2 cup red lentils
10 cups of water, or stock: use homemade chicken broth, or, if you're buying the broth, get the kind with no added salt
2 onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 celery sticks, coarsely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped medium
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into rough cubes
1 ham steak, cubed (optional; leave it out if you're making this vegetarian)
For the béchamel:
50 grams unsalted butter (margarine would be fine if you're making this vegan)
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup plain flour
1 cup milk, warmed
Salt and pepper
Put the split peas, lentils, water, and vegetables in a very large pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, clap a lid on, and boil for about 90 minutes, or until the split peas are very soft. Add the ham steak, if using. Using an immersion blender, zap the soup until it's perfectly pureed. (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can whiz it in the food processor. When I didn't have either of these, during my student days, I would push the lot through a sieve.)
In a small pot, melt the butter. Add the allspice and thyme, and stir gently until fragrant. Add the flour and whisk until no lumps remain, and then start adding the warmed milk little by little to make a thick sauce, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.
Add the sauce to the soup, and whisk thoroughly to blend. Cook at a low temperature, whisking, for a few minutes to let the soup thicken. If it's too thick, add some more milk; if it's too thin, you can make a slurry with some cornstarch and milk and add it to the soup. Season generously with salt--start with a teaspoon, taste it, and keep adding more, up to about 2 teaspoons. (I know that sounds like a lot, but this recipe makes a lot of soup, so you need it.) Add pepper to taste.
Serve with toasted slices of whole wheat sandwich bread, or hunks of whole wheat-yogurt baking powder bread, or dear old grilled cheese sandwiches.
This recipe makes enough for three meals for our family of two adults and one toddler. Cooked split peas go bad quickly, so I typically eat it the day I make it and the day after that, then freeze the other third of it for another time. Because of the large amount it makes, and because of the cheapness of most of the ingredients, it's a very economical meal, super-filling, and really satisfying when it's cold outside.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
New challenge: no shopping allowed!
Christmas came and went, and with it, my super-generous mother-in-law. I know we claim to be hard up, but really, we are so lucky to have the help of family. If it weren't for some pretty hefty handouts from both sets of parents, Mr. B and I would be in a pretty pickle.
My mother-in-law, in addition to showering us (and particularly Baby B) with gifts, also filled our refrigerator and freezer to the point of bursting. I think, at a casual estimate, that we won't have to shop for two weeks, giving our bank account time to recover a bit from Christmas and a larger-than-usual number of bills (health insurance, non-optional home repairs, etc).
The old Mr. and Mrs. B would have shrugged and said "Yeah, whatever," and gone shopping anyway, buying whatever struck our fancy, and wasting half of what was in there. Not any more! The new, thrifty, frugal Mr. and Mrs. B decided to set themselves a challenge: absolutely no grocery shopping at all until our Christmas haul is used up.
The only exceptions to this rule are:
My mother-in-law, in addition to showering us (and particularly Baby B) with gifts, also filled our refrigerator and freezer to the point of bursting. I think, at a casual estimate, that we won't have to shop for two weeks, giving our bank account time to recover a bit from Christmas and a larger-than-usual number of bills (health insurance, non-optional home repairs, etc).
The old Mr. and Mrs. B would have shrugged and said "Yeah, whatever," and gone shopping anyway, buying whatever struck our fancy, and wasting half of what was in there. Not any more! The new, thrifty, frugal Mr. and Mrs. B decided to set themselves a challenge: absolutely no grocery shopping at all until our Christmas haul is used up.
The only exceptions to this rule are:
- Milk (can't really get along without that when you have a toddler: doctor's orders)
- Essential bathroom supplies (you know what I'm talking about)
- If we run out of vegetables, I'm allowed to go and buy raw broccoli
The food we have includes:
- Stew beef
- Chicken thighs
- 2 lbs shrimp
- 1 pork tenderloin
- Lots of frozen vegetables
- Lots of frozen berries
- 1 package frozen dumplings, Chinese restaurant-style
- Enough frozen tomato soup for two meals
- Enough spaghetti with shredded chicken and cream sauce for three meals
- Fresh vegetables: mushrooms, arugula, carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, some fresh herbs
- Dairy: milk, cream, lots of cheese, sour cream, yogurt
- Fresh fruits: apples, grapes, oranges
- Baking supplies: flour etc
- Pantry staples: spaghetti, other pasta, brown rice, steel cut oats
- Etc.: nuts, dates, crackers upon crackers upon crackers, pretzels
- Odd things: lard. Ye gods, lard. 1 lb of my mother-in-law's homemade sugar cookie dough, plus a bag full of jars of frosting and decorations and cookie cutters, evidently to be a fun project for us to do with Baby B. (I admit, we have scandalously neglected her education in the art of cookie-baking. Is it un-American that we don't terribly love cookies?)
- Cans: chicken broth, beef broth, cream of something soup
In other words, not necessarily all the things we'd personally buy, but we're immensely grateful for them, and will use them all up.
Honestly, the thing that scares me the most is the canned cream soup. Cream of celery, I think. I've never cared for cream of anything soup in a can, because it seems salty, bland, and chemical-tasting to me. I know a lot of American casseroles start with a can of creamy soup, so there must be some way of making it better. One of the meals my sainted mother-in-law left was the aforementioned spaghetti with shredded chicken in a cream of mushroom soup-based sauce, which at first seemed like it wasn't really our sort of thing, but then we discovered that we had an ancient, almost-empty bottle of sriracha lurking in the back of the refrigerator, and that livened it up considerably.
Tomorrow night's dinner is going to be a recipe she left for us, which is called a pie but really looks as if it's more of a cobbler. You're supposed to make a beef and mushroom stew, and then bake it with biscuits on top. The biscuits are what the lard is for.
Speaking of which. Lard! I've never used or knowingly eaten lard in my life, but the recipe calls for it, and my mother-in-law bought it for us, so I'm going to overcome my trepidation and try it out. I didn't know my mother-in-law ever cooked with it herself--I thought she was more of a Crisco fan--but she told me that Crisco is getting phased out because it has trans fats, and she thinks lard might work for her pie crusts and so on. I've also heard good things about coconut fat. I seldom make pie crusts, and when I do, I use butter, so I expect we'll probably consign the leftover lard to a murky corner until I can think up another use for it. (The old Mrs. B would have thrown it out; the new Mrs. B is determined to waste not, want not.)
So I'll keep you posted on all the things we're going to eat, as we plan them out.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
The freeloader's Christmas
I would write a long post about how to make a thrifty Christmas dinner, but it would be a bit disingenuous of me given that our house is full of relatives, all of whom brought food with them. They also discovered our local organic and natural foods co-op, and shopped till they dropped. Our house is now groaning with food, most of it expensive. And we didn't have to pay for any of it, so it wouldn't be very truthful of me to start lecturing anyone on how to eat cheaply but festively in the holidays.
However, I have a few more blog posts planned for the coming days, because I have time off work and am feeling creative.
Topics I want to cover include:
However, I have a few more blog posts planned for the coming days, because I have time off work and am feeling creative.
Topics I want to cover include:
- Baking with whole grains
- Special occasion baking for people on a budget
- Entertaining on a budget
Until then, merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Monday, December 16, 2013
Ways to make beans and lentils bearable
For a few years, during my student days, I was a vegan. It was mostly out of laziness and dislike of making an effort to cook fancy food for one. I basically ate the same things over and over again:
- Porridge for breakfast, usually with mix-ins such as grated apples, ground flaxseed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and almonds. Topped with soy milk and more nuts.
- Dinners: usually some stir-fry combination of tofu or seitan with whatever vegetables were on sale, doused in soy sauce, over a bed of brown basmati rice or buckwheat noodles.
- If I wasn't caring about protein much, I'd happily subsist on spaghetti with tomato sauce, with a sprinkling of that alarming, rubbery vegan cheese on top.
- If I was feeling especially lazy and rich (ha!), I'd eat processed vegan products, such as veggie burgers, Quorn products and so on.
- Lunches: microwaved leftovers from the night before, plus an apple or other fruits.
Notice anything missing that vegans are supposed to be madly fond of? Oh yeah, the beans and lentils. I rarely ate beans and lentils, because I didn't like them. I found them chalky and floury and overpoweringly...wholesome, I suppose, sort of like eating a bowlful of boiled knitting.
I'm no longer a vegan, because I no longer really agree with the ideology. I was a vegan for environmental rather than animal cruelty reasons, but you can get around that if you make an effort, as Mr. B and I do, to seek out animal products that aren't completely trashy. Organic, grass-fed, that sort of thing. And I'm convinced that eating locally is more important than eating vegan. We are lucky to live in an area that has very fertile soil, and where local produce is easy to acquire cheaply. So there's that.
However, we are stupidly broke right now, and beans are cheap. Mr. B, bless him, refuses to eat tofu and seitan, so we need to find some cheap forms of vegetable protein. (All kinds of beans and lentils are grown in our area, so it's a great locavore option.) So I decided to figure out exactly what to do with beans. It's a work in progress, but I'm slowly finding some recipes that I wouldn't mind eating again and again.
Here are some things I've figured out that you should put in your bean and lentil recipes.
- Something acidic. For some reason, this brings out the savoriness of beans and lentils. In my Lentil-Sausage Soup, balsamic vinegar is the difference between something that tastes like boiled knitting and something that doesn't. In my Non-Disgusting Black Beans, the combination of balsamic vinegar and wine do something similar. Hooray!
- Lots of strongly-flavored ingredients. Onions, garlic, salt, pepper, spices, carrots, celery, green peppers, etc. My Crock-Pot "Refried" Beans recipe contains several of the above.
- Vegans may now get mad at me, but...meat. The crumbled sausage in Lentil-Sausage Soup gives it extra substance and really fills you up. I find it a bit low-fat otherwise. I know it's supposed to be healthy to keep your intake of fat right down, but lentils alone are so incredibly low-fat that I feel hungry again five minutes later.
More later, as I discover more!
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Week's meal plan, December 14 2013
This week I made a concentrated effort to keep prices down. Christmas is coming, and Christmas eats money.
With this in mind, I tried to find a way to eat economically. So I asked myself: what things are absolutely dirt cheap, absolutely pennies at the supermarket?
The things I came up with were:
So, ideas I'm trying for cheap weekly meal plans will look something like this in the future:
4 zucchini 1.52
5 lbs onions 1.98
Bulk:
10 oz penne 0.48
1.44 lbs whole wheat spaghetti 1.44
Dairy:
Cheese Heads light string cheese 2.98
Tillamook Italian blend cheese 2.73
Nancy's low-fat plain unsweetened yogurt 2.37
Organic Valley 2% milk, half a gallon 3.60
12 large eggs 1.67
Meats:
1 small chicken 5.56
1 lb mild Italian sausage 2.68
Frozen:
Mixed berries 1.88
Cans:
28 oz crushed tomatoes 1.13
Misc.
Stash Jasmine Blossom green tea bags 2.40
Sara Lee multigrain bread 1.98
Total: $41.84
So pretty good. Except not that good, because obviously I still had things at home like dried white beans, chicken broth in the freezer, flour and yeast and sugar and salt and oil for the bread dough, etc, so the true cost of this week's meals is much higher.
Plus, you know what's NOT cheap? Dairy. I haven't quite figured out why we consume so much dairy. Maybe it's because we don't eat vast quantities of meat each week, so we want something fatty and animal-derived to make food taste good. I think we could cut string cheese out of our diets and not really miss it that much, don't you? Maybe we'll do that next time. We like the little scoop of yogurt that we have on our steel-cut oats porridge in the mornings, and yogurt is useful for baking breads, etc.
With this in mind, I tried to find a way to eat economically. So I asked myself: what things are absolutely dirt cheap, absolutely pennies at the supermarket?
The things I came up with were:
- Bulk flour. Can't really argue with 39 cents a pound. Even whole wheat flour, which is a bit more than white, is ridiculously cheap at 44 cents a pound. Even taking into account the cost of electricity from running the oven, homemade breads are cheap cheap cheap.
- Bulk steel cut oats. Cheap, delicious, about as wholesomely nutritious as you can get.
- Pasta. The cheapest kind is something like 70 cents a pound. Even the more expensive whole wheat ones are only about a dollar a pound. Our family typically eats no more than half a pound of pasta in one meal.
- Rice. I'm less happy about rice, because I prefer basmati and brown basmati, which are the most expensive (although they barely break the bank), but if I wished, I could get long grain white rice for practically nothing.
- Beans and lentils, any kind. The canned ones are bloody cheap; the dried ones absurdly so. I'm going to blog more in the future about making beans and lentils bearable if you're like me and have a rather limited ability to love them.
Obviously, we cannot live on carbs alone. So I'm also sourcing cheap protein, such as:
- Eggs. $1.67 for 12. So filling, so nutritious, so versatile. Gosh, I sound like a spokeswoman. I have misgivings about eggs (see Chicken, below). This is clearly something I need to work on, i.e. learn to love beans and lentils a great deal more.
- Chicken. Whole chicken, chicken breast, chicken thighs. I've blogged before about my misgivings about the morality of the whole poultry enterprise, but there it is.
- Sausage and other pork products. I have misgivings about pork too. This is why we're not eating meat every night.
And let's not forget vegetables. I guess we're lucky to live in a very fertile part of the United States, where seasonal vegetables are plentiful and cheap. We all have our favorite vegetables, but I tend to buy mostly what's in season, because that's cheapest. Right now, broccoli and carrots and celery are pleasingly cheap. We go through a lot of onions, carrots, and celery because we like to use a mirepoix for a lot of our recipes. Baby B loves broccoli, so I'm getting a lot of that right now. Zucchini seems to be pretty cheap all the time. But I'm increasingly feeling that it's silly to be a snob about frozen vegetables--they can taste really good if you get freshly frozen ones that aren't covered in freezer burn. Peas, in my opinion, actually taste better frozen (well, previously frozen). Green beans, edamame, and corn are also fine. I confess I don't care for frozen spinach. I really wanted to like it (after all, you can get one of those ten-ounce "bricks" of cut leaf spinach for practically nothing), but it always tastes gross to me. Luckily, fresh spinach is readily and cheaply available here.
- 1 roast chicken dinner OR other form of meat with the bone in, so I can use the bones for stock. Stock makes everything better.
- 1 soup and bread meal (using stock from chicken bones). The soups I make usually make enough for at least two meals for the three of us.
- 1 (at least) pasta meal (using stock from the chicken bones to improve the sauce, or leftover chicken).
- 1 beans/lentils meal, probably with rice. May or may not have bits of chicken stirred in. Will have masses of leftovers.
- 1 eggs meal, such as quiche, frittata, etc.
With this in mind, this is what I've planned for this week.
Breakfasts: steel cut oats, yogurt, frozen mixed berries OR eggs on toast.
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, apples, cheese, raw vegetables
Dinners:
- Almost-Foolproof Roast Chicken with a side of roast zucchini (I put the zucchini into the dish with the chicken half an hour before it's ready, seasoning it first with salt, pepper, and rosemary).
- Cream of broccoli soup with homemade whole wheat-yogurt baking powder bread.
- Whole wheat spaghetti, homemade tomato sauce with sauteed sausage mixed in, side of sauteed spinach.
- Homemade calzone using half a recipe of my basic bread dough, leftover tomato sauce and sausage, spinach, and mozzarella.
- An adaptation of this Skinnytaste.com recipe, but using spinach instead of escarole (no escaroles can be found at my local supermarket, alas), and leftover chicken instead of chicken sausage, a foodstuff I do not love.
- A Self-Crusting Quiche using whatever leftover vegetables I have, and/or whatever frozen vegetables I can find in my freezer (which I'm trying to clear out before the chaos of Christmas).
- Leftovers. I always have lots of those.
This week's groceries:
Fruits and vegetables:
2 lbs carrots 0.98
1.81 lbs broccoli crowns (3 large) 1.77
3.22 lbs Braeburn apples 2.83
1 head garlic 0.48
16 oz spinach 1.38
4 zucchini 1.52
5 lbs onions 1.98
Bulk:
10 oz penne 0.48
1.44 lbs whole wheat spaghetti 1.44
Dairy:
Cheese Heads light string cheese 2.98
Tillamook Italian blend cheese 2.73
Nancy's low-fat plain unsweetened yogurt 2.37
Organic Valley 2% milk, half a gallon 3.60
12 large eggs 1.67
Meats:
1 small chicken 5.56
1 lb mild Italian sausage 2.68
Frozen:
Mixed berries 1.88
Cans:
28 oz crushed tomatoes 1.13
Misc.
Stash Jasmine Blossom green tea bags 2.40
Sara Lee multigrain bread 1.98
Total: $41.84
So pretty good. Except not that good, because obviously I still had things at home like dried white beans, chicken broth in the freezer, flour and yeast and sugar and salt and oil for the bread dough, etc, so the true cost of this week's meals is much higher.
Plus, you know what's NOT cheap? Dairy. I haven't quite figured out why we consume so much dairy. Maybe it's because we don't eat vast quantities of meat each week, so we want something fatty and animal-derived to make food taste good. I think we could cut string cheese out of our diets and not really miss it that much, don't you? Maybe we'll do that next time. We like the little scoop of yogurt that we have on our steel-cut oats porridge in the mornings, and yogurt is useful for baking breads, etc.
Cream of broccoli soup
This is a great weeknight soup. It's quick, it's easy, it's not absurdly high in fat or carbohydrates, and it contains lots of vegetables. It's also satisfying and filling. My two-year-old daughter, who adores broccoli, absolutely loves it. She claps her hands and says "Green! Green!" when she sees it. I know this sounds as if I'm bragging ("My kid positively clamors for broccoli!"), but she really does love it. This recipe is well and truly kid-approved.
Ingredients:
1 large head of broccoli, cut into 1-inch pieces, including the stems
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 an onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk
Cornstarch for thickening (optional)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan or other strong cheese (this tastes best if you shred it yourself right before adding it, but this recipe will still be fine if you get the pre-shredded kind, or even that stuff that comes out of green canisters in dusty clumps.)
salt
pepper
Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and the broccoli pieces. Cook until the broccoli is tender, about 7 minutes. Tip the broccoli and broth into the food processor and blend until you have smooth green slime.
Wipe out the pot. Melt the butter in it over medium-high heat, and add the onion and garlic with a few good pinches of salt and grinds of pepper. Saute until the onion is softened and turning transparent but not browning, about 7 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until no lumps remain.
Now start ladling the broccoli mixture into the pot, little by little, stirring constantly to avoid lumps, until the soup has a pleasantly thickened texture.
If the soup is too thin for your liking, whisk a teaspoon or two of cornstarch into the milk before you add it. (Or just put the milk in without cornstarch if the texture is fine.) Add the Parmesan and stir well. Check the seasonings and serve. You may prefer to have it with toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, or a piece of homemade bread such as whole wheat-yogurt baking powder bread.
Ingredients:
1 large head of broccoli, cut into 1-inch pieces, including the stems
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 an onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk
Cornstarch for thickening (optional)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan or other strong cheese (this tastes best if you shred it yourself right before adding it, but this recipe will still be fine if you get the pre-shredded kind, or even that stuff that comes out of green canisters in dusty clumps.)
salt
pepper
Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and the broccoli pieces. Cook until the broccoli is tender, about 7 minutes. Tip the broccoli and broth into the food processor and blend until you have smooth green slime.
Wipe out the pot. Melt the butter in it over medium-high heat, and add the onion and garlic with a few good pinches of salt and grinds of pepper. Saute until the onion is softened and turning transparent but not browning, about 7 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until no lumps remain.
Now start ladling the broccoli mixture into the pot, little by little, stirring constantly to avoid lumps, until the soup has a pleasantly thickened texture.
If the soup is too thin for your liking, whisk a teaspoon or two of cornstarch into the milk before you add it. (Or just put the milk in without cornstarch if the texture is fine.) Add the Parmesan and stir well. Check the seasonings and serve. You may prefer to have it with toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, or a piece of homemade bread such as whole wheat-yogurt baking powder bread.
Whole wheat-yogurt baking powder bread
Homemade breads, even taking into account the cost of electricity used, are ridiculously cheaper than bought breads. We do still buy sandwich bread because it's more convenient for packed lunches, but when we eat bread for dinner, having a homemade loaf brings an air of gourmet-ness to the whole business.
On weeknights, however, I simply don't have the time or the energy to start a homemade loaf from scratch. It would take hours, and we don't have hours. That's where baking powder bread is useful. This recipe is an adaptation of one I used to make as a university student when I was feeling particularly poor and under-nourished. It's often hard to make whole wheat breads taste good without adding a bit of white flour to improve the texture, but this one works because of the butter and the yogurt. Butter gives it that wonderful buttery taste, and the yogurt makes it light and almost fluffy.
This recipe makes four biscuit-like hunks of bread that are wonderful for dipping in soup. Our little family finds that one each is a perfectly filling accompaniment to a bowl of soup, with another hunk left over for someone to gnaw on in the middle of the night, or for breakfast.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 oz unsalted butter, plus extra for brushing the loaf
1/4 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
1/8-1/4 cup water
Preheat the oven to 430 degrees Fahrenheit, with the oven rack in the middle position. Line a smallish baking sheet with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Using a pastry blender or a knife (or a food processor, if you wish), cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the yogurt and the smaller measure of water, stirring gently until the mixture just comes together. If the mixture seems unduly dry and crumbly, add more water until the dough holds together.
Shape the dough into a round, flat disc about 4-5 inches in diameter. Place the disc on the baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, make a deep "x" on top so that the dough is divided into four quarters without actually being cut in four. Melt a little extra butter and brush the bread with it before putting it in the oven and baking for about 15 minutes, or until the top is golden and the insides are cooked through. (You can check by inserting a knife in one of the deep cuts.)
On weeknights, however, I simply don't have the time or the energy to start a homemade loaf from scratch. It would take hours, and we don't have hours. That's where baking powder bread is useful. This recipe is an adaptation of one I used to make as a university student when I was feeling particularly poor and under-nourished. It's often hard to make whole wheat breads taste good without adding a bit of white flour to improve the texture, but this one works because of the butter and the yogurt. Butter gives it that wonderful buttery taste, and the yogurt makes it light and almost fluffy.
This recipe makes four biscuit-like hunks of bread that are wonderful for dipping in soup. Our little family finds that one each is a perfectly filling accompaniment to a bowl of soup, with another hunk left over for someone to gnaw on in the middle of the night, or for breakfast.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 oz unsalted butter, plus extra for brushing the loaf
1/4 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
1/8-1/4 cup water
Preheat the oven to 430 degrees Fahrenheit, with the oven rack in the middle position. Line a smallish baking sheet with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Using a pastry blender or a knife (or a food processor, if you wish), cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the yogurt and the smaller measure of water, stirring gently until the mixture just comes together. If the mixture seems unduly dry and crumbly, add more water until the dough holds together.
Shape the dough into a round, flat disc about 4-5 inches in diameter. Place the disc on the baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, make a deep "x" on top so that the dough is divided into four quarters without actually being cut in four. Melt a little extra butter and brush the bread with it before putting it in the oven and baking for about 15 minutes, or until the top is golden and the insides are cooked through. (You can check by inserting a knife in one of the deep cuts.)
Friday, December 6, 2013
Week's meal plan, December 6, 2013
This weekend is Baby B's second birthday. In some ways, I can't believe she's going to be two. It seems like such a short time ago that she was a tiny, fragile little newborn.
I asked her what she'd like for her birthday dinner. She doesn't talk much yet, but she considered the question for a few moments before replying "Apple, chee [cheese], brocky [broccoli], pah-tah [pasta], sossie [sausage]. Sossie sossie sossie!" Well, that was pretty predictable. So I decided to make a baked pasta recipe with sausage and cheese, with a side of broccoli and sliced apples for dessert. I also had to get supplies to make a birthday cake. She adores chocolate cake, so I decided to try my hand at one, although I'm not a great baker. I know I could buy a cake, but the nice ones are expensive, and I'm sure that if I follow a good recipe exactly, I stand a chance of not messing this up.
This week's meal plan:
Breakfasts: steel cut oats with plain unsweetened yogurt OR eggs on toast
Lunches: wraps or sandwiches with Smitten Kitchen's chicken salad, carrot and celery sticks, string cheese, apples, oranges
Dinners:
Roast chicken with sides of brown basmati rice and steamed broccoli
Tomato-sausage penne bake, side of steamed broccoli
America's Test Kitchen tamale pie (not available online, sorry!), side of steamed broccoli
Madhur Jaffrey's mushroom curry, sides of brown basmati rice and peas
Leftovers (of which I anticipate there will be lots)
Desserts/snacks: America's Test Kitchen Emergency Chocolate Cake with chocolate buttercream frosting for Baby B's birthday, apples, oranges
This week's groceries:
Vegetables and fruits
1 lb cremini mushroos 2.98
bunch of cilantro 0.48
1 lb broccoli crowns 0.97
1 head celery 0.88
5.13 lbs Fuji apples 5.03
5.83 lbs navel oranges 2.80
Bulk
0.43 lbs dried cranberries 1.50
0.89 lb Dutch process baking cocoa 3.57
0.7 lbs penne 0.59
Dairy
Sargento Italian shredded cheese 1.98
Sargento reduced fat Mexican shredded cheese 1.98
Cheese Heads reduced fat string cheese 2.98
Nancy's low fat plain unsweetened yogurt 2.37
Organic Valley 2% milk, half a gallon 3.60
Organic Valley whole milk, half a gallon 3.60
Challenge unsalted butter 2.87
Meat
Small whole chicken 5.94
1 lb local ground pork 2.78
1 lb Italian sausage 2.68
Cans
Store brand crushed tomatoes, 28 oz 1.13
S&W black beans 0.68
Other
100 Red Rose black tea bags 2.96
5 lbs plain flour, supermarket brand 1.64
2 lbs powdered sugar, supermarket brand 1.28
Clabber Girl baking powder 1.58
Sara Lee 12-grain bread 1.98
birthday candles 0.64
Mayonnaise, supermarket brand 1.50
Total: $62.97.
So, altogether a bit more than I usually spend, but still far less than my goal at the start of this blogging project to spend less than $100 a week for our family of three. I guess it was more because of all the baking things I bought: a big bag of flour, powdered sugar, cocoa (though I was pleased to be able to get good-quality cocoa in the bulk section, because packaged cocoa is always expensive), birthday candles and so on.
I'm still uneasy over where our meat comes from. I suspect I'm too easily hoodwinked by the term "locally produced," and my wishful thinking endows this with all sorts of qualities it might not necessarily have, like naturalness and wholesomeness. Now that I consider this, I feel ashamed of myself, because there's no way a pig farmer can bring me a pound of ground pork for $2.78 without keeping those pigs in crates.
I suck.
Oh well, I will try to improve in the future. We are really going to have to go on the straight and narrow next week, because we're so darn broke. I was looking at the prices of bulk beans and grains, and thinking that all this brown basmati rice we buy because it's supposed to be low-glycemic is more than twice as expensive as plain short-grain brown rice, and three times as expensive as plain long-grain white rice. Now, if I'm not misinformed, I believe it's possible to bring down the glycemic load of a meal by having lots of low-glycemic things with the high-glycemic ones, so we could, in theory, eat a moderate portion of cheaper rice with a nourishing Non-Disgusting Bean Stew, a bit of chicken and some broccoli florets, and be OK.
Also, I know I'm always going on about my non-negotiable policy of feeding my daughter only organic dairy products, but the fact is that we can't get organic yogurt or cheese in this town except at the natural foods co-op, which is very, very expensive. The brand of yogurt I buy, Nancy's, claims that it comes from farms that don't use rBGH, so that seems acceptable to me. But I actually can't find any brand of cheese at the budget supermarket that says anything about not using rBGH, and I'm going to take this as an indication that they do, since if they didn't, they'd certainly want to advertise it. So why am I not cutting cheese out of my diet? More importantly, why am I squeamish about using supermarket-brand cheese when I happily use supermarket-brand everything else, from flour to mayonnaise?
So maybe next week, when all this birthday partying is over, I'm going to take a good hard look at my unnecessary expenditure. After all, if I can cut a few things down in price, then maybe I can get some actual free range meat. Or perhaps I shouldn't eat meat at all. These are the things that keep me awake at night.
UPDATE: I want to let anyone reading this post know that the mushroom curry was awful. Awful, awful, awful. Terrible taste and flavors. I had to throw it out. I was surprised, since Madhur Jaffrey is a reputable author. I swear I followed the recipe to the letter. We had eggs on toast that night.
Mayonnaise, supermarket brand 1.50
Total: $62.97.
So, altogether a bit more than I usually spend, but still far less than my goal at the start of this blogging project to spend less than $100 a week for our family of three. I guess it was more because of all the baking things I bought: a big bag of flour, powdered sugar, cocoa (though I was pleased to be able to get good-quality cocoa in the bulk section, because packaged cocoa is always expensive), birthday candles and so on.
I'm still uneasy over where our meat comes from. I suspect I'm too easily hoodwinked by the term "locally produced," and my wishful thinking endows this with all sorts of qualities it might not necessarily have, like naturalness and wholesomeness. Now that I consider this, I feel ashamed of myself, because there's no way a pig farmer can bring me a pound of ground pork for $2.78 without keeping those pigs in crates.
I suck.
Oh well, I will try to improve in the future. We are really going to have to go on the straight and narrow next week, because we're so darn broke. I was looking at the prices of bulk beans and grains, and thinking that all this brown basmati rice we buy because it's supposed to be low-glycemic is more than twice as expensive as plain short-grain brown rice, and three times as expensive as plain long-grain white rice. Now, if I'm not misinformed, I believe it's possible to bring down the glycemic load of a meal by having lots of low-glycemic things with the high-glycemic ones, so we could, in theory, eat a moderate portion of cheaper rice with a nourishing Non-Disgusting Bean Stew, a bit of chicken and some broccoli florets, and be OK.
Also, I know I'm always going on about my non-negotiable policy of feeding my daughter only organic dairy products, but the fact is that we can't get organic yogurt or cheese in this town except at the natural foods co-op, which is very, very expensive. The brand of yogurt I buy, Nancy's, claims that it comes from farms that don't use rBGH, so that seems acceptable to me. But I actually can't find any brand of cheese at the budget supermarket that says anything about not using rBGH, and I'm going to take this as an indication that they do, since if they didn't, they'd certainly want to advertise it. So why am I not cutting cheese out of my diet? More importantly, why am I squeamish about using supermarket-brand cheese when I happily use supermarket-brand everything else, from flour to mayonnaise?
So maybe next week, when all this birthday partying is over, I'm going to take a good hard look at my unnecessary expenditure. After all, if I can cut a few things down in price, then maybe I can get some actual free range meat. Or perhaps I shouldn't eat meat at all. These are the things that keep me awake at night.
UPDATE: I want to let anyone reading this post know that the mushroom curry was awful. Awful, awful, awful. Terrible taste and flavors. I had to throw it out. I was surprised, since Madhur Jaffrey is a reputable author. I swear I followed the recipe to the letter. We had eggs on toast that night.
Lentil-sausage soup
This is an incredibly warming, filling winter soup. To be honest, I don't really adore lentils, but I like them a lot more if they're well seasoned. I find that starting with a mirepoix and adding the balsamic vinegar and cilantro at the end give the soup an interesting flavor that makes the lentils bearable. Which is great, because they're so relentlessly healthy--superbly high in fiber, protein, and all sorts of vitamins and minerals. And absurdly cheap, too. The sausage is optional--I just put it in because Baby B loves sausage above almost any other food.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups brown lentils
5 cups homemade chicken broth (if you buy broth, get the low-sodium kind)
5 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely diced (I don't bother peeling it, but feel free if you prefer)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed with the blade of a knife, peeled, and minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar, or more to taste
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound mild or spicy Italian sausage (pork, turkey, chicken, or vegetarian sausage would all work well)
Place the lentils in a large bowl and cover with boiling water for an hour to soften the lentils. Drain.
Now boil the lentils in the water and broth for about 25 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked.
While the lentils are boiling, heat the oil in a cast-iron frying pan (or non-stick) over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, carrot, a pinch of kosher salt, and a grinding of pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and cumin, and cook a further minute or two, stirring constantly.
When the lentils are almost cooked, add the vegetables and simmer for another 10-15 minutes while you cook the sausage. In the same pan as before, saute the sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon to crumble it. Cook until there are no pink bits remaining.
Add the sausage to the lentils. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and the cilantro. Adjust the seasonings to taste.
Serve with toast or grilled cheese sandwiches.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups brown lentils
5 cups homemade chicken broth (if you buy broth, get the low-sodium kind)
5 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely diced (I don't bother peeling it, but feel free if you prefer)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed with the blade of a knife, peeled, and minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar, or more to taste
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound mild or spicy Italian sausage (pork, turkey, chicken, or vegetarian sausage would all work well)
Place the lentils in a large bowl and cover with boiling water for an hour to soften the lentils. Drain.
Now boil the lentils in the water and broth for about 25 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked.
While the lentils are boiling, heat the oil in a cast-iron frying pan (or non-stick) over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, carrot, a pinch of kosher salt, and a grinding of pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and cumin, and cook a further minute or two, stirring constantly.
When the lentils are almost cooked, add the vegetables and simmer for another 10-15 minutes while you cook the sausage. In the same pan as before, saute the sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon to crumble it. Cook until there are no pink bits remaining.
Add the sausage to the lentils. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and the cilantro. Adjust the seasonings to taste.
Serve with toast or grilled cheese sandwiches.
Tomato-sausage penne bake
This is a warm, comforting winter dinner. It could easily be made vegetarian or vegan by substituting vegetarian sausage and vegan cheese for the animal-based ingredients.
I often find baked pasta dishes bland and uninspiring, so here's my hint for making them better. First of all, make sure you salt your pasta water well so that the pasta has some flavor. It should be as salty as the sea: use around 1/4 cup of salt in a large pot of water. I know that seems like an obscene amount of salt, but it won't be too salty, promise.
The other thing is not to overcook your pasta. It will keep cooking in the sauce while it's in the oven, so you should drain it before it's cooked through..
And the other other thing is to make your own tomato sauce. I have never tried a jarred pasta sauce that wasn't horridly sweet, with a slimy consistency. My recipe (link below) uses crushed tomatoes and a mirepoix. It's a beautiful thing.
Ingredients (serves around 6)
1/2 pound penne (I used whole wheat)
salt (for the pasta water)
1/2 recipe tomato pasta sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 pound Italian sausage (pork, turkey, or chicken would all work well)
4 oz shredded Italian blend cheese (=a mixture of 3 parts mozzarella, 1 part parmesan)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cook your pasta in a large pot of salty water. Drain it 3 minutes sooner than the recommended cooking time on the packet.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the sausage, crumbling it with a wooden spoon, until there is no more pink remaining.
Mix the pasta with the tomato sauce and the sausage, and pour into an 8x8 oven dish. Sprinkle with the cheese, and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and beginning to turn golden brown.
I often find baked pasta dishes bland and uninspiring, so here's my hint for making them better. First of all, make sure you salt your pasta water well so that the pasta has some flavor. It should be as salty as the sea: use around 1/4 cup of salt in a large pot of water. I know that seems like an obscene amount of salt, but it won't be too salty, promise.
The other thing is not to overcook your pasta. It will keep cooking in the sauce while it's in the oven, so you should drain it before it's cooked through..
And the other other thing is to make your own tomato sauce. I have never tried a jarred pasta sauce that wasn't horridly sweet, with a slimy consistency. My recipe (link below) uses crushed tomatoes and a mirepoix. It's a beautiful thing.
Ingredients (serves around 6)
1/2 pound penne (I used whole wheat)
salt (for the pasta water)
1/2 recipe tomato pasta sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 pound Italian sausage (pork, turkey, or chicken would all work well)
4 oz shredded Italian blend cheese (=a mixture of 3 parts mozzarella, 1 part parmesan)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cook your pasta in a large pot of salty water. Drain it 3 minutes sooner than the recommended cooking time on the packet.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the sausage, crumbling it with a wooden spoon, until there is no more pink remaining.
Mix the pasta with the tomato sauce and the sausage, and pour into an 8x8 oven dish. Sprinkle with the cheese, and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and beginning to turn golden brown.
Vegetarian burritos
This is a wonderfully cheap, filling meal. When I try to eat cheaply, I so often find myself filling up on huge amounts of starchy carbs, but this really isn't necessary. This recipe is healthy, high in fibre, and has enough protein and vegetables to get you really full.
Ingredients (serves 3):
3 large tortillas (I used La Tortilla Factory's low-carb whole-grain ones)
1/2 recipe crock pot refried beans
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used Sargento reduced fat Mexican cheese)
1 large-ish zucchini, sliced
1 medium onion, radial cut
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
3 teaspoons salsa (any kind)
3 teaspoons sour cream
Heat oil over medium heat in a cast-iron frying pan (non-stick would also work). Add onions, salt, and pepper, and cook gently, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes. Add zucchini and chipotle chile powder and cook, stirring, for another 10 minutes until the zucchini are tender and juicy.
Divide the refried beans between the tortillas and spread to cover each tortilla. Divide the cheese and sprinkle it evenly over each tortilla. Microwave each tortilla, one at a time, for 30 seconds or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Divide the onion-zucchini mixture between the tortillas and top with a teaspoon of salsa and a teaspoon of sour cream each. Wrap the burritos up tightly and serve.
Ingredients (serves 3):
3 large tortillas (I used La Tortilla Factory's low-carb whole-grain ones)
1/2 recipe crock pot refried beans
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used Sargento reduced fat Mexican cheese)
1 large-ish zucchini, sliced
1 medium onion, radial cut
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
3 teaspoons salsa (any kind)
3 teaspoons sour cream
Heat oil over medium heat in a cast-iron frying pan (non-stick would also work). Add onions, salt, and pepper, and cook gently, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes. Add zucchini and chipotle chile powder and cook, stirring, for another 10 minutes until the zucchini are tender and juicy.
Divide the refried beans between the tortillas and spread to cover each tortilla. Divide the cheese and sprinkle it evenly over each tortilla. Microwave each tortilla, one at a time, for 30 seconds or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Divide the onion-zucchini mixture between the tortillas and top with a teaspoon of salsa and a teaspoon of sour cream each. Wrap the burritos up tightly and serve.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Musings: what I've learned, what I want to try
I've learned some important things about cooking from doing this blog.
1) The first is that you have to have good recipes. I adore Smitten Kitchen and the incomparably wonderful Skinnytaste.com for this reason. Nothing makes me so cross as spending money on lots of ingredients and following a recipe to the letter, only for it not to work. Quiches that won't set; dry, flavorless cakes; bland pasta sauces; etc etc. So I've learned that to be economical, I'm going to stick to tried and true recipes from sources that I know won't let me down, such as the sites mentioned above, Fine Cooking magazine, America's Test Kitchen, etc. I used to go to the library and check out recipe books, but I had so many bad experiences with certain celebrity TV chefs that I've stopped doing it.
2) How to bring out flavors. The above sources taught me a few things I hadn't known before. One is the use of a mirepoix. I've always been a fan of carrots and celery cut up raw as snacks, but who knew these humble vegetables could so drastically improve the flavor of pretty much any savory dish? They've transformed my tomato pasta sauce into something wonderful, and I use them all the time in casseroles and soups. Another thing I've learned is to use my homemade chicken broth in more recipes--Skinnytaste.com uses broth in the place of part of the milk for creamy sauces, for example--I absolutely love this, because it's a much more complex flavor than plain old béchamel. Another thing is to season as you go when cooking so that you flavor all the ingredients--a pinch of salt in your mirepoix before you add other things, and so on.
3) Not so much a thing I've learned as a thing I want to try. I want to learn how to make Indian food, because I don't really know how. I have a variety of "curries" that I make, but I suspect an Indian person would laugh their head off at my idea of what constitutes a curry. We don't have any Indian restaurants here, and I've been craving it recently. I'd like to learn to make a decent dhal, for example. I used to try to make it when I was a vegan in grad school, but it was always a bit bland no matter how much I tried to flavor it with spices. I'm looking around for a good website or recipe book. If anyone could suggest one, that'd be fabulous, thank you!
1) The first is that you have to have good recipes. I adore Smitten Kitchen and the incomparably wonderful Skinnytaste.com for this reason. Nothing makes me so cross as spending money on lots of ingredients and following a recipe to the letter, only for it not to work. Quiches that won't set; dry, flavorless cakes; bland pasta sauces; etc etc. So I've learned that to be economical, I'm going to stick to tried and true recipes from sources that I know won't let me down, such as the sites mentioned above, Fine Cooking magazine, America's Test Kitchen, etc. I used to go to the library and check out recipe books, but I had so many bad experiences with certain celebrity TV chefs that I've stopped doing it.
2) How to bring out flavors. The above sources taught me a few things I hadn't known before. One is the use of a mirepoix. I've always been a fan of carrots and celery cut up raw as snacks, but who knew these humble vegetables could so drastically improve the flavor of pretty much any savory dish? They've transformed my tomato pasta sauce into something wonderful, and I use them all the time in casseroles and soups. Another thing I've learned is to use my homemade chicken broth in more recipes--Skinnytaste.com uses broth in the place of part of the milk for creamy sauces, for example--I absolutely love this, because it's a much more complex flavor than plain old béchamel. Another thing is to season as you go when cooking so that you flavor all the ingredients--a pinch of salt in your mirepoix before you add other things, and so on.
3) Not so much a thing I've learned as a thing I want to try. I want to learn how to make Indian food, because I don't really know how. I have a variety of "curries" that I make, but I suspect an Indian person would laugh their head off at my idea of what constitutes a curry. We don't have any Indian restaurants here, and I've been craving it recently. I'd like to learn to make a decent dhal, for example. I used to try to make it when I was a vegan in grad school, but it was always a bit bland no matter how much I tried to flavor it with spices. I'm looking around for a good website or recipe book. If anyone could suggest one, that'd be fabulous, thank you!
Week's meal plan, November 29, 2013
Ah, the post-Thanksgiving carb crash. We woke up feeling decidedly out of sorts from eating so much! If nothing else, my recent drive towards eating healthy, vegetable-rich meals seems to have put us off wanting to eat lots of high-calorie foods and desserts. Oh well, there are worse things, right?
We also had the strange problem of having a refrigerator full of leftovers--turkey, bread rolls, mashed potatoes, and all sorts of desserts--but feeling like we had no food. We had no milk, sandwich bread, steel cut oats...or, I might add, vegetables. I had to brave the Black Friday crowds and get some groceries! We were all craving simple meals like soups, and vegetables. Lots of vegetables. And detoxing by drinking a lot of water, and, to mix things up, some of our homemade iced tea, using a delicious brand of green tea that we've discovered.
This week's meal plan:
Breakfasts: steel cut oats, plain unsweetened yogurt, frozen blueberries.
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, carrots, celery, apples, cheese.
Dinners: Skinnytaste.com slow cooker tomato soup (makes lots) with grilled cheese sandwiches, Skinnytaste.com turkey pot pie soup (also makes lots, doesn't need a side), Smitten Kitchen black bean and pumpkin soup with toast, whole wheat spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce and Italian sausages, and meatloaf. (I don't have a recipe for the meatloaf--that's Mr. B's domain. I am reliably informed that he makes it with 90% lean beef, mild Italian sausage meat, fresh white breadcrumbs, a grated zucchini, a grated carrot, a minced onion, and an egg.)
Sides for dinners: steamed broccoli and carrots; sauteed zucchini
Drinks: homemade cold-brewed iced tea--this week's flavor will be green ginger-peach tea, which is just gorgeous.
Desserts: grapes
Oh, and I began our day with some bubble and squeak made with the leftover mashed potatoes, and fresh white breadcrumbs from yesterday's dinner rolls.
Today's groceries:
Vegetables and fruits:
Parsley 0.58
Broccoli (lots) 1.86
16 oz spinach 1.38
Shallots 0.47
5 lbs onions 2.48
8 oz cremini mushrooms 1.88
4 large zucchini 1.62
Red grapes 4.88
3.7 lbs Jonagold apples 3.25
Bulk:
1.22 lbs arborio rice 2.07
1.16 lbs steel cut oats 0.73
Dairy:
Sargento reduced fat sliced provolone 2.68
Sargento reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese 1.98
Organic Valley 1/2 gallon skim milk 3.47
Organic Valley 1/2 gallon whole milk 3.47
Frozen:
16oz frozen peas/carrots mix 0.98
Meat:
1/2 lb organic ham 3.99
1 lb free range Italian sausage links 4.27
1 lb 85% lean grass-fed ground beef 4.50
1 lb Italian sausage meat 2.68
Etc:
Tisdale Chardonnay 3.08
Stash ginger-peach green tea 2.25
Free range beef broth 1.78
Total: 56.33
Observations: I'm a little stunned at how incredibly, irredeemably middle-class my shopping list looks. I feel like a bit of a fraud, or at least a twit, for writing a blog called The Penurious Kitchen and then filling my shopping list full of organic this and free-range that. Arborio rice! Chardonnay! Shouldn't a person trying to save money be living on gruel, or at least lentils? (In my defense, I am having beans this week--I had a bag of dried black beans and a can of pumpkin in the cupboard, hence the bean and pumpkin soup recipe).
In my defense, the organic and free-range and grass-fed things weren't any more expensive than their non-organic, non-free-range, corn-fed counterparts. I had a little extra time today, so I went to our local organic supermarket, where I don't normally allow myself to go because it's expensive, because the one thing there that isn't expensive is locally grown and butchered meat. Strange--the vegetables are hugely expensive and the dairy, though wonderful, prohibitively so.
Same deal with the milk: it's expensive even if you buy the conventional kind, so I'd rather have some from a cow that might have had a bit of grass to eat and, I hope, not a totally miserable life. We go through a lot of milk because Baby B chugs two large glasses every day, although Mr. B and I tend only to use it for cooking.
...And the Chardonnay? Well, we aren't going to drink it. It's for cooking. I tend to get the cheapest possible bottle of plonk I can find. I'm using it for my risotto, and in place of sherry in another recipe because I don't like sherry and resent buying something I wouldn't use for anything else.
We also had the strange problem of having a refrigerator full of leftovers--turkey, bread rolls, mashed potatoes, and all sorts of desserts--but feeling like we had no food. We had no milk, sandwich bread, steel cut oats...or, I might add, vegetables. I had to brave the Black Friday crowds and get some groceries! We were all craving simple meals like soups, and vegetables. Lots of vegetables. And detoxing by drinking a lot of water, and, to mix things up, some of our homemade iced tea, using a delicious brand of green tea that we've discovered.
This week's meal plan:
Breakfasts: steel cut oats, plain unsweetened yogurt, frozen blueberries.
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, carrots, celery, apples, cheese.
Dinners: Skinnytaste.com slow cooker tomato soup (makes lots) with grilled cheese sandwiches, Skinnytaste.com turkey pot pie soup (also makes lots, doesn't need a side), Smitten Kitchen black bean and pumpkin soup with toast, whole wheat spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce and Italian sausages, and meatloaf. (I don't have a recipe for the meatloaf--that's Mr. B's domain. I am reliably informed that he makes it with 90% lean beef, mild Italian sausage meat, fresh white breadcrumbs, a grated zucchini, a grated carrot, a minced onion, and an egg.)
Sides for dinners: steamed broccoli and carrots; sauteed zucchini
Drinks: homemade cold-brewed iced tea--this week's flavor will be green ginger-peach tea, which is just gorgeous.
Desserts: grapes
Oh, and I began our day with some bubble and squeak made with the leftover mashed potatoes, and fresh white breadcrumbs from yesterday's dinner rolls.
Today's groceries:
Vegetables and fruits:
Parsley 0.58
Broccoli (lots) 1.86
16 oz spinach 1.38
Shallots 0.47
5 lbs onions 2.48
8 oz cremini mushrooms 1.88
4 large zucchini 1.62
Red grapes 4.88
3.7 lbs Jonagold apples 3.25
Bulk:
1.22 lbs arborio rice 2.07
1.16 lbs steel cut oats 0.73
Dairy:
Sargento reduced fat sliced provolone 2.68
Sargento reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese 1.98
Organic Valley 1/2 gallon skim milk 3.47
Organic Valley 1/2 gallon whole milk 3.47
Frozen:
16oz frozen peas/carrots mix 0.98
Meat:
1/2 lb organic ham 3.99
1 lb free range Italian sausage links 4.27
1 lb 85% lean grass-fed ground beef 4.50
1 lb Italian sausage meat 2.68
Etc:
Tisdale Chardonnay 3.08
Stash ginger-peach green tea 2.25
Free range beef broth 1.78
Total: 56.33
Observations: I'm a little stunned at how incredibly, irredeemably middle-class my shopping list looks. I feel like a bit of a fraud, or at least a twit, for writing a blog called The Penurious Kitchen and then filling my shopping list full of organic this and free-range that. Arborio rice! Chardonnay! Shouldn't a person trying to save money be living on gruel, or at least lentils? (In my defense, I am having beans this week--I had a bag of dried black beans and a can of pumpkin in the cupboard, hence the bean and pumpkin soup recipe).
In my defense, the organic and free-range and grass-fed things weren't any more expensive than their non-organic, non-free-range, corn-fed counterparts. I had a little extra time today, so I went to our local organic supermarket, where I don't normally allow myself to go because it's expensive, because the one thing there that isn't expensive is locally grown and butchered meat. Strange--the vegetables are hugely expensive and the dairy, though wonderful, prohibitively so.
Same deal with the milk: it's expensive even if you buy the conventional kind, so I'd rather have some from a cow that might have had a bit of grass to eat and, I hope, not a totally miserable life. We go through a lot of milk because Baby B chugs two large glasses every day, although Mr. B and I tend only to use it for cooking.
...And the Chardonnay? Well, we aren't going to drink it. It's for cooking. I tend to get the cheapest possible bottle of plonk I can find. I'm using it for my risotto, and in place of sherry in another recipe because I don't like sherry and resent buying something I wouldn't use for anything else.
Bubble and squeak
I'm told this is supposed to be made with potatoes and cabbage if you're to be authentically Irish, but I'm not Irish so I'll transgress. I think any kind of cooked vegetable would be great--peas, corn, spinach, green beans, etc.
Ingredients:
leftover cold mashed potatoes (any quantity: I had lots and lots left over from Thanksgiving)
1 cup of fresh white breadcrumbs (pulse a few rolls or slices of bread in the food processor until they're finely crumbled)
Optional additions: leftover cooked vegetables, or finely grated raw vegetables such as carrot or zucchini
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 cup grated parmesan
1 egg, beaten
salt to taste
pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil for frying
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. I used a cast iron one, but non-stick would work fine.
Mix breadcrumbs, garlic powder, parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste on a dinner plate.
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop mashed potato up in round patties. Dip each one in beaten egg, then coat in the seasoned breadcrumbs. Fry in the oil for approximately five minutes on each side, turning the heat down if the oil starts to smoke, until the coating is golden and the potatoes are heated through.
These are heavenly served with a poached egg on top.
Ingredients:
leftover cold mashed potatoes (any quantity: I had lots and lots left over from Thanksgiving)
1 cup of fresh white breadcrumbs (pulse a few rolls or slices of bread in the food processor until they're finely crumbled)
Optional additions: leftover cooked vegetables, or finely grated raw vegetables such as carrot or zucchini
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 cup grated parmesan
1 egg, beaten
salt to taste
pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil for frying
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. I used a cast iron one, but non-stick would work fine.
Mix breadcrumbs, garlic powder, parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste on a dinner plate.
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop mashed potato up in round patties. Dip each one in beaten egg, then coat in the seasoned breadcrumbs. Fry in the oil for approximately five minutes on each side, turning the heat down if the oil starts to smoke, until the coating is golden and the potatoes are heated through.
These are heavenly served with a poached egg on top.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Week's meal plan, November 22, 2013
Today's grocery bill was larger than it's been recently, partly because it's Thanksgiving week. We usually host a giant Thanksgiving party and invite lots of friends, and it costs a couple of hundred bucks once you factor in a turkey that hopefully isn't full of junk and hasn't lived a miserable life, plus booze. This year, we decided to host a potluck instead, so that we can save a bit and so that we don't spend days cooking and baking.
This year, we decided that we'll take charge of the desserts. I'm not really a fan of the traditional pumpkin pie or sweet potato pudding, so I'm making two rather different ones. One is a (double recipe of) caramel-bourbon croissant pudding from a Nigella Lawson recipe that I've made several times, at the request of several friends. This is a truly brilliant dessert that always elicits reactions of "Oh my God" from people tasting it for the first time. It's absolutely gorgeous. The other, which is kind of my pièce de résistance, is a gingerbread trifle from last year's holiday edition of Fine Cooking. This is a very high-maintenance recipe, which takes several days of preparation (or hours and hours on a single day). I made it for my family last New Year's Eve, and it was probably the most delicious thing I've ever made. Don't even look at the nutritional information--it's about the unhealthiest thing you'll ever eat.
So this week's food shopping cost a bit more than usual, but it was a lot less than last year when we insisted on making everything ourselves. For the rest of the week, we're going to make do with some pretty simple, small, low-calorie meals to prepare ourselves for the giant calorie fest that is Thanksgiving.
This week's meals: (I already had various staples such as oats, carrots, rice, potatoes, white wine for cooking, etc)
Breakfasts: steel cut oats porridge with plain yogurt and fruit; eggs on toast or in tortillas with salsa
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, fruits, carrot sticks, string cheese
Snacks: fruit, and probably some baking (as yet undecided)
Dinners: roast chicken, sandwiches made with roast chicken leftovers, Skinnytaste.com tomato soup, Skinnytaste.com butternut squash soup (both soups made with homemade stock from the chicken bones), sides of broccoli, baked potatoes, rice, etc.
This week's groceries:
Dairy/eggs:
18 eggs 2.55
String cheese 2.48
Mascarpone 3.58
Heavy whipping cream 2.98
1 lb unsalted butter 2.74
1 gallon Organic Valley whole milk 5.96
Nancy's low fat yogurt 2.37
Fruits and vegetables:
3 lbs apples: 3.92
5 lbs oranges: 2.56
3 broccoli crowns: 1.64
Fresh ginger root 1.17
1 lemon 0.38
6 lbs butternut squash 5.82
Bulk:
Ground ginger 0.30
Candied ginger 0.48
2.27 lb flour 0.73
Baking things:
Molasses 2.74
3 lbs sugar 2.67
1 lb brown sugar 1.24
Meat:
1 whole chicken 6.25
Other groceries:
Organic whole wheat bread 2.78
Stash ginger-peach green tea 2.25
Sparkling wine 4.48
Total: 62.07
This year, we decided that we'll take charge of the desserts. I'm not really a fan of the traditional pumpkin pie or sweet potato pudding, so I'm making two rather different ones. One is a (double recipe of) caramel-bourbon croissant pudding from a Nigella Lawson recipe that I've made several times, at the request of several friends. This is a truly brilliant dessert that always elicits reactions of "Oh my God" from people tasting it for the first time. It's absolutely gorgeous. The other, which is kind of my pièce de résistance, is a gingerbread trifle from last year's holiday edition of Fine Cooking. This is a very high-maintenance recipe, which takes several days of preparation (or hours and hours on a single day). I made it for my family last New Year's Eve, and it was probably the most delicious thing I've ever made. Don't even look at the nutritional information--it's about the unhealthiest thing you'll ever eat.
So this week's food shopping cost a bit more than usual, but it was a lot less than last year when we insisted on making everything ourselves. For the rest of the week, we're going to make do with some pretty simple, small, low-calorie meals to prepare ourselves for the giant calorie fest that is Thanksgiving.
This week's meals: (I already had various staples such as oats, carrots, rice, potatoes, white wine for cooking, etc)
Breakfasts: steel cut oats porridge with plain yogurt and fruit; eggs on toast or in tortillas with salsa
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, fruits, carrot sticks, string cheese
Snacks: fruit, and probably some baking (as yet undecided)
Dinners: roast chicken, sandwiches made with roast chicken leftovers, Skinnytaste.com tomato soup, Skinnytaste.com butternut squash soup (both soups made with homemade stock from the chicken bones), sides of broccoli, baked potatoes, rice, etc.
This week's groceries:
Dairy/eggs:
18 eggs 2.55
String cheese 2.48
Mascarpone 3.58
Heavy whipping cream 2.98
1 lb unsalted butter 2.74
1 gallon Organic Valley whole milk 5.96
Nancy's low fat yogurt 2.37
Fruits and vegetables:
3 lbs apples: 3.92
5 lbs oranges: 2.56
3 broccoli crowns: 1.64
Fresh ginger root 1.17
1 lemon 0.38
6 lbs butternut squash 5.82
Bulk:
Ground ginger 0.30
Candied ginger 0.48
2.27 lb flour 0.73
Baking things:
Molasses 2.74
3 lbs sugar 2.67
1 lb brown sugar 1.24
Meat:
1 whole chicken 6.25
Other groceries:
Organic whole wheat bread 2.78
Stash ginger-peach green tea 2.25
Sparkling wine 4.48
Total: 62.07
Friday, November 15, 2013
Week's meal plan, November 15, 2013
We're only now using up the last of the many hunks of meat placed in our freezer by my bounteous mother-in-law, so next week the grocery bill will be much higher. I've enjoyed this while it lasted. I still had a few pantry staples, such as brown basmati rice, whole wheat pasta, tortillas, and so on, and a loaf of whole wheat bread in the freezer that I can defrost.
This week's meals:
Breakfasts: steel cut oats with frozen fruit and plain yogurt OR eggs on toast
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, carrots, celery, apples, string cheese
Dinners:
Whole wheat spaghetti with pumpkin-lentil-tomato vegetarian spaghetti sauce
Slow cooker Filipino Adobo pulled pork from Skinnytaste.com (lots of leftovers), side of brown basmati rice and steamed broccoli OR wrapped up in a tortilla
Crunchy baked pork chops from Smitten Kitchen, sides of mashed potatoes and sauteed zucchini
Mexican Adobo pork tenderloin from Skinnytaste.com, sides of brown basmati rice and steamed broccoli
Desserts:
Grapes
This week's baking:
Tea-infused apple-date loaf
This week's groceries:
Eggs and dairy:
12 eggs 1.48
1 gallon Organic Valley whole milk 5.96
Sargento reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese 1.98
Cheese Heads reduced fat string cheese 2.48
Wedge Asiago cheese 4.48
Nancy's low fat plain yogurt 1.48
Fruits and vegetables:
1.68 lbs zucchini 1.08
0.84 lbs broccoli crowns 1.08
Scallions 0.58
Celery 0.98
2 lbs carrots 0.98
5 lbs onions 2.48
3.82 lbs Fuji apples 3.74
2.26 navel oranges 2.21
1 lb red grapes 1.98
Bulk:
1.36 steel cut oats 0.86
1.02 lbs flour 0.31
0.51 lbs dates 1.31
Cans:
1 can diced tomatoes, supermarket brand 0.58
1 can pureed pumpkin 1.88
Other:
1 jar supermarket brand organic peanut butter: 3.79
Total: 40.62
Observations: I'm annoyed that I can't buy cheaper peanut butter. Well, I could, but I don't want peanut butter that has sugar in it (why must everything have sugar? I feel that certain things like peanut butter, mayonnaise and so on taste far better without, and surely it's healthier that way too?), or palm oil, because of the environmental implications. I'm sure that most things I do are ruinous for the environment in some way, so if I can do one small thing, such as avoiding palm oil, it makes me feel irrationally virtuous. Virtue is a feeling I enjoy, and I don't get it very often, so there it is.
This week's meals:
Breakfasts: steel cut oats with frozen fruit and plain yogurt OR eggs on toast
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, carrots, celery, apples, string cheese
Dinners:
Whole wheat spaghetti with pumpkin-lentil-tomato vegetarian spaghetti sauce
Slow cooker Filipino Adobo pulled pork from Skinnytaste.com (lots of leftovers), side of brown basmati rice and steamed broccoli OR wrapped up in a tortilla
Crunchy baked pork chops from Smitten Kitchen, sides of mashed potatoes and sauteed zucchini
Mexican Adobo pork tenderloin from Skinnytaste.com, sides of brown basmati rice and steamed broccoli
Desserts:
Grapes
This week's baking:
Tea-infused apple-date loaf
This week's groceries:
Eggs and dairy:
12 eggs 1.48
1 gallon Organic Valley whole milk 5.96
Sargento reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese 1.98
Cheese Heads reduced fat string cheese 2.48
Wedge Asiago cheese 4.48
Nancy's low fat plain yogurt 1.48
Fruits and vegetables:
1.68 lbs zucchini 1.08
0.84 lbs broccoli crowns 1.08
Scallions 0.58
Celery 0.98
2 lbs carrots 0.98
5 lbs onions 2.48
3.82 lbs Fuji apples 3.74
2.26 navel oranges 2.21
1 lb red grapes 1.98
Bulk:
1.36 steel cut oats 0.86
1.02 lbs flour 0.31
0.51 lbs dates 1.31
Cans:
1 can diced tomatoes, supermarket brand 0.58
1 can pureed pumpkin 1.88
Other:
1 jar supermarket brand organic peanut butter: 3.79
Total: 40.62
Observations: I'm annoyed that I can't buy cheaper peanut butter. Well, I could, but I don't want peanut butter that has sugar in it (why must everything have sugar? I feel that certain things like peanut butter, mayonnaise and so on taste far better without, and surely it's healthier that way too?), or palm oil, because of the environmental implications. I'm sure that most things I do are ruinous for the environment in some way, so if I can do one small thing, such as avoiding palm oil, it makes me feel irrationally virtuous. Virtue is a feeling I enjoy, and I don't get it very often, so there it is.
Pumpkin-lentil-tomato spaghetti sauce
This is a cheap, delicious recipe that makes enough for at least two family meals, and is substantial enough that one really doesn't miss the meat.
Ingredients:
1 cup brown lentils
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can pureed pumpkin
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon thyme
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
Brown lentils don't really need soaking, but if you want to do something in advance, pour some boiling water over them in a bowl and leave them for a few hours. Drain them and place them in a large pot with 4-5 cups of boiling water and a bay leaf, and simmer until tender, 15 minutes or so. If you haven't soaked them, simply rinse them and boil them a little longer, maybe 25-30 minutes.
While the lentils are cooking, heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or so. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for a minute or so until fragrant. Add the pumpkin, tomatoes, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes, pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
When the lentils are cooked, drain them, removing the bay leaf. Add them to the sauce and season to taste.
Serve over whole wheat spaghetti or other pasta, with a sprinkling of grated parmesan or Asiago cheese on top if desired.
Ingredients:
1 cup brown lentils
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can pureed pumpkin
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon thyme
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
Brown lentils don't really need soaking, but if you want to do something in advance, pour some boiling water over them in a bowl and leave them for a few hours. Drain them and place them in a large pot with 4-5 cups of boiling water and a bay leaf, and simmer until tender, 15 minutes or so. If you haven't soaked them, simply rinse them and boil them a little longer, maybe 25-30 minutes.
While the lentils are cooking, heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or so. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for a minute or so until fragrant. Add the pumpkin, tomatoes, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes, pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
When the lentils are cooked, drain them, removing the bay leaf. Add them to the sauce and season to taste.
Serve over whole wheat spaghetti or other pasta, with a sprinkling of grated parmesan or Asiago cheese on top if desired.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Pumpkin spice muffins
Nothing feels quite so autumnal as pumpkin and spice, particularly consumed in muffin form while gazing romantically out one's window at the leaves falling off trees. This recipe is delicious and not too sweet--perfect for a morning snack with a latte or a mug of milky tea.
Ingredients:
3 cups white flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups pureed pumpkin (butternut or acorn squash would work well here too)
1 1/2 cups plain unsweetened yogurt
2 eggs
4 oz melted butter
Heat the oven to 375F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
In a smaller bowl, lightly beat the eggs, and whisk in pumpkin, yogurt, and melted butter.
Tip the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix gently only until just combined.
Fill the muffin cups with equal amounts of batter (the cups will be pretty full). Bake for around 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Ingredients:
3 cups white flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups pureed pumpkin (butternut or acorn squash would work well here too)
1 1/2 cups plain unsweetened yogurt
2 eggs
4 oz melted butter
Heat the oven to 375F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
In a smaller bowl, lightly beat the eggs, and whisk in pumpkin, yogurt, and melted butter.
Tip the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix gently only until just combined.
Fill the muffin cups with equal amounts of batter (the cups will be pretty full). Bake for around 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Week's meal plan, November 8, 2013
If you can believe it, we're still living off the things my mother-in-law stocked our freezer with--particularly, a gigantic package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. So I haven't had to buy a whole lot of things.
This week's meal plan:
Breakfasts: steel cut oats with plain yogurt OR eggs on toast
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, apples, carrots, string cheese
Dinners: (all recipes make ten tons of leftovers, provided you don't mind having the same thing several times)
1) Crock pot salsa verde chicken (no particular recipe; you just empty a jar of green salsa into your crock pot, place a couple of chicken breasts on top, and leave cooking on low all day), sides of brown rice and steamed kale or sauteed zucchini
2) Crock pot tomato soup from Skinnytaste.com, grilled cheese sandwiches, side of steamed kale or sauteed zucchini
3) Chicken pot pie soup from Skinnytaste.com, but with whole wheat toast instead of biscuits
Snacks: whatever I seem to be baking this week
This week's groceries (I went to a different supermarket from the one I usually go to, so the prices are all different):
Vegetables and fruits:
8 oz mushrooms: 1.88
Large bunch of kale: 1.24
4 zucchini: 1.81
Carton organic grape tomatoes: 2.88
3 lbs Fuji apples: 4.27
1 lb frozen mixed vegetables: 0.78
Dairy:
1/2 gallon organic whole milk: 3.98
1/2 gallon organic skim milk: 3.46
Mountain Life plain low fat unsweetened yogurt: 2.78
Frigo light string cheese: 3.48
Sargento reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese: 2.68
Other:
Sara Lee whole wheat bread (two loaves): 4.58
28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, generic brand: 1.68
2 lbs plain flour: 1.50
Total: $37.00
Observations: I have a love-hate relationship with my crock pot. Sometimes it's just so utterly brilliant--for chicken broth, for example. Other times it's useful, but not amazing. I'd say throwing a piece of chicken in the crock pot with a jar of salsa falls into the category. It's pretty convenient to spend less than a minute assembling your dinner in the morning and come home to find it cooked, but the salsa chicken thing doesn't really warm my heart much. The tomato soup, however, is an absolute winner. I actually did the slow cooking of the vegetables overnight, then put them in the refrigerator all day. All I had to do when I got home was prepare the roux, blend the vegetables in the food processor, and combine them to make a deliciously creamy, more or less healthy soup, and whip up some grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it.
This week's meal plan:
Breakfasts: steel cut oats with plain yogurt OR eggs on toast
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches, apples, carrots, string cheese
Dinners: (all recipes make ten tons of leftovers, provided you don't mind having the same thing several times)
1) Crock pot salsa verde chicken (no particular recipe; you just empty a jar of green salsa into your crock pot, place a couple of chicken breasts on top, and leave cooking on low all day), sides of brown rice and steamed kale or sauteed zucchini
2) Crock pot tomato soup from Skinnytaste.com, grilled cheese sandwiches, side of steamed kale or sauteed zucchini
3) Chicken pot pie soup from Skinnytaste.com, but with whole wheat toast instead of biscuits
Snacks: whatever I seem to be baking this week
This week's groceries (I went to a different supermarket from the one I usually go to, so the prices are all different):
Vegetables and fruits:
8 oz mushrooms: 1.88
Large bunch of kale: 1.24
4 zucchini: 1.81
Carton organic grape tomatoes: 2.88
3 lbs Fuji apples: 4.27
1 lb frozen mixed vegetables: 0.78
Dairy:
1/2 gallon organic whole milk: 3.98
1/2 gallon organic skim milk: 3.46
Mountain Life plain low fat unsweetened yogurt: 2.78
Frigo light string cheese: 3.48
Sargento reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese: 2.68
Other:
Sara Lee whole wheat bread (two loaves): 4.58
28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, generic brand: 1.68
2 lbs plain flour: 1.50
Total: $37.00
Observations: I have a love-hate relationship with my crock pot. Sometimes it's just so utterly brilliant--for chicken broth, for example. Other times it's useful, but not amazing. I'd say throwing a piece of chicken in the crock pot with a jar of salsa falls into the category. It's pretty convenient to spend less than a minute assembling your dinner in the morning and come home to find it cooked, but the salsa chicken thing doesn't really warm my heart much. The tomato soup, however, is an absolute winner. I actually did the slow cooking of the vegetables overnight, then put them in the refrigerator all day. All I had to do when I got home was prepare the roux, blend the vegetables in the food processor, and combine them to make a deliciously creamy, more or less healthy soup, and whip up some grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
What we're going to eat this week
We are still living off the bounteous contributions of my mother-in-law, so I don't have a priced menu plan this week.
What we plan to make:
Breakfasts:
Steel cut oats with plain unsweetened yogurt and frozen blueberries, OR breakfast sandwiches on whole wheat tortillas with scrambled eggs, salsa, and a pinch of grated cheese
Lunches:
Peanut butter sandwiches, carrot and celery sticks, string cheese, apples
Dinners:
2 x crock pot Santa Fe chicken, except using a jar of salsa instead of the recommended sauce, because that's what I had. Sides of brown rice and steamed broccoli.
2 x spaghetti Bolognese, using a recipe derived from America's Test Kitchen, sides of (previously frozen) green beans and peas
2 x boeuf Bourguignon, sides of whole wheat egg noodles and steamed broccoli and/or frozen vegetables
...and maybe a comforting autumn night meal of eggs on toast if we can't be bothered.
Desserts/sweet stuff:
There's something about colder weather that makes me want to bake, so I'm exercising more in the hopes of canceling out the extra calories. I plan to make the Skinnytaste.com pumpkin bread with pepitas (don't be put off by the "low fat" in the title; it's incredibly moist and spicy and delicious). Also, I'm going to use up the rest of the can of pumpkin I used for the bread making the Skinnytaste.com pumpkin pancakes for breakfast on Sunday morning. Yum.
What we plan to make:
Breakfasts:
Steel cut oats with plain unsweetened yogurt and frozen blueberries, OR breakfast sandwiches on whole wheat tortillas with scrambled eggs, salsa, and a pinch of grated cheese
Lunches:
Peanut butter sandwiches, carrot and celery sticks, string cheese, apples
Dinners:
2 x crock pot Santa Fe chicken, except using a jar of salsa instead of the recommended sauce, because that's what I had. Sides of brown rice and steamed broccoli.
2 x spaghetti Bolognese, using a recipe derived from America's Test Kitchen, sides of (previously frozen) green beans and peas
2 x boeuf Bourguignon, sides of whole wheat egg noodles and steamed broccoli and/or frozen vegetables
...and maybe a comforting autumn night meal of eggs on toast if we can't be bothered.
Desserts/sweet stuff:
There's something about colder weather that makes me want to bake, so I'm exercising more in the hopes of canceling out the extra calories. I plan to make the Skinnytaste.com pumpkin bread with pepitas (don't be put off by the "low fat" in the title; it's incredibly moist and spicy and delicious). Also, I'm going to use up the rest of the can of pumpkin I used for the bread making the Skinnytaste.com pumpkin pancakes for breakfast on Sunday morning. Yum.
New, improved whole grain apple pancakes
I love it when, in the course of making a beloved recipe, I discover I don't have a key ingredient, substitute something else, and find that it tastes better than the original. Mostly my substitutions turn out terribly, but this one didn't.
I was making my whole grain apple pancakes for a family brunch, and realized I didn't have enough rolled oats. So instead, I made some porridge using steel cut oats and adjusted the ingredients accordingly. The pancakes came out deliciously! They have more "bite" to them than the previous version, and the taste and texture is vastly better, probably because steel cut oats are a very superior product to rolled oats. I took out the milk and added a smaller quantity of yogurt, which made the texture fluffier. I also love the tang of yogurt in any pancake or baking recipe. The batter is a little more liquid and finicky to work with than the previous version, but it will be fine, I promise.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup steel cut oats
1 1/3 cups water
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
2 eggs
2 apples, grated with the skins on
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Half a stick of butter (2 oz or ca. 55g), melted
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
First, prepare your steel cut oats. Mix them in a medium pot with the water, bring to a boil, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes until cooked.
Transfer the oats to a large bowl and stir in the other wet ingredients.
In a separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. Tip them into the oat mixture and stir gently with a fork until just combined.
Melt a tablespoon of butter in a cast-iron frying pan over medium-high heat. (A non-stick pan is fine too, but I'd steer clear of a stainless steel one.) Using a 1/8 cup measure (or a large spoon), drop up to five spoonfuls of batter onto the pan. When little bubbles start to appear on top, flip them over with a spatula and cook the other side until it's a light golden brown, pressing down on the pancakes with the spatula to flatten them slightly.
Serve plain or with maple syrup.
Serves 4-6
I was making my whole grain apple pancakes for a family brunch, and realized I didn't have enough rolled oats. So instead, I made some porridge using steel cut oats and adjusted the ingredients accordingly. The pancakes came out deliciously! They have more "bite" to them than the previous version, and the taste and texture is vastly better, probably because steel cut oats are a very superior product to rolled oats. I took out the milk and added a smaller quantity of yogurt, which made the texture fluffier. I also love the tang of yogurt in any pancake or baking recipe. The batter is a little more liquid and finicky to work with than the previous version, but it will be fine, I promise.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup steel cut oats
1 1/3 cups water
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
2 eggs
2 apples, grated with the skins on
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Half a stick of butter (2 oz or ca. 55g), melted
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
First, prepare your steel cut oats. Mix them in a medium pot with the water, bring to a boil, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes until cooked.
Transfer the oats to a large bowl and stir in the other wet ingredients.
In a separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. Tip them into the oat mixture and stir gently with a fork until just combined.
Melt a tablespoon of butter in a cast-iron frying pan over medium-high heat. (A non-stick pan is fine too, but I'd steer clear of a stainless steel one.) Using a 1/8 cup measure (or a large spoon), drop up to five spoonfuls of batter onto the pan. When little bubbles start to appear on top, flip them over with a spatula and cook the other side until it's a light golden brown, pressing down on the pancakes with the spatula to flatten them slightly.
Serve plain or with maple syrup.
Serves 4-6
Monday, October 28, 2013
The week after the week after the week we ran out of money
Last time I posted, I was pretty fried and having a bad attitude about...well, a lot of things, really. Then the angels sent my mother-in-law (not a phrase many people would use, I'm sure!) to stay with us for three days, during which time she stocked our refrigerator, freezer, and pantry with food upon food. We didn't have to cook for a week, and after that we didn't have to shop, because we had almost everything we needed to eat like kings and queens.
My total grocery bill for the past couple of weeks has been $16: gallon bottles of Organic Valley whole milk for the milk-addicted Baby B, loaves of Open Nature whole wheat sandwich bread for Mr. B's and my packed lunch, and a couple of vegetables so we wouldn't get scurvy.
This week, we're going to ruin all our efforts not to go out to eat, because we're going on a trip for work. So not only do we have to pay babysitters, we also have to eat fast food and so on. So unwholesome, but the hotels we're staying in don't have kitchenettes for us to cook in. My stomach heaves a little bit at the thought of soybean oil-saturated foodstuffs, but we'll deal with it, because beggars can't be choosers, and as I am continually reminded, we are perpetual supplicants, singing for our supper.
What, me, a bad attitude?
My total grocery bill for the past couple of weeks has been $16: gallon bottles of Organic Valley whole milk for the milk-addicted Baby B, loaves of Open Nature whole wheat sandwich bread for Mr. B's and my packed lunch, and a couple of vegetables so we wouldn't get scurvy.
This week, we're going to ruin all our efforts not to go out to eat, because we're going on a trip for work. So not only do we have to pay babysitters, we also have to eat fast food and so on. So unwholesome, but the hotels we're staying in don't have kitchenettes for us to cook in. My stomach heaves a little bit at the thought of soybean oil-saturated foodstuffs, but we'll deal with it, because beggars can't be choosers, and as I am continually reminded, we are perpetual supplicants, singing for our supper.
What, me, a bad attitude?
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
What I did the week after the week we ran out of money.
Well, I didn't entirely run out of money. We got paid again, but had some moderately large expenses, including a bunch of babysitting (unavoidable, for two workaholics such as ourselves), car repairs, etc. So there wasn't a lot left over for food.
I decided to make our usual cheap breakfast of steel cut oats topped with frozen berries (one medium bag lasts us a week) and a scoop of plain unsweetened yogurt; our usual cheap lunch of peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread with carrot and celery sticks, fruit, and cheese; and some dinners that were not only cheap to make, but make vast quantities and could be eaten for several nights. And I also used a few things from our cupboards and fridge, so I did pretty well.
Recipes to last all week:
1) Tuna noodle casserole from Skinnytaste.com
2) Chicken, mushroom and wild rice soup, also from Skinnytaste.com (the original specifies shiitake mushrooms, but I don't like shiitakes, so I used the cheaper cremini ones)
3) Crock pot Santa Fe chicken, also from...you guessed it, Skinnytaste.com!
Sides of broccoli with everything.
This week's groceries:
Dairy:
1 gallon Organic Valley milk: 6.68
Nancy's plain low-fat yogurt: 2.43
Cheese Heads reduced-fat string cheese: 2.98
Challenge butter: 2.79
12 eggs: 1.34
Vegetables and fruits:
Frozen berries: 1.88
Frozen corn (enormous bag; they were out of the regular-sized ones): 1.19
1 lb cremini mushrooms: 2.98
3.62 lbs Fuji apples: 3.19
0.92 lbs broccoli: 1.18
1 bunch green onions: 0.58
1 head celery: 0.88
2 lbs carrots: 0.98
5 lbs onions: 1.98
Bulk:
Wild/white rice mix: 2.40
6 oz whole wheat egg noodles: 0.36
1.13 lb steel cut oats: 0.71
1.22 lb white unbleached flour: 0.37
Cans:
S&W black beans: 0.68
Bumblebee albacore tuna, 2 x 5oz cans: 1.76
Meat:
Two large chicken breasts: 6.00
Misc:
Sara Lee multigrain sandwich bread: 2.28
Total: 45.62
Observations: I haven't ever much liked canned tuna. I actually thought it was kind of disgusting--so smelly and salty. But I'm a giant fan of the amazing website Skinnytaste.com, and I felt that if its brilliant author, Gina, recommends something this highly, I should try it out. Well, I'm converted, to this recipe if not to canned tuna in general. It tasted wholesome and good, and it was so, so cheap to make. Baby B enjoyed it too.
The soup we'd already made before, so I knew it would be filling and delicious. It seriously makes enough for about three meals as long as you have a piece of toast with it each time.
The Santa Fe chicken was the best surprise of all. I picked the recipe because Gina had said it was one of her most popular recipes. It looked a bit plain to me, but I had a can of tomatoes with green chiles in my pantry that had been there practically since the dawn of time, plus my homemade chicken broth in the freezer, and all the various seasonings, so it was cheap to get some chicken breast, black beans, and corn and make it. Well, it was heavenly. First of all, it took ten hours to cook on low, which is very convenient for those of us who leave the house at seven in the morning and don't get home until half past five or six. (It didn't seem overcooked even though we cooked it longer than ten hours.) It made our house smell wonderful--is there anything lovelier than coming home tired and hungry and smelling dinner already made?--and all we had to do was steam some white basmati rice (15 minutes) and steam some broccoli (5 minutes), and we had a brilliant dinner. Seriously, this recipe tastes like something I'd order at a restaurant. The shredded chicken was perfectly tender and juicy, and the seasonings were perfectly balanced. I'm going to make this recipe again, and often.
These three dishes made absolute truckloads of food, further proving my point that you can definitely eat cheaply as long as you don't mind having the same sort of thing over and over again. (Me, I don't mind. I know there are those who despise leftovers, but if I really like something, I'll eat it constantly.)
Other things I've figured out about eating cheaply include the realization that the ability to buy in bulk is really a privilege. I'd always thought of "bulk buying" as buying ten tons of something at a vast discount. Now I realize that part of what enables me to stick to a weekly budget is that I only need to buy as much as I need. So I get small bags of flour for mere pennies, and that's usually all the flour I need for that week's baking and cooking. Actually, a 1-lb bag that costs me $0.30 will probably last for several weeks because I don't really bake that much. The eccentric design of my kitchen means I have almost no storage space, so it's actually good to have a bunch of small bags of things, rather than large bags cluttering up the cupboards.
But you know what? This constant penny-pinching is really getting to me. Sometimes I just want to relax and go out to a restaurant, or even go to the supermarket and not care about money so I can throw all the delicious fresh pasta, wild salmon fillets, fancy cheeses, gourmet ice cream etc I want in the cart and not have to think about the cost. There's really no way around this right now unless we started to make a whole lot more money, which seems unlikely, because we're already working as hard as we possibly can within some pretty major constraints, such as living in a tiny, isolated town. I try not to think about all our credit card debt because it makes me feel slightly ill. All we can do is try to chip away at the debt until it's paid, and who knows when that will be? Sorry to end with such doom and gloom, but sometimes the normally indefatigable Mrs. B gets tired.
I decided to make our usual cheap breakfast of steel cut oats topped with frozen berries (one medium bag lasts us a week) and a scoop of plain unsweetened yogurt; our usual cheap lunch of peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread with carrot and celery sticks, fruit, and cheese; and some dinners that were not only cheap to make, but make vast quantities and could be eaten for several nights. And I also used a few things from our cupboards and fridge, so I did pretty well.
Recipes to last all week:
1) Tuna noodle casserole from Skinnytaste.com
2) Chicken, mushroom and wild rice soup, also from Skinnytaste.com (the original specifies shiitake mushrooms, but I don't like shiitakes, so I used the cheaper cremini ones)
3) Crock pot Santa Fe chicken, also from...you guessed it, Skinnytaste.com!
Sides of broccoli with everything.
This week's groceries:
Dairy:
1 gallon Organic Valley milk: 6.68
Nancy's plain low-fat yogurt: 2.43
Cheese Heads reduced-fat string cheese: 2.98
Challenge butter: 2.79
12 eggs: 1.34
Vegetables and fruits:
Frozen berries: 1.88
Frozen corn (enormous bag; they were out of the regular-sized ones): 1.19
1 lb cremini mushrooms: 2.98
3.62 lbs Fuji apples: 3.19
0.92 lbs broccoli: 1.18
1 bunch green onions: 0.58
1 head celery: 0.88
2 lbs carrots: 0.98
5 lbs onions: 1.98
Bulk:
Wild/white rice mix: 2.40
6 oz whole wheat egg noodles: 0.36
1.13 lb steel cut oats: 0.71
1.22 lb white unbleached flour: 0.37
Cans:
S&W black beans: 0.68
Bumblebee albacore tuna, 2 x 5oz cans: 1.76
Meat:
Two large chicken breasts: 6.00
Misc:
Sara Lee multigrain sandwich bread: 2.28
Total: 45.62
Observations: I haven't ever much liked canned tuna. I actually thought it was kind of disgusting--so smelly and salty. But I'm a giant fan of the amazing website Skinnytaste.com, and I felt that if its brilliant author, Gina, recommends something this highly, I should try it out. Well, I'm converted, to this recipe if not to canned tuna in general. It tasted wholesome and good, and it was so, so cheap to make. Baby B enjoyed it too.
The soup we'd already made before, so I knew it would be filling and delicious. It seriously makes enough for about three meals as long as you have a piece of toast with it each time.
The Santa Fe chicken was the best surprise of all. I picked the recipe because Gina had said it was one of her most popular recipes. It looked a bit plain to me, but I had a can of tomatoes with green chiles in my pantry that had been there practically since the dawn of time, plus my homemade chicken broth in the freezer, and all the various seasonings, so it was cheap to get some chicken breast, black beans, and corn and make it. Well, it was heavenly. First of all, it took ten hours to cook on low, which is very convenient for those of us who leave the house at seven in the morning and don't get home until half past five or six. (It didn't seem overcooked even though we cooked it longer than ten hours.) It made our house smell wonderful--is there anything lovelier than coming home tired and hungry and smelling dinner already made?--and all we had to do was steam some white basmati rice (15 minutes) and steam some broccoli (5 minutes), and we had a brilliant dinner. Seriously, this recipe tastes like something I'd order at a restaurant. The shredded chicken was perfectly tender and juicy, and the seasonings were perfectly balanced. I'm going to make this recipe again, and often.
These three dishes made absolute truckloads of food, further proving my point that you can definitely eat cheaply as long as you don't mind having the same sort of thing over and over again. (Me, I don't mind. I know there are those who despise leftovers, but if I really like something, I'll eat it constantly.)
Other things I've figured out about eating cheaply include the realization that the ability to buy in bulk is really a privilege. I'd always thought of "bulk buying" as buying ten tons of something at a vast discount. Now I realize that part of what enables me to stick to a weekly budget is that I only need to buy as much as I need. So I get small bags of flour for mere pennies, and that's usually all the flour I need for that week's baking and cooking. Actually, a 1-lb bag that costs me $0.30 will probably last for several weeks because I don't really bake that much. The eccentric design of my kitchen means I have almost no storage space, so it's actually good to have a bunch of small bags of things, rather than large bags cluttering up the cupboards.
But you know what? This constant penny-pinching is really getting to me. Sometimes I just want to relax and go out to a restaurant, or even go to the supermarket and not care about money so I can throw all the delicious fresh pasta, wild salmon fillets, fancy cheeses, gourmet ice cream etc I want in the cart and not have to think about the cost. There's really no way around this right now unless we started to make a whole lot more money, which seems unlikely, because we're already working as hard as we possibly can within some pretty major constraints, such as living in a tiny, isolated town. I try not to think about all our credit card debt because it makes me feel slightly ill. All we can do is try to chip away at the debt until it's paid, and who knows when that will be? Sorry to end with such doom and gloom, but sometimes the normally indefatigable Mrs. B gets tired.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Crock pot "refried" beans
I know canned refried beans can be bought for fifty cents and taste just fine, but this is even cheaper and it tastes so much better that I am loath to buy the canned ones ever again. And besides, I try to avoid the BPA liners of most canned food.
Exceedingly complex instructions! Throw the following into your slow cooker:
1 onion, chopped medium
2 cups dried pinto beans (no need to soak; just rinse them)
4 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1 to 1.5 teaspoons salt (start with the smaller measure, then adjust at the end to taste)
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
6 cups water
Cook on high all day. It's fine to go out to work for nine hours, it won't boil dry! Next, simply strain the beans, reserving the liquid. Mash the beans with a fork, adding the cooking liquid little by little until you get the consistency you like. Taste and season. This makes loads--enough for several recipes (enchiladas, bean and cheese burritos, plain old beans and rice, etc).
Exceedingly complex instructions! Throw the following into your slow cooker:
1 onion, chopped medium
2 cups dried pinto beans (no need to soak; just rinse them)
4 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1 to 1.5 teaspoons salt (start with the smaller measure, then adjust at the end to taste)
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
6 cups water
Cook on high all day. It's fine to go out to work for nine hours, it won't boil dry! Next, simply strain the beans, reserving the liquid. Mash the beans with a fork, adding the cooking liquid little by little until you get the consistency you like. Taste and season. This makes loads--enough for several recipes (enchiladas, bean and cheese burritos, plain old beans and rice, etc).
Tea-infused apple-date loaf
I hadn't made this recipe for years, but discovered it in an old binder of recipes from when I was a student. I'm not a confident baker of anything but yeast bread, but this recipe is actually pretty hard to mess up. (A very pleasing quality in a cake, if you ask me.)
Soaking the fruit in tea seems eccentric, but it serves a dual purpose of softening it up before baking, and giving the finished loaf a delicate hint of tea flavor. The finished product is spicy and not too sweet. It was the perfect baking project for a fall Saturday morning. I took Baby B and Little Dog B for a short walk outside while it baked, and enjoyed the slight nip in the air and the spectacular orange and red leaves on the trees. When we got home, the house was filled with the delicious scent of the spices. Who needs a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte? (A thing I had never tried until someone bought me one recently. Very kind, but I didn't much like it--I prefer my coffee to taste like coffee, not sugary stuff.)
Ingredients:
2 cups diced apples (around 2 medium; no need to peel them first, unless you prefer them that way)
1 cup dates, chopped coarsely
3/4 cup freshly brewed strong black tea, boiling hot
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 oz unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white flour
1/2 whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Spray an 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray, or grease it with butter. If the pan isn't non-stick, line it with baking paper.
Place the apples and dates in a medium bowl, sprinkle with baking soda, and pour the boiling tea over the top. Stir briefly, and leave to soften while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Cream the butter and sugar together with a silicone spatula. Stir in the vanilla and the lightly beaten egg.
Sift in the flours and spices, and pour over the fruit and tea mixture. Mix together until just combined--don't overmix or the cake will be hard. Pour the mixture into the baking pan, and bake for 45 minutes.
Let it cool in the pan before serving. I recommend having it with a cup of rather milky tea. Baby B had hers with milk.
Soaking the fruit in tea seems eccentric, but it serves a dual purpose of softening it up before baking, and giving the finished loaf a delicate hint of tea flavor. The finished product is spicy and not too sweet. It was the perfect baking project for a fall Saturday morning. I took Baby B and Little Dog B for a short walk outside while it baked, and enjoyed the slight nip in the air and the spectacular orange and red leaves on the trees. When we got home, the house was filled with the delicious scent of the spices. Who needs a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte? (A thing I had never tried until someone bought me one recently. Very kind, but I didn't much like it--I prefer my coffee to taste like coffee, not sugary stuff.)
Ingredients:
2 cups diced apples (around 2 medium; no need to peel them first, unless you prefer them that way)
1 cup dates, chopped coarsely
3/4 cup freshly brewed strong black tea, boiling hot
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 oz unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white flour
1/2 whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Spray an 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray, or grease it with butter. If the pan isn't non-stick, line it with baking paper.
Place the apples and dates in a medium bowl, sprinkle with baking soda, and pour the boiling tea over the top. Stir briefly, and leave to soften while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Cream the butter and sugar together with a silicone spatula. Stir in the vanilla and the lightly beaten egg.
Sift in the flours and spices, and pour over the fruit and tea mixture. Mix together until just combined--don't overmix or the cake will be hard. Pour the mixture into the baking pan, and bake for 45 minutes.
Let it cool in the pan before serving. I recommend having it with a cup of rather milky tea. Baby B had hers with milk.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Whole wheat sandwich bread
What I really want to figure out is how to make a sandwich bread that's 100% whole wheat, but still binds together and doesn't fall apart. I haven't done this yet. I am, however, very fond of this recipe. I haven't priced the ingredients or the cost of the electricity for baking it, and I suspect it isn't significantly cheaper than buying a loaf of ordinary sandwich bread. It's vastly more delicious, however, and you don't need to worry about any unpleasant additives, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, and so on. And what can be more heavenly than the smell of baking bread filling your house?
The yogurt is the key to great flavor, and the ground flaxseed both helps the dough bind well and adds lots of nutritional value.
Ingredients:
1 cup milk (any kind; whole milk is usually better for baking, but any kind will work)
1/3 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
2 oz butter
3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey (or just plain sugar if you don't have those)
1 3/4 cups white flour
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup freshly ground flaxseed
2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon extra butter
In a medium pot, melt the butter. Add the milk, and stir until the mixture is lukewarm. (Baby's bath temperature, if you've ever bathed a baby.) Remove from heat, and whisk in the maple syrup or honey, the yogurt, and the salt.
In a large bowl, mix the flours, flaxseed, and yeast. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to mix with a large wooden spoon. Turn the dough out onto a floured board or counter and knead for around five minutes, adding more flour if it sticks, until the dough is smooth and satiny.
Place the kneaded dough into a large, floured bowl, cover with a clean towel, and leave it in a warm place until the dough is doubled in size. This will take anything from 45 minutes to two hours.
Butter a nine-inch loaf pan and line it with baking paper. Gently push the air out of the risen dough into a nine-inch square, then roll it into a nine-inch-long loaf. Put the loaf into the pan with the most attractive side up. Leave in a warm place until the dough rises again (45-120 minutes).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Throw a few handfuls of ice cubes into the oven (this will keep the bread moist while it bakes). Bake the loaf for 45 minutes.
Take the loaf out of the pan immediately and place it on a rack with a board underneath it. Melt the extra tablespoon of butter, and "paint" it all over the baked loaf with a pastry brush. This will help keep the loaf soft enough for sandwiches.
Optional extras: you can customize this in a lot of ways. You could add a handful of sunflower seeds, or a few tablespoons of oat bran (although you may need to use less flour in this case). Alternatively, you could top the loaf with sesame seeds.
The loaf will keep pretty well in an airtight container for 3-4 days. I sometimes cut the loaf in slices, place it in a bread bag, and keep it in the freezer, so I can pull out individual slices to use for toast. It also makes great sandwiches.
The yogurt is the key to great flavor, and the ground flaxseed both helps the dough bind well and adds lots of nutritional value.
Ingredients:
1 cup milk (any kind; whole milk is usually better for baking, but any kind will work)
1/3 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
2 oz butter
3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey (or just plain sugar if you don't have those)
1 3/4 cups white flour
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup freshly ground flaxseed
2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon extra butter
In a medium pot, melt the butter. Add the milk, and stir until the mixture is lukewarm. (Baby's bath temperature, if you've ever bathed a baby.) Remove from heat, and whisk in the maple syrup or honey, the yogurt, and the salt.
In a large bowl, mix the flours, flaxseed, and yeast. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to mix with a large wooden spoon. Turn the dough out onto a floured board or counter and knead for around five minutes, adding more flour if it sticks, until the dough is smooth and satiny.
Place the kneaded dough into a large, floured bowl, cover with a clean towel, and leave it in a warm place until the dough is doubled in size. This will take anything from 45 minutes to two hours.
Butter a nine-inch loaf pan and line it with baking paper. Gently push the air out of the risen dough into a nine-inch square, then roll it into a nine-inch-long loaf. Put the loaf into the pan with the most attractive side up. Leave in a warm place until the dough rises again (45-120 minutes).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Throw a few handfuls of ice cubes into the oven (this will keep the bread moist while it bakes). Bake the loaf for 45 minutes.
Take the loaf out of the pan immediately and place it on a rack with a board underneath it. Melt the extra tablespoon of butter, and "paint" it all over the baked loaf with a pastry brush. This will help keep the loaf soft enough for sandwiches.
Optional extras: you can customize this in a lot of ways. You could add a handful of sunflower seeds, or a few tablespoons of oat bran (although you may need to use less flour in this case). Alternatively, you could top the loaf with sesame seeds.
The loaf will keep pretty well in an airtight container for 3-4 days. I sometimes cut the loaf in slices, place it in a bread bag, and keep it in the freezer, so I can pull out individual slices to use for toast. It also makes great sandwiches.
The weekend we ran out of money
The old Mr. and Mrs. B would have shrugged and gone to the grocery store anyway, thrown whatever they liked into the cart, and slapped the whole thing on a credit card.
Not any more.
These days, we only pay money into credit cards. Purchases may only be made with cash or debit cards. So that meant I couldn't do my usual Friday meal plan and supermarket trip.
This new state of brokeness coincided neatly with Mr. B's having to go out of town for work, taking our one and only car. So I couldn't have gone to the budget supermarket even if I'd wanted to. There's another supermarket within walking distance, but it's much more expensive, and I'd have to walk down some busy streets without sidewalks, which I'd rather not attempt with my precious Baby B in the stroller. Ah, America. The car is king; no sidewalks for you!
So if you're finding yourself without money or vehicle, what do you do for food? You scrounge about in your refrigerator, freezer, and cupboards, of course! (Yet another sign of our privilege, since we have food left over at the end of every week.)
In the refrigerator, I had:
- 1 broccoli crown, wilted
- 1 very ancient bunch of parsley with only a few edible bits
- 1 smallish carrot, wilted and rubbery
- 1 stick celery in a similar condition
- odds and ends of dairy products: a little bit of milk, half a stick of butter, some grated cheddar, a little bit of a Parmesan wedge, half a tub of yogurt
- 6 eggs
- 3 apples of questionable crunchiness
- various condiments
In the freezer, I had:
- frozen corn kernels (lots)
- frozen peas
- half a bag of frozen cherries
In the cupboards, I had:
- the makings of bread: white flour, whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, sugar, oil, etc
- various bags of rice, both brown and white
- various types of dried beans: cannellini, pinto, black
- various odds and ends of pasta shapes
- a can of diced tomatoes
- my handy spice-rack full of interesting spices
- 2 large onions
- half a head of garlic
- steel cut oats, enough for several days
- peanut butter
- quick oats (can't stand these for porridge, but I had them for some recipe or other, and they're bound to be useful for something)
If I'm to be strictly honest, we could survive for an entire week on this stuff, even if it meant we didn't get enough protein and greens. Luckily, I don't need to survive for this long, only three days or so. But this is what we're going to eat.
Breakfasts:
Steel cut oats with frozen cherries and a scoop of plain unsweetened yogurt
Snacks: apples, OR, if they're gross and inedible by themselves, I'll probably improvise an apple crisp or apple muffins.
Lunches: peanut butter sandwiches with homemade whole wheat sandwich bread. Or maybe a cannellini bean dip, if I can stir myself to cook some beans and onions and garlic and blend them with some spices. I don't really have a recipe for this, but if I figure out a really good one, I'll post it.
Dinners:
1) this savory corn pudding recipe, side of steamed broccoli
2) mixed pastas and tomato sauce with grated Parmesan, side of peas
3) pinto beans cooked in the crock pot all day, then sauteed with some onion and spices (probably cumin, or chipotle chile pepper) and served on top of steamed brown basmati rice, side of peas
Then I'll have money, and a car, and I can make a new meal plan. I sometimes think it's a very fine thing that I like eating the same things over and over all the time.
Observations: frozen corn kernels are so, so cheap. Since I probably can't do anything about America's glut of corn and the massive, illogical subsidies given to corn producers, I can at least enjoy the enormous bags of kernels we can get for 78 cents at the budget supermarket. Corn isn't my favorite vegetable, but it's certainly a versatile one. Corn fritters! Corn chowder! The aforementioned corn pudding, of which I have high hopes!
What's more, I'm super excited that our supermarket's store brand canned tomatoes don't have BPA liners. For years, I didn't buy a single can of tomatoes (or many cans of anything else) for fear of health risks associated with BPA. Mostly, only the pricey organic brands do BPA-free cans, but I guess our budget supermarket is so budget that they didn't want to shell out for the liners. Big win!
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