Sorry! No new recipes for the week. I tried a recipe from a cookbook I got for Christmas - Vegan Express, by Nava Atlas. It was underwhelming, but I didn't follow the recipe exactly. After a few additions, it got better.
I also made a pad-thai like dish with noodles, tofu, peanuts, lime, cilantro, and cabbage. We ate these two vegan meals all week.
The first one was quinoa - in the end, it had kidney beans, corn, artichoke hearts, salsa, roasted onion and bell pepper, parsley, olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin.
I am going to do a roast chicken, aloo gobi, baked collard chips, and red lentil curry tonight. I've posted all these on here before, except the red lentil curry. If it's good, I'll post the recipe! I got the recipe from a friend from Bangladesh, so I know it's good when SHE makes it. I'm just not sure if it's good when *I* make it.
An update on the CSA for the week:
1 bunch beets - dinner Monday, roasted
1 bunch collards - dinner Saturday, baked into chips
1 acorn squash - probably save for next week (we're eating last week's delicata tomorrow, roasted, as a side dish to baked pasta with veggies)
1 lb clementines - snacking
1 lb brussel sprouts - sauteed or roasted, as a side on Tuesday (with leftover split pea soup from the freezer)
1 bu yakuna savoy (an Asian green), as a side on Weds with leftovers
1 bu green onions (with the yakuna savoy)
1/4 lb spinach - on sandwiches or in a little salad.
Thursday I just signed up to donate blood at 6:15, so my hubby will be cooking dinner. I think it will be some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving with gravy (from a jar, also leftover) and mashed potatoes.
On Thursday I did my volunteer shift. It used to be that you could "opt out" by paying $40. Last year the CSA doubled in size, and I guess a bunch of people opted out of volunteering and didn't pay the fee. Instead, this year, everyone had to pay the fee. And if you volunteer, then you get a $50 gift card to the stand. I will be saving this for avocados, strawberries, and figs.
I really enjoyed talking to the fellow members, swapping recipes and ideas, and chatting with the other volunteers. It's great to really get to know the farm.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
CSA!
Yay, our CSA just started up again. Here's a tally of week one, and what I'm going to use it for
1 head lettuce - salad (tonight and one other)
1 bunch parsley - quinoa with corn and artichokes (today), and maybe freeze some in pesto
1 head napa cabbage (1.5 lb) - Thai tofu and cabbage over noodles (Sun)
1 bunch turnips (3 large) - roasted as a side (Mon) with leftover cabbage
1/4 lb spinach - in quinoa and bean soup (Tue)
1 bunch bok choy - side dish for fried rice night (Wed)
2 leeks - in the fried rice (Wed)
1 bunch collards - in the fried rice (Wed)
1 lb clementines - snacking
Lotta Asian this week, to counteract last week's "week of Minestrone".
Thurs will also be leftovers, as I'm working at the CSA from 4 to 7 pm.
Sat is hubby's night...pancakes for dinner.
1 head lettuce - salad (tonight and one other)
1 bunch parsley - quinoa with corn and artichokes (today), and maybe freeze some in pesto
1 head napa cabbage (1.5 lb) - Thai tofu and cabbage over noodles (Sun)
1 bunch turnips (3 large) - roasted as a side (Mon) with leftover cabbage
1/4 lb spinach - in quinoa and bean soup (Tue)
1 bunch bok choy - side dish for fried rice night (Wed)
2 leeks - in the fried rice (Wed)
1 bunch collards - in the fried rice (Wed)
1 lb clementines - snacking
Lotta Asian this week, to counteract last week's "week of Minestrone".
Thurs will also be leftovers, as I'm working at the CSA from 4 to 7 pm.
Sat is hubby's night...pancakes for dinner.
Grocery Goals for the Year
I've decided to set a goal for my grocery spending for the year. I generally don't do this for a full year. Usually, I set a particular time frame. Last year, from April to July, I decided to try and spend only $50/week on groceries. I was successful - came out at about $45/week (and donated the extra to the food bank).
This year, I've decided to shoot for the full year! Here's my plan:
Each alternating month, set a budget of $160 or $400 (for the most part, that's approximately, but a little less than, $40 or $100/wk). That means January is $160. February is $400. And so on. I am also using a Cash-only system. My hubby loves this because I shop less and there are fewer receipts to enter.
Here's my rationale. If I set my goal at $40/wk, it's a challenge. But one I can manage. It got a little easier this week with the start of my (pre-paid) 45 week CSA. That was $850, paid at the end of last year. For fairness in my calculations of grocery, I am counting it towards this year's total.
At $40/wk, I am eating extensively from the pantry and freezer. I am not running to the store to get cilantro because "it will go well with this dish". I am deciding, a week in advance, what it for dinner, and doling out about $30 of it right off the bat. The remaining $10 is left in reserves for emergencies. At the end of each week, the leftover gets moved to the following week. At the end of each month, it's removed from the envelope and put in another one. I guess an "emergency" envelope or "stock up" envelope...something that I can use for those 31-day months of only $160. Or maybe it will be useful for, say, my son's birthday party.
By the time I get to $100/wk, that's going to feel flush. That will be the month that I can stock up on some good sales and re-fill the freezer and the pantry. In the past, I have stuck to an even $70/wk. The problem is, that gets too hard. Then I start borrowing money from next week. A week that started on Monday now starts on Thursday...you get the point. So now the week starts on Friday, since most shopping and cooking is done on the weekend.
My other grocery and food-related goals are pretty simple. I'd like to build and maintain ONE square foot garden in front of my house (a 3'x3' spot). You have to start somewhere. And for non-food items like TP and toothpaste, I am going to pay better attention and shop sales with coupons, instead of just buying everything at Costco (which is more convenient, but not necessarily cheaper).
And hey, I should be gaining about $500 this year from NO MORE DIAPERS!!
Thus far, here's the count:
Jan 1-9: $37.50
Jan 10-16: $35.79
This year, I've decided to shoot for the full year! Here's my plan:
Each alternating month, set a budget of $160 or $400 (for the most part, that's approximately, but a little less than, $40 or $100/wk). That means January is $160. February is $400. And so on. I am also using a Cash-only system. My hubby loves this because I shop less and there are fewer receipts to enter.
Here's my rationale. If I set my goal at $40/wk, it's a challenge. But one I can manage. It got a little easier this week with the start of my (pre-paid) 45 week CSA. That was $850, paid at the end of last year. For fairness in my calculations of grocery, I am counting it towards this year's total.
At $40/wk, I am eating extensively from the pantry and freezer. I am not running to the store to get cilantro because "it will go well with this dish". I am deciding, a week in advance, what it for dinner, and doling out about $30 of it right off the bat. The remaining $10 is left in reserves for emergencies. At the end of each week, the leftover gets moved to the following week. At the end of each month, it's removed from the envelope and put in another one. I guess an "emergency" envelope or "stock up" envelope...something that I can use for those 31-day months of only $160. Or maybe it will be useful for, say, my son's birthday party.
By the time I get to $100/wk, that's going to feel flush. That will be the month that I can stock up on some good sales and re-fill the freezer and the pantry. In the past, I have stuck to an even $70/wk. The problem is, that gets too hard. Then I start borrowing money from next week. A week that started on Monday now starts on Thursday...you get the point. So now the week starts on Friday, since most shopping and cooking is done on the weekend.
My other grocery and food-related goals are pretty simple. I'd like to build and maintain ONE square foot garden in front of my house (a 3'x3' spot). You have to start somewhere. And for non-food items like TP and toothpaste, I am going to pay better attention and shop sales with coupons, instead of just buying everything at Costco (which is more convenient, but not necessarily cheaper).
And hey, I should be gaining about $500 this year from NO MORE DIAPERS!!
Thus far, here's the count:
Jan 1-9: $37.50
Jan 10-16: $35.79
Monday, January 12, 2009
Minestrone
This is a recipe I adapted loosely from American Wholefoods Cuisine by Nikki and David Goldbeck. Very loosely...I added extra zucchini in place of potatoes, and used green beans instead of greens (no greens yet, but the CSA starts Thursday).
Minestrone
1/5 lb dry (1 cup cooked) kidney beans: 0.24
1/2 c dry (2 oz) macaroni: 0.09
1/2 of a 6 oz can tomato paste: 0.17
6 c. water
1 tsp dried basil: 0.05
1 tsp dried parsley: 0.03
1 clove garlic, pressed: 0.04
1/2 large onion, diced: 0.15
1/4 lb sliced frozen green beans (these were leftover): 0.25
2 carrots, diced: 0.17
2 carrots, diced: 0.17
1 tsp salt: 0.02
1 T canola oil: 0.04
2 small zucchini, diced: 0.85
2 celery stalks, diced: 0.20
1 T dried veggie stock powder: ?
Total: $2.40 for 12 cups, or eight 1.5 cup servings. $0.30 per serving.
Soak and pre-cook the kidney beans. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add herbs, carrots, water, and tomato paste. Cover and simmer for 20 min. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer 30 min.
This was really good. I made this yesterday alongside last night's dinner of Mediterranean chickpeas and rice. (I had the leftovers for lunch today with steamed broccoli and it was heaven). So I got two different meals in one cooking batch. And soup is always better the next day. We've got about 8 cups left, which will be dinner for toddler and I tomorrow (2 cups), and lunch for me Weds and Thurs (3 cups). The rest will probably go in the freezer. Or maybe we'll eat it Friday.
I served this with about 1T of parmesan per bowl (at 0.09), plus homemade rye and onion bread (0.08 per 2-oz slice). It's a recipe from the book that came with our bread machine. We discovered when we replaced our bread machine that the recipes don't necessarily translate from one to the other. We could fiddle, but don't. On the bread we had just some butter and some of the homemade caponata from New Year's Eve (from the freezer).
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry
I think this originated at Allrecipes.com here. I make adjustments from time to time. It's not a regular at our house, because we don't eat very much beef. But it is very good. This time I used frozen meatballs. I defrosted them in the microwave and chopped them in the food processor. I didn't have ground beef.
It's very tasty and has cabbage, which is good for the digestion and cheap to boot! Our CSA starts up again next Thursday, so then my meal planning will based around what we get there. We got a great deal this year...pay the full year up front for $850. This comes out to a little less than $20 a week. And then if we volunteer for a shift, we get a $50 gift certificate to the produce stand. Yay!
Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry
1 T. canola oil: 0.04
4 cloves garlic: 0.16
9 oz frozen meatballs, defrosted and chopped: 1.27
1 small head cabbage (1.5 to 2 lbs): 0.65
1 green bell pepper: 0.46
3 T. soy sauce: 0.26
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 c. water
1 tsp black pepper: 0.02
served with:
1 3-oz package ramen noodles: 0.16
Total: $3.02 for 5 servings. This fed my husband and I two nights and one lunch for me. Our toddler ate maybe 5 bites each night too. That's $0.60 per serving.
There's not a lot of noodles in there, but that's okay. Doesn't need much. I just scooped the cabbage on top of the noodles.
It's very tasty and has cabbage, which is good for the digestion and cheap to boot! Our CSA starts up again next Thursday, so then my meal planning will based around what we get there. We got a great deal this year...pay the full year up front for $850. This comes out to a little less than $20 a week. And then if we volunteer for a shift, we get a $50 gift certificate to the produce stand. Yay!
Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry
1 T. canola oil: 0.04
4 cloves garlic: 0.16
9 oz frozen meatballs, defrosted and chopped: 1.27
1 small head cabbage (1.5 to 2 lbs): 0.65
1 green bell pepper: 0.46
3 T. soy sauce: 0.26
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 c. water
1 tsp black pepper: 0.02
served with:
1 3-oz package ramen noodles: 0.16
Total: $3.02 for 5 servings. This fed my husband and I two nights and one lunch for me. Our toddler ate maybe 5 bites each night too. That's $0.60 per serving.
There's not a lot of noodles in there, but that's okay. Doesn't need much. I just scooped the cabbage on top of the noodles.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Food Costs, 2000 to 2008
So, I'm a total geek. I admit it. I love checking out my food costs, seeing how I can trim, and seeing how I'm doing. My hubby is a total Quicken geek. So, with about 15 mins of work I was able to pull up our food costs since 2000 (though 2000 numbers are estimated based on my memory. When I said "we spend WHAT?")
The all time low was just after I lost 57 lbs. We were eating out a LOT less, and we were both eating less food, period. The eating out bill crept up from there. A big difference from 2003 to 2004. As I got pregnant and gave birth, the eating out went up again. Until 2008, when it just became too much of a pain to eat out with a toddler.
The all time low was just after I lost 57 lbs. We were eating out a LOT less, and we were both eating less food, period. The eating out bill crept up from there. A big difference from 2003 to 2004. As I got pregnant and gave birth, the eating out went up again. Until 2008, when it just became too much of a pain to eat out with a toddler.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Pizza!
Today I did pizza again. Using the bread machine for the dough. Except for the first attempt (where the blade wasn't attached, so...nothing happened). Once the blade was attached it worked.
The machine makes the dough. Then I kneaded it for 5-10 min, until it springs back. Then I divided the dough into two balls and let rest in a warm place (aka, the top of the stove, set at 250F) for 20 min.
I rolled the dough out on two cookie sheets coated with canola oil and sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rest for 15 min.
Par-bake at 340F for 15 min. Remove from oven. Add toppings. Bake at 400F for 15 min.
This was really good. The dough was fully cooked in the center and crispy at the edge. Finally, good pizza dough!! It's still not "authentic" like from a pizza shop. I don't have a pizza stone yet, so that will have to wait. Still, it was pretty good.
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