Coconut Corn Soup

The recipe comes from Vegan Express by Nava Atlas.

This was pretty good. Not "oh my god", but "pretty good", especially considering it only took about 20 min to make. Updated to add: moves up to YUMMY on day 2.

I'm not going to post the recipe (you'll have to buy the book! or borrow it). It has:

coconut milk: $3.60
rice milk: 0.75
red bell pepper: 1.25
frozen corn: 1.25
garlic: 0.30
green onion: 0.60
curry powder: 0.15
thai red curry paste: 0.05
salt: 0.01

It was quite delicious, and made about 8 cups. Total per cup is about $0.84.

It was also a little too spicy for the toddler, but not too spicy for us.

We had this with salad and "last-minute salmon", meaning, we were putting dinner on the table and the neighbor dropped off fresh salmon (in exchange for a beer). [:)] So I made a small piece and we (gasp!) froze the rest. Don't tell the neighbor! He only eats it fresh, and he won't eat it when his vegetarian daughter is staying with him.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatillos! First time we've gotten them from the CSA. This is our 9th year. I made salsa.

It was pretty good. Interesting flavor...I'm not used to tomatillo salsa.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
1-2 T canola oil
0.75 lbs tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed in warm water
1/2 small onion, cut into small wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 jalapeno, seeded and sliced
salt and pepper to taste
small handful cilantro
1 lime

Slice tomatillos in half. In a large rimmed baking sheet (lined with foil if you are too lazy to clean, and I am), coat foil with oil. Place tomatillos cut side down. Toss in garlic, onions, and jalapeno. Roast at 425F for 10 min. Stir. Roast another 10 min. Remove from oven and let cool.

In food processor, puree roasted veggies, lime juice, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Serve with chips.

I love Ralph's Self Checkout

So, I have this...issue. With loose change. My spouse goes through periods of time where he spends cash for things. Not a lot. Just here and there. But he rarely spends the change. So I find little piles of change...on the counter, on the dresser, on the desk, on the bookshelf.

Now, I like spending cash. I think it's a way of controlling your spending. I try to spend cash for groceries from time to time. But the change gets the best of me.

I have the habit of just sweeping the piles of change into my purse or backpack. All that serves to do is to make them very heavy. In years past, when I had a bad soda habit (1-2 per day at $1.25 each), I would spend the change on soda. But I mostly kicked the soda habit (yes, I still drink a few a week), and I left the job with the soda machine.

So I have made it my mission to conquer the change. So I have to fess up...we have this blue bowl. Of change. And other junk. Mostly pennies. But we've had it for years. It has moved from counter to dresser to bookshelf. I bought myself a little change purse shaped like a sock. And I use it. If I succumb to a soda ($1.47), I use 7 pennies. When I pay cash for groceries, I use my change.

Then, I discovered Ralph's self checkout. You can pay cash. And they take pennies! I don't shop often at Ralphs, but when I do...today I must have unloaded 30 pennies from the sock.

My goal: empty the bowl of change by the end of the year. I considered using this as "bonus" grocery money. But that's cheating. So instead, I count the change as part of my grocery budget, the bonus being that I'll have more money in the checking account at the end of the year.

Totally unrelated to food post

I have really enjoyed reading the posts of some younger food bloggers...Kath Eats, Jenna at Eat Live Run, and Ange at Oh She Glows, among others. I find much inspiration from their energy and enthusiasm, even if I occasionally feel old.

So I thought I'd share a picture of my 20th high school reunion from last year. To give some of the youngsters out there a glimpse of what may be to come. I had a great time at the reunion. I went to a good school with a lot of nice people. And if I do say so myself, we all aged pretty well.

Lentils and Rice

From time to time, I read about a blogger or fellow message board member wax poetic about the cheapness that is lentils and rice. I have to admit...I *want* to like plain brown lentils (they are the cheapest legume around, except maybe split peas), but I haven't found many recipes that I enjoy. Moroccan lentil soup...yummy (search my blog for the recipe). But even that recipe makes enough that you really should freeze half for later...if you have a small family.

The most recent lentils and rice recipe I read comes courtesy of Cheap Healthy Good. And this one appealed to me because of the burnt onions. I love burnt onions.

So today I made my version of their recipe. Tasty...and cheap!

Lentils and Rice
2 T. canola oil: 0.07
3 onions, sliced: 0.69
1 c. brown rice: 0.50
1 c. brown lentils: 0.60
4 medium carrots, peeled and diced: 1.00 (organic, if not organic...0.40)
2 cloves garlic, minced: 0.10
1/2 Tbsp cumin: 0.05
6 Tbsp balsamic vinegar: 0.50
salt and pepper

Total: $3.41 for about 6 servings...1 cup each of lentils and rice, 1/2 cup each of veggies, or about $0.57 per serving. I ate this with some sausage on the grill (ya know, we had it), and some grilled zucchini.

For the rice: 1 cup rice, 1 3/4 cups water, pinch salt, rice cooker. Let it do it's magic, 50 min to an hour.

For the lentils: 1 cup lentils, 2 cups water, bring to boil. Reduce heat, simmer, cover, cook 20 min.

Drain lentils, mix with rice, add balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and cumin.


For the veggies: Heat oil in nonstick pan over medium high. Add sliced onion. They should sizzle. Add salt. Cook over medium high heat, stirring, until they are beginning to brown, about 5 min.

Reduce heat to medium, cook, stirring, 10 more min. They should be soft and mostly shriveled.

Add diced carrots and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Continue to stir for 5 to 10 more min, until the onions are blackened in spots and carrots are soft.


Serve veggies on top of rice and lentil mixture. Now, we scooped heavy on the veggies, they were delish, and made the dish. So our leftovers are going to be light on the veggies...maybe light on the flavor. If so, I might cook up more onion or top with some feta.

Bruschetta...and summer

Tonight I bought some whole grain sourdough, and made bruschetta for on top:

Bruschetta:
1 medium tomato (I had heirloom), diced: 1.00
1 clove garlic, chopped: 0.05
4 leaves fresh basil, chiffonaded (pile on top of one another, roll into a tube, slice): 0.05
1/2 Tbsp olive oil: 0.05
pinch of salt

Mix together. Put on top of bread. Yum.

I don't drain the tomatoes, I like sopping up the leftover juice with my bread. :)

Total: $1.15 for about 1 cup of pure, delicious, summery goodness. Make the bread yourself, and it's a cheap snack (I know, it's the summer...which is why I opted for buying the bread vs. turning on the oven. Plus my weekend is packed.)


Here's a pic of last night's accoutrements. We also had corn on the cob (from the CSA, forgot that on the list) and veggie burgers.

Ah Summer is Here

I mean, summer's been here for awhile, but we just got a good haul from the CSA:

tomatoes (first of the season! heirloom)
basil
garlic

...yes, I will be making bruschetta this weekend

tomatillos (the first ones we've ever gotten)...salsa verde!
lettuce (large head)
strawberries
cucumber
yellow squash