Most people who know me know that I am pretty much a Type-A. Oh, I try and relax & force myself to be calm, but it's not my actual nature. My husband and I joke that it's not enough, for example, for me to eat heathy (I recently lost 20 lbs). No, I have to follow weight watchers, lose 20 lbs, eat healthy - but make sure that I cook from scratch, buy local, and spend the least amount of money as possible on food.
So it came to quite a surprise to my husband that I decided to try "Simple Meals" again. It's a local business that lets you prepare food for the freezer to eat at a later date. Like Once a Month Cooking, but someone else does all the chopping and cleanup.
I did this once before, last year, with a friend as sort of a "fun" thing. The meals, honestly, weren't that good. Half of them were terrible and took a long time to prep. The other half were okay, but at an average price of $15-20 per entree, it wasn't cheap. And I know, for example, using my price book & method of shopping that I could make these meals for about 1/3 the price. But I'd also be spending probably 6-8 hours on prep and cleanup. Which is about $10/hour, $15/hour before taxes ($60 savings for 6 hours of work, but that's after taxes).
So, I let myself get talked into it again. I had a coupon that decreased the price to $14 per entree. I learned from the past and chose all meat options, no vegetarian (which weren't good the last time). Besides, I cook mostly vegetarian, and I'm really good at it. Lo and behold, my friend who wanted to do this didn't show. Oh well, I did manage to get 6 meals prepped in an hour.
So far, one meal into it (meatloaf), I like it. One meal at $14 is actually two meals for us, but of course, doesn't include sides. And it's really nice to have one or two days a week that I don't have to plan a meal - a far cry from the "plan everything a month in advance" or "cook two big meals on Saturday and spend all day doing dishes".
That's where "cutting myself some slack" comes in. I think it's enough that I work almost full-time, have a two-year old, cook a lot of fresh veggies from our weekly CSA, am training to run a 10k, and am managing to keep almost 20 lbs off, all while dealing with deafness in one ear from an ear infection. If I do this type of thing once every two months, that's $45 extra dollars on food for basically one or two meals a week. If I do it every month, well that doubles. And hey, I'm saving $40 a month by giving up soda. Which I am successful at about 60% of the time.
I have a lot of friends having babies right now, and I think this will be just the ticket to providing a hot, healthy meal to them also. And that's the kicker...the meals, for the most part, are healthy. It is pretty easy for me to identify 6-8 healthy options each month.
So I will probably go back again in March. And continue to cut myself some slack. Because I deserve it. And you know? The meat loaf was pretty good. (And who wants to spend all day Saturday doing dishes?)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Winter Squash and Getting Your Toddler to Eat Vegetables
Our CSA has a winter share this year that started up 6 weeks ago. It's been wonderful, but I noticed this weekend that I've been slacking. You see, with winter colds and an ear infection-turned- "I'm deaf in one ear", I haven't felt much like doing the weekend cooking.
So I looked on my counter and saw 6 winter squash from the CSA. One butternut, two acorn, three delicata. This added to the frozen spaghetti squash & butternut squash soup.
I decided to try roasting the squash, but cut up. I'm pretty lazy and it's really hard to cut squash. Mostly we cut in half, scoop out seeds, put face down, and roast. Today I had my husband peel two delicatas with the vegetable peeler and cut in half and seed. Frugal Marcia said "save and roast those seeds for a snack". Deaf Marcia said "we can do that with the next 4". Deaf Marcia won.
I diced the squash and roasted at 400F for about 40 min, in between attempts at a nap. I added canola oil, pepper, a little salt, and fresh rosemary (also from the CSA).
It was quite delicious.
We have been having a problem getting toddler to eat veggies. Since he started off eating them fine, I never expected that he would stop. So it's been a conundrum. I have found many suggestions on how to remedy this. Tonight I tried two:
1. Puree the squash with cheese, mix in some milk & serve as a dip with crackers. He didn't take to this idea (though he loves guacamole and hummus), but he did eat a few bites of the squash mix anyway. We ate the rest. It was good.
2. Frozen peas. Seems weird, but it actually worked. I don't mean that I cooked them. He just ate them right out of the bag.
Next I'm going to try pureeing and putting them in burritos. We still serve them to him directly, but he doesn't eat them. I just keep trying though.
So I looked on my counter and saw 6 winter squash from the CSA. One butternut, two acorn, three delicata. This added to the frozen spaghetti squash & butternut squash soup.
I decided to try roasting the squash, but cut up. I'm pretty lazy and it's really hard to cut squash. Mostly we cut in half, scoop out seeds, put face down, and roast. Today I had my husband peel two delicatas with the vegetable peeler and cut in half and seed. Frugal Marcia said "save and roast those seeds for a snack". Deaf Marcia said "we can do that with the next 4". Deaf Marcia won.
I diced the squash and roasted at 400F for about 40 min, in between attempts at a nap. I added canola oil, pepper, a little salt, and fresh rosemary (also from the CSA).
It was quite delicious.
We have been having a problem getting toddler to eat veggies. Since he started off eating them fine, I never expected that he would stop. So it's been a conundrum. I have found many suggestions on how to remedy this. Tonight I tried two:
1. Puree the squash with cheese, mix in some milk & serve as a dip with crackers. He didn't take to this idea (though he loves guacamole and hummus), but he did eat a few bites of the squash mix anyway. We ate the rest. It was good.
2. Frozen peas. Seems weird, but it actually worked. I don't mean that I cooked them. He just ate them right out of the bag.
Next I'm going to try pureeing and putting them in burritos. We still serve them to him directly, but he doesn't eat them. I just keep trying though.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Curry and Cabbage
But not curried cabbage.
While I am a big fan of frugal eating, I am also a big fan of local eating. These two desires often war with one another. I love the idea of eating local cheese, honey, and nuts. But they are more expensive.
We have been members of the local CSA program for many years. I think this is our 8th. Delicious, local, organic produce...but boy I have to work hard to make sure it doesn't get wasted.
I used some of the produce today to make stock.
We are having red cabbage and apples for dinner, along with chicken curry. Nothing local in the chicken curry.
Remaining items for the week from the CSA are broccoli and kohlrabi (tomorrow in stir fry). Lettuce, carrots, squash...and of course, the head of red cabbage makes about 8 servings. So we'll be eating that for awhile.
I have been focusing lately on weight loss...losing those last baby pounds. I have finally made it into the 120's (129.2), which is really nice!
While I am a big fan of frugal eating, I am also a big fan of local eating. These two desires often war with one another. I love the idea of eating local cheese, honey, and nuts. But they are more expensive.
We have been members of the local CSA program for many years. I think this is our 8th. Delicious, local, organic produce...but boy I have to work hard to make sure it doesn't get wasted.
I used some of the produce today to make stock.
We are having red cabbage and apples for dinner, along with chicken curry. Nothing local in the chicken curry.
Remaining items for the week from the CSA are broccoli and kohlrabi (tomorrow in stir fry). Lettuce, carrots, squash...and of course, the head of red cabbage makes about 8 servings. So we'll be eating that for awhile.
I have been focusing lately on weight loss...losing those last baby pounds. I have finally made it into the 120's (129.2), which is really nice!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Pressure Cooker Mediterranean Rice and Chickpeas
Hey, I'm down to 131.4 pounds, yay! Only a few more to go to hit my goal.
This is a good one, and pretty quick:
Mediterranean Rice and Chickpeas (serves 5-6, though I think it makes 8 cups or so). Which is 5 WW points per cup.
1 large onion, chopped (0.20)
1 T. olive oil (0.10) - or use oil from sun-dried tomatoes.
3/4 c. dried garbanzos (0.28)
1.5 c. brown rice (0.35)
2.5 c. water
1/3 c. sun-dried tomatoes or kalamata olives (0.65)
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped (0.40)
1 tsp marjoram (0.10)
1 tsp rosemary (0.10)
1 bay leaf (0.05)
1/2 tsp oregano (0.03)
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 c toasted slivered almonds to garnish
without the almonds: $2.53, 0.31 per cup
Rinse the beans, pick out any debris, put on to soak in the morning before you go to work (cover with 1 inch water).
Drain beans when you get home.
Saute onion in olive oil until soft, 5 mins.
Add water, be careful for sputtering oil. Bring to a boil. Add rice, chickpeas, herbs, bay leaf (but not the parsley or sun-dried tomaotes).
Lock the lid into place. Over high heat bring to high pressure. Lower heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 25 min. Remove from heat, allow pressure to reduce naturally for 10 min. Remove lid and stir.
If rice is not done, return lid and allow to steam for a few more minutes.
Stir in sun-dried tomatoes and parsley and fluff rice. Remove bay leaf, add salt and pepper. Garnish with almonds.
All told, takes about 45 mins, especially if you chop the onion the night before.
Adapted from Lorna Sass' Complete Vegetarian Kitchen.
This is a good one, and pretty quick:
Mediterranean Rice and Chickpeas (serves 5-6, though I think it makes 8 cups or so). Which is 5 WW points per cup.
1 large onion, chopped (0.20)
1 T. olive oil (0.10) - or use oil from sun-dried tomatoes.
3/4 c. dried garbanzos (0.28)
1.5 c. brown rice (0.35)
2.5 c. water
1/3 c. sun-dried tomatoes or kalamata olives (0.65)
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped (0.40)
1 tsp marjoram (0.10)
1 tsp rosemary (0.10)
1 bay leaf (0.05)
1/2 tsp oregano (0.03)
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 c toasted slivered almonds to garnish
without the almonds: $2.53, 0.31 per cup
Rinse the beans, pick out any debris, put on to soak in the morning before you go to work (cover with 1 inch water).
Drain beans when you get home.
Saute onion in olive oil until soft, 5 mins.
Add water, be careful for sputtering oil. Bring to a boil. Add rice, chickpeas, herbs, bay leaf (but not the parsley or sun-dried tomaotes).
Lock the lid into place. Over high heat bring to high pressure. Lower heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 25 min. Remove from heat, allow pressure to reduce naturally for 10 min. Remove lid and stir.
If rice is not done, return lid and allow to steam for a few more minutes.
Stir in sun-dried tomatoes and parsley and fluff rice. Remove bay leaf, add salt and pepper. Garnish with almonds.
All told, takes about 45 mins, especially if you chop the onion the night before.
Adapted from Lorna Sass' Complete Vegetarian Kitchen.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Hanging out with Friends
Last night we had a couple of friends over for dinner. Pizza and salad...made homemade dough and sauce. I have to say the dough was really good. I prefer par-baking the crusts first because I don't have a pizza stone to cook on. For once, it came out pretty good. I par-baked at 400F for 15 min to 20 min. I think the temperature is the key. In the past I've used a lower temp. Didn't work out as well.
There was wine, yahtzee afterwards, all in all a good evening.
Tonight is spanakopita, roasted potatoes and salad.
Spanakopita:
30 oz frozen chopped spinach, about $3.00 (though I used two 10-oz packages with some frozen chopped kale from the CSA).
4 oz feta ($1.60)
1 cup chopped onion ($0.25)
16 sheets phyllo dough ($1.00)
1/2 bunch parsley (0.40)
2 eggs (0.24)
Total: $6.49 for 12 servings, or 0.54 per serving.
Roasted potatoes:
1 lb potatoes ($0.34)
canola oil
I also scored...went grocery shopping today for baby food (I know, not frugal) and found nonfat dry milk for $11 for what will make 5 gallons. Plus found dry chickpeas for 0.99/lb.
There was wine, yahtzee afterwards, all in all a good evening.
Tonight is spanakopita, roasted potatoes and salad.
Spanakopita:
30 oz frozen chopped spinach, about $3.00 (though I used two 10-oz packages with some frozen chopped kale from the CSA).
4 oz feta ($1.60)
1 cup chopped onion ($0.25)
16 sheets phyllo dough ($1.00)
1/2 bunch parsley (0.40)
2 eggs (0.24)
Total: $6.49 for 12 servings, or 0.54 per serving.
Roasted potatoes:
1 lb potatoes ($0.34)
canola oil
I also scored...went grocery shopping today for baby food (I know, not frugal) and found nonfat dry milk for $11 for what will make 5 gallons. Plus found dry chickpeas for 0.99/lb.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Off Topic - food storage
So I've already mentioned that people don't cook anymore...I know a lot of single folks with empty refrigerators, and I'm sure there are plenty of married-with-kids folks with empty fridges too. While I don't necessarily go along with the survivalists' idea of having 6 months to a year of food on hand, I do have about three months.
Why is it important to have food on hand? You never know when the fire, flood, hurricane, or tornado is going to come and strand you in your house. How do you feed your children? What if something else happens? Do you have friends and family who regularly check up on you? Perhaps you should.
This comes to mind as I recently read a story about a mother and son in Omaha, NE who were found dead in their apartment. The mother died of natural causes. The 21-month old toddler probably starved to death - there were indications that he was foraging for food. My own son is 21-months old, and I can't really keep myself from crying about that poor baby.
So. Tonight. I am moving some of my son's snack foods to the bottom drawer that he SO loves to get into. And maybe a water bottle or two. Because you just never know.
Why is it important to have food on hand? You never know when the fire, flood, hurricane, or tornado is going to come and strand you in your house. How do you feed your children? What if something else happens? Do you have friends and family who regularly check up on you? Perhaps you should.
This comes to mind as I recently read a story about a mother and son in Omaha, NE who were found dead in their apartment. The mother died of natural causes. The 21-month old toddler probably starved to death - there were indications that he was foraging for food. My own son is 21-months old, and I can't really keep myself from crying about that poor baby.
So. Tonight. I am moving some of my son's snack foods to the bottom drawer that he SO loves to get into. And maybe a water bottle or two. Because you just never know.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Cooking from Scratch
This may seem obvious (or not), but it is healthy and frugal to cook from scratch. But maybe not all that simple. I have several friends who insist that "by the time you buy all of the ingredients, it's cheaper to eat out". I have argued that while there are many reasons to eat out, don't fool yourself into thinking that money is one of them. Now, dishes...THAT'S a reason to eat out. I hate doing dishes.
Of course, it takes proper planning and the ability to cook from a pantry to really save money in the kitchen. And the more you cook from scratch, the better.
This week, my "from scratch" cooking included making my own yogurt and bread. I use a yogurt maker (working mom, so while I know you don't need one, it's just easier for me). I also use powdered milk, which you think would be cheap...but with prices going up, the milk I bought for $11.99 in July (to make 5 gallons) is now $14.99, 16.99, or 18.99, depending on the store. Of course that's more per gallon than I currently spend on milk, so I'm not buying it right now.
All in all, I can make 4 cups of yogurt for about a dollar. And here's where the money-saving idea of substitution comes in. I love cottage cheese. My favorite brand of cottage cheese (Trader Joe's) is also the cheapest. But what was only $2.59 last year is now $3.99, due to the increase in oil and dairy prices. That's for 4 cups. Since I can make yogurt for about 1/4 the price of that, I am eating yogurt not cottage cheese.
I also tried my hand at the "No Knead Bread" recipe in Mother Earth News this week. I have a few versions, including Cook's Illustrated and an internet version. It really was as easy as they say...about 5 mins to mix, 5 mins to fold over (the extra time is to avoid sticking), and 5 min to roll in a ball and let rise. Bake time is 45 min. My partial whole-wheat bread was tender on the inside with a good crust. I will be making it again this weekend, maybe a kalamata olive version to go with lasagna.
The cost of the ingredients for this bread was about $0.25, plus the cost of the cornmeal that I dusted it with, so maybe $0.35 for a 1.5 pound loaf. As far as snacks go, this ranks right up there with popcorn on cost and health (though you don't want to overdo on either - 6 servings per day of carbs for me.)
Of course, it takes proper planning and the ability to cook from a pantry to really save money in the kitchen. And the more you cook from scratch, the better.
This week, my "from scratch" cooking included making my own yogurt and bread. I use a yogurt maker (working mom, so while I know you don't need one, it's just easier for me). I also use powdered milk, which you think would be cheap...but with prices going up, the milk I bought for $11.99 in July (to make 5 gallons) is now $14.99, 16.99, or 18.99, depending on the store. Of course that's more per gallon than I currently spend on milk, so I'm not buying it right now.
All in all, I can make 4 cups of yogurt for about a dollar. And here's where the money-saving idea of substitution comes in. I love cottage cheese. My favorite brand of cottage cheese (Trader Joe's) is also the cheapest. But what was only $2.59 last year is now $3.99, due to the increase in oil and dairy prices. That's for 4 cups. Since I can make yogurt for about 1/4 the price of that, I am eating yogurt not cottage cheese.
I also tried my hand at the "No Knead Bread" recipe in Mother Earth News this week. I have a few versions, including Cook's Illustrated and an internet version. It really was as easy as they say...about 5 mins to mix, 5 mins to fold over (the extra time is to avoid sticking), and 5 min to roll in a ball and let rise. Bake time is 45 min. My partial whole-wheat bread was tender on the inside with a good crust. I will be making it again this weekend, maybe a kalamata olive version to go with lasagna.
The cost of the ingredients for this bread was about $0.25, plus the cost of the cornmeal that I dusted it with, so maybe $0.35 for a 1.5 pound loaf. As far as snacks go, this ranks right up there with popcorn on cost and health (though you don't want to overdo on either - 6 servings per day of carbs for me.)
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