Grocery Challenge – Week 3 Begins

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Cori Rozentāle
This entry is part 9 of 13 in the series Grocery Challenge

The absolute worst part of this challenge to date: Running low on eggs.

On Sunday, we learned that we go through more than 18 eggs a week. We usually have two cartons of 18 eggs on hand, but I didn’t realize just how many we ate each week until we cut back to picking up one carton each week for the challenge. Apparently, we go through about twenty to two dozen eggs each week. Wow.

Of course, it doesn’t help that we’ve used/will use a bit more than half a dozen eggs just today making crepes and omelets and fresh pasta. That’s not really a normal day but it sure contributes to our not having enough eggs until shopping day.

I’m hoping to keep chickens once we become homeowners, I wonder if we can get away with just a half dozen chickens? I would really hate buying eggs if we have laying hens.

Sunday, Independence Day
Breakfast: 10-grain pancakes, pear and pea-sausage omelet
Lunch: Savory crepes stuffed with refried beans, fried onions, cheese, chiles and enchilada sauce
Dinner: Fresh pasta with leeks, walnuts, sun-dried tomatoes

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Grocery Challenge – End of Week 2

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Cori Rozentāle
This entry is part 8 of 13 in the series Grocery Challenge

Halfway through already!

We were once again under budget by $3.03, having spent $46.97 all in one day, so we decided to pick up some leeks at Walmart to make some more veggie bouillon this week.

We Spent: $2.31
Remaining Budget: $0.72

Not as good as last week, but pretty damn good considering we went through Winco without our calculator and hoped that what we were picking up (a lot of coupon-deals that we normally don’t buy) was going to fit into what we had left after Rancho. So I’m pretty happy with our progress.

We, for some reason, didn’t write much of a menu for the week. It was the hardest week to get dinner on the table. I really need a menu to structure and plan around, while we were able to use up most of the produce we bought relatively easily, dinner was way too stressful and usually quite late.

All the same, I can’t deal with menus that plot out a particular meal to happen on a particular day. I tried, I failed. Invariably, I never want what’s supposed to be made that day, I’d rather have something else, or I don’t feel up to cooking it. My menus are just lists of mains, sides and things to use up; we pick out dinner from them each afternoon.

Here’s what we wound up having for the past few days. Lunches remain very difficult to figure out, I’d have to say that’s our most challenging meal of the day.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Orange crepes using Ruhlman’s Ratio (damn things stick like crazy if you sub juice for water, do not recommend), turkey bacon, a pear, coffee
Lunch: Ramen chicken soup (Husband was sick, wanted soup, so I made some)
Dinner: Mujadarrah

Thursday
Breakfast: Crepes with fresh peach preserves, turkey bacon, a pear, orange juice
Lunch: Sardicado (otherwise known as Sprats/Sardines and Avocado) sandwich for Artis, peanut butter and fresh raspberry preserves for me, (homemade) kefir and iced tea
Dinner: Sausage, bacon and leek pizza (with new and improved crust technology!) plus a spinach salad

Friday
Breakfast: Basic White Bread from Beard on Bread, fried egg, Breakfast Sausage Patty, pear, coffee
Lunch: Vegetarian tacos
Dinner: Stirfry of random fridge contents over rice with teriyaki

Saturday
Breakfast: Hot fruited oatmeal with blueberries, hard-boiled egg, three little smokies, coffee
Lunch: Ramen salad with TVP
Dinner: Coconut shrimp, curry-peanut noodles (recipe to come), chilled tomatillo-cucumber soup, brownie bites (cake balls but with brownies and no frosting)

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Avocado Pasta

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Cori Rozentāle

Avocado Pasta with Avocado Sauce

Avocados have been regularly going on sale for 4/$1 and we’ve been taking advantage of it. It’s possible to freeze avocado if you mash it and add a bit of lemon juice against browning, though at the moment I’m not very sure what I’ll turn it into except guacamole.

Of course, random guacamole ingredients on hand isn’t a bad thing either. But as it turns out, there is something you can do with it in a savory dish.

You see, I felt like pasta the other night but nothing quite sounded good. I didn’t want dried, I guess is what it boils down to, and we didn’t have any frozen. We had avocados quickly approaching over-ripeness, an old leek on its last legs and an assortment of other potential meal components. So, I started flipping through the Beard on Pasta book I picked up on a whim a few years ago.

A page caught my eye: Avocado pasta. Huh. I didn’t know you could use avocados that way. Hell, I never would have thought about putting avocado chunks into a hot sauce either.

My husband thought it sounded intriguing too, so we gave it a whirl.

You know what? It turned out pretty damn good. It’s rich. It’s subtle. It’s a lot of fun.

It was also surprisingly fast. It only took about 20 – 30 minutes for my husband to put together the pasta from scratch and only 3 minutes for it to cook. The sauce was easy, about 10 minutes, plus 5 or so to prep – the whole meal? Less than an hour!

But I have to apologize to my mom. She suggested we freeze larger portions of the beans we cook every few days. We thought it was way too much trouble to go to – but then we realized what we actually had a problem with was mashing them into little tupperwares. If you flat-freeze the cooked beans by spreading them out in a single layer on a baking sheet, they don’t stick together and can be easily stored in a big gallon freezer bag, ready to provide a helping handful for any occasion. So, now we do that a lot. Thanks, Mom.

Avocado Pasta

Avocado Pasta [printable recipe]

Adapted from Beard on Pasta
Serves 2

  • 1/2 very, extra-ripe avocado, pitted and mashed well
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, plus extra for kneading
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • pinch of salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix together well with a wooden spoon or your hands until it comes together into a soft dough. Turn out the dough onto a floured board and knead for 5 minutes. This is a very soft dough, so add more flour frequently to keep it from sticking.

Roll out with a pin or using a machine (if you are so lucky) into very thin sheets. We went with about 1/16″ thickness, between 1 mm and 2 mm. Cut into 1 – 2″ squares or strips or whatever you like and place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. We wound up with two layers in a half-sheet pan separated by foil. Chill in the freezer for about 30 minutes or so until the pasta is firm.

While it’s chilling, make the sauce below. You want to have it almost ready by the time the water is boiling because fresh pasta cooks really fast.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Drop the avocado pasta dough pieces in, stir so they don’t stick to the bottom by accident, and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain. Portion into bowls and top with sauce.

Avocado Pasta with Avocado Sauce

Avocado Sauce [printable recipe]

Inspired by Beard on Pasta
Serves 2

  • 1 recipe Avocado Pasta (recipe above)
  • 1 1/2 ripe avocados, pitted and cut into chunks
  • 1 leek, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1/2 cup cooked beans1
  • 6 sun-dried tomatoes, cut into strips
  • 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 tsp herbes de provence
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red chile pepper
  • 2 ounces chevre
  • 1/2 cup veggie or chicken broth, plus more to thin sauce to your taste
  • salt, pepper
  • oil
  • grated hard Italian cheese, such as Asiago or Parmesan, for garnish

Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Salt well.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Saute leek for 5 minutes until tender, then add garlic. Saute for another minute before adding tomatoes, beans, herbs and spices, and walnuts. Toss together well for another minute. Crumble chevre in, splash some white wine in if you have it, then add broth. Add more broth, if necessary, to thin sauce to desired consistency. Add chunks of avocado and stir well2.

Cook pasta for 2 to 3 minutes in the boiling water, strain and portion into bowls. Top with sauce. Garnish with grated cheese before serving.

Notes:

  1. About 1/2 can, drained and rinsed, if not cooking beans from scratch. I used pintos here, because that’s what I had. Cannellini would be an excellent choice, as would Peruano or Mayo Coba.
  2. Don’t worry about being overly careful with the avocado.
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Grocery Challenge – Week 2 Begins

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Cori Rozentāle
This entry is part 7 of 13 in the series Grocery Challenge

We wanted to start our grocery buying off on Monday when we realized we were out of chocolate syrup (aiee! my morning coffee drinks!) and needed a cucumber to make a batch of Chilled Tomatillo-Cucumber Soup before the tomatillos bit the dust.

It was not, however, meant to be. We wound up going to Walmart today with our usual shopping trips to Rancho and Winco because of problems with a UPS delivery. (If you watch my Twitter feed, you probably saw me bitching up a storm.)

We Spent: $8.94 (Rancho) + $4.27 (Del Taco) + $30.55 (Winco) + $3.21 (Walmart) == $46.97
Budget Remaining: $3.03

Yikes! We’ve spent almost our entire budget this week. Part of that was buying $SUPER_SECRET_INGREDIENT for Saturday. We did get a moneymaker though at Winco — flyer coupon for Bar S Hot Dogs for 28c each + $1.00 off 2 Bar S Hot Dogs == 44c cash back! (They’re really bad as hot dogs, but if you chop ‘em up finely, they do okay when fried up. And free + cash back isn’t something I’ll turn down!)

But! On the upside, I won another $20 Jason’s Deli gift card in the Tuesday Trivia Challenge!! I’m so excited! XD Interestingly enough, both of the challenges I won were American history related – the first was regarding the Scopes trial and the second was about President Madison’s purchase of Thomas Jefferson’s library.

Anyway… How are we doing on eating healthily and using up old pantry items? I think we’re doing great on eating well, even if right now neither of us is inspired to do much that’s original. I’m way too stressed over my senior project, but things should improve once I hand that in during July. My husband has been sick for a few days too. Not great for creativity. As for the pantry, we’re slowly using things up.

Sunday:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, Breakfast Sausage, hot fruited oatmeal (from The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook)
Lunch: Maltas gaļas mērce over cheese tortellini, sauteed leek and carrots on the side
Dinner: Mom invited us out to Applebee’s

Monday:
Breakfast: Fried egg, turkey bacon, apple and savory bacon/olive cornbread (no recipe yet, husband was inspired Sunday night)
Lunch: Random fridge stirfry of broccoli, tomato, carrot, cabbage and mushrooms with black beans over steamed quinoa and bulgur.
Dinner: Vistas karbonāde ar sieru, šķovēti kāposti, vārīti kartupeļi (Chicken cutlet with cheese, braised sauerkraut and boiled potatoes)

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Omelette with strawberry hot fruited oatmeal
Lunch: Del Taco — because I was pissed off and hot so I missed the turn for the taco truck (on the plus side, we only spent $0.27 more than we planned)
Dinner: Beef/TVP kofta/meatballs, baked potatoes, sauteed zucchini and carrots, plus roasted fresh sweet corn (just because they looked great)

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Šašliks – Two Ways

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Cori Rozentāle

Šašliks

As promised on Friday, here are the recipes we used for this year’s šašliks.

What are šašliks? You probably know them as shish-kebobs or shashliks (š is sh) – just skewered, marinated meat that’s grilled. Nom.

I don’t think I could pick one of these as a favorite of the night – I wished for more of both!

Cranberry Chile Pork Šašliks [printable recipe]

  • 1/2 lb to 1 lb pork1, cut into 1″ – 2″ chunks
  • 150 g cranberries
  • 1 dried ancho chile, stemmed and seeded
  • 3 tbsp honey, to taste
  • 1 – 2 tsp salt, to taste
  • hot water, as needed

Soak ancho in hot water until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain and discard soaking water. In a blender or food processor, combine cranberries, ancho chile, honey and salt and puree. Add enough hot water to make the marinade pourable.

Pour marinade over pork. Marinate for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. Remove pork from marinade and skewer. Grill over moderate fire until cooked through. Best with wood smoke!

Notes:

  1. There is enough marinade for a pound of pork, maybe a bit more.

Jalapeno-Lemon Chicken Šašliks [printable recipe]

Adapted from Afghan Food and Cookery

  • 1 – 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ chunks
  • 1 medium jalapeno, stemmed and seeded
  • 1/2 medium onion
  • 3 – 5 cloves of garlic
  • 2 – 3 tbsp lemon juice (about 1 lemon, juiced)
  • 1 – 2 tsp coriander seeds, to taste
  • 1 – 2 tsp peppercorns, any variety, to taste
  • 1 – 2 tsp brown or palm sugar, to taste
  • 1 – 2 tsp salt, to taste
  • sprig of mint (optional)

Combine all ingredients except chicken in a blender or food processor and puree. Pour marinade over chicken and marinate for 4 to 6 hours. Remove chicken from marinade and skewer. Grill over moderate heat until cooked through.

As with the Cranberry-Chile Pork, this marinade makes enough for at least 2 large chicken breasts.

Posted in chicken, holidays, latvian, pork, recipes, russian, untranslated | Leave a comment