Hyperlocal

So yes, I'm jumping on the bandwagon. But to be fair to myself, I've given it about a month before I have declared myself as such! We looked into a CSA and decided this year we would try to go to the Royal Oak Farmer's Market once a week. If we like it this year, next year will be a CSA year. This week we picked up eggs, baby zucchini, asparagus, mushrooms, white cheddar cheese, salsa and baba ganoush, and a yummy little corn bread pizza. Everything is grown or made here in Michigan and could not taste any fresher. Based on what we picked up at the market here is our meal plan for the week.

Monday: Veggie Soup with Beer Bread

Tuesday: White Pizza with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

Wednesday: Salmon with Pasta and Asparagus

Thursday: Chicken Quesdillas

Friday: Mediterranean Platter

Tonight's soup was fantastic! I based it loosely off of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I made it have a bit of an Indian flavor. Here's how...

4 cups stock of choice (I used Chicken; we had it in the pantry.)

4 cups water

4 ears of fresh corn, removed from hull

2 T olive oil (Next time, I'm going to try peanut oil.)

1 medium red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 T turmeric (I would recommend using your favorite curry for a little heat. We wanted this to be toddler friendly.)

4-6 plum tomatoes, seeded, ribbed and chopped

8 baby zucchini, chopped

1 bunch of basil, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

plain yogurt for accompaniment

Bring the stock and water to simmer in a pan. Add the corn hulls. In the meantime, heat the oil in a heavy-bottom dutch oven. Add the onion and garlic with turmeric. S&P to taste. Cook until translucent. Then add the tomatoes and zucchini. Cook for a few minutes until just tender. Remove the hulls from the stock mixture and add to the vegetables. Bring to a boil and add the corn. Cook only for a minute or two. Finish off with the Basil. Serve in bowls with a dollop of yogurt. Enjoy!

Risotto with Pancetta and Fava Beans

My friend Alexis introduced me to the Four Ingredient Cook Book. (Excuse me, it's an encyclopedia, not a book!) She made some lentils from one of their recipes and also a carrot salad. Both were great. I ran across it in the bargain aisle for $5 one day and decided to pick it up for myself. The book is beautiful with pictures for each recipe. I need to start using it more because the recipes are easy and tasty too. If I get really adventurous one day I'll try making my own breads from here. Last night I made the Risotto. It was yummy, easy and a crowd pleaser. It made plenty and I am looking forward to the left overs. While this meal was not the bargain basement that the book was, I figured I have four good portions for about $14 dollars. Much cheaper than going out to eat!

You begin by simmering 6 cups of vegetable broth. (It calls for herb, but who knows where to get that!) Then you dice up 6 ounces of Pancetta. Render the Pancetta in a heavy bottom pan.

Nothing like the smell of smoked and rendered pork fat! Then you add 1 3/4 cups arborio rice.

Stir the rice until it's translucent...about one minute. Then you begin adding the simmered broth one ladel at a time. Stir, stir, stir. Add more broth. Repeat. It's that simple!

More adding broth and stirring....this process will take about 25 minutes or so. Adjust your stovetop temperature so the steam doesn't scald you like it did me!

Soon enough you will have a pot full of creamy yumminess. Then add one bag of previously frozen Fava Beans....Can't find Fava Beans? Use Lima Beans - close enough! Heat these through. I added one more ingredient....more like a garnish of sort. Some slivers of Pecerino Ramano. Yum!

Sorry for my Hiatus

I was on a business trip the first week in April. It seemed to throw me for a loop. I am finally feeling back on track this week.

I must share that I put together a fair meal plan for us this week. I am making five dinners, breakfast muffins and some spinach nuggets for my "little nugget". I just could not take Kroger any more. I was discombobulated and not saving THAT much money. So I did the analyzing myself and went back to my neighborhood Hollywood Market. With a little research in the mailed flier and the coupons I have saved up, it paid off. Well, kudos to me, because I saved 36% off my bill this week. I stocked up on things like boneless-skinless chicken breast, prepared broth, and canned tomatoes. Really, I feel that the personal service I get from Hollywood far exceeds most big box chain stores. They all know me by now...poor bastards!

This week's meal plan...in no particular order.

1. Chicken with Roasted Red Peppers and Asparagus - I clipped this recipe and had my mom try it while I was away on business. It got thumbs up all around.
2. Pancetta and Fava Bean Risotto - I can only think of Silence of the Lambs and maybe I'll splurge and get some Chianti.
3. Tonno con Piselli - You do the translation!
4. Grilled Beef with Wasabi and Slaw - I made this a few years ago and it was fab! Can't wait to have the grill ready again.
5. Turkey Club Salad with Avocado Dressing - This is a Rachel Ray recipe....and while I'm way over her, this sounds so yummy, my mouth is watering now.

I'll keep you posted on how each of these goes. Now I have to pick which one to make tonight. Have a great week everyone!

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

So after having an extremely productive day, I decided to reward myself with homemade chocolate chip cookies. I just went grocery shopping so I had an untouched bag of chocolate chips. The unfortunate thing is I bought **gasp!** generic chocolate chips. There was NO recipe for regular chocolate chip cookies on the back. My go-to cookbook when all else has failed is Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Of course he had a fantastic recipe that was easy to follow and oh-so delicious! I did modify the directions a bit to fit with the time that I had to make cookies....so here goes.

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (do this the old fashioned way and not like I did...I won't go there)

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached and ditched the whole wheat idea.)

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 t vanilla

2 cups Chocolate Chips (this is a whole bag....how convenient!)

1. Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugars; add the eggs one at a time and beat until well blended. Add the vanilla.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. (I used a wire whisk.) Add 1/4 cup at a time to the butter/sugar/egg/vanilla mixture until completely blended. (I continued to use the mixer at a slow rate. You may choose to do so by hand.) Stir in the chocolate chips. (This has to be done by hand. The dough is too thick.)

3. Refrigerate cookie dough for desired length of time. (I had to jog today, so it was about 45 minutes after the park pit stop for Q.)

4. Preheat oven to 375 degree. (Check out some of my previous posts to see what I say about oven temps! Be aware of your oven!)

5. Drop by tablespoons onto greased baking sheets (or non-stick works too) and bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes.

6. Cool for 2 minutes on the sheets (This is essential! They will continue to bake here.) before using a spatula to transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling. Store in a covered container at room temperature for no more than a day or two. (Um, yeah. I don't plan on these lasting too long.)

My overall impression is that this is an excellent and simple recipe to follow. The cookies have a nice buttery flavor and just enough height to make them chewy. No flat chocolate chip cookies here!

Poor little fellows never stood a chance.

Brazilian Black Beans

Yet another recipe from the Everyday Food by Martha Stewart's April 2009 issue. The idea behind this meal is that you can save a lot of money by using dried beans. Let's see how this goes...

3 medium beets, scrubbed and trimmed
1 pound dried black beans, rinsed
salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves (mine were small, I used 3)
2 T vegetable oil
2 scallions, thinly sliced, divided
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, plus some sprigs for garnish
cooked rice (I used brown rice.)
lime wedges
shredded cheddar (who needs to measure cheese?)

1. In a 6-quart Dutch oven combine beets, beans and enough water to cover; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until beets are tender, 45 minutes -1 hour (add more water as necessary). **At this time, I was super good and went for a jog!**

2. Transfer beets to a bowl; when cool enough to handle, peel and dice. Continue to cook beans until tender, about another hour more. (A good indicator is when the water is gone!)

3. Finely chop garlic and sprinkle with salt. (The magazine has you make a paste, but this is a real pain in the behind. I just use a garlic press and call it good.) In a small skillet, heat oil over medium; add garlic, 1/2 the scallions and cilantro. Cook, stirring frequently, until scallion has softened, 2-4 minutes.


4. Stir scallion mixture into beans; cook over medium until flavors have blended, about five minutes. Serve beans and beets over rice, topped with scallion and cheddar, with lime wedge alongside.

In all honesty, this was a huge bummer. I felt like I could have spent the same amount of money, a lot less time and had the same results if I had used canned beans and beets. Sure, the textures of from-scratch are more authentic. The other downfall is that my hands were so stained it took the chlorine from the pool to remove the beet residue. Was it that awesome of a meal? No way. It sure does look nice though, doesn't it?

3 in 1 Chicken

Ok, so I'm a little behind. But, I did just make the last of the 3 meals from the 1 chicken.

Here's the scoop: All of these are taken from the Everyday Food by Martha Stewart April 2009 issue.

1. Chicken Soup
2. Asian Chicken Salad with Bok Choy
3. Tortilla Pie with....you guessed it! Chicken

The idea behind this is to use the chicken to stretch your dollar. There were some things in here where I really doubt I saved a whole lot of money. (More on that in a bit.) All of the meals were tasty and pretty simple to make.

1. Simple Chicken Soup

You start with a WHOLE chicken. I've never bought a whole one before, so I have to admit, I was a little intimidated. Once I figured out how to manage the "chicken juice" from the package, the rest was easy. I even made it dance like Queen Latifah did in Last Holiday. This elicited lots of giggles from Q. From that whole chicken you remove the giblets and liver....really, I think you could have left them in for more flavor. It's ultimately up to you. Throw the chicken in the largest pot you own and cover it with water. Add one pound of carrots, one pound of parsnips, and a large onion. You may slice and dice them as you see fit. Dump in some salt. I also added a little bit of Herbs de Provence (say it with a French accent). **Note: the parsnips at Kroger were beyond pathetic and I spent a pretty penny on them. I think next time, I'll take a cue from my mother and use celery.** Bring it all to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer for 35 minutes. Remove the chicken and let it cool. In the mean time, add as many egg noodles as you like in your soup. We like a lot of noodles in our house. Viola! You have HOME MADE, the real-deal, chicken soup! And I have to say it's really yummy. Ours made so much, that I froze half of it. Here's a shot of plain 'ole regular chicken soup:


Now comes the cathartic part. You get to remove all of that tender meat from the chicken. I discarded all of the skin and bones and then saved the breasts seperate from the wings, legs and thighs. Really, I was having a not-so-great day and it was fun to get my hands all messy and not have to care too much about it!

2. Asian Chicken Salad with Bok Choy

This calls for Baby Bok Choy. I couldn't find it, so I used a whole Bok Choy and chopped it up. I think I saved a fair amount of money doing this. The baby version was listed at $2.50 each and the big version was $2.99. So, ha! Boil which ever Bok Choy you prefer in about an inch of salted water for 3-5 minutes. Drain and let it cool. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk 3T lime juice, 2T fish sauce, 1t sugar and 1/8t cayenne pepper (say it like my mom and pronounce the "e" on the end....you'll get a good laugh out of it!). Then add, the chicken breasts (cut them up however you like), 1 cup of snow peas that you slice length-wise, 3 small shallots, and some coarsely chopped mint leaves. Serve it all alongside the Bok Choy. I know, I know....you are thinking fish sauce?! Really?! But, yes. The house did smell like a garbage dump, but the flavors where really tastey. And, I have to point out that I think this is one where the left-overs are better. The shallots had some time to mellow out a little. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of this meal. It was really gorgeous with the snow peas cut up length-wise. I think I'll have to do this everytime I use snow peas.

3. Tortilla Pie with Chicken

This is basically lasagne ala tex mex.....how could you go wrong? The magazine has you make a roasted tomatillo or plum tomato salsa. I say, skip the headache (not to mention the added cost) and purchase your favorite refrigerated brand of salsa. Mine is Garden Fresh founded in my neighboring city of Ferndale. I probably would have chosen Jack's Special: Medium. It's my go-to salsa. Alright....how to make it?

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. **Note: my oven varies in temp and I highly recommend one of these little gagets.** Take your favorite 8x8 pan and line it with 4 corn tortillas. Then add a cup of chicken leftovers (again, cut it up how you want to), 2 oz green chillies, 1/2 cup of salsa and 1/3 cup of sour cream. Top that with some cheese (why measure this?!). Repeat that all once again. Then add another layer of the torillas....you will use 12 total. Top that with more salsa, sour cream and cheese. Toss it in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Make sure that cheese is a bubblin'! You will love the results. Here's a pic....and no, that piece didn't last very long.


I think I would take this on again. I found it easy to make the soup and then not have to worry about the starring protein for the next couple of nights. I'd probably change up the flavors a little bit to keep it interesting!

Ciao!

Catch Up

The last few days have been rather manic. I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day! I know tomorrow will be more of a reprieve and I'm looking forward to it. Today I grocery shopped at the dread chain store....Kroger. It was daunting and it took some extra coordination than the local grocery around the corner. But, ultimately, it paid off. I save 28%! Yeah for me. I made our most expensive meal this evening in a long time - Quiche. It was yummy and worth a little splurge. Here's a pictoral recap of a couple meals from last week.

Friday's Stomboli was a huge hit! It cost only $4.59 to make these. Check 'em out...

We had to re-arrange some of our meal plans this past week and I didn't end up making the Mediterranean Packets until last night....another yummy meal we will be enjoying agin! These were a super steal thanks to me catching an error at my local grocery. The artichoke hearts in a can are normally priced around $3.50 and were on sale for $1.50. They rang them at the normal price and they had to pay me $6.00 to make up for it. I guess it pays to check your receipt. I'm now making more of a habit out of it. Total for this meal was $3.29! Here's a quick pic.

More to come later in the week with 3 in 1 Chicken meals!

Today's Dinner

Orange Glazed Chicken with Carrots and Bulgur
from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine --
April 2009

Per my previous post, I am being budget conscious. This meal is supposed to cost $9.90 and serves four. It cost me $7.81. It's very reminiscent of a slow-cooker meal I made last week, but was worth trying. I calculated the cost of each ingredient based on how much I actually used, as did the magazine.



8 Chicken Drumsticks (about 3 pounds total - these are BIG) -- $4.02
Course Salt and Pepper -- $.02
1/2 Cup Orange Marmalade -- $.85
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil -- $.05
4 Medium Carrots, cut into 1" chunks -- $.67
1 Cup Bulgur (I used Couscous...more on that later.) -- $1.53
1 teaspoon Lime Zest, plus 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice -- $.67

1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. On a large rimmed baking sheet, arrange chicken in a single layer; season with salt and pepper. (I always line my baking sheet when cooking meat; it makes clean up easier.)

Here's the chicken waiting for the oven to come up to temperature.

Roast for 10 minutes. Brush with half the marmalade, and rotate sheet.

Be generous with the marmalade....it goes a long way.

Continue to roast, brushing once more with marmalade, until chicken is browned and cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Now for the side dish - delicious!

2. While chicken is roasting, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high. Add carrots; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown. (Well, I blackened mine a little bit and they still tasted okay!)

Before the carrots were neglected.

Add bulgur and 1 1/2 cups water; bring to a boil. Cover, and reduce heat to low; cook until bulgur is tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in lime zest and juice; season with salt and pepper.

Here are the limes awaiting their début.

Serve chicken with bulgur mixture.

Table Ready!

The verdict? Loved by everyone! Including the hungry toddler who threw the couscous everywhere when he was done eating. Clean up was worth every ounce in gold to hear his giggles.

One last note...if you are like me and have couscous in your pantry v. the bulgur. Cook the carrots in the water for 10 to 12 minutes covered and then add the grains. I think it would be closer to the intent of the meal.

Bringing Out the Budget Shopper in Me

I'm being completely cliché and I know it, but in these economic times, I've had to think about ways to save money. When it comes to clothes, furniture and other fun things, I love to bargain hunt. But, when it comes down to food, I spend full price on everything. So when Jeff recently had to take a paycut I started to take a look at how we spend our money. I know we can cut out the typical coffee runs and such - that's easy. But, we want to continue to whittle down what's going out and maximize what's coming in.

My friend Bev recently announced that she saved $88 dollars in one week of grocery shopping. I immediately wanted to know how I, too, could save such a large amount of money on a weekly basis. She sent me to Coupon Mom. There I read about Strategic Shopping and how to maximize the use of coupons. Now this week, I was in a big rush to get to the grocery store. We had been out of town all weekend and came home with a hungry baby and no food - not even milk! So, I skipped the coupons and just used the Strategic Shopping techniques. Guess what! I saved at least $40 -- and in comparison to really spendy weeks, $80!

I'm so excited that I have to share. As I said earlier, I don't want to give up the stuff we love when it comes to food. With the menu I used this week, we don't have to give up taste for cost. I used the April 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine to develop it.

Monday - Mediterranean Salad with Green Beans and Feta
Today - Orange Glazed Chicken with Carrots and Bulgur
Wednesday - Irish Hand Pies (I know - a day late for St. Patty's...This is from the March issue of Everyday Food. These are pre-made and ready in my freezer. I have plans for the night.)
Thursday - Slow Cooker Beef and Black Bean Chili
Friday - Broccoli, Tomato and Mozzarella Stromboli
Saturday or Sunday - Mediterranean Chicken Packets

Later today I will also show step by step the Orange Glazed Chicken with Carrots and Bulgur as well as the cost break down. Plus reviews from the hubby and baby!

Cake

So my friend Lineh e-mailed me this innocent little recipe titled "The Quickest Cake Ever". Clearly, this sparked my interest. Especially since chocolate is involved. I asked Lineh if she's made it and how it turned out. Of course, the skinny sphinx hasn't tried it. So I made a grave sacrifice and tried it out this afternoon.

Here it is:
4 tablespoons flour (In my effort to be virtuous, I used whole wheat flour. Ok, ok, I give in....it was all that was in my pantry! Sheesh, give me a break....I really wouldn't say it added to or detracted from it overall.)4 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa 1 egg 3 tablespoons milk (I used whole milk because I was too lazy to go to the fridge in the basement and get the bottle of skim....so I dipped into the baby's supply a little bit. He's still growing. Hopefully I'm not!)3 tablespoons oil 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) (Um, yeah.....that's right the recipe says OPTIONAL. Yes, I did make the cake WITHOUT the chocolate chips. because. i. ate. them. all. before. i. could. make. anything. with. them.....Seriously, this is an enhancement you don't want to pass up. Seriously.)a small splash of vanilla extract
and if you are feeling sassy, a dash of salt (more on that below)

Combine all ingredients in a mug and mix well. Microwave for 2-3 minutes on high. Turn out onto plate and enjoy warm.

In my case, I did not trust my microwave as I have exploded several bowls of oatmeal in the past year alone. Given that, I opted to use a 4 cup measuring cup. This actually made it look bigger than a mug would have. (In general bigger is better....except when we are talking about my thighs.) As clearly stated earlier, the chocolate chips are a must. The little dash of salt gives it a bite to help balance the sweet. I strongly suggest eating this immediately; as I suspect that it would turn rock solid if let to cool completely. Also, if you are going to count calories, do so before hand. I made this fatal mistake and calculated afterwards resulting in over 35 minutes on the training bike tonight. (Yes, I will admit, I ate the whole thing.)

Now, let's talking about what we could do to make this even more fun to consume.....caramel on top anyone?