With going quite a bit overboard in week 8, we're trying to make up the difference in the next couple of weeks, rather than going without any groceries this week at all.
These are our groceries for the week:
Eggs: $3.50 for two dozen. They are for sale for .99 a dozen elsewhere this week, but I like that the eggs we buy are local, organic, & free-range.
Bananas: $.55
Avocados: $3.56 (4 at .89 each)
Milk: $2.10 with coupon
Butter: $2.94, on sale. We didn't need it with some still in the freezer, but with a one-day sale for $.98 a pound, I bought 3.
Alaskan Pollock: $4.64. We haven't tried this before, but it's cheaper than tilapia so I thought we'd give it a try.
This week's total: $17.29. That leaves only $7.16 for next week (the $24.45 it was originally after week 8's budget, minus this week's. I think that we will likely end up going over again next week and taking it out in a future week).
Monday, March 5, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Menu plan (3/5/12)
Monday: tacos with home made tortillas and home made salsa
Tuesday: pasties (made with the leftover taco stuff and some bread dough)
(We made kind of a meat pie instead of individual pasties - with a fufu (plantain flour) crust.
Wednesday: Chicken, polenta, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. We're having company and she mentioned when we'd had polenta previously that she like it.
Thursday: Egg foo young (seriously, this stuff is delicious)
Friday: Fish, veggies, & couscous (unless we change it because we're having more company).
Saturday: I was planning for lamb, but since we had that tonight with couscous and corn, we'll have chicken, potatoes, and some veggie from the freezer.
Sunday: Something made with leftover chicken.
Tuesday: pasties (made with the leftover taco stuff and some bread dough)
(We made kind of a meat pie instead of individual pasties - with a fufu (plantain flour) crust.
Wednesday: Chicken, polenta, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. We're having company and she mentioned when we'd had polenta previously that she like it.
Thursday: Egg foo young (seriously, this stuff is delicious)
Friday: Fish, veggies, & couscous (unless we change it because we're having more company).
Saturday: I was planning for lamb, but since we had that tonight with couscous and corn, we'll have chicken, potatoes, and some veggie from the freezer.
Sunday: Something made with leftover chicken.
Seed porn
A few months ago, I got my seed catalogs in the mail. Jaimie calls them my seed porn. I refer to his cooking magazines as his food porn. It really is porn, because we will look at it for hours on end. We'll admit that we look at the pictures too, not just the articles.
Last year I went to a seed exchange/seed ordering gather at a friend's house. Looking at seed catalogs and planning a garden allows you to look forward to when you can get back outside and not be cooped up for so long. Of course we've been outside, but not for extended periods of time because the cold will get to you. There's no dirt to dig into because the ground it frozen. Everything is resting and I know it's said that we should be too, but I need the anticipation of having the warm sun, and green growth, and getting my hands full of dirt. As with most people around late winter, I think I'm going slightly crazy being inside all the time. I know that I'm being productive and eating well, but I'd rather be eating it straight from the garden because I just can't make it into the house without popping some delicious veggie in my mouth. For now, I am still eating well, but I would even give up the three types of ice cream I just made (banana cream, peanut butter with chocolate bits, and Guinness) for a juicy home grown tomato.
My mouth is watering already.
So this weekend I went to the same aforementioned friend's home and looked through catalogs together, discussing things we want to grow this year. It really does put me in a completely different mindset to have the anticipation of spring, even though it's two weeks away and planting time is even further away. While perusing through the luscious looking fruits, I came across some unexpected finds. Many catalogs are carrying fruit trees generally suited for warmer climates but are rated as far north as zone 4 (where we live). While this is exciting to me, I also want to make certain that we're not ordering Monsanto products. We ordered from three catalogs altogether, and I am excited to have my garden plan. (Well, the plan for what I want to plant, but not yet where I want to plant it all).
My friend has a great set-up to start from seed the things you need to start indoors. I am not so great with that, as my tomatoes are teeny, tiny little sprouts rather than plants at the end of 8 weeks. So, I will leave the indoor planting to the professional. She will provide me with these plants:
Ground cherries (delicious in pies, salsas, or just eaten fresh)
Tomatoes (beefsteak, pear, and sauce types)
Eggplant (mmm... baba ghanoush)
Basil
Thyme and other herbs
Hot peppers
Cantaloupe (yes, even this far north - it's called MN Midget)
Cucumbers
Watermelon
We will also be planting these:
Carrots
Parsnips (they didn't produce last year but I need to try again because the farmer's market doesn't carry them).
Turnips
Beets
Soybeans
Watermelon
onions
pumpkin
squash (zucchini and spaghetti, maybe some other winter squash too).
beans
peas
potatoes (red, blue, and whatever else I find for seed potatoes)
kale
lettuce
cilantro
nasturtiums
For the medicinal garden, we will start with:
Catnip
German chamomile
St John's Wort
Caledula
Sweet woodruff
(Eventually, I'd like to add skullcap, comfrey, mullein, wormwood, and white sage. We already have plantain, yarrow, and chickweed throughout the yard).
We ordered some white and red currant plants, honey berry plants (like blueberries, but earlier and without the acidic soil), a fig tree (yes, for zone 4) and two paw paw trees. I've never had paw paws but Jaimie likes them. Our friend ordered a persimmon tree and I said that we should just trade some fruit when they start producing in a few years. I'm also going to replace the strawberry plants. Mine don't seem to want to make very productive strawberries.
Hopefully everything we've planted so far will come back and grow well. This year we'll be able to harvest more of the asparagus that was planted two summers ago. For herbs, we have mint, oregano, and lemon balm. We also have rhubarb, raspberries, saskatoon berry (also like a blueberry but without acidic soil), grapes (well, a small vine anyway), hops, and the trees: plum, peach, pear, apple, and two cherry trees.
Now I've just got to plan out the layout!
Last year I went to a seed exchange/seed ordering gather at a friend's house. Looking at seed catalogs and planning a garden allows you to look forward to when you can get back outside and not be cooped up for so long. Of course we've been outside, but not for extended periods of time because the cold will get to you. There's no dirt to dig into because the ground it frozen. Everything is resting and I know it's said that we should be too, but I need the anticipation of having the warm sun, and green growth, and getting my hands full of dirt. As with most people around late winter, I think I'm going slightly crazy being inside all the time. I know that I'm being productive and eating well, but I'd rather be eating it straight from the garden because I just can't make it into the house without popping some delicious veggie in my mouth. For now, I am still eating well, but I would even give up the three types of ice cream I just made (banana cream, peanut butter with chocolate bits, and Guinness) for a juicy home grown tomato.
My mouth is watering already.
So this weekend I went to the same aforementioned friend's home and looked through catalogs together, discussing things we want to grow this year. It really does put me in a completely different mindset to have the anticipation of spring, even though it's two weeks away and planting time is even further away. While perusing through the luscious looking fruits, I came across some unexpected finds. Many catalogs are carrying fruit trees generally suited for warmer climates but are rated as far north as zone 4 (where we live). While this is exciting to me, I also want to make certain that we're not ordering Monsanto products. We ordered from three catalogs altogether, and I am excited to have my garden plan. (Well, the plan for what I want to plant, but not yet where I want to plant it all).
 |
| Seed porn and some food porn in the upper left (and a cat tail) |
My friend has a great set-up to start from seed the things you need to start indoors. I am not so great with that, as my tomatoes are teeny, tiny little sprouts rather than plants at the end of 8 weeks. So, I will leave the indoor planting to the professional. She will provide me with these plants:
Ground cherries (delicious in pies, salsas, or just eaten fresh)
Tomatoes (beefsteak, pear, and sauce types)
Eggplant (mmm... baba ghanoush)
Basil
Thyme and other herbs
Hot peppers
Cantaloupe (yes, even this far north - it's called MN Midget)
Cucumbers
Watermelon
We will also be planting these:
Carrots
Parsnips (they didn't produce last year but I need to try again because the farmer's market doesn't carry them).
Turnips
Beets
Soybeans
Watermelon
onions
pumpkin
squash (zucchini and spaghetti, maybe some other winter squash too).
beans
peas
potatoes (red, blue, and whatever else I find for seed potatoes)
kale
lettuce
cilantro
nasturtiums
For the medicinal garden, we will start with:
Catnip
German chamomile
St John's Wort
Caledula
Sweet woodruff
(Eventually, I'd like to add skullcap, comfrey, mullein, wormwood, and white sage. We already have plantain, yarrow, and chickweed throughout the yard).
We ordered some white and red currant plants, honey berry plants (like blueberries, but earlier and without the acidic soil), a fig tree (yes, for zone 4) and two paw paw trees. I've never had paw paws but Jaimie likes them. Our friend ordered a persimmon tree and I said that we should just trade some fruit when they start producing in a few years. I'm also going to replace the strawberry plants. Mine don't seem to want to make very productive strawberries.
Hopefully everything we've planted so far will come back and grow well. This year we'll be able to harvest more of the asparagus that was planted two summers ago. For herbs, we have mint, oregano, and lemon balm. We also have rhubarb, raspberries, saskatoon berry (also like a blueberry but without acidic soil), grapes (well, a small vine anyway), hops, and the trees: plum, peach, pear, apple, and two cherry trees.
Now I've just got to plan out the layout!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
My bread maker machine
I bought my first bread maker from a church basement rummage sale for $4 when I was attending a yoga teacher training about 5 years ago. I used it infrequently back then, but since October of 2011 we haven't bought bread (but for two loaves of French bread on sale). So, that means we use it quite a lot. This past week my bread machine died. I suppose it would happen at some point in time with as often as we used it. I do have a bread hook on my Kitchen Aid mixer, but don't want to deal with timing things and going back to knead and wait for rising, and some other probably lame excuses as to why I don't want to go without a bread machine. I don't buy the whole argument about getting to take out your frustrations by kneading the bread and really going at it. I don't have that much anger to begin with, and my hands cramp up when I do it by hand, so I'd prefer not to. (Honestly, when I'm angry, I prefer to clean and organize. While some people wish they had that problem, just know that I also expect anyone around to also clean while I'm angry, so you may proceed to feel sorry for my husband).
Back to the bread machine. We actually didn't even use the machine for baking. We only used it for making the dough and then we'd bake the bread in the oven because Jaimie likes the shape of the bread better from a bread pan. It's just really easy to toss everything in, see the timer, listen for the beep, and then put the bread in the oven. No kneading, no mixing, no waiting for it to rise and checking the clock - the timer will tell you how much longer until the dough is ready (or bread if you want to bake it in there).
Of course, we found out that our machine died when we attempted to use it and I had all of the ingredients in it. Yes, I know that bread fixings are relatively cheap, but it really bothers me to waste things, so I was going to do something with that unmixed dough. I kneaded it (not doing that again, my hands didn't like it) and tried rolling it out. That didn't work. I tried waiting for it to rise, and that didn't seem to work. I decided I'd make something like foccacia. I rolled it out as far as it would go, and then put it on a cookie sheet to put in the oven. First mistake: drizzling olive oil on it while it was on a sheet with no lip. All that oil went off the bread, off the sides of the baking sheet, and burned on the bottom of our new (and still clean) oven, which then smoked up the house and set off the alarms. Second mistake: adding dried tomatoes to the top. When you see pictures of foccacia with dried tomatoes on it, they were probably on there raw and then baked. It didn't occur to me that putting dried tomatoes on it and then baking it would just make for blackened tomatoes on top. However, after moving it onto another baking sheet and removing the blackened tomatoes, it baked up ok. I wouldn't say it was great, or that I'd ever do it this way again, but it was edible.
Again, back to the topic of bread makers. Because I'm resourceful (aka not wanting to spend a lot), I bought my next bread maker at Goodwill. Prices have gone up on used kitchen appliances apparently, but at $7, I still think it was a good deal (so long as it works, but I haven't yet tested it out). Our last one was for 1 to 1.5 lb loaves. This new one is up to 2 lb loaves. I'm hoping that I love this one as much as I loved the last. Now that I've got a bread maker again, I have my eyes on a ravioli attachment for the Kitchen Aid.
Back to the bread machine. We actually didn't even use the machine for baking. We only used it for making the dough and then we'd bake the bread in the oven because Jaimie likes the shape of the bread better from a bread pan. It's just really easy to toss everything in, see the timer, listen for the beep, and then put the bread in the oven. No kneading, no mixing, no waiting for it to rise and checking the clock - the timer will tell you how much longer until the dough is ready (or bread if you want to bake it in there).
Of course, we found out that our machine died when we attempted to use it and I had all of the ingredients in it. Yes, I know that bread fixings are relatively cheap, but it really bothers me to waste things, so I was going to do something with that unmixed dough. I kneaded it (not doing that again, my hands didn't like it) and tried rolling it out. That didn't work. I tried waiting for it to rise, and that didn't seem to work. I decided I'd make something like foccacia. I rolled it out as far as it would go, and then put it on a cookie sheet to put in the oven. First mistake: drizzling olive oil on it while it was on a sheet with no lip. All that oil went off the bread, off the sides of the baking sheet, and burned on the bottom of our new (and still clean) oven, which then smoked up the house and set off the alarms. Second mistake: adding dried tomatoes to the top. When you see pictures of foccacia with dried tomatoes on it, they were probably on there raw and then baked. It didn't occur to me that putting dried tomatoes on it and then baking it would just make for blackened tomatoes on top. However, after moving it onto another baking sheet and removing the blackened tomatoes, it baked up ok. I wouldn't say it was great, or that I'd ever do it this way again, but it was edible.
 |
| Before baking |
Again, back to the topic of bread makers. Because I'm resourceful (aka not wanting to spend a lot), I bought my next bread maker at Goodwill. Prices have gone up on used kitchen appliances apparently, but at $7, I still think it was a good deal (so long as it works, but I haven't yet tested it out). Our last one was for 1 to 1.5 lb loaves. This new one is up to 2 lb loaves. I'm hoping that I love this one as much as I loved the last. Now that I've got a bread maker again, I have my eyes on a ravioli attachment for the Kitchen Aid.
Dutch Baby (aka Panakuken)
We had a Dutch Baby for breakfast a week ago Sunday, and Shelly wanted me to post about it (Jaimie is writing this post). I found the recipe for Dutch Baby in the Joy of Cooking that Shelly inherited from her sister when she crossed over.
Shelly really likes panakuken. In fact, one of our early dates was to the only remaining Panakuken Huis restaurant that we could find. That night she had a fruit filled one and I had savory. I promised her that I would find a recipe and make it for her while we were camping, and began the search. I didn't find a recipe I liked, so I never actually made it camping (though I could now). When I began perusing the Joy of Cooking, I found the recipe for Dutch Baby.
Basically, it's almost exactly the same recipe as Yorkshire Pudding or Toad in the Hole (the English version, not an egg in the middle of bread), minus the sausages. In case you can't read the recipe above, preheat the oven to 425. Whisk the following together until smooth: 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 large, room temp eggs. Next, on the stovetop over medium heat, melt 4 tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter.
Tilt the pan to coat all sides and pour the egg mixture in. Cook for one minute without stirring. Place in the oven and bake 12-15 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Serve immediately or it will go flat. I like to top with fruit, so I heat whatever fruit I can find in the cold room or freezer. Usually it's apple pie filling, but if I use frozen fruit I'll add a bit of sugar to draw out the juices, and let it heat on the stove while the pancake cooks. That's apple pie filling (homemade, of course) in the pan at the back of the stove and the pancake batter in the bowl next to the stove. Below is the pancake just prior to topping, and half of the pancake on my plate just before I ate it. It was yummy.
The Joy of Cooking says you can double the recipe and cook in a 12x9 glass baking dish, if you want. Just extend the cooking time to 15-17 minutes. Enjoy!!
Shelly really likes panakuken. In fact, one of our early dates was to the only remaining Panakuken Huis restaurant that we could find. That night she had a fruit filled one and I had savory. I promised her that I would find a recipe and make it for her while we were camping, and began the search. I didn't find a recipe I liked, so I never actually made it camping (though I could now). When I began perusing the Joy of Cooking, I found the recipe for Dutch Baby.
Basically, it's almost exactly the same recipe as Yorkshire Pudding or Toad in the Hole (the English version, not an egg in the middle of bread), minus the sausages. In case you can't read the recipe above, preheat the oven to 425. Whisk the following together until smooth: 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 large, room temp eggs. Next, on the stovetop over medium heat, melt 4 tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter.
Tilt the pan to coat all sides and pour the egg mixture in. Cook for one minute without stirring. Place in the oven and bake 12-15 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Serve immediately or it will go flat. I like to top with fruit, so I heat whatever fruit I can find in the cold room or freezer. Usually it's apple pie filling, but if I use frozen fruit I'll add a bit of sugar to draw out the juices, and let it heat on the stove while the pancake cooks. That's apple pie filling (homemade, of course) in the pan at the back of the stove and the pancake batter in the bowl next to the stove. Below is the pancake just prior to topping, and half of the pancake on my plate just before I ate it. It was yummy.
The Joy of Cooking says you can double the recipe and cook in a 12x9 glass baking dish, if you want. Just extend the cooking time to 15-17 minutes. Enjoy!!
Squash risotto
We had squash risotto last week when we had the in-laws over for dinner. I was searching for a recipe and everything had ingredients I didn't want or have, or had specific measurements when I wanted to use a whole squash and onion, or it sounded like it would taste like something I wasn't in the mood for. So, I came up with my own recipe. And by recipe, I mean that I just threw stuff together and didn't have exact measurements.
First I took a butternut squash (a holiday gift from my mom - we still have a few more squash (squashes?) in the cold room), cut in half to remove the seeds, poked it with a few fork holes, and microwaved it for about 5 minutes. I peeled it and cubed it. I figured that if I wanted there to be squash chunks then I wouldn't want it cooked all the way in the microwave. If I'd been in the mood for a smoother risotto, I would have pureed the squash, or at least cut it very small.
While that's in the microwave, chop up a medium onion and caramelize it in a bit of olive oil. Once it's good and caramelized, put 2 1/2 cups of rice in the pan and make sure that it gets covered in the oil. If you need to add more oil, do that. Or, you could add a pat of butter like I did. Then put that in the slow cooker, along with your squash chunks/puree. Add 6 cups of broth. We pack our broth in 2 cup and 4 cup sizes for the freezer, so I just grabbed one of each and put the frozen broth right in the slow cooker after I melted it enough to break it up a bit.
Put your slow cooker on high for three hours. I was thinking of adding salt and pepper but instead I thought that a bit of fresh grated nutmeg would do the trick. I don't know how much was put in there because my MIL put it in, but it really made the dish. We'll be doing this one again.
First I took a butternut squash (a holiday gift from my mom - we still have a few more squash (squashes?) in the cold room), cut in half to remove the seeds, poked it with a few fork holes, and microwaved it for about 5 minutes. I peeled it and cubed it. I figured that if I wanted there to be squash chunks then I wouldn't want it cooked all the way in the microwave. If I'd been in the mood for a smoother risotto, I would have pureed the squash, or at least cut it very small.
While that's in the microwave, chop up a medium onion and caramelize it in a bit of olive oil. Once it's good and caramelized, put 2 1/2 cups of rice in the pan and make sure that it gets covered in the oil. If you need to add more oil, do that. Or, you could add a pat of butter like I did. Then put that in the slow cooker, along with your squash chunks/puree. Add 6 cups of broth. We pack our broth in 2 cup and 4 cup sizes for the freezer, so I just grabbed one of each and put the frozen broth right in the slow cooker after I melted it enough to break it up a bit.
Put your slow cooker on high for three hours. I was thinking of adding salt and pepper but instead I thought that a bit of fresh grated nutmeg would do the trick. I don't know how much was put in there because my MIL put it in, but it really made the dish. We'll be doing this one again.
Monday, February 27, 2012
More benefits of Real food
Yet another article has come out about the hazards of additives, specifically yellow #5, which is in just a ton of stuff. It even mentions that it's in store-bought pickles. That just makes no sense. It notes that the tartrazine in the yellow #5 causes hyperactivity in kids, asthma, migraines, and cancer. Since yellow #5 (and any other of those dyes) are not in real food, you know you're not exposing yourself to that kind of risk when eating right.
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