A tasty dinner

What a tasty dinner.

Double cooked brussel sprouts ($3 for the whole thing, eating about 1/3 of the package)
roasted red pepper and tomato soup ($1.50, eating half of it)
sourdough grilled cheese ($3.75 loaf of bread, eating 2 thick-ish slices and a bit of cheese off a 2# block of Cabot Seriously Sharp. Cost... 8.99/lb)

Halve brussel sprouts then steam. Make grilled cheese sandwich using, remove when done and sautee brussel sprouts in pan (using a little extra fat. Olive oil or butter, I used butter this time but usually use olive oil). Heat up soup. Sprinkle with salt and pepper as desired. Serve. Dip sandwich in soup. Smile at your tasty meal :)

Man oh man. I love brussel sprouts cooked this way. Steaming makes them soft, sauteeing gives the the little burn-y spots that taste so good.


I should not have bought the mint M&Ms... sooo good,

dinner: other half acorn squash and mustard lover's deviled eggs

My dinner was the other half of acorn squashed, baked with maple syrup and butter. Then when I was still hungry an hour later... I hard boiled some eggs (thank you Joy of Cooking, they came out to perfection!!!) and made my mustard lover (mayo hater) deviled eggs. Very very, incredibly simple.

Hard boil eggs (take eggs out of fridge, put in pan, cover with 1 inch of water, bring to big bubbled boil, turn off heat, cover and let sit for 17 minutes (covered!) Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and run under cold water, or set in bowl with cold water. Tap egg on a plate to loosten shell alll over. Breaking it up into little pieces (while still attached to membrane below). Then peel off off the shell and membrane. Hopefully it comes off smoothly, it did for me today!! I always love when that happens. Then! Cut the peeled egg in half the long way, dump egg yolks into small bowl, mix in a couple heaping teaspoons of dijon mustard, mix together, put back into eggs sprinkle with paprika and eat! (There's no serving here when it's just you!)


Wash down with a beer :)


My dessert is a little bowl of frozen blueberries, I love the texture of frozen blueberries!

TO prep for tomorrow and the rest of the week I put some frozen berries in a bowl in the fridge to hopefully thaw a bit for tomorrow yogurt. Yogurt with only frozen berries (as opposed to just fresh or fresh and frozen) was too hard and thick to make in the blender, hopefully this will help. I'll find out in the morning!

I also made some blackbean salsa chili, a recipe given to me by my friend Erin who made it up. It is fantastic! satuee 1 onion + 1 cove garlic, pour in 1 jar salsa, 2 cans beans, sprinkle with some frozen corn. Proportions are up to you. Serve with cheddar cheese and blue corn tortilla chips. I like to sprinkle the cheese on top and then dip my chips, Erin likes to put cheese on the bottom of the bowl and then put chips in and crunch them up. So for meals the rest of the week I have leftover spaghetti sauce (to be eaten tomorrow before it goes bad!), black bean chili, yogurt, a cucumber, possibly spinach (it was starting to smell a little funny), too many lemons and 2 granny smith apples. My goal is to not need to go to the grocery store (or go out to eat) before I head back to Brooklyn again on Thursday evening. I think I can do it!

Cheers to frozen blueberries and beer!
Time to do some homework, good night!

Simple but tasty dinner: brocolli and acorn squash.

Broccoli appetizer and squash main course:

Cut acorn squash in half, scoop out seeds and strings, place face up in pan drop in a pat of butter and some maple syrup and bake at 400 degrees for an hour.

While that's cooking and you are hungry and waiting:
Chop up some broccoli and parboil it (I won't be steaming anything until I get steel wool to clean my steamer sized pot) (get your water boiling, drop in the brocolli, then strain before it starts to lose it's bright colors! Toss with juice of half a lemon and fresh ground pepper and eat while waiting for acorn squash!



It's like dessert, with the butter and maple syrup. Sooo tasty! Probably could have cooked just a little less to avoid the extra burning... but still, tasty!

I'm contemplating documenting all my meals with at least a description of what I ate. I think it will be interesting to follow (for me at least!) especially in regard to my interest in slimming down. I've also been cooking at home way more than I did in Brooklyn, I think in part because I miss Brooklyn food and have been disapointed with everything I've gotten here and just wished I'd waited 'til I got home to make something that I knew would be good! I have several cookbooks to work from, and several I'm eying. Wish me luck and feel free to leave comments, especially encouraging ones!

Again, Acorn squash... so good


Addendum: Plus a bottle of Brooklyn Lager, my carbs of choice :)

Busy busy busy andquick and tasty shrimp fettunici alfredo

Buzz buzz buzz.

I'm moving out earlier than I thought originally, last day of work Friday May 1st, party May 2nd, Pack truck May 3rd, drive it to my mom's May 4th.

One good thing is that my mom is moving at the same time, so we are splitting the truck cost which is good. If you know someone else who is moving at the same time as you sharing the truck is a great way to save money, and have help moving your stuff!

I'm still working on a sewing project which is keeping me form really packing. This weekend will be project finishing time and next weekend I'm off to visit Ithaca, the following weekend is packing weekend and the weekend after that I'm moving! I'd better start putting my weeknight to good use.


KE and I made shrimp and fettuccine Alfredo on Seafood Wednesday - it was tasty and quick and easy.

Sautee shrimp in butter til pink, add garlic, saute for a bit.
Pour 1c half and half in and about 6 heaping Tbsp grated Parmesan. Stir cooking until it thickens. Do not boil! While that is thickening, heat water and cook pasta. Drain and put back in pot. Stir chopped fresh parsley into sauce and over noodles and serve!

We had this with asparagus. It was a tasty meal. Quick, easy and filling. Just don't forget the vegetable, or else it's not very well balanced!

Spagetti! Cheap and tasty dinner (for 2)

Making dinner for E and myself; our weekly dinner together- scheduled to avoid over-scheduling with significant others ;)

I decided to make tomato sauce and a side of sauteed zucchini, I almost put the zucchini, grated, in the sauce, but then I didn't want to dilute the flavor of the zucchini so decided to serve it as the vegetable.

I didn't have pasta but I had left over onion and some baby carrots. I spent $5 on stuff to feed 2 people (and there is still half a box of pasta left).

Saute small diced onions and chopped carrots in olive oil until onions are translucent and carrots are soft, add garlic, stir stir stir.

Pour in one small box of crushed or strained tomatoes (I prefer crushed, strained which I accidentally got, are too watery), let simmer while you cook the pasta in salted water.

The side was sauteed zucchini thin sliced coins in olive oil with garlic and a sliced up cibatta from the bakery (that was $1, we split it.)


Five of our 6 ceiling lights are out, so we ate a candle lit dinner :)
Ooo, you can see the steam!

A simple dinner.

I forgot how good a grilled cheese with sharp cheddar and tomato is. With a handful of snow peas and a leftover slice of caarrot cake my mom brought on Sunday. Tasty!

Mexican Dinner for 6 Part One

Menu:

Chips and guacamole
chicken thighs in mole
Spiced chocolate souffles


Part One: Ingredients

For Mole:
Chicken Broth - Low Sodium 2@1.89 $3.78
Bakers chocolate unsweetened $2.57
Blanched Almonds $2.37
Anise Seeds $0.48
Allspice - whole $1.67
Murray's Chicken Thighs (3pkgs) $7.58
Sweet Onion $0.45
Plum Tomatoes 1.2# $2.16
Dried Chile Mulatos $1.49
Peanuts $2.49
Quinoa $5.89
cinnamon stick (have)
black peppercorns (have)
Canola Oli (have)

For the Guacamole and chips:
Cilantro $1.09
Tomatoes 1.6#- a few too many $2.91
3 Hass Avocados $2.73
garlic $0.30
2 limes $0.53
White corn tortillas $1.19
White Onion $0.71
jalapeno (forgot!)
vegetable oil (have)

For the Souffles:
eggs (have)
dark chocolate (have)
spices (have)
sugar (bought in bulk.97#) $1.10
Vanilla ice cream $3.50


TOTAL spent $47.49

The recipes are from the following books but they are adapted based on availability of ingredients and personal preferences:
Mole: Starting with Ingredients
Guacamole: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (thanks dad!)
Tortilla Chips: Food Network Website
Souffle: The Joy of Cooking (75th anniversary)

Quick'n'tasty

A handful of Snow peas
grilled cheese on whole wheat bread
Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup (Pacific Foods)

Yes packaged soup, but sometimes that's all you have the energy for!
This way I have time to plan my grocery store trip and soup choice!

And I'm watching a documentary on Julia Child.

A Tuesday night dinner

This was the most awesome meal I've had in a while. The best part is how simple it was!

Seared bay and sea scallops (picked up at the farmer's market on Saturday)
Sauteed snow peas with one clove of chopped garlic in olive oil
Steamed acorn squash with salt, pepper and butter.

Overall prep time was less than 30 minutes. Cooking instructions for the squash were located on a sicker on it. Cut the squash in half, seed it, and make cuts on the back with a knife (4 or 5). Pour 1/4cup water onto a (deep) plate and set the acorn halves face down. Cook in microwave for 8-10 minutes (we did 8, then checked).

For dessert we had sme ice cream. It was a fresh, quick and fantastic meal!

What can I make when I don't want to buy anything? OR Pantry Fun!

My freezer is pretty full. In fact, so is my pantry. I always have stuff on hand which I think comes from having parents a) who grew up post depression b) aware that we lived in an earthquake zone (emergency supply) and c) who had a Costco membership. Since beginning to live on my own I've always stocked up on food. At the end of my home cooing challenge last week I realized this may be to my detriment, at least when it comes to produce. I bought the 1# bag of mixed greens because it was cheaper than paying per weight. However if I don't use all the greens then that's money I could have not spent as the price difference wasn't that great.

The thing that has saved me through this over-purchase of produce is these green bags I got at Whole Foods that apparently advertises on TV as well (I don't really watch V... I think I'm going to sell mine). So far they have worked really well compared to produce that can barely make it to the end of the week the fruit and veggies are still fresh. I failed to put the mixed greens in one of these bags,

I am heating up a cheese and spinach filo pie from my freezer which is from Trader Joes. I was contemplating cooking something else, however my kitchen ceiling began leaking again despite having the roof recently having been replaced and the temperature not dipping below freezing all day... Well... this is not a good development.

So, assuming I have an active kitchen in the next week without a puddle in the middle of my kitchen...

Wednesday:
B: yogurt and berries and honey and granola, oh my!
L: salad (if the lettuce is still good), with smoked salmon and peas
D: with KE, ginger chicken and yam fries and broccoli

Thursday:
B: cereal and smoothie
L: Left over Moroccan Chicken Soup with couscous
D: Make dinner with Erin (tbd)

Friday:
B: cereal and milk
L: sandwich (do I have bread? Hmm... figure out)
D: Heat up left overs before food co-op shift.


I'm distracted by the dripping in the kitchen.