Pantry

I'm finally using the last of the pasta I bought at Costco, hooray! To get more variety in my diet I am going to try eating different grains now- focusing on rice and Asian style dishes. I got a brick of tofu with which to experiment. I didn't know you were supposed to press it until KE showed me when he prepared tofu for dinner one night. I don't recall eating a lot of tofu growing up, so I'm not very familiar with how to prepare it. (Specifically how to get it to be like the tofu I've had at restaurants.) Tofu is one of those mystery ingredients I want to learn about. With winter break approaching I am getting excited for the culinary experiments - especially while staying with KE. Somehow it's easier to cook for 2 than for one... especially when you don't like left overs (like me).

I also purchased some Thai curry paste and a can of coconut milk. I'd like to try to make a curry dish with rice, veggies and tofu. I read in my big-ass sauce book about making a Thai curry and it's pretty simple, so long as you have the ingredients. In looking at what to make for my pre-thanksgiving I was evaluating my pans and I think I need a new 2-QT saucepan. I use it frequently and the non-stick coating is scratched pretty badly. I'd like to get a nice stainless steel one. I got rid of all my other nonstick pans and while cleaning them is a little more work, I like not worrying about flakes of teflon in my body :)

Tomorrow is Pre-Thanksgiving, I'll be sure to report our menu and how it went! (There's only 3 of us and my mom and step dad aren't picky, so I'm going vegetarian, and it will not be a feast, to prevent us all from overeating, a family tradition.)

Not sure what to do with what's in your fridge?

This website, My Fridge Food, gives you recipes based on ingredients you select. If you already have a list of what's in your pantry, this will help you figure out what your options are for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

How to use the last 2 zucchini and 3/4 of an onion?

Spaghetti sauce! A quick dinner and the long simmer time gave me plenty of time to do my reading homework!

3/4 onion
2 small zucchini
1 clove garlic
1 large can diced tomatoes
2 oz. spagetti noodles

1. Chop the onion into tiny pieces (or whatever size you like really- I like my onion small, I really don't like big chunks of onion, layers still nestled together, in my spaghetti sauce)
2. Saute the chopped onion and garlic until the onions are light brown and translucent, toss in the zucchini and saute for a bit until they start getting light brown spots and pour in the can of chopped tomatoes.
3. Keep at a simmer for 45 minutes, stir occasionally- don't worry, all that liquid will cook off- you'll see!
4. Prepare pasta according to the directions serve on a small plate with warm sauce and some grated Parmesan on top!
5. So tasty :) enjoy!

Tips:

• measure your pasta on a digital scale. It keeps portion sizes under control, which saves money because you are getting all the servings out of a box of pasta rather than half the servings :P
• You could probably put pretty much any vegetable in this sauce. I've used carrots in the past, celery would probably be good. Chunks of squash perhaps? Anything that sounds good sauteed with tomato!
  

Side notes!

I realized today that it's been 2 weeks since I went out to eat/ got take out. I think I'm going to try the whole month- with the exception of when I go visit Brooklyn these next two weekends. If I can just eat at home I will save a lot of money. Especially if I don't over purchase and make sure I use everything I have! The list of the contents of my fridge is slowly shrinking but I really need to be more careful next time I go grocery shopping. I need to start meal planning!

Also, I planted some dill and leafy greens and one of them sprouted today! My basil is slowly coming back to life, I think I will bring it inside so I remember to water it more often. My mint is growing again! Also need to bring that one inside.

And I love my new cast iron pan. I also bought a cast iron dutch oven!! Very excited to use it to make stew when it starts getting colder!

Happy cooking!

What to do with broccoli stems and other bits of veggies?

I followed the advice of a friend on facebook and also this video tip from Chow and popped them in a bag int he freezer. I should have some decent vegetable stock this upcoming soup season!

A day at home

I made scrambled eggs with spinach and cheddar for... brunch :) And then I sauteed 3 little zucchini and a tomato and mixed with rigatoni for dinner, making enough to have it as a cold pasta salad tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm having a little get together. I just got here but I met my neighbors and a friend's girlfriend and invited them all over for a little potluck! Not sure what I'm making yet, but I want to make something using things I already have (of which there is a list on the fridge, to remind me NOT to go grocery shopping again, because I love shopping for groceries!)

(the little asterisk means it's in the freezer)

One of the things I did today was watch the rest of project runway season 5, disc 3 (still have some catching up to do, and I don't have cable... or a TV, so I'm always a season behind!). So I started draping with fabrics I already have. I'm so not allowed to buy anything except for notions I need to finish a garment! So I played with some draping, not sewing anything yet- I have a few patterns I want to make and I'm still a little intimidated by draping and making patterns from draping because I'm all self/book taught and in the past it hasn't gotten me too far with draping... hopefully that will change!

Pretty elementary, but mostly fun to work on! (Though I really should have been reading, grad school is a lot of work!)

Getting settled in my new place

The move is complete, I've met several of my neighbors, been to the farmer's market, Wegman's grocery store (24hrs! yay!) and wal-mart and now it's time to get back to blogging about learning to be cheap.

Some thoughts on setting up your apartment and how to do it cheaply.

• Share- ask your neighbors if they are interested in sharing wireless internet- if they already have it even better- you can check the strength of the signal.

• check craigslist for furniture or look up cheap ways to make your own. I went with the classic 70s style shelves because it's just me living here and I could carry each of the components individually.The black felt is to protect the recently refinished floors (and to prevent a heart attack in my landlord should he see concrete blocks on his floors!).
  

• Unpack your kitchen and bathroom first- make a list before you go shopping for things you absolutely need. If there is a category of things you would like but could live without for a while save them for the next month. I didn't do this and spent way too much in my first month here. In the end I decided not to go back and get the paper towel holder, just one more expense that could be done without.
  

• Take notes when you grocery shop. In Ithaca there are farmer's markets, a co-op, and a grocery store (that offers organic stuff, not so much fair trade, and is open 24 hours!). I have saved all my receipts so I can compare the costs. Tomatoes are cheaper at the farmer's market (for now) than at the big grocery store, same with potatoes (I got potato seconds for $1.50 a pound!). I am also comparing the costs of bulk pastas and grains. I'm not just comparing costs but also eco-footprints. I prefer to buy local because local food supports local farmers and I <3>

• If your apartment doesn't come with things you are used to, like a microwave, toaster or toaster oven- try going without for a while and see if you really really need one. I don't have a microwave but reheating food in a skillet tastes far superior and I'm learning to use my broiler to quickly toast/melt things (nachos!)

• Get an EZpass! Now that I have an actual address, I'm ordering mine I already have two trips to NYC planned and the ezpass will make the drive quicker, probably save gas from not slowing down and then accelerating and I will get discount rates on my tolls. How could I not get one!?
  

A couple foodie-on-a-budget tips:

• Make your own salad dressing. It's super tasty and you can experiment with mixtures. My recipe is as follows (quantities vary): dijon mustard, pressed garlic (or finely diced), lemon juice from half a lemon, fresh ground pepper, olive oil. Mix together and keep in a container with a lid. It will get a little solid in the fridge but when it gets to room temp it will be runny again. You can make it as thick or thin as you like depending on how much olive oil you add.
• If you have some ingredients and want to make something specific browse the web for recipes that use only things you have in stock, that way you don't have to make a special trip to the grocery store (so long as you keep your staples stocks) and you get what you wanted. I believe the phrase is "have your cake and eat it too"!
• leftover roasted potatoes could be remade into mashed potatoes (really easily), add some roasted garlic to give your potatoes new flavor!
  

This was my dinner, reheated roasted potatoes (with way too much oregano, gotta watch that pour spout!) and romaine lettuce with my homemade dressing. I also had some guac-salad with nachos earlier today. I love having my own kitchen!


Tonight I am making an apple bread using this recipe. I changed it to make one loaf, it's just me and I don't want too much bread! I think it could potential make a phenomenal grilled cheese sandwich- granny smith and cheddar are a great combo! I will have to taste the bread before I get to excited. It had all good reviews which is a good sign, I did make some changes though. No sugar was added, I used white whole wheat flour, instead of oil I added a 1/2 cup of no sugar added applesauce. I poured a little olive oil and agave nectar in when it needed more moisture. I If this bread doesn't spread too much it could probably be made as a free-form loaf.

This could totally be made into whatever shape you wanted. The dough was super thick, it didn't rise/spread much at all. It's really tasty and hearty. I think it would be great with some whipped cream, a glass of milk or some vanilla gelato! Warm it's pretty good because of the soft apple chunks (I put in like 2x the amount of apple it called for). It's not overly sweet, would be a good hearty breakfast bread, possibly with some yogurt.. ooo or peanutbutter!

Go forth and create!

I'm so bad with leftovers. and produce. and things that get moved in the fridge

I just found out about this neat website StillTasty which tells you how long foods really last in the fridge or freezer. Opened or unopened, dependent upon the packaging. This is excellent news because I have a tendency to forget about things. Probably the most helpful thing you can do, armed with this website, is to write what date you opened packages of things like cheese with longer freshness periods.

Everybody should at least peruse this site to get an understanding of expiration dates and how long to keep that one food that doesn't look bad but has been open for a couple weeks...

Moving Preparation and Planning

I've made a list for the order in which to pack things. I have to budget my time because my last day of work is a Friday, Saturday night is my S'mores and BYOB going away party then I'm loading up the truck Sunday (with the help of some friends!) and driving away Monday. And before that, I'm working fulltime - I might need to see about leaving early a few days when the reality of the quantity of my stuff hits...

Packing list, order of operations:

• Tv. Monitor. Cameras. Cables.
• Camping. Hardware. Documents/ Papers.
• Fabrics. Patterns. Art supplies.
• Exercise equip.

• Books. (big job, want to get all the other stuff out of the way before I start tackling this- also so I can get to the books as my table is in the way!)

• Toiletries
  
• Sewing machine (finish project ASAP!)
• Kitchen. Clean fridge and pantry.
• Clothes. Shoes. Towels. Sheets.
• Computer. Hard drive. Speakers.
• Mattress. Bed frame. Dressers. Folding table.

Brownie Break: These were the most phenomenal brownies I've ever had. I'm pretty sure- ever. Picked them up at the food co-op. Sometimes you just need a treat!

Misc. things to do for move:

• Change of address form at post office. (You can do it online!)
  
• Change Netflix address.
• Confirm electricity is shutting off.
• Get security deposit.
• Confirm moving truck rental.

I did a bit of research (though not enough...) on moving trucks and budget was good because of unlimited miles as I will be also helping my mom (and splitting the cost of the truck!) to move at the same time. From Brooklyn, NY to Wilmington, DE to Seaford to Wilmington. A lot of driving and a lot of moving! It's gonna be a long couple of days!

Things I'm purging:

• old spices
• unused and most likely never to be used art supplies
• those bags of clothes that have been waiting to go to salvation army for like a year
• clean out fridge and pantry and face the fact I'm never going to eat that can of garbanzo beans

Things to do before I drive off into the... afternoon:

• sweep and mop my room and work area
• one last check for stray toiletries and frozen foods

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.

When experiemnting with food, start cheap

Like an herb sauce. Last night, in attempt to clean out my freezer, KE and I made broiled salmon. We both have the goal of being better at making sauces so we decided to try to make a dill pesto type sauce. I made the mistake of looking up a recipe that called for parsley as well. We also had way too much dill and parsley so we made more than "one recipe" called for. It tasted green. Like grass, without the fresh cut aroma. The dill was lost amongst the parsley, almost as if the two greens canceled each other out for flavor. This was surprising, because dill is such a strong flavor!

The sauce tasted a little better on the fish, but the fish having been in the freezer for way too long it was tough and the color of a salmon t-shirt... and not in a good way. I was glad KE bought a piece of fresh salmon because he wanted to make sure to have enough left overs to take for lunch today. The fresh salmon was the perfect texture and it made the "green sauce" taste better, not that we ate much of it.

Our side dish was Dijon roasted potatoes. A favorite of mine. KE brought over a bag of baby red potatoes (the cutest potatoes!) I normally cut them but because they were so small I opted not to. This was a medium sized mistake. There were about 3 delicious potatoes, which complimented the 1 of 3 good pieces of salmon. All in all we had a 33% tasty and 66% mediocre to awful meal.

What saved this meal was dessert. I have a serious sweet tooth and because dinner wasn't done being made, let alone eaten until about 10:30pm with piles of dishes and a plethora of dirty knives and counter space I opted not to make the chocolate chip cookies that have been on the back (but really the front) of my mind. When I went to pick up dill I saw Ciao Bella Maple Gingerbread Gelato in the fridge and could not help myself. I got it. After washing and drying most of the dishes, we ended our meal alternating scooping out gelato and trying to discover the little pouches of gingerbread.

What I learned from this week's wednesday night dinner:

• When experimenting with a new sauce or something, use herbs, it's a lot cheaper than messing up with meat (which I did last summer with my first ragu ever that sits unloved in my freezer).
• If you are going to experiement, aim for a nigh when you have more time. We didn't finish all the prepping, cooking, eating and cleaning until about 11:30pm. Which also meant we ate late.
• Always keep good ice cream on hand. It's nice to have something you know will be good after a 66% failing meal!
• Take more pictures while prepping, and upload them promptly!
  

Freezer

This week's challenge is changing it's face. It is home cooking but what I really need to do is get rid of stuff in my freezer to make space for new stuff! I have a lot of freezer burnt veggies and a lot of fruit that has been in there for at least a year.

A freezer (and fridge for that matter) is most efficient when it is full. All that cooling energy is wasted if it's just for a big cold box of condiments.

Some of the things I found in my freezer I look forward to and dread using in the coming days:
- chocolate gelato (a staple)
- Trader Joes mini baguettes
- Trader Joes BBQ chicken
- frozen fruits, and many of them
- my first attempt at a ragu, that wasn't that great (too much turkey sausage)... maybe I can add tomatoes and make it better...
- some Jacques Torress chocolate wafers (hello cookies!)