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)

Getting ready to move... three times

I (my mom) got (me) a used car 2 days ago! Then I had to go about getting insurance. I got quotes online from Progressive and Geico. Geico was much cheaper and their customer service was very helpful. Here's hoping I don't have to deal with them again! (fingers crossed for safe driving!). I've never taken care of this stuff before because when I drove in high school it was my mom's car and she took care of that stuff. Now it's like I'm a real adult. Car insurance. Moving expenses.

I have also been pricing out moving truck rental, cargo van rental, cost of staying in my apartment for one month more, benefits (and deciding to give up my chocolate chip cookie recipe) to move in with KE. Talking to the electric company, roommates, finding a replacement, shopping around, seeking an apartment in a city that I am not in and won't be for several months.

So May will be staying with KE (in Brooklyn), June - August in Vermont and August - May in Ithaca. It's going to be interesting living in Vermont and Ithaca after 8 years in Brooklyn, that's for sure!

All I can really say is thank technology for Internet and free long distance calls on cell phones. Oh and spreadsheets. I love spreadsheets!

A snack approach to lunch

This is the snack plate approach. Or the bulk food approach, however you care to approach it. Today I have been munching on organic animal crackers purchase din bulk at the food co-op and now for "lunch" I am having a green bell pepper (cut up with my small Swiss army knife in the bathroom while precariously balanced on the edge of the sink), a handful of snow peas (washed by filling the bag with water, sloshing it around and then dumping it out a couple times, and a small carton of organic blueberries. Staying at KE's two nights in a row which his tiny and packed fridge makes bringing lunch difficult (have I mentioned the lack of a kitchenette at work? It forces creativity within boundaries, for example: room temperature or Thermos capable foods. The best dinner we had in recent memory was one where simple ingredients were cooked just enough and seasoned just a little and brought out the delicious flavors of the essence of good ingredients. It was like the snack approach, just cooked!

I picked up these things while grabbing groceries for last nights dinner (a stir fry of onion, red pepper, yellow pepper, snow peas fried tofu and white jasmine rice). I'm not that into stir fry so I just kept my mouth shut and let KE make it how he pleased. It was delicious and quick! His trick was to (tell me to) get firm tofu (extra firm if you can) then put it on a plate and cover it with another plate and set a squash on top of it to squeeze out excess water. Then fried in a bit of oil and added to the stir fry. It was delicious, I never though I'd like tofu that much, I expected squishy cubes like in miso soup. It's always nice to be pleasantly surprised that you do like something you didn't think you liked!

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.

Planning for the week

Trying this planning thing again...

Saturday:
grocery shopping, make cookies for Sun and fresh pasta for Wed
eat Pad Thai leftovers for lunch
for dinner grilled cheese and roasted pepper and tomato soup (pkg)

Sunday:
fruit and yogurt and granola
smoothie
snacks at party
make soup for the week
veggies

Monday:
cereal breakfast
Sandwich: deli meat (if it's still good), avocado, cucumber, mustard
bring apple snack and cookies

Tuesday:
yogurt and fruit breakfast
take soup for lunch
bring apple and peanut butter snack

Wednesday:
cereal breakfast
sandwich for lunch - chicken, avocado or cheese, cucumber, mustard
dinner: pasta with fresh pesto and smoked salmon (with KE)

Thursday:
smoothie breakfast with oats in it
soup for lunch
leftovers/ frozen stuff for dinner
plan meals for the next 5 days

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!

The past week

I tried budgeting with cash this week and it didn't work. I think it is because I got the cash at the beginning of the weekend. Week-End! I should be getting my cash on Monday and then spending it and whatever I have left at the week's end is what I can spend for entertainment/ going out/ drinks/ whathaveyou. The 100$ I took out last Saturday barely lasted me until Tuesday. I went grocery shopping, had a BBQ, failed at using my chimney starter, had to buy lighter fuel. I had tiring days in which I just wanted to go out, I spend many evenings with KE which made having breakfast difficult, I overslept and only went running once. I've also been very mentally busy trying to prepare for this summer at Yestermorrow, moving out of my place, trying to figure out who will take my room and if I'll come back next summer, what to do with my furniture, where to live in Ithaca when I head there in the Fall, and what to eat for lunch. Oh, and I bought a guitar and a guitar playing book. (To keep myself occupied this summer between reading and jumping into lakes and building stuff.)

I've been getting so bored with buying lunch, after the week of making my own lunch, in midtown. I stumbled upon Midtown Lunch an wandered to a couple new places, but still. I'd prefer to be eating things I made. I had planned to heat up left over Pad Thai and put it in a warmed up thermos but I was warned that the noodles would turn to mush because they wouldn't stop cooking. I didn't want to waste tasty Pad Thai (which is a good deal for me. $6.95 with chicken and it lasts me at least two meals from Thai 101- best reheated in a skillet on the stove- tastes way better than reheating in a microwave)

I'd better get back to filing taxes so I can afford my summer plans and filling out the FAFSA so I'm not homeless when I get to Ithaca! This weekend I'm having a crafting get together (crafting alone can be so boring!) and I'm also going grocery shopping. Let's see if I can't get my home cooked meals back in shape. Soup anyone?