More Savers

So because I'm a graduate student, I'm already on a tight budget. But I'm big into the idea of dressing cheap food up with fresh veggies. Today was a big example of doing that. I've always dressed up ramen (I usually buy the stuff from the asian market instead of the stuff at grocery stores) with fresh veggies, lunch meat, and sauces. I usually chop up some carrots, green onions, peppers, and broccoli and lately I've been adding in cilantro and peas afterwards. When the noodles and the veggies are cooked, I'll stir in the herbs and chopped up lunch meat (nothing sweet). I top the whole thing off with some sesame oil and chili sauce. It makes ramen so much better since you've got more veggies and I think it tastes better. A few years after being married I showed my husband how to do this and he has (thankfully!) been converted. My newest venture has been in dressing up macaroni and cheese. I usually buy one of the nicer boxes of mac n' cheese (I recommend Hodgson Mill whole wheat and white cheddar). They're a bit pricier but they're still only like $2-4. I'll heat up about a quarter pound of the seasoned meat with more chopped veggies (ex. mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, peppers, onions, parlsey . . . ) while the pasta cooks. When the pasta is done, I'll make the cheese sauce according to the package instructions and then stir in the meat and veggie mixture. The seasoning in the meat gives the cheese sauce a southwestern flavor and again veggies are always good. These are just some quick ideas on how to dress up cheap staples in ways that make them complete meals and a bit tastier.

Rough Times

In light of recent economic events, it becomes clear that knowing how to save money will be useful in the future. I don't invest and I don't own a home so my situation hasn't really changed much, mostly because I can't afford to. Limited financial aide and a lack of assistantships makes it difficult to do anything but buy groceries, pay for gas, and the occassional night out (without those I would be in bad shape). So in light, I figured I would share some of my recipes that keep me from buying over-price, high sodium, and full of preservative foods at the grocery store. One thing that I try to keep stocked in the freezer is marinara sauce. The following recipe was inspired by Giada De Laurentis with a few modifications. I'll make a large pot of it, divy it up into 2 cup portions, and freeze them. They last for abou 6 months and are great for a quick go to meal.

RECIPE OF THE DAY: MARINARA SAUCE

3Tbs olive oil
1 onion minced
5 cloves of garlic minced
2 carrots, minced
2 stalks of celery, minced
2 cans crushed tomatoes (28 oz)
2 Tbs tomato paste
1/4c chopped parsley
2 tsp. dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat up oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft. Add carrot and celery (I will sometimes mince these in a food processor to save on time) along with salt and pepper. Saute vegetables until fragrant and soft. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, and basil. Mix together and bring the sauce to a simmer. Turn down heat to med-low and allow to simmer for about an hour to allow flavors to blend.

Summer Refresher

For a BBQ the other day I came up with this idea that sounded good. We mixed everything together and found it quite refreshing and a nice blend of flavors. And it's only three ingredients! It's an easy way to spruce up watermelon and makes for a nice thing to snack on during the day. The longer it sites, however, the more the lime breaks down the watermelon turning it into more of watermelon in juice. I don't know if this had ever been done before but I was quite impressed with the simplicity and flavor of it.

RECIPE OF THE DAY
Watermelon Salad
1 seedless watermelon, cubed
1/4 cup of chopped mint
Juice of one lime

Mix everything together in a bowl and enjoy!

Baking Madness

So in my little house that I am occupying now, I am without all the trappings that my kitchen in Arizona has. No mixer, no baking sheets, no scale. But I found a few recipes for baking that I wanted to try and attempted to make. My new favorite is Australian teacake. A perfect sized small cake that I bake in an aluminum pot with cinnamon and sugar on top. It's not an original recipe, I got it off of Crash Test Kitchen but it is really good, simple and quick to make. I ate a whole cake by myself in like two days. Not a light and fluffy cake, it's got some body to it making it a great cake to drink with a good cup of tea (My new fave is Chai by Good Earth Teas.)

RECIPE OF THE DAY: AUSTRALIAN CINNAMON TEACAKE

4Tb butter (1/2 stick)
1/2c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3c milk
1Tbs melted butter
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 355F. Grease a 8in cake pan with butter and then dust with flour. If available, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until the butter turns lighter in color. Mix in egg and vanilla until well mixed. Measure out flour and milk into separate container. Add the baking powder to the flour and sift. Add half the flour mixture to the egg mixture and blend until smooth. Add half the milk mixture to the egg mixture and mix until blended. Repeat until you use the rest of the flour and milk. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and make sure the batter is spread fairly evenly into the pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until done. Mix together the 1Tbs of sugar with the cinnamon and set aside. When the cake is done and allowed to cool, brush the top of the cake with melted butter and dust the top of the cake with the cinnamon mixture. Serve and enjoy.

Simply Stir Fry

I made this the other day as a quick dish and thought it was quite possibly the best stir-fry I think I have ever made. All the veggies were perfectly cooked, the sauce was good, and the shrimp was fantastic. There's that commercial that asks the questions :You know the secret to really good shrimp? My answer is always to cook them quickly before hand and then add then once the rest of the ingredients are done so that they don't get over-cooked. So many times people cook the shrimp and then add a bunch of ingredients on top of them to saute and you end up cooking the shrimp for like 30 minutes making them tough and flavorless. But this receipe is not only great but it's also simple.

RECIPE OF THE DAY: SHRIMP STIR-FRY

10-12 Shrimp, peeled and deveined (30-41 counts is a good size)
1/2 bell pepper
1/2 broccoli
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 med onion sliced
1 carrot. peeled and sliced
1/2 box of mushrooms, sliced
3 green onions, sliced into 1/2" pieces
3 Tbls vegetable oil
2 Tbl chicken stock
2 tsp soy sauce
salt/pepper
chinese chili sauce

In a small bowl, combine shrimp with salt and pepper to taste and 1 Tbl of vegetable oil. Toss them around to coat. Heat a skillet over medium heat and pan fry the shrimp 1-2 minutes on each side until done. Place in a separate bowl to cool. In the same pan, add the rest of the oil, onions, and garlic. When fragrant, add broccoli, carrots and mushrooms and turn the heat up to medium-high. Saute for 5 minutes then add the rest of the vegetables, soy sauce, and chicken stock. Saute for another few minutes until the bell peppers begin to soften and the liquid in the pan has reduced. Add the shrimp back into the pan and mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper and top with chili sauce. Serve with rice or noodles.

Moving Menus

Since we are currently in the process of moving (and still on a very limited budget), meals have been largely dictated by what we have in the fridge or cupboard. We're trying to limit the amount of stuff we end up having to move to our new placce. Well, in the process of moving, I have also inadvertantly packed up alot of our cooking utensils, leaving me with a few pans, two pots, and a set of knives. With that in mind, we had to get creative yesterday when preparing dinner. Feeling like a bit of Cacciatore, I came up with the following recipe inspired by things found commonly in my cupboard.

RECIPE OF THE DAY: ITALIAN HUNTERS CHICKEN

1lb chicken breast (about 2 large whole breasts)
2Tbs olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 scallion
2 cloves garlic
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp dried sage
1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
1 can artichoke hearts (drained)
1/2 dry white wine
10 leaves of basil in a chiffonade
2 cups cooked pasta
grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400F. Heat oil in a dutch oven on the stove, at medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken in the dutch oven until golden brown on each side (about 5 minutes each side). Remove chicken and add onion, scallion, and garlic to the dutch oven and cook until fragrant and soft. Add oregano and sage. Saute until fragrant. Add tomatoes and white wine. Add the chicken back to the pot, cover and place in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes and then add artichoke to the pot. Cook another 20 minutes. While the dish is cooking, cook the pasta until tender. Drain and dish into separate bowls. When the chicken has finished, spoon on top of the pasta and top with basil and parmesan cheese.

Budget Crunch

At times our budget gets quite tight (like right now), and it requires a bit of panic on my part as I think about how to pay our bills and eat at the same time. My husband and I always been at a crossroads about the cost of produce and other things. I stick by my assertion that produce is cheaper than buying alot of processed foods and meats. But with the rising cost of food, buying any food gets expensive really quickly. I've been having to spend quite some time getting coupons online through websites like couponmom.com and coupons.com to save some extra money on our food. But with our debt consistently rising with each passing month, just going to the grocery store makes me nervous. I'm hoping for relief in the next few weeks, but until then it's slim pickin's in at our place.

RECIPE OF THE DAY: BRUSCHETTA PASTA SALAD

1 cup dry pasta (shaped pasta works better than spaghetti)
1 tomatoe-chopped
7-8 big basil leaves
1/4c. extra virgin olive oil
2Tbl. grated parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic-minced
salt/pepper

In a pot, boil 2 quarts of water to cook the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, chop the tomato and basil. Mix the basil and tomatoe together with olive oil, cheese, and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drain the past when al dente. Mix with the tomatoe mixture. Let the salad marinate for a few hours either in the fridge or in a chilled container. As it sits, the tomato mixture will develop a very garlickly, fruity flavor. Also a good picnic or lunch meal. You can also add feta cheese to the dish for more cheesy flavor.

20 minutes in between

RECIPE OF THE DAY: CURRIED COUSCOUS SALAD

1.2 c Seasoned beef (see day 1)
1c. broth (chicken or vegetable)
1tsp curry powder
1tsp ginger powder
salt/pepper
1 clove garlic
1c. dry couscous
frozen peas
frozen corn
12 slices cucumber
2 stalks cilantro, chopped

In a saucepan, boil the broth with curry powder, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper. When it boils add to the couscous in a small bowl. Cover immediately with plastic wrap and allow to sit, covered, for 15 minutes. In a small pan, reheat the seasoned beef and add frozen vegetable. When the vegetables have sufficiently defrosted and the meat is heated through, add to the cooked couscous. Add the cilantro and mix the dish together to help fluff the couscous and mix the vegetables and meat together. Serve and top with the cucumber.

I came up with this dish after I faced a dilemma this past semester. I had two classes scheduled from 11-2pm in the afternoon two days a week. I also only had twenty minutes between the classes in which I needed to get to the next class (in another building) and eat something, because I can't go that long without eating something. So I created a few recipes for lunch that didn't require reheating and that weren't solely sandwiches. This was one of my favorites and adding the meat is very important. Couscous is best served at room temperature. To keep the rest fresh, I bought a little tupperware set that had one of those ice packs attached to the lid to keep things a bit cooler. It was a nice break from sandwiches and pasta salad. I would make it in 15 min in the morning while also making breakfast. So within 20 min, I would have breakfast and lunch ready to go.

Forays into Fusion

RECIPE OF THE (YESTER)DAY: Chinese Meatball Subs

1lb ground pork
1TB soy sauce
1/2c bread crumbs
1 egg
3 green onions-finely sliced
2 cloves garlic
1TB brown sugar
salt/pepper
french rolls
Peanut Sandwich sauce (below)

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix together pork, soy sauce, bread crumbs, egg, onions, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl until well combined. Form into large meatballs (~2TB) and place on a lined cookie sheet. Bake for 25 mins or until done. You can cut one with a knife to see how done the meatballs are. Split the french rolls in half and toast in a dry frying pan. Make the Peanut sauce. When the meatballs are done, place 2-3 meatballs into the bread and top with the peanut sauce.

Peanut Sandwich Sauce
1/2c water
2 green onions-finely sliced
1T vegetable oil
1/4c Peanut Butter
1tsp Hot Chinese mustard
1tsp Asian chili sauce

In a saucepan over medium heat, heat oil and onions. When fragrant, add peanut butter and water. When the peanut butter has "melted" add the mustard and chili sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Add extra water to thin the sauce to the desired consistency.

This recipe marks my first foray into fusion cooking (mixing cuisines of two cultures). I saw a recipe for chinese meatballs and thought maybe I could make them into a sandwich and then brainstormed the peanut sauce . They came out pretty good. I made them with a simple "pickled" slaw of cabbage, carrots, and cucumber with some vinegar, sugar, and salt. It turned out pretty good. I think you can start to create recipes once you learn how certain ingredients go together to make the food I have enjoyed for years in restaurants. I get excited whenever I can make something that reminds me of my favorite dishes. I also get excited when I can make a dish better than some of the bigger restaurants can. Makes it easier to stay home than to go out all the time to try new things. Of course you'll always be saving money when you make things from what you already have around the house, than eating out for interesting dishes.

Love/Hate with Bulk Buying

Buying is bulk is an art that requires a good amount of thought, especially when it comes to food. I'm not of the economy that I can keep from freezing or buying alot of my meat frozen. It's usually cheaper for me to buy some of it in bulk, split it into smaller portions, and use it up for the next few months. But to do that you need to think ahead and buy good equipment. The first of which is :
The Food Saver which my wonderful-father-in-law bought for us. But it has allowed us to save a good deal of money on meat. We'll buy the huge loins of pork, slice them up and freeze them. Divide italian sausage into 4 sausage packets and stick them in the freezer, and separate cuts of beef into little packets so all I have to do is figure out what I want to cook, pull it out a day before and freeze it. The Second thing you'll need is a good freezer with space for holding frozen food.
But like I said before, we have a love/hate relationship with bulk food. I refuse to buy bulk vegetables or produce. I won't go near bulk desserts because I usually feel guilty after eating my umpteenth muffin. I will only buy bulk food when I know I can store it for a while or if we use a lot of it. The only perishable thing I ever buy in bulk is olive oil (Pure not Extra Virgin) because it's really the only oil I ever really use for cooking and we always go through it. The other items that get included are rice, pasta, meat (so we can freeze it) and bread (because we can freeze it). While that might not be foodie behavior it's just one way to stay on budget without sacrificing knowing what you're putting into your body.

RECIPE OF THE DAY: Simple Seasoned Meat
This recipe is used for a variety of dishes but it started when I realized I didn't need to spend money buying the over-salty, over priced spice packets at the Store. This takes as much time as the packets and you can control the salt and the flavor, plus you can jazz it up for whatever it is you're making.

Basic:
1lb ground meat
2 cloves garlic
1/2 finely chopped onion
1Tb Olive Oil
1/4 cup broth (beef,chicken, veg it doesn't matter)
Salt/Pepper
Spices : 1-2tsp Cumin, chile powder, curry powder, cayenne pepper in various combinations

In a frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat and then add the chopped onions and garlic. Saute until soft and then add the ground meat. Brown the meat and then add the spices, salt, pepper, and the broth. Stir the mixture until well combined and simmer for 10 minutes. You can use this for tacos, enchiladas, couscous recipes, salads, and a number of other things. The all-purpose use for ground meat.

Welcome

So this is a page that is focused on the trials and tribulations of eating well while also living on a budget. There are so many things that I have learned, things that have frustrated me, and lessons that I am still going through that have infused and refined my love of food. To me food is more than just something to eat. It's an expression of one's culture, of love and care for other, and an indulgence that can transcend economics if done well. I have grown frustrated of the number of TV shows that try to teach people how to cook but then leaves them stranded with ingredients that are never available and methods that require a lot of expertise. As a graduate student living in a remote town, the trials and tribulations of eating well are no stranger to myself. Living from paycheck to paycheck makes it hard to really eat some of the rich foods I love, but it has also made me more creative in how I cook. Also my husband is allergic to most forms of dairy so trying to make some foods is out of the question while others require a bit of finessing terms of what to use. So this page is dedicated to the misadventures of a poor humble college student who is exploring and expanding her love of food and hopefully allowing other to indulge as well. Happy eating!!