A few days ago, Washington Post food blogger Kim O’Donnel’s publicized what she called the “Eat Down the Fridge” Challenge – i.e., skip grocery shopping and just eat what you already have on hand*. I try to practice that somewhat regularly anyway, and am doubling my efforts while the Guy is out of town (he’s usually my major roadblock on this front). The Double Challenge – I’m also trying to eat *healthy* this week!! So let’s see what I’ve got and what I’m doing with it, hopefully as inspiration for something you have in your fridge/freezer/pantry:
Leftovers:
Party Leftovers: Limes, Salsa, Tortillas & Chips
Perennial Ingredient Leftovers: Craisins, Flax, Tomato Soup, Chicken Broth, Canned Tuna, Pasta, Puff Pastry, Filo Dough
Veggie Leftovers: Corn, Broccoli & Cheese, Peas
Freezer Leftovers: Two Chicken Breasts
Random Pantry Side Leftovers: Potato Pancakes, Spinach CousCous, Sweet Potatoes
Recipes:
Lime Chicken Quesadillas
Chipotle Corn Salsa over Baked Chicken served with Peas and Potato Pancake
Cranberry Flaxseed Muffins
Mini Margherita Pizza with Broccoli and Cheese
YUMMY! After just a little creativity...
*I am actually not counting all of the frozen entrees I have in the freezer right now, because those I can eat anytime, and aren’t as much in the spirit of the challenge!
Showing posts with label frugal food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugal food. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Some Serious Meal Planning - Mini Chicken Pot Pies
The Guy and I have been getting to that there-is-nothing-in-the-fridge moment a little too often this past month, and I really can’t help but think it’s because we didn’t really plan ahead much. So, before we went to the grocery store, we made a list and did some serious meal planning. And I discovered a great “second or third night” of meal-planning to deal with all of the leftovers. Mini Chicken Pot Pies!!! These are super yummy and by my calculations – only 500 calories per ramekin of mini pot pie.
Ingredients:
Two 4-oz. chicken breasts – baked the day before
Handful of leftover green beans (or really any other veg you have on hand)
That perennial bag of baby carrots in the fridge
Puff Pastry
2/3 cup Light Sour Cream (or Crème Fraiche if you have that kind of refrigerator)
A little more than half an Onion
1 ¼ cup chicken broth
4 ramekins/souffle dishes/small bowls
Recipe:
Preheat oven to 450. Sautee onion, carrots, green beans on med-high for 8 min. Add chicken broth, turn down the heat and simmer for another 8 min. until some of the liquid is absorbed. Add the sour cream and chicken. Add filling into puff pastry soufflé cups or ramekins and cover with additional pastry. Brush a tiny bit of the sour cream on the tops of the filling. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until everything is warmed through. Enjoy.
Ingredients:
Two 4-oz. chicken breasts – baked the day before
Handful of leftover green beans (or really any other veg you have on hand)
That perennial bag of baby carrots in the fridge
Puff Pastry
2/3 cup Light Sour Cream (or Crème Fraiche if you have that kind of refrigerator)
A little more than half an Onion
1 ¼ cup chicken broth
4 ramekins/souffle dishes/small bowls
Recipe:
Preheat oven to 450. Sautee onion, carrots, green beans on med-high for 8 min. Add chicken broth, turn down the heat and simmer for another 8 min. until some of the liquid is absorbed. Add the sour cream and chicken. Add filling into puff pastry soufflé cups or ramekins and cover with additional pastry. Brush a tiny bit of the sour cream on the tops of the filling. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until everything is warmed through. Enjoy.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The True Cost of a Dozen Eggs
I’m not generally a big organic buyer. I work for a big food manufacturer and am close enough to our operations that I haven’t been convinced that pesticides have been that pervasive or harmful in non-organic food. I have absorbed An Inconvenient Truth and I do my best, but I am no eco-evangelist of any kind. I want to buy sustainable, ethical products, and try when I think I can make a difference, but by and large, I’m frugal, and want to keep my food costs as low as possible.
I started to think about it a little differently after reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and hearing how government subsidies have turned our industrial food system on its head. The parts about corn-fed beef was pretty horrifying but what I thought was most powerful was the notion of true cost for food. While some products may be cheap, what’s the true cost of mass-producing and mass-transporting this food. What’s the true cost to our society – moral and economic? What’s the true cost to our healthcare system, after the impact of obesity and poor nutrition? What’s the true cost to our foreign policy, now that we’ve become utterly dependent on the cheap oil to fuel our cheap corn to fuel our cheap food across the supermarket?
Pollan’s arguments were insightful, but the main result of reading about the industrial food system, is that you realize that the price on the grocery tag doesn’t incorporate all of the costs. While you may not be paying those costs, you will most assuredly pay them later – through healthcare or taxes. His underlying premise is that you can’t just look away – you have to understand how the economics of the grocery store work:
“but this is what can happen to you when… you look. And what you see when you look is the cruelty – and blindness to cruelty – required to produce eggs that can be sold for seventy-nine cents a dozen” (Pollan)
I was in shock when I read about the egg operations for the majority of manufacturers – that they drive the animals to insanity and starvation, and factor into their business model a 10% premature death rate for the hens who can’t stand these conditions. If that’s the true cost, then I will be paying the premium from organic, sustainable eggs from now on.
Note, FruGal has another excellent post on a related topic: ethical shopping and being more aware of foul play in the grocery store supply chain)
I started to think about it a little differently after reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and hearing how government subsidies have turned our industrial food system on its head. The parts about corn-fed beef was pretty horrifying but what I thought was most powerful was the notion of true cost for food. While some products may be cheap, what’s the true cost of mass-producing and mass-transporting this food. What’s the true cost to our society – moral and economic? What’s the true cost to our healthcare system, after the impact of obesity and poor nutrition? What’s the true cost to our foreign policy, now that we’ve become utterly dependent on the cheap oil to fuel our cheap corn to fuel our cheap food across the supermarket?
Pollan’s arguments were insightful, but the main result of reading about the industrial food system, is that you realize that the price on the grocery tag doesn’t incorporate all of the costs. While you may not be paying those costs, you will most assuredly pay them later – through healthcare or taxes. His underlying premise is that you can’t just look away – you have to understand how the economics of the grocery store work:
“but this is what can happen to you when… you look. And what you see when you look is the cruelty – and blindness to cruelty – required to produce eggs that can be sold for seventy-nine cents a dozen” (Pollan)
I was in shock when I read about the egg operations for the majority of manufacturers – that they drive the animals to insanity and starvation, and factor into their business model a 10% premature death rate for the hens who can’t stand these conditions. If that’s the true cost, then I will be paying the premium from organic, sustainable eggs from now on.
Note, FruGal has another excellent post on a related topic: ethical shopping and being more aware of foul play in the grocery store supply chain)
Monday, January 5, 2009
A Few Recipes to Kick Off the New Year
I recently uncovered that the Mayo Clinic’s website actually has FANTASTIC, no-fuss recipes. And for those that had those types of new year’s resolutions, they’re all from the Mediterranean diet. Yum, heart health! Even better, there are quite a few that are plenty frugal. I found a lot of recipes where I had everything in my pantry beyond the main ingredient, as was the case with the three recipes below – what I’m having for dinner this week:
Entrée: Honey Crusted Chicken (4 ingredients!)
Side: Green Beans with Red Pepper and Garlic
Dessert: Grilled Pineapple
Entrée: Honey Crusted Chicken (4 ingredients!)
Side: Green Beans with Red Pepper and Garlic
Dessert: Grilled Pineapple
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Hungry Girl Recipe Review.
You might recall I got the Hungry Girl cookbook, and was determined to make a lot of recipes. I’m now weighing in on everything I made – there were definite winners and losers.
Winners:
Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries – First of all, amazing. They tasted just like fries. Better than fries, because there was so much more flavor. Crispy with lots of sea salt, they were good enough to serve to company. (I can't believe I just wrote that. Who has "company"? Excuse the 1950s reference.) And, so easy. You just cut up the squash in the shape of fries, bake lying flat for forty minutes at 425. The hardest part is wielding the knife on a big squash.
Crazy Good Turkey Taco Meatloaf – This one came out of the stove looking pretty sketchy. But it tasted awesome. I fixed this for the Guy – who doesn’t always trust my cooking – and he was impressed.
Loser:
Death by Chocolate Cupcakes – The whole gimmick here is that these were supposed to be 100-calorie cupcakes. They might have worked better as a very light sponge cake. As it was, the texture was just horrible – weird, somewhere between custard and chocolate angel food cake. If you’re going to spend 100 calories on something, so many more worthwhile indulgences.
Unmemorable:
Rockin Tuna Melt – With all of the substitutions, this was hardly a tuna melt. But a fine sandwich for those days when I get home late from work.
Choptastic Veggie Salad – Really good, just nothing too innovative.
I do enjoy Hungry Girl’s recipes usually since they are pretty down-to-earth. And you can be frugal about them. You don’t have to go buy crazy ingredients, and they all taste like real FOOD. Any other favorite Hungry Girl recipes I should try? Otherwise, I'm shelving this one for awhile.
Winners:
Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries – First of all, amazing. They tasted just like fries. Better than fries, because there was so much more flavor. Crispy with lots of sea salt, they were good enough to serve to company. (I can't believe I just wrote that. Who has "company"? Excuse the 1950s reference.) And, so easy. You just cut up the squash in the shape of fries, bake lying flat for forty minutes at 425. The hardest part is wielding the knife on a big squash.
Crazy Good Turkey Taco Meatloaf – This one came out of the stove looking pretty sketchy. But it tasted awesome. I fixed this for the Guy – who doesn’t always trust my cooking – and he was impressed.
Loser:
Death by Chocolate Cupcakes – The whole gimmick here is that these were supposed to be 100-calorie cupcakes. They might have worked better as a very light sponge cake. As it was, the texture was just horrible – weird, somewhere between custard and chocolate angel food cake. If you’re going to spend 100 calories on something, so many more worthwhile indulgences.
Unmemorable:
Rockin Tuna Melt – With all of the substitutions, this was hardly a tuna melt. But a fine sandwich for those days when I get home late from work.
Choptastic Veggie Salad – Really good, just nothing too innovative.
I do enjoy Hungry Girl’s recipes usually since they are pretty down-to-earth. And you can be frugal about them. You don’t have to go buy crazy ingredients, and they all taste like real FOOD. Any other favorite Hungry Girl recipes I should try? Otherwise, I'm shelving this one for awhile.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
(Frugal) Hungry Girl
The Guy recently gave me the Hungry Girl cookbook, and it coincides with the feeling that I should be trying to get a little bit more out of my grocery budget (in terms of savings and variety), so here goes:
First, Recipes I can Make with the Stuff in my Pantry:
Red Beans & Rice, Lima Beans, Mushroom Patty
Turkey Omelet with Pineapple Salsa, Turkey Sausage
Vegetable Barley Soup, Blue Corn Chips & Roja Salsa
Potato Pancakes, Carrot, Edamame and Black Bean Vegetable Blend, Peaches
Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken
Kashi Spinach Feta & Mushroom Pizza
Whole Wheat Pasta with Vodka Sauce and Broccoli Cuts
Second, NEW Recipes from the Hungry Girl Cookbook:
Chop-tastic Veggie Salad [Grill a veggie burger patty and add vegetables to top a salad]
Rockin’ Tuna Melt [Skip the mayonnaise and add carrots for some texture]
Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries [Cut up squash in the shape of fries, Bake lying flat for 40 min at 425 degrees]
Crazy Good Turkey Taco Meatloaf [Add veggies (corn, peppers, onions) to traditional ground turkey]
Death by Chocolate Cupcake [Use diet hot cocoa mix, chocolate cake mix and Splenda as the base]
Mint Mocha Freeze [Coffeemate, sugar free sweetener, and instant coffee for a Starbucks substitution]
First, Recipes I can Make with the Stuff in my Pantry:
Red Beans & Rice, Lima Beans, Mushroom Patty
Turkey Omelet with Pineapple Salsa, Turkey Sausage
Vegetable Barley Soup, Blue Corn Chips & Roja Salsa
Potato Pancakes, Carrot, Edamame and Black Bean Vegetable Blend, Peaches
Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken
Kashi Spinach Feta & Mushroom Pizza
Whole Wheat Pasta with Vodka Sauce and Broccoli Cuts
Second, NEW Recipes from the Hungry Girl Cookbook:
Chop-tastic Veggie Salad [Grill a veggie burger patty and add vegetables to top a salad]
Rockin’ Tuna Melt [Skip the mayonnaise and add carrots for some texture]
Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries [Cut up squash in the shape of fries, Bake lying flat for 40 min at 425 degrees]
Crazy Good Turkey Taco Meatloaf [Add veggies (corn, peppers, onions) to traditional ground turkey]
Death by Chocolate Cupcake [Use diet hot cocoa mix, chocolate cake mix and Splenda as the base]
Mint Mocha Freeze [Coffeemate, sugar free sweetener, and instant coffee for a Starbucks substitution]
Thursday, May 1, 2008
May Goals
This month I'm going to try to make my goals a little more motivating...
1) Uniting Sustainability and Savings
- I’m bringing in ceramic mug and cups to work – which will keep me drinking the office floor coffee instead of Starbucks, and water instead of grabbing diet cokes from vending.
- Reduce how much I drive each week. Walk to the Guy's instead of driving on nice days. Limit driving for weekend errands.
2) My Own Personal "Stick" for Going Overbudget on Food in April....
- Before I go back to the grocery store, I’m first going to get through every single one of these delicious dinners in my pantry:
... Lentil Soup & Organic Black Chips
... Pasta with Frozen Snap Peas
... Mediterranean Kashi Pizza
... Omlette & Turkey Sausage
... Chicken, Broc& Cheese, Near East Grains
... Chicken, Corn & Near Grains
... Turkey wrap with cheese &spicy mustard
- No more premium grocery stores. Only the value grocery stores (even though they’re way inconvenient in location) for the month of May. Maybe I’ll even head back to Super Target, since they’re definitely the cheapest.
1) Uniting Sustainability and Savings
- I’m bringing in ceramic mug and cups to work – which will keep me drinking the office floor coffee instead of Starbucks, and water instead of grabbing diet cokes from vending.
- Reduce how much I drive each week. Walk to the Guy's instead of driving on nice days. Limit driving for weekend errands.
2) My Own Personal "Stick" for Going Overbudget on Food in April....
- Before I go back to the grocery store, I’m first going to get through every single one of these delicious dinners in my pantry:
... Lentil Soup & Organic Black Chips
... Pasta with Frozen Snap Peas
... Mediterranean Kashi Pizza
... Omlette & Turkey Sausage
... Chicken, Broc& Cheese, Near East Grains
... Chicken, Corn & Near Grains
... Turkey wrap with cheese &spicy mustard
- No more premium grocery stores. Only the value grocery stores (even though they’re way inconvenient in location) for the month of May. Maybe I’ll even head back to Super Target, since they’re definitely the cheapest.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Awesome Site for Frugal Food: CookThink.com
Ever since English Major’s Money blogged about batch cooking, I've been wanting to give it a shot. I'm thinking it will hopefully help with my compulsion impulses – when something is in front of me, I want to consume it immediately. So while it saves on planning and money, I'm hoping it might help with the calories too.
Before I got started I found this website: that helps out with inspiration. You can select your “mood” and CookThink spits out recipe ideas that match how you’re feeling. Everything from “grassy” to “spontaneous” to “elegant.” The more interesting way it works when it comes to frugal cooking: you can search based on ingredient, so you can figure out what you can make for dinner with what you already have in your pantry. Here’s what I tried:
Before I got started I found this website: that helps out with inspiration. You can select your “mood” and CookThink spits out recipe ideas that match how you’re feeling. Everything from “grassy” to “spontaneous” to “elegant.” The more interesting way it works when it comes to frugal cooking: you can search based on ingredient, so you can figure out what you can make for dinner with what you already have in your pantry. Here’s what I tried:
- Spicy Penne with Shrimp and Mint
- Chicken Kebabs with Broccoli & Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
YUM!
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