The Pig and I

Well, as you know I didn't do the Saturday spending, because pretty much the only food I've been buying has been for the wedding. But I did save the receipts so y'all could see what was purchased. Normally I separate everything out by store, but I'm feeling lazy and have a lot of other stuff to do to get ready for Thanksgiving, so I'm just combining them into one long list. $8.69 - chickpeas $18.00 - pita (108 loaves that I didn't have time to make) $13.08 - 17 pounds onions $8.99 - 10 pounds basamati rice $5.29 - 8 ounces shelled pistachios $4.99 - 1 pound raw almonds $6.59 - 1 pound shelled walnuts $6.89 - 10-can arabic pickles $8.49 - 4 pounds nabulsi olives $4.58 - 2 28-ounce cans tomato puree $27.16 - 8 kilos dolma (yeah, I was too busy to make these) $17.99 - 2 kilos kalamata olives $3.99 - ras el hanout $4.78 - fillo dough (2 pounds) $6.87 - 1 1/2 pounds peeled whole garlic $17.98 - 2 kilos tzatziki (this was more efficient than me makin...

So I've mentioned to y'all that I'm doing the catering for my wedding, but I haven't actually said anything else about it. I thought I might do that, since I don't have time right now to type up new recipes. Mainly because as I'm making them up, I scrawl little notes to myself, most of which are barely legible (on a good day I usually need help reading my writing; perhaps I ought to have become a doctor), and have so little detail that I have to extrapolate from pretty limited data what I actually did. Anyway, I thought y'all might like to know what I'm up to for the wedding food. As well as the shortcuts I'm taking to make this manageable while I'm in the middle of crunch time in my semester. So here it is: The Menu: Braised lamb shanks and vegetables (onions, carrots and celery) (meat) Dill rice (vegan) Tabouleh (vegan) Dolma (vegan) Hummus (vegan) Pita (vegan) Pickles, olives and feta (vegan/vegetarian) Mast-o-khiar (vegetatian) ...

This week we only spent $3.29, for bread flour. Otherwise, pretty quiet week in terms of groceries. However, I did spend some on the wedding food. I'm still trying to figure out where I put the receipt for what I've gotten so far, but you guys know how I am with finding things I've lost. (sorry for this one being late too)

This week was good. We wasted nothing!! (sorry about the lateness of this)

I keep thinking I'd already posted this, but it turns out I hadn't. So, while I ought to have taken pictures (now that I found my camera!), I didn't because I thought y'all knew this one. This is one of the easiest desserts on the planet to make, and it's beautiful to look at and tastes wonderful. Hope you enjoy! 1 sheet puff pastry 2 fairly ripe pears, 1 apple, 2 peaches, etc; cored and sliced thinly 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar (optional) 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (optional) 1 beaten egg (optional) Put puff pastry sheet on a baking sheet. Score with a one inch border, then dock the inside of the border (that means poke a bunch of holes with a fork). Arrange the fruit slices in concentric squares, not letting the fruit leave the scored border. Sprinkle with sugar and lemon, if using. Chill in fridge while your oven heats to 400F. Apply egg wash to the border, if desired. Bake 15 minutes. Cool on a rack, then transfer to a plate. Serves 8.

So, more of the same these last two weeks. Piles of pasta, rice and beans. And loads of canned tomatoes. I'd also run out of tuna, but of course I bought more. I haven't made a bit of a dent in the mushrooms or in the kelp or in the bonito. I think I keep forgetting about them, but I'll get them started eventually, huh?

Alright, so you're getting two weeks worth of shopping today, instead of just one. Though I've still spent far too much on food the last two weeks as well. After Thanksgiving is done (I'm doing my own catering for the wedding and also have some stuff to cook for the holiday, so my food costs will be up until after that's all said and done), I believe I'll be setting a $100/month grocery budget. If I need to scale it up a touch (or down), then I will, but for now I'd like to go w/ $100/month and see how we do. So that's settled now. Fiesta: $0.66 - tomatoes $1.09 - acorn squash $0.96 - snow peas $1.69 - mushrooms subtotal: $4.40 Walmart: $2.41 - onions (3.25 lbs) $2.48 - eggs $5.16 - 2 pounds butter (this is for the wedding baklava, as there'll be two trays of it) $3.26 - ham $1.48 - salad mix (yes, I know) $2.18 - spinach $2.32 - shredded cheese $3.97 - potatoes $0.92 - tortillas (yes, I know) $2.92 - chili powder $2.08 - cocktail ...

Oops. I missed last week entirely, haven't I? Sorry about that. I've been crazy the last few days (couple weeks), with the semester and also with working stuff out for my wedding which is on the 19th (are y'all surprised?). I'm doing the food, so that's kind of been something I've been paying more attention to (and my homework, of course. Y'all know how I'm always doing that). Anyway, for this week and last week, I'm pleased to say I had absolutely no food waste (see? Even when I don't remember to post, I do remember to keep track of what's happening). Tomorrow, I'll put in my receipts for the last two weeks. Also, I found my camera. In my gym bag. Did I tell you that already? So pictures of the food should be forthcoming once I get that in the works again (the cooking of things you haven't seen yet, I mean).

So it turns out my camera ISN'T in another state. It was in my gym bag. How it got in there, I have no idea. But it does tell all of us just how long it's been since I was last at the gym. Not that any of that helps us today, since I made this food and ate it all before I knew that I wanted to give you pictures. Well, not that I wanted to. But that I could. And such. Y'all know what I'm saying. So anyway. Black eyed peas. Evidently, I had about 5 pounds of them. Huh. Didn't know. I unearthed this little treasure trove when the last bin of non-mushrooms got emptied out. Well... do y'all remember me buying so many? Because I really don't. But I like them, so it works out in the end. This is how we've been making them. It's quite nice and requires nearly no effort from me (so little effort that I threw this together after getting home from work at almost 3am). For all my vegan and vegetarian friends, just use a bit of oil in place of the bacon and it...

This week was pretty straightforward. From the stores, came: tea more rice (we're almost out of white rice!) more canned goods, mainly tomatoes pasta fruitcake (there are only two bites left, which will be gone by the time y'all see this) sesame oil most of the olive oil (it doesn't help, probably, that I use olive oil as lotion. Or maybe it does help - depends on your perspective I suppose) And something else went into storage (though it's in the freezer): Pumpkin. I had a big pumpkin, which was cut and roasted. The seeds also were seasoned and roasted, and the strings from the inside, along with some of the pulp, went into making pumpkin butter (mostly this got canned, but I left some in a jar in the fridge for R). The remainder of the pumpkin simply got pureed and then portioned and put into bags. I'll be buying one more pumpkin, which I will peel and cube, then freeze the cubes raw so I can cook them in any fashion I wish throughout the year. I'm...

This week was good, in terms of spending. It appears that no longer will the days of needing nothing really apply to me, since we go through roughly 5 pounds of flour a week (okay, that's a lie. 5 pounds of bread flour; I bake other things that need all-purpose as well, but we don't go through that flour as quickly). As I only buy my bread flour in 5 pound increments, that means a new bag each week is needed. On the upside, since I've started saving a piece of each batch of dough to make the next one with (and can I just say how much I love seeing a bowl of dough sitting on the counter every day, waiting for me to bake it? I love it a lot), I no longer need yeast for our daily bread. This is fabulous, and I enjoy it intensely. Anyway, here's what was purchased this week: HEB: $2.97 - orange juice $3.59 - bread flour $2.18 - milk (ew) total: $8.74

This was a great week. I wasted: NOTHING!!!

Here's the last of the andouille. I think I recently posted something pretty similar, though it was with black beans. This one is along the same lines, but was a little less work (if you can imagine). Hope you enjoy! 2 cups cooked anasazi beans 1 small yellow onion, diced 2 tablespoons olive oil salt and pepper to taste 1 teaspoon cayenne (use less if you're sensitive to spicy foods) 1/2 teaspoon thyme 15-ounce can tomato sauce 3 1/2 ounces (1/4 package) andouille, sliced thinly 1 tablespoon each: lemon juice, pickle juice Heat oil in a 10" skillet and add onions and salt and pepper. Fry lightly, and when the onions are beginning to brown a bit, throw in the sausage and fry again for about 5 minutes. Add in remaining ingredients and simmer 30 minutes or however long it takes for everyone to get home for dinner. Serve over rice. Serves 2.

I'm really into mashed potatoes. Did you guys know this about me? I never really talk about mashed potatoes because I figure y'all know how to make them. But just in case, here's a recipe for them. You will definitely want to modify this to suit your own tastes, as I really, really like garlic and it's reflected in the recipe. Hope you enjoy! 4-5 russet potatoes, peeled (mostly) and chopped up 1 tiny onion, peeled and chopped up 1 head garlic, peeled (I know; you use less if you like; I actually used about a quarter of a cup of the garlic sauce, toum, here instead of freshly peeled garlic) salt water 4 ounces (half a container) cream cheese (or sour cream; I had an incident w/ my sour cream that I don't really want to talk about much since it'll gross us all out) half a stick of butter salt and pepper to taste few grates of nutmeg Boil the first group of ingredients until the potatoes are quite soft. Drain, then add the second group of ingredients t...

I miss my camera, guys. I can't figure out what state I left it in while I was on vacation, but I know it's definitely not in Texas. Ah well. I'll get another one at some point (R has a camera, but no reader and I have no software on my computer. So there we have it). Instead, I'm just loving on the andouille. Mainly because I had a bunch and usually when I buy it I (as y'all may remember) use it for 2-4 meals. Today is another one. Okay, maybe you wouldn't call this a meal. But I will. It's a meal. Next to some mashed potatoes (holy potato day!), it's filling and a complete meal. If you want to vegetarianize this, just leave out the sausage. Hope you enjoy! 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and sliced very thin (seems like everyone gives you measurements when they tell you how to make them, but those're standards I just can't live up to so I'll just say "very thin") 2 tablespoons toum (alternately, two minced cloves of garlic) 1...

So what we have here is a failure to communicate. Between my brain and my tummy, anyway. Which basically means my memory of what came out of storage this week is limited at best. Here's my best try, though (and perhaps I'll start writing it down throughout the week so y'all aren't victimised by my shoddy memory anymore): rice, white (we are down to possibly two litres remaining of this) black beans pasta canned goods tea last of the coffee baking supplies (including a bag of mint chips) Here's the interesting (and good!) news: we are now down to just one bin for most of the storage, and one bin for mushrooms, seaweed and bonito. This is massive, massive progress. I'm stoked.

So. I didn't go to the store. Thankfully. Next week I'll need to, since we're about out of milk and stuff of that nature (btw, it's still weird to me to see milk on the shopping list, when I'm not baking something that needs it). Not eggs though, since we got two dozen last time. I think I need to work out a monthly food budget, but honestly I've been so busy with school stuff (this PB business is a lot more work intensive than I anticipated, though I suppose that's bound to be the case when you've changed fields completely) that I haven't even really thought about what our grocery needs really are and how the budget should reflect that. What do y'all think? There're just two of us, with frequent guests some weeks. I think $100 should suffice. Anyone disagree? How do y'all handle your food budget concerns and planning?

This week was a good week, for the most part. This week, I wasted: 1/4 cup of sour cream (this was actually really disgusting, so ask me no questions)

I like mint. I like lemonade. I love mint lemonade. That pretty much sums up my thoughts on this recipe, really. But, mint lemonade is for a hot day, when you want to be refreshed by your liquids. Sometimes this is also nice with fresh ginger instead of mint, too. Hope you enjoy! 1 cup mint 3 ounces lemon juice (basically, one and a half lemons is what I juiced) 2-3 tablespoons agave nectar (or simple syrup, if you prefer) water to fill the blender up to the three cup line Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. You may also add ice if you like it that way. Serves 2.

I hadn't been feeling well, having just recovered from a kidney infection and then launching into yet another infection. For some reason, this semester has been awful for me in terms of illness. After several weeks of blood tests, medications, CT scans, IVs, etc., most of the foods I've wanted to eat (when I've been able to eat more than a few bites a day) have been related to stews and other comfort foods. I'm just happy that through all this, I've still been able to make food. I don't know that I'd have been able to do so had I not had an amazing sous in the house, R, who has been tremendously helpful and supportive while I get back to being a healthy person. This stew was the perfect sort of comfort meal. It's healthful and delicious, tasting fresh and wonderful. It's got substance, but isn't heavy, and is one of those stews where there aren't a lot of spices going on so that each ingredient can truly speak for itself instead of hiding b...

This is more of a simmered dish than a stew per se, but I just wasn't really certain how I should name the dish. It's a simple, rustic affair that's easy to make and doesn't take very long. It's got lots of flavour and can easily be modified to fit any sort of flavour profile you might be looking for. As it stands now, it has a vaguely Cajun "feel" to it, although it's not Cajun cuisine by any stretch of the imagination. It also turns out that I have, in fact, lost my camera. I hope I can find it, since I can't afford to go buy a new one right now. Bills and food, and all that. So, still no pictures. I know y'all have very creative imaginations though, so I'm sure you can imagine what each one looks like. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this dish! 2 carrots, sliced 1 stalk celery, sliced 2 shallots, sliced salt juice of half a lemon 1 can (or 1 1/2 - 2 cups freshly cooked) black beans 7 ounces andouille (this is usually about a half ...

Okay, so one more dip for you guys. This goes really well on meat, but it's also good on vegetarian foods and just for dipping your bread in. This one is really easy to make as well, and while it's not my absolute favourite of the dips I've been posting lately, it's an important dip and one I feel everyone should know how to make. Hope you enjoy! 1 - 1 1/2 cups thick yogurt (Greek or Arabic) 2 baby cucumbers, peeled and diced juice of half a lemon salt and pepper 1/8 cup each: parsley, mint, both chopped Mix all together. Makes roughly two cups.

This week again, I hadn't used much in the way of storage. But here's what I did use: pasta flour, flour, flour (I think we're going through an average of 5 pounds per week) lots more tea some bulghur wheat some canned goods tons of vanilla extract (this has actually happened over a while, but I forgot to tell y'all) tons of spices, of course so much rice. so much rice.

I'd expected to have a light grocery week this week, but I forgot that we needed stuff for camping too. So we ended up getting a LOT of groceries this week. Again. It's starting to look like I'm going to need to put myself back on a standard grocery budget, since all this spending is a bit out of control. Here's what was purchased this week: Kroger: $2.59 - canola oil $1.99 - milk $3.19 - bread flour $1.74 - all purpose flour $2.69 - whole wheat flour $0.89 - cream of celery soup (for tuna casserole) $2.98 - 2 cans sweetened condensed milk $5.98 - 2 pounds butter $1.78 - graham crackers (for pie) $2.14 - cream cheese (must. have. lemon. buns) $2.99 - white chocolate chips (for cookies to make for people who have been very sweet to me lately) $2.19 - 4 ounces yeast $3.69 - local honey $2.79 - heavy cream $3.38 - soups for while sick $1.99 - shredded swiss $1.99 - shredded mozzarella $7.99 - salami (see? camping food) $7.99 - good cheese (more campin...

Once again, I am not perfect on the waste this week. I've had a lot (for me) of waste recently, though I'm not sure how it is I keep managing to have this problem. But, I'll keep working at it. Someday, I may have a waste free existence! This week I wasted: 1 bell pepper (this is kind of weird, actually. I got this, and 3 days later when I went to use it, it was not looking so great but I was going to use it anyway until I cut it open and found it was full of mold)

Oh, Kofta. The jewel of my eye, truly. Kofta, the lovely grilled meatballs who sometimes define my very existence, is generally the highlight of my week when I eat them. They, like falafel, are so very much my favourite dishes that I unfairly judge every Middle Eastern restaurant by them. If they're excellent, I fall head over heels with the restaurant. If they're not that good, it's unlikely I'll eat there again (which of course means I don't ever get to find out what they actually do well). But there you have it. It occurred to me that I never did tell you how I like to make kofta, and so today is that day. The other bit of happiness is that these are perfect with the toum you know how to make, with tahini sauce, with mast-o-khiar (this recipe will be along sometime soon, but you can use homemade or store-bought tzaziki if you prefer), etc. Kids like them because they're kind of like breadless hamburgers on sticks, and adults love them because they're de...

I'm always thinking that I want to make spring rolls. Because I do want to make them. Well, I want to make them up until the point I actually start rolling them, anyway. This was born of one of those times. As tends to happen, when I wanted the spring rolls I just made a full package of rice noodles, and when I was tired of rolling, I had a lot of noodles left. This little "salad" is what has come of having too many noodles left and no desire to throw them away or cook them again. It's pretty wonderful, though, and I hope you all enjoy it! 1 package rice or tapioca noodles water 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon fish sauce 1-2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 1/2 tablespoon bread dipping spice blend (you know the ones you put in olive oil? Those) Boil water and add noodles. Cook for approximately 8 minutes (or until done). Strain, then rinse with cold water until no longer warm to touch. Mix with the remaining ingredients and serve. Serves 4-8, depending on if ...

A couple years back, P and I were camping with some friends. We'd split up meals, and one of the days our fellow camper, Sarah, grilled this onion soup. It was a delightful treat, so I asked her for the recipe. Today I share it with you. :) Hope you enjoy! 4 large onions (yellow or white), peeled, with the root end trimmed and the core hollowed out two thirds of the way down the onion 4 beef bouillon cubes (or veggie cubes, for you vegetarians out there) 4 tablespoons butter water as needed Insert a bouillon cube, a tablespoon of butter and water to fill into the cavity of each onion. Wrap in foil completely, then grill over high heat (with the grill closed) for one hour. This may also be done in the oven at 400-450F. Open bundles and sprinkle top of cavity with cheese (optional). Serves 4.

Lamb shanks. Who doesn't love these? Okay, maybe people who don't eat lamb don't love them, but I think to most lamb eaters, shanks are a succulent treat that no one ever wants to make themselves since it takes an ungodly amount of time to do so. This is good weekend food, for those who have jobs. It's a great way to cook lamb during the week for those who work from home (in this list I include you SAHMs and such), students, etc. Be aware it takes a long time, even though most of that time is inactive, and plan accordingly. These are simply made but seem to be devoured quickly. This recipe is for two people, but easily scales up to accommodate more eaters. Hope you enjoy! 1 leek, halved lengthwise and washed, with root end trimmed 4 tiny beets, peeled 2 carrots, cut in half (or you could leave them whole if you prefer) handful of garlic cloves 1/3 cup pumpkin puree (optional; I just happened to need to use this, so it went in the casserole dish) 8 ounce can tomat...

This week I've barely used any storage at all. I mean, I'm running out of yeast and once again I'm running out of flour (I'm not really sure how I'm going through between 10-20 pounds of bread flour per month these days, but there it is). Even tea I haven't used much of this week. I guess that last shopping trip has been consuming me (which makes sense, since I really did buy a ton of food) and as a result I've only been dipping into the pantry to make more bread. Better next week, I hope.

This was a huge grocery week for me. I knew I was needing to replace a couple staples, such as the chick peas, but I didn't think I was going to lose my mind halfway when I went to Phoenicia. I ought to've seen that coming, since I haven't set foot in that store in nearly two months. Plus, with Rosh Hashana needing to be purchased for, I really should not have been terribly surprised by the amount of food I bought this week. So here'll be the surprise for you too. :) Phoenicia: $5.69 - ground lamb $5.43 - lamb shank $2.49 - wasa rye crisps $1.50 - pita; 9 loaves (which is weird I bought this since I'd just made pita two days before and intended to make more the next day) $2.39 - apricot paste (kamruddin) $1.99 - arabic cucumber pickles $6.89 - olives $1.99 - dried basil $3.63 - gouda $4.57 - fresh dates $2.00 - dried marjoram $3.59 - crystallised ginger $3.29 - pickled grape leaves $3.59 - red lentils (2 lb) $3.59 - puy lentils (2 lb) $2.49 - chic...

This week I wasted: 1 carrot a bit of seaweed salad

So I have you sauces, but I didn't give you the chicken. That was rude of me, wasn't it? I think y'all have figured out that I'm kind of a lazy procrastinator, so it's probably not much of a surprise to you. Well, I'm a lazy procrastinator on a normal day; during a period of time where I'm recovering from a kidney infection as I prepare for midterms, I don't even have a proper label for how sloth-like I really do become. Regardless, here's the chicken. This recipe is listed as a kebab recipe, and that's really how it should be. But y'all should know I didn't actually MAKE this properly. I was lazy and tired and so I just grilled the chicken before cutting it up, and I certainly didn't skewer it. But the concept is the same, and y'all will do it properly so each little succulent bit of chicken (and how often do I call chicken succulent?) is individually spiced and seared. Right? Well, maybe you won't. So I'll put down bot...

Here's another dip/sauce for you. I love this one at least as much as the last, though for completely different reasons. This sauce is perfect for dipping kebabs in (the main reason I'm giving it to you now), and also for kofta and all sorts of other yumminess. Sometimes I use it just for dipping bread in, or to slather on crusty bread with parsley to make garlic bread. It's an awesome, multipurpose dip. It's also really, really easy to make. Hope you enjoy! 1 head garlic 1-2 teaspoons (okay, I actually use a little more) lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt (again, I actually use more) 1/4+ vegetable oil Peel the garlic and put it in a small food processor, with the salt. Pulse until it's paste-like, but still slightly granular. Add in the lemon and pulse again. Then add small amounts of oil and pulse as though you were making mayonnaise (some people do add egg, or potato, but I prefer it made without), until it's light and has the level of garlic strength in its...

This is one of my favourite dips. It's very, very easy to make and tastes great. I prefer to eat it at room temperature, but you can eat it cold as well. Generally, I take some pita or other flat bread, get a good glob of this on it, then top it with some sabzi (I use a mix of mint, scallion and parsley, usually) and sometimes with a little chunk of feta as well. It's wonderfully delicious and simple. Hope you enjoy! 1 cup yogurt (I either use Greek or Arabic yogurt, depending on where I was shopping that week) 1 large shallot, minced finely (you may use more if you're into heavy shallot flavour) 2 teaspoons lemon juice (optional) salt and pepper to taste Mix together and let sit at least one hour so the flavours can meld. Serves 2-8. I still can't find my camera, as an aside. It's somewhere in my car, and hopefully sometime soon I'll figure out exactly where.

This week was pretty standard for getting through things. Lot of pasta, lot of rice (we are now down to three litres of white rice), last of the lentils (though I bought more, as you'll see next Saturday). Also, some more of the rice noodles (another package!), and a bit more tea. I think I'm almost out of yeast, which is bad. I have plenty of flour though, which is good. And, when I believed I was nearly out of molasses, I actually looked to see if I had some before buying more (I did). So some storage was avoided as well. I'm also nearly out of chick peas, so I got some more of those. I guess I use more of those than any other bean. It used to be black beans, but I haven't really been eating those lately for some strange reason. Perhaps I'll start eating those again, or finishing out some of the beans I'm close to being through. We shall see. How are things going for your pantry staples? Are you building up a large food storage supply; trying, as I am, to pa...

This probably isn't going to surprise you all a ton, particularly given how much shopping I did last week. Have I ever, in the history of Saturday Spending, spent such a huge amount in one month, let alone one week, on groceries? I don't think I have, but perhaps y'all know better than I do. Anyway, I didn't even set foot in a grocery store this week. Next week I'm quite sure I will be spending some on food, since I'm nearly out of chick peas, and I very, very badly want to make kofta, garlic sauce, and perhaps some more pita. Well, hopefully this week, anyway. I'm a bit behind in my reading still for this semester (and today is GRE-taking day so that's about all that's on my mind), so it's possible I won't make it but still highly doubtful that I can ignore my cravings for another week. How was y'all's week in grocery land?

I'm a little sad this Friday. There was a little waste, which always makes me a bit sad, but this week in particular I wasted something that shocked even me. This week I wasted: 6 figs Very, very, very bad Allie.

This recipe is adapted from the cherry clafouti recipe I found in Joy of Cooking (but I'm not doing the quotes thing like I normally do because I just remember how it goes in my head). I had a billion plums sitting in the fridge that were decent, but not ideal for eating out of hand. Or maybe I just got spoiled while I was on vacation eating fruit as it came off trees (literally) and now grocery story fruit isn't all that impressive to me. 4 eggs 3/4 - 1 cup sugar or vanilla sugar 1 cup milk 2-3 tablespoons vanilla (I use a lot; you use less if you like) 2 teaspoons salt 3/4 cup pastry or all-purpose flour 1 pound or so of plums, cut in half and pitted but not peeled Whisk eggs with sugar until frothy. Add milk and vanilla and beat until smooth, then add the salt and flour and whisk until it's mostly not lumpy anymore. Put the plums, cut side up, in a large Pyrex pie plate so that they're all touching each other and form a solid layer of plum on the bottom (or...

As I was going through the freezer to see what food is available, I noticed there was about a half a roasted sweet potato languishing in some tupperware. Now, I say "languishing" because it'd been more than a month since I'd last eaten sweet potato. Or at least since I last remember eating sweet potato. But there it was, chillin' out, "looking" at me like it was saying, "Hey lady. You used to love sweet potatoes. What'd I do wrong to make you break things off with me so suddenly?" And I was ashamed to admit that it had, in fact, done nothing wrong. I'm just inattentive (tell you something you didn't already know, right?) and absent-minded and sometimes in the pursuit of new adventures, I just forget my old faithfuls. I also found most of a container of ricotta in there from when I last made lasagna. It seemed to me that while the sweet potato lends itself graciously to myriad uses, I might like to elevate it beyond its humble b...

So this week was pretty simple in terms of storage use. There is absolutely no way I'll be more appreciably close to finishing the food storage by the end of my lease, but I still think I'm making phenomenal progress. We've used up, this week: more rice (I think I'm now close to finishing up the white rice and brown rice, and I don't know if I'll keep more than a little bit of standard white rice in the house anymore, as everyone here is pretty much on board with whole grain rices now) more pasta more flours all the frozen pumpkin piles of tea bonito kombu more trumpet mushrooms 1 package rice noodles

A lot of groceries were purchased this week. A lot. I noticed several things were missing from the kitchen, and that I had used up a lot of other things. So you'll probably see the largest amount of grocery shopping on this post that you've ever seen from me. Also, we had a dinner party and so there's some extra stuff you're not used to seeing me buy from that as well. And the cheese binge. I'm on a big cheese binge Kroger : $2.82 - parmesan cheese (OMG we are having Brazilian cheese breads soon!) $2.10 - salad $1.39 - non-stick spray $3.29 - feta $1.09 - saltines $2.49 - eggs $2.89 - onions (3 pounds) $2.19 - regular sharp cheddar $2.14 - milk $3.69 - sausage $3.99 - watermelon $0.34 - garlic $2.89 - vermont cheddar $2.28 - almond milk $2.99 - orange juice $2.88 - peanut butter $3.25 - mayonnaise $1.49 - sweetened condensed milk $2.49 - kalamata olives $4.99 - A1 $2.58 - canned artichoke hearts $3.19 - canned palm hearts $3.19 - bread flou...

This week was not so good. But it's been a while since that's happened, so while I'll strive to be better, I am also not going to worry too much about this small loss. This week I wasted: 2 cups dashi 1/3 roma tomato.

As much as we all love cabbage, today I'm stepping away from it for a very simple peach topping. These are delicious over pancakes, spooned over a simple pound cake or eaten with gems. You all are so creative I bet you could give me another billion uses for this simple recipe. I believe my original intention was actually to make a small batch (one jar's worth) of peach jam but then something happened in my brain and we got this instead. Hope you enjoy! 5 peaches, pitted and sliced somewhat thickly (1/2 inch thick slices is roughly what I did) 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1/4 cup vanilla sugar (or you could use regular sugar and a touch of extract, or just regular sugar) pinch salt 1 tablespoon butter 1/8 cup chopped crystallised ginger Mix together peaches, lemon, sugar and salt and let sit on the counter for an hour or two. Slide it all into a skillet and cook over low heat until the peaches are soft, about 10-15 minutes. Add butter and ginger and cook another 10-15 minu...

I had a head of red cabbage, and some sausage in the house. Needless to say, my interest with the cabbage was lying in stewing, since I wasn't about to ferment it (especially when I've already got kraut in the house). I had 4 or 5 people over that day, so it seemed like the most efficient way to use up ALL the cabbage, instead of just a bit of it at a time (like I normally do with the grilled cheese sandwiches). So here it is. I really enjoyed this dish, particularly given just how little work it took for me to make it, and will definitely make it again. Hope you enjoy! 3 tablespoons butter 1 large head cabbage, chopped 1 tablespoon onion juice (I was out of onions that day) 1 cup chopped celery 2 teaspoons nigella seed (black caraway) 1 teaspoon dill seeds 1 beer 4 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped 1 tablespoon lemon juice salt to taste Melt butter in a large frying pan over low heat. Add in all the other ingredients and let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Serves 5...

Alright, so here's a pretty big update. I've been entertaining a fair bit, and cooking nearly everyday. Coupled with my negligence in going to the store until I absolutely have to, this has been the perfect recipe for using up a lot of stuff. So much so, that I am down to only having two bins of food in my closet. Can you believe it? That means half the bins are gone and I actually have space in my closet for things not food related! Since I don't know exactly what I've used, I will simply tell you approximately what's left: 30 pound of pasta 15 pounds beans max most of the dried mushrooms (I've actually started working those into my food recently, though) maybe 4 pounds white rice 1 pound maybe of red rice 1 1/2 pounds medium rice 1 pound brown rice 1 pound barley 1 pound bulghur 1 pound whole wheat berries 1/2 pound lentils roughly 5 pounds of tea (yeah, seriously, I've used up that much tea that that's all I have left) I've used u...

Okay, so here's my most recent shopping trip. Y'all will be plenty surprised to see cocktail onions and banana peppers missing from the list. I'm making a lot of progress through the storage, as you'll see tomorrow, and that of course will result in some changes being made to the way I shop, as things wander on out of the house and actually do need to be replaced. So let's all be on the lookout for that. Kroger: $1.09 - saltines $2.39 - jumbo shells $1.47 - cabbage $7.69 - beer $0.88 - carrots $0.00 - butter (coupon) $2.55 - onions $3.18 - 5 pounds potatoes $1.30 - canned tomatoes $2.00 - milk (I buy those little 8 ounce milks, since no one in my house actually drinks milk so it's not worth it to buy a whole carton) $4.56 - 2 pound ground beef $2.99 - matzot total: 30.10

This week I wasted: NOTHING!!!

I feel like I should apologise to you guys for having been away so long. But I've already made that apology so many times I assume at this point y'all know I'm just a little flaky from time to time, and we'll leave it at that. And now when I disappear again for some odd reason, y'all won't be surprised in the least.  This particular disappearance was a pretty interesting one. I wrapped up my math degree, which is pretty exciting. Then I went on a two week road trip vacation. My main stops (where I've not lived before) were in Omaha, to visit my friend and adopted brother D, and just outside Dickson, TN, where I visited my friend C. I had an outstanding time, filled with nature, picking fruits from trees, cooking, baking (without internet to remind me how to do things I'd forgotten) and eating lots of foods I didn't make as well. I had the most incredible fish and chips (and fried pickles) I've ever eaten in Omaha at the Dundee Dell (where...

Last night was the study group for the mid-term I had today. I love that we always do study groups at my house, because it means I get to make lots of food and everyone is well fed while working. I made meatballs , fresh bread (I honestly don't have a recipe to give you for this, but I basically just pour "enough" flour into a bowl, add in some salt and yeast, then mix it together with some room temperature water until it feels right. Then I knead, let rise, shape, let rise, bake) and this salad. Although the base of this recipe uses beans, I still wanted it to be light and fresh tasting. To that end, I kept the dressing simpler than even I usually do, and really just tried to let each individual ingredient speak for itself, as well as speaking together as a group. Hope you enjoy! 1/2 pound chick peas, cooked and cooled (or two cans) 2 leaves red cabbage, minced 1 stalk celery, minced 1 large cucumber, peeled and diced 1/8 cup parsley, chopped salt to taste 1 te...

Over the last week or so (or whenever the last time I did this update was), I've used the following: Jasmine rice pasta most of the chick peas (uh oh. I actually will need to replace these) 1 pound calrose rice most of the all-purpose (which I also need to replace) And, I think that's it. I'm probably wrong, but I think that's it.

Yay groceries. I got some. I mostly got produce and stuff I was missing for lasagna (okay, stuff I thought I was missing that it turned out I wasn't). Next week I'll probably be a little more focused on meat. I've got plenty of meat in the freezer, but it isn't the stuff I actually am craving, so there's that. Anyway, here's what I got this week: Fiesta: $3.25 - orange juice (which you know I can't live without) $0.66 - yellow onion $1.69 - popcorn (I don't know) $1.29 - cream (yay scones) $0.39 - scallions $0.34 - sweet potato $1.00 - cucumbers $0.39 - bell pepper $0.41 - tomato $1.38 - lots of parsley $0.88 - celery $1.56 - red cabbage subtotal: $13.24 Wal-Mart: (really weird Fiesta didn't have these items) $1.94 - ricotta $0.92 - lasagna noodles (I know; I actually had these and even if I hadn't I should've made them myself since I'm not supposed to be buying pasta anymore) $0.41 - tomato (Fiesta had this, but I ...

This week, I wasted: NOTHING!!!

Mandelbrot are similar to biscotti, except they have fat in them. They're really delicious, and while I don't make them most of the time, this seemed like a good opportunity to use some butter for treats. :) The chocolate flavour is really understated, as I didn't want it to drown out the figs or the ginger. Hope you enjoy! 20 ounces pastry flour 1 heaping tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter 4 eggs 1 1/3 - 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 tablespoons cocoa powder 1/2 cup crystallised ginger, chopped 1 - 1 1/2 cups dried figs, chopped 1 tablespoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla, then mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in figs and ginger. Shape into 5"x2" logs (this should make four) and bake 30-40 minutes (I like to do it closer to 40 minutes, since I seem to break fewer of them while slicing later) and cool ...

I had some chicken, and some acorn squash. I also had a bag of ras eh-hanout that had been sent to me by my friend Warda . I wanted to use them in some way, so I decided to do a tagine. Technically, this isn't really a tagine, since I used a different pan, but we'll all pretend anyway. I really enjoyed this meal, and I hope you all enjoy it as well! 2 stalks celery, chopped 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 1/2 onion, chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil pinch ras el-hanout 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 tablespoon harissa 2 chicken breasts, cut into 2" pieces 1 small acorn squash, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped 1 tablespoon ras el-hanout 1/2 cup olives 1 preserved lemon, chopped 1 can chicken broth Heat oven to 350F. Fry the celery, bell pepper, onion in the oil, ras el-hanout, tomato paste and harissa. Add to tagine. Rub remaining ras el-hanout into chicken and squash, then add those and all remaining ingredients to the tagine. Cover and bake for one hour. Serv...

I used up the rest of the kidney beans. I believe I used up some other stuff too, but other than the figs, I've forgotten what those things may be.

I did a little shopping this week too. Save-a-Lot: $1.99 - dill pickles $2.00 - tortilla chips $1.69 - dill pickles total: $5.68 Kroger: $0.68 - potato $2.79 - eggs total: $3.47 grand total: $9.15 total for July: $9.15 total available for July: $40 remaining balance: $30.85

This week, I wasted: one apricot :(

I really didn't get a whole lot used up from the pantry this week, aside from some flour. I haven't really been home over the last week, so I'm not too worried about that. More progress next week!

Well, when the dam breaks, it really breaks. I went to the grocery store and kind of lost my mind in there a little bit. I bought a lot. I did need the stuff I got, though I completely forgot to buy eggs. Thankfully, July is a new month so I can buy eggs now. :) So here's what I spent at Fiesta: $1.50 - tortilla chips for nachos $1.89 - bagels $1.99 - cheese (cheddar) $1.99 - cheese (blend) $2.19 - cheese (parm) $3.51 - whole chicken $1.69 - 2 cans chicken broth $2.19 - sugar $2.19 - cheese (cheddar) $1.00 - cheese (moz) $1.18 - corn $1.99 - salsa $1.00 - ramen (I know, I know) $3.22 - apples $0.35 - zucchini $1.99 - cream cheese $0.86 - oranges $1.62 - eggplant $2.80 - lychee $0.99 - cantaloupe $0.97 - nectarine $3.38 - apricots $0.34 - guava $0.99 - honeydew $0.84 - plums Totals: Money spent: $39.50 Monthly allotment: $40 Amount over monthly allotment for June: $6.71 Remaining balance: $0 All in all, I'm going to call that a win, even thou...

This week was not perfect. I wasted: 1 cucumber

I don't think this is a comprehensive list of everything I've used up, but here's what I remember (and what I can see missing from the pantry): 1/2 pound black beans all the jasmine rice some pasta all the couscous (Moroccan) all the bread flour (got more though) 1 jar of sourkraut most of the matzo

Well, I finally broke my long streak of not going to the grocery store. Strangely, it wasn't actually oranges that finally made me go. It was bread flour. I don't know how to function without flour. Though of course, while I was there I figured I might as well pick up another orange. I'd honestly forgotten what my budget for the summer was, so I had to go look. Apparently it's $40 per month. Do y'all remember us deciding on that? I didn't. I also didn't remember that I said eating out would be included in my food budget, as per how things were done last summer. Well, that part's just not going to happen. I've developed this terrible, albeit fun, habit of eating out with my workout partners after we leave the gym. I really enjoy doing this, but it certainly doesn't fit in with a $40/month grocery budget. So we're scrapping that part and just sticking to a reduced grocery budget instead of a reduced everything budget. A girl's gotta be able...

I've really been neglecting you all again, haven't I? I'm very sorry. This all started with me going out of town, and then somehow I got side tracked by all sorts of wonderful life distractions: working on a frugal eating book, excessive amounts of time spent swimming, and my social life in general. It's summer, and my class doesn't start for a couple more weeks so I have totally been goofing off. Despite all this goofing off, I've still been diligent about food waste. Since I last reported, I wasted: 1 tomato

It was a good week in the waste department. This week I wasted: NOTHING!!

I'm not sure exactly how this happened, but I managed to make too little pasta to go with the pot of Puttanesca sauce. I considered making more pasta (too lazy), tossing the last of the sauce in the freezer to use when I got around to it (meh), but then I decided that since I already had a thawed pizza dough in the fridge, I might as well just use that and have a nice briny pizza. Yum. Of all the weird pizzas I've subjected you guys to, I think this one was the easiest. Here's how it goes. Hope you enjoy! 1 pizza dough 3/4 cup Puttanesca sauce handful of cheese (optional) Pat out dough into a round. Top with sauce and cheese, if using. Bake 10 minutes at the hottest temperature your oven goes to (I rotate the pizza halfway through). Serves 1-2.

This week I've used up some stuff I actually remember. So proud. :) I used: 2 pounds pasta 2 chicken breasts all but one batch of the pizza dough I'd frozen (huh. That means I need to make more dough, doesn't it?) 2 pounds mozarrella lots of tomato sauce (homemade sauce for pizza/pasta, not the little cans of tomato sauce) some canned tomatoes a tin of anchovies lots of pickles most of the pesto I guess I've mostly been eating pizza and puttanesca this week. I didn't actually realise that until I wrote out this list. Interestingly, I discovered a loaf of bread in the freezer that I didn't remember having, so probably this coming week will be a lot of french toast and grilled sandwiches. If any of them are interesting I'll be sure to let y'all know.

Once again, I didn't go to the store. I think at this point I really do need to go, since I'm very nearly out of produce. Down to one orange (again), an acorn squash, one onion, one tomato and a bell pepper; I'm out of both celery and carrots. I did discover I had a lime, too. I'll get them sometime this week if I remember. I think there's something wrong with me that I'm kind of enjoying the fact that I haven't been to the store in a month. Aside from some produce, I probably could go just as easily a second month (probably longer, though I'd likely run out of meat at that point). We'll see what happens though, with that. It is saving me money, which is good. And it's also forcing me to use food storage which is another good thing. Now that it's June, I'm ready to start figuring out my summer budget for food. I believe I'm going to do $10 per week again (or $40 a month) as I did last summer. I'll probably do the same thing a...

My scheduling of posts didn't pan out this week; sorry for the delays in this! This week, I wasted: NOTHING!!

I had some pea shoots, which I normally like to use for garnishing things. But I had a lot of them, so it seemed good to make them into a salad since I generally think they're a bit too delicate for cooked applications. It's a good snack, and if you wanted you could still use this salad as a garnish. Hope you enjoy! 3 ounces pea shoots 1 orange, supremed 1/2 teaspoon whole grain mustard salt to taste 1-2 tablespoons each: olive oil, burgundy vinegar (red wine vinegar is a fine substitute) Whisk together the vinegar, salt and mustard, then stream in the oil while whisking. Fold into the orange segments and pea shoots. Chill and serve. Serves 2-4. My camera still isn't participating in my life, so no pictures. Sorry guys.

It looks like I've kind of blown off the Sunday Storage thing since like, April. That's not good, and I'm sorry. I don't have a 100% accurate count of what I've used over the last month, but I think I can approximate it for y'all. I'm down to 48 pounds of pasta, so I think I've been blowing through it more rapidly than I originally thought. This is great, since it puts me on track to get through that at the conclusion of my lease. I've used piles of chick peas and some of the other beans, but I think I've still got a good 15 or so pounds of those left. I think I'm actually not on track for wrapping those up by the time my lease expires. And then there's the bin of dried mushrooms. To be honest, I usually forget they're in there, and as a result they rarely get incorporated into my cooking. I need to work on that. A friend mentioned that sometime we could do some kind of cook-out, and I can bring mushrooms to that so we can make all ...

Y'all aren't going to believe this. Once again, I did not go to the store! I really, really, really intended to go this week. After all, I needed more oranges. But then, a friend very kindly brought me a gift of some oranges when he came over to hang out, and that quickly made all my good intentions fall by the wayside. So, ... well, yeah. I'm a little embarrassed that there's only a week left of May and the only time I've seen the inside of a grocery store this month was to teach someone else how to shop. But, we'll see what happens next week. So, the totals: Money spent: $0. Weekly allotment: $20 Monthly allotment: $80 Amount over weekly allotment: $0 Amount over monthly allotment: $0 Remaining balance: $80

A good week. This week, I wasted: NOTHING!

Once again, I did not go to the grocery store. I drive by it often enough, and I know there's stuff I want in there. But I still have SO MUCH STUFF in my house that I just can't justify it, still. I have one orange left (the status of oranges being the mark of when I'll go to the store again). I am out of Triscuits (this makes me sad), but I could just make my own crackers if I really need to eat piles of banana peppers on crackers. Oh, and I'm nearly out of bread flour. However, I still have 3(?) bags of dough in the freezer and the one in the fridge that I need to bake this week. Plus lots of other types of flour. So... yeah. I do kind of wish I had a zucchini so I could stew it with some tomatoes I need to use, but again, there is SO MUCH FOOD in the house that the little things I want should take a backseat position to the ones I already have. What's weirdest about this is that I've mostly been eating all my meals at home, but other than a pizza I made, I ...

This week, I wasted: 2 tablespoons mushrooms topping. I'm not really sure how that happened, but I just forgot it was in there (even though it was on the leftovers shelf). Weird, isn't it? Next week I should be back to no waste.

So once again, I didn't make it to the store. I still have piles of food in the fridge (and pantry, of course, though that goes without saying). At this point I'm pretty much just doing what I can to not waste food. My freezer is stuffed (which is kind of sad, since I really would like to buy some ham while it's on sale), my fridge is packed (even if you disregard the fullness of the "pickles" shelf), the pantry is still full and of course I've still got bins of food in my closet. There's so much I'm actually a little overwhelmed by it all. Now, it probably wouldn't be this packed if I wasn't living alone again, but I am. And I am just one woman with too much food. Hence I can't justify grocery shopping. Well, unless I run out of oranges. Then I can, of course. Now that I've said this, I want to say something else. I lied. I have been to the store. I just didn't go to the store to do my own grocery shopping. I went with my friend...

This week, I wasted: NOTHING!!!!

Another thing K and I made while I was with her over the "weekend" was jam. Through our process of learning what is food and what is not food (but which often tastes great), we wanted to cover the idea that you can often make things, very easily and cheaply, that you can buy premade in the store. Except they taste better when you make them at home. Jam seemed like a great example of this. For convenience, we used frozen fruit to make the jam instead of buying fruit from the produce aisle (and having to spend time cutting it up). This worked out really well. I'd never tried to make jam with frozen fruit before, but I'm pretty sure I'll be doing it again in the future. This is an added pectin-free recipe. My general thoughts on buying pectin are that it can be a really great idea if that's the way you like to can, but that it's not necessary. I actually own a couple packets of pectin, but I've never used them and wouldn't really even know how (unle...

I'm "out of town" right now (read: an hour or so from my house, in an area of the metroplex where you can actually see some stars at night) visiting with friends. K isn't much on the whole cooking thing, but she's decided to learn. So we've had entirely too much fun in the kitchen, teaching her some new recipes that she can expand on and tweak to fit her preferences. We made a tomato and spinach soup, apple pie/cake , quinoa, and this peppered shrimp thing I thought of while we were learning how to find the real food in the grocery store. It was pretty good. K and I loved how spicy the pepper made it, but J thought it was a touch too spicy. So I'll just write it out as I did it and y'all can decide how much pepper you want.  1-2 tablespoons olive oil 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp 1 teaspoon white pepper salt to taste pinch cayenne pepper 2 tablespoons lemon juice spoonful of yogurt (we used a regular eating soup...

To say that I have a lot of bread in the house is a serious understatement. I have like, five pizza's worth of dough frozen, a loaf of challah that's made it into the freezer and a full loaf of sourdough. It's a lot of bread. Since sometimes when I have bread, I kind of just want to rip off chunks of it and eat it as is, I figured I should make something that would be conducive to eating bread like this but without eating ONLY bread. Leftover from the study party, there were some mushrooms and I of course had a lot of onions lying around, since they're nature's perfect flavouring for... well, everything. Adding some mint to it seemed like a good idea. This is a really simple recipe. You could eat it by itself, top a steak or fish with it, put it on mashed potatoes or slather it onto hunks of bread, as I did. Hope you enjoy! 1/4 large onion, sliced 1 tablespoon olive oil salt to taste 1/4 pound (ish) sliced button mushrooms 1/8 - 1/4 cup ripped mint leaves 1...

I don't think I went through a lot of storage this week. I know I went through most of my bread flour, but I believe that's it. Perhaps some pasta I've forgotten too?

This week, I didn't do any grocery shopping for myself. I did go to the store to get supplies for a study group party, but I didn't even keep the receipt since it wasn't groceries in the normal sense of groceries. So, my total is the same as last week. I'm a few dollars under monthly budget. I'm going to see for May if I can do an $80 monthly budget. I think if I keep it in the $20/week range but allow myself for an overall monthly amount, that might be easier for me in terms of the way I think about grocery shopping and budgeting while still trying to convert over to a monthly system.

This week, I wasted: NOTHING!!

Well, I forgot to put up a post for y'all on this one for last week. But that's okay, since I'm combining it with this week's storage totals. I suspect somehow as long as I tell y'all everything I remember, that things will be just fine with keeping up with what's being used. With finals coming up, I've mostly just been making foods you already know about: tossing together a can of coconut milk and Thai curry then adding some meat and veggies in it to simmer; baked zitis and lasagnas; polenta with some cheese mixed in, etc. Nothing new or exciting. As it stands right now, I'm just trying to keep my academic head above water for the next couple weeks. So mostly you can expect to see nothing new or exciting from me until this semester ends. But at the very least, I'll let y'all know generally what's happening in the kitchen. 1 pound penne (okay, so I didn't make baked ziti. I made baked penne. 6 and 1/2 dozen, I say) 1 pound linguini (pu...