The Pig and I

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