The Skinny Bitches have a section of their cookbook called PMS Pissy Mood Snacks and boy does that apply to me today. So, for lunch I decided to whip up these Quick Tortilla Pizzaswith Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, all on page 37 of SBK.
Wow, quick was an understatement! Most quickies take way longer than this recipe!
The recipe calls for 9-10 inch whole wheat tortillas. But alas, I have Healthy U to thank for Maria and Ricardo's Whole Wheat Wraps which are about 12-14 inches wide. They fit perfectly on a pizza stone!
The sauce was only 4 ingredients: Jar of roasted red peppers, fresh basil, salt and pepper. So, from pantry to windowsill garden to blender - tah dah - sauce.
Top the tortilla with the sauce and then load on the vegan mozzarella, onion and olives. I threw some capers on there too because they were hangin' out in the olive jar.
Results: I loved it! Crispy crust under savory toppings. This would be a great tapas for a coctail party.
Under 15 year old results: I made their pizzas naked - no onion or olives - just plain "cheese". 14 year old asked what kind of sauce it was, said it was gross and ate the whole thing. 10 year old followed suit, but only ate 1/4 of his quickie pizza.
Do Over: Next time maybe I'll use 1/2 the Roasted Red Pepper and substitute fresh tomato for the other half. Or, I could have put thinly sliced tomato on top along with more fresh basil leaves. For someone who wants dairy I think goat cheese would be a groovy addition, too.
Penny Pinching: Vegan cheese will always cost you $5.00 if you use all 10 ounces in the package. But, everything else is easy on the pocket book.
Play around with toppings and let me know what you come up with!
Showing posts with label vegan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegan. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Souper Skinny Bitch Soup. Cheezy Cream of Broccoli
I have to admit, I knew this would not be a family favorite as I started chopping broccoli and dicing onions. Cheezy Cream of Broccoli Soup is on SBK page 54. I was sooooo jonesing for some comfort food, that this just seemed to fit the bill. The Skinny Bitches' comment on the bottom of the page says "So Friggin' Good" and they are right. Yum-a-licous! I'm happy that by boys weren't interested, because that means I own the whole pot! I have lunch for a week! Sweet! Now, you can't make this soup without thinking about Saturday Night Live. There is a great skit from the '90s where Dana Carvey is singing at the piano and add-libbing a song that becomes about "choppin' broccoli". Yes, really. It goes something like, "She went to the store . . . she bought some - - - broccoli . . . she brought it hoooooome . . . She's choppin' broccoli . . .choppin' broccoli . . . choppin b - r - oc - co - liiiiiiiii." It just got funnier and funnier as it went. It was so funny, when I was a counselor at Camp Susquehannock for Girls we acted out the song and threw broccoli into the audience. Anyway, this soup doesn't actually take that much choppin'. Rough cut 1/2 an onion and 2 large heads of broccoli and you are done. After a little cooking, you let the blender do the work, and soon you have a warm, comforting, filling soup. Husband wouldn't eat it because he doesn't like cheesey soups. "It isn't cheese, it is dairy-free" didn't change his mind. Boys wouldn't try it because they followed in dad's uncooperative footsteps. One spoonful would have turned them into soup lovers! I loved it! It is satisfying, soothing, and healthy. It re-heat very well. It travels to a middle school and sits in a communal refrigerator very well. It smells good and students who enter your classroom after lunch will say "what smells so good?" Penny pinching: This is a cheap pot of soup. The 6 oz. of vegan cheddar are the most expensive ingredient. Vegan cheese comes shredded in 2 cup quantities, 1 oz slices, or 10 oz. blocks. You can find vegan cheese at Healthy U and Wegmans. Getting Off Topic: One benefit of shopping at Healthy U is their wide assortment of cookbooks and resources. You can find a bookshelf or two filled with cookbooks that suit your specific need: celiac and gluten free, dairy free, raw food, vegan diet . . . you name it they have it or they will order it for you. They also carry a great magazine I can't find anywhere else, called Clean Eating. Check it out! Meal Idea: This soup can be made into a dinner by adding a loaf of bread and a tossed salad, or crostini topped with a tomato relish of some kind. Slurp and enjoy! I think the Skinny Bitches are on to something with this yummy soup.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Give Me Some Skin! Potato Skin, that is!
Potato Skins with all the Fixin's is the A-#1 favorite recipe in this book, so far. My whole family loved these and asked for them the next week. What did I learn from this? Melt cheese on a starch and people love it!
This recipe takes some early prep. Bake your potatoes the day before to cut down on dinner time. Save some energy and cook them in the hot oven that you are using for pizza or a casserole.
The SBs tell you to cut the potatoes into quarters, so I did. But, I also left some potato skins in halves, and this way they held more filling and cooked without dripping onto the pans. Bigger potato means longer cooking time, but that's okay. It takes awhile for the soy cheese to melt, so it works out.
These were sooooo gooood! Major comfort food! Perfect PMS food! THE food for a Friday night when you really want a beer and a Netflix. This would be a great addition to a Super Bowl party. So, feel free to invite us and I'll bring these!
Taste Test: Filling and full of flavor! Go buy the stuff and make them now!
Penny Pinching: Not too expensive. Potatoes are cheap. The cheese will set you back about $5.00. You use 1/2 of each package of cheese, so to be smart and not waste, you could choose one type and use the whole package. (Do it, if you don't use the other half, it will go bad in a week.)
Options: I'll let you know, but I think adding broccoli florets to these would be a good choice. It would add color and veggies. Try it, you'll like it!
This recipe takes some early prep. Bake your potatoes the day before to cut down on dinner time. Save some energy and cook them in the hot oven that you are using for pizza or a casserole.
The SBs tell you to cut the potatoes into quarters, so I did. But, I also left some potato skins in halves, and this way they held more filling and cooked without dripping onto the pans. Bigger potato means longer cooking time, but that's okay. It takes awhile for the soy cheese to melt, so it works out.
These were sooooo gooood! Major comfort food! Perfect PMS food! THE food for a Friday night when you really want a beer and a Netflix. This would be a great addition to a Super Bowl party. So, feel free to invite us and I'll bring these!
Taste Test: Filling and full of flavor! Go buy the stuff and make them now!
Penny Pinching: Not too expensive. Potatoes are cheap. The cheese will set you back about $5.00. You use 1/2 of each package of cheese, so to be smart and not waste, you could choose one type and use the whole package. (Do it, if you don't use the other half, it will go bad in a week.)
Options: I'll let you know, but I think adding broccoli florets to these would be a good choice. It would add color and veggies. Try it, you'll like it!
Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Braised Greens, Raisins, and Pine Nuts
I'm not nuts, I knew this would not be a family favorite, but I made it anyway. Don't get me wrong, my sons like spaghetti squash, they just like it slathered in butter and salt and served alongside chicken fingers or hamburgers. So, I had a feeling there would be a lot of leftovers for mom. Sure enough, there were.
Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Braised Greens, Raisins, and Pine Nuts is on page 140 of SBK. The SBs call this a Staple Meal. Hmmmmm, I don't think this is a meal, I think it is more like a side dish.
There are two main components of this dish: the baked spaghetti squash and the braised greens.
It is easy to bake the spaghetti squash, just chop it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and turn it face down on a jelly roll pan lined with parchment. It has to bake at 375 degrees for about an hour.
The braised greens are easy, but take more effort. Top the squash with the braised greens and you have your dish.
Taste test: Only Mom ate the whole dish. My boys all ate spaghetti squash, but none wanted to try the green stuff. I thought it was interesting. The chipotle peppers in adobo sauce give the greens a smokey spicey flavor. The raisins give it some sweetness. I don't know what the pine nuts are supposed to add other than garnish or some al dente body. It was a pretty earthy looking dish.
Penny Pinching: This is a cheap dish. Pantry items plus a $1.79 bunch of fresh kale and a $4.00 spaghetti squash add up to a very reasonable and healthy side dish. I don't think I would serve this to company unless they were vegan or adventurous.
Skinny Bitch Update: So far, so good! I have a very vegan-friendly pantry! I am getting pretty friendly with the smoothies and the different ways to serve vegan chix and burgers. I think my kids will eat anything that is served along side tater tots! But hey, a trip to Healthy U frozen foods department can round out a vegan meal quick and easy! I recommend the tots and fries, but the boys didn't like the onion rings. Don't know why, I loved each and every one of them! Ooopss, was I supposed to share?
Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Braised Greens, Raisins, and Pine Nuts is on page 140 of SBK. The SBs call this a Staple Meal. Hmmmmm, I don't think this is a meal, I think it is more like a side dish.
There are two main components of this dish: the baked spaghetti squash and the braised greens.
It is easy to bake the spaghetti squash, just chop it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and turn it face down on a jelly roll pan lined with parchment. It has to bake at 375 degrees for about an hour.
The braised greens are easy, but take more effort. Top the squash with the braised greens and you have your dish.
Taste test: Only Mom ate the whole dish. My boys all ate spaghetti squash, but none wanted to try the green stuff. I thought it was interesting. The chipotle peppers in adobo sauce give the greens a smokey spicey flavor. The raisins give it some sweetness. I don't know what the pine nuts are supposed to add other than garnish or some al dente body. It was a pretty earthy looking dish.
Penny Pinching: This is a cheap dish. Pantry items plus a $1.79 bunch of fresh kale and a $4.00 spaghetti squash add up to a very reasonable and healthy side dish. I don't think I would serve this to company unless they were vegan or adventurous.
Skinny Bitch Update: So far, so good! I have a very vegan-friendly pantry! I am getting pretty friendly with the smoothies and the different ways to serve vegan chix and burgers. I think my kids will eat anything that is served along side tater tots! But hey, a trip to Healthy U frozen foods department can round out a vegan meal quick and easy! I recommend the tots and fries, but the boys didn't like the onion rings. Don't know why, I loved each and every one of them! Ooopss, was I supposed to share?
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Chicken Parmesan Panini Fest
I admit I made Chicken Parmesan Panini for dinner a week ago, but then something called "The Beginning of the School Year" got in the way, so I didn't blog about it until now.
I am constantly being reminded of why people don't cook during the week. I sort of laugh or roll my eyes when people tell me that they are picking up dinner every night, or that their kids love the pasta at Tony's. Then reality comes flying in the door and I'm not home til 8:30pm after an afternoon of BU and karate drop-offs and pick ups, and that is when it hits me: it would be a hell of a lot easier if someone else made this crew a meal. So, I'm thinkin' I'll buy one less dinner's worth of food at Wegmans this weekend, and put a "to-go" meal in our weekly planner.
That being said, here's a pretty quick meal to whip up from the freezer and the pantry. My boys will eat pretty much anything with Red Sauce on it, so I was pretty sure they would like this.
Vegan chicken patties are a staple in our freezer, so the only thing special I needed from the store was fresh whole wheat rolls. I bought cute little square panini-esque rolls that were easy to slice in half, and looked a lot like bread I had seen at Neezuntos.
What is the plural of panini? Get back to me on that one.
Anyway, the family liked these. We ate them with sides of red grapes and carrots and dip. Husband said they were "perfect for late at night" which is good considering our school night dinners have been happening at about 8:45pm these days. 10 year old dipped the veggie chicken pattie in dip and ate it. 14 year old got a bowl of sauce and dunked the whole panini before each bite.
Overall, paninis were good, although they did benefit from extra sauce or dip because they were not juicy like a marinated chicken breast may have been.
Counting pennies: Affordable. The vegan mozzarella is really the only high-price item. If you buy the individually wrapped slices there is no waste, or you have to promise to finish up the block of vegan mozzeralla in another recipe. Do it soon. Vegan cheese does not last long once it is open. Trust me on this one. It is not a pleasant realization that the $5 worth of vegan cheese you bought and used 1/3 of is now covered in powdery white stuff that nobody wants to investigate. Ugh.
I am constantly being reminded of why people don't cook during the week. I sort of laugh or roll my eyes when people tell me that they are picking up dinner every night, or that their kids love the pasta at Tony's. Then reality comes flying in the door and I'm not home til 8:30pm after an afternoon of BU and karate drop-offs and pick ups, and that is when it hits me: it would be a hell of a lot easier if someone else made this crew a meal. So, I'm thinkin' I'll buy one less dinner's worth of food at Wegmans this weekend, and put a "to-go" meal in our weekly planner.
That being said, here's a pretty quick meal to whip up from the freezer and the pantry. My boys will eat pretty much anything with Red Sauce on it, so I was pretty sure they would like this.
Vegan chicken patties are a staple in our freezer, so the only thing special I needed from the store was fresh whole wheat rolls. I bought cute little square panini-esque rolls that were easy to slice in half, and looked a lot like bread I had seen at Neezuntos.
What is the plural of panini? Get back to me on that one.
Anyway, the family liked these. We ate them with sides of red grapes and carrots and dip. Husband said they were "perfect for late at night" which is good considering our school night dinners have been happening at about 8:45pm these days. 10 year old dipped the veggie chicken pattie in dip and ate it. 14 year old got a bowl of sauce and dunked the whole panini before each bite.
Overall, paninis were good, although they did benefit from extra sauce or dip because they were not juicy like a marinated chicken breast may have been.
Counting pennies: Affordable. The vegan mozzarella is really the only high-price item. If you buy the individually wrapped slices there is no waste, or you have to promise to finish up the block of vegan mozzeralla in another recipe. Do it soon. Vegan cheese does not last long once it is open. Trust me on this one. It is not a pleasant realization that the $5 worth of vegan cheese you bought and used 1/3 of is now covered in powdery white stuff that nobody wants to investigate. Ugh.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
I'm in love with a salad: Edamame Three Bean
I think this must be the salad de jour, or salad de summer. Everywhere I go, from the shore of Long Beach Island to the hills of West Virginia, this salad is whipped up and on the table in no time. The dressings are different, but the beans are pretty much the same.
I love it, nutrition at its prettiest and most simple. It is gorgeous!
Find the recipe for Edamame Three Bean Salad on SBK page 67. It is really easy to throw together and can be made from a well-stocked pantry. The only item you may have to put on your shopping list is shelled soy beans (edamame).
Now, about these soy beans: they are getting cheaper by the week! It used to be that I could only find them in the freezer or Natural section of Wegmans. They were in the pod, and were selling for about $3.99/10 ounces. So, I happily put out the cash, because i knew you got about the same amount at Kampai Japanese Restaurant for twice that. My boys love them and it keeps them busy and satiated while if finish making dinner.
Are soy beans seasonal? What accounts for the drop in price and the variety of forms, in pod, shelled, etc? I think it has to be demand. Did you know that the U.S. exports most of the soy products that it produces? Yup.
Now you can find these cute little greenies ready to use in the freezer section for the low-low price of $1.89-$3.29 depending on where you shop.
SBK has specific amounts of the beanies/legumes and red pepper that they want you to add. Uh-huh, okay, but what happens to the open leftover beans that skulk to the back of my refrigerator and hide in rubbermaid containers until they are unrecognizable gooh? How likely am I to remember to put that 1/2 red pepper into my next sauce or crudete platter? I don't want to find out. So, in went the whole can of corn and the whole bag of shelled edamame and a whole diced red bell pepper along with the legumes. I figured I'm adding about 2 cups of extra goodies, so I compensated by making 1 1/2 the amount of dressing.
Results?: About what can be expected when food looks like beans and is not sitting along side a hot dog and covered in sugar. Boys ate it willingly and 14 year old had seconds. Dad didn't shove it to the side of his plate, and I of course made it the center of my meal.
Variations: If you like a tangier or sweeter dressing, I suggest adding a Tablespoon of Agave Nectar to give it that honey-mustard affect. Otherwise, I liked this savory salad.
$$: It's about a $5.00 salad if red peppers are plentiful and cheap.
Comment and tell me what you think!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Tacos para Todos! (Tacos for All)
Back from a weekend at the Jersey Shore, and back to my veganista kitchen, yippee! I'm not doing a SBK recipe for dinner tonight, sorry. Instead, I'm doing a homemade version of a taco I enjoyed at "Welcome to . . .Moe's". If you have eaten at Moe's you've seen the tex-mex creation you ordered made right in front of you, ala Subway. Well, I took my boys there a few weeks ago with no intention of ordering anything for myself. That intention lasted until I was watching them put black and pinto beans on 14 year old's burrito and I spotted something familiar amongst the offerings. "What is that?" "Tofu", said the "Welcome to . . . Moe's" guy. Sign me up! That is where this taco idea was born.
1 lb extra firm tofu, diced (cut block of tofu into 3 even slabs, then cut across into 1/2 inch match sticks, and then across again into cubes), marinated in dry Chipotle seasoning for as long as you have time
2 Tbsp Safflower Oil
Small corn tortillas, wrap in damp dish towel and microwave 1 minute
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can pinto beans, rinsed
2 tomatoes, diced
1 head organic romaine lettuce, chopped thin
1/2 vidalia onion, tiny dice
1 avocado, diced
1/2 container tofuti sour "cream"
1 cup salsa
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, finely diced
Optional: seasoned ground turkey for family members who say "eewwww".
Fry the marinated tofu cubes in 2 Tbsp Safflower oil, let them brown on one side before turning, and then keep turning until an outer layer forms on the cubes and the inside of a cube is hot.
Assemble a "taco bar" so everyone can make their own style of taco.
YUM! I love these tacos! One taco with tofu and a little of everything is very filling, especially if eaten with a side salad, or chips and guac.
This is a very easy dinner for a hot and humid summer evening. You can marinate the tofu and put it in a foil pouch and cook it out on the grill, too!
1 lb extra firm tofu, diced (cut block of tofu into 3 even slabs, then cut across into 1/2 inch match sticks, and then across again into cubes), marinated in dry Chipotle seasoning for as long as you have time
2 Tbsp Safflower Oil
Small corn tortillas, wrap in damp dish towel and microwave 1 minute
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can pinto beans, rinsed
2 tomatoes, diced
1 head organic romaine lettuce, chopped thin
1/2 vidalia onion, tiny dice
1 avocado, diced
1/2 container tofuti sour "cream"
1 cup salsa
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, finely diced
Optional: seasoned ground turkey for family members who say "eewwww".
Fry the marinated tofu cubes in 2 Tbsp Safflower oil, let them brown on one side before turning, and then keep turning until an outer layer forms on the cubes and the inside of a cube is hot.
Assemble a "taco bar" so everyone can make their own style of taco.
YUM! I love these tacos! One taco with tofu and a little of everything is very filling, especially if eaten with a side salad, or chips and guac.
This is a very easy dinner for a hot and humid summer evening. You can marinate the tofu and put it in a foil pouch and cook it out on the grill, too!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Blueberry Picking and Burgers!
Well, a cool front swooshed in from the West last night and brought with it an amazing thunderstorm and cooler temps, so it was off to Apple Hills we went to pick blueberries. I haven't been there in two years and I was surprised by the price increase, $1.89/lb to pick your own. I know I sound old, but I remember when we picked them for $.99/lb. Whatever, it's an activity, and they don't weigh the pickers before and after, so I'm sure we brought home our fairs share in our bellies!
After 2 hours of blueberry picking, I thought a substantial lunch would be appreciated, so I flipped to the Hearty Ass Sandwiches section of SBK for my options. That is where I found the recipes for California Burgers and Bacon and Caramelized Onion Cheesebburgers with Agave-Dijon. With only myself and my kidlets as taste testers, I was feeling lucky.
In addition to assembling the burgers, I also had to make Thousand Island Dressing, SBK page 152 to top off the California Burger.
I used MorningStar Farms Prime Griller vegan burgers and LightLife Smart Bacon for these recipes. I found it was easy to make 4 burgers in one big non-stick fry pan. Start the onions to caremelizing first, push them to the side of the pan after they are translucent, do bacon next and pile it on top of carmelizing onions, and then do the burgers for their own 8 minutes. By the time the burgers are done the onions are pretty well carmelized.
Since we were lunching AND taste testing, I made one burger of each recipe, cut them in halves and then we experimented with combinations on the other burgers.
10 year old: Tasted and loved everything, especially any burger with bacon on it. He even tried the California Burger complete with sprouts. I think he was just trying to make me happy! He said that the burgers tasted like what you get at Vestal Hills Country Club, ig. they included more than ketchup. 10 year old gobbled down two whole burgers before lunch was over.
14 year old: Didn't like that there was sauce involved. Yup, there was homemade Thousand Island on the California Burger and homemade Agave Dijon on the Carmelized Onion Burger. "I just want a plain burger" was heard by the whole neighborhood. Fine. So, how did you like your burger? "I didn't like it; it was dry." Uh-huh, thanks, teenager.
43 year old: Loved them all, including our own creation of burger with avocado, tomato, bacon ,vegan Jack cheese and either dipping sauce. I could have bathed myself in the dipping sauces they were both so good! I tell yah, once you make a dressing or dip from scratch, forget about buying a bottle off the shelf at Wegmans. Homemade is so much more flavorful. The Thousand Island Dressing has a little kick from the cayenne that makes it special and not sooo sweet as store bought dressing.
Purse alert: Thinking about $ again, I realized that I was using a lot of the same ingredients throughout the week. The single can of tomato paste from the Pizza Sauce was put in the frig and used again for the Spaghetti Sauce and then finished for the Thousand Island Dressing. If I plan well enough, nothing goes to waste. The vegan Jack cheese that was opened for these burgers is expensive! But, if I make the Veggie Enchiladas and a Quesadilla this weekend, I will use the whole thing and not waste any. I can deal with that!
I'm sort of thinking of this food lifestyle as a game. I'm lucky that I have the time to experiment and plan right now because it is summer. Hopefully, by the time school starts I will have a few "favorites" under my belt that I can count on, and also continue to make more SB recipes with my new SB pantry items.
Current Count: 9 recipes completed
After 2 hours of blueberry picking, I thought a substantial lunch would be appreciated, so I flipped to the Hearty Ass Sandwiches section of SBK for my options. That is where I found the recipes for California Burgers and Bacon and Caramelized Onion Cheesebburgers with Agave-Dijon. With only myself and my kidlets as taste testers, I was feeling lucky.
In addition to assembling the burgers, I also had to make Thousand Island Dressing, SBK page 152 to top off the California Burger.
I used MorningStar Farms Prime Griller vegan burgers and LightLife Smart Bacon for these recipes. I found it was easy to make 4 burgers in one big non-stick fry pan. Start the onions to caremelizing first, push them to the side of the pan after they are translucent, do bacon next and pile it on top of carmelizing onions, and then do the burgers for their own 8 minutes. By the time the burgers are done the onions are pretty well carmelized.
Since we were lunching AND taste testing, I made one burger of each recipe, cut them in halves and then we experimented with combinations on the other burgers.
10 year old: Tasted and loved everything, especially any burger with bacon on it. He even tried the California Burger complete with sprouts. I think he was just trying to make me happy! He said that the burgers tasted like what you get at Vestal Hills Country Club, ig. they included more than ketchup. 10 year old gobbled down two whole burgers before lunch was over.
14 year old: Didn't like that there was sauce involved. Yup, there was homemade Thousand Island on the California Burger and homemade Agave Dijon on the Carmelized Onion Burger. "I just want a plain burger" was heard by the whole neighborhood. Fine. So, how did you like your burger? "I didn't like it; it was dry." Uh-huh, thanks, teenager.
43 year old: Loved them all, including our own creation of burger with avocado, tomato, bacon ,vegan Jack cheese and either dipping sauce. I could have bathed myself in the dipping sauces they were both so good! I tell yah, once you make a dressing or dip from scratch, forget about buying a bottle off the shelf at Wegmans. Homemade is so much more flavorful. The Thousand Island Dressing has a little kick from the cayenne that makes it special and not sooo sweet as store bought dressing.
Purse alert: Thinking about $ again, I realized that I was using a lot of the same ingredients throughout the week. The single can of tomato paste from the Pizza Sauce was put in the frig and used again for the Spaghetti Sauce and then finished for the Thousand Island Dressing. If I plan well enough, nothing goes to waste. The vegan Jack cheese that was opened for these burgers is expensive! But, if I make the Veggie Enchiladas and a Quesadilla this weekend, I will use the whole thing and not waste any. I can deal with that!
I'm sort of thinking of this food lifestyle as a game. I'm lucky that I have the time to experiment and plan right now because it is summer. Hopefully, by the time school starts I will have a few "favorites" under my belt that I can count on, and also continue to make more SB recipes with my new SB pantry items.
Current Count: 9 recipes completed
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
"Spaghetti and Meatballs, Please, Mom!"
Okay, so my son wants spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. How do I fit that into my SB attitude? Simple. I made the Basic Red Sauce, page 156 SBK and served it on Kamut* spaghetti. Meatballs? I wasn't feeling very adventuresome, so I heated up turkey meatballs from the freezer. I am embracing my inner SB, but I'm not perfect!
Success! My 14 year old complimented the dinner! Whooo hooo! The 10 year old ate it, too! He did ask what the green stuff was, but 14 year old told him "just eat it, it doesn't taste like anything." I hope my hydroponic basil plant wasn't offended.
The sauce was really fresh tasting and flavorful. The combination of canned tomato and fresh herbs, onion and garlic was perfect over the kamut pasta. I like the noodles al dente, and the sauce clung to the pasta. I love that! The sauce was thick and the completed dish looked very appealing. Good Job Skinny Bs!
*what is kamut? it is a wheat, originally found in Egypt, has a longer cooking time (12 minutes for spaghetti), high in protein and 2g of fiber per 2oz serving, light in color so nobody will notice that it is a little different.
Math: My latest trips to Wegmans, Healthy U, and Big Lots have really added up to a huge grocery bill this week. My new SB endeavor, plus my 14 year old starting to eat like a teenager, have really added to the grocery bill. So, I did a little math with this recipe.
3/4 lb Kamut Pasta: $1.00
12 small frozen turkey meatballs: $1.70
Basic Red Sauce, (no wine or hot sauce) $2.40
Total: $ 5.10
That is not bad at all! Add 1/3 of a seedless watermelon (in season) $1.00, and dessert made yesterday, Dream Bars, and I had a cheap meal for 4.
So, once I purchase the staples, that should last through at least the next month or two, this is a healthy AND financially savvy way to cook and eat. Okay, that reduces my grocery bill guilt!
Current Count: 6 recipes completed
Success! My 14 year old complimented the dinner! Whooo hooo! The 10 year old ate it, too! He did ask what the green stuff was, but 14 year old told him "just eat it, it doesn't taste like anything." I hope my hydroponic basil plant wasn't offended.
The sauce was really fresh tasting and flavorful. The combination of canned tomato and fresh herbs, onion and garlic was perfect over the kamut pasta. I like the noodles al dente, and the sauce clung to the pasta. I love that! The sauce was thick and the completed dish looked very appealing. Good Job Skinny Bs!
*what is kamut? it is a wheat, originally found in Egypt, has a longer cooking time (12 minutes for spaghetti), high in protein and 2g of fiber per 2oz serving, light in color so nobody will notice that it is a little different.
Math: My latest trips to Wegmans, Healthy U, and Big Lots have really added up to a huge grocery bill this week. My new SB endeavor, plus my 14 year old starting to eat like a teenager, have really added to the grocery bill. So, I did a little math with this recipe.
3/4 lb Kamut Pasta: $1.00
12 small frozen turkey meatballs: $1.70
Basic Red Sauce, (no wine or hot sauce) $2.40
Total: $ 5.10
That is not bad at all! Add 1/3 of a seedless watermelon (in season) $1.00, and dessert made yesterday, Dream Bars, and I had a cheap meal for 4.
So, once I purchase the staples, that should last through at least the next month or two, this is a healthy AND financially savvy way to cook and eat. Okay, that reduces my grocery bill guilt!
Current Count: 6 recipes completed
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Step One: I am a newly hatched Skinny Bitch
Charles Caleb Colton said "imitation is the sincerest of flattery," so I am about to flatter several people. First in line are Julia Child and Julie Powell. If you have not read the book Julie & Julia, or seen the movie of the same name, then you are very busy or must not be much of a foodie. The book was a good read, and the movie was an entertaining homage to Julia Child, whom I watched on public television throughout my childhood. I thought Julie's adventure in cooking was such a great idea. I applaud when people take responsibility for creating direction and meaning in their own life. However, I would never survive such an endeavor; there is just too much butter in the world of French cooking. It would kill me. You can check out the original blog by searching Julie/Julia Project.
That brings me to the other people I wish to flatter: Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. These women are the authors of Skinny Bitch, and Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. You can visit them at http://www.skinnybitch.net/. Now, theirs is a lifestyle I can emulate! Their first book, Skinny Bitch is an irreverant look at food and the industry that creates it. They pave the way for people to adapt healthful and ethical eating habits, but what is so great about their books is how they do it. They don't preach, they write like your girlfriends talk at happy hour, smart and sassy. Very entertaining and enlightening. Their cookbook is written with the same attitude and full of 132 vegan recipes.
So, monkey see, monkey do. I am following in the footsteps of Julie Powell, and want to challenge myself to create all 132 recipes in the Skinny Bitch in the Kitch cookbook.
Why? I have a few reasons for doing this. First, I am a foodie. I have a cupboard full of cookbooks, recipes torn from newspapers and magazines, and enough gadgets to fill every nook and cranny of my kitchen and a few boxes in the basement. I have been impulse purchasing at healthfood stores since I wandered into my first one in Blacksburg, Va while attending Virginia Tech. I never met a mysterious fruit, grain, or menu item that I didn't order just for the sake of trying something new.
Most importantly, I love to cook. I cook for a family of four that includes my husband and my two sons who are 10 and 14 years old. I introduced my husband to vegetables when we moved in together, and I fed my babies homemade organic baby food for the first 18 months of their lives. So, I've been honestly interested in healthful cooking since I had people to cook for.
Now that my kids are out of the macaroni and cheese stage, I'd like to feed my family good food that helps them and doesn't hurt them. I can't control what they choose to eat when they are away from home, but I can give them a good foundation and set a good example at our own kitchen table.
Finally, my last reason for taking on this challenge is that I love a challenge. I love a goal. I have been teaching for 16 years and parenting for 14 years, so I needed to change things up a little. This was my answer.
Let the cooking begin!
That brings me to the other people I wish to flatter: Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. These women are the authors of Skinny Bitch, and Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. You can visit them at http://www.skinnybitch.net/. Now, theirs is a lifestyle I can emulate! Their first book, Skinny Bitch is an irreverant look at food and the industry that creates it. They pave the way for people to adapt healthful and ethical eating habits, but what is so great about their books is how they do it. They don't preach, they write like your girlfriends talk at happy hour, smart and sassy. Very entertaining and enlightening. Their cookbook is written with the same attitude and full of 132 vegan recipes.
So, monkey see, monkey do. I am following in the footsteps of Julie Powell, and want to challenge myself to create all 132 recipes in the Skinny Bitch in the Kitch cookbook.
Why? I have a few reasons for doing this. First, I am a foodie. I have a cupboard full of cookbooks, recipes torn from newspapers and magazines, and enough gadgets to fill every nook and cranny of my kitchen and a few boxes in the basement. I have been impulse purchasing at healthfood stores since I wandered into my first one in Blacksburg, Va while attending Virginia Tech. I never met a mysterious fruit, grain, or menu item that I didn't order just for the sake of trying something new.
Most importantly, I love to cook. I cook for a family of four that includes my husband and my two sons who are 10 and 14 years old. I introduced my husband to vegetables when we moved in together, and I fed my babies homemade organic baby food for the first 18 months of their lives. So, I've been honestly interested in healthful cooking since I had people to cook for.
Now that my kids are out of the macaroni and cheese stage, I'd like to feed my family good food that helps them and doesn't hurt them. I can't control what they choose to eat when they are away from home, but I can give them a good foundation and set a good example at our own kitchen table.
Finally, my last reason for taking on this challenge is that I love a challenge. I love a goal. I have been teaching for 16 years and parenting for 14 years, so I needed to change things up a little. This was my answer.
Let the cooking begin!
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