The Mighty Have Fallen

We went over this week.  By 91-cents.  It was the olive oil that did it, but we really needed to buy some more.

I am taking off the price of the Garam Masala, as that is something we were asked to buy for Phil’s parents.  Still, we spent  $30.91 this week.

I hate it when that happens.

Grrrrr.

Sesame Noodles w/Tofu and Purple Kale

I saw this recipe for Cold Sesame Noodles on Serious Eats today and wanted to have it for dinner immediately.  I thought it needed to pack a bigger nutritional punch, so I added some purple stemmed kale and Phil made marinated tofu to go on top of the noodles.  Very satisfying and we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  Yum!

The changes I made to the recipe were few – I used some regular spaghetti and soba noodles we had in the cupboard and powdered ginger for fresh.  Phil marinated the tofu with a mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar, black pepper, garlic powder and crushed red pepper.  I chopped the kale and used the leftover pasta water to boil it for a bit before adding it to the tofu in the frying pan.  We added the whole mess to the sesame noodles and sprinkled with black sesame seeds.  An easy, delicious and quick weeknight meal.

Monday’s Receipt

Stopped by the Pioneer last night instead of the Coop because: 1) it was gross out 2) the Coop after a major food holiday (i.e., Thanksgiving) on a Monday night is not something to be reckoned with.  Just got a couple of things to tide us over for dinner (which was frozen soup, thawed), but thought I would put up the receipt because of the excellent spelling.

$ left for the week: $26.74

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

What are you doing with your leftovers?

Homemade Ginger-ale

This has helped soothe my stomach for the past couple of days and is certainly cheaper than store bought.  Wish I could say the same for crackers, but I didn’t want to deal with making homemade crackers.  Phil gave a very good general idea for how to make the ginger ale (as well as soothing ginger tea) in his last post, but here are some measurements.  Increase/decrease at will.

Homemade Ginger-ale

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peeled and chopped ginger
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• lemon zest from a lemon (I just peel the skin with a vegetable peeler and avoid the pith)
• seltzer water

To Do:

1. Bring the ginger, water, sugar and lemon peel to a boil and let simmer until a thick syrup forms (about 10 minutes, constant stirring).
2. Let cool and strain into a container.
3. Mix the syrup with seltzer and taste.  Start with a little and add more until you get the desired ginger effect.
4. Drink w/ice (or not).

This is NOT exactly like commercial ginger-ale, but if you like ginger and drinking something delicious, give it a shot.

I am sure the ginger syrup would taste delicious in a variety of cocktails, but I won’t be partaking for a while.

 

 

Tummy Troubles

Tina has been struck down with some sort of stomach bug for the last couple of days, which has somewhat limited our cooking options. However, it has given us reason to produce a lot of stomach-soothing homemade herbal beverages, largely focused around ginger.

Boiling up a pot of water with just a handful of peeled, sliced ginger root will get you a warm and comforting ginger tea. Add a bit of sugar as it’s boiling if you prefer sweet tea. You can also add fresh mint, which is supposed to be good for the stomach (though not, apparently if you have heartburn).

Another option is to make some homemade ginger ale. For this, you’ll first need to make ginger syrup by boiling up equal parts sugar and water, also with peeled, sliced ginger. After letting the mixture boil for a few minutes, allow to cool, then mix a bit of syrup with seltzer to taste and you’ve got ginger ale. Store the extra syrup in the fridge, keeping the bits of ginger in for extra flavor.

If anybody has other stomach soothing suggestions, or ideas for fantastic bratt diet recipes, we’re all ears.

Noodle Frittata

The other day we made some pasta with vegetables and tempeh for dinner.  We ended up making a lot more than expected and I decided to create a pasta “frittata” for brunch.

This came out surprisingly well and was a welcome addition to our weekend brunch repertoire.

Noodle Frittata

Ingredients:

• a bunch of leftover pasta
• olive oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• various spices of your choosing

To Do:

1. Preheat your oven to 375F.
2. Mix together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and various spices of your choosing.
3. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in an oven-safe skillet (cast iron rules!) and place the pasta in it.
4. Stir the pasta a bit until it heats up.
5. Pour the egg mixture over the top of the pasta and distribute it throughout the mixture evenly.  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top.
6. Place the skillet in the oven and bake until the top is golden brown – about 15 minutes or so.
7. Serve!

Home Sick

Saltines cost $3.54!!  Crazy.  This is why we don’t buy prepared food!

Also bought a bag of onions for $1.50 and couple of rolls ($1).

Total so far this week: $6.04

This Week’s Receipt

We had $1.47 leftover from last week, so the Liz Lovely Cookie was an indulgence.  Combined with the $1 we spent last night on some bread and the $1.77 we spent on Monday night, our total this week is: $12.91.  We have $18.56 left.

 

Spaghetti Squash: Seeds and All

Our receipt from Tuesday night’s shop needs to be put up on the site, but one of the items we got was a spaghetti squash.  This dish came together pretty quickly with some items we had in the fridge and the cupboard.  The protein powerhouse here was a pound of (dried) garbanzo beans that I made in the pressure cooker on Friday and stored in the fridge.

Spaghetti Squash: Seeds and All

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized spaghetti squash
• 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
• 1 small red onion (diced)
• olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• crushed red pepper & garlic powder
• freshly ground black pepper and salt
• 1 cup of red wine

To Do:

1. Chop the top and very bottom of the squash off and split the squash in half.
2. Remove seeds and strands from squash.  Wash the seeds and place on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and toast for 10 minutes in a 350F oven or until they are all brown and crispy
3. In the meantime, prick squash halves with a knife and fill a microwavable dish with a half-inch of water.  Place one half of the squash in it (if you can fit both halves, go for it) and microwave for about 7-8 minutes.  If you want to roast the squash, preheat the oven to 375 and place squash halves in a rimmed baking sheet with water on the bottom.  Roast for about an hour or until squash is tender.
4. Use a fork and comb out the squash halves – the strands should come out looking a bit like spaghetti.  Place in a bowl and cover to keep warm.
5. Heat up olive oil in a skillet and add the chopped onions.  Saute the onions for 5 minutes on medium heat and then add a 1/4 cup of wine.  Cover skillet and lower the heat to a simmer – cook for 5 minutes and add the parsley and garbanzo beans.
6. Add the rest of the wine, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste and cover.  Let this simmer for a little bit – it’ll be your sauce.
7. Heat up the spaghetti squash in the microwave for a minute or two.   Alternatively, add the squash to the garbanzo mixture and heat it all over the stove.
8. Top with the garbanzo mixture, Parmesan cheese and the toasted squash seeds.
9. Enjoy!