Sunburst Carrots & Garam Masala Spiced Tofu

We got back to our apartment yesterday and have no more access to the bountiful leftovers at my parents’ place.  There wasn’t much in the fridge, but I think this was one of the prettiest meals we’ve made in a while.  With three carrots left in the crisper, a block of tofu, half a bunch [...]

Happy Leftovers Day

30/Week would like to give a sensiblilty shout-out to the day after Thanksgiving as the celebration of our nation’s most famous leftovers. Forgetting momentarily that the famously frugal cuisine must share the day with an annual bacchanal of vicious, orgiastic consumerism (or indeed the holiday’s own problematic origins), let’s take a moment to recognize [...]

Budget Kitchen Fundamentals: Grow Your Own

Along with our grocery budget, we’ve been trying over the past year to make our diet more sustainable and economical by growing some of our own food. If you’re an urbanite looking for tips on how to start a garden despite your lack of arable land, I suggest The Urban Homestead, written by the [...]

Things to Be Thankful For – 3 Recipes for T-Day

We’re heading to both sets of parents for Thanksgiving and I am very excited about eating some delicious food that is not on a budget! I mean, we eat well for our $30/week, but I’m looking forward to being fed. It will also be nice to get out of the city for a [...]

Receipt Update & Soup When It’s Cold

This week’s receipt came out to $30.15 (we had $14.79 last week, but I spent another $8 on soy milk, tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese last Saturday, so we still had a surplus of $6.69 when I went food shopping on Tuesday). Now we actually have $6.54 LEFT for the week! Pretty exciting. [...]

Transformative Leftovers Award: Hash Brown Rice

Though we still had a good bit of food in the house (and, more surprisingly, over $10 left in our weekly budget), we ended up having Chinese take-out with a friend last night. The thing about Chinese take-out is that one is always left over with a bunch of leftover cooked rice that quickly [...]

Polenta with Three Root Ragu

Perhaps not the best food portrait ever…but it tasted delicious.
A co-worker heading out of town was cleaning out her refrigerator and we ended up with four organic sweet potatoes and a good idea for a future frugal fundamentals column: sharing with your friends and neighbors is a good way to avoid both waste and having [...]

This Week’s Receipt and Last Week’s Recap

So, below is this week’s receipt (so far). Last week we had a surplus of almost $4, but used it over the weekend to buy some bread, 2 tangerines and some coffee (Cafe Bustelo, $2.39, to be exact). Things are going pretty well! I am getting nervous as my stock of frozen [...]

Budget Kitchen Fundamentals: Buy it in Bulk

As promised, here is the first installment of our series of basic tips on how to make your meals cheaper without sacrificing the quality of food you’re eating. Like many of the skills (well, maybe more like practices – not too much real skill involved here) we employ, this post focuses on spending your [...]

Cheap Livin’ in the City

Perfect for those living in NYC and its environs, NY Magazine presents it’s “Cheap Living Guide“. A lot of the ideas are good for any big city and it’s dive bar feature on the Nancy Whiskey Pub holds a dear place in my heart. Some bits are food related, but I’m all [...]