31 August 2009
365 days
last year farris forwarded me an interesting link. some guy somewhere in the world photgraphed himself every day for an entire year. i just googled 365 days of self portraits and found that there are many other people that tried this experiment...and of course i couldn't find that original link, but found some very interesting sites.
anyway, we are quickly approaching the anniversary of my 29th year on this planet and i was thinking, what better time to try this than the last year of my twenties?
thoughts??
26 August 2009
Week 2- The $50 a week grocery challenge!
well we were so proud of ourselves for such a successful first week that we went out last friday for dinner. but then it was back to the drawing board for this weeks meals.
one thing that i mentioned in last weeks blog was that i make a batch of muffins at the beginning of the week. however, i don't think i gave away my other secret of making a batch of dough as well. i've already given credit to artisan bread in five minutes a day, but this has sort of been key to making this work. the dough can be made into any number of things, pizza, calzones and assorted breads. this week i tried out their rye bread recipe and it was delicious! so here's the rundown...
cranberry and walnut muffins-
using the recipe listed last week i just substituted the blueberries with dried cranberries and walnuts...they came out a little dry so next time i think i'll add a bit more milk.
pizza and greek kale salad-
i used the basic pizza dough recipe from the artisan bread in five minutes a day cookbook and threw on whatever we had for toppings...a perfect match with the kale salad! this fed us once for dinner and twice for lunch.
tuna melts w/ swiss cheese on rye
yummmmmmm....
creamy asparagus soup- crock pot recipe
as i said last week, soup is so cheap! freeze leftovers or eat it for a few days...this fed us quite a few times this week. janel joined us for this meal and brought some delicious rosemary potato bread! as you can tell, we love our bread!
1 lb fresh asparagus
2 onions finely diced
2 potatoes peeled & diced small
2 ribs celery, diced small with tops included
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 tsp. granulated veggie bouillion (or your own broth if you have it)
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley or 1 tbs. dried
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried
1 tsp. dried tarragon
1/4 cup fresh basil or 2 tsp. dried
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/4 cup conrstarch
2 cups half and half (or heavy cream if you want to really make it creamy)
break off and discard the tough end of each asparagus spear. chop spears in 1/4 inch slices and add to crock pot along with all ingredients down to white pepper. add water within 1 inch of the top of pot. cover and cook on high for 6-7 hours. about two hours before serving, remove bay leaf and using a slotted spoon, remove most of the veggies and puree in blender. add back to the soup. repeat once or twice. add 1 cup half and half to soup. add cornstarch to the remaining half and half in the carton and shake vigorously. add mix to soup. cook on high for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
bean burritos- this is another one of those standby meals for us. this year, we canned salsa and jalapenos, making it even easier to throw something like this together. if you aren't a canner, i highly recommend stocking up on items when they're on sale...butter can be frozen and canned goods keep for quite a while...keep that in mind when shopping. anyway, it's a bean burrito, nothing special...so i'm not bothering with a recipe.
sicilian lentil soup with pasta-
i chose to make this because i knew we would have leftover veggies from the other soup i made. and i still have ditalini pasta leftover from the last time i made it.
this is another favorite of mine...my only complaint is that because it contains pasta, it sucks up liquid like a dry mop...so always add a little more water when reheating.
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup each finely chopped onion, celery and carrots
1/4 cup chopped celery leaves
3 cloves garlic
1 1lb can chopped tomatoes, undrained
4 cups veggie broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup lentils, uncooked
1 bay leaf
1 tsp each dried oregano & basil
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cup ditalini pasta, uncooked
grated parmesan cheese
heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. add onion, celery, carrots, celery leaves and garlic. cook, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. add remaining ingredients except pasta and cheese. bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. reduce heat to med-low, cover and simmer 40 minutes or until veggies are tender. stir in pasta and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. remove bay leaf. top each serving with parmesan cheese.
one thing that i mentioned in last weeks blog was that i make a batch of muffins at the beginning of the week. however, i don't think i gave away my other secret of making a batch of dough as well. i've already given credit to artisan bread in five minutes a day, but this has sort of been key to making this work. the dough can be made into any number of things, pizza, calzones and assorted breads. this week i tried out their rye bread recipe and it was delicious! so here's the rundown...
cranberry and walnut muffins-
using the recipe listed last week i just substituted the blueberries with dried cranberries and walnuts...they came out a little dry so next time i think i'll add a bit more milk.
pizza and greek kale salad-
i used the basic pizza dough recipe from the artisan bread in five minutes a day cookbook and threw on whatever we had for toppings...a perfect match with the kale salad! this fed us once for dinner and twice for lunch.
tuna melts w/ swiss cheese on rye
yummmmmmm....
creamy asparagus soup- crock pot recipe
as i said last week, soup is so cheap! freeze leftovers or eat it for a few days...this fed us quite a few times this week. janel joined us for this meal and brought some delicious rosemary potato bread! as you can tell, we love our bread!
1 lb fresh asparagus
2 onions finely diced
2 potatoes peeled & diced small
2 ribs celery, diced small with tops included
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 tsp. granulated veggie bouillion (or your own broth if you have it)
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley or 1 tbs. dried
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried
1 tsp. dried tarragon
1/4 cup fresh basil or 2 tsp. dried
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/4 cup conrstarch
2 cups half and half (or heavy cream if you want to really make it creamy)
break off and discard the tough end of each asparagus spear. chop spears in 1/4 inch slices and add to crock pot along with all ingredients down to white pepper. add water within 1 inch of the top of pot. cover and cook on high for 6-7 hours. about two hours before serving, remove bay leaf and using a slotted spoon, remove most of the veggies and puree in blender. add back to the soup. repeat once or twice. add 1 cup half and half to soup. add cornstarch to the remaining half and half in the carton and shake vigorously. add mix to soup. cook on high for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
bean burritos- this is another one of those standby meals for us. this year, we canned salsa and jalapenos, making it even easier to throw something like this together. if you aren't a canner, i highly recommend stocking up on items when they're on sale...butter can be frozen and canned goods keep for quite a while...keep that in mind when shopping. anyway, it's a bean burrito, nothing special...so i'm not bothering with a recipe.
sicilian lentil soup with pasta-
i chose to make this because i knew we would have leftover veggies from the other soup i made. and i still have ditalini pasta leftover from the last time i made it.
this is another favorite of mine...my only complaint is that because it contains pasta, it sucks up liquid like a dry mop...so always add a little more water when reheating.
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup each finely chopped onion, celery and carrots
1/4 cup chopped celery leaves
3 cloves garlic
1 1lb can chopped tomatoes, undrained
4 cups veggie broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup lentils, uncooked
1 bay leaf
1 tsp each dried oregano & basil
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cup ditalini pasta, uncooked
grated parmesan cheese
heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. add onion, celery, carrots, celery leaves and garlic. cook, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. add remaining ingredients except pasta and cheese. bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. reduce heat to med-low, cover and simmer 40 minutes or until veggies are tender. stir in pasta and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. remove bay leaf. top each serving with parmesan cheese.
24 August 2009
she's a two timer
i recently got this double kitchen timer from anthropologie...i would have never anticipated the need for one of these, but within 24 hours of bringing it home i had already used it twice. although i do not support products made in china and generally refrain from purchasing them, this little baby won my heart and while i was shopping elsewhere, bart went back and picked it up for me
cupcake day!
we mixed whole lotta butter and eggs
20 August 2009
the $50.00 a week grocery challenge
well the gas is back on and i've been cooking more than ever. one thing we have come to realize however, is that we eat out WAY too much for two people that love to cook. bloomington has some amazing local and ethnic restaurants though, who can really blame us?
so, in an effort to save money and stop eating out so frequently, i proclaimed a 2 week spending freeze. and to go with it, a $50 a week grocery challenge. spend $50 bucks at the grocery and have enough food to feed 2 people for 7 days. now keep in mind that this definitely requires a well stocked kitchen. spices, flour etc. can most be costly...especially when you're looking at purchasing a $6.00 container of spices that you need for just one meal. so that was something that i tried to remember when planning for our first week. of course it also makes a big difference to prepare meals that you know you'll have plenty of leftovers from OR ones you can turn into something else. i personally find the latter to be more difficult...we're a mostly vegetarian household...you can cook a whole chicken and do SO much with it. chicken salad, soup stock, etc. while that doesn't apply to us, you might keep it in mind if you ever find yourself wanting to make some changes.
anyway, i wanted to share my first weeks meals with you as well as some recipes. here's what our first week looked like:
blueberry muffins- oh muffins, we had a brief love affair many years ago and i have recently rediscovered the joy of these little yummies. these are great for breakfast or just a snack. replace the blueberries with ANYTHING. i've done apple cinnamon, pear walnut, cranberry walnut...i basically open the cupboard and combine what sounds good.
1/2 cup butter- softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 to 2 cups blueberries
grease or place paper baking cups in a 24 muffin pan. preheat oven to 375 degrees. mix butter and sugar until fluffy. add eggs one at a time and mix. combine dry ingredients. combine milk and vanilla. alternately mix dry and wet ingredients. slowly fold in berries. spoon into cups and bake for 30 minutes.
NOTE: to make low fat- use 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter and add 1/4 applesauce
chickpea ratatouille w/ couscous and garlic naan-
i LOVE this recipe and have been making it religiously for years. it makes a huge casserole dish worth and is excellent alone or with couscous. we ate this for dinner twice and even had enough for us to each have leftovers for lunch once.
goat cheese and tomato tart w/ sauteed asparagus and a salad with green goddess dressing-
my friend elizabeth made this for janel and i last week and oh my goodness it is smack yo momma delicious! it was surprisingly easy to make and again, makes a whole lot of it. we ate this for dinner once and lunch twice....and we still have leftovers.
cream of white bean soup w/ jalapeno cornbread muffins- i wasn't that fond of this particular recipe, but i can't stress enough the economical sense that soup makes. we ate this several times for lunch and once for dinner. we froze some for later use AND i made extra beans to make my super easy pasta and bean dinner for later in the week. the jalapeno cornbread muffins are easy, i use a box of jiffy mix and add either fresh corn cut off the cob or 1 can. add 2-3 fresh or canned jalapenos.
ray ray's pasta and beans-cheap and easy...just the way i like it
2 cups rotini pasta
1 can or 2 cups cooked white beans (chickpeas work ok too)- drained and rinsed
2 tsp. minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbs. olive oil
cook pasta according to directions. in a separate pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. add garlic and beans. salt and pepper to taste. once pasta's done, mix the beans and pasta together. that's it. this is so quick and always a good fallback meal when i just don't know what to cook. it's also a nice make ahead lunch.
we also purchased some fruit for snacking at work, as well as oatmeal and eggs for breakfast. we still have dressing and salad stuff leftover and the celery i bought for the soup is also being used for this weeks new batch of meals, which i will probably post tomorrow.
so, in an effort to save money and stop eating out so frequently, i proclaimed a 2 week spending freeze. and to go with it, a $50 a week grocery challenge. spend $50 bucks at the grocery and have enough food to feed 2 people for 7 days. now keep in mind that this definitely requires a well stocked kitchen. spices, flour etc. can most be costly...especially when you're looking at purchasing a $6.00 container of spices that you need for just one meal. so that was something that i tried to remember when planning for our first week. of course it also makes a big difference to prepare meals that you know you'll have plenty of leftovers from OR ones you can turn into something else. i personally find the latter to be more difficult...we're a mostly vegetarian household...you can cook a whole chicken and do SO much with it. chicken salad, soup stock, etc. while that doesn't apply to us, you might keep it in mind if you ever find yourself wanting to make some changes.
anyway, i wanted to share my first weeks meals with you as well as some recipes. here's what our first week looked like:
blueberry muffins- oh muffins, we had a brief love affair many years ago and i have recently rediscovered the joy of these little yummies. these are great for breakfast or just a snack. replace the blueberries with ANYTHING. i've done apple cinnamon, pear walnut, cranberry walnut...i basically open the cupboard and combine what sounds good.
1/2 cup butter- softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 to 2 cups blueberries
grease or place paper baking cups in a 24 muffin pan. preheat oven to 375 degrees. mix butter and sugar until fluffy. add eggs one at a time and mix. combine dry ingredients. combine milk and vanilla. alternately mix dry and wet ingredients. slowly fold in berries. spoon into cups and bake for 30 minutes.
NOTE: to make low fat- use 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter and add 1/4 applesauce
chickpea ratatouille w/ couscous and garlic naan-
i LOVE this recipe and have been making it religiously for years. it makes a huge casserole dish worth and is excellent alone or with couscous. we ate this for dinner twice and even had enough for us to each have leftovers for lunch once.
goat cheese and tomato tart w/ sauteed asparagus and a salad with green goddess dressing-
my friend elizabeth made this for janel and i last week and oh my goodness it is smack yo momma delicious! it was surprisingly easy to make and again, makes a whole lot of it. we ate this for dinner once and lunch twice....and we still have leftovers.
cream of white bean soup w/ jalapeno cornbread muffins- i wasn't that fond of this particular recipe, but i can't stress enough the economical sense that soup makes. we ate this several times for lunch and once for dinner. we froze some for later use AND i made extra beans to make my super easy pasta and bean dinner for later in the week. the jalapeno cornbread muffins are easy, i use a box of jiffy mix and add either fresh corn cut off the cob or 1 can. add 2-3 fresh or canned jalapenos.
ray ray's pasta and beans-cheap and easy...just the way i like it
2 cups rotini pasta
1 can or 2 cups cooked white beans (chickpeas work ok too)- drained and rinsed
2 tsp. minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbs. olive oil
cook pasta according to directions. in a separate pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. add garlic and beans. salt and pepper to taste. once pasta's done, mix the beans and pasta together. that's it. this is so quick and always a good fallback meal when i just don't know what to cook. it's also a nice make ahead lunch.
we also purchased some fruit for snacking at work, as well as oatmeal and eggs for breakfast. we still have dressing and salad stuff leftover and the celery i bought for the soup is also being used for this weeks new batch of meals, which i will probably post tomorrow.
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