A lot of my recipe posting  has to do with my latest quest to revive home ec.  I made a deal with a co-worker of mine to track my food spending habits (grocery and restaurant) for the month of October (I also recorded my grocery consumption on a calendar for future reference).  I told her I spent $200 a month or less on food purchases (we decided that alcohol fell under entertainment).  She spent closer to $500 between restaurants and grocery.  I told her that I cook most of my food. It’s nice to have someone else cook your food, but I like the fancy stuff if I go out.

Now that the month is over I tallied up my receipts and reviewed my food calendar. I’ve cooked some great food, hoarded a bunch of leftovers and spent $191.  If it weren’t for M’s fancy birthday dinner at the end of the month I would have been under $200.  But it was Olivia, so it was more like $225 with my entree and food sharing.

So, what now?  My co-worker is going to try and do better with her spending.  I am going to continue to prove that cooking is not a chore.

Time/money saving tips:

• If you have time to cook, cook more than one meal.  You dirty the kitchen once and you have leftovers to reheat.
• Cook the time consuming stuff when you are chilling in the house.  I cook brown rice at all times of day.  Who cares if it’s 9:30pm?
• Buy your veggies cut up (fresh or frozen).  The alternative is to cut veggies on grocery day if you have free time.  Store them in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to use them.
• Hide stuff in the freezer.  Just about everything can be frozen and then thawed at a later time (if you aren’t sure, freeze a tablespoon or so and see what happens).  This will extend expiration dates on dairy products,  keep baked goods and nuts from going stale.
• Buy it in bulk if you use it a lot.  I have a Costco membership and use it often for spinach, eggs, cheese, oil, and butter.  If it is too much, split it with a friend.
• Buy fruits and veggies in season.  They are cheaper that way and you add variety to your diet.
• Cut back on trips to the grocery store.  The more trips you make, the more you spend.  My sister said that she spent much less when she ordered her groceries and had them delivered.
• Keep your pantry stocked with staples.  Flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pasta, rice, canned goods.  This will keep you from making extra trips to the grocery store.

I will add on to the list over time.  Stay tuned.

I posted about casseroles a while back.  They are the best gift you can give to someone who appreciates a home cooked meal.  I surprised my friends with enchiladas one Friday (mostly because I wanted them and it takes just as much time to make a pan full of them as it does two).  I made them Thursday night, brought them to the office and hid them in the back of the fridge, then reheated them at their house.

What’s in them?

• Frozen spinach
• Black Beans
• Salsa (I used the HEB fancy salsa “Roasted”
• HEB  mexican blend cheese
• sauteed mushrooms
• frozen zucchini
• frozen red bell peppers

Yes, I see you rolling your eyes at my use of frozen veggies (you should be excited that this isn’t a vegan recipe).  Well, if you have time to shop for good produce, and invest time in cutting all of those veggies, go for it. I try to buy fresh veggies when they are in season, otherwise I go frozen.

Instructions:  This is one of those dump it in a pan recipes that works well with drunk cooking.

• Preheat oven to 400
• Drain the black beans and toss them in a pan with about 1/3 jar of salsa (the rest will be used to top the enchiladas before cooking)
• Toss in the frozen veggies.  You are done cooking when this stuff is defrosted. Add in 1/2 the bag of cheese (the rest will be used on top of the enchiladas) and the mushrooms
• Assembly: Coat bottom of baking pan (I like the pyrex ones that have a lid) with salsa (don’t forget to save some for topping).   If you are using flour-based tortillas, fill them and toss them in the pan.  If you are using corn, they will crumble if you don’t wet them with something first.  I suggest salsa.
• When you are done, spread the rest of the salsa on top of the echiladas and sprinkle on cheese.
• Toss them in the oven and bake them for 20 minutes or the cheese is melted and the edges are browned.

I recently discovered My Drunk Kitchen.  I’ve been cooking and drinking for years.  The key is to have 2 meals going at once to avoid drunken disasters. Also, pot pies have 2 temperature settings.  Cold and lava.  Please be careful if you plan on drunk cooking then consuming these pies straight out of the oven.

The plan was to make veggie pot pie.  I remembered to take the dough for pie crust and pizza crust out of the freezer before I went to work.  The biscuit dough can go in the fridge.  The pizza dough should be placed in an oiled bowl so it can rise again.  I usually leave it in a climate controlled place (microwave).

When I got home uncorked a bottle of red wine (my new favorite from Costco is called Secreto) and started on my pot pie filling.  It isn’t completely drunk safe so do that first. You should also preheat the oven to 425 and take that pie crust out of the fridge. (more…)

It’s time to bust out sweaters and coats and make some soup.  It was also time for me to clean out the pantry and figure out what was in the zip-lock bags in the freezer.

This week, vegan “cream” of broccoli soup and lentil quinoa crackers. Yes, vegan.  With fall breezes come allergens.  With allergens, the mucous builds up.  Dairy products become the enemy.

Ingredients

• Can of white “northern” beans
• vegetable bouillon (I highly recommend the “Better than Bouillon” that comes in a jar.)
• ~4 cups broccoli florets (I used frozen)

Cooking

• Drain white beans, cook on low with 1 can of water and ~tbsp bouillon
• add 1/2 the broccoli florets and cook until broccoli thaws (yes, I use frozen veggies as a timer)
• Let mixture cool,  and puree it in the blender (or food processor).
• Chop the remainder of the broccoli (I used the blender)
• Combine the mixture,  add salt and pepper to taste.  If the soup is too thick, you can add water, soy or rice milk.

Crackers

This week’s freezer excavation yielded Lentil Quinoa Biscuit dough.  I had intended to use it as pot pie crust but I had a little left over.

Dough Ingredients

• 1 c.  white flour
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 6 tbsp. vegetable or grapeseed oil
• 2/3 c. Rice Milk (you can use water if you don’t have rice milk)
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (this time I cooked the quinoa with lentils and vegtable stock and added savory spices)

Preheat oven to 425. Mix all ingredients together.  Add more flour or rice milk to even out the texture of the dough. Roll the dough out on a floured surface until it is about 1/4″ thick. A this point you can use it as pie crust or crackers.  For crackers I used a heart shaped cookie cutter and placed the cutouts on an oiled cookie sheet.  I brushed oil on the top of each cut out and sprinkled them with sea salt.  Bake for about 10 mins (or until they are browned).

I’ve been in a funk.  I am still in a funk. But today I got the best voice mail message ever and a much needed chat with a good friend.  What spurred said message?

Chocolate cake.

Here’s a little something I call sexual chocolate.  It’s the darkest chocolate cake I have ever made.  Uninterrupted by non-essentials.  As much cocoa as possible with some binding agents.  Plus it is gluten free.

What You’ll Need:
6 oz Baker’s Chocolate
2/3 cup butter
4 eggs
¾ cup and 1 tbsp organic blue agave nectar
1 cup dark cocoa
1 cup bourbon soaked almonds (optional)

Assembly:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

With butter, grease a round 9 inch baking pan. I went rogue on this, but you could add some greased parchment to the bottom .

For cake, melt chocolate and butter at medium low temperature stirring constantly until they are thoroughly combined and smooth (or you can melt it in the microwave). Remove from heat and transfer with scraper into a fairly large bowl (or the bowl of your kitchen mixer).

Slowly pour in blue agave nectar, mixing well. Next, add eggs (one at a time) and use either a hand mixer or a whisk to make sure they are fully blended into the batter. Finally, spoon the cup of unsweetened cocoa in and again use hand mixer or whisk to blend. Make sure there are no larger chunks of cocoa powder clumping together. I used our Kitchen Aid mixer to ensure the absence of clumps.

Pour your chocolate mixture into the greased cake pan. Bake in oven approximately 40 minutes (check between 30 and 35 minutes to make sure it is not burning if your oven tends to run hot). When perfectly baked the top will have a crust the consistency of chilled pudding and may fracture a bit. Don’t worry – the fissures will be unnoticeable when cooled and besides, you are actually looking at the cake’s bottom!

Remove cake from oven and allow to sit undisturbed for about 12 minutes. Place a cake plate over the top of your pan and then invert the plate and cake so that you are now looking at the bottom of your cake pan resting on top of your cake plate. Gently remove pan from cake, and carefully peel away the top layer of parchment paper.

Ok,  I know it was last week, but I can’t resist. I love this pic, and the margarita was super yummy.  Prickly Pear margarita with jalapeno syrup and a chile salt on the rim.  I’m telling you, Fonda San Miguel knows how to do it up!

Also the enchiladas were amazing.  I’m not sure, but I think they were a special, however, it’s worth it to ask for them.  The sauces on top are: verde, rojo and suiza blanco, inside was chicken and cheese.  The chicken was perfect, usually I don’t really like chicken in enchiladas because it gets dry.  Not the case here folks.  This was great.

In Texas, if there is anything remotely resembling winter precipitation, STAY INSIDE!  That is what I did.  I told my FB peeps that I would only post pictures of food.

This week’s recipe for Meg is Vegan and Gluten Free.  Oven baked Ratatouille (hence the title).  Now some of you are cringing at that thought but, Yenta walked over and was dazzled by my mad cooking skills once again.

Oven Baked Ratatouille

Since this recipe was simplified for Megan, I used only frozen and canned items (I wanted to eliminate grocery store fears and the need for chopping vegetables). For a real produce version check out this recipe (or maybe Em will make you some). (more…)

I know that many people out there are saying, “Oh no, not some hippy vegetarian post about why meat is bad for you.” Totally not the case. I am just offering up a delicious option for feeding your non-carnivorous friends something that you might actually eat.

So, how does one turn a flavorless block of soy into something delicious?  Well, you need to remove the water and inject it with something tasty, like spices.

I planned ahead so I placed a block of firm tofu on paper towels and squished it between two plates (I stacked a few bags of rice on top to press out the water).  I left it sitting  in the fridge all day and it was perfect.  Now, if you didn’t happen to plan ahead, you can press your tofu like this…

Next, you replace the water with flavor.  I happened to use a blend of (more…)

I promised Meg that I would try and give her a recipe or two every month.  I am trying to get ahead now because I know I will forget a few months from now.

Today I made a dry curry with:

• 1 can chickpeas (rinsed)
• 1 bag frozen cauliflower (DO NOT DEFROST or you will end up with mushy cauliflower)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
• 1/2 brick of frozen spinach (defrost and de-water)
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• about a tbsp of madras hot curry powder
• wine and butter to taste (blame France)

How to make it:  (more…)

“Casserole: A dish or pot made from a material such as glass, cast iron, aluminum, or earthenware in which food is baked and, often, served. The word, which may also refer to the food itself…is from the French and was first printed in English in 1708….Cooking in such dishes has always been a part of most nation’s gastronomy, but the idea of casserole cooking as a one-dish meal became popular in America in the twentieth century, especially in the 1950s when new forms of lightweight metal and glassware appeared on the market. The virtues of easy-to-prepare meals were increasingly promoted in the women’s magazines of the era, thereby supposedly freeing the housewife from the lengthy drudgery of the kitchen….By the 1970s casserole cookery took on a less-than sophisticated image…”
—The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p.59)

Here’s to bringing sophistication back.  I like making casseroles because they a) are easily transported (if you are gifting someone food) and b) make awesome leftovers. I’ve been modifying this one for a few years.  Here is the latest adaptation.

Ingredients:

• 1 can Progresso Lentil Soup (I bought the 99% fat free one but it doesn’t really matter)
• 2ish tbsp of unsalted butter
• 1/2 package of Central Market Whole Wheat Gemeli (CM’s WW pasta is the bomb)
• 1 tsp “better than bouillon” (vegetable)
• oregano, salt, and pepper to taste.
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Par cook the pasta (to avoid sogginess).  I boil it in salted water for about half the recommended time.  I drain off the water but I don’t rinse the pasta (rinsing is bad).  While the pasta is cooking I put 2ish tbsp of butter in a pan medium heat.  Some say to whisk it, I got lazy and decided that stirring in the walnuts counted as whisking.

Once melted the butter will foam up a bit, then subside. Watch carefully as lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. Smell the butter; it should have a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and place on a cool surface to help stop the butter from cooking further and perhaps burning. Stir in the bouillon, spices, and soup.  Place the pan back on medium heat until the sauce thickens.

Stir in the pasta. Remove from heat and place on a cool surface.  Cover the pan and allow the pasta to finish cooking and absorb the excess liquid.  I usually pack it away in a container at this point.  Casseroles are always better the second day.