May 12, 2010
“When did you become Martha Stewart?”
One of my friends was suitably impressed by the dinner I prepared over the weekend and that I cook as much as I do each week. The evidence of my evolution into frugal domesticity was rather striking this weekend, come to think.
I came home from work, did more work at home, made a three course dinner with dessert, served brunch, second lunch, picked up supplies for my friends the intrepid painters, washed, dried and folded a combination of laundry for three, and made dinner again.
As I suspected, several long years ago, supporting my family financially isn’t all there is to running a household. Housekeeping is hard work. I can’t even begin to imagine how much more challenging this would be combined with having children. And pets? No wonder my parents resisted our pleas for dogs so long. Every little bit eats away at your previous time and energy.
The extra effort in having guests who are old friends would be well worth the company alone. In this case, it’s more than repaid because they’ve cheerfully taken on the task of painting the apartment (not my plan or idea, but I can’t get into that right now). All I’ve got to do is provide support services like cooking and cleaning so they can handle the stuff my shoulder and various other joints won’t allow. Our friendships don’t require currency but it’s nice that we’re good about exchanging favors like random chores or emergency break-up moving services.
As I was folding our laundry, the thought occurred to me that the next time I buy detergent and fabric softener – a long while from now as I only use a wee dash at a time, I need a different scent. Something about this combination reminds me of someone I was once fond of but am no longer. It’s strange how something as simple as a fragrance can influence future shopping habits.
March 12, 2010
I can’t recall how I happened across this Haven of Food Genius, but I had to try making these fantastic Pies in Jars by Our Best Bites.
My process was not nearly as cute as theirs, but the formula was about the same….
Add some of this:
to some of these (but with dough lining the jar):
[also, in the Short/Squatty jars, not the wine bottle, that’s there for scale]
And add some cute tops:
Run out of dough for the jars, make a tart with leftover “tops”
Accidentally burnt the bottom of this to a crisp.
Bake to Perfection!
This was a pretty frugal treat. I bought two pounds of Granny Smiths, was able to skip the lemon as they were superpowered and never browned after peeling, slicing or dicing = $3.95. Butter was $2, a jar of cinnamon was another $2. Other than that, I just needed flour, brown sugar, white sugar, and salt, all of which were in the pantry.
Using the following two suggested recipes from Our Best Bites as guides, I ended up with nine jars of apple pies, and two small pie-like tart things.
Pastry: yields 3 jars worth
1 1/4c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c.+ 1 Tbsp. butter-flavored shortening
Ice water (probably about 1/4 c.)
Apple Pie: yielded 9 jars worth
6 cups peeled, sliced Granny Smith apples (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp. butter, chopped
*I just did a butter wash and sprinkled sugar on the crust. Also dribbled some of the butter through the vents.
If you don’t factor in the manual labor, at a dollar a jar plus the cost of foodstuffs, this could potentially be a great frugal holiday gift. Since they’re made for freezing and baking in the jars, they could be made well ahead of time in batches.
January 20, 2010
Shrimp Scampi
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined)
1/4 cup white wine
1 lemon (juice)
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 pound regular penne to avoid leftovers, I would probably use a whole pound next time for a better pasta/shrimp ratio.
Parmigiano reggiano (garnish)
Chopped tomatos, basil (garnish)
Directions
1. Heat the oil and melt the butter in a pan.
2. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add the shrimp and saute until cooked, about 1-3 minutes per side.
4. Remove the shrimp from the pan.
5. Add the wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil.
6. Simmer the liquid until reduced by about half, about 3-5 minutes.
7. Add butter, wait for it to melt and turn off the heat.
8. Add shrimp, pasta and toss to coat.
9. Serve with a garnish of parmigiano reggiano, tomatos and basil.
Notes: On a shampoo and loaf of bread trip to Costco we were surprised by a showcase of gorgeous White or Black Tiger Prawns for $8.99/lb. [Nothing like Frugal Scholar’s $2.98/lb shrimp!]
We bought a pound (17 shrimps) to make tiny appetizers to accompany the chicken bites I’d planned to serve at a housewarming, but we ran out of time. Which was all to the good for me and my pasta ambitions the following day.
I would recommend serving with fresh tomatoes and basil.
VERSUS
Lemon Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
8 drumsticks
3 lemons
15 cloves of garlic, peeled
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh thyme Italian parsley leaves (it turns out Trader Joe’s does NOT have thyme)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, add the chicken pieces. Slice the lemons in half and juice them. Add the juice and the lemon rinds to the bowl, along with the garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme.
3. Mix well with your hands, then dump this all in a large baking dish.
4. Put the dish in the oven and bake the chicken for 30 to 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes.
5. When the skin gets crispy and the meat is cooked through, it is done.
Notes: For my fat-fearing companion, I skinned the drumsticks ahead of cooking, and used a foil shield over the pan to protect the chicken from drying out.
Verdict: Both are absolutely delicious, but the shrimp scampi ringing up at more than $3/lb and using white wine is too decadent for a frugal budget. We’ll use 2-buck chuck, of course, but a bottle has to be drunk within a few days of opening.
The chicken, however, at $1.29/lb isn’t terribly cheap but is quite a bit more affordable for an everyday dish.
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Daily Exercise Update: Nuttin. I was paying the price for procrastinating on homework and other needful things. As penance, tomorrow, ANKLE WEIGHTS.
December 22, 2009
We’re scant days away from CookFest 2009 … er, Christmas, and I’ve been compiling a whole mess of recipes to last through the weekend.
Wish I had pictures, but I’ll share those afterward if this all turns out well.
I’ve already got an idea about Shrimp Scampi, we’ll serve my now-perfected baked fish with roasted tomatoes and pesto, we’ll have to work a miracle with a pork loin of some sort, and then on to a frugal Almond Pecan Pie for dessert.
I know we’ll serve wine, but I’m hoping to make VH’s pineapple punch. Sounds delicious!
Clearly, there’s some fleshing out to do here, but we’ve got a good start.
October 23, 2009
Cooking recap/pretasting: This has the potential to be the worst recipe ever. My taste test of the original recipe with honey was rather sickening. I only used one round of that terrible tomato-honey blend, and used salt, pepper and another 8 oz of tomato sauce trying to counter the overpowering honey taste. And there was too much mixture left over at the end (about 12 oz?). My hopes aren’t high, but that was a lot of work so I hope hope hope that it works out. And now, on to the pictures!
Prep Time!
The recipe did not call for garlic. But garlic is oh-so-right.
This pan has seen better times. I didn’t do that to it.
+ Rice
+ Tomato Sauce Blend.
After +salt +pepper and +plain tomato sauce to counter the honey blended sauce.
Ready for the oven!
Voila!
Final Verdict: A smidge heavy on the pepper, and really wish I’d skipped the honey entirely. Now I know. And knowing’s half the battle.
Final Cost: Peppers: 2 x 89 cents/pepper = $1.78
Beef: (Expensive at) $2/lb.
Tomato Sauce: 3 x 27 cents/can = 71 cents
Onion: 50 cents
Rice: already cooked at home
Garlic, Honey, pepper, salt: already in the cupboard
Total: $5.20
November 8, 2007
I just wasted half a cup of rice, or half a POT of brown rice if you’re a pessimist like I am. Struck by a craving, I put a pot of brown rice on the stove to cook while I ate my boring white rice. Instead of using my sports watch, I foolishly used the microwave timer to keep track of the 35 minutes. I checked on the rice after 20 minutes, added a little water, and went back to my room. Brilliantly shut the door to keep the warmth in, and completely forgot that I couldn’t hear the timer through the door.
25 minutes after THAT, I raced out to the kitchen to find that there was a small bowl worth of brown rice cooked perfectly, nestled in the sad, smoking craters of burnt rice. Dangit!
Paducky likes crispety, crunchety burned white rice, but doesn’t like brown rice at all, so I couldn’t even salvage it. Did you know that burnt brown rice smells like burnt popcorn?
Now you know.
