Tight Bites

Nov

Week of 11.28.11

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving week! We’re finally less full, out of left overs, and ready to begin this week’s set of meals. It’s starting to feel like winter around here so we’re trying a new veggie chili recipe this week. It’s not made in the slow cooker, which has me skeptical, but it sounds delicious so we’re going to give it a try. Plus, sweet potatoes are super cheap right now, so we’re loading up! Yum.

Here’s this week’s meal plan for around $50:

Day 1
Lunch: Quinoa with Black Beans and Spinach
Dinner: Sweet Potato Vegetarian Chili

Day 2
Lunch: Quinoa with Black Beans and Spinach
Dinner: Sweet Potato Vegetarian Chili

Day 3
Lunch: Black Bean Vegetarian Chili
Dinner: Naan Bread Pizza

Day 4
Lunch: Huevos Rancheros
Dinner: Black Bean Burgers w/ Sweet Potato Fries

Day 5
Lunch: Black Bean Burgers w/ Sweet Potato Fries
Dinner: Veggie Ruebens

Day 6
Lunch: Huevos Rancheros
Dinner:Black Bean Burgers w/ Sweet Potato Fries

Day 7
Lunch: Naan Bread Pizza
Dinner: Veggie Ruebens

And here is the grocery list with approx. pricing:
Quinoa: $3.50
4 cans black beans: $4
2 bunches spinach: $2
Garlic: $.50
Sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil): $3
Bag of onions: $2
3-4 Sweet potatoes: $2 (They’re .39/pound right now!! Yum.)
Red bell pepper: $2
Green pepper: $1
Diced tomatoes: $1
Carrots: $1
3 roma tomatoes: $2
Cilantro: $1
Lime: $.50
Tortillas: $1
Eggs: $1
Cheese: $2
Naan bread: $3
Mozzarella (1/4-1/3lb sliced): $2
Bread: $1.50
Oats: $2
Saurkraut: $2
Thousand island dressing: $1.50
Swiss cheese (1/4-1/3lb sliced): $2
Fruit: $5
OJ: $3

We always make our own broth, but if you need to buy broth, or any spices add a couple of dollars.

The recipes:

Quinoa with Black Beans and Spinach: Chop 1 cup spinach and 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes. In a pan saute 2 chopped clovest of garlic for a minute or two. Then add the chopped spinach and sun dried tomatoes. Saute until the spinach begins to wilt. Add 14oz veggie broth, 1/4 cup water, 1 can black beans (rinsed), 1 cup quinoa (rinsed), and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then turn down and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until quinoa is cooked.

Sweet Potato Vegetarian Chili: Saute 2 minced cloves of garlic and 1 small diced onion in olive oil for a couple of minutes. Peel and dice two small sweet potatoes (or one larger one), 2 medium carrots, 1/2 red bell pepper, add to pan and cook until the onions are soft.

Reduce heat to medium/low and add 1 can black beans, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup veggie broth, 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper. Simmer for 20-25 minutes, partially covered, stirring occasionally. Thinking I might serve this over a little quinoa since I’ll have it around. If you don’t have the spices or want to use a prepackaged chili spice I’m sure that would be fine too.

Huevos Rancheros: We’re going to be making our own pico to use instead of salsa, but if you want to use salsa instead go right ahead! To make pico just dice a tomato, 1/4 onion, some cilantro, and combine it all in a bowl with the juice from half a lime. Stir and salt to taste.

To make the rest, dice 1/4 onion and add it to a pan with 1 clove minced garlic and some olive oil. Cook over medium heat until tender. Add 1 can black beans and 1/2 tsp cumin. Stir and let simmer while you warm the tortillas and cook your eggs. Take tortillas and top them with cheese, bean mixture, a cooked egg, and pico.

Naan Bread Pizzas
Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor combine 1 roma tomatoes, 1 tbsp olive oil, a garlic clove, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth. Spread a little olive oil on each crust, followed by the sauce. Top with mozzarella, some sliced onion, and a little bell pepper…or whatever toppings you’d like to get. Bake until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is brown. We plan on making our two pizzas on different days since it’s just the two of us.

Vegetarian Ruebens: Make them like a regular ruben but without the meat. Instead we’ll just be filling ours with sauerkraut layered on the bread with swiss cheese and thousand island dressing. Yummy. But obviously very easy to add meat too if you want.

Black Bean Burgers: This is a repeat from a few weeks ago. We love them and are craving them again…In a bowl mash up a can of drained and rinsed black beans. In a food processor combine a couple of cloves of garlic, a small onion or half of a large one, and a bell pepper. Process that sucker! in another food processor grind up a bunch of oats until they’re nice and small. Start with a cup or so, but you may need to do more in a bit. If you’ve got bread crumbs lying around those work too. Mix the oats and the green pepper/onion mixture into the bowl with the black beans. Add more oats as needed until it’s a sticky paste of a mixture almost like ground beef, just enough so that you can form little patties of it. Place them on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes on each side. Thin patties will work better. This usually makes about 12 patties for us. Yep, that’s why it’s on there for so many meals. And if you’ve got spices and such you’d like to thrown in the mix go for it. Nate loves to add chili paste to them. And dress them up with whatever you want. We typically have ketchup, relish and mayo around.

Some photos of recent meals:

Penne with Sun-dried Tomatoes.We definitely liked this. It’s fresh, got a ton of flavor (if you don’t like garlic skip this recipe), and only takes a few minutes to make.

Here are the cheese quesadillas with spanish lime rice. I should probably half the recipe next time. It made SO much food for just the two of us. Also, the rice was better on day two once everything had sat and melded together.

And Thanksgiving. Yes, you can have Thanksgiving dinner as a vegetarian…it’s delicious.

Roasted carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, asparagus, and onion. Yum.

Gotta have biscuits!

Green bean casserole. It’s not Thanksgiving without green bean casserole.

We made the potato corn soup we’ve been making a lot of. Definitely Thanksgiving appropriate.

And of course, mashed potatoes and cornbread stuffing.

Nov

Week of 11.21.11

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I think we know what we’ll all be eating this week…so enjoy your family, and food, and we’ll be back next week!

Nov

Week of 11.14.11

Here’s this week’s meal plan for around $55:

Day 1
Lunch: Five Layer Greek Dip
Dinner: Tomato Avocado Panini

Day 2
Lunch: Five Layer Greek Dip
Dinner: Tomato Avocado Panini

Day 3
Lunch: Lemon-Spinach Chickpeas
Dinner: Penne with Sun-dried Tomatoes

Day 4
Lunch: Lemon-Spinach Chickpeas
Dinner: Penne with Sun-dried Tomatoes

Day 5
Lunch: Cheese quesadillas with Spanish Lime Rice
Dinner: Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup

Day 6
Lunch: Cheese Quesadillas with Spanish Lime Rice
Dinner: Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup

Day 7
Lunch: Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup
Dinner: Greek Pasta

And here is the grocery list with approx. pricing:

3 Tomatoes: $3
Avocado: $2.50
Bread: $1.50
Mozzarella: $3
Spinach: $2
Sun dried tomatoes: $3.50
Basil: $2.50
Parmesan: $2.50
Pita bread: $2
Garbanzo beans: $1
Lemon: $.50
Bag of onions: $2
Carrots: $1
Garlic: $.50
Can diced tomatoes: $1
Can white beans: $1
Small pasta (elbows, shells, etc.): $1
Penne: $1
Rice: $1
Black beans: $1
Can corn: $1
Lime: $.50
Cilantro: $2
Cheese: $2
Sour cream: $1
Hummus: $3
Olives (your choice so price may vary): $1.50
Red bell pepper: $2
Cucumber: $1
Feta: $2.50
Fruit: $5
Tortillas: $1

If you need to buy broth, or any spices add a couple of dollars.

The recipes:

Tomato Avocado Panini: We love veggie paninis. This week ours will have sliced mozzarella, tomatoes, a little sauteed spinach, and some pepper on them. Build and grill like a grilled cheese. Easy and yummy.

Penne with Sun-dried Tomatoes: A friend of ours made this for us and it’s super delicious. Cook 12 ounces of penne pasta until tender. Drain but reserve 1 cup of the water. While the pasta is cooking grab your food processor and blend 8.5 oz sun-dried tomatoes with the oil, 2 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, and 1/2-1 cup basil leaves (just make sure to save enough for the minestrone). Put the mixture in a bowl and mix in 1/2 cup parmesan. Add the pasta, stir, and add enough reserved water to moisten.

Lemon-Spinach Chickpeas: Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet, add a can of chickpeas, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add about 10oz spinach, stirring until just wilted. Sprinkle 1tsp salt and the juice of a lemon over the mixture, stir, serve with pita bread. This sounds like a fantastic light lunch to pair with some fruit. Mmm.

Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup: In a slow cooker combine 1/2 onion chopped, 1 cup chopped carrots, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can white beans, 2 cups veggie broth, 2 tbsp chopped basil, salt, and pepper. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 35-40 Minutes before the soup is done add 2-3 cups chopped fresh spinach. On the stove cook 2 cups small pasta. 10 Minutes before the soup is done add the cooked pasta and let cook. Serve and top with parmesan cheese if you’d like!

In some recipes I’ve seen people puree the beans. If you’d like to do that combine them and a cup of your broth in a blender. I think I might try that. Sounds good.

Cheese Quesadillas with Spanish Lime Rice: Cook 1 1/2 cups rice. While the rice is cooking make your cheese quesadillas either on the stove or in the over.

In a bowl combine warm rice, 1 can of corn (warmed), 1 can black beans (warmed), a diced tomato, chopped cilantro to taste, and 1 tbsp lime juice. Serve with quesadillas and sour cream.

Five Layer Greek Dip: This is pretty easy. Finely chop some olives, red bell pepper, and cucumber. On a serving dish spread 1-2 inches deep of hummus. Top the hummus with the veggies. Crumble feta on top. Serve with pita bread. Yuuuum. I think we might make two batches, a small one each day.

Greek Pasta: This is your “use it all up” meal. Cook your left over pasta. Take anything that’s left (spinach, feta, tomatoes, parmesan, olives, bell pepper, etc.) and make a pasta dish out of it. Easy peasy. And not wasteful.

Some photos of recent meals:
Avocado Mozzarella Paninis. These are SO good. And on the menu this week.

Potato Corn Soup – before and after the creamed corn was added.

Chickpeas with sauteed vegetables

Vegetarian broth

Oct

Week of 10.31.11

Vacation, work, camp with a bunch of high schoolers, and more work are a really good way to lose almost all motivation to put a meal plan together…let alone stay on budget! But after a couple of weeks off, we’re back. Didn’t I just say that a few weeks ago? For real this time though! And this week we’ve got some new recipes that we’ve been wanting to try for a while so I’m really excited about it. Plus, there are lots and lots of veggies and good grains, and a lot less cheese than normal. We love cheese…too much. I need to start keeping my eye on that. : )

So here’s this week’s meal plan for around $50:

Day 1
Lunch: Baba Ghanoush Pitas
Dinner: Potato and Corn Soup

Day 2
Lunch: Baba Ghanoush Pitas
Dinner: Potato and Corn Soup

Day 3
Lunch: Quinoa and Black Bean Salad
Dinner: Potato and Corn Soup

Day 4
Lunch: Quinoa and Black Bean Salad
Dinner: Chickpeas with Spinach, Feta, and Brown Rice

Day 5
Lunch: Broccoli White Bean Soup
Dinner: Chickpeas with Spinach, Feta, and Brown Rice

Day 6
Lunch: Broccoli White Bean Soup
Dinner: Veggie Enchiladas

Day 7
Lunch: Veggie Enchiladas
Dinner: Veggie Enchiladas

And here is the grocery list with approx. pricing:
Eggplant: $3
Tahini: $2.50 (this will last a while)
Garlic: $.50
3 Lemons: $1
Feta: $3
Cucumber: $1
3 Green bell pepper: $3
Red bell pepper: $2
Bag of onions: $2
Spinach: $2
1lb Broccoli Florets: $1.50
Cannellini beans: $1
Quinoa: $3 (hopefully this will last me a little while)
2 can black beans: $2
Cilantro: $2
Avocado: $2
2 limes: $1
2 cans chickpeas: $2
3 roma tomatoes: $1.50
Rice: $1
Pitas: $2
Cheese: $2
2 potatoes: $1.50
2 cans creamed corn: $2.50
Cream: $1.50
Tortillas: $1.50
Green chilies: $1
Salsa: $2

If you need to buy broth, or any spices add a couple of dollars.

The recipes:

Baba Ghanoush: So most of the recipes I’ve found say that you need to literally char the skin off of the eggplant. If you’ve got a charcoal grill ready to go you can do it on there, or if you’re like us and live where it’s starting to get cool out, you can use your broiler. Poke the eggplant with a fork several times and place on the grill/broiler and turn recently until the skin is blackened and blistered. The eggplant should start feeling soft. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake at 375 until very soft, about another 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool. Peel the skin off. Put the eggplant in a bowl and mash with a fork (I may use my food processor if I can’t get it as smooth as I want it). Add 1/4 cup tahini, 3 minced cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and a little cumin. Season with salt to taste. We’ll be putting this in pitas with feta and veggies like cucumber, onion, green pepper, and spinach.

Broccoli White Bean Soup: Steam 1 lb of small broccoli florets until tender, a couple of minutes. Save about half of the florets to use whole. In a pot over medium heat saute 1 diced onion and 2 thinly sliced cloves of garlic until translucent. Add 15oz can cannellini beans (drained) and 2 1/2 cups veggie broth. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, add broccoli, and puree in a blender until smooth. Put it back in the pot, add reserved broccoli florets. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with parmesan if you’d like.

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad: This is super easy. Cook 1 cup quinoa as directed. While it’s cooking rinse a can of black beans. You may want to add a cup of corn. Some people are anti frozen, or anti can. But I really don’t like making corn. So if you want it, go for it. Just add it to your budget! Use whatever type of corn you want. : ) Chop half of a red bell pepper pepper, half a green bell pepper, 1/4 cup cilantro, and an avocado. Let the quinoa cool for a few minutes. Add the beans and veggies and toss.

I’m actually thinking I might cook my bell peppers a little. We like them sautéed better than fresh.

For a dressing you can combine the juice from 2 limes, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/4 cup olive oil, and 1/2tsp cumin. Mmm.

Chickpeas with Spinach, Feta, and Brown Rice: Cook rice as directed (as much as you want to top with the chickpeas). While that’s cooking, in a saucepan saute 1 1/2 chopped onion, 3 cloves minced garlic, in 1 tbsp olive oil. Add 3 cups of chick peas, red pepper flakes to taste, and 1 tsp oregano (I have dried in my pantry so I’m using that). Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a few handfuls of spinach and 1 1/2 cups chopped tomato to the pan. Cook for a few minutes, until the spinach is cooked. Add the juice of a lemon, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve over the brown rice, top with feta.

Potato and Corn Soup: This is our favorite soup. It’s cheap, easy, delicious, and great for this time of year. In a large pot melt 2 sticks of butter. Add 1 chopped white onion and saute. The lady who gave me this recipe (she made the soup and I had to have it!) adds a little olive oil to keep the butter from burning. Add 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 32 oz vegetable broth, and 2 peeled and diced baking potatoes. Bring to boil and cook until the potatoes are tender.. Add 3 cans of creamed corn, and a little cream to thicken and to taste. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with shredded cheese if you want. We made this a month or so ago and it was awesome. It made a TON of soup though. We had some help eating it all. : )

Veggie Enchiladas: Chop and sauté 3/4 of a green pepper, an onion, and 3 cloves of garlic until tender. Add to the pan a can of black beans (drained and rinsed), a chopped roma tomato, the green chilies, and any spices you’d like…chili powder, pepper, red pepper flakes, etc. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens. Add 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, cook until heated through.

Spoon mixture into each tortilla. Roll up and place in a greased baking dish. Spoon salsa over each tortilla. Cover and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Uncover, top with cheese, bake a couple of minutes until cheese is melted.

Some photos of recent meals:

We made spinach ravioli with homemade pasta sauce and it was SO good. I don’t think we can buy sauce anymore. We just put tomatoes in the food processor with some garlic, and sauteed onion, green pepper, and spinach. Nate loved this.

Oct

Week of 10.10.11

We’re back! And getting back to a normal routine. Which is good, because lately there have been too many meals from restaurants and not enough from our own kitchen. I don’t have any pictures from recent meals…since we haven’t made any. But it’s off to the grocery store, so this week we’ll snap some!

So here’s this week’s meal plan for around $55:

Day 1
Lunch: Curry Pasta Salad with Hummus and Chips
Dinner: Spicy Vegetable Soup with Toast

Day 2
Lunch: Curry Pasta Salad with Hummus and Chips
Dinner: Spicy Vegetable Soup with Toast

Day 3
Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Tomato and Avocado
Dinner: Tortellini Primavera

Day 4
Lunch: Tortellini Primavera
Dinner: Grilled Cheese with Tomato and Avocado

Day 5
Lunch: Veggie Pitas with Feta
Dinner: Orzo Stuffed Peppers

Day 6
Lunch: Naan Bread Pizza
Dinner: Orzo Stuffed Peppers

Day 7
Lunch: Veggie Pitas with Feta
Dinner: Naan Bread Pizza

And here is the grocery list with approx. pricing:
Pasta for pasta salad: $1
Red bell pepper: $2
Green bell pepper: $1
Mayo: $1.50
Garlic: $.50
Bag of onions: $2
5 roma tomatoes: $2
Tomato (for grilled cheese): $1.50
Potato: $1
Spinach: $2
Green beans: $1
Hummus: $3
Pitas: $2
Shredded parmesan cheese: $3
Broccoli: $1.50
Carrots: $1
Tortellini: $3
4 bell peppers (any colors. colors may be more): $5
Orzo: $1
Chickpeas: $1
Feta: $3
Sun-dried tomatoes: $3
Bread: $1.50
Cheese: $2
Avocado: $2
Naan bread: $3 49
Deli mozzarella cheese slices: $1.50
Fruit: $4

If you need to buy broth, vinegar, or any spices add a couple of dollars.

The recipes:

Curry Pasta Salad: Cook 1 lb pasta. Put in a large bowl and allow to cool. Add 1 cup diced red pepper, 1 cup diced green pepper, 1 cup mayonnaise, a clove of minced garlic, 1 3/4 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tbsp curry, and salt and pepper to taste. Eat! If you like celery add some diced celery to it too!

Spicy Vegetable Soup: Heat a couple of tbsp olive oil in a dutch oven or large pot. Add 1 diced onion and cook until it begins to brown. Add 2 tsp hot paprika, stir, and add 28 oz veggie broth. Add 3 diced roma tomatoes, a diced potato, and 1 1/2 cups green beans. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer until veggies are tender. Stir in 2 cups spinach and 2 tbsp red-wine vinegar. Cook for a couple of minutes and serve.

Tortellini Primavera: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 4 cups of chopped veggies and the tortellini to the water and cook until tender. We plan to use broccoli and carrots.

While that’s boiling/cooking, in a bowl whisk together 2 tbsp flour and 14 oz veggie broth. In a skillet heat 1 tbsp olive oil and a couple of cloves of minced garlic. Add the broth mixture to the pan. Bring to boil and cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 cups shredded parmesan cheese. Drain the pasta and veggies, add to the pan. Stir and serve.

Orzo Stuffed Peppers: Cut your yellow/orange peppers in half and steam either on the stove or in the microwave.

Cook 1/2 cup orzo as directed. In a bowl, mash a can of chick peas.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet. Add a chopped onion and cook until tender. Add a cup of chopped spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted. Stir in the orzo, chickpeas, 1/2 cup feta, 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (chopped), and 1 tbsp red-wine vinegar. Heat through. Fill the peppers and serve!

Sep

Out of the Kitchen! 09.19-10.03

We’ll be out of the kitchen (and eating out of the pantry) for the next week, so there won’t be any new menus, but here are some pics of recent meals. More meal plans coming soon!

Veggie and chickpea “buddha bowl”

Roasted carrot soup. This was delicious. Even Nate liked it, and he doesn’t like carrots very much. Great with crackers.

Making veggie broth.

Black bean burger and veggie pitas with yogurt sauce.

Sep

Week of 09.12.11

Last week we had some delicious, and easy, meals. This week we’re trying some new recipes and going back to some favorites. Nate’s craving Buddha Bowls again, and I’m excited to have all of these veggies in our meal plan. There also seems to be a lot of grilling going on in our neighborhood, which just makes us crazy for a burger, so black bean burgers are making another appearance!

Here’s this week’s meal plan for around $50:

Breakfast
This week for breakfast you’ll have oats, fruit, and toast. We’re also using some left over bananas from last week’s fruit and making banana bread. And we have frozen fruit for smoothies, and will add any left over yogurt we don’t use for the pita yogurt sauce.

Day 1
Lunch: Black Bean Burgers
Dinner: Eggplant- Tomato Stew with Garbanzo Beans (thanks for the recipe Stacy!)

Day 2
Lunch: Black Bean Burgers
Dinner: Eggplant- Tomato Stew with Garbanzo Beans

Day 3
Lunch: Eggplant- Tomato Stew with Garbanzo Beans
Dinner: Black Bean Burger Pitas

Day 4
Lunch: Pimento Cheese Sandwich with Avocado
Dinner: Buddha Bowl

Day 5
Lunch: Hummus Pitas with Yogurt Sauce
Dinner: Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Pasta

Day 6

Lunch: Hummus Pitas with Yogurt Sauce
Dinner: Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Pasta

Day 7
Lunch: Pimento Cheese Sandwich with Avocado
Dinner: Buddha Bowl

And here is the grocery list with approx. pricing:

Eggplant: $3
Tomatoes: $2
Carrots: $1
2 cabs Garbanzo beans: $2
Kidney beans: $1
Bag of onions: $2
3 heads garlic: $1
Pasta (rotini or something short): $1.50
Cauliflower: $3
Shredded parmesan: 2.50
6oz tomato paste: $1
Black beans: $1
Pitas: $2
Oats: $2
Bread: $1.50
Greek yogurt: $1
Lemon: $.50
Cucumber: $1
Pimento: $2
Cheddar cheese: $2
Monterey jack cheese: $2
Avocado: $2.50
Broccoli: $3
Green bell pepper: $1
Spinach: $2
Rice: $1
Fruit: $4
Hummus: $3
Mayo: $2

*Note again: I make our broth, so I don’t include it on here. But if you need to buy broth or any spices add a couple of dollars.

And the recipes:

Eggplant-Tomato Stew with Garbanzo Beans: Cut a peeled eggplant into 1/2″ cubes. Slice 1 1/2 cups carrots. And chop a cup of onion. Combine your veggies, a can of garbanzo beans (drained, a can of kidney beans (rinsed and drained), and 3 minced cloves of garlic in a crock pot. Add 3 cups veggie broth, 6oz of tomato paste, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, and 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper. Stir, cover, and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Pasta: Preheat oven to 450. Take two heads of garlic, peel the skin off and cut the top quarter off the top. Place the garlic heads on foil, drizzle with olive oil, and fold up and seal the foil. Place on oven rack and roast until the garlic is tender, about 40 minutes. Once it’s done set it aside to cool.

While roasting the garlic cut the stem flush with the bottom of your head of cauliflower. Cut into bite-sized pieces. In a bowl toss the cauliflower with a couple of tablespoons oil, some salt, pepper, and 1/4 tsp sugar. Roast on a baking sheet until brown and tender, about 20 minutes.

Cook pasta, drain (reserving 1 cup cooking water), and return to pot. While the pasta is cooking squeeze the cooled garlic into a bowl. Mash the garlic into a paste, stir in a couple tablespoons lemon juice (make sure you leave a little if you’re going to use a yogurt sauce on your hummus pitas) and 1/4 tsp red pepper. Add the cauliflower, garlic paste, 1/4 cup cooking water, and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Add more water if needed. Season to taste. Add cheese as needed.

Black Bean Burgers: This is a repeat. We love them and are craving them again…In a bowl mash up a can of drained and rinsed black beans. In a food processor combine a couple of cloves of garlic, a small onion or half of a large one, and a bell pepper. Process that sucker! in another food processor grind up a bunch of oats until they’re nice and small. Start with a cup or so, but you may need to do more in a bit. If you’ve got bread crumbs lying around those work too. Mix the oats and the green pepper/onion mixture into the bowl with the black beans. Add more oats as needed until it’s a sticky paste of a mixture almost like ground beef, just enough so that you can form little patties of it. Place them on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes on each side. Thin patties will work better. This usually makes about 12 patties for us. Yep, that’s why it’s on there for so many meals. And if you’ve got spices and such you’d like to thrown in the mix go for it. Nate loves to add chili paste to them. And dress them up with whatever you want. We typically have ketchup, relish and mayo around.

Hummus Pitas: We’re going to use garlic hummus, green pepper, spinach, cheese, cucumber, and tomato. We’re also topping them with yogurt sauce.

For the sauce combine 1 cup plain yogurt, 1/2 cup diced cucumber, 1/4 cup minced onion, and 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice. Cover and chill.

Buddha Bowl
Cook 1-2 cups of rice. While it’s cooking sauté: 1/2 a head of chopped broccoli, 1/2 of a chopped onion, and a grated carrot. Add a 1/2 cup of chickpeas, a little spinach, and some garlic so they’re warm. I plan on peppering this. Serve the veggies/chickpeas over the warm rice. Dress it with a sliced avocado, salt, and whatever other spices you’d like. We like to top it with teriyaki sauce. Yum.

Pimento Cheese
In a bowl combine 1 cup cheddar cheese, 1 cup coolly cheese, 2 to 4 oz diced pimento peppers (drained), and 4oz mayo. Add more mayo and pimentos as you need or wish. Salt, pepper, and spice as needed. Put the pimento cheese and sliced avocado on bread. Grill until warm and melty. Eat it up!

Banana Bread. An easy cheap breakfast!

Veggie and bean tacos

Spinach and ricotta stuffed shells. These are so good. They’ll be a regular for sure. And half of a box of shells makes a ton of food. We ate leftovers for a couple of days.

Just an FYI, you can make ruebens with quesadillas. And it’s aaaawesome.

Sep

Week of 09.05.11

This week we’ve got some items left over from previous weeks that we need to use before they go bad. I don’t like to waste food, but I also don’t eat things that have expired…so there are some repeats. It’s going to be a rainy week around here (yay for rain!) so I’ve got a copule of soups on the menu this week. Nate’s really craving the potato corn soup again, and I’m excited to try the carrot soup. You may have some cabbage left over that you can steam or cream and have for a side, and if you haven’t tried making “chicken” salad with chickpeas yet you really should. I promise it’s good.

Here’s this week’s meal plan for around $50:

Breakfast
This week for breakfast you’ll have eggs, fruit, and if you’re like us you still have some oats left. We’re also using some left over bananas from last week’s fruit and making banana bread.

Day 1
Lunch: Roasted Carrot Soup
Dinner: Spinach and Ricotta-Stuffed Shells

Day 2
Lunch: Roasted Carrot Soup
Dinner: Spinach and Ricotta-Stuffed Shells

Day 3
Lunch: Vegetarian Ruebens
Dinner: Mock Chicken Salad

Day 4
Lunch: Vegetarian Ruebens
Dinner: Bean and Veggie Burritos

Day 5
Lunch: Mock Chicken Salad
Dinner: Potato and Corn Soup

Day 6

Lunch: Bean and Veggie Burritos
Dinner: Potato and Corn Soup

Day 7
Lunch: Potato and Corn Soup
Dinner: French Toast with Eggs and Fruit

And here is the grocery list with approx. pricing: We actually have several of these things left over from last/previous weeks (I’ll mark them with an *), so maybe you do too. I know it’s going to save us quite a bit this week. And I really don’t like wasting food, so we need to use it up!

* Carrots: $1 (Our 1lb page of organics is a dollar. I have a bunch left from last week.)
* Onions: $2
* Garlic: $.50
* Cream: $1.50
* Jumbo pasta shells: $2
Marinara sauce: $2
Tomato: $1 (a couple romas for tacos)
* Ricotta: $2
Spinach: $2
* Shredded mozzarella: $2
2 Cans chickpeas: $2
2 Green bell pepper: $2
Mayo: $3
Bread: $2
Tortilla: $1
Cheese: $2
Sour cream: $1
Black beans: $1
Cabbage: $3
*Rice: $1
Fruit: $4
OJ: $3
Apple: $1
1000 island: $1.50
Deli swiss cheese: $2.50 (we get about 1/4-1/3lb thinly sliced)
Half dozen eggs: $1
Cream corn: $3 – 3 cans
3lbs potatoes: $3

If you need to buy broth or any spices add a couple of dollars. Reminder: I don’t include broth in my grocery lists anymore because I always make it. : )

And the recipes:

Roasted Carrot Soup: Preheat the oven to 350. Peel and quarter 7-10 carrots and an onion. Place the carrots, onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp olive oil, 2 tsp butter, and 1 tsp ground cumin in the middle of a sheet of foil. Wrap up and roast until the carrots are tender, about 30 minutes. In a large saucepan combine 5 cups of veggie broth and the roasted veggies. Using a hand held blender blend until smooth. Add 2 tbsp cream and season to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes until the soup thickens a little.

Spinach and Ricotta-Stuffed Shells: These are SO good. Use as much spinach as you want though. We like a lot. And I’m not sure you need 30oz of ricotta really. We used a 15oz and it easily made 20. Heat oven to 400 degree. Cook your pasta shells. Drain and rinse in cold water. Spread marinara sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish. In a bowl combine 30 oz ricotta, 2 cups chopped spinach, 1/2 cup grated mozzarella, and 1/4 tsp pepper (I’ll probably use more pepper though). I also garlic my spinach. Yum. Spoon mixture into shells and place them in the pan on top of the sauce. Bake until shells start to get as dry as you want them. I don’t like mine noodles to be too dry/hard. I think we cooked ours for 10-15 min.

Potato and Corn Soup: In a large pot melt 2 sticks of butter. Add 1 chopped white onion and saute. The lady who gave me this recipe (she made the soup and I had to have it!) adds a little olive oil to keep the butter from burning. Add 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 32 oz vegetable broth, and 2 peeled and diced baking potatoes. Bring to boil and cook until the potatoes are tender.. Add 3 cans of creamed corn, and a little cream to thicken and to taste. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with shredded cheese. It’s also good to add some parsley in when you add the corn…if you want to add it to your budget. We made this a month or so ago and it was awesome. It made a TON of soup though. We had some help eating it all. : )

Mock Chicken Salad: Love this stuff. And it’s such a quick easy lunch. Drain and rinse a can of garbanzo beans. Mash them in a bowl and mix in some chopped bell pepper (we like yellow), onion (I leave it out and Nate adds it in to what he’s eating since I don’t like raw onions), mayo to taste, and salt and pepper. We top it with relish and spices, but really whatever you make your regular tuna or chicken salad with would work. Serve on toast or as a sandwich. This takes less than 5 minutes to make and is awesome. And trust me, non-vegetarians will love it too.

Veggie Burritos: Chop or slice all of the veggies you’d like to put in the burritos. Saute them with garlic, pepper, whatever spices you want! Heat up black beans and build some burritos! If you want to put rice in them go for it. Rice is always good in burritos. We’re using cabbage, onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato, cheese, and sour cream

Vegetarian Ruebens: Make them like a regular ruben but without the meat. Instead we’ll be filling ours with sauteed cabbage, onion, apple, salt, pepper, and garlic that we saute in a pan and then layer on the bread with swiss cheese and thousand island dressing. Yummy. But obviously very easy to add meat too if you want.

Some photos of recent meals:

Muffin tin calzones. These were really good. A little tricky to get to stay closed. You have to really keep the liquid from the veggies and cheese from getting on the part of the dough you want to seal closed. They also took more dough than I anticipated. So we only got 5, not 8. I updated the list above to include two packs of dough. We will definitely be making these again though. They were great.

They were yummy even if they weren’t totally pretty. Definitely need extra sauce with them though.

Baked tortellini. Our red peppers were the same price as green, so we used all red. Could use some spinach next time to make eating so much cheese not feel so wrong. : )

Soooo good. I could eat tortellini every week. But it’s rich, so I shouldn’t.

Sweet potato chili. Nate really liked this. I think he had three bowls one night.

Served over rice

Aug

Week of 08.29.11

Last week we were lucky enough to have my family come down and visit. It was super fun, and we ate tons of delicious food, but we didn’t exactly do any meal planning (there’s no meal planning on vacation right!?) So we’re back in the swing of things this week. Hopefully grocery pricing hasn’t changed too much since our last visit.

Here’s this week’s meal plan for around $50:

Breakfast
This week for breakfast you’ll have eggs, fruit, and if you’re like us you still have some oats left. We’re still topping ours with brown sugar and frozen blueberries. Yum.

Day 1
Lunch: Mozzarella Tomato and Avocado Salad
Dinner: Muffin Tin Calzones

Day 2
Lunch: Mozzarella Tomato and Avocado Salad
Dinner: Muffin Tin Calzones

Day 3
Lunch: Remaining Muffin Tin Calzones
Dinner: Creamy Spinach and Carrot Soup

Day 4
Lunch: Creamy Spinach and Carrot Soup
Dinner: Vegetable Baked Tortellini

Day 5
Lunch: Vegetable Baked Tortellini
Dinner: Sweet Potato Chili

Day 6

Lunch: Veggie Fried Rice or Omelet
Dinner: Sweet Potato Chili

Day 7
Lunch: Veggie Fried Rice or Omelet
Dinner: Sweet Potato Chili

And here is the grocery list with approx. pricing:

Spinach: $2
Pizza Dough (not a cooked crust): $4 – you need 2 tubes of Pillsbury if that’s what you’re using
Garlic: $.50
Ricotta: $2.50
Mozzarella Pearls: $3
Shredded Mozzarella: $2
Marinara Sauce: $2 (or make a recipe you like)
Eggs: $1
Onions: $2
Tortellini: $3
Breadcrumbs: $1
Italian Seasoning: $1
Red Bell Pepper: $2
2 Green Bell Pepper: $2 (1 green and 1 red will be split between the tortellini and chili, one is for your veggie omelet or fried rice)
2-3lbs Sweet Potatoes: $3
2 Jalapenos: $.50
Diced Tomatoes: $1
1 Can Pinto Beans: $1
Chili Seasoning: $1
Rice: $1
Carrots: $1
Cream: $1.50
Cherry Tomatoes: $3
Avocado: $2.50
Lemon: $.50
Baguette: $1
Fruit: $4
OJ: $3

Fried Rice: This is one of those recipes that’s great when I just have a couple of meals left to plan and I don’t have much budget left. We love it, and it uses whatever veggies and eggs are left, and it’s so easy. We always seem to have soy sauce and/or teriyaki around the house so this week it will be rice, egg, carrot, bell pepper, onion, and spinach if there’s any left. Top with sauce and eat. Really yummy. I have it listed as fried rice or an omelet because you can make either of these with the same ingredients…with the exception of the rice.

Muffin Tin Calzones: Preheat the oven to 375. In a pan sauté a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic, some onion, any other veggies or meats you want. Add 8oz of spinach and cook until wilted. Roll out 8 pizza dough disks, about 5in wide and 1/4″ thick. Grease a muffin tin and place the disks into each cup. In each cup put 1 tablespoon marinara, a couple of tablespoons of your veggie/spinach mixture, 1 table spoon ricotta, and 1 tablespoon mozzarella. Seal up the dough. Mix an egg and 1 tablespoon of milk/cream together. Brush the eggwash on the dough cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Vegetable Baked Tortellini: Preheat oven to 350. Cook a package (about 13oz) of tortellini as directed and drain, but take a couple of minutes off the cook time so they don’t get too tender. While they’re cooking combine 1 tbsp butter, 1 clove of garlic, minced, 1/2 cup chopped onion, and 1/2 cup of chopped red and green bell pepper in a pan and sauté. Add 1 cup pasta sauce and the vegetable mixture to the cooked tortellini and mix until coated. Transfer mixture to a lightly greased baking dish. Top with shredded mozzarella chess, bread crumbs, and 1 tbsp Italian seasoning. Bake for 30 minus.

Sweet Potato Chili: A new veggie chili recipe! Time to get out the crockpot! This sounds really yummy with the sweet potato in it. Wash and chop the rest of your red and green peppers, 2 jalapenos, 2-3lbs sweet potato – probably closer to 2 unless you loooove sweet potato (peeled and cubed), an onion. Toss it all in your crock pot with a can of diced tomatoes, 3 minced cloves of garlic, 2 cups water, 1 can drained and rinsed pinto beans, your chili seasoning, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and 1 tbsp olive oil. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. You can stir it a couple of times if you want to. Serve over rice. Yummy. *side note* If you’ve got some cocoa powder (or want to buy some) you can throw a tablespoon in when you put everything else in the crackpot too.

Creamy Spinach and Carrot Soup: Blend 1 cup spinach, 1 cup vegetable broth, 1 cup cooked carrots, 3/4 cups cream, and 2 tsp butter in a blender. Heat on the stove. Easy! To cook the carrots just chop them up and boil them in water until they’re tender.

Mozzarella Tomato and Avocado Salad: *We are going to make this twice, so we’re just making half at a time so the avocado doesn’t get yucky. If you want to do the same half all of this*

In a large bowl combine a container of cherry tomatoes cut in half, a carton of fresh mozzarella pearls (drained), and if you want to buy it and like it, 1/3 cup chopped basil. I plan on leaving it out…it’s just too expensive around here right now for one dish. In a separate bowl whisk together the juice of a medium/large lemon 1/4 cup olive oil and some salt and pepper. Pour over tomato mixture. Toss to coat and refrigerate for an hour. When you’re ready to serve it peel and dice an avocado and add to the salad. We’re probably going to eat this on toasted baguette bread. Yummy!

Some photos of recent meals:

Homegrown tomatoes. Yuuuum. Red tomatoes should be red. Not pink. Not whitish. Red.

Grilled cheese with homegrown tomatoes. Yummy. So melty and good.

My mom’s monkeybread. I included a recipe for this a few posts ago. She makes the best though, there’s no topping it. So buttery and sugary and delicious. Mmmm.

Aug

Week of 08.15.11

This past week we ate all the broccoli in the house! All of it! Quite an accomplishment considering Nate doesn’t like it. I think we officially have two ways to sneak it into the meal plan. We also celebrated my birthday (yay!). So we’ve had some yummy treats around the house. In case you’ve never had scotcharoos I’ve included the recipe near the bottom of this post. And again, for anyone that might be new, we are vegetarians. But meat can easily be added to pretty much all of these recipes.

Here’s this week’s meal plan for around $50:

Breakfast
This week for breakfast you’ll have toast, eggs (make an omelet with spinach, tomato, and cheese!), fruit, and you should have oats left. We’ve been topping ours with brown sugar and frozen blueberries. Yum.

Day 1
Lunch: Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
Dinner: Tater Tot Casserole

Day 2
Lunch: Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
Dinner: Tater Tot Casserole

Day 3
Lunch: Remaining Vegetarian Tortilla Soup and Spinach Salad
Dinner: Veggie Paninis

Day 4
Lunch: Falafel Pitas
Dinner: Broccoli Onion Stroganoff

Day 5
Lunch: Falafel Pitas
Dinner: Broccoli Onion Stroganoff

Day 6

Lunch: Spinach and Black Been Enchiladas
Dinner: Veggie Paninis

Day 7
Lunch: Spinach and Black Been Enchiladas
Dinner: Spinach and Black Been Enchiladas

And here is the grocery list with approx. pricing:

Spinach: $2
Eggs: $1
Broccoli: $2
Cauliflower: $3
Green beans: $1
Peas: $1
2 Bags Shredded cheddar cheese: $4
Tater Tots: $2.50
Green pepper: $1
Red pepper: $2
Onions: $3
Garlic: $.50
Crushed tomatoes: $1
Green chilies (2 small or 1 large can): $1.50
Avocado: $2.50
Egg noodles: $1
2 cans cream of mushroom: $2.50
Garbanzo beans: $1
Sour cream: $1.50 (I’m getting the large one so I have it for enchiladas too)
Tomatoes: $1 (I’m just getting a couple little romas to have around for paninis or pitas)
Tortillas: $1
Enchilada sauce: $1
Bread: $2
Fruit: $5
OJ: $3
Feta: $3

I make my own broth, so if you need to buy broth or any spices add a couple of dollars.

And the recipes:

Tater Tot Casserole: Steam 2 cups broccoli, 1 cup cauliflower, 1 cup green beans, and 1 cup peas until slightly tender. Or you can use canned of green beans and peas. In a large bowl whip 2 eggs. Add most of your cheese and the all of veggies. Layer half of the tater-tots along the bottom of a casserole dish. Pour veggie/egg/cheese mixture over the tots. Add the rest of the tots to the top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 75 minutes.

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup: Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in a chopped green pepper and chopped onion. Add 2 minced cloves of garlic, and cook until veggies are tender. Mix in a can of crushed tomatoes (14oz) and 2 drained cans of chopped green chilis. Pour in 28 ounces of vegetable broth and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes.

If you’d like to, mix in a can of or corn and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Top with cheese and avocado and if you’ve got them, serve with tortilla chips.

Falafel Pitas with Cucumber-Yogurt Dressing: Ok, last time I had this on the meal plan we had too much food and didn’t end up making it. So this time we’re going to give it a go. I do know the dressing is amazing though.

Combine 1/4 cup minced onion, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1 can garbanzo beans (rinsed and drained), 1 slice of bread torn into pieces, a 1 large egg, and a 1 large egg white in a food processor. Pulse 5-7 times or until well blended.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Spoon 1/3 cup of the mixture into the pan, sort of in a patty. Cook 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

For the dressing combine 1 cup plain yogurt, 1/2 cup diced cucumber, 1/4 cup minced onion, and 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice. Cover and chill.

Fill the pita with a patty, feta, tomatoes, dressing, and some sliced cucumbers.

Broccoli Onion Stroganoff: Lots of vegetarians use mushrooms in their stroganoff. Nate and I don’t like mushrooms….so we’re going to try broccoli. I’m trying to find ways for Nate to enjoy broccoli without having to eat buddha bowls every week. So we’ll give this a try. If you want to do mushrooms or meat just use that instead of the broccoli. I’m thinking this might be good with a little spinach in it too.

Prepare a package of egg noodles as directed. In a skillet sauté an onion (chopped) and a cup or so of broccoli (chopped). Drain noodles, add veggies, 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, and 6 oz sour cream. Mix and serve. Also works over rice.

Spinach and Black Bean Enchiladas: This should make 8-10 enchiladas. Cook rice as directed, you’ll need 2 cups cooked. Chop and sauté half of an onion. Add 8oz of chopped spinach and cook until wilted. Add a can of black beans, the cooked rice, and 1 cup of enchilada sauce.

Add a few spoonfuls of sauce into the 9×13 casserole dish, just enough to cover the bottom. For each tortilla, add 3-4 tablespoons of filling. Wrap each tortilla and place tightly into the casserole. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so, until bubbling. I’m probably going to throw cheese on top for the last few minutes. It’s not mexican food if it’s not cheesy!

Paninis: We’ve had these on here before, and they’re a delicious way to use some left over ingredients. We plan on making sandwiches out of some red pepper, tomatoes, cheese, spinach, and onion.

OTHER YUMMY LOOKING RECIPES:
If you’ve never had scotcharoos you NEED to make them. Right now. Go.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/scotcharoos/detail.aspx

Carrot-Pineapple Smoothies.
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/carrot-pineapple-smoothie-00000000050727/index.html

I love how they do the fruit in this post. I’m not a fan of the food coloring pancakes, but the fruit is so fun!
http://quick-dish.tablespoon.com/2011/03/15/double-rainbow-pancakes-double-rainbow-recipe/

Some photos of recent meals:

I love all the veggies in the Buddha Bowls! It makes the kitchen smell so good, and the colors are awesome.

Once the spinach and chickpeas have been added.

This is one of Nate’s favorite meals. And he “doesn’t like” carrots or broccoli. But I definitely ended up making this more than just the number of times I had it on the menu. It’s a good midnight snack too. : )

This is the easiest, yummiest pizza sauce. Tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, pepper. Easy.

Naan Pizza

Broccoli Cheese Soup – before blending

After blending.

This was pretty good. And really good with rolls. I’m thinking rice would probably be a good addition too.

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