Recipe Dump!

So often, I find it difficult to keep up with updates because I cook many of the same 20 dishes in different combos so often.  Not this week!  After the jump find a slew of recipe sources and interesting things to make this Fall...

Once-a-Month Cooking

 One way to be frugal is to cook an awful lot of food at one time.  You buy in bulk, cook in bulk, freeze in bulk, and then eat it slowly over the next few weeks.  This is called "once-a-month cooking" or sometimes, "freezer cooking" and it is something that both intrigues and frightens me.  My freezer is constantly being used with best intentions and then stuff just sits.

After the jump find some resources for how to plan such an endeavor and a treasure trove of recipes to use when you decide to take the plunge.

 

Government Cheese

There's been a lot of kerfuffle on the Internet about this new redesign of the Food Pyramid.  A lot of people have their knickers in a twist over the dumbing down of the American People by switching from a triangle to a circle.  I have to disagree.  Follow me after the break for some fun and nifty government resources (read: free!) and a little free opinion thrown in on the side.

This is what it should look like: Pantry

Everyone and their mom has something to say about pantries.  Pantries can be as simple or complex as you want them to be and when you are first starting to get involved with cooking, the idea of a pantry can seem very overwhelming.  This is not good because when you first start cooking, your pantry is likely very small and so cooking seems very overwhelming.  It is exhausting realizing that each recipe calls for an ingredient you don't yet own and trying to figure out what you can do away with and still cook is enough to make you want to give up entirely.  Don't!  A healthy well-stocked pantry will be a joy to behold!  Treat your pantry well and it will love you in return:

Basic Pantry Planning after the jump...

Reckoning Week 3

So...how did the menu plan work out this week?  Let's take a look...

	Breakfast	Lunch (Snacks)	Dinner
Monday	6 Leibniz biscuits, an apple, a string cheese, and coffee	Grandma's 15-Minute Soup (peas/carrots/grapes, tea)	Baked Brie, (serve w/chocolate, an apple, crackers, & some wine)*
Tuesday	Slice of Poppyseed Cake, Coffee**	Avocado w/S&P, peas, carrots, grapes (6 biscuits w/tea)	Edamame and Pad Thai**
Wednesday	Scone and Coffee	Treated by a friend!	Sweet/Savory Squash (dessert: a slice of fudge)
Thursday	Hot Rice Cereal and Coffee	15-min. soup, crackers (6 biscuits + tea)	carrots, peas, grapes (not eaten at lunch) + the last of the Leibniz
Friday	I'm stuck in New York this weekend, so today was kind of off...Hot Rice Cereal and Coffee	Plane food + half a turkey/avocado sandwich split w/a friend.	Dinner out in Midtown: Sushiya, not bad.

*This was pretty awesome.  My neighbor, who reads the blog, made the baked brie recipe posted earlier last week.  This became (a rather unhealthy if frugal...read: free!) dinner.  I'm kind of touched...and one step closer to an early death via heart disease.  Yum.

**Drove through a Caribou Coffee while taking care of DMV stuff with my car. :(  Should have woken up earlier...and then went out to dinner w/a friend before going to a (free!) author reading/signing. :(( this was not the most food-budget conscious of days.

Recipes and notes for this week after the jump...

This is what it should look like

My neighbor is super awesome.  She went shopping with me last week and when I bought those chicken breasts on sale, she jumped right in and bought some of her own...without realizing they were bone-in and included skin.  This is not something that she has ever dealt with before but rather than panic, she did what I suggested earlier we should all do more of...she used the Internet as her menu-planning friend.  I've included my own summary and a copy of the recipe below the fold...

Reckoning Week 2

So...how did the menu plan work out this week?  Let's take a look...

	Breakfast	Lunch (Snacks)	Dinner
Monday	2 slices of Friendship Bread and Coffee	Almonds/roast soy bean mix, sugar snap peas, baby carrots, 2 string cheese (4 rich tea biscuits w/tea)	Pelmeni w/ sour cream, sauteed kale, cream cheese stuffed sweet peppers
Tuesday	Scone and Coffee	Sauteed kale, black beans and rice, carrots (string cheese, tea)	Chicken Picadillo, black beans and rice
Wednesday	Apple and Coffee	Chicken and Barley Soup / Sugar Cookie *	Chicken Picadillo, black beans and rice
Thursday	Mango slices, baby bell cheese and Coffee	Almonds/roast soy bean mix, sliced red and yellow bell pepper, baby carrots (3 string cheese w/tea)	Vegetable Stuffed Crepes
Friday	Scone and Coffee	Pizza Party at work! Freebie meal!	Heavy hor d'oeuvres and wine at a church function! Freebie meal!

* I admit, I didn't leave time to pack lunch that day.  I had to rely on the coffee shop downstairs.  Fail.  And crazy expensive.  Seriously, $4 for a cup of soup and a cookie.  Gah!

This was a performance week for me (meaning I had rehearsals or concerts every night except Friday).  Because of that, dinners had to be particularly quick and light.  Each recipe this week had to take under 30 min. to prep and cook..leftovers featured prominently.

Recipes and notes for this week after the jump...

How to Menu Plan...with flexibility

I'm the sort of person who starts to feel overwhelmed when too many things crowd my plate.  A lot of what I've read about meal planning resembles the sort of perfectionist organization that I just can't maintain.  Besides, if I plan too far in advance I end up spending more money than I would otherwise and here's why...

The Internet is your meal planning friend.  Not for the reason you may think.  Right now I'm in a place where when I go grocery shopping I only keep the vaguest plan in my head.  When I'm in the store, I look for the cheapest possible ingredients.  Often these are things I haven't had much experience with (a few months ago, for example, they had a major sale on pork neck bones).  BUT, the Internet often has good suggestions for what to do with ingredients you've never heard of. 

Don't be scared!  Start with the basics...

• Meals should be diverse -- get as many different colors (excluding Blues 1 and 2, Red 3, and Yellow 6), textures, and temperatures on your plate as often as possible.
• Glance through your pantry before you head out the door.  Get a feel for what you already have on hand.  I keep my pantry on shallow shelves so things can't be easily shoved to the back and lost.
• Be aware what generally is in season in your neck of the woods.  Yeah, yeah, it's greener to go local but also, things that are more abundant are usually cheaper.

Now go out and shop (eat a snack first so you aren't food shopping hungry)!  Find the best deals on the most obscure fresh foods or clearance areas of the store.  When you get home, look at what you bought and meal plan from there.  Be flexible and creative and it will pay off in the end!


Credits
Image: what's on the menu? a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from jenny downing's photostream

Reckoning Week 1

So...how did the menu plan work out this week?  Let's take a look...

	Breakfast	Lunch (Snacks)	Dinner
Monday	1/2 of a left-over turkey sandwich w/cup of coffee	Almonds/roast soy bean mix, sugar snap peas, baby carrots, 2 string cheese (4 rich tea biscuits w/tea)	Pelmeni w/ sour cream
Tuesday	1 whole kiwi, a low-fat string cheese, and a cup of tea	Leftover pelmeni (4 rich tea biscuits w/tea)	Lamb ragout
Wednesday	1 Avocado w/s&p and a cup of tea	Almonds/roast soy bean mix, sugar snap peas, baby carrots, 2 string cheese (4 rich tea biscuits w/tea)	Roast Chicken and Gravy with Ratatouille
Thursday	2 slices of Friendship Bread and Coffee	Leftover Roast Chicken and Ratatouille	Thai Peanut Chicken and Noodles
Friday	2 slices of Friendship Bread and Coffee	Leftover Thai Peanut Chicken and Noodles (sugar snap peas, baby carrots, cup of tea)	Leftover Thai Peanut Chicken and Noodles

Recipes and notes for this week after the jump...