Attack of the Veggies! Part I.

From Doodle-A-Day

Or, how eating meat centered leftovers for a few weeks will cause massive cravings for fresh vegetables...

Or, how a wimpy Austinite craves summer and this is the next best thing...

We've had lots of great dishes exchanged, but I'm pretty sure all of them have revolved around meat, many times with a paired starch, such as noodles, mashed potatoes, etc. These are all wonderful, but sometimes I'm just dying for a veggie meal to make me feel balanced. Enter, Greek night! Tonight I made my own fresh hummus and Greek salad. (Actually, I had my hummus-God boyfriend make the hummus, but I soaked and cooked the chickpeas!)

This week's meal was a bit more expensive than my usuals just because of all the fresh produce, but boy was it worth it! And it's ok because the hummus was dirt cheap. The secondary theme of this week was "Recipes? Who needs 'em?" since I basically just grabbed stuff that sounded good and threw it together until it tasted like I wanted. "Recipe" follows:

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Greek salad:
4 cucumbers = $2.72
2 bags cocktail tomatoes = $6.94
1/2 red onion = $0.88
1/3 jar kalamata olives = $1.50
8 oz feta = $3.98
splash EVOO
salt, Greek seasoning
total salad: $16.25 (8 servings, $2.03/serving)

hummus:
16 oz bag dried chickpeas = $1.00
1/4 jar tahini (about 1/2 c) = $1.25
4 cloves garlic = $0.10
lemon juice
EVOO
salt, cumin, garam masala, cayenne etc from the cupboard
Soak the chickpeas overnight, then cook them in the crockpot on low for 12 hours (or possibly somewhat less, but that's when I got home from work). Drain. Throw everything in a food processor. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Total hummus: $2.50 (makes 32 oz!, so at least 16 servings=$0.16/serving=damn cheap!!!)
1 pita bread for dipping = $0.42
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Even with the slightly more expensive salad, I'd like to see you get a fresh, delightful meal like that for < $3 when eating out! What can I say...cooking well and saving money makes me very proud of myself.

Lasagna-inspired Mexican casserole

Not long ago, Julie wowed us with her homemade lasagna! I've had a hankering for Mexican food lately, and since everyone is always underwhelmed by the spiciness of my dishes (false alarm chili), I made an effort this time to spice it up to the edge of my comfort level. This dish was ridiculously easy to make, and also quite cheap!

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Taco-layer casserole (aka Randi throwing random Mexican ingredients in a 13x9 pan):

1/2 package corn tortillas (1 pack=$1.14, so $0.57)
1 can refried beans ($0.69)
2 lbs. ground beef ($4.76)
homemade taco seasoning, see below
1 can Hatch Tex-Mex diced tomatoes & green chilies ($0.50)
1/2 jar salsa ($1.99/2=$1)
1 pack shredded cheddar ($1.95)
one tomato, diced ($0.38)
1 c. sour cream ($1.22)

I found this a long time ago and have used it religiously ever since. I almost never keep the taco seasoning packets on hand, but I always have the ingredients to throw together taco seasoning, plus you can modify this to your personal taste. I like lots of cumin!

In a small bowl, mix together the homemade taco seasoning:
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
chili powder to taste

Preheat oven to 350 (because I hate recipes that don't tell you to preheat, and then I get all the way to the end with everything assembled, and realize I have to wait 5 min for my oven to heat).

In a large pan, brown ground beef, draining the fat afterward. Mix in the homemade taco seasoning and the can of Hatch tomatoes. Set aside.

In 13x9 pan, layer corn tortillas, refried beans, seasoned beef, salsa, and 1/2 package shredded cheese. Repeat layers without cheese. Top with tortillas, sour cream, diced tomatoes, and rest of shredded cheese. Bake for 30 min, until warmed through and cheese is melted. 8 servings.
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This was just at the border of my tolerable spiciness where I was still able to truly enjoy the meal, although I think the spiciness faded a little with time. I ate mine with tortilla chips to reign in the spice a bit. The Hatch chilies are amazing, but their availability is tied to central Texas, so in a pinch you can substitute Rotel tomatoes and chilies, which will have slightly different seasonings.

I listed the costs per item above, but the final total comes to $11.07, which is $1.38 per serving. Stop and think about that. You could easily go out to eat and spend that on one meal. For the same price, you can feed 8 people (or yourself 8 times)!

Cooking on the Cheap

Last week I made jambalaya and I took the time to estimate how much that one dinner cost me (in fact, I've been trying to estimate my daily food expenses for almost 2 weeks). I tried to overestimate on stuff I didn't know, and I saved some because I had the sausage from my Dad's smoker, but this is definitely ~$1 per serving. Here's what I put in the jambalaya and how much it cost, or my best guess if it was something I didn't still have the receipt for:

- frozen chicken (5 pieces) ~ $1.50
- smoked sausage, from Dad
- 3 bell peppers, $1.92
- 1 onion, $0.88
- 5 cloves garlic, $0.25???
- 1 can stewed tomatoes, $0.69
- chili powder + cayenne pepper, ~$0
- 1 tsp worchestershire, $0.25???
- 5 bay leaves, $0.50???
- tomato paste, $0.70???
- white rice, $0.50
total: $7.19, ($0.89 per serving)

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, I've found that my average is $1 or less per meal, which makes it sound like I live entirely off of mac 'n cheese, but I actually think I eat quite well. For the most part, my groceries are all ingredients. I buy very little prepackaged food, so what I make is more healthy than most alternatives (even when occasionally it is fried chicken...mmmm).

Now, I'm a huge believer in wasting as little food as possible. The jambalaya recipe called for me to boil the chicken and sausage together and use the broth to cook the rice. When I was done with the recipe, I still had a gallon of broth that didn't end up in the final jambalaya. Why throw out that yummy, smoky chicken broth when I could use it as a base for chicken soup? So earlier this week, I busted out the broth and made some chicken soup, which went great with my crackling fire for the cold weather. Here's another example of a tasty, cheap meal.

Smokey chicken broth = money in the bank!

Chicken Noodle Soup
- free broth from jambalaya
- 1/2 onion ($0.43)
- 3 stalks celery ($0.25?)
- 3 carrots ($0.44)
- 2 chicken thighs ($1.33)
- 3 boullion cubes ($0.36)
- 1/3 bag macaroni ($0.30)
- spices (salt, pepper, sage), ~$0.10
Total = $3.21, or $0.40 per serving

This experiment of keeping track of my eating expenses has really reinforced my reluctance to eat out. How can I really justify spending $10+ on a single meal, when that could feed me for 3.3 days? Not to mention that I definitely eat more healthy food when I eat at home. Moral of the story? Cook more, from raw ingredients = healthier, happier, thriftier!