Singles Cooking - Planning your 1st Month

The New Year is virtually days away, and it's time to begin thinking about January's menu.  Even though these plans are aimed at one person, a family could easily adjust portion sizes and use the planning steps.

First step . . . write in any special days, celebrations, etc.  For me, all I have is MLK and New Year's Day.

Second step . . browse through your freezer and pantry and see what you  actually have on hand.

Third step. . . . start jotting down menu ideas.  For each item cooked, plan on using it again at least twice either in the same fashion or in a different way.  For example, if you make meatloaf with veggies, you might have a meatloaf sandwich and then make a stew.

Fourth step . . . consider menu items that can compliment and overlap.  For example, if you make red beans, you can use beans as a compliment with a grilled meat and also make soup or bean dip out of those beans later.

Here is the beginning of my month.

I will make adjustments to it, especially if things go on sale during the month or as opportunities present themselves.  These are also just my dinner plans.  What I pack in my lunch will be similar, but not exactly the same.

Frugal Kitchen: Pasta Bake

For lunch today, I took a few bits and pieces and threw together to make a yummy pasta bake.  Fazoli's has an item on their menu that gave me the inspiration:  oven baked pasta.  If you have not tried these, they are so yummy.  Since eliminating gluten, I have missed them.

Here is why this is a bits and pieces recipe.  I had only about 1.5 cups of gluten free pasta, about 20 pepperoni left from a pizza recipe and the ingredients to mix up some spaghetti sauce.  Lacking any mozzarella cheese, I improvised with some white American instead.  The results.............amazing.

I need to back up a bit and talk about the spaghetti sauce.  Stop buying the jars or cans of pre-made.  These are major convenience items that are often full of hidden sugar and fat.  Instead, buy the spaghetti seasoning package for about $.30 and a can of tomato paste for about $.40.  Here is what I do with mine.

Spaghetti Sauce

In 2 tablespoons olive oil, heat 1/2 chopped onions, 2 wedges of garlic and 1/2 chopped mushrooms if desired.  Stir well while  heating.  While that is simmering, add the package of seasoning, 1 cup water and the can of tomato paste to a mason jar.  Add an air tight lid and give it a thorough shake.  Add to the sauteed veggies and stir on low.  At this point, I add salt, pepper and basil.  Leave on low.  The secret to great sauce is to add liquid from cooking pasta.  Seriously.  I add 1 - 2 cups of pasta liquid to my sauce.  You can add meat if you want, but it increases the cost.

I have enough sauce for 2 meals, so 1/2 of what is simmering goes back into the mason jar, sealed and stored in the refrigerator until next time.

Back to the Pasta Bake

In a casserole dish, spread a small amount of sauce.  Layer drained, cooked pasta over the sauce.  Then, layer the pepperoni over the cooked pasta.  Add some shredded cheese, about 1/2 cup only. You can add more cheese if you want.   Then, sprinkle 1 cup of sauce over the the pasta / pepperoni mixture.  Cover with plastic and cook in the microwave for 8 minutes; or, cover with foil and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes.  The pepperoni should start to shrink and curl.

Once cooked, remove from oven or microwave and let cool slightly. At this step, you can also sprinkle more shredded cheese over the mixture and cook just a bit longer, if desired.  Remove the covering and serve.  You can sprinkle some Parmesan cheese over it, if you want.

Leftover Version

If you are using a leftover pasta, you just need to add a couple of ingredients and warm through.  You can use any leftover marinara based pasta:  lasagna, spaghtetti, ziti.  If you want to experiment with alfredo based pastas, the results may not be as good as you want.  I do something different with these.

If using lasagna or spaghetti, cut into bite sized pieces to begin.  Spray a casserole dish with non stick spray.  Arrange the leftover pasta in the casserole dish and drizzle with about 1/4 cup water (or ketchup); sprinkle with 1/2 cup shredded cheese; layer with pepperoni slices.  Cover and warm through.

There are many other leftover recipes on the internet.  As I researched them, I added a couple to my "try this later" list, especially the zucchini spaghetti pancakes.   The main idea is to use leftovers and to remain frugal.

Blueberry Lemonade: Leftover Soup

Just for fun, I decided to do a search on the history of soup.  I have this idea in my mind about the origins of soup, and a preliminary search did not reveal anything of value.  I had to do a bit of digging, changing up my search terms to find something close to what I was looking for.

In my mind, soup originated from poverty.  One small rabbit and a few almost rotten vegetables thrown into a pot with some roots and herbs would go much farther than the rabbit and vegetables cooked like a roast.  According to one article I found, soup originated to serve invalids.  I hadn't thought about that.  Regardless of its origins, soup continues to be popular in all socio-economic circles.  In our family, it provides a way to use every small piece of food.  We live on a very tight budget, and waste cannot exist.

Some items naturally make great soup.  Others do not.  Similarly, finding the combination of items that work best takes some practice.  I make various types of soup from leftovers, and over the years through trial and error, I have established a standard 3 recipes that I only slightly vary.

Fish
Vegetable (chicken, pork, beef)
Taco

Today, in the crockpot, is the vegetable soup.  I had the ingredients in the fridge and had not moved them to the freezer soup bowl.  The freezer soup bowl is a plastic container I put all leftover vegetables into and then use to make soup once the bowl is full.

In the crockpot is:  a few potatoes and carrots from a roast, a small piece of grilled pork chop, leftover green beans, a small amount of leftover au gratin potatoes, 1/2 chopped onion and a cup of frozen mixed vegetables.

Warm a tablespoon of butter in a skillet and add chopped onion.  Stir and cook until onion just becomes tender.  Add the leftover vegetables from the roast and heat slightly.  Add 1 cup of water and stir well, allowing the ingredients to mix well.  Pour into the crock pot.  Add a tablespoon of butter to the skillet and melt.  Add 2 tablespoons flour and mix well.  Heat through.  Add 2 cups of water to the flout mixture and stir to make sure no lumps exist.  Add to crock pot.

Add the other ingredients.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  I like to add some rosemary and thyme. Turn the crockpot to low and cook for about 1 - 2 hours.

I hope you can find some tips and techniques to help expand your food use.  Check back often as I will post more frugal chef recipes.