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.

Seafood - Crab Cakes and Gumbo

Imitation Crab was on sale, so I purchased a package knowing I would find a recipe for it later.  At only $1.50 for 12 ounces, the imitation crab was a good purchase and much cheaper per pound than most other meat choices.

Looking through my "thrifty seafood planner", I wondered what all I could cook this week.  I also did a search on Pinterest.   What I have decided to make this week are crab cakes with salad.  I will save a bit of the imitation crab to add to a gumbo recipe since I have some left over tilapia in the freezer.

Just to spice it up a bit, I will also make a cucumber sunomono.  It looks and sounds yummy.

My planners have been by far one of the best things I've created because the planners allow me to focus my attention (and money) to maximize time and planning.   

The only things I will need to purchase are cucumbers and bagged gumbo veggies.  I have the rest of these things on hand already (or left over).  Now all I need to do is fill in the rest of my weekly menu, complete my shopping list and get going.

Not only will I make cucumber sunomono, I will also make cucumber humus and a fresh diced cucumber / onion salad.  Yummy!!!

It takes very little extra work to eat healthy and frugally.  You can't leave things to chance until you retrain your mind and habits.  Until that, spend the extra time planning.

Frugal Kitchen

Due to some situations out of my control, my family's cash flow has drastically declined.  As I continue to hope for an improvement and search for a 3rd job, the urgent need to slash spending takes it toll on our food budget.  Luckily, I can do this.  Because I need to feel that something purposeful emerges from this situation, I decided to get serious about sharing frugal kitchen tips and techniques.  Many of the conveniences in the kitchen almost double the price.  What this means is that we pay double for something that is a convenience.  Think about instant oatmeal and pre-cooked meats.  Similarly, snack size packages are often 3 times more expensive as buying in bulk.  I have bought those snack size packages before if my weekly budget allowed.  I have also not always been discriminate with much of my weekly food purchases.  Until now.................

The $60 I used to spend on groceries weekly has been slashed in half, so my money must go very far if I want to feed my family.  Because I don't have time to search for the best deals and clip coupons, I have found other ways to make every penny count.

• No packaged / convenience foods
• Some of the items that tend to cost money (and have hidden sugars and fats) are things like condiments.  Here are a few other convenience foods:  single serve, snack sized, bag salads, protein bars, packaged lunch meats, shredded cheese, yogurt cups, instant oatmeal, flavored rice or pasta packages, canned beans.
• Meatless meals
• Reduce the amount of meat used in dishes like spaghetti, soups, chili, etc.  When using ground beef, switch to ground turkey which is half the cost.  Or, skip the use of meat completely.  Meals with beans or nuts are a good way to replace meat.  Avoid buying "steak" meats. This means reducing things like chicken breast, pork chops, ribs or beef steak.  These whole cuts of meat are more expensive than ground versions.  Be careful though.  A ground meat with too much added fat may actually cost more per pound than its whole cut counterpart.  Buy meats when on sale and then find ways to stretch the whole cuts.  A whole chicken is less expensive than cut up chicken, but if you are not going to utilize the whole chicken, it will not save you money.  One of my favorite meatless meals is crudities and humus with sliced fresh fruit and cheese.
• Bulk purchases
• Peanut butter freshly ground at the store saves almost $.50 a pound, plus it has no added sugar.  It is extremely healthier.  Things like Nutella and peanut butter may seem cheaper alternatives, but they are also full of sugar, so that the amount of good protein is reduced.  Avoid these.  Also, pre-chopped veggies and bag salad are 4-5 times more costly than purchasing the greens and veggies in bulk.  One of the most drastic price increases comes from those fruit salads.  For the same amount of money spent on fruit, you could make 4 times the fruit salad.  Oatmeal, including steel cut oats, are less expensive in bulk.  Avoid the instant packaging or smaller containers.  Instead, buy in bulk.  I mix my own "instant" oatmeal.  Similarly, don't throw out any cooked oatmeal that isn't eaten.  Bulk purchase nuts are a huge savings.
• High protein items
• Nuts, beans, quinoa..................add as many high protein items to your diet as possible.  I add nuts, flaxseed, chai, or quinoa to my smoothie, peanut butter to my oatmeal, and cooked beans to my salad.  I am gluten free, so much of my diet revolves around fruits and veggies.  Humus is a normal snack item for me, as is no sugar yogurt dip.  
• Throw nothing away
• And I mean nothing....................not one thing.  Even a store bough rotisserie chicken can be salvaged for one more meal before its final disposition. It seems silly, but I made a tortilla soup out of left-over nachos from a restaurant once.  It can be done.  We are a nation of over indulgence.  I cringe at the amount of food thrown away.  My freezer has two bowls I use for leftovers.  Once is for soup and the other for smoothies.
• Create a weekly menu
• The best way to stick to a tight food budget is to create a weekly menu.  I have done this many times in my adult life, and each time, I am able to maximize the money I spend on food.  The most effective use of the weekly planner is to cut down the time spent preparing and cooking foods.  If I make a pot of beans, I figure in how many times I will use beans that week and make enough to carry the whole week.  Then, stick to the menu.

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.

Hodge Podge Chili

Hodge Podge Chili is one of the easiest recipes to make because all of the ingredients can be frozen ahead of time.  That's what makes it a hodge podge.  In the pot today are:

leftover taco filling
cooked red beans
leftover hamburger patty
leftover sausage patty

What "leftover" means is that once the meal was over, there was something not eaten.  I have a special bowl in my freezer to put the ingredients for Hodge Podge Chili.  I add to the bowl until it almost full, and then I throw the ingredients together for chili.

The cooked red beans are new.  I made a pot of these a few days ago.  The first meal we had from these was red beans and rice.  The other meal (besides the chili) I will make will be tostadas.

In the simmer pot, I added 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/2 chopped bell pepper, 1 sausage patty (crumbled), 1 hamburger patty (crumbled), 1/3 cup taco filling and about 2 cups of the new red beans.  Add ground cumin, salt, pepper, garlic and chili powder to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer on low for about 30 minutes.

Serve with cornbread or crackers.

Bits and Pieces Fruits and Nuts

This recipe is just a fruit salad made with bits and pieces of leftover fruit.  Ok, ok, not that the fruit is actually left over, but the salad contains fruit that is the last of something.  I had 6 strawberries left in the container, so I chopped those up and put them in the freezer.  I also had 2 slivers of an apple left from a fruit plate.  I chopped those up and added them to the salad.

In my "bits and pieces fruits and nuts" are:

1/2 a banana, sliced
6 strawberries, chopped
1/4 and apple, chopped
1/2 a canned pear (this I added from the can and will use the rest of it for another project)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 chopped pecans
ground cloves
ground cinnamon
honey (about 1/4 cup)

Mix all the fruit and nuts in a bowl.  I have a bowl that holds about 2 cups, so I use it so that I can gauge how much fruit salad I have.  Sprinkle with cloves and cinnamon.  Drizzle with honey.  I used about 1/4 a cup.  Stir gently.

Divide the fruit salad equally between 3 - 4 (1/2 cup) airtight containers and store in the refrigerator.

Uses:

Add 1 container of fruit salad to oatmeal, yogurt or low-fat pudding..  One of my favorite recipes is to add 1/3 cup half/half to the fruit and simmer in a pan on the stove.  Stir often.  When heated through, sprinkle granola over it\

Blueberry Lemonade: Remnants

I have always been intrigued by remnants...............the lil' bits and pieces leftover.  Maybe it comes from being one of seven kids, growing up poor or having a parent who grew up during the Depression.  I honestly have not thought about it too much until this morning as I was stretching the coffee grounds in my pot.

Have you ever done this?  Stretch the grounds?  I had heard about this being done all my life, usually in regards to poor people.  You can also stretch tea bags.  I think I may have even seen this in one of the Harry Potter movies???  Used coffee grounds are a type of remnant............something left over.  When I had a yard, I used my old grounds in my compost.

When I started learning to sew, I was given a box of remnants.............bits of fabric, thread, lace and leftover notions.  I was 12, and I would make dresses and furnishings for my dolls.  As I would imagine different ways to put the remnants together into something new, I often dreamed of being a designer.  I got a certain thrill from making something out of nothing.

My love for making something out of nothing continues in the quilts I make, the re-fashioning of items in my home such as hand towels and pot holders.  I was waiting for my spaghetti squash to cook in the microwave, the coffee to brew while I finished washing up dishes.  The word "remnant" wafted through my mind as strongly as the smell of cooked squash and coffee.

Today I am doing some cleaning and planning.

I will finish sewing my Shabby Chic quilt top, and I am experimenting with some new recipes in the kitchen.

The removal of sugar and wheat products from my diet has caused me to seek new recipes and adjustments to some of my standard recipes.  I have searched several Paleo sites, and a few ideas have simmered in my mind for the last couple weeks.  I want to make some spaghetti squash with creamy marinara.  I also have some mushrooms to stuff, but I have to stuff them with something other than bread crumbs.

Also, I put my beans in water to make my own sprouts.  I am truly fascinated with the idea of making my own salad fixins.   I will at least give it a try.  Salads have become a big part of my diet recently, and a plain side salad gets really old.  Some of the things I've found or created to enliven my salads are:  bbq dressing, shredded cabbage, canned black beans with doritos pieces, creamy avocado dressing, mandarin oranges, tapenade.  Not all together, of course.  I am actually pretty well known for my salads.

I understand the need to re-work my menus with foods that ensure nutrition.  Proteins are valuable.  Further, I need foods that promote heart health and strong bones........ I am at the big M -- menopause.

Stay tuned for more.  I will post recipes later.