Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Frugal eating - What's for Dinner?

We spend (I should say I spend) way too much to feed our family. Obviously, this hasn't changed since we switched to organic. I am looking for help with inexpensive, healthy, TASTY meals that I can make for my family. I will be using organic ingredients, so keep that in mind when making your suggestions (i.e. no 10 for $1 deals on canned corn at Safeway).

Can you help? Post your best for all to see. Bonus points if you actually calculate the cost.

ps - I don't use my freezer for leftovers, so the maximum serving size needs to be 6. We do eat leftovers for lunch occasionally.

Peanut Butter Granola

I have become entranced with the Hillbilly Housewife. Thanks to an insanely frugal friend, I checked it out to get the recipe for homemade granola. This stuff is sooooooo good. I tweaked the recipe a little to accomodate what I had on hand, but it was all over and done in about 15 minutes. Steve had a big bowl of it this morning, and Sam and I have been snacking on it today.

Peanut Butter Granola
2 tablespoons margarine (I used butter. Organic, natch)
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/3 cup honey (I didn't have enough so I used some maple butter too)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
Begin by melting the margarine and peanut butter together in a 3-quart saucepan. Add the honey, vanilla and salt. Stir the mixture until it is smooth and hot throughout. It doesn’t need to boil. Add the oats. Stir until the oats are completely coated with the sticky gooey peanut butter mixture. It will be chunky. Turn the mixture into an ungreased cookie sheet, or a large 9 by 13-inch pan. Spread the granola out evenly and bake it at 375° for 10 minutes. It will be brown and crispy. Now remove it from the oven and allow it to cool right there in the pan. Break it up into pieces after it is cooled. Transfer the granola to a clean coffee can or sealed canister. Add the raisins, if you are using them, when the granola is cool.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

spaghetti & mushrooms

There is a guy here in town, a good customer at the store, who grows mushrooms. Each year, he brings Steve a big bag of luscious, fresh mushrooms. The first year, I was suspicious and lacked confidence and ended up throwing them out. This year, the grower told Steve exactly how his lovely oyster mushrooms (which I saw for sale at the co-op today for $8.99/lb) should be cooked for maximum flavor. The trick is to sear them in a hot, dry pan for about five minutes until crispy. Then add butter and whatever else you want to use to flavor them. They won't pick up as much of the other flavors, but will retain more of their woodsy goodness.

I roughly chopped the shrooms and seared as directed. Then I added butter (a lot, I confess), some chopped portabello mushrooms, lots of coarse ground salt & pepper, the juice of one large lemon, and four cloves of garlic (chopped). Sauteed until brown and yummy, then mixed with whole wheat spaghetti noodles and blanched brocolli florettes tossed in olive oil. Add some shredded parmesan, and yum!

If you find yourself with a pound of oyster mushrooms, I highly recommend this recipe. Actually, it would be good with just portabello caps as well, or any mushroom you like.