Chorizo Empanadillas – hot little pockets of love…

Tags

cheese, chorizo, corn, dough, empanadas, empanadillas, meat pie

I just love little stuffed things.  Every culture has a little stuffed bit of dough, filled with a little bit of seasoned meat and veggies that is always something truly amazing when you get to eat it.  I hope that everyone on the whole planet has at least one food memory of sinking their teeth into a hot little pocket of love, whether it’s their favorite aunt’s samosas, or grandmas dumplings or their dad’s holiday peirogi.  When I think about all the wonderful things that my family made on special occasions, it’s always my Dad’s Chinese pot-stickers and my Grandma’s inari sushi.  Also, I’m so thankful to the wonderful cooking teachers I’ve had that have shared their recipes and traditions with me along the way. 

When I have days off, I like to try to take some time to make something nice for the hubby and I to have for dinner.  What truer expression of love is there than choosing to spend your time to make an extra special meal for an extra special someone?  I let him think that it’s all for him and that I’m simply an amazing wife, but the truth is that I like tasty little treats from time to time too!  🙂  

Letting my stockpile in my chest freezer guide my meal planning, I had some chorizo that I wanted to use up.  A little toodling around online lead me to the idea for making some empanadillas with it and here’s what I came up with.  Hope you like it!

  

Chorizo Empanadillas – served with rice and refried beans and avocado sauce

Serves 4-6 – cost approx $1.50 per serving, including sides

Makes approx 17 empanadas – cost approx $4.50 per batch

***Just a little side note here.  This was my first go at this recipe and there was about 1/3 cup left over filling.  If I were doing this over, I would increase my dough recipe by about 50% to use up all the filling.  Or you could use it for something else, like a breakfast burrito, some pupusas, put it over some rice for a nice little lunch…***

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb Mexican chorizo ($1)
• 1 onion, small dice ($.33)
• 1/2 bell pepper, whatever color you like best ($.25)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced, optional ($.25)
• 1/2 cup corn kernels – fresh or frozen, use whatever you have around ($.25)
• garlic salt, to taste
• 2 green onions, minced ($.18)
• 1 cup/4 oz shredded mild cheese – any type of mild cheddar, jack or pepper jack would be nice.  I used a ‘Mexican Cheese Blend’ that I got on sale ($.63)

• 2 cups all purpose flour ($.22)
• 1/2 cup masa harina or corn flour ($.08)
• 1 stick/ 4 oz butter, cold, cubed ($.62)
• 4 oz lard, cold, cubed – you could use shortening if lard creeps you out… ($.43)
• 1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Start by browning the chorizo over medium heat in a saute pan.  When some of the fat starts to render out, add in the onion, bell pepper and jalapeno.  Saute for 5 minutes.  Add in the corn and green onions.  Add garlic salt to taste.  That’s all there is to the filling!

For the dough, make it however you like to make your pie dough.  I did the food processor ‘dump everything in’ method.  Just pulse until the flour and fats have come together then drizzle in cold water until it just comes together.  Give the dough (literally) one or two kneads so that it comes together.  Keep in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.  

Roll out the dough on a floured surface.  I went pretty thin, inbetween 1/8″ and 1/4″.  Cut out circles about 4″-6″ in diameter.  You can use a large mug or a small bowl (or a large biscuit or cookie cutter would be the best tool, but I don’t have one…) to trace out the circles.  Fill with a heaping tablespoon of chorizo filling and a good pinch of cheese.  Fold over and crimp the edges with a fork.   Poke some vent holes in the tops with a fork.  I sprinkled a little bit of leftover cheese on the top, just to be all decadent and stuff.  (Here is where you could freeze them for later if you wanted.)

  

Bake at 350 F for 30-45 minutes or until hot, golden and delicious.  

  

Southwest Chicken and Black Bean Taquitos – the revenge of the Taquito craze…

Tags

baked, black beans, cheese, chicken, cumin, flauta, leftover chicken, shredded, southwest, taquito

I was pretty happy with all those taquitos I made this winter, I thought they were great.  Now I know they could be even better…

  

My moment of clarity came last week at work when we found ourselves with several pounds of leftover chicken salad from a banquet.  In stepped super-hero, Sous-Chef Ceasar (he’s a man of many titles) who said ‘lets make flautas.’  He added some of his special brand of love to that chicken salad (meaning beans, cheese and spices, get your mind out of the gutter), rolled it up into corn tortillas and took it for a dip in the deep fryer.  It was topped with some guacamole and cotija cheese and thus a beautiful appetizer special was born.  It sold like hot cakes all weekend.  

Now these little suckers were what flauta/taquito dreams were made of.  Perfectly crispy yet creamy, a veritable flavor explosion.  I think that the secret was that mayonnaise in the original chicken salad.  I decided in that moment when the first fauta, fresh out of the deep fryer, hit my lips that I needed to try to make these little suckers at home.

So creamy…

But before we get down and dirty, a little linguistic digression.  Latley, I’ve been working on improving my Spanish by asking my Latino co-workers clarification on words I wasn’t sure on and adding a few new bits of vocabulary here and there.  (Yesterday I learned that ‘chichis’ are nipples where as ‘tetas’ are boobies but ‘pechugas’ are what chickens have…)  So, I asked one of my coleagues what the differerence between taquitos and flautas was.  He said “Flautas come out of a deep fryer and taquitos come out of a microwave.”  Interesting.  Seeing as what I make at home are no where near authentic Mexican food, and I’m not busting out my deep fryer today, I’m going to keep on calling them taquitos.  

Southwest Chicken and Black Bean Taquitos – served with Spanish rice, slaw, lime sour cream and avocado sauce

Serves 5 – 6 – cost approx $1.26 per serving, including sides and sauces

Makes approx 40 taquitos – Batch costs $4.45 or $.11 per taquito

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked black beans – from 1 cup dry beans ($.40)
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken – a great use for leftovers ($.43 I got a whole chicken for $.60/lb because it was the sell by date, if you can be flexible in your menu planning or have room in the freezer you can take advantage of those killer deals!)
• 1 jalapeno, small dice ($.25)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, small dice ($.25)
• 1/2 onion, small dice ($.06)
• 2 cups/ 8oz shredded mild white cheese – jack, mozzarella, or white cheddar would be good ($1.20)
• 1-2 Tbs ground cumin, to taste
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise ($.50)

• 40 corn tortillas ($1.11)

Just mix up all the ingredients in the first set to make the filling.  

 

What happy colors! Maybe I’ll add some corn next time…

 

Follow the procedure outlined in my first taquito post (https://fullbellyfullwallet.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/pulled-pork-taquitos-im-falling-fast/) to roll up the little suckers.  From this point you can either freeze them for later use or bake them right away.  When you want to eat, cook at 400F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with any sauces that you like and dig in!  These would be a great appetizer or could be a full meal when paired with some rice and veggies.

Turkey Chili Verde Taquitos – The Thanksgiving Hangover #3

Tags

appetizer, beans, cheese, chili verde, leftover, taquitos, turkey

Hey Y’all!  Here’s a way to gobble up (har har) all those turkey pickin’s you may have in your fridge or freezer.

With all the excitement that football season brings, these are a great appetizer or finger-food dinner for when the game’s on.  These little buggers freeze up great too.  With my recent taquito obsession, I’ve been thinking of these chili verde turkey taquitos since I bought my Thanksgiving birds.

Chili verde pairs really nicely with white meat.  These taquitos aren’t too spicy, the chili verde just plays a the role of great background music in movie, so that your tastebuds can focus of the wonderful shredded turkey, beans and cheese.  Can you tell that I’m quite enamored with taquitos?

See? Beans, cheese and turkey, all wrapped up in chili verde sauce! nom nom

Turkey Chili Verde Taquitos

Makes 50 – cost approx $.11 per taquito

Ingredients

• 2 cups red beans – from 8oz dry beans or maybe 2 cans of beans ($.54)
• 1 cup chili verde sauce – I make this and can it when tomatillos and chilis go on sale for $1 per lb in the summer, but there’s tons of good chili verde sauces and salsa at the store that would be great in these taquitos ($.50)
• 1/2 lb shredded cheese – cheddar or jack would be good options ($1.20)
• 3/4 lb shredded turkey – ($.75)

• 50 corn tortillas ($1.38)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or bacon grease – for assembly
• sour cream/salsa/guacamole for dipping ($1)

The first set of ingredients are for the filling, just mix it all together.  Assemble your taquitos and bake at 400F for about 20 minutes or until golden and wonderful.

If you need more detailed instructions on how to assemble the taquitos, check out my earlier post: https://fullbellyfullwallet.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/pulled-pork-taquitos-im-falling-fast/

Pulled Pork Taquitos – I’m falling fast…

Tags

appetizers, cheese, corn, flauta, Pulled pork, taquitos, tortillas

You know that feeling that you’re going to get really into something in a great big hurry…  A foxy new squeeze, finding that special TV show and watching five seasons of it in a weekend, gin, a magic vacation in a fun new place.  I have just found taquitos. (Or you could call them flautas if you’re feeling like you need to class it up a bit.)  I am in love.  My fireman is very supportive spicing up our marriage with a liberal dose of taquitos.

I’m fairly certain that this will be the first of several taquito variations that I post.  I have designs on chili verde and vegetarian versions in the not so distant future; these pulled pork ones were bomb though!   Plus, I think I have a pretty good method for wrangling corn tortillas into being rolled up and cooked nicely, sans toothpicks and sans deep fryer.  Here we go!

Pulled Pork Taquitos

Makes 25 taquitos – cost approx $.21 each, with fixin’s included

Serves 4-5 as entre- cost approx $1.30 per serving, including fixin’s and rice

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup / 4 oz queso fresco ($.50)
• 1 cup / 4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded ($.33 – I got an awesome deal at the local discount grocery store!)
• 1 lb pulled pork – leftovers work great, that’s certainly what I used! ($2.50)

• 25 small corn tortillas ($.66)
• 2-4 Tbs bacon grease, lard or vegetable oil

Fixin’s

• 1 cup sour cream ($.50)
• Hot sauce
• 1 cup Avocado sauce ($.60) – It’s about a half batch of my recipe, (https://fullbellyfullwallet.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/avocado-pasta-salad-so-cool-you-might-just-rub-it-on-your-sunburns/)

Mix up the pork and cheeses to make the filling.  Preheat oven to 400 F.

Get everything together to make a little assembly line.  You need a pan over medium-low heat with your grease of choice in it.  Next to your grease pan get a small plate or cutting board plus your filling for a roll-up station.  Lastly, you need a greased sheet tray to hold your finished taquitos.

To assemble:  First, nuke 2-3 tortillas at a time for 20-30 seconds.  Second, dip one at a time in your warm pan with some grease in it.  Let most of the excess grease drip off.

Now, lay the tortilla, grease side down onto your roll-up station.  The grease helps keep the tortillas flexible and makes them crisp up nicely in the oven.  Put a line of filling, 2-3 tablespoons, along one edge of the tortilla and roll up as tightly as possible.

Move your finished taquito onto your prepped tray.

Once you have a row of little soldiers, bake them at 400 F for 20-30 minutes or until golden and crispy.  Serve with whatever dipping sauces strike the fickle of your fancy.

P.S. I made a ridiculous little cross stitch/embroidery project for a friend’s soon-to-be-housewarming-present.  Like me, she hates the way society oppresses us forces us to conform and wear pants in the almighty “public.”  This is a shameless copy of an idea I saw on Pinterest.

Wet Hot American Summer Risotto – Just a quickie…

Tags

American, bacon, cheese, corn, one pot wonder, risotto, summer

I guess with the afternoon showers and muggy, blanket-like clouds it has been a little bit of a ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ here in Tahoe, but nothing like being at an epic summer camp 😉  If you’re in the mood for a silly summer (for grown ups only) comedy, I highly recommend it…

Anyway, I made this little summery risotto and I thought it was tasty enough to share.  I made it using my ‘Kitchen Sink’ method of throwing in all the little bits of things needing to be used up in my kitchen.  Today it was chicken stock, bacon, green onions and some cheeses that needed to go and so a risotto was born.

On a side note: how do you tell if you’ve married into the right family?  One good clue is when your in-laws send over little baggies of home-made bacon!  Thank you to Mr. W for this tasty treat.  It was subtly smoky, very lean and meaty, like the bastard child of Canadian bacon and American bacon.

American Summer Risotto

Serves 4 – cost approx $1.34 per serving

Ingredients

• 6 slices bacon, thinly sliced ($0 thanks to my awesome Father in Law!  But about $.75 if store bought)
• 1 small red or white onion, small diced ($.30)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced – optional ($.25)
• 1 lb arborio rice ($1.75)
• 1/2 cup white wine ($.25)
• 4-6 cups chicken or veg stock
• 1 cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh, roasted would be delicious! ($.30)
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese ($.50)
• 2 Tbs butter ($.12)
• 1/4 cup fun cheese, crumbled – I used mozzarella, but feta or goat cheese would be awesome too ($.50)
• salt, to taste
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced ($.15)

Start by crisping up the bacon in a large pot or large saute pan.  Remove the bacon and leave a few tablespoons of fat in the pan.  Saute the onion, garlic and jalapeno 5 minutes or so.  Toss in the rice and saute 2-3 minutes or until the grains are opaque with little white centers.  Deglaze with the white wine.  Start adding the chicken or vegetable stock, 1 cup at at time and stirring regularly and adding more liquid when the rice has absorbed all of the last batch.  When the rice is done to your liking (I like mine a little al dente) stir in the corn, reserved bacon and parmesan cheese.  Next add the butter and stir quickly until it’s all incorporated.  Mix in your fun cheese and add salt to taste.  Garnish with the green onions.

Cheesy Broccoli Twice Baked Potatoes – A kid pleaser that adults will love too!

Tags

bacon, baked potato, broccoli, cheese, twice baked potato

This recipe really is the picture of versatility and ease.  First off, you can make these awesome twice baked potatoes either as an appetizer for a party or for a main course for your family, depending on the size of potatoes that you choose.  Secondly, you can make a lot of variations on what sorts of veggies it’s filled with, without dirtying a ton of dishes.  By roasting all the filling mix-ins segregated out on a sheet tray with the bacon in the middle, all the vegetables get to cook in the bacon fat without touching each other.

Cheesy Broccoli Twice Baked Potatoes

Makes approx 2 doz as appetizers – cost approx $.17 each

Serves 4 as a main dish – cost approx $1.02 per serving

Ingredients

• 4 lb potatoes – size depends on how you’re serving them ($.99)
• 1 lg onion, thinly sliced ($.30)
• 1 broccoli stalk, cut into small florets and bite size pieces of stalk ($.49)
• 4 slices bacon, thinly sliced ($.50)
• 1/4 cup minced fresh herbs – chives and parsley ($.12)
• 1 cup milk ($.18)
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 lb sliced cheese ($1.25)

These tasty treats follow my basic potato skin/twice baked potato methodology. Bake potatoes, scoop out insides, make filling, stuff, cheese, bake.

(For another variation, check out my chorizo filled potatoes: https://fullbellyfullwallet.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/south-of-the-border-potato-skins-shopping-the-sales/)

Start by preheating the oven to 350 F.  Stab your washed potatoes with a fork several times then pop them into the oven bake up while you gather and prepare all the other ingredients.  Cooking the potatoes can be done up to a day ahead of time if that fits your schedule better.

In order to cook the horrible, evil vegetable (in my roomie’s eyes) that is the onion away from everything else without dirtying up a lot of pans, I roasted the bacon, onion and broccoli on the same pan at 350 F for about 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.

To make the filling, halve the baked potatoes (be careful if they are hot, use a ove-glove or mitt!) and use a melon baller to neatly scoop out the insides of the potatoes, leaving a nice potato skin shell.  Mash up the potato insides with the milk, herbs and salt and pepper.  Since onions were the offensive item for my picky eater, I mixed in the bacon and broccoli first, filled up her portion of potato skins.  Then I added in the onions to the filling mix and filled up the rest of the potatoes.  Basically, if you start with the most simple variation and then add ingredients into the filling as you go along you can please a varying number of picky eaters with minimal effort.

Top your filled potato skins with cheese slices then bake for 15 minutes at 350 F or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Yay!

Enchilada Verde Turkey Casserole

Tags

baked, beans, casserole, cheese, easy, enchilada, Tex Mex, turkey

There are some things that I’m just too lazy for, and heating up tortillas, stuffing them and then rolling up enough enchiladas to fill up my fireman is just one of those things.  In my experience, a nice enchilada casserole is just as tasty as the real thing for a good week night dinner.  It’s also a great make ahead then bake dish for busy days.  Add some Spanish rice, and you can easily feed your loved ones a great Tex-Mex meal even if they have Texas-sized appetites!  Because of all those reasons, a smattering of different enchilada casserole variations have become a staple in my house.

This enchilada casserole version came from some basic ingredients that I usually have in my pantry combined with my need to get some things out of the freezer.  It’s scary in there, the extreme couponer in me can’t help stocking up when the getting is good!

Enchilada Verde Turkey Casserole –served with Spanish rice

Serves 4-6 – cost approx $.98 per serving, including rice

Ingredients

Filling / Assemblage

• 2 cups shredded turkey or chicken – I froze up left over Thanksgiving turkey pickin’s in 12 oz portions ($.75)
• 2-3 cups cooked pinto beans ($.50)
• 1 onion, small dice – saute or leave raw depending on your taste ($.10)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced – saute with the onions or leave raw depending on your taste
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels ($.25)
• 1/4 cup fresh herbs, minced – I used cilantro and scallions ($.20)
• 2 cups shredded cheese ($1.25)
• about 20 corn tortillas ($.55)

Sauce

• 2 Tbs bacon grease, lard or vegetable oil – hey, it’s Tex Mex, don’t begrudge me my animal fat…
• 1/4 cup All Purpose flour
• 1 cup milk or half and half ($.19)
• 1 cup turkey or chicken stock
• 1/2 – 1 cup salsa verde – I used some spicy tomatillo salsa that I made and canned this summer, use as much or as little as suits your spicy tolerance. ($.50)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Coat a 9″ x 13″ baking pan with spray grease, butter or bacon grease.

To make the filling, combine the shredded turkey, beans, veggies and herbs.  Save the cheese and tortillas for the assembly.

To make the sauce, melt the fat then whisk in the flour.  Stir continuously for 2-3 minutes to make a simple roux.  Whisk in the dairy of your choosing and stock.  Bring up to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.  Mix in the salsa verde.  Taste and adjust seasonings, if your salsa is mild or not too salty, you may need to add some salt to your enchilada sauce.

To assemble the masterpiece, begin by putting down a layer of tortillas, then a cup or so of filling and a small handful of cheese; repeat until all filling is used up.  (I made three layers)

For the final layer, put down layer of tortillas then sprinkle with some cheese.  Pour the sauce over the top and let it ooze down into the sides of the casserole.

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes, or until bubbly and slightly golden brown.

Greek Quiche – potluck fun!

Tags

cheese, eggs, feta, greek, quiche, vegetarian

I’ve been struggling with my quiche recipes for a while now.  It really seems that there is no real way to ‘cheap out’ with quiche.  I tried to replace the cream with milk and I’ve tried to add less cheese, or less eggs, to cook it more or cook it less, but it’s never the perfect consistency.  But, dammit, sometimes I just crave quiche!

I guess that I’ll just have to do it decadently right.  Thank goodness I had an accomplice!  My awesome neighbor came over for a mini potluck dinner complete with copious picture snapping and vino.

Greek Quiche

Serves 4 alone or serves 6 with sides, like the delish apple salad my neighbor brought!

This salad had feta cheese, apples, cranberries, avocado and poppy seed dressing, yum!

Cost approx $.76 per serving

Ingredients

• 1 pie crust – I use the Williams and Sonoma recipe, omitting any sugar for a savory application.  Any recipe you like will do, or store bought if you’re in a hurry. ($1)
• 2 onions, thinly sliced ($.33)
• 1 1/2 lb baked potatoes, peeled, 1/4 inch sliced ($.30)
• 2 Tbs mint pesto – from when I got all those herbs!  But any herb pesto would be delicious in this recipe
• 1 1/2 cups feta cheese ($.99)
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 4 eggs ($.48)
• 1 cup Half and Half ($.47)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Roll out the pie crust and lay it in a 2 inch deep 8 or 9 inch cake pan, crimp the edges around the top rim of the pan.  Prick holes in the bottom of the pie crust for ventilation.

Lay a piece of parchment pan over the pie crust and put down pie weights.  [You can use anything to weight your pie crust, uncooked beans, metal nuts or a large can full of industrial staples like I do…]  Cooking a weighted pie crust is called blind baking, the weights keep the crust from shrinking or moving around.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until it is just starting to brown.

Saute the onions until they are a dark caramel color, remove from heat and stir in the pesto.

Whisk the eggs, half and half, salt and pepper together, just like making scrambled eggs.

To assemble the quiche, start by putting down a layer of potato slices, then sprinkle with the pesto onions and a handful of feta cheese.

Repeat layering until all the ingredients are used up, ending with a layer of potatoes and a sprinkle of the feta (this is purely aesthetic, if yours doesn’t work out that way, I promise it will be just as delicious.)  Slowly pour the egg mixture over layered goodies and let the eggs seep all the way in.

Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the eggs are set.  In the immortal words of Chef Scott, my Baking and Pastry instructor, the way you tell that a quiche is done is that “It should jiggle, but it shouldn’t ripple.”  Remove from the oven and let set and cool for 5-10 minutes before you dig in.  Now you’re ready to open a bottle of wine with friends and enjoy!

South of the Border Potato Skins – shopping the sales

Tags

cheese, chorizo, potato skins, twice baked potatoes

It’s not easy being cheesy!

Hello Friends!  This is my last post of the ‘S’ series and today’s theme is sales!  Y’all already know that buying things on sale saves you money, but I’ve got a few tricks to share.

Believe it or not, grocery stores will try to cheat you out of your money!   They’ll put lipstick on a pig and try to sell it to you as a supermodel; some examples are having different prices on the same item in different departments (bulk aisle versus regular aisle), jacking up the prices for a slightly different packaging or making a big hull-a-baloo about advertising a sale that’s not really a good value.  So inform yourself and don’t be duped.  The best way to do this is to make sure you are looking at and comparing the price per weight when you go grocery shopping.  Thanks to modern technology, I look like I’m quite the popular little texter when I’m shopping as opposed to the reality of me analyzing the price per ounce of store brand versus main brand peanut butters.

The only way to not get tricked is to know what good prices for main items are.  For me, this has come with almost a decade of experience.  I was always involved with grocery shopping with my family as a teenager and then for myself when I moved out.  I want to share my baseline prices for pantry staples are and what my ‘stock up’ prices are.  Yours may be way different from mine depending on the cost of living where you live and how much money is in your grocery budget.

• Milk- I don’t buy if it’s over $3 a gallon, and I’ll stock up if it’s $2.50 a gallon or under.  Milk freezes great!
• Cheese – I use the same rule as for milk, I don’t buy if it’s over $3 per pound, and I’ll buy more if it’s $2.50 or less.  This is for basic cheeses like Jack or Cheddar, obviously fancy cheeses are (worth) more.
• Butter – $2 per pound, sales can go as low as $1 per pound, in which case I buy so much it would make Paula Deen blush!
• Chicken – $1 per pound, stock up if you see it for less, but make sure it passes the smell test.  With any meats, if it smells off, don’t waste your money on it.  If it just looks a little less than perky but smells alright, make it into a soup.
• All Purpose Flour – $.50 per pound, with baking items always double check, many stores are sneaky here!
• Sugar – $.75 per pound
• Potatoes – $.50 per pound is my maximum
• Onions and Carrots – I’ll pay up to $1 per pound if I’m desperate, but $.50 per pound or less is a normal deal for these veggie staples.
• Pasta – $1 per pound, double check, pasta manufacturers are making smaller boxes these days and fancier pastas, like lasagna, are often boxed in smaller weights.
• Rice – $.50 to $1 per pound based on the type of rice.  Basic long grain will be less and brown rice or sticky rice will be more.  Often ethnic markets will have good prices on more exciting types of grains.
• Beans – The majority of times dry beans are cheaper because they cook up into much more than their dry weight, look for prices of $1 per pound or less.  Canned beans cost more but require way less time to cook, look for cans priced less than $.75.

This is just a basic list, but pay attention to the variation in prices for items that you buy often.

My key to saving money at the grocery store is combining the ‘loss leader’ sales with a healthy spoonful of self control.  Most weeks, all types of grocery stores, from the discount stores to the big box stores, will have a screaming deal on one or two items; this sale is called the ‘loss leader’ because the store isn’t making much money off of it, but it’s designed to get you in the door and hopefully buy the rest of the things on your list in their store.  If you use these promotions to stock up on items that you use frequently, and resist the urge to pick up a handful of candy bars and a bunch of other things that aren’t on sale, you will save a bundle!  Fantastic, you’re beating the grocery stores at their own game, but hold on to your undies, it can get even better.

Now, this section is for people who have the time to go into extreme-grocery-ninja-saving mode.  My secret ninja-warrior weapon is coupons; they’re not just for old ladies any more!  Coupons take a considerable amount of time to collect and organize, but the payout is great and strangely addictive.  You can find coupons everywhere: in the Sunday papers, if you enroll in the coupon and discount programs at your favorite grocery store, and they’re available to print on the producers’ web sites.  Now, here’s the black belt trick.  Keep your coupons all nice and organized, then wait like a crouching tiger and pounce when you have a coupon that matches up with the loss leader sale.  I’ve been known to get things for free using this sort of coupon-karate!  Just be careful, once you start you may not be able to stop.

This last week my best deals were getting a ten pound bag of potatoes for $.99 at my local discount grocery store with a store coupon and 12 oz rolls of chorizo for $.99 at a larger grocery store with my membership card.  I came up with these jazzed up chorizo filled twice baked potatoes as an ode to Monday Night Football and delicious bar food, but without the need for a deep fryer.

The filling for these potato skins can be very versatile.  If you don’t have chorizo, seasoning up some ground beef or pork with a taco mix or which ever chile powder you like would be delicious.  If you don’t have a lot of meat on hand, you can stretch this out easily with some beans.  If you use smaller potatoes this could be a great game day appetizer too!

I intended to make a large batch of these so that my fireman might have some for lunch the next day, but they were such a hit that they were all devoured on the spot.  It was over four pounds of food!  So I can safely say that this dish is He-Man approved.  As a side note, when asking my fireman what he thought I should name them for the blog he came up with “Testicle Tickling Tuber Skins” which was a close runner up to his second suggestion that was a little more appropriate for the title.  Boys!

My new favorite boy! Kuma! We’re puppy sitting…

South of the Border Potato Skins

Serves 3 – cost approx $.96 per serving

Ingredients

• 6 medium or large russet potatoes, about 3 lb ($.30)
• 12 oz pork chorizo ($.99)
• 1 medium onion, small dice ($.19)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• salt
• 6 oz cheese, sliced or grated, divided use – whatever mild cheese you have, I had monterey jack and cheddar ($1.03)
• 1/4 cup parsley ($.10)
• 1/2 cup milk ($.08)

Preheat your oven 375F.  Scrub the potatoes and pierce each potato several times with a fork.  Bake until tender, approx 30-60 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes.  While the potatoes are roasting, heat a skillet over medium low heat and add the chorizo, onion and garlic.  Cook the sausage slowly, stirring occasionally and the onion and garlic will cook in the delicious, red, sausage fat, approximately 15-20 minutes.

When the potatoes are cooked, let cool until you can handle them (which may be quite quickly if you have a good oven mitt or ove-glove!) and cut in half.  Scoop out the middles of the potatoes, leaving a 1/4 inch border next to the skin.  I used a melon baller and it was very quick and easy.  Lay the potato skins on a sheet tray and put the potato pulp in a bowl.  Mix half of the cheese, milk, parsley and the chorizo mixture in with the potato pulp.  Now fill the potato skins with the mix and top with the remaining cheese.

Return the potatoes to the oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Then you’re ready to dig in as soon as it’s cool enough to eat.  Enjoy!

Tre Colore Lasagne – a discourse on versatility

Tags

cheese, Italian and Mediterranean, lasagna, pesto, vegetarian

I’m so happy to have my best friend (and her Ma!) come and visit me, even though she’s a Bears fan.  (Go Packers!)  Since her and I graduated from high school a few years back, we haven’t ever lived within 500 miles of each other. Luckily, we love to travel and plan trips to visit one another or go somewhere new together.  Our most notable adventure was certainly a very sweaty backpacking trip through Italy in August.  Also, thanks to her, I got to go to Boston last year and see Harvard (where she’s a neuroscience researcher! I love to brag about my genius friend.) and devour a lobster on the harbor.

Lob-stah! She made me wear the bib, I acquiesced only for the photo…

My friend has been a vegetarian since before we met, she’s not a health food nut or animal rights activist, but she simply doesn’t enjoy eating meat.  I think that’s really unique, and I really love how she doesn’t try to play it any other way.  It has always been fun for me to come up with yummy, meat-free dishes for us to share whenever we get the chance to spend time together.

Since I’m cooking for a varied crowd, for her visit I made two versions of a pesto lasagna:  one had shredded chicken and the other had fava beans and roasted red peppers instead.  Dry lasagna pasta is more expensive than other pasta, and because I had the time, I made the pasta my self.  If you don’t have the time, this dish would be excellent as a baked pasta with any sort of dried pasta, like penne or rigatoni, instead.  This recipe could make two large thin pans of lasagna or two smaller and taller pans; I ended up making one 9″ x 9″ pan of vegetarian lasagna and one 9″ x 13″ pan of chicken lasagna and feeding three people dinner with the large one, and three people lunch from the small one.  There’s no limit on what you can or can’t put in this dish based on what you have on hand, what’s on sale and who you’re cooking for, it’s the very picture of versatility!

Tre Colore Lasagne – it’s the colors of the Italian flag, green pesto, white sauce and pasta with red onions and red peppers!

Serves six – approx $1.37 per serving

Ingredients

Home Made Pasta

• 3 cups All Purpose Flour ($.50)
• 3 eggs ($.30)
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• salt
• water

Mix about a tsp of salt in with the flour and make a well.  Put the eggs and olive oil in the middle with about 3 Tbs water.  Mix with a fork until it starts to come together.  You may need to add more water, just remember that it’s a lot easier to add a little more than take some out.  Knead for 15 – 25 minutes or until smooth.  Let rest, covered in plastic, for 1 hour or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.  If you’ve never done this before, I would recommend watching some youtube videos or a TV chef do it first.  Roll out into very thin sheets with a pasta machine or rolling pin and boil in salted water for about a minute.  Now it’s ready to be layered up as delicious lasagna!

If you don’t want to bother with it, I don’t blame you, it’s really time consuming!  Substitute 1-2 lb of whatever sort of pasta tickles your fancy.  In my case, when making my own pasta, the ratio of 1 cup all purpose flour to one egg to one tbs of olive oil works well for me.  Would you all like to see a photo tutorial in the future on making pasta from scratch?

Beschamiela – Italian beschamel sauce, very traditional in Northern Italian lasagnas

• 2 oz butter ($.12)
• 2 oz flour
• 2 cups milk ($.37)
• bay leaf
• salt/ pepper
• pinch nutmeg
• Parmigiano Reggiano rind (optional) – my work throws these away, so I give them a good home instead…
• 2 cups pasta water

Brown the butter in a small sauce pan, whisk in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add the milk and let the sauce thicken.  Add the bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste and nutmeg and Parmigiano rind.  Whisk in the pasta water to loosen up sauce if it gets too thick.

Mix-ins

• 12 oz mozzarella, shredded ($2.25)
• 2 red onions, thinly sliced and caramelized ($.40)
• 1 cup pesto ($2)
• 1 cup favas (or lima beans) -for vegetarian version only ($.50)
• 1 lb shredded chicken, cooked – for meat eaters version only ($1)
• 1 cup roasted red peppers – I used my peppers I canned earlier in the summer ($.50)

Assemblage: Put a little of the beschamiela sauce on the bottom of the pans (to lessen any sticking to the pan) and layer up the pasta with your desired mix ins, making sure you add a little more beschamiela sauce and a couple spoonfuls of pesto in every layer.  After you put the last sheets of your pasta down, pour over any remaining beschamiela and pesto sauce.  Bake covered at 350 F for 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the thickness of your lasagna.  Maybe serve with some fresh bread and vino, if you’re feeling frisky 🙂

Lasagna and good friends = lunch time heaven! A couple of rum runners by the lake doesn’t hurt either…