Thrifty Recipe- Gnocchi

Romulo Yanes for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Karen Evans

It's almost the end of the month and will be out of town for part of the week. Another perfect chance to see if I could make it without grocery shopping. (disclosure: I did stop at Target for whole milk, bananas, and bread - with a toddler in the house there are certain things you just can't go without) The following recipe is great for this kind of week. I didn't realize it before I read this article, but in Argentina, gnocchi is served near the end of the month (on the 29th specifically) when people are almost out of money and groceries. My history with gnocchi has always been with Italian food, and it was the first dish I ate when we were in Rome a couple years ago. Little did I know it was also a thrifty Argentinian tradition.

Below is the recipe from the Wall Street Journal. The recommend a sage butter sauce but the two times I have made it I used this sauce recipe from Martha Stewart- Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce.

Gnocchi
From the Wall Street Journal- New World Gnocchi January 29, 2011

Ingredients:

3 large or 6 small Idaho potatoes
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 egg, beaten
1½ cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Fill a large pan with salted water and bring to a boil.

2. Set up a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and dusted with flour.

3. Scrub and dry the potatoes but do not peel them. Microwave on high until soft—the setting and time varies widely by microwave. Allow to cool only enough to be able to handle and peel with a sharp knife.

4. Pass potatoes through a ricer into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle salt and flour over the potatoes. Add egg.

5. Using hands, knead quickly trying not to overwork the dough. The dough should be slightly on the wet side—though not sticky.

6. Generously flour a work surface and pinch off a small handful of dough. Using both hands, roll it into the shape of a snake. Using a sharp knife, cut into bite size pieces and lay them, separately, on the cookie sheet. Continue until finished.

5.Once water boils, add the gnocchi, a few at a time, to boiling water. Using a skimmer, retrieve the gnocchi as they rise to the surface.

Tomato Sauce for Gnocchi
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 can (28 ounces) whole plum tomatoes with juice, crushed by hand
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) tomato sauce
2 sprigs basil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, flakes
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Gnocchi
Thinly shaved parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

1.Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add wine; cook until most liquid has evaporated. Add tomatoes and juice, tomato sauce, basil, and red pepper flakes.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until slightly thick, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm.

3.Reheat gnocchi over low heat in sauce; gently toss. Serve with cheese shavings.

Thrifty Strategy- Pantry Staples

A few weeks ago I wrote (link here) about how I went for almost a week without going to the grocery store, just using items I had on-hand to make dinner each night. Many people out there have created pantry staples lists, and I have linked to several below

Real Simple Magazine's List
Rachael Ray's List
MealsMatter.org's List

I'm not going to compete with the above and list out every single thing you should always have in your pantry. However, there are certainly some key things that I try to always have on hand because they make quick and healthy meals in a pinch. Keeping items such as these can help you be thrifty by avoiding so many trips to the grocery store. What's on your list?

Crushed tomatoes in tomato puree
Tomato paste
Spaghetti
Spaghetti sauce
Quick-cooking couscous
Jasmine rice
Tortillas
Salsa
Shredded cheese
Quick-cook oatmeal
White onion
Sweet potato
Lettuce or spinach
Eggs

Frozen vegetables (peas and broccoli are favorites)
Frozen chicken breasts
Frozen chicken thighs or drumsticks
Frozen pizza (last resort!)
Frozen white fish (cod, swai, flounder)

Ground beef

Thrifty Strategy- Grocery shopping in your pantry (and fridge and freezer)

As I looked around our kitchen on Sunday, I realized that we were very well stocked. It was also near the end of the month and I was hoping to come in under on our March grocery budget. So on Monday I only grabbed milk and some fruit at the grocery store and decided to try to make it through to Friday without buying any other food. So far so good!

Sunday: Spaghetti. I had sauce and pasta in the pantry. Also served a spinach salad.

Monday: Tacos. We had a package of ready-made carne asada in the pantry (free sample from my husband's work), tortillas, spinach, salsa and cheese in the fridge. I also served black beans from a can we had in the pantry.

Tuesday: Frozen (homemade) Pizza. We had made and frozen an extra the last time we made homemade pizza, so I just baked and served with a spinach salad.

Wednesday: Chicken. Crock pot applesauce chicken thighs, sweet potato fries, and peas. Chicken, fries, and peas were all from the freezer. (if someone comments on this post asking for the crock pot recipe I will post later this week)

Thursday: Breakfast for Dinner. We are going to have baked eggs, homemade waffles or pancakes, yogurt, and fruit for dinner.

Throughout the week our 14-month-old ate from our plates as well as eating mixed vegetables I steamed for her, rice cereal, mandarin oranges, whole wheat bread, etc.

Lessons Learned:
1. It helps to keep a well-stocked kitchen. I think I'll do a post in the future outlining the key items to always keep on-hand.
2. I spent very little on groceries this week, but also avoided using gas for multiple trips to the store as well as those impulse purchases that always seem to end up in my cart.
3. It was fun to look around and figure out what I could make from what we had.

While we certainly won't use this strategy every week, maybe it will become a new end of the month tradition!

What's in your freezer?

from Microsoft.com

Well, what is in your freezer? Some ice cream and a few ice cube trays? A frozen pizza? Your freezer can be an important and convenient tool in the quest to be healthy as well as thrifty. Here are some examples:

• Buy meat when it is on sale and freeze it to use later
• Make a batch of food like chili or soup and freeze in individual containers to bring for lunch
• Before a big event, such as the birth of a baby, make and freeze dinners so you don't have to cook
• Make a large batch of baby food puree and freeze in ice cube trays for easy serving
• Frozen vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh and taste better than canned. They are also easy to make, just steam on the stove.

Some Tips:

• Always label your frozen food. Include what it is, the date, and the amount or number of servings. It's easy to forget what something is! I have a roll of masking tape and a marker in the kitchen just for that purpose
• It's usually better to package in smaller amounts (one serving at a time) so that the food takes less time to thaw and so you don't have to thaw more than you need
• Make sure to thaw the food safely, in the fridge, in an ice water bath, or in the microwave

Here are links to a couple websites about freezing that have a lot more great tips
Center for Home Food Preservation
Article about how long you can freeze food

How do you use the freezer to help make life easier in the kitchen?

Grocery planning for this week

As I planned my grocery list for the week I had some thoughts I wanted to share:

LEFTOVERS

The word of the week is leftovers! I'm making a pasta dish that creates three to four servings of leftovers which are perfect for lunches. A two-pound meatloaf is also on the menu which means even more tasty leftovers. Not sure about the other nights but I think one dinner will involve the frozen salmon I bought on sale today.

Double-up Deals

Target has a big sale on grocery items this week to celebrate the opening of many newly-remodeled stores with fresh grocery offerings. When doubled-up with some of their available Target online coupons you can get some great deals.
Kraft cheese- on sale in circular for $2. Also a $.75 coupon available online
Archer Farms Chips- There was a coupon for a free bag with $25 purchase in the Sunday paper. Also they are on sale 2 for $5 plus there is an online coupon for $1 off with purchase of three
Progresso Soup- On sale in circular 2 for $3. Also online coupon for $1 off if you buy four

Meals for the week- Part Two

As I wrote here, I put together a week of meals based on the Sunday newspaper ads. I was missing two recipes from my mom so here they are, enjoy!

 

Rosemary Turkey Breast


Ingredients:

• One turkey breast- rinsed and patted dry
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• Olive oil
• 2 to 3 tablespoons rosemary

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325. Thaw and rinse turkey breast and dry with paper towels. Lightly salt and pepper breast inside and out.
2. Using your hands, rub turkey with paprika, then massage with olive oil
3. Pat rosemary leaves all over the turkey
4. Cover completely with aluminum foil and place in 9 x 12 pan
5. Bake 1/2 hour per pound. Internal temperature should be 170
6. Let rest on cutting board, covered, for at least 10 minutes. That makes it easier to cut and the juices will permeate the turkey instead of running out all over.

 Leftover turkey is perfect for sandwiches, soup, you name it!

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

 

Ingredients:

• 1 can condensed cream of celery, chicken, or mushroom soup. I prefer mushroom soup
•  1/2-3/4 cup milk
•  Dash pepper
•  4 cups thinly sliced potatoes
•  1 small onion sliced
•  Ham- already cooked, thinly sliced, around 1/2 pound, more or less depending on how much you like ham (note, the ham that I listed in the original blog post is not cooked, so you'd need to cook it before using in this recipe) You could also just buy a single slice of precooked ham
•  1 tablespoon butter or margarine
•  Dash paprika

Directions:

1. Blend soup,milk, and pepper.
2. Arrange alternate layers of potatoes, onion, ham, and sauce in 1 1/2 quart casserole.
3. Have potatoes on the top layer. Dot top with butter;sprinkle with paprika.
4. Cover;bake at 375 for 1 hour
5. Uncover;bake 15 minutes more.
6. Stick a fork into the potatoes to be sure they are soft. Thinner slices of potatoes cook faster.

 

Meals for the week based on grocery ads- Part One

OK, here it is. A week of meals based on today's newspaper ads for the three biggest grocery stores in our market- Target, Cub, and Rainbow. There are five entrees and three side dishes. I included links to three of the five entree recipes, the other two will be coming in a future post as I have to find the recipes my mom always made.

Entree One: Boneless Country Style Ribs I've made this one a few times and it's really good. I don't usually add too much store-bought sauce at the end, sometimes I just put a little on when we eat.
Entree Two: Ground Beef Tacos Just a basic ground beef taco recipe. We always have tortillas instead of hard shells. Make sure to get some lettuce, tomato, and other fixings to top them.
Entree Three: Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Thighs Note this makes a lot of leftovers. I don't make the rice recipe included on the webpage, just some white rice is great.
Entree Four: Scalloped Potatoes and Ham (recipe coming later this week)
Entree Five: Baked Turkey Breast with Rosemary (recipe coming later this week)
Side Dish One: Frozen vegetable
Side Dish Two: Corn on the Cob
Side Dish Three: Baked Potatoes

Sale Items to Buy (you'll need other ingredients for the recipes but these are the items from the ad)
Cub
Hormel Fresh Boneless Country Style Ribs $1.89 per pound
Corn on the Cob buy 6 get 6 free with coupon

Rainbow
Meal Deal- Buy one Cook's Portion Ham for $2.29 per pound, get one 3 pound Butterball boneless turkey breast and one bag of Roundy's frozen vegetables free
Roundy's Fresh Chicken Thighs Jumbo Pack $0.98 per pound
Roundy's Fresh Russet Potatoes 10lb for $1.99
Mission Tortillas two packs for $4

Target
One pound ground beef- not on sale this week but they usually have the best price
I love Target and do most of my shopping there, but they didn't have any wow factor sale items in food this week. I would recommend buying all of your staples there, as they have an "every day low price" strategy.

Future post preview- meal plans

Last month, I mentioned a woman who makes money by bloging meal plans and recipes based on the weekly grocery ads. I'm going to give it a try this week. On Sunday, I'm going to take the Target, Cub, and Rainbow Foods ads along with the manufacturer's coupons from the Sunday paper and put together meals using as many on-sale items as possible. My mom is going to be in town so hopefully she can help me with some great ideas!

Stay tuned...

Cool idea- creating menus from grocery ads

Wow! This mom has turned coupons and blogging into a money-maker! Each week, she takes the ad and coupons from her local grocery store and creates a menu for seven meals plus a grocery list. There is a monthly subscription fee for her recipes and meal plans. What a good idea. Maybe I will try to create a week of menus from the Sunday ad circulars one of these weeks.... but I won't charge you for it.

Stay at home mom converts coupons into a career

Thrifty Strategy- Making Sushi

My husband and I love sushi. We have a favorite local sushi place, but dinner there usually runs about $50 for the two of us. For my 30th birthday, my husband got me an awesome gift- everything we need to make sushi at home.

A picture of our first homemade sushi meal

Here is the equipment/ingredients we have:
- Sushi rice
- Pickled ginger
- Chopsticks
- Bamboo mat
- Wooden rice paddle (already had wooden bowl)
- Sushi Knife
- Sushi cookbooks
- Wasabi powder
- Little dishes for soy sauce and cool plates for serving
- The Sushezi (as seen on TV!)
- Seaweed wraps (each package will last for a few sushi-making sessions)

Each time we make sushi, we go to a grocer and get sushi-grade fish from the butcher. Our favorite is yellowfin tuna. I usually get about a quarter pound. We also often get some cooked and deveined shrimp or smoked salmon. Other fun ingredients include "fake crab" sticks, avacado, cucumber, and cream cheese. Each time we made a batch, I probably spend about $12 on ingredients.

We've made sushi three times now, and it is awesome! It takes awhile to make, but that is half the fun! I encourage you to give it a try. And if raw fish isn't your thing, there are still lots of options. Enjoy.

Thrifty Strategy- Leftovers

Leftovers. I have to admit that the thought of leftovers used to gross me out. Now I appreciate the ease and thriftiness of leftovers, but there are still only certain dishes that I really enjoy as leftovers. The key is to find recipes which you will actually eat when they are re-heated.

Most evenings when I make dinner, I plan to have at least one serving left over. That goes into a plastic container and usually becomes my husband's lunch for the next day. Did I mention he loves all leftovers? It makes a great marriage since he will eat any leftovers that I don't like. There are also certain dishes that I make specifically to freeze for another time. I will share those recipes on this blog, the penne recipe from two weeks ago was one of these. Others include chili, macaroni and cheese, chicken soup, and several others.

Leftovers can help you avoid spending on costly lunches out and can also be a real lifesaver for those evenings that are too busy to make dinner from scratch. If you have a few frozen meals of leftovers in the freezer you're all set. I was so thankful for a full freezer when we had our daughter. We were happy to be able to pull something out and have a homemade dinner without having to cook or to have a frozen pizza!

So plan leftovers into your week. Your wallet and your waistline will thank you.

Thrifty Strategies- Meal Planning

Making homemade meals is a great way to enjoy time with friends and family while at the same time being healthy and of course frugal!

Over the past few years, my husband and I have tried to sit down once a week to plan our meals. Here's the routine:

1. Look through the Sunday paper for coupons and at the ads and websites of local grocery stores for what products are on sale (Target, Cub, and many others have printable online coupons)
2. Check the freezer and pantry for items I'd like to use this week
3. Get out our favorite cookbooks and/or head to the computer to find some recipes based on what's on sale, what we already have, and what we feel like eating that week (I'm planning to write about favorite cookbooks, cooking websites, and some of our favorite recipes very soon)
4. Plan the evening meal for each day, including side dishes. Write the plan and recipe page numbers on a pad of paper on the fridge
5. Make the grocery list and go shopping! And of course stick to the grocery list as much as possible.