Meatless Monday - Instant Mid East Medley

The Menu: Falafel in pita, yogurt sauce, hummus & tabouli.

Falafel: Buy instant mix, some stores offer it cheaper from bulk bins. Follow directions.
Pita: From your favorite store - almost everyplace has this these days! If you're gluten-free like me, use lettuce leaves to wrap your falafel instead.
Tabouli: Also as a mix, or you can buy ingredients* & make it yourself!

Hummus:

1 can chickpeas (drained & rinsed)
1 clove garlic
3 tablespoons sesame seeds (you can also use sunflower seeds, cashews, almonds or pine nuts)
olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon (slice the rest up for garnish!)

In food processor: process seeds or nuts, garlic, lemon juice and enough olive oil to grind smoothly. When this mixture is a paste, add the chickpeas and process to the consistency you prefer (I like mine a tiny bit chunky).

Yogurt Sauce:

1 pint plain yogurt
1/2 cucumber (shredded or chopped small)
1 carrot, shredded
juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic

In a bowl, mix yogurt, cucumber, carrot, lemon juice and salt & pepper. Use garlic press to add garlic. Mix well, add water if you want it to be more pourable.

Serve this meal with olives, sliced tomatoes drizzled w/olive oil, cucumber & lettuce. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and lemon slices. Iced mint tea is an especially nice accompaniment.

*Tabouli ingredients are pretty basic. Grain (I've seen bulgur, couscous and quinoa used), parsley and/or mint, diced tomato, lemon juice and olive oil. Try this recipe or this gluten-free quinoa recipe as guidelines if you're making it yourself.

Freebie Friday - Music & more!

In Philly, the Meat Puppets will be playing a free concert at WXPN, part of WXPN's Free at Noon concert series.

In Michigan, drivers can get tires inspected at Discount Tire for National Tire Safety Week.

And for everyone on the web: get a free bottle of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Book of the Week - Sharing the Harvest

This week, I'm exploring (mostly online) how Community Supported Agriculture works, and what its benefits are. In keeping with that theme, this week's book is

Sharing the Harvest: A Citizen's Guide to Community Supported Agriculture, Revised & Expanded

I haven't had a chance to read it yet myself, but it looks interesting, and I'd love to hear from any of you who have.

Meatless Monday - Chickpea & Vegetable Curry

Mmmmm...curry!


Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chickpeas (canned is fine)
1 small zuchini, peeled & diced
1 medium diced tomato
2 large onions, diced
2 dried red chiles
1/4 lb fresh ginger, peeled & diced small
3 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (fresh ground, if you have it)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter


If this turns out to be spicier than you'd like, try adding 1 cup of plain yogurt and simmering for another 5 minutes. Don't forget to temper it first, so that the yogurt doesn't curdle.


Serve over rice.

Book of the Week - $3 Meals

One of the best ways to save money is by knowing how to save money! Books are one of the best ways to learn how. And so I'm introducing the Book of the Week concept here.

This week's book:

$3 Meals: Feed Your Family Delicious, Healthy Meals for Less Than the Cost of a Gallon of Milk

Also: $3 Meals in Minutes, $3 Low-calorie Meals, and $3 Slow-cooked Meals

Links are to Powell's Books, and Sensible Dollars receives a kickback if you buy there, so please do! :)

Meatless Monday - Cuban Rice & Beans w/ Fried Plantains

If you've never had fried ripe plantains, you're in for a treat! I love these things, and often buy them frozen (already cooked) for snacks and the occasional dessert!

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
1 ripe plantain, sliced at a slight diagonal
1 cup brown rice
1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped (or hotter pepper, if you want it spicy)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cups water
1 Tbsp. vegetable bouillon
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a nonstick skillet or well-seasoned cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and cook plantain, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until golden. Remove to paper towels; season lightly with salt.

- Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in same skillet over medium-high heat and cook rice, onion and green pepper, stirring frequently, 4 minutes or until rice is golden. Add water and veggie bouillon and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered until rice is done. Stir in beans and parsley and heat through. Serve with the plantains and perhaps some fat, juicy, fresh tomato slices.

Enjoy!

Meatless Monday - Pasta Primavera

Pasta Primavera is one of the most versatile dishes on the planet. You can make it with any sort of pasta, you can use whatever vegetables you have available, it can be made with or without a sauce, and it can be served hot or cold. The vegetables can be raw, sauteed, roasted, dried, or any combination.

1 lb pasta
5 cups (raw) assorted veggies
1/2 C olive oil
fresh basil, rosemary, thyme & parsley
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 C parmesan and/or romano cheese

The pasta primavera that I'm having this week will be served hot, and made with (mostly) roasted vegetables. I'll be using Tinkyada (gluten free) vegetable & brown rice spirals because they're so colorful, and this is a great, colorful summer dish.

Start by choosing your veggies. Some suggestions: zucchini & summer squash, fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, jicama, mushrooms, bell peppers of all colors, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans (cut small), olives, carrots, onions & garlic. You'll want around 5 cups of veggies total.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Start pasta cooking (follow directions on package or your own inclination).

Chop the veggies you want to cook into bite sized pieces, or strips. For me this will be zucchini & squash, broccoli, carrots, onions, garlic and cherry tomatoes. Place in a baking dish with a sprinkling of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Stir to combine/coat. Put in the oven. Let roast for about 20 minutes, while the pasta cooks. Check & stir occasionally if necessary.

Meanwhile, chop the other veggies you want to put in (I find that more delicate veggies like jicama, bell peppers & mushrooms do better if put in fresh). Chiffonade (cut into thin strips) the fresh herbs you're using.

When the roasting veggies come out of the oven, add them to the herbs and fresh veggies. Now would also be the time to add in things like olives and sun dried tomatoes, if you're using them. Mix the whole thing into the pasta, adding the remaining olive oil, salt & pepper.

Finally, add the parmesan/romano cheese, and serve! Goes nicely with a light wine or iced tea. Garlic bread if you're feeling especially elaborate. Delicious, nutritious, colorful & quick!

Cook Once, Eat All Week!

When I was a wee lass of only tween years, my mom and dad divorced. Mom worked two jobs (real estate by day, factory by night) in order to support herself, my younger brother, and me. Fabulous mom that she is, she wanted to make sure that even though we were often home for dinner without her, that we had good food to eat.

With that in mind, she took every Sunday off both jobs. Every Sunday, she and I cooked, otherwise prepared and froze food for the coming week.

I had, at that point in my cooking career, mastered the omelet...so my job was to create several of them, which were then integrated with small rolls or english muffins, a slice of cheese and sometimes ham, for quick, nukeable breakfast sandwiches. I cooked spaghetti and Mom made sauce. We baked potatoes and stuffed 'em, and other stuff I'm probably forgetting (it's about 30 years later, after all). We packaged everything up in single servings or meals - we used compartmentalized styrofoam plates - and packed it into the big freezer. My brother and I had wonderful, home-cooked meals all week, regardless of whether or not Mom was available that night to cook them. It was great for us, and great for Mom. Not only did we have great food, but dishwashing was minimized during the hectic week, and I'm certain that cooking once a week saved us money - both on energy and because we bought stuff in bulk. I had great fun and learned a lot about cooking in the process, too!

Now that summer is here, and I'm writing this blog, this experience from my youth is becoming especially pertinent.

Our freezer isn't that big, but fortunately, we're only a two-person household. Most of the stuff I freeze is meat purchased on sale and frozen veggies, the same. But I do tend toward cooking only once a week - and I suspect this will be a very hot summer, which will encourage me to do that even more.

I typically boil a bunch of eggs for my sweetheart to have for breakfast or lunch. Sometimes I make tuna salad for him for lunches. A large pot of rice or pasta (and if I'm feeling magnanimous, macaroni & cheese) is usually in the fridge. This week, I cooked a beef roast in the slow cooker (both of which I bought on sale, of course), and we've been nibbling at it in various formats ever since (tacos, mostly, because of the heat, and because we both love tacos). I'm really starting to realize what a useful and economic practice it is. If I worried about us getting bored with the same thing, I might have cooked a smaller roast, and grilled a few chicken breasts, and alternated those things with some vegetarian meals. If I were cooking for a bigger family, I might do a larger roast and several chicken breasts. Pasta or rice or microwave-baked potatoes and microwaved frozen veggies round it out. I buy a lot of produce in the summer, and mostly we eat it raw or lightly steamed...and it all means minimal cooking during the week.

Having a major cooking session one day a week, and reheating after that saves money, precious time, and leftovers. Plus, if you get your household involved in it, it's a great family activity. Give it a try, you'll see what I mean!

Meatless Monday - Tacos!

Heat waves suck. You still have to eat, but who wants to cook? Well, tonight we'll be falling back on my hot-weather standby: tacos.

Precooked shells heat in 3 minutes in the toaster oven(at 350 degrees). Going veggie means that the only other thing that needs to be heated is the refried beans: 3 minutes in the microwave.

I plan for 4 tacos per person.

Dinner for two:

8 taco shells
1 can refried beans
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
diced red bell peppers (these are sweet, not hot)
salsa to taste

Most of the recipe is assembly. I find that heating the refried beans in a wide, shallow dish (covered, or it will spatter) makes it easy to use a butter knife for application to the taco shell.

-Fill the taco shell about 1/4 of the way with beans.
-Add vegetation and salsa to your own preferences.
-Enjoy!

Meatless Monday - Red Lentil and Rice Pilaf

I thought I'd go with something easy and quick for my first Meatless Monday. Here's the recipe I'll be using as a guideline:

Ingredients:

* olive oil
* 6-8 garlic cloves -chopped small
* 1 medium onion -diced
* 1/2 cup brown rice (I use brown basmati)
* 1/2 cup red lentils ('cause they cook faster than the green/brown ones)
* 1-1/2 cups veggie broth (actually, today I'll be using chicken stock - not from a can, but from a chicken I cooked a week ago and needs to be used up - which counts as meatless for my purposes, since I'm mostly about the saving money thing)
* Assorted diced veggies - in this case, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, bell pepper and whatever else I pull out of the fridge


* garam masala
* curry powder
* salt and pepper

Start by sweating the veggies you want more done (carrots, onions, garlic, cauliflower)with a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat.

When they're about halfway cooked, add the rice, and allow it to toast for about 10 minutes (don't scorch it though). The grains should start to look whitened.

Stir in seasoning, lentils other veggies (green beans only for me - I like my bell pepper crispy) and broth, reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for about 40 minutes (closer to 20 if you're using white rice). Don't stir during this time.

When the broth has all been absorbed and the rice is cooked, add veggies you want less cooked (bell peppers for me), fluff and serve!

Freebie! Quaker Rice Cakes!

Choose Chocolatey Drizzle or Cheddar Cheese Flavor

Caveats:
Requires name, email and mailing address.

Expires: None or Unknown

Freebie! Arbie's Sandwich!

Printable Coupon

Arbie's wants everyone to try their new Roast Burger sandwich (roast beef sandwich with hamburger toppings), so they've put this coupon out in the world.

Caveats:
Coupon above required, regular price drink purchase required.

Expiration: March 9.

Going Vegetarian or Semi-Vegetarian as an Economic Strategy

A lot of people have strong feelings about vegetarianism - almost everyone has an opinion on the ethics, health and lifestyle aspects of eating or not eating meat.

My only opinion is that vegetables are cheaper than meat. It's a simple bit of math - when we buy meat we're paying for the veggies the animal in question eats, its housing, medical care, transportation to market, inspection process, etc., and so eating vegetarian all or some of the time is an important option in saving money. Add in the fact that the majority of Americans don't get enough veggies in their diet on a regular basis, and it really begins to make sense to change focus from meat to veggies in your menu planning.

It's not hard to incorporate vegetarianism into your lifestyle - try it out for just one day a week! You may realize that you don't miss meat as much as you might think.

Breakfast is easy, since many folks don't have meat for breakfast anyway. Your standard bagel w/cream cheese, cereal with milk, pancakes or waffles are all vegetarian to start with.

Lunches can be equally simple: PB&J is a classic old standby, and many soups and salads are or can be vegetarian.

The sticking point most folks have is with dinner...but it doesn't have to be a sticking point. Try some Indian dishes like saag paneer or channa masala, or Mexican dishes like cheese enchiladas or bean & cheese burritos! Want something a little less exotic? Try some quiche or meatless chili! You can find a whole world of vegetarian cookbooks on Amazon, here: Vegetarian & Vegan Cookbooks

Not ready to cut meat out of your diet, but still looking to save money on it? Here are a few ideas:

Spread It Out: A little bit of meat can go a long way. Try dishes like casseroles, where meats are usually used mostly as flavoring, or Pilafs & Paellas
, in which rice is the star ingredient, pasta dishes, or stir fry. Bacon & ham, with their strong, salty flavors, can be used as flavoring in hundreds of dishes, from twice-baked potatoes to a pot of beans, to salads or casseroles. People make fun of casseroles sometimes, but their simplicity and money-savings are no laughing matter. They're also incredibly satisfying and comforting.

Set a Price Point:

I've mentioned this idea here before, but it bears repeating. Study your local grocery flyers and determine what you can reasonably spend per pound to get a variety of meats. In my area, it's $2/lb. For that I can get (on sale) italian sausage, all cuts of chicken - from leg quarters to boneless, skinless breasts, london broil (aka top round), pork loin (in a 10-12 lb package, on sale), ham, stew meat, spare ribs, lean ground beef, ground turkey, and turkey breast. It's really important to shop the sales and create your menus around them! If your grocery store has a meat section called "manager's specials", check out their offerings as well - it's often premium meat that is nearing its sell-by date and is reduced for quick sale. This can be integrated right into that week's menu, or re-wrapped and frozen for later use.

Try it out for a day or a week, and you might be surprised not only at how much you'll save on groceries, but also by how much you enjoy the change of pace!

Saving Money - Some Simple Math

With food prices higher than ever, most of us need to take a closer look at how we spend our grocery dollars. One of the best ways to do that is to simply do the math.

Take starches, for example. Unless you and your family are on the Atkins Diet, you spend some amount of your hard-earned cash on carbs. The basics are: bread, pasta, rice, potatoes.

In my area, both bread and pasta run about $1/lb. Rice, between 50¢/lb. and 99¢/lb. Potatoes? 40¢/lb. Got that? Rice is cheaper than bread or pasta. Potatoes are cheaper than either one. Plan your meals and your shopping list accordingly. Also, check out this book:



My second point isn't as specific, but it is equally important, and it is this: Don't be fooled by packaging tricks. This means to always, ALWAYS check the price per pound pricing on items you're considering buying. Think that buying in bulk will save you money? It certainly *can*, but it doesn't always. Somehow, sometimes buying something in lots of little containers is actually *cheaper* than buying something in bulk. I've noticed being the case with both paper towels and tuna recently. Crazy but true.

Next, don't assume that your big box club (Costco, BJ's, Sam's Club and the like) is really saving you money. Once upon a time this was definitely true, but in today's marketplace, you can often find better deals elsewhere, whether it be online, at your regular grocery store, department stores like Target or K-Mart, or even drugstore chains like CVS. The point is, don't assume, CHECK. You might well find some surprises.

Finally, while it's often true that you can get a better deal by driving more, beware! With high prices at the pumps, doing the math is more important than ever. Here's how:

Take your average miles per gallon* and determine how many miles out of your way you would drive for the sale. That should tell you how much of or how many gallons you'll use getting there. Multiply that by the current cost of gas per gallon (and don't forget that most gas pump prices are sneaky - $3.59 is actually $3.599. Round up to $3.60) and voila! You've learned how much gas money it will cost to get you to the sale(A). Now decide how much savings you'll get at the sale(B). Is A bigger than B? If it is, don't go! You'll just be ripping yourself off in the long run. Is B bigger than A? If so, then go enjoy the sale!! Remember to use this formula when deciding whether to drive farther for cheaper gas, too.

So - don't cheat yourself, or allow sneaky marketing to cheat you! Do the math!


*If you don't already know this number, it is well worth your time to work it out. Find out your gas tank size (usually in handbook). Fill it up. Set your trip counter to zero. Drive until you are on empty. Take the number on the trip counter and divide it by the size of your gas tank. Tada! Your average miles per gallon!

Friday Faves

Today, we have some great deals from Home Depot! If you own your own home, this place is practically indispensable. It's even a handy place if you're a renter - we all like to make small changes in our living spaces. The savings at their online store includes:

Ceiling Fans under $100
Free shipping on power tools

Home Depot Online

They're also having a sale on Pergo laminate flooring, and free shipping is included on that as well:

Pergo laminate flooring

They're selling out quickly, and there's no info on when the deal is done (maybe when they're all sold out).

If you order before 7/28, you can use an additional coupon for $10 off $100 purchase using this code: SAVINGS94, though there is no info on whether the Pergo is eligible for the additional coupon.


My picks from this week's Amazon Friday Sale:

Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 34-Ounce Tins (Pack of 2)

75% Off Market Patio Umbrella

If you're in the market for new cookware, now is the time to strike:





There are lots of shoes on sale for 50% off or better, and some additional savings can be picked up on this page.

Enjoy your savings!

Saving Money - Food Shopping (Part 4)

Plan your route.

Not only will you save gas by planning the most efficient shopping route, you'll get the shopping done faster. What's not to love? Consider carpooling grocery trips with neighbors for added savings. You can use Google Maps to chart your best route.

Consider online options.

Don't forget about Amazon's Grocery Section, and that their Super Saver Shipping offers free delivery on orders of $25 or more. This is especially helpful for those of us with restricted diets - I just bought a case of gluten-free pasta at a better price-per- package than I can find at any local store, and the shipping was free! Other websites may offer similar shipping deals.

Saving Money - Food Shopping (Part 3)

Buy in bulk.

Buying in bulk whenever possible will help reduce your overall grocery bill. Yes, it's a bigger initial cash outlay to buy in bulk, but it is absolutely worth it. Whether it's meat or rice, the overall savings will amaze you. Not only will your price-per-pound be better, you reduce the number of trips you make to the store, saving on gas as well. To help to ease the pain of the initial outlay, choose a different bulk item to purchase every trip, don't try to buy them all at once!

Be careful of over dependence on big-box club stores like Sam's Club, Price Club, Costco or BJ's for your bulk items - they aren't always the best deal! Take the list you created from your sales papers, and compare the price-per-pound.

Shop during "off" times.

You'll find the shelves better stocked and the atmosphere less harried if you shop during non-peak shopping times. Weekends are the biggest peak time, for obvious reasons, so try to go during the week. Middle of the week, middle of the afternoon is ideal, if you can manage it. If you must go on the weekend, try very early morning, or after 7pm.

The advantage to shopping during the off-hours in terms of saving money is this: If you are less harried, you can pay better attention to your shopping. Believe it or not, this is really important! When you are paying attention, you can sometimes compare unadvertised prices to what you found in the sales papers. Sometimes store brands are cheaper than what is advertised in the sales papers, and there is rarely a difference in quality. It does happen occasionally, but you'll quickly learn which products have that issue.

Also, look out for better per-unit prices on different sizes than what was advertised. The breakdown on store tags can be useful, but beware! They aren't always correct. Bring a calculator and do the math yourself for best results.

Attention to the little details can save you more than you think.

Saving Money - Food Shopping (Part 2)

Plan your meals.

Pull out your cookbooks (for fun, you can see some of my favorites here), or your internet browsing fingers, and create meal plans around what's on sale, what's local, and what is in season. My personal favorite recipe site is Recipe Source, but I've had good luck with Epicurious and Food Network as well. Be sure to plan for snacks, too.

Make a list.

You know how for real estate, they always say that the important thing is "location, location, location"? Well, for food shopping, it's "list, list, list"! Seriously.

After looking through your local sales papers, create a list of the groceries you plan to buy from each store. Include the sale prices (and any limitations), so that you can comparison shop at the other stores. Don't forget to put items you need, but don't find on sale on the list.

Impulse items can add as much as 50% to your total food bill. So, when you're at the store, DON'T DEVIATE FROM THE LIST. The list is your friend. Don't buy stuff that isn't on it. So: no toys, no snacks, no makeup, no magazines. NOTHING, unless it made it to the list. To help stick to your list, make sure that you and anyone you take with you shopping has recently eaten.

Saving Money - Food Shopping (Part 1)

Shoppers Scrimp as Food Prices Rise

Does this recent news item seem all too familiar to you? If you're like most of America, it does. So how do you survive the crazed gas and grocery prices and still eat well? I've got some tips for you below.

Read your local sales papers.

Chances are, you receive a weekly deposit of grocery and drugstore sales papers, either in your mailbox or in your Sunday paper. If you don't, a Sunday paper is a good investment in order to get them. The Sunday paper is also a good place to look for jobs, cars and furniture bargains, as well as being one of the best places to find coupons.

If neither of these options work for you, try looking for the sales circulars online. Most large chains now post their weekly circulars on their websites.

Find your local fresh-food markets.

Farmer's markets and other fresh veggie options are a terrific way to save money. Buying the food fresh, local and in season helps you create healthier meals, and is often cheaper than even the best megamart sales. Both the USDA and Local Harvest offer lists of farmer's markets by state, and Sustainable Table tells you what's in season in your area.

Stay Tuned for Part 2!