The end of the month is in sight which means our meat-free month is coming to an end.
For the sake of technicalities I should probably mention that we did eat seafood on Friday evenings for dinner. Considering we were doing this for curiosity rather than environmental or animal concerns, I'm quite alright with still calling our month "meatless" within the guidelines of my own definition ;)
Weigh in results will come on Saturday but as of this past Sunday, we have the tally to show the effect it had on our grocery bill.
The previous 4 months on SASS Yourself Slim Plan we've found ourselves spending between $360-$425 dollars per month. 2 people. 4 meals a day. When it comes to groceries, I feel like we're still newbies in the game of shopping. We're really not much for coupon clipping but we do our best to keep an eye out for any items we can find on sale.
The tally for this month surprised me enough that I had to recalculate it 4-5 times because I was sure I was making a mistake somewhere. (Math isn't always my best friend). After running the numbers by Abel for a final time, we both came up with the same tally of $278 in groceries. For 2 people, 4 meals a day.
Thats a considerable chunk of change that we saved this month!
Considering the fact that two super omnivores that would have never considered going vegetarian actually went semi-meatless for an entire month and had zero complaints at the end...
Well, thats pretty impressive. I'm not sure that we'll go entirely meatless again for next month but we have already decided we will continue to incorporate a lot of meatless meals in our menus each week.
Our next feat awaits us Saturday morning as we weigh in for our personal results. We'll be going out of town for Labor Day weekend but before heading out I will do what I can to hop online and post the results prior to leaving.
Until then, hope you're all having a great week!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
This is what happens when I worry there is a garbanzo bean shortage in our apartment:
5 cans and I can guarantee that come Sunday I will be tempted to buy some more...
As we go with our meat-free month we rely on these for our favorite weeknight meals. Chickpea Satay Pita and the similar Peanut Noodles withSalmon Chickpeas. Anything that involves peanut butter morning, noon and/or night is top choice in our eyes.
Even though we do prefer these meals with chicken, I gotta say they are still insanely good with the garbanzos. It may just be the texture of the chicken that I miss and find works best for the dishes.
I asked Abel a few days ago to rate on a scale of 1-10 just how much he misses eating meat this month and his answer was around a 5. Hes ok without it but definitely not about to ditch it entirely...
Me, I think just the idea of giving it up for a month was much more stressful than the actual giving it up. My rating of missing meat comes in at a 3. I miss chicken in some of the salads but if I could find a substitute texture for something meaty like chicken then I would probably be ok without much meat at all. Although I do think I would still indulge in seafoods from time to time...
Last weekend we took a trip to Columbus for a court interpretor class Abel had registered to attend. While he was in class I had every intention of navigating around the city to see what downtown Columbus had to offer...
well, THAT was the intention anyway...
What I ended up doing instead was snuggling up in the hotel bed watching the Food Network. We don't have cable back at our apartment and though I don't miss it very much, I do miss the food network.... oh so very much.
I ended up watching episode after episode of The Great Food Truck Race (Season 2) and its there that I saw my next must try....
The vegan girls "Seabirds" were working with jackfruit to sell tacos from their trucks and it took me back to a trip we made to Jungle Jims earlier this year. We had seen big ol Jackfruits but never knew how to use them or even how to tell when they were ripe so I made a mental note to research it and return to experiment with it..
..only like most of my mental notes, it got cluttered up and lost in the rubble of everything new my head has been trying to contain.
Eventually I had forgotten all about it until those little Seabird chickies shed light back on that memory. After a LITTLE research I am finding that buying an actual jackfruit would be a bigger pain in the butt to choose and prep than I am willing to invest. In order to use it as a meat sub it needs to be under ripe enough...
... daunting for a food newbie like me!
I will however keep an eye out for canned or jarred jackfruit already cut and save my efforts. I will also document here the experience as I have read a mix of positive and negative reviews from people who have prepped their own jackfruit for tacos.
In the end, I ended up missing the last three episodes of the food truck race but did make it out to enjoy some of the sights in downtown Columbus. You can find pics of our two day adventure on Abels blog as I believe I've already blabbed on long enough here.
I will of course make one final note about the trip to Columbus in terms of food. In keeping in step with the meatless month, my dinner of choice Friday night was perhaps the absolute best meal I've eaten all month at a small restaurant downtown called The Jury Room. If ever you find yourself in Columbus, Abel and I both highly recommend it!
My dish of choice:
Tomato, basil, portobella mushrooms, mozzarella atop a bed of zuchhini strips and roasted potatoes.
A dish that surprisingly would be able to be recreated in accordance to the SASS eating plan. Granted I know these veggies were bathed in butter which made the dish less than stellar healthwise (but not tastewise;) I still have every intention on making my own version of this here at home because it was just that good. I know butter tends to make things taste like creamy heaven but if I can get remotely close to recreating this meal without the butter I will be in portobello heaven :0)
Happy Tuesday Bloggers!!
5 cans and I can guarantee that come Sunday I will be tempted to buy some more...
As we go with our meat-free month we rely on these for our favorite weeknight meals. Chickpea Satay Pita and the similar Peanut Noodles with
Even though we do prefer these meals with chicken, I gotta say they are still insanely good with the garbanzos. It may just be the texture of the chicken that I miss and find works best for the dishes.
I asked Abel a few days ago to rate on a scale of 1-10 just how much he misses eating meat this month and his answer was around a 5. Hes ok without it but definitely not about to ditch it entirely...
Me, I think just the idea of giving it up for a month was much more stressful than the actual giving it up. My rating of missing meat comes in at a 3. I miss chicken in some of the salads but if I could find a substitute texture for something meaty like chicken then I would probably be ok without much meat at all. Although I do think I would still indulge in seafoods from time to time...
Last weekend we took a trip to Columbus for a court interpretor class Abel had registered to attend. While he was in class I had every intention of navigating around the city to see what downtown Columbus had to offer...
well, THAT was the intention anyway...
What I ended up doing instead was snuggling up in the hotel bed watching the Food Network. We don't have cable back at our apartment and though I don't miss it very much, I do miss the food network.... oh so very much.
I ended up watching episode after episode of The Great Food Truck Race (Season 2) and its there that I saw my next must try....
The vegan girls "Seabirds" were working with jackfruit to sell tacos from their trucks and it took me back to a trip we made to Jungle Jims earlier this year. We had seen big ol Jackfruits but never knew how to use them or even how to tell when they were ripe so I made a mental note to research it and return to experiment with it..
..only like most of my mental notes, it got cluttered up and lost in the rubble of everything new my head has been trying to contain.
Eventually I had forgotten all about it until those little Seabird chickies shed light back on that memory. After a LITTLE research I am finding that buying an actual jackfruit would be a bigger pain in the butt to choose and prep than I am willing to invest. In order to use it as a meat sub it needs to be under ripe enough...
... daunting for a food newbie like me!
I will however keep an eye out for canned or jarred jackfruit already cut and save my efforts. I will also document here the experience as I have read a mix of positive and negative reviews from people who have prepped their own jackfruit for tacos.
In the end, I ended up missing the last three episodes of the food truck race but did make it out to enjoy some of the sights in downtown Columbus. You can find pics of our two day adventure on Abels blog as I believe I've already blabbed on long enough here.
I will of course make one final note about the trip to Columbus in terms of food. In keeping in step with the meatless month, my dinner of choice Friday night was perhaps the absolute best meal I've eaten all month at a small restaurant downtown called The Jury Room. If ever you find yourself in Columbus, Abel and I both highly recommend it!
My dish of choice:
 |
| Jury Room Shrooms |
A dish that surprisingly would be able to be recreated in accordance to the SASS eating plan. Granted I know these veggies were bathed in butter which made the dish less than stellar healthwise (but not tastewise;) I still have every intention on making my own version of this here at home because it was just that good. I know butter tends to make things taste like creamy heaven but if I can get remotely close to recreating this meal without the butter I will be in portobello heaven :0)
Happy Tuesday Bloggers!!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Still going!
Just as I nestle in to start some serious updating to this blog, I recieve an email with three etsy orders that need to be filled.
This now leaves me with only enough time to get a quick update in while I enjoy my breakfast.
Our original breakfast menu was raspberry pistachio cereal but considering I wanted something that could sit and wait for me as I multitasked instead of turning to a soggy cereal goo, the following is my breakfast of choice:
Its relatively simple, 1 egg with sriracha sauce, whole grain toast with avocado and cajun seasonings.. and to round it all out, a cup of cherries. Perhaps not the best lighting for the cherries but all in all one of my favorite breakfasts.
If you haven't tried something as simple as avocado toast I definitely recommend it! (If you're a fan of avocado of course) Also I would implore that you make cajun seasoning a staple in your pantry just for the sake of this toast... seriously, I am hooked.
Between this and Peanut Butter Mulberry Toast, my heart and stomach get conflicted every morning on what they want to eat. Truth be told, today the mulberry toast was screaming my name until i remembered I had to save the remainder of our peanut butter for tonights dinner instead. (I can be quite the selfish peanut butter whore, you know..)
It took a few minutes to talk myself into just letting the PB be and saving it, but in the end when I thought about the Chicken Satay Pita we were going to be eating tonight I gladly tossed the jar back in the fridge. Of course since we are still continuing on our meatless month, we will be replacing the chicken with chickpeas. Should be fairly interesting!!
Speaking of our meatless month, we are going semi strong -- though if this were a confessional I would have to let you know Abel and I both ate meat this past weekend due to social protocols. Not that I am making excuses, we simply chose to break our little august vow for a day instead of having people feel like they had to cater to a meatless regimen.
No biggie.
I will say one thing though, after only 2 weeks of this change I am finding that my body is feeling much "lighter" and there has been a slight decrease in my love handle area. Its not exactly something I can see with the naked eye but definitely a difference I can feel when I put my hands at my waist (a'la "i'm a little tea-pot" pose)....
Since we are not stepping on the scale until the first of the month I really couldn't tell you if theres any actual pounds lost but I do find my pants have a little more wiggle room in them this month and I am taking that as a WIN... already and its only two weeks in :)
We are still incorporating our SASS Yourself Slim recipes but instead of using meat we have been subbing in a lot of different beans, some lentils and even a bit of seitan. For anyone unfamiliar with seitan, its basically a faux meat made up primarly of wheat gluten. Sometimes referred to as "wheat meat"...
I'm still dabbling with the right recipe to make it, but heres a snapshot of some seitan we prepared for "gyros" last week:
This particular recipe isn't in the SASS book but its one that we are tweaking to fit the 5 piece puzzle and has just a bit more experimenting to undergo before I feel its ready to share.
The seitan itself was quite interesting... tasty (very tasty) but I am still weirded out by the fact that its texture is very much like a meat only its not meat at all. Abel was quite taken back by just how much it actually tasted like gyro meat. Of course much of that was due to the seasonings but I am finding that the seitan is definitely oh so adaptable depending on what you may want to use it for.
I think "meatballs" may be in the near future for this recipe.
Last night our meal was Chilled Brown Rice and Vegetable Salad with Brazil Nut DustedChicken Seitan. Another recipe from the SASS Yourself Slim Book (pg 122) and you can see just how well the seitan took to thicker chunks and "breading" with brazil nuts:
Absolutely delicious! I do promise to come share the final seitan recipe when I finally get it to the proper consistency. The first time I made it for the gyros I used a recipe online that I suddenly can no longer find again.
This second time I followed a recipe from a recent downloaded book and it is entirely too "wet" for my likings. For the brazil nut seitan I had to squeeze a ton of the liquid out prior to baking it and Im not sure if that was an err on my part or just the recipe itself.
Usually when I test recipes I start by cutting them down to 1/2 or 1/4 of the original recipe because its only for "test" purposes and also because there are only two of us eating. Sometimes my math skills fail me and I'm left with the wrong measurements of ingredients leaving me to go back to the drawing board.
For now I have two servings left in the freezer but once that is gone I will document my next seitan experience step by step to share!!
I hope all is well for everyone in blog land. Before I go I would also like to make note we have a new member of the blogging community as Abel has decided to open a blog that coincides with his Flickr interests and groups. Its not necessarily weightloss nor food related, but lets face it, we all can use a little break from those types of blogs from time to time, right? ;)
Feel free to follow him over at A Marvelabelous Life. We promise to be your best friends in exchange for your support ;)
I'll be working behind the scenes on this blog for the majority of Friday morning so please don't give up on us just yet as we are still here and marching forward!
This now leaves me with only enough time to get a quick update in while I enjoy my breakfast.
Our original breakfast menu was raspberry pistachio cereal but considering I wanted something that could sit and wait for me as I multitasked instead of turning to a soggy cereal goo, the following is my breakfast of choice:
Its relatively simple, 1 egg with sriracha sauce, whole grain toast with avocado and cajun seasonings.. and to round it all out, a cup of cherries. Perhaps not the best lighting for the cherries but all in all one of my favorite breakfasts.
If you haven't tried something as simple as avocado toast I definitely recommend it! (If you're a fan of avocado of course) Also I would implore that you make cajun seasoning a staple in your pantry just for the sake of this toast... seriously, I am hooked.
Between this and Peanut Butter Mulberry Toast, my heart and stomach get conflicted every morning on what they want to eat. Truth be told, today the mulberry toast was screaming my name until i remembered I had to save the remainder of our peanut butter for tonights dinner instead. (I can be quite the selfish peanut butter whore, you know..)
It took a few minutes to talk myself into just letting the PB be and saving it, but in the end when I thought about the Chicken Satay Pita we were going to be eating tonight I gladly tossed the jar back in the fridge. Of course since we are still continuing on our meatless month, we will be replacing the chicken with chickpeas. Should be fairly interesting!!
Speaking of our meatless month, we are going semi strong -- though if this were a confessional I would have to let you know Abel and I both ate meat this past weekend due to social protocols. Not that I am making excuses, we simply chose to break our little august vow for a day instead of having people feel like they had to cater to a meatless regimen.
No biggie.
I will say one thing though, after only 2 weeks of this change I am finding that my body is feeling much "lighter" and there has been a slight decrease in my love handle area. Its not exactly something I can see with the naked eye but definitely a difference I can feel when I put my hands at my waist (a'la "i'm a little tea-pot" pose)....
Since we are not stepping on the scale until the first of the month I really couldn't tell you if theres any actual pounds lost but I do find my pants have a little more wiggle room in them this month and I am taking that as a WIN... already and its only two weeks in :)
We are still incorporating our SASS Yourself Slim recipes but instead of using meat we have been subbing in a lot of different beans, some lentils and even a bit of seitan. For anyone unfamiliar with seitan, its basically a faux meat made up primarly of wheat gluten. Sometimes referred to as "wheat meat"...
I'm still dabbling with the right recipe to make it, but heres a snapshot of some seitan we prepared for "gyros" last week:
This particular recipe isn't in the SASS book but its one that we are tweaking to fit the 5 piece puzzle and has just a bit more experimenting to undergo before I feel its ready to share.
The seitan itself was quite interesting... tasty (very tasty) but I am still weirded out by the fact that its texture is very much like a meat only its not meat at all. Abel was quite taken back by just how much it actually tasted like gyro meat. Of course much of that was due to the seasonings but I am finding that the seitan is definitely oh so adaptable depending on what you may want to use it for.
I think "meatballs" may be in the near future for this recipe.
Last night our meal was Chilled Brown Rice and Vegetable Salad with Brazil Nut Dusted
Absolutely delicious! I do promise to come share the final seitan recipe when I finally get it to the proper consistency. The first time I made it for the gyros I used a recipe online that I suddenly can no longer find again.
This second time I followed a recipe from a recent downloaded book and it is entirely too "wet" for my likings. For the brazil nut seitan I had to squeeze a ton of the liquid out prior to baking it and Im not sure if that was an err on my part or just the recipe itself.
Usually when I test recipes I start by cutting them down to 1/2 or 1/4 of the original recipe because its only for "test" purposes and also because there are only two of us eating. Sometimes my math skills fail me and I'm left with the wrong measurements of ingredients leaving me to go back to the drawing board.
For now I have two servings left in the freezer but once that is gone I will document my next seitan experience step by step to share!!
I hope all is well for everyone in blog land. Before I go I would also like to make note we have a new member of the blogging community as Abel has decided to open a blog that coincides with his Flickr interests and groups. Its not necessarily weightloss nor food related, but lets face it, we all can use a little break from those types of blogs from time to time, right? ;)
Feel free to follow him over at A Marvelabelous Life. We promise to be your best friends in exchange for your support ;)
I'll be working behind the scenes on this blog for the majority of Friday morning so please don't give up on us just yet as we are still here and marching forward!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Weigh in Results from July Progress
I'm done asking where these months keep running off to.
Any tofu fans out there please feel free to share your favorite tofu recipe.. i have a few that are "supposedly" guaranteed to turn anyone into a tofu fan but only time will tell if they have any merit in that guarantee....
I think the last time I felt like I was caught up on much of anything was back in February. From there things have been a huge blur and I have to face the facts that I simply need to enjoy the ride and stop trying to keep up on every last thing.
July results are in. Abel lost 3 pounds and I lost 2.
Not exactly our best month but you won't hear us complaining.
We're still following the SASS eating strategy though there have been a few tweaks made (mainly just cutting the grain from my snack meal) but aside from that this way of eating is becoming second nature to us. Even with "events" such as the 4th of July, Abels birthday and his coworkers hawaiian luau party last month we were able to keep things in moderation, enjoy some great food, baked goods and still come out on top.
Sunday afternoon as we were planning our menu for the first week of August I suggested we try to go meatless for the entire month. Looking back on my suggestion now I almost wish I hadn't blurted it out so enthusiastically because sometimes I forgot how keen Abel is for trying new things.
(Plus in past years he's given up meat for Lent so the idea isnt entirely new to him)
Me, I've never given up meat for more than a week...
...but it was too late. He was on board, agreed and so we're doing it. I'm relying on that same enthusiasm to stay with me all month because if I start having meat withdrawal symptoms and foaming at the mouth it will be nobodys fault but my own.
Eggs and one fish dinner a week will stay in our rotation this month but the rest will be entirely vegetarian. Our cupboards will surely be stocked with beans this month and I'll be looking into recipes that involve Seitan and maybe (just maybe) some Tofu as well.
Tofu and I have yet to find ourselves on friendly terms but this is as good a time as any to try again.
Any tofu fans out there please feel free to share your favorite tofu recipe.. i have a few that are "supposedly" guaranteed to turn anyone into a tofu fan but only time will tell if they have any merit in that guarantee....
We'll be reporting in throughout the month on any passes and fails. Already we are on a good start after our first week of grocery shopping came to a total of $68 spent. If every weeks tally came in under $75 then I will be one happy camper!
Wish us luck :0)
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Kindle and low carb reading
That my friends, is what my kindle presently looks like. Some of these books were between $2-$5 while others were a tad bit costlier. There are a few more you can't see in the photo that were 99 cent books but I have yet to really give them more than a cursory glance. I've gone a little overboard here but its like a little addiction.
If I had to choose right now my top choice (at the moment) it would be Quick Fix Vegan. Only because its the only one whos recipes have yet to disappoint. Granted we've only made 3 of them but considering there are other books that have yet to make an impression on us (I'm looking at you Chloes Kitchen), Quick Fix Vegan has thus far been on top.
I'll leave the indepth reviews for the future when we've had more time to trial run recipes. I will say though, I'm surprised at just how much a lot of these recipes are simple plug ins for the SASS Yourself Slim plan. It helps make me feel like we're definitely on the right track with good nutritional standards.
Not to say that I think vegans are the epitome of nutritional standards. I'm far too uneducated and inexperienced on that lifestyle to make such a statement, rather just that all of these books center on eating healthy -- and the fact that they are easily adapted to the 5-piece puzzle reinforces my belief that I'm doing well for my body's needs.
The only downside?... Well, since incorporating some of these vegetarian and vegan meals I believe its thrown my body for a bit of a loop and has caused a minor constipation issue.
Apparently its just me though... I'm pretty convinced that nothing can ever stop Abels digestive system from running smoothly as none of the changes have caused even a hiccup on his system. The man is a machine.. a well lubed machine. (hah)
At any rate, it lasted for the entirety of about a week and now things seem to have gone back to normal which Im thankful for. Perhaps I chose one too many bean centered dishes last week or something, who knows (?)
Also included in the list of books, you may notice the one entitled: The Low Carb Revolution. I decided to read this book as last month, Cynthia Sass, the author of SASS Yourself Slim (the book we are following) was slammed by the low carb community for writing an article about why low carb diets should get the boot.
Though I feel a lot of the slamming was incredibly rude and childish, I stopped to wonder just how so many people stood behind the low carb diet lifestyle. There had to be something there if it has worked wonders for so many people, right?
So let the research commence. Thus far I've only read a few blogs, online articles and am halfway through reading The Low Carb Revolution and though I am quite fascinated by some of the information, the book itself has proven a bit of a tough read for me. At least the first half anyway. Could be the way the author has written it, or it could just be that my love for carbs is simply not even wanting to read it. It has a lot of great reviews for those who may be interested.
As I mentioned in my other blog, it has on more than one occasion literally put me to sleep. Its a shame really because the author seems very animated and fun. I blame my carb loving body for knocking me to sleep in fear perhaps, that I may abandon them.
Regardless, I would like to continue on my research just to see what all the commotion is about. The chances of me living low carb? About 1 in 50.
Never say never... but trying to pry bread out of my hands will more than likely get me accused of being a cannibal after I bite at your hand for even touching my love.
But hey thats just me.
For now I'll continue on my quest for information as long as everyone else will keep their hands off my carbs. Judgements are fine, hands -- not so much. Its just for the best ;0)
What I feel its all going to boil down to is the same as always: To each their own. No shame in our games as long as the quest for proper nutrition stays active within us.
In case anyone is wondering, tonights dinner menu will be featuring: Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza. I have high hopes for this one... high hopes indeed! I should point out that blog there belongs to the author of Quick Fix Vegan so Im confident this will be pretty damn good!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Menu board revisited and prepping our grocery list
We are over three months in with this menu board of ours and its still in pretty good shape. There are a few small wrinkles from the tossing around we do with it but all in all, its doing a great job for us.
A fellow blog reader named Juliet inquired on the last post about the menu board with a few grocery list questions and I'm going to try to do my best to explain our process of "organization" thus far.
Heres a closer look at the menu board. The board itself didn't take very long to complete (minus my desire to include little doodles)... but in terms of the recipe cards... well, we'll get into the cards further down below:
Because these were all new-to-us recipes featuring the dishes in the SASS Yourself Slim book, I needed the advantage of the double sides to jot down the ingredients and directions. Post-its and erasable boards would be great if all you need to write is the name of the dish and slap it on the board. We needed something I could physically take off the board and reuse constantly...
Heres a sample of what our cards look like:
You'll note in the book that breakfasts and snacks are also interchangeable but since they are separately written in the book, we separated them too. If you notice the circled numbers on our cards, our original idea was to number the cards and the book recipes accordingly so we could refer back to them but after thinking about it, the smarter and easier thing to do was to simply write the page number of the book on the card.
As we've been expanding our recipe searches via cookbooks and internet searches, we now also write down which website or cookbook the newer recipes are from. Just in case we want to refer back to them for any missed details.
And yes, each recipe card was and will continue being handwritten. I know there are programs out there with templates for recipes but I thought writing each and every one of them would help remind me which foods fall under which categories in terms of the "5-piece puzzle" the book refers to.
It also helped imbed in my brain what a serving size of each food is. It's not rocket science but my head has a tendency to retain only the things it wants to. Its a very lazy little head. That said, it took weeks for us to get the recipes written out because I was only willing to do them little by litte.
Each card had a recipe title on it but not all of them had the recipes written on the back. Every weekend I would sit and write out a few more cards at a time until finally they were all complete. An overwhelming task indeed but one that Im grateful for doing.
Lastly, you might also note that we have "star" ratings on the cards. That was more for our the benefit of future references. We wanted to mark each recipe that we tried somehow so we could keep each week fresh and new. We also knew it was going to be hard to keep mental track of which recipes we liked and which we didnt. Each dish we tried was given a rating from 1-4 stars and if I may say, there are only a select few that have less than 3 star ratings from us. Yay for delicious food!
As much as I thought this menu board was going to be a temporary solution for just the 30 days, we are now over 3 months in and its still as valuable to us today as it was on Day 1. I like it so much that I'm planning on giving it a facelift soon to make it look a little "neater" and a little more artsy fartsy.
The routine is still the same. Weekends we choose our meals and then Sunday, we generally make out our list and shop for whatever we may need. Seeing as how I've never in my life been an "organized" type of person this weekend task was daunting and dreadful at first, but these days its becoming a little more second nature. Not taking as much time as it used to.
After our menu plan for each and every day has been set, we simply flip over the cards and check what items we need. Generally speaking the majority is always fruits and vegetables that need replenishing as well as some of our basic items like eggs and milk.
As we go down the list I input the key ingredients I know we will definitely need into the ColorNote app on my phone:
Simply, input your items and as you shop, cross them out with the touch of a finger.
One thing I should also mention is that if you already know you won't be doing all of your shopping in one place, it helps to break the list down into separate markets/stores.
We have a couple of Aldi stores closeby which helps our costs immensely with their low prices but as many people know, they are limited in certain departments so we always find ourselves going to Meijer afterwards to pick up any of the remaining items on our list. We get a lot of "basics" from Aldi, but for the items that are a little more specialty, we usually find ourselves at Meijer or Kroger to complete our list.
.
Under normal circumstances I wouldn't mind perusing the grocery store but since we do our shopping on weekends, I would rather drive myself a little crazy with this organization than deal with the masses of people shopping for very long!
Also worth mentioning (that I had almost forgotten) is the chalkboard we keep alongside the wall where our refrigerator stands:
Had you told me at this time last year that I was going to be this "organized" in the near future, I probably would have had quite a great laugh at your silly prediction. "Who the heck do I look like? Martha Frickin Stewart?! PSSshhhshhh"
Well no, I don't look anything like martha frickin stewart but I'll be damned.. I am sitting here typing up an entry on how I organize my food plans and grocery list.
Next thing you know, I'll be telling you how I save time by cooking in large batches and making the freezer my new bestie.
It's going to happen my friends... mark my words. It's going to happen. Thats still a work in progress but I can't tell you just how great it is to save so much more time.
I hope I haven't sent any readers to snoozeville with this post but I figured if it can help even one person give this whole organized thing a shot, then I will be doing a happy dance. Without the menu board I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have followed the SASS book much longer than the initial 30 days!
If you guys have any ideas and shortcuts of your own that you use, by all means, share and share alike. I ,and other readers I'm sure, would greatly appreciate them!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Piri - piri makes me sing
I've been absolutely terrible at sharing recipes with this blog.
Not that there aren't a bizzillion other places where you can find awesome eats but the point of this blog was to kinda show you where we are in terms of our eating habits and what changes we're making.
Currently with my laptop out of commission I don't want to take over Abels laptop 24/7 drafting recipes and cluttering it up with food photos. Truth be told, as the weeks are going by, its already starting to happen so the only thing to do is to start sharing more of our eats with you guys, regardless of my culinary amateur abilities.
There are a few recipes from the Vegetarian Times that I have been meaning to try but their Spanish White Bean Tortilla with Piri-Piri sauce was on top of the list. As we made out our menu for the week on Sunday, we had deemed Thursday night to be the night we introduce our tastebuds to this interesting "piri-piri" sauce.
Funny thing, when I jotted down the recipe title I had assumed it actually involved tortillas. I figured, a casserole of some sort perhaps, right?
Even looking at the exquisitely beautiful photo in their magazine wasn't enough for me to realize I was mistaken. In my mind I had already decided I was going to ditch the casserole and make this dish into tacos instead... I even wrote the word "tacos" on a recipe card for our menu board.
Silly, silly me.... I was completely oblivious to the fact that Spanish tortillas aren't tortillas as we know them at all -- they are more along the lines of a frittata.
Feeling slightly disappointed (because I really wanted tacos) I was about ready to ditch the idea altogether and return the recipe to the "another day" pile.
Luckily curiosity got the better of me and I kept to the original menu.
My decision was only further reinforced when low and behold I went to check out one of my favorite recipe blogs that very day and there it was. The same dish we were destined to eat for dinner over at Caras Cravings.
Being such a newbie to the cooking world I geeked out a little because this had to have been a sign from the culinary Gods. A sign that said this dish was going to be amazeballs.
Not that Cara is the end all be all in tastes (or anyone for that matter) but you know, I'm a geek and I geek out. Its just a fact.
I was also a little more at ease because she laid it all out there in a better way than I currently have the abilities to. The recipe I am providing below is what I did for two servings. It doesn't differ very much from Caras except that she used red pepper flakes while we stuck to the original cayenne. We both also had the same idea along the lines of adding greens to the mix though we used spinach and she used swiss chard.
The recipe below is, as I mentioned, the way I made it for a mere two servings. To see the full version (serves 6) recipe and a much more appetizing photo of this very dish check out Caras Cravings. You'll note there is a dry spice mix to make before making the piri-piri sauce but for the love of all things delicious, don't let that deter you because it really doesn't take much time nor effort.
Serves 2:
Piri-Piri dry mix:
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
Piri-Piri Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
Not that there aren't a bizzillion other places where you can find awesome eats but the point of this blog was to kinda show you where we are in terms of our eating habits and what changes we're making.
Currently with my laptop out of commission I don't want to take over Abels laptop 24/7 drafting recipes and cluttering it up with food photos. Truth be told, as the weeks are going by, its already starting to happen so the only thing to do is to start sharing more of our eats with you guys, regardless of my culinary amateur abilities.
There are a few recipes from the Vegetarian Times that I have been meaning to try but their Spanish White Bean Tortilla with Piri-Piri sauce was on top of the list. As we made out our menu for the week on Sunday, we had deemed Thursday night to be the night we introduce our tastebuds to this interesting "piri-piri" sauce.
Funny thing, when I jotted down the recipe title I had assumed it actually involved tortillas. I figured, a casserole of some sort perhaps, right?
Even looking at the exquisitely beautiful photo in their magazine wasn't enough for me to realize I was mistaken. In my mind I had already decided I was going to ditch the casserole and make this dish into tacos instead... I even wrote the word "tacos" on a recipe card for our menu board.
Silly, silly me.... I was completely oblivious to the fact that Spanish tortillas aren't tortillas as we know them at all -- they are more along the lines of a frittata.
Feeling slightly disappointed (because I really wanted tacos) I was about ready to ditch the idea altogether and return the recipe to the "another day" pile.
Luckily curiosity got the better of me and I kept to the original menu.
My decision was only further reinforced when low and behold I went to check out one of my favorite recipe blogs that very day and there it was. The same dish we were destined to eat for dinner over at Caras Cravings.
Being such a newbie to the cooking world I geeked out a little because this had to have been a sign from the culinary Gods. A sign that said this dish was going to be amazeballs.
Not that Cara is the end all be all in tastes (or anyone for that matter) but you know, I'm a geek and I geek out. Its just a fact.
I was also a little more at ease because she laid it all out there in a better way than I currently have the abilities to. The recipe I am providing below is what I did for two servings. It doesn't differ very much from Caras except that she used red pepper flakes while we stuck to the original cayenne. We both also had the same idea along the lines of adding greens to the mix though we used spinach and she used swiss chard.
The recipe below is, as I mentioned, the way I made it for a mere two servings. To see the full version (serves 6) recipe and a much more appetizing photo of this very dish check out Caras Cravings. You'll note there is a dry spice mix to make before making the piri-piri sauce but for the love of all things delicious, don't let that deter you because it really doesn't take much time nor effort.
Spanish White Bean Tortilla w/Piri-Piri Sauce
(serves 2)
 |
| Spanish White Bean Tortilla with Piri-Piri Sauce |
Piri-Piri dry mix:
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
-(the original recipe does call for salt but we made the omission and didnt miss a thing)
Piri-Piri Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp piri-piri dry mix-Whisk ingredients together in a small saucepan set over high heat until it comes to a boil (this should happen rather quickly less than 2 mins). Set aside and let cool. This is obviously a tiny amount of sauce so feel free to up the quantities to make more. I set mine on the stovetop in a tiny frying pan to boil and it was just enough for the two of us.
"Tortilla":
2 eggs
1 tbsp parsley
1/4 cup onion
1/4 cup white beans (we used great northern beans)
1tsp piri-piri dry spice mixture
1/2 red roasted bell pepper
In small bowl, whisk eggs with parsley. Set aside.
For anyone following the SASS 5-piece puzzle food strategy, you'll note this dish doesn't incorporate all the required vegetables which is why we served it with a side salad. There are also no grains and slightly more from the "proteins" category than what Cynthia recommends but it was quite filling and we were just fine sans the grain. I do admit though, the thought of this sauce spilling into some delicious quinoa makes my mouth water.
My apologies for the long read, I promise as time goes by I will learn to paraphrase and just get to the recipe from the start ;0)
Everyone enjoy the weekend!!
1 tbsp piri-piri dry mix-Whisk ingredients together in a small saucepan set over high heat until it comes to a boil (this should happen rather quickly less than 2 mins). Set aside and let cool. This is obviously a tiny amount of sauce so feel free to up the quantities to make more. I set mine on the stovetop in a tiny frying pan to boil and it was just enough for the two of us.
"Tortilla":
2 eggs
1 tbsp parsley
1/4 cup onion
1/4 cup white beans (we used great northern beans)
1tsp piri-piri dry spice mixture
1/2 red roasted bell pepper
In small bowl, whisk eggs with parsley. Set aside.
- Saute onion and spinach together in a skillet until spinach begins to wilt. We used a non stick cooking spray though feel free to use olive oil or veggie broth. Considering the sauce already has our alotted olive oil, I decided against using any more.
- Add beans and a teaspoon of piri-piri dry spice mix and stir as beans get coated with the spices. Add in the egg mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes, lifting and stirring to allow for even cooking.
- Cover and reduce the heat to low until egg is cooked through. Divide into two portions, plate and garnish with strips of roasted red peppers. Serve the piri-piri sauce on the side or simply drizzle atop the finished dish as we did.
For anyone following the SASS 5-piece puzzle food strategy, you'll note this dish doesn't incorporate all the required vegetables which is why we served it with a side salad. There are also no grains and slightly more from the "proteins" category than what Cynthia recommends but it was quite filling and we were just fine sans the grain. I do admit though, the thought of this sauce spilling into some delicious quinoa makes my mouth water.
My apologies for the long read, I promise as time goes by I will learn to paraphrase and just get to the recipe from the start ;0)
Everyone enjoy the weekend!!
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