Baked Oatmeal for Breakfast

I love oatmeal. My husband loves oatmeal. My kids think it's okay, but it's not their favorite. They'd rather have cold cereal any day. Usually though, if Andy wants oatmeal for breakfast before he heads to work he uses those microwave packets. Not all of them are bad- but not all of them are good, and since he is a big guy, he needs at least two packets to give him sustenance. He doesn't care to take the time to cook up a bowl of oatmeal on the stove- and who can blame him! At 4:30 in the morning, I don't want to be cooking up oatmeal either!

So this week I made up a big pan of Baked Oatmeal for him to eat all week. I love making baked oatmeal. I doubled the batch and baked it in a 9x13 pan, and he's able to lob off chunks of it all week and heat it up in the microwave before work. It works beautifully. He gets homemade, whole grain oatmeal with fruit and no preservatives, for the same amount of work as an instant packet.

In menu planning news this morning, I have a one-week dinner plan up at Menu Planning 101, so be sure and check that out if that interests you this morning.

Also, a big Happy Birthday to "The Mom"! I'll stop by later with some prune juice for you!

Baked Oatmeal
3 cups milk, plus more for serving if desired
6 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons margarine
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries, raisins, or other berries
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Combine milk, brown sugar, margarine and cinnamon in a saucepan. Cook, stirring frequently, until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, apple, cranberries, and nuts. Add the hot milk mixture and stir well to combine.

Spray a 9x9 square baking dish with cooking spray. Pour oatmeal into the baking dish and bake in a 350º oven for 30 minutes.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate and heat up individual portions in the microwave.

A Bit of A Disappointment To Me

I love my Cooking Light annuals. They have to be some of my favorite cookbooks, because I'm always using them. You never know when your tastes are going to change, and something you passed up a year ago now sounds great to you. Recently I made the Cheddar Chicken Chowder again, and just as every time I make it, I pull out the book, and on the same page is a recipe for Peanut Butter Fudge Cups. And every time I look at that, I think I should make them sometime. They seemed easy enough, so I finally decided to break them out and make them up for Super Bowl Sunday.

They were a little time-consuming, but not overly so- just a few steps. First I made the Peanut Butter cookie base and pressed that into my mini-muffin tin. Then I cooked up the chocolate filling, which took just a few minutes to thicken. Then the chocolate went into the cookie crust, and then into the oven. They baked up into some impressive looking gems, and I was looking forward to trying them. And when I did...well, I was disappointed.

I thought the chocolate filling was nice- it was deep and chocolatey without being too sweet. The peanut butter crust though...really didn't taste like much, and I also didn't care for the soft texture too much. The peanut butter was there, it just wasn't impressive like I'd hoped. If I were to make these again, I would use creamy peanut butter, first of all. And secondly, I think I would add a pinch of baking soda to the peanut butter cookie part to try and get it to crisp up a bit. I may make them again and play with them- I thought they were pretty and I did like the chocolate filling, so we'll see. And I also have to say that company thought they were great- so the "meh" may just be from me.

Peanut Butter Fudge Cups
from Cooking Light Annual, 2002

Serving Size : 24

Crust:
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons chilled butter -- cut into small pieces
1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold water
Cooking spray
Filling:
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg
2 teaspoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare crust, place first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour and salt to peanut butter mixture; cut in flour with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle surface with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time; toss with a fork until combined.

Shape mixture into 24 balls. Place 1 ball in each of 24 miniature muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Press dough into bottoms and up sides of muffin cups.

To prepare filling, combine 2/3 cup brown sugar and the next 4 ingredients (2/3 cup brown sugar through milk) in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in 2 tablespoons flour and egg until well blended. Divide chocolate mixture evenly among muffin cups. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until the pastry is lightly browned; cool in pan on a wire rack 5 minutes. Run a knife around outside edges of cups. Remove cups from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Bittman's Empanada Dough

Every year my Super Bowl menu is dictated by the host city. That tends to keep the menu varied as it moves from city to city, plus it can be challenge to come up with foods that match the host city- Detroit anyone? We love Super Bowl Sunday- it definitely ranks right up there as a food event for us, and since it's technically the first real food event of the year, we like to put out quite the spread. This year, since the Super Bowl was in Arizona, the theme was easily Southwestern. We had another friend offer to make Rick Bayless's Smoky Pork Tacos, as well as a salad, so I needed to come up with something different. At first I was thinking of enchiladas, but we've been having those quite a bit, so I wanted to do something different.

I was already making a layered taco dip, Drunken Beans, desserts, and some hot wings, but I needed something that fit with the Southwestern theme, and in the end Mr. Bittman came to my rescue with his recipe for Bean and Cheese empanadas. Only I didn't want to stuff them with beans and cheese. I had it in my mind to make a chicken, corn and chipotle filling, so I started with that. The chicken was easy. I had a large roasting chicken that I cooked up for the previous night's dinner, so there was a lot of chicken leftover. I dug a chipotle chili out of the freezer, and opened up a can of corn. It was that easy. The chipotle I chopped finely, and then mixed with some tomato paste and a few ladle-fulls of freshly made chicken stock. Then I chopped the chicken finely and mixed in the corn and the tomato-chipotle mixture. Quick and tasty!

The empanada dough came together in a snap as well. I followed Mark Bittman's recipe and was mostly pleased with the results. I was out of shortening, so I opted to use the oil he suggested...I have to say, I think the shortening would have made a better result. The empanada dough made with the oil was greasy to work with- it still turned out fine, but I'd like to try it with the shortening to see how they compare. I also opted to make my empanadas smaller- I probably got about 20 out of one batch of dough. The flavor was great, and the only real changes I made to them was that I pricked them with a fork before baking, and I left off the milk at the end. They still turned out gorgeous and delicious.

So will I make them again? Oh yes, they are great, and the sky's the limit as far as the fillings are concerned. I really want to do a pork and chili verde filling, with lots of cilantro and queso fresco, they would be amazing! But I have to say this, it takes a bit of time to roll, fill, and bake 60 empanadas. It was a lot of work, so make sure you have the time available before tackling them.

Bean and Cheese Empanadas
from Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus a little more
1/2 cup masa harina, fine cornmeal or more all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening or vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups cooked and well-seasoned beans
2 cups grated or crumbled queso fresco, Monterey Jack, or coltija cheese
1/2 cup milk

1. Mix the flour, masa harina, baking powder, and salt together in the food processor and process for about 5 seconds. With the machine running, add the 1/2 cup shortening and process for 10 seconds. Then, with the machine running, add about 1/2 cup cold water, just enough for the dough to form a ball. Don't add more water than necessary; the dough should be fairly dry. Knead by hand until smooth, just a minute or so.

2. Divide into 12 pieces, roll into balls, and wrap in plastic or cover with a damp towel and let rest for at elast 20 minutes. (You can refrigerate the dough overnight; be sure to let it come to room temperature before proceeding.) On a well-floured surface, rolle ach piece into a 6-inch circle, adding flour as necessary.

3. Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Place a couple of tablespoons of the beans in the center of each circle of dough, followed by a sprinkling of cheese, then fold each circle overl seal the seam with a few drops of water and press with the tines of a fork to close. Put on an ungreased baking sheet and brush lightly with milk. Bake until the dough is golden brown and hot, and about 20 minutes. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

**The sky is the limit with these empanadas, they will take well to any filling, as long as the filling isn't too wet.

After Careful Thought and Consideration...

And even though I know everyone voted and agreed that Menu Planning 101 should happen here on Tummy Treasure, I've decided against that. The menu planning posts are getting quite long, and it also seems to me that they would be most effective compiled into one spot. So I've started up Menu Planning 101, a blog specifically for that purpose. I will update it on occasion with the next post, and then announce it here every single time for those interested. Sometimes, maybe I will do a cross-post or an exerpt as well. I just think this is going to be a better way to do it.

So this morning you will find a post about my pantry basics- what do I try to keep on hand at all times? The list actually surprised me a bit when I saw how long it was. You can find it here at Menu Planning 101.

If you're not interested in Menu Planning, perhaps you are searching for something new to add to your Super Bowl menu? Check out this recipe for Buffalo Pierogi, it's fun and tasty, and would be a great alternative for the vegetarians at your party who always gaze longingly at the hot wings. You can really use any pierogi you'd like- frozen or homemade will work just fine.


Buffalo Pierogies

4 1/2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 package frozen Mrs. T's pierogies potato and roasted garlic
blue cheese salad dressing

Preheat oven to 400.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. COmbine hot sauce, oil, and chili powder. Add pierogies and toss to coat. Arrange on baking sheet.

Bake about 20 minutes, turning after 10 minutes. Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.

Surprise!

This whole week has been kind of haphazard when it comes to dinner. Despite my recent focus on menu planning, would you believe I haven't been in the mood for it this week! But I have been determined to spend some time going through my freezers and using some things that have been in there a while. That happened yesterday. I was looking through the herbs in my freezer when I spied a small Gladware bowl that was purple on the inside. Despite the layer of frost on it, I determined that this was some frozen mixed berries, and instantly I thought of how much Zander loves berries. So I pulled them out to thaw, thinking that if they tasted okay, they would make a fantastic topping for some pancakes for an easy dinner.

Then I was in the other freezer, and I saw 10 frozen zipper bags of onions from a very long time ago. I guess those need to be used too- so I pulled one package out and tried to think of what I could do with it for dinner to go with pancakes. It wasn't long before I settled on the idea of making a fritatta to accompany those pancakes. I carmalized the onions low and slow on the stove while beating some eggs, half & half, salt, pepper, and some beautiful Irish Cheddar cheese. By this time, the berries had thawed, and were perfect for topping pancakes. I warmed them up with a little cornstarch to thicken.

The real surprise came at dinner time last night. See, I never make eggs or fritatta for dinner, because for the most part, my kids don't like eggs. Abigail will eat them hard-boiled or scrambled, some of the time. Zander will eat the egg yolks from hard-boiled, but he says he really doesn't like eggs. So I put a very tiny wedge of this fritatta on their plates, thinking they would simply ignore the eggs in favor of the fruity pancakes. I certainly didn't tell them there were onions in the eggs. Abigail went right for them! She took a bite and told me she really likes eggs that taste that good, and then proceeded to eat two pieces of fritatta. Zander followed suit and finished his piece, telling me that he really likes eggs with his favorite white cheese in them. I simply cannot convey here on this blog, with this keyboard, how shocked I was with my children last night! They enjoyed the pancakes and berries as well, but they inhaled those eggs! My egg-haters enjoyed that fritatta and then told me I needed to make that again for dinner sometime.

I guess the lesson learned here is that you just have to keep on trying. Your children may be the pickiest kids on the planet, but you never know when they're going to deside that strange food on their plate is going to look good to them, and they're going to take a bite and enjoy it. And I'm thrilled, because now I can add eggs more often to dinner, and I don't have to worry about my children starving. Here's the fritatta we had- I was tempted to add some bell pepper, but I gotta tell you, less is more here, especially if you have good cheese. Anything on hand will make a fine substitute.

Quick Fritatta

6 eggs
1/4 cup half & half
pinch of salt and pepper to taste
1 cup diced onions, carmalized slowly in 1 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup shredded Irish cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350º. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. Beat the eggs and half and half together with a whisk- beating well until creamy and full of bubbles. Beat in seasoning and stir in the onions. Place the shredded cheese in the bottom of the pie plate, and then pour the egg mixture on top of it.

Bake in a 350º oven for about 20 minutes, or until the eggs are set and the edges begin to brown. Serve immediately.

Oh How I Love A Good Curry!

As soon as it was suggested to me the other day to make a curry with my languishing vegetables, I truly had no choice. I was consumed with the idea of making a vegetable curry, and I spent quite a bit of time looking for the perfect recipe. I couldn't find what I was looking for, believe it or not! With most of the recipes I found, I was missing a vital ingredient or two, and I just didn't want to head out and hunt down random ingredients.

I started with a recipe from the recent Eating Well, but in the end, I treated it more like guidelines and completely changed it up to what I was looking for. It worked very well, and it made a great curry. I served it with basmati rice, plain yogurt, my cranberry chutney, and some homemade pita bread. It ended up being quite spicy, so the kids had something different, but Andy and I thoroughly enjoyed the curry, and it made plenty, so I can eat it for lunch the rest of the week.

My recipe for Vegetable Curry looks very long and daunting- don't be afraid! You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand and it will turn out great. Many of the ingredients are also spices, so it's just a matter of measuring and dumping. Overall, it takes about the same amount of time to cook a pot of rice, so while it looks complicated, it really is quick and very delicious.

Vegetable Curry
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 jalapenos, stems removed, coarsely chopped (remove seeds for less heat)
1 onion- 1/2 chopped, 1/2 sliced thinly and reserved for later
2 tsps oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups prepared from dried)
1 1/2 cup cubed butternut squash
1 cup fresh green beans, snapped (or 1 cup frozen)
1/4 cup thinly sliced fennel
1/2 large red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 handfuls baby spinach
To serve:
Basmati rice
plain yogurt or raita
assorted chutneys

In a large pot or dutch oven heat the 1 tsp of oil over medium high heat. Add the raisins and almonds and saute for about 2 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Combine the can of diced tomatoes, jalapenos, and chopped onion in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.

Add the 2 teaspoons of oil to the pot. Add the cumin seeds, cardamom pods and bay leaves, and saute for about 1 minute, or until nice and fragrant. Add the thinly sliced onion to the pot, and cook for about 3 minutes- or until onion begins to turn golden, stir very frequently ro prevent burning.

Carefully, add the tomato mixture to the pot, as well as the Garam masala, cinnamon, salt, and turmeric. Bring to a boil, and add the vegetables all at once. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook for 20 minutes- or until the vegetables are tender.

Serve with your choice of accompaniments, sprinkling the top with the raisins and almonds.

Menu Planning 101: Part 1

I've been trying to think of the best plan of attack for menu planning...there are so many avenues that can be gone. But I think what we'll do is just forge straight ahead down one way, one method of doing so, and then we'll come back and try a second method. And maybe a third method or a fourth method, as far as it will take us.

Today we are going to walk through planning a menu for two days. It may not sound like much to begin with. But we're going to connect the two days together through common ingredients, to keep waste at a bare minimum. To me, that has been one of the toughest parts of menu planning. You plan a dinner, and buy the right ingredients, but then you have all this miscellaneous left over, and it goes bad before you can get around to using it.

The first step, is to decide what is going to guide your planning decisions this week. Do you already have something in the fridge that needs to be used up? We should start with that. Are you on a slim budget this week? We should pull from the freezer and pantry then. Maybe you have a craving for a particular cuisine, let that be your starting point then. Another method would be to just begin with one recipe- one that you've been wanting to try, pull it out of your pile and let that be day one and we'll go from there. Or maybe it's -40º outside and you're thinking a hearty soup will be perfect for dinner- then that would be your starting point. That's how it's going to be for me today. Today, It truly is -40º with the wind chills, so I am going to menu plan day one with soup. Specifically, a recipe from Cooking Light for Cheddar Chicken Chowder. Let's look at the ingredient list, shall we?

2 bacon slices
Cooking spray
1 pound skinned and boned chicken breast -- cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves -- minced
4 1/2 cups fat-free chicken broth
1 3/4 cups diced peeled red potatoes
2 1/4 cups frozen whole-kernel corn
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% low-fat milk
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese -- (3 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

First, we write down on Day 1: Cheddar Chicken Chowder, and we always include the source of the recipe in our notation, so we know where to find it when it comes time to actually make it. So my entry will look like this in my notebook:

Day One: Cheddar Chicken Chowder, CL Annual 2002 pg. 340

Next I will make a list underneath that entry of ingredients in the soup that are not always on hand. So in my case, I need to write down Bacon, Chicken breast, red bell pepper, red potatoes, and cheddar cheese. The onion, garlic, chicken broth, corn, salt and pepper I have on hand at almost all times. The other things I don't always have on hand, so they will likely go on my shopping list. So now my notebook entry looks like this:

Day One: Cheddar Chicken Chowder, CL Annual 2002 pg, 340
Bacon
Chicken Breast
Red Bell Pepper
Red Potatoes
Cheddar Cheese

Now we need to find a recipe for our second day. The key to the second day is to find a recipe that may use one or two of the more perishable ingredients on your list. In this case, the perfect recipe will have red bell pepper, cheddar cheese, or red potatoes in it. Bonus pounts if it uses the bacon and chicken breast (which extras of freeze nicely if we don't use them all). I score by looking through my recipes and deciding to make Herb Roasted Mushroom, Chicken and Vegetables. Here's that ingredient list:

1/3 cup olive oil
3 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-1/2 inch pieces
1 pound fresh white mushrooms, halved (about 6 cups)
1 pound small red potatoes, halved (about 3 cups)
3 medium onions, cut in wedges (about 3 cups)
1 large red bell pepper, cut in 2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
6 large garlic cloves, peeled

My next entry is going to be much smaller, and it will be underneath the Cheddar Chicken Chowder.

Day Two: Herb Roasted Mushrooms, Chicken & Vegetables, Mastercook
Mushrooms
Dried Rosemary (check this one)

Everything else in the recipe, I will already have from the Chowder, or will be on hand. I make a note to double check and make sure that I have dried rosemary as well, 3 teaspoons is a lot, and I'm not sure I'll have enough. So let's look at my new list, and then I am ready to make my shopping list, and I also have a few more thoughts about these two days and how they will automatically turn into four!

Day One: Cheddar Chicken Chowder, CL Annual 2002, pg 340
Bacon
Chicken Breast
Red Bell Pepper
Red Potatoes
Cheddar Cheese

Day Two: Herb Roasted Mushrooms, Chicken & Vegetables, Mastercook
Mushrooms
Dried Rosemary (check this one)

My shopping list will look like this:

Bacon
2 pounds of Chicken Breasts
2 Red Bell Peppers (3 if on sale)
1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes
1 block of medium cheddar cheese
2 large packages of mushrooms
Dried Rosemary
Flour tortillas
Sour Cream

You'll notice the two additions at the end. I've decided that since I have all these ingredients already in the house, that it will only take some tortillas and sour cream to turn these into quesadillas with some salsa I already have in the pantry. Leftover roasted chicken and vegetables will make wonderful quesadillas, so now I have a third day planned that I hadn't intended to. And finally, that fourth bonus day? The Cheddar Chicken Chowder makes plenty- more than enough for my family to eat out of the pot twice. For us, the trick is to not eat the same thing two days in a row, so my week will end up looking like this:

Day One: Cheddar Chicken Chowder, CL Annual 2002, pg 340
Bacon
Chicken Breast
Red Bell Pepper
Red Potatoes
Cheddar Cheese

Day Two: Herb Roasted Mushrooms, Chicken & Vegetables, Mastercook
Mushrooms
Dried Rosemary (check this one)

Day Three: Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Quesadillas

Day Four: Cheddar Chicken Chowder Repeat

Just like that, we've got four days menu-planned, and we'd only intended to really do two. One of the things that I've found really helpful with menu planning is to think of the leftovers, and most often, how they can be transformed into something completely different. The roasted chicken and veggies will be delicious the first night- the second night I'll want different flavors. So by adding the cheese we already have, the salsa, sour cream and tortillas, we've given it a whole new flavor from south of the border. The chowder is served three days apart, so no one will mind eating it twice- especially if accompanied by homemade bread.

And look at how small our grocery list is too! Part of that comes from having a well-stocked pantry, and that does take some time to get to the well-stocked point. My pantry staples will be a part of a future post here with Menu Planning 101. I have two posts in mind for the week ahead- one will be planning out a whole week at one time. The second post will be devoted to attempting an organization method for recipes. (Of course, on second thought, maybe that will take more than one post.) As a reminder, Menu Planning 101 will take place on Wednesdays and Saturday's for now.

So What Did I Make?

I went back and forth on this all day...sort of. I just wasn't in the mood to think about it, really. And as dinner would draw closer, I would tell myself to think of something for dinner, and then I wouldn't. So dinner was inspired by leftovers anyway, because I waited until the last minute.

I went with Josie's first idea- and made a fried rice. And let me just say right here and now, that fried rice is not a specialty of mine. I've never had it turn out well, and Andy can attest that when I say I'm making fried rice, he's secretly dreading whatever comes out of that pot. I've just never done it right, I guess. So I chopped a shallot, red bell pepper, a piece of the fennel, a carrot, some squash, and my sugar snap peas and got them nice and soft in my wok. Then I added the nicely cold rice and fried for awhile before adding some soy sauce and seasoning, followed by an egg that I'd scrambled up earlier. And actually, it turned out quite well! The kids still didn't want to eat it, but at least it tasted good to Andy and I. My kids just don't like rice, I guess. Now I'm really thinking about the curry suggestion from Lia...I still have plenty leftover from my photo, and still have a ton of rice, so that may be tonight's dinner.

The leftovers that inspired dinner were actually some Filipino Spring Rolls leftover from Sunday Company Dinner. Aunt Lita's Lumpia are one of my favorite things to make for friends and company because they are so good, and they are truly crowd pleasing. And every single time I find myself rolling them up and deep frying them, I can't help but think of my Aunt Lita and my cousins. Growing up we spent many a summer weekend in their backyard, playing and exploring, and feasting on mountains of Aunt Lita's delightful Lumpia.

This time, for the first time ever, I changed up the recipe a touch. I left out the onion called for, due to an allergy, and instead I added half a bulb of fennel, and about 2 cups of haricot verts-or green beans. I chopped up the fennel and the beans finely in my food processor so they blended right in with the ground carrots, celery, and ground beef. The extra vegetables were a great addition, as usual, no one thing stuck out, other than the ground beef. For the most part, all the children at the table enjoyed them as well- so they are most definitely kid friendly. These are much easier to make than it seems- you simply grind vegetables, mix with beef, seasoning, and eggs, and then roll into spring roll wrappers. While they could be baked, you're really going to get the best flavor if you brave the deep-fat fryer-and it's so, so worth it! Definitely feel free to play with the combination of vegetables- just try and keep the same proportions going.

Aunt Lita's Lumpia
2 pounds ground beef
4 stalks celery
3 medium carrots
1 onion
4 eggs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 package egg roll wrappers

Grind celery, carrots, and onion in a food processor, or chop finely. Mix with the hamburger, 3 beaten eggs, and seasonings.

Beat remaining egg and put on a shallow plate

Place egg roll wrapper on table and put meat mixture in a long narrow row. Roll up, sealing with the egg.

Heat oil in a frying pan or deep fryer to 400º. Fry until golden brown

Let's Play A Game Shall We?

These are the things languishing in my fridge. In the photo below, I have 2 handfuls baby spinach, about 2 cups cubed butternut squash, 2 red bell peppers, half a bulb of fennel, 2 jalapenos, 1 pound of haricot verts, and about 2 cups of sugar snap peas.

Not pictured, I have about 12 cups of cooked basmati rice that I need to find a use for. My pantry and fridge are fairly well stocked with the staples, and I have many odds-n-ends as well, but these are the things that are on the verge of expiring. Any ideas? I have a few, but nothing really exciting.

A Really Delicious Cake

Zander requested both cupcakes and cake for his birthday this year, chocolate of course. I debated making a small layer cake to decorate for him, and then having the cupcakes on the side, but then I saw an instance where someone had used fondant to cover a layer of cupcakes, and then decorated like a regular cake. I thought it was brilliant, but I've never worked with fondant myself, and I also don't care to eat it, so I thought I'd play with making my own "cupcake cake".

I baked and cooled the cupcakes, and then I placed them on a platter and snugged them up to each other as much as I possibly could. I decided to do two layers of frosting so the first one would be thicker and serve as a base for decorating the rest. So my first batch of frosting was a little thicker than normal. Usually, my frosting is butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk, mixed together to a consistency I like. In this case, I used less milk so it was a really thick frosting, and I smeared that first layer on the cupcakes. There were spots where the cupcakes weren't quite touching that there just was a really thick gob of frosting- but it worked perfectly. After my first frosting had set up a bit, I mixed up a second batch, tinted it into green and blue, and then a tiny bit had cocoa added to it for the train track, and I went to town.

I simply used an offset spatula to spread the colored frosting around, and then grabbed a piping bag to do the train track. The horses, rocks, fence and train are not edible- they were just toys that I'd washed, but they served their purpose perfectly. The cupcake cake was a huge hit- and it was effortless to pull the cupcakes apart for eating. I did end up cutting off some of the thicker portions of frosting with a knife, but for the most part, I was thrilled with the cupcake cake.


I used this recipe for Devil's Food cake from King Arthur Flour. I did sub in some margarine for the butter, and rice milk for the liquid, as we were having company that has an allergy to dairy. It was my first time baking with the rice milk and it worked beautifully. I did the same for the frosting, and you'd never know- they were incredibly moist and delicious cupcakes.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

May four years old be wonderful for you!

Menu Planning 101: An Intro

Why Menu Planning? Well, I'll tell you, it has really been an asset to me, and I really think that anyone can benefit from even the smallest bit of menu planning. Planning out what you're going to eat during any given period of time is a benefit in so many ways. First of all, it's a money saver- you're not heading to the store every day of the week and buying much more than what you need. Secondly, it's far healthier for you. How many times do we look in the fridge, decide we don't feel like cooking, and either order in or head out for dinner. I'm not against dining out, but it's a quick way to drain a budget doing it over and over, and it's also almost a less healthier version than what you can make at home.

I am far from perfect at it, and there are still nights where I decide I don't want what I have planned for that night, but then I also know what else I have on hand, and I can decide accordingly. What I am going to try and do with this blog series is present menu-planning in a not-so scary light. Sometimes, it can be really overwhelming. I remember when I really first started doing it, being daunted by the empty calendar in front of me. And then further on, being daunted by the sheer volume of groceries and ingredients. I promise, I can help make it much easier. I've also decided to do this for now on this blog. However, if it takes off, and I end up with a volume of posts and eventually the interaction I'm thinking of, then I'll move it all over to a new blog specifically designed for it. Right now, though, it's a bit of an experiment.

So...the very first step in menu planning is to decide how long you would like to plan for at a time. This is a decision for what fits you best. For someone brand new to menu planning, perhaps starting small with just one or two days would be progress. Maybe you'd like to plan according to a pay day, resulting in planning for one week or maybe two. I know some people who get paid monthly and plan ahead for an entire month at a time. Personally, I range between one week and ten days. I plan for a week at a time according to when Andy gets paid, so for me, I plan for Friday through Thursday. And then, because life happens, and I never really know if I'll get to do my shopping when I want to, I often like to plan a cushion of an extra three days. But for this purpose, for Menu Planning 101, I'll stick with planning for a week to make it easier. Whatever you decide, make absolute certain it's manageable for you at this point. I would hate for someone to get overly ambitious and then give up before even getting started.

I should also mention, that when I do my menu planning, I don't do a full day at a time. We always have an assortment of breakfast foods and lunch foods on hand, plus leftovers for lunch on occasion, so also for Menu Planning 101, we'll be planning the dinner menu only- with occasional suggestions for leftover lunch or breakfast uses. You will also find that I'll be adding the Menu Planning 101 label to my postings. This way you'll have a handy way to reference all the wonderful tips we're going to explore together.

I think we'll do Menu Planning 101 twice a week for now- on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We'll do it one step at a time, and take our time as well. My goal is that by the end of this series, anyone will be able to go through the series step by step and learn how to menu plan. And as always, comments, suggestions, and questions are always welcome.

So step one is actually a two-piece step. First, you need to choose your time frame for planning. And second, you need to choose your format for planning. I like to use a notebook myself, but maybe you'd prefer an electronic means. What I like about the notebook is that I can use the same notebook week after week and then look back at past weeks when I need inspiration. You could also use a calendar and write on each day if you prefer, or maybe a white board hung on your fridge or in the kitchen somewhere. You could use a day planner, or your blackberry, Microsoft Word, or maybe even start your own menu-planning blog. If you already blog- that would make an excellent weekly post. Maybe you could share your preferred format here in the comment section.

Be sure to come back next time with a manageable time frame in mind, as well as your preferred format. And then we'll start tackling the menu planning process.

I Love My Son

So this morning we made a quick dash to Sam's Club to pick up a few odds-n-ends for Zander's birthday celebration this weekend. Our number one goal was to find some nice kiwi for his birthday fruit salad, and while I was putting that in the cart, he spied something from a ways away, and told me we should get that too for a snack. What was it?

Green Beans. :-)

And then just a few seconds later, after the beans were in the cart, he pointed yet again, and told me just how much he loved those beans with the peas inside.


So we also picked up a bag of Sugar Snap Peas.

And now he is home and happily munching on a bowl of raw beans and snap peas. I must be doing something right. :-) And I can't believe he's turning four this weekend...

An Excellent Fish Dish!

Last night's dinner was the second success out of the latest issue of Eating Well. So many recipes caught my eye this time, and I'm thrilled that many of them use pantry staples to get dinner on the table! Last night's was another one of those. The only thing I needed to pick up was the fish, as I had everything else on hand already. And while I switched out the fish for a different white fish, the Baked Cod with Chorizo and Beans was a great treatment for fish.

I used the kielbasa called for in the recipe instead of the chorizo, because the only chorizo I have on hand is Mexican, and that one is not smoked. I knew I wanted a smokey flavor, so I opted for the kielbasa instead. The "sauce" came together very quickly, as shallots, sausage and thyme were sauteed together, and then halved grape tomatoes and white beans were added with broth to finish the sauce. I'm just not a fan of wine in my cooking, so I used chicken broth instead of the white wine. I prefer to drink my wine- I don't care for it much in my food. I put the fish fillets in a baking dish, added the bean mixture, and then it baked for a few minutes. Quick, easy, and very tasty!

In fact, I am thinking that the bean sauce in general was delightful with just a touch of smokey sausage in it. I could see it used in many other applications- or even by itself as a side dish. Honestly, I think it would also be very nice with shrimp instead of the fish, and Andy and I are thinking that this would be an excellent candidate for packet cooking as well. We'll be playing with that, as we're always looking for a camping alternative.

Sorry, I didn't snap a picture. I had someplace to be after dinner last night, so it was kind of a dine-n-dash night, and I just didn't think of the camera. You can check out the recipe at the Eating Well website for a great picture if you feel so inclined. Be sure and come on back tomorrow for the first edition of Menu Planning 101.

Baked Cod with Chorizo and White Beans

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 ounces Spanish chorizo or turkey kielbasa, diced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup dry white wine, divided (I used chicken stock)
1 15-ounce can great northern beans, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 1/4 pounds Pacific cod, cut into 4 pieces
Freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat a 9-by-13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallot, chorizo (or kielbasa) and thyme and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and 1/4 cup wine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are broken down and the wine is almost evaporated, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in beans and 1/4 teaspoon salt and remove from the heat.

3. Sprinkle fish with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper; place in the prepared baking dish. Top each piece of fish with equal amounts of the tomato mixture (about 1/2 cup per fillet). Pour the remaining 1/4 cup wine into the pan and cover the pan with foil. Bake until the fish is just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve the fish with the sauce spooned over the top.

Soup of The Week: Can't Win 'Em All

This week's soup was another one that I've had on my radar for forever. See, I use the computer program Mastercook to organize a lot of my recipes. I put a lot of them into the program, but mostly I use it to import recipes I see online that pique my interest. And then, of course, I tend to forget about them. Not so with my new soup revolution, slowly we're making our way through the pile, and this week's was something a little different for us.

Autumn Harvest Red Lentil Soup caught my eye initially because of the red lentils. I've never cooked with them, but I've wanted to. The combination of vegetables also intrigued me, and I couldn't recollect having a similar soup before. I picked up the red lentils on a recent shopping trip, and since I had everything else on hand, this was the soup of the week. As I started putting the soup together, I was faced with a few minor decisions, and also a wonderful aroma from the stove.

My first decision came with the second ingredient, 5 1/2 cups of water. Water? I wanted this soup to be full of flavor, and while I'm sure the creator knew what she was doing, I have a beautiful veggie stock in the freezer, and I decided to use that instead. I ended up using 4 cups of veggie stock and 2 cups of water, since the stock was a little concentrated. The soup began with cooking the lentils in water-or in my case, the stock. Oh how disappointed I was to check on the lentils later only to discover they'd lost their beautiful red color! Meanwhile, a second pot had been readied for simmering the vegetables to soften. When I added the cumin and coriander, a fabulous scent wafted up and totally permeated the entire house. I thought briefly of using whole seeds and toasting them, but then decided to just use the ground spices. In retrospect, I really wonder how that toasting would enhance the flavor of the soup.

The lentils were then pureed with my immersion blender. As I continued adding vegetables to the simmering pot, I found that I did not have the parsnip called for. So instead I added an extra carrot, and then, when digging for that carrot, I found a few lonely radishes, and decided they would match that turnip texture wise, and flavor wise since they were on the sweet side. So those went in as well. Once the vegetables were softened, I added them to the pureed lentils and gave them a few minutes to combine flavors. A little seasoning went in, as well as a splash of lemon juice and a few handfuls of baby spinach leaves.

The soup was lovely, the color was fantastic, and I thought it tasted great- like no soup we'd had before, and I loved that. I portioned out about half of the soup to send to my parents for dinner- they'd been travelling home in less that stellar conditions, and thought they'd appreciate a pot of warm soup when they arrived home. (They certainly did.) I was excited for dinner that night, and as my family gazed into their bowls, I knew this was going to tank. The kids took a bite or two, and then spent the rest of the meal dunking crackers in and nibbling on their muffins. Andy didn't finish his bowl either- he thought the soup was much too sweet for his tastes. And it was sweet- that butternut squash I'd used was so sweet! But I loved the soup! Sadly, I will probably not be making it again, unless Andy goes out of town sometime and I have a hankering.

One note on the ingredients. Don't skimp on the coriander. Leave things in and out according to your tastes, but the coriander really was the essential ingredient. It added a floral-citrusy note that even the lemon juice could not match. In fact, my parents called later on to ask what the dominant spice was, because it really made the soup what it was.

Autumn Harvest Red Lentil Soup
Recipe By The Healthy Hedonist, Myra Kornfeld

1 cup red lentils -- sorted and rinsed
5 1/2 cups water
1 bay leaf
Salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions -- cut into small dice (2 cups)
4 garlic cloves -- minced
One 2-inch piece fresh ginger -- minced
2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 pound butternut squash -- cut into 1/2-inch dice (2 cups)
1 parsnip -- cut into 1/2-inch dice (1/2 cup)
2 carrots -- cut into 1/2-inch dice (1 cup)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 pound spinach -- stemmed, washed, and torn into bite-size pieces or one 5-ounce bag baby spinach, rinsed
Cayenne pepper

Combine the lentils, 4 cups of the water, the bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

Discard the bay leaf, and purée the lentils with an immersion blender or in a standing blender. (If you want a little texture, you can simply whisk the lentils until creamy.) Set the lentils aside.

Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions and sauté until they are softened, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, and coriander, and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the squash, parsnips, carrots, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the remaining 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.

Stir the lemon juice and spinach into the lentils. The heat will immediately wilt the spinach. Add the vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes to marry the flavors. Season with a generous pinch of cayenne. Taste and add salt if necessary. Serve hot.

Makes 4 generous servings.

Quick Muffins

After the success of that Olive Oil Salt bread, I flipped a page or two and came upon a few recipes for muffins as well. I am a sucker for a good muffin. I hope no one's going to get sick of the recipes from How To Cook Everything Vegetarian, but by golly, these are great so far! And if I turn a few more pages, there are a few Indian flat breads too! They need to be eaten freshly made, but still!

Anyway, back to the muffins. What struck me right away was that these muffins used oil, and not much of it. It did say in the recipe that you could use melted butter, but I wanted to use a heart healthy oil, so I went with olive oil. The first muffins I made I added a chopped banana too, and then sprinkled the top with cinnamon sugar before baking. Yesterday was another batch with chopped cranberries and some grated orange zest. (Those needed a pinch of nutmeg- I must make a note of that.) You literally can mix anything you want into these muffins and they come out delicious and lightly sweet. You can sweeten them more if you'd like with some extra sugar, but they're very nice, just the way they are. The only problem with them, if you consider it a problem, is that they don't puff up and crown beautifully. They're rustic looking, but terribly delicious and addictive. They are best fresh, but a quick pop in a warm oven will refresh them for a short while. I won't post the many variations here that Bittman gives, just use your imagination and add it to the batter.

Muffins, Infinite Ways
from HTCEV by Mark Bittman

3 tablespoons melted butter or neutral oil, plus a little fat for the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk, plus more if needed

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line it with muffin cups.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Beat together the egg, milk and melted butter or oil. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Using a large spoon or rubber spatula, combine the ingredients swiftly, stirring and folding rather than beating and stopping as soon as all the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter should be lumpy, not smooth, and thick, but quite moist; add a little more milk or other liquid if necessary.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling them about two-thirds full and handling the batter as little as possible. (If you prefer bigger muffins, fill the cups almost to the top. Pour 1/4 cup water into those cups left empty.) Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the muffins are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of one of them comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before taking them out of the tin. Serve warm.

Olive Oil Bread?

But first, yesterday I briefly mentioned my latest brain-child. I've had soooo many people ask me lately about menu planning, or tell me how they've been doing with it. It's taken me a long time to get it down to where I can do it well, and I thought it would be a very worthwhile thing to share. What I can't decide is where I want to do it. This is where you come in- there is a poll up on the sidebar today asking if you have a preference. Should I focus several of my posts here at Tummy Treasure on menu planning? Maybe do a series one or two days a week? It would take place of some of the actual recipes though most likely. Or, do I set up a completely new blog that would be focused solely on menu planning. How to do it, tips on tweaking it just so, suggestions for recipes to use up leftover bits, and actual menu plans are some of the things I plan to cover. Let me know what you think. I'm also thinking about making it completely interactive and allowing whomever wants to, the ability post their attempts at menu planning. Please let me know your preference, this could be a bit of work, and I want to make sure it's going to be worth my time.

On to the recipe today! This is one that I think I would have seen 100 times in a cookbook and never made myself if it hadn't come so highly recommended. It also happens to be the first recipe I actually cooked out of my new book, "How To Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman. Thanks to a duplicate Christmas gift, I had a gift card to use at the bookstore and brought this puppy home last week. It is quite the book! It was not written to convince people to eat a vegetarian diet, but it was written to give everyone more vegetarian options. Many of the recipes are also vegan, or at least suggest a vegan alternative. It's a wonderful addition to my cookbook library and I expect it will get a lot of use.

This Olive Oil Salt Bread is the perfect addition to a meal where you want a bread or a biscuit with it. Soup or stew is a perfect accompaniment. Very few ingredients, very little work, the result is a rustic loaf of bread that is reminiscent of a biscuit in texture, but almost tastes like a soft pretzel. You can bake it in the oven, which is what I did, or you can also griddle it on the stovetop. And while we had it plain with some butter and preserves, this bread is screaming for some mix-ins. Whether it be herbs and spices, cheese, caramelized onions, raisins, whatever, it's the perfect base to mix a few things in and truly make it special. I happen to be dreaming about a cheddar-apple-bacon combo myself. Try it- you gotta see it and taste it to believe it.

Olive Oil Salt Bread
from How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for greasing pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt, preferably coarse or sea salt, plus more for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease and 8-inch skillet or square baking pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor and turn the machine on. Pour through the feed tube first the 1/3 cup of olive oil, then most of 1 cup of warm water. Process for about 30 seconds, then remove the cover. The dough should be a well-defined, barely sticky, easy to handle ball. If it is too dry, add the remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time and process for 5 to 10 seconds after each addition. If it is too wet, which is unlikely, add a tablespoon or two of flour and process briefly.

Put the dough into the prepared pan and press until it fits to the edges. Flip it over and press again. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes; then remove the foil, sprinkle the top with a little coarse salt, and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is lightly golden and springs back a bit when touched gently. Cool in the pan a bit, then cut into wedges or squares and serve.

Griddled Variation: Instead of preheating the oven, heat a griddle or set a heavy pan over medium heat. Have the extra olive oil handy for greasing. In step 2, divide the dough into 8 to 12 pieces and pat them into patties between your hands until they're about 1/2 inch thick. When the griddle or pan is hot, use enough olive oil to film the bottom and put in as many breads as will fit comfortably without crowding (you will probably have to work in batches). Cook, undisturbed, until they begin to brown around the edges and the tops bubble a bit, about 5 minutes. Then turn and cook the other side until crisp and golden.

Serves 4 to 6

Coming Soon!

Menu Planning 101. Watch for it...

Are You Sick of Squash Yet?

Apparently I'm on a bit of a squash kick. Whether it's pumpkin or squash, I've really been enjoying discovering them over the last month or so. I've discovered versatility that I didn't know was there before- or rather, versatility that I was afraid to try. So when I saw a recipe in the latest issue of Eating Well magazine, it called to me, and I knew I had to make it.

Squash Topped Cottage Pies looked really simple to put together. Essentially, a shepherd's pie, except it was topped with smashed squash instead of potatoes, and I guess technically, shepherd's pie must be made with lamb, while cottage pie is made with beef. This was cottage pie, and I just wasn't sure it was going to work out, I had my doubts, but I plugged ahead anyways.

I started with my squash. The recipe called for frozen squash, but I had fresh, so I needed to prepare it. I peeled and cut my butternut squash into cubes and put in a pan with water, and simply boiled until tender, then drained and mashed, and set it aside.

Next, came the beef mixture. I drifted a bit from the directions for this one. First of all, it called for garlic powder, and I opted to use a clove of fresh garlic instead. And secondly, I had these gorgeous red bell peppers in the fridge, I decided to add about 1/2 cup of chopped bell pepper as well. I sweated the onions a bit, then added the garlic and bell pepper, and then added the beef to brown. Once all browned, I added the flour and tomato paste, followed by the beef broth and some seasonings. After it thickened, I added several good handfuls of chopped baby spinach and salt and pepper. I didn't use as much spinach as called for, because Abigail doesn't like spinach cooked-loves it raw in a salad, but I wonder if it's a texture thing for her cooked.

Anyway, next I went to get my ramekins out, and only then did I remember that I'd broken one a while back, so I only had three instead of four, and then sine I also figured the kids wouldn't eat that much, I decided to make one big cottage pie instead of several little ones. I cooked it a little longer than called for then, but overall, it was still a fairly quick dish to put together. Had I started with frozen or already-cooked squash, it would have been much faster. Since I had plenty of time, I certainly didn't mind.

Overall, I loved these. I thought the beef mixture was nicely flavored- but not overwhelming, and it really played off the sweetness of the squash nicely. I would most definitely add the bell pepper and the garlic again just the way I did. I should mention though that Andy was ambivalent about the squash as the topping. He didn't think it added to it, but he also didn't think it took away from it. He really liked the beef filling though, but to him, he ate the squash portion because it was there. Zander liked the beef filling, but was careful to remove any traces of other vegetables. Abigail was freaked out by the spinach and basically didn't care for it. I thought it was a great way to use squash, and so much healthier than other versions of cottage pie. I can't quite figure out a good way to make this vegetarian, but I suppose if you like TVP or soy crumbles you could substitute accordingly.

Squash-Topped Cottage Pies
from Eating Well magazine

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
12 ounces 93%-lean ground beef
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
6 ounces baby spinach, chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
2 12-ounce packages frozen winter squash puree, thawed
1/3 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Position rack in upper third of oven; preheat broiler.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, stir in beef, tomato paste and flour, and cook, stirring, until the beef is mostly browned, about 3 minutes. Add broth, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the broth is the consistency of thick gravy, about 4 minutes. Stir in spinach, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder; cook until the spinach is just wilted, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

3. Place squash in a fine-mesh sieve and gently press on it to extract excess liquid. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder. Divide the meat mixture among four 10-ounce broiler-safe ramekins. Top each with about 1/2 cup of the squash. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet. Broil until heated through and bubbling around the edges, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and broil until it is just melted, about 3 minutes more.

Grocery Budget Tools: The Price Book

I thought I'd share more on the grocery budget this week for my Weekend Extra posting. I received a very nice e-mail after my last budget post, sharing a tool that I thought was definitely worth mentioning. I also found that people seem to appreciate any tips on saving a few dollars, so I'll be continuing with my occasional frugal postings.

So, the Price Book. I've read about this many times on different sites about trying to save money, and I've read about it in other books as well. I had been thinking that I never did a price book myself, only as it turns out, I sort of do a reverse price book. Here is how a price book works.

Essentially, you begin with a notebook, or a spreadsheet and a computer if you prefer. On the far left side of a page, you list the grocery items you buy the most (including the correct size, and brand preferred) and then you list in columns, the price of that item at different grocery stores. Here's an example:

Item Mike's Grocery Food Emporium Lilly's Organics

Stewed tomatoes-28 oz $1.09 .89 $1.79
2 pounds carrots $2.29 $2.49 $3.49
1 pound ground beef $2.29 $1.99 $2.99

The idea is then that when it's time for you to do your grocery shopping, you can make your list, dividing it up by store. Obviously, this only works if you live somewhere with grocery shopping options. You also use the sales flyers at this time as well. You can look and see who has the best sales on something, and also, you can check your price book and see if it's a better price than a regular price somewhere else. The person who originally e-mailed me about price books told me that she saved between 30-50% on her groceries by using a price book. That's incredible savings, and right there tells me it's worth trying out!

Obviously, with gas prices being what they are, using a price book is a great way to see if the great deals on the other side of town are worth the gas usage to get there. Lilly's Organics above is an excellent example of this. One or two items on sale certainly wouldn't be worth a 10 minute drive out of the way. But say they're having a super sale, plus you have a few coupons to use as well, you may very well save more money buying more of your groceries there that week. This would also be a great way to take advantage of store savings cards. Several stores around me have member cards where you get an extra discount on some items- occasionally I'll save a lot of money shopping via club cards.

So what did I mean when I say I do a Price Book in reverse? Well, after several trials at different stores, I found the store where I could do my weekly shopping in one store for the least amount of money. So for a long time, when I came home from grocery shopping, I would sit with the receipt and put all the prices into a program I have on my computer for recipe and meal planning. (Mastercook for anyone interested.) I found this was the best way that I could pre-plan a shopping trip and try to keep within my budget. Then, as each week came along, and sales flyers were around, I could check other stores and see if they had a better price on anything, and occasionally I would find it worth a trip to go to a different store to purchase the sale items that week. I've been doing this for so long, that so many things I can just tell you the price. I can look at, say, Wal-Mart at the canned tomatoes and know that the price there is easily 20 cents more than where I shop. It really helps me save money. Of course, this also means that I've definitely noticed that over the last six months literally everything has increased in price. And some things, like cereal boxes, are going up in price, while coming down in size.

I think I need to do a real price book for myself. The spreadsheet is appealing to me because I love to use my computer to organize things like that. But at the same time, I'm a paper person. I love writing in a notebook, and I easily have a dozen different notebooks floating around holding old shopping lists, menu plans, recipes, and random notes and bits. So I think that I would like to do one in a notebook. This way, my list is also portable. I can physically take it with me when I grocery shop, so when something unexpected is on sale, I can check my book and see if it truly is a good deal. I'll have to try giving this a whirl. Maybe in a few months I'll post an update and see how we do. Anyone else have thoughts on a price book? I'd love to hear it!