Thrifty Thursday - Meatless Meals

I have a husband who loves eating meat, but the more meat that goes in the grocery cart, the higher the grocery bill. On occasion, for the sake of a dollar, I'll try to sneak in a meatless meal that will still satisfy his carnivorous needs. My favorite meatless recipe is from Jessica Seinfeld found at Oprah.com. I really like the opportunities to use healthy substitutes, like whole-grain noodles and low-fat cheeses.

Vegetarian Crock-Pot Lasagna
Serves 6

Ingredients

3 cans (14.4 oz.) crushed tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 T dried oregano

1/2 t kosher salt

1/4 t red pepper flakes

1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

2 containers (15 oz. each) fresh ricotta

2 C (8 oz.) grated mozzarella

1/4 C grated Parmesan

12 lasagna noodles (about three-quarters of a 1 lb. box)

5 oz. (about 6 C) baby spinach

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, garlic, oregano, salt, red pepper and black pepper. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, 1 cup of the mozzarella and Parmesan.

In the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, spread a thin layer of the sauce. Top with 3 of the noodles (breaking to fit, as necessary). Spread about 1 cup of the sauce over the noodles and layer with 2 cups of the spinach and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese mixture. Repeat twice more with the noodles, sauce, spinach and cheese mixture. Top with the remaining 3 noodles, sauce and 1 cup mozzarella.

Cook on low, covered, until the noodles are tender—especially in the center of the lasagna—about 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

Read comments and reviews here.

Did you know going meatless even one day a week can help reduce your risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity? It also can help reduce your carbon footprint. A way to ease into meatless meals is to try having Meatless Mondays. Read about the movement, get recipes ideas and more at meatlessmonday.com.

Would you consider incorporating meatless meals, or do you already?

Photo via. 

Raisin Cream Pie

Last September, Jeff asked me to make a raisin cream pie. I'd never eaten a slice of one before, let a lone made one, so I found a recipe in my favorite cookbook and whipped one up. It was delicious. Since then, I've made at least six more to share with family and friends, and they're always a hit.

It's not a hard pie to make, it just takes time. Here's the recipe, along with a few tips for pie-baking success.

Filling

Ingredients:
1 Baked Pastry Shell (see below)
4 eggs
2/3 C sugar
1/3 C cornstarch
2 1/2 C half and half
1 T butter
1 C raisins
1/2 C sour cream
1 recipe Four Egg White Meringue (see below)

Directions:
1. Prepare baked pastry shell. Separate egg yolks from whites; set aside for meringue.
2. For filling, in a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in half and half. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly; reduce heat. Cook and stir for two minutes more. Remove from heat. Slightly beat egg yolks. Gradually stir about 1 cup of the hot filling into the yolks. Add egg yolk mixture to filling in saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir for two minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, vanilla, raisins and sour cream. Keep filling warm; prepare meringue. (Keeping the filling warm is important - it will help your meringue to not weep)
3. Pour warm filling into Baked Pastry Shell. Spread meringue over warm filling; seal to edge. (Make sure the meringue completely covers the filling and makes a nice seal with the crust. This will help the meringue to not shrink) Bake in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 1 hour. Chill 3 to 6 hours before serving; cover for longer storage.

Baked Pastry Shell

Roll out your crust and place it in your pie pan. Prick bottom and sides with a fork. Line pastry with a double thickness of foil (this keeps it from shrinking). Bake in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 5 to 6 minutes more or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Four Egg White Meringue

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
1 t vanilla
1/2 t cream of tartar
1/2 C sugar

Directions:
1. Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. In a large mixing bowl (copper, glass or stainless steel work best) combine egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until soft peaks form.
2. Gradually add the sugar, 1 T at a time, beating on high speed about 4 minutes more or until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks.
3. Immediately spread meringue over hot pie filling, carefully sealing the edge to prevent shrinking.

More tips for perfect meringue:
1. Be sure to use the size bowl called for by your recipe. Also, make sure your electric beaters are clean.
2.Start gradually adding sugar as soon as soft peaks form.
3. After adding all of the sugar, continue beating until stiff peaks form and all of the sugar is dissolved (rub a little of the meringue between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth). Under beaten whites may cause meringue to shrink.
4. To prevent beading (the fine drops of moisture that form on the meringue surface), avoid over-baking the meringue.
5. To prevent weeping (the watery layer that forms between the meringue and filling), spoon meringue onto piping hot filling to help the underside of the meringue cook at the same rate as the top surface. Don't under bake meringue.

The 17 Day Diet - Day One

I'm halfway through the first day of the diet and I'm not starving yet! Since I'm home sick today, I'm going to switch up my dinner tonight to Chicken-Vegetable Soup.

Ingredients:

• 4 baked chicken breasts, diced into small chunks (I'm going to boil them and shred them in my stand mixer instead)
• 1 1/2 C cabbage, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1 cup okra
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large celery stalks with leaves, chopped
• 1 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 14 oz. can fat-free chicken broth
• 1 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper

Place all ingredients, except chicken, in a large pan and simmer for one hour or until vegetables are soft. Add in chicken and heat thoroughly. Makes 4 servings. 

Here's tomorrow's menu:

Breakfast:

• 6 oz. plain, low-fat yogurt, mixed with 1 cup of berries.
• 1 cup green tea

Lunch:

• Super Salad (large salad with a generous bed of greens and salad vegetables - tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, celery, etc,. drizzled with 1 T olive oil and 2 tablespoons vinegar of your choice)
• 1 cup green tea

Dinner:

• Leftover Chicken-Vegetable Soup
• 1 cup green tea

Snacks:

• 6 oz. sugar-free, fruit-flavored yogurt or one cup plain low-fat yogurt, sweetened with Truvia or a tablespoon of sugar-free fruit jam
• 1 serving of fruit

Starting weight: 158.4
Current weight: 158.4

X-Rated Fizzy Drink

I love trying new drinks and making up concotions with different liqueurs. One favorite I keep coming back to though, is X-Rated Fusion Liqueur. It really is as girly as it sounds. Its a mix of blood orange, mango and passion fruit flavors. Here's my favorite recipe using it (I use "recipe" very loosely ... technically I just pour in what looks right to me - it'll probably taste good no matter what you do).

Pour in a little Red Bull.

Pour in a lot of booze.

Fill the glass with club soda.

And, voila! Delicious drink.

Simple Caramel Custards

It's been a long time since I've made custard, but I remember really liking it. When I saw this recipe in Martha Stewart Magazine I decided to try making it again. There are only a few ingredients, and I already had everything I needed in the house.

Caramel Custards

Ingredients

• 1/3 c sugar
• 1/4 c plus 1 tablespoon water
• 3/4 c whole milk
• 1/4 c heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
• Coarse salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat sugar and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat, swirling occasionally, until deep amber, about 7 minutes. Carefully whisk in milk and cream.*
2. Whisk together yolks, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Let the milk mixture cool a little.** Slowly pour caramel-milk mixture into yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Skim any bubbles from the top. Divide evenly among four 6-ounce ramekins.
3. Set ramekins in a 9-inch square baking dish. Pour boiling water into dish to come a third of the way up sides of ramekins. Bake until custards are just set but jiggle slightly, 27 to 30 minutes. Remove from water using tongs. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Whipped Cream

Ingredients

• 1 c heavy cream
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 T confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Beat in vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Make sure not to over-beat, cream will then become lumpy and butter-like.

My first attempt at boiling sugar and water was a disaster. I set the temperature too high and didn't pay enough attention. The recipe said boil for about seven minutes on medium-high heat. Well, that's a crock. In five minutes I came back to a pot of black, boiling caramel with heavy, burnt-sugar-smelling smoke rolling out of it. Really, I think I should quit my day job and just become a professional chef.

After opeing all the windows and turning on all the fans, I tried again. This time I used medium heat and didn't take my eyes off if it. Perfection!

The second batch was going much better. Here it's still too light. The recipe said cook until it's deep amber.

I mixed the eggs, vanilla, and sea salt while waiting.

Deep amber if I've ever seen it.

*When I dumped in the cold milk into the hot caramel, the caramel solidified, and frankly, it about scared the crap out of me. I just wasn't expecting it, and I thought I screwed the recipe up again. Eventually it melted and all was well.

*The original recipe should tell you to let the hot milk mixture to cool a little ... I didn't think about it until I dumped a little in and a couple little lumps of cooked egg appeared. Bummer.

Apparently I have the biggest ramekins ever made. I had to use two water-filled baking pans to fit them in.

I had leftover egg whites, so I made white scrambled eggs. They looked weird, but tasted about the same.

While the custards were cooling, I made whipped cream to help use up the rest of the heavy whipping cream. 

And ta-da! Yummy little caramel custard with homemade whipped cream! Even with the few lumps of cooked egg, they were really good.

Homemade Apple Pie

The first of Jeff's birthdays we spent together, I made him a homemade apple pie as his gift (I didn't know him very well and figured baked goods were a safe and delicious option). I used my mom's recipe and wooed him with my baking skills. It's probably why he kept calling. Lesson learned - when you need a gift for a man, cook.

His birthday is tomorrow. This year I kept the tradition alive and made him another apple pie.

Ingredients:

Crust

1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts (because I don't have a rolling pin)

Filling

8 medium Jonathan apples

1 C sugar

3 heaping T flour

1 t cinnamon

1/8 t nutmeg

1 T vanilla

1) Preheat oven to 340 degrees.

2) Peel, core, and slice apples (don't put the peelings down your garbage disposal*).

3) Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

4) The easiest way to quickly and evenly coat the apples in the sugar mixture is to put all the apples in a (hole-free, doubled-up**) plastic grocery bag, add the sugar mixture, blow air in the bag, twist the top with lots of air left in it, and shake!

5) Lay the crust in your pie pan.

6) Fill with coated apples.

7) Sprinkle the vanilla evenly over the apples.

8) Lay the top crust over apples, and pinch together with the bottom crust (my mom makes a much prettier "pinch" than I do).

9) Using a fork, poke a few air holes in the top crust (my mom always made them in the shape of an apple or our initials).

10) Sprinkle sugar over the top of the pie crust.

11) Bake at 340 degrees for 80 minutes (cooking it slow works best for perfect crust). It's not a bad idea to put a foil-lined cookie sheet underneath it to catch the drips.

12) Enjoy! It's best served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

* I clogged the drain with the apple peelings and Jeff had to take the whole thing apart. Happy birthday to him right? At least he was rewarded with pie.

** I didn't check my bag very well - there was a hole. Cinnamon and sugar exploded in my kitchen. My floor is still sticky ...

Now that you're super impressed with how well I did – you should know the pie turned out great, and the drain clog and sugar clean-up was well worth it.

Thrifty Thursday

Jeff and I love good food.  Most nights I'll spend time preparing a nice meal, but that doesn't mean it can't be fast, easy and inexpensive. We're constantly inventing recipes and trying new things, but I have a few go-to meals when we just want something easy or when the budget is tight. None of these are gourmet by any means, but they always hit the spot.

Macaroni and cheese with hot dogs - Dinner for two under $2! We stock up on mac & cheese and hot dogs when they're on sale (usually we can get a box for around 30 cents!). Boxed macaroni stores well in the pantry, and you can freeze hot dogs. Many times I'll double the recipe so we both have lunch the next day.

Chili dogs - They're easy to prepare and you can make eight chili dogs for under $5!

Tuna Casserole - egg noodles, canned tuna, cream of mushroom and frozen peas are all inexpensive. You can make a giant casserole for around $5!

Goulash - I always loved when my grandma made goulash, now I understand why she made it so often - lots of food for little money. All you need is a pound of ground beef (we normally use ground turkey), macaroni noodles, canned diced tomatoes, frozen corn, canned tomato sauce, spices and voila! All of those ingredients are things I buy when they're on sale and I can keep on hand.

My best friend Lynna recently told me about Iowa Girl Eats (It’s a good blog, go check it out). Earlier this month she posted about cooking on a budget. It’s a detailed breakdown of ways to save money on meals. If you’re looking for more ways to cut food costs, check out her post here.

(Photo via Kraft)

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Fall gives me an overwhelming desire to bake (especially pumpkin flavored things), so Sunday I made a pumpkin cheesecake. My mom makes the best cheesecake in the world so even though I was following Paula Deen's recipe, I used a few of her tricks. It turned out great!

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (just crush of the three sleeves that comes in a box)
• 3 T light brown sugar
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

• 3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 (15oz) can pureed pumpkin
• 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 c sour cream
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t pumpkin pie spice
• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1 t vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place in oven for 70 minutes. Remove from the oven (cheesecake will be very jiggly) and let sit until cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Get Paula’s recipe here. Watch Paula’s video here.

Pumpkin Spice for the Thrifty

About this time each year I start getting super excited for fall. Yes, the cooler temperatures are nice, but mostly, I just need to satisfy my year-long craving for a pumpkin spice latte.

Jeff and I walked by Starbucks the other day, and saw the pumpkin spice latte sign (thank you, Jesus!). Then he looks over and says, "You're gonna have a $35 Starbucks bill this week, aren't you?"

"No! Maybe ...," I said in an ashamed voice.

Well, I decided to make my husband (and wallet) happy by making a homemade version of my fall favorite.

Ingredients:

1 t vanilla

2 T sugar

1 C milk

1/4 t pumpkin pie spice

1.5 oz espresso (I used 1/4 C strong coffee)

Optional ingredient (for the morning drinker):

1 jigger whipped-cream-flavored vodka

Directions:

1. Brew your strong coffee or espresso.

2. In a small pan, combine vanilla, sugar, milk, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved.

3. Pour coffee and milk mixture into mug

4. Add vodka, if desired (I'll never tell if I added it to mine at 9 a.m. or not) (OK, I did. So what, who cares?).

It wasn't exactly the same as Starbucks, but it was close and just as delicious. The best part was already having the ingredients in the house. Instead of about $5, it was basically free!

(Mug from PotteryBarn)