Grocery Life

Both this week and last week we've gone over on groceries.  We've had to stock up on basics like flour and oil and we've been hosting a teen sized guest for the last few months on the weekends, so our eggs and milk disappear a little faster.   We have an entertainment budget, $100 a month, to be used on food and alcohol when having guests, which helps monetarily but doesn't simplify our budget. Things do tend to get a little mixed.  My nephew may have a peanut butter sandwich from our normal food budget, but we used taco Tuesday's left over sour cream from the entertainment budget for Saturday's normal budget coffee cake.  

I'm also saving up the entertainment budget for Thanksgiving, which I'm hosting, so I should be pinching pennies but regardless, I'm pretty sure the food budget will settle down and even out by the end of the year.  There's always a lot of eating out and parties, so I'm sure we will catch up.  

This weeks groceries: $55 

Budget: $25 weekly per person 

Last weeks groceries: $70. 

So as you can see, we are at least $25 dollars short in our grocery budget endeavor. $33.00 short to be exact.  

Daily Latte

Even before the strict $50 a week budget started, I've always wished for but couldn't justify a daily latte.  I do budget $25 a month for Starbucks and I try to save it for days I'm working all night or at 5 am, but that money doesn't equal very many cups of coffee, and even less much more expensive lattes.  

So in came my at home latte making equipment.  By definition, this is technically closer to a misto, or cafe au lait (half coffee, half milk) then a latte (shots of espresso and steamed milk) because I'm not pulling shots of espresso or steaming any milk, but it solves my desires for a latte so completely, I prefer it to Starbucks.  

Equipment:

I love my Bella kettle because it's beautiful and functional.  

I keep a coffee grinder because the fancy coffee shops in San Francisco will not sell you pre-ground coffee.  

I am obsessed, yes, obsessed with my capresso milk frother because it heats my milk up to a perfect temperature without me having to babysit it (stovetop) or cleanup it up when it boils over (microwave). 

Single serve French coffee press.  Because, who doesn't love a bodum coffee press?  

Mug with my initial.  A definite yes for anyone.  

Process:

Flip switch on kettle

Pour milk into frother/warmer

Grind coffee

Pour coffee into French press, use what you would use for a full cup of black coffee.  

Pour hot water over grinds, just enough to saturate grinds. 

Let grinds brew for about 3 minutes.  

Pour everything into a mug and drink contentedly.  

Time from start to finish? Less time then it takes to run to Starbucks.  

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

What does one eat for breakfast when there is no milk, eggs, potatoes, tortillas, bread, or cottage cheese? 

There are days of budgeting when I do open my fridge and wonder what on earth I can create out of a half limp carrot, and onion and a lime.  So far it has always worked out, we haven't starved or even eaten very poorly.  In the worst of times it's dinner of sides, but it's always usually tasty and generally nutritious.  

This morning I opened my fridge four times before remembering I had an apple, which made me think about oatmeal.  I prefer milk in my oatmeal (cream, really) and so I just doused it in brown sugar (more than what is pictured) and it was quite good. No starving, necessary.  

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal 

One small apple diced finely

1/2 cup oatmeal (not instant)

1 pinch* of cinnamon

1 pinch* of McCormick valencia orange peel

1 pinch* of salt 

1 cup water

Add all ingredients to a small pot and cook over medium for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Top with brown sugar and cream (if you have some, yum!).  

*pinch- can vary in size.  Always less then 1/4 teaspoon which is my smallest measuring instrument.  Usually bigger then a dash.  

It's a Pasta Kind of Week

When I'm traveling for work, it's extremely hard to stay on a budget. Most of the budget just goes to taxis because I'm forever missing the free shuttle.  So when I can, I bring food from home.  I try to bring the things The Mister won't cook or eat himself.  (You would judge me if you heard my, currently, still ineffective lecture on eating the remaining lettuce in our fridge.)

This week I packed tomatoes, cabbage and peanut butter.   Pumpkin peanut butter.  Yes.  Pumpkin.  Then I went to the store in New York and bought basil, Parmesan and pasta with the money a crazy lady threw at me on my Cancun flight, and today I made pasta.  

This pasta tastes like the smell of a garden.   Its fresh and tomatoey.  It's glorious.  I wanted to make pesto but didn't have garlic or lemon, so this was the result.  

Tomato Basil Pasta

1 box thin spaghetti 

5 very ripe tomatoes 

1 bunch of basil

1/4-1/2 cup olive oil (less for more juicy tomatoes)

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

Boil spaghetti according to package directions until al dente. 

Blend all ingredients except salt and pepper until thick soup consistency. Taste and salt. 

Toss sauce onto hot, drained noodles and mix. The Parmesan will help the sauce thicken and cling to the noodles.  

To serve top with black pepper (course is best!) and a bit of cheese if you have left overs.  

Chilled Oatmeal with Strawberry Compote and Creme Anglaise

The Rules
One of the goals of our budget eating is to make extra and freeze one and refrigerate one of whatever is leftover.  The other day I applied this principle to breakfast.  I was making oatmeal with strawberry compote and creme anglaise sauce and I decided to make the oatmeal thick and serve the rest cold, as a leftover.  I was able to pack up three extra breakfast portions and I now don't have to deal with breakfast for a day or two. 

The Inspiration
I have tried the overnight refrigerator oats recipes cruising around Pinterest with limited success, but I've always like cold oatmeal.  Even as a kid, I would eat my peach instant Quaker Oats with cold milk instead of microwaving it.  Now that I have been working on a certain airlines "Mint class" airplane, one of the perks is eating the food specially designed by Saxon and Parole, a New York restaurant.  They often offer a cold oatmeal with a fruit compote and creamy sauce.  I can't claim any originality to any of this, but I highly recommend you try it. 

The Recipe

Chilled Oatmeal with Strawberry Compote and Creme Anglaise
The Strawberry Compote
1 1/2 cups of strawberries, cleaned and diced
1/2 cup of water
1/4 of white sugar
2 tsp of corn starch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom

Boil all ingredients together mashing strawberries with a fork as they soften, adding more water if compote seems too thick or begins to burn.  Don't worry if the strawberries still seem tart, they should be to counter the sweet and creamy creme anglaise. 

The Creme Anglaise
I used this recipe for the creme anglaise because it used milk, an ingredient I readily had on hand, and it has less calories then cream or half and half.  It was excellent with the oatmeal.  I also halved the recipe making it the perfect amount for the four portions of oatmeal.  (I also didn't ice bath my creme anglaise, because I'm lazy and it cooled perfectly while I made my oatmeal.)

The Oatmeal
Prepare Oatmeal, following package directions, for 4 people, using whole milk, instead of water.
Steel cut oats are my personal favorite, but I've also tried instant.

Put it Together
Top Oatmeal with strawberry compote and creme anglaise.  Add nuts if you have some on hand (Candied Walnuts!).  Eat it warm, then dish up the left overs to eat cold the next day.

Necessary Ingredients
Strawberries
Sugar
Corn Starch
Cinnamon
Cardamom
Milk
Oatmeal
Egg Yolks
Vanilla
Nuts (Optional!)

 

Two People, Fifty Dollars

Two people, fifty dollars.  That's our weekly grocery budget.

After taking a finance class that asked the question "On what do you spend your money and time?" My husband and I decided we spend too much money on food.  And with that, I now spend much more time on food.  Cooking it, planning it out, bemoaning a meal of three sides.... 

The Rules
The goal is to purchase the basics, milk, bread, eggs, cheese, butter, potatoes every week.  Purchase on sale fruits and veggies.  Grab a few grains (preferable ancient grains, but pasta and rice once a week is fine with us).  Grab a few beans.  Add a couple treats.  Stock up on a staple.

We also have $100 a month to spend on food for entertaining and social activities.  So far I've spent $25, but Easter is approaching and I will be in charge of desserts.

This Week
This week I spent $20 dollars at Target and $35 at Safeway, going over by $5.  I had planned to put back the blue cheese after I found out the cost, or the salsa because I'm the only one who eats it but as I was choosing potatoes in the produce section, two customers ran out the back door of my ultra classy neighborhood Safeway with a cart of groceries, and as I was checking out, the security guard was explaining to the checker that the customer who stole the groceries, was the same guy from last week, and how he caught him, and I was engrossed in the story and forgot to put back the cheese or salsa and then I felt ashamed to ask the checker to take it off the bill, so the overage will come out of my fun money.  I'm going to need to invite someone over for blue cheese salads to get the money back from my entertainment fund.  :-) 

The Recipe
I buy a lot of my olive oils and vinegars from Marshalls and occasionally go to a shmanchy olive oil store in SF called "Olive this, Olive that".  My favorite thing there is the walnut-cranberry balsamic.  It's sweet and rich and nutty and I love it mixed with walnut oil and fruit (pears and apples especially) for a breakfast salad.  Given the price of oils and balsamics, one would assume it's not a budget food item, but a little goes a long way and the right oils and vinegars make even the most simple food, special. 

Sweet Walnut Salad
Lettuce (Mescalin mixes or butter lettuce works well.)
1 ounce of blue cheese
1 ounce of candied walnuts
1/4 red apple, thinly sliced or diced
Thin drizzle of walnut oil
Thin drizzle of cranberry-walnut balsamic
Salt and pepper to taste