Meals

An Unseasonably Cold Easter

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We broke a 119 year old record yesterday when the mercury recorded at -1 degrees for April 2nd.  The cold and accompanying snowfalls had cancelled most of the egg hunts in the area.  Our neighborhood had an egg ‘handout’.  It was fun, but not as good as the real thing.  Frugal Boy and I made a giant snowman and other people accessorized it.

Frugal Boy had Spring Break last week and spent most of it at the grandparents house.  He had a fantastic time and even got to visit Lego Land.

Shae, Frugal Girl, and I took advantage of the relative quiet to go out on a date.  Frugal Girl really liked the crab tacos.

Shae made a bunny butt cake for Easter.

Easter was on April 1st this year, so we had fun throwing some April Fool’s pranks into the day.  Red velvet cake anyone?

Grandma and Frugal Boy enjoyed watching the latest Jumanji movie.  Most of the jokes about gender switching flew right over Frugal Boy’s head, but Grandma got a kick out of it.

On Easter morning Frugal Boy was in a bad mood because his sister had a chocolate bunny and he didn’t.

Until he found out that there was one with his name on it.

Frugal Girl did surprisingly well finding easter eggs and putting them in a basket.

I made up a simple bone-in ham for lunch.

After lunch Frugal Boy did a little easter egg hunt outside.

And it started to snow again.  We ended up getting about 3″.

With our tummies full and the snow flying outside it was the perfect time to take a snooze.

But not too long!

A huge thank you to the grandparents for taking Frugal Boy for the week and doing so many cool activities with him.  Also a big thank you to everyone that brought side dishes for Easter.  Yum yum!

Rainbow Fruit Cups

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Another year and another year of school birthday treats, holiday parties, and misc other celebrations.  Every parent wants to be fun and bring something sweet but it starts to really add up when there are 10-30 kids in a class.  Cookies, cakes, donuts, candies, brownies, and more just keep showing up week after week and it is the kids that unknowingly suffer.  They fill up on the empty calories and then crash hard later on.  Then there is the palate that is being developed and reinforced by this kind of environment.  A palate that will stick with an individual for a potential lifetime.  Can we spell obesity epidemic?

Alright, so now that I have firmly established myself as the party pooper, what are the alternatives?

This year I decided to make rainbow fruit cups for Frugal Boy’s class treat.  They are healthy, simple, and attractive!

Pick up a variety of different colored fruits.  I used strawberry (red), mandarins (orange), pineapple (yellow), grapes (green), and blueberries (blue).

If you have a little helper, they can pick the stems off the grapes and peel mandarins while you cut the pineapple and strawberries.  I used small clear plastic cups as the containers.  You could use bigger cups for adult celebrations such as bridal parties and the like.

Homemade Ravioli

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This morning while Frugal Boy was napping, we broke out our pasta roller and ravioli maker gadgets to try our hand at making homemade ravioli.  Both were recent gifts and since we love pasta, especially ravioli, we determined that it was time to put them to use.

Technically, we had already made an attempt on Thursday, one that ended in complete failure.  There are a lot of different recipes for a basic egg pasta and the first one that we followed had to be salvaged into wide lasagna noodles.  After a couple of days and some advice from Peter Pasta’s youtube videos, we tried a different, simpler recipe.

Voila, super easy and beautiful looking ravioli!

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The little squares are text book perfect. 😀

IMG_5276We used a basic ricotta, mozzarella, and Italian seasoning filling.  The booklet that came with the attachments had some delicious sounding recipes that we will have to try out in the future.

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You can either cook, refrigerate, or freeze your finished ravioli after making them.  Ours are sitting in the refrigerator and we’ll boil them up for dinner tonight.

Our dough recipe was extremely simple.

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 eggs
  • water

Dump the flour and eggs into a mixer.  Use the flat beater to mix the ingredients together.  One of our mistakes the first time was we tried to use the dough hook.  Finally, add in water as needed to get to the right consistency.  There should be small clumps/flakes and if you squeeze it in your hand, it should not fall apart.

Peter Pasta’s spaghetti video shows how to make the perfect egg pasta dough in preparation for ravioli.

He skips the dough preparation in his ravioli video (marketing his brand of pre-prepared dough mix).

I did some back of the envelope calculations and our homemade ravioli is about 1/2 to 3/5 the price of store bought.  The filling is easily the most expensive part.  If you make and eat a LOT of ravioli, these attachments might be frugal.  One thing is for sure, they are super fun!  We’re already thinking of all the different types of fillings and doughs that we can make.

  • Pumpkin-Sage Ravioli with Browned Butter and Pecans
  • Salmon Cream Cheese Ravioli with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce
  • Chicken, Pine Nut, and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Traditional Red Sauce
  • Spinach and Mushroom Ravioli with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

Bon appétit!

 

What’s For Dinner? 11/17/2013

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Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Meatball Nirvana w/ steamed corn and garlic bread

Meatball NirvanaWhile planning meals for this week, meatballs sounded fulfilling.  Usually, I try to cook them on the stovetop and it always ends in disappointment.  This time, I followed a baked recipe and was very pleased with the results.  I didn’t dice my onion quite well enough but other than that, these were some of the best meatballs I have ever made.

Balsamic Roasted Pork Loin

Here is a new recipe for us to try out.  I will probably pair it with mashed potatoes and some kind of green vegetable to add color to the dish.

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

My first reaction when hearing about this recipe was to serve it with white rice, but I think noodles, in particular Lo Mein, would actually go better with it.

Snack Food…

Homemade Cheese ball, Apples, and Bananas

Grab some crackers and cut off a bit of a cheese ball and voila, perfect snack food.  The only problem is that store packaged cheese balls around here are expensive.  For example, Kroger offers a 10 oz version for $4 and that is when it is on sale!  Tonight we tried making our own for the very first time.  We didn’t bother trying to form it into a ball and decoratively coat it with nuts like the picture so elegantly displays.  Ours is more of a dip/spread sitting in the mixing bowl.  What it lacks in appearance, it makes up for in cost competitiveness.  After taste testing, the cream cheese to cheese ratio seems a bit high.

What’s For Dinner? 11/3/2013

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Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Cavatini with Apple Pie å la mode

Cavatini

 

This was the recipe I was thinking of last week.  If you like pizza you’ll love this casserole because it is essentially pizza casserole.

3 c uncooked pasta (tri-color rotini or something with lots of surface area for sauce)
4 oz sliced mushrooms
4 oz sliced and quartered pepperoni (a stick/log not the pre-sliced stuff)
1/2 c black olives sliced
3/4 c sliced green pepper
1 med onion chopped
15 oz spagetti sauce
6 oz tomato paste
8 oz tomato sauce
1 c shredded cheese (any variety of your choosing)
Cook and drain the pasta. Add all other ingredients to the pasta and combine well. Throw into a casserole dish and cover with foil. Bake until bubbling @ 350 degrees ~ 20-30 min. Remove foil and top with 2 c shredded mozzarella. Return to oven and bake until cheese is melted.
Shae made a special Apple pie for me as dessert.  I do love apple pie!
Tuna Salad

This basic noodle, tuna, mayo, and relish dish is a breeze to make.  It can really hit the spot sometimes as well.  If you find it too bland or boring it is easy to add spices or ingredients to kick it up a notch.

Sausage & Sauerkraut with Pierogis

Here is another uber simple recipe.  Slice up 2-4 ropes of sausage and throw into a pan.  Add a jar or bag of sauerkraut and heat up.  If you’d like to make a more advanced version, then add bits of bacon, apples, and some brown sugar to the mixture.  Serve the whole thing piping hot with your lederhosen on.  Pierogis make a nice side dish.  Steamed peas add some color and nutrition to round out the meal.  What is your favorite homemade ethnic food?

Shrimp Po Boys with Tater Tots and steamed veggies

This is a new dish that we have never made before.  I have not decided on a specific recipe to follow but there are several if you search the internet.  This Louisiana staple is made or broken by quality bread.  At least that is what I gathered from reading online sources.  Hopefully our 79¢ manager’s special Hoagie Rolls pass the mustard.

Snack Food…

Crackers & Cheese, Cottage Cheese, Bananas

Bananas are 59¢/lb at our local grocery store.  Cottage cheese is still a popular craving in the household.  Bagels have also been making an appearance to hold over empty stomachs until mealtime.