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Every once in awhile, the vegetable drawer in my fridge fills up and things start to get a little wilty looking. You know the sight: the middle stalks of celery that you always thought you would use, the leftover mushrooms that are getting shriveled, the bits of herbs that are left because you only needed a pinch out of the whole bunch for the last recipe.
When this epidemic hits my veggie bin, I bust out the stockpot and make a “Clean out the Fridge Soup.” When my kids were little, one of our favorite bedtime stories was “Stone Soup,” so I let them each choose a veggie out of the bin and “help” (hahahahahaha) me prep it and then I let them add it to the pot. The kids loved to tell all their friends we were having “Stone Soup” for dinner!
SPRING CLEANING SOUP, a.k.a. CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE SOUP, a.k.a. STONE SOUP
12 cups diced vegetables
2 tablespoons butter or oil
Water to cover vegetables in pot (about 8 cups)
A few bouillon cubes, to taste
One 6 ounce can tomato paste*
Herbs to taste
A little Worcestershire sauce or cayenne pepper sauce, if desired
Garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste
Saute the vegetables that will need the most cooking (i.e. potatoes, celery root, etc.) first in the oil for a few minutes. Add in onions, garlic and any other aromatics. Saute until everything is slightly softened.
Add in rest of ingredients. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer until all veggies are softened. (I usually simmer for about an hour.)
*You can substitute leftover marinara sauce here, if you have some left in your fridge, about 1 cup.
– posted by Donna
Written by Anne on May 29, 2009 in Entrees, Frugal Tips
We promise we’ll get back to the recipes next posting (by Sunday). But I’ve been wanting to share this excellent article for a while now. frugaldad weighs in on how the budget affects the kitchen, and how to stay healthy as well as frugal, in “Help! The Recession is Making Me Fat!” An excerpt:
As more and more Americans look for ways to save money on groceries I imagine we will see a steady rise in obesity rates, already high relative to the rest of the world. I’m one to talk. I’ve been guilty of slashing the food budget and eating cheap things at each meal like cereals, boxed noodles and rices, etc. and have seen my own waistline expand.
After discussing things with my wife we have agreed that we should continue to spend a little more for quality foods and look for other places to sacrifice. Being the frugal person I am, I still look for deals, even on high-quality food items, and use a couple strategies to keep costs down.
He makes a lot of the points we’ve been going on about, like reducing the amount of meat in your diet, and gives some ideas we’ve never thought of, like shaking off your produce before placing it in the bag (hey, every cent counts – why pay for excess water?), and some things we’re planning to cover more in the future, like gardening.
Be sure to read the comments, too! Enjoy.
– posted by Anne
Written by Anne on May 27, 2009 in Healthy Fare
Something a little different on the blog today: A new documentary is coming out that has the potential to be the “Inconvenient Truth” for the food industry: “Food, Inc.” I’m pleased to see that both Michael Pollan (author of the essential “In Defense of Food” and “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”) and Eric Schlosser (of “Fast Food Nation”) are involved!
Watch the trailer here:
Looks very promising indeed!
– posted by Anne
Written by Donna on May 25, 2009 in Healthy Fare
Most cuisines in the world have a dish similar to this one – Americans call them “hash browns,” and Jewish cooks call them “latkes,” but the Swiss really take the prize with their “rösti” by adding their delicious salty, flavorful Gryuere cheese and a little green onion. Gruyere is a spendy cheese, so I cut the amount to 2 ounces and froze the rest of the 8 ounce block I had. This turned out to be serendipitous – the small amount of cheese still added tons of flavor, but wasn’t so oily as if I had added the whole block!
This superb potato dish is a bit tricky to get just right. There are two secrets to cooking a good Rösti: be sure to squeeze as much water as humanly possible from the grated potatoes to ensure a crispy outside and fluffy inside, and be patient and attentive to create just the right crunchiness on both sides of the Rösti.
SPRING VEGGIE RÖSTI
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled
1 tablespoon salt
2 ounces grated Gruyere cheese
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced, tops included
A handful of frozen peas
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Grate the potatoes on the large holes of a box grater. Rinse grated potatoes well in cold water and place in a bowl and toss with salt. Let stand 5 minutes. Rinse again and spread on a kitchen towel. Place another towel on top and then press with hands, removing as much water as possible. Toss potatoes with cheese, all vegetables and flour.
Heat a large heavy bottomed skillet (such as cast iron) to medium high heat. Add butter and let melt, coating bottom of pan. Add potato mixture evenly on bottom of pan, spreading to form about 1/2 inch layer. Immediately reduce heat to low.
Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until bottom is becoming golden brown and crispy on bottom and top is looking opaque. Slide entire contents of pan out onto a cutting board, keeping entire disc intact. Carefully flip disc over with a large spatula, facing down in pan. Cook other side for another 5 to 8 minutes, until golden brown and crispy on bottom.
Serve immediately in wedges with a dollop of sour cream if desired.
– posted by Donna
Written by Anne on May 22, 2009 in Frugal Tips
One of the best things you can do for your wallet (as well as your diet, actually) is to start making use of bulk foods. Even at Whole Foods, sometimes referred to not-so-affectionately as “Whole Paycheck”, the bulk section is an infinitely more frugal way to shop. The savings are incredible – not to mention the fact that along with not paying for packages and marketing, you’re also taking one such package out of a landfill. Frugal AND green!
But it’s not only your budget and your carbon footprint that will benefit – using dried beans instead of canned, for example, improves the quality of your cooking dramatically. Try it, you’ll see! And it’s not just beans, it’s pasta, grains, flours, other baking supplies, nuts, nut butters, dried fruits, granolas, cereals, teas, herbs, even soup and meal mixes, the list goes on and on.
If you’ve never investigated this before – check it out! I’m always looking for ways to improve my pantry efficiency, and the bulk department can be an excellent foundation for this.
Lo, I have discovered the World’s Easiest HEALTHY Casserole. I found it in La Dolce Vegan, a fabulous cookbook, and tweaked it a bit (added garlic and smoked paprika, changed the other seasoning amounts, but that’s it). Behold:
3/4 cup dried red lentils
3/4 cup brown rice
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable stock
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated parmesan, soy parmesan, or nutritional yeast (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients BUT cheese in large casserole dish. Stir, cover and bake for and hour and a half, stirring once halfway through. If using cheese, sprinkle on top. DONE!
It does take a while to bake but it’s totally inactive time. It’s a perfect pantry raid dish too! This is all stuff I have on hand 99% of the time; the only fresh produce you need is onions and garlic, and I’m good about keeping stocked on those (it helps that they don’t go bad for quite a while). If you don’t have smoked paprika, regular would be fine, and if you don’t have fresh garlic, I think powder would work here – in other words, it’s very open to experimentation and substitution. Go nuts! Then kick your feet up until it’s ready.
– posted by Anne
