July 9, 2008
There is something about eggs that make people really picky about how they want them cooked. Since blogging means taking photos of stuff you eat, here is my omelet from a few days ago:
And this is my fiancee’s version with the same ingredients:
June 29, 2008
All we’ve got is a 10′x10′ deck and a tiny patch of grass that doesn’t see sun, so growing our own food is pretty limited for now. To get the most yield for our tiny space, I’ve found growing herbs to be the best bet. They’ve come in very handy when making salsas, egg salad, and pasta salads.
This year I decided to be fancy and separate the herbs that don’t need a lot of water (rosemary, lavender) and give them their own pots filled w/sandy soil. The lavender has grown flowers, the first time in the four years I’ve had the plant (most of the time in our kitchen window). In the big wine barrel I have herbs that need about the same amounts of water - cilantro, dill, mint, oregano, chives, and tarragon. I had a little room left so I put in a tomato plant and made a chicken wire cage for it for support and keep critters out. I’ve been fertilizing it every other week w/my old coffee grinds. So far so good.
June 22, 2008
I would like to think that I’m frugal when it comes to food - I make my own granola, salad dressing, and spice mixes. But when it comes to Greek yogurt, I get really picky. I appreciate the nonsweetness and the thickness of the Greek-style yogurt over the watery stuff of conventional grocery store-brand plain yogurt. It’s always been pricey, but damn, Fage’s almost 5$ @Trader Joe’s for the 16 oz. container - not including the bottle of 3$ Chuck you’d need to drown your sorrows after paying that much for frikkin yogurt.
Mambo Sprouts has a 1$ off coupon for Oikos yogurt (made by Stonyfield) - I haven’t tried it yet.
Who knew that yogurt would be a symbol of conspicuous consumption? Yogurt! For people who can afford it! Just like organic food - there are healthy options in the store, but you have to be pretty wealthy to eat that way all the time. I realize the fancy yogurt is a want, not a need, so I decided to do a nutritional comparison:
June 15, 2008
Since we can’t afford Europe I thought I would try to make some food from some UK food magazines I have. The metric measurements throw me off though - sorry, I don’t remember what I learned of metric measures in the 4th grade when we were told that the metric system would take over. I tried Apple’s converter widget, which works for oven temperatures but it doesn’t convert grams to cups. I did find a converter on GourmetSleuth that did the job.
I also have to look up names of ingredients quite a bit. Here’s a glossary, although they left out rocket (arugula), which shows up a lot.
I admit this is a lot of work for getting a recipe for carrot lentil soup, since I have a lot of both to use up, though I’m sure it will be worth it. From what I’ve seen, recipes in European magazines use a lot more Indian and African spices, both of which I love. This is another BBC-affilated food magazine site I like a lot.
June 8, 2008
It’s been oppressively hot this weekend, gas is expensive, and so I have a case of cabin fever. So I’ve been making food for the week today without heating up the kitchen.
I got some sprouted wheat bagels for breakfast this week - fewer calories, more protein. To put on top, I mixed some salted cashews and raspberry jam in w/some cream cheese. This made me think of all the goodness that can be had @the Bagelry in Santa Cruz - I miss my Hum & Egg sandwich in the morning (1/2 hummus, 1/2 killer egg salad) as well as the not-quite-day-olds @6/$1. I googled tofu curry and found this recipe, which is essentially a vegan version of egg salad. Here’s how it turned out:
Next I wanted to emulate a Chipotle steak burrito bowl (we’ve got some steak marinating now for the grill). I found a couple of jalapenos, so I defrosted some corn, added red onion, cilantro from the garden, and juice from 1 lime, and I have a good imitation of Chipotle’s corn salsa:
Lastly, I made some granola on the stovetop - I’ve tried making granola in the oven but the temperature isn’t accurate and it’s gotten burned on me. I started from this recipe, but I made a few deviations to add some pumpkin goodness:
And here’s how the granola turned out (yes, I love me some pumpkin):
June 2, 2008
Being environmentally conscious and all, when I go to coffee shops I always bring my own cup. Most of the time I make my own, but once in a while going to a coffee shop is necessary. They can charge me what they want, they don’t have to rinse it out or anything, just as long as I’m saving a tree.
The cup I use is a halloween-themed Starbucks travel mug I got on clearance. You can barely see the Starbucks logo and it glows in the dark, so @the time I decided it was worth my 5$. Yes I’m aware that the cup costs the same price as the eggnog latte I was getting. I know I advocate being frugal, but the holiday drinks are a weakness of mine from the pumpkin lattes in late August until the Christmas-themed drinks stop. I’m human and I get wicked caffeine headaches.
I was in downtown DC for training last week, and I got there early because I wanted to get to the Metro before parking spaces ran out. So when I got into downtown I had time for a leisurely breakfast, with coffee. There was a Corner Bakery around the corner from where the training was.
Well, when I asked for a coffee @Corner Bakery I was told I couldn’t use my glow-in-the-dark cup for their coffee, that instead I would have to buy one of their travel mugs. So it’s only acceptable to save the planet if the cups have their logo on it, and it didn’t help that the lady @the counter was pulling some major attitude. I’m not trying to steal coffee, so don’t talk to me like I’m some kind of thief. Screw that, I went somewhere else.
It’s a shame since Corner Bakery has tasty breakfasts. Well, they just permanently lost a customer because of their asinine coffee policy.
May 25, 2008
Since I paid $4.90/gallon to fill up my diesel VW last night, I think this week will be the week where we won’t go grocery shopping and just make stuff with whatever we have in the pantry. This may be difficult because, among other things this holiday week, we’re going to someone’s house later and we have to bring something.
Today I’m making my mediterranean pasta salad, the recipe for which changes depending on what we have stocked. Today I will use sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese, a couple cans of tuna, red onion, some mint from the garden, and lemon zest. The tuna and tomatoes are from Costco, where we have been going more for basics. I was a little surprised that they had behemoth jars of sun-dried tomatoes, since my experience with most people @Costco is that folks go there to stock up on junk food and soda.
I love making this for lunch during the week. The best part is that you can eat it cold, and if you use whole-wheat pasta, it’s filling. No nasty office microwave necessary!
It was a hit…
May 18, 2008
I read this article in Consumerist about a coupon queen’s quest to not let food inflation bother her. While this is certainly a noble quest, and I certainly hope that she does her coupon shopping during weekdays when shops are filled with people like me w/day jobs, I still think coupons suck. Here’s why:
If you really want to save money on food, lay off the processed foods and learn how to cook.
May 15, 2008
The Osteria is my and my future husband’s favorite restaurant located in the fancy-pants Whole Foods by our house. All Italian goodness, and a dinner bill under 20$ for two most of the time.
But since the beginning of the year, in the space where the Osteria once stood proudly, Discovery Networks have taken over the space. They have been filming a new cooking show for their Planet Green network w/Emeril hosting. For five frikkin months. Does it really take that long to film a show? I don’t care if a cooking “celebrity” is roaming around my local grocery store, dammit I want my restaurant back!
Anything “green” in major media and now I get suspicious. Why? I was looking up info about an exhibit @National Geographic headquarters in DC and what do I see on the front page of nationalgeographic.com? A banner ad for Hummer! Don’t believe me? Here’s a screenshot. Like Bob Marley said, oba-oba-serving the hi-po-crites.
May 7, 2008
We just got back from eating too much good food in Asheville, NC. I’ve noticed while traveling that a lot of places have many more independent bakeries than where we live now. I think this may be a criterion for finding a new place to live - does the place have a lot of bakeries to choose from? Not just to eat, but to determine if the area is friendly to small businesses.
Here’s one of our favorites, Kelly’s French Bakery in Santa Cruz, CA. It’s not just the food, it’s the lovely patio and atmosphere.
