MELOMEALS: $3.33 A DAY

$3.33 a day: June weight loss and stats

2009-07-06T11:33:00.011-04:00

Raw sushi collard roll

Super spicy ginger, siracha, daikon, avocado.. so delicious and good for you!

The ginger root I got was incredibly fresh and pungent.. probably the best ginger I've ever eaten.

That reminds me; back when I was a kid I used to goto the hole in the wall Japanese restaurant in Denver. They would bring out fresh tofu that was sitting in ginger infused water. It was amazing. Maybe I'll make some fresh tofu tomorrow and use the rest of the ginger that way?

Indian spiced potatoes, peas and shan tofu. So good. I think plain chickpeas would be better than the shan tofu though. The heat level on this dish was off the charts. Lately, I have become even more addicted to heat. I have to be careful when cooking for others. (especially at my job since people in New England can't seem to tolerate the smallest amount...) The other day I made some chipotle cinnamon spiced truffles for work and they were too spicy for my boss.

Wasabi daikon raw slaw... my lowfat sesame ginger wasbi dressing mixed with lentil sprouts, wasabi, cilantro, carrots, scallions and red pepper and topped with Siracha of course. I finished it off with some fresh lime juice as well. The leftovers went into a collard roll up. (no pic)

I made a big batch of burgers to keep in the freezer... Sometimes a veggie burger is the perfect meal..

My baby girl.. I wuff wuf wuff her!

I lost 10 lbs last month! woohoo! 13 the month before. I'm officially on a weight loss roll again. Here's hoping I don't screw it up.

I did a huge stock up at Trader Joes this month. I used 15 bucks of my bulk food fund. I spent 80.81 at Trader Joes and 21.69 at market basket and 6.00 at a farm stand and 6.50 at the health food store on FYH cheese and some herbs.

Trader Joes haul:

Baby Spinach

Cilantro

Chocolate chips

Soy Creamer

7 lbs tofu

Balsamic Vinegar

Cumin

Brown Rice Pasta (14 lbs.. should last me at least 6 months)

Brown Jasmine Rice

Candied ginger

Coffee

Blue corn chips

Avocados (8)

Market Basket Haul:

Kale

Collards

Watermelon

Red peppers

cilantro

limes

ginger

blueberries

daikon

frozen broccoli

blueberries

bok choy

Farm Stand:

radishes

carrots

baby arugula

Health food store:

Follow Your Heart Cheese

Dried herbs

I have $17.49 left in my bulk food fund.

Finally, I have been having major issues with my email... so if anyone has sent me something in the last 3 weeks and I haven't responded, please send again. It should be figured out now.. but I think I lost a lot of emails from that time period.

Dessert and Dahl recipe

2009-06-29T16:34:00.007-04:00

Lime Cardamom Vanilla Cake

I've been creating decadent desserts at work this and decided today (my day off) to make a healthier version for the kids and I to enjoy. I ground spelt berries for the flour, used chia, soymilk and vinegar and replaced half of the sugar with stevia. It turned out really well. Blueberries were delicious on the side (and only 2 bucks a pint).

It's kind of funny that I am doing the pastry for this job. In the past desserts and baking were not my favorite thing to do.. I guess I just love being able to create and doing the desserts is allowing me to be creative, so I'm really enjoying it now.

Tofu Scramble

Super simple, filled with chard and broccoli and spiced with cumin, coriander and chili, this mexican breakfast was delicious. Blueberries, spinach, broccoli and chard coupled with tofu and organic blue corn chips pleased everyone, even my X who stopped by to pick of our son. Sometimes, tofu scramble is the perfect meal.

Dahl

I've been eating this all week. Simple, spicy and oh so good for you.

3 T coconut oil

1 t black mustard seeds

1 T cumin seeds (or powder)

1 T coriander

2 T curry powder

1/2 t turmeric

1/4 t cinnamon

4 T freshly chopped ginger

1 large onion, diced

10 cloves garlic, pressed

2 serrano chilies, diced

pinch salt/pepper

1 lb red lentils

4-6 cups veg stock

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

juice of 1-2 limes

Siracha to taste

1 T toasted sesame oil

Braggs and pepper to taste

In a heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat add the coconut oil, mustard seeds and spices. When the seeds pop add the ginger, onion, garlic and chilie along with a pinch of salt/pepper. Saute for several minutes or until the onions are transcluscent. Next, add the lentils and stock. Bring to a boil for several minutes, turn heat down to med-low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Take off heat, stir in cilantro, lime juice and sesame oil. Add braggs (or salt or soy sauce) and black pepper to taste.

I'm still alive and photography business

2009-06-25T09:47:00.009-04:00

Chipotle White Bean Avocado Spread

I am so behind in the blog world. One of these days I'll figure out how to integrate everything into my life!

Work is going well. We are getting busy and I just love the atmosphere of the wine bar. I'm also thrilled that I am incorporating more vegan food into the menu. I am doing the desserts as well as all of the food. (I am the only person doing all the food prep, execution and service for 36 seats.) I introduced a chocolate espresso torte that is vegan (if you leave off the whipped cream) and that makes me happy. The owner of the place made me promise that I would not tell any of the customers it was tofu based. HAHA! I get a cheap thrill every time I see someone take a bite.

Bok Choy and Tofu Stir Fry

We are still eating very simply at home. I'm doing what I always do; cooking once to eat twice or three times and freezing leftovers. This bok choy stir fry was delicious and very spicy. Lately, I've been craving carbs big time. I think I need whole grains to sustain my long days. I notice I feel much more alert mentally when I make sure to get enough carbs in my diet.

It's interesting, because I am really listening to what my body needs. Last month it was tons of salads and smoothies, now I'm craving heavier whole grains. I have been eating a pretty big sandwich late at night though when I get off work and I don't think that's good for me. Tonight I think I'll make a green smoothie with chia seeds to drink on the way home instead. It's not good to eat a lot at midnight.

I made a Trader Joes trip and stocked up on brown rice pasta. I just love it. $1.99 for a pound of organic brown rice pasta. You can't beat that. I topped the pasta with some of my simple marinara and dry fried tofu and served it over baby spinach.

Spicy Noodles!

Another staple in my fridge. My kids love them and they are good hot or cold. I used my low fat goddess dressing mixed with lots or ginger and siracha for this. I made big batches of the dressing and freeze it in 2 cup portions.

Sesame Ginger Glazed Tempeh

More Bok Choy Stir Fry

Watermelon 'Feta' Salad

Old pic (several of these pics are old pics actually).. I made a batch of tofu feta to have around and it was delicious in this salad. I also mixed in some of my low fat balsamic vinaigrette.

Finally, I have decided to start a small photography business. I started a blog to showcase some of my stuff (literally just started it so it's not completely set up..).. I'm really excited about doing this. I am going to offer services to families and food photography for restaurants.

Check out my blog so far!

http://melophotography.wordpress.com/

$3.33 a day: Generosity

2009-06-10T10:16:00.003-04:00

More big salads. I've been enjoying chard in salad and smoothies lately. I just can't get enough of it. I pretty much prep a large amount of greens so I can grab them for quick meals.

I splurged on some FYH cheese and it was so good! These were just simple tostadas with my red chile sauce and super hot green salsa. So good. We were sitting down to eat and my son said, "Mom, you never take pics of your food anymore," so I snapped this after we started eating.

I also made an amazing lasagna (no photo..sorry) with sauce and veggies from the freezer. I used whole wheat noodles, eggplant, spinach, mushrooms and my "ricotta" that was made from whole soybeans and infused with garlic, olive oil and basil. It froze beautifully. The FYH worked well in the lasagna as well. Pricey, yes.. but so worth it.

Finally, I have to say thank you to Catherine. A while back she blogged about Red Zinger tea and I mentioned how I loved it and couldn't find it around here. She sent me a package not only with red zinger, but two other lovely teas and a pound of this amazing coffee! Peace Coffee... totally organic, fair trade and locally roasted... It is DELICIOUS! Thanks Catherine!!!

I was also shocked and in awe to receive a pound of delicious DeansBeans coffee from some very nice annonymouse person! Brew it forward indeed. Thank you thank you thank you! I have been enjoying fabulous coffee again!!

I made some oatmeal cookies and breakfast bars for the kids and myself to snack on.. They were delicious.

My son Andrew graduates from high school Friday. I am in shock.

I'm still very behind on blogs. I've been reading most of them through bloglines and not commenting much... I will get caught up one of these days.

$3.33 a day: June Stats and Weight Loss

2009-06-04T09:22:00.005-04:00

I've pretty much been super boring when it comes to food lately. I tend to get a bit burnt out when I am cooking for work and my home cooking gets super simple. Also, my kids haven't been here much because I have been working until midnight or so every night. This was a collard wrap filled with tofu, sauerkraut and homemade 1000 island (made from my soybean mayo). Depending on my hunger level I have either a huge salad or a big bowl of soup before work.

Spring Split Pea, Quinoa and Cabbage spiced with Chipotle

I made a HUGE pot of this soup. I used 2 lbs of split peas and an entire head of cabbage. It was spiced with tarragon, thyme and rosemary and of course, spiced up with chipotle peppers. I froze a bunch in 2 cup portions. For some reason, I don't get sick of this soup.

Just look at these radishes! They are fresh from the garden (not mine unfortunately!).. I came home and ate almost the whole bunch. Better than chips any day. I used the greens along with some beautiful chard for my salad yesterday. That salad also had cherry tomatoes, a whole avocado and wasabi sesame ginger salad dressing.

So, along with the bean and grain soups and salads, I've been drinking around 1-2 qts of green smoothies a day and eating melons.

I am FINALLY LOSING WEIGHT! I know it's because I'm working again and my job is very physical. My prep area is downstairs and my service area is upstairs, so I am up and down stairs all day long and on my feet between 8-10 hours a a day.

I lost 13 lbs last month! Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Now onto the budget stats:

I spent the entire $100 last month. I will post my shopping list and the prices in my next post. I have my receipts, but haven't typed them out. I bought a lot more produce than usual and have been eating a whole avocado a day myself. Since the kids haven't been here as much (which totally sucks. Fortunately, when school is out they will be here again all the time.. I miss them).. I splurged on lots of produce.

Finally, it is my sons 16th Birthday today! My baby is growing up. Happy Birthday Turin!

$3.33 a day: Update

2009-05-26T10:17:00.009-04:00

Sorry it's been so long since I updated. Work was crazy last week. I worked 63 hours! We opened Wednesday the 20th. It's so nice to be working again.

I am still going to stick to my $3.33 a day budget. I pretty much have to.

I've been eating a lot of salads and out of my freezer. The above is my sesame beet salad with wasabi dressing. So delicious.

I made us brunch yesterday... tvp sausages, sauted apples and brown rice pancakes.

BIG SALAD! I've been eating a huge salad every day before work. The dressing here was a raw fat free carrot/tomato/ginger/habanero concoction. So spicy and delicious.

Shan tofu with collard greens...

Noodle bowl...

Veggie burger with caramelized onions and strawberry/habanero ketchup on a homemade gluten free english muffin (made from brown rice flour)...

I have a stash of frozen bananas and baby spinach at work for green smoothies.. they are the perfect thing to drink to refuel!

I will probably not be posting as much for the next month or so while I get used to my new schedule. I don't get home until midnight at the earliest.. I have a 2 hour round trip commute (Damn traffic!)... I am sooo thankful to the Portsmouth library for having such an awesome selection of books on CD.

I am so behind on reading your blogs. I miss everyone!

$3.33 a day: Raw

2009-05-17T13:38:00.007-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted for so long. I appreciate the emails asking if I am OK! I am OK. We've had a very stressful week. My youngest son (15) has to have surgery on his foot which really sucks because he runs track and qualified for state. Then on Thursday, he passed out at school and hit his head hard and had to goto the ER. He's OK, but it was scary.

I also started my new job this week. We had our pre-opening party Friday which went really well and we are officially open for business on Wednesday!

I've been eating a lot of raw food and eating out of my freezer. I haven't been taking a lot of pics though. The above food was a delicious wasabi daikon and cabbage slaw. I just can't get enough daikon.

Lower Fat Raw Eggless Salad on a Raw Corn Tortilla

I LOVE this and have been eating it almost everyday. It is made with mostly cauliflower and is so yummy!

Raw Eggless Salad

3 c cauliflower, pulsed in food processor
½ c sunflower seeds soaked for 4 hours, drained then pulsed in food processor
1 c diced celery
1 c shredded carrots
½ c scallions or 2 T diced red onion or shallot
½ c nutritional yeast
2 t dried sage
1 T dried dill
1 T dried parsley
½ t garlic powder
¼ t turmeric
4 T tahini
4 T yellow mustard
2 T Dijon mustard
4 T relish
1 T chia seeds
1 t black salt (or sea salt)
½ -1 t black pepper
½ c water

Method:
Pulse the cauliflower in processor and set aside in large mixing bowl. Pulse the sunflower seeds, and add to the cauliflower. Add the celery, carrots and scallions and nutritional
yeast and spices (not the salt or pepper).

In a small bowl add the tahini, mustard, relish, chia seeds, salt and pepper along with ½ c water. Whisk well and pour over the veggies. Taste and adjust seasonings. Allow
mixture to chill for an hour before serving.

This actually keeps for around 3 days and does not get watery because of the chia seeds.

The corn tortilla is a recipe I'm still playing around with. It's ALMOST to my liking. I don't like most raw breads or crackers very much. I feel like they get a strange taste from the dehydrator. The first bite or two are fine, but then they start tasting kind of gross to me. Am I the only one who feels this way?

God, I am just IN LOVE with grapefruit.

On Monday, I did a mini fast like thing. I drank 2 quarts of green juice and ate only fruit and veggies (with NO SALT ADDED AT ALL). I am going to try to do this once a week.

Hope everyone is having a good week! I'll try to visit your blogs!

$3.33 a day: RawFu Magazine, YOU can eat this way too.

2009-05-08T14:40:00.010-04:00

SunDried Tomato and Olive Tapenade

First of all, I need to sing the praises of the new RAW MAGAZINE, RawFu! Created by the lovely Bunny Berry. Go subscribe now! My recipe and photograph for my Sun Dried Tomato and Olive Tapenade is in there along with other fabulous raw recipes and articles.

I made a batch of homemade tofu that was perfect in Mooshi veggies. I wrapped mine in collard greens while the kids used tortillas. Spicy, sweet and totally satisfying.

Oh how simple things have been lately foodwise. This was a spring veggie chowdah.. I used cauliflower, corn, potatoes, zucchini, quinoa and some cheese sauce I made from whole soy beans. It was spicy and delicious. Quinoa is such a versatile ingredient.

big salad

I eat salad every day... this one had arugula, snow peas, pumpkin seeds and a vidalia onion dressing. So good.

I want to address some comments and emails I've been getting about the produce I use.

First, most of it is not organic. I wish I could afford to eat a 100% organic diet, but I can't. (and won't be able to any time soon even though I have a job. I still have to stick to my budget of $3.33 a day)..

I am not going to get into debate about organics. I know they are better for me, my family and the environment and I buy as much organic as I can afford. Period.

I live in Portsmouth, NH and do the majority of my shopping at Market Basket (I swear, they should pay me to be a spokesperson!)... Their prices are almost half as much as I would pay at Shaws or Hannaford.

Every week, I look at the grocery store circulars to see where the deals are. For instance, a $1.99 pineapple is RARE and not an everyday price. Most circulars will advertise their "loss leaders" on the front page. Those are items that they lose money by selling, but will draw you into their store. Most of the time, I would not go out of my way to a market based on ONE loss leader. I need at least 3 items to make me go to that store and I only the amount of cash I want to spend on those items.

If I shopped at Shaws or Hannaford as my GO TO markets, the produce and my entire grocery bill would be twice as expensive. There ARE deals out there, but you have to look for them. I have taught many cooking classes and the people who come will say they don't like to shop and this or that store because it isn't as "nice". My response to that is, well then don't complain about prices. Also, if you enjoy higher priced items then you have to adjust the rest of your food to incorporate them. I will have a couple meals that put me over my daily total. I make up for them by eating a pot of lentil soup or kale salad for many meals. It is worth it to me. If I "splurge" on 5 oz of organic arugula you can bet your ass I will be eating cabbage salads for several days to make up for that.

It really isn't that hard to reduce your bill as long as you are willing to take some time to find deals, cook from scratch and think outside of the box.

I whip up the majority of our meals with less than 30 minutes of prep time. I cook once and freeze leftovers. I usually cook up two lbs of dried beans a week for our protein source and keep them in the fridge (after freezing 2 cup portions) along with 2 whole grains.

Let's say one week I cooked up 1 lb of black beans, 1 lb of lentils, 1 lb of brown rice and 1 lb of bulgur.

Meals I can make in 30 minutes:

Indian Spiced Lentils over Brown Rice, Kale Salad
Chipotle Citrus Black Bean Soup, Corn Muffins, Salad
Lentils over Bulgur with Green Goddess Dressing and Caramelized Onions, Salad
Black Bean Hummus, Tabouli, Steamed Veggies
Black Bean and Rice Burritos with fresh pico and guacamole
Lentil Soup with Bulgur, Salad
Burgers made from all of the leftovers, coleslaw

My meals always leave enough for my lunch the next day or I will turn the leftovers into a soup or burger.

It is NOT hard or difficult to eat this way... so don't let anyone make you believe it is!!

$3.33 a day: April Stats, Job and Weight loss update.

2009-05-06T14:31:00.003-04:00

Cajun Red Bean Stew

Can't have a post without a pic! This is an old pic and I have been doing a lot of freezer eating. Green smoothies for breakfast, salads/soups for lunch and simple dinners. I am making a point to clear my freezer before summer. It's amazing to me that I have quite a freezer stockpile again. Mostly soups/burger mixes/sauces in two cup portions.

This is going to be a long post.

The best news: I found a job!

I will be the chef at a wine bar opening up a few towns way. It will open in about a week an a half. I am very much looking forward to being in the kitchen again and creating food for people!

Weight loss: Lost 5 lbs last month. I was actually down 7 lbs, but gained two back.

End of month stats:

Total Spent: $95.97 or $3.20 a day
$4.03 banked for my bulk food fund
Total Bulk Food Fund: $32.49

April Shopping List:

2 lbs Broccoli 2.00

Pineapple 1.99
7 oz organic Spring Mix 2.99
Fresh Basil 1.99
Habaneros 1.40
Cilantro 1.29
1.82 lbs Zucchini 1.80
2 lbs Onions .99
1 bunch beets 1.79
6.74 lbs bananas 2.63
1 huge bunch Collards 1.29
1 huge bunch Kale 1.29
3 quarts soymilk 2.97
Coffee 2.50
Whole Wheat Bread 1.50
Canned chipotle 2.59
2 lbs lentils 2.38
2 lbs yellow split peas 1.98
4.62 lbs zucchini 4.07
1.23 lbs yellow squash 1.08
Cooking spray 1.68
2 lbs brown rice 1.58
Spices 3.00
2 large heads cauliflower 4.00
Organic Arugula 2.99
12 oz mushrooms 2.29
Snow Peas 1.37
Tomatoes 1.77
2 english cucumbers 2.58
Daikon 3.00
Organic Guacamole 2.50
Kale 1.29
Collards 1.29
Daikon 1.50
Garlic 1.00
Corn tortillas .99
Coffee 1.99
Red Onion .99
4 Avocado 3.99
Kale 1.29
Collards 1.29
Organic Carrots .89
Organic Lentils 1.29
Daikon 3.78
Organic Brown Rice 1.69
Soy Sauce 1.99
Bread 3.00
Organic Arugula 2.99

I made some changes this month. I bought bread instead of making it. It is easier for me not to eat store bought bread than my delicious homemade creations. I used a lot more of my pantry staples and as you can see spent the bulk of my money on veggies.

I am still going to do my $3.33 a day budget because I will still be on a tight budget and I need to save as much as possible...

I had hoped to have my Ebook ready to go, but it is taking much longer than I anticipated. My limited budget has been a roadblock to testing the recipes... but I am still working on it.. but at this point, it probably will be a couple more months. I'm going to be VERY busy over the summer with work... Right now, I'm just testing and refining the recipes... the majority of them are written.

$3.33 a day: Cinco de Mayo Feast!

2009-05-03T18:01:00.003-04:00

This is just a quick post. I have a lot to update, but no time right now.

The above dish was from my Cinco de Mayo Feast Cooking Class I taught today.

We made:
Green Chile Sauce
Red Chile Sauce
Pico de Gallo
Queso
Scallion Lime Sour Cream (made from whole soybeans)
Chipotle Lime Black Beans
Enchilada Bake (stuff with Spanish Bulgur and Veggies, topped with Queso and Enchilada Sauces)
Guacamole
Pina Colada Green Smoothies

I am really behind on reading peoples blogs and everything online (I don't have internet at home and am at the mercy of my neighbors wireless which is spotty lately)..

I have tons of news to update:

Job situation
End of April stats complete with a grocery list for the month of April
April weight loss
E-Book

$3.33 a day: Salad, Gluten Free English Muffins and Simple Eats

2009-04-28T20:07:00.007-04:00

Sprout infused salad

You can't beat this on a hot day... baby arugula, alfalfa and lentil sprouts, cuckes, broccoli, tomatoes and a yummy flax dressing..

Gluten Free Whole Grain English Muffins

I am super duper excited about these! 100% gluten free and whole grains.... and they came together within 30 minutes. I finally have something satisfying and super cheap to eat my veggie burgers on! The muffin above had hummus, home grown sprouts and tomato. Wheat is finally becoming obsolete! Woohoo!

Spring Sprouted Chickpea Soup

Try as I might, I do not like sprouted chickpeas. I will never be a 100% raw foodist. I made a simple soup with my sprouts, flavored with onion, garlic, marjoram and mint... and a hint of orange zest and crushed red peppers. This really hits the spot. The sprouted chickpeas were cooked JUST enough to take that raw bite off of them. They take on both the delicious properties of the raw/cooked chickpea.

Mustard Baked Tempeh with Oninons

Simple and satisfying without any of the bitter tempeh flavor that can sometimes come through..

Enchilada Bake

I left this at the old house for the kids... I don't think they even missed the cheese!

I'm teaching a cooking class this Sunday... a Cinco de Mayo feast and will be including the red and green sauces as well as the queso that went into this dish.

$3.33 a day: Spicy Noodles and Wheat Free Muffin Recipe

2009-04-26T13:51:00.009-04:00

Spicy Noodles!

I've been at my old house for several days while my X was out of town. I brought over a bunch of food to cook there (and so I'd have something healthy to eat. They seem to live on white flour based products). I pureed the leftover peanut sauce from the freezer with more ginger, chickpeas and cooked zucchini (to make it a REAL one pot dish and get zukes and chickpeas into my younger son). Tossed with cilantro and lentil sprouts and finished with lime juice and of course Siracha, these are an all time favorite for my kids. I used whole wheat spaghetti for the noodles.

Mustard and Onion Baked Tempeh Collard Wraps

Sometimes, I have to go out of town and I always pack food. I avoid the drive through *cough Taco Bell* and save money at the same time. Collard wraps travel well as long as you wrap them in parchment to hold them together. I made 3 of these wraps and packed it along with a green smoothie, popcorn topped with nutritional yeast and cajun seasoning, raisins and sunflower seeds and some lentil sprouts.

Spring has finally sprung in New Hampshire!

Chickpea/Potato/Zucchini Scramble

Just simple scrambe.. topped with nutritional yeast, ketchup and toasted sesame seeds. Quick, healthy and one pot. We had around 1 c of leftovers which I mixed with marinara and kale for a quick soup.

Wheat Free Zucchini Breakfast Muffins

These came out delicious. Just a note if you make them; my breakfast muffins are pretty mild in flavor since my kids eat them so early in the morning. They are not like cake!

Wheat Free Zucchini Muffins

Dry Ingredients:

2 c oats, ground (measure before grinding)

1 c brown rice flour

¼ c chickpea or yellow split pea flour

2 t ground cloves

1 T cinnamon

¼ t kal stevia

¼ t black pepper

¼ t salt

2 t baking powder

1/3 c sugar or sucanat (or ¾ c sugar if not using stevia)

Wet Ingredients:

2 c shredded zucchini (1 medium)

¾ c cooked soy beans

3 T chia seeds

1 banana

¾ c water

¼ c evoo

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 t almond extract

1 t vanilla extract

1 t lemon extract (optional)

Optional: 1 c walnuts, cinnamon sugar

Method: Preheat oven to 375

Mix the dry ingredients together and make a well in the middle.

Shred the zucchini, place in a separate mixing bowl

Process of the rest of the wet ingredients then mix with the zucchini. Fold into dry mixture (adding nuts if desired)

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and scoop ¼ c for each muffin. Top with some cinnamon sugar if desired. Bake for 25 minutes

Yield: 18 muffins

Jorda approves this blog post!

$3.33 a day: Cook once, eat twice cont and some answers

2009-04-22T13:52:00.008-04:00

Raw Thai Spicy Noodles

I have been receiving a ton of emails and am a bit overwhelmed by them. The majority of them are wonderful, asking great questions and offering encouragement.

I am working on a post/article that will go into more depth about HOW I am eating this way. The #1 question seems to be, is it hard? Does it take a lot of time? The ingredients are so complicated.

I am working on answering these questions. (I wish I could just TALK TO YOU ALL or teach a class on this to those who are interested)... it's much easier to SHOW you and talk in real time than it is for me to write everything out.

... This post might give a small amount of insight into the methods I am using.

First of all. They are simple. I am not a complicated person. I do not like to go out of my way to do this or that.

The first dish was lunch yesterday. I made a quick raw blender sauce (took 5 mins) and tossed it with daikon and zucchini pasta. (I use THIS spiralizer). I tossed it and garnished with homemade lentil sprouts, carrots, mushrooms, cilantro and sesame seeds. It super satisfying and I reserved around 2 cups of it for dinner. (Just a note: I made 6 cups of the sauce. I froze 2 2 cup portions for later use)..

Fried Rice, Veggies and Chickpeas

This is where it pays to be creative. I used to use tofu in my fried rice.. we love tofu and it is great in fried rice.. BUT.. it's expensive (and while cheap to make, very labor intensive!)..

I decided to use chickpeas as a protein source. (I cooked a pound of chickpeas the other day and they are in my fridge for use.. another quick tip. Have cooked legumes and whole grains on hand)..

I took out out a 3 cup portion of brown rice from the freezer, and cooked it with the leftover raw lunch noodles, added more sauce, 2 c chickpeas and cilantro. My son ate ALMOST the entire pan. His dinner was ready in 20 minutes. (I saved 1 cup for my lunch today).. His portion equaled around 5 cups of high quality, whole foods. Teen boys eat a lot and it's much easier to quell that appetite with whole foods than it is to fill them up with ramen noodles.

My dinner was leftover lentil/quinoa/veggie soup.. Most of the time we eat the same things, but I'd rather USE up what we have on hand and have two separate meals (that were made in 20 minutes thank you very much) than make a meal from scratch.

Before I had to be so strict with my budget, I NEVER would have used chickpeas in fried rice, but let me tell you, they were delicious! One HUGE benefit from having to live on such a strict budget is that I have become more creative and it's payed off big time!

I should mention; we snacked on raw broccoli and (vegan homemade) queso sauce while the meal was warming up and had a couple dates stuffed with almonds for dessert.

My kids have been GREAT.. and I know many of you have a hard time pleasing your whole family. I admit, it is MUCH easier to do this not being married. I have fed my kids a whole food diet since birth (starting with breastmilk).. and I have never had the patience or inclination to give into a picky child when it comes to planning family meals. There are some foods that my kids HATE and I try to respect that. (For instance, my younger son hates zucchini and chickpeas. My older son refuses anything seitan, chipotle or with smoke flavor) I do "force them" to try their hated foods once or twice a year to see if their palates have changed... and I am able to sneak chickpeas and zukes into many dishes if they are blended for my younger son.

That being said, I NEVER would have used chickpeas in the dinner if my younger son was home. (but seitan or other beans would have worked).. Having base components for a dish on hand really makes a difference. If I was cooking for both kids last night, I would have added the protein source at the table. (seitan or chickpeas)..

OK.. I digress! .. back to the food.

The leftover cup of rice/veg/chickpea mixture was stuffed into collards and dipped in leftover sauce for lunch today. Super delicious and again, took 5 minutes to prepare.

Chipotle Mayo/Sauce

Having a number of sauces on hand makes everything easier. This sauce was made from soybeans and is sooo good. I froze half of it. You can expect to being seeing this baby in upcoming dishes!

Finally, to answer some criticisms..

.. and this one is HILARIOUS.. I am NOT anorexic and using this blog to justify an eating disorder. Obviously, YOU have not READ my blog or you would KNOW that! First time in my life anyone has ever accused ME of being anorexic. Wow. (I am overweight for those who don't know)

Second, I do not post every single thing we eat. The pictures on this blog represent SOME of the foods we eat.

A sample day:
Breakfast: Green Smoothie (me) or leftovers, Whole Food Muffin or Raw Breakfast Bar/Cookie (kids)

Lunch: Salads, leftovers, burgers (me) Peanut Butter and Jelly on homemade bread, popcorn, nuts/seeds/raisins (kids)

Snacks: Popcorn, green smoothies, fruit, banana with peanut butter, veggies/bean based dip

Dinner: LOOK at this blog and you'll see.. we eat a lot of bean based soups, veggie burgers, salads, casseroles

Desserts: Smoothies, dates/almonds, Raw Cookies, fruit,

A good portion of the food I eat is leftover bean/veggie soup. I make a huge pot and have no problem eating it for lunch for days. I also freeze 2 cup portions, so I can have a different soup each day if I choose. Doing this enables me to spend much more money on produce and other items and it works well.

OK.. I think I'm done here.

$3.33 a day: Soy Cutlets, Soups, Lighter Hummus

2009-04-19T10:56:00.008-04:00

Thanks for all the well wishes! My son's Ensemble won 2nd place!! I am so proud of them. They worked very hard and it paid off. He is a senior (I can't believe how fast time flies) so this was a nice way to end his last competition!

Soy Cutlet with Cranberry Aioli

This cutlet was delicious. It was basically one of my burger mixes (taken from the freezer). The sauce was also taken from the freezer; my cranberry chutney mixed with the low fat vegenaise substitute. It worked super well. It's so nice to have the vegenaise monkey off my back (or should I say hips)!

I've barely seen my kids all week. Andrew got home at 4am this morning. My younger son has been busy and not here for many meals either. I've been eating soups and salads and smoothies.

Raw Thai Noodle Bowl

I just love this soup. It warms up in the vita mix, so it doesn't really FEEL like you're eating a raw soup. That and the hot sauce I use with it.. Sometimes I used collards as a noodle, but daikon is my favorite noodle sub with these flavors.

Black Bean Chili

Made a big pot and have been eating it. I don't mind eating the same thing over and over. My kids do, but they haven't been here, so this has been my dinner 3 times this week!

Low Fat Hummus

I made some super low fat hummus using chickpeas and cooked zucchini. This was a great 100 calorie snack. Topped with a little chipotle pepper, it really hits the spot. I've also been using it for dressing on salad.

I have spent a total of $66.22 this month. I went totally produce crazy because I've been eating a lot of raw. On the first of the month, I will list everything I have bought for the month and how much I paid for it. (and post my weight loss!).

Super fun news!

I am offering cooking classes every Sunday in May (except for May 9th which is Saturday because of Mother's Day)

Here is a list of them:

May 3: Cinco de Mayo Feast

Veggie stuffed enchiladas with homemade Green and Red sauces, Vegan queso, Pico de gallo, Chipotle citrus black beans, Guacamole and Raw pina colada smoothies

*May 9 (Saturday): Indian Feast

Sag tofu, Chana masla, Aloo gobi, Yellow basmati rice, Homemade chutneys, Raw mango lassi

May 17: Terrific Tofu

Tofu basil ricotta stuffed mushrooms, Italian marinated and roasted tofu chunks with kale and sun dried tomatoes, Pomegranate bbq tofu sandiwches, Broccoli and red pepper stiry fry with low fat crispy tofu, Peanut butter and chocolate pie

May 24: Burgers and Picnics

All American burgers with special sauce, Black bean burgers with chipotle aioli, Chickpea of the sea burgers with tartar sauce, Sesame ginger beet salad, Southwestern curried black bean salad, Gazpacho

May 31: Raw Basics

Green smoothies, Marinated and stuffed mushrooms with gremolata, Sunflower pate and veggie collard roll ups with Ceasar dressing, Thai noodle bowls, Cheesecake

For more information, goto my website:

http://333natural.com/cookingclasses.html

I hope to see some of you there!

Finally, I'm not sure how the interview at Greezo went. I have mixed feelings about it.

Alissa Cohen was wonderful and radiant and I'm really glad I got to meet her.

$3.33 a day: NHPR Feature, Recipes and Interview

2009-04-14T14:57:00.007-04:00

I have some fun news to share today! First off, I am so proud of my son Andrew. The Portsmouth High School's Percussion Ensemble is off to the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS tomorrow! This is a huge thing obviously and the entire ensemble has worked very very hard for months practicing under the the amazing leadership of Mr. Cirillo!! Good luck to all of you! I wish I could be there to see it! (it is in Ohio)

I have a busy day coming up tomorrow. I'm going to be interviewed on New Hampshire public radio tomorrow morning around 9:30 on the program, The Exchange.

And finally, I have a job interview at Grezzo in Boston! I am super excited about that as I'm sure you can imagine! Not only is it pretty much my dream job, I get to meet Alissa Cohen. That will be super cool.

OK.. onto the food.. I'm sorry I've been slacking on blogging. On my last post I asked if any of you had a recipe you wanted me to makeover. Macie asked for some recipes or ways to prepare zucchini besides frying, baking and sir fries.. I came up with this simple soup. There are a lot of ingredients, but most of them are in your pantry and you can switch up the spices if you desire.

Herbed Zucchini Soup

2-4 T evoo (plus ½ t for garnishing each bowl)

1 large onion, diced

8 cloves garlic, minced (this is for the sauté)

1 T thyme

1 t oregano

1 t tarragon

2 T basil

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

¼ t rosemary

¼ t fennel seed

¼ t cumin

½ t crushed red pepper flakes

Pinch salt/pepper

3 zucchinis, chopped (4 cups)

1 T vinegar

2 C cooked soybeans or white beans

2 c small diced red or yellow potatoes

4.5 c water and bouillon or broth

Handful baby spinach

1 T umeboshi vinegar or 1 T lemon juice and 1 T soy sauce

6 T nutritional yeast

4 cloves garlic (this is for finishing the soup)

½ cup fresh basil or parsley (Basil is best)

Croutons for garnish

Freshly grated nutmeg

Lemon zest

Salt/pepper to taste (I used around 2 t salt)

Method:

In a soup pot over medium flame heat add the oil, onion, garlic, spices and a pinch of salt/pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes or so or until the onions are translucent. You don’t want them to get brown. Now add the zukes, beans and water/broth (and bouillon cube). Bring to a boil for a several minutes then turn the heat down to medium low and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Take off heat and add the spinach, umeboshi vinegar, yeast and garlic. Blend in batches (or with an immersion blender) until silky smooth. Taste and adjust for salt/pepper. Top each bowl with a drizzle of evoo, fresh herbs, croutons and a grate or two of fresh nutmeg.

You can use the leftovers as pasta sauce if you wish! It also freezes well.

I love using zucchini in place of pasta. Raw is delicious. If you have a dehydrator, you can dry the noodles a bit. You can even saute the noodles. 2 oz of angel hair and a whole zucchini spiralized makes a huge portion and is so much better for you than eating a huge bowl of pasta!

I made a soy ricotta topping out of whole soybeans. Since tofu is more expensive than soybeans, I've been playing around with using whole soy. It worked out PERFECTLY!

Zucchini Pepperoni

This is another favorite way to enjoy the lovely zuke! You can use it in raw pizzas, wraps, salads or even to top traditional pizza.

2 medium zukes, sliced super thin

½ t salt

1 t oregano

½ t red pepper flakes

3 cloves garlic, pressed

¼ t fennel seed, crushed

1 t olive oil

Black pepper to taste

Splash vinegar

Method:

Slice the zukes super thin by hand or on a mandolin. Toss them with the rest of the ingredients and allow to sit in the fridge for an hour. Drain the liquid and use like you would pepperoni. You can eat it raw or cook it on pizza. You can also dehydrate these into zucchini chips.

I had more ideas, but ran out of zukes. They're on sale this week for $.89 so I will get a bunch!

OK...so Courtney asked me to make a fat free nut free raw cheese sauce. HUH???

That was a tough call.. and to do it with what I had on hand, but I came up with two recipes. The first is more a spread. It contains flax meal and on its own, after sitting overnight, I could taste the flax and it wasn't great, but when I put it in a wrap with a bunch of other veggies (and in a cooked quesadilla) it was delicious.. but keep that in mind if you make this and taste it and think it's gross!(and I know that some raw foodist eat rolled oats and some don't, so this is more of a high raw sauce)

Raw Lowfat Cheese Spread

½ c rolled oats

1/3 c water

½ red bell pepper

1 clove garlic

1 t paprika

2 T nutritional yeast

½ t salt

1 t onion powder

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 t yellow mustard

1 T golden flax meal

1/8 t freshly grated nutmeg

2 t umeboshi vinegar or 2 t miso (or 1 t lemon juice and 1 t soy sauce)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Soak oats in the water for several hours then add the rest of the ingredients to a blender and blend until totally smooth.

This was the fat free sauce... and as you can see it is umm.. saucier?

Silky Fat Free Raw Cheese Sauce

3 soaked sun dried tomatoes

1/3 c nutritional yeast

1 t onion powder

¼ t garlic powder

¼ - ½ t salt

½ t paprika (can used smoked for a smoky sauce or chipotle powder for a spicy sauce)

¼ t yellow mustard

Several grates fresh nutmeg

2/3 c water

½ t psyllium powder

Optional: 1 t umeboshi vinegar (add this before adding any additional salt)

Method:

Place the soaked tomatoes in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until everything is nice and silky. Taste and adjust salt level if needed. Yield around ¾ cup.

Next on the recipe agenda are Low Fat Pakoras! I plan on making them on Thursday!

I'd love all the good vibes I can get for my son's competition, my radio interview and finally, my interview at Grezzo!

excuse the horrible formatting, blogger is acting up and it's not allowing me to edit this for some reason.

$3.33 a day: Guest post on Crazy Sexy Life

2009-04-10T08:21:00.010-04:00

I am so honored that I was asked to do a guest post on Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Life blog. Her story is one of hope and inspiration. Talk about embracing life and turning a bitter lemon into tasty, funky lemonade! I don't think anyone could read her story (or watch it!) without feeling humbled and inspired to create a space of healing in their own lives.

Wasabi Daikon Slaw

I have only spent $4.00 so far this month. I scored broccoli on sale for $.99/lb and a fresh pineapple for $1.99.

A fellow blogger, Angie, also sent me a package full of dried spices, alfalfa sprouts and quinoa! How cool is that? She asked if I would create some raw quinoa recipes, so I've been having a bit of fun with sprouted quinoa.

OK, onto the slaw above. It only had carrots, wasabi, cilantro and toasted sesame seeds. The dressing was delicious. I used my homemade soy vegenaise substitute and mixed in my low fat sesame ginger dressing and wasabi. I am so excited about the mayo base. Finally, I can feel GOOD about a rich flavored dressing/sauce. On it's own, it is still pretty good, but mixed in with other things, I can't really tell a difference. Oh and it has 37 calories, 2 grams protein and 3 grams of fat per T so it actually good for you too.

In my recipes, I'm really trying to make every bite full of whole food nutrition without sacrificing flavor.

Collard wrap with refried beans, veggies and cheesy sauce. Love my collards. I really need to go grocery shopping though! I am finally out of them.

Simple, steamed broccoli with a tiny bit of balsamic flax vinaigrette. At $.99/lb you can't go wrong!

I made enchilada bake out of the spanish bulgur and lentils.. (this is an older pic).. One of these days I'll actually make real enchiladas.. but assuming you have ingredients on hand, you can throw this together in less than 5 minutes.

I'm not sure what my cooking plans are this week. Feel free to leave a comment requesting a certain dish or a healthy/cheap make-over of your favorite dish. I have a bit more wiggle room in my budget because I've only spent $4.00 so far and am feeling a little BORED of what I've been making. I'll probably pick 3 dishes and post the recipes when I'm done.

Have a wonderful day!

$3.33 a day: Simple comfort food and condiments

2009-04-08T15:45:00.010-04:00

My all time favorite comfort food

This dish will probably surprise most of you who have read me for a while; it is no secret that I LOVE spicy and highly flavored food. This dish is rather bland and simple, but it is something we ate several times a week growing up. Bulgur, tofu and zucchini flavored with thyme, pepper and soy sauce. Super easy and delicious. I did add an onion, garlic and nutritional yeast to the dish. My homemade tofu was freaken amazing here! As a child, we ate it with cottage cheese on top.

This recipe serves 2

2 C cooked bulgur
1 T EVOO or toasted sesame oil
2 large zucchinis
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
2 t dried thyme
8 oz tofu
1 c water
Soy sauce, tamari or Braggs to taste
Black pepper to taste
2 T nutritional yeast

Method:
In a cast iron over medium heat add the oil, zukes, onion, garlic, thyme and tofu. Stir fry for several minutes then add the water and soy sauce. Bring to a strong simmer until the veggies are cooked then stir in the pepper and yeast. Serve over the bulgur or add the bulgur to the pan.

Super simple and tasty.

Caesar Salad with Raw Sunny Caesar Dressing

I just love this dressing. It is so simple, healthy and satisfying. It will be in the ebook for sure.

Mild Ancho Chile Enchilada Sauce

So flavorful and yummy!.. I going to make enchiladas this week and needed some sauce. This certainly will do the trick!

Spanish Bulgur

Like Spanish Rice, but chewier. I made a big batch of this and divided it into 3 containers. Two are in the freezer for future use (I have 2 c of lentils that will mix perfectly with this for a chili!).. I am going to mix this with kale and pickled jalapenos to stuff into corn tortillas for enchiladas. Chipotle black beans and salad will round out the meal. Stay tuned for that post!

Healthy and Cheap Vegenaise Substitute

I just love this. The mix in possibilities are endless. I created this recipe from whole soybeans. Woohoo!

$3.33 a day: Featured in CafeMom.com + Homemade Tofu!

2009-04-06T12:44:00.009-04:00

Rice Noodle Bowl

Before I get into the food, I wanted to let all of you Moms out there know of a really cool website called CafeMom.com. It's pretty much a social networking site for moms and there is a lot of good support and information over there. Go check it out!

I am being featured in their on their In The Kitchen page today.

I sure wish this sort of support had been around when my kids were smaller. The internet is just so cool!

Onto the food now. I think the above rice noodle bowl really illustrates how I cook. First of all, I save broken noodles and use them in soups. I was initially making some TVP bacon bits in my cast iron and had around 1/2 cup that didn't fit into the container I was going to store them in and since it was close to dinner time, I decided I would do a collard/bacon type stir fry for the vegetable portion of our dinner. As I was making the collards I was thinking of what else I should make and I decided to go a completely different route. Pork is used in many Chinese dishes, so I added a bunch of ginger, hot peppers, sesame oil and of course more garlic to the dish along with some soy sauce and siracha. I tasted it and it was too salty. That's when I decided to turn it into a soup, adding some more collards, water, the broken rice noodles and a bit of hoisin. We topped our bowls with sesame seeds, cilantrol and of course, more siracha.

BBQ Shan Tofu Collard Wraps

I'm still on the Shan tofu kick! It is so inexpensive, healthy and easy to make. I topped these wraps with raw bbq sauce, kale, 1000 island dressing, pickles and veggies. Three small wraps and a banana made a delicious lunch. I only used around 1.5 servings of the shan tofu, but eating 3 wraps really filled me up. I never, ever regret eating collards instead of tortillas or bread!

Raw Carrot Cake/Coconut Tartlet

I used some of the raw cookie dough and frosting to make these tartlets. They are actually in the freezer right now and will be served as dessert by topping them with some sweetened fruit coulis. The base and the frosting are not very sweet and completely sweetened with stevia, so they are appropriate for breakfast.

Homemade Tofu!

I finally made my own real tofu! I think I'll press it longer next time. I used two pitchers of fresh soymilk (instead of 3). We will have it for dinner! I am so excited about this. I have 5 lbs of soybeans, but they are quite old and I can tell a huge difference in the quality of the milk. Even after soaking them overnight, they weren't completely ground by the soymilk machine which I have never encountered before. I can see myself making a small batch of tofu every day out of 1 pitcher of soymilk. So far, it is not as firm as the tofu I buy, but I can play around with pressing it longer. Thank you so much Julie for sending me the starter and the tofu mold!

Jack cleans out the fridge!

Who knew Jack Bauer could help clean out my fridge? He really can do everything!

(for those who are new to this blog, my Sourdough Starter is named Jack Bauer)

I had 2 batches of very beany okara leftover from making soymilk and around 2 cups of sprouted wheatberries leftover from making rejuvelac. I stirred it all together and added some freshly ground whole wheat flour and the dough is proofing as I type this. This is going to be some wicked healthy bread, full of fiber, sprouted grain and protein!

I have a pot of soybeans on the stove right now that I'm planning on turning into sausage patties/burgers. I make a big batch of burgers to take over to my old house now. My X used to buy tons of frozen veggie burgers, but since he lost his job he is cutting back as well. I'm so glad to provide healthier burgers than they were eating.

Have a great day people!

$3.33 a day: March Stats and lots of Raw Food!

2009-04-02T16:18:00.017-04:00

Raw Tacos

I have been eating a lot of raw foods the last three days. I unfortunately threw my back out on Monday doing yoga and am just now starting to feel better! I pulled out some of my raw flatbreads from the freezer and they came to life beautifully.

The taco shell spiced with onion and herbs and filled with walnut meat, veggies and doctored up Zukay salsa.

As my regular readers know, I love making various raw breakfast cookies/bars for my kids to grab in the morning.
I've named this my RAW Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookie with Chai Coconut Icing..
I have some of the base and icing that I'm playing around with for different recipes as well.

Too Green Smoothie

Way too green. I was inspired to start drinking an ENTIRE HEAD of collard or kale in my morning smoothies. My head consists of around 20 CUPS of bitter greens and it was too much for me. I wanted to throw up as I was chocking this down the last two days.

I am going to scale back to around 4 cups per smoothie.

Raw Cracker and 'Cheese'

I've been playing around with fermented cheese and just love it!

The perfect grapefruit! I spent $2.50 on six amazing grapefruits. They were so juicy and delicious! I had been craving fresh grapefruit for the last month or so.

RAW Flatbread

I've been tweaking my raw flatbread recipes.. I am not a fan of the flax based breads and I know many others have issues with them as well... so I've been creating new recipes. In the above pic you can see my first attempt at a crispy flax free flatbread... I think I will have this perfected very soon.

Raw Crispy Flatbread (2nd attempt)

Oh yeah! The texture is amazing!

See how thin and crispy it is?

Now onto the end of March stats..

I spent a total of $3.21 a day for a total of $99.39.

I added $3.64 to my bulk food fund for a total of: $28.47

Some of the foods I bought since I last posted were:

EVOO
Granny smith apples
cilantro
kale
collards
baby spinach
grapefruit
tomato
bananas
lime

Finally, my weigh in was horrible. I gained 2 lbs last month... hence all of the raw foods.

The ONE thing this blog shows is that it's MORE THAN POSSIBLE TO GET MORE THAN ENOUGH FOOD EVEN ON A STRICT BUDGET.

It's the wheat. I need to stop eating my homemade bread.

And exercise.

I'm a broken record when it comes to this shit.

$3.33 a day: Let's make a burger out of it! (and raw chili)

2009-03-29T16:46:00.011-04:00

Raw Cincinnati Chili

Raw and delicious! This totally hit the spot. I made enough chili for 4 servings and have been eating it over noodles, in wraps and on top of salad. I wish I had made a raw cheddar sauce though.. that would have taken it over the top.

I have been asked by so many people how to make a burger out of leftovers, so I figured I would do a little tutorial. I used 1 cup of the leftover curried split pea/veggie stew. It is fairly thick as you can see:

1 cup of the soup, a very liberal half cup of rolled oats and 1 T golden flax meal. That's it.

Mix and place in the fridge for several hours or overnight.

Shape into patties.. then dredge in cornmeal, breadcrumbs or flour if desired. Make sure to season all of the above! You don't have to do this, but it makes for a crispy outer layer. Most of the time I skip this because it makes the burgers healthier. (dredging them will help if they are not sticking together)

Heat your cast iron or non stick skillet to a little less than medium and spray with cooking spray. Cook for 5 minutes or so on each side.

Burgers! See how simple it is? I got 4 burgers out of the mixture, but I make them small.

Millet Lasagna

Here's the millet lasagna from last post. It fed the three of us AND I have the leftovers in the freezer. I am going to mix them with TVP and make burgers out of them next week. (If I had a microwave, I would have saved this and just eaten it for breakfast or whatever).. I debated on turning it into a soup, but decided to freeze it for burgers instead. IF I had turned it into a soup, I would have taken around 2 cups of the leftovers and covered that with water and marinara and probably a cup of cooked lentils, cooking over medium heat for 30 minutes or so. That would have given me 2 large size dinner soup portions.

Just a note to my new readers: I am currently writing an E-Book which will be finished by the end of April. I have quite a few recipes on this blog, but most of the current recipeswill be going in my ebook, so I don't post recipes for every dish I make here.

-melody

Check out my website!

333natural.com

$3.33 a day: Cook once, eat many times

2009-03-26T17:44:00.013-04:00

Whole Food Breakfast Muffins

I love making large batches of food so I don't have to THINK much about meals. As I've mentioned, my kids have to catch the bus at 6:45 am, so a sit down breakfast is out of the question. I've been experimenting more and more with muffins and these were delicious and totally kid approved! 100% whole grain, no added fat (but they did have whole coconut) and infused with LENTILS! My younger son is much harder to please and he loves these, so they will most likely please a picky eater.

Millet Lasagna (before baking)

I am planning on baking bread again tomorrow (I usually bake twice a week), so in order to fill my oven, I made this casserole. The base is a millet polenta. It is stuffed with a kale/'feta'/lentil filling and topped with more millet, marinara and my sharp cheddar. I made enough filling to freeze for another dish.. most likely calzones or pasta. The casserole will yield 4 servings and the leftover filling will provide the bulk of at least another 2-4 servings depending what I do with it.

Casserole Filling

Toasted Cheese Sandwich

My new cheese recipe on homemade sourdough whole wheat bread (jack jack, he's the man!) along with some flash sauteed collards. The last of the tomato from last week. I can't believe how long it lasted. Ganted, this pic was taken a few days ago and the tomato was less than stellar.

Indian Spiced Yellow Split Pea Stew

Simple, delicious and comforting. Not to mention super spicy. I have 2 leftover portions in my freezer (2 cups a piece) along with around 1 cup that I'm going to turn into burgers.

Lentil Potato Kale Stew

Just your basic Italian flavors thrown together. Super yum. (can you tell I cooked a pound of lentils the other day?) ..

I love cooking a pound of dried legumes and using them in a variety of ways throughout the week. As you can see from this post, I made use of lentils in many dishes here and I still have around 2 cups in the fridge.

I am drinking my coffee black now. Yesterday, I went 24 hour with no coffee and plunged into withdrawal. This morning, it was wonderful having a cup. I am no longer buying organic, free trade. For $2 I can get 10 oz of espresso (which I brew like french roast in my coffee press)..

Raw Breakfast Bars

I'll end this post just like I started.. with breakfast. I make these for the kids and keep them in the freezer. They eat them for breakfast, pack them in lunches and often for dessert.

I went shopping and spent $7.20 on:

Carrots 1.20
Soy Sauce 1.00
Coffee 2.00
Zucchini 1.10
Garlic .90
Corn Tortillas 1.00

Total spent this month: $63.00

Total left to spend: $40.23

Bulk Food Fund: $24.83

$3.33 a day: Reuben Pizza, wraps, soup and rice

2009-03-24T12:37:00.010-04:00

Jack Bauer Reuben Pizza

I almost killed Jack the other day. When you store sourdough in a mason jar as I do, you can't cover it tightly. I accidentally knocked the whole thing onto the floor, but caught it before he spilled out. I don't think even Jack Bauer could come back from a germy floor. (and who would want him to?)

This is a 100% whole wheat crust that I allowed to slow rise overnight. I also make a loaf of bread with the same dough. It was topped with a swiss cheese sauce, lentils, sauerkraut, onions, 1000 island dressing and raw kale and carrots. Super delicious! I always pre-bake my crust for around 5 minutes or so before adding any toppings. I sprayed the crust with olive oil cooking spray and added garlic powder and caraway seeds to it for a more authentic flavor.

More collard wraps. For those of you wondering, I eat mine raw. You can easily blanch or steam your wraps if the raw taste is too much. This was a combo raw wrap with a little bit of cooked filling. I used a teeny bit of refried beans and some cooked cheese sauce, a raw burger which I cut up into slices, pickled jalapenos, tomato, onion, cilantro and 1/4 an avocado.

The raw burger was made from sunflower seeds, carrots, raw bbq sauce and chipotle powder.

I am going to ignore the fact that collards and kale rate high on the pesticide list. It seems that no matter what we do, we are screwed. Seriously. If I had a ton of money to spend, I would buy organic. I don't and I am doing the best I can to get the most nutrition for my buck! I find it so easy to fall into this trap of worrying so much about this or that and it is not productive for my sanity!

For those of you who ask me over and over why I don't grow up own food. (This has to be the number one question people email me about!) I live in a basement apartment in New Hampshire surrounded by pine trees. I do not have a patio. I do not have enough light inside to do so. I wish I could.

I wonder if I could find someone with land who would be willing to work something out landwise? Hmmm.. I'm going to check into that! I could cook food for the person or give them part of my crop in exchange for their land? It's worth a try.

I've noticed several things that have changed shopping wise. I am no longer buying organic baby spinach and arugula. For around $2.99 for 5 oz, it is still a decent deal, but I can get some large bunches of kale and collards for $1.29. The kale and collards have more versatility and a much longer shelf life. I can use them in green smoothies, as salads, as sturdy greens, in soups and wraps. Also, they are very filling and have pretty high amounts of protein. 4 cups of raw kale has 8.8 grams of protein as opposed to 3.4 grams in spinach. Add 1/2 cup of beans, a healthy dressing and a T of nutritional yeast and I have a huge, satisfying salad that has around 22 grams of protein!

I have not bought any bread. Not even when it's on sale.

I haven't bought tofu either.

I keep putting off making tofu! You have to have 3 pitchers full of soymilk, which is a total PITA... but I can't wait to give it a try! I miss tofu. In fact, that's what I miss the most... oh and processed vegan cheese! I really want to try some of the new FYH out there. I hear they've really improved the flavor and meltability. I've been making a lot of cheese sauces and while they're good, sometimes I just want the store bought stuff.

Yo Vegan Cheese companies! Send me samples! PRETTY PLEASE!!!

All right.. back to food!

Fried Spanish Rice, Kale and Cabbage

Leftover brown rice, veggies, spices, salsa, queso cheese sauce, sour cream... and siracha. I used tons of jalapenos too and garlic. This was actually what I had for breakfast the other day.

Silky yellow split pea soup. I used some of the split pea flour for this soup. Cool beans. hehe

One last VERY exciting thing.. my electric bill was only $24.17 last month! That's for heat and electricity! (I don't pay for hot water).. Granted, I did spend 5 days at my old house, but I think unplugging everything and obviously hardly ever using my heat has really payed off! My house is a balmy 62 degrees right now! My son is home sick, so I turned the heat on.

$3.33 a day: Raw and Cooked

2009-03-21T22:04:00.008-04:00

I just love love love collard greens. They make the BEST wraps ever! The above was filled with spiralized daikon and carrtos, siracha, sesame seeds, wasabi, pickled ginger, avocado, scallions and my low fat flax sesame ginger vinaigrette. The $.50 cent avocados I bought two weeks ago are still very fresh. Buying avocadoes unripe and allowing them to just soften slightly, then putting them in the fridge helps to extend their life. Just take the avocado out the day before you want to use it and let it ripen up.

A different kind of salad

Bean burger on homemade bread. I love using kale or collards as the top piece of bread in a burger or sandwich. Not only does it save calories, it ups your nutrition big time!

First attempt at Raw Baked Beans

Yesterday on RaFu (my favorite online raw forum) someone asked if it would be possible to create raw baked beans? I of course, had to try to figure it out. These are my first attempt with what I had on hand. (and the pic looks gross.. it's hard to make raw baked beans look good). I actually liked them more than I thought I would.

Since I had my dehydrator going, I made some raw bread and crackers... and have 4 raw burgers. I also created a delicious raw BBQ sauce. I will definitely have some raw food recipes in my ebook.

$3.33 a day: Sushi Wrap, Soup and Stew

2009-03-20T13:06:00.006-04:00

Sushi Roll Up

The lazy way to eat sushi! Actually, I like eating it as a wrap better than in pieces. This wrap had daikon, brown rice, sesame seeds, carrots, avocado, shan tofu and kale. The sauce was my low fat sesame ginger dressing. Super delicious! Sometimes, only sushi roll ups hit the spot. My oldest son LOVES them too.

Cajun Stew

I had to put the frozen okra to good use.. well, actually, I bought the okra in order to test this recipe. I love the way it turned out. You can find the recipe here.

Buffalo Shan Tofu

This was the baked buffalo tofu.. and it worked out well. You can see the marinade doesn't penetrate it like regular tofu, but it was still good.

Two Cheese Potato Soup

The soup itself was a potato/swiss cheese soup topped with sharp cheddar sauce. I am tweaking my cheese sauce recipes and am really coming up with some tasty stuff! Very low fat too.

My Ebook is becoming a labor of love.. I am trying really hard to write recipe with ingredients that most people have on hand or easy access to AND make the recipes as low fat, whole food and healthy as possible. I hope to have it ready by the end of April.

That brings me to another point. I was going to try to keep my budget to $60 for the month, but it's not possible if I am going to be developing recipes for the book. I am going to use the full $100 this month I think. I still have over 2o bucks in my bulk fund, so maybe I can just dip into that?

I am VERY low on EVOO and quinoa and spices and condiments. Also, I really like being able to use fresh basil (I WILL TRY growing my own herbs once I can get the starter plants.. I live in a basement apartment in NH surrounded by pine trees.. so I get very little light)..

I went for another walk to Hell Mart today and purchased the following:

Brown Rice 1.57
2 lbs yellow split peas 1.44
Blue Bonnet Light .93
Cilantro 1.14
sauerkraut .62

Total: $5.71

Blue Bonnet Light is vegan. I usually use Smart Balance Light, but it was $2.99. Not the healthiest thing, but whatever. I'm doing the best I can right now.

Total Spent this month: $55.30

Total left to spend: $47.93

Bulk Food Fund: $24.83

$3.33 a day: Shan Tofu and Jack Bauer

2009-03-17T10:55:00.007-04:00

Homemade Shan Tofu and Raw Collard Salad

In my last post, I linked to the recipe I used for the tofu made from yellow split peas. I am in love with this stuff! It isn't like traditional tofu, more like a cross between silken tofu and polenta, but that's OK because the nutritional profile and frugality of this stuff knocks my socks off! I used my vita mix to grind yellow split peas, but I'm sure you could use a coffee grinder as well. I ground one cup of the dry peas ($.50) and used about 3/4 of them in the tofu. I got around 3 servings for around 140 calories, 11 grams protein, 11 grams fiber and no fat. So for $.17/serving it will definitely fit in my budget. BOTH of my kids liked it too, which honestly surprised me because they hate polenta.

The recipe above was a raw collard salad with onions, carrots, sesame ginger dressing and the dry fried tofu. Siracha and sesame seeds finished it off. I used 2 large collard greens (one HUGE bunch was $1.29) for the salad.

I've also used the tofu to make baked buffalo steaks which both the kids and I love. Expect to be seeing TONS of this soon. In fact, I will probably include an entire chapter of recipes in my ebook. I have been experimenting so much with GREAT results.

The Bauer Stromboli

Jack Jack.. he's the man! I used him for this dough.. the stromboli was filled with the leftover lasagna filling and homemade cheese. Super delicious. I also made 2 veggie burgers from the filling as well. Again, totally kid approved.

Bauer Buns

Just some whole wheat buns. I like to make them super thin for calorie reasons..

100% homemade burger

The burger, buns and cheese sauce all homemade, low fat and super delicious. I mixed around 2/3 cup of the leftover lasagna filling with oats and flax and made 2 burgers. The cheese sauce recipe I making is constantly evolving.. each time it gets better and better it will be awesome when it's finally in the ebook! I also made a wicked good swiss cheese sauce (that I will be using in several recipes this week so stay tuned!)

The Cutest Dog in the World!

I've been spending SOOOO much quality time with my dog this week.. I WUFF her so much. She's just the best.

Finally, thank you all for your support... it means the world to me. I know better than to let people get to me, but sometimes I need to be reminded!

Oh.. almost forgot! I shopped again and spent a total of $4.50 on:

Kale 1.29
Frozen Okra 1.29
Daikon 1.20
Scallions .33
Parsley .89
Tomato .50

Total spent this month: $49.59

Total Left to meet my goal of only spending $60.00: $10.41

Can I do it?