Posts filed under 'Eat/Drink'
Happy New Year!
Inspired by a few simple/frugal living blogs, I’m going to try to stick even more to planning our meals in advance. We had most of January planned before we left on our Christmas vacation, but we had a few days to hammer out, and we filled in the gaps today.
1 ham & bean soup
2 pizza
3 chicken tortilla soup
4 cheeseburger pie
5 falafel
6 tuna pasta salad
7 vegetable gratin
8 tamales
9 pizza
10 lentil soup
11 peanut chicken
12 twice-baked potatoes
13 fish
14 burgers
15 chicken popovers
16 pizza
17 pasta & meatballs
18 pork w/mango chutney
19 bbq chicken & cornbread
20 red beans & rice
21 chicken stir-fry lettuce wraps
22 tomato couscous
23 pizza
24 BLTs
25 roasted chicken
26 chicken salad sandwiches
27 bbq lentils
28 beef goulash
29 falafel
30 pizza
31 stuffed shells
January 1st, 2009
My new favorite blog is Joy the Baker.
Yesterday I made both the milk chocolate chip buttermilk pancakes and the peppermint meringues. Tonight for our work cookie swap I made the double chocolate peppermint cookies, although I made them triple chocolate (cocoa powder, 60% chips, and white chips). Everything has been very yummy and easy to make. The cookies aren’t as pepperminty as I was expecting, and they are crisper than I like cookies, but they are still good.
Her food photography is excellent and I love the posts themselves (not just the recipes). I mean, the woman did a doughnut tour of LA. What’s not to love?
December 15th, 2008
Whoops! I’m a little behind here.
Thursday Aug 7
Peanut chicken
Ingredients purchased: Tomato paste
OOP cost: $0.44
Friday Aug 8
Pizza
Ingredients purchased: Cheese
OOP cost: $2.44
Saturday Aug 9
ate at Pecan Street Grill in Pville
Sunday Aug 10
Beef-cornbread bake
Ingredients purchased: Ground beef, cheese, salsa, cornbread mix
OOP cost: $8.17
Notes: Lots of leftovers, still have half the jar of salsa
Monday Aug 11
Falafel
Ingredients purchased: falafel mix, lettuce
OOP cost: $3.26
Notes: Enough falafel mix for another meal
Tuesday Aug 12
French toast
Wednesday Aug 13
Leftovers from Sunday
OOP cost: none
Thursday Aug 14
Chicken popovers
Ingredients purchased: Crescent roll dough
OOP cost: $1.74
Friday Aug 15
Pizza with friends
Ingredients purchased: green pepper, cheese, pepperoni, tomato sauce, red onion
OOP cost: $13.32
Notes: Cheese and pepperoni will last for at least four more meals
Saturday Aug 16
Dinner with friends
Sunday Aug 17
Dinner at Taco Cabana
Monday Aug 18
Grilled cheese
Ingredients purchased: none
OOP cost: none
Tuesday Aug 19
Tilapia, salad, bread
Ingredients purchased: none
OOP cost: none
August 19th, 2008
Monday August 4
Beef fajitas
Ingredients purchased: green pepper, cheese, tortillas
OOP cost: $4.05
Notes: Leftovers!
Tuesday August 5
Orzo w/tomatoes, onion, roasted garlic, olive oil, and herbs
Ingredients purchased: none
OOP cost: none
Wednesday August 6
Quesadillas
Ingredients purchased: technically none, since we used leftovers from Monday. Same food, different format.
OOP cost: none
August 6th, 2008
Friday Aug. 1
Pizza (cheese with roasted garlic)
Ingredients purchased: none
OOP cost: none
Saturday Aug. 2
Vegetable lasagna (spinach, zucchini, onion)
Ingredients purchased: none, but I should have gotten more cheese and sauce
OOP cost: none
Notes: Lots of leftovers
Sunday Aug. 3
Pork chops w/ garlic mashed potatoes, salad, and bread
Ingredients purchased: Pork chops
OOP cost: $3.01
Notes: It was a pack of four, so two will be frozen and saved for another meal. The potatoes were leftover from last Thursday and I made the bread.
August 3rd, 2008
(we haven’t finished making the list for the month; I’ll edit this post when we have)
Pizza
Veggie lasagna
Pork chops
Fajitas
Orzo
Quesadillas
Peanut chicken
Pizza
ate at Pecan St. Grill & Deli
Beef-cornbread bake
Falafel
French toast
Leftovers
Chicken popovers
Pizza
dinner with friends
ate at Taco Cabana
Grilled Cheese
Tilapia
Veggie stir-fry
Pulled Pork
Pizza
ate at Chuy’s
Lentil Chili
Jambalaya
Mac & cheese
BLT
Chicken bacon pasta
Pizza
Burgers & onion rings
Chicken soup
Monthly budget: $200
August 3rd, 2008
I get an odd sense of satisfaction and pleasure from planning our dinner menus and grocery shopping. It’s like a game - what are things we can eat this week that will cost the least amount of money and be more than rice and beans?
My August goal is $200. This sounds like such a small amount, but I looked at our receipts for July and we spent around $240, not including the 4th. And this includes buying some crap we don’t really need to spend so much on, like $5.50 on a pizza when we have the ingredients to make pizza at home. Or the $7 bags of coffee we buy. At least the coffee keeps us away from buying it for $4 a pop (or drinking the swill at work), but it still seems like so much for something.
So anyway. My plan for August is to post our menus, grocery receipts, and out of pocket (OOP) cost. The costs will only be determined by what we had to buy this month, so if I end up making a meal with pantry stuff, the cost will be zero. Woohoo!
Got any cheap but yummy meal ideas? I’d love to hear them!
July 29th, 2008
Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. pureed strawberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together dry ingredients and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time, mixing until smooth. Add buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, mixing to combine. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined - do not overmix. Add strawberries.
Fill each cupcake cup about half full. Bake 18-20 minutes. Makes 24-30 cupcakes.
Frost with Coconut & Lime’s Dark Chocolate Icing or any other dark chocolate frosting. I think a ganache would work particularly well, although I liked how C&L’s icing firmed up in the fridge.
Notes
Probably because I puree the strawberries, these cupcakes don’t rise very much. However, I think pureeing is crucial to getting the strawberry flavor throughout and making it more like a cake than a fruit muffin. Next time I’m going to try all-purpose flour and see how that rises.
I’d be interested to hear how this goes for anyone else, especially if you make changes!
March 9th, 2008
Genuine Joe opened a few years ago and quickly became a popular neighborhood spot. In 2006 they won the Austin Chronicle’s Critic’s Pick for Best North Austin Coffeehouse.
Atmosphere: (7) With tons of seating including three separate rooms and an outdoor patio, GJ can really pack the people in. Unfortunately, that means it can get pretty loud at times as this tends to be more of a social hangout than a place to do work in the evenings. Daytime is much more relaxed, and at all hours I’ve never had to worry about the sound system blaring. If you do need to get some work done at night, just remember to bring headphones - and be aware of the live music on Thursday and Saturday nights as well as the 3rd Monday of the month.
Clientele: (4) The clientele is very mixed, reflecting the neighborhood. I love seeing all the different people interacting, even though the noise can sometimes be too much, like I said above. There’s always a interesting conversation to pop into, though. For those of you keeping track, there’s more (seemingly) single men here than women.
Staff: (5) No pretentiousness here. The staff here is super friendly and doesn’t mind making strange drink requests (chai with a shot of chocolate, anyone?). And knowing the regulars by name helps create that cozy neighborhood atmosphere.
Food: (7) Awesome brownies, plus soup, sandwiches, and other baked goodies, including vegan options. Plus, bowls of fresh buttered popcorn! They do seem to run out of things easily, however. The past few times I’ve arrived at 7 p.m. the bakery case was mostly empty, even though they are open until 11.
Mocha: (9) $3.35 GJ has my favorite mochas, with the right blend of coffee and chocolate. I never have to worry about chocolate sludge on the bottom or an inch of foam on the top. (I hate foam.) At other coffee shops it takes me a long time to finish a mocha because of the overpowering flavors attacking my mouth, but at GJ they drink easily and make me rush back for another.
Coffee: (7) $1.45 The coffee has a nice medium flavor, as it should be when you order the house roast. There is a slightly bitter aftertaste but it is quickly replaced with a general coffee flavor - like how you wish that coffee at IHOP was.
Wild Card: (+1) They love having groups come in, and the two side rooms plus a table in the main room can be reserved in advance.
Total Score: 40
Genuine Joe is located at 2001 W. Anderson Lane.
February 4th, 2008
A while ago I realized that the first year I lived in Austin I visited about a dozen coffee shops. I suppose I have a caffeine addiction. Or just an addiction to places where I can people-watch and write. Every place is different of course, but there is always someone looking for the “best”. And so, in an excuse to visit or re-visit Austin’s coffee shops, I bring you Coffee Wars!
I’ll be visiting as many coffee shops in Austin as I possibly can, and reporting back here with the results of my visit. To try and make the ratings process simpler, I’m going to order the same thing at every place: a regular coffee and a mocha.
Here’s how the 45 points will break down:
Flavor: 10 points each drink
Food: 10 points - selection, taste, price, etc.
Atmosphere: 10 points - seating, noise level, lighting, patio
Price: (not rated) given for completeness
Staff: 5 points - attitude, conversation, etc.
Clientele: 5 points - It may seem odd to rate a place based on who goes there, and this might be something that should go in the Atmosphere category, but the other denizens of the shop can potentially make or break your experience.
Wild Card: 5 bonus points - anything goes
I’ll be keeping a running tally of all the points and post the final list at the end of the year.
January 27th, 2008
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