Week 1: Something old, something new

Weekly grocery shopping bill: $77....the CHEAPEST I've ever boughten our weekly groceries for. The key: realizing just how much we already have in our fridge and cupboards, and how little we really need to buy. I think I've gotten a little comfortable with our food budget and had a lot of fun getting recipes and buying all the necessary ingredients. While this was great, and certainly tasty, there are many staple food items that have remained unused and untouched...which = waste. Our new goal is to shop smartly and eat wisely. This week truly met that new goal. I only bought the necessary items like: milk, lunch meat, vegetables, and a few other household items. After a week of this, I can say that we're definitely not lacking. We've been full every night of the week, and while I have been tempted to stroll on down to the taco truck and partake of a tasty burrito, we've stuck to our guns and it's been a success. We got the morning paper today, and there are a TON of good coupons to clip...so, off to clipping I go.

Design on a Dime

I have a challenge to issue, mostly to myself, but you are more than welcome to tag along. Drew is finishing up grad school, which is wonderful, but this also means we are back to tightening the ol' budget. The challenge: groceries in $200 or less. (per month that is--which is cutting our regular grocery budget in half, and then some) AND, the other part of the challenge would be to still eat healthy and cook wholesome meals. Anxious to see the results of this attempt? ....we are too. ;) Stay tuned!

Pantry Recipes: Canned Pear Crisp with Oat Streusel Topping

The finished product!

Step 1: Open up pantry. Take out canned pears, and let the fun begin.

Ok, so here's the rest:

Ingredients:

• 8 x 8 baking dish
• 1 16 oz. can of canned bartlet pear halves (cube them)
• 1/2 tbsp. flour
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
• Cooking spray

For the topping:

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup regular oats
• 1/8 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/16 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Dash of salt
• 1/8 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces

How to:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the baking dish or spray with cooking spray.
2. Cube the pears, mix with the 1st set of ingredients. (the topping comes later)
3. Mix together all ingredients for the topping. You will need to beat or mix thoroughly the butter, so that the final product is a coarse texture.
4. Put the pear mixture into the baking dish and sprinkle the topping evenly on top.
5. Cook for approx. 15 minutes. (or until topping is browned and the pears are bubbling--don't over cook this one)
6. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Serve with a spoonful or two of plain or vanilla yogurt, or vanilla ice cream--if you can't resist. ;)

Stir Fry Sauce

I've always had a thing for stir fry. It's been a messy relationship, and it's been rather hot and cold, but my love for stir fry lives on. Tonight I threw together a stir fry sauce that was something of epic tastiness:

(no measurements....it's a taste test recipe--live a little and get creative!)

• Lemon juice (don't use too much, the pure stuff is s.t.r.o.n.g.)
• Sesame seeds
• Sesame oil
• Rice vinegar (just a little)
• Soy sauce (low sodium)
• Minced garlic
• 1/4 cup water (the only real measurement you'll get out of me)
• Brown sugar (a couple pinches)
• Honey

Mix the ingredients and add all in the final minutes of cooking to your delicious mix of veggies and/or protein, serve over some brown rice...the healthier choice...and enjoy!

Pan seared sirloin, garlic spinach, and rice pilaf

It rained today, and was cold outside--two things I love, but definitely did not help in the BBQ department. These seasonal conditions meant that the steaks I had purchased this week for grilling would have to be cooked in a different way. I did a little Google search to find the best method for pan searing steaks, and this is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

• 2 sirloin steaks
• 4 cups of fresh spinach
• O Organics (frozen) rice pilaf (GASP! I know, but it's really good.)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Soy Sauce
• Minced garlic
• Olive Oil

How to:

1. Marinade the steaks! My marinade (no measuring, so just eyeball it): Olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, and a dash of pepper. Let the steaks marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Pre-heat a skillet with 2-3 tbsp. olive oil over medium/high heat. At the same time, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. 
3. Once the steak is marinated and the skillet is fully heated, sear the steaks on both sides, approx. 2 minutes each side. I took mine off a little sooner than 2 minutes, since my steaks were a little on the thin side.
4. Once searing is finished, place the steaks in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes. (For a medium-rare steak. If you want it crispy, keep it in longer.)
5. While the steak is cooking, pre-heat a smaller skillet or use the same one, with 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium/low heat. Once heated, throw in the spinach, garlic, and a little salt and pepper, and cook until spinach is just starting to wilt. Remove immediately from the heat and set aside.
6. Throw the package of rice pilaf into the microwave, per the instructions, and cook for 3 minutes.
7. By the time all of this is ready, your steaks should be done! Serve everything together.

It was bliss preparing this simple weekend dinner, as I'm used to chopping, dicing, and mixing my little heart out on a normal night. Pair this meal with a glass of merlot, and you've got yourself a great evening. :)

Hello, Bento...

I have this really great lunch "bag" from Built, which is made of this insulated, flexible, easy to wash material, and I love it. The problems arise because I love to cook. My love for cooking often means that I have leftovers that I can bring to work for lunch the next day. I have to pack these delicious leftovers in containers and then somehow play tetris and squeeze them all into this lunch bag. While researching alternative ideas for the lunch box, I stumbled across the bento box.

The bento originates from Japanese culture and dates back to the 5th century. This version of the "brown bag" lunch was originally used by working and traveling people who needed a convenient way to pack and eat a nutritious meal. Originally the bento was not a box, but was wrapped in natural materials to carry, but in modern times, the bento can be found in all shapes and sizes. A typical bento box will consist of smaller boxes within the larger box, which is said to provide just the right serving size for your meal.

So, I purchased my very own bento box (seen below--isn't it cute?), and I'm looking forward to testing it out this week at work. I'll be posting my bento box lunch ideas at the end of the week, so stay tuned!

Mozzarella Alfredo Grilled Chicken and Artichoke Pizza

I've had pizza before, really good pizza, really expensive pizza, and I have to tell you that this pizza is very tasty, inexpensive, and easy to make! (all of my favorite things of course.) Now for those of you that have a bread maker, you can whip up your own pizza dough (lucky ducks), but for those of us without the incredi-mixers, you can buy pre-made dough at the grocery store. Trader Joe's has some tasty pre-made doughs available, but you can find some version of this at any store.

Ingredients:

• Pizza Dough (see above for recommendations)
• Freshly grated mozzarella cheese (approx. 2-3 cups worth)
• White Sauce (a.k.a. Alfredo sauce--preferably of the mushroom variety)
• Artichoke hearts (the bottled kind)
• White onion (1/4 cup diced)
• Grilled chicken breast (2 small sized chicken breasts will do for one pizza)
• Pepper
• Minced garlic (1 tsp.)

How to:
If you made your own pizza dough, you'll need to follow your recipe for baking directions. For those of us who bought pizza dough, read the instructions, but mine went like this for a thin crust pizza:

1. Fire up the grill! You'll need to pre-cook the chicken, so make sure you give yourself enough time to get this done first. We use a small Webber BBQ, and it took about half an hour to get the chicken ready, but you could also use a George Foreman or a skillet. Once the chicken is grilled up, you can cut them into bite size pieces.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. Roll out the pizza dough on a non-stick baking sheet.
4. Once the oven is heated, pre-cook the pizza crust for 5 minutes.
5. During this time, get the remaining ingredients prepped. Grate the cheese and dice the onions.
6. Remove from the oven after 5 minutes and add your toppings: white sauce (thin layer please), garlic and pepper first. Then add a layer of cheese, chicken, artichoke hearts and onions. Add the last layer of cheese on top of everything else.
7. Bake in the oven for another 6-10 minutes. Watch your pizza though, as every oven cooks slightly different. You want the crust to be golden brown.
8. Take the pizza out of the oven and let rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

And that's it! Incredibly easy, so I can't say it's a labor intensive recipe. Being a "9-5" girl, I am always on the hunt for easy, but rewarding meals. This pizza is definitely a taste bud pleaser. :)

Food Mob!

Check out Food Mob, a fun online cooking show I stumbled across recently:

Easy Weeknight Dinner: Parmesan Tomato Baked Chicken with Rice

Ever have nights when cooking is the last thing on your mind? Since I've graduated from college and joined the 9-5 crowd, I find it extremely difficult to have the motivation upon arriving home to do anything, and cooking has been one of those challenges. The motto I use for my everyday cooking is: cook a healthy meal in the most simple and affordable way. Thus, I present you with a recipe that truly fits this mold.

Parmesan Tomato Baked Chicken (for 4, or 2 with leftovers)

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (thawed)
• 2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 roma tomato
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• Ground black pepper
• Minced garlic

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. While the oven is pre-heating, prepare the chicken. In a casserole baking dish, place the 4 chicken breasts side-by-side. Spread just a bit of garlic on each chicken breast (up to your personal preference on how much you use), sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly over the chicken breasts, and lightly season with ground black pepper. Slice the roma tomato and scatter on top of the chicken, and drizzle the olive oil on top. Bake until cooked, or until about 15 minutes.

Rice

You can easily cook rice from scratch or you can use a boxed rice if you're feeling particularly tired. I just tried the low sodium version of the chicken flavored Rice-a-Roni and it was decent. I wouldn't make a habit of eating this, but it's perfect for that night when you are just plain tired.

The grill made me do it!

About a month into my brave, bold attempt to tackle meal planning, I realized that I just have to be honest with you: it doesn't work for me. I gave it a fair shot, but that fair shot failed...hence, my lack of blogs. What I did take away from the experiment was two things: 1) Online grocery shopping and delivery is my best friend and 2) That grill's got a mind of its own...and I like it!

The bottom line: meal planning saves money. Knowing exactly what you're going to get, and the exact amount, limits those grocery cart surprises of the unneeded chocolate bar syndrome. But does it save time? Meal planning requires most of the time upfront. For people that like to keep it simple or don't mind eating the same foods all the time, maybe meal planning would take less time, but I am a variety girl and really enjoy experiencing new and unique dishes. Since I enjoy the art of cooking, researching the recipes and settling on a menu would take me at least an hour, if not longer. Then, add on to that the time spent grocery shopping whether online or not, and you'd easily add another 1 hour, at the very least. Online grocery shopping doesn't make a huge difference in time spent shopping, but it does add a more streamlined way to accomplish the same task, and having someone deliver to you is a huge perk.

What now? Well, I've adopted a new way to embrace the business of cooking. This new way embraces both my love for cooking, my desire to save time and money, as well as, my need for some flexibility. I like to call it meal designing. Basically, you cover all your bases: you buy the basic ingredients that you could easily mix-n-match for any number of meals. If you have a specialty dish in mind, you would buy those special ingredients on top of the basics. The basics include: frozen chicken, an array of vegetables, milk, cheese, butter, etc... (Get the idea?) That way, you can come home and still think "what do I feel like for dinner tonight?" but you already have everything you would need to design a great meal.

I will admit though, that I do have a few tricks up my sleeve. First, I got my iPhone 4 a couple of weeks ago. The iPhone 4 is a masterpiece, a true nerd's paradise (that I am unashamedly enjoying), AND on top of it's greatness, there's the App Store. After my first glimpse at the App Store, I excitedly exclaimed, "Where have you been all my life?!" You have Apps for miles. Apps of all kinds. There's Apps for the kids, for the big kids, for the men, the women, the nerd, the sports fanatic, the shopper, the emo kid, the creative tycoon....and for COOKING. I found some amazing FREE apps that put hundreds of recipes at your fingertips. My favorite cooking related apps:

Epicurious
Crock-Pot
AllRecipes
Shop to Lose
CookIt

And the best thing, I've only scratched the surface. Now, when I have some down time on the go or at work, I can whip out my iPhone and browse recipes to help decide what I'll cook next. Amazing! (And I know you all share my enthusiasm)

The other trick up my sleeve is the grill. Our cute, little Weber BBQ is just the thing we needed. Cooking on the BBQ takes about the same amount of time as cooking in the kitchen, but it is so much more rewarding and enjoyable. Who doesn't like the BBQ's smokey flavor? Our new love for grilling things has made our meal planning pretty simple: marinade meat, prepare vegetables for grilling, and go! Needless to say, we've been doing a ton of grilling since we got our BBQ on 4th of July weekend, so I'm sure its appeal will eventually die down, and it'll back to the kitchen for me, but for now, I'm enjoying the experience thoroughly.

So my Nibbles friends, Nibbles isn't going anywhere...it's here for good, but it's entering a new phase in its young Blogger life. I'm somewhat just along for the ride, and discovering new things about what works and what doesn't, and what tastes good. Ahhh, it feels good to get this all off my chest...now on to more cooking adventures! Bon voyage :)

Weekend Special: Lemon pepper garlic grilled salmon with asparagus

Weekends tend to be a grey area for me when it comes to meal planning, as I like to leave a couple days a week to the spontaneity of cooking that I love. Yesterday, we made a quick trip to our local Vons to grab a couple staple items we ran out of, and came across a great deal for fresh salmon fillets (4.99 per lb.). We purchased two of these, and made our way to the marinade aisle. Much to our dismay, the only marinades we were interested in had High Fructose Corn Syrup listed as the SECOND ingredient. All was not lost, as I decided to throw together a quick marinade by myself:

Lemon pepper garlic marinade (for 2 salmon fillets)

• 1 whole lemon (halved)
• 2 tbsp. of minced garlic (I bought a jar in the store)
• Ground black pepper
• Ground sea salt

Directions:

To marinate the salmon fillets used a reusable plastic Tupperware tub that's big enough to fit 2 fillets (one on top of the other). Lay the first fillet in the tub (skin side down). Squeeze one half of the lemon over the top of the fillet, lightly season with the salt and pepper. Take 1 tbsp. of the minced garlic and use a spoon to work the garlic into the top of the fillet. Lay the next fillet directly on top and repeat this process. Put the lid on the Tupperware and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 30-45 minutes.

Asparagus

• 1 bunch of asparagus
• Ground black pepper
• Ground sea salt
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a casserole dish out approx. 2 tbsp. of olive oil. To prepare the asparagus, snap of the white part of the bottoms of the asparagus (not the spear side). Place the asparagus in the baking dish, and mix to evenly coat all with olive oil. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Cook asparagus for approx. 10 minutes, or until desired tenderness. You should begin cooking the salmon at the same time, see directions below.

Grilling the salmon

Directions:

There are many ways to cook salmon, but for this recipe, I use a George Foreman grill. While pre-heating the oven for the asparagus, begin pre-heating the grill as well. Put the asparagus in the oven, then immediately place the salmon fillets on the grill. Let cook for approx. 8-10 minutes. In the final two minutes, pour the remaining juices from the marinade over the top of the fillets and let grill for the remainder of the time.

Lemon butter sauce

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

While the asparagus and salmon are cooking, prepare the sauce to pour on top of everything. Place 2 tbsp. of butter and one tbsp. of lemon juice in a microwavable dish. Heat for about 45 seconds, or until the butter is fully melted.

Ready to serve:

When all portions are finished cooking, place the asparagus on two large dinner plates (to create a "bed" for the salmon). Then place the salmon fillets directly on top of the asparagus. Use a spoon to "ladle" the lemon butter sauce evenly over the two dinner plates. Enjoy!

This quick and easy recipe is truly delicious and is a great summer dish to prepare. I am not typically a huge fish eater, but something about the taste that comes from the grill, and the mixture of flavors really hits the spot!

The virtual world of grocery shopping

I survived the big move last weekend, and have been busy playing catch up at work this week. Needless to say, my diet during the move was less than something to be proud of. Let me put it this way: I never want to eat a slice of pizza again...or at least for a long while. ;) With all the chaos around the move, my Nibbles entries and experiment have suffered, but I am committed to getting things going again for next week! In the meantime, I've discovered something really innovative that would seem to make meal planning so much easier.

How do you feel about grocery shopping? Perhaps you feel nostalgic about the bright lights and endless aisles, or perhaps you feel a bit like me: too busy and too tired to enjoy the chaos that surrounds the experience. I found the remedy to top all remedies for this problem, one that actually SAVES money and time. This magical remedy comes in the form of online grocery shopping.

I have never been aware that I could place my order online and have my groceries delivered the next day, and what's even better, it only costs me 4 bucks for delivery. (I do get an extra 3 dollar discount from my job, but the regular delivery fee would be about 6 bucks.) Depending on how far away you are from the store and how precious your time is, this could either be a steal of a deal, or not worth the extra few dollars spent. I test drove this new method of shopping a couple of days ago on Vons.com (fyi: for your first order you get free delivery), and determined that it is most definitely worth the extra 4 bucks.

The process was incredibly easy and effortless. I could either search for an item (i.e. cheese, milk, eggs, etc..) or I could shop by aisle if I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking for. The online store has everything the store itself has, including the savings. A very useful function is the express shopping list. This is where you can create any number of shopping lists and save them for future uses. You could create a basic list that includes those weekly things you know you'll always need, like: milk, bread, eggs, cheese, lunch meat, etc.. You can also create special lists for specific meals....wait a second, isn't that just like meal planning? ;)

Update: One thing I forgot to mention, which is absolutely amazing, is that you can view the nutrition facts and ingredients list for the products! This is a great tool for those with special dietary needs and/or for people that are wanting to plan their meals with these things in mind.

The goal for my next use of this service would be to do my meal planning for the week using the express list function and see how it works. I predict that it will work wonderfully, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Check it out for yourself in the meantime!

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

This recipe was surprisingly very easy, so don't be fooled or intimidated by the cook time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. The end result was incredibly fresh tasting, and left you feeling satisfied and happy.


The Review:
Being a little green with my cooking, I didn't bother to learn my measurements before going grocery shopping--problem #1. The recipe calls for 4 cups of basil leaves, but the packages measure in ounces. I only had enough basil for about 3.5 cups, and the end result was perfectly fine. If you want to brush up on your cooking measurements, go here: GoodCooking.com


I only needed 1 yellow onion, as opposed to the 2 onions noted in the recipe, so that meant I had to find a creative way to use another one and a half yellow onions before it went bad. The recipe was also a bit deceiving. I'm used to "multi-tasking" recipes. Multi-tasking recipes are the kinds of recipes that break everything into stages, but often times has two stages going at one time. (i.e. bake this, while prepping this) So that's how I approached the recipe: I put the tomatoes in the oven, and then started getting the next step ready...big mistake. It didn't ruin the recipe, as I stopped everything before the onions got fully cooked, but you have to wait for the tomatoes in the oven to finish roasting because you need them for the next step. Alas, crisis averted, I turned off the stovetop and waited for the tomatoes to finish.

Overall, the process was pretty hands off, with just a little bit of prep work. The recipe made a large amount of soup, which is great for large groups or for eating leftovers. The recipe calls for a food mill, which I don't own, and only later did I learn that you could use a blender as a substitute. So, the soup was a bit more hearty and chunky than maybe it was intended to be, but I really didn't mind at all!

The final verdict:
I would definitely make this recipe again. If I did make it, I would probably scale it down a bit, so as not to make so much of it. I love soup, but it's not something I'd want to eat every day for a week. ;) I really like how easy it is to make such a healthy and tasty meal, and it was, of course, incredibly simple to throw some grilled cheese sandwiches on the grill. (Took maybe 10 minutes, if that, to cook)

The receipt:
28 oz can of diced tomatos= $3.50
1 yellow onion=$1.00
Basil leaves=$3.00
Thyme=$1.00
Garlic=$.50
1 lb. roma tomatos=$4.00
1 qt. chicken broth=$2.00
**All other ingredients, I already had in the cupboard/fridge

TOTAL: Approx.. $17.00

Not bad for a meal that could easily feed 6-8 people. Imagine how much cheaper the meal would be if I scaled it down to only feed 2-3.

Recipe link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-tomato-basil-soup-recipe/index.html

UPDATE: I'm moving into a new place this weekend (woo hoo), so I apologize for things slowing down a bit on the blog...it's been crazzzy!

The Scoop: June 7th-13th

I have always enjoyed being a spontaneous eater. For some reason, asking myself the question at 5:00, "What do I feel like for dinner tonight?" and then running to the store at 5:15 for the necessary ingredients, just feels so good, but that will be no more. (Or at least not too often) That's right, I am taking up MEAL PLANNING...and I never thought I would see this day.

I've always heard of the benefits of meal planning: budget saving, time saving, gas saving, etc.. and I'll tell you how it works for me. At the beginning of every week, (I'm a little behind this week--do I get any newbie slack?) I am going to post the meals (dinners) I've planned for the week. Then, throughout the week, I'll post the recipes I used and if there were any hiccups or tweaks along the way (basically, what worked and what didn't). I'm also going to post the cost for each meal, because I really am curious to see if it ends up saving me money. So, with no further ado, here are my meals for the week:

Monday, June 7th

Turkey Tacos with all the fixin's

Tuesday, June 8th

Leftover night

Wednesday, June 9th

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup with Homestyle Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Thursday, June 10th

Grilled Orange Chicken Fingers with Garlic Baby Red Potatoes and Grilled Lime Corn

Friday, June 11th

Hoisin Chicken with Cucumber Salad

Saturday, June 12th

Leftovers or dine out

Sunday, June 13th

Herb Crusted Tilapia with Green Beans

In the beginning, there was good food

A chef, by any other name, is someone with a little bit of spice and spunk, and the determination to live and eat well.

I wish I could tell you that I was inspired deeply by watching the movie Julie and Julia, which is why this blog was created, but to everyone's surprise, I'm really just someone that enjoys two things: good food and cooking. My interest in cooking is not to focus on the gourmet or how to become the next "top chef," but rather, I want to discover innovative, great tasting recipes, that will ultimately save me time and money.

Eating healthy has become a new goal of mine over the past couple of years, and once I got married and had a kitchen to call my own, it's truly taken on a new meaning. My hope for this blog would simply be to provide a space where I can share my recipes, both created and adapted, and inspire others to throw away their McDonalds lovin', fried food grubbin', frozen food eatin' ways, and start cooking again.

Here's to many cooking adventures...hope you stay along for the ride!