Salads for survival

I've been slicing Boca Chik*n patties and putting them in "emergency" salads when I find myself starving for no reason. I hate using so many processed meat analog products, but even with lots of cashews or almonds, I find I'm needing something with some unidentifiable heft to satiate me. I'm going to experiment with avocado bagel sandwiches to see if that helps...

Backyard picnic!

Today's weather was refreshingly warm and happily sunny. With my fresh baked zaatar foccaccia (that the sunflower seeds fall off of, when will I learn to knead these items into the dough), it felt right to wash off my little café table and ask hubby to grab a bagged salad and a bottle of Vouvray on the way home.

What else says summer-ish than cold French wine, Dole Asian Crunch salad ($12.71 for the wine and $3.99 for the salad) with homemade bread dipped in cold pressed extra virgin olive oil?

The whole meal would have been vegan if it weren't for the egg yolk-- I'm not sure if it was in the ginger sesame dressing or the Asian-style noodles.

Salad experiment

Looking for a quick soothing lunch, I grabbed some bagged salad from the fridge, the last four Morningstar Chikn nuggets and some dried pineapple.

For the dressing, I opted for experimentation: equal parts of Archer Farm Buffalo Blue Cheese Dip, light mayonnaise and creamy Ceasar dressing.

We liked it.

Tammy's lunch: Warmed Stuffed Dates

The salad for Tammy's lunch was simple: spring mix my mother-in-law brought with the Very Veggie Dole prepackaged salad, added some cucumber from the store, a diced green pepper from my garden, and lots of raisins and sunflower seeds.

Dessert was fresh pineapple and strawberries.

The entree was leftover sicilian.

The beverage was the house specialty of green tea and rose tea.

But the warm appetizer stole the attention.
I modified my stuffed date recipe.

I sliced the dates in half and coated my skillet with walnut oil. I warmed the skillet on low, added a dash of cinnamon across the bottom of the pan, and added the dates. I increased heat to almost medium and let the dates cook for about four minutes. Then I flipped them. Waited four minutes or so and removed them from the skillet.

I turned the heat off from under the skillet, added a slice of morningstar vegetarian bacon for each whole date, waited a minute, and flipped the bacon. Since the heat was off and the skillet was slowly cooling, I left the bacon in there and swiped some cream cheese into each of my date halves. Then I closed the dates and returned them to their original shape.

Once all the dates were stuffed, I wrapped each date in fake bacon and returned them to the skillet where I baked them in a preheated oven (400 degrees) for about ten minutes.

Turkey and Brie sandwiches

Today's lunch was a subtle variation on last night's dinner.

Today, we had simple turkey sandwiches with brie and lettuce, on multigrain sandwich bread from Giant, and seedless red raspberry jelly from Wegmans. Then for a side we had the leftover Dole Italian Salad with chianti vinaigrette and I added dried cherries for a new flavor.

Fabulous. Heavenly. So simple and so cheery.

Sandwiches!!!

I am so excited for dinner. I'm feeling a tad under the weather and I'm not sure whether it's allergies or a cold... Since sneezing and running nose seems to be the main issue, could just be allergies.

I mentioned to my husband that I would really like a simple sandwich, as in from the deli counter, and he volunteered to run to Giant. (Must be partially because he was home alone with the little one all day.)

I am so thrilled with tonight's meal plan. We're each having half an asiago bagel with soy mayo, lettuce, honey turkey, deluxe ham, smoked guoda and cheddar and vegetarian bacon. Sides are Dole bagged Italian Salad with garlic croutons and some sort of red wine vinaigrette and Veggie Patch Spinach Cheese bites, which we're trying because we had a coupon.

Egg noodles with pork and black beans with ceasar salad

Sorry for the lack of posting, but I threw my back out sneezing. We went out to dinner Friday before this event, at one of our favorite Mom-and-Pop restaurants (Little Italy Food Center in Pohatcong).

Saturday my mom invited us for dinner after my injury and stocked us with leftovers that we've been eating. The price "recipe" seems to be a pork with black beans and egg noodle concoction she made. She made it with beef broth and pre-seasoned pork, but I'd season my own pork (or omit it entirely and replace with broccoli) and use vegetable broth instead of beef.

Tonight we had this for dinner with a side of store-bought prepackaged Ceasar Salad.

The $3 dinner/ Mme. Pomfrey's potion

We attended the Riverside Festival of the Arts today and had a late lunch of beef brisket sandwiches. For dinner, we had a picnic while my daughter and I rode our bikes. No one was very hungry because of such a meaty lunch, so we had the Dole Southwest Salad with bananas for dessert and water from our bike bottles. The dinner cost me about $3 total, or $1 per person, because the salad (which came with salsa ranch dressing, tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, radishes, shredded carrots and lettuce) was buy one get one free at $3.99, and the bananas were 59 cents a pound.

My daughter made the mistake of getting her bike going really fast and then deciding to see if she could ride one-handed. The answer was no. She has a nasty though superficial crash and scraped her elbow in an ugly way. So after we washed her up, I made her Easy Now traditional medicinal tea with honey and soy milk and my husband told her it was Mme. Pomfrey's special potion.

Breakfast post-bicycling

My daughter and I went bicycling this morning and before we left we each had a bowl of cereal with soymilk. When we got home I made fried eggs and I ate mine on homemade bread. We had fresh strawberries and organic lemonade. I also had leftover Dole salad to which we added cucumbers and a tomato from the garden. Then, we finished it off with a donut from a trip to Dunkin Donuts last night.

Sesame Pork with Pears

Tonight for dinner I really wanted to make Dominique Malet's Sesame Pork with Pineapple and Coriander. Except I don't have pineapple. Or coriander. Or sunflower oil. So... I winged it. Big shock, right?

Angel's Marinated Sesame Pork with Pears (served over Asian-style store-bought salad)

Four thin pork chops sliced into stir-fry strips

For the marinade:
Two(2) teaspoons cornmeal
Two (2) tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
One (1) tablespoon champagne vinegar
One (1) tablespoon Chambord
Two (2) tablespoons sesame oil*

Prepare marinade in the order listed, so the liquids dilute the corn meal.

Soak pork in marinade for about 15 minutes at room temperature. I prepare mine on a deep plate and sprinkled liberally with roasted sesame seeds I purchased at Forks Mediterranean Deli. I always get my sesame seeds there, they're way too expensive at the grocery store. Spices, too.

While the meat marinades, prep the following:
For the stir fry:
Fresh garlic or garlic powder
pears
soy sauce
garlic

Prepare a wok with canola oil. Heat oil. Add meat. Stir-fry meat for about three minutes on high. Sprinkle with about two teaspoons garlic powder and a pinch of ginger. Add pears in desired size of chunks and sprinkle with one tablespoon soy sauce. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon ginger and stir-fry for two more minutes, stirring constantly.

I'm going to serve mine over a Dole Asian Crunch Salad. Which I am augmenting with fresh spinach from my garden. This was my favorite meal in the last week or so...

*Special cooking oils and vinegars: like sesame oil, champagne vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and cooking wines can look expensive, but when you use sparingly to produce an authentic flavor or a special meal... it can really make a standard cheap cut of meat taste incredible.

Weekend laziness

Yesterday was my last official day at the YWCA and, as such, I ended up in the office for about 10 hours. It's scary when you have one day to finish everything unresolved. Unlike when you quit a job, my "seasonal" position will resume in August and I will have to finish what I started then. So, if I make a mess, I'll be the one cleaning it.

So I called my husband at 5 p.m. to tell him I hadn't left the office yet and he asked if he should start dinner and I said sure. He made fried egg sandwiches on bagels.

Then after our daughter went to bed, we each had a glass of Veuve Clicquot (from a small $25 bottle I bought for my birthday) to celebrate my summer vacation. We spiked it with Chambord (kir royale, anyone?) because oddly, these last two bottles of champagne had tasted more like sweet beer. Blasphemy, I know.

This morning, my husband made us each "magic toast." (See the last grocery entry involving the Giant...) And for lunch we'll have the leftover bag of Dole salad, with something to make it an entrée. (I so wish we had sunflower seeds.) For dinner, we have friends coming over that offered to buy pizza while we watch the first season of LOST...

Groceries

It's the 27th. Yesterday's take out probably pushed us to $310 for dining out and groceries for the month of May. Just a couple more days and we have a new month... a clean slate... but I caved, and sent my husband to the store for peanut butter and salad. He spent close to $45.

Have you noticed my nasty habit? Once I break the budget I do so repeatedly, that's why I fight so hard that first time. I know myself.

We had ice cream for dinner, at our favorite creamery, because the owner there asked us to stop by... And our daughter tends to have the run of the place. It's the Purple Cow in downtown Easton and their ice cream is heavenly. Today I had a strawberry sundae with tiramisu ice cream. The fruit made it dinner.

But I remained very aware that my daughter had a grilled cheese for lunch and I needed to get some vegetable matter into her, hence the salad. Which got eaten very reluctantly. My daughter and her daddy went to the store for salad and as she has been on a peanut butter and jelly kick lately, I suggested a splurge for store-bought bread.

My husband picked up Giant's bakery multigrain sandwich bread, which I adore but will not buy because it's up to $4.29 a loaf (I swear a few months ago it was $4.59). It makes the most perfect toast. I could literally eat it every morning for the rest of my life. We call it magic bread.

My husband put the magic bread in the basket and my daughter grabbed a baguette, shook it, and yelled, "No, Daddy. Mommy said buy bread."

Well, when they got home, my husband augmented a Dole salad in the bag with some extra stuff and served with bread. He apologized, because he bought two bags when it always turns out that we only need one... But the bread was delicious. At the same time, it seemed weird. Then I noticed he used Smart Balance and not butter. I choked up the different to that.

But I looked at the baguette and it looked soft. I turned it over, to read the label, wondering if it was indeed a French-style baguette or something else. It was a Nature's Promise loaf, no preservatives, made with unbleached flour.

Then I noticed it: "Finish baking at home. 5-10 minutes at 375 degrees." A-ha! That explains it...

Burgers and fries

I have had a long day today. As I went to the liquor store to gather ingredients for my world famous purple margaritas for my business meeting Wednesday afternoon, my daughter and husband went into the Giant for potatoes, salad and apples. I don't know exactly what they got, but they spent $10 and my husband made this delicious dinner.

He made small burgers with smoked gouda and bacon on homemade bread with thin sliced potatoes cooked crispy in the oven. And Dole Southwestern salad. I made the purple margaritas. A test batch.

Fancy Dinner with Mark and Julie

Last night, my husband confirmed that our friends Mark and Julie would be coming for dinner... tonight. So, with 24 hours to prepare, I had a dinner party to whip up. This would mark the fourth time this week we went to the grocery store, and I believe our grocery total for the month is about $200 (and it's not even the 15th yet) and we spent $25 on eating out (pizza one night). If I try really hard, I can survive the next two weeks without hitting the store again. And be on budget...

My husband had mentioned croque monsieur to our guests, so they were interested. And I figured it was scrumptious last night so it would be yummy again. And I thought I'd get some raspberries and make some Vouvray-lavender honey sauce to complement them. And a prepackaged salad. A baguette. And voilà, simple multi-course dinner.

And the guests said they'd bring dessert.

I had enough cheesy bread left to make a couple small sandwiches. I needed a little more of everything, so I headed to Wegmans. I spent about $42, way over what I wanted to but I bought double what I intended. Ham, 1 lb., $6. Gruyère, 1/2 pound, $6. smoked gouda, $5. baguette, $2. batard, $2. The salads looked awful, so I opted for a hunk of La Chaume cheese instead ($5). If I couldn't whip up a salad, I'd serve a cheese platter. Two quarts of raspberries, $10. Maille imported French dijon mustard, $4. And my daughter insisted on petit ecolier cookies, $4. Yes, I caved. They're French and dark chocolate.

My husband agreed to stop on his way home for salad. Mark and Julie would get a cake.

Plus a bottle of wine I had on hand means I made dinner for five for $5o. Not so bad...

The recipe for fruit salad with white wine-honey sauce can be found under the "French" link and probably under "Vouvray" too. I followed those basic instructions, cut back the sugar and used only raspberries.

I prepped the sandwiches so they just needed to bake. I got 11 or 12 sandwiches. But my cheese sauce wouldn't thicken so they were a tad dry. I needed another tablespoon flour, but ran out of time.

My daughter set the table with the Royal Doulton Isabella. We got out the silver. We even went to the rose bush and picked the first buds of the spring for a centerpiece. We filled the princess house glasses with water and when the guests arrived there was Vouvray for everyone.

Two types of bread were on the table.
First course: raspberries
Second course: croque monsieur
Third course: Dole Spring Fling Salad with almonds and berry vinagrette dressing
Fourth course: International Cheese Flight of Swiss gruyère, German smoked gouda, French Chaume and New York Extra Sharp Cheddar (from Aldi no less!)
Fifth course: (here's where the courses get funky, order wise) chartreuse
Sixth course: decaf with coffee mate Parisian Almond Cream creamer and strawberry shortcake torte

Full bellies, happy bellies. Very sleepy grown ups...

Mommy's scrambled eggs

Yesterday I had a blood sugar meltdown and it wasn't pretty. It was a reminder that I need to pay closer attention to my own meal schedules. I more or less need six small meals a day, but lately I've been skipping snacks. It caught up with me yesterday. It usually starts with breakfast... I skip that thinking I'll eat mt ten o'clock snack at nine and be fine... Well, yesterday I didn't eat until 11 and it threw my whole day out of whack.

By five, my husband ran to Giant to get a rapid, high protein dinner involving salad because I had in my head I wanted salad. And when I get screwed up like that, I often refuse to eat unless I get something that "looks good."

So he went to the store and bought two pre-packaged ceasar salads in the bags (on sale 2/$7), vegetarian chicken and buffalo wings (because it heats in the microwave super quick), and real chicken breasts (in case I had in my head that I wanted the real thing, and he got organic thinking I would approve... what a sweetie... and he had no idea how to read the price so he paid WAY too much, but it's the thought that counts.)

He spent $22. And made a delicious salad with the buffalo wings strips and laid into it. And the kit included shaved slices of asiago cheese... Mmmmm... We're having the second batch for lunch today.

I'm trying to be more careful today. We had homemade raisin bread toast with 

coffee at 7:30. (The loaf of sticky roll dough that I didn't ice or cut into buns.) At 9, I made myself two scrambled eggs (with soy milk) with parsley, the leftover garlic pepper seasoning from the salad last night, and grated asiago. Served with a side of ketchup and a pinch of coarse sea salt. And technically, I used extra virgin olive oil in the pan instead of no-stick spray. Figured I could use the healthy fat.

Midday recount

For breakfast this morning... Oh, wait, I didn't have breakfast. Well, maybe I did if you count the graham crackers at 8:30. My daughter had watermelon at 7:30 and graham crackers and chocolate soy milk with me.

I'm concerned with her getting enough liquids in this hot weather, so I "made" her drink one of my bubbly cherry lemonades at 10. That's when I made myself the rest of the Dole salad from last night, though we ate all the good toppings so I just poured a bunch of grated asiago over it and then added the remaining ginger dressing. It was fabulous.

At 11, my husband and daughter had a real picnic on the college quad, with crackers and leftover lebanon bologna and port salute cheese, a banana and a 100% juice box. Then they played some quad golf.

When I got home from class at noon, I brewed some green tea to ice later. I then packed a glass bottle (20 ounces?) with ice cubes and water for the little one. AND I gave her the rest of the watermelon.

Now, I'm finally sitting down to eat some homemade bread and port salute cheese, with a glass of diluted lemonade.

Tuna Sandwiches and store bought bagged salad

Shannon, my daughter and I went shoe shopping this morning so we stopped at Giant for a few odds and ends... ($40) We decided to throw together tuna sandwiches and a store-bought bagged salad (Dole). We got Nature's Promise "sweet crunch" bread for convenience, Dole's Perfect Harvest salad (Apple Cider Dijon Vinaigrette, dried cranberries, diced almonds, shredded carrots and several lettuces: radicchio, romaine and endive).