More comfort food

God bless my husband.

We had a snow storm on Tuesday, and after work on Wednesday he drove me to Target for my closing shift and then he got gas in the car and went to Giant.

You see, I had a coupon for free eggs if I spent $5. Since we're still broke and paying off our new tires, he took a credit card and bought $20 worth of groceries. 

Enough to get us through a few more days. And it's beyond cold. So we planned this comfort food meal:

- Home canned local apples

- Wegmans spirals and cheese boxed macaroni and cheese with fresh spinach

- burgers from the freezer (I don't even remember when we bought ground beef) on potato buns from Giant and more fresh spinach (husband's mom got spinach at the warehouse club and shared).

Dinner last night also came from the freezer:

- turkey leftover from Christmas Eve at my mother-in-law's house

- green beans almandine that I had made for Christmas dinner with my mom and step mom 

Harissa peorogies

So, last night a former work colleague posted a photo from a wine bar in California of "harissa fries." It got me thinking...

I made Wegmans spinach peorogies. I have a whole process for making them. I boil them in water for a couple minutes, drain, cool with cold water, dry with kitchen towels and only THEN do I put them in my cast iron skillet with heated oil.

Today I added garlic pepper to the oil.

After I cooked my family's meal, I addeda bunch of harissa to the oil before I cooked mine. That was yummy. Of course, because they were the last ones prepared, the harissa sputtered and spit like mad.

Fête Nationale

Slept in this morning and since it is "Bastille Day," my husband had procured croissants from Wegmans.

Coffee, croissants and jam from the farmers market.

My famous egg rolls

Homemade egg rolls are fun and easy to make!

We use prepared egg roll wrappers that come 12 in a pack. 

It's standard practice in this house for me to use Wegmans broccoli slaw as the bulk of the filling. It has a nutritional boost over some of the other vegetables available. I get out a big bowl, pour the slaw in, and add a can of crab meat.

Today I also added kale since we have a lot of it left.

We don't use an egg wash to seal them, we use simply water.

For seasonings, I sprinkled in some low sodium soy sauce, a lot of ginger, some garlic powder, a few drops of walnut oil, and a few generous splashes of sesame oil.

I taught daughter how to roll them and fried them over medium temps in a fifty-fifty blend of coconut oil and canola. 

I've blogged about these before... These are some of the various egg rolls (both homemade and prepared) that I have blogged about:  http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/search?q=Egg+rolls&m=1

 

Pre-birthday post

Tomorrow is my little girl's ninth birthday! In the space between this post and the previous, we went to Washington, D.C., for a networking event so I didn't really plan much. On the fly last night, my stepmom and I started planning a surprise barbeque tomorrow night (since my stepmom and I both work until 4). If you see the wee one, don't you dare tell her!

We have nearly no food in the house and the bank has somehow totally confused our checkbook. My stepmom said she's been craving her mom's macaroni salad and she has 100 hot dogs left over from a special event she hosted at the office. My daughter wants a watermelon for her birthday. With those elements available, it seemed obvious to have a barbecue.

I had some Bush's vegetarian baked beans in the cupboard and then we went to Wegmans for the watermelon and a cake. I picked a strawberry chiffon cake because it just sounded like the perfect summer cake for my summer baby.

I also got some vegetables to cook on the grill tomorrow: artichokes, red pepper, green pepper, potato, carrots and pineapple. I have it chopped and "marinating" in olive oil, four color pepper, garlic pepper and a touch of pineapple juice.

I spent $91 at wegmans but I think I got some great stuff:
- Wegmans honey apple oat bread, $2.79
- sour cream $1.09
- Chobani Flipz, 6 at $1.29 each
- Alexa multigrain onion rings, $3.19
- Alexa crinkle cut salt and pepper sweet potato fries, $3.19
-Wegmans spinach and feta pierogies, $1.99
- Wegmans steam in bag artichokes and asparagus, $3.99
- sweet peas, 99 cents
- frozen juice concentrate, $1.99 and $2.09, three total all 100% juice
- wegmans chunky pizza sauce, 3 at $1.19
- cool ranch doritos, $2.50
- tomato sauce, 16 ounce can, 3 at 55 cents
- tomato sauce, tiny can, 3 at 3/99 cents
- canned artichoke hearts (plain) $2.99
- mandarin oranges in pear juice, 2 small cans at 89 cents each
- canned crab meat, $2.39
- club pack of 2 baguettes, $4
- strawberry chiffon cake, $13
- 5 lbs idaho potatoes, $1.99
- kale, $2.49
- green pepper, 94 cents
- one pound organic baby carrots, $1.29
- red pepper, $1.96
-eggroll wrappers, $2.99
- broccoli slaw, $2.50
- 12 ounces of raspberries, $3.99
- 2 lbs strawberries, $3.99
- watermelon, $4.99 

Hot broccoli sandwiches

Sorry for the hiatus. Cupboards were bare. Schedules frenzied. Not much worth sharing.

But tonight I made these open faced almost like pizza broccoli sandwiches.

I took six slices of some grocery store bakery bread.

I preheated the broiler to high.

I spread each slice with the black olive tapenade from Wegmans. I layered pepperoni on next and sprinkled garlic pepper. I heated them just enough to toast the edges.

Meanwhile my husband chopped and cooled until crisp-tender some broccoli.

I added that to the sandwiches, sprinkled with Italian blend cheese and placed them back under the broiler until the cheese melted.

And the most awesome touch?

Drizzling then with cold pressed extra virgin olive oil when they emerged from the oven.

The whole family laments that I didn't make more.

Cute lunch

Another variation of my salad wrap:

- small tortilla shell
- Italian salad green blend from wegmans
- Bulgarian feta
- olives
(No dressing)

And a homemade strawberry soda:
- strawberry syrup imported from Beirut
- carbonated tap water via my SodaStream

Bâtard and quince

A few more weeks and my last full semester at Lafayette will end. My daughter is drowning in her phlegm and her ear tubes are falling out. Target opens at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving. We're still barely making ends meet.

But hey, no sense complaining. This is life.

Today I stopped at Wegmans because my poor daughter wanted ice cream and I'm restricting her dairy right now because of her allergy/ear issues.

I got her coconut milk cookies and cream ice cream.

She also wants to cook dinner tonight so I got vegan ravioli, one butternut squash and the other roasted red pepper. She suggested ravioli for the meal.

I also got salad greens and Health is Wealth Pizza Munchees which are also vegan.

And sushi. Because I can't make it through Wegmans without a serious impulse buy.

I also got bâtards, a small type of French bread, because I've craved a bâtard with butter and quince jam for months. A few weeks ago, I discovered Lebanese quince jam at the Mediterranean Deli. Imagine my delight when I found bâtard bread today. The flavors bring me back to Tunisia.

I also made myself a smoothie of vanilla maple yogurt from Klein Farm, frozen pitted dark cherries, a fresh banana and a splash of sour cherry nectar from Turkey. (Another find at the Mediterranean Deli.

My belly celebrates.

Dinner is a vegetable

We went for my birthday ice cream at 5 pm, a nice peanut butter ice cream dusty road at the Purple Cow Creamery. Heavenly!

Now, it's 6:30 and I made some organic carrot sticks, raw cucumbers and fried up some Wegmans feta and spinach peorogies in leftover oil from last night.

That should make up for a lack of real food.

Crab egg rolls

I have revisited a family favorite: homemade egg rolls. A previous version of my crab egg rolls can be found in this entry from January 2010:

http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2010/01/crab-rolls.html?m=1

But these are a tad simpler, take 30 minutes start to finish, and taste incredible.

I fried them in about 1/2 inch canola oil with a few dashes of sesame oil. It's too expensive and doesn't handle high temps well but a few splashes do taste wonderful.

If you wish to make these vegan, stuff with your favorite veggies and potentially tofu if you wish and seal with corn starch and water instead of egg and water.

INGREDIENTS:
- one can crab meat, or other meat if desired. I use the Bumblebee white meat because it's cheap and i'm broke
- one bag broccoli slaw from the produce department at Wegmans (the original recipes recommends cabbage but this comes already shredded and packs an incredible nutritional wallop)
- a few tablespoons of Tzatziki (sp?) dressing just to lubricate it. It's not necessary and this is the first time I tried it.
- a teaspoon or so of ginger
- a hearty dash of fresh ground black pepper
- some country herb seasoning (or any herbs that appeal. Fresh dill is magnificent.
- I also added a hearty dose of ras wl hanout but I don't expect anyone else too

Get some Egg Roll Wrappers. Peel, fill, smear with an egg-water wash, fold up, and fry.

Hello, Wegmans

I needed some fresh produce and unusual food. Stuff you can't get at Target. I'm tired of the cheap stuff I buy at Target. And it doesn't help that I went to a Greatlands Target today near my daughter's ENT's office but couldn't buy the cool stuff they carry that we don't because it would have had to sit in the hot car.

Then daughter lost a tooth and I needed to assist the supernatural entity who is obsessed with teeth.

I went to Wegmans although I'm ridiculously broke. Just me and my visa at 9 p.m.

I spent $70.27. I bought:

- eggs, one dozen large, 89 cents
- 12 count classic escargot in pesto-butter, 2 boxes at $6.99 each
- Amy's Organic Tofu Scramble pockets, 3 at $2.49 each
- 2 bags of frozen broccoli florets, not cuts, florets, $1.99 each
- 4 pound bag of spinach-feta peorogies, $5.99
- Wegmans chunky pizza sauce, 2 jars at $1.19 each
- pear halves in juice, the big can, 2 cans at $1.59 each
- pear slices in juice, the big can (meant to get three of the others), $1.59
- canned white crab meat, $2.29 (for egg rolls)
- Bob's Five Grain Cereal, $2.39
- Wegmans spirals Mac and cheese dinner, 10 at 39 cents each
- Wegmans dark chocolate with almonds, $1.99
- sweet Lebanon bologna, one pound, $4.99
- silly putty, $1.99
- baguette, $2.25
- 2 Anjou pears (or was it 3), $1.52
- 1 green pepper, large, $1.21
- bagged lettuce, 99 cents
- broccoli slaw, $2
- 1 cucumber, 99 cents
- egg roll wrappers, $2.99
- one pound organic carrots, $1.19

All I need

Yesterday, in Wegmans, I fell prey to the croissants. I wanted at least one of each: plain, almond, and chocolate. I know my daughter prefers chocolate, but I'm not sure about my husband... And if I got almond, would they feel left out?

So I bought one of each for each of us. Now I have a colleague who swears Giant makes the best croissants, but I have yet to have a taste test them side by side with Wegmans and it should be done in close proximity to a trip to Europe.

Anyway, croissants are $1.25 (they used to be $1.50) so it's a good example of near absolute purchasing power parity, since croissants are 1 euro in Paris, and the exchange rate is about $1.30 per euro.

Valentines Feast

I got my stitches out today. I'm almost back to where I was before this whole debacle started-- toothless for the #29 slot but healthy-- thanks to my diligent periodontist. We try again June 14, giving my jaw plenty of time to heal.

In the meantime, I have a healing hole on the right side of my mouth and a molar that needs repair on the left. Doesn't leave me much options for chewing, but that back left molar is my dentist's project for next Tuesday.

My husband had suggested picking out a cake from Wegmans for Valentine's Day. So, armed with the remaining $37 on the Wegmans gift card from my mom and a $50 gift card I had hanging around I decided to find something to cook for dinner.

What did I get?

Keep in mind, today was a splurge day, and it was cheaper than going out to dinner since we didn't eat all of it tonight.

- 4 of Wegmans perfect portion sirloin steaks, organic and grass fed, 2 per pack, one pack $10.26, the other $9.90
- 90-10 ground beef, $5.15
- club pack of boneless chicken breasts, $11.02
- port salut cheese, $4.20
- medium Brie, $6.37
- 9 croissants: 3 plain, 3 chocolate, 3 almond, $1.25 each
- baguette, $2.25
- Wegmans ultimate white cake (the small one), $6.50
- watermelon chunks, 10 ounces, $3.49
- French blend bagged salad, $2.50
- baby red potatoes, $3.99
- one pound organic carrots, $1.19
- Wegmans raspberry cherry vinaigrette dressing, $3.29

Total $81.36

THE MENU
1st course: watermelon
2nd course: pan-seared sirloin with roasted potatoes and carrots
3rd course: salad with mandarin oranges, dried blueberries, dried strawberries and the cherry raspberry dressing
4th course: cheese platter of baguette with port salut and brie
5th course: ultimate white cake

My own canning kit

Although I haven't tasted anything yet, I think today's canning session has removed my fears and got me dreaming of my own pickles, condiments, fruits and salsa. Imagine canning my famous bruschetta! (Tomorrow I must do laundry and bake bread.)

I found this blog's take on condiments and I must say I like it, especially since i've selected catsup on its sodium content and use of high fructose corn syrup. Dreaming of catsup and mustard and my own hot sauce...

http://www.sbcanning.com/2011/07/condiment-canning-ketchup-mustard.html

In a torrential downpour my friend Gayle and I went to the Airport Road Target for canning supplies. In our Target, we have an end cap display of canning items, but this store had only one set of pint jars. I got soaked down to my underpants for nothing!

I really wanted the starter kit. Ball's latest kit is designed for small batches, which excites me because I don't have large scale needs.

So I went to my Target, after witnessing several accidents and sitting in several traffic jams, and the end cap had a box of lids and rings but not just lids like Gayle needed. And no starter kit! Every other accessory but no canning insert for the pot. Gayle mentioned Wegmans.

At this point Gayle was at home, I was the crazy one freezing to death in the air conditioning and wet clothes. I had called her from Target. I couldn't believe they had a decorative 1 gallon Ball jar but not starters kit.

She checked Target.com. No luck.

I went next door to Wegmans. I got a starter kit for $13.99 and Gayle's lids. (I think the Amazon price was $10.50). I whipped out my $2 off manufacturer's coupon and bought it. Wegmans comes through!

I spent some time on the Ball web site:
Www.freshpreserving.com
Looks awesome! A new adventure!

Salsa festival

As I mentioned a while ago, Wegmans phased out their organic mango salsa and I haven't been to Wegmans lately to see if they rolled out their new salsa line.

We made nachos tonight with canned refried beans, cheddar, velveeta (a gift), and black olives on Archer Farms blue multigrain tortilla chips with flax seed. (These chips very much hurt my broken tooth, somehow chip ended up over there when I hadn't chewed on that side.)

I had a coupon for $1 off if I bought one 16-ounce Archer Farms salsa and one bag of Archer Farms chips. Hence the chips mentioned earlier. The chips were $2.99 before my discount(s) and coupon. The salsas were between $2.99 and $3.31 a jar. Odd price range.

I opted for two jars: one mild (raspberry with jalapeño, pineapple and red bell peppers) and one medium (corn, black bean & roasted red peppers with roasted jalapeño, red bell peppers and green chiles).

Both are tasty. Now the cheap salsa from Aldi has 10 calories per 2 tablespoons, 180 mg sodium, 2% RDA of vitamin A and no protein or other vitamins/minerals.

My favorite Wegmans mango salsa has 15 calories, 105 mg sodium, no protein, but 8% RDA of A and 15% vitamin C. Much more nutrition.

Archer Farms? Well...

The mild raspberry has 15 calories, 120 mg sodium, 1 gram protein, 4% vitamin A and 6% vitamin C. So it has some punch, but not like the mango. And the corn/black bean also has 15 calories, 220 mg sodium (holy cr*p), 1 gram protein, 2% vitamin A and 10% vitamin C.

Each year I plan my garden hoping to grow enough herbs and ingredients for homemade salsa. Hopefully this summer I'll learn to can and if I don't grow enough, I'll be visiting local farms and farmers markets. Let's make salsa!

Insta-lunch

I had no plan for lunch, so I whipped this up:

- 3 wegmans Belgian waffles that my father-in-law brought
- organic maple syrup
- Morningstar breakfast patties
- raspberries
- strawberries

Cheesesteak soup

Today, I will make the transition from chicken soup to beef soup.

I prepared a pound of chip steak in the Le Creuset skillet with extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil, garlic powder, oregano and a few tablespoons of Pacific Foods Organic Creamy tomato soup.

In the crockpot I mixed:
- a cheap can of condensed vegetable beef soup, with 1.5 cans water
- about 10 (?) ounces creamy tomato soup
- 32 ounces wegmans culinary beef stock
- 3/4 of the meat, with cooking juices, chopped ridiculously tiny
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- more than 1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar

I did it!!! It tastes like a cheesesteak!

Errands

Last night, I asked my husband to buy a few things from Target and Wegmans. We had a coupon for ocean spray juice and another for Silk almond milk from Target. And I wanted some of those sour infused raisins from Target. They add sugar to them, so they're really not that healthy. But they fill my jelly bean craving so... That's a fine trade.

Husband bought two boxes of Morningstar breakfast patties, Market Pantry cranberry-pomegranate juice, ocean spray blueberry juice, two packages of the golden infused raisins, two cartons of vanilla almond milk and a quart of half and half... The total came to $19-something so it should have been $17-something with the coupons but the cashier missed the one coupon. But we still had a $5 gift card from an earlier promotion and my discount so I guess that works out okay.

At Wegmans, he spent $11 and bought vegan mayonnaise for the child, organic spring mix for the tortoise, broccoli and a bag of Doritos.

Now today we were heading to Kline Farm to buy eggs, meat and local honey (another attempt for alleviating the daughter's ear problems). We stopped at Forks Mediterrannean Deli because we were hungry. We spent about $13 for four portions of zaatar bread, roasted sunflower seeds and a bag of the zaatar spice. Yes, I hope to make my own zaatar bread.

Finally, we made it to the farm. We spent $38.50 and bought:
- 3 lbs ground beef
- 1 lb beef cubes
- 1 pound chipped steak
- a fairly big jar of local raw honey
- apple butter by a local artisan
- one dozen brown eggs

Farewell, my salsa

Wegmans organic mango salsa has been a staple in my house for six years. My daughter loves nachos, so I pile them with beans, real cheddar cheese we grate ourselves and the mango salsa. That particular salsa was the only commercial salsa that packed nutritional punch:

Compare

2 Tablespoons wegmans mango salsa has
105 mg sodium
1 g fiber
3 g sugar
15 calories
8% rda vitamin A
15% rda vitamin C

Versus same serving of salsa from Aldi
180 mg sodium
1 g fiber
1 g sugar
2% vitamin A
No vitamin C

But wegmans has discontinued this product and will relaunch the line. I eagerly wait to see if a new product can compare.

Crazy vegan Thai medley

There are nights where I make things for dinner that I would never share with company. They are too unpredictable and weird.

Like tonight.

I put two cups rice in the steamer with 2.5 cups Thai stock from Wegmans and 1.5 cups water. (to keep it from getting too spicy for my daughter)

In my skillet I combined:
- about 14 ounces(?) black beans
- about two to three cups stock
- two cups water
- one can water chestnuts
- two cups frozen French cut green beans
- chunks of 2/3 of a large golden delicious apple

It's simmering now. I'm hoping a slow simmer will allow the apples to cut the 'heat' of the broth and sweeten it some.