Open Faced Meatball Broccoli Garlic sandwiches

I took the meatballs I made last night and made strange sandwiches for dinner. I cooked the leftover meatballs in plain tomato sauce with some four-color pepper and italian seasoning. While they simmered, I melted some butter (about 1/3 of a stick) and added a tablespoon or two of garlic powder and a teaspoon of parsley. I took the last few slices of the homemade French inspired cheesy bread and slathered on the butter sauce.

I broiled the bread until the edges got crispy, then I pulled them out of the oven and covered them with tiny bits of fresh broccoli. On top of the broccoli, I piled the sauce and then two meat balls. Finally, I sprinkled on grated cheddar (liberally) and returned it to the oven to bake.

Broccoli Meatballs

Since I went to the store today and we have a selection of food available, I let the child select tonight's fare. She picked spaghetti and meatballs. I don't think I've ever made meatballs, but that does not dissuade me.

I opened up my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook (can't go wrong with Betty for the good old American meat staples). Spaghetti and meatballs is on page 227. Of course, I had to adapt it.

The process is simple: mix all ingredients, shape into 1.5 inch balls and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. The yield of Betty's recipe is 20. Mine is about 17.

Betty's Meatballs
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 egg

Angel's broccoli meatballs
3/4 pound ground beef
1 cup fresh broccoli, cut small and cooked lightly
1/2 cup homemade breadcrumbs
about 1/8 cup ketchup
about 1/8 cup creamy Italian salad dressing (plus an extra squirt for good measure)
1/2 salt
1/2 four color pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon pizza and pasta seasoning
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon honey
1 egg

At a preliminary taste test, 20 minutes in, the meatballs taste good. They weren't the color I would have liked, so I put them in for five more minutes... and the bottoms caramelized.

Open-Faced Tuna Melts and Sweet Salad

For lunch, I took some lettuce from the butter lettuce bagged greens from Aldi, mixed in some shredded asiago, raisins and Wishbone Spritzer wine mist dressing. Meanwhile, my husband cut some homemade cheesy bread (I'm almost getting sick of bread for every meal) and made open faced hot tuna sandwiches with cheddar melted on top.

Aldi...

I ended up at Aldi. Spent $90. For the first time, I bought Aldi meat. I'm not big on grocery store meat... I read Fast Food Nation and that leaves me prone to avoid me. I will only get sausage from a real butcher. And when I can, I get meat from the farm. I don't know what made me change my tactic.

Here's my haul:
Produce: broccoli crowns, $1.49; head of cauliflower, $2.29; bagged spring mix, $1.69; bagged butter lettuce, $1.69

Non-perishables:

Post Blueberry Morning Select Cereal, $2.69 (over yogurt?); sausage-chicken gumbo, 2 cans (an emergency, rainy day lunch, paired with something more wholesome), $1.39 each; crushed pineapple, 89 cents; chunk pineapple, 89 cents; chicken broth, 2 cans, 39 cents each; oats, $1.79; boxed processed mac n cheese, two boxes, 35 cents each; Aldi brand Ritz crackers, $1.69; graham crackers, $1.29; black beans, 59 cents; garbanzo beans, 59 cents; two bags of flour, $1.81 each;
Dairy: Smart Balance spread, $2.29; shredded asiago, $1.99; salted butter quarters, $1.99; unsalted butter, $1.99; parmesan cheese (spaghetti kind), two bottles, $2.39 each; eggs, 95 cents; two 8-ounce blocks New York cheddar and one block Monterey Jack, $1.29 each;

Frozen:

One Spinach-Artichoke dip (makes a quick hot lunch and has enough vitamin content to count as a veggies), $1.99; two boxes of jalapeno poppers, great for feeling indulgent but still counting as a green vegetable, I judge by the RDA of vitamins per serving, $1.99 each; corn, 95 cents; spinach rigatoni (a meal for three, and it also counts as a green veg!), $2.99; peas, 95 cents; California medley, $1.19; tomato sauce, the small cans of plain sauce, seven at 25 cents each;
Meat: thin sliced pork chops, 8, $4.19; and 80/20 ground beef, 2 lbs, $3.71 (spaghetti and meatballs tonight)
Other: flour tortillas, two packs, 99 cents each; 64 ounces apple juice, $1.39; slivered almonds, $1.99; box of raisins, $1.79; white vinegar, 79 cents; large black pitted olives, 99 cents; White Mountain trail mix, two bags, $1.99 each; baking soda, three little boxes, 49 cents each; strawberry yogurt-covered raisins, $1.49; parsley flakes, 99 cents; chili powder, 99 cents; condensed milk, $1.39 (cheaper than coconut milk but may do nicely for curry next time); honey, $3.79; and one bag tortilla chips, 99 cents.

$89.24

Honeyed Toast

Today I indulged in pure carbohydrates for breakfast... My homemade cheesy bread toasted with lavender honey. Then we started a discussion of what need to be done today and the need for groceries (grrr... didn't we just go to Wegmans last week?) stares us boldly in the face.

While the grocery budget came in under the target last month, we ate out way more than we should have. So this month I want to maintain vigilance. I had pondered heading to Wegmans, but the reality is, I can't afford the splurges I would buy there. So then I considered Giant. But really, I know I can get a good deal of what we need at Aldi and save some bucks on the basics... so off I go. Wish me luck.

Funky French-inspired Cheesy Bread

After reading with great lust the Joie de Vivre catalog, I got inspired to make some different bread. I retrieved Patricia Well's The Paris Cookbook and opened to her Parmesan Bread. Except, as happens when I mount these expeditions, I didn't confirm I had all the ingredients before I started baking. So I embarked upon my own funky French cheesy bread...

Pain au parmesan (according to Patricia: an ode to Gruyère bread)
Ingedients:
Patricia's
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 and 1/3 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons extra fine sea salt
3 and 3/4 cups bread flour
3/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, freshly grated
*egg wash

Mine
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (the way my family eats, it makes sense to double from the start)
1 teaspoon organic sugar
1 teaspoon lavender honey
2 and 2/3 lukewarm water
1 teaspoon idiozed sea salt
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
7.5 cups white flour
about 1/2 cup grated parmesan
about 3/4 cup finely grated extra sharp cheddar
about 3/4 cup grated ricotta salata

*egg wash

1. Combine yeast, sugar (and/or honey if using) and water. Stir to blend. (Patricia recommends using a heavy duty electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. I do everything by hand.) Let stand until foamy, about five minutes.
2. Stir in oil and sea salt.
3. Add flour and cheese all at once. Mix until all the flour has been absorbed and dough forms a ball. Knead four to five minutes until dough is satiny but still firm. The dough should spring back when indented with your finger.
4. Place dough in clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise about an hour until doubled in bulk.
5. Punch dough down and shape into a rectangle. Place in non-stick one quart bread pan. Cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled in bulk, about one hour.
6. Preheat oven to 425.
7. Brush top of dough with an egg wash. With kitchen scissors, snip the dough with tips all over to allow it to expand evenly while baking. You should snip about fifteen times. Place bread on bottom shelf of the oven. (I wonder if the water bowl would help? When cooking baquettes, one places a bowl of water in the oven with the bread. I don't think that would work with egg wash.) Bake until firm and golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. The bread should be firm and golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

NOTE: It says to use a non-stick loaf pan. This is important.

Also, I got four loaves from my doubled recipe. One of which I added garlic pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. I intended that one for myself. I ate a couple slices and my husband finished it.

I served it for lunch with the leftover port salut and cheddar, plus my husband had brought home a chunk of medium brie and a chunck of soft blue from his work wine and cheese party.

Curried Vegetables with whole wheat pasta

I lost two days?!?!? How did I lose two days?
Okay, let's not talk about that. But I will admit that I was chagrined to note that I spent $200 on dining out in the month of April. Not good. My grocery budget was $220, which normally would be good had I not splurged so much with the take-out/dining. My job is seasonal and I don't work in June and July. Basically, I could have saved that money and used it to buy groceries in June. I'm mad at myself.
Anyway...

We all came home starving today and my in-laws had served my daughter crappy grocery-store bakery-made pizza for lunch for the second time this week. She had an apple for breakfast, some grapes mid-morning and no other real food that I know of so I needed something fast and full of vegetables.
Curry popped into mind.
I've never made curry.
But that's never stopped me before.
I whip out my vegetarian cookbooks, but quickly feel like I'm looking for a proverbial needle in a haystack. With a hungry family, that's not a good feeling. I grab the laptop and google "curry pasta sauce." Get several hits. Like this one:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/pasta-with-low-fat-curry-sauce.html#

INGREDIENTS

(as originally listed)

8 ounces dry pasta
3 tablespoons slivered almonds
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/2 cup diced tomato
1 1/2 teaspoons mild curry powder
Pinch cayenne, or to taste
1 cup frozen peas, rinsed briefly in hot water to thaw
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Okay, I look around my kitchen. I have:
13.25 ounces of whole wheat penne pasta
1/4 cup slivered almonds
olive oil
cumin powder
one can diced tomato with garlic
curry powder
[I forgot to look for cayenne]
frozen peas
frozen cauliflower, carrots and broccoli
1 cup soy milk and 1 cup dehydrated milk which I add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to so it "cooks" more like buttermilk.

1. Prepare pasta.
2. While pasta cooks, toast almonds in skillet and set aside.
3. Thaw vegetables.
4. Put spices and tomatoes into skillet. Add a drizzle of olive oil as needed to keep from burning.
5. Add vegetables. Drizzle with olive oil and heat until hot.
6. Reduce heat and stir in milk, simmer until a consistent temperature.
7. Drain pasta. Combine pasta and sauce.
8. Sprinkle almonds on top.