Meatless Monday: Corn Pancakes with Sauteed Veggies

August 6, 2012 By 2 Comments

We’ve been kind of slacking this summer with our Meatless Monday entries.  We’ve been trying a few new things around here to see how they work.  We’ve also been taking the time to pay attention to the web and to magazines that we subscribe to so that we can get a little bit of inspiration and have some great ideas for all of you out there.  I’ve also started to realize that I don’t really work in terms of recipes.  I always try to force a recipe out of myself, but I tend to work in handfuls, pinches, and abouts, rather than in cups, teaspoons, and exact measurements.  I’m hoping that, as I start writing down my methods, those of you who are a little more reserved in the kitchen can see just how much fun and how extemporaneous cooking can be.  Really, if you get good ingredients that go well together, you can pretty much just cook it until it tastes right.  If it doesn’t work….well, pizza fixes pretty much anything!

This week’s meal starts with Fresh Corn Cakes from Cooking Light.  I saw these as I read through the magazine and knew that we would be trying them at some point.  As it happens, we already had almost everything we needed to make this recipe.  We did not have green onions, so we just omitted them.  The corn was left over from earlier in the week and had been roasted on the grill, so that was already flavored pretty well.  We also had some flavored butter handy (just melted butter with garlic and onion powder, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning), so we used that on the pay, instead of the oil.  We were also in a bit of a hurry and hate to clean extra dishes, so we just dumped all of the ingredients into the food processor and gave it a spin.  Ours didn’t rise up quite as nice, but I’ll bet they were just as tasty!

For the veggies, I just took stuff that we had handy.  A little oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add in some a chopped onion, a big box of chopped mushrooms (maybe 4 cups), salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until you just start to get some brown on it.  Top it with 4 or 5 big handfuls of baby spinach.  This will seem like WAY too much, but trust me, it’ll cook down.  Don’t touch it for about 3 minutes.  The steam from the onions and mushrooms will do the work here.  Start mixing in the spinach gently.  Tongs are a great way to go here.  Once everything looks just about done, toss in 4 or 5 chopped tomatoes.  I chopped these in pretty good sized chunks, but then, I thought about adding them at the last minute.  It was a great add!  Add a bit more salt and pepper to help the tomatoes break down and to flavor the dish.  Give it maybe 5 minutes or so and you should be all set.  Spoon some on top of the corn cakes and enjoy!

My Thoughts:  The whole dish was reminiscent of a Shrimp and Grits dish, without the Shrimp.  The corn cakes really did taste a lot like really yummy grits but with a texture that did not make the dish all mushy.  Surprisingly, for as much spinach as I used, the spinach flavor really did not stand out.  As a good Southern boy, I know that I am supposed to love cooked greens, but I have just never really developed a taste for them.  I know I should eat them, so I try to incorporate them where I can.  In this case, the flavors of the tomatoes, mushrooms, and corn really mellowed out the bitterness of the greens.  I was very happy with that!  This is a dish that I would definitely do again!

 

Does your family participate in Meatless Monday?  What are you having for dinner tonight?  Have a Meatless Monday experience, recipe, or request?  Leave us a comment and let us know.  We’d love to hear from you!

 

Meatless Monday, a national nonprofit public health initiative, is all about incorporating more vegetables and less meat into our diet. It’s about moderation, just one day a week, cutting down on meats high in saturated fat and increasing protein-rich plant-based foods — good for personal health and good for the planet.

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Meatless Monday: Veggie Quiche

June 4, 2012 By 7 Comments

No frills this week for Meatless Monday! We made a quiche with some veggies that were sitting in the fridge. We took some onions, mushrooms, and broccoli and sauteed them up with butter, salt, and pepper until the broccoli was tender. We poured the veggies into a pie shell and topped with an egg mixture (4 – 6 eggs mixed with 1 – 1 1/2 cups milk) and some cheddar cheese. We baked at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the eggs were set.

What are you doing for Meatless Monday? Have a Meatless Monday experience, recipe, or request? Leave us a comment and let us know what you’re up to!

Meatless Monday, a national nonprofit public health initiative, is all about incorporating more vegetables and less meat into our diet. It’s about moderation, just one day a week, cutting down on meats high in saturated fat and increasing protein-rich plant-based foods — good for personal health and good for the planet.

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Growing a Veggie Garden on a Budget

April 30, 2011 By 1 Comment

As evident by recent news headlines, produce and vegetable prices are predicted to skyrocket through the roof within the coming months, increasing as much as 4.5 percent nationwide—the highest price inflation for fresh fruits and vegetables the country has faced in three whole years. While there is no way to stop consuming vegetables –after all you need them for healthand nutrition— if you are looking to save money,an excellent way to avoid costly retail produce and vegetables is to simply grow your own.Continue reading below to learn how to start your very own small vegetable garden on a budget.

Do Research
If you don’t have the slightest clue on how to start your own vegetable garden, it’s imperative that you do some research so that you know what you are about to get yourself into and be aware of some of the more cost effective techniques such as transplanting. There are tons of great books on the subject that can be found at your local library or by simply doing a Google search. Whatever you do, just make sure to plan ahead.

Borrow, Don’t Buy
While growing your own vegetables will ultimately save you a bundle in the long run, sometimes it can get pretty pricey just to get started, especially if you don’t own any planting tools and equipment. Instead of rushing over to the nearest garden center ask friends, family members and neighbors if they would be willing to loan you any supplies that you might need such as pots, shovels, shredders, weed-eaters and a pair of good gardening gloves. Some of the larger garden equipment is extremely expensive to purchase and maintain. And since you’ll only need some of these items a few times during the season, see if you can borrow them first before forking out any money.

If there are no green-thumbs who might have planting tools in your family or who live on your street, you can also consider renting some of the larger garden equipment for a fraction of the price at major retail stores like Home Depot or smaller rental companies. You can also consider scouring thrift shops for some of the smaller items, like pots and smaller shovels.

Sharing is Caring
When it comes to purchasing seeds to plant in your small garden, typically you get way more than you actually need. A good way to get a variety of vegetables and not waste any of the left over seeds that you do not need is to start a “trading system” with a friend or neighbor who is also interested in gardening. This way if you purchase 3 packets of seeds, for example, and so does your neighbor but of a different variety, you can ultimately still plant 6 different types of vegetables.

To get a better bang for your buck however, no matter if you instill a trading system or not, is to choose vegetables for your garden that will “re-seed” themselves such as arugula, turnips, kale and Swiss chard. Some perennial vegetables will re-seed themselves as well, such as asparagus, artichokes, cardoon and some onions. To make sure you don’t waste your time and money trying to grow vegetables that don’t particularly grow very well in your area however, check out your state’s extension office.

Make your own Compost
Having a successful vegetable garden doesn’t mean you have to spend a small fortune on soil fertilizer. In fact you can actually make your own compost that triples as soli fertilizer, mulch and soil amendment. To learn how to make your own compost, follow the few tips provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Additional tip: Always remember you can preserve your vegetables or freeze them for later use.

Attribution license to photo: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/

Guest Blogger:
Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.

Do you like these tips? Do you have your own tip to add?
Let me know if you are enjoying these guest posts!



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What’s Cooking? Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Baby Spinach

October 9, 2010 By 1 Comment

“What’s Cooking?” is the newest series here at Simply Living on a Budget. It is my new way to be at least slightly accountable for our dinner meal planning efforts. If you have been around then you know my husband is the cook in our family. He loves cook where as I cook because we need to eat. Whether you are you are the cook-who-loves-to-cook or you are the cook-who-needs-to-eat, I hope that “What’s Cooking?” might bring you a new recipe or ingredient to try!

This recipe is a classic recipe … umm, not really. It is a recipe that my husband made up as he went along and then I spent the next five nights asking what he did. We will call it …

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Baby Spinach

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of thin spaghetti or another straight pasta
  • 2 cups – loosely packed baby spinach
  • 1 pint of cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1/2 small circle of goat cheese or feta (optional)
  • 2 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
  • 1/4 c of olive oil
  • salt
  • pepper

Directions

  1. Cook pasta according to package.
  2. In a 12″ skillet over medium heat, add 1/4 cup of olive oil and garlic slices.
  3. Stir and “cook” garlic until slightly browned
  4. Pull garlic out of the oil to discard when cooled.
  5. Add tomatoes and cook for 3-5 minutes stirring occasionally.
  6. Add spinach and cook for 5-10 minutes (or until nicely wilted) stirring occasionally.
  7. Add cooked and drained pasta.
  8. Add salt and pepper to season.
  9. Turn the combined ingredients frequently for 5-10 minutes.
  10. Served with dotted cheese on top (optional).

Parting thoughts … this recipe was a hit. My kids love pasta and tomatoes. You could change this up with whole wheat pasta if you want but we used what was in the pantry from stock up time.

My challenge to you … add this recipe to your meal planning menu and let me know what you think! Do you have a recipe to challenge my husband’s cooking skills? Leave me a comment or send me an email at simplybudgeted at gmail.com. I will give credit to where the recipe is from! Want a food related guest post on your blog, let me know and we will work something out!

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Friday Favorites

April 16, 2010 By 1 Comment

This is another weekly feature here at Simply Living on a Budget. The whole point of this feature is to share some of my favorite finds. Anything is game. Food. Cleaning supplies. Kid stuff. Garden favorites. Recipes. Anything that I really like and want to randomly post about. Everything in Friday Favorites is something that I use and bought on my own.

Next up …

My husband started buying these when they were on a big sale at Harris Teeter back in the fall. I thought they were silly when he came home with them. Not only did I soon learn they weren’t silly at all but they are now a staple in our freezer … and to keep trusting my husband, I mean I did marry him and all so he must be a keeper!;)

I love the veggie bags but they have pasta, potato, and even rice bags too! There are often coupons out for these for pair your coupons with a sale for an even bigger savings.
Why am I loving these so much? I have been striving to put a veggie with our dinner every night and this makes it so easy to do that. My girls will often eat their veggies first before anything else on their plate so I am glad I am able to do this more and more with something I can just toss in the microwave for a few minutes.

All that being said … check the ingredient list when you buy any frozen products … well any packaged product for that matter. Look for ones with the fewest ingredients … like the green beans that just says green beans!!;)

Do you use Birds Eye Steam Fresh? Do you like them as much as I do? Leave me a comment and let me know!

If you have a suggestion for a Friday Favorite, leave me a comment and let me know.

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Fresh Veggies on a Budget

July 17, 2009 By 1 Comment

We love spring, summer, and fall for the fresh veggies we enjoy during that time. I grew up eating fresh veggies and being drug out to the farms to pick whatever it was my mom wanted to get that day (strawberries, blueberries, peas, peaches … we did a lot of picking).

If you are trying to eat healthy then you know fresh is better. If you look at your grocery bill, I bet you will be shocked at how much you are spending in the produce section. The problem with the produce section is that there aren’t coupons for that section of the store really. You can work with some sales and in season items are cheaper but it is still a lot of your grocery bill. (I am sure this will be a future post at some point to keep your eyes open for that.) If you hit up the Farmer’s Market, you can your goods at a better price and they are fresher but you generally need to get there early to buy what you want.

While living in Northern Virginia, we were introduced to the concept of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) concept. We had never heard of it but it seemed like a great idea. It was just my husband and me at the time but they had a small share and it could be delivered to our apartment. We figured out the cost and it was a little less than we were spending in the produce section at the grocery store per week. If we could send that money to a local farm, wouldn’t that be better? With that we decided we would give it a try. It was one of the best chances we ever took. As the fresh fruit and veggies showed up at our door each week, we got excited to see what we got and then would try to make extra trips to the farm for their pick your own extras. We stayed with that CSA, Great Country Farms (http://www.greatcountryfarms.com/), during our time living up in Northern VA and still miss visits to their farm.

Here in the Charlotesville area there are several CSA organizations to look into if you want to use one. Since the Charlottesville area by definition is so big, one of the first things I look at is actual location of the CSA and where their pick up options are. This website, http://www.vabf.org/csa.php, is a good resource for finding Virginia CSA organizations and one I used when we moved here.

Now here comes some personal opinion and experience. We are subscribers to Horse and Buggy Produce (http://www.horseandbuggyproduce.com/). This is our second season with them. (We did use another CSA organization our first summer in the area. At the end of each season, we have learned to evaluate if the CSA organization we used met our needs or if we want to consider another one for the next year and we did make a change after our first year here.) Horse and Buggy Produce isn’t a traditional CSA in that they don’t have a farm that grows everything they provide to their subscribers. Instead they offer up produce from various farmers in the area. For us, this have given us the wide variety of produce we love in our weekly share that we loved to get from our Northern VA CSA. It keeps us eating our veggies (and fruits!) and cooking at home which is a big money saver by itself!

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