Tightening My Belt -- My Personal Challenge for One Month in 2010

[DrakeMaiden]

That does sound good, Occamstazer. Thanks for sharing!

 

[ORChick]

Farmer Denise said "I grew up with mashed potatoes, a bratwurst and applesauce served up next to the mashed potatoes." - Yum, Himmel und Erde. Nice with Blutwurst too, if one can get it.

Mashed potatoes are nice mixed with other stuff too. I brought forward St. Patrick's day, and made corned beef last night for dinner. Instead of boiled cabbage I cooked some cabbage slivers, and mixed them in with mashed potatoes - about half and half; with lots of butter it was very nice - called colcannon in Ireland. Would be nice with kale or Swiss Chard too. I have also mixed cauliflower or celery root into mashed potatoes. One nice cheap potato meal is mashed potatoes in a baking dish, a depression made with the back of a spoon for each egg, and an egg broken in. Cover with some bread crumbs, a sprinkle of paprika, cheese if you like (or dot with butter), and bake till the eggs are as set as you want. Put a spoonful of peas in before you crack the eggs, if you have them.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Farmer Denise said "I grew up with mashed potatoes, a bratwurst and applesauce served up next to the mashed potatoes." - Yum, Himmel und Erde. Nice with Blutwurst too, if one can get it.

I love Blutwurst. Fortunately I am able to get some really good not too salty Blutwurst now and then.

 

[sylvie]

I make a cream of potato soup with all potatoes.
Boil a bunch, mash 1/3 and cube 2/3.
Thin the mashed with water or milk to cream soup consistency briefly in a blender.
Add the cubes and heat, add salt and pepper.
I really like this soup and it is in keeping with your ingredients list. I used to make it with homemade rice milk but found the mashed potato base was thicker, creamier and more full bodied.

 

[hwillm1977]

For the first 5 years of my life I was raised on potatoes. It was the cheapest food my mother could get! And I still love potatoes.

Potato latkes, mashed potatoes, potatoes boiled in their skins, fried potatoes, boiled potatoes, potato soup, potato dumpling, potato salad...
and we didn't even know about baked potatoes...
Mom would just serve them with different stuff and that made all the difference.

I was raised on Tomatoes We had a 400 x 40 hydroponic greenhouse where we grew tomatoes for grocery stores, so any leftovers came in the house and we ate tomato EVERYTHING... I still eat them like apples, and have 9 different kinds of tomatoes for my garden this year

I also love potatoes though

 

[kcsunshine]

I make a cream of potato soup with all potatoes.
Boil a bunch, mash 1/3 and cube 2/3.
Thin the mashed with water or milk to cream soup consistency briefly in a blender.
Add the cubes and heat, add salt and pepper.
I really like this soup and it is in keeping with your ingredients list. I used to make it with homemade rice milk but found the mashed potato base was thicker, creamier and more full bodied.

Kale and potato soup is good also and I make mine using chicken broth.

 

[redux]

Kale and potato soup is good also and I make mine using chicken broth.

recipe?? I am a huge kale fan.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

DrakeMaiden, you can totally do this!

And it will work!

I think it would be neat to turn this into a SS challenge for anyone one the whole board who'd like to try it.

Anyone else up for it???

 

[kcsunshine]

Kale and potato soup is good also and I make mine using chicken broth.

recipe?? I am a huge kale fan.

This recipe is for 2 people (easy to increase)

4 ounces smoked fully cooked sausage (such as kielbasa or hot links),
sliced into rounds
2 3/4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
3/4 pound small red-skinned potatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine
5 cups thinly sliced trimmed kale leaves (about 3/4 of medium bunch)
or 3/4 of 10-ounce package frozen chopped kale, thawed, drained
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, lightly crushed

Saut sausage slices in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add chicken broth, sliced potatoes and white wine and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.
Add kale and caraway seeds to soup. Simmer soup uncovered until potatoes and kale are very tender, about 10 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and serve immediately.
Very good with crusty bread

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Today is the day that I am officially starting my one month challenge, although I did a test run last week.

Today I cashed my paycheck and only took out $120 . . . I still have about $50 from last pay period. About $100 of what I took out today is for animal feed costs. I spent about $12 on organic milk, organic butter, and some pricey cheese. Yes, I realize I am buying high-end milk products, but this is something I am not going to skimp on for this challenge. I feel that it is important for my health right now. Grumble to yourself, if you need to.

Last week, only my husband bought groceries, and he only bought the few odd and end things I didn't have on hand, so he didn't end up with a larger than normal shopping bill, except that he felt he should buy me milk and butter. Silly man. But the milk did come in handy.

I am going to outline the dinner meals, because lunches tend to be leftovers or sometimes lunch gets skipped, or we will eat omelets or whatnot. I usually make breakfast from food I always have on-hand, so it should not be a major expense and shouldn't show up in the budget.

Saturday -- Chili and cornbread. Most everything we had on hand and my husband bought the few ingredients we didn't have. Unfortunately tomatoes are expensive, so it wasn't quite as cheap as it might otherwise have been.

Sunday -- We always have pasta on Sunday nights. I had already bought the veggies that I put in the pasta dish.

Monday -- I harvested nettles and spinach from the garden and used the half gallon of milk my husband bought to make sag paneer -- an indian spinach and simple home-made cheese dish. Served with rice.

Tuesday -- leftover chili and cornbread

Wednesday -- bean burritos! This is an old standby recipe for us. When I used to work while I was in college, to avoid debt, I would typically eat this nearly every night. It is actually a very healthy and balanced meal, the way we make them. Fairly cheap. Plus . . . yummmy!

Thursday -- Caesar salad and bruschetta. I harvested the romaine lettuce from the garden and my husband provided the bread. Everything else we had on hand. I could, if I were so inclined, have made the bread myself.

Friday -- Well Friday is traditional nacho night at our house. Healthy nachos, not the kind you get when you order them in a restaurant. Husband bought cilantro, but everything else was on-hand at home.

Major expenses for the week were: tomatoes and beer for the chili, milk for the paneer cheese, ginger and cinnamon sticks that I did not have for the sag paneer, bread for the bruschetta, and cilantro for the nachos. -- all within my husband's budget. Oh and I bought bananas for $1.70 for making my kefir palatable.

In other news, I am very impressed with my nettle patch. It has grown quite a bit since last year. Soon it will take over my front garden bed, but . . . you know . . . it is growing on me!