4.45 a Day: Week 2

After going way over budget this week, I was worried that I'd run out of money before the end of the month. However, I'm not worried now. We didn't even eat 1/3 of what I purchased and I think I'll end up with a fair amount of meat still in my freezer at the end of the month.


I really liked most of what I cooked this week but I feel like our vegetable intake was below normal. I'm going to make sure we get more fruits and veggies in our diet this week.

Also, I'm almost wishing I hadn't bought the ham to get the free turkey. Six pounds of ham is a lot of ham for two people to eat even if it is spread out over two weeks.

I don't even like ham. I don't know what I was thinking.

Anyways, on to the food I made this week...


 
Baked Raspberry Oatmeal
I love everything about oatmeal. I'd eat it everyday if Charlie didn't hate it so much. After looking through several recipes that I thought might change his mind, I found this one. I swapped the raspberry jam for a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips. I loved the flavor and creaminess of this oatmeal and, at the end of the week, Charlie admitted this oatmeal "wasn't that bad" which the nicest thing I've ever heard him say about oatmeal.



 


Broiled Grapefruit with Yogurt 
I was fully prepared to hate this dish because I don't think I've ever
willingly eaten grapefruit in my life. Let me tell you, broiling the grapefruit is a game changer. I was actually looking forward to eating this again later in the week! I got the idea here.

Ham and Asparagus Frittata
This frittata was designed to use some of the three pounds of ham I had in the fridge this week. I was skeptical at first about using the asparagus but it was wonderful. So far, this is the BEST frittata I've made. Here's a link to the recipe that originally inspired me.



 


Spaghetti Bolognese
I originally learned how to make this dish during my first quarter of culinary school. Along the way I've lost the original recipe. There are a ton of recipes online for this dish. I find it a little meat heavy but Charlie loves it. In defense of bolognese, it is meant to be a meat sauce not a tomato sauce so if you love a hearty meat sauce I'd certainly recommend you try it.



 


Ham and Asparagus Sandwiches
I love sandwiches because they give me an excuse to make bread. And, you can pretty much pile on whatever is in the fridge and it turns out alright.
This one has dijon mustard, swiss cheese, ham, and asparagus. My favorite kale salad is on the side.The salad has a honey vinaigrette, shredded parmesan cheese, toasted almonds, and dried cranberries. SO GOOD.



 


Butternut Squash with Couscous and Cranberry Chutney 
I picked this recipe because Charlie loves butternut squash and I wanted to include a vegetarian dish. By far, this was our favorite meal this week. I'll keep making this as long as butternut squash is available. The recipe for the main dish is here and the chutney is here. I was skeptical about the vinegar in the chutney but I wound up liking it so much that I put the chutney on several other dishes this week including a baked potato. Weird, I know.


 


Ham and Pineapple French Bread Pizza
This was just a random thing I threw together to get rid of some ham. I used barbeque sauce instead of pizza sauce along with mozzarella and pieces of fresh pineapple.

 



 


Pineapple Chicken with Quinoa and Brown Rice
Charlie really liked the chicken with this dish but neither of use cared for the sauce. The sauce just had too many flavors going on: lime, ginger, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, etc. I doubt I'll make this one again. It just didn't turn out the way I expected. Here's the recipe.



 


Granola Bars
I made granola bars this week for a snack. You can make them with any combination of dried fruit and nuts. Here's my original post about these bars. They are chewy and sweet and super easy to make. This week I used dried papaya and pineapple.




With about $70 left to finish the month and prepare Thanksgiving dinner, I'm excited to see what I'll end up cook over the next two weeks. At least I know we have plenty of meat and potatoes!

$4.45 a Day-Week 1

Reflections on the Week

We made it! We didn't starve! And, we ate better and healthier than we have in several months. Over the course of the week, I  found that I really came to appreciate each meal and every bite of food.

I used everything I bought last week except the lima beans, a few pounds of potatoes,a cup of milk, five eggs, and a few slices of cheese. Other than some vegetable peels and one or two squishy grapes/strawberries, nothing went in the trash!

Compared to what normally ends up in the garbage at the end of the week, I was amazed (and super happy) by how little I had to throw away.

I'm sure some people are rolling their eyes at that statement but I'm always upset over any food that gets wasted. However, in purchasing whatever we felt like eating each week I have never exercised this level of forethought or control over the food in our house.

Figuring out how to live on such a strict food budget this week was a lot of work, but I actually feel liberated. And, excited to see if I can do better next week! I've always liked a good challenge.

You can find a chart that breaks down the price per serving of each dish at the bottom. I included a spice factor to account for salt, pepper, flour, and other spices used in the recipes.

Now, on to the food!


Beef Stew
I followed this recipe from thekitchn but made a few changes along the way. I cut the amount of meat in half and I left out the alcohol-->no room in the budget for wine or beer. I  also used 14 oz of beef broth instead of all chicken broth.

The stew turned out great and was very filling but I bet it would have been much better with the wine. This is certainly a recipe that I'll make again. I managed to get 6 servings out of this dish and served it with a baguette. However,  I could have easily stretched it to 8 servings.

 



Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Broccoli
I found the pork chop recipe here. I cooked the dish entirely in my dutch oven. If you choose to make this dish, the orange sauce on the pork really makes it special! I didn't have apple juice so I just used the juice from one random orange I had in the fridge with the brown sugar.


 


Frittata-Spinach, Cheese, Potato
I started making frittatas a few weeks ago as a way to use up random leftovers at the end of the week. I originally followed this recipe but changed the filling. However, I have no idea how she managed in the springform pan. Both times I tired egg ended up everywhere. I'll keep making frittatas since they are so versatile and cheap, but I'll stick to using my round casserole dish or a cake pan. As long as I line them with a parchment round and use pan spray, my frittatas always pop right out!





Salads
I was determined to make sure we got some fresh veggies in our diets this week. I used some of the veggies left over from the other meals (carrots, celery) with a bit of fruit and chicken breast. We each had two large salads this week and mini salads with our sandwiches.






Protein Shake
These are basically a cup of milk, one banana, and a scoop of protein powder per person with a heavy dose of cinamon on top. We normally have these for breakfast if we work out early in the morning or are in a hurry to get out the door. Even though I didn't buy protein powder this week, I did include it in the price outline below.






Turkey with Millet
Due to the long cooking time for the turkey, the millet had more of a polenta consistency that the hoped for quinoa-like fluffiness. I also knew when I looked at the recipe I found online there was too much liquid. If I had used the rice in the original recipe I think it would have ended up like glue. The turkey came out moist but didn't have much flavor. However, the millet was great once I added a little salt.




Sandwiches
For sandwiches this week I used the baguettes I made and froze on Saturday. The veggies and meat were leftover from other recipes.

If you want a good baguette recipe, message me. I'm not going to post it here-making baguettes is an intense process. I used a new recipe this week and the bread is a bit too much like white bread on the inside. I think the dough got too cold during the overnight bulk fermentation in my fridge. I'm curious to see what happens when I try again this week. On I side note, I priced out the baguette recipe and each one comes in at $0.28. So, my cost for bread for the week was $2.52.


Gnocchi with Peas
The gnocchi was an end of the week decision. I've always wanted to make it and I found myself with at least 5lbs of potatoes in my pantry. I looked at several recipes but ended up following Gordan Ramsey's recipe minus the ricotta. And, of course, I had the peas leftover from the stew. This is a dish that I look forward to making over and over again until I get it right.

The gnocchi and the beef stew are tied as Charlie's favorite dish of the week.


Friday
Leftover day will consist of scrambled eggs with the last baguettes, the last of the turkey and millet, and the last of the gnocchi and peas for dinner. We will have carrots and apples as snacks. I still have two containers of beef stew in the freezer but I'm going to save them since I'm terrified I'll run out of money before the end of the month!