There are so many blogs out there that i read just to feed my hungry eyes on.... i have no idea why i do that. its like window shopping i guess, ... without the calories... like porn, without the ... ok you get the idea.
So here is my featured blog today $30 a week , its not so much about the recipes or what great cooks they are, but its the concept i guess. In these tough times, i think we are all feeling our belts tightening ... err.. ok so i've gained a kilo or two, but what i meant was, we all have to tighten our belts and watch the grocery budget. So this blog shows us how 1 couple lives on a weekly 30US$ grocery budget. I think that is workable, i mean its easy to go shopping on the weekend and spend double or triple that, but i'm sure half of that money goes to things that are not really feeding our NEEDS,... right? Do you really need 3 tubs of different flavours of ice cream?
I guess if you have kids you have to up the budget a little but the concept is the same. What i try to do is have a rough budget in mind before i step into the store..:) or at least dont bring along more than you are willing to spend.
What do I spend on food a week? Well we have dinner at the in-laws (upstairs) on weekdays and i do eat lunch at work, so our groceries are not much at the moment. I think we are able to survive on about 35euro/150 euro a month for household food items... mainly dog food, bread, milk, cheese, ham/turkey, pasta, sauce ingredients, 1 or 2 meat products, soft drinks, coffee, ...... (includes perhaps ingredients for us to cook about 2 meals a week.) But then we eat out or order in about once a week. And i spend about 4-5 euros in the day for breakkie/ lunch. So even with a budget in mind, quite a lot of money is spend just on food!
With that in mind.... the 30$ a week blog is really a good idea... they managed to cut their monthly costs down by A LOT!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Bedroom
I have my eye on this color for the bedroom. Some sort of a ice grey blue. Cept is goes well with whites.. and most of my stuff is medium brown.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
On to a healthier menu perhaps..
Finally my SO has willingly agreed to eating a little healtier... i'm not going to delve into why, how and what may have happened to push him over the edge... but anyway lets just say the door has just inched open... just a tad.
Grocery time is up soon, in a day or two and i'm looking at some healthy yet tasty dishes... quick & easy dishes in which to work my grocery list around.
Just off the top of my head... (recipes will come later, when i mix and match and research and blah blah... you know i never follow any anyway)!
1. Baked veggie springrolls with spicy noodles...
2. Spinach, Feta & Turkey Pasta Casserole (cook 1 freeze 1)
3. Chicken Rice in a Pot (oyster sauce, garlic ginger, green peppers, mushroom, green onions)
4. Yogurt Curry Chicken with dhal, peas, carrot and potato with rice/pita (cook 1 freeze 1)
5. Baked sweet peppers with feta, spicy tomato sauce pasta
6. Vegetarian Lasagna (cook 1 freeze 1)
7. Potato Salad with baked fish fingers
8. Coleslaw with Crispy roast chicken
9. Homemade Pizza
10 Tuna Burger Melt
11. Home made Chicken Souvlakis (grilled chicken on arabic pita, with fresh onion, salad, yogurt...) (grill extra chicken for later use in salads or fried rice/ noodles)
12. Spinach rice (spanakorizo)
Suggestions welcomed!
Grocery time is up soon, in a day or two and i'm looking at some healthy yet tasty dishes... quick & easy dishes in which to work my grocery list around.
Just off the top of my head... (recipes will come later, when i mix and match and research and blah blah... you know i never follow any anyway)!
1. Baked veggie springrolls with spicy noodles...
2. Spinach, Feta & Turkey Pasta Casserole (cook 1 freeze 1)
3. Chicken Rice in a Pot (oyster sauce, garlic ginger, green peppers, mushroom, green onions)
4. Yogurt Curry Chicken with dhal, peas, carrot and potato with rice/pita (cook 1 freeze 1)
5. Baked sweet peppers with feta, spicy tomato sauce pasta
6. Vegetarian Lasagna (cook 1 freeze 1)
7. Potato Salad with baked fish fingers
8. Coleslaw with Crispy roast chicken
9. Homemade Pizza
10 Tuna Burger Melt
11. Home made Chicken Souvlakis (grilled chicken on arabic pita, with fresh onion, salad, yogurt...) (grill extra chicken for later use in salads or fried rice/ noodles)
12. Spinach rice (spanakorizo)
Suggestions welcomed!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Simple Pasta Casserole
I'm sure i'm not the only one who sometimes decides to cook something just cause they need to finish off some ingredients that they have laying around. Well thats how this recipe started out.. i've made it twice now, with the same basic idea .. and then some depending on what you need to get rid off.
lets just call this one ... Spinach Pasta Casserole
Firstly boil whatever pasta you need to use in some salted water/ i use 1 stock cube and not too much water (probably 400gm only needed - just boil a 500gm pack and remove a handful after its done).. al dente. Drain and toss with some oil or butter so it doesnt stick. when well drained lay out in a casserole dish.
in a pan, fry up some bacon - abt 150 gms till lightly browned, remove and drain... or you could use cooked ham or turkey or boiled chicken breast.
then saute in olive oil, 2 medium onions chopped, after 2 mins add some chopped frozen spinach about 2 handfuls or 300gms, add a half tsp dried dill or 1 tsp fresh ... some nutmeg, black pepper and some salt abt half tsp. saute for abt 3 mins... remove mix well with the bacon/ham/turkey/chicken - you can add mushrooms, cooked peppers, stewed tomato... whatever you please... mix everything with the cooked pasta.. make sure they dont all just fall to the bottom of the casserole dish, better for the stuff to be onthe top part of the dish...
ok now heat up some milk .. i just pop 2 mugs of milk into the microwave on low.. make sure it is just heated up and not boiling... in the meantime.. melt 50gm butter in a pot, once melted add 1.5 tbsp flour.. stir till combined... abt 1-2 mins... pour first mug milk in.. mix well.. once combined, add 2nd mug, stir ... add half tsp salt, some onion and garlic powder, lots of nutmeg and black pepper, stir well... let simmer on low for another 2-3 mins.. remove from heat and let to cool.
in mean time.. sprinkle grated cheese about 3 or 4 handfuls on top of the pasta and mixed ingredients.
now back to the white sauce - add 200gm of cream (not sweetened type), mix well, add 2 eggs, make sure the sauce is cooled down otherwise egg will cook, and thats not what we want!!.. mix well... pour over pasta dish. use a chopstick and stick it into the dish and wiggle it around a bit so the sauce kinda gets a little bit into the dish and not just on the top, but thats optional. now sprinkle 2 handfuls of grated parmesan on top. (optional to add the parmesan later... midway through the baking, so it wont burn) or just add it in the beginning and watch.. if it is burning.. put the dish lower or lightly cover the top with foil
bake for an hour at about 175C
remove from oven and let sit for at least 1 hour before serving... (it will still be hot ... ) it takes at least 3 hours to fully cool down.
*will add a photo soon, but there is only 15% left of the dish! hahaha....
lets just call this one ... Spinach Pasta Casserole
Firstly boil whatever pasta you need to use in some salted water/ i use 1 stock cube and not too much water (probably 400gm only needed - just boil a 500gm pack and remove a handful after its done).. al dente. Drain and toss with some oil or butter so it doesnt stick. when well drained lay out in a casserole dish.
in a pan, fry up some bacon - abt 150 gms till lightly browned, remove and drain... or you could use cooked ham or turkey or boiled chicken breast.
then saute in olive oil, 2 medium onions chopped, after 2 mins add some chopped frozen spinach about 2 handfuls or 300gms, add a half tsp dried dill or 1 tsp fresh ... some nutmeg, black pepper and some salt abt half tsp. saute for abt 3 mins... remove mix well with the bacon/ham/turkey/chicken - you can add mushrooms, cooked peppers, stewed tomato... whatever you please... mix everything with the cooked pasta.. make sure they dont all just fall to the bottom of the casserole dish, better for the stuff to be onthe top part of the dish...
ok now heat up some milk .. i just pop 2 mugs of milk into the microwave on low.. make sure it is just heated up and not boiling... in the meantime.. melt 50gm butter in a pot, once melted add 1.5 tbsp flour.. stir till combined... abt 1-2 mins... pour first mug milk in.. mix well.. once combined, add 2nd mug, stir ... add half tsp salt, some onion and garlic powder, lots of nutmeg and black pepper, stir well... let simmer on low for another 2-3 mins.. remove from heat and let to cool.
in mean time.. sprinkle grated cheese about 3 or 4 handfuls on top of the pasta and mixed ingredients.
now back to the white sauce - add 200gm of cream (not sweetened type), mix well, add 2 eggs, make sure the sauce is cooled down otherwise egg will cook, and thats not what we want!!.. mix well... pour over pasta dish. use a chopstick and stick it into the dish and wiggle it around a bit so the sauce kinda gets a little bit into the dish and not just on the top, but thats optional. now sprinkle 2 handfuls of grated parmesan on top. (optional to add the parmesan later... midway through the baking, so it wont burn) or just add it in the beginning and watch.. if it is burning.. put the dish lower or lightly cover the top with foil
bake for an hour at about 175C
remove from oven and let sit for at least 1 hour before serving... (it will still be hot ... ) it takes at least 3 hours to fully cool down.
*will add a photo soon, but there is only 15% left of the dish! hahaha....
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