Meals From My Room.

March Comfort Food

2012-03-30T20:54:00.002-07:00

We are winding down to the last 6 weeks of the semester. 16 units, along with other obligations at school keeps me busy. I sometimes lag on my blogging. I will say that I rarely miss a meal. I did some lamb shanks on St. Patricks Day, a very un-photogenic yet delicious Shepherd's pie one other weekend, and tonight I tried something a little different with a chick pea and spinach dish. I was meatless for about a month in January, but I am not a vegetarian at heart! I have tried to go gluten free, it is a hard transition. Sometimes I feel like I just need a baguette. My techniques in my room follow function over form, sometimes I imagine I must offend any true Chefs out there! I am happy that I have adapted to creating some interesting dishes in an interesting setting. I am blogging tonight because I have something to finish writing for school this weekend. Taking some effort to try a new recipe and spend a minute writing this is a nice way to have a good meal and get my brain warmed up for the other stuff.

Chick Peas and Spinach

Some times I do "Meatless Monday's" on Friday. This was really satifying. I surfed a few recipes for this dish and it seems to have variations in different countries. I combined India and Spain. I roasted the chick peas and garlic coated in some olive oil and chile powder until the garlic was brown (I used about 6 cloves). I mixed in a box of thawed and drained frozen cooked spinach, lemon zest and some tomato sauce and baked it again for about 20 minutes at 350. I finished it with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice before eating it. I served it over rice and made a cucumber salad with mint, yogurt and lemon juice.

Shepherd's Pie

This might win my ugliest food shot of the year award, but looks can be decieving. This was delicious beefy, cheesy, potato love. I slow cooked some good stew beef (avoiding the pink slime risk with ground meat) with garlic, carrots, and onions. I mixed in some frozen corn and peas, topped with mashed and cheese. I want to make this again, but it is dangerous; overeating is inevitable with a dish like this.

Lamb Shanks Ready For The Oven

I tried slow cooking these beauties in my convection oven. It went ok but I didn't get them as falling- off the- bone- tender as they would have been in the crock pot. I love lamb though and enjoyed it. I shared a shank with my house mate and she braised it a little while longer with some red wine and said it was beautiful. I honestly couldn't wait one more minute, I was a little crazed from the good smell when I pulled it from the oven. If I had waited just a bit longer, I might have been more pleased with the results. It was good though. I forgot to take an after picture because I was in a feeding frenzy.

Vivaldi's Spring

Sunday Brunch

2012-03-11T14:54:00.001-07:00

I Love Sundays.

Herbed Baked Eggs

I have loved Sundays since I was a little girl. Sunday was always a good food day. Sundays provided a rare occasion where there might be time for bacon and eggs, cinnamon rolls, or even pancakes. Sunday dinners were always my personal favorite. There was always some kind of beast being roast. I remember being in a minor frenzy when my mother had a leg of lamb in the oven. The whole house would smell so delicious for hours. Dinner could not come quick enough. The smell of roasting meat comforts me even when I am in one of my periodic vegetarian phases.

I worked on Sundays for most of the last 15 years and I almost had forgotten what a good day Sunday is. Living here in Berkeley has helped me remember that. I may gripe about the non-stop reading and assignments I have to complete, but I do love what I am doing. Sundays are now not only my favorite food day, they are my favorite study day. Some of the other UC Berkeley students may be listening to music while they study, but I am enjoying the smell coming from my slow cooker.

This morning was particularly slow and and lazy in the best sort of way. I don't eat eggs very often. Without a traditional kitchen I just don't think of cooking them very often. Eggs are stove top food in my book. I have missed eggs. I do like making them in casseroles like my Chile Relleno Pie, but I have wanted just plain old eggs. I started thinking about baked eggs. I googled some variations of recipes and sort of used Ina Garten's version. I like her version of most things. I had a baguette in the freezer that I made garlic toast with, and had a nice arugula salad with strawberries and feta. I just squeezed a little Myer lemon juice on that. Baked eggs are my new favorite egg! I did over cook mine just a bit this morning. I am still trying to get my timing down with my little convection oven.

I actually started dinner in the slow cooker before I made brunch. I have some beef cooking in the slow cooker with some onions and carrots. I have a vision of a shepard's pie coming together as a reward for all the reading I will accomplish this afternoon. I hope that everyone is having a good Sunday, and I hope that those who have jobs to go to have a weekday where they can enjoy the day like a Sunday.

Back in the Saddle Again

2012-01-07T09:20:00.001-08:00

My original goal with this blog was to create healthful, beautiful meals for myself on a student budget. It is indeed still my goal; I may add a few twists along the way. I tend to eat a plant based diet in general, but I noticed last semester it did get challenging the heavier my workload was with school. Going to the store, never mind actually cooking, became a strain on my time budget. I started relying on frozen dinners, canned soups, ramen, pbj and chili. I certainly wasn't getting my 5 a day.

I just spent 2 and 1/2 weeks in Florida with my parents. We ate like kings, it was great. After the holidays we started leaning to a heavy plant- based/ vegetarian diet. My Mother is determined to get her cholesterol in check before her doctors visit next month. I am going to be a "5 day a week" vegetarian in solidarity with my Mom this next month or so and see if I notice a difference in my health also.

I made a yummy cous cous with canellini beans, peas, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and mint the other day. I had a nice portion left and felt inspired to stuff something with it. I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to to stuff a squash or a pepper with the mix, so I stuffed a pepper with the cous cous as well as some butternut squash. I seasoned it with onion, chili flake, some chopped pistachios, and a great hard goat cheese I got at the farmer's market in San Fransisco. The amount of cheese I used made it a little too salty, next time I could use less. Also my chili flakes are potent this time around, next time I will uses less. I was happy with it over all, and look forward to perfecting my recipe.

Pepper stuffed with cous cous and squash.

Lunch Today

The Red Hot Chili Peppers

(in honor of my potent pepper flake)

Sometimes PBJ is ok!

2011-10-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

It has been interesting to see what my meal choices changed to during a grueling midterm. I have been making food, but also opting for a bologna sandwich or PBJ at times. Cans of chicken noodle soup are amazingly satisfying when you are hungry and tired. I have made some "real" food too and have neglected to photograph some of it. I am so glad to have my crockpot, it is great to come home from school and have a hot dinner ready to go. I also find it really comforting to smell food cooking all day on the weekend.
Here are a few highlights of the past few weeks:

Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Eggplant

I had some leftover creamed spinach that I used as a base for this stuffing. I added breadcrumbs, a chopped mushroom, chopped onion, the eggplant I scooped out, and a little parmesan cheese. They took 3 1/2 minutes in the microwave and were perfectly tender. These were those tiny eggplants not much bigger than an egg. I wish I had more. I think I will use the rest of my filling for some baby portabellas I have.

Tabouleh with Garbanzo Beans

I love tabouleh, I am sure that I never use enough parsley in comparison to the tabouleh I order in a Middle Eastern Restaurant, but I love it just like this. I dressed it with olive oil and lots of Meyer lemon juice. This provided the base for 4 meals for about $1 per serving.

Navy Beans With Kale and Italian Sausage

I have a thing for beans and greens. I think that they are the perfect combination. This is kale and organic navy beans with Italian sausage cooked in the slow cooker. This also made 4 servings for less than a $1 per serving.

I would love to have moves like her! The tabouleh got me thinking about Middle Eastern food, which makes me think of belly dancers!

Mid term time.

2011-09-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

Aglio e Olio

A simple linguine tossed with roasted garlic, olive oil, crushed red pepper, Italian flat leaf parsley, olives, and Romano cheese. It is so good that The Beastie Boys named their 1995 EP after it. It could also be made by sauteing the garlic in the oil and then tossing. I did use the oven to roast my garlic. I cooked the pasta in the microwave pasta boat.

Slow Cooker Pork Chili Verde

3 thin pork loin chops, tomatillos, 1/2 onion, chili powder, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Let cook 4-5 hrs in crock pot add 1/2 bottle of green taco sauce or salsa and let cook another 30 minutes. I had it with black beans and a dollop of plain yogurt.

I have less time for writing this blog due to school. I have midterms and papers due. I am still cooking though. I did use the main kitchen in the house for a few things this past month. I roasted a chicken and some garlic. I also boiled some eggs, which I am entirely sick of at this time. I am excited about finally finding the Monterey Market. They have great seasonal produce at excellent prices. It is a learning curve for me figuring out what the most efficient and nutritious way is to feed myself. I think it is going well so far.

I can't think of a song for this post. Any Ideas?

Moroccan Style Lamb Stew

2011-09-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

I have gladly added a 2 quart crock pot to my in room cooking tools.

This is a slow cooker recipe. I use a 2 quart slow cooker, but this is easy to increase as much as you want if you have a large crock pot.

1 lamb shank (about 8 oz)
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 large onion
2 carrots or winter squash (about 1 cup) if you have it
1 cup okra ( I am using frozen chopped okra)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp cumin powder
1tsp cinnamon
1 tbs garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili flake
mashed potatoes (I used instant)
plain yogurt as a condiment
click photo to enlarge

I chopped the onion roughly and added all the ingredients but mashed potatoes, yogurt, and okra into the crock pot. I have a small crock pot so I had to use foil as a lid because the shank was sticking out of the pot. I let everything cook on low for about 6 hours. I added 1 cup of cut frozen okra to the pot. You could use fresh trimmed whole pods if you prefer, I think they would need to go in a little bit sooner than the frozen cut okra. I let everything cook for about 45 minutes longer. In the mean time I made my mashed potatoes and got a small ramekin of plain yogurt to eat along side my stew. I used about 1 tsp or more of chili flake and the stew was pretty spicy. Adjust any seasonings as you like. Also if I do this again I will make sure I have pumpkin or some other winter squash instead of carrots. The carrots were good, but pumpkin would have been better. There is plenty of the veggie part and mashed potatoes left over for a hearty lunch tomorrow. There was no way I could save any lamb. It was too good. It was falling of the bone. I stuck the bone back in the dish just for the picture. My belly is warm from all the spices and I am pleasantly full. I am going to have to go take a walk so I am not to lazy to study for my exams!

ps: thanks for the carrots Mary Lou.

Meals From My Room.: Beans and Greens (and a surprisingly good microwav...

2011-09-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

Meals From My Room.: Beans and Greens (and a surprisingly good microwav...: Finally I have cooked a meal worth sharing this week! It has been over a week since I have posted or cooked a fresh meal. I was craving a si...

An Old Standby.

2011-09-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it has certainly been an adjustment phase since classes have started. I feel like I have no time for anything but reading. I have been eating "meals from my room", but they haven't all been pretty! I have had permission to use the main kitchen since my land lady is travelling, but all I have used it for was to boil a dozen eggs and roast a chicken last Sunday. These were both great time and money savers. The chicken was over 6 pounds and cost only $5, and I had a coupon for $2 off on 18 eggs. So yes, I have been eating chicken and eggs this week! I have also been making sandwiches, eating bagels, and canned soup. I have also been enjoying a bag of huge nectarines. I haven't been making pretty meals based on organic produce. I am however trying to not eat out more than once a week and the same goes for Starbucks.

I almost forgot, I did make this nice dish with polenta, mushrooms, and eggplant last week.

I have also started actively watching my calorie count using "the daily plate". It is a free site to track calories in and calories out. I don't want to talk about dieting here but this is something else I am doing.

The Old Standby

Tonight I wanted something filling, quick, and low cal. I decided on a baked potato loaded with chicken, broccoli and cheese. For 650 calories, and maybe $3 total, I am stuffed. I used plain fat free yogurt, frozen broccoli and cheese, about 2 oz of my roast chicken, and some black olives to top a large potato. The only draw back is a high amount of sodium from the cheese sauce. The positive side is that this meal had 9 grams of fiber, and surprisingly less than 10 grams of fat.

I do have some plans for my crock pot this weekend, fall is definately in the air and I can study for my upcoming exams while the crock pot does its thing.

Mussels (no cockles).

2011-09-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

Mussels in Garlic Herb Wine Sauce.

I have been craving mussels since I saw a post on face book by a friend a couple of weeks ago. I came across a box of frozen mussels at the market. They were in a garlic butter sauce. I microwaved them in a bowl for 6 minutes, added a tbsp of butter, a splash of my wine, and a bit of chopped cilantro. I cooked them for one more minute, squeezed the juice of 1/2 of a lemon on the bowl and added a good shake of Romano cheese. I never knew frozen mussels were so good! Sure I added a little love, but I wanted to be sure there was plenty of broth for my french bread. Happy holiday weekend!

Google this song, the are so many versions. I like this guy!

Beans and Greens (and a surprisingly good microwave gratin!)

2011-09-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

Finally I have cooked a meal worth sharing this week! It has been over a week since I have posted or cooked a fresh meal. I was craving a simple dish of rice and beans tonight but when I got home Mary Lou presented me with 4 or 5 giant rainbow chard leaves. I felt like she gave me a bouquet of flowers because the chard was so colorful and pretty. I rent a room here in Mary Lou's home, I mention her in many of my posts because she plays a role in some of the meals that I create in my room. Mary Lou really has the Berkeley spirit. She barters her back yard crops at the local crop swaps and is also a member of the Berkeley Gleaners. The Gleaners harvest good fruit from local trees (with permission) and give it to local shelters. Mary Lou is also kind enough to share some of what she barters for, grows, or in tonight's case purchased at the farmers market.

Beautiful local rainbow chard.

The first dish I made was a gratin with the stems of the chard and a purple peruvian potato. Mary Lou mentioned a recipe from Alice Waters that used swiss chard stems in a gratin, I imagined how I could make it in my room and got to work.

I sliced the chard and potato into small crescent shapes and put them in the microwave for 4 minutes as is. They were a bit rubbery but I added 2 tsp of butter (chopped up and distributed evenly), covered them with half and half, and seasoned the dish with a little garlic powder and pepper. I topped it with about a Tbls of grated parmesan and cooked for 3 more minutes in the microwave. It wasn't setting up like a gratin, I used the crumbs of 2 crackers as a topping and cooked it for 3 more minutes. It was thick, creamy and cheesy. I garnished it with a pit of dried parsley. Things do not brown in the microwave so it is nice to have fresh or dried herbs on hand to make my dishes prettier.

I found the gratin to be very satisfying and the potato gave a nice texture contrast to the chard.

I tried to mix up the gratin to show you the inside, I should have left it in tact for the photo.

It tasted way better than it looks!

Tonight's second course was a plate of beans and greens. I steamed the beautiful rainbow chard leaves in my microwave steamer for six minutes. I steamed them with thin slices of Meyer lemon on top of the greens for flavor. My beans were just a can of pinto beans. I rinsed them, put them in a pyrex measuring cup, drizzled with a little olive oil, seasoned with some chili powder, salt and pepper, and stirred in a Tbls of real bacon bits. I heated the beans on high for 4 minutes.

Rainbow chard ready for the microwave.

Beans and Greens!

The beans and greens made 2 full servings which basically cost me a dollar and change. The gratin was almost free with the exception of a little parmesan, a touch of cream, and the cracker crumbs. I did share 2 of my baby portabellas with Mary Lou. I like that there was a small trade though the greens were a gift. I am also very thankful to Chef Debbie Dubbs, her valuable cookbook "What's in your pantry" has me much more prepared to create meals in my "kitchen".

strange song about beans

Stay Tuned!

2011-09-01T00:54:00.000-07:00

I have had a whirlwind of learning this past week. I have officially survived my first week at Cal, and I have realized that it is easy to get off track with a food budget when you are knee deep in finding classes and reading volumes upon volumes immediately upon the start of the semester. I had a combination of leftovers, meals out, and frozen dinners since I have last posted. I have been much busier than usual. I shopped at Safeway this week, I didn't want to wait a day for the farmer's market because I needed food for tomorrow and I have a very long school day. I found some great produce at good prices. I stayed within my $40 budget if you don't count the $10 I spent on 2 bottles of Lindeman's Bin 50 Shiraz .

I will post my meal ideas this weekend. In the meanwhile, here is some of the produce that will be featured.

Where is summer? Am I being forced into fall?

Wednesday Night Food Trucks

2011-08-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

I am trying to limit my meals out to once or twice a week. I start classes tomorrow though, so I thought I would treat myself to dinner at the falafel truck at "Off the Grid", North Berkeley. I arrived right at 5:30 when the event starts so the line was not too bad at all. I was surprised though because Liba Falafel had some press today from the Berkeley Wire. Tonight was the debut of their new improved vibrantly painted green food truck. They only make falafel, and they are home made. I chose the "a little love" combo. This was their small pita, amazing sweet potato fries, and a drink of my choice for only $9. The falafel were perfectly crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. The pita comes with a chimichurri sauce. They have a topping bar that you can help yourself to. I chose an eggplant salad, cucumber raita, and some wonderful cardamom dill pickles. It got a little messy, the falafel comes in a paper bag like the fries. The sweet potato fries are cut shoestring, fried crisp and tossed in garlic and cilantro. It was hard to take a pretty picture, but just believe me it was amazing. I almost wish that I could just purchase the toppings I had for a meal.

"A Little Love"
The wrapper on the food says "To: Leah Love always, Liba"
That makes me happy.

While I found my dinner to be a good value, my dessert was a luxury. I went to "Cup Kate's" to try a key lime cupcake. The special tonight was a mini vanilla bean cheese cake. I could not choose so I had to buy one of each totalling $7. I ate the cheese cake tonight and it was vanilla, sweet, cheesy greatness.

Key lime cupcake and vanilla bean cheese cake.

Bartered Beans and Meatloaf

2011-08-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

Meatloaf is one of those foods that everyone likes a particular way. Some like ketchup or BBQ sauce glazed on the top, while others like to stuff it with ham and cheese or even boiled eggs. I like my meatloaf with meat, onions, and bread crumbs.

I had been searching recipes for microwave meatloaf online and found one that made sense in the actual cooking. In a microwave it seems that thin edges will cook more quickly than the rest of the dish. Corners and edges aren't always going to cook evenly. The recipe suggested making a round loaf. I liked the idea, so I made a round meat loaf. It came out quite good. I might think about glazing it with ketchup next time just to make it prettier.

I used 1lb ground beef

1 small onion chopped

2 slices of stale bread soaked in 1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp parsley

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp parsley

kosher salt and pepper to taste

about a tsp of fresh dried oregano from Sunday's Crop Swap (thanks Mary Lou)

I mixed everything thoroughly and made a flat, round, cake-like shape loaf. I microwaved it for 10 minutes on high, strained off the liquid, and covered it with foil and let it rest 15 minutes. There was very little grease since I used the 93/7 lean beef.

I steamed a beet and a Russian fingerling potato for 10 minutes in my "microwave pasta boat" and I then added the beans that came from the Crop Swap Sunday and microwaved them for 1 more minute. I had a great meal that was a combination of comfort food and organic produce. I will admit there were 2 hefty pats of butter on my vegetables.

The total time spent on this meal was 10 minutes of preparation and 21 minutes of microwave cooking. I paid $5.70 for the lean ground beef which yielded 4 servings, the beans were free, 1organic beet and potato were about $1.00. Excluding stale bread and seasonings, tonight's meal cost about $2.43. Less than a latte. I very lightly steamed the beans and they came out crisp and sweet. Also the Russian fingerling potatoes that I have been buying have a great creamy texture. I am going to freeze 2 servings of the meatloaf and most likely eat one serving tomorrow for lunch.

The only connection here is that John Lee Hooker was a sharecropper; the closest I could get to a crop swapper like Mary Lou. If you keep watching, there is a man in a chef's suit dancing with the crowd; where did he come from?

Mangia, mangia!

2011-08-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

Dinner Music

Eggplant Parmesan

Preparation.

The finished product.

My friend Mary Lou went to the crop swap with her Gravenstein apples and Meyer lemons and swapped for some beans and oregano which she shared with me. The oregano went into the eggplant and the beans became my side dish.

Making the eggplant was easy, and it came out very well. I had a softball sized eggplant which I sliced thin, I dipped it in milk and dredged it in seasoned breadcrumbs with a little Parmesan and red pepper flake added to them. I layered it like a lasagna, putting some cheese and sauce (jarred Classico) on each layer. I used my mild cheddar from Spring Hill Farms. It was mild enough to substitute as mozzarella. Mary Lou came with the oregano just before I put this in the microwave so I added it to my top layer and used some as a garnish. It gave a nice fresh taste to the dish.

I almost forgot to mention that I microwaved this for about 12 minutes covered with wax paper. As I am not totally familiar with microwave cooking I did check the eggplant every 3 minutes.

Songs About Food.

2011-08-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

I have added songs to all my entries that are related to the post and are about food of course.
Enjoy them while you are reading.
Leah

Easy Like Sunday Morning

2011-08-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

I had a great time at my private cocktail party last night. I had a chance to skype with a friend, and I was just plain happy about my mushroom success. I had to make something with my cucumber this morning, it was getting soft. I just sliced it, mixed in some salt and pepper, purple onion, and some lemon juice and olive oil.
Breakfast was inspired by "The King" himself. I was listening to some old Elvis last night; the music must have planted the seed. Peanut butter and bacon toast was a great breakfast today. I didn't have a banana to make it authentic, but that's ok.

Homage to "The King"

Another interesting cuke.

Cucumber Salad

"A Little Bit of Cucumber".

Saturday Night Special

2011-08-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

I had purchased some baby portabellas Thursday night. I have been thinking about stuffed mushrooms since then. I decided to try to make them tonight. It couldn't have been easier or tasted better! I found a recipe online and used it mainly as a guide for proportions and cooking time. It is just me, so I prepared 3 mushrooms.

I cleaned the mushrooms with a towel and removed the stems.
In a small bowl I combined the stems finely chopped, 1tbsp chopped onion, 1 tbsp crumbled bacon, 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese, 5 multi grain saltine crackers finely crushed,a pinch of dried parsley, a splash of the cab I am drinking, and a tbsp of butter. I microwaved this for 2 minutes, stirring 1/2 way.

I stuffed the caps and microwaved them covered with a paper towel for 2 minutes and let them rest for 2 minutes. I garnished them with a little more Parmesan and parsley.

The crackers and the Parmesan came to a texture that would make you think they were baked in an oven, and the mushrooms were done perfectly, not rubbery like I had imagined they would be. I don't think I would change this at all with they exception of trying other things in my stuffing. I can just taste the bay shrimp I bought in a mushroom cap.

They smelled so good that I didn't think about cleaning up the plate for a prettier picture. I had to eat them quickly. I felt like I was at my own private cocktail party.

This Weeks Shopping/ Friday Night Dinner

2011-08-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

My Goodies From The Farmer's Market

This is a Cucumber?

Yes it is!

I spent much more money than I anticipated yesterday food shopping. It actually was a good thing though. I did a great job stocking my pantry with canned food, rice, pasta, etc.. I also spent more at the farmers market than planned, but I am learning what vendors and produce I like, and I also have a better idea of how much to buy. I should be able to just pick up a few fresh things in the next few weeks and be set to have some great meals. I bought some wild caught salad size shrimp from Oregon at the farmers market, there is enough for a few meals at least. Tonight I made a pasta dish with the shrimp, a pattypan squash, tomato, some rosemary from the yard, and some basil leaves that the lady of the house, Mary Lou, shared with me. The "sauce" was Meyer lemon juice, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and EVOO.

Squash, green colored heirloom, herbs, lemon.

Scampi de Verano? Yum.

I have a nice full serving left over for lunch tomorrow.

BLT Time

2011-08-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Not reinventing the wheel, just a BLT.

Milton's Multi grain, Bacon, a tiny heirloom tomato, and mixed greens. I bought a large bag of mixed greens last night at the farmer's market. It is filled with all kinds of things including peppery nasturtiums and arugula.

Bacon Song.

Can I make it until Thursday?

2011-08-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

I am at the bottom of the barrell. I had 3 carrots and 2 of my Russian fingerling potatoes left from my first trip to the farmer's market. I used the "Microwave Pasta Boat" as a steamer to cook them up tonight. I am impressed with this $10 steamer/pasta cooker. I finished the carrots and potatoes with EVOO (of course) and some garlic salt and pepper. It was like having a good pot roast dinner without the beef.

Before

After

I did not plan well to make sure I had enough protein/meat for each day this 2 week period. I am in Berkeley after all, so a few meatless days most likely will not kill me. I may have to shop before Thursday, but I am going to try to hold off. I really would like to stick to the plan and learn to make things work better for the weeks ahead.

I also wanted to mention that I haven't missed being in the kitchen. I have had lots of time to explore my new surroundings here in Berkeley. Preparing food in my room is still fun right now; I am always up to a new challenge. I have minimal dishes to wash and my food has been simple but tasty. I am sure Julia is rolling in her grave with my techniques; but I would like to think if she were still here she might hit the sherry and share a meal with me in my room.

I'm not vegan, but this pasta is.

2011-08-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

Veggie Song

It was really good.

The "As Seen On TV" Microwave Pasta Boat. It worked very well.

I have been at it a week and a day now. Some things weren't worth photographing such as ramen noodles florentine, a can of ravioli, and various bowls of oatmeal or cream of wheat. I did cook this pasta tonight. I used my much feared "Microwave Pasta Boat". It is on of those "As Seen on TV" products. To my surprise it worked great. I also made a sauce in the microwave using a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic, a patty pan squash from last weeks farmers market, and 2 big handfuls of spinach, and a good drizzle of EVOO. I am running low on fresh food but I want to see if I can not shop until this Thursday at the Farmer's market. I spent $80 when I started so part of this is also maintaining a $40 a week budget for food.

Leftovers and Ramen noodles.

2011-08-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted any new food shots mostly because I am eating variations of what you have seen already. I may try to make some pasta tonight in this microwave pasta cooker that was in my room when I got here. It scares me, but I am curious.

Jersey Cows Make Yummy Cheese.

2011-08-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

At Thursday's farmers market I purchased a chunk of "fire jack" cheese from Spring Hill. I love pepper jack so I chose their version. I like the idea of dairy not being treated with antibiotics or hormones so I didn't mind spending a bit more for this cheese. If you go to Spring Hill's website you can read about there Jersey Cows. Jersey Cows yield less milk than the Holstein so commercial farmers choose the latter. The Jersey Cow produces a milk higher in butter fat though. This cheese is so creamy, little goes a long way. It melts so nicely and has a rich creamy flavor.

Spring Hill Jersey Cheese is a California farmstead cheesemaker ...

www.springhillcheese.com/about.html
8/18/11

I bought a very mild cheddar this week. I am enjoying it.

A song about cheese.

Week One.

2011-08-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

Week one technically started for my project Thursday, 8/4. I had some items in my pantry and some groceries left from before I started this blog. Thursday evening I shopped Safeway and the farmer's market. I would like to get my budget to $40 a week. I think I can work my way to one monthly grocery trip and one weekly farmers market trip.

I did have food on hand also before I started this, and I had some cereals,soups teas and coffee in my pantry.

What I bought:

$20.00 at the farmers market : 4 Russian fingerling potatoes, 1 large heirloom tomato, 2 avocados, 1/2 gallon of Bernie's Best organic cider, about 12oz of Spring Hill Jersey Cheese (fire jack), a bunch of purple carrots, and a beet.

$60 at Safeway:a whole roasted chicken, honey, Aidell's maple bacon breakfast links with sweet potato, 2 envelopes of instant mashed, 2 envelopes of Uncle Ben's brown rice (microwaveable), a bottle of wine, 5 "Smart Ones", a bag of spinach, a jar of peanut butter, a box of whole grain reduced fat waffles, a box of spaghetti, and a can of fire roasted tomatoes.

Apple blueberry cobbler with maple oatmeal.

Did I say quality over quantity? Oops.

Mixed baby greens and spinach, avocado, heirloom tomato, 1/4 roasted natural bird from the grocery.

1/4 roasted bird, purple carrots, mixed baby greens with spinach, and instant mashed.

Milton's multigrain bread, organic jersey cow cheese, heirloom tomatoes with kosher salt and pepper.

Pattypan squash salad with avocado, purple onion, mint, lemon juice, roasted sunflower seeds, and evoo

Food Glorious Food!

Off to College.

2011-08-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Some of you already know that I am a 41 year old woman who is starting as a Junior at Berkeley this fall. Some of you also know that I love food. I love to cook, shop for food, think about it, and of course eat it. It consumes me as I consume it! I am constantly thinking of ingredients and flavor combinations. It was devastating at first to imagine moving in to a place with no kitchen privilege's. I moved and left my cookbooks behind. Except for one,by my friend and former client Chef Debbi Dubbs. Her book is "What's in Your Pantry". I have found it very useful in helping me stock my pantry and thinking about seasonal foods.

I have access to a few great farmers markets and am now living in an area where there is a great movement for locally grown and organic foods. It is my goal to combine fresh seasonal foods with a few convenience items to create inexpensive, delicious, and healthful meals. I want to strive for quality not quantity. I have found a great source for cheese and butter. It is an organic farm that uses Jersey Cows for all their dairy. I will incorporate some processed foods for the sake of convenience. I am going to be very busy when classes start up. Time will be valuable, so I would like to take these next few weeks to get going on the cheap, healthy, and fast meal preps.

I will include pictures of my meals as well as recipes and or preparation tips, how much I spent, and where I purchased the food. I will also tell you about the small farms that I am purchasing my food from. I hope that you will enjoy this process with me, and feel free to comment or ask me questions.
Thanks,
Leah

Here's a little song about food by The Descendants.