Eating for Sustainability: An Experiment Pt. 3

This week has been really enlightening. I know what's in my crisper drawers. I'm saving most things before they go to waste. And I'm using up pre-packaged snacks and meals left and right. I certainly don't feel like I've had to spend excessive time cooking, so that's fun. I feel good about getting a lot of highly processed food out of my house. And I created a few meals from scratch. Some of the week's best recipes are at the bottom of the post.

So what did we use up this week? Cheese and crackers? Check. Cans of tuna languishing in the back of the pantry? Gone. Trader Joe's mushroom risotto? Mmmmm, it rounded out an all pre-processed and pre-packaged meal. Spinach mushroom quiche took center stage for an easy, tasty...and mostly local dinner. Jack had the idea to make teeny-tiny little bites of fruit pies using some leftover pie crust and jars of jelly. And a spontaneous potluck with the neighbors resulted in a delicious, nutritious Indian feast. We were so hungry and it looked so good that I forgot to take pictures.

With all this culling of processed food and emptying of crisper drawers, you'd think my food bill would have plummeted. However, this week I spent a whopping $280 on groceries. Whoa!  I knew my earlier estimate of $200 was low, but that smarts. I still think my weekly average will be way below $280 and here's why:

• I stocked up on lots of things this week: yogurt, milk, butter, Velveeta and Rotel for the Super Bowl ...all the important things. 
• I factored in the cost of the pizza Kyle ordered one night to supplement a protein-lean dinner. What can I say? I knew when I left for my meeting that the kids were going to eat most of the leftovers before Kyle got home, and I hoped that he would have eaten a big lunch at work that day to tide him over. It's weird, he can eat one big meal and not need to eat for the rest of the day.
• I brought my kids to the store with me this week (yay for snow days!) and they helped me pick out cereal. Lots and lots of cereal. Three weeks' worth, easy. And yes, I let them each pick out one box of junk. 

 But back to eating better for less...

Here's our share from the CSA this week:

Spicy mustard, canned peaches, spaghetti squash, ground beef, potatoes, tofu, garlic, bread, apples, sundried tomato tapenade, and rice (yes, rice!)

CSA add-ons: pasta sauce, chips, buffalo stick 

We got our share of the hog this week! We bought it from Kami and Jamie, of Brook Cherith Farm about an hour south of St. Louis. I love their philosophy on farming, they model their farm after Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm. Joel Salatin is one of my heroes--he's a very successful farmer and businessman, kind to animals and humans, and a true steward of the land. If you're in St. Louis and looking to buy meat that has had a good life, check out Kami and Jamie's website.

Kami and Jamie of Brook Cherith Farm, so nice of them to deliver so close to home on such a blustery day!

Our share of the hog, excluding bacon and ham (that takes longer due to the curing). So far I've got lots of pork chops, spare ribs, roasts, and sausage. Can't wait to see how much bacon we get!

The cost of the pork averaged out to $5 per pound, and I'm just going to add this cost in each week as I use up the meat from the freezer. I've got a kitchen scale, so that's pretty darn easy. This week we tried only the pork chops, but they were delicious with a glaze made from some pineapple preserves in the fridge. Yeah baby, usin' stuff up! And happy to have a freezer full of happy meat!

This project is already so fun, and I've had lots of moments of gratitude as I prepare and eat good food with my family. I'm thankful to have the time to cook, and the means to eat well. Here's to next week, more good food, and a lower grocery bill!

 White Bean Soup with Pasta and Rosemary Oil

from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

The Rosemary Oil 

1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
2 T. finely chopped rosemary or 2 T. dried
2 garlic cloves, sliced

The Soup 

2 cups cannellini, navy beans, or mixture
2 T. olive oil
1 T. chopped rosemary or 2 t. dried
1 onion, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
1 celery rib, finely diced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1/3 c. chopped parsley
1 c. diced tomatoes, fresh or canned, with their juices
salt and pepper
1 c. dried small pasta
Fresh parmesan

Slowly warm the EVOO with 2 T. rosemary and 2 garlic cloves until the garlic begins to color, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside until needed. (I didn't use all this on the soup, but it makes a nice dipping oil for bread too.)

Cover the beans with boiling water and set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. (I soaked these overnight instead.)

Heat the oil with 1 T. rosemary in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until the onion is softened and starting to color in places, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and parsley and cook for a few minutes more. Drain the beans and add them to the pot along with the tomatoes and 3 quarts water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, then simmer, covered, until the beans have begun to soften, about 1 hour. Add 2 t. salt and continue cooking until the beans are completely tender, another 30 minutes or so. 

Puree half the soup to give it some body--or leave it thin. 
Cook the pasta. Strain the rosemary oil. Ladle soup into bowl and add some pasta to each. Drizzle some of the oil over each bowl and add pepper to taste. Cover with shavings of Parmesan. 

Serves 8 to 10 

Simple Egg Curry

from Gourmet Indian in Minutes, by Monisha Bharadwaj 

2 T. sunflower oil
1/2 T. cumin seeds
2 large onions, chopped
1 T. ginger-garlic paste
2 T. tomato paste (I used a little more of each paste, just to get more sauce for the eggs, it's delicious!)
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t chili powder 
1 t. garam masala
salt, to taste
8 large eggs, hard-boiled (can leave whole or cut in half)
Handful of cilantro, chopped

1. Heat oil in a large pan and add the cumin seeds. As soon a they darken, add the onion and cook to soften.
2. Add the ginger-garlic paste and tomato paste, and stir. Add the spices and salt. (I always have to add water here.) Blend until mushy. (Immersion blender comes in handy for this.)
3. Gently place the eggs in the curry and pour the milk or cream over them. Heat through and serve, sprinkled with cilantro.

Quiche

I think I learned this from epicurious.com, but not totally sure. The best way I've found to make sure you've always got a quiche that sets up well and is totally delicious is to follow two rules:

1. To each egg, add enough dairy to have 1/2 cup of egg + liquid mixture. You can use any combo of: milk, cream, sour cream, yogurt, cream cheese--depending on what you've already got and how rich you want the quiche to be.

2. Cook your vegetables before putting them in the pie to bake. It gets all the water out, so you don't end up with mushy eggy thingy.

I've found that I don't have to blind bake the crust, which saves time if you're in a hurry. Cooking temp and times can vary a little. Sometimes I consult a resource to see what temp to start and finish the quiche at. But this week I just threw it in the oven at 350 and watched it off and on til it looked done, not sure how long. 45 minutes, give or take? Quiche is a great go-to when I want an easy meatless dinner or to clear out my fridge. I just saute a bunch of veggies, mix some eggs with whatever dairy I have, and add any shredded cheeses that I can get my hands on. Then pour it in a crust and bake. Sit back, relax, and let the kids come up with dessert!