Two of the posts that readers seem to gravitate toward are Emergency Pantry Meals and Creative Use of Leftovers. I often find myself wanting to do a bit of both, using up what’s in the pantry (i.e. making dinner without making a trip to the grocery store) and finding a way to serve leftovers so that they taste different than the original meal and actually get eaten. For Easter dinner, I had prepared a large pork roast which yielded a lot more leftover pork than I intended. I prepared a pork stir-fry and we had roast pork slices in lettuce wraps, but still needed more ideas. I decided to combine everything into a lentil stew which uses lentils from the pantry, plus vegetables from the crisper drawer that I have all the time. This was one of my favorite preparations for leftover pork, and I’m sure it would work for leftover chicken as well (or served without either).
Lentil Stew and Pork
1 onion, chopped
2 slices bacon, sliced (optional)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup lentils
1-2 small potatoes, cubed (optional)
1 t Italian seasoning
1/4 t cracked red pepper
1 bay leaf
1 T tomato paste
3-4 cups chicken stock or water
2 cups leftover cooked pork, cubed
1 T balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
In a soup pot, saute the bacon, onions, carrot, celery and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the lentils, potatoes, spices, tomato paste and stock/water. Bring to a boil and simmer until lentils are tender, this will take from 20-40 minutes depending on the lentils. When lentils are cooked, but not mushy, add the leftover pork and combine until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and salt just before serving.
shared at Works for Me Wednesday, Frugal Friday, and Pennywise Platter
Since discovering high quality grass-fed beef, I have been revamping a series of hamburger recipes. Since I find regular hamburgers a bit plain, adding a lot of spices and other tasty items helps keep them interesting. This is my take on a Cuban-style dish. Unlike the traditional version, I add a can of black beans and simplify the seasonings a bit. The interplay of olives, raisins, cumin and oregano give a nice deep flavor. You can substitute ground turkey and leave out the beans, or otherwise adjust, it is quite flexible. Usually, this is served over rice, although it makes a good topping for a baked sweet potato. When I have a savory dish like this, I like to serve a salad, such as an orange coleslaw or an orange, avocado and mixed green salad.
Beef and Black Bean Picadillo
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 T tomato paste
1 t cumin
1/2 t dried oregano, crumbled
1 bay leaf
cayenne pepper to taste
1 cup stock, I used low sodium chicken
1/4 cup olives, halved
1/4 cup raisins, optional
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
salt to taste
2 T fresh cilantro, to garnish, optional
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef in a bit of cooking oil, breaking up the meat. Add the onion, red pepper, and garlic and saute until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, and bring to a boil, lower the heat to simmer. Simmer uncovered for about 8 minutes until most of the liquid is cooked away. If the mixture looks dry, add more stock. Sprinkle cilantro over the top and serve over rice.
shared at $5 Dinners, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Food Renegade, and Pennywise Platter
Interestingly, last week, our favorite dish was a side dish of Bulgarian salad, fresh cut vegetables with feta cheese. For this week, I have some of our usual standby’s, a Thai curry and some crockpot dishes. I also found fresh strawberries and will be making strawberries dipped in chocolate to take to a friend’s house.
Breakfasts: Healthy baked oatmeal, scrambled eggs
Lunches: Tuna and white bean salad
Treats: Strawberries dipped in chocolate
Dinners:
Sunday: Crockpot shredded beef, potatoes, steamed vegetables
Monday: Mustard chicken, steamed broccoli, leftover potatoes
Tuesday: Leftover mustard chicken, Bulgarian salad
Wed-Thurs: out
Friday: Thai red curry, brown rice
Saturday: Pork cacciatore, salad
shared at Menu Plan Monday
April 1st,2012
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I went for a walk yesterday, past my normal walking route, to take advantage of the beautiful spring weather and blooming flowers. Now that sundown is happening much later, and the weather seems to have changed (hope we don’t have a late bout of winter) there are a number of things to do that weren’t a part of winter. A number of good things of spring can be thought of from a money saving standpoint. Here are some things I’m doing:
–Walking (or biking) as much as possible — now that the weather is nice, a lot of trips that would have been uncomfortably cold are now quite comfortable. Can you replace a car ride with a bike ride? or an outdoor hike instead of a trip to the gym? In addition to saving money, this is great for health and a mood booster.
–Managing the house to use heat a lot less (or not at all) — we are experiencing still cool nights and warm days. Rather than setting a thermostat at a constant temperature and having the heat run at night, managing the heat/cool through open windows and fans has been sufficient.
–See if unnecessary items from spring cleaning can be sold or donated — I like to use this as the big annual de-clutter activity, and will sell a few items on cash4books or possibly E-bay.
–Take advantage of spring produce — spring is a great time to eat seasonally and take advantage of newly available produce that wasn’t around during winter. My favorites include artichokes, asparagus and early spring berries. I will try to post more recipes using these and would love suggestions for seasonal items.
Do you take special steps in spring?
shared at Works for Me Wednesday and Frugal Friday
In the spring, two of my favorite seasonal vegetables make a welcome appearance: artichokes and asparagus. Although I sometimes use them in recipes, my favorite way of serving both is simply steamed, dipped into melted butter or sauce. My husband makes a great mock hollandaise sauce (one of the few things he makes) which is perfect for these. The sauce is also good for a plain white fish and may work for other vegetables, like lightly steamed green beans.
Mock Hollandaise Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 T lemon juice
1 T butter melted
dash of tobasco or sriracha
In a small bowl combine all of the items and whisk with a small whisk or fork until thoroughly combined. Serve as a dipping sauce for asparagus spears and artichoke leaves.
shared at $5 Dinners, Pennywise Platter, Works for Me Wednesday, and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
