One Frugal Foodie

With no sign of letting up, and already a week past our designated vegan week, we are joyfully continuing with this delicious vegan-at-home diet.  My husband is loving the food (and quite frankly that I am actually cooking rather than asking to eat out all the time), and I am finally enjoying the kitchen.  Who knew it was meat all this time that was intimidating me?

While I am just barely dipping my toes in creativity, it is still fun to be able to throw something together that turns out quite tasty.  With some lemony dill seasoning just waiting for a new setting, I thought what better medium than a light cream sauce? Paired with whole wheat pasta, white beans and spinach, it was healthy and filling. 

Since the spinach does shrink down, I would probably add another cup or two the next time I make it (I love spinach), but 2 cups does make a fair bit. You can easily replace the seasoning mix I used with any flavors of your choice, or use some fresh lemon zest and herbs (dill, basil, etc.).  Also, I like my sauce a bit thick, hence the addition of arrowroot at the end, but after a simmer with the flour, you may find it thick enough …

Creamy, Lemony Spinach Pasta

Makes Dinner for Two

• 4-5 Ounces Whole Wheat Pasta (we like angel hair - use brown rice pasta for gluten-free)
• 1 Tablespoon Dairy-Free Margarine
• 1 Tablespoon Flour (your choice, I used whole wheat)
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 cup Unsweetened Milk Alternative (I used almond milk)
• 2 cups Packed Fresh Spinach Leaves
• 1 can White Beans (Great Northern / Cannelini), drained
• 1 Tablespoons Lemony Dill Seasoning
• 1 Tablespoon Arrowroot Powder or Cornstarch

Prepare the pasta according to the package directions.  While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.  Melt the margarine in a saucepan over medium-low heat.  Stir in the flour and garlic, and slowly add the milk alternative, wisking until the liquid is smooth.  Stir in the spinach.  Allow it to simmer at this low heat, stirring occasionally.  Be careful to ensure that the sauce does not boil.

After say 5-10 minutes or so, the sauce should begin to thicken and the spinach will look cooked.  Stir in the beans and the seasoning.  Wisk in the arrowroot until smooth.  Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to thicken for a minute or two before serving.  Season to taste with salt and pepper if desired. Pour the sauce atop your pasta.  Some chopped olives go nicely as a garnish.

The Lemony Dill Seasoning has gotten some serious mileage, but I still have a ton left.  The package is seriously stuffed.  I tried it the other day as a seasoning for some roasted red potatoes.  While good, it just didn’t shine.  Beyond the pasta above, my favorite backdrop for this seasoning is definitely the Grapeseed Oil Vegenaise.  Turned into a dip or salad dressing, this seasoning really shines.  Of course, it isn’t half bad just sprinkled atop a salad for a dressing free mix either. 

I forgot to mention that I just received a copy of Eat, Drink & Be Vegan, the new cookbook by Dreena Burton.  It is the first cookbook of hers that I have viewed, but I may have to go back and buy the other two!  It has sucked me in already.  Her style is to use healthful ingredients whenever possible, which perfectly suits my taste buds.  Last night I took my first stab at her recipes, and it was very successful.  I prepared the Polenta Casserole.  It was quite simple to make, easily customizable, and my husband said “very good,” …. a definite bonus.

The recipe called for fresh thyme, which would likely add a nice flavor boost, but I couldn’t locate it.  I added some extra oregano to compensate and the flavor still turned out wonderful.  I also added a chopped zucchini.  This is an addition I highly recommend.  It melded perfectly in this Mexican inspired casserole and added some needed veggies …

This morning, we used up a past-its-prime banana to trial Dreena’s Banana Cream Pancakes.  They were a wonderful blend of banana, coconut milk, and spelt flour. We used just a bit too much banana, so our pancakes were a little bit dense, but my husband gobbled them up with fervor.  I try not to have sugar in the morning, so I had my pancakes with cashew butter.  They weren’t bad, but I recommend a sweeter topping for this sugar-free pancake.

I have many other recipes marked from this cookbook… so I will keep you posted as the trials continue.  So far, so good!

As some of you may know, I decided to trial a vegan diet for one week, and my husband hesitantly joined in.  I hear often of people who convert from vegetarianism to veganism, making that final leap from dairy and eggs.  However, I hadn’t heard of the other approach, those who already live without dairy and/or eggs foresaking meat to become vegan.  Honestly, I really wasn’t expecting much from the venture … just hoping to incorporate more fruits and veggies into our daily diet as an end result.  After all, how much difference could one week really make?

To give you a little background, one of my husband’s favorite phrases is “if we weren’t supposed to eat meat, then why does it taste so good?”  He has always leaned more toward the carnivorous side of omnivorous eating.  But on Saturday, the final day of our vegan week, he actually said, “you know, I’m okay with continuing on this vegan diet.”  Over a decade we have been together, yet somehow, he always finds a way to shock me.  He said he feels better, less tired and heavy.  He is also hopeful that it might help him to lose those last pounds around his middle.

So, will we remain on a vegan diet?  Mostly.  At the moment, we have a lot of non-vegan food in our freezer that must be eaten.  Seeing as how neither of us feels like eating a lot of meat at this point, it may take us a while to get that cleaned out.  As well, we may not be ready to dissect menus even further when it comes to eating out.  (okay, okay, we both love seafood and sushi too, what about a pesce-vegan?) However, we both agreed, that once our old stocks of food have dwindled, our home will become vegan.

It sure will save on grocery bills!  Our groceries this past week were 1/3 cheaper, we didn’t waste an ounce of food (a truly amazing victory), and our appetites were always fulfilled.  I think we were both quite surprised. 

So last night, I finally made that watermelon-sized spaghetti squash, going the pesto route, with VeggieGirl’s suggestion to add sun-dried tomatoes.  I served up just 1/2 a squash, but the portion sizes were huge!  The dish was yummy, even my husband finished every last bite.  For added “meat” the pesto was spiked with sunflower seeds, walnuts, and flaxseeds.  Overall, a delicious dish, but really not photogenic.  The beauty was on the inside.  Regardless, here are a few more photogenic items that we have enjoyed in our continued vegan week …

Pumpkin Bread - Another successful recipe trial, not to sweet and perfectly moist.

Vegan Pizza - Follow Your Heart’s Vegan Gourmet “Cheese” did melt … with a little coaxing.  It was good, I will admit, very mild in flavor (I have always hated the pungent taste of real cheese).  However, I think I am still okay with a cheese-free pizza.  This one is on a homemade whole wheat crust, with some garlic tomato sauce, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and chopped olives.  Simple enough!

Veggie Burger Salad: We picked up a box of Nature’s Burger Mix from Fantastic Foods on clearance.  It was an insanely good price, especially since the box makes 6 veggieburgers with just the addition of water.  Alas, it was on clearance for good reason.  These bland veggieburgers received two thumbs down from this household.  Luckily, the avocado dressing helped to save the day.

Amy’s Thai Coconut Soup - Our spirits were lifted by this awesome souop.  It is quite hearty on its own due to the coconut milk, and full of flavor.  however, there weren’t many bonuses, it was truly soup.  So I spiked it with some sweet potatoes and poured the whole thing over a bit of brown rice for that full meal feel.

More great meal ideas to come!

So, I am technically writing this in the wee hours of day 6, but day 5 was a long day.  Nutrition took a back seat today, as I didn’t quite make it to the store until after dinner.  Luckily, I scrounged up some healthful items to go with our carb-loading and sugar-cravings.  But, still no meat cravings…

First, I must report a good deal.  We just ordered Nutiva’s Coconut Oil from Amazon. Several months back, after reading how wonderful coconut oil is for you, and that it is supposed to be good for thyroid disorders, we purchased 2 jumbo jars.  Well, it did nothing for my thyroid, but the stuff is fantastic!  After many months, our supply is just beginning to run low, but Amazon has a great deal on it (free shipping, $10 off, etc.) so we decided to restock.  If you are willing to buy in bulk, this is a great deal.  We got 108 ounces (almost 7lbs) of the organic extra-virgin coconut oil for $34 delivered.  It is our oil supply for months. I absolutely love the wonderful buttery taste, though it does have a coconut vibe.

Okay, aside from the great nutiva deal, the first half of the day was rather uneventful food-wise.  Cereal, leftovers, a clif nectar bar.  For lunch, I once again turned to the freezer.  We gave Amy’s Samosas a shot, but I did pair it with a boisterous salad of our remaining lettuce, a lone carrot, and a can of peas, oh yes and some yummy, creamy, homemade dressing with that Vegannaise.  I have tasted some awesome foods from Amy’s, but alas the Samosas failed to excite.  While they had nice big potato chunks and were wonderfully organic and flavorful, the dry texture just didn’t work for me.  But, it was quite filling.

Some recipe trials led to a very successful batch of Chipmunk Chunk Cookies (to be in an upcoming food-allergy cookbook) …

And then, the delivery …. chocolate … loads of it …. it was like Christmas!  Wonderful organic, vegan chocolates from Sjaaks.  My husband and I dove into the regular dark bar first.  It was more like a semi-sweet, easily satisfying my sweet tooth.  Of course, the cookies helped too.  We had to ration though, just one bar for today.

For dinner we once again turned to pasta.  With 1/2 jar of that precious Amy’s Garlic Marinara remaining, I quickly threw together a chickpea marinara with basil, mushrooms, and onions, atop whole wheat angel hair, and garnished with chopped black olives.  Who needs parmesan when you have flavorful olives?

After a quick shop this evening, we are now stocked with enough veggies to last a few more days, and enough squash for a week.  Does anyone have any idea what to do with a watermelon-sized spaghetti squash?

As much as I love grocery shopping, some trips lately have been more frustrating than fruitful. “No, we have to get that organic,” “No, that could be GMO,” “Added hormones….,” “Nope, contains milk,” “It costs how much?” “It’s organic, but ugh!”  So many rules and guidelines that I never had to follow in my early frugal days. 

Both my husband and I are dedicated to purchasing the best quality food, but Whole Paycheck prices are not in our budget.  Luckily, every few weeks we hit the jackpot with some good sales at our local markets that meet all of our criteria … and today was one of those days. 

I loaded up with organic Braeburn Apples to do some baking (more to come this week), wild Alaskan fish, eggplant (how can you not love this giant purple fruit?), and too many other delicious items to think of.  But I do remember our top frugal find…  Our local natural food store carries a good deal of Italian import products and this week they had several little delicacies on for just 99 cents each!  We selected a few, but I will definitely be going back for more…

The garlic and oil may look creamy, but it is a wonderful blend of garlic, sunflower oil, and wine vinegar that is dairy-free, and from what I could tell, egg-free and vegan.  The olive pate listed black olives as the first ingredient, so I wasn’t expecting too much excitement.  However, these were those “real olives” that I have overheard olive aficienados talking about.  They had that pungent spike of flavor that I (with my unrefined kalamata olive taste buds) would equate with green olives.  The crackers were also vegan, organic, and downright tasty.  They looked like ordinary Saltines, but they were spiked with garlic and a light dusting of chili powder that kind of snuck up on you.

We both felt so cultured dining on our little imported appetizers.  It was a fleeting moment, but it was fun while it lasted.  Anyway, if you can get your hands on these BioCrackers or spreads from Valbona for a good price, I highly recommend them!

I am one of those rare people who’s hair color has never changed.  In fact, the color and texture could easily be mistaken for my 4 year old photo.  Not so bad, one might think, but my hair color is what many so kindly like to call “dishwater” or “dirty” blond.  Many shades short of a brunette, yet occasionally told that I am not a “real blond.”  Lacking a hair color identity, and not willing to resort to the bleach bottle, I was once again upstaged by a “real” blondie…

Yet somehow I was not threatened by this attractive blondie, who spun for the camera to show off its sugary sweet side …

Sure, at first, feeling smug, I noticed that this blondie was a bit thick through the middle…

… and as my suspicions proved, this was indeed a “packaged” blondie, not homegrown by any nature.  I could even see the dark chocolate colored roots showing through…

Nonetheless, as my jealousy wore off, I felt for this blondie … so seemingly perfect yet obviously striving to be noticed.  After finally letting my guard down and approaching the blondie, my prejudgements were quickly cast aside as I discovered that this was in fact the sweetest blondie I had ever come across!

I hate to admit it, but polenta is a new food to me.  While out at an Italian restaurant for a friend’s birthday, I picked a polenta entree for something different.  It was delicious!  When a spotted chubs of polenta on sale this week, I had to have some.  Since I had no idea what polenta entailed, I showed some restraint and selected just one flavor, the Garlic and Basil from Food Merchants.  As you all probably know, but was new to me, this stuff is precooked, ready to go … my kind of all natural food!  Okay, I do prefer food made from scratch, but as a polenta intro, this was pretty close to homemade.

I sliced, heated in a fry pan, and topped with a chuunky marinara (meat sauce for the husband).  A side salad rounded out the color profile for an amazingly professional look (if I do say so myself).  I have been working on my presentation a bit…

… and it seems to be working thus far, as my husband came in and proclaimed that he felt like he was eating in a fine Italian restaurant.  Even better, he loved it!  Polenta really isn’t something I expected him to like, but he gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up.  Is there anything better than adding another 10-minute meal to your repertoire, really?  Did I mention that this stuff is organic - that’s right, corn without the GMO’s, yeah!

The chub lasted us for two meals, one dinner, one lunch.  My favorite store-bought marinara is the Tuscano (in a can) at Trader Joe’s.  It has no added sugars, but uses a bit of carrot puree for a light sweetness.  It is simple, and well worth the low price tag for the over-sized can.  I added sliced mushrooms, onions, and some ground turkey (with splash of worcestershire sauce for the “beefy” taste) for the meat-lover in our house.  I kept mine vegan, just because.  Not quite homemade, but it sure tasted like it!

Healthy Frugal Tip: Never skip that expensive natural food department at your local mega-grocer. 

Why? 

Your Albertson’s, Krogers, Safeway, whatever-you-call-it-chain has likely inserted a highly overpriced natural food aisle or two into its store within the last few years.  While my family does not consume hydrogenated or high fructose anything, dropping a small fortune in these specialty aisles is just not in my budget either.  In fact, if you do some comparison shopping on those regular natural food necessities (like almond and rice milk in my case) you will typically find that Whole Paycheck is actually cheaper.  For example, a box of cereal we enjoy is just $2.49 at Whole Foods, yet at my local mega-grocer it is $5.00.  My favorite almond milk is $2.29 at Whole Foods (just $1.99 at Trader Joe’s though!), but it is nearly $4.00 at my local grocer. 

Nonetheless, it is for this very reason that on occasion you may strike gold in those lone natural food aisles.  For these grocers who have long known the demand for Nabisco crackers, the natural food section is still an area of trial and error.  Some products just don’t sell (especially when they are marked up so highly!).  Almost every week I find a new discontinued item on their shelves (discontinued by them, not usually the manufacturer), and quite often it is something that appeals … and discontinued items are often marked down quite substantially…

Case in Point: A Stash Organic Tea Review

I rarely purchase Stash Organic Tea.  Their pretty labels are just not enough to warrant the price tag.  But as an avid tea fan, I was stoked when I spotted two flavors of Stash Organic Tea marked with a huge discontinued tag at the Albertsons just down the road.  For just $1.44 each, I picked up a package of the Organic Breakfast Blend (if its black and labeled as breakfast tea, then my husband will drink it) and the Organic Cascade Mint.  That’s ORGANIC, not just the regular Stash brand.  In the past I would never have touched a tea labeled with mint.  I do love chocolate and mint, but tea always sounds weird.  Yet, just a few weeks ago, some spearmint was slipped into a tea I ordered when we were traveling (okay, I just didn’t read the full description before ordering) and it was really good!

Well, let me say that this tea was indeed fantastic.  Warm, soothing, and minty, it was like a wonderful caffeine-free wake-up call in the morning.  I have heard that mint also satiates, so this may be an excellent after-dinner tea as well to prevent further nibbling.  This tea was a nice blend of organic peppermint and organic spearmint leaves.

Would I purchase again?  I will be heading back to Albertson’s to see if there is any left, definitely.  Otherwise, I might pay up to $2.50 to have this on hand as a special treat, but really, that is my absolute limit for tea.  Particularly considering it only has 18 tea bags.  But, it would be a wonderful holiday tea… perhaps I should stock up on the discontinued for gift baskets?

The moral: A quick minute-long stroll through the natural food aisle can often reveal a treasure or two.  Happy grocery shopping!

Let the truth be told that while I am not an award-winning cook, I have always loved baking.  I am one of those insane people who refused to purchase a bread maker just because I absolutely loved the process of preparing bread by hand.  Yet, while (almost) all of my baked goods taste quite delicious, they are all too often, ahem, not so pretty.  I have blamed it on my bakeware, exclaiming ‘if only I had the proper pans.’  But now, I must admit that perhaps the baker, not the tools, was the source of the problem.

I received some muffin mixes to trial out from a new food allergy-friendly baking mix company, Meraby’s.  I first had some of the mix sent to a food allergy mom I know, and she promptly whipped up two batches of perfect looking muffins.  Her photos put me to shame, not a ripped apart pastry in site.  I usually lose half of the batch image-wise to stickage.  Sure, they are edible (and get eaten), but they constantly adhere to the bottom of the pan, never retaining that perfect muffin look.  If you look closely at some of my muffin photos, you could easily play a rousing game of “spot the broken muffins.”

To vary my review from hers a bit, I decided to make quick bread. Yet as the loaf emerged from the oven, I suddenly became quite nervous.  This was it, I only had one shot for the photo.  Not a dozen muffins from which at least one or two would remain beautifully in tact and photo-worthy.  Barb had already shown how perfect this mix could look, I couldn’t mess it up at this point!  Truthfully, I had to recognize at that moment my own mental shortcoming, patience.  Just leave the bread Alisa, step away from the pan.  Within the next 15 minute I returned the kitchen twice, tempting fate ever so slightly as I lunged toward the pan, but I held off.  A half hour passed, and I rushed in to discover that the pan was almost fully cooled.  I gently smoothed a knife around the edges to loosen the sides, and slowly turned the loaf, gently tapping the bottom of the pan, and…

I know to some of you this may seem like the world’s lamest post, but I swear to you, when I saw that entirely smooth loaf of quick bread, a sight that I had never laid eyes upon, a rush of pride so great swept over me that I had to call my husband in and grab my camera.  I kid you not, I took nine different shots of the bottom of this blueberry bread (just a half dozen when I repeated this beautiful process with the cranberry orange bread).  So humor me just for a moment, as at times, it is the littlest things in life that give me the utmost joy!

Just in case you were wondering what the top looked like….

Oh, and yes, it did taste reeeealllly, reeeeallly, good.  Egg-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and vegan to boot!  Well, if you are curious, the full review is here.

Okay, if you are like me, “ice cream” could make the menu when the snow is falling… but as summer unofficially comes to a close after labor day weekend, the hype for frozen dessert also winds down.  Before it escapes completely, I thought I would do a very quick dairy-free frozen dessert round-up just for fun!

Great Deal on Purely Decadent - I should have jumped on this one sooner (sorry about that!), as it is only good through Sept 4th.  But, if you live anywhere near a Wild Oats, head over quickly and stock up on Purely Decadent pints by Turtle Mountain.  Available in so many awesome flavors, this is the brand that saved me in my transition from ice cream addiction back to the dairy-free world.  Of course it is vegan and delicious.  Anywho, they are on buy one get one free, and in my Wild Oats that equates to just $1.75 per pint… take that Ben & Jerry’s!

“Ice Cream” Sandwiches on Trial - The people at the Vegetarian Site were kind enough to share their thorough review on the vegan “ice cream” novelty category.  Definitely worth a quick read.

Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert Rankings from Dairy-Free “Outsiders” - Of course, I had to put in my 2 cents on their rulings.  Another quick overall review for anyone who is curious about dairy-free “ice cream.”

Hannah’s Awesome “Ice Cream” Reviews - In the midst of creating recipes for her new vegan dessert cookbook, Hannah went on a vegan “ice cream” frenzy.  After a horrifying trial last year, she daringly jumped back into the reviews this year and fell in love with It’s Soy Delicious and Blackwell’s Soy Gelato and Sorbetto.  Really, the pictures alone are worth a peek.  Here’s just one of them (copyright Hannah Kaminsky on the photo) …

My Top Picks - Hard to find, but tops on my list is Whole Soy & Co.’s Non-Dairy Frozen Yogurt.  Insanely low in fat (1g) yet the richest and creamiest of the soy ice cream bunch, this brand won over me, my family, and our Baskin Robbins going friends.  Second would be the massively tasty collection of Purely Decadent pints.  I like those “exciting” flavors, and they cover it well.  However, I am a sucker for “ice cream” sandwiches, and though it was a controversial brand (talk about a love-hate product!), something about Rice Dream’s Frozen Pies just worked for me.  You can pick up an individual one anytime at Wild Oats (and I presume Whole Foods) for just $.99 each (cheaper when on sale).  So they also slide in easily as a Frugal Foodie pick.  I haven’t trialed the Purely Decadent line of Sandwiches as of yet though.

Awesome Homemade Recipes - This summer has been packed full with great vegan “ice cream” recipes, but alas, I do not have an ice cream maker.  If you do, then try one of these out and tell me how they are, okay?:

• Maple-Pecan “Ice Cream”
• Chocolate Ice
• Peanut Butter “Ice Cream”
• Carrot Cake “Ice Cream”
• Mummy’s Best Vanilla “Ice Cream”