(30...well, 35) Minute Meal Thursday!

Hey all! Cooking while Dylan is awake is always a challenge, so I usually wait until he goes down at 6 to prepare dinner for Mike and me. However, with the time change and the summer coming up, we've been trying to keep him up later, so that we can enjoy him more. This means I'm stuck cooking dinner while he's awake (unless I've prepared it throughout the day, which I sometimes d0). There are tons of meals you can throw together in 30 minutes on a weeknight that are both satisfying and healthy. The following recipe for lentils and rice is a great example of that!

Mike and I eat dinner around 7 or 8 because it's enjoyable to sit and relax once the baby's down. With the baby staying up later, quick meals are great because I can put them together in almost no time at all, and still be eating at a reasonable hour. A little aside: Mike and I started eating later when we started putting Dylan down at 6, but it's turned out to be a great little change to our routing. Eating dinner later causes us to be too full to snack all night, saving us calories and money! Nice.

I found this recipe online, but I think lentils take a little longer to cook than 30 minutes...I guess we'll see...I'll tell you the result after the recipe, because I'm writing this while it cooks. How do I know it will be good? No clue, but I'm sure it will be. Hopefully.

Lentils and Rice

makes 8 servings

1 lb. lentils (organic - $2.39 - WFs)

1 t. salt (<$.01)

1 1/2 c. dry brown rice (organic - $1.20 - WFs)

1 medium onion ($.07)

4 medium carrots, finely chopped, about 2 c. ($.64 - organic)

2 cloves garlic ($.04)

1 1/2 T. olive oil ($.36)

1 t. salt (<$.01)

1 dash black pepper ($.01)

1/4 t. red pepper flakes ($.02)

1 t. dried basil ($.06)

1 T. red wine vinegar ($.06)

1 t. salt for brown rice water ($.01)

Total is $4.88. That's mostly organic and serves 8 people. Lentils are also amazing for you. That's $.61/serving, which is so cheap for an organic meal.

1. You're going to need 2 pots of boiling water. One medium-large one that can accomodate 1 pound of lentils. The other pot can be smaller, it's for the rice.
2. Fill one pot with 10 c. water and the other with 3 c. water 1 t. salt, set both on high.
3. When the water boils, add the lentils to the big pot, and the rice to the small pot.
4. Turn lentils to medium heat and rice to a low heat.
5. Simmer the lentils until tender (about 35 minutes) and the rice until cooked (about 30 minutes).

To make the vegetables:

1. Chop onion, and finely chop carrots and garlic.
2. Add 1 1/2 T. olive oil to pan over medium heat.
3. Let oil heat, and then throw the carrots, garlic, onion, basil, 1 t. salt, dash black pepper, red pepper flakes, and dried basil.
4. Cook until onions are translucent and carrots are tender. Leave a top on if possible, as this keeps the moisture in the vegetables.
5. When lentils and rice are done combine them with the vegetables and add about another 1 t. of salt, or to taste.
6. Serve and enjoy!

This is a great recipe. It's delicious as a vegan or vegetarian main dish or a side dish to meat or fish. We ate it as a main dish with a small spinach salad. Taste before serving and add more salt if necessary.

scrimpyTips:

- This is great for a cold lunch salad.

- This can be made with barley and short pasta.

- Mushrooms would be really great in this. I may buy some and add them in tomorrow.

- This is a good make ahead, just prepare the rice and add premade lentil-vegetable mix.

Sorry this is a 35 minute meal. It's worth the extra time, though! Let me know what you think :).

Leftover Challenges!

Good evening everyone, it's during a commercial on LOST so I'm blogging real quick!

I was looking in my fridge today thinking about what I could make from my leftovers. I'm sure you guys purchase things that don't always get used all the way, and I'm sure you wish you were able to use up that little bit of goodness before the products go bad.

Well, I'm here to help! I want to hear what's leftover in your fridge and what you do (or don't do) with it. If you're stumped, let me know, and I'll come up with a magic spell to use your leftovers in a meal.

Go ahead, tell me...I won't judge you.

scrimpValentine

My li'l special Valentine

So sorry to have abandoned my ship (blog), but Valentine's day had me running around like it was Christmas or Thanksgiving! I love making homemade old-school valentines, but this is my first time attempting this with a baby. It was really hard because I felt like he was in his exersaucer or playing alone all day. These babies take like, an hour to make, and let me tell you...they make a huge mess. There was glue stick and tissue paper EVERYWHERE. Then I had to run to the post office so that it would get to her in time. Then I had to make my dad's and my mom's and Mike's. Etc, etc, etc.

scrimpyThings I've been doing lately:

• I made Mike a batch of chocolate truffles, and I made my own box, so it was like a homemade box of chocolates.
• Stayed in for Valentine's day and instead made my own chocolate desserts and dinner.
• Made a double loaf of banana bread muffins and froze most of them to send with Mike for lunch.
• Made a batch of 15 whole wheat rolls and froze for Mike's lunch.
• Made a batch of Haymarket Pita chips for snacks for the week.
• Made a batch of baby wipes for Dylan's booty.
• Made a batch of oatmeal for the week.

I also walked all the way to Trader Joe's this week to avoid paying $3.40 for the train. I feel like the T is so expensive now, so I only take it when I really need it. Trader Joe's has a lift that you can use by yourself (I always kind of put it off because I thought it would be a whole "to do", but it's really easy! So, if you need to take your stroller to TJs in Back Bay, go for it!).

I think I will tell you guys how I put together my antipasto platter for Valentine's dinner, along with my recipe for fresh Italian bread. I will also share with you my truffle recipe (easy as anything you've ever done in your life...just a little messy and time consuming, like most things scrimpy!). I'll also share with you how I set the table for our Valentine's dinner, and some of the other fun and scrimpy things we did for the holiday! Oooh, and I also want to tell you what I did with all the leftovers from my antipasto platter.

It is fun to do the whole "flowers, dinner, jewelry, chocolate, gifts..." thing for Valentine's day, but it is more fun and creative (and budget friendly) to make your own dinners and gifts. Looking back, I would say that some of the best gifts and memories I have are from these past few years that we've been scrimping. Having a child makes it a bit trickier to get out for the special day, so it's especially fun to have a homemade Valentine's night when you have a little one! No paying for a sitter, getting showered, or spending money required!

I love planning special things. With our anniversary being January 17th, and Mike's birthday being January 25th, I had my hands full. When January 26th rolled around, I got right on to planning Valentine's day! Luckily, everything I did can be done for any special day, be it one in February or in July :).

Breakfast for Dinner!!!

Ahhh, so those beans were quite delicious, if I may say so myself. The only caveat being it’s one of those dinners that’s so good, but retains so much heat that inevitably you’re stuck there at the table blowing off every bite and chewing all quickly. But that’s okay, it’s worth it! My recommendation is to eat off the sides and top! My boyfriend Mike likes to go the other route with it and mix it up so that the very hottest parts from the bottom get to the top and then he has an even hotter bite. To each their own (use my method – I can assure you you’ll be trying to eat these before they cool off). We would have these for dinner tonight, also, but I have some leftover pancake batter from Sunday that we are going to use for breakfast for dinner!

Breakfast for dinner is a great concept. I find that usually breakfast foods are less expensive than a full dinner, and it’s a fun thing to do once in a while. To make it even more delicious, you can add some fruit to the pancakes. My favorite is to spoon the batter on the pan and add 3 banana slices on top. The texture of the banana works really well with the pancake – and they’re so much less expensive than blueberries. I can’t wait until my son, Dylan (6 months) is old enough to get a kick out of it like most kids will. They’ll think you’re so cool! Oh, for a little festive addition, let the kids wear their pajamas at the table (and you do it too!). Ok, very fun.

There’s only 2 adults here, so I generally make enough pancake batter for 4 and then save some. Many don’t know this, but pancake batter stays very well in the fridge for a few days and actually makes it a little fluffier. If you don’t have time to make ahead, just let it sit for about 30 minutes before cooking – you’ll see what I mean…it gets all airy. Pancakes can be a great last minute dinner if you have the batter already prepared. Another quick-fix option for pancakes would be to make a large batch of the dry ingredients (make it organic for only pennies more with 365 Everyday Value WF flour) and then add the wet (milk and egg) at the last minute – basically you’re making your own Bisquick. Can I use that word without a “®” or “™”…or for that matter a “☼” (called: miscellaneous dingbats) or a “§”? What in the world would anyone ever need these symbols for? Taking this one step further: Did anyone else realize Bisquick is a combo of “Biscuits” and “Quick”…as in, quick biscuits? I just did…a few days ago. Pretty cool, right? (Probably not).

The point is, we have leftover pancake batter, and I will be making that for dinner. I also really like eating leftover pancakes at room temperature with a little soft butter on them. They’re a surprisingly good snack. I once sent them to work for lunch with a side of maple syrup for Mike, and he was surprised by how good they were. So if you don’t have enough batter left over for a whole meal, just cook up the extra and save them (in an airtight container). You could serve them to the kids (or yourself) for snacks with:

-Butter

-Peanut Butter and/or Jelly or bananas

-Cream Cheese and Strawberries with a little sprinkled powdered sugar

-A scoop of ice cream

scrimpyTips for pancakes:

-Make extra batter for another meal

-Cook extra pancakes and freeze for a quick weekday breakfast/dinner/lunch

-Let batter sit for at least 30 minutes before cooking it. This can be done overnight, just be sure to leave on the counter for 30 minutes to take the chill off

-Make pancakes even thriftier by making your own mix

-Bananas are great, healthy, CHEAP additions to pancakes (since with their thick peels, it’s not urgent you buy them organic) as are a few chocolate chips and apples.

-Serve leftovers creatively at room temperature (Belgian pancakes, anyone???)