St. Patrick's Day Dinner!

Goooooood Morning Vietnam (Boston)! It's going to be a beautiful, beautiful day outside today and I cannot wait until it's an appropriate time to get up out of the heez. I wanted to share my Corned Beef Success with you guys. Here's what I did:

Corned Beef and Cabbage

serves 4

3-4 lb. corned beef brisket (I think the only thing that makes it corned beef is the seasonings that're on it. I think if you just bought a brisket it'd be amazingly cheaper. This is the most expensive piece of meat I've bought since a Thanksgiving Turkey. $13.25)

3 lb. head of cabbage ($.75 - WF sale!)

1 large onion ($.10 - Haymarket)

2 T. dijon mustard ($.16)

1/4 apple cider vinegar ($.16)

2 t. salt ($.01)

Total: $14.33 (It's a Holiday meal, so that's not too bad. I think you could get a cheaper brisket and season it yourself for way less...maybe it's expensive because of the season). We ate it between 3 people, and are having sandwiches for lunch today.

1. Chop onion. Chop cabbage into 6ths. Sixths? I don't know...
2. Add brisket to the crock pot.
3. Add onion on top.
4. In a bowl, combine mustard + salt + vinegar and pour it over the onions.
5. Add 2 cups water.
6. Set slow cooker to low and cook for 7 hours, or until meat is tender to your liking. You could also do it on high for 4.
7. About 4 hours in, add the cabbage. Adding it in later helps keep it more crisp, but if you prefer it softer, you could always add the cabbage in on top of the onions in the beginning.

scrimpyTips:

- You could also just do this in a pot on the stovetop, too, if you're not a crockpot owner. Just simmer on the lowest heat until meat is tender. Probably from 4-7 hours.

- This is traditionally served with boiled potatoes, but I mixed it up and served it alongside mashed ones because Mike likes those. Very delicious.

- I like this served alongside dijon mustard.

- I ladled out some of the cooking liquid and served it in a gravy boat as a thin gravy. Good.

This is foolproof, festive, and delicious. I also made authentic Irish Soda Bread and now know why people add all sorts of other crap to it. It's pretty bland and mine could've used some extra salt. If you want to make it check out this site. You can also join this group on facebook (?).

This has gotten me pumped to try out slow cooking other cuts of tough meat. I think I'll make a pot roast soon.

Stay tuned for CVS Sales and scrimpySnack of the week! There was no Whole Foods pick of the week, so this upcoming week there will be 2! Yay, right?

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

In honor of the CVS sale on almonds here's the recipe for cinnamon roasted almonds. I make this recipe for my dad all the time. He loves it, and it makes my apartment smell like Downtown Crossing (um...yeah, well sometimes it actually smells good down there when you catch a whiff of the cinnamon nuts!).

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
makes about 3 1/2 cups

• 1 egg white ($.29 - organic)
  
• 1 t cold water ($.00)
  
• 1 t vanilla ($.17)
  
• 2 1/2 c whole almonds (plain, not salted!) ($3.56)
  
• 3/4 c white sugar ($.23)
  
• 1/2 t salt (<$.01)
• 1 t ground cinnamon ($.06)

Total: $4.32...this makes enough for 2 gift sized jars ($2.16 each)

1. Preheat the oven to 250.
2. With a mixer, mix up egg white until it's a bit foamy and then add 1 t. of water and 1 t. vanilla. Split this mixture in half (I know, there's like, nothing there...but split it in half anyways, please!)
3. Combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon and split that in half, too.
4. Toss nuts in one half of the egg mixture.
5. Toss nuts in one half of the sugar mixture.
6. Arrange on baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone liner (nothing sticks to this baby) in one single layer, spreading nuts out so they all have some room around them. If they're too close together, they won't get nice and crunchy!
   
7. Bake for one hour, mixing them around half way through.
8. Take them out after an hour and let them cool (if you don't let them cool they will cook the egg whites during their second coating).
9. Coat them in reserved egg white wash.
10. Coat them in reserved sugar mix.
11. Bake again for one hour, mixing half way through, being careful not to burn them (you will smell it, so just keep an eye out for them, and taste them halfway through - they're amazing).

scrimpyTips:

-One pound of almonds is 3 1/2 cups (approximately)
-This is just as good (if not better) when made with unsalted cashews, which are also on sale at CVS (this recipe is flexible, you can just sub. a canister for the 2 1/2 cups and decrease the sugar to 1/2 c.).
-When I make these with nuts that already come in a little canister, I rip off the label (it's silver underneath the CVS brand label) and tie around a ribbon. This makes them perfect for gift giving. You could also cut a piece of used brown shopping bag and glue it around for a cool look.
-You should wrap these up as soon as you make them if you plan to give them for a gift. You will eat them all (personal experience).
-These make great holiday gifts and party snacks.
-You could use a mix of brown and white sugar for this recipe.
-If you want more coating, just decrease the amount of nuts you use.
-They stay good for weeks (at least 2...most likely longer)

scrimpySnack of the Week

Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone!

I'm sick, so I'm sorry if I sound a little bit stuffed up. Just ask me to repeat anything you can't understand (oh my god HA HA HA!).

Every Sunday I try to make a delicious snack to go in Mike's lunches. Sometimes it's banana bread muffins and sometimes it's cookies, and then other times when I'm lazy he just gets 2 pieces of fruit. This Sunday, I came across a recipe that's great for two reasons.

Reasons this cookie recipe is great:

1. It's delicious
2. It uses vegetable oil instead of butter which is convenient if you:

1. Don't have any butter (on the off chance you have MOLASSES but not butter...)
   
2. Have a dairy allergy or something else like that

Molasses Crackle Cookies
(Oh, and another cool thing about these is that they actually crackle on top and look really pretty...next time I will try rolling them in confectioner's sugar...on that note, is it "confectioner's sugar", "confectionary sugar", or "confection sugar"? From now on I should say C. Sugar. OK solved.)
Makes 32 cookies (enough for 2 days...they're pretty good)

2/3 c. vegetable oil ($.58)
1 c. sugar ($.31)
1 egg ($.29 - organic)
1/4 c. molasses($.42 - organic - TJs)
2 c. flour ($.30)
2 t. baking soda (not powder...quadruple check this PUH-LEASE) ($.02)
1 t. cinnamon ($.06 - CVS)
1 t. ground ginger ($.06 - CVS)
1/2 t. ground cloves ($.06)
1/3 c. sugar ($.10)

Total: $2.20 (that's $.07/cookie (Seven Sent Cookies, like Heaven Sent, just Seven Cent!) The molasses makes them a little more expensive than some other cookies...)

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Combine oil and sugar then add egg and molasses.
3. In a separate bowl sift together (or just whisk together if you are LAZY - like me sometimes) flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
4. Add the dry mixture to the wet.
5. Roll into nice sized balls (ha)...about 1 1/3"-1 1/2" and then roll those balls in sugar (HA).
6. Place them with about 3 inches in between each other on the cookie sheet (they are going to flatten out and spread...hopefully...)
7. Bake for 10 minutes, or until they're crackled on top.
   
8. Let them sit on the baking sheet to get hardened a bit, and them remove them to a plate to cool.
   
9. Store them in an air-tight (preferably glass with a plastic top) container. I stored them like this and they have stayed really soft and chewy. Trust me, I just had 4. They're still good to go.

scrimpyTips:

- I found that when my oven got a bit too hot, around 360ish, they crackled better, so I don't know...you may want to put your oven a TAD bit higher than 350. My first batch came out the least crackled, and the subsequent batches came out better...
- If you don't have ginger or cloves, you could easily omit them. Granted, they wouldn't be AS good, but they'd still be good, just a little different.
- If you only have one good cookie sheet, put the dough in the fridge in between batches.
- These would be great with soft vanilla ice cream in between them.
- These make great Christmas cookies

Putting the Creme in those Puffs!

So, I've shared with you how to make the actual puff. Now, I need to fill you in on how to fill them in...ha!

Vanilla Pastry Creme (Creme Patisserie)

makes about 2 cups (I just feel like this book overestimates the yield...I don't think I got 2 cups from this...)

1/3 c. sugar ($.10)
2 T. all purpose flour ($.02)
2 T. cornstarch ($.13)
4 large egg yolks ($1.16 - organic)
1 1/3 c. milk ($.48 - organic)
3/4 t. vanilla extract ($.13)

1. Pour milk in a small saucepan and bring milk to a simmer.
2. Meanwhile, beat sugar, flour, cornstarch, and egg yolks on high speed until thick and pale yellow (about 2 minutes). It's crazy, it seems like it's all dry ingredients, and then it's a pale yellow cream.
3. Gradually pour about 1/3 of the milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking to combine. Scrape egg mixture with milk back into saucepan with the rest of the milk. Whisk constantly and scrape the bottom and corners to prevent scorching.
   
4. Keep whisking until the custard is thickened (only a few minutes - happens way faster than you expect) and beginning to bubble. Then continue to cook and whisk for 45 to 60 seconds. Using a clean spatula (without raw egg yolks on it) scrape custard into a bowl.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. Cover surface of custard with plastic wrap (to prevent a skin from forming) and allow it to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate before using.

Total: $2.02 (and that's with organic milk and eggs...not bad!)

To fill creme puffs with the creme (I like spelling it "creme" better than "cream"...it's like, dainty and sounds more sophisticated and fancy):

Fill a pastry bag with creme and pipe in to puffs. If you don't have a pastry bag, put the creme in a ziploc bag and snip the tip off (be careful not to make the whole too big) and pipe it in to puff through the steam hole you created.

I like to top the puffs with confectioner's sugar...ha, like I make these everyday. What I should say is the one time I made them, I put confectioners sugar in a strainer and tapped it over the puffs. It created a beautiful, snowy effect, and a delicious mouth feel!

scrimpyTips:

- This keeps in the fridge for 2 days.
- Make sure you whisk well, because the eggs can cook and leave it lumpy and gross.
- This is the first time I had ever made it and it came out perfect, so it's easier than it seems.
- Even though it's more expensive than the plain whipped cream (recipe follows), it's so much better and is really what you're supposed to fill the creme puffs with. **The whipped cream actually turns out to be more expensive if you don't have a use for the rest of the heavy cream, because then you've spent $3 and only used $1.50 worth. Therefore, it's not really cheaper if you're not using up the rest of the cream.**
- Another option is to fill with ice cream, and since it was on sale for $3.50 at CVS, that was an option, but the pastry creme really turned out cheaper!


You can go for plain vanilla whipped cream. This is as easy as it gets, but if you're using this I would advise cutting the puffs in half and spooning the cream in and placing the top on. This cream isn't "stabilized" it can weep or deflate...and you don't want that. Here's the recipe:

Sweetened Whipped Cream
(also from The Joy of Cooking...can you tell I'm scared I'll get in trouble from using recipes from someone's book?)

makes 2 - 2 1/2 cups

1 c. cold heavy cream ($1.50)
2 T. confectioners sugar...or to taste (anywhere from 1T-4T) ($.10)
1/2 t. vanilla ($.09)


Total: $1.69

In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, at med-high to high speed beat the cream until thickened. Add sugar and vanilla and beat to desired consistency. It gets too thick quickly. Ideally you stop when it's the consistency of cool whip. If you beat it until it's very stiff, it gets reallllly rich. So if that's what you're going for, keep on beating, but if you want a soft dollop, don't overdo it.

scrimpyTip:
- You can use this the same way you'd use whipped cream, and it's cheaper than most store bought varieties.


All said and done, the creme puffs cost $4.06. This makes from 15-30 puffs, so that's an average of $.23/puff. I want to go to the bakery and see what they cost each there. But I bet it's at least $1.25 each.

Delectable Creme Puffs...I love the word "puffs"

I spent a semester in Belgium in 2007 along with a few others from my school, Northeastern University. My roomate, Teddy, and our 2 girlfriends Sandra and Tracey have all kept in pretty good touch since returning to the states. Every so often, we have a little get together to catch up and get drunk and eat fattening foods. We've had homemade pasta ravioli (i make pasta! watch out world!), a fondue party, holiday brunch, etc...

This is a bit of a digression about how important it is to get together with friends, if you just want the recipe and technique for $4 Creme Puffs, just skip this part:

Getting together with a few of your friends with inexpensive wine is a really healthy habit to get into, I say. It's good for you to get out (especially during these cold winter months) and socialize, and doing it at someone's home really makes it an affordable thing to do. Sometimes keeping in touch with friends is hard, and as everyday life takes over it falls by the wayside. It really does make a difference in your life, though, to keep up with friends and family and make sure those relationships stay strong. After all, that's what's important in life! (A little sappy, but it's seriously true). I try hard to maintain my friendships because when all is said and done, friends are the people that love you rich or poor, fat or thin, happy or sad...

So, now that that's over, I can tell you what we ate. Tracey decided to do fajitas. I always love to bring dessert, so I suggested I'd make something spanish-mexican-texmexish to go with the theme. I found out that cream puffs are kind of a Spanish thing. I don't even know how that's the case, but it may or may not be. Anyways, I decided to go for it. I had never made them before but after cross referencing The Joy of Cooking with allrecipes.com and a Barefoot Contessa recipe from foodnetwork.com...and find, an Alton Brown recipe, but I hate him so I don't even like to give him any credit (for the record I didn't use his recipe), I decided I could do this...and I could do it for UNDER $5. Here's how (from The Joy of Cooking):

Creme Puffs are made from a dough called "choux" which is French for "cabbages" - The Joy of Cooking says this is because the little dollops of paste expand in the oven to resemble tiny cabbage heads. I would say that's a stretch. It can be made sweet or savory, but that's for another day.

This dough is cooked on top of the stove and then shaped and baked. The paste must cool a bit before you add the eggs, so that you don't cook the eggs in the pastry. If the dough is too cold, however, your eggs will not incorporate properly. The finished paste should be shiny, smooth, and very thick but not stiff.

Choux Paste (creme puff dough - this makes between 15-30 puffs depending on the size)

1 c. all purpose flour ($.15)
1 c. water or milk (I use water because it's FREE) ($.37 if you use organic milk)
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into small pieces (if you only have salted just omit the salt from recipe) ($.70)
1 T sugar ($.02)
1/2 t. salt (<$.01) 4 eggs at room temperature (if I don't have time to wait, I just put the eggs in a cup of warm water for a few minutes - like, while you're doing the dough) ($1.16 - organic)

1. Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
   
2. Measure out the flour and put it aside.
3. Combine all other ingredients (water/milk, butter, sugar, salt) in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a full boil over medium heat.
   
4. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. The mixture won't look smooth, but just keep stirring fast. In a few minutes the paste will become dry and won't stick to your spooin or the pan, and when the spoon is pressed on it lightly it will leave an indentation. Do not overcook or overstir at this point because the puff won't puff in the oven.
   
5. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for 5 minutes, stirring a few times.
6. Add one egg at a time, beating rigorously or on low speed with a mixer (I used a kitchenaid stand mixer, but I know we don't all have them. Only use your handmixer if it has a REALLY low setting, or else this is better done by hand I think). Make sure the paste is really smooth each time you add an egg so that you can be sure each egg is fully incorporated. This is important.
7. Continue to beat with each egg until the dough is smooth and shiny. The proper consistency is when a small quantity of dough will stand erect if scooped up on the edge of a spoon.
8. You can now either put the dough in a pastry bag fitted with a round tip and pipe out little mounds on a sheet (covered in parchment paper or a silicone baking mat - this is a must, they will stick) or spoon them out and pat down the spikes on top with wet fingertips (this is what I did).
9. Bake them at 400 for 10 minutes and then lower the oven to 350 and allow to bake for 25 more minutes or until they're golden brown and very firm to the touch. As soon as you take them out of the oven poke them with a small knife to let the steam out (if you don't the steam will come out and make them soggy).
10. Let them cool completely before adding the filling (whipped cream or pastry cream...recipe follows)

Total Price for Puffs $2.04...$2.41 with organic milk.

scrimpyTips:

- This dough can be refigerated up to 4 hours and does not need to be brought to room temperature before you bake it.
- You can fill these with whipped cream, pastry cream, ice cream, or even cool ship in a pinch...I'm posting whipped cream and pastry cream recipes in my next post...just have to get my little peanut down for a nap!

Valentine Truffles

These confections are named after the savory black truffle mushroom found in the forests or France. They are not meant to be perfectly round in shape, but organic looking and earthy. We cover them in cocoa powder to represent the dirt found on truffles in the woods. How cute! I can remember my mom making these around Christmastime and I loved them -- still do!

The great news is is that these are easy easy easy (did I say easy?) to make. Here you go:

Dark Chocolate Truffles

Makes about 80 pieces (so the recipe states...I think I just make mine a bit bigger because I've never gotten more than 40 out of it)

-12 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate ($1.99)
-1 1/4 c. heavy cream ($1.50)
-1/4 c. organic cocoa powder ($1.24 - TJs)

1. Prepare! I like to cover a 9 x 12 stoneware baking dish with plastic wrap to cut down on the mess. So, do that. Prepare a dish to pour the chocolate in to so that you aren't scrambling to do it later.

2. Chop chocolate into tiny pieces and put in a medium mixing bowl.

3. Heat the cream until just under a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. This is called "scalding" milk.

4. Pour the hot cream all at once over the chocolate and stir gently until the mixture is smooth and thoroughly blended. Pour it in to your prepared dish and let it cool to room temperature.

5. Refrigerate the dish of chocolate (now a "ganache") for 3 to 4 hours until the ganache is thick and stiff. Also put the platter you plan to place your rolled truffles on in the fridge, too, so that it's cold when you put them on there.

6. Cut a grid into the dish of ganache, forming squares the size of half an ice cube from an ice cube tray. That's the best way I can explain how big they should be. I guess the squares should be anywhere from 1/2"-3/4".

7. Take each piece and roll between your hands until they are round and place on the chilled dish.

8. Cover them in plastic wrap and refrigerate again for 2 hours.

9. After 2 hours, roll them in your hands again, and coat them in cocoa powder, cocoa powder/cinnamon mix, cinnamon, confectioners sugar, finely chopped nuts, or coconut.

10. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Bring the truffles to room temperature about a half hour before serving.

Total Cost: $4.73 (with the cost of 2 oz. of organic cocoa powder - this is the least expensive way to make them other than using confectioners sugar which is nice, also). This makes a lot of truffles and is a great idea for gifts around the holidays or any other time of year when it's not sweltering outside.

scrimpyTruffleTips:

- If you prefer semi-sweet chocolate, you can use a bag of chocolate chips, just pulse them in the food processor beforehand, because the chips are a *little* bit too big for the recipe. They won't melt all the way in the hot cream. I figured that out the hard way the last time I made these.

- These make a great hostess gift. For Mike's Christmas party, I took a small platter and arranges 6 rows of truffles alternating nut covered and cocoa covered. They looked beautiful and were so inexpensive. It was like, $1.25 worth of truffles, but they are so delicious and impressive.

- If you make these with bittersweet chocolate, beware that they are REALLY chocolately, so they may not quite be for everyone. I love them, and actually prefer the bittersweet, but I also drink black coffee and like stuff like that. So, if you're serving them to people whose tastes you're not quite familiar with, I'd play it safe and go for the semi-sweet chocolate chips.

- Trader Joe's has great prices on chocolate. They sell something called "pound plus" which
actually turns out to be more expensive ounce for ounce than chocolate chips, but I believe it's better quality chocolate. It's worth buying when you need something less sweet than semi-sweet (bittersweet). It's $3.99 for 18 ounces I believe. I'll double check and update that.

- If you can find mini muffin cups those are perfect to put these in for a professional presentation.

- These make great gifts and are much more delicious and inexpensive than commercial truffles.

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 :).