Cookbook Club - Vegetarian Edition

Back in February I discovered two "local" libraries had Cookbook Clubs. I say "local" because both of them are 30 minutes away - in opposite directions.  There are at least four libraries closer to me than either of these two.  However, none of them are offering this fun opportunity. Each month the group gets together for a potluck of dishes they have made from specified cookbooks or cuisines.

I was so excited when I heard about them,  I signed up right away for both of them.  Now, six months later, one of the groups has dissolved. I went twice - once one of three people and the second one of two people.  The second group is flourishing and I have been having a lot of fun with it. Cuisines we have covered include Thai, Chinese, Mediterranean, French and Indian. Each night there are 10-20 people there, so it is a sample-palooza!

This month's theme was simply...vegetarian. Even before I made the Sweet Potato Peanut Stew last weekend I had already decided to make it for Cookbook Club (I just couldn't wait to try it). I wasn't thinking about the fact that I had already blogged about it, so as I was making it for tonight I was taking pictures. And who am I to let pictures go to waste??  ;)

Tomato paste, peanut butter and cumin. By the way I am loving my tomato paste in tube. So much more convenient than those little cans when you need a tablespoon or two.

Add part of the broth and whisk it together well. I am pretty sure it would have been a chore to work the peanut butter into the stew without this step.

 Veggies in.

 Add peanut butter mixture and the rest of the broth. Bring to a boil. Everything was immediately smelling delicious.

 Add kale and simmer. 

When my stew was finished, I realized it was too much kale. At least, I felt like ti was too much for the cookbook club tasting. I didn't want someone's bite to just be a way of kale, no matter how tasty it was.

Side note:  I have a HUGE pet peeve about Cookbook Club  - the lighting. All my pictures come out way too yellow and I don't have the chops to fix them. Perhaps there is a setting on my phone/camera I am missing. 


Okay, back to the stew, I was determined for my dish to be served warm. Piled in the basket surrounded by beach towels is a is a cast iron Dutch oven of stew. I am happy to report, it arrived in tact and piping hot :)

My stew set up.  I brought little cups for the samples. Suggested toppings were chopped peanuts, cilantro and lime - so I brought a little bit of each. That might have been a bit of a mistake. There was too much craziness at the table for people to doctor up their sample.

In previous months we have set up the food buffet style, but someone suggested family style at the last meeting.  I do really like sitting family style so we can talk more among ourselves as we eat. It is just more difficult to manage dishes that aren't easily passed - hot pots, etc.  

Our leader made avocado deviled eggs and green apple dill sandwiches. The sandwich filling had good flavors, but was overpowered by the bread. I think I would prefer it be served as a salad or even open-faced.

Someone made vegan peppermint patties....well, almost. She decided at the last minute not to dip them in vegan chocolate. Instead she chose Ghiradelli dark chocolate - I support her decision.

Don't judge...no really, please  don't judge. As always, I took a taste of everything. As you know a taste of everything adds up. I ate it all.

In addition to what I already mentioned, other items on the menu included:

Strawberry Caprese Salad - tomato, strawberry, basil, basalmic and cute little mozzarella pearls. Lately, we have been into fruit salsa. I am not a big fan of tomato and the fruit together. I think this salad would have been better with either the tomato or the strawberry. I am actually a little intrigued by just using the berries.

Dueling summer squash casseroles - one was made with zucchini and the other with yellow squash. They were both creamy and cheesy. Both delicious, but quite different.

Lentil veggie stew - carrots, beats, potatoes, etc. It had cinnamon in it, which actually reminded me a bit of the squash lasagna I made last weekend. It was good, but I have other lentil recipes I prefer.

A bean and cheese quesadilla with guacamole...what's not to love?

Cuban black beans with papaya salsa. As I mentioned, I've been into fruit salsa, so papaya salsa! The cook of this dish said she doesn't like spicy so she didn't use all the peppers - a little more heat would have been perfect with the papaya.  I also have a Cuban black bean recipe we love - makes me think I need to get that recipe back out for fall.

Sicilian potatoes and green beans - green beans and potatoes are boiled together then dressed with a vinaigrette which they are still warm.

After the meetings, the leader scans everyone's recipes and emails them to the group.  I am eager to read them. With the new family-style format it was much more difficult to hear/concentrate on people when they were describing their dishes. I liked hearing how people made their items and I felt like I missed quite a bit last night.

I try to be honest blogger....and to be honest I might have over-kaled the stew. I was concerned it would be difficult to serve in my little cups with big wads of kale. The first batch I made I used spinach, which wilted much more than the kale. (The spinach also retained a much more attractive green color.) To be clear, it was not a "too kale-y" taste issue, just that I thought it would be more difficult to sample and didn't look as pretty. This is actually a bowl of kale I fished out the pot and left home.

When I got home I added that kale back into the leftover stew and all is well. I can eat ugly food :)

I love these storage containers. I have them in three sizes (quart, pint and cup). I love the look and the practicality of them. I remember I first discovered them when I was going through my wonton soup phase. The Chinese restaurant used them.  I would get a quart of soup for about $2.50 with an awesome reusable container. I may have eaten the soup for the containers. One day, I asked if I could just buy some of the containers - I didn't know at the time I could buy them on Amazon. The restaurant was willing to sell them for $1 each. Not what I had in mind.  Check out the 8 oz. size here. (48 for $13)

So that is your taste of Cookbook Club. Next meeting is in September and I have three issues....

1) The theme is "favorite dish". Wait, what???  How am I going to choose what to make for that one?  At first, I was a bit disappointed in the theme because I've been enjoying sampling specific cuisines. But then as we talked around the table, I started to think it would be fun to try people's "best" dishes.

2) I won't get to try a new recipe. Clearly you all know by now,  I am ALL about the new recipes.

3) After coming to terms and getting a little excited about the possibilities.....someone mentioned the date of our next meeting....September 25th. Our wedding anniversary.  Whomp whomp (not the marriage - the date conflict).  What do I do now? 

More Than Food

Pulling pictures together to write this post and it feels a bit like all I have done this weekend is make food, collect food and eat food.  Let's take a look.

Friday night my husband was working and I took the opportunity to make a "wife-friendly meal" that I saw Katie Lee make on The Kitchen - Low Country Boil Packets.  Low Country Boil is one of those things I could eat until I pop.  One day I hope to be part of one where they dump the buckets of food down the middle of the table and people just reach in and chow down.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the clams in this recipe, but I made it work with a little extra shrimp. I was surprised by the lemons in the recipe just because I don't remember lemons used in boils I've had in the past, but who am I to turn down a lemon?

For this particular version, you make individual foil packets to be cooked on the grill.  Layer the sliced potatoes and sausage - top wtih shrimp and corn - sprinkle with scallions and a couple lemon slices and tightly wrap in foil. Great thing is you can prepare packets in advance and it only takes 15-20 minutes on the grill.  However, this is where it went wrong for me. I could not get the grill to light...20 matches later, I decided to just cook them in the oven.

I set the oven for 425 and cooked them about 20 minutes. The shrimp was a bit overdone, but everything else was perfect. At this point, I was still on the fence about the lemon, but as I tasted those buttery, lemony potatoes with a hint of Old Bay seasoning, I was sold. In fact, it got me thinking about a lemony roasted potato recipe I saw on Rachael Ray recently. I have a feeling you are going to see that one soon.

Saturday day morning I decided to address some tomatoes my mother-in-law had given me. They were mostly Roma tomatoes, so not my favorite for sandwiches and such. I found this  Crockpot Tomato Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes recipe on Grow a Good Life blog. I had some spaghetti noodles, but no sauce in the pantry so it seemed like a win/win. I supplemented the fresh tomatoes with some of the frozen ones that needed to be used up too. I started with about 5-6 pounds of tomatoes which pretty much filled my large crock pot. Chopped onions, carrots, olive oil and spices joined the tomatoes for a long day of simmering.

Pretty much from the start those Italian herbs smelled amazing. After about 4 hours it looked like this...not very saucy yet. To be honest, I expected the onions and carrots to be more cooked and broken down than they are here.

There was a whole direction about using a food mill to process the tomatoes to remove the seeds and skins. But, I am a little bit lazy and decided to just use my immersion blender. If nothing else, it was a whole lot less messy.  Once blended it was back to simmering for several more hours.

It didn't thicken up quite the way I expected in the crock pot. I ended up moving it to my Dutch oven and simmering it on the stove for about 30 minutes to reduce the liquid a bit. I ended up with almost two quarts of sauce.

One quart into the freezer and one for a Sunday night spaghetti (I added turkey, peppers and onions). We have leftovers for lunches :)  Full disclosure...was it the best sauce I've ever eaten?  No, but it's not bad and I used up things we had, so that is a win. I am not particularly loyal to any one brand of sauce, so buying sauce can be hit and miss too.

On Saturday there were a couple of festivals I really wanted to check out. First was a Festival of Nations, I found out about last minute. In addition to crafts and entertainment, there were 60+ food booths representing just about any cuisine you could imagine. That one sounded like a complete mad house - they were expecting 125,000 over the course of two days. Huge crowds are not my favorite, but the chance to try all those foods in one place had me seriously considering it...maybe next year.

The second festival was the food truck festival I mentioned in the last post. I decided to brave the heat and humidity to check it out.  My husband was busy getting ready for his game, so I went by myself, right as it opened. I had a chance to circle around the 20 or so trucks to check their menus and make some choices before any serious lines formed.

I had looked up most of the trucks and their menus prior to the event. I was super excited about this one and the menu I found online. I had picked out three items I wanted to try....and not a single one of them was on Saturday's menu...whomp! whomp!  Spoiler alert: I have still never tried poutine. Although these choices may have been delicious I ended up skipping this truck completely. For a festival like this I really wish more of the trucks had smaller plates available. Even the trucks that sold tacos sold them in threes for $8+.  With a somewhat limited budget and one tummy I didn't want to invest so much in a single dish.

The first item I bought was the Drunken Pig cupcake. It was kind of ironic because I had told my husband before I left I wasn't interested in the sweet trucks in the least. However, when I was walking by this one I heard a woman inquire about the Drunken Pig. My ears perked up immediately because I have had that cupcake at another event.

This pictures is actually from the first time I tasted the Drunken Pig last summer - you will see later why I used this picture today. Cupcake description from Sweet Divine\speaks for itself on the flavor of this cupcake that helped them win Cupcake Wars on Food Network  Newcastle beer and sharp cheddar cheese cupcake, sharp cheddar cream cheese frosting, topped with BACON!!  

Clearly they do NOT skimp on the bacon.  A beer cupcake is not something I would try without the lure of cheese and bacon. It is perfection with sweet and salty, creamy and crunchy.  Chances are I will sidle up to the Sweet Divine truck in the future and ask them to "take my money".

Speaking of the lure of cheese.... welcome to the Cheese Shack!

Since I was by myself and it was ridiculously hot and humid I decided to shop for my goodies and take them home to share in the cool goodness and company of my beloved.  On the way to the car I had a scary moment, in which I felt like I would pass out. I just can't take the heat/humidity. Fortunately, since I arrived early I was parked close by....a bottle of water and full blast a/c got me home safely (don't worry I did not start driving until I recovered).

Drum roll, please.....here is the budget busing bounty (I spent the whole $26 from the change jar and I am okay with it).  First up: from Seoul Taco (Korean/Mexican fusion truck). I got one beef and two pork tacos. The pork was the clear winner and my beloved did let me have a little bite :)  I confess I have had this truck's tacos before and knew I liked them - just forgot to go all pork or maybe their beef was better last time.

My wildcard purchase was this Feijoada (Brazilian Black Bean Stew) from Brazilian Express.  Feijoada is billed as the national dish of Brazil. The beans are cooked with short ribs and smoked sausage and served with rice. I am a sucker for pretty much any ethnic cuisine...call it a "national dish" and of course, I want to try it.  In the picture below notice the crumbling looking substance - farofa.

In Brazil, where farofa is particularly popular, typical recipes call for raw cassava flour to be toasted with butter, salt, sausage, olives, onions, garlic, hard-boiled eggs, and/or baconuntil golden brown. It is an essential accompaniment to feijoada^[1] and Brazilian barbecue. In Brazil, farofa is also used in a stuffing for poultry and other dishes, usually containing raisins, nuts, and/or finely chopped sweet fruits like apples and bananas.

This particular farofa didn't seem quite as fancy, but had a good flavor. I would have liked a bit less or had it completely on the side. It was a bit dry with the rice.

Because I was sharing and wanted a sure thing....the Buffalo Melt. It ended up being my husband's favorite (although he liked everything I brought home). The sandwich was rotisserie chicken smothered in buffalo ranch sauce and mozzarella - all perfectly grilled. Pretty much buffalo chicken dip in grilled bread. Yum!

Finally my Drunken Pig cupcake - It was super hot out...the box tipped over in the car...it was delicious...enough said.

Sunday was game day. Every couple of weeks my husband several friends over to play Dungeons and Dragons. We always do a potluck meal. Since they often play Sunday mornings, my breakfast Pinterest board has been busy. I enjoy coming up with new ideas to feed them. As soon as I saw these Game Day Breakfast Sliders from Mom Endeavors blog, I knew they were next on the menu. Super simple - layer split Hawaiian rolls with cheese, scrambled eggs, ham and more cheese.

 Brush with melted butter mixed with a touch of brown sugar and yellow mustard.

 Bake for about 15 minutes to get everything hot and melty. They did not last long!

My husband and friends played Dungeons and Dragons eons ago - long before I knew them. Since we've been together the guys have talked about playing again. Finally, back in February they started a game. I tried to play with them a couple of times, but turns out it isn't really my thing. Honestly, it is  more fun to be able to conspire and plan the games with him - which makes me the unofficial Asst Dungeon Master (not to be confused with Assistant to the Dungeon Master for The Office fans). If I were still playing, he would have to keep all his planning a secret. That would be pretty difficult in our small house. The hours he spends preparing for each session would be off limits for me. He does an incredible job planning each session (sessions themselves are 4-5 hours each a couple times a month). He currently.has a massive campaign in progress. I can't wait to see what the guys think as it continues to unfold. They are on session 13 and my husband is confident it will be at LEAST that many more to conclude. I am amazed at how creative and artistic my husband is. I snapped a few pictures today of maps he created, which were actually in use for today's session.

I love this scroll he made for his group. It is a contract between a character he created and the rest of the group, who have been "hired" by that character. I think it looks cool with its Norse inspiration.  The text is seriously funny in the context of the group - such a clever guy. I want to preserve it so it can hang in his command center as a memento of this campaign. There is something really great about seeing someone you love enjoy what they do...not to mention being proud of their mad skills :)

Finally, one big announcement....I read an ENTIRE book this weekend. I seriously can't remember the last time I read a book.  My 16 year old niece recently read and recommended this one.

We had a good discussion about the types of books we like. We both like a book with a good hook, written from more than one character's perspective and some solid plot twists. (I am also obsessed with historical fiction, but didn't win her over to that...yet.) She is currently reading the Jodi Picoult book Small Great Things. She picked it out after I recommended the author. That reminds me I need to check if she is finished...my reading mojo is primed and Small Great Things is next on my list.

Meanwhile, at least I did something non-food related this weekend. As for the book, it was pretty good story. I felt like I could tell when the author was trying to make the reader suspect certain people and didn't buy in. I am honestly, not sure when I solved the "who done it" part of the book, but it did make sense. I hate when I read a mystery and the conclusion seems out of left field. I enjoyed the book, but mostly, I like that my niece and I can now discuss the book and the various themes in it.

Like I said it has been awhile since I read a book. I used to love to read, but since I got my "old lady eyeballs" - welcome to 40! - it has been more of a struggle. This weekend I just embraced the magnifying glass and enjoyed.

How was your weekend?  Hope you are off to a great week!

Talking Grocery Budgets

Monday morning started with this pretty little gift from my green-thumbed co-worker. 

Since I have been all about the food this week, let's start with an update on the things I made over the weekend. The green pea hummus hasn't held it's flavor as well as the Thai Red Curry. I really liked the freshness of the peas and cilantro the first day or two. It seems to be an "eat soon hummus" maybe I'd make it the day of a party.  The pretty green color has dulled too, which is not as inviting. Perhaps in the future, I will make half batches or only make two if I have someone else to help eat it.  The black bean hummus will happen next. 

I feel like I might have overdone it a bit this week on "cool weather foods" for my lunches - the lasagna and stew. Both are good, but I have been thinking about a good wrap. Maybe I should only prep 4 lunches for a week, so I have a wildcard day.  A wrap would help use up some of that hummus :)

In general, I have been thinking about budgets. Specifically, this week I have been borderline obsessing about grocery budgeting. I have never had a specific grocery line item in my budgets. I just buy groceries out of a nebulous discretionary amount - buying what I want when I want it. I really have no idea how much I spend just on groceries in a month. I think it is safe to say I waste plenty - buying more than I need or not shopping best deals. It made me very curious about how others handle this area.

I put the question to a Facebook poll - do you have grocery budget YES or NO?  Then, I invited people if they would like to share details (i.e.how much they budget? how they make it happen? tips?)  I was a bit overwhelmed (in a good way) by the responses. I put the post on my personal Facebook page and on the page of a large group I am in.

My personal page:  Grocery Budget - 7 YES and  11 NO - 9 people commented

Group page - Grocery Budget - 283 YES and 164 NO - over 150 people commented

Clearly, I am not the only one working (or trying to work) through this issue. There were lots of great ideas that I will be mulling over and perhaps incorporating into my plan.  I am hoping to have something solid in place next month.

One idea I really liked is to have a weekly budget and then a separate amount for the month for restocking or special events. For example: $50/week for each week's meals. An additional $50 to be used any time during the month for things like flour, sugar, condiments, etc. or for cookbook club food, special occasions, cooking for others, etc. For example, my husband has friends over a couple times a month. Today, while I was in the store I priced what I am thinking about making them this weekend and it would easily be $10 (20% of the weekly budget for one meal!)  That cake I made for the firehouse would be similar cost. I definitely do not want to give up cooking for others.

Quite a few people include household cleaning products, toiletries, etc. in their grocery budget. It seems like that would make things easier, especially if you shop at Walmart or Target where you can buy all those things in one stop. Since I shop primarily at Aldi, that might not matter as much to me.  Many people include their pet food in the grocery budget. So Millie's food could be the whole week's budget!  Obviously, the budgeted amount would be larger to include more than groceries.

It seems like the majority of people's budgets were $25-50 per person per week. There were also people who reported doing some amazing budgeting for families of 8 or 9 people!  Figuring out the best amount for us is most likely going to take some trial and error, but it really helped me to get some ideas where to start. I do know I am going to want to stay on the conservative side and stash the extra cash.

People suggested using cash/envelopes. I am not sure how much cash juggling I would like to have to do when I run into Walmart for shampoo and bananas. Debit cards are just so stinkin' convenient. Ultimately, making this work is going to take more planning and discipline on my part. Why does that sound like successful weight loss advice too??

For years, my husband and I have been paid on opposite Fridays, so it always seems we always have a little extra to spend. Now that we are seriously in moving mode, it is time to crunch down on the pennies a bit. This year his job is switching payday Fridays - so we will get paid the same days beginning in September.  It seems like a good time to make some changes to our budget and I am eager to see how this payday change affects us. The immediate downside is during the transition he has three weeks between checks, but I have chosen to make our two week "budget" stretch to three weeks, just to give us a bit of jump start.

Already, I find myself making choices. I will be honest, I am seriously weighing spending a bit on a food truck festival in town this weekend. Our county doesn't allow for regular food trucks - it is only by special permit for specific events. It sounds like the health dept is not equipped to keep up with the inspections. My understanding is trucks are inspected more frequently and the mobility is an issue for surprise inspections.  Anyway, I looked at the list of and there a couple of trucks scheduled for the festival that  I would like to try. I counted out some money from our change jar...so it might happen :)

Wow, perhaps I am making us sound destitute - please don't set up a Go Fund Me for us just yet. To clarify, I could supplement this 3 week period, I am just choosing to use it as an opportunity to be creative.

Next stop the freezer, it seems clear that knowing what you have is important to knowing what you need. We have this small freezer at the bottom of our fridge. I feel like things go here to die. Just looking at the picture. I have no idea what is in the basket....other than frozen veggies nobody wants to eat and tomatoes from my boss' garden last fall.

A quick closer look in the freezer has revealed a few things I think I can work with - shrimp, bread dough (that might turn into that breakfast pizza I made recently). Sadly, I know some of the stuff is not going to be good - my freezer is the worst about freezer burn. I hoping these impulse buys are still good. I am hoping I can use those hashbrowns for husband's friend get together this weekend - I won't know until I open them :)

I cleaned out the pantry awhile back so I have a reasonable idea of what is in there. Mostly, basics like 8 different kinds of vinegar and baking supplies. Always on the lookout for new tastes, I tend to buy random sauces. I am a condiment/sauce impulse buyer, for sure. Oh, look Spanish mojo sauce!  Buy it then what?

I hope that wasn't too rambly. Part of blogging for me is working things out in my mind, by writing. Welcome to my thought process. And you thought I just blogged for the pictures :)  Well, let's see some more of those pictures....

I made huge salads for Wednesday's dinner. Our lettuce supply was overflowing - green leaf, iceberg AND spring mix.  A couple more salad meals and we should be back in a reasonable lettuce range. I topped the salad with grilled chicken, avocado and one small slice of salami cut in strips for a punch of flavor.

I have been obsessed with stir-frys after my trip to the international store last week - the mushrooms and snow peas were so cheap!

My husband's looked much different - no mushrooms, sprouts, peas. He is much more a broccoli, onion, pepper guy.  In the spirit of no waste, I had this yummy non-traditional breakfast this morning. This is the last of my mushrooms and snow peas :(  I have to figure out how to get over to the international store more often! I completely forgot I had this shrimp in the freezer. As I mentioned, I am always picking up condiments and sauces. I forget to use this garlic ginger paste I've had for awhile - adding a teaspoon or so, to the stir-fry was perfect.

Breakfast is served - check out this glass from my mom's high school - class of 1952!!  Go Cardinals :)

I have talked about how good it makes me feel to do the 15 minute tidy ups before bed. Last night, I had to force myself to even do 10 minutes. I didn't get the dishes dried and I did not like seeing them this morning. However, it sure beats seeing a sink of dirty dishes! As you can see, just not putting away the dishes clutters up half my tiny kitchen.

I am still fighting the poison ivy. It doesn't itch much anymore - other than a few spots that came up later and some skin is itchy from the drying/healing process. The steroids have definitely affected my sleep and I am a bit weary of that. I can't believe it still looks like this 26 days after exposure. Keeping my fingers crossed this discoloration really fades soon - dermatologist said it could take a couple months :(

Before we get this weekend started - a quick update on my freezer finds...we had the veggie tots for dinner with a yum turkey burger topped with plenty of pickled onions!  They were pretty good. I am not sure I'd get them again. I might just make my own mashed cauliflower as a side - same flavor, lower cost and processessing. Or roasted cauliflower florets if I want a finger food.

The bread dough turned into this breakfast pizza this morning. I didn't have spinach, so I just used a handful of spring mix and it worked great. Before baking I sprinkled with a little cheese and dropped an egg in the middle. 

 How good does that look?  Okay, it is a little messy, but delicious :)

Trying out a scarf I picked up at the clothing swap a couple of weeks ago. Not sure the best way to wear it yet, but I do like the pop of color for a change up to this blue dress.

This weekend I am going to look into the pantry. I know there is some pretty random stuff in there...stay tuned. What are your weekend plans?