Orecchiette & Zucchini in Meat Sauce

Tonight I was craving beef for dinner, which is crazy because I hardly ever eat red meat these days. So I walked into Trader Joe's to grab the ingredients for a meat sauce when I saw the most beautiful yellow local zucchini. I knew then and there that I must have it! But how to eat it?...

Why with pasta of course! I love adding zucchini into my pasta dishes. They help bulk up the nutrition, plus, since they have such a light flavor, they don't really alter the flavor of the sauce. Win win! Although, I actually like to eat zucchini raw, so I may be a bit biased....

What do I love about this dish?
1.) I made it with local fresh ingredients.
2.) I spent less than $4 (see my calculations below).
3.) It took me less than 30 minutes to make.
4.) I got to use my fun-shaped orecchiette pasta (aren't they the cutest?!)

Orecchiette & Zucchini in Meat Sauce
Servings: 2 larger dinner servings, 3 medium lunch servings

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 1/4 cup (or a heaping cup) dry orecchiette pasta
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into quarter moons
• 1/2 jar marinara sauce

Directions

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt & pasta, then cook according to the directions. I like my pasta very al dente so I cooked mine for 9 minutes instead of the recommended 12. Drain and set aside.
• TIP: orecchiette pasta likes to stick together due to the shape of the pasta. To try to avoid that, stir continuously for 30 seconds after adding the pasta to the water. 
• While the water is coming to a boil, chop the garlic and toss it into a large skillet with the olive oil. Heat on medium high heat until fragrant then add the meat. Separate the beef with the back of a wooden spoon and cook until there is no red color to the meat.
• Add zucchini and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes or until softened. If you like your veggies more well done, cook an additional 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

• Stir in the marinara sauce and the drained pasta, then cook until heated. Check the seasoning and you're good to go! I sprinkled a little parmesan cheese on top of mine to finish it off.

Cost of my Dinner
When I do my calculations I don't include pantry items. This includes things like seasonings (salt, pepper, herbs, etc), garlic, oil (olive, coconut, sesame), soy sauce, dry pasta, rice, flour, etc. This is because all of these items are minimal cost in the total of the recipe, especially cooking for one.

$1.845, ground beef - $3.69 per pound; I used half a pound and put the rest in the freezer
$0.645, marinara sauce - $1.29 per jar; I used half in the recipe and put the rest in my fridge for later
$0.79, zucchini
$0.25, orecchiette pasta - $0.99 per bag; I used approximately 1/4 of a bag

Total cost of tonight's pasta dish - $3.58
Price per serving (3) - $1.18

That's cheaper than fast food! Isn't being a Graduate Gourmet fun??

This recipe may seem too simple to be gourmet, but some of the best dishes simply enhance the ingredients so that they can shine. I really wanted beef tonight, and this recipe let the meat take the lead. Plus I get to enjoy it for two more meals...how yummy will this be tomorrow?!

Tip: Juicing Citrus

 

Hate it when you squeeze lemons or oranges into a sauce and get the seeds in the pan? Well, just squeeze the fruit with the cut side up. This allows the juices to run over the sides of the fruit, while keeping the seeds within the peel.

You may think this is a silly tip, but I suggested this to my friend once and she exclaimed "why hadn't I thought of this?" Plus, why dirty another bowl by squeezing the fruit there first, then picking out the seeds. This way you save hassle and dirty dishes!

I'm back!

I've been without a personal computer for almost a year. Can you believe that I survived that long?!  Although, to put things into context, I've had my iPad/iPhone at home and can do anything I need a keyboard for while I'm at work. It hasn't been terrible, but I am SO glad to be back online!

Why have I been without a laptop? Well, I woke up one morning to find my latptop on the floor...which isn't odd except that I hadn't put it on the floor but on my side table the night before. When I opened the laptop I saw that my screen was broken. I went to Apple to see if I still had AppleCare (because all that info was on my laptop of course), and of course it had expired. The cost of a new laptop screen?? $350-400. Oy. So instead of putting money into a laptop that I was hoping to last another 6 months before buying a new one, I just decided to go laptop-less until I saved enough for a new one.

My saving strategy started off with a monthly saving plan. I wanted a laptop that would be at least $1000 plus taxes & AppleCare, so I budgeted $1200. If I saved $200 a month, I could have a laptop in 6 months, easy! I already was saving about $100 a month, so I knew I could save another $100 by reducing my "dining out" budget.

Well, as happens most times in life, I wasn't able to execute my plan as I had hoped. I was without a roommate for 2 months and had to pay both halves of the rent/utilities until I found one! I also had to dip into savings to pay for one of the months rent, so the 6 month plan stretched to a year or more plan.

Thanks to a little creative saving (and buying a refurbished laptop instead of a new one) I finally have my new laptop! Be on the lookout for more posts on saving money as well as recipes!

Green Juice

Whew, it has been a crazy year...can you tell by the way I haven't posted since July?! So sad!

Whenever I'm crazy stressed, I tend to eat the worst food possible. Example: as I type this I am eating pad thai. So, to kick my butt back in order, I am going to start juicing again.  I promised I would post my green juice recipe forever ago...so here it is! I adapted this recipe from the Crazy, Sexy Cancer "Make Juice, Not War" green juice. You can see Kris Carr make her juice on YouTube here.

Here are my only guiding criteria when juicing:

1. Keep the veggies/fruit all the same color. This way your juice is a beautiful bright color and not brown. Ugh, who wants to drink brown juice??
2. Use what is in season. Juicing can be expensive, especially when juicing things with little pay off like leafy greens. You see a sale on swiss chard? Use that instead of kale! On my budget I can't break the bank for the greens I'm "supposed" to use, so I use whatever is on sale to keep my budget in check.
3. Change up your "sweetener". Bored with green apple? Try a pear instead!
4. Always use a cucumber. I don't care if you don't like cucumber normally. The cucumber bulks up your juice and is great for hydrating. Without it, you just have one glass of really strong, expensive juice...

My recipe makes enough for two/three servings (dependent on how much juice you get out of your veggies). I usually make the juice the night before and store in small mason jars filled all the way to the top. This way you limit the oxidation/browning effect on your juice. It can store up to two days, but it's best to drink as soon as possible. 

Ingredients:

1 inch piece of ginger, unpeeled
1/2 head of romaine (approx 10 leaves)
3 handfuls of baby spinach or 4-5 kale stalks
2 stalks of celery
1 broccoli stem
2 medium granny smith apples
1 medium cucumber (peeled if not organic)

Directions:
Juice all ingredients in your juicer and enjoy! My only suggestion is to juice the ginger first, then alternate hard/soft items, and end with the cucumber to push any remnants through the juicer.

Can you tell how bright green this is?? I like drinking juice in a wine glass like Kris Carr...makes me feel special feeling like I'm drinking something healthy.

Nectarine & Goat Cheese Salad

 

Fruit on a salad? Yes, I went there....well, more specifically, SweetGreen went there last month with their June salad of spinach, peaches, goat cheese, almonds, and basil. This salad cost me $7.95+tax in the store, which for DC, is not a bad price.

In my CSA box last week I had nectarines, which are not my favorite fruit to eat. I could tell this week that the fruit was almost ready to throw out (and I hate throwing away food!) so I racked my brain for what I could make. That's when I remembered the awesome salad from SweetGreen and voila! Dinner!

Ingredients (my version):

1 nectarine

5 leafs of romaine lettuce, chopped

handful of sliced almonds

1-2 T goat cheese, crumbled

1 T basil, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Drizzle with your fav dressing (I like a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, salt & pepper) and your done!

So how much does my salad cost? Well, if you take into consideration that I buy a heads of romaine for my green juice,  left over goat cheese from my sandwich, nectarine from my CSA box, and almonds that I just keep in my fridge...then free, right?! Really it is approximately $2 total. 

This salad is perfect for lunch, but it was not really filling enough for dinner. Next time I'm going to toss on some roasted chicken or sauteed shrimp.

Copycat Recipe: Potbelly's Mediterranean Sandwich

 

I am literally OBSESSED with Potbelly's Mediterranean Veggie sandwich - spicy hummus with cool, crisp veggies and creamy feta cheese. My mouth is watering just thinking about it...I especially love the price ($4.50+tax), but I'm really trying to rein in my spending after reading the blog "No More Harvard Debt" (a GREAT read and inspiration to pay off my student loans) so I will be brown bagging it every day from now until my loans are paid off...ok, you caught me, I still budgeted for foodie outings, but hey, I am eating out far less!

Lunches can get boring when you don't go out to buy them...it has to be something psychological because the restaurant salad/sandwich tastes better than the one I brought from home, even if they have the same components. *sigh* That's why I generally bring pasta/quinoa salads to work. They tend to keep me from going out to get something "better". However, I think this sandwich may be my turning point since I really liked how it turned out!

Ingredients:
1 pita pocket
2 T hummus (roasted red pepper or garlic suggested, or the three layer hummus from TJ's!)
1 T Goat Cheese
1 handful packaged lettuce (or 2 romaine leaves chopped)
2 artichoke hearts (canned is the cheapest, then save the rest in Tupperware)
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
1/8 small cucumber, peeled & chopped

Directions:
Fill pita with all of the ingredients and enjoy!

Now, I used pita because that's what I had on hand, but feel free to use any type of bread you like. If you're taking this sandwich to work, I would suggest ringing the water out of the peppers/artichokes with a clean towel before creating the sandwich. Otherwise you will have a soggy mess when you open it up at work a few hours later.

Another suggestion would be to simply keep the jarred ingredients at work, then stack up the sandwich there. This keeps your bread dry and saves you prep time in the morning.

Add the following for variation:
- Deli meat or left over chicken breast
- Chopped olives
- Chopped tomato
- Use olive/pepper tapenade instead of hummus
- Feta instead of goat cheese

Approximate cost of my sandwich - $3. This is taking into consideration the number of sandwiches I can make per can of artichoke hearts (4), and doesn't include the fact that the goat cheese and red peppers will last me far more than just 4 sandwiches and I can use the lettuce/cucumber for other salads. So really, it probably costs me more like $2.

Juicing for Beginners: Green Lemonade

A couple of months ago I watched the documentary "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead", which changed my whole outlook on what I eat. The guy in the film drank only juice for 60 days and completely cured himself of of his auto-immune disease! Now, I'm not advocating that everyone drink only juice and water for the next 2 months; I simply want to be a bit more conscious daily with what I eat. The best way I've found to do that is to drink green juice every morning for breakfast. 

Now, this juice is actually not my usual morning green juice (I will post that later), but my first "beginner" green juice. This juice is extremely refreshing and a great way to get yourself psyched up to try the more "green tasting" juices. First, you'll need to buy a juicer. I bought mine (a Breville) off of Craigslist for under $50, which is a great way to try out juicing. 

Next, the produce:

• 1/2 head of romaine lettuce (approximately 10 leaves)
• 1/2 large cucumber (or one small/medium one)
• 1/2 lemon, with most of the peel cut off and the pith (white part) remaining
• 2 medium apples

This is what I use, but the thing about juicing is that it's all about taste! If you like a bigger lemon taste, juice the whole lemon; if you want it sweeter, add another apple; cucumber bulks the juice up and refreshes the body. I use granny smith apples since they are also green, which makes the juice a bright green color and not brown, which happens when you add in red apples.

To make the juice simply use your juicer to juice all of these ingredients, and enjoy! I actually like to add a little filtered water and ice to this juice so that it is more refreshing and not a strong lemonade.  Still, like I said before, it is completely up to your taste-buds so experiment!