Budget Bytes: September 2012

baked spaghetti with sausage
$9.20 recipe / $1.15 serving

I never really understood the point of baking spaghetti... it just seemed like an extra step that stood between me and eating it. But, there's something about a hot, cheesy casserole straight out of the oven that is extra comforting.

Now that I've baked my spaghetti, I totally get it. Baking it in the oven not only lets the cheese get all gooey, but it lets the spaghetti soak up some flavor from the sauce and get all deeeelicious. It's worth the extra 30 minutes.

I made a quick meat sauce using Italian sausage, which is heavily seasoned and provided all of the herbs and spices that were needed to flavor the sauce. If you want to make a vegetarian version of this (with say, mushrooms and green peppers) be sure to add a good tablespoon or so of Italian seasoning blend to make up for the missing spices in the sausage.

This recipe is perfect for freezing, so pack up half of it and save it for a rainy day when you want something warm and comforting!

Baked Spaghetti with Sausage

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how to: make pumpkin pie spice

The other day I decided to take a look at the "freshness" date on my pumpkin pie spice... Let's just say that it probably hasn't been fresh for quite some time. I swear I just bought that spice yesterday, but that's not really possible unless yesterday was 2010. ANYWAY.

A comment from a reader prompted me to make my own pumpkin pie spice instead of just going to buy another bottle. A number of people have mentioned that pumpkin pie spice is not available in their area, so hopefully now you can just whip some up yourself.

The recipe below makes about a half cup of pumpkin pie spice, which you can keep in a sealed tight container for about a year. Or, if you want to make a smaller quantity, just follow an approximate ratio of 8:2:2:2:1 (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, clove).

Since I usually just assign a fixed estimated cost to spices of 5 cents per teaspoon or 10 cents for more expensive spices, I'm not going to try to calculate the cost here. I would have to weigh out the spices and most of them were purchased quite a while back and the receipts are long gone. So, this is a tutorial rather than a cost break down :)

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

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pumpkin yogurt parfaits
$3.92 recipe / $0.98 each

"Is it pumpkin season yet?"
"Is it pumpkin season yet??"
"Is it pumpkin season yet??!"

That's pretty much what my internal dialog has sounded like for the past two months. And if Pinterest is any indication, the answer is YES!

These yummy little desserts are something that I used to make all the time when I was in college. They're rich, sweet, and taste totally indulgent, but innocent enough to not make a nutrition student feel guilty ;D

Pureed pumpkin is super good for you and I sweetened it up with just a bit of brown sugar (you can experiment with other sweeteners). I spiced it up with pumpkin pie spice to give it that classic fall flavor, and then combined it with some cinnamon graham crackers for a crust-like effect. I added some thick Greek yogurt in the center for even more richness. I used plain flavored because I liked the sour tang against the sweet pumpkin, but you can use vanilla flavored yogurt if that's more your speed.

These desserts are great right when you make them, but I was surprised to find that I liked them even better after they sat in the fridge for a day. The graham crackers absorbed some moisture and got soft, but that somehow made the entire thing even thicker, richer, and more pie like. What a pleasant surprise!

Pumpkin Yogurt Parfaits

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shrimp & rice salad
$8.10 recipe / $1.35 serving

Sometimes I get in the mood for something really light, fresh, and full of vegetables. I definitely felt like that today. It probably has something to do with that pizza I made yesterday that was piled high with all sorts of Italian salamis and pepperonis. Yummm.

...but I digress.

I decided on shrimp because it's lean, light, and fresh. Just what I wanted. I know I'm lucky because I live in Louisiana and shrimp is always super fresh and priced fairly low. If you aren't so lucky, check out your freezer aisle for the best prices. Shrimp thaws quickly under cool running water and I suggest rinsing it anyway, so you can kill both birds with one stone.

I was also lucky because I scored a bunch of red bell peppers 10/$10. You don't have to use red bell peppers, or the exact mix of vegetables that I used. Choose your add-ins based on what is available to you at a good price and what you enjoy. Some other great add-ins for this salad are: peanuts, sliced almonds, cashews, edamame, avocado, cucumber, mango, or mandarine oranges.

Oh, one more thing. I used beans that I had cooked from dry and then froze in place of canned beans. That definitely saved some money and helped make up for the (relatively) high cost of the shrimp.

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hawaiian ham quesadillas
$9.36 recipe / $1.04 each

Quesadillas might be one of my favorite foods. That and pizza. Why? Because you can put just about anything inside and the outer crispy tortilla shell somehow makes everything a million times better.

For this quesadilla I took the classic flavors of a Hawaiian pizza and stuffed into a tortilla for a quick weeknight fix. I added some red pepper flakes because I like things a little spicy, but you could easily leave those out. Other ingredients that would taste yum in this are: red onions (instead of the green), fresh jalapenos (instead of the red pepper flakes), or green peppers.

These little gems are pretty rich and creamy, so I suggest pairing them with something light and full of fiber. This simple black bean salad would be AWESOME with the quesadillas and is pretty fast to whip up.

Enjoy!

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tangy tomato pasta
$3.61 recipe / $0.79 serving

If you're in the need of a super quick and easy side dish, this might be the one for you.

I wanted something really fast and easy tonight so I turned to my pantry. I had some pasta, some tomato paste, and I knew I had some feta in the fridge. Easy. I'll just mix up a batch of my (not) sun dried tomato sauce, toss some pasta in it, crumble on a little feta for extra oomph, and I'll be good to go!

I halved the olive oil from the original (not) sun dried tomato sauce, which helped it stick to the pasta better. If you have some fresh herbs (parsley or basil), add it in for color and a pop of freshness. If you need something a little more hearty, try adding in some sauteed and sliced Italian sausage links. Pair this with some garlic bread and maybe some roasted broccoli and you've got a nice, light dinner!

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chocolate hummus
$2.77 recipe / $0.35 serving

Okay, so this doesn't really have anything in common with hummus aside from the chickpeas, so don't freak out just yet.

This recipe comes courtesy of one of my wonderful readers, Gazel. When she emailed me this recipe for a chocolate flavored dip made with chickpeas, I was immediately intrigued. I'm not a super chocolate freak, but I like the idea of kicking a sweet tooth with something that has tons of fiber! Plus, it's made out of ingredients that I usually have on hand, which makes it super convenient.

I bought some pretzels to dip in my choco-hummus, and that was awesome. But then I tried it with the tart green apple and almost died. SO GOOD. You could also make some cinnamon and sugar tortilla chips and turn this into a sort of chocolate nacho type thing. Yum! So many possibilities.

The amount and type of sugar used here are very flexible. Gazel suggested using honey or agave nectar, while I used plain white sugar to keep the price down. Start with 2 or 3 Tablespoons of sugar and add more if you feel it necessary. I liked it super sweet with a full 1/4 cup - call me indulgent! Have fun with this one because you can make it your own!

chocolate hummus

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roasted vegetable burritos
$14.18 recipe / $1.42 each

So, I broke down last week and bought a burrito from the hospital cafeteria for lunch. It was SO good, but at $5.50 for the least expensive option, I knew I could do better.

I just finished tallying my cost for this recipe and I have to say, I'm sure I could have done much better. To be fair, I didn't do any comparison shopping, I just ran in, got what I needed, and ran out. So, you might be able to make these for far less than I did. I did, however, make my own black beans instead of buying cans. That saved me a dollar or two. Oh, and I lucked out with the red bell peppers - on sale 10/$10! That's a SUPER good price.

I seasoned up some regular old white rice, added my black beans (you can season those too, if you'd like), and then topped those with some amazing roasted vegetables. Roasting vegetables intensifies their flavor, and when you add herbs like I did, they become even more amazing. I suggest using whatever vegetables you can get for a good price (I was a bad example here), but the mushrooms really did make this special. So, get the mushrooms if at all possible!

Now I have 8 awesome burritos in my freezer just waiting to be grabbed for lunch in the morning. The recipe is enough for 10, but I already ate one burrito and I had previously used one of the tortillas for something else. To reaheat just place in a microwavable dish and nuke until hot.

Roasted Vegetable Burrito

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spinach pie
$7.29 recipe / $0.91 serving

Mmmmm... I LOVE spinach pie. Whenever I eat at Greek restaurants, I always make sure to order some spanikopita. I love the flakey crust and the rich, warm, spinach filled interior. Popeye totally knew what was up.

This spinach pie isn't really Greek flavored, but I love it all the same. There are many, many ways to make a spinach pie and this weekend I was most interested in finding the fastest, easiest route to this spinach heaven.

My mom made baklava fairly often when I was growing up and ever since watching her wrestle with those finicky phyllo dough sheets, I've never wanted to go near them. So, for this recipe I chose puff pastry. It's much thicker and way more forgiving than phyllo, but you still get a nice flakey crust. Puff pastry is definitely not inexpensive, but most of the other ingredients in this recipe are, so the overall cost per serving remains low. Puff pastry can be found in the freezer section, usually near frozen fruit and other ready to eat desserts. For this recipe I only used one sheet out of the box. The other sheet can be wrapped tightly and re-frozen for later use.

You can make spinach pies in a square, or as individually folded rectangles, but I like this easy "fold over" pie dish method. No cutting the dough, simply roll it out, fill it, and fold it over top to make the top crust. Super easy.

I stuck to a basic cheese and spinach filling, but this recipe is just asking for a million variations. Add some feta cheese for a Greek flare, green onions or other fresh herbs for a fresher flavor, or you can even try adding something tangy like sun dried tomatoes. Of course, more ingredients mean higher cost, so try to use ingredients that you have laying around waiting to be used up.

Spinach Pie

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spinach tortellini soup
$8.48 recipe / $1.06 serving

Aaaannnd WE'RE BACK! Yesss! I have electricity again! :D Life is good.

For my first recipe after over a week of hiatus, I wanted to start with something super fast and easy. I had to replace everything in my refrigerator and freezer, so I wanted to make something that didn't require a lot of ingredients and that I could use to stock up my freezer. This soup was perfect.

My grocery store has cheese tortellini in three areas: dry pasta goods, the freezer aisle, and near the dairy with other fresh pastas. I checked all three places and the frozen cheese tortellini was by far the most inexpensive. You will probably want to do some price comparing on your own.

I'll admit, this soup is not super heavy on the tortellini. Because it's the most expensive ingredient, I went light with it. Each bowl (2 cups of soup) had about 5 or 6 tortellini in it. If you want to beef this soup up on the cheap, try adding a cup of plain pasta (uncooked). I would go with something small, like orzo or those tiny, short tubes.

Instead of adding extra pasta, I served mine with some crusty french bread to sop up the rest of the rich tomatoey sauce. I also tried a little parmesan sprinkled on top and that was fantastic!

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captain's log: day 5

I'm still in the red.

While this map of the electrical outages looks 100% better than it did even just yesterday, I'm still waiting. I've been through this before (Hurricane Gustav, 2008, no power 8 days), so I know I can make it. It's just a matter of sweating it out... I mean waiting it out.

On Thursday I had to face the truth and admit that everything in my refrigerator and freezer would be lost. All of my homemade chicken broth, almost an entire batch of slow cooker marinara, some slow cooker black beans, and single serving portions of taco chicken bowls and taco stuffed shells all went in the garbage. But hey, the refrigerator needed a good head to toe cleaning anyway. It's important to keep a positive perspective in these situations.

I'd love to post some "no power" recipes, but honestly, I can't even be inside of my apartment without sweat rolling down my back. So, no work will be done until I'm electrified again. Plus, I really don't even want food right now. All I crave is a huge 64 ounce Big Gulp full of icy cold liquid - It's HOT y'all!

I'll continue to try to answer your questions and emails when I can, but my access to wi-fi is somewhat limited.

All in all, this storm has really been nothing more than an inconvenience for me. I've actually got it really, really good and I'm grateful for that. My thoughts go out to those who have had significant damage and hardship because of it.

People may ask why we choose to live in the path of such potential danger. It's the same reason people choose to live in Venice, Italy when it is literally sinking straight into the ocean. The culture, history, and lifestyle that are unique to New Orleans cannot be experienced anywhere else on the planet. It's a fantastic place to live and I'll gladly endure an adventuresome week without power every now and then to live in a place that is so wonderful the rest of the time. :)

If you have any movie (available in Redbox) or book suggestions to help keep me busy, please share! Hopefully we'll be back in business soon!

XOXO
Beth

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