Thursday, June 30, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Hey, Mikey!
I've been reading everything I can get my hands on regarding healthy food, how our modern lifestyle is detrimental to our health, disastrous farming practices, the vile garbage we call fast food, etc.
Whoever said "Knowledge is power" didn't like Whoppers.
Because I now refuse to take my kids to McDonalds, much to their chagrin, I've been trying to make acceptable (to them) substitutions for "kid foods" at home. Thus today's idea.
Yummy Veggie Nuggets
I usually slice my eggplant and end up with those end pieces that I don't even know what to do with. Today, I cut those end pieces up in little nugget-sized chunks. Egg wash, salt, bread crumbs, pan fried, and a side of ketchup. My 4 year old ate a plateful before thinking to ask what they were.
Since I used leftover bits of eggplant, I'm guessing about 10 - 20 cents a plate of these nuggets.
Whoever said "Knowledge is power" didn't like Whoppers.
Because I now refuse to take my kids to McDonalds, much to their chagrin, I've been trying to make acceptable (to them) substitutions for "kid foods" at home. Thus today's idea.
Yummy Veggie Nuggets
I usually slice my eggplant and end up with those end pieces that I don't even know what to do with. Today, I cut those end pieces up in little nugget-sized chunks. Egg wash, salt, bread crumbs, pan fried, and a side of ketchup. My 4 year old ate a plateful before thinking to ask what they were.
Since I used leftover bits of eggplant, I'm guessing about 10 - 20 cents a plate of these nuggets.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Help, Please!
Friends, I have a bucketload of refried pinto beans. Literally, a bucketload. We all know they are inexpensive and easy to prepare and tasty, but I'm seriously thinking if I see another bean burrito I might throw it out the window.I know there are recipes out there that use beans, other than the obvious Mexi-style ideas. We've done all those.
Will you help me? How should I use my (bigger-than-my-head) tupperware full of beans? Keep in mind they were prepared with garlic and bay, so only savory recipes, please!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Polenta
I don't know why Polenta has escaped my sight for a flatbroke favorite. Polenta is corn meal that has been boiled until it's a creamy, yummy foundation for any meal.
I like to cook my polenta in reduced fat broth for a lighter version or in milk and cheese for a heavier (non-diet friendly) creamier version.
Today, I made 1/4 cup of polenta in 1 cup of broth. Then I topped it with sauteed onions and squash with basil, deglazing the pan with vinegar. It was so comforting, and the whole dish cost less than $1, and I could only eat about half.
Another favorite way to make polenta is with spaghetti sauce instead of pasta.
My FAVORITE way to eat polenta (also the one I never ever do anymore because of the calories) is to wrap it around a piece of mozzarella cheese and deep fat fry it until it turns a light golden brown. Then dip it in marinara. It's spectacular.
I like to cook my polenta in reduced fat broth for a lighter version or in milk and cheese for a heavier (non-diet friendly) creamier version.
Today, I made 1/4 cup of polenta in 1 cup of broth. Then I topped it with sauteed onions and squash with basil, deglazing the pan with vinegar. It was so comforting, and the whole dish cost less than $1, and I could only eat about half.
Another favorite way to make polenta is with spaghetti sauce instead of pasta.
My FAVORITE way to eat polenta (also the one I never ever do anymore because of the calories) is to wrap it around a piece of mozzarella cheese and deep fat fry it until it turns a light golden brown. Then dip it in marinara. It's spectacular.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Flat-Gross Food
These are the ingredients in McDonald's chicken nuggets.
Sure, they're inexpensive now, but how much will they cost in the future?
Sure, they're inexpensive now, but how much will they cost in the future?
- Chicken Breast, Water, Corn Starch Modified, Salt, Flavor(s) Chicken (,, Yeast Extract, Wheat Starch, Flavoring Natural, Safflower Oil, Dextrose, Citric Acid, Rosemary ),, Sodium Phosphate, Seasoning (,, Rosemary Extract, Canola Oil and/or,, Soybean(s) Oil, Mono and Diglycerides, Lecithin ),, Breading (,, Wheat Enriched Bleached Flour (,, Flour, Niacin, Iron Reduced, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid (Vitamin aB) ),, Corn Flour Yellow, Wheat Flour Bleached, Leavening (,, Baking Soda, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Calcium Lactate ),, Spice(s), Whey, Corn Starch ),, Breading ( set in Vegetable(s) Oil), Vegetable(s) Oil Partially Hydrogenated (,, Soybean(s) Oil Partially Hydrogenated and/or,, Corn Oil Partially Hydrogenated and/or,, Canola Oil Partially Hydrogenated and/or,, Cottonseed Oil and/or,, Sunflower Oil and/or,, Corn Oil ),, TBHQ To Preserve Freshness,, Dimethylpolysiloxane An Anti-foaming Agent.
Um, gross. An anti-foaming agent?
Monday, May 16, 2011
Homemade Pitas!
I have been wanting a good pita recipe for a while. This is the recipe I'll be making today, to eat a yummy pita and hummus snack this afternoon. It looks delish and totally doable. The pita price came out to $0.78 for 8 pitas. Also, this blog I'm linking you to is pretty sweet.
Also, a flatbroke tip from me: Costco sells individual serving sizes of hummus. If you eat prepackaged food in serving size containers, you'll eat less of it (at least I will, especially hummus) and therefore spend less dinero.
Enjoy!
Also, a flatbroke tip from me: Costco sells individual serving sizes of hummus. If you eat prepackaged food in serving size containers, you'll eat less of it (at least I will, especially hummus) and therefore spend less dinero.
Enjoy!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
No Wheat? No Prob!
I'm not Catholic, but I do my own version of Lent every year. I think it's a good tradition, and it does our body and spirit good to have a little more self control, IMO.
This year, I decided to give up something I love very much but I know doesn't love me: WHEAT.
I was told by an Iridologist who looked like Dr Ruth's older sister that I have a slight wheat allergy. I know, she's not a doctor, but the eyes don't lie.
Anyway, the less wheat I eat, the better I feel, and that's the truth. That's also what led me to give up wheat for this year's sacrifice.
Many of my favorite foods are made of wheat: bread, pasta, pizza crust, pasta, and pasta. Oh, and pasta. I thought that this would mean a really difficult withdrawal phase for me. Thankfully, that isn't the case. I've found excellent, low cost meals that are not shy on flavor. For example:
This is a 4 oz salmon fillet ($0.75), pan fried with a little Pam, a screaming hot pan, and cooked skin side down. It's seasoned with dill and kosher salt, then covered with the heat lowered. I served it over half a cup of rice and next to some steamed broccoli and asparagus (bought on sale) cooked over the rice. Everything got drizzled with lemon juice and Parmesan cheese, and cost easily less than $1.75 for the whole meal.
Was it delicious? YES.
Did I miss wheat? NO.
I'm open to no-wheat recipes, if you'd like to share your favorites. And by "I'm open" I mean, please share.
This year, I decided to give up something I love very much but I know doesn't love me: WHEAT.
I was told by an Iridologist who looked like Dr Ruth's older sister that I have a slight wheat allergy. I know, she's not a doctor, but the eyes don't lie.
Anyway, the less wheat I eat, the better I feel, and that's the truth. That's also what led me to give up wheat for this year's sacrifice.
Many of my favorite foods are made of wheat: bread, pasta, pizza crust, pasta, and pasta. Oh, and pasta. I thought that this would mean a really difficult withdrawal phase for me. Thankfully, that isn't the case. I've found excellent, low cost meals that are not shy on flavor. For example:
This is a 4 oz salmon fillet ($0.75), pan fried with a little Pam, a screaming hot pan, and cooked skin side down. It's seasoned with dill and kosher salt, then covered with the heat lowered. I served it over half a cup of rice and next to some steamed broccoli and asparagus (bought on sale) cooked over the rice. Everything got drizzled with lemon juice and Parmesan cheese, and cost easily less than $1.75 for the whole meal.
Was it delicious? YES.
Did I miss wheat? NO.
I'm open to no-wheat recipes, if you'd like to share your favorites. And by "I'm open" I mean, please share.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Yummy Bread and a Guest Blogger
What? Baking on FlatBroke? No worries, folks. It's not from me but from an handsome man who happens to be my brother.
Here's the best part. For both loaves of bread, Paul estimates that it costs less than 50 cents. Legen (wait for it) dary.
Knock 'em dead, bro.
-------
Last night I was craving bread. Not your standard out-of-the bag type of bread but something with some substance to it. I looked around for recipes of bread that would satisfy my cravings but they all seemed so complicated and time-consuming. I really wanted a crunchy baguette with some cheese but that would take much more time than I was willing to invest, after all, it was 10:30 p.m. I considered going to the store to buy some but I didn’t want to change out of my pajamas. So I did what most sensible foodies would do and Googled “easy bread recipe.” I found one and promptly set to work, encouraged by some of my insomniac Facebook friends.
I took out a large mixing bowl out of the cupboard and put in 2/3 cup of sugar. (Yes, that’s a lot of sugar but isn’t bread mostly carbohydrates anyway?) I added 2 cups of really hot tap water and mixed them until the sugar melted. I then added 1 ½ tablespoons of active dry yeast and let it sit for 20 minutes. This is a crucial step, don’t be impatient, let the yeast do its thing. When the yeast looked puffy and full of air pockets (think Manuel Noriega’s skin complexion) then you are ready to go.
Mix in 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, ¼ cup of oil and mix until salt is dissolved. I used my trusty whisk again. It is such a fun kitchen tool. You should have a latte-colored mixture by now that smells like, well… yeast. Begin adding flour a cup at a time. I used the whisk to mix in the first 3 cups; it was handy and you know how much I like it. After that you have to switch to a wooden spoon. (Boo, but the whisk can only take you so far in life.) Keep adding 3 more cups of flour for a total of 6 cups. Mix with the spoon until you can’t mix anymore, then comes the stress-relieving part: roll up your sleeves and stick your hands in the warm dough.
Begin kneading and with every fold of dough think of something stressful that happened to you that day. It’s amazing how good it feels to put your weight behind each knead and squeeze your problems away. When you run out of stressful things to think then your dough, and your mind, are ready to rest. Put a spoonful of oil in a bowl and let your dough ball roll around in it so it gets all oily. Then take a clean kitchen rag and get it wet, stick it in the microwave for one minute and carefully pull it out (it will be hot, duh) and place it on top of the bowl. This will give the dough ball a warm steam bath. Take out a second towel and do it to your face, if you want, just don’t burn yourself or you will ruin the whole experience. Do that every five minutes. I also put a pot of water to boil to humidify the air, after all, I do live in the second driest state in the Union.
Now comes the relaxing part, make a cup of your favorite herbal tea and go back to Facebook to chat with your friends. When a half hour has passed, or in Facebook time 2 chats about nothing, then check on your dough. It should be nice ans fat by now, kind of like most of our bellies. Take it out of the bowl and place it on the counter, pretend the dough IS your belly and flatten it. Admit it, you do that when you look at yourself in the mirror, you suck it in and pretend you have the same body you had when you were 16. Divide the dough into two balls and shape them like a loaf of bread. Spray two bread pans and put the dough in them.
Repeat the warm towel and steam treatment, at least for the dough, your face is optional. The dough will do what our bellies do when we’re sitting down, expand again. When it is about that much over the edge of the pans (I’m holding my fingers and showing you) then preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When the oven is hot then carefully put the bread inside. Set your timer for 30 minutes and go back to Facebook. The smell of baking bread will soon begin to tease you, begin thinking of ways to enjoy your bread. Tease your Facebook friends by describing the smell in the air. When the timer beeps, take the bread out and put it on a cooling rack. Don’t cut into it for at least 10 minutes, don’t worry, it will still be warm.
The texture of the bread is a little more dense than most breads and the extra sugar makes it sweeter but not sweet enough to call it a sweet bread. Enjoy your bread with a third cup of tea. When you are finished, go to bed and dream of how tasty it will be when you wake up 4 hours later and enjoy the bread again for breakfast. Give it a shot, you’ll like it.
R. Paul Pickett
Here's the best part. For both loaves of bread, Paul estimates that it costs less than 50 cents. Legen (wait for it) dary.
Knock 'em dead, bro.
-------
Last night I was craving bread. Not your standard out-of-the bag type of bread but something with some substance to it. I looked around for recipes of bread that would satisfy my cravings but they all seemed so complicated and time-consuming. I really wanted a crunchy baguette with some cheese but that would take much more time than I was willing to invest, after all, it was 10:30 p.m. I considered going to the store to buy some but I didn’t want to change out of my pajamas. So I did what most sensible foodies would do and Googled “easy bread recipe.” I found one and promptly set to work, encouraged by some of my insomniac Facebook friends.
I took out a large mixing bowl out of the cupboard and put in 2/3 cup of sugar. (Yes, that’s a lot of sugar but isn’t bread mostly carbohydrates anyway?) I added 2 cups of really hot tap water and mixed them until the sugar melted. I then added 1 ½ tablespoons of active dry yeast and let it sit for 20 minutes. This is a crucial step, don’t be impatient, let the yeast do its thing. When the yeast looked puffy and full of air pockets (think Manuel Noriega’s skin complexion) then you are ready to go.
Mix in 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, ¼ cup of oil and mix until salt is dissolved. I used my trusty whisk again. It is such a fun kitchen tool. You should have a latte-colored mixture by now that smells like, well… yeast. Begin adding flour a cup at a time. I used the whisk to mix in the first 3 cups; it was handy and you know how much I like it. After that you have to switch to a wooden spoon. (Boo, but the whisk can only take you so far in life.) Keep adding 3 more cups of flour for a total of 6 cups. Mix with the spoon until you can’t mix anymore, then comes the stress-relieving part: roll up your sleeves and stick your hands in the warm dough.
Begin kneading and with every fold of dough think of something stressful that happened to you that day. It’s amazing how good it feels to put your weight behind each knead and squeeze your problems away. When you run out of stressful things to think then your dough, and your mind, are ready to rest. Put a spoonful of oil in a bowl and let your dough ball roll around in it so it gets all oily. Then take a clean kitchen rag and get it wet, stick it in the microwave for one minute and carefully pull it out (it will be hot, duh) and place it on top of the bowl. This will give the dough ball a warm steam bath. Take out a second towel and do it to your face, if you want, just don’t burn yourself or you will ruin the whole experience. Do that every five minutes. I also put a pot of water to boil to humidify the air, after all, I do live in the second driest state in the Union.Now comes the relaxing part, make a cup of your favorite herbal tea and go back to Facebook to chat with your friends. When a half hour has passed, or in Facebook time 2 chats about nothing, then check on your dough. It should be nice ans fat by now, kind of like most of our bellies. Take it out of the bowl and place it on the counter, pretend the dough IS your belly and flatten it. Admit it, you do that when you look at yourself in the mirror, you suck it in and pretend you have the same body you had when you were 16. Divide the dough into two balls and shape them like a loaf of bread. Spray two bread pans and put the dough in them.
Repeat the warm towel and steam treatment, at least for the dough, your face is optional. The dough will do what our bellies do when we’re sitting down, expand again. When it is about that much over the edge of the pans (I’m holding my fingers and showing you) then preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When the oven is hot then carefully put the bread inside. Set your timer for 30 minutes and go back to Facebook. The smell of baking bread will soon begin to tease you, begin thinking of ways to enjoy your bread. Tease your Facebook friends by describing the smell in the air. When the timer beeps, take the bread out and put it on a cooling rack. Don’t cut into it for at least 10 minutes, don’t worry, it will still be warm.
The texture of the bread is a little more dense than most breads and the extra sugar makes it sweeter but not sweet enough to call it a sweet bread. Enjoy your bread with a third cup of tea. When you are finished, go to bed and dream of how tasty it will be when you wake up 4 hours later and enjoy the bread again for breakfast. Give it a shot, you’ll like it.
R. Paul Pickett
Monday, January 24, 2011
Drinkable Salad
I hopped on the green-smoothie bandwagon.
Recently, I read an article in TIME magazine that suggested adults need 8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day instead of the recommended 5. I love my veggies, but it's tough to get even 5 servings in, let alone 8! What to do, what to do.
A friend suggested a green smoothie, which thing I had mocked before.
Today I made my first one like this:
2 cups spinach
1 cup peaches
1 banana
1/2 cup fat free yogurt
tiny bit of water
2 tsp splenda
It sounds gross and looks like guacamole, but the taste isn't bad. And 4 whole servings of F&V.
Anyone out there try green smoothies? What's your favorite thing to sneak in there?
Recently, I read an article in TIME magazine that suggested adults need 8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day instead of the recommended 5. I love my veggies, but it's tough to get even 5 servings in, let alone 8! What to do, what to do.
A friend suggested a green smoothie, which thing I had mocked before.
Today I made my first one like this:
2 cups spinach
1 cup peaches
1 banana
1/2 cup fat free yogurt
tiny bit of water
2 tsp splenda
It sounds gross and looks like guacamole, but the taste isn't bad. And 4 whole servings of F&V.
Anyone out there try green smoothies? What's your favorite thing to sneak in there?
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