The $25 Food Project: Day 5

I’m attempting to feed my 6-foot, 205-pound fiancé for one week for $25. This is our story.I suddenly understand why Ma fed me PB&J sandwiches from kindergarten clear through junior high. Because Day 5, my friends? Was brought to you by peanut butter. We cleared the 2600 minimum by more than 200 calories, thanks to six tablespoons of Jif Extra Crunchy spread among various dishes. (Er, plus an enormous brunch - picture to the right.) The Husband-Elect loves him some peanut butter, especially on banana bread, so he didn’t mind one bit. He does mind the lack of grazing. “I feel good,” he says, “but I miss the simple pleasures of snacks and random eating.” When we started this, I didn’t realize how often we take food when we want it, as opposed...

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Posted in: Cooking,Frugality

CHG Best of February 2010

Another month, another fabulous round of posts and comments from readers. February is the greatest, and not just because of the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, the Olympics, and Pa’s birthday. It’s the greatest because y’all make it that way. I’m mentally sending warm fuzzies as a thank you gift.FEBURARY RECIPESBaked Loaded Potato SkinsCremini Mushrooms, Roasted Red Peppers, and Feta on Ciabatta BreadGingersnap OatmealKasha with Root Vegetables and DillKetchupOatmeal with Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil, and ScallionsSardine Avocado Open-Face SandwichesSeitan Carolina Barbecue BitesSouthwestern ChickenFEBRUARY ARTICLESThis month, we tackled CHG’s core mission with Food Money Matters: Why Healthy Eating Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive.Then we spread the love with Eat Cheap and Healthy – How to Help Others?Leigh...

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Posted in: Links

The $25 Food Project: Day 4

I’m attempting to feed my 6-foot, 205-pound fiancé for one week for $25. This is our story.We’re more than halfway through our experiment, and things are mostly pretty swell. Admittedly, I’m developing a little agita. The planning and math are fairly intense, and I’m kicking myself for not including protein in my calculations. Maybe I’ll remember next year, when I try to feed the Chicago Bears for eight weeks on 80% of a May 2007 Euro.On the bright side, this is only due to the blog element. I think the non-obsessive layperson would have a much easier time, as you wouldn’t be calculating the price of 3/4 of a pineapple ring. But enough whining! On to today.We don’t really eat lunch on weekends, preferring instead to do a big brunch. Husband-Elect...

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Posted in: Cooking,Frugality

The $25 Food Project: Day 3

I’m attempting to feed my 6-foot, 205-pound fiancé for one week for $25. This is our story.Day 3 is almost over, and Snowmageddon 2010 proved to be excellent for slow cooking a pork shoulder. It ultimately yielded about 26 ounces of meat, meaning we have more than enough leftovers to get us through the week. This is excellent, as is the garlicky fragrance wafting through the apartment. Honestly, I think most people buy crockpots for the free deodorizing.Husband-Elect is feeling “a little peckish, but not weary or whatever.” I see his point. While the $25 project is working well so far, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for grazing. When this is all over, I’m going to sit him in front of the fridge with the door open and let him pick to his heart’s content.Also, there will be beer. MARK MY WORDS,...

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Posted in: Cooking,Frugality

Top 10 Links of the Week: 2/19/10 – 2/25/10

Brooklyn is in the smack middle of Snowpocalypse ’10, and I sound like Kathleen Turner if she swallowed Stevie Nicks. (If someone knows a good sinus extraction method, call me at 1-800-BAD-FACE.) But neither sleet, nor snow, nor the infection of a thousand cranial cavities can stop us from bringing you … the links!1) Serious Eats: Do Drinks and Food Taste Better When They’re More Expensive?Good question! If you pay more for a meal, do you like it better because you need to feel you’re getting your money’s worth? Most SE commenters say no, but a recent wine experiment proves otherwise.2) Huffington Post: The Week of Eating InIn conjunction with Cathy Erway (of Not Eating Out in New York fame), HuffPo is sponsoring a weeklong challenge to eat at home for every single meal. There are a bunch...

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Posted in: Links

The $25 Food Project: Day 2

I’m attempting to feed my 6-foot, 205-pound fiancé for one week for $25. This is our story.Okay. That’s more like it, baby. There’s a loaf of Banana Bread in the oven, and by the time Husband-Elect is done with it, we’ll end the day with some excellent numbers. Despite a sinus issue that’s threatening to take over my soul, Day #2 was a bit easier than Day #1. I think I got it into my head that I’m not cooking for myself, which helps. Also helping: pasta. It's cheap, it's tasty, and if I could, I'd live in a house made of penne. You know how we roll here.With his customary eloquence and panache, Husband-Elect notes, “I feel great. I’m [expletive deleted] excited about it.” I will now bestow on him a noogie of love.But first, today’s info!DAY...

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Posted in: Cooking,Frugality

Veggie Might: Olive Oil - Buying, Storing, and Using it, Demystified

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.As with wine buying, olive oil shopping can be overwhelming if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Until about a year ago, I would buy overpriced olive oil because I thought that’s what real cooks did. I would agonize at the market for hours, staring at the beautiful labels, reading about “cold pressed” and “first cold pressed” and “extra virgin” and “unrefined” and “estate bottled” oils until I didn’t know I still had eyes. Then I started reading cookbooks. Turns out, even the best chefs buy mid-priced oil for everyday cooking, saving the expensive, boutique oils for special occasions. So what do they look for? How can you shop...

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Posted in: Buying Food,Veggie Might

The $25 Food Project: Day 1

It’s Day 1 of the $25 Food Project! I’m excited! Husband-Elect’s excited! This is gonna be a good time! However…Already I’m about $0.40 off. Yikes. This isn’t insurmountable, but I don’t like starting behind the curve. Fun fact: if I was feeding myself (with a 2020 calorie requirement) instead of Husband-Elect, I’d be right on target.So here’s what happened. I made a few major tactical errors right off the bat. Well, it was actually just one mistake made several times, like so: Instead of buying a bag or two of dried beans, I figured I could use canned beans from my stash. (Er ... pantry.) They’re not expensive in the grand scheme of things, but for this experiment, compared to bagged beans, they may as well be caviar.Same thing went for cheese;...

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Posted in: Cooking,Frugality

The $25 Food Project: One Man, Seven Days, 21 Meals

This is the Husband-Elect. (With Han Solo’s head.)Over the next week, every single meal he consumes will come from our kitchen. If all goes well, it will cost under $25, total.He is six-feet-tall, 205 pounds, and in his mid-30s. According to WebMD and a few other sites, he requires around 2600 calories each day. According to the USDA, it’s a little over 3000. I’m going to shoot for somewhere in the middle.I’m doing this for two reasons:I’m used to feeding myself, and it ain’t no thang. But being a stunning, brilliant, muscular dude, Husband-Elect’s needs are very different. Once we have a better idea of what he requires in a given week, it’ll help us eat for the rest of our lives.Writing this blog, I tend to go on all like, “Why don’t people...

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Posted in: Buying Food,Cooking,Frugality,Organization

Ask the Internet: Three Food Choices - a Hypothetical Question

This week, it’s a hypothetical question that came up during a lovely, bacon-soaked Valentine’s brunch. Q: You can only eat three dishes for the rest of your life. They’re dishes, not single foods; this means you can choose bananas, but you can also opt for Spaghetti Bolognese. You must consider proper nutrition. Side dishes are not allowed. Which three do you choose?A: This took both of us (me and Husband-Elect) a surprisingly long time to answer. If we were just choosing our favorite foods, it would have been easy, but the nutritional aspect is such a killer. After much discussion, we finally came up with:Husband-Elect: vegetarian burrito, bean chili, and fruit salad.Me: vegetable stir-fry over rice, chicken fajitas, and Sausage, Apple, and...

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Posted in: Ask the Internet

Southwestern Chicken: a Foil Dinner Recipe

Today on Serious Eats: Banana Nut Oatmeal and French Toast Oatmeal. Both easy, both tasty, both make we want to eat right now. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I camped. A lot. I was a Girl Scout, see. And when I wasn’t pushing Thin Mints on the unsuspecting elderly, I was deep in the woods, playing Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board and doing everything I could to avoid roaming packs of Daddy Longlegs.I was also eating, as freakishly tall 13-year-olds are wont to do. Back then, my troop’s campsite meals were limited to sandwiches and granola bars, along with the occasional S’more-a-thon.However, as we got older, we also got smarter, and began booking a large cabin with a fully functioning kitchen. (Note: I grew up on Long Island....

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Posted in: Mains,Meat and Fish

Top 10 Links of the Week: 2/12/10 – 2/18/10

Before we get to today’s links, the results are in from Tuesday’s Ask the Internet question. We queried: do you include tax when you tip a restaurant server?THE READERS HAVE SPOKEN, and between thread comments and Facebook replies, it came down to a single vote. A single vote! No kidding:Yes, I include tax when I tip: 29 VOTESNo, I don’t include tax when I tip: 30 VOTESHenceforth, you don’t have to include tax! (Unless you want to.) With that dilemma solved forevermore, let’s go to el linkage.1) River Front Times: 20 Unholy Recipes – Dishes So Awful We Had to Make ThemPossibly the post of the millennium: St. Louis bloggers attempted 20 different vintage recipes of varying awfulness, from Vienna Sausage Shortcake to Pickle-Stretcher Salad to Asparagus-Macaroni Loaf. The results are the culinary...

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Posted in: Links

Veggie Might: Kasha with Root Veg and Dill Recipe - Bland vs. Subtle

Written by the fabulous Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about all things Vegetarian. In healthy, vegetarian cooking—in any cooking really—there is a shade of difference between bland and subtle. Conventional wisdom holds that if food is good for you it has to taste like a craft project. Well, I like to keep my craft projects and cooking projects separate, unless Amy Sedaris issues a challenge.That is why I am known to tweak all recipes, especially vegetarian ones, written before 2005. Vegetarian recipes are notoriously bland. I mean, y’all know. We’ve all tried to cook quinoa with spinach, mushrooms, and tofu for unsuspecting carnis, only to have it backfire on occasion. So this week I was trying to get whittle down the abundance...

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Posted in: Mains,Sides,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might

Eat Cheap and Healthy: How to Help Others?

Last week, we posted Food Money Matters: Why Healthy Eating Doesn’t Have to be Expensive, in which we asked readers if you thought eating healthy and frugally was possible. The response was overwhelming, wonderful, and skewed towards “Heck yeah!” While I know CHG readers may be a tad pre-disposed, it's comforting to think we’re not taking crazy pills over here.However, my post was a little short on solutions, and one of the last commenters, GrowingRaw, brought up an excellent question. If y’all are up for it, this week I would love to brainstorm some ideas:What are the best ways to identify and offer help to people who may be interested in improving their eating habits and health? Given other difficult stuff that goes on in people's lives, how reasonable is it to expect their diet to be a...

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Posted in: Buying Food,Frugality,Health

Ask the Internet: How to Tip a Waiter?

This week, I’m asking the internet to settle an argument once and for all.Q: At a restaurant, do you include tax when you calculate the tip for your server?A: My sister (an ex-waitress) and I believe you should include tax. Others whom we love and admire say, "Nuh-unh." What about you, sweet readers? Do you include tax? Why or why not? I’ll tally the votes/opinions and reveal the winner in Friday’s Top 10 post. It should solve this debate forevermore, for the rest of eternity, until the end of time. No one will ever ask the question again.Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide...

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Posted in: Ask the Internet

A Delightful Alton Brown Recipe: Sardine Avocado Open-face Sandwiches (No, Really)

Today on Serious Eats, it’s Mexican Chocolate Cake. Delicious, dairy-free, vegan, less than $2 to make.Okay.I want y’all to hear me out here. This is gonna sound weird. And your first instinct might be to throw your computer across the room, narrowly missing your houseplant or receptionist, depending on whether you’re at home or the office. (Or if you have a home receptionist.)However, this Sardine Avocado Open-faced Sandwich is quite delicious. You still with me? Okay, good.Here’s the story: about a year ago, Good Eats host/food nerd king Alton Brown found himself becoming a little poofy around the edges. So, over the next nine months, he endeavored to drop 50 pounds. During this period, one of his favorite dishes was … you got it: Sardine...

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Posted in: 15 Minutes or Less,Mains,Meat and Fish

Top 10 Links of the Week: 2/5/10 – 2/11/10

First off, thanks to everyone commenting on Wednesday’s post. I’ve rarely read such a thoughtful, well-reasoned discussion on the internet, and it’s wonderful beyond words. (Er, except these words.). Second, on to the links!1) Jezebel: “Let’s Move” - Michelle Obama’s Anti-Obesity Program Looks PromisingPost of the week, man. This breakdown of MObama’s obesity initiative covers much of the same territory Marion Nestle does (see #2), but with the added bonus of hundreds of excellent comments discussing all sides of the issue. Even better, Jez goes on to post an excerpt from a National Review piece by Julie Gunlock, who has absolutely no idea what she’s talking about. It’s opposition for opposition’s sake, and it’s heinous.2) Food Politics: The...

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Posted in: Links

Veggie Might: Make Your Own Ketchup

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.For most people, ketchup and French fries go together like peanut butter and jelly. For me, ketchup and jelly can both take a hike. French fries are better with malt vinegar or mayo, and peanut butter is just fine all by itself. But I also hate bananas and strawberry ice cream, so what do I know?It’s not that I hate ketchup, lest you think me the Andy Rooney of condiments, it’s just I find it bland and not really worth the effort. I’d rather have a little zing or richness with my fried potatoes. I only buy ketchup to make BBQ sauce or my Dad’s BBQ slaw. Last week, I had flames on the sides of my face buying a bottle of bland ConAgra...

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Posted in: Dips and Sauces,Vegan,Vegetarian,Veggie Might