On Hiatus

Well, I put a call out for comments/emails and gave it a full week. I got a couple, but nowhere near as many as I'd hoped. But there was still some interest, and I'm not quite ready to give up on this little project just yet. Here's the compromise I've reached with myself.

I'm going on hiatus at least until the school year is over. After that, I hope to have more time to devote to daily blogging, as well as a renewed attitude and fresh food/dinner ideas. I'll email all my "followers" and everyone who has emailed me when I'm back to blogging.

Peace.

~GSO Foodie

Continuing the Foodie Blog?

It's been a busy week around here and every time I've thought to myself that I needed to update the blog, I was in the middle of something else (or away from home entirely). It's been almost a year since I started this thing, as a refuge to get away from the idjits on the public board where it started. I got a lot of good feedback in the beginning, but over the past few months, none.

I'm left wondering if anyone is even still reading and enjoying. So now is your time to speak up if you are. Send me a comment or email to let me know it's worthwhile to continue. Otherwise I think I'm going to have to cross this off as something I don't have time for.

Thursday Dinner

Salmon with Lemon-Cilantro Vinaigrette and Couscous

This is the second time I've made this recipe, which comes from Real Simple magazine. It's light and tangy and a perfect warm-weather dish. This isn't a new photo, it's the one I took the first night I made it. I wasn't fond of edamame for a side dish that night, so tonight I made sauteed spinach and it was a much better accompaniment. I just heated 1 T. olive oil in a large nonstick skillet, and sauteed 1 tsp. minced garlic over medium-high heat. I added in a 10 oz bag of spinach leaves (de-stemmed), and sauteed just until wilted. I seasoned with salt, pepper and a splash of lemon juice and served immediately.

Totals:

$3 - salmon (from Aldi - 4 fillets for $3.99)
$2 - fresh spinach
$1 - 1/2 box couscous
.50 - ingredients for lemon sauce

$6.50 for dinner for 3

Tuesday & Wednesday Dinners

Tuesday night The Kid had a function, so the two of us had grilled chicken breasts (Perdue Perfect Portions, bought on meat markdown), and cleaned out the fridge of leftover veggies/sides. Cost, about $1.50 for the chicken.

Wednesday I served those Hatfield individually-portioned boneless pork chops that I blogged about last week. I marinated them in Lawry's Signature Steakhouse marinade, then grilled them on the George Foreman. The verdict - tasty, but very large (these were the "London Broil" cut), and a little dry since I overcooked them a bit. On the side we had onion roasted potatoes because I had a large bag of them about to go bad - and also because we love these potatoes. The recipe is on the side of Lipton onion soup mix and is one of the best "convenience foods" recipes ever, in my opinion. For a green veggie we had a Harris Teeter pre-packaged salad kit (also bought on markdown) that consisted of baby spinach, white balsamic-raspberry vinaigrette dressing, honey-roasted almonds and golden raisins. I added a little crumbled gorgonzola on my own because it seemed like a good pairing. The salad was especially good, although it came with way too much dressing - the spinach would have drowned had I used it all. So I poured the rest of it into a little plastic container to save for a future salad.

Wednesday Totals:

$2.40 - pork chops (3 out of 5 purchased for $3.99)
$2.29 - salad kit
.20 - onion soup mix (sale + triple coupons)
.80 - potatoes

$5.69 for dinner for 3

Monday Dinner

Pork Chops Paprikash

I didn't take a new photo for tonight's dinner - the above pic is one I took the last time I made this dish. As I mentioned in that original blog entry, this recipe is one my mom used to make when I was growing up. I stumbled across it this winter and made a few changes for the sake of taste and convenience. In a nutshell, I brown a large sliced onion, then add boneless chops to the pan to brown. I remove the chops, deglaze with chicken stock, and stir in a little flour until thickened. When the onions are completely tender I stir in sour cream, dried dill, paprika, and caraway seed, then add the chops back. As you can see, I like to serve this over rice (although noodles are good, too).

Tonight's side dish was a little experiment. I usually braise red cabbage in apple juice for a sweet-sour taste, but the only juice I had on hand was a Cranberry-Pomegranate blend. I tried that instead and it was absolutely delicious.

Totals:

$2.12 - pork chops (meat markdown)
.20 - onion
free - sour cream
.20 - rice
.75 - red cabbage

$3.07 for dinner for 4

Weekend Dinners

We were out of town visiting friends for the weekend, but got back Sunday afternoon. I didn't have time to thaw anything, and wasn't up for anything complicated anyway, so pasta fit the bill.

Harris Teeter had Barilla bagged tortellini on an eVic special back in February or March. It's not a product I normally buy, but it seemed like a good price to try it. I boiled up a bag of according to package directions, tossed in 1/2 a jar of Barilla Fire-Roasted Tomato sauce that's been in the fridge for awhile, and heated up some frozen sliced garlic bread. I've never tried dried tortellini before but I have to say I was impressed - the taste and texture was very good and the whole family (sister included) loved it. (The Kid isn't fond of red sauce, but instead drizzled on olive oil and topped the pasta with plenty of cracked pepper and grated parmesan.)

Totals:

$3 - tortellini
free - leftover sauce
.80 - frozen garlic bread

$3.80 for dinner for 4

Thursday Dinner

Gnocchi with Ham, Mushrooms, Peas & Parmesan

One of my favorite dishes to make with leftover ham, so we usually get to have it at least once after Christmas and Easter (we've just about used up the last of the Easter ham now, but I'm proud of how far I stretched it). I sauteed 8 oz. sliced mushrooms in a little butter with garlic salt & pepper, then added about 1 cup diced ham. I boiled the gnocchi in salted water until done (according to package directions) and tossed them into the pan with mushrooms and ham. I added 1/2 a package frozen green peas, lots of cracked black pepper, and a good sprinkle of grated parmesan. (I covered for a few minutes to let the peas thaw.)

Totals>

$1.99 - gnocchi (from Trader Joe's)
$1.50 - mushrooms (from Aldi)
.50 - 1/2 package peas
free - ham
.25 - parmesan

$4.25 for dinner for 4, with leftover for 1 lunch serving