Feb Challenge

I saw a chocolate souffle recipe on New York Times the other day, and
it requires no more than 3 major ingredients - eggs, semi-sweet
chocolate, and sugar, I decided to make by using our office toaster
oven.

 The steps for making this chocolate souffle are straight forward; the
key to make successful souffle is to whip egg whites until stiff in
order to support the rest of the ingredients during baking. To whip
egg whites, the beaters have to be spotless clean; even a tiny drop of
yolk or other types of liquid can affect the outcome of the egg white
foam. After combining the ingredients together, I baked the 1-cup size
ramekins for 17 minutes and 2-cup size ramekin for 20 minutes. To my
own surprise, the toaster oven did its job and our souffles tasted
wonderful, like a chocolate molten cake, but without overwhelmingly
sweet!

 Although I am working with only 100 dollars this month, I didn't
hesitate to buy organic eggs. I believe that if I don't overeat and
choose ingredients carefully, then I can still enjoy great food with
quality ingredients.

 Total estimated cost: $1.30 (I already had the chocolate and sugar)

           

Click here to download:

Day_7_Snack_Office_Splurge_-_C.zip (11562 KB)

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I grew up eating a lot of Chinese cold noodles. Chinese cold noodles
are cheap to make and perfect for a mid-day quick bite. The basic
ingredients are thinly sliced carrots and cucumbers. I also added
celery for the extra crunchiness. The flavors of the dish come from
Chinese tahini sauce and toasted sesame oil. I added soy sauce, rice
wine vinegar, honey, and salt to tahini sauce, and shook to combine. I
stirred in sesame oil with the noodles after they are cooked and
chilled them overnight (this step is optional, noodles can be served
in room temperature). To add some heat to the dish, I squeezed some
sriracha hot sauce to combine.
 
Total estimated cost: $0.75

   

Click here to download:

Day_7_Lunch_Chinese_Sesame_Col.zip (3581 KB)

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Ran out of ground coffee the other day. Went and got this bag on sale for $5.99. My total left is now 71.83.

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It was good. Had it with rice. Finished off the gizzards.

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Groceries:

Celery $1.79
Smoked pork shoulder $2.08
Dried split peas $1.29
Murray's chicken legs $2.86
Murray's chicken thighs $2.43
Dried small red beans $1.59
Jiffy yellow cake mix $0.75
Dried lentils $1.49
2 cans of tuna $2.50
1 qt. of milk $1.19

Total: $17.97
Money left over: $51.68

With three weeks left, almost half of my budget is gone.  I'm sort of freaking out, but here's my game plan:

- Grilled cheese sandwiches with roasted red pepper/tomato soup (this is my favorite quick and easy standby)
- Chicken noodle soup
- Split pea soup with smoked pork shoulder
- Lentil soup with smoked pork shoulder
- Chili (vegetarian if need be, but maybe Pete can buy the beef)

Hopefully this will get Peter and me through 2 more weeks!

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Day 6--Groceries:

2 loaves of Arnold multigrain bread: $3.99 (buy one get one free)
1 egg bun: $0.40
Pacific roasted red pepper tomato soup: $3.99
Yuengling 22 oz.: $1.59
Bottle deposit: $0.05
Navel oranges: 4/$1.00
American cheese: $1.43
1 red bell pepper: $0.56

Total: $13.14

I also splurged on a mini-lunch at Starbucks on Friday ($3.52) and fruit snacks ($0.85) on Thursday.

For dinner, I made veggie burgers and french fries.  I wanted beef burgers, but it was cheaper to make the veggie version (plus, they're tasty).  The low cost of the veggie burgers (about $2.10 for four patties) left room for a Yuengling with dinner.

   

Click here to download:

Day_6_Groceries_and_Veggie_Bur.zip (387 KB)

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Bread pudding is one of my favorite comfort foods, and it can be made
with practically anything that is in "bread form", such as old
muffins, any stale bread, even leftover cakes if you wish.
 
I previously failed to make muffins and I have tons of broken muffin
pieces saved for making bread pudding. If we break down the components
of bread pudding, it basically is constructed with egg custard and
bread. Simple egg custard can be made with equal parts of milk and
cream, and beaten eggs. For 1 serving of bread pudding, I used 1/4 cup
of both milk and cream and 1 whole egg (I am not that scientific about
the quantity when I am only baking for myself). I heated the milk and
cream until "soft boil" and added a beaten egg to the mixture first
(be sure to temper the egg). Second, I stuffed a ramekin with broken
pieces of muffins, dried fruits, and pistachios. Finally, I pour the
egg mixture over the muffins crumbs and let it sit for 3 minutes
before baking the dish in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
 
What else do you suggest me to make to get rid of the rest of the
muffin crumbs (I have about 8 muffins worth of crumbs left)?

         

Click here to download:

Day_7_Breakfast_Muffin_Bread_P.zip (9278 KB)

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Made a rice dish using chicken gizzards. I love gizzards, so this was fun stuff. I bought:
 
Gizzards 2.05
Krasdale chicken broth 0.75
Plum tomato 0.45
2 oranges 0.50
 
Spent a total of 3.75. I now have 77.82.
 
Chicken gizzard with rice was made using: garlic, onions, tomato, carrot, rice, cumin, cayenne pepper powder, salt, gizzard, and chicken broth. Deeeeeelish!

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I spent all morning cooking brown rice on my stove (50 min) and then making fried rice out of it. Being the first time I've made fried rice, I vastly overestimated the vegetable & egg to rice ratio and ended up only using half of the vegetables that i chopped. I guess that'll make tomorrow easier...

   

Click here to download:

Day_6_-_Fried_Rice.zip (718 KB)

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I wanted to test out using frozen (and already blanched) zucchini to
make muffins last night. However, I neither had enough milk nor yogurt
to make the right concoction, and I used buttermilk instead. I knew I
was heading in the wrong direction, not because of using buttermilk,
because I didn't know how much buttermilk should be added as the
substitute in muffin formula. I greatly reduced the amount of dairy
used in the formula; I only used 1/3 cup of buttermilk to compensate
the 1 cup of yogurt listed in the recipe (bad idea...I know).
Well...as you could have guessed, the muffins never rose and the dough
sort of crawled all over the place on the muffin tins. Although the
final product didn't look like muffins, they still had the texture of
quick bread. I will be using these unsuccessful muffins for bread
pudding...you think that's a good idea? What would have you done with
bad muffins?
 
Ohhh...back to my breakfast. Of all the muffins I baked, I managed to
get one out of the tin without destroying it totally. I poured some
warm milk onto it and sprinkled some chocolate dusting and created a
"muffin float".

     

Click here to download:

Day_6_Breakfast_Broken_Muffin_.zip (5116 KB)

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