Lana L'Épicurien

A Week in Cell Phone Food Pictures #3

2010-04-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

In an effort to eat healthier I have a serving of vegetables topped with low fat cheese and a sunny side up egg for breakfast. Usually it's accompanied by a cup of espresso from our new cappuccino maker.

My husband's mom stopped in at Los Olivos to buy these ginormous strawberries from the local farm. They were huge, delicious and juicy. I am ruined for all other strawberries. Half a flat eaten in less than a week.

Dolphin Bay in Artesia is a Taiwanese cafe that serves food and boba type drinks. This is the spicy popcorn chicken over pork topped rice. The veggies were delicious and the other side is a steamed egg that is so popular in Chinese cuisine.

This is my other favorite breakfast that is a cinch to whip up. It's a portabella mushroom seared on both sides, low fat swiss and an egg over easy with a bunch of grapes. Yum.

Original Thai BBQ is one of the best values in Thai food in the neighborhood. Above is the Beef Panang which is all high quality beef and sauce unlike the typical Thai place that uses more potato in the dish.

My favorite aspect of Thai food are these fat rice noodles. Heck, they're my favorite in Chinese food too. these are the Drunken Noodles which I assume is drunk because of the Rice Wine.

Tom Yum Soup is yummy as always!

A local Asian Seafood Buffet, aptly named... wait for it... Asian Buffet serves sea snails, fresh oysters, shrimp cocktail, fresh alaskan crab legs. Really and amazing seafood value!

A Week in Cell Phone Food Pictures #2

2010-03-25T11:05:00.001-07:00

99 Ranch makes these lunches to go for about $5. This was roasted duck with rice and baby bok choy. Actually, is was all the vegetables in the dish, a third of the rice and a fourth of the duck. My brother ate the rest.

This was my dinner the other night when I was fending for myself. Mixed greens, sauteed shrimp, softened tomatoes and blue cheese sprinkled on top. Delicious and so flavorful no dressing was necessary. Plus it literally took me 10 minutes to prepare. WIN!
Sorry for the awful background. We're renovating our house right now so I have little light and no furniture in the dining room.

Previously mentioned Love Letter is definitely DH's comfort food. Here is the Spicy Garlic Chicken which is deep fried and then coated in a sugary hot sauce. So bad for your body but so good on the palate. That is pickled radish in the background, you know the stuff you find at Korean restaurants that's delicious with salt and pepper? Word.

For my friend's birthday we took her to Larchmont Grill in Los Angeles. It was delicious. This was the apple tart that had a thin crust and very fresh baked apples. This is not the kind of apple dessert you want for people who love pie crusts though. Beware.

Larchmont Grill is a Hancock Park bungalow renovated into a 2 story restaurant. The decor, location and architecture results in an ambiance that is usually only found in someone's well appointed home. We were seated next to the fire place and I loved the hearth. I will probably steal this very nice idea.

My friend had the petite filet which she said was amazingly delicious. I think it came with roasted mashed potatoes and crimini mushrooms or something like that. That little dish of oil and green on the side. That's the topping for the artisan bread they bring out. It's herbal crack. Supposedly it has 30 different ingredients. Maybe crack is one of them.

DH had the Lobster Pot Pie. Why? Because he loves pot pie and hates the hard work that goes into eating a lobster fresh out the steamer despite the fact that it's his favorite crustacean. It was really beautifully presented but the potatoes were underdone and the sauce was too soup and not enough stew-like texture for him.

I had the braised short ribs over roasted mashed potatoes. It was delicious even though this dimly lit picture is awful. I'd say this was better than the Club 33 braised short ribs except there was no Disney magic.

We started with the Mac and Cheese, something I had heard great things about. Among the many cheeses found in the small cast iron pan, there's Velveeta cheese in it which tells me this place is not about putting on airs and snubbing anything because of its stigmas. If it's good and works well in a dish, forget the critics who get hung up on names. This is some great Mac and Cheese!

DH and I went to Sushi Gallery after shopping for the aforementioned birthday girl's present. It's a tiny little shop with great prices and fresh fish. Pictured is the Wahoo White (FREAKING AMAZING), Salmon and Masago. All very well done. DH said his piece of salmon was frozen though. Mine was just pleasantly cold.

Sushi Gallery's salad. It's topped with the typical sushi restaurant salad dressing but the best part was the added masago and pickled something. I forget. Bad Blogger Leah!

A Week in Cell Phone Food Pictures

2010-03-18T17:16:00.001-07:00

At the Ostrich Farm in Solvang I picked up this Emu egg to bring home to my egg loving family. Here it's pictured. It's equivalent to 8-10 regular eggs.

On St. Patrick's day, to celebrate my married Irish roots, we met up with friends at the Crab Pot in Alamitos Bay where the Corned Beef and Cabbage was $1 a plate, green beer $2 a cup and Guiness for $3 a bottle.

My family went to China without me 2 years ago. They came back with tales of Xiao Long Bao, the Shanghai Steamed Dumplings that come with a signature broth held in the thin packaging of dumpling skin. Canaan Restaurant in Cerritos, a Taiwanese place, is one of 2 restaurants in my city that offer it. My brother and sister said it was comparable to the Chinese version, just less greasy.

My brother insisted on getting what they thought was a crispy chicken dish: Black Pepper chicken. It was neither crispy nor spicy. And quite honestly, it was overshadowed by the Typhoon Soft-shell Crab below.

This was delicious. Deep fried with an airy batter, crispy with onion, chili deliciousness. A whole plate for only $12.95. A steal I tell you! The only problem was that the tender nature of the crab and the large amount of batter made it hard to distinguish what was flour and what was crab. Plus, no roe :(

A Weekend Trip To Solvang: Stolpman Winery

2010-03-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

My first experience with Stolpman was over at the Main Street Wine Cellar in Seal Beach for a Meetup.com Wine get together. The father-son duo presented their wines in a most charismatic way that made me ache for a trip up to checkout the Central Coast again. That was a year ago and aside from what I remember about the Family that owns this winery, I remember this mind blowing Sangiovese that showed me of what Italian wines should taste like. Yes, I am talking to you Chianti.

We drank both bottles that we purchased at that Seal Beach tasting and foolishly missed each subsequent opportunity to buy more as they became available at MAWL and Winestyles. But no more, we made sure that we stopped into the Stolpman Tasting Room during this trip to pick up a bottle.

Our tasting was run by this local photographer whose work focuses on the Central Coast. He also teaches photography and really opened my eyes to some of the new techniques available to DSLR photographers.

But again, I'm here to talk about the wine.

2008 Sauvignon Blanc. This was really crisp and clean and smelled of citrus peel. It was light on the palate with hints of cherry. Nice for a white but not really my thing. Retails for $22.

La Coppa Blanc. Forgive me for not getting the year. It was honeyed and apricot on the nose. Creamy and delicate with a subtle finish. A surprising and much welcome sharp, brief acidic peak. I also didn't get the retail price. It was not listed on the tasting menu either :(

2009 Sangiovese. This is what I'm takling about! Can I just call this the fan favorite? It's plum on the nose, tannic balanced with a citrusy pomegranate flavor with a clean finish. So easy to drink I can't imagine anyone turning their nose up to this. Retails for $36.

You're going to sense a theme here. Stolpman focuses on the 2 California varietals that I like the most, Sangiovese and Syrah. The interesting thing about this tasting was that we were given 2 tastes of each bottle. One opened that day, the other left over from the night before. It gave us a sense of how the wine will age but also how dramatically different the Syrahs develop from one day to the next.

2007 Estate Syrah - 91 Point - Robert Parker. This was surprisingly fruit forward folowed with a smokey spicy middle and a long mild finish. Stolpman does a great job of creating the complex flavors that makes every sip feel like a journey. Retails for $34. This could be my new favorite.

2006 Hilltops Syrah - 92 Point - Robert Parker for the Wine Advocate. Ok, so this is a bit of an exclusive Syrah. The grapes are harvested only from the top 2 blocks of vines on the vineyard. This results in grapes that get the best of the sun and the coldest of the nights which any farmer knows makes for sweet delicious grapes that ferment well into complexity that Stolpman is so good at creating. It's hot and smokey with dark berries, honey and flowers on the nose. Then it's tart and citrusy on the back end and finishes with a long lingering feel. Retails for $45.

2005 La Coppa Syrah. Lots of wineries make something like a value brand. It's usually highly drinkable for the range of palates from the least experienced to the most discerning. I think this is Stolpman's version. It's got all the great aspects of an easy drinking Syrah. The chocolate, cherry and vanilla nose. Light peppery flavor slightly overshadowed by being extremely brightly fruit forward ending with a clean finish. Solid, predictable and a good example of the varietal. Retails for $19.

2007 La Croce. This is a Sangiovese Syrah hybrid. Say what?! I know right, it's like they called me and asked me "Hey Leah, I heard you're coming to town and we wanted to make something you have to blog about!" And blog I am. Hot and spicy nose, chocolately and smokey mouth feel and unmistakably musty like the outdoors. Full bodied with a long delicious finish. Retails for $66.

Alright oenophiles, that's all for this trip. I don't know how some of you champs get all wined up going from tasting room to tasting room in Los Olivos but you're my hero! I was tired after the 2 tastings, headed to the Ostrich Farm then Anderson's for Split Pea Soup and headed back to Home Sweet Home.

A Weekend Trip To Solvang: Fess Parker Winery

2010-03-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

I'm no stranger to the Central Coast. In fact, in my past life working finance in school construction at least a couple time a month I would hop on a Cessna to Santa Maria to meet with clients. I got to try the wonders of Santa Maria Tri-Tip and the fantastic Mexican food that rivals the best places in Los Angeles County. Stops into San Luis Obispo were my great, as were the blips of time in Santa Barbara wineries. My favorite was always the little Dutch town of Solvang.

Lucky for me my husband's family feels the same love for this out-of-the-way, blast-from-the-past city and they bought a gorgeous vacation home right on the historic block down by Hans Christian Andersen Park. We took out first trip to the new digs this past weekend and came back happier and more relaxed than we've been in months.

Pictures of the jaunt can be found here. What I really want to talk about is the wine.

We drove out to Los Olivos to pick up some sandwiches and head over to Fess Parker Winery for a picnic.

The roads in this town are amazing. You drive along and all of a sudden you're hit with a view of the entire valley of green surrounded with the bluest of clear skies.

Then you get to where you're going and find that along with the rockin' scenery the wine is top notch.

In the course of my Fess Parker experience I learned that savvy businessman Fess had it written in the contract that he got a portion of the sales from coonskin caps, rifles and other paraphernalia related to the Davy Crockett franchise. Walt Disney and Co. assuming the show wouldn't run for too long agreed. Now the Parker empire includes a Doubletree formerly known as the Red Lion and this amazing winery (pictured with what I think is a grape mill) .

Over at Fess Parker's I had the pleasure of tasting the following:

2007 Chardonnay "Ashley" - 93 Point - Wine Enthusiast. I found this to have a peachy peary creamy buttery nose but tasting of mildly tart green apple citrus hybrids. It's not too oakey and has a nice clean finish. Probably great with seafood but fantastic with sharp cheeses. Retails for $30.

2008 Viognier "Santa Barbara County." This was a really honeyed and vanilla nose with a sweet acidic front, full bodied mouth feel with a touch of stone fruit. This was favorite for one of us in the group who also loves brut champagne. Retails for $24.

2007 Pinot Noir Pommard Clone - 92 Point - Wine Enthusiast. Reds are my favorite but I find Pinot Noirs so finicky of a grape that it's hard to find a good one. This was a chocolately, cherry nose with a tart front but clean and balanced tannins. Minerals and mildly herbaceous flavors in the backdrop. Too young right now but will probably benefit from aging. Retails for $58.

2006 Pinot Noir "Bien Nacido Vineyard." Again, you'll have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm. This had a mocha and woody nose with a berry front and a long finish. Retails for $55.

2006 Syrah "American Tradition Reserve" - 90 Point - Robert Parker. Did you know that Syrahs are my favorite? It's such an easy grape to work with that it's rare to fine one that is just out and out bad. Plus, it's an easy grape to grow resulting in some of the best red wine values on the market. This bottle was my favorite with a cherry, vanilla berry nose followed with a deep fruit and tannin balance finishing long and dry. Yum. Retails for $35.

2006 Syrah "Rodney's Vineyard" - 93 Point - The Wine Advocate. I was a little over-tasted by this time. It's my fault, I don't spit. I know you're supposed to but geez, why?! This had a mildly musty nose with a savory almost meaty plum and apricot front. Very full bodied and complex with a pleasant mid length finish. Retails for $45.

Next stop on this Central Coast booze trip, one of my favorites, Stolpman Wineries.

Saturday Morning Rain Is Falling

2010-03-12T22:26:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday DH and I were supposed to walk to the Farmer's Market until nature intervened and we went to Jack's for breakfast instead.

Biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns and eggs.

No, I am not a farmer. Yes, I did give DH the bacon like a dutiful wife. No, I still couldn't finish even half of all this food.

3 Foods You Should Try Despite What You've Heard

2010-03-10T14:57:00.000-08:00

I was reading this insane article by Dave Lieberman on OC Weekly that literally made me tear up a little over the sad state of foodie affairs in Southern California. Did you know there are still people who refuse to try Toro? But what did I expect from Orange County, where one of the famed Housewives actually spit out Foie Gras. Say what?! Don't waste that gold!

So without further ado, I suggest that everyone in Southern California try the following foods regardless of negative stigma, texture or "icky factor."

1. Sea Urchin Roe (a.k.a. Uni). (Image Courtesy of http://bradyoshiro.com) The easiest way to try this delicacy is to head to an upscale sushi restaurant. Yes, this will give you Mad sushi credibility with the chefs so don't disappoint them by spitting it out.

The most hardcore way is to head to somewhere like Quality Seafood in Redondo Beach and have it right out of the carcass. The fish monger will gut the sea urchin and leave the roe in the spine moving body for you eat out of the nature provided bowl. It is awesomely weird and people will gawk. Don't worry, it's already dead and it can't feel anything no matter how it moves.

Good Sea Urchin tastes fresh, like sea water, but buttery sweet like foie gras. It is an experience in out-there textures and subtle flavors.

And please, for the love of all that is good in this world, don't dip it in soy sauce or wasabi in a restaurant. Yes, I'm talking to you Guy-Who-Mixes-His-Wasabi-In-His-Soy-Sauce. You are ruining it!

2. Foie Gras. (Image Courtesy of http://forkyou.files.wordpress.com)Were you a little lost when I mentioned foie gras of the sea when talking about Sea Urchin? Imagine something that has the mineral taste of liver muted with the most fantastically rich fatty flavor that rivals truffles. Oh, does that disgust you?

Well then you're one of those people that won't miss it when California outlaws the production and sale of foie gras in the state. Unlike me who will be a little cry baby and make all her future Las Vegas trips about fatty goose liver missions.

Foie gras is made by force feeding a duck or goose until it's liver becomes engorged and delicious. Typically it's most commonly available as a pate.

I don't think that pate de foie is a good example of what amazing flavor high quality foie gras is about. For the best experience, head to a french restaurant that does a seared foie accompanied with the right accouterments like rhubarbs whose tartness perfect juxtaposes against the fattiness of the liver.

3. Tomalley of female crustacean. (Image Courtesy of http://lizziee.files.wordpress.com) Ok, so I have to make a disclaimer to not actually eat the yellow green liver stuff inside the heads of crustaceans because in some areas the level of toxins are too high to be consumed. But I have a pretty good fish monger who knows where the crab comes from and whether or not that particular animal is safe.

What I am getting and do absolutely love is the roe found in the head of most crustaceans. It's milky, salty goodness with a slight crunch factor only found in the little eggs of tasty sea creatures.

The easiest way? Head over to your local Asian market with fish steaming and frying services, like 99 Ranch, have them pick out a female and steam it for you. Take home and enjoy.

The tastiest way? Find an Asian seafood market and restaurant. My local favorite is Tan Cang on Bolsa in Garden Grove, CA. Order it salt, pepper and jalapeno wok fried style with extra roe. Yes, they will actually add in more roe sacks so that the ratio of roe to meat is even more delectable!

Oh man, these are so delicious everyone in the world should have some not just Southern California! What are some of your favorite not-so-popular foods?

Paris Baguette

2010-01-18T11:19:00.001-08:00

For my mom's birthday we purchased this strawberry cream cake from a bakery down the street from us.

kohlrabi

2010-01-17T13:54:00.001-08:00

A large bin of kohlrabi from the exotic vegetable vendor at our local farmer's market.

Love Letter Salad

My husband's favorite pizza place is the Korean restaurant Love Letter. He usually orders to go but when you eat in they bring out a mixed cabbage salad topped with thousand island and siracha and a dabble of corn which has unlimited refills. Like so many things that look disgusting, it is so delicious.

Food Resolutions vs. Food Trends

2010-01-04T10:32:00.000-08:00

Around this time of year as people are flocking to the gym to make good on their New Year's Resolutions, making promises to go vegetarian, vegan, localvore, etc. I've been thinking about Food-Life balance.

I mean, as an all cuisines loving foodie of course I need to watch my weight. That foie gras is not doing any favors to my figure. But how can I suppress my adventurous hunger without feeling like my diet is some kind of opressing dictator to be embraced rather than overthrown? We can't all be lovable 6 foot something travel show host Anthony Bourdain with what seems like a heaven sent metabolism.

Like Mr. Bourdain, however, I do have conflicting feelings about these food resolutions/trends that have become so ubiquitous in today's society in the name of health and beauty, especially in my Southern California Orange County/Los Angeles habitat. For instance, I have been vegetarian and vegan for periods of time in my life. My verdict? Great feeling, hot looking, less joyful.

You see, there is something deeply satisfying about the luxuries afforded by a no holds barred, try anything attitude towards food. My current diet? The EVERYTHINGvore. My husband now jokes that he can't take me to the zoo in fear that I'll wonder how I can get my hands on a delicious zebra steak. (I have no idea what zebra tastes like, I just know I haven't had it.)

But each of the aforementioned dietary choices have their own draw, things to learn and implement, adjustments for a better foodie lifestyle:

Vegetarianism: Veggies are good for you! Those purple artichokes aren't scary, they're Mother Nature's gift to your tastebuds! (I am talking to you Andrew Zimmern.) In the vegetarian based cultures in Asia you can find that lacking meat does not mean lacking flavors.

Love veggies for the flavors they actually impart, let them be the star instead of just the side dish every once and a while. A good place to start: Falafel anyone?

My vegetarian resolution is to make sure regardless of what I eat a 5 vegetable daily minimum will give me the benefits of the lifestyle without having to give up that sesos taco I've been thinking about all day.

Veganism: Vegans for one reason or another avoid eggs, dairy and other animal based byproducts. I believe the idea is that they might be questionable to your health or that the method of processing is inhumane to the animals the products come from.

Actually, I have a hard time with Veganism. I believe in survival of the fittest species. I don't feed bad for the blade of grass in the fields getting trampled on before eaten by a cow and I don't care that veal can't move and is being force fed milk.

The benefit of going Vegan is that you focus on the real ingredients that you're injesting. You would be surprised the amount of animal products found in what seem to be vegetable dishes in the food industry. Veganism forces you to eat as naturally as possible, as pure of ingredients as available and the most humane products.

My vegan resolution is to veer towards more natural ingredients and more humane producers of my animal products whenever possible. It doesn't hurt that grass fed meat is supposed to be much higher in Omega-3s and taste than it's corn-fed counterparts.

Raw Food: This is a fascinating trend where people trade in their stoves for a dehydrator. Needless to say, this is an extreme of veganism that has picked up steam because it's nearly impossible to be fat on this diet. Plus there's an element of spirituality that springs up when you have such control over your base food cravings that you can survive off vegetables, fruits and nuts alone.

I can't deny that many fruits and vegetables are most nutritious in their unadulterated forms. I'd take a raw untouched cherry over any cherry byproducts any day. Don't ask me to eat raw potatoes though, everyone knows they're better slathered in miscellaneous dairy products.

I have "Gone Raw" for a day or two here and there, even tried juicing in lieu of eating for about a week (which in fact is the fastest way EVER to drop lbs before a major event), and the real benefit is a retraining of one's tastebuds to pick up on the nuances of nature's pure flavors. The natural sweetness of fresh carrots, the unreal texture of a mushroom accompanied with an almost animal protien like flavor, the peppery goodness of freshly picked arugula. All these things once you taste them on the enlightened raw foodie tongue give you a deeper understanding of everday untouched ingredients. That's a great thing.

My Raw resolution is to try fruits and vegetables raw before tossing them into a heat source whenever possible as long as it doesn't kill me.

2005 Chateau de la Meuliere Premieres Cotes de Bourdeaux

2009-01-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been obsessed with buying 2005 Bordeaux. I went to Bevmo! after a particularly successful afternoon of recruiting corporate partners for American Cancer Society and perused their reds finding 4 kinds of 2005 Bordeaux that were under $20 a bottle!

Josh and I had spent most of the day focused on a house we were going to put an offer in on. By the time the evening rolled around we found out that someone had bit over our offer and the ask price and were going to put 60% down. That beats our 20% and we were bummed.

Despite the somber occasion, we decided we would bring out the cheapest of the newly purchased Bourdeaux.

2005 Chateau de la Meuliere Premieres Cotes de Bourdeaux.

Here are the tasting notes:

Color: Deep purple, nice legs, consistent coloring.

Nose: Chocolatey, cherries, cinnamon spice, metered alcohol, pepper.

Taste: Charcoal, dirt, subtle finish, dry, very drinkable, low alcohol flavor, coffee.

Paired:

I usually have a plethora of cheese in my fridge so I thought I'd try each kind out paired with the bottle.

Irish blarney: Creamy, oily, almost waxy. Not a good combination.

Goat cheese: Creamy, tangy, starchy. Citrusy. Very delicious combination.

Port Salut: Creamy, heightens the acidity of the wine; that's new. Very good balance of creaminess and acidity. Mellows an already mellow finish.

Irish Shannon: Fruity, oily, salty, delicious with the bourdeux. Makes the Bordeaux more floral and the cheese creamier.

Sage Cheese: Sage almost onioney and garlicky, sharp finish. Aromatic, but the wine kills the flavor of the cheese. Heightens the acidity of the wine. Not a good combination.

Buttermilk Blue: Makes the wine smell sweeter. Tangy, sharp, creamy, pungent. Mellow and creamier than other blues. Makes wine smell like caramel.

Overall, the bottle began easy to drink, over time it became less pleasant. The Bordeaux lacked complexity and character. We will be keeping the second bottle we bought for another 5-14 years in hopes that it will age well. It seems that the maturity range for this particular vintage is 2012-2035

Foodie Gifts

2008-12-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

My Christmas gifts this year are bought, and to be honest, I don't know that unless I had really planned ahead, that I would have been at all interested in doing homemade gifts. Actually, I don't really like giving people the same things because it seems to denote that I *thought* less about them. Except in the case of me giving all my friends tickets to booze cruises. In that case, I was thinking *a lot* about them. Lol.

I have realized, however, that premaking homemade foodie gifts for friends and family to give them for host gifts and birthdays might be pretty worthwhile. Here are a few ideas I'm throwing around:

1. Limoncello. Yes, this goes back to my boozy friends, but hey, they have good taste and I'm sure would love a little homemade limoncello.

2. Homemade marshmallows w/ hot cocoa. Use a special valrhona chocolate for the cocoa and some tahitian vanilla for the mashmallows and you've got a gourmet gift guranteed to impress some people!

3. Chocolat liquer. Also a delicious treat. I personally think it's better than the standard bottle of Patron we've all been passing around. Lol.

4. Herb gardens in beautiful containers. What foodie wouldn't want their very own herbies? Get a beautiful container, add rocks on the bottom for drainage, add soil and some herbs at varying heights and voila! You could even take some of the pretty herb plants multiplying in your garden!

There are a few critical things that you might think of doing to kick these gifts up a notch like personalized labels, decorative bottles (go vintage if you can) and jars, and a high quality ribbon.

$3ADDP: You Can Do It Too!

2008-12-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

When talking to people about this project, and in my own experiences, it seems that the most difficult part really is the record keeping. The minutiae of tracking calories and cost is a bit much for most people so I think going forward for the project, I'll be posting recipes instead. You don't really care what I ate for the day, what you probably care about was how I made it and how you can do the same.

Though I do already have some recipes up, you might want to ease into this project yourself, especially if you're looking at doing this for the long term. Here are a handful of things I would suggest for you to start saving now and eating healthy!

1. Cook all your meals at home. Yes, eventually you might be able to swing a quick an easy meal out ala Ten Ten Chinese Food Restaurant, but cooking your meals at home prepares you for the time commitment of actually cooking! Once you make this part of your routine, it will make is significantly easier.

2. Plan out your meals, especially if you have a family. I would plan for 4 meals a day because as I started to eat the smaller portions I saw that I got hungry every 3-4 hours and that a snack was usually necessary. Use the local supermarket advertisements to see what's on sale for the week and plan your meals around it. This is particularly important because you'll need to start mentally tracking where you can buy what for cheapest.

3. Only buy enough food to eat for one week of perishables. I found during this project that I was buying more food than I needed and as a result as things got on the older side I was less inclined to eat it. Once you plan out your meals though, you'll know exactly what you really need and will be less likely to eat more of it because you know it's already planned for.

4. Buy pantry items in bulk when it's at it's lowest price. For instance, I went to Big Lots and saw Annie's Organic Salad Dressing on sale for $0.80. No, they weren't about to expire or anything, it just so happens that they overproduced a handful of their flavors like Pomegranate Vinaigrette and Garlic Asiago, which is good for me because I love both flavors! I picked up 4. Same goes for anything else that won't go bad before you get a chance to use your whole stock.

5. Make one day a week your serious prep day. If you are planning on making bread or pizza dough or crockpot meals, prep it all on one day. It'll make cooking every meal everyday less daunting.

$3ADDP: MIA days

2008-12-11T12:56:00.000-08:00

I have to apologize, Dear Readers, for being MIA for almost a week! I recently picked up the Event Chair position for American Cancer Society's local Relay For Life and have been attending meetings between having an all out catastrophic work week. As a result of these factors beyond my control, though I have been spending less than $3 a Day on food, actually, I've been spending near nothing on food, because it has been free food almost all week.

The meals I have been making, however, have been all less than $1 per person which got me to thinking about how I've come to a point where I can normally just wing it. I realized that as long as you could follow along the guidelines below, you should be able to eat for the most inexpensive way possible.

1. Buy things as cheap as possible. I recommend starting at the 99 cent store, Big Lots, Farmer's Markets, 99 Ranch and then Food 4 Less.

2. Use only the cheapest, leanest meats. This is typically chicken breast, lean pork and low fat ground beef. Almost any dish, with the exception of seafood, can be altered to use one of these meat sources in lieu of a more expensive cut or type of meat.

3. Use only 4 oz of animal protein per day per person. Yes, portion control is so VERY important, not only to the budget aspect, but for the health aspect.

4. Use bean based dishes often and with variety. There are so many different legumes that can be used that are not only healthy, but very filling and extremely cheap.

5. Use a high fiber carbohydrate at every meal. By this I mean brown rice, whole wheat bread, wheat noodles, etc. Carbohydrates are not only very inexpensive, but when using high fiber options will guarantee you something that will keep you full longer and keep you healthy!

$3ADDP: Day 10 and 11

2008-12-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry for lagging a bit behind by these updates. Life has gotten in the way of writing but not of the project.

I do have to say that I ate out quite a bit the past few days so I'm unclear on calories BUT I can provide you with prices and where to go:

Day 10: Skipped breakfast and had a bean and cheese with lettuce burrito from a local Mexican food place. $2.00. Alternatively, I could have gone to Taco Nazo, now known as Senor Baja, and had 2 - $1.00 fish tacos filled to the brim with cabbage and fish. What's my point? Mexican food places can be your friends! For dinner I had about $0.50 worth of Brie Mashed potatoes leftover from thanksgiving. I'll post the recipe for that soon because it was a huge hit. Total for the day ($2.50) but a very unhealthy day. I vowed to do better tomorrow by getting in more veggies and prepping for the rest of the week.

Day 11: A local authentic Chinese restaurant, Ten Ten, has single dishes you can buy to eat with rice for less than $2.00 a togo container. I picked up a napa cabbage and mushroom dish that was enough to split and share with my mom. I had a bowl of rice to go along with it bringing my lunch to $1.25. When I came home I had the last of the mashed potatoes, which I'll estimate to be about $0.50 and a homemade croissant sandwich which came out to $0.93 making my day total $2.38.

All of this doesn't matter though because for the days I was off the diet my digestive system really made me pay for it. I'm actually feeling the effects of the overload of bad food immediately after I eat it.

In Japan, they recommend eating only until you're 80% full because your body is late to register when it's actually full, so when you stop eating at 80% your body is really 100% full. So when you eat until you're stuffed, you could be well into 150% full which is just a waste of food.

Speaking of Japan, I need to find some way to work some raw seafood into this project. I hear a local supermarket has 12 raw oysters for $6.00! I could swing a $1.00 for 2 oysters for my protien for the day. Woo hoo!

Keepin in Cheap in California,

Leah

$3ADDP: Day 9.5

2008-12-02T11:38:00.001-08:00

Hello Dear Readers, I have been on hiatus since the 26th because of Thanksgiving and my trip to Las Vegas. I am hopping back on this wagon tomorrow.

I'm doing a Day 9.5 post today because since taking a break from the $3ADDP I found a few interesting things that carried over into good habits.

1. For the drive to Vegas I packed leftovers in the form of sandwiches and miscellaneous fruit for my brother, sister and mother to eat. I found that if I prepared the food ahead of time and said nothing about what a cost savings it would be to eat the leftovers, they all ate it. In fact, the first day in Vegas we didn't buy any food at all because they were all so happy eating healthy leftovers and fruit.

2. While I was gone Hubby ordered himself a pizza, a pizza he automatically packed for himself to take to lunch on Monday. It seems that if I get him used to the idea of expecting to eat home packed meals, he'll follow through with it on his own most of the time.

3. I ate less in general. Normally, at one of my sister's softball tournaments I would be raiding the snack bar under the pretense of supporting whatever league was hosting the tournament but during this trip I focused more on finding healthy and cheap food alternatives in smaller quantities. I didn't eat just to eat. And when we went to brunch buffets I just simply wasn't able to eat more than a plate of food. In fact, the full plates of food I did it didn't sit well with me because it was too much.

4. I get a buzz a lot faster. The complementary cocktails throughout the strip had me feeling tingling a little faster than normal and though the drinks weren't strong, my body gave me negative feedback on the effects quickly also. I didn't end up drinking very much at all.

So here I am, prepping for the next 20 days of eating on $3 a day and totally excited about it!

$3ADDP: Day 9

2008-11-26T23:11:00.000-08:00

Today I went to volunteer setting up for Thanksgiving dinner at a Church in Long Beach. I was moved by the outpouring of support in the form of volunteers and donations. With the help of over 100 selfless individuals, the church will be able to serve over 200 people for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

I thought about how much money was actually spent by the people that donated and realized that if we all just spent a little less on food ourselves, we could easily provide so much to others. There are people who do it everyday.

Starting tomorrow I will be taking a break from the $3 a Day Diet Project until Monday. For Thanksgiving $3 a day will be impossible to track and on Friday I am leaving for Las Vegas to support my sister at her softball tournament. I will probably build up a Vegas Food blog series off the visit but I know it won't be for $3 a day.

Today Josh already started his Thanksgiving festivities at work so he started his hiatus today.

I had Ramen ($0.17 - 400 calories), Vietnamese meatballs ($0.50 - 100 calories), spinach ($0.25 - 10 calories) for lunch. I snacked on a free food at the church while helping out which I'm not going to count in value but probably amounted to 200 calories. for dinner I had a piece of chicken off Josh's takeout and a baked potato with sour cream. I estimate all that to come out to $2.00. $1.00 for the piece of chicken and a homemmade baked potato from my mom's thanksgiving supplies. It's probably and overestimation but who cares? The calories should come in around 275 calories for dinner.

Leah: $2.82 for 985 calories.

Signing off headed to turkey and vegas debauchery.

$3ADDP: Green Beans and Ground Chicken

2008-11-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know if there are many vegetables as man friendly as green beans. I mean, Tony Roma's and TGI Fridays each have their own man friendly version of these delicious little green sticks. And have you ever have black bean green beans at any Chinese restaurant? Yum.

I had a bag of green beans I bought for $1 at the farmers market that were going to go bad if I didn't cook them very soon. So I took a few of my favorite flavor makers, namely garlic onions and jalepenos and made a little ditty that really made the hubby happy.

Ingredients

1/2	onion ($0.08)
1/4	teaspoon garlic ($0.06)
2	chili peppers ($0.08)
2	lb green beans ($1.00)
1/2	lb ground chicken ($0.50)
2	teaspoon soy sauce ($0.06)
1	teaspoon mirin ($0.08)
1/2	teaspoon sesame oil ($0.03)
1	salt and pepper ($0.02)

Directions

Parboil green beans.
Pour sesame oil into a skillet.
Dice onion and chili peppers, I used jalepenos, and mince garlic. Add to the oil and lightly brown.
Add ground chicken to the skillet along with soy sauce, mirin, salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken is done. It won't brown but it should crumble and turn from pink to a brownish color.
Add the drained green beans and coat the green beans with the mixture.

Makes 4 servings ($0.26).

$3ADDP: Day 8

2008-11-25T23:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's official, most of my friends and family think I'm just being weird by subjecting myself to a project like this. What's the point they ask despite the fact that I explain it to them. Then they say that they couldn't do it.

But the reality is that it's not that hard. There are a few challenges here and there which include:

1. Having the foresight to make sure that we're packing the meals that we'll need to eat away from home. Lately, Josh has been working a lot of overtime so I've been having to remember to pack his lunch and dinner for work. Today, I forgot to pack his dinner. He's going to have to pick up a $1 burger or something.

2. Lots of cooking. Seriously, I'm cooking almost everyday which didn't seem like it would be a big deal to me because I cooked often before, but the challenge of having to cook in order to eat is kind of wearing me down. Most processed foods, even canned foods, are too high in cost and too low in nutritional value to be included.

3. Temptation. In my family, food is how you show love so this is really more about my mother. I see my family almost everyday and though my mom knows about this project, she insists on offering me food. I'll take a few bites here and there to appease her or to tell her the food is good but then it'll throw off my totals for the day.

But aside from the challenges there are huge benefits! I used to watch the Real Housewives of New York and Bethanny, of Bethannybakes.com, was one of the women. Her goal was to democratize health the way that Martha Stewart did democratize homemaking. I was really inspired by that, but how do you democratize something if it costs people more to do it than to not do it?

I feel the same way about going Green. Sure, going green is a good idea, but it'll only work if it's less expensive for the masses to do it. Someday, someone is going to have to explain to me how it's possible that things cost more when you're trying to conserve more and reuse more. Hello?! Other than antiques, I don't understand why something recycled should cost more than something new. Save Mother Earth and don't put a "luxury" price tag on things that are good for the environment.

I digress, one of the benefits, aside from losing a few lbs and eating healthier, happened today when I got a message from someone telling me how inspiring this blog is and I thought I'd take the time to thank her publicly because it's feedback like that message that makes me feel like I'm doing something that can really help others.

Speaking of helping others, tomorrow night I'm heading over to help prepare Thanksgiving Dinner for 200 or so people in need in Long Beach. This project has made me feel a little more altruistic.

I spent a ton of time today helping my mom prep for Thanksgiving so I ended up having dinner at her place and eating junk at Sam's club when we went shopping there. I had kind of a crummy food day and busted my budget because most of my food was eaten outside what I actually packed for myself. :(

It's raining here today, heavily, which is unusual in southern California and all I want is a peppermint hot cocoa from Starbucks to sip on while I watch the water fall. I'll figure out how to make one of those soon within my budget.

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.17 - 170 calories), Coffee ($0.33 - 10 calories) Josh Only.

Lunch: Black Beans ($0.33 - 170 calories), salsa ($0.25 - 30 calories), 4 tortillas ($0.12 - 220 calories), 1/10 serving of chicken with cajun rice ($0.12 - 52 calories) - Josh only. Spinach ($0.25 - 10 calories), Vietnamese ham ($0.20 - 50 calories), egg ($0.17 - 70 calories), unfried Ramen that I found at 99 ranch ($0.17 - 350 calories) - Leah Only.

Snack: Junk from Sam's club - 4 bites pepperoni pizza ($0.25 - 80 calories), 1/5 a hot dog ($0.26 - 62 calories), 5 bites of a flatbread wrap ($0.75 - 100 calories) - Leah Only.

Dinner: White rice ($0.25 - 200 calories), 1/2 portion of a $2.00 side dish from Ten Ten ($1.00 -200 calories). Josh also had a Turkey Sandwich at work for free but I assume this busts his $3.00 a day budget.

Josh: $2.57 plus the turkey so the calories are a ???. Would have been 1052.

Leah: $3.30 - 1122 calories

Wishing for some pepperminty chocolately goodness,

Leah

$3ADDP: Napa Cabbage Salad

2008-11-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

I was trying to find a salad that would go well with the soba noodles I made for my husband's lunch. I had some leftover napa cabbage and thought about how delicious a tangy dressing would be with some tomatoes, onions and spicy jalepenos. Turns out that it tasted like Korean banchan and he loved it!

I used some of the leftover salad and soba sauce to put on a tofu dish eaten for dinner. I'll post that quick recipe another day.

Ingredients

4	oz Napa Cabbage ($0.25)
2	Tomatoes ($0.33)
1/2	Onion ($0.08)
2	chili peppers ($0.08)
2	oz rice wine vinegar ($0.25)

Directions

Slice the napa cabage, tomatoes, onions and chili peppers into thin skilvers. Toss in 2 oz. of rice wine vinegar or sushi seasoning sauce.

$3ADDP: Day 7

2008-11-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

My mom used to tell me stories about her time as a college student in Vietnam. She came from a well-to-do family and college students were sent to different parts of the country by the government to study agriculture at the different farms. These farms, more often than not, were owned by poor families who had no choice but to host these students who were sent to them. Many of these families could barely afford to feed their own children let alone some uninvited guests.

In true Asian hospitality, they did it with a smile. My mom, being a well raised young lady, took her own food from home with her for the first few days so she wouldn't impose on the family she was staying with. When she ran out of food, she accepted their hospitality, politely horrified to find that they would spoil rice until maggots would form to eat with their newly cooked rice to give it some flavor. One day when she came back to the house she found there was no food to eat and all the children were starving. She gave one of the kids money to buy go to the store to buy "chau" a form of fermented tofu that is slightly spicy and very salty. When she opened the jar, which would normally last at least 4-5 meals because of it's pungent nature, the children devoured it with rice and it was all gone. They were so thankful, it was a luxury to them. The store they bought it from rarely even sold one jar because it was so expensive in comparison to what the villagers were able to afford.

But in my mom's own village, "chau" was something that was considered poor food. Typically monks would eat it because it was vegetarian and it was inexpensive. Oddly, when she was pregnant with me it was the one thing she kept having cravings for and now when I want something quick, easy and comforting, I eat a cube or two of the fermented tofu on rice and feel a little bit brighter.

It's interesting to think of the many dishes that are considered poverty cuisine in some countries are some of the best dishes to come out of any culture. Gnocchi, polenta, rice and beans, etc. I think I'm going to have to look into some of these dishes to prepare for the rest of the month.

As I was looking for something quick and easy to prepare for dinner I started tearing through my cupboards for some of this "Chau." I cursed myself for not having a jar and instead had to pull out a package of extra firm tofu, cube it up, and toss the leftover soba sauce and napa cabbage salad on top and microwaved it for 2 minutes. Husband loved it but it didn't hit the spot for me. I'm going to have to go out and buy a jar and remember my times in the womb. Lol.

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.15 - 150 calories), egg ($0.17 - 90 calories), cheese ($0.10 - 20 calories) - Leah. Oatmeal ($0.17 - 170 calories), Coffee ($0.33 - 10 calories) Josh.

Lunch: Soba ($0.33 - 220 calories), memmi ($0.08 - 20 calories), napa cabbage salad ($0.50 - 62 calories)

Snack: Sample Pasta at Mom's ($0.50 - 200 calories) - Leah Only

Dinner: 1 cup rice ($0.25 - 231 calories), 1 cup broth made from bouillon ($0.02 - 40 calories), 1 egg ($0.08 - 35 calories), Tofu ($0.25 - 45 calories), memmi soup base ($0.15 - 40 calories)

Josh: $2.16 - 873 calories.

Leah: $2.58 - 1153 calories.

P.S. Josh just told me, after I asked him if he was still hungry because he took in so little calories, that he cheated and had 1 slice of garlic bread, a small amount of pasta and a side salad from Buca Di Beppo. Uh... wow.

$3ADDP: Thanksgiving Stuffing

2008-11-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

As I previously mentioned, Hubby and I were headed to an early Thanksgiving at his dad's place. I cooked up a dish to contribute to the meal, in the usual holiday tradition and tried to keep the price low and the flavors great so that my Dear Readers can make the same dish if they are so inclined, without breaking the budget.

I originally wrote the recipe to include 4 cups of water, or if you prefer, 4 cups of broth, and it created a relatively wet stuffing which my Husband likes. If you like your stuffing on the drier side you'll want to pull 2 cups of the liquid out of the pot and slowly add it back in after you put the bread cubes in until the stuffing reaches your preferred texture.

Ingredients

12	oz sourdough bread ($0.99)
4	small carrots ($0.66)
1	onion ($0.17)
3	green onions ($0.30)
5	stalks of celery ($0.25)
1	oz olive oil ($0.11)
1	teaspoon parsley ($0.08)
1	teaspoon thyme ($0.08)
1	teaspoon savory ($0.08)
1/2	teaspoon caraway seeds ($0.04)
1	teaspoon sage ($0.08)
1/2	lb ground chicken ($0.50)
1	oz mushrooms ($0.24)
1	oz raisins ($0.20)
4	oz bouillon ($0.06)
4	cups water ($0.00)

Directions

Dice sourdough bread and place onto a cookie sheet. Bake on 350 until bread is dried and brown.
Dice carrots, onions, mushrooms and celery. Finely chop raisins.
Heat a large pot and pour oil into the pot. Add carrots, onions, celery, mushrooms, raisins, and all herbs. Brown the ingredients.
Add 1/2 lb ground chicken. Cook through.
Add water and bouillon and bring to a boil. Turn off heat.
Add toasted diced sourdough bread to the pot. Stir and place in a baking dish. Place in the oven at 350 degrees until the top is browned.

Total $3.84 for 10 servings. or $0.38 a serving.

$3ADDP: Day 7

2008-11-23T22:33:00.001-08:00

As of today, I am down 3.5 lbs which means over the course of the past 6 days I have lost over .5 lbs a day. That's interesting because I am not really hungry at all. The occasional cravings I have are those "I know I can't have this so I want it" type cravings but I'm slowly overcoming them.

Beware of upcoming TMI. Husband and I went to his Dad's house for early Thanksgiving dinner and I made a stuffing that cost $3.84 to make 10 servings. It was a pretty big hit so I don't feel like I was a big Thanksgiving mooch. Now, there are three major things of note.

1. We ate a much smaller meal than we normally would for a holiday meal. We had about 6 oz of roast beef (Hubby's stepmom made roast beef instead of turkey), 3/4 cup of mashed potatoes and gravy, 3/4 cup of stuffing, 1/2 cup of shrimp scampi, 1/2 cup of corn, 1 biscuit, 1 slice of pie and 2 beers. Now that is a massive amount of food but it was the only meal we had all day and 5 hours later I'm still full.

2. The amount of food and the amount of processed carbs and fats gave us serious digestive issues. I don't know if it was that we're not used to eating that much food since we started this project OR if our bodies aren't used to eating that amount of unhealthy foods. Josh and I both are very gaseous to say the least.

3. Josh has pretty much cheated half the time on this project. He's basically thrown the rules out the window today because he figures that it's a cheat day based on the dinner at his Dad's. Lol. Which brings me to my next point.

Of course, Josh's mom and my family, as well as our friends, know about the project. As time has past, Josh has gotten more frustrated with this because he feels really restricted. I realized that he feels that way because I'm making all the food and he's not having much of a choice on what I make. The fact that I'm in control makes the project feel less difficult for me because I can find a way to satisfy certain cravings in low cost ways. Both of our moms think I'm an oddball.

I am prone to taking on challenges like this, mainly because I like to test my will power but also to see if doing something different and slightly difficult can yield good results. It seems that since Josh is now married to me and subject to my zany whims he is getting quite a bit of sympathy from the Moms.

I've decided, however, two things. First that I'm going to try to take some of Josh's favorite dishes and start trying to make low cost delicious versions of them and second that I'm going to make my mom a day's worth of Project food so she sees how not depleting the diet is once I figure out some outstanding recipes.

Still full and signing off.

Leah

$3ADDP: Day 6

2008-11-22T18:52:00.001-08:00

I should report that Josh and I have both lost 3 lbs each during the course of this project.

We're going to early Thanksgiving dinner with Josh's dad and I struggled to figure out how to do this project on Thanksgiving. I reasoned that most people don't actually cook the bulk of the thanksgiving meal themselves, they bring a dish to someone else's house and join in the group's festivities. So, for the 3 Thanksgivings we will be attending I will be making a dish for the group that totals less than $6.00 (what Josh and I have to to spend for the day) assuming that that meal is the only meal Josh and I have for the day. More than likely I'll make a dish that costs $3.00 for the whole group.

For Josh's dad's dinner I will be making stuffing. Stay tuned for the recipe.

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.15 - 150 calories), egg ($0.17 - 70 calories), parmesean ($0.10 - 20 calories), Leah only. Pizza ($0.25 - 140 calories) Josh only.

Lunch: Ramen ($0.17 - 440 - calories), spinach ($0.25 - 10 calories), snacks at the fam's ($0.50 - 100 calories) - Leah. Sandwich ($0.08 bread, $0.17 egg, $0.10 turkey bacon, mustard/mayo $0.05 - 510 calories) - Josh

Dinner: White/Brown rice ($0.24 - 231 calories), green beans and chicken ($0.46 - 193 calories).

Cocktail: Energy drink and Vodka ($0.78 - 184 calories)

Josh: $2.13 - 1258 calories

Leah: $2.82 - 1398 calories

$3ADDP: Day 5

2008-11-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been to the Farmer's Market and bought a ton of stuff that looked so absolutely interesting to you? Squash blossoms (delicious filled with goat cheese then tempura battered and fried), purple potatoes (beautiful in scalloped potato dishes), long beans (stir fried with a black bean sauce), the list goes on. The possibilities run through my head and I'm dizzy with excitement. I buy it all!

Then you know what happens? I make one thing and figure I'll get to the rest later and then instead of cooking the rest we end up at restaurants. Though I'm not the absolute worst at wasting food in the sense that I often try to make up recipes based off what I have in the fridge to get rid of, I'm not always successful at avoiding food going bad until now.

This project has made me conscious of a few things. First, how much I can actually stuff in my 5'2 frame versus how much I actually need to eat. Second, how easy it is to stay full when you're eating whole and healthy products versus highly processed and fat filled foods. But mostly it's made me conscious of using every little bit of what we have.

For instance, we currently have 2 slices of pizza, 2 servings of black beans, 2 servings of chicken and navy bean soup, and half a head of lettuce that needs to be eaten. Guess what we're having for dinner tonight? Yes, leftovers despite the fact that I dislike leftovers.

The other night I made a batch of oatmeal cookies because I had some browning bananas that I couldn't bear to throw away. They turned out awfully because I tried to skimp and leave out the oil but we'll end up eating those cookies too. Because we should. I have some leftover tomatoes that have been sitting around in the fridge that I'm going to turn into a tomato soup so that they don't go to waste also.

Breakfast: 1 slice of pizza ($0.25 - 140 calories) Leah Only, Oatmeal ($0.17 - 160 calories) and Coffee ($0.33 - 10 calories) Josh only.

Lunch: 4 slices of pizza ($1.00 - 560) Josh, 3 slices of pizza ($0.75 - 420 calories) Leah.

Snack: Grapes ($0.25 - 100 calories) - Josh only. Nibbles from family ($0.25 - 75 calories)

Dinner: 1/2 serving of black beans ($0.15 - 85 calories), 2 tortillas ($0.06 - 110 calories), 1/4 head of lettuce ($0.25 - 10 calories) each person, 1/10 serving of chicken with cajun rice ($0.12 - 52 calories) . 1 slice of pizza ($0.25 -140 calories) - Josh. 2 tortillas ($0.06 - 110 calories), Spam Musubi ($1.00 - 265 calories) - Leah

Josh $2.58 - 1227 calories

Leah: $2.89 - 1267 calories

$3ADDP: Chicken and Cajun Rice

2008-11-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

I have quite a bit of chicken left in my freezer from two weeks ago so I figured I would focus my recipes around that. I've been craving jambalaya but I realize I just want something spicy, tomatoey and ricey. Yeah, I'm making up food words. Using mainly things that I bought at the 99 cent store, I whipped up some Chicken and Cajun Rice.

Husband seemed to like the rice so I give this recipe an A for ease of preparation, man friendly, a high nutritional value and an effective way to get rid of one of my least favorite forms of animal protein.

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice ($0.22)
1 cup brown rice ($0.30)
1/2 onion ($0.08)
5 jalepenos ($0.20)
1 can tomatoes ($0.99)
3.5 cups water ($0.00)
3 teaspoons cajun seasoning ($0.65)
9.6 oz chicken ($2.00)
5 sprigs saffron ($0.20)
3 teaspoons chicken bouillon ($0.02)
1 oz olive oil ($0.11)

Directions

Pour 1/2 oz of olive oil in a skillet, saute the white rice and brown rice until it smells nutty. Transfer to rice cooker pot.
Dice chili peppers and onion. Pour 1/2 oz of olive oil in the skillet and brown the chili peppers and onions.
Open the can of stewed tomatoes and pour into the skillet along with the water, cajun seasoning, saffron and chicken bouillon. When saffron dissolves, pour the mixture and the chicken into the rice cooker pot. Cover the pot.
Turn the rice cooker to cook. If you have a multi-setting on your rice cooker set it to cook brown rice. Otherwise, if cooking in a regular pot, cook covered for approximately 45 minutes to an hour on medium low.

4 servings for $1.20 and 529 calories a serving.

$3ADDP: Day 4

2008-11-20T20:00:00.000-08:00

Today husband asked me if he was going to be part of this "sucky poor project" if he could just save up all his food money and spend it on booze instead, you know, live it up right. I think the project is getting to him. Later, in his comical insensitivity asked if he could partake in domestic violence during the project to get a real feel for living under the poverty line.

It seems dear hubby has not only misunderstood the nature of people who live below the poverty line but also misunderstood this project. As his hunger grows, his comprehension of anything related to this project is lost. He ended up having to have a business lunch today with his manager so his totals really go out the window. I'll show you what he was supposed to eat, but I have no idea how much his food today really cost.

You're going to see a quail item in the details of the food I ate today. My mom, who used to own restaurant that she cooked the food for, makes some amazing food. Knowing that I was doing this project, she insisted that I have one quail to split with Josh which she promised was only $0.50 per person. She's too cute.

I also took a bite of my sister's PBJ because she insisted I see whether or not it was still good. It wasn't. The bread was awful. But I am a good food taster.

Lastly, Josh and I went to the Bevmo! $0.05 wine sale to buy wine gifts for people and partook of one of the $0.05 bottles for ourselves. Yes, you might think this is cheating or just pure genius. I mean, we were going to spend the money on the gifts anyway, why not get the extra bottle for $0.05?

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.17), Coffee ($0.33) Josh only. Ramen ($0.17 - 440 calories) Leah only

Lunch: Pizza ($0.05 dough, $0.02 sauce, $0.05 meatballs, $0.13 cheese) $0.25 a slice. ($1.00) for Josh, ($0.75 - 420 calories) for Leah.

Snack: ($0.25) apple Josh Only. 1/5 PBJ ($0.06 - 76 calories) Leah only.

Dinner: 1/2 Quail ($0.50 - 105 calories), Green Beans and Chicken ($0.46 - 193 calories), White/Brown rice mix ($0.13 - 231 calories)

Cocktail: 1 bottle of wine split ($0.03 per person - 219) - $0.05 wine sale.

Josh: Is totally lame and ate a lunch combo at a BBQ place.

Leah: $2.10 and totally full with 1608 calories. Not the healthiest, but I'm feeling pretty happy.

$3ADDP: The Yale Project

2008-11-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

Well I've apparently been living under a rock. When googling $3 a Day Diet Project to see where my google page rank is the Yale $3 a Day Diet Project came up first. It seems that $3 is what the food stamp allowance is for the population of people who are being fed by the United States Government. In the article I read from the Yale Daily News, one of the students part of the project who considered himself a very serious activist had to give up cage free eggs for regular eggs because he just couldn't afford to care about animal rights in light of how expensive they are and how little he had to spend a day. What I'm going to say next is going to make me VERY unpopular.

I think that it's easy for people who have the money to worry about the activist side of things. That's why most politicians are already fairly well off before they get into the game. The average person living in a lower middle class to lower class situation can't afford to care about things like whether or not the food they're eating is organic or whether or not it's right or wrong to cage animals that are set for slaughter anyway. They're worried about what they're going to eat and what their families are going to eat.

It's the responsibility of those us that do have the money to care about these things in the larger picture because we can AFFORD to. That being said, here comes the unpopular part; shouldn't we care more about activism for human needs before animal needs? See, I get that animals are adorable and cuddly. I have my cat, George Kitteh, sitting on my TV right now trying at the moving pictures on screen as though he can stop the lights from moving. I love him dearly. Would I save him above the average human? No.

That makes me sound really unloving or disloyal. I know. But at the end of the day, aside from the circle of happiness intertwining George's life, my life and my husband's life, there is little that George can contribute to society. The average human, however, if given the opportunity could do great things for mankind.

I'm not trying to tell you, my dear reader, what you should and should not care about. I'm simply musing on what we humans have compassion for and how our priorities work. It's rather remarkable how far apart everyone believes. It's what makes the social activism landscape of the US both effective and ineffective.

Have you ever thought that as a nation, without government involvement because we don't want fiscal waste and everyone knows private sector can do it more efficiently than public sector, if we made a list of all the causes that had foundations or organizations related to them and put it to a vote to see which one was MOST important to the nation and everyone just focused on that for a while, the problems we could resolve? Obesity? A problem of the past. Cancer? Totally cured. HIV/AIDS? That's gone too. Illiteracy? Not on our watch. One by one, the collective resolve of an educated and relatively wealthy nation, would knock down each problem.

$3ADDP: Day 3

2008-11-19T21:28:00.000-08:00

I never realized how much crap I used to eat until having to regulate it down to the minutiae. Turns out, I used to drink a lot more sugary drinks and prepackaged sweets. How do I know? Because every time I went into a store today I starting eying the soda cooler and candy section. Who knew I was a Snickers fan?

I had a pre-arranged Magic Show and dinner planned for Thursday but because Husband is working on a deadline, had to cancel. I guess it's for the best, the magic show was $20 per person and if the magician was no good I'd have a hard time claiming that the entertainment was worth $17. Lol.

Honestly though, the idea behind this project is not to be impossibly restrictive, it's to prove that if anyone chose to live off $3 a day, healthily, they would be able to do so. I hope that at the end of this project I will continue to make many of the recipes I develop and properly portion them to avoid weight gain after the project. I hope too, Dear Reader, that you'll enjoy these recipes and find them not just budgetary edible, but easy to make and eat.

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.17 - 160 calories), Coffee ($0.33 - 10 calories) Josh only, Egg ($0.17 - 70 calories) Leah only.

Lunch: 4 tortillas ($0.12 - 220 calories), 1 serving of black beans ($0.30 - 169 calories), 1 oz cheese ($0.50 - 100 calories)

Snack: Grapes ($0.25 - 100 calories)

Dinner: Cajun Rice 4/5 of a serving ($0.96 - 423 calories) and Salad with Dressing ($0.24 - 130 calories), Full serving of Cajun Rice ($1.20 - 529 calories) for Leah.

Josh: $2.87 for 1312 calories total.

Leah: $2.99 for 1478 calories total.

$3ADDP: Pizza Dough

2008-11-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

So you've all seen it, pizza for $5 carry out. That's about $0.63 a slice. Cheap, but not really cheap enough. I'm trying to get the main courses we eat under $1, not including sides. Husband will not eat only 1 slice of pizza, it's physically impossible for him. I think it's the pie shape.

So here's a pizza dough recipe adapted from Cooks.com that I will use as a basis for many a dinner during the project:

2 cups bread or all purpose flour ($0.36)
2 cups whole wheat flour ($0.45)
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water ($0.00)
1 packet active dry yeast, or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast ($0.33)
2 tablespoons olive oil (any good brand), but extra virgin is best ($0.11)
1 1/4 teaspoon salt ($0.02)
1 teaspoon sugar, or 1 teaspoon honey ($0.01)
1/4 cup milk or 1/4 cup water ($0.00)

Preheat oven 450°F.

I prefer using water for the liquid in this recipe because it's practically free. But the original recipe states that water adds flavor to the dough.

Using a large ceramic mixing bowl, or any suitable food safe bowl, add the flour, make a "well" in middle, and put in 1 teaspoon salt, stir to combine well. Set aside.

Prepare the starter: In a liquid measuring cup pour in 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon sugar or honey, and one package of active dry yeast. Stir and set aside for 5 minutes. Allow to foam up (or proof).

Next, mix the starter (yeast water) and the water in the bowl containing the flour with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir together using a wooden spoon or clean hands.

I adapted this recipe to include whole wheat flour which tends to need more water than bread flour. Add water until the mixture is still slightly dry but has enough give for you to knead it. For me the cups of water ended at about 1.5-1.75 cups instead of the 1.25.

Note: You will need additional flour to knead on the surface that you're working on. Knead for about 8 minutes or until you get a smooth elastic rubbery dough ball.

Set aside in bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil to keep the dough from drying out. Let dough sit covered lightly with plastic wrap or use a plate or damp clean towel to cover it.

Allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes to an hour. Flatten dough and press out into a circle to fit the pan it will be baked in. Spread it out evenly, don't be afraid to lift underneath to stretch the dough. Sprinkle baking pan with yellow cornmeal or Farina. If you don't have these on hand you can use flour or simply grease the pan with olive oil using a paper towel. The dough makes 2 - 12 slice pizzas at $0.05 a slice. Slice the dough in half and keep the second half for another time.

Add meat sauce and some cheese on one. These are the ingredients in a quick and easy meat sauce and the amount of cheese I used:

1/2 onion ($0.08)
1/4 head of garlic ($0.06)
1/4 a jar of tomato sauce ($0.25)
3 oz ground beef ($0.84)
3 oz cheese - I suggest you use very finely grated mozzarella cheese because it seems like more when grated this way. ($1.50)

Bake for about 12-14 mins, but watch it! I don't have a picture of the final pizza because I kind of burned it.

At 12 slices, that's $0.23 a slice plus $0.05 a slice for the dough totaling $0.28 a slice and approximately 138 calories each.

This is the recipe I used for the pizza from Day 1.

$3AADP: Day 2

2008-11-18T21:30:00.000-08:00

So after I pre-made all this oatmeal it turns out that Husband doesn't like oatmeal the way I prepare it and he'd rather have instant oatmeal than the steel cut (harumph) so I bought him 2 boxes of Mom's Best Oatmeal at the 99 cent store so he can make it himself. It's staggering that it's only 99 cents there because I see the exact same box at Sprouts for $3.99.

Then onto the topic of the fact that Husband forgot that he spends $10 a month on a coffee club at work, which blows my mind because you would think a huge corporation like Boeing would GIVE their employees coffee. Anyway, that takes $0.33 away from Josh's daily total. I contemplated calling this negligible but he is paying for it regardless of whether or not he drinks it. He does drink it, if you are wondering, about 2 cups a day, and personally I don't want to see him off caffeine. I'm sure you don't want me to either, Dear Readers.

I'm actually quite satiated eating on $3 a day which is really surprising. Of course, it is only the second day so I should probably wait to make my real opinion. The difficult part right now is all the planning and tedious money and calorie counting. I take that back, it's also the self control. The urge to just buy something to snack on or to snack at all becomes slightly overwhelming between meals. I keep eyeing various junk food realizing that a candy bar would account for almost a 1/3 of my daily food budget without any real benefit.

Lucky for me I have prepared enough food to last us the rest of the week. Sure, it'll get horrendously repetitive after a while but I have 6 servings of soup left, about 6 servings of black beans (which will turn out some Huevos Rancheros and tostadas), 2 servings of chicken and cajun rice, 5 servings of oatmeal that are apparently all for me from here on out, and makings for a week's worth of salads.

I have a confession to make. I'm one of those people who likes their oatmeal savory. It reminds me of rice porridge that mom would make when anyone of us was sick. So this morning I had oatmeal with and egg on top. It was delicious even though it doesn't really look delicious.

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.15), 1 egg ($0.17), a sprig of basil ($0.01) for Leah totaling 220 calories. Oatmeal ($0.17 - 160 calorie) and 2 cups coffee ($0.33 and 10 calories) for Josh.

Lunch: 2 slices of pizza for Leah ($0.56 - 276 calories), 3 slices of pizza for Josh ($0.84 - 414 calories).

Snack: Apple ($0.25 - 80 calories) for Josh. Pear ($0.33 - 81 calories) and one macadamia nut for Leah.

Dinner: Salad w/ dressing ($0.24 - 130 calories), Chicken and Cajun Rice ($1.20 a serving - 529 calories)

Josh: $3.03 (1323 Calories) total.

Leah: $2.66 (1236 calories) total.

$3ADDP: The Repeaters

2008-11-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

So as part of my research phase, I was thinking about the easy peasy repeats. I know I'll probably get a little creative with lunch and dinner but breakfast and certain sides will be pretty commonly repeated.

My husband has agreed to do this $3 a Day Diet Project with me, that loving man. I hope at the end he doesn't think that our cat is eating better than him. He's reading this blog for insights into what he will be eating over the next 30 days so I thought this would be a good teaser for him to keep his eyes on the prize.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal - about half a cup dry, comes in at 150 calories and costs a mere $0.15 a serving.
Hard Boiled Egg - 1 hard boiled egg is about 70 calories and is about $0.17 an egg.
Milk - an 8 ounce glass of 1% is about 100 calories and $0.31 a glass.
Whole Wheat English Muffins - homemade? It think it has to be.
Toast - Right now, I think it's about $0.20 a slice give or take depending on whether it's homemade or store bought.
Pancakes - This will make hubby happy once we get past the maple syrup argument. He's a douser, not a dipper.

Meals:
Pizza - I hear this is REALLY cheap. Like, under $o.40 a slice. Take that Pizza Hut!
Fried Rice - Hubbs will love this idea. He's a bit of a rice whore.
Grilled Chicken - Easy, relatively cheap, goes well in sandwiches and stir fries. I don't even like Chicken.

Sides:
Mashed Potatoes- About $0.50 cents per serving depending on what the final recipe is.
Brown Rice - about $0.12 a serving.
Baked Potatoes - About $0.45 when including a pat of butter.
Polenta- I assume this is a lot like oatmeal which will work out well.
Beans - At $0.99 a lb for how filling beans are will be a must repeat.
Salad - About $0.24 a serving if you use half a romaine head and a serving of dressing.
Soup - I can only assume this is by far the biggest bang for the buck and the easiest way to get in vegetables.

So there we are, things I will have to calculate the actual recipes for so that I can see how much it'll cost us.

$3ADDP: Day 1

2008-11-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

I stayed up a little later than usual last night to prep some food for the coming week, also known as the first week of the project. Hubby goes between being really excited about it because he wants to scale back our portions and being really wary of the project. We'll see how long he lasts. He'll have the ability to post on this blog as a contributor during this project if the feeling of hunger starts to pervade his life. Lol.

Yesterday, I threw together a soup from navy beans, some veggies, and 1/5 of a roasted chicken I had left over. I considered whether or not this would be considered "cheating" by my dear readers because I was starting with leftovers already in my fridge and then I remembered, this series is supposed to to show that anyone, regardless of whether they're living of food stamps or living high on the hog, can happily live on $3. And let's be honest, haven't most of us had a leftover chicken in their fridge?

I also prepared in the slow cooker 8 servings of steel cut oatmeal so that we'll have premade oatmeal for breakfast and black beans for whenever in the week. I'll post those recipes after I actually consume them in case there's a need to adjust seasonings.

I had a pop a few midol today but it didn't really help so I felt kind of queasy all day so I didn't eat as much as I should have. I skipped my salad, which would have definitely fit in my budget, and had under 1K calories. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

Here's what we ate today:

Breakfast: Oatmeal 1 serving each ($0.15 - 150 calories). Banana ($0.09 - 53 cals), Maple Syrup ($0.04 - 52 cals), cinnamon ($0.02 - 0 cals), Honey ($0.05 - 15 cals) Josh Only.

Lunch: Chicken and Navy Bean Soup ($0.48 - 308 calories). Salad w/ dressing ($0.24 - 130 calories) Josh Only.

Dinner: Pizza w/ Meat Sauce and cheese ($1.12 - 552 calories) for 4 slices Josh. 2 slices for Leah ($0.56 - 276 cals)

Drink: Vodka (2 oz.) and energy drink (4 oz.) ($0.78 - 184 calories)

Josh Total: $2.97 - 1444 calories

Leah Total: $1.97 - 918 calories.

$3ADDP: Empanadas

2008-11-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

Here I am looking through my Google Reader that's full of delicious recipes and I come across this amazing picture of empanadas. I've decided to come up with an inexpensive empanada recipe that I'll be able to use during this $3 a Day Diet Project.

What's a delicious low cost filling? Well ground beef of course, but still to expensive to meet at $3 a day limit. To stretch the beef, I'll use beans or potatoes to stretch the filling. But what of the vegetable requirement? I'm figuring some tomatoes in the mix with side salad to accompany the empanadas. And the whole wheat aspect? 50% whole wheat in the empanada dough. Healthy, cheap and delicious!

You know what else is awesome? It's easy to pre-prep, freeze and bake up for future meals. A coup in my opinion.

Here is the recipe for the empanada dough edited from a recipe on epicurious.com:

1 cups unbleached all-purpose flour ($0.18)
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour ($.27)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt ($0.02)
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes ($1.12)
1 large egg ($0.17)
1/3 cup ice water ($0.00)
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar ($0.05)

Sift flours with salt into a large bowl and blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal with some (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.

Beat together egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork. Add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until just incorporated. (Mixture will look shaggy.)

Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gather together, then knead gently with heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough together. Form dough into a flat rectangle and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 1 hour. Makes 12 servings at $0.15 each.

I thought about exactly how much filling I would need to meet less than 4 oz of meat for the day. Hubby will probably want meat with every meal which means the 4 oz. of meat protein per day will need to be spread into 2 oz. per meal. Assuming 2 empanadas for dinner, less than 1 oz per empanada is about right.

Empanada filling:

8 oz. ground beef ($2.25)
8 oz. refried beans ($0.66)
1/2 head of onion ($0.08)
1/4 head of garlic ($0.06)
1 diced tomato ($0.16)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt ($0.02)
1 teaspoon pepper ($0.04)
1 teaspoon cumin($0.04)
1 teaspoon chili powder ($0.04)
2 oz oil ($0.06)

Put 2 oz of oil in a skillet. Brown onions and garlic. Add ground beef and cook until browned. Add diced tomato, the can of refried beans, salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder. Mix until well incorporated and heat the mixture all the way through. Put into a bowl and allow to cool. Makes enough filling for 12 empanadas for $0.28 a piece).

Empanada Recipe:

Cut the empanada dough into 12 equal parts. Work with each ball one at a time and leave the rest of the dough refrigerated. Roll into a ball and flatten into discs large enough to place 1/12 of the filling into. Make sure that the dough is thick enough so that it can hold the filling but as thin as possible. Fold over and close the edges with a fork. Place on a baking sheet and continue with the rest of the pieces of dough in the same manner. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until browned. Makes 12 empanadas at $0.43 a piece.

These figures might change when I actually complete the recipe. Right now, it's completely theoretical.

$3ADDP: The Social Aspect

2008-11-14T10:00:00.001-08:00

I'm going to take a break from the research to talk about some of the conversations I've been having about this project. My friends and I were all intrigued by the $1 a Day Diet Project and I have a lot of respect for what they've done. They brought to light what the reality of living below the poverty line really means to a high speed internet audience. Do any of us, while we're clacking away at our keyboards checking out our favorite forums and news feeds, even worry about what we're going to eat unless we're on a diet?

I got to thinking though, that there is a large middle class, actually the bulk of the population who could benefit from eating less and saving more, myself included. Think of what we as a nation could save in health care costs that could be put towards better use if only the majority of the nation wasn't obese? How much of our tax money is spent on preventable health issues through Medicare and Medicaid? I'm not saying we shouldn't be spending on these things, especially in light of the health care crisis in the US, but shouldn't we also be focused on preventative care?

The capitalist in me knows that part of the reason that we Americans will stay overweight is because big food corporations pay marketers a ton of money to make eating look good. Have you seen the recent Sara Lee Soft and Smooth Whole Grain Bread being advertised with High School Musical? And the weight loss industry isn't any better; they've made it seem like to lose weight you have to spend money. Since when did being thin signal wealth? Since plastic surgery and celebrity personal trainers.

Why not create a place where being healthy is not only affordable but also accessible and delicious?

$3ADDP: Whole Wheat Rolls

2008-11-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

When I think of bread a million different ideas pop into my mind. Sara Lee Delightful sandwich bread? 45 calories per slice isn't too shabby and at $4 a loaf with 20 slices that's about $0.20 a slice or $0.40 a sandwich. I think of Whole Grain Baguettes from Trader Joe's that inevitably only last a few days in our household. So I'm going to try a few kinds of bread recipes over the course of this project. The first of which being the No Knead Whole Wheat Bread recipe.

Why is this first? Well, isn't there something so delectable about eating your sandwich on a roll? The crusty crispiness of the bread, the cute look of a little dome atop your fillings? Sure, this isn't going to work for PB&J, for that we'll use a loaf pan based recipe, but rolls, these will mix it up a bit.

Here is a recipe from Cooks.com:

1/2 c. sugar ($0.17)
1 1/2 c. hot water ($0.00)
2 eggs, beaten ($0.33)
2 tsp. salt ($0.02)
3 tbsp. butter ($0.42)
2 pkg. yeast ($0.66)
1/2 c. warm water ($0.00)
3 c. sifted whole wheat flour ($0.65)
4 c. sifted white flour ($0.74)

Put sugar, butter and 1 1/2 cups hot water in large bowl and set aside to cool. Place yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. As soon as first mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add beaten eggs. Add yeast mixture then stir in 1/2 flour and salt. Mix until smooth. Then add rest of flour and knead well. Let raise until double. Punch down and cut into rolls. Let raise again. Bake at 350 degrees until brown.

Makes 12 servings at $0.25 a roll and 337 calories.

I'll upload a picture when I actually make them. They seem like a good accompaniment to both Lunch or Dinner.

$3ADDP: Grains, the Long and Short of It All

2008-11-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

Carbs definitely get a bad wrap these days. Partaking in low carb diets had me convinced that Carbs really do make you fat. Whole grain carbs in moderation, however, do no such thing. If you're going to burn it all off, it doesn't really matter.

In this case of this project, grains are going to be vital to getting the most bang for the buck.

In reading the $1 a Day Diet Project, I noticed that most of their meals consisted of at least one of the following grain products: homemade bread, polenta, rice, tortillas, oatmeal and the vegetable starch that I consider part of this grainy group, potatoes.

Here is my shopping list for grains, luckily, they keep in the pantry:

1. Whole Wheat Flour.
2. Rapid Rise Yeast.
3. Bread Flour.
4. Honey.
5. Whole Grain Polenta.
6. Brown Rice.
7. Bulgar Wheat.
8. Whole Wheat Couscous.
9. Vegetable Oil.
10. Oatmeal.
11. Salt.
12. Baking Soda.

Next up I'll post the recipes related to the whole grain bread, polenta and whole grain tortillas.

$3ADDP: The Rules

2008-11-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

I've thought long and hard about these rules. They had to be loose enough so that I could be creative with my menu planning but still critically important.

Being fitness minded makes me think about how sustainable a diet change will be on my body. My best friend, who tries to eat as healthy as possible, swears that eating healthy is much more expensive than eating whatever. I suppose that the $1 cheeseburger specials on every value menu would lead anyone to believe that.

Required Daily Food Intake:
-5 servings of Fruits/Vegetables
-1 serving meat/poultry/seafood
-50% of all grains must be Whole Grains

So that's the short list. Tomorrow I'll be posting on grains: What grains I'll be using, how much they'll cost per serving, etc. Stay tuned!

The 3 Dollar A Day Diet Plan

2008-11-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

If you took a look at my Google Reader it reflects what my interests are (Personal Finance, Food, Lifehacking, Fitness, etc.) but recently I've been seeing that the feeds I read are starting to blend together. I'm talking about lots of blogs starting to focus on Cheap, Healthy, Good recipes and more recently, the One Dollar a Day Diet Project.

It inspired me to start my own diet program, the $3 a day diet program. Why $3? Let me walk you through my mind:

1. Read the diet plan for the $1 a day Diet Project and it was made for vegetarians. Don't get me wrong, dear Readers, you have seen me go Vegetarian, Raw, etc many a time. My Husband will not.

2. In addition to the vegetarian basis for the $1 a day Diet Project, it was severely lacking in fresh vegetables and fruit. The key in my mind is to eat as healthily, cheaply and deliciously as possible.

3. Currently my husband and I have a household food/groceries budget that sits at about $500 a month or approximately $17 a day. I want to know if I'd be able to shave off $10 a day and have us both eat for $3 a day total.

4. I want to create a plan that is executable by the average person and even if my dear readers don't actually end up trying out my project, at the very least they'll have some decent cheap recipes they might want to try.

But I'm not starting today. No, this next week will be about research. Research and coercing my dear stubborn husband to partake in my new project.

During my research period I'll be establishing nutritional guidelines and compiling a Food Cost Index including location purchased.

Braised Red Cabbage

2008-09-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

After my voice losing bachelorette party in Vegas I came home to realize that I have a fridge full of vegetables nearing their expiration date and a body that needs cleansing. How convenient.

So I have some big plans to clean out my fridge and make some healthy, affordable (I blew a lot of money in Vegas) yet delicious easy to make dishes. Did I mention figure friendly? Because the wedding is in less than a month. My body better take heed.

So I'm thinking about this red cabbage is have sitting in my fridge. A cabbage that I bought because the color was so lusciously pretty and the idea that I could bring a new vegetable into my Fiance's favorites was just too much to pass up. I'm going to make that guy love vegetables if it's the last thing I do!

Here is my recipe I submitted to caloriecount.about.com.

Braised Red Cabbage

I have this Red Cabbage staring at me every time I go into the fridge pissed that I haven't eaten it yet.

Ingredients

4	slices turkey bacon, thinly sliced
2	onions, thinly sliced
1	cinnamon stick
1	bay leaf
1	teaspoon salt
1	head red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
2 1/2	cups chicken stock
1/2	cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1	tablespoons Splenda or sugar substitute
1/2	teaspoon black pepper
1	tablespoon olive oil

Directions

Saute onions and turkey bacon in olive oil until onions are golden and bacon is crispy.
Add cinnamon, bay leaf and salt and stir in the cabbage until soft.
Add chicken stock, apple cider vinegar Splenda/sugar substitute and black pepper.
Cook on low for 45 minutes.
Cook uncovered for an additional 5 minutes until the water is reduced. Remove bay leaf and cinnamon before serving.

99 Cent Store Turkey Chili

2008-08-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

My upcoming nuptials have really brought out some new and healthy habits that some might call unconventional. For instance, the need to save up tens of thousands of dollars to blow on one day of my life has forced me to cut my food budget. Less eating out, less gourmet ingredients and more of the discount chains. But cheaper doesn't have to be less healthy.

I have started frequenting the local Farmer's Market more often, where I can buy a week's worth of fruits and veggies for under $20. I have been to the Hispanic markets which have some of the lowest prices on meat and produce, though there isn't a whole lot of selection. Lastly, and the one I've gotten the most quizzical stares about is the 99 cent store.

Well I showed those naysayers, it turns out that the 99 cent store actually carries a good amount of organic foods like blackberries, mixed greens, celery, etc. In their frozen foods section you'll find a good amount of turkey based meat products including ground turkey, turkey hot dogs and turkey bacon. Their canned and jarred foods are also pretty extensive, having a large variety of the staples like tomatoes and beans. But yowza, check out jars of herbs for $0.99! That's a steal!

Anyway, perusing the shelves I came across all the ingredients to make a healthy and delicious chili. Here it goes:

Ingredients

24	oz. chili beans
12	oz. white beans
1	lb ground turkey
24	oz diced tomatoes
1	onion
7	cloves of garlic
1	yellow bell pepper
4	tablespoons chili powder
1	teaspoon cumin
1	teaspoon bay leaves
1	teaspoon olive oil
2	cups beef broth
1	package chili seasoning

Directions

Dice the onions, garlic and bell peppers.
Add olive oil to a hot skillet and sauté the onions, garlic and bell peppers.
When the onions garlic and bell peppers start to slightly brown, add the ground turkey and the chili seasoning. Break apart the ground turkey and allow to brown to develop a depth of flavor.
Add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 2 cans of chili beans and 1 can of white beans to the crockpot.
Add the ground turkey mixture to the crockpot.
Deglaze the skillet with the 2 cups of beef broth and then add the broth to the crockpot.
Season the chili with chili powder, cumin, and 1 teaspoon of bay leaves.
Cook on low for anywhere between 3-8 hours. I leave mine on all night or all day, it just gets better with time.

Enjoy!

Mocktails - Bay of Pigs

2008-08-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

I mentioned over at lanadefemme.blogspot.com that I had given up alcohol. That's right folks, no more vodka club sodas for me for a few months. Goodbye delicious dirty martinis, how I occasionally miss thee. Bay of Pigs, you are definitely missed. One of my biggest challenges was dealing with what I was going to do while everyone around me got their party on with alcoholic beverages. Enter my current favorite mocktail!

Bay of Pigs
Traditionally this drink is made from a Mexican beer (I prefer Sol) and Clamato. Salt rims the glass and the drink is kicked up a notch with some Tabasco. It's a lighter, more freshing and nighttime appropriate version of a Bloody Mary.

1 pint glass
1 bottle of Clamato
1 bottle of Sparkling Water/Club Soda/Non-alcoholic Beer
1 bottle of Tabasco
Margarita Salt
Limes

Take a pint glass, rim with salt, fill 1/3 to 1/2 with Clamato depending on your preference, fill the rest of the way with Sparkling Water/Club Soda/Non-alcoholic Beer. Dash Tabasco to your liking, I have usually 5+ dashes because I like it spicy. Garnish with a wedge of lime.

Personally, I skip the salt (sodium just causes bloat) and I use sparkling water because it's also low in sodium. My friend prefers Non-alcoholic Beer, but it just seems like wasteful calories to me for none of the fun of regular beer!

Iceberg Lettuce Wedge Salad

2008-08-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

Something about having to use a knife and fork to cut into a salad makes it seem more substantial doesn't it? My absolute favorite happens to include a blue cheese dressing, little diced tomatoes, black olives and bacon crumbles.

That being said, let's face it, I'm watching my waistline like everyone else in California. The amount of saturated fat in a dish that includes blue cheese dressing and bacon crumbles is astronomical. Here is my rendition.

Low Fat Blue Cheese Dressing (18 servings - 2 tablespoons per serving)
Ingredients

1	cup fat-free cottage cheese
1	cup nonfat plain yogurt
2	tablespoons chopped onion
1	garlic clove, minced
1	tablespoon crumbled blue cheese
1	tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

In a blender or food processor, combine cottage cheese, yogurt, onion and garlic; process until smooth.
Stir in blue cheese. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.
Whisk in lemon juice before serving.

Iceberg Wedge Salad
Ingredients

1	head iceberg lettuce
1/2	cup of blue cheese
4	serving turkey bacon
1	cup of black olives
1	diced tomato
1/4	red onion

Directions

On each salad plate, place 1 wedge of lettuce turned on its side.
Pour blue cheese dressing on wedge.
Sprinkle with tomatoes, red onion, black olives, crumbled blue cheese, and crumbled bacon.

Coolest Food Pics via Wired

2008-07-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

For those who know me well, they know I love to eat weird and crazy things. It's about life experiences I guess. Here is a collection of pictures from Wired.com that I would actually eat. For the full post, you'll want to go to the article

Top 10 Wired.com Food Photos, Decided by Us.

A Culinary Wedding: Part 2

2008-06-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

After finally making it to Napa, through a ridiculous amount of traffic on the 580 and 680, we were met by a BBQ at Phil and Shara's house. After a quick tour of their newly renovated house, glasses of wine were poured and we chatted in what is the start of Raymond Gayle, Phil's winery.
After we met the rest of the bridal party, were introduced to their 2 weimeraners, black cat
and caught up with the wonderful parents of the bride and groom, Phil got to cooking on the grill. Shara had specifically asked that Phil not cook up a storm creating a flurry of dirty dishes in his usual cooking style. After a few glasses of Syrah along side a bottle of Riesling, I think they realized that BBQ was the answer.

The Menu:
Mesclin greens topped with toasted pine nuts, fresh off the backyard tree figs, crumbled fresh cow's milk cheese tossed in a vinaigrette.
Fire roasted tomato salsa with tortilla chips.
Steak and Chicken kebabs including red onion, and multicolored bell pepper spacers.
Boiled fresh corn on the cob served with butter and sea salt.
Sliced watermelon.

Of note was the lack of starches/processed carbs with the exception of the tortilla chips. Over the course of the weekend I was pleasantly surprised by this more simple and healthier way of eating. I suppose it's easy when you live in the middle of a gourmet farmland.

(Pictures courtesy of stock.xchng)

A Culinary Wedding: Part 1

2008-06-30T11:31:00.001-07:00

In high school the Fiance was apart of a culinary academy with his childhood best friend Phil. You wouldn't know it now, especially since Fiance will only cook a can full of Dennison's chili on the stove and leaves the rest to me. Phil, however, went onto culinary greatness at Johnson and Wales, and ended up in Napa where he started his own winery and works as a fine wine specialist.

Somewhere between college and Napa, Phil met his now wife Shara who is a Director at the Culinary Institute of America. This past weekend I had the privilege of experiencing first hand what happens when two foodies decide it's time to get hitched.

The fiance and I drove up to Napa, stopping in at Mike's Roadhouse in Kettleman City, CA.

I specifically chose this stop because the Yelpers seemed to diverge greatly on how many stars this place deserved. It also helped that the local Chevron tauts one of the lowest gas prices on the road halfway to Napa, at least compared to Harris Ranch, which I'll get to later.

Despite the fact that Mike's advertises a $4.95 Country fried steak and eggs special, I quickly forgot about all of that when I walked in and was met with farmhouse kitsch and the most impressive collection of pedal cars. There were barrels of various hard candy flavors lining the walkway that split the restaurant from the gift shop/pit stop that got my mind running about who I know that might actually enjoy a bag of hard black liquorice. I came up with no one.

We were quickly seated and given what I remember to be a pretty standard diner type menu with two very key differences: An attention to low carb and other healthy dieters and a variety of Mexican food options. Thank the lord for local farm workers or I would have never had the most expansive Carnitas Tostada salad of my life.

We started with the Chili to share because when I think truck stop, I think chili. Fiance said it tasted like Wendy's chili. I felt like Wendy's chili would have been less greasy but who knows, it might have been the chunk of cheese they stuck in the middle of it. Kudos to them for providing whole wheat crackers though, I wouldn't have expected it.

When my salad came out it was massive. A seriously generous serving of carnitas flanked with tons of avocado, beans, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese accompanied by salsa and sour cream on the side all on a fried flour tortilla. My mouth waters thinking about it right now. The carnitas was VERY good and in skipping the fried flour tortilla, I was pretty happy to find a high veggie, high protein lunch option in a world of fast food chains.

The Fiance on the other hand would have probably been just as happy at the locals Carl's Jr. considering the fact that he got a burger and fries that looked a little like a Famous Star with french fries.

Our bill came out to about $30 with tax and tip but we did end up buying something else on the way out for the bride and groom:

A 3d greeting card along with a bag of salt water taffy.

(Pictures courtesy of Yelp.com and Tableandhome.com)

S'mores Cake

2008-04-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

So I've been throwing around ideas about what to make my fiance for his birthday cake. I was thinking German Chocolate but realized that I wanted to make his birthday Super Mario Themed and would like something with fondant so I can decorate it.

Instead I think I'm going to go with a S'mores cake. One layer of Graham Cracker cake, one layer of Chocolate Fudge Cake, marshmallow creme filling and a marshmallow fondant. Sounds complicated, hopefully it'll be totally worth it.

Here are the recipes:

Graham Cracker Cupcake Recipe (to be adapted to a layer cake recipe).

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup of milk
1 cup of flour
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of salt

Directions:
1) Beat the butter for about 30 seconds until well creamed. Add the sugar and mix for 3 minutes using a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
2) Add the eggs, one at a time, being sure to beat for 30 seconds for each egg.
3) Place graham crackers in a food processor or in a plastic bag and beat the crud out of them until it's been ground into small crumbs and powder.
4) Sift together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and powder, and salt. Add about 1/4 of the mixture to the butter mixture, then add some of the milk. Continue to add the ingredients in a dry-wet-dry method, ending with the dry. Continue to mix until just combined.
5) Scoop into cupcake papers and bake for 15-18 minutes in a 350 F oven or until a cake tester comes out clean.

From Vanilla Garlic.

Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe:

Ingredients:

3 oz Bitter chocolate

2 1/4 c Sifted cake flour

2 ts Baking soda

1/2 ts Salt

1/2 c Butter

2 1/4 c (1 lb) light brown sugar,

Firmly packed

3 Eggs

1 1/2 ts Vanilla

1 c Sour cream

1 c Boiling water

Directions:
1. Melt chocolate in sm bowl over hot (not boiling) water; cool.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 (9") layer cake pans. Sift flour, soda, and salt onto wax paper. Beat butter until soft in lg bowl. Add brown sugar and eggs; beat wtih mixer at high speed until light and fluffy, 5 mins. Beat in vanilla and cooled melted chocolate. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with sour cream, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition until batter is smooth. Stir in boiling water. (Batter will be thin.) Pour at once into prepared pans. Bake 35 mins, until centers spring back when lightly pressed with fingertips. Cool in pans on wire rack 10 mins. Loosen around edges with sm knife or spatula. Turn out onto wire racks; cool completely.

From Flora's Recipe Hideout.

Marshmallow Filling Recipe:

Ingredients

1½ cups sugar
½ cup marshmallow
½ cup water
2 egg whites, beaten stiff

Instructions

Boil sugar, water and marshmallow to 215 degrees F.
Put your pan containing the dissolved sugar and water (syrup) on a hot fire and wait until it boils.
Take, with a spoon, a little of the syrup and drop slowly in cold water.
When the sugar drops out from the spoon into threads, it is ready.
Pour the hot mixture gradually into the beaten whites of egg, beating all the time until the filling is smooth and firm.
Let cool off and spread between layers of cake.

From Love to Know Recipes.

Buttercream Icing Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter, room temperature
2 cups Crisco shortening
1 teaspoon butter flavoring (Wilton’s makes the best flavored version)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use Wilton’s Clear Vanilla)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 pounds powdered (confectioners) cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon meringue powder (optional but the texture will be smoother)*
Water as necessary (I usually add about 2 tablespoons but you may need more or less depending on the humidity in your neighborhood)

* You can purchase meringue powder at your local grocery store under the brand name of Just Whites.

In the mixer, mix butter, Crisco shortening, and salt together to incorporate, about 5 minutes on low.

Add almond, butter and vanilla extracts. Mix together well. Add about 1 pound of powdered sugar and the meringue powder and mix.

Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time and mix until you get the consistency you want.

Add a little milk, a teaspoon at a time, if necessary to thin the frosting. Blend well on low for several minutes.

Use immediately or cover and refrigerate. NOTE: Buttercream Icing will last for weeks as long as it is well sealed.

Marshmallow Fondant Recipe:

Ingredients

16 ounces white mini marshmallows (use a good quality brand)

2-5 tablespoons water

2 lbs icing sugar (please use C&H Cane Powdered Sugar for the best results)

1/2 cup Crisco shortening (you will be digging into it so place in a very easily accessed bowl)

Directions

Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave or double boiler: Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open microwave and stir again, and continue doing this until melted.
It usually takes about 2 ½ minutes total. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.
Now grease your hands GENEROUSLY - palms, backs and in between fingers, then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle.
Start kneading like you would bread dough. You will immediately see why you have greased your hands.
Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more.
Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant is sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is to dry, so add water (about ½ tablespoon at a time then knead it in). It usually takes me about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
Its best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them, you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.
Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic- type wrap product and then put it in a re-sealable or Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible.
MM Fondant will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks. If I know that I have a cake to decorate, I usually make 2 batches on a free night during the week so it is ready when I need it. Take advantage of the fact that this fondant can be prepared well in advance.

Icing and fondant recipe from What's Cooking America.

Here's is a video on making marshmallow fondant:

Girl's Night In

2008-04-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

So I have a group of girls that I get together with about once a month. One is recently married, another is engaged like me and the last is eternally single. We all went to college together but didn't all become friends until much later. As we've gotten older, their culinary interests have peaked and when I host our monthly get togethers it gets increasingly more difficult to "Wow!" them like I would like to because they're coming into their own foodie selves.

This Friday I'm hosting a Rockband get together. We're going to have dinner and then party like rockstars. I'm planning on a crockpot meal that I can leave cooking all day so when I get home all I have to worry about is the side dishes and appetizers.

I want to start with Savory Palmiers. I'm contemplating making those tomorrow night and leaving them in the fridge till the next night when I'm ready to bake.

Then staying in the French theme make Coq Au Vin with green beans and mashed potatoes.

For drinks I'll provide a couple of bottles of champagne.

Off to the market I will go!

Quirky Food Facts About Me

2008-03-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

I think everyone has their food quirks. I remember in college I had a friend who would eat her burger one layer at a time, never interested in tasting the goodness that comes from bun, onion, lettuce, cheese, bacon and beef all in one bite. I started thinking about my own food quirks.

1. When I'm alone I'll eat my salad like it's chips. Literally, a few pieces of lettuce at a time, undressed, dipped into dressing if I feel like it, with my fingers. Crude, I know. But something about finger foods makes it feel sinful instead of good for me.

2. My favorite flavor of ice cream is Riteaid's black cherry and pistachio nut. Yes, it's two different flavors, but each by itself is a failure of an ice cream. Together, they are the dynamic duo of flavors.

3. I put 357 hot sauce on almost anything I don't like to eat just so that I'll end up liking it. 357 is 357,000 scovilles of heat in each drop. Yeah, I like it BURNING.

4. I own a chocolate fountain, an electric ice shaver, a Cuisinart ice cream maker and I don't like sweets. Aside from the aforementioned ice cream. Lol.

5. I will eat anything at least once. This includes and is not limited too stinky foods, insects, offal meats, and endangered animals.

Mashed Potato Bar - Boys' Night In

2008-02-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

Mashed potato bars are all the rage at weddings these days but I thought "What better man food than mashed potatoes?"

So I've decided to invite the fiance's friends over next Saturday to cook them some shepards pie stew, whipped mashed potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes and a full bar of goodies.

What toppings am I going to offer? Here are the basics:

- Sharp aged Cheddar Cheese
- Crumbled Blue Cheese
- Goat Cheese
- Smoked Apple Bacon
- Crumbled Italian Sausage
- Sour Cream
- Brown Gravy
- Caramelized Onions
- Sauteed Mushrooms
- Steamed Broccoli
- Green Onions
- Roasted chopped vegetables

But what to drink? Well Guinness and Irish Smashes!

Here's the recipe for the Irish Smash:

Irish Smash

50 ml Irish whiskey (Jameson)
6 mint leaves
2 slices of lemon
30 ml syrup
20 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

Muddle the lemon slices with the mint leaves and the syrup.
Add whiskey and lemon juice.
Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass half filled with crushed ice.
Decorate with a mint twig.

Drink recipe courtesy of drinkalizer.com.

dine LA Restaurant Week 2008

2008-01-25T18:43:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again! Some of the best restaurants in LA are setting up 3 course prix fixe menus at the more than affordable price of $34 per person.

Since I'm in the South Los Angeles area I'm going to have to stick to restaurants in Long Beach. Here is the list:

L'Opera
$22 lunches
$34 dinners

Long Beach

Italian

$$$

Lunch

Dinner

McKenna's on the Bay
$22 lunches
$34 dinners

Long Beach

Seafood

$$$

Lunch

Dinner

Mr R's Grille @ The Marriott - Long Beach
$34 dinners

Long Beach

Steakhouse

$$$

Dinner

Ristorante daVinci
$22 lunches
$34 dinners

Long Beach

Italian

$$$

Lunch

Dinner

The Sky Room.
$34 dinners

Long Beach

American

$$$

Dinner

More dineLA information available on Open Table.

Dinner Parties

2008-01-23T11:39:00.000-08:00

One of the best parts about having great friends who do you favors is putting together little dinner parties to thank them. Other times it's just a good way to get rid of food in my fridge quickly so I can buy new things that entice my palate. Dinner Parites are relatively easy to throw; food and decor is all you need.

My dinner parties usually follow a pretty easy menu.

Appetizers: 3 types of cheese, a whole grain baguette, miscellaneous vegetables and fruit.

Salad: Usually mixed baby greens, crumbled cheese, red onions, tiny plum tomatoes and some crisp bacon dressed with some vinaigrette.

Main Course: A roast of some sort accompanied by a starch like potatoes and an herbed vegetable dish. Occasionally I'll add in a pasta dish to supplement.

Dessert: A cake or pastry of some sort topped with fruit and a sauce. Sometimes I mix it up with a creme brulee or waffles with berries and whipped cream.

Cocktails: Red wine or signature cocktails like Hot Buttered Rums or Mojitos, it all depends on the meal.

Decor: Candles, serving platters and the occasional flowers.

It usually takes me a couple of hours to get everything together, not including shopping time.

101 Cookbooks, a Gem

2008-01-22T13:24:00.000-08:00

I'm a pretty avid blog reader. I've been blogging for years on different sites so it's only natural that I enjoy perusing other people's musings as well. Every once and a while I'll find an amazing blog written by real people who don't make me feel like they're pro bloggers or part some some blogging conglomerate. Heidi of 101 Cookbooks is one of those bloggers.

She is a professional cookbook writer though, her books Super Natural Cooking and Cook 1.0 are filled with natural healthy recipes and amazing photography. Her blog is no different.

As I try my hand at regular blogging I look to these impressive writers for things I can incorporate into my own culinary blog.

From Heidi I've learned that there are three elements to a perfect food post.

First, you must include a gorgeous photograph, she suggests taken in natural light, of the ingredients, a finished product or a step in the process of making the recipe. Heidi's photographs are fresh, bright and clean. Somehow, I'm assuming this is where the natural light comes in, because her pictures are soothing to the eye while the colors pop in every single one. It's somewhat similar to the visual style of Giada's Everyday Italian Show on Food Network.

I hope she doesn't mind, I had to give you a sample of her wonderful photographs.

Second, you must include the most charming stories to go along with the recipe. With Heidi she gives you a glimpse into her life that seems filled with love, friendship and food. Every recipe has the background of how she came up with the recipe, or who taught her how to make the dish or what the food reminds her of and makes her feel. Though I have never actually heard Heidi's voice, her narrative writing style makes it easy for every blog to feel like I can actually hear her speaking as I read them.

Third, you must have amazing recipes that use amazing ingredients. You can tell her love of food from the description of different ingredients that most every day cooks may not have tried. Everything from black Japonica rice to clandestinely delivered fingerling potatoes, she takes them and put them into the perfect simply delicious dishes.

More than anything, between everything else I have to juggle in my life, every time Heidi blogs a new recipe her posts give me a light hearted feeling that always reminds me of a few of my favorite things: food, photography and writing.

Beef Tenderloin (Part 4 - Beef Carpaccio)

2008-01-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

In the beginning of my young professional years, one of my big splurges was always fine dining. I would find it difficult to spend a few hundred on a dress that I loved but wouldn't give a second thought to dishing out the same cash for an amazing tasting menu.

Aside from my love of prix fixe chef specials, I did manage to rack up quite a few dollars on my cashback rewards card spending money at new restaurants trying out the dishes they considered signature. It was on one of these trips years ago that my old best friend and I tried out Trastevere Ristorante Italiano when it opened at Hollywood and Highland.

At the time, their special Antipasti was a Beef Carpaccio, something neither of us had happened upon before. Truth be told, being raised in a suburb where Olive Garden was considered good Italian food, we just didn't have any affinity for it until being exposed to the intricacies of truly gourmet Italian cuisine. Now, I know better.

Though the dish is no longer on their menu, I can only assume because Hollywood and Highland is such a tourist trap that unrefined palates that wander into the restaurants don't want a dish of raw beef. Unfortunate. When we had it the beef tenderloin came out paper thin, the shavings of parmesan reggiano were just the right mix of salty and creamy with a touch of fruitiness, fresh arugula and basil surprisingly didn't steal the show with it's strong aromas and the drizzle of truffle oil in lieu of olive oil with meyer lemon was divine in it's simplicity.

I've made beef carpaccio at home before, my fiance refused to try it. I don't know if he is squeamish about raw meat or if he just didn't like the look of the whole tenderloin that I brought home. He's the type who likes to leave things to the professionals where I'm a cut it yourself kind of gal. Regardless, here is the recipe I used:

8-10	ounces beef tenderloin, from the tip end of the roast
4	cups arugula
	lemon and olive oil vinaigrette to taste
	kosher salt
	fresh ground black pepper
	shaved parmesan cheese

Wrap the tenderloin in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, unwrap the tenderloin and thinly slice the beef into approximately into 1/8 to 1/4-inch pieces.
Lay out sheets of plastic wrap and place each slice onto the plastic. Top with another piece of plastic and gently pound the meat with a meat mallet until paper thin.
Repeat until all of the meat is sliced and pounded.
Divide the meat evenly among 4 chilled plates. Serve with greens tossed with vinaigrette, salt, pepper and/or Parmesan.

Let's just hope when I make it again this time he'll be daring enough to enjoy it.

Beef Tenderloin (Part 3 - Beef Stroganoff)

2008-01-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite dishes when I head out to Jerry's Deli in Westwood is the Beef Stroganoff. It's nothing special, just some egg noodles, beef and a delicious sauce flanked by an order of steamed broccoli. I think the broccoli is there so that I can feel better about intaking such a calorie/carb/fat laden dish.

You'll see, over the course of reading this food blog, that I like to take recipes and make them healthier. Sometimes it's a good move and other times, well, let's just say I should have left well enough alone.

Here is a classic Beef Stroganoff recipe from Back Of The Box courtesy of General Mills for those who are purists:

Classic Beef Stroganoff

1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin steak, about 1/2 inch thick
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 cups hot cooked egg noodles

Cut beef across grain into about 1 1/2x1/2-inch strips.

Cook mushrooms, onions and garlic in margarine in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender; remove from skillet.

Cook beef in same skillet until brown. Stir in 1 cup of the broth, the salt and Worcestershire sauce. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Stir remaining 1/2 cup broth into flour; stir into beef mixture. Add onion mixture; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in sour cream; heat until hot (do not boil). Serve over noodles.

Makes 6 servings

Now, depending on what kind of diet you're on there are a number of substitutions to make this a much healthier dish.

First and foremost, regardless of what diet you're on you should make the following edits:

1. Substitute the 1/4 cup of margarine or butter for a just enough to coat the pan amount of olive oil or cooking spray. Reducing the fat and using good fat is always a good choice.

2. Replace the 1.5 cups of sour cream with fat free sour cream. Same great taste, less calories.

3. Use the lowest fat beef broth you can find. Go organic if you'd like.

Onto the options depending on your diet:

1. I know it might seem apparent to go ahead and substitute a lower fat meat than beef, but I'm not going to suggest this. If I were to do that, this recipe would cease to be a beef stroganoff. a. You could opt for grass fed beef. Supposedly it's power in cholesterol and saturated fats and higher in omega-3s. I'm no scientist, I just report what I've read.
b. Generally always use a loin or a round. They are the leanest cuts of meat. I won't tell you to use a grade that doesn't include marbling, marbling makes meat tender. I use tenderloin for my stroganoff.

2. Mushrooms a plenty. I love the stuff so I would even venture to double the mushrooms in this dish, much to my fiance's dismay. They cook down quick and small. I would even add some different varieties, if I was feeling adventurous. Button mushrooms can be boring, but shiitake mushrooms lend too strong a flavor. Stay in the mid range mild mushroom flavors and you'll be just fine.

3. Replace all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. This is arguable because the amount of flour to some people would be considered negligible and you have to use more whole wheat flour to thicken the same amount of sauce and in turn you still would only be getting a little bit more fiber in return for some more calories. But it's an option.

4. Noodles. Onto the coup de grace, substitutions for the oh so wonderful noodles. A good stroganoff to some is in the sauce, others it's in the meat and still for others it's in the noodles. Here are a few options for those who may be watching their fiber or their vegetable intake.
a. Go high fiber whole wheat egg noodles. You'll sacrifice a bit of the chewiness that makes stroganoff egg noodles so delicious, but the fiber will be worth it. Plus, you'll probably eat less and feel more full.
b. Go low carb and substitute your noodles for cauliflower. You basically trim down the cauliflower so that they form relatively thin rectangles while still keeping their structure, boil it for a few minutes, drain and toss in with your sauce. This is my preferred option because it keep the fiber up, calories down and helps me meet my daily vegetable intake.
c. Go low carb and go shirataki. There are currently shirataki noodles on the market that are high fiber and only 30 calories a package that mimic fettuccine and spaghetti noodle shapes. They are made from a yam and look like rice noodles. They stay chewy, almost too chewy, in any sauce, though some people argue there is an unpleasant smell to the noodles. Some people love them.

Beef Tenderloin (Part 2 - Where and Why)

2008-01-17T10:25:00.000-08:00

When I was in college and starting out on my personal culinary journey I failed to understand that you couldn't make any roast out of just any cut of meat. Back then, I didn't even understand the concepts of different cuts of meat, let alone how picking the wrong cut would ruin a dish.

Now that I'm older I understand that you can't use chuck roast to make roast beef and that if you use a rump roast to cut into steaks it'll never be like filet mignon. Live and learn.

Here's a chart that explains the different cuts of meat and where they come from, courtesy of askthemeatman.com:

The tenderloin is the meat that hangs between the shoulder blade and the hip socket. Obviously, this area of the four legged mammal doesn't get much work and results in a very tender piece of meat.

The tenderloin tends to be buttery in flavor and almost melt in your mouth tender, though not as robust as a Rib Eye, my personal cut of choice, it's a favorite among chefs and foodies because it lends itself to many dishes that require the best texture and most presentable color in raw state for dishes like beef carpaccio (made from the tenderloin tip) and beef tartar (ground tenderloin).

Here is a sample reciple for beef tartar from Cooks.com:

Steak Tartar

1 lb. filet Mignon or top sirloin, freshly ground, med. grind
2 tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
3 tbsp. capers, drained
4-5 dashes hot pepper sauce, or to taste
Seasoned salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp. cognac (opt.)

Don't use any other grade of beef.

Mix together all ingredients lightly to avoid packing the meat too much. Mound steak tartar on chilled plates and serve immediately with thinly sliced pumpernickel or toasted French bread.

Serves 3-4.

Image Courtesy of the wonderful blogger at Restaurantwidow.com.

Beef Tenderloin (Part 1 - Filet Mignon)

2008-01-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows that my two favorite chefs on the Food Network are Alton Brown and Giada DeLaurentiis.

In the spirit of my favorite Alton Brown series, I bought a beef tenderloin to butcher myself.

I will be making filet mignons tonight and a chateaubriand this weekend.

I'm trying to decide between the following alton brown and giada recipes:

Steak au Poivre

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005
Show:	Good Eats
Episode:	Tender is the Loin 1

4 tenderloin steaks, 6 to 8 ounces each and no more than 1 1/2 inches thick
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/3 cup Cognac, plus 1 teaspoon
1 cup heavy cream
Remove the steaks from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour prior to cooking. Sprinkle all sides with salt.

Coarsely crush the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle, the bottom of a cast iron skillet, or using a mallet and pie pan. Spread the peppercorns evenly onto a plate. Press the fillets, on both sides, into the pepper until it coats the surface. Set aside.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. As soon as the butter and oil begin to turn golden and smoke, gently place the steaks in the pan. For medium-rare, cook for 4 minutes on each side. Once done, remove the steaks to a plate, tent with foil and set aside. Pour off the excess fat but do not wipe or scrape the pan clean.

Off of the heat, add 1/3 cup Cognac to the pan and carefully ignite the alcohol with a long match or firestick. Gently shake pan until the flames die. Return the pan to medium heat and add the cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and whisk until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Add the teaspoon of Cognac and season, to taste, with salt. Add the steaks back to the pan, spoon the sauce over, and serve.

Filet Mignon with Red Wine Sauce

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

6 (4 to 6-ounce) filet mignons
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 1/2 cups dry red winePreheat grill to medium-high heat.

Generously season the steaks with salt and pepper and drizzle with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Grill to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer the steaks to a cutting board. Tent with foil and let stand 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt. Add the garlic and oregano and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in the wine. Simmer until the sauce reduces by half, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Strain the sauce into a small bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids in the strainer and return the sauce to the saucepan and bring back to a slow simmer. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into small 1/2-inch chunks and whisk in the sauce a little at a time. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Place filets on each of 6 dinner plates. Drizzle the sauce over the filets and serve.

Images courtesy of foodwiser.com, gourmet.about.com, and thewils.net.

The Crab Pot @ Alamitos Bay

2007-12-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

I'm known for getting weird hankerings and having to have them. Yesterday it was lobster after a comedic conversation about why there's never been a lobster buffet. I don't think, dear readers, you need any further explanation.

It was a beautiful Southern California day yesterday where the sky was blue, the clouds were like cotton and the sun was perfectly shining in the sky. I immediately thought of the Crab Pot on Alamitos Bay. Yes, it might have been pure exhaustion from the previous two days or just a complete brain fart, but I assumed the Crab Pot would have lobster also. Turns out I was wrong, but it is a great season to get a good deal on Alaskan king crab legs.

Alaskan king crabs are fished only during October and January usually all done within a matter of a week or less and then shipped world wide. Turns out, they're usually frozen right on the boat so very few places actually carry fresh off the boat never frozen crabs. I've never had them that way in the first place and once my fishmonger explained to me that a lot of seafood is frozen right when it's caught for bacterial reasons. I don't know if this is true or if he was just telling me that because he didn't have any fresh out of the water sashimi grade fish.

During the month right before the fish, Alaskan king crab legs usually go on sale to make room for the new catch. During the fishing seasons, because of the freshness, the prices skyrocket. I suppose that's why at the Crab Pot their usual $33 plate of 1.5 lbs of Alaskan king crab legs was on special for $19. Fiance got so excited he immediately ordered it and said he was going to come back every week. I awaited the actual taste test.

We started with a sourdough loaf, which, if I had one thing to complain about, was that it didn't come complementary. I mean, hello, you're a seafood restaurant and you're going to act like bread and butter is a chargeable appetizer?! What kind of cheap restaurateurs...

Fiance also ordered a bloody mary, which he said was one of the best he'd had in a long time. Impressive considering he had just had one last Sunday from our favorite bartender. Our meals started with soup (clam chowder for me) and salad (with blue cheese for him.)

The food came out pretty quickly. We both ordered the Alaska King Crab legs so they came out in the same bowl. We each got a few lemon wedges, two containers of clarified butter, and tools to release the delicious crab morsels with. The crab legs were accompanied by red skinned potatoes and corn on the cob, all generously sprinkled with some cajun seasoning.

The crab was delicious, down to the last bite. We'll have to come back again, with friends.

They leave the bowl by the side of the table so that you can throw the carcasses in them. The service was great and each table equipped with it's own heat lamp was a brilliant addition as the sun started to set.

All and all a great Sunday spent watching the boats go by, hearing the lapping sound of water on the docks and the breathing in the fresh ocean air.

Our tab came out to about $46 without tip. Not too shabby for this delicious crab filled feast.

Sorry for the sub par picture quality. I forgot my camera and had to settle for my cell phone.

Cheese and Italian Deli Shops

2007-12-05T12:58:00.001-08:00

For a long time my favorite cheese shop was found at the Farmer's Market in LA. Now that I'm closer to the beach in Orange County I've resigned to shopping for cheeses and specialty meats at the local Trader Joe's. Well no more! I decided to find my own local shops. I mean, my neighborhood is snotty enough to have their own foodie spots.

This is what I found:

Frogs Breath Cheese Shop: 143 N. Glassel, Orange California 92866. They have an extensive cheese list which I will be working my way through in the next year. Open on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Thursday - Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Angelo's Italian Deli: 133 1/2 Main St. Seal Beach, CA 90740 (562) 431-1113. Homemade mozzarella, sweet and spicy sausage, Italian meats. Oh yum.

I'm thinking about making a trip out there tonight.

Chinese Chicken Soup for the Soul

2007-12-04T09:18:00.001-08:00

I've been getting really sick lately, I'm sure because of the quantity of alcohol I've consumed and the fact that someone around me is always sick. I saw my best friend two days ago after she was just getting over a cold and now here I am with the sniffles.

I usually lose my appetite when I'm sick except when it comes to chicken soup. Something about warm chicken broth that warms the body and the soul really motivates me to get some food in my system.

In my college years I learned a pretty good chicken soup recipe that included making my own chicken stock to start with. Since I'm no longer a student with a load of time on my hands I opt for a crockpot chicken soup or my favorite: Chinese Chicken Congee.

My mother, the traditional Chinese mom, claims that this porridge like dish is the only real thing you should eat when you're sick. Whenever my mom is sick I make it a habit to return the favor. Here is the long recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup of white rice
6-8 cups of chicken broth
3 table spoons of Chinese cooking wine
1 whole chicken
1 large onion
2 fingers of ginger
salt to taste
msg optional
green onions to garnish

You start by submerging a whole chicken in water in a large stock pot. Place the large onion skinned and halved in the pot. Cover and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes and turn off the heat. Leave covered for 1 hour or more. Ideally you should end up with 6-8 cups of chicken broth this way. When cooled remove the chicken from the pot.

Wash the cup of rice. Rice is notoriously dirty because of the insects and rodents that get into the warehouses so you should always clean your rice before cooking it. I like to saute the rice in some oil until lightly browned to add an additional nutty flavor but this is not necessary.

Peel the ginger and cut the pieces into small almost toothpick like sticks. Remove the meat from the chicken. The meat should almost be shreddable with a fork. Remove the large boned and place them back in the pot. Add the wine, rice and ginger to the pot and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add the salt to taste.

I know MSG gets a bad wrap but my mom always made this soup with msg and it just doesn't taste as flavorful without it. I always add msg to taste. Allow the soup to simmer until the rice grains are virtually indistinguishable like little starchy explosions.

This should make a medium thick congee, if you prefer it thinner you can add water to thin it out. Serve in a large bowl, top with a generous amount of shredded chicken, a sprinkle of thinly chopped green onions/cilantro and the option of black pepper and chili garlic.

(Picture courtesy of Google Images.)

Lana L'Épicurien

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