Sunday Dinner: Pico Rivera Special

Today in the Sherry household, we had a bit of a role reversal (for us).  Aaron went off to work and I stayed home.  Aaron just got an editing job . . . I can’t tell you what it is because even I don’t know.  He had to sign a super strict NDA, and he can’t tell me anything about it.  The only think I know is that he says he “can see why it’s so top secret” and it’s “super cool.” I can’t wait until whatever the show is becomes public knowledge so he can finally tell me about it!  Even though it’s Sunday, they called him in, and he’s all about taking any extra hours they can send his way . . . especially since he knows this job won’t last forever (once the show is finished, so is the job).  So anyway, I decided to be a super awesome wife and greet Aaron with a drink and have dinner (almost) ready by the time he got home.

Pico Rivera Special was a favorite in the Stevens household growing up.  Aaron loves this recipe so much that it is now a favorite in the Stevens-Sherry household too!  The story is that my grandfather came up with this recipe when he was living the bachelor life in Pico Rivera (hence the name).  I love this recipe because the ingredients are all things I almost always have on hand, which means that even when I haven’t been grocery shopping in a long time, I can still whip this together and make a fantastic meal!

You start by browning ground beef and adding onions.  

Then you add tomato sauce, corn, and chili pepper.  

Then you add noodles. And then you are done!

Simple, easy, family friendly recipe!

 

Here’s the cost breakdown:

Pico Rivera Special
6 oz noodles	$0.50
1 lb ground beef	$3.80
1 can tomato sauce	$0.88
1 can corn	$0.99
1 small onion	$0.60
chili powder	$0.05
total:	$6.82
6 servings =	$1.13	per person

* A note on the breakdown: like I said, I already had all of these items in my pantry, so the costs are estimated – except the meat, which had the cost stamped on the front of the package that was in my freezer.  Also, I didn’t account for the salad that we ate, but I’m guessing it would add an extra 50 cents per person?  One of these days, I will write a blog about the other Stevens-Sherry family favorite: Chicken Caesar Salad.  And then I will do a full accounting of my salad costs.  :)

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And for those who want the actual recipe, here it is:

Pico Rivera Special

-         1 lb ground beef

-         1 onion

-         1 can tomato sauce (8oz)

-         1 small can corn, drained

-         1 tbps chili powder

-         6 oz noodles (about half a bag) (preferably egg, penne, or bowtie)

-         Salt & pepper to taste

1.                  Brown meat & add chopped onion.  Heat until onions are soft.

2.                  Add dash of salt & pepper

3.                  Add tomato sauce, corn and chili power

4.                  Heat to bubbly and blended (~10 minutes)

5.                  Boil noodles (can be done while browning meat)

6.                  Drain and pour into pan with the other ingredients

7.                  Mix & heat for about 5 more minutes.

Weeknight Dinner: Orzo Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes

Weeknights are hard to cook a real meal!  I don’t get home from work until 7:15 – 7:30 most nights (and that’s when I’m not rehearsing for anything).  The last thing I want to do is start cooking the moment I walk in the door.  If I do cook during the week, I won’t start until 8ish, which often means dinner at 9 (or 10 if I've chosen a recipe that is too difficult . . .note to self: don't ever pick a Julia Child recipe on a weeknight!).  I don’t really mind eating a late dinner, and I know Aaron doesn’t either – I guess when we have kids we may need to change that schedule, but we’ll see.  I can remember several family dinners growing up that were pretty late.  We always managed to eat dinner together as a family . . . even if it meant eating at 8 or 9 or sometimes 10 (but that was usually when Dad was out of town and Mom was busy with a community meeting or something).

Tonight I decided to try some “real” cooking, even though it’s a weeknight.  My CSA box came with heirloom tomatoes, and I’ve always wanted to try something special with them (rather than my usual green salad).  So, I found a recipe for Orzo salad withheirloom tomatoes on the Farm Fresh To You website.  This recipe definitely fits the weeknight requirements: quick, easy, healthy, and tasty. It took about 30 minutes from pulling the box of orzo out of the cupboard to when it was ready to eat.

First I boiled the orzo.  While it was boiling, I cut up all the herbs and tomato, etc.  After draining the orzo, I whisked together the vinegar and lemon juice.  I used the juice of an entire lemon (bc it was just easier than squeezing out only 1 tablespoon).  Then I slowly added the olive oil.  I actually used a little under ¼ cup of oil, and I think that was plenty!  I also used half the amount of mint the recipe calls for and twice the amount of olives (I sliced up both black olives and green olives to give it more flavor and color).  Once the dressing is done, I just mixed all the ingredients in a pretty blue bowl, and dinner was ready.

It is really a nice, easy recipe both to follow and to eat!  I also grilled up some chicken to add some protein to the dinner.

Here’s how much the weeknight meal cost (add $0.50 per person for the chicken breast):

Orzo & Heirloom Tomato Salad
9 oz Orzo*	$1.00
2 tbs White wine vinegar	$0.05
1/4 cup olive oil	$0.10
2 large heirloom tomatoes	$1.50
3/4 cup chopped green onions	$0.89
1/2 cup sliced olives	$0.50
1/2 cup sliced basil*	$1.99
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint	$1.00
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley	$0.05
total	$7.08
6 servings =	$1.18	per person

* A note on the costs, that box of Orzo has been sitting, half full in my pantry for who knows how long – so I don’t actually know how much it cost.  I do know however, that I would never spend more than $2 on a box of pasta, so I estimated high and guessed at $2 for the box, of which I only used half.  On the basil, when I opened the small container of fresh organic basil, I was very disappointed to discover that it was already starting to wilt terribly.  So I used half of it and threw the other half away – had it been good, I would have been able to save the rest for future use.  Also, I easily could have spent half and gotten twice the amount of basil had I been able to organize myself a little earlier and trek over to the Lake Balboa farmer’s market on Sunday morning.  Oh well!

Sunday Dinner: Guinness Beets

 Oh my goodness!  I feel like I am about to fall over, I am so exhausted from all the domesticity I put myself through today.  This morning I woke up around 7:30am, fed the cat, brought in the paper, and watered the lawn.  Then I clipped coupons while watching “Meet the Press” (one of my favorite Sunday activities).  By 9:30 am, I was out in the front yard pruning/weeding.  I wanted to try to get out there before it got too hot . . . which only lasted until about 11:30am, at which point, I was sweating through the baseball cap I was wearing (gross I know).  I will say this: I never want to let the plants on our side yard get that overgrown again!  My arms and legs have small cuts all over from the red grass bushes that attacked me as they apparently decided they didn’t want to be trimmed. 

After the sweltering yard work, I decided to seek some respite inside, and found that Aaron had woken up and was lounging on the couch, eating a bowl of cereal while watching a Star Trek movie.  I sat down to watch the end of it with him then we started watching “Mad Men” – I am completely enjoying that show!  I am absolutely in love with the wardrobe of Mrs. Don Draper.  I would want to wear every single one of her dresses.  It’s also really interesting to watch the role of women in the Mad Men era and see how far we’ve come.  I find it amusing that the housewives were taking pity on the one divorced woman on their street – her house was a mess, and she ate frozen food because she had to work and didn’t have time to cook or clean . . . yeah, when they showed her house, it looked a lot like mine, and I buy frozen meals for weekday lunches . . . because I don’t have time to cook or clean a lot of the time either.  Except on Sunday, which brings me to the food I made today.

This week, my CSA box from Farm Fresh to You came with beets (and a bunch of other locally grown organic yummyness as well).  

I will keep experimenting with beets until I find a recipe I truly love.  After asking around for beet recipes, I finally decided that I would do Sautéed Beets with Beer (aka Guinness Beets).  I mainly decided on that recipe because the only ingredient I had to purchase was Guinness and it looked pretty easy.  Turns out it tasted pretty good too!   

First I cut the greens off the beets and then boiled the beets.  While the beets were boiling, I sorted through the greens and picked out the ones that looked edible (many of them had wilted or looked like maybe a bug had dinner before the beets were picked at the farm).  The CSA box also came with chard, so I cut up the chard and added it to the beet greens.  The way the recipe is written, it seems like it wants you to boil the stout and make the sauce while the beets are boiling.  However, I would recommend waiting until after the beets are done boiling.  The reason is that the beer sauce reduces very quickly, and the beets take a while to finish boiling.  And then, once the beets are done boiling, they still need time to cool down so that you can rub the skins off.  To make up for this minor error, I ended up turning the sauce down to a simmer and supplementing more Guinness as it reduced.

Once the beets were done boiling and their skins were rubbed off, I put them in the pan with the sauce and let them simmer while I wilted the greens.  I used half the amount of butter the recipe calls for – both in the sauce and on the greens.  I think next time I will use even less butter on the greens . . . I prefer my veggies with as little grease as possible.  I also Foreman grilled some chicken breast and added spices to some leftover rice.

Et voila:

 

It turned out pretty darn tasty.  Even Aaron liked it, and he is definitely not a big beet fan.  In fact, he wasn’t quite sure what they were at first.  Since neither Aaron nor I are big Guinness fans, I also bought some cider and we made snake bites to go with our dinner (half Guinness, half cider).  We sat at the table and ate and talked . . . like grownups.  :)

We had some rice and beets leftover, but the greens and chicken were gobbled up.  I didn’t include the cost of the snake bite drinks, which would add another $1.66 per person.

Here’s the tally for what the meal cost:

Guinness Beets 1 Bunch Beets & Beet Greens $1.50 Chard $1.50 2 Tbs Butter $0.05 1/4 cup stout $1.66 (cost of one bottle in a six pack) 1 tbs balsamic vinegar $0.05 1 cup rice $0.10 1 boneless skinless chicken breast $1.00 total: $5.86 2 servings = $2.93 per person

Sunday Dinner: Spinach Tofu Risotto

Tonight we had some vegetarian friends over for dinner.  As anyone that knows me can attest, I love vegetarian food, even though I am not vegetarian.  So, I decided to make my spinach tofu risotto.  I love this dish!  This is one of those dishes that appeals to vegetarian and non-vegetarian friends alike – even those that don’t like tofu.  The trick is that the tofu is blended with some olive oil and salt into this delicious sauce that doesn’t taste anything like tofu.  In fact, it tastes more like a creamy, cheesy Alfredo-ish sauce!

I originally got this recipe from my “Giant Book of Tofu Cooking” by K. Lee & Chris Rankin.  However, I’ve made it enough times and modified it enough, that I feel fairly confident in calling it my own.

First you blend the tofu, about 1 tbsp of spinach (and squeeze some of the spinach juice out of the thawed bag of frozen spinach), 2tbsp olive oil and salt until the sauce becomes creamy and slightly green (wow typing it out, that doesn’t sound terribly appealing, but I promise you it is!).

Then you sauté the onions and garlic in the largest frying pan you have (or saucepan, whatever suits you fancy) until the onions are translucent.

Then you add the rice, spinach, black pepper and sauce.  Stir it all together and then dump everything in a lightly oiled casserole dish.  Bake it for about half an hour and voila – yumminess in one dish!  I like to add some parmesan cheese to top it off. 

(You can also keep the dish completely vegan by not adding the cheese.)

Today, one of my friends posted an interesting article in which the author finally put into written words what I have been arguing for years: that it is cheaper to cook at home than to eat fast food.  While it may seem easier to hand over hard earned cash for food that is already cooked, I will argue that it is almost always cheaper and healthier to eat at home.  The meal we ate tonight is a prime example - even I was surprised after I crunched the numbers:

Spinach Tofu Risotto
2 cloves garlic minced*	$0.05
1 package firm tofu	$1.25
1 bag frozen spinach (thawed)	$0.88
1 onion finely chopped	$0.70
1 1/2 tsp salt*	$0.05
3-4 cups cooked rice	$0.30	(I bought a 10 lb bag of rice at Costco for $4!)
1/4 tsp black pepper*	$0.05
2 tbsp olive oil*	$0.05
total:	$3.33
8 servings =	$0.42	per person

Did I really do that right?  Less than 50 cents per serving???  Yes.  Yes, I did that right.  If you want to add in the Two Buck Chuck Chardonnay (which we drank entirely) and salad that we ate (which still has plenty leftover), that brings it to about $1 per person – and there is enough leftover (even after people had seconds) for me to bring lunch to work tomorrow. 

* Full disclosure, I have decided to assign a cost of 5 cents for all “stock” pantry items – i.e.  tablespoon here or there of spices or olive oil or something like that.  Unless I can quantify the exact cost (i.e. a quarter cup of olive oil, and I have on record how much I actually paid for that bottle of olive oil), in which case, I will assign the true cost of that item, of course. 

Sunday Dinner: Ratatouille

In our CSA box (from http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/index.php ) this week, we got some eggplant (along with a whole bunch of other yummy stuff).  Instead of doing my usual stir fry with the eggplant, I decided to make ratatouille.  My first thought, knowing this is a French dish, was to reach for the Julia Child cookbook.  But since her recipe starts out with “A really good ratatouille is not one of the quicker dishes to make . . .” I decided to search my plethora of other cookbooks for a less complicated recipe.  I finally found one in my “The Taste of Home Cookbook” that sounded perfect for this particular Sunday evening.  Aaron is out of town this weekend, and I had plans to go hiking this morning with a friend, so I knew I didn’t want something too labor intensive.

This recipe is actually really easy as far as prep work.  You cook bacon and onions together (I used turkey bacon because that’s what I had on hand), and then add a can of diced tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, garlic, salt and some seasonings.  Then you layer half of the sauce followed by half the eggplant, zucchini, green pepper and cheese in a baking dish and repeat the layer one more time.  Then you pop it in the oven for about 50 minutes and voila!

Dinner in one dish!

Ok, now onto the really fun part: the costs.  It aggravates me to no end when people attempt to claim that it is cheaper (and/or healthier) to eat out than to cook for yourself.  I seriously had an argument with a friend about this.  Take a look at my numbers for this meal and tell me who wins:

Total cost:

4 turkey bacon strips	$0.50
1 cup onion	$2.00
1 can tomato paste	$0.69
1 can diced tomatoes	$0.88
1 large garlic clove	$0.05
1 large eggplant	$2.00
2 large zucchini	$1.88
1 large green pepper	$1.00
6 oz Monterey Jack	$2.50
	$11.50

$11.50 total, yielding a supposed 8 servings = $1.50 per person (ok, ok, with Aaron in the house, that is probably more like 6 servings, so a little under $2 per person).  Full disclosure: I had to fudge the numbers for the eggplant and onion a little bc they both came in my CSA box, and I pay a flat fee per box, not per vegetable.  But it’s great!  I pay $15 for half a box every other week (my friend and I each split a $30 box).  This week we got eggplants, apples, onions, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes and figs!

Networking is Not My Game

“Where am I?”  I scan my printed directions for the third time to verify the address.  I look at the address on the building again . . . it's the same address.  I consult the directory posted on the wall, searching for the law firm where I was supposed to be five minutes ago . . . it is not there.  I look up and down the empty hallways wondering if maybe someone will know where I am supposed to go.  Finally a woman emerges from the elevator and I manage to corner her and ask if she knows where this law firm is.  She’s never heard of it.  But then a light bulb goes off in her head!  She says “Oh, there are two buildings with this address, the other one is just across the road.”  I thank her graciously and then walk across the street all the while thinking to myself “Who does that?  What brilliant city planner thought that having two different buildings with the same address on opposite sides of a service road would be a good idea?”

Tonight I went to my first law school alumni networking event since graduation four years ago.  I recently decided to attempt to get over my fear of networking and try to improve this skill that I never quite fully developed.  I am not a natural networker; I am who I am.  I know that I am not good at peripheral chit chat.  I am not good at making my work and/or life sound more important than it is without sounding pretentious or like I am bragging.  Whether valid or not, that is what I think of when I think of “networking.” Just the thought of walking into a room full of strangers and acquaintances, knowing I will have to engage in small talk in a noisy, crowded room is enough to make my palms sweat.

I almost didn’t go to the event tonight.  I had already had two business functions during the day – breakfast in Hollywood with a music supervisor and lunch back at the office with some composers/producers.  I was essentially “functioned” out.  The address fiasco was yet another setback in my attempt to “network.”  I also had not realized that the attire requested was “business” attire until half an hour before the event was supposed to start.  Remember, I am an entertainment attorney – not only that, I work in-house for a music company  . . . we are not exactly a buttoned up operation.  Fortunately I had heels in my car to change into so that I wouldn’t have to walk into a room wearing my trusty converse sneakers when everyone else was wearing suits.  The only thing that kept me from backing out was that the new alumni relations director is a friend of mine and she had personally emailed me asking if I could go.  I didn’t want to let her down – otherwise, she might “accidentally” kick me the next time we go to a kickboxing class together (just kidding).

Once there, it was actually a pretty good event.  I saw some faces that I haven’t seen since graduation.  I will say that it was very nice to be able to talk to people in person about what I do and feel like I sort of belonged in the "lawyer" club.  As I am the only attorney in my company, it can get a little lonely.  I was grateful to hear that many other alums have been as bad as I have in relying mostly on facebook to keep up with our old classmates.  In the facebook age, networking in person can seem irrelevant.  You already feel like you know what is going on in a person’s life.  However, I realized through (in person) comments at this event that I tend to post things on facebook that are more relevant to my personal and/or performing life than I do about my professional life.  Perhaps I shall have to change that . . . or maybe I could give this in-person communication thing a try. 

Sunday Dinner: Boef a La Mode (for cheap)

Today was the first day in a very long time that I posted a blog entry.  I have been following other friends' blogs for awhile and had been thinking that it would be nice to start mine up again.  After poking around here at blogspot today, I realized that they have made it much easier to insert pictures and videos into blog posts.  Back in the old days, you used to have to html a link to a photobucket account, and sometimes, if you were lucky, the photo would actually link and it would appear in the blog entry.  Other times, you just ended up with html gobbledy gook and have to start all over again or just give up.

In honor, of the new ease of photo entry, I am posting pictures of the dinner that I made tonight.  I love to cook, but I hate cooking for just me.  So, now that I am married, and my brother in law is living with us, it gives me an excuse to pull out a cookbook and make a "real" meal on Sunday evenings.  Tonight, I decided to break out the Julia Child cookbook and make Boef a La Mode.  It sounds fancy, and, well, I'm not going to lie, it was definitely time intensive, but it was worth it.  Around10 am this morning, I started by marinating some beef in a concoction of wine, onions, carrots, celery and thyme.  Every couple of hours, I would open up the fridge and turn the meat and baste it a little.  This was the bowl I used for the marinating (and yes, that is a Han Solo bobblehead in the background):

Around 5:30pm, I took the meat out of the marinade and had to dry it on a rack for about 30 minutes:

I browned the meat in a dutch oven and then added the marinade and cooked it at 350 in the oven for about 2 hours.  While it was cooking, I made a salad and roasted some potatoes and made braised carrots (which is really just boiled carrots with some butter added).  Once it was done, we served it with a fantastic wine: good old 2 Buck Chuck Cabernet.

Here is the finished product (my food photography skills probably need some improvement, but you get the idea):

How much did this delicious meal cost, you ask?  Well, it kind of depends on how you want to divide it up.  I had to buy an entire bottle of Brandy and a container of cloves and some beef boulion - but those are all staples that will remain in the kitchen for a long time to come.  On the other hand, I already had some staples, like butter and garlic.  Here are the two alternate calculations for the entire meal (including side dishes of salad and potatoes):

Meat $6.50 $6.50 Wine $2.00 $2.00 Bouilon $2.99  (4 tsp used) $0.40 Cloves $3.49  (2 used) $0.05 Brandy $10.00  (1/2 cup) $1.00 Potatoes $3.69  (4 used) $1.47 Lettuce $0.99 $0.99 Onion $0.79 $0.79 carrots $0.99 $0.99 celery $1.99 $1.99 cucumbers $0.99 $0.99 parsley $0.99 $0.50 green bell pepper $0.99 $0.99 red pepper $1.00 $1.00 total: $37.40 $19.66 per person (4 people) $9.35 $4.91
So, there you have it, a delicious Sunday dinner for 4 people for $5-$10 per person (depending on how you do the calculations).  We didn't have any leftovers, except for a little salad (which I will probably take to work with me tomorrow for lunch).  We had three grown men sitting at a table that had meat and potatoes on it - I knew there wouldn't be any leftovers.  But I am glad it was a success!