Wednesday night - July 7, 2011

We had a full day today, and I think I may have inadvertently gotten a little dehydrated. I got home, and just could not focus on throwing supper together. All I could think of was "I wish I could get takeout"... but then I snapped out of it, and remembered that I am trying to TRIM the budget, not spend extra!

So I quickly took stock of the food in the house, and here's what I came up with:

Rolls with butter

Creamy green vegetable soup (saute onions and garlic in olive oil. put any green vegetables you have in the pot, and add water to cover. I used green beans, peas, spinach, and kishuim - those special Israeli zucchini-like summer squash. Bring to a boil, then remove from flame and puree with an immersion blender. Add salt and pepper to taste, and add milk if you want. Gently reheat. This soup can also be served chilled, but it was so late I didn't have time to chill it!)

Ptitim with vegetables: saute onion, garlic, and whatever vegetables you need to use up - I used cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, and green peppers, preferably in a cast iron skillet. Add whole wheat ptitim, and toast in the skillet for a couple of minutes. Add liquid to cover - I used water and tomato juice. Stir and cover the skillet. cook over low and stir occasionally. add seasonings to taste.

Fruit and Yogurt Smoothies


Melon

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

I decided that not going to the supermarket is good in so many ways - I don't lose hours in the checkout line, my kids don't lobby me to buy ice cream and popsicles and chocolate, so I don't have to listen to all that whining, and I don't spend $ on gas (and everyone knows that is a huge budget buster here! Recently, one of the gas stations here lowered their price to under 7 NIS per liter, and I was so happy. Until I realized I must be crazy. It's still a TON of money.).

So, I'm trying really hard to stick to the pantry challenge.

Here's tonight's plan:

Tofu sloppy sams with pitot

Steamed kishuim (summer squash similar to zucchini)

Homemade oven-baked "french fries"

Melon

And now I'm off to spend the day with my kids!
Let me know what you're making, and if you're doing a pantry challenge, let me know how it's going!

Monday Night, July 4, 2011

We have to eat a quick, early supper tonight because of my daughter's ballet recital. We're all very excited to see her dance onstage - the culmination of a year of hard work at twice weekly ballet classes!

So, since my 3 yr old refuses to nap, we're just going to have to eat really simply. And it's a pantry challenge, so I started looking through the freezer:

Here's the plan:

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (found a loaf of bread in the freezer!)

Rice and Lentils (from the freezer)

Fresh sliced tomatoes (i like to put olive oil and basil on them but the kids prefer them plain. how i wish they would eat foods with flavor...)

Melon (these are a really good buy right now! Kimat Chinam had them on their 8 kilo for 10 shekel list, I wonder what they cost in other stores...)

Tuesday Night, May 3, 2011

Today I am looking for ways to feed the family with only whatever is already in the house, despite the fact that originally I planned to run some errands and pick up some tofu for sloppy sams. In the end, I'm delaying the errands till tomorrow or the next day, since being a one-car family can complicate matters somewhat (and waiting for a paycheck can do that too)!

Here's the plan:

Broccoli, Potato and Cheese Soup - I plan to remake the leftover potato dish from yesterday into a creamy-style blended soup (trying to get more creative with leftovers, please help!)

Rice and Lentils  (Brown Rice, dry lentils (rinsed and checked for stones), chopped onions, vegetable stock, and spices)

Homemade Flatbreads (see the homemade alternatives page)

Cut vegetables and dips

Melon

Wednesday night - March 16, 2011

It was so gorgeous out today! And we all got busy and the afternoon. So I didn't really have a supper plan.

This is what we managed to throw together:

Baguette with butter

Garden Pea Soup - this soup is so quick, easy, and yummy too. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, add frozen green peas, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Puree, and serve. Easy as pie. Actually, easier than pie!

Omelets

Melon

For some reason, I couldn't push myself to make a salad tonight. It just didn't happen. At least we had the garden pea soup!

What's your favorite quick recipe?