Just because you don't have all the ingredients..

Just because you don't have all the ingredients you need for a recipe, doesn't mean you need to go out to the market and purchase them, OR WORSE, scratch the recipe you were going to follow.

My husband and I receive a gift on Christmas from my Mother in law, and it's to a cooking class for two, and it's really one of my favorite things i've ever received. So far we've gone to two cooking classes, and it's such a great time together! I highly suggest it if you've never attended one - go for Hipcooks!
So the most recent class we took was Thai! I have to admit, i'm terrible about trying new foods, but Andrew's love for all things different & unpronounceable compel me to just go along with his ideas. So.. we signed up, and a month ago I found myself in the class, at a table with ingredients I've never seen or ever heard of in my life.
I didn't think i'd try anything - but 2 hours later, I was a Thai food loving girl. Thai food.. Simply put, is amazing. It's fresh, and Thai chefs are masters of layering elements to create truly spectacular foods & dishes out of only a few ingredients. How we went from Spring Rolls to curry with a lot of the same ingredients, my mind is still perplexed by it!

However, I get home, and after scouring the Internet, there are no Asian specialty markets and I know there won't be Thai Chilies, Fish Sauce and Tamarind at the the market down the street.
At first, this semi frustrated me, then I realized I am not going to let my love of the Thai food demolish because of my geographical issues (this is the first time i've missed Los Angeles because I can think of 3 Asian Speciality Markets off the top of my head from back home..) and make some serious alterations.

So this finally leads me to the point of this blog; that just because you don't have the ingredients.. This does not mean you have to call it quits.
Let me give you an example. In the class we roasted dark chicken meat in the oven... Yum... And made Peanut sauce. I'm trying to hold back from abandoning this blog to go make it again right now!
Here was the jiff of the recipe Veggie Oil, Fresh Ginger Knob, Garlic, Peanut Butter, Lime, Brown Sugar, Thai Chilies, Fish Sauce.. AND two of those pertinent ingredients, like I explained are unavailable.
I didn't panic, I just hit the pantry for the Ahhhh I have those ingredients, and scrambled my brain for things that could be substituted.

Here's what I found:

That Cayenne Pepper to the right should be turned the other way - good thing my profession is not a food photographer..

So here you see crushed jarred ginger, brown sugar, garlic, peanut butter, olive oil and cayenne!

Now, it's not the real thing - I can admit that, but my cravings and curiosity to cook new foods says that's OK! http://takingthecheaproute.blogspot.com/2011/03/dont-have-this-ingredient-use-this.html 

Remember, we talked about this already! (See above link)

You need everything in the picture above.

So here's what I do:

Dice 3 - 5 cloves of garlic. Put aside. 

Ginger? I had it jarred. Whatever you have - if it's fresh, peel the knobs with a spoon (magic..) and dice. We're looking for 1 - 2 tablespoons worth.

Next...

Add 3 tbsp of Olive oil into a heated pan. And garlic & ginger.

Now, scoop 1/2 a cup of peanut butter into the pan once the garlic & ginger start browning (Side note - our Thai teacher taught us that in the style of food, Thai people bring their garlic to a near burning point. Interesting, for those of you accustomed to Italian. Once you burn the garlic, the world is over for Italian food - so for this Thai inspired dish, get it very brown.. Don't panic, just trust!) 

Stir, stir, stir...

Add 3 - 4 tablespoons of brown sugar. Then 1/4 of a teaspoon of Cayenne.

Pull from the fire.

Now, you're ready to puree it. Some like it chunky, some like it smooth. Find your happy place.

For this job, I use the Magic Bullet from Mom for Christmas.

Once it's done, cook some chicken the way you like. As kebabs, strips.. However you like it.
Need some ideas? Jot me an email or message me on twitter.

Guys, with the stunning prices of Natural Chicken you can get at markets when you watch your ads, and the cheapness of almost all these ingredients you have in your pantry - try something new, and don't forget you don't need all the ingredients to make super dishes!




For those of your curious about the $5.50 a day - I am constantly working on a draft blog post because it's dense, and contains a lot of information, tips and hints. This dish is a perfect example of a perfectly budgeted meal; I had all of these ingredients, and not only that, but when I purchased them for my pantry months ago I shopped around and did my math. On top of that, the chicken I used was leftover from a dish I made the night before, and I gave it new life with creating a semi stir fry that you drizzle the Peanut Sauce over. Mmm..

In closing...
The Budget Conscientious thing to do of the day: Think about how fast you drive. As gas prices are creeping up on us, consider this fact...

"In a typical family sedan, every 10 miles per hour you drive over 60 is like the price of gasoline going up about 54 cents a gallon."

See you guys soon! - BCB

Long time, no see - but many culinary endeavors!

So here's a basic explanation for my MIA status.

As I blog I learn so much more about cooking - and baking whenever I feel brave.

When I go shopping, as a Newlywed I learn tons about, well what works and what doesn't.

Disclaimer: This does not indicate the food challenge did not work, because indeed it does! I'm still going strong w/ the budget, but as time progresses, and more shopping trips take place I realize more helpful things and want to convey all of it to you!

However, what I am referring to is all my time being allocated to something as simple as how often to purchase groceries. After my tinkering around, here's what personally worked for me I can say after 2 months of trial & error.

Some advice for you: 

- Figure out what works as far as a shopping plan goes. I challenged myself with a max of 40 weekly for 3 meals daily for 2 people and succeeded. Initially, I thought that last month a trip once a week to the market would be the best method. Then it transitioned to every two weeks at 80 each time - and now i'm at doing the full 160 once a month. I was talking with my girlfriend who was shocked, because she's a budget gal too and couldn't get things to stretch so long. I really explained that I go into the market essentially with a months planning of meals (it's not as hard as it seems - I will explain further) instead of aimlessly wandering the store where i'd make impulsive purchases and get sidetracked. The best thing about this is that you go in knowing what you're getting from each section, and there's always great deals for things that the store is clearing out you'd never expect to snag. (Can't wait to show you guys with my receipts what i've come across in 2 months) 

- Use coupons with caution. Why? Because a lot of the time store/off brands are far better deals. Or it's things you don't need. I stood behind a gal who was purchasing 50 frozen meals and I had to strike a short friendly conversation to appease my curiosity. Well, she was one of the extreme 'couponers' and long story short she was getting it all for about 20 bucks. Sounds decent, once you realize all the preservatives, and garbage that occupy those packages. You could have purchased 5 lbs of frozen ground turkey (5.00), supplies to make breads, pizza doughs, pancakes, oh all KINDS of baked goods, fresh vegetables - and, well to each his/her own. Coupons drive people to purchase things that they really don't necessarily need - just be careful. I feel I can't emphasize this enough after a few experiences i've had spending so much time in the markets.

- Ads, ads ads my friends. I'm still shaking my head over this one. I was distracted with my computer and lazily breezed through my ads I usually scan without missing a single print. Well, I didn't realize there was a special at a market of 5 lbs of yellow onions for 1 dollar - so when I purchased a few lbs for about 5.00 and I hit the next market that had them on sale, I couldn't feel any more... frustrated. So always read those ads - you will save a lot of money with their loss leaders (that's the items on the fron page of the weekly ad)

On a random note, I want to start a section in each of my blogs where I state the most budget conscientious thing i've done today/that day.

Today, well since it's so late i'll speak in terms of yesterday I made a Creamy Mushroom Soup w/ a Flaky Biscuit Crust and instead of using the entire contents of mushrooms the recipe called for, I saved about 8 whole mushrooms, removed their insides (threw those into the soup, of course!) for a side dish with tomorrow's dinner: Panchetta and Pesto Cream Sauce stuffed mushrooms. This creates essentially a free dish tomorrow! Think in terms of taking short cuts like this!

Part of being the budget conscientious bandit is the fact, that there's a bandit involved. So, we snuck out for a last minute trip and here's a couple funny photos of the aftermath of my husband after the Wynn Buffet, and then myself going strong and steady with those European desserts. Saving money on things like food is just the beginning to having enough to take much needed trips with your sweetheart.

See you guys soon! - BCB