Friday & Saturday dinners & the Food Stamp Diet

Friday night we ate leftover lasagna. It was good and filling.

Tonight it's just the man person and me here so we went to Becky's Diner, a local cafe, for burgers and onion rings. Ehhh, not healthy, way too many carbs, and not too frugal at a little over $19 for the two of us, but it was a nice treat.

Right now I'm listening to Miss Maggie, founder of Hillbillyhousewife.com, on the radio. She was interviewed by Christopher Lydon in a segment about the Food Stamp Diet (the latest bandwagon the politicos are hopping on) and did a great job of expressing her opinions on both food and this attention getting, PR oriented "challenge" going around. I really hesitate to use the word "challenge" as living on food stamps for a week or even a month isn't much of a challenge in my opinion. But maybe this little experiment will encourage lawmakers to re-think the whole food stamp thing.

**Mini rant coming***

Actually, I think the distributing offices of the benefits need to offer, perhaps require, more education in exchange for food stamps. I'm not sure about other places but from what I've seen in our area of Texas there's no education about nutrition or wise food purchases involved with food stamps as there is with WIC. Certainly it can't hurt to teach parents that letting Little Billy or Tiny Susie (who happen to weigh 180 lbs at the age of 8 and are well on the road to a myriad of health problems) eat a package of Ding Dongs and a 2 liter of Dr Pepper as a snack isn't good. Along with education, how about more restrictions? Again, I don't know about other places but here one can't buy hot deli items, alcohol, or non-food items with food stamps but those are the only restrictions on what a recipient can purchase. It seems to me that restricting (note, I didn't say eliminating but what would be wrong with that?) sweets, soft drinks, chips and other empty calorie and non-nutritive items might be wise. At least then the kids stand a chance of getting healthier food and taxpayers won't find themselves standing in line behind someone with a basket loaded with garbage, knowing their money is buying it..not to mention helping to pay for the health care required later. Come on.. Pop Tarts, Cocoa Puffs, Ice Cream, and Kool Aid with food stamps? Shame, shame! On both the government for allowing it and parents for buying it!

By the way, sometime I'll write about my personal experience with the food stamp program. I'm thankful I qualified for food stamps for a period of time and I learned through self education more about smart shopping. By the time I wasn't qualified to receive them anymore, I didn't need them anymore! If I could do it, others can do it.

**Mini rant finished***

Miss Maggie talks about the importance of children being taught to cook properly and how it isn't necessary to eat unhealthy, bad carb laden foods to save money. Her $45 a week menu is also briefly discussed. It's a great interview and if you're interested in cutting your grocery expenses, give Miss Maggie and her website a try. I think you'll be happy you did.

No boil meat lasagna

We got some more goodies from the garden last night and this morning. We got a zucchini, another cucumber, and another hand full of Sweet 100 tomatoes. The tops of some of the Early Girl tomatoes were mushy and since they were almost ripe, we picked them. Unfortunately, they were all mushy inside, too, so we threw them out. I'm so disappointed in the tomatoes and wish I knew what the problem was. I haven't heard back from the extension office about what might be the problem with the tomatoes but my other half was reading one of the GardenWeb.com forums and it was suggested to use fish emulsion on tomato plants such as ours. We did that a couple of days ago and then it rained so we might put a little more on them. I don't know if it will help but it's worth a try.

While out in the garden this evening we noticed a banana squash that we hadn't seen before. How we missed it, we don't know, as it's quite large! We also counted the Sugar Baby watermelons and there are 10 of them. Some of the corn is starting to look almost ready...but not quite. Tomorrow I'll get pictures of some of the goodies growing out there and will post them here.

Tonight's dinner was lasagna. I had other things planned to go with it but due to my other half's truck overheating and having to run water to him the other things didn't get prepared so we just ate lasagna. Fortunately we like it a lot but I change the ingredients every time so it's always just a little different. This time I added the leftover caramelized vegetables I made a few nights ago. That was a great addition and added a few more nutrients to the dish. Okay, not many but it used up some leftovers!

Here's the recipe I use, from the R&F Reduced Carb Lasagna Noodle box. I didn't use that brand of noodles but it's such an easy recipe and works with any kind of lasagna noodle so it's the only recipe I use.

No Boil Meat Lasagna

12 oz lasagna, uncooked
15 oz ricotta cheese (I used cottage cheese with liquid pressed out through a colander)
1/2 c parmesan cheese, grated
1 lb bulk sausage (I used ground beef and often use turkey)
52 oz pasta sauce
2 c mozzarella cheese, grated (I used 1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup swiss)
2 eggs
parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. In medium bowl, combine ricotta, parmesan and eggs and mix well. In a 9 x 13 baking dish, spread 1 cup pasta sauce. Layer with half each of the uncooked lasagna noodles, ricotta mixture, meat, pasta sauce and mozzarella. Repeat layering. Top with parsley. Cover tightly with foil and bake covered for 1 hour. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 9

Source: R&F Lasagna box

This makes a goodly amount of lasagna and we had half the 9 x 13 pan remaining. I put it in the freezer and we'll have it in a week or two on a hectic night when I really don't feel like cooking.

What's your favorite pasta dish and why? Share the recipe with me!

Okay, time for me to go sit outside and enjoy the company of the dog. Until tomorrow....

Summer Pasta Salad and today's garden pickins

I found this recipe at Anita's Tried & True Low Fat Recipes and I really like it for light summer eating. It's not only thrifty, it's very low in fat. I make it with whole wheat or soy pasta so it's easier on the blood sugar. I've made it with less chicken, too, and it's still very good. I've also made it with fajita beef and that's excellent.

Summer Pasta Salad

1/2 c fat-free mayonnaise
4 oz elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
1/4 c parmesan cheese (Asiago is wonderful)
1 c onion, chopped
3 Tbsp fat-free milk (powdered milk and a little water work fine)
1/2 tsp salt
9 oz chicken breast cubes, cooked

In a mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, milk, chicken,
macaroni, onions, and salt. Mix well and chill several hours before serving.

If I have tomatoes and other goodies from the garden, they're quite likely to end up in this salad so it's a little different every time I make it.

Speaking of the garden, here's what we picked this morning.


We got two cabbages, a small handful of beans, a couple of tiny potatoes and a cucumber to go with the ones in the fridge! But look at that mound of tomatoes! They're so sweet and juicy! I just love 'em but my throat is still too raw to eat them. Hopefully soon I'll be able to dive into them. Until then I'll just have to admire them from afar.


And here's the most recent photo of the one butternut squash that's growing. I hope it continues to grow well since I have plans for it. I love the stuff and it's been many years since I've eaten it. I'm not sure which way to prepare it so if you know of a good recipe for it, please share it with me!

The garden isn't doing as well as we'd hoped. Every one of the 17 tomato plants has something going on. They're producing but not as well as they should be and the plants are getting sickly. I'm not sure they'll survive long enough for the fruit to ripen. I emailed pictures of the plants and the fruit to the local extension office and hopefully they'll be able to give me an idea of what's going on. I'm going to get some fish emulsion today, though, and dose them with that to see if it helps.

The beets we planted produced but the roots were small. Tasty but small! We've picked them all and they're in the fridge. I'm the only one who eats them so they'll last me awhile. We're going to try another variety in the Fall garden.

The cucurbits are all doing well, though, and the corn, beans, and peas are growing nicely. We pulled the onions and they did pretty well but are a bit on the smallish side.

There's always another chance to plant in the fall, though, so we'll do it again and see what happens.

Not a stew or soup but not just a roast either

I feel much better but not quite up to par. Dinner was good, though. I had a very small boneless arm roast (purchased at $1.09 lb) I cut into bite sized pieces, seasoned with gourmet steak seasoning, and put in the slow cooker. With it, I put raw potatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and green beans and let it cook on low about 8 hours. I added a can of corn to it 15 minutes before we were ready to eat and let that warm up. We had it with homemade corn bread Rachel made and it was quite good! Not quite soup but not just a plain roast, either. There's one bowl of it left but it will be gone by bedtime tonight, I think.

I really wanted to make my grandmother's apple cake but just didn't feel up to it. Maybe tomorrow. That's the perfect tasty use of the apples I have sitting around. If I do make it, I'll take some pictures and post an entry about it. It's really fantastic and everyone should try it.

Meatballs in gravy with caramelized vegetables

I still feel pretty rough so I've recruited Rachel, my 14 year old stepdaughter, to help cook dinner. She did a great job, too!

Tonight's dinner is meatballs in gravy, noodles, caramelized vegetables made with vegetables pulled this morning from the garden, and salad left from Friday night.

Honestly, other than Swedish meatballs, which we love, and one disastrous attempt at spaghetti & meatballs over 20 years ago, I haven't made the things. These turned out pretty well but were a little dry. They were served in a bowl of gravy (after all, this IS east Texas!) but still, they really needed to be more moist.

To make them I just used eight crushed saltine crackers, an egg, green onion, and some spices and mixed it all up. Then I formed it into balls, placed them on the broiler pan and baked them at 350 until they were done. Two eggs might have been better or maybe I should have added some milk.

I made some gravy and put the meatballs in the gravy and we had them over the noodles. Even though they weren't fantastic, they went over well.



The caramelized vegetables are so easy to make.

Thinly slice about 3 lbs of vegetables (we like onion, yellow squash, zucchini and mushroom) and put them in the slow cooker. Add up to 1/4 cup oil/butter/margarine (the original recipe said 1/2 cup but to me that is way too much). I add about 2 Tbsp maximum of oil but the amount of oil will depend on the vegetables you use and how much oil you want to use. Add seasoning if you want but trust me, it isn't necessary. For tonight's dish, I added garlic powder and Cook's Choice Gourmet Steak Seasoning.



Cook on low from 12 to 24 hours keeping 1/2 an eye on it after 12 hours, keeping in mind that temperature and time vary from cooker to cooker.

These come out tasting terrific. They aren't crispy but they possess a terrific flavor and texture.


And here's the finished product. I know, not as pretty but oh, they're scrumptious! Some of the family likes to put gravy over the vegetables, other members just like them plain. Either way, they're fantastic and even kids who don't like vegetables will often eat these.

All in all it was a good dinner and Rachel was a great help. I'm exhausted now, though, so it's off to bed to rest. But if you have a good meatball recipe, I'd love to know it!

Chicken and Pasta Salad

Here's another tasty pasta salad for hot days when you really don't want to heat the kitchen. This one is light and easily adaptable to your family's preferences. I vary the pasta in it and often make it with leftover plain spaghetti noodles or even broken lasagna noodles. I also vary the dressing, sometimes using honey mustard and omitting the honey from the recipe or using italian, omitting the poppy seeds, and adding celery seeds.

Chicken and Pasta Salad

1 package pasta, uncooked
1 to 1 1/2 c buttermilk dressing
1/4 c honey
1/4 to 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
2 c chicken, cooked and chopped (I use leftover chicken or turkey and canned even works and creates no extra heat)
1 c grapes, quartered
1/3 c red onions, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup raw snow peas
chopped nuts or seeds (sunflower seeds are excellent)

Cook pasta as directed on package and drain. Stir together salad dressing, honey, and poppy seeds in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken, grapes, onion, and snow peas. Sometimes I add in roasted red pepper at this point, also. Add the dressing from the small bowl and blend well. Salt and Pepper if desired. I also add garlic powder to mine. Cover and chill several hours. Sprinkle with nuts or seeds before serving. This is great with crusty rolls and butter.