Beyond Rice and Tofu

Well, it has been a few weeks since I have posted, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been cooking! Although, we have had a variety of things going on, preventing me from experimenting too much in the kitchen.

Last week we had family visiting and we convinced them to help us make a new batch of tamales with my new stand mixer. Can you believe that in 16+ years of being gluten free that I have never owned a stand mixer? Some people probably think that’s a little strange. But if you know me, or have been around here long enough, you know that I am not much of a baker. If I make bread, I now make the no-knead boule which uses no mixer. And so it was the promise of more homemade tamales that finally led me to buy a stand mixer. Mixing masa by hand is not my idea of fun, and I had finally burnt up my hand mixer, after 16 years. So, off to Costco I went for a new mixer!

KitchenAid Pro-Line 575 watts with all-steel gears - for only $250 at Costco! Cheaper and more powerful than the 'Artisan' ones at BBB and Kohls. Woo-hoo!

We made another full batch of Green Chile-Cheese Tamales and a half a batch of sweet ones – Pumpkin Chocolate Chip. They were both wonderful. And now we have a bunch of frozen tamales to grab when needed. Yum.

This past week I was feeling under the weather – between the juniper and Siberian elm pollen – whew! And then I wasn’t sure whether I was getting a cold on top of it all. Turns out it was *just* allergies gone haywire. Whatever you do, don’t believe someone if they tell you to move to the Southwest “for your allergies”. It isn’t true!!! There are certain times of the year when our allergies here are waaay worse than they were back in Chicago and Ohio. So I didn’t feel much like doing anything except make this Miso Vegetable Noodle Soup. (Watch the ingredients in the miso paste, some contain barley! And so I use whatever ‘color’ of miso I can find that is gluten free.  I also just use GF brown rice spaghetti.)

Juniperus monosperma - One-seed Juniper - the evil one in this ecosystem we know as Pinyon-Juniper.

And it's prolific male pollen. ~ah-choo!~

This week I am back to cooking, as long as the juniper pollen stays at bay! I was rooting around in the deep freezer this afternoon and found a few things that could stand to be eaten up, so you’ll see those below. I also worked on our taxes and a revised monthly household budget this weekend so I am feeling especially frugal today!

How much do you spend on groceries and eating out every month? I am curious. I think we spend a lot for a two-person household, but then again we don’t eat out more than once or twice a month, unless we’re traveling or have company, so pretty much ALL of our food is purchased from the grocery store(s). I rarely bake and I don’t buy a whole lot of “prepackaged” gluten free items, I don’t eat much meat, and so I thought we were probably doing well. But in looking back over the past three months, we spend an average of $150 per week for two people, including household and personal items like toilet paper and deodorant. This seems like a lot to me. If you feel comfortable, share below how much you spend each week (or month) on groceries. I know I can reduce our monthly bill…any tips?

This week’s menu swap theme is eggs and Heather at Celiac Family is the host. Despite having our own hens, we don’t do a lot with eggs. I am allergic to them, except when baked. So, hubby eats the majority of our eggs, unless I do get the urge to bake something. Go on over and check things out for more meal planning inspiration.

And now, on to our plan for the week:

Three Bean Tacos – this favorite makes a lot and I think the leftovers are even better the next day as taco salad, nachos, etc.

Quinoa, Shrimp, Avocado and Lemon Salad – minus the shrimp for us, perhaps some chickpeas instead.

Sloppy Lentils with Napa Cabbage Salad with Red Bell Pepper and a Dijon-Ginger Dressing – the lentils are from Stephanie O’Dea’s cookbook, More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow, and pulled from my freezer. And I will need to use up the leftover napa cabbage from last week’s Miso Vegetable Noodle Soup I mentioned above.

Tofu Vegetable Stir-Fry with San-J Peanut Sauce over Rice – I love having the San-J GF sauces handy because I can whip up a quick vegetable stir-fry with frozen vegetables, maybe some tofu and sauce. (Did you see that there is a new-to-me sauce out called Asian BBQ? Sounds delicious!) The sauces are one of those prepackaged items I will buy, especially since I frequently find coupons for them. And since I found a stray package of frozen stir-fry vegetables in the deep freezer…

Pizza with salad or leftover Napa Salad from above – a frozen gluten-full pizza for the hubby and a Chebe one for me, perhaps with some barbecue chicken, balsamic onions, mozzarella cheese, and cilantro for me (my take on CPK’s BBQ chicken pizza). Chebe bread has been a stand-by for us for years. It was one of the first edible pizza crusts around. I just use their Original Cheese Bread mix as my crust. I haven’t tried their actual Pizza Crust Mix. Have you?

So, I am interested to hear…how much do you spend per week or month on groceries for how many people?