Category: Food

Not to worry gluten free folk, you needn’t miss out on fried foods. These salmon cakes are cheap and fast–a can of salmon (the big one) with bones and skin removed, one egg, i’d say a third of a cup of corn flour, a quarter teaspoon black pepper, same amount of dill, splash of white vinegar. Mix ingredients and pour a small amount ( a fifth of the mixture) onto a hot pan (nonstick no oil). press into cake shape with a spoon and turn after 1-2 minutes. Cook one minute or 90 seconds on other side and serve! Note: the salmon stinks and leaves oils behind, you must clean plates, flatware, pan, and utensils with vinegar and baking soda to get all the oils off or they’ll stink forever.

So over Christmas I burned this recipe and it was the pits. But over New Year’s I got it right and I can’t stop making it. The best part–it’s cheap and healthy (and tasty!). Here are the broad strokes:
-Half a pound dried split peas. It’s half the bag. Do the quick soak method, and don’t forget to sort and rinse (Quick soak is to boil for 2 minutes in 3-4 cups water and then remove from heat and then let stand for an hour)
-Sautee half a medium white onion chopped and two minced garlic cloves with 4 shakes of salt in 2ish tablespoons olive oil until translucent
-Pour 2 cups water into the sautee pan to pick up some of the flavored oil
-Boil soaked beans in a pot with the onions, garlic and water
-Add 5 shakes of salt, about 3 shakes (this is more than the salt, as my curry powder has big holes in the container) curry powder, 4 shakes cumin, 4 shakes black pepper, 4 shakes red chili pepper, and a “little” (I have no idea) paprika), plus a 1 or 2 more tablespoons olive oil.
-Boil on medium heat for 35 minutes, stirring the bottom beans up top every 5 minutes, and adding more water when the beans look parched (the earlier the better, these can burn fast!)
-Eat as soup or serve over white rice (2 servings)

I made macaroni and cheese with rice and pecorino roman (sauce is cheese, butter, milk, salt pepper), so yum! Through some left over spinach in there to get some veggies. I recommend tossing the cooked rice into the sauce to help in thicken, then serve. I tried it later with chopped up anchovies and some lime juice and green onions for balance. Good!

I love love love eggplant parm, and am thrilled to learn that I can make a good enough to enjoy version at home. I used this recipe. I reduced it down to my liking (one egg, one eggplant, one pint of sauce, half a block cheese-ish). I don’t think i left it in there for more than 35 minutes because I wanted to start eating. Yum!

Ok so typically you make a grocery list with foods you need or want–go buy it–and wait for results. Maybe you’re anal and you plan 5 meals and buy ingredients for those meals. Good for you. For me–I try to keep a certain ration of these three categories of foods: standalones, ready-to-eat meals, and builder ingredients. No matter what you buy, if you make sure you have enough of each of these three categories, you will eat normal(ish) over the length of your grocery purchase.
Examples: Builder ingredients, like flour, need to be combined with other ingredients in order to make edible food. You can make great pancakes with flour, but you won’t do it without eggs. Have these builders around. You don’t need many: vegetable oil, baking powder, salt.
Ready to eat meals: Quite simply–for all your planning–sometimes you get lazy and need to pop the top on some split pea soup. Or sometimes it doesn’t make sense to spend the time and effort to make stuffed grape leaves when you can buy them in a can and save yourself time and money. Have some frozen dinners, cans of soup, and prepared foods that can last a few days as fillers for when your motivation to cook disappears. They are usually more expensive and limit your choice on any given night, so they shouldn’t make up your entire load.
Standalones: These are foods you can eat without cooking them: fruits, yogurt, pickles, hummus, cheese, etc.. They can also be added to something else–pickles on your sandwich, for example–but you don’t have to do anything to them to get fed. They differ from complete meals because they are usually less processed and, as a result, healthier (usually).
Want the most standalones because you’ll get more food for your money–and more eating for your time spent. Next comes ready to eat meals, and you should buy the fewest of builders so you don’t end up with a cupboard full of ingredients and no food.
That’s my two cents–I always make it a point to try and eat well no matter what my budget or time available. At home this ratio helps.