Week of September 23, 2011

Chicken Parmesean
Pesto spinach lasagna (crockpot)
Ratatouille (crockpot)
Pesto focaccia pizza
Spanish spaghetti with olives
Pork chop with tomato chutney
Split pea soup (crockpot)

Mozzarella cheese
Yogurt

Week of September 10, 2011

Chili
Green chile chicken (crockpot)
Rotisserie chicken (crockpot)
Chicken sandwiches
Chili dogs
Chicken Masala

Vanilla yogurt cheesecake

Homemade ricemilk

In my never-ending quest to trim our food budget, I've turned my attention to ricemilk. We spend $5 per week on rice or almond milk, due to my younger daughter's dairy allergies. It adds up.

I came across a recipe for homemade ricemilk and thought, "I can do that!"

I used this recipe. I do not necessarily agree with the political sentiment of the blog, but I like how easy the recipe is.

I mixed two cups of brown rice and sixteen cups of water in a large pot. After bringing it to a boil, I let it simmer for three hours. For taste, I added 5 teaspoons-ish of salt and 1/2 cup of maple syrup. I ladled the mixture, spoonful by spoonful into a blender and cut it 50:50 with water. The ricemilk is stored in large mason jars.

My daughters don't like the milk as much as they like store-bought milk, but they will drink it and eat it in cereal. I could add more syrup, but I'd like to wean them off the sweet taste. I like it because we've saved a ton of money this way.

My next experiment will be making ricemilk in the crockpot, so I don't have to babysit the stove. Stay tuned!

Week of September 2, 2011

Green chile chicken (crockpot)
Tater tot casserole
General tso's chicken
Pita, falafel, cucumber sauce
Fried lentil balls
Grilling

Week of August 26, 2011

Pesto stuffed shells
Smoked sausage and bean stew (crockpot)
Farfalle with beef ragu, ricott and mint
Meatloaf
Bean burritos

Spicy pickled carrots

Homemade ricotta cheese

I've started looking into making homemade cheese. We originally eliminated cheese and other dairy products from our diet due to my youngest's food allergy. Now, she is older and I am again craving the dairy.

We are also looking into trimming our food budget. We currently spend at least $25 a week on dairy products, excluding milk. I'd like to see if we can decrease that amount.

I started my experimentation with ricotta. It's a soft cheese that doesn't require enzymes, thus eliminating a need to purchase additional ingredients.

I doubled the Smitten Kitchen's recipe and this was the result:

IT WAS AMAZING!! More after the jump ...

Week of August 20, 2011

 Rotisserie chicken (crockpot)
Chicken pot pie 
Balsamic pulled pork sliders (crock pot)
Chipotle bean burritos
Pasta with stewed tomatoes
Homemade pizza with homemade sauce and cheese


Chicken stock
Greek yogurt (crockpot)