mini open face burgers on biscuits, sweet potato fries and veganaise-chive dip

ok. what was i thinking? i wasn't originally going to post about this one because i knew the cost was going to be crazar high, but it was too delicious to keep to myself. really. have you ever had veganaise?? it is a vegan alternative to mayo (i generally don't like mayo)...and it is ridiculous. add a little bit of fresh garlic chives? holy, moly, you've got yourself some gourment french fry dip.

so, because i wasn't going to post about this, and since this was all really a total experiment, i regret to inform you that i only have a couple of iphone pics. but we'll get through this.

so here's the whole table setting.

ok let me take you on a tour. at the top of the pic, we have a plate of open faced mini burgers, and sweet potato fries. i have to tell you, those fries all came from ONE giant sweet potato! ha! i'd also like to point out the two drinks at each plate...no, it's not two beers a piece, but one beer (avery's the reverend....perfect for burgers) and sweet leaf's sweet tea. deee-vine.

okay the two dipping sauces in the middle of the table are the veganaise and chive dip i mentioned earlier and...wait for it....ketchup! woo! fancy. then, we have a plate of condiments...red leaf lettuce, one sliced tomato, thick chunks of colby jack cheese and dill pickle spears sliced and halved.

i got some great goods in my greenling local farm box this week. the lettuce, tomato, sweet potato, garlic chives--i also got some persimmons, asian pears, apples, and holy moly-SIX large zucchinis. i am still deciding what to do with them. oh! and a rosemary plant. it is so cute. i hope i don't kill it too soon...

well let's do this folks. let's look at how much this delicious meal cost.

mini open faced burgers on biscuits

for the biscuits, i used bob's red mill biscuit mix. just added some butter, water and an egg, according to the directions and rolled em out and threw 'em on a pan and into the oven. bisquik (one of those processed foods i'm having a hard time letting go of) is also great for doing drop-style biscuits like this. easy as pie.

now onto the good stuff. the beef!

you will need:
stove top turned on to medium heat
a skillet with a little olive oil
1 pound beef
1/4 cup of oats (i'm really bad a measuring...sorry!)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
pinch of salt
fresh ground pepper

combine the soy, worcestershire, salt, pepper into a small bowl and mix well, then add your oats. basically, you want to get some really good soaked oats going. if it's soupy--add more oats. wash your hands really well, and just dig in. don't be scared! it's fun.

now i did mini burgers so i knew i wanted to get about 5-6 small patties out of this package of ground beef, so i kept that in mind as i proceeded to the next step. this will help you eyeball how much beef to use. if it's helpful, divide up the meat into even chunks.

so take a handful of your oat mixture and a handful of ground beef and get to work! mix it all together really well. i know this sounds totally crazar, but the oats give it a really awesome flavour. once it's all combined, form into a patty shape and put them all into your heated up skillet.

 

i made mine really thick, and flipped them about every two minutes for ten minutes. they were slightly pink in the center...just the way i like them. if you want them a little more raw, you can adjust your time and temperature accordingly.

so now that you know what's up with the burgers, hello, sweet potato!

i had one giant potato in my box, so that's the only thing i used. slice that sucker up into french fry sized portions and spread them evenly on a cookie sheet (by the way, i recommend lining your sheet with foil). in a small bowl, i mixed, 2 tbs olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and a tiny bit of garlic salt. swished it together and covered the potatoes with it. then, pop 'em in the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes.

the chives dip is so easy to make. 1/4 cup of mayo (or if you're like me, veganaise) and about 2 tbsp of freshly chopped chives. the ones i got in my box were garlic chives so if you have plain, throw some garlic in there too. it's worth it.

when everything is ready, stack your burgers on top of your biscuts and slice up some veggies and cheese to add to your service. it's fun to put on your own toppings and dig in!

so there you have it. our delicious meal all laid out. ok. let's see where we are!

bob's red mill biscuit mix, $3.99
1 pound grass feed local beef, $7.99
1 block colby jack cheese, $3.99
sweet potato, $1.99
chives $.99
oats, $.50
veganaise $1.99
tomato, $1.45
lettuce, $1.00
1 avery 'the reverend' beer, $5.99

okay burgers, biscuts, fries, dips and condiments all total a whoppin' $29.88. WOO! that's high! but we did also add a beer. :) we got four meals out of this, which comes out to $7.47 a share. still cheaper than going out to eat, but a little higher than my budget calls for! maybe we'll leave off the beer next time. HA!

on the easy to hard/time consuming scale of 1-10, i'd give it about a 7. it's easy to do, but takes a lot of steps and time. also i have a cold, so if i was achey free i might have given it a 5 or 6. but really, you can do this!

thanks for reading!

emily's baked spaghetti

that's right. i put my name on this one because i made it up! HA!

it came out of convenience really...i realized the day-of, and without a car to head to the grocery store, that we were having dinner guests. i knew we had some pasta in the pantry so i looked up a couple of recipes and then looked in my own cabinet and threw these things together. i have to say, it turned out very tasty.

here's what you'll need from your kitchen/pantry:

an oven heated to 350 degrees
a 9x13 baking dish
large pot of salted, boiling water
16 oz spaghetti
1 jar spaghetti sauce, your choice
a pint of sliced white mushroomies
2 cups of cheese, i used parmesean
10-12 oz. cream of chicken soup

yes, friends, it's that easy.

first of all, throw that spaghetti into your boiling pot of water and set the timer for 8 minutes. during the last two add a generous splash of olive oil and dump in those mushrooms! like so.

see how good they look?  yum! continue to cook, for the remaining time on the clock and after eight minutes, strain/drain/rinse/and return to the pot.

next you'll add the rest of your ingredients...soup, sauce and cheese, but save some of that cheese for the top.

looks kinda funny sitting there!

stir it up, mix it up, and then dump it all into your 9x13 baking dish. i like to add a little more olive oil here, for good measure, and the sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese.

bake at 350, as mentioned, for 35 minutes or until bubbly.

we got six servings out of this, and probably could have squeezed  seven. so let's see what we spent!

spaghetti, 99 cents
spaghetti sauce, $2.99
mushrooms, $2.99
parmesan cheese, $3.99
organic cream of chicken soup, $1.99

a whopping $12.95 for this meal, and  $2.16 per serving. i love this meal because it's so filling and can stand on it's own.

go make some. right now!

paint chip banners

confession: i did not  come up with this all on my own. in fact, i think i saw something on pintrest awhile back where someone had made some awesome easter decorations out of paint chips. how i wish i could find that picture for you.

so back when we were picking out the paint colors to our house, i collected a large amount of these martha stewart samples.

also awhile back, i used these to make a fourth of july banner, and now it's hanging on the wall in one of our guest rooms.

and you aren't seeing things, it actually says 'welcome home.' HA!

i love paint chips because they are free. and you can use anything to tie them together with/tape them, glue them, whatever you have laying around. just go to your local home depot and stock on up!



so i have been saving a few orange and grey paint chips because i think they kind of look like candy corns. here are a few that are currently put up around the house.

the possibilities are endless. you could cut shapes out of these--i just did triangles because i'm really horrible with scissors.

 ok, so get going! go out to home depot and find some colors that make you smile!

chocolate torte with raspberry goodness

don't you love this title? i do. i think you'll like this recipe, too.

both recipes are from smitten kitchen (torte here and raspberry topping here).

let's start with the torte.

from the pantry and kitchen you'll need:

(check out my butternut squash saying, 'hi' in the background!)

a preheated oven to 325 degrees
a greased spring form pan
small stove-top sauce pan
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup unsalted butter (that's 2 whole sticks, oh my!)
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup flour

now, don't be intimidated by this recipe. it's so easy and it'll let you shine as the gourmet chef you really are. you're friends and family will thank you for introducing them to this glorious chocolate dish. i promise.

first things first. this is one of those recipes that it's super helpful to have everything measured out before you get started. in fact, i highly recommend this.

now we're ready to go! you'll want to turn your stove top on somewhere between medium and low heat, but closer to the lower side, and throw in your chocolate chips and butter. look at all that butter!

there is nothing like melting butter on the stove. it is magical.

ok, so while you're enjoying that delicious aroma of chocolate and butter melting, just keep moving it and keep stirring it until it is completely melted. then you'll start adding in your other ingredients.

first add your sugar. then your eggs, one at a time making sure you beat 'em up real good in between. next your vanilla, a pinch of salt, and lastly, your flour.

stir, mix well, you know the drill. pour it into your already greased springform pan, like so.

oopsie, i got a little loose flour on top! but never fear! it will still come out of the oven just as dreamy. and by the way, it needs to be baked about 35 minutes, but check it at about 30 just in case.

in the mean time, while your delicious tort is baking, you can prepare your raspberry topping.

you'll need:
2 pints of raspberries
1 cup sour cream
a handful of brown sugar, dark or light, whatever you like!

combine these items into a baking dish, mix 'em up and wait for your torte to come out of the oven. you'll also notice at this point that everything will start to smell amazing.

when the torte is ready take it out, and crank your oven up to broil. this works out well, since you need to let your torte cool a bit before removing the sides of your pan. when it's ready....voila!

when your oven is ready to broil away, pop in that raspberry topping for about 6 minutes. and start to mentally prepare. because there is nothing quite like hot sour cream. so so so good.

when your raspberry topping is done, it come out looking a little like death. but i swear to you, it will make your day a whole lot better. unless you don't like raspberries...really, you could do this with blue or black too.

i regret to inform you that i have no picture of the combined two because they were consumed in less than five minutes, by me, my husband and our guests. HA!

we got six servings out of this amazing dessert, so let's see where we are!

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, $1.99
unsalted butter, i buy organic so i'll include the cost here, plus a whole cup is a lot, $3.59 
large eggs, $3.33
raspberries, $3.98
sour cream, $2.01


all in all, we spent $14.90 on this dessert, and 2.48 a slice.

you know, you could also just stop at the torte, and eat it with a little powdered sugar on top! then you're down to $8.91, and $1.49 a slice. YES! 

i hope you make this one soon. it's one of my favorites!

ground beef pie

well, i'm not sure what to call this dish, really, so ground beef pie, it is!

the original recipe is from allrecipes.com, but here's what i did.

from the kitchen and pantry, you'll need:

a preheated oven to 400 degrees
a skillet
a pie dish
1 pound of grass fed ground beef
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 free-range chicken eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups of milk or heavy cream
1 cup of bob's red mill biscuit mix
a big ol' tub of sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

in your skillet, brown your beef and make sure it is cooked thoroughly. i usually add a little olive oil to the pan when heating up.

as the beef is cooking, beat your two eggs, and combine with 1 1/2 cups of milk or cream. i used cream. it's awesome. then slowly add your cup of biscuit mix. you can use this time to grate your cheese. i went with closer to two cups of cheese around this time, and it was so worth all that grating.

after your beef is cooked, put this in the bottom of the pie dish. put your grated cheese on top of that and generously salt and pepper the heck out of that dish. when you're done, pour on that delicious biscuit mix, and pop it into the oven for about 35 minutes.

when you're done, you have a beautiful beef pie. ta da!

here's a tip for you, if you don't already do this. whenever i am cooking something in a pie dish, or shoot, even cupcakes...i almost always put it on top of a baking sheet. it helps my clumsy self balance everything and not end up with beef pie in the bottom of the oven.

i topped these slices of pie off with a generous dollop of sour cream, and threw together a little salad using a pound of tomatoes, 2 avos and about 3 tbs of lemon juice tossed together.

look at that biscuit-topping goodness!

before we calculate, let me just say that i almost always have on hand milk, sugar, butter, broth, flour and things like olive oil and lemon juice, so i won't normally throw this into my totals. also, i'll only include the amount actually used from the package--like i got a dozen free range eggs for $3.99, so divide out, i spent $1.33 on just two eggs for this recipe. i buy from local farms, organic and free-range wherever possible.

so, we got five big whoppin' meals out of this. let's see where we stand.
a pound of grass fed ground beef , $7.99 
cheddar cheese, $2.59 for a block and i used the whole thing!
free-range chicken eggs, $1.33
bob's red mill biscuit mix, $1.25
tub of sour cream, $3.99

that's a total of $17.15, not bad! since we had five slices, that's $3.43 a serving.

and for the salad:
avocados, $2.59
right off the vine tomatoes, $2.99

that's a total of $5.58.

all in all we spent $23.16 on this meal, or $4.63 a serving. not to bad. this came out a little on the high end for me, but still within the budget.

if you make this, let me know how you like it! thanks for reading.

hello, you.

my nana used to say that you don’t just ‘cook and serve,’ but you, ‘create and preside.’ i loved being at her house and sitting with her at the dinner table. her meals were always simple, but fantastic. she had few rules around eating, one of them is to always have something green or yellow on your plate. i love this idea and i think about this a lot when meal planning.

nana use to have the most amazing garden. she grew raspberries, blackberries, peaches, pears, oranges, too many herbs to count, green beans, tomatoes…oh, and let’s not forget the grape vine. that thing was out of control (in a good way!).

so i want to be like my nana. she had a unique flare, but was thrifty down to the last penny. i tell my husband a lot that if he will just bring home the bacon, i’ll slice it as thin as we need to. i’ve been a little generous with my slices lately, so i have created this blog as an outlet to show the world great ways i am learning to prepare great, local/farm-raised/free-range meals on a budget.

my goal is to make meals that are less than 10 dollars. this works for us because we typically get 4-6 meals out of one pot, so that’s anywhere from $1.40-2.50 per serving. that’s what i’m talking about!

so stay tuned. i’ll also be sharing ways to decorate your table and serve with style…all on a budget.

thanks for reading!