Written on January 4, 2012

Pizza Chili, El Cheapo Soup, and Other Weapons Against the Pizza Guy

Super scrumptious soup, super "free"

Super scrumptious soup, super "free"

Apparently, I’m not a food stylist. Yet I am compelled to brag about this incredibly good soup, so well-loved in this house and yet so THRIFTY.
Here are the ingredients:
Leftover roast from Sunday’s pot roast
Leftover hamburger from Friday’s spaghetti
Leftover salsa from Saturday’s salsa and chips
3/4 of an opened carton of beef broth
Can of tomato soup, collecting dust in the back of the pantry
A third of a box of macaroni
A splash of Worcester sauce
A splash of soy sauce
A glop of sour cream
A dusting of dill
Truly, a sublime soup, flung together with ingredients on hand, all parts of other meals that became a meal from their sum. We really would have been hard pressed to slap together a real meal from the leftover meats, which is when I start feeling soupy, EL CHEAPO soupy!
We saved about $23, too, on a pizza call. Saved from the Pizza Man! What a great feeling!
Along the same lines:
Often when I’m grocery shopping, I snag a jar of pizza sauce and a package of pepperoni, especially if these items are on sale. Usually, I have plenty of hamburger on hand from my Amish farmer Atlee, from whom we usually buy a portion of a cow every few months. I also tend to have a can or two of beans lurking in the pantry, and maybe a can of stewed tomatoes.
Here’s what I’m getting at:
PIZZA CHILI
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/06/pizza-chili-slow-cooker-recipe.html
This grand recipe is from one of my favorite blogs, My Year of Slow Cooking, by the brilliant, funny, and talented Stephanie O Dea. If I have the bare bones chili ingredients on hand, I make it special by pouring a jar of pizza sauce and dumping the package of pepperoni in the pot. I’ve made it in a pot and in a crock pot; works beautifully either way.
Somehow this recipe scratches the pizza itch without actually buying a pizza. It’s great for a Friday night when you really have a hankering for pizza but you’d rather KEEP that $23 (I can’t abide $5 cardboard pizza, can you?)
If you have shredded cheese lying around, even better. The whole family loves this and again, it works like a charm against the urge to call the pizza guy!
What are your favorite Friday night go-to’s NOT involving dialing P. Hut or similar pie purveyor?
And apropos of nothing, except MSOTA of course…here’s a photo or two from my last visit to Amish friends in late summer:

Mary Yoder's canned pickles

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Written on June 25, 2011

First Fruits of Atlee Yoder’s Garden

We just went and picked up the first baskets for our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group. Peaking into the bushel basket, I was thrilled at its contents: my old friend kale, two types of lettuce (deer tongue, and another kind), rhubarb, a pint of strawberries, some onions and radishes. A bounty of just-picked goodness for $8.50. The first thing I did was wash the strawberries, cut them up and stir them into some Greek yogurt–yum!

A pint of organic strawberries from CALIFORNIA at the grocery store is $4, and California ain’t anywhere around here. Atlee Yoder, an Amish farmer and friend, lives an hour away and he and his children pulled this produce from the ground today. Yes, gas is a buzzkill these days, but driving an hour for organic produce seems like positively green compared to buying veggies and fruits trucked in from thousands of miles away.

Plus, we got the bonus of tromping around in the fresh air on the farm, chatting with adorable Amish children (Sarah, Robert, Rebecca, Annie, Amos, Sadie, Maddie, and John), petting baby goats and watching ducklings waddle around like they own the place.

Amish ducklings...are they as cute as Englisher ducklings?

The best part about being part of a veggie share is that we have to find a way to make use of what’s growing right now, which expands our palates. Take kale. Just a year ago I thought kale was like an artichoke. Ha! Not at all, as it turns out. All it took was a simple Google and I found a killer recipe for sauteed kale by Bobby Flay himself (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/sauteed-kale-recipe/index.html)

We served this over pasta and it was fresh, green, and delicious!

Atlee also sells his artisanal cheese for $5 a pound. That’s organic, raw milk, handcrafted cheese, like a “gouda or baby swiss,” the straw hatted cheesemaker said, for $5 a pound!

Atlee's artisanal, raw milk cheese for the wacky price of $5 a pound

Now that’s a good looking bunch of cheese right there! A fromagier’s dream, and cheap.

Have you ever considered joining a CSA? Are you in one now? What’s your best kale/strawberry/radish/rhubarb recipe? I mean, not all those things in one recipe…:) If it’s easy and cheap, I’m in!

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