Another Frugal Food Experiment: Poor Man's Ricotta Cheese

Last week I subjected my whole family to the Poor Man's (Turkey) Burger. All the burger- eaters seemed to like it just fine. This week, I have been trying to use up random food in the house without buying more (well, apart from crazy Shaw's stockpile runs) because we're going away and I don't want things in the fridge to go to waste.

Anyway, I had this idea to make stuffed manicotti, only I didn't have any ricotta cheese. What I did have is a large zucchini. When I was a teenager I started making a vegetarian lasagne recipe that involved shredding zucchini and mixing it with the ricotta cheese. I have made this for years now, and no man, woman, or child of any age who has ever consumed it has ever noticed or complained, because it is tasty and no one notices the zucchini.

Well, today, I wondered, what would happen if you just had the zucchini, and no ricotta cheese whatsoever? Such as, right now? I was going to try.

Manicotti Stuffed with Kale & Zucchini

1 package manicotti
2 cups kale, washed and torn
1 large zucchini
5-6 leaves fresh basil, chopped (or dried, if you don't have fresh)
dash pepper & salt
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 jar pasta sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheese

a little fresh parsley (optional, but you knew that)

I also had some random beans from my garden. They are completely unnecessary in this recipe.

1. Prepare the pasta according to package directions. In a separate pan, steam or boil the kale. Meanwhile, grate your zucchini. I always use a regular cheese grater, but it takes a long time and makes my hand hurt. I'm sure a food processor would be faster. I got one at my bridal shower, but have yet to remove it from its box. I'm sure I'll use it someday.
2. Add pepper, salt, basil, and parmesan to the zucchini mixture. Drain the kale well and stir in with the zucchini. If the mixture seems overly runny, you can strain off any liquid, but I didn't bother.
3. Put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan. Stuff the manicotti. I wasn't sure how to do this. I tried using my fingers. Most of the manicotti had tears in it, anyway, so I ended up just splitting them open, putting the filling inside and closing them back up. I guess I wasn't the first person with that idea. Arrange the manicotti semi-neatly in the pan. (I threw the beans on the top. Just ignore them.)
4. Pour rest of sauce over pasta and top with cheese and fresh parsley. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.
   

This was a very happy cheapskate meal. The zucchini was .50 a pound, the manicotti was reduced to .50 as well, the sauce I stockpiled for next to nothing, and the kale was .69/lb. The basil was free from the garden (along with the random beans that I threw in there. I had to do something with them) and the cheese was probably the most expensive thing, maybe .75 worth? We had it with some salad and slices of homemade bread. This meal probably cost $3.00 total, plus it made leftovers.

And- everyone liked it! The kids asked a couple of times, "What are the noodles full of?" and my husband said, "It doesn't matter. It's good, so eat it." And they did. I didn't think it tasted like cheese or anything, but grated zucchini is definitely a satisfactory pasta filling on its own. Another successful frugal food experiment... I'm on a roll!

Learning to like eggplant! Stop and Shop Bargain Meal

I have never been a huge eggplant fan, but I am trying really hard to like it, and to learn to cook it in tasty ways. It comes in handy when there aren't any great deals on meat to be had. So far, me (and the kids) prefer eggplant as an accent in a baked pasta dish. Eggplant is .99/lb this week at Stop and Shop, as is (good ole) zucchini & summer squash (we will definitely miss the zucchini/ summer squash sales in the dead of winter.)

Baked Pasta with Eggplant Parm Nibbles

1 medium eggplant
1/2 tsp salt
Bread crumbs
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cups chopped veggies of choice (I choose... zucchini!)
1/2 box pasta (ziti, penne, rotini all work well)
1 jar pasta sauce or 2 15 oz. cans of tomatoes in some form
1/2 cup shredded cheese

1. First, you need to prep the eggplant. Erin gives a beautiful description on how to do this here. Basically, peel the eggplant, chop it into small pieces, put it in a colander, sprinkle a little salt on it and let it drain for a while (30 minutes to an hour.) You can prepare more than one eggplant this way and freeze some for later.
2. Meanwhile, prepare pasta according to package directions and chop up your other vegetables.
   
3. Heat the olive oil in your skillet to medium high. While it's warming up, take a bowl of bread crumbs and roll the eggplant in the crumbs, a few at a time. I find that the crumbs stick to the eggplant just fine without dipping them in egg or anything, but you could do that if you wanted. Then you want to saute your eggplant pieces in the oil until they are golden brown. You could probably get much crispier pieces if you deep-fried them, but I don't really fry things.
   
4. When the pasta is done, mix it in a 9 x 13 baking pan with the sauce and/or tomatoes. Stir the vegetables and the cooked eggplant in as well. Then top with cheese and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Serve with corn on the cob- it's on sale for 12 for 1.99 (about 17 cents an ear!)
   

Oooh... pork loin.. again!?!

I thought we just did this... Shaw's is having yet another sale on good ole pork loin. No worries mate; you can do a lot of things with pork. So if you pick up a pork loin, cut it into whatever you plan to use: roasts, strips for stir-fry, or pork chops.

The produce selections at Shaw's this week are a little on the pricey side (1.99 isn't too bad for a head of cauliflower though- and that's one of the few vegetables my kids are equally enthusiastic about. The dog likes it too... weird.) Anyway, cabbage is always a cheap staple, and Shaw's has it on sale for .49/lb. I found a number of recipes that called for pork and cabbage; these two are simple and earned good reviews: Pork Chop and Cabbage Casserole and Pork Loin and Cabbage.

If you're in the mood for barbecue but you don't have time to fuss with the grill (or your grill is full of bees- hi, mom and dad!) try doing barbecue pork in the slow cooker! Slow Cooker BBQ pork chops sounds delicious and so easy- you basically layer pork chops in your slow cooker with a bottle of barbecue sauce and let it cook all day on low. Then you can make some cole slaw with that cabbage and serve that on the side.

Saving Money During Grilling Season

As I mentioned before, the grocery budget can take a beating during the summer months if you cook meat on the grill often. During the cooler parts of the year, I only serve meat as a "main course" maybe once or twice a week. For the most part, we eat stews, casseroles, pasta and rice dishes that require only a little bit of meat, if any. Some suggestions for stretching your grocery budget further when you're serving meat as a main course more often:

• Buy meat on sale, of course. I look for all types of meat to be less than 1.99/lb, unless it's fish- I think fish for less than 3.99/lb isn't too bad. I stock up on different meats maybe once a month.
• When you buy your meat, put it in meal-size portions and freeze what you're not going to eat in a couple of days. Despite what most restaurant menus would have you believe, a serving of meat is only 3-4 oz., so based on that and the number of people in your household, portion meat accordingly.
• I also look for hot dog and hamburger rolls in the reduced section (at Shaw's of course). They often have them for .50 per package, and I freeze them for later.
• Don't spend extra for special marinades- I have some suggestions here for frugal marinade options.
  
• Plan ahead! I honestly think that planning your meals is where you get your biggest payoff for time invested. That way, you use up stuff that you already have and you don't buy more than you need. At the same time, be flexible-I often end up changing my plan mid-week due to unexpected circumstances. For example, last week my mom surprised me and showed up at my house with all kinds of food to cook on the grill. We ended up eating what she brought over all week long, and even freezing some for later.
• As much as I try to avoid making my kitchen into a restaurant, grilling can be one area where it pays off to make different people different things. For example, Pepper likes hot dogs and no one else does, so I keep a package around for her and throw a hot dog on the grill if we're having turkey burgers or something. This can also work well if the grown-ups want something more expensive that the kids don't like (like steak or fish...)
  
• Make side dishes that can last for multiple meals. I will make a big batch of potato salad and it usually provides us with a side dish for the next three dinners. With that and a garden salad, the only additional food I need to prepare each night is what we are planning to grill.
  
• Go veg. I was pleasantly surprised that most of my family members (except for Pepper, content with her hot dog) enjoy veggie burgers. Since we often get them on sale with coupons, they are a quick and convenient alternative. I don't find that they're necessarily cheaper than buying meat by the pound, though.
  
• Make sure you don't waste money on propane- only turn on as many burners as you need, run it only as long as needed, and shut the grill off immediately when you're done. According to The Simple Dollar, it's actually a little bit more expensive to grill rather than use the oven or stovetop. However, for most people grilling is an essential part of summer- the extra cost is worth it.
• On nights when you don't grill, look for lower cost menu options like using leftovers and making meatless dishes, to balance out higher costs on the other nights.

Also see:

Ten Frugal Tips for a Great Grilling Experience, from The Simple Dollar
The Frugal Barbecue Grill from Families.com
Grilling on a Budget from the Hillbilly Housewife
60 Cheap Marinades, by CheapHealthyGood