Homemade Weekend, part 1

Whew, what a weekend!

It never fails.. By Friday, there is nothing in the fridge but ongoing science experiments..

So, if you couldn't tell, we said "screw it!" and we went out to eat at one of my favorite Okie-grown Mexican restaurants, Chelino's. I grew up on this local joint, and I never turn down a chance to go!

Since I've been on a pretty tight budget, I decided to be super productive and efficient this weekend.

Saturday morning, I made breakfast with what I had around the house (scrambled eggs, homefries, and toast). While eating, I looked through my new cookbook in an attempt to plan out our meals for the entire week ahead.  I chose recipes that I thought would be fairly inexpensive, easy to prepare, and tasty, of course. I wanted to find meals that would fit in to our schedules as best as possible because I was sure that if I could make the first week work smoothly that I would be more likely to continue meal planning. So, this is the plan:

Per the usual, Paul didn't really want to go shopping with me, but I coerced him with lunch at Uptown Grocery. They have a really good hot food bar with an awesome selection. We both got their "lite lunch special" for $4.99 that includes one entree, one side, and a roll. I got baked chicken breast, and sauteed yellow squash, zucchinni and green beans, while Paul chose the meatloaf and loaded mashpotatoes (what he almost always gets since this girl isn't a fan of meatloaf, haha). For under $15, we were able to have a really nice meal! If you ignore the styrofoam, it's almost like going to a pretty nice restaurant and still walking out with money in your pocket.

With full bellies, we decided to start browsing. Before we left the house, I made a very specific list of everything I would need to make each meal for the week. I divided all the items by the section they would be in at the store. Without a list, I am liable to walk out with a cart full of nothing I actually need.

This is where my "$2 rule" comes into play: if it is over $2, it doesn't go in the cart. Now, with rising living costs, it is getting harder to follow, especially with dairy (milk & cheese), out of season produce, and meats. Although some of these things are necessary at times, I try to search for the best deal bycomparing products and avoiding name brands.

After about an hour of shopping, we hit the register. Paul and I always make a game of trying to guess the total amount we will spend: I think he guessed around $170 and I said about $160. We were both happily surprised to see that we did better than both of our guesses with a ticket for $155!!

As you can see, I circled everything that was over $2. Only 16 items out of 68 were over the limit!  It is always so gratifying when you see that you have everything you need but still saved money!

SATURDAY NIGHT

Following this week's menu planner, Saturday night was homemade pizza night. We had so much fun with this! All I had to do was make the dough about an hour before we were ready to eat, giving it time to rise.



The Pioneer Woman's Pizza Dough
1 scant tsp active dry yeast         3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup warm water                   3 tbsp olive oil
2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Combine yeast & water into medium bowl. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
2. Add flour to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
3. Sprinkle in the salt.
4. Turn the mixer on low, and slowly pour in the olive oil.
5. Finally, pour in the yeast/water mixture.
6. Stop the mixer when everything comes together.
7. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled/Pam'd bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
8. Allow the dough to rise at least 1 hour before using.

    *This dough can be stored in the fridge for several days before using.
     *The receipe can be doubled or tripled depending on the amount you need.
     *Reducing the receipe is not recommended since baking relies heavily on chemistry.

After the dough rose, Paul, who apparently is a pizza extrordinare, kneaded and rolled out the dough a few times, then tossed it so it would fit our new pizza pan! We decided to do our own thing from here, instead of attempting one of PW's fancier pizza receipes. Don't forget to Pam the pan for easier clean up!

We spread Prego's vegetable pizza sauce ($#.## for a # oz jar, using about 1/3 per 12" pizza) on the dough, leaving about a half inch of un-sauced dough around the outside for the crust. Then, we used 2 cups (one med. bag) of shredded mozarrella cheese all over the pizza, making sure to have a pretty thick layer of cheese near the crust. My first "real" job was at a local pizza place in Lindale, TX, and one thing I learned about the art of pizza was to make sure there was enough cheese around the crust to hold all of the toppings on to the slice once it was cut. If there isn't enough cheese, all of the toppings will just slide off when you pick it up. Awesome!

This is where it got really fun! We started pulling all sorts of things out of the fridge that needed to be used anyway, and started throwing them on the pizza. Paul stayed simple with pepperonis, black olives, and some parmesan, but I "vegged out" with chopped spinach, mushrooms, black olives, and fresh tomatoes.

Next, we baked the pie on the lowest rack in a 450 degree oven for about 12-14 minutes. It turned out wonderful! The crust was cooked perfectly, not doughy but not hard as a rock either. Success!