Bon Appetit 2

My menus got a little thrown off (read: nachos) since I haven't been feeling well, but hopefully we're back on track this week. I'm going to kick it off with something new and weird. My theory is that after the Thursday meal, everyone will be relieved with whatever else I come up with. And to throw in a wrinkle, we've redone the budget and the budget says we're going to eat on $10 per day. Yeah. Good luck with that. I mean, sure, if I wasn't going to buy organic and if macaroni and cheese was on the menu twice a week, maybe. My incentive to make it happen is that if it doesn't work, I have to get a job, and then I won't have time to sit around surfing the Internet looking at food all day. I must make it happen!

Anyway. New and weird. Paneer. I know, right? It's an Indian cheese, sort of like cottage cheese from what I can tell. Supposed to be super easy to make. If I do it right, it will open up a whole new world of saag recipes for me, which can only be a good thing. (I made my saag standby last week, and it was delicious, but I'm ready for something new and even creamier.)

Thursday Vegetable Paneer Tart (from some hippie cookbook by Deepak Chopra and friends--this is a guy whose every suggestion assumes you have a full-time staff in your employ--we'll see . . .)

Friday Leftovers (I made a lovely vegetarian lasagna last night that I think will go first)

Saturday Navajo Tacos (inspired by The Beignet Incident of last week, I'm going to make more deep-fried breadstuffs--and the leftover dough can make more "scones"--this would be a win, win, except that we'll all have heartburn after the NTs and won't be able to eat beignets.)

Sunday Roast Chicken Drumsticks with Parsley and Garlic and Crusty Sauteed Potatoes (daltonboy gave me a gourmet Irish cookbook for Valentines Day--why wait for 3/17 to get started on green food?) For dessert: Pear and Pecan Upside-Down Cake with Toffee Sauce (who knew the Irish were so fancy?)

Monday Quinoa Puttanesca (I seriously have a TON of quinoa that I had no idea what to do with but bought anyway--on sale--so I have to find a quinoa recipe every week--gah!)

Tuesday Greek Fish in a Packet (from my Moosewood darlings) with Couscous

Wednesday Minestrone in the crock pot

I'll update after the shopping trip tomorrow to report on budget success. I think if I can avoid throwing any videos into the cart at Costco we might be okay.

Updates

Shopping: I budgeted $70; the receipt came to $69.69! So if we can avoid having to run to the store during the week, we should be okay.

Paneer: super easy to make. It looks like a cross between feta and cottage cheese, and tastes very mild and creamy. And I made bread using the whey by-product. So I'm feeling extra hippie today. It's warm, so I might even break out the Birkenstocks!