Well Laid Plans

Last weekend I planned and shopped for a week of eating at home, getting back on track with meal planning and staying focused on budget. On Monday, I found out a beloved colleague was tragically killed and our university community was thrown into grieving and shock. Meals didn't get cooked this week, floors weren't vacuumed. The few hours not spent at the office were spent sleeping. This weekend I finally had some time to unplug and hang out with DH. Hold 'em tight. It's really all that matters.

Happiness is Dinner Cooking Itself

Cold weather means crockpot season at our house and one of the best quick stews I discovered last winter was this yummy beef stew. Less than 10 minutes to prep, eight hours to cook and we're set for at least a week or I freeze a few pints as soon as it's done for later. Healthy, simple and completely organic.

• 1 1/2 pounds cubed beef stew meet (I substitute buffalo)
• 2 cups water
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (16 oz.) package frozen mixed vegetables (I double this)
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed (I use two of whatever I have around, usually golden or red)
• 10 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled (I use Penzeys Beef Soup Base, way less sodium)
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon dried basil 

 Put the meat on the bottom of the crockpot; toss in everything else; give it a quick stir; set it to eight hours on low and walk away.... tasty. I made it up on Sunday night and we are set for lunch and dinner on Monday, plus a few other lunches later in the week.

Related aside, I'm totally hooked on Penzeys Spices (I use the California basil in the stew). It may sound crazy, but their dried spices, spice mixes, etc. really do beat anything I've picked up at the store. We've got two shops locally, but they are coast to coast. I'll have to work up an ode to their adobo seasoning.

I'm hoping to include at least one slow cooker meal in my weekly meal planning to save on time and cut down the likelihood of eating out. I would love additional suggestions.

Crisp and Delicious

Apple crisp tastes like fall. The brisk, fresh crunch of the apple paired with the sweet, crunchy topping heralds the beginning of the season for me. On a quick trip up to Thurmont, MD for apples straight from the orchard I grabbed a peck of staymen apples.

Sidenote: When do you actually get to use "peck" as a means of measurement? Never, that's when.

I settled on this new unknown variety of apple by finding the eldest member of the family that owned the orchard and asked what she would use. It was described as tart, but firm making it a strong candidate for baking.

Rather than falling back on the very butter heavy crumble topping of childhood, I explored new recipes to come up with just the right option. My new love of Cook's Illustrated led me online to see what they were proposing. Even though I subscribe to the hard copy, I couldn't figure out how to get online access. But luckily, they offer a one-day pass for free and I dove into their various options (the 14 day will come up, try to close the window and a free one-day pass will pop up).

Merging two possible recipes I made a test batch in a 8 x8 pan.



Here's my slightly tweaked version of what they called their "master crumble" topping (which they did recommend making in volume, freezing and breaking it out as needed).

Topping Mixture

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup oats

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon table salt
4 tablespoons butter (chilled) chopped into small pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening chopped into small pieces


In a bowl mix together all dry ingredients, then add butter and shortening and mix together into a crumble consistency until you can't see any bits of butter/shortening. Set into the fridge to chill for at least 15 minutes. While chilling, prep the fruit as outlined below, tossing into a large bowl with all of the ingredients.

Fruit
2-2.5 lb. apples (go tart, really) peeled, cored, sliced thinly or cubed 1/4 inch or so
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/5  tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (heavy handed)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In an 8x8 container layer in all of the apples. It will seem like a huge amount. It will all fit and will cook down a bit. Pull the crumble out of the fridge and sprinkle on top. This will cover, but not drown the apples. If you want to drown the fruit in crumble, considering doubling the above topping and using a slightly larger dish so it won't bake over the edge of the pan.

Cook for 15 minutes at 425, lower oven temp to 350 degrees and cook for another 30-40 minutes until apples are fork tender and crumble is golden brown. Serve with ice cream or milk. Yum.

Cook's Illustrated proposes if you double the fruit and topping into a 9 x 13 pan, cook it 30-40 minutes at 375 degrees. After the test batch, I made two 9 x13 pans for an event and they were delicious.



Before Baking.





After baking 40 minutes.



So Fresh and So Clean

The ammonia based glass cleaner from our neighborhood co-op is horrible. Our windows and mirrors this summer were a horror of streaks and smears from cleaning them. I think the dog nose prints actually made them cleaner. So I finally caved (even with a half a bottle to go) and picked up the new Nature's Source windex and while I was at it the bathroom cleaner too (it said it fights soap scum).

I am frankly relieved that they both actually work and I am ignoring the bottle of the offending product still under my sink. I have not managed to break up with my Clorox toilet bowl scrubbers. I know the little scrubby uses more product that if I used a brush and cleaner, but swear I still get better results.

The wood floor swiffer is also still in my life. Yes I vacuum my base boards ( I heart my dyson) and try to get up excess before I swiffer, but it sure beats being on my hands and knees cleaning the hardwood every week. I feel like I'm channeling my mother when I'm on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor for extended period of times. Shudder. The issue of course is that each time I use the swiffer on the hardwood, it takes three refill pads to do the whole apartment and probably every other month I have to refill the special hardwood floor cleaner it uses. Lots of wasted non-recyclable product being created. Other hardwood cleaning options welcome.

Focused on Savings

There's been an ongoing debate at our house (not just in my head) over how to save effectively for the future. Not just retirement, but emergencies and futures wants as well. Faced with the pleasant, but somewhat intimidating reality of moving from a "just get it paid off" mode to "hmm, where do we put $$ when you're planning for the next 60 years."

Not shockingly, after reading everything from Dave Ramsey to Mint.com, I wandered back over to my Motley Fool roots and started reading their personal finance materials again. There I rediscovered my confidence to not have to pay someone to manage my money (at least at this point).

The strange side effect of finally digging in and becoming an adult about our finances is that I'm slightly paranoid now about spending money at all. Brilliant you say, but not really. I can talk myself into going out for tex-mex for dinner faster than you can say queso, but I'll put off buying say work shoes because I don't want to spend the money.

I'm also more aware of how much less we could be living on. The statistics about the majority of the country living on or less than $50,000 a year keeps rolling around in my head. In DC you'd have to have two roommates and keep to a strict budget to really make that work for one person, it would be heroic for two.

So I continue to evaluate how to consume less in an effort to save more. But more importantly, I'm realizing living with less is possible.  Things on the savings block as of late:

• broken myself of a serious Crate & Barrel habit.
• cut out my high end spa trips for the occasional nice, but not nearly as swank pedicure.
• stretching a few more weeks between haircuts.
• always checking for coupons online before making an online purchase.
• using what's in the pantry to plan menus (having it overstuffed is pointless)

Not exactly saving the planet here, but it's a start.