Leftover leftovers?

Okay, so it's really freaking cold outside, and I don't really want to go out there right now.

Which kinda sucks, because I need to pick up groceries soon.

I looked over my fridge, tossed the items that needed tossing (how did 4 month expired yogurt get missed in the last clean out?), and assessed what was left. Not much. A couple eggs, a splash of milk, some mouldy cheese and a container of spinach cheese dip from going out with a friend a couple days ago. On the counter was some bread crusts leftover from having some friends over for an english tea a little while back.

My fridge is not usually this barren. I blame the weather.

I have a reasonably stocked pantry, but I was feeling the need to use up what was in the fridge before tapping that. Well, tapping that too much anyway.

I trimmed the mould off the cheese and cut into small, meltable pieces (there was too little to shred). After cooking a pot of penne and draining it, I threw the cheese pieces to melt, and added the remaining spinach cheese dip. The result was a cheesy spinach pasta, with a little kick. For whatever reason the restaurant we got the spinach dip from does theirs with a tex-mex edge. If I find the pasta is too dry when I reheat it, I can throw some salsa in quite easily to fix that.

The bread crusts (about 1/2 a loaf's worth?) were torn up into little bite sized pieces and spread out in a baking dish. My last 3 eggs and splash of milk were whipped together with a few handfuls of homemade vanilla sugar and vanilla extract. I say handfuls, because I was too lazy to get a measuring cup out of the cupboard. 3 handfuls - That's about as precise-ish as I can get on this recipe. On top of the crust pieces I liberally sprinkled nutmeg and cinnamon, as well as a few handfuls of crushed walnuts and a handful of dark chocolate chips, before pouring the egg mixture over it. I pushed the bread down to make sure it all soaked up some egg mixture, covered the dish in tinfoil, and put it in the oven at 350 Fahrenheit for about 35 minutes.

Om nom nom.

I have some Devon cream in the fridge at work to put on that bad boy.

I now have breakfast and lunch for the rest of the week :)

Then I really have to go get groceries :s

Has anyone made anything interesting out of their leftovers lately?

Staple Soup

Kelly over at Almost Frugal did a post recently on the 6 key ingredients she uses in her day to day life to make quick easy meals. It's good to have fall back stash of multi-purpose foods you can rely on in a pinch when you need to make a quick, easy and cheap meal.

Reading through her list I realized a) I don't bake as much as I should, and b) I'm running out of my staples at home and need to stock up! Haha. It got me thinking though. While initially I looked at the list and thought "Yep, those are my staples too", I realized afterwards that they really weren't anymore. My staples have shifted.

These are Kelly's 6 Staples:

1. Flour
2. Baking Powder
3. Salt
4. Oil
5. Milk
6. Eggs

These are my 6 Staples:

1. Tea
2. Milk
3. Sugar
4. Bread
5. Eggs
6. Pepper

That's not to say that I don't use the other items, because I do, it's just that these are the 6 I use most frequently and almost always have on hand. I'd be lying if I said I never skipped meals and just had a cup of tea instead because I'm busy or on the run. I almost did that tonight :s Add on some squash, onions, garlic and canned tomatoes to this list and I'm pretty content for quite a while.

I'm not going to put up a recipe for my top 6, because I'm pretty sure most of you can figure out what goes into an omelet or french toast yourself, but I will put up one I did recently with squash and garlic. Actually, I do it frequently. It's stupid simple.

Basically:

= 

You take a medium sized butternut squash, cut it into chunks that are similar in size to a golf ball, and put them in a roasting pan. Then take the papery peel off ~8 cloves of garlic, and throw them in the roasting pan with the garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, wrap top with foil or lid, and put them in the oven at 350F/175C until they're softened and toasty (about 45 minutes). Let them cool enough to handle, and take the peel off the squash (you're supposed to do it first thing, but I find it's easier this way). Put the squash and garlic into a pot, and cover with either stock, or water with bouillon cubes/powder. Simmer on medium-low for about half an hour or so, then remove from heat. Either transfer this to a blender, or use an immersion blender, and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste, reheat if necessary.

It's really easy to make, and super forgiving. You can put the stuff in the oven and walk away to do something else while it's roasting. Ditto when it's simmering. It's really adaptable too, you can add all sorts of seasoning to it. I usually like mine with just salt, pepper, and a dollop of either yogurt or sour cream.

Anywho, I have homework calling my name. Have a good night everyone. Happy eating :)

Mmmmm Chai...

This morning's bus ride was filled with sweet visions of Chai Latte as I read the post over at Fabulously Broke about Starbucks' 1/2 price Tea Latte promotion. *drool* It most certainly helped with the fact that I had to wait 15 minutes for a bus in -25 weather. Thanks FB!


This right here ladies and gentlemen is Chai Porn. Mmmm...

 Unfortunately I can't make it to a Starbucks today between 2-5pm, and frankly in this weather I really don't want to go outside any more often than absolutely necessary. So, I used up the last of a gift card and bought one after class. The spot has been hit, I am now happy(er). When I was working in a camp job, away from civilization for 3 weeks at a time, I would pack boxes of concentrate in my luggage to mix with milk and ice in my water bottle. Needless to say, I was the recipient of more than one jealous stare (and yet no one else just brought the concentrate with them...)

I could wax poetic for a while, but I think that's enough for now. Anyone who loves them as much as I do, and I know there are a lot of you, knows that the cost of them adds up over time. You can get Tazo Chai concentrate in Starbucks and at the grocery store, but you'll probably notice it isn't quite as strong. According to my barista former roommate, the concentrate they use is MUCH stronger. Even after adding water it's still stronger than the store stuff. It works nicely in a pinch though when you have a ridiculous craving, and it's a fair bit cheaper too. The cost of 2 grande chai lattes is approximately the cost of 1 carton of concentrate. Following package directions you'll get 4 lattes out of it.

However, last winter my mom got me a milk frother for Christmas. I have a little too much fun with that thing... I got into making Starbucks style drinks at home for a while. I was making a pretty awesome Cinnamon Dolce Latte that was similar to the one you get in Starbucks. Very similar actually. I've tried making my own copycat Chai Lattes at home as well, though I've never tried to copy the Starbucks one. I think it's time I do try to though. *evil grin* There looks to be some interesting looking recipes here as well. If I come up with a good taste-a-like, I'll post it.

Sometimes it seems like a bit of a shock looking at the sugar contents in these recipes, mostly because we don't know what goes into our drinks when we buy them. According to Starbucks their grande Chai Tea Latte has 42 grams of sugar. This is approximately 10 teaspoons, or little under a 1/4 cup. Suddenly I don't feel so bad for using the occasional teaspoon in my tea at home! lol. That right there is why it's a treat, not a daily indulgence. It's also why a lot of people lose weight when they start cutting out the extra drinks. Oh well, what's the point in living if you can't occasionally enjoy it? I certainly do, and I'm now staring longingly at my empty travel mug. Soon my friend, soon.