Small Life Changers, Mistakes, and Stretching Dollars

Happy May 7th, everyone! On today's date in history: 1274 - The Second Council of Lyons opens to regulate the election of the Pope; 1718 - The city of New Orleans was founded; 1824 - World premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony; 1992 - The space shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission. Famous birthdays include Johannes Brahms in 1833, Gary Cooper in 1901, and Eva "Evita" Perón in 1919. But don't cry for me, blog readers, because on May 7th, 2013, you have a new edition of ThePaleoVeg to read!

Ok, so that was a bit over-dramatic, and all of that information came from Wikipedia, so who knows if it's even true. But, you truly do have a new blog entry to read from me today which will include a few culinary life changers I've discovered over the past week, how I've made my grocery dollars stretch, and a disappointing ingredient mistake I made because I didn't read the label first.

Like so many Americans out there, if I had to break down the amount of time I spent eating each day into actual specific meals and snacking in between, I'd say it would be something like 20-25% real meals and 75-80% snacking. It's not really the ideal situation, but all too often, it's what is dictated by a busy schedule. However, a recent trip to the Johnson City EarthFare injected a couple of small changes into my snacking life that I plan on keeping around. I knew that I needed some more almond butter as I'd run out of my previous jar, and I also wanted to try EarthFare's sunflower butter as well. I walked to the aisle where they were located, and my friend Sarah happened to point out a jar of...brace yourselves...vanilla espresso almond butter. I know, right?!? The brand is Wild Squirrel (I think sometimes also labeled as Wild Friends? Not sure what the deal is there), but the jar looks something like this:

Photo from Wild Friends

I had seen the product in single serving packets before, but had no idea that it came in whole jars! This only proves my occasionally oblivious nature as it was located only one shelf down from the packets...anyway, moving on. Now I know what you're thinking: "This product and flavor combination sounds amazing, but there's no way it could ever taste as good as it sounds". Well I'm here to tell you that you're wrong, and shame on you for doubting the cute woodland creature on the label! ....just kidding. But it seriously is an amazing accompaniment for sliced apples, celery, or even just by the spoonful. And I love the simple ingredients list even more: Almonds, agave nectar, vanilla, coffee, espresso powder, salt. That's it! This, along with the sunflower butter, are some great snacking options that are super satisfying and great protein sources.

My next life changer happened in the same store, but over in the nuts and dried fruits section. We had been browsing various items when I decided to take home a container of pitted dates, which are delicious! At this point your thought process may be something like "Congratulations, Jon. You 'discovered' a food that's been eaten by people around the world for thousands of years. How very Christopher Columbus of you". Well, friends, the discovery actually happened later when I was at home. I'd enjoyed a few of them in their natural state, but then I had a crazy idea (and no, it doesn't involve wrapping them in bacon). The pitted dates have a hole in one end where the pit has been removed, which seemed to be begging for some kind of filling. Then it hit me. I'll let the next sequence of photos explain what ensued:

Click to enlarge/enjoy

I KNOW, RIGHT?!?! Remember the old Gushers fruit snacks? It's like that only with sriracha goodness bursting out of a subtly sweet, chewy date. It's the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, and just a couple of these are all you need to satisfy your snack craving. I encourage you to go ahead and try it. You can shower your adoration upon me later. I already have an idea for yet another layer of flavor to incorporate into this creation, so I'll keep you posted when I've given that a try.

My few purchases at EarthFare (also picked up some avocados there) have been my only real "grocery" purchases in about two weeks now. My grocery visits have been totaling around $100 each, which isn't too bad, but I didn't want to go through that expense plus the hassle of going to the grocery store every week, so I decided to cook some things that I could really stretch my grocery dollar with.

First up was something that I'd had in my head for a bit: cabbage rolls. Many of you have probably had some variation of the traditional cabbage roll which involves a filling of rice and ground meat (usually beef) rolled in a cabbage leaf then cooked in some type of tomato sauce. I searched online for the simplest cabbage roll recipe that I could find, then began adapting it to my needs. Instead of using rice, I just processed up some cauliflower to a rice-like consistency and wrung the excess moisture out of it, and instead of ground beef, I used a sauteed vegetable and chopped pistachio filling. The recipe I found (I don't even remember where now) called for using a can of Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup...

Ah yes, the familiar Campbell's label, immortalized in our pantries and by Andy Warhol, a trusted staple of the American kitchen. I placed 1/4 of the can in my filling mixture, then added water to the remaining soup and used it to pour over my rolls and as a base for them to cook in. It was after the rolls were already in the oven (yes, I cooked them in the oven instead of a stovetop preparation) that I looked at the storied label and read the ingredients. I only had to get through the first three to know I'd messed up: tomato puree (that one's well enough), high fructose corn syrup (uh oh...), and...WHEAT FLOUR! Since this is a condensed soup, I can only imagine that it's in there as a thickener, but I was nonetheless very disappointed that I hadn't checked the ingredients first, especially since I'm usually so careful about reading labels. However, I hearkened back to my original introduction when I acknowledged that mistakes and accidents would happen, and I moved past this small, disappointing betrayal.

The end result of the cooking efforts were anything but disappointing, however. I used most of a head of cabbage (the same head I'd used when making my Asian style wraps from my last post), most of the leaves used for rolling, but some sitting in the bottom of the baking dish for the rolls to sit on. I just boiled all the leaves for a minute or two to soften them, added my filling, rolled them up, and placed them on the bed of loose cabbage leaves with the tomato soup. Once they were all in, I poured the last of the soup over the top and placed them in the oven for about 25-30 minutes or so, just until they were heated through and the cabbage leaves were cooked and soft. I got 9 rolls out of it, so I had enough for dinner that night plus a few extra lunches and dinners (had I portioned better, I could have probably gotten 10 rolls as I had a small amount of filling leftover, but not quite enough for another roll). They were incredibly tasty and filling.

Filling of cauliflower "rice" and a bunch of veggies

Cabbage rolls ready for the oven

The first night, I ate them alongside a simple mashed sweet potato, cooked in coconut and olive oil with a little bit of cinnamon. When I was eating leftovers, I decided to use up the leftover half of the eggplant I'd used to make my sliders the week before. I did sort of a take on an eggplant and tomato tian (fancy shmancy). I took some sliced eggplant and placed them in a baking dish with some sliced roma tomatoes, some mushrooms, and sliced red onion. I put this down in two layers. In a shaker cup that I formerly used for my post-gym protein, I combined olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, garlic, red chili flakes, some herbs and spices, sriracha, and a little salt and pepper, then shook it well to combine. I then poured this over my layers of vegetables, and sprinkled some nutritional yeast over the top. I baked it in the oven until the vegetables were done, and it made a perfect hearty side dish to go with my leftover cabbage rolls. I had enough of it to get me through all of my cabbage roll leftovers, and had some of this leftover that I made a meal of by itself one night.

Eggplant tomato tian fresh out of the oven

This past Sunday on el cinco de mayo, I made the obvious plans to go with my parents to get Mexican food (vegetarian fajitas, no sour cream, didn't eat the tortillas, mom ate my rice and beans, and I abstained from the chips and salsa). I knew that I needed a lunch gameplan for this week though. I had all kinds of vegetables here and there that I needed to use. Since it was a rainy, dreary day, I was inspired to turn them into soup. I'm not going to attempt to list everything that went into it, so I'll just show you a picture from my prep activities:

Obviously some asparagus (leftover from my green meal), the rest of the head of cabbage (think how far I make that sucker stretch!), the leftover kale from my kale chips, and a mirepoix/holy trinity ([carrots + {celery and onion] + bell pepper}) and some jalapeño. For liquid, I used water, some white wine, and a mushroom stock that I made myself from some dried porcini mushrooms. Some fresh mushrooms also went into the mix along with garlic and a bunch of herbs and spices... I realize now that I said I wasn't going to list what went in it, but I pretty much just did. Anyway, this made a huge pot of soup that I ate for lunch and dinner yesterday, and still have plenty of for a few more meals!

Soup simmering on the stove

And now for my dessert creation for the week. I'm not sure that anything can top the banana almond butter ice cream from last week, but this could definitely be a contender, and is just as simple! I took a red apple (either Gala or Braeburn, I can't remember which) and sliced it thinly using a mandolin (PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH THESE! I speak from past experience.) I sprayed a foil lined baking sheet with canola oil spray, then laid out all of the apple slices which I'd given a light dusting of cinnamon and a tiny drizzle of agave. I then put them in a low oven (250-275) for about an hour. I flipped them, then left them for another 45 minutes to an hour. When they come out, they may still feel soft at first, but just let them cool for a few minutes and they firm up into the most incredible, guilt free apple chips you could ever hope or wish for!

No need to even remove the core, though I did take out the seeds

As you can see, I've managed to stretch out one shopping trip's worth of groceries into TONS of tasty meals that have lasted me over two weeks now, and I still have some more food to use up. I'll probably go back to the grocery store again this week, but I'm excited about what new things I'll be able to think up to stretch my next $100. Can't wait to share!

Much love to you all,

Jon