Make it or buy it? Edamame Hummus

Trader Joe's has all of these different kinds of hummus now. One of these, edamame hummus, looked particularly interesting to me. I love edamame. It's a superfood, so delicious and filling. Also, I love hummus. I had some frozen shelled edamame in the freezer left over from when I made edamame succotash a couple of months ago. So, I decided it was time. This is the recipe I followed.

Here's the breakdown:

1/2 pound Trader Joe's frozen shelled edamame // 8 oz @ $0.13/oz = $1.04
1/4 cup Ziyad tahini // 2.11 oz @ $0.25/oz = $0.53

1/4 cup water // 2.09 oz @ $0.00/oz = $0.00 (I don't pay for water, but you might)

3 tablespoons lemon juice // 1.57/oz @ $0.17/oz = $0.27

1 clove garlic, smashed // 1 oz @ $0.03/oz = $0.03

3/4 teaspooon Morton's kosher salt // 0.17 oz @ $0.06/oz = $0.01

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin // 0.10 oz @ $0.29/oz = $0.03

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander // 0.05 oz @ $0.22/oz = $0.01

3 tablespoons Trader Joe's extra-virgin olive oil // 1.43 oz @ $0.18/oz = $0.26

16.50 oz @ $0.13 per ounce = $2.17 

Trader Joe's offers an 8 oz package of edamame hummus for $2.49. So, if you buy it at Trader Joe's, it's $0.31/oz vs. homemade which is $0.13 per ounce. I say if you have a food processor of any kind of blender, make it at home. It's fresher and way cheaper. Sorry, I forgot how much my parsley cost, but it's optional. 

P-I-Z-Z-A!

Gimme Pizza! P-I-Z-Z-A!

We've been making pizza at home for a while. Actually, it's more my boyfriend's forte than mine as he used to work for one of those brick oven pizza places where he actually had to chop wood for the fire. We usually buy Trader Joe's premade dough that comes in a little baggy because it's priced at 99 cents which seems really cheap. However, being the sleuth that I am, I was curious how much better it would be if we made pizza dough at home and how much money would we save.

Country Benedicts

Country Benedict

We went out to brunch recently at a restaurant in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago called Tweet. We waited eons, so I had to re-feed the meter. It's also cash only, so we had to run to an ATM mid-meal, but it was worth it. One of the specials on the menu was the "Country Benedict" which was basically a biscuit cut in half with a poached egg and sausage patty on each half, smothered in sausage gravy. My boyfriend proclaimed it as the best thing ever, and wanted to perfect it for "home use" and make it forever. This weekend, we decided to try it.

Rolling out the dough

I used Mark Bittman's recipe from How to Cook Everything for yogurt biscuits (as a variation on buttermilk). I'm coming to realize that I can get by on 3 forms of dairy most of the time - butter, milk & plain yogurt. And if I perfect my yogurt making skills (I failed miserably because my house was too cold), milk and butter will suffice. Also, this was the first time I've ever made biscuits from scratch, so I decided to ask the experts in "making biscuits" - my cats. Too bad their paws are so small.

This fraggle rocks!

We really wanted to see the Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry before it wraps up on the 23rd. For those fortunate to have weekdays off, the museum is free this month. Unfortunately, we have to go on the weekend - which means we have to fork over $13 + the $5 for the exhibit. Chicago Public Library has a really awesome program called Kraft Great Kids Museum Passports. You don't have to have kids to get in. You can get in 4 adults with one card! Finding these elusive passes is like playing a really suspenseful game. I learned today that you gotta play that game with the phone. I called about 5 libraries within a 5 mile radius of my house and none of them had it. Then, my final call went to the Mayfair library at Lawrence & Elston. The woman on the other end of the phone said that there were 2 passes left. They won't place a hold on these, so I rushed to put on my coat and shoes and drove over to the branch which is about 2.3 miles from my house. It took a while during rush hour traffic, but I made it there and back in about 40 minutes. I probably spent $1 on gas. So, I saved our household $25. This means we might be able to GO OUT after the visit. How about that?

Sandwich for three quarters

Like I said I would do, I'm making a habit of going to my local market on my way home since it is right on the path from the train to my house.

Today I purchased:
Green Onions - $0.66 for 6
Romaine Lettuce - $1.49 for two heads
Sara Lee Ham - $2.07 ($3.99/lb on sale)
Kayem Roast Beef - $2.54 ($4.99/lb on sale)
Goya Dried Kidney Beans - $1.49 (1 lb bag)
Plum Tomatoes - $1.17 ($1.29/lb)
Bananas - $1.50 ($0.69/lb)
Green Beans - $1.15 ($2.49/lb)
Boar's Head Pepper Jack Cheese - $5.24 ($4.99/lb)
1 Lemon - $0.40 ea
With tax, my bill came to $18.37

I recently discovered the Food Network show $10 Dinners with Melissa D'Arabian. The show she was airing was called "Frugal French." So I decided to pick up some things to make Salad Nicoise. I already have tuna, eggs, oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, some olives, and some dried thyme (gonna have to work with dried). Let's see if I can make this dinner for 4 for $10. We'll have to have it twice this week, but that's OK.

In the meantime, I got some sandwich meat and cheese from the deli. I love going to the deli counter because it makes me feel old fashioned, sort of like having your gas pumped for you. I always get what's on special, so it's a surprise what lunch meat or cheese we'll have in the house every other week.

I came home and made a sandwich. I was hungry and cranky and now I feel better. This is how much it cost.

Ham Sandwich   
Ham - $0.38
Cheese - $0.18
Arnold Sandwich Thins - $0.14 (bought at the bread outlet)
Guesstimate on mayo and mustard $0.05 (this is probably a high guesstimate)
Total for sandwich $0.75

Less cranky, but still want something else to eat...

Cheers!

When I was in first grade, I had to do a poster board project as part of Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign. I had to outline all of the different drugs, including alcohol and cigarettes and talk about how they were bad. However, when it came to the alcohol portion, I was conflicted. I ended up saying "alcohol was bad unless you had one beer a day." That's because my father came home every night at 5 p.m., made himself a little crostini and had a glass of pilsner. I just couldn't prosecute my own father for some innocent beer drinking! Also, when my boyfriend was in elementary school, there was a lecture on the dangers of alcohol. He had a little experience with some curious childhood beer sippage. He raised his hand eagerly waiting for his chance to proclaim what he thought to be true and right. "I've had beer, and I don't understand why anyone would drink it. It's gross." He beamed as he was met with a round of applause from adults and children alike. Let's just say, when he became an adult, his taste buds magically transformed.

I'm OK with a little responsible drinking of alcohol. My parents always said it was an "acquired taste" and over the years, I have acquired it. And now, this taste costs me money because alcohol isn't cheaper than water. I can do $2.99 Charles Shaw from Trader Joe's, and have enjoyed some Target box wine. I can do some cheapish brand name bourbon like Jim Beam. Unfortunately, when it comes to beer, I really love trying out all of the different craft brews. When you're on a tight budget, any consumption of beer, wine or liquor can bring on a guilt trip of monumental proportions. However, along with coffee, it's one of those vices that makes life a little more enjoyable.

Did you know that in the state of Illinois, and many other states, you can shop at Costco and Sam's Club without a membership if you are purchasing alcohol? It has to do with old laws saying that establishments selling alcohol can't require membership or something like that. That being said, I kind of had to protest a little at Costco because employees seem conflicted over the issue. I did, however, make out with an amazing deal on a variety 24-pack of Two Brothers beers sans membership card for $24.99. Two Brothers is a local craft brewery in Warrenville, IL. Currently, the seasonal pack offers Domain DuPage, North Wind, Cane & Abel, and The Bitter End. If I purchased all of these at Chicago's discount liquor store Binny's, this pack would cost me:

Domain DuPage: $8.99
North Wind: Can't find a price anywhere, so let's say $8.99 as a minimum.
Cane & Able: $12.99
The Bitter End: $8.99
Total cost if purchased at another store: $39.96

I saved $14.97 + a bit of sales tax. The total cost of my purchase with tax was $28.23. It comes out to $1.18 per bottle. One of these beers at a bar up the street would be $4 or more + tip.

It's a great deal, makes me feel fancy and is cheaper than a cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts. I'll allow it.

Time to use my getaway sticks

Rockwell Brown Line (http://www.chibarproject.com)

I am ashamed to admit that I live a little less than a mile from my train stop, but most days I find myself driving there. When it's cold outside, I procrastinate leaving the house and also dread making the walk in below freezing temperatures. However, I really miss the exercise and love listening to music with headphones and imagining my life has its own perfectly curated soundtrack. There's something really cool about watching an elderly Greek man cross the street to "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything" by Bauhaus. Also, what a waste of gas. I probably drive about 1 mile each way when it's all said and done, and my 2000 Hyundai Elantra gets terrible city gas mileage (like 16 mpg terrible). So, if I drive there and back every morning it costs me $0.44 cents a day based on the current $3.50 per gallon cost of gasoline. I take the train downtown 3 times a week. If I cut this out, I could save $1.32 a week, about $5.72 a month or about $68.64 a year.

Are 15 minute walks any good for exercise? I thought you had to do 30 in one block or it was worthless. It turns out, it's not. I'm still getting the 30 minutes in a day that the American Heart Association recommends. Unfortunately, this isn't great for weight loss by using up stored fat, but it's better than nothing. The rest of the time, I need to use the exercise videos available on Netflix instant in my tiny living room. I really hate gyms. I'll never go. I really won't. And I have probably wasted $1,000 over the years on gym memberships, so I'm not going to do it to myself again.

Also, HarvesTime foods is on my walk home! Which means that 3 times a week, I am more likely to pop in and pick up fresh produce instead of making time and gas wasting trips in the car. All around, I think this is a good, if not completely and totally obvious plan. However, doing the analysis is a good motivator.

Indian food, so exciting!

Aloo Gobi, prior to cooking.

Fixin a plate

Our friends are coming over for dinner tonight, and I am making Indian food in the crock pot. I LOVE crock pots. Also, Stephanie O'Dea from A Year of Slow Cooking is my idol and has inspired me to make my own blog. A crock pot is like a magical cauldron that you don't have to watch and amazingness comes out of it with little effort. It's witchcraft. And my sister gave me a cook book for Christmas called The Indian Slow Cooker which is actually written by Chicago resident Anupy Singla. One of the best things about living in the Lincoln Square/Albany Park area of Chicago is that you are not too far away from the shops on Devon Ave. It's the Little India of Chicago. I just love India. I went there about 4 and a half years ago and dream of returning one day. I sound hippy dippy talking about it, but for real, it is awesome. They just know how to cook. It doesn't hurt that everything that makes food tasty grows there on trees. And I've seen the trees! And they smell good too!

If you buy McCormick spices at the supermarket you might as well be throwing money in the toilet. You can get basic stuff on the cheap at ALDI and Trader Joe's, then get spices used in Mexican cuisine in baggies at most locally owned groceries in Chicago. And you can get pretty much any spices all at Indian grocery stores. Let's talk about what a RIP OFF spices can be. I'm just looking at Amazon, which has pretty cheap prices on most things. The cheapest they have on McCormick Turmeric powder is $3.57 per ounce if you get it through subscribe and save. I just looked at Peapod, and they have McCormick Turmeric for $3.35 per oz for a 2 oz bottle. At Patel Brothers, a small chain of Indian food stores which has a location on Devon Ave., you can get Turmeric Powder for $0.36 per ounce. If you are buying spices at national chains, I suggest you stop NOW. This is why I'm saying this. For years, I didn't cook for two reasons 1) recipes called for ingredients, including spices, which I felt were cost prohibitive 2) I didn't want to eat the same thing over and over again because I was cooking for one. If the cost of spices are getting in your way, I suggest you go to your local ethnic grocer or check out an online store. There are two in my links section. I picked up a lot of my produce at Fresh Farms International Market on Devon.

I'm making two dishes today. Let's break em down. Because one of our friends is veg (as Indians say) we are making meat-free dishes.

My poor cucumber

I had to throw away a cucumber that had gotten mushy. I knew I should have made a healthy cucumber salad instead of a ham sandwich last week. Also, I forgot to put it in the fridge. 75 cents down the drain. :(. Is there anything cool and useful I can do with a cucumber that is too squishy for eating?

Potato, Carrot, Celery Soup

Clean out the cupboard potato soup

You can't do much cheaper than potato soup. And on a really cold day, it's very comforting. I decided to throw in all of the things sitting in my fridge that needed to be used as well, including carrots, celery, mustard greens, turkey bacon and a little non-fat yogurt.
Here's the breakdown:
1 carrot $0.17
1 bag of Celery $0.60
2 potatoes $0.36
1/2 cup of Trader Joe's Organic Non-fat yogurt $0.40
1 bunch of mustard greens $1.01
4 slices of turkey bacon $0.40
1 onion $0.16
32 oz carton of Aldi Fit&Active chicken stock (used in the soup and to cook the mustard greens) $0.99
The total came to $4.09 and it made about 3 large servings. So, basically, my dinner was $1.36 + the cost of whatever olive oil I used to sauté the vegetables before pouring the broth in. I'm having the last of it for lunch today.
Possible ways of cutting down the cost of this meal would be to:
1. Make my own yogurt - I'm going to try it this weekend!
2. Make my own stock - I'm going to start saving vegetable pieces to make vegetable stock
3. Leave out the bacon - I just happened to have some in the fridge I didn't want to go to waste

Life Purr Unit: How much do my cats spend on food?

These guys need to get jobs

Of course, a crazy lady who obsesses over food costs would be a crazy cat lady, right? I haven't always been a crazy cat lady, I used to just love dogs. I still do, but at this time in my life, dogs = complicated. My kitties provide just as much love and affection as my dearly beloved cocker spaniel Chloe that I got when I was 15 and just died a few months ago with my mom by her side. She lived a very long life. That aside, cats are incredibly easy (especially when you have this litter box). Also, cats are really shy and aloof with strangers, so if you've never had a cat that was your own, you might just not understand.

Butler, our tuxedo cat, is dressed for the profession. Unfortunately he doesn't serve me,  I serve him. So it goes when your butler can't stand on two feet and doesn't have opposable thumbs.

Mixed Fruit Salad

Sometimes I have a craving for fruit salad, but the kind at the store is either prepackaged in weird syrup or juice and "fresh cut" salad is sold at an exorbitant price. Also, they usually have cantaloupes or melons in them, which I don't hate but I also don't prefer. I picked up a really cheap pineapple at Aldi, some grapes at Cermak Produce (one of Chicago's many great locally own markets, this was my first visit), as well as some kiwis and a lemon. This was the first time I ever cut a pineapple! It was easy. I also have a good knife. I should have followed this guy's advice better because I think I wasted a lot of fruit. Then I washed the grapes, plucked them from their stems, and peeled and sliced 4 kiwi. I tossed it all together in a bowl with the juice of one lemon to act as a preservative and give it a little tartness.

Here's the breakdown:
1 pineapple $1.22
4 kiwi $1.10
13.22 oz of grapes $5.31
1 lemon $0.19

Once I finished, I put the mixed fruit salad in 20 oz containers. I filled up three, and plan on eating them for breakfast for the next few days. They came out to be about $2.61 per container. You could probably get something like this for just a dollar more at one of Chicago's locally owned produce markets, but you'll pay twice as much for this at a major chain store. I just hope the fruit lasts and doesn't get slimy before I can gobble it down! Though this is a very healthy breakfast, it's only going to be a special treat for me. I can do way better on price by eating a banana and having a bowl of cereal.

Turkey bacon wrapped breadsticks with parmesan cheese

Bacon Parmesan bread sticks prior to baking.

We were trying to plan something easy to take to our friends' annual New Year's Day party, and my bf suggested that we make something that his ex-coworker made for work gatherings which were always devoured instantaneously. He recommended a slight variation on this and I picked up three packages of soft Pillsbury bread sticks instead of hard bread sticks. Also, we have friends that don't eat pork so we decided to make them with turkey bacon instead.

I found the prices on the Pillsbury bread sticks to be pretty atrocious, however, there was a 75 cents off coupon if I bought 3. The list price on these guys was 3.59 for an 11 oz package of 12 bread sticks, so with the 75 cents off and tax added on, my bill came to $10.26 at Jewel for 3. ALDI doesn't carry bread stick dough. Sigh. And Jewel doesn't even have it's own knock off brand. However, I bet you could do an interesting variation on this using tubed crescent rolls which are more readily available on the cheap. ALDI has a pretty decent turkey bacon in their Fit & Active® line of "healthy" foods available for 1.99 for a 12 oz package, and they have Parmesan cheese for $1.99 for a 5 oz tub.

Cost breakdown including tax after the jump.

Make it, or buy it? Baked Potato Chips

One of the recurring columns on this site will be called "Make it, or buy it?" where I analyze whether a product is worth making or buying at the store.

Things I will consider when doing this analysis are:
1. How much are the raw materials?
2. How long does it take me to make it?
3. If it took a long time to make it, was it at least fun to make it?
4. Does it taste like crap?

One thing that I wish I could take into consideration was the energy used to operate things like microwaves, crock pots, ovens, toasters, hand mixers, blenders, the list goes on and on and on. Also, how much water will I use washing everything? Unfortunately for this project, but fortunate for me, I have an all utilities included apartment, so I really am not sure how to analyze those costs. If you know, let me know.

A couple of years ago, Slate ran a really great article by Jennifer Reese whether it is worth making something from scratch or buying it at the store. Also, I picked up a great book from the library (libraries are great for tightwads) called Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon (who looks like a very hip nerdy lady). It gives you all kinds of recipes for doing the things that we only thought machines or people of yore could accomplish. I'm going to try and go through as much of this book as I care to, and see how things pan out. Out of respect for Karen, who I don't even know, but already respect, I won't be publishing the recipes, only doing my own science project on them. Because I think my mom did most of my science projects for me growing up (please don't retract my first place ribbon from 1989!), this is my chance to shine. Hypothesis: If you shake heavy cream long enough, can you make butter? Conclusion: I'm really not sure, and I don't think I can shake a jar for 30 minutes straight unless I have a jar shaking party with my nearest and dearest friends.

Here's one thing I tried from the book recently, homemade baked potato chips.

ALDI

© 2010 by ALDI

I live in Chicago, where there are ALDI stores about every 2 miles (at least around my area on the north side). If there's one thing I hope you learn from me, it's that ALDI RULES. It takes a bit of getting used to. I remember walking in there once a few years ago and being disoriented. It was like a foreign country with brands I didn't recognize. Everything was in bulk cardboard boxes, like a pint-sized Sam's club. People who shopped there looked like they were struggling, and the lines seemed long. However, now that I'm struggling, I realized those struggling people are smart. They were getting the same thing for less money. It's true that the manufacturing facilities that make brand name items also make generic. Getting over brand names and store loyalties without taking into account price is the first step towards being smart. Some of you may already know that ALDI is the parent company of Trader Joe's. I like to say that Trader Joe's is the off brand Whole Foods and ALDI is the off brand Jewel, Dominick's, Kroger's, whatever. Unfortunately, the products at ALDI are not the same as TJ's at half the cost, as was my fantasy. However, the products at ALDI are good for the basics. I'm talking about all purpose flour, cooking oil, sugar, orange juice, snacks, cheese, frozen chicken. Flour is flour is flour...at least in my opinion. Now that I don't have expendable income, I get my retail therapy fix by buying groceries, and I get a real high from saving money on them.

A few things you need to know (after the jump):

About all this...

Can I afford real food?

When I started living off campus the summer after my freshman year of college, I started thinking of meals in terms of dollars. I also bought all my meals in box form. It was all Pasta Roni (the herbs and angel hair pasta was a particular favorite, retailing at 1.35 and sometimes 99 cents on sale). And Boca burgers. And spaghetti. The idea of cooking something from a recipe or buying a fresh vegetable seemed completely overwhelming, and expensive. If I used half of an onion for a recipe, how would I use the other half? I knew my boxes of Pasta Roni would never go to waste, so I stuck with safe territory. I also panicked if I bought a three dollar meal from the campus cafe for lunch, because after all, that would be $15 a week and would add up to $60 a month, which is WAY too much to spend on lunch. However, after I got out of college and got jobs that allowed me a small amount of discretion with how I spent my money, I stopped thinking about the costs of food, and didn't freak out about the prospect of an inexpensive meal out.