Vegetarian Pasta Salad

We went to the library yesterday afternoon to return some DVDs we had borrowed. As we were walking past the Newly Acquired section (where they showcase all newly acquired books and DVDs), a book caught my eye.

The book that caught my attention is called "201 Organic Baby and Toddler Meals". While my little man played in the kids area, I quickly flipped through the book. This book is full of delicious recipes geared towards babies and toddlers but all of them sounded delicious for grown-ups as well.

The recipes were so enticing that I stopped by a grocery store on my way home to pick up some bell peppers and milk.

I picked this recipe as I love cold pasta salads, especially ones loaded with colorful vegetables. This recipe came together quickly after a light amount of chopping and is even more delicious the next day. I was happy with how this recipe turned out and this recipe has earned a spot on my regular recipe rotation.

Sidenote: For those of you who read my post on my $150 grocery challenge, you would be interested to know that I spent $16.99 on produce, milk and miscellaneous grocery on Day 2. Milk apparently costs $9.24 every week for our family of 3! Wowzers!! This means that I have only $72.86 remaining for my grocery, entertainment and dining out budget to last for the remainder of the month (with 28 days to go)! I think that I might be in a bit of trouble!


Ingredients
500 g dried pasta (shells, rotini or mini farfalle pasta)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
4 tsp dried Italian seasoning or dried dill
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 medium green bell pepper, diced small
1 medium red bell pepper, diced small
1 medium sized head of broccoli, stems diced and cut into small florets
1 medium carrot, diced small
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a large pot, cook the pasta according to package directions.

2. Drain pasta and immerse cooked pasta in a container of cold water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, Italian seasoning, garlic powder together, salt and pepper. Set aside.

4. Combine pasta, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, broccoli, carrot and dressing together.

This pasta salad tastes even better the next day.

Source: Slightly adapted from 201 Organic Baby and Toddler Meals

Hong Kong Milk Tea

One of the best things about Hong Kong cafes aside from the delicious food is the Hong Kong milk tea. I had a serious addiction to this milk tea and I would often order it at cafes or from tea houses. In Vancouver, it costs anywhere from $2 to $4 for milk tea and after a while, the costs add up.

Then I discovered that I could make my own at home for a fraction of the price. On a sunny day like today, this is a delicious treat that cannot be beat.

Ingredients
2 orange pekoe tea bags (I like Lipton Yellow Label tea)
1 cup boiling water
2 tsp sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp honey
Ice cubes

Directions
1. Steep the tea bags in hot water until the tea is dark red, about 3 to 5 minutes. Discard tea bags.

2. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and honey into the tea until it dissolves. Allow the drink to cool before adding ice cubes. Note: If you add the ice cubes immediately after steeping, this will melt the ice and dilute your drink. It is best to allow the tea to cool to room temperature before adding ice cubes or refrigerate after it cools slightly and allow it to chill.

Source: Slightly adapted from Allrecipes

Frugal Living: $150 Monthly Grocery* Challenge for Three Week 1

Aside from our mortgage payment, the next biggest monthly expense for our family is groceries. I am fantastic at finding deals, however, I am not so great at remembering to eat what I had bought. This means we sometimes waste groceries which is essentially throwing money in the garbage. As an accountant, I am a little miffed with myself that I allow this to happen.

For the month of March, I have reduced our monthly grocery and dining out budget to $150 a month for the three of us. Since I am well stocked with lots of pasta, rice, flour and meats, most of the budget will be for fresh fruits, vegetables, milk and other grocery items.

                     Conquering the grocery budget is no easy task!

Our family is nut-free (my little man is allergic to both peanuts and almonds) which means we cannot always purchase the cheapest prepackaged products. As I have discovered over this past year, having a nut allergy is not as expensive as those who need to avoid milk, eggs or wheat. Since many packaged foods contain his allergens, we *try* to make most of our food from scratch and *try* to eat whole foods as much as possible.

Also of note is that we guzzle milk in our household. We go through 8 litres of milk every week. Milk is also more expensive in Canada than in the U.S. It costs about $4.50 for a 4 litre jug of milk (just over a gallon of milk), and as a result, it accounts for approximately 24% of my $150 monthly budget. 

With this budget challenge, I will be:

• Scouring my pantry and freezer for my daily meal planning
• Tracking all grocery and dining out receipts through a receipts jar
• Tracking all perishables using my whiteboard so I stop wasting food
• Preparing make ahead meals for those busier nights
• Reducing temptation to impulse shop at Costco!! (this is my biggest weakness)
• Posting my receipts for weekly grocery shopping trips every Sunday
• Scanning flyers for loss leaders (what the grocery stores sell at a loss to get you in the door) and clipping coupons (physical, online, and through smart phone applications).
 

Week 1 Grocery Purchases: $60.15 (Amount Remaining: $89.85)
Produce: $25.41
Grocery: $6.08
Meat: $28.66 (Leg of ham @ $1.88/lb; Bone-in pork shoulder @ $1.48/lb)

Meal Planning (Lunch and Dinners*)
Sunday: Stir-fried Eggplant (check back for recipe), Eggs with Garlic Chives, Steamed Broccoli, Rice
Monday: Baked ham, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies
Tuesday: Homemade Hawaiian pizza (with leftover ham and pineapples); making a double batch to freeze one for later (check back for recipe)
Wednesday: Mushroom crusted ham and cheese pie (check back for recipe)

* For breakfast, we usually keep it simple with cereal and oatmeal. For lunch, we generally have the previous night's leftovers.

I would love to hear from you on how you save on your grocery bills! Do you track your grocery bill? If so, how do you keep your grocery budget in check? How do you prevent wasting food?

Source: Frugal Allergy Mom