Currently reading: Good Housekeeping Budget Dinners

I'm currently reading Good Housekeeping Budget Dinners: Quick and Easy Everyday Recipes (thanks to a friend's Christmas present). The book has eight core strategies to eating on a budget:

1. Cook it slow and easy.
   I love my slow cooker and can't say enough about it. A slow cooker can cost as little as $30 and basically turns cheap cuts of meat into magic.
   
2. One dish, many meals.
   Think a roasted chicken turned into chicken mac and cheese or chicken pot pie for the following dinner.
   

Brunch for two

I'm finally getting my act together and sharing some of my favorite cheap meals (and misadventures in cooking) on this blog. Way back when, I had my friend over for Sunday brunch and I made a leek, potato, and feta tart. I'm not a vegetarian, but I like to try and stay vegetarian at least until dinner time. There's no good (or noble) reason except that meat is expensive so I save it for dinner.

This tart is super easy to make, pretty flavorful, and a good make-ahead meal; all you have to do is pre-make it earlier in the morning or night before and pop it in the oven when your guest arrives.

Leek, Potato, Feta Tart
[based on Real Simple recipe]
Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 2 leeks (white and light green parts cut into quarters)
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta
• 1 red bliss potato (thinly sliced)
• 2 or 3 artichoke hearts (jarred)
  
• 1 store-bought 9-inch pie crust (not store brand; normally I'm all for generic but for about 50cents more, the pie crust will keep together)

How to cut leeks: Get rid of the dark green parts (even though it's pretty, it's no good). The best part is the white and light green parts. Cut into half moons and throw them in running water. Because there's so many layers, dirt gets stuck between. Let them sit in water for a while to get the grime out, and repeat the wash.
Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Meal planners

Half the battle of home cooking, I'm convinced, is food shopping.

To ease this part of the process, I wanted to share the Real Simple Weekly Grocery List. I just started using this simple one-page shopping list. This tool breaks it down by day and by grocery aisle (dried foods, poultry, etc.) to make your supermarket trip a little smoother (and faster). The other great thing is by having a full list before your shopping trip, you can take a look at your meals for the week and make sure you are fully "utilizing your resources," for instance, selecting recipes to use a full block of cheese before it goes bad by the end of the week.

I also read about another group meal planner called MealTrain.com, which allows users to coordinate dinner ideas and delivery times. I haven't used it yet, but it sounds like a great idea for potlucks, when friends have babies, or on a more depressing note, extended illness or for Shiva. The free online software is compatible with Facebook and e-mail invites so that viewers can manage and view one group calendar with the ability to comment.

These things combine my love of food and planning.