Save Your Money- Buy Our Groceries: Vol. 21

2 people, 5 days, 70 bucks or less

For more info on this series of posts, click here!

THIS WEEK’S MENU

We typically only eat meat with one meal a day, but this week, Jeff suggested an “all vegetarian” menu to save even more money than we usually do.  Here it is…and it is SUPER delicious!

Breakfast

• Grapefruit and Hard Boiled Egg with Horseradish

Lunch

• Lentil Bulgur Salad with Pita and Grapes

Dinner

• Mushroom Thyme Lasagna

Snack

• Celery with Walnut Feta Dip

THE GROCERY LIST  (for 2 people)

• 6 lemons
• fresh mint
• fresh dill
• fresh thyme
• fresh parsley
• celery
• 1 red bell pepper
• 3 tomatoes
• grapes
• 30 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 4 large portabella mushrooms
• 2 yellow onions
• 1 red onion
• garlic
• 2 cups crumbled feta
• shredded mozzarella
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• low fat milk
• walnuts
• nicoise olives- about 1 cup of them
• horseradish
• eggs
• 10 pitas
• no boil lasagna noodles
• lentils
• bulgur wheat

WHAT WE ALREADY HAD AT HOME

• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• paprika
• cooking sherry

PREP ON SUNDAY

Boil Your Eggs

• dozen eggs
• water

Place eggs gently in the bottom of a large saucepan.  Fill with water 1 inch above the eggs.  Place pot over high heat and bring to a boil.  Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit 16 minutes.  Immediately plunge eggs into cold water to stop the cooking process.  Put eggs back into the carton and store in the fridge for the week.

Lentil Bulgur Salad

• 1 cup lentils
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup bulgur wheat
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 cup minced mint
• 1/4 cup minced dill
• black pepper
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1 red onion, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, minced
• 2 stalks of celery, minced
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta
• 1 cup Nicoise olives, minced

Put lentils in a small saucepan and add the 2 cups of water.   Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the lentils are tender, but not mushy.   While those cook, pour the boiling water over the bulgur wheat and cover bowl with a plate.  Let that sit while you prep the rest of the ingredients (about 10 minutes).   Put everything in a bowl and toss to combine.  Add the bulgur.  Drain and rinse the lentils; add to the rest of the ingredients.  Toss everything to combine and salt and pepper to taste.  Store in the fridge for the week.

Walnuts and Tomatoes for the Salad

• 1 cup walnuts
• 3 tomatoes

Dice the tomatoes and store them in the fridge for the week.   Toast the walnuts in a pan over medium heat, moving the nuts around constantly, just until they are fragrant and lightly browned.   Cool slightly and store in a container or baggie for the week.

Mushroom Thyme Lasagna

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh thyme leaves plus more for sprinkling
• 4 large portabellas, cut in half and thinly sliced
• 30 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups of ricotta
• 1 bag shredded mozzarella
• parmesan cheese
• lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 375.   Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Saute the onions, mushrooms, and garlic for about 8 minutes or until they soften.  Add the salt, pepper, and thyme and saute 2 minutes more.   When everything is very soft, increase the heat to medium high and add the sherry.  Let the liquid reduce to half and add the milk.  Continue to cook until the liquid has reduced again by half.   Turn off the heat.   Coat the bottom of a casserole dish with a thin layer of the mushrooms.  Top with lasagna noodles, overlapping them slightly.  Spread with 1/2 of the ricotta.  Top that with a layer of the mushrooms, sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella, shave some parmesan directly on top of that and sprinkle with a little fresh thyme.  Top with noodles and repeat with ricotta, mushrooms, mozzarella, parmesan and thyme.  Top that with noodles, finish off with mushrooms and mushroom juice and the rest of the mozzarella.  Shave some parmesan on top, and decorate with sprigs of thyme.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes.  Store in the fridge for the week.

Walnut Feta Dip

• 1 cup walnuts
• handful of fresh parsley
• 1 cup feta cheese (or whatever you left after making your salad)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp. paprika
• drizzle of olive oil

Put everything into a food processor and blend until smooth.  Store in the fridge for the week.

BREAKFAST- 1 minute

Grapefruit and Hard Boiled Egg with Horseradish

• 2 hard boiled eggs
• horseradish
• 1 grapefruit
• sugar
• salt
• pepper

Crack, peel and cut eggs in half.  Spread with a little horseradish, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cut grapefruit in half and sprinkle with a little sugar.  Serve each egg with a half of grapefruit.

LUNCH- 5 minutes

Lentil Bulgur Salad with Pita and Grapes

• 2 cups of the lentil bulgur salad, divided between two bowls
• 2 pitas, cut in half and toasted
• 2/3 cup of chopped tomatoes, divided in half
• 1/2 cup of toasted walnuts, divided in half
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• grapes

Top the salads with the tomatoes and walnuts.  Serve with toasted pita, lemon wedges for squeezing, and grapes on the side.

DINNER-  5 minutes

Mushroom Thyme Lasagna

• 2 portions of the lasagna

Reheat and eat!

SNACK-  no minutes

Celery with Walnut Feta Dip

Wash a couple celery stalks and scoop up some of the walnut feta dip!