Save Your Money- Buy Our Groceries: Vol. 27

2 people, 5 days, 70 bucks or less

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

THIS WEEK’S MENU

Breakfast

• Berry Smoothie

Lunch

• Roasted Asparagus and Tomato Pasta Salad with Arugula

Dinner

• Eggs with Fingerling Potato and Swiss Chard Hash

Snack

• Lemon Ricotta Muffin

THE GROCERY LIST  (for 2 people)

• 5 bananas
• 2 bunches swiss chard
• 4 leeks
• 2 bags arugula
• 1 large tub of cherry tomatoes
• 2 bunches asparagus
• 4 lemons
• 2 shallots
• 4 cups fingerling potatoes
• 8-10 oz. goat cheese
• small block of Gruyère (6 oz. should do it)
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 4 cups penne pasta
• honey
• 4 cups non-fat vanilla yogurt (any kind you like)
• 8 oz. part skim ricotta
• eggs
• 2 bags frozen mixed berries
• soy milk
• muffin liners

WHAT WE ALREADY HAD AT HOME

• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• hot paprika
• sugar
• garlic
• cooking spray
• baking powder
• sanding sugar
• Dijon mustard
• Herbes de Provence

PREP ON SUNDAY

Pasta Salad

• 4 cups uncooked penne pasta
• 2 bunches (about 24 spears) asparagus, ends trimmed
• 1 tub cherry tomatoes, rinsed
• 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 2 small shallots, minced
• juice of 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
• 3 teaspoons honey
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved

Preheat oven to 400.  Cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water, drain, rinse and set aside.  Place asparagus and tomatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper.  Toss to coat evenly.  Bake for 7 minutes, remove the asparagus and set aside.  Bake the tomatoes for an additional 5 minutes.  Remove and let stand 10 minutes.  Combine shallots, lemon juice, mustard, herbes de Provence and honey in a bowl and whisk together.  Drizzle in the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil while whisking.  Stir in the remaining salt and pepper.  Put pasta and olives in a large bowl.  Cut asparagus spears into 1 inch pieces and add to the bowl.  Cut the tomatoes in half and add to the bowl.  Drizzle everything with dressing and toss to coat.  Store in the fridge for the week.

Potatoes for the Hash

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 leeks, sliced and rinsed well
• 4 cups fingerling potatoes, cut in half lengthwise
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons hot paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add leeks; cook 8 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add potatoes and garlic; cook 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Stir only occasionally to get a little color on the spuds.  Sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper and cook 1 minute longer.  Store potatoes in the fridge for the week.

Lemon Ricotta Muffins

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup part-skim ricotta
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons sanding sugar or raw sugar

Preheat oven to 375.  Put 12 muffin liners into a muffin pan and spray each with a little cooking spray.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix.  Make a well in the center of the flour.  In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, water, olive oil, zest, juice and egg.  Pour the wet ingredients into the well in the dry ingredients and stir just until moist.   Divide the batter between the 12 cups and sprinkle each with raw or sanding sugar.   Bake 16-18 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.   Cool in the pan for 5 minutes on a wire rack.  Remove from the pan and cool 10 minutes longer.  Wrap each muffin in tin foil and freeze for the week.

BREAKFAST- 5 minutes

Berry Smoothie

• 1 1/2 cups frozen berries
• 1 banana
• 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
• drizzle of soy milk

Blend everything in a blender until smooth and divide between two glasses.  Drink!

LUNCH- 5 minutes

Roasted Asparagus and Tomato Pasta Salad with Arugula

• 2 cups of the pasta mixture from Sunday
• 2 handfuls arugula
• about 2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

Toss everything together and divide between two plates.

DINNER-  20 minutes

Eggs with Fingerling Potato and Swiss Chard Hash

• 1/5th of the potato mixture from Sunday
• 1/5th of the swiss chard, de-stemmed and trimmed, rinsed and chopped roughly
• 2 eggs
• a little grated Gruyère
• paprika
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add the potato mixture and heat until warmed through.  Add swiss chard and saute about 4 minutes or until wilted and cooked through.  Make two wells in the mixture and crack each egg into a well.  Sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and paprika.  Cover and cook 2 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Cover and cook 2 minutes longer.  Divide everything between two plates and serve!

DESSERT-  2 minutes

Lemon Ricotta Muffins

Unwrap 2 muffins from the freezer and microwave for about 1 minute or until defrosted and little warm.  Eat one!