ingredients:
- 1 pound sausage (cheating. my dad makes it, so i have no clue how much a pound of sausage costs. sorry.)
- 2 1/2 cups flour (pantry staple)
- 2 tbs psyllium husk* (negligible, but a canister of psyllium ran me ~$5)
- water
- provolone cheese (i'm not sure how much by weight cost us ~$4, but only about 5 slices will be used for dinners, so maybe $2 worth?)
- tomato gravy/pizza sauce (~$1)
- brussels sprouts (i paid $2.30)
- onion (i don't know, $0.50?)
- 4 slices good bread (we buy this anyway for bill's lunches, but maybe a third of a loaf will be used for dinners, so ~$1?)
- baby spinach ($2)
- 1/2 pound short, curly pasta like shells (~$0.50)
- scratch cheese (pantry staple)
- zucchini (i paid $2.30)
- veggie broth ($2)
- mirepoix ($3, but i'm using the some left from last week's soup)
- canned whole tomatoes ($2, but also leftover from last week's soup)
- butter (pantry staple)
- 1/2 pound ditalini ($0.50, also leftover from last week's soup)
i'm using more and more pantry staples, so the things i actually had to buy this week ran about $15. of course, i didn't buy sausage, so that could add, what, $5? $8? i really don't know.
*about psyllium. ummm, it's a milled seed thing... that turns into this gelatinous mass with water... it's the main ingredient in most fiber supplements... and also an egg replaces/stabilizer thing. i THINK that you could sub 2 eggs in the flatbread recipe, and obviously use less (or maybe no?) water. but no promises. yet.
prep:
- put 1/2 pound sausage in the freezer for 30 minutes
- remove it and slice it into thin rounds, remove the casing if you're weird like us
- chop mirepoix if you need to
actual cooking (meal 1):
- preheat oven to 400*
- combine 2 cups flour, psyllium, salt & fresh or dried herbs to taste & 1.5 cups water
- allow to sit for about 5 minutes
- with damp or greased fingers, press out the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet to desired thickness
- bake for about 20 minutes (see? easiest pizza crust ever.)
- while shell bakes, quickly cook sliced sausage on an ungreased frying pan (use only half for the pizza! refrigerate the other half), chop some onion, slice brussels sprouts & shred 3 or four slices of provolone
- top pizza shell with pizza sauce (or leave it white if tomato gravy isn't a staple in your pantry), cheese, sausage, onions & brussels sprouts (eta: i used wilted spinach. brussels sprouts are going in the pasta.)
- bake until cheese melts and bubbles lightly
actual cooking (meal 2):
- preheat oven to 300*
- quickly saute some (up to half) of the baby spinach in olive oil until just wilted (it will shrink when you cook it!)
- on 2 slices of bread, layer cold sausage slices, wilted spinach & a slice of provolone (eta: i added a bit of thinly sliced onion on mine. fab)
- toast all 4 slices
- make sandwiches.
- (eta: i also made some fries: cut 1 potato per person into 1/2 inch sticks, arrange on an oil-spritzed baking sheet, spritz with oil, season with salt, pepper & garlic powder, bake 20-25 minutes at 400*. and yes, i'm going to wait until AFTER i cook the meals to post them from now on.)
actual cooking (meal 3):
- boil water for pasta
- roast brussels sprouts, sliced or chopped as you prefer, with olive oil
- in a medium frying pan, out of it's casing, saute the rest of the sausage
- set half aside to drain
- add cooked pasta & brussels sprouts to the other half and remove from heat
- liberally add scratch cheese
actual cooking (meal 4):
- do the regular mirepoix thing, i don't have to spell it all out anymore, do i?
- add broth
- add drained sausage, spinach, ditalini & tomatoes with their juices (chopped up)
- while ditalini is cooking, make a roux (melt 4 tbs butter in a saucepan, quickly whisk in 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup milk)
- add roux to soup once the ditalini is cooked
- top with scratch cheese
the soup might need to be altered... check back in about 5 days once i've made it.
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