The Thrifty Holiday Party: Thrifty Tips & Snacks

Today’s post in the Thrifty Holiday series is a random hodgepodge of ideas and dishes I made at this years holiday party. I hope you find them helpful, simple, and tasty enough to include in your Christmas gatherings!

Chocolate Drizzled Popcorn

1 bag Hershey kisses- I used the pumpkin spice ones

2 bags microwave popcorn, popped

Cook popcorn as directed. Using a double broiler melt Hershey’s kisses. Spread popcorn out over a cookie sheet on top of some parchment paper. Using a whisk drizzle chocolate candy mixture over the top of popcorn. Place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to harden the chocolate.

Baked Brie with Berries

1 wedge of Brie Cheese

1 container Crescent rolls

1 /2 cup fresh berries

Roll out crescent dough and use your fingers to smooth out the perforated lines where you would usually separate out the rolls. Place Brie in the center of the dough, top with berries, and wrap the entire thing up in dough. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until browned.

Recipe Remix: Baked Spinach Dip

A few weeks ago we posted a Baked Spinach Dip that is absolutely amazing on its own. This time around I added a can of drained fire roasted tomatoes with chills(Hello Trader Joe’s) and a can of diced artichoke hearts. It was such a great addition the the dip that I had to share it with you!

Enjoy!

~Charlie

The Thrifty Holiday Party: Vegetarian Meatballs in a BBQ Cranberry Sauce

Its pretty much a safe bet that if you have meatballs out in a crockpot at your holiday party the container will basically be licked clean by the end of the night. I would say that about 80% of my friends in NYC are vegetarians which poses an interesting roadblock to my love of meatballs. I tested out and figured out a vegetarian meatball recipe that gives ol’ fashioned sausage meatballs a run for their money. Try it with cranberry-bbq simmer sauce and you’re in for a treat!

Vegetarian Meatballs

4 eggs

2 containers dry French onion soup mix

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 onion, minced

2 tbs Italian seasonings

1 tbs garlic powder

1 tbs dried basil

1 cup dry Italian style breadcrumbs

In a large bowl whisk together eggs, French onion soup mix, Italian seasonings, garlic powder, and basil. Add in cheddar cheese, breadcrumbs, minced onion, and black beans. Using a wooden spoon mash ingredients together for about 5 minutes. The beans should mush together and the mixture will be pretty dense. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-35 minutes, flipping every 10 minutes, until browned on all sides. At this point you can freeze the meatballs or move onto adding them to the sauce of your choice.

BBQ Cranberry Simmer Sauce

12 ounces of Barbecue sauce

1 can cranberry sauce- whole berry

In a medium pan combine BBQ sauce and cranberry sauce. Stir and break up the cranberry sauce until they are combined. Add in frozen veggie meatballs and pour into crock pot to simmer for 2 hour(or 4 if frozen)

As freaky as vegetarian meatballs sound, trust me and give them a try. You’ll be very surprised at the big taste these guys pack. Enjoy!

~Charlie

A Thrifty Thanksgiving Day #4: Ginger Snap and Cider Mimosas

Happy Thanksgiving!
By now your bird should be in the oven and its time to get down to business- cocktail time. On television this past weekend I was reminded that every delicious meal needs an equally delicious opening act.
Last night while we prepped our thanksgiving meal my roommates and I made some cocktails that are sure to be a theme throughout our day: ginger snaps and cider mimosas.

I’m a huge fan of ginger flavor in anything. When I started flipping through My Year in Cocktails by John Cusimano(the companion of My Year In Meals), I knew the ginger snap would be a perfect pre-dinner cocktails to get guests into the holiday spirit. It was a little difficult to track down a bottle of Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur in my Washington Heights neighborhood. It tastes like a lemony version of the cookie.

Our apple cider mimosa ended up being a happy accident. My new roommate Sara suggested using some leftover cider that I was using to marinate our tofu turkey in our drinks. What we figured out was a tasty seasonal treat!

Ginger Snap
My Year in Cocktails by John Cusimano
1 ounce Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
1 1/2 ounces vodka
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon agave syrup
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Cinnamon stick, for garnish
Shake together all ingredients and strain into a martini glass.

Cider Mimosa
1 part apple cider
2 parts dry champagne
Cinnamon stick
Pour together over cinnamon sick in champagne flute.

I wish you all a happy thanksgiving and lovely day with your family.
-Charlie

Tea Spiced Quinoa and Balsamic Grilled Tofu

There is a neat tea shop here in the city that makes quinoa with tea flavoring. It’s seriously crave worthy. We’ve had a little box of quinoa chilling out in the pantry for a good month or two. I finally decided to bust it out and try my hand at making some tea spiced quinoa— it paired perfectly with grilled veggies and balsamic grilled tofu. Perfect weekday lunch!

Tea Spiced Quinoa
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup water
1 cup veggie stock
4 black tea bags
1 cup quinoa- rinsed

Bring water and veggie stock to a boil. Add tea bags and remove from heat. Let tea bags brew for 5 minutes. Remove bags, squeezing to remove excess liquid, and bring mixture to a slow simmer. Stir in garlic powder, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Add quinoa, turn heat to low, and cook covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cooked quinoa sit covered for 5 minutes before fluffing and serving.

Balsamic Grilled Tofu
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp honey
1 tbs Italian seasonings
1 package of extra firm tofu

Press and drain tofu for at least 20 minutes. Whisk together balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, honey, and seasonings in a small bowl. Slice pressed tofu into 1/4 inch slices and place in a ziplock bag. Pour marinade over tofu and refrigerate for at least an hour. Grill for 10 minutes until tops have grill marks and have firmed up.

Enjoy!
-Charlie

Dirt Cake….yup that dirt cake from your childhood

Alright friends- today’s recipe has the potential to be a gut bomb. I remember having this tasty dessert when I was little around halloween time. Tom and I had some friends over for scary movie night and decided this classic old school dessert would be the perfect ending to our evening. I’ll admit that I was slightly horrified at all of the typically southern fatty ingredients in it but managed to cut it down using mostly non fat options.

Dirt Cake
8 oz softened nonfat cream cheese
1 container nonfat cool whip
2 packets sugar free vanilla pudding
1 bag low fat Oreos
3 1/2 cups nonfat milk
2 tbs smart balance butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 bag of gummy worms

Using a hand mixer combine pudding mix and milk. Blend for about five minutes until it is starting to set. Add cool whip to the mixture until it is smooth. In a separate bowl, blend together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and butter. Stir cream cheese mixture into cool whip mixture. Meanwhile the fun part: crush up the entire bag of Oreos until it is basically crumbs. Stir about 3/4 of the crumbs into mixture and reserve the rest for topping. Pour mixture into pan, top with remaining crumbs, and cover with worms!

Enjoy!
-Charlie

Garlic Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

To celebrate my friend Hannah’s homecoming- and to break in my fancy new pizza stone- I wanted to try my hand on a thin crust pizza. I was watching Bobby Deen’s show where he revamps his mothers cooking to be healthy and he was making a thin crust pizza. I was intrigued by the process he made his dough by not activating the yeast before mixing. I decided to give it a try and make a tasty garlic thin crust.

Garlic Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Bowl #1 Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup white flour
1 packet yeast
2.5 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs kosher salt
1 tbs Italian seasonings

Bowl #2 Ingredients:
1 tbs honey
1 tbs brown sugar
1 1/2 cups HOT water
1 tbs olive oil

Mix together all of your dry ingredients in a large bowl or on low speed in a mixer. Combine all of the ingredients from bowl #2 together, stirring until honey and sugar are dissolved. In small batches work the liquid into the dry mixture. Knead for 5 minutes or let mix on a dough hook for 5 minutes.
Place finished dough ball in a bowl oiled with 1 tbs of olive oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap touching the dough. Refrigerate overnight.

When you’re ready to make your pizza remove dough about an hour before and bring to room temperature. Use a rolling pin to roll dough into thin crust pizzas. Bake on 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

I thought it was interesting how reversing the way I added yeast into the dough created a denser crispy crust. It was super filling and made two small 12 inch pizzas– which we topped with basil from the window box and tomatoes from toms dads garden. Pretty delicious 🙂

Enjoy!
-Charlie

Faux Chicken Salad

Oh Goodness- time passes SO quickly in the summertime. We’ve been having a summer heat wave here in NYC— the kind that will make you take a whole month long vacation from thrifty foodies in order to lay out, have out of town visitors, go out of town for a show, move apartments, and enjoy the outdoors. So for serious- things got super busy, but after a month absence I’m back with loads of new recipes to post!

This summer is already shaping up to be full of picnics. My sister got me a fabulous picnic basket for world market that I’ve been packing pretty frequently with tasty lunches to be enjoyed by the water. There is a lovely sketch of grass about 8 minutes from my house that you can enjoy some sensible al fresco dining without the crowds of central park. I started ‘picnic season’ with a quest to make a healthy version of chicken salad. How in the world could you take something with a mayo base and make it healthy? Well you get rid of the mayo and chicken- replacing with nonfat Greek yogurt and faux chicken- effectively making it vegan AND vegetarian for all of my NYC veggie friends. Here’s my take on a vegetarian ‘faux chicken salad– it’s quickly turned into the sandwich of my summer.

Faux Chicken Salad
For the Marinade:
Juice of 2 limes
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 orange
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs thyme
1 tbs parsley
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs cumin
2 cloves diced garlic

1 Bag or Quorn Chicken Bits
1 Small container of nonfat Greek yogurt
1 cup red seedless grapes(roughly sliced in half)
2 stalks of celery- diced
1 tsp dill
Salt and pepper to season
Juice of 1 lemon

Make the marinade by combining fruit juices, olive oil, and spices. Pour over frozen ‘chicken’ pieces and let sit for about an hour stirring a few times to make sure everything gets covered. Meanwhile, preheat the oven for 350 degrees and line a baking pan with foil (trust me- don’t skip this step or you will have a big huge burnt mess on your hands that even the best dishwasher can’t get rid of). Pour out your chicken mix(marinade included) into the pan and bake for 30 minutes stirring around 15 minutes into the baking process.

Combine your newly cooked faux chicken, Greek yogurt, dill, grapes and celery. Season with salt/pepper and squeeze lemon over the whole mixture. Stir together and chill overnight before enjoying on a sandwich 🙂

Simple enough that you can enjoy your afternoon AND have tasty lunch. On a side note- If you haven’t tried quorn meat substitutes do yourself a favor and get some. They sell them at whole foods for about $5 a bag. It’s so tasty that I can’t even taste the difference between regular chicken and the substitute– which has a lower fat content than its counterpart. Check it out!

Happy Picnicking!
-Charlie

P.S. that amazing delicious tasty quinoa salad in the picture is coming up next week- GET EXCITED!

Chinese ‘Take Out’: Garlic Chicken

Living in manhattan, I end up consuming a lot of take out food. The thing I tend to order to most is Chinese take out. I’m a sucker for a good combo plate of garlic chicken with rice. After testing out a few different recipes I’ve figured out a way to make one of my favorites a little more healthy and less fried than the one I order from Number One China up the street…

‘Take Out’ Garlic Chicken

1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbs cornstarch
5 cloves garlic(minced)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts(diced into pieces)
1 bag frozen broccoli or oriental veggies

In a blender or food processor combine honey, soy sauce, warm water, crushed red pepper, back pepper, cornstarch, and garlic. Blend until everything is combined into a chunky marinade. In order to get the most delicious garlic flavor I recommend marinating your chicken overnight in the sauce.
Dice your chicken into small pieces and cover with half of the sauce. Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours, reserving the remaining marinade for cooking.

Heat a medium/large skillet with 1 tbs of oil, carefully remove chicken from marinade, and sauté for 5 minutes until chicken is mostly cooked. Add in reserved marinade and cook for 2-3 more minutes until it begins to boil and thicken. Cook frozen broccoli/veggies according to package and stir into the pan with the chicken. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Somewhere since cooking this I’ve misplaced the picture I took so I’ll try and get one up soon.
Enjoy!
-Charlie

Thrifty Tip: ‘Trader Joes’ Guacamole

Anyone that’s been to a Trader Joes has probably noticed that cute guacamole kit that they sell. It’s a little ridiculous how much they charge for ingredients that are much cheaper if bought on their own. My friend Hannah brought this to my attention at a margarita party a few weeks ago when she made her version of the guacamole kit. You see, Hannah has bought the kit so many times that she memorized what it contained and simply started to buy things separately. Be sure to pick ripe avocados by testing that they’re a little squishy and you’ll have tasty fresh guacamole with the perfect consistency.

Guacamole
1/2 onion (diced)
1/2 jalapeño(diced)
2 ripe avocados(insides cut into cubes)
2 limes
2 cloves garlic(diced)
1 plum tomato(diced)
Kosher salt to taste
Fresh cilantro(if you have any)

Combine diced onion, jalapeño, avocados, garlic, cilantro, and tomato in a bowl. Squeeze lime juice over ingredients. With a fork begin to incorporate everything together using a mashing motion until you get the consistency you’re looking for. I’m a big fan of a chunky almost salsa consistency for my guacamole. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!
-Charlie

Thrifty Adventures: The Great Googamooga Review

This past Sunday  I made the long journey from Washington Heights to Prospect Park, Brooklyn to check it the much hyped food and music festival Googamooga. I knew we were in for some sort of mess when after wandering around in the park we were still unclear as to where the festival was actually happening. Upon finding the entrance, waiting in a short line, and going through the id checkpoints- I couldn’t help but notice how much smaller the event felt compared to the way they had described it.  Over 75 food vendors were laid out in several themed areas such Sweet Circus, Hamagedon, Pizza Experience, UrBarn Experience, and The Hamburger Experience.  On the drinking side of things, there were two pavilions containing  wine/ beer tastings as well as a ‘coffee experience’ that turned out just to be a glorified walk through Lexus ad with a coffee kiosk hiding on the inside.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather for a day in the park. After a quick sweep on the food offerings we decided to settle on a $6 piece of South Brooklyn Pizza- we tried the Sicilian and Margarita slices that came with olive oil drizzles, roasted garlic pieces, and tons of fresh basil. Seriously it was some of the best pizza I have ever had in my life.  Crispy and buttery crust with the perfect amount of spicy roasted garlic sauce to top it off.  Next up we wanted to try and get a half lobster roll from Luke’s Lobster for $6 but the line was unfortunately one of the longest ones in the festival.  Instead we decided to try our hand at the wine tasting tent. This was probably one of the more thrifty choices of the day as you could get a nice poured ‘taste’ ranging from $2-4 from over 25 wine vendors. My favorite ended up being a cabernet from a NYC local- The Red Hook wWnery.  After a few tastings, we adventured into the Hamagedon section to try something I’ve never tried before- wild boar. The folks at Georgia’s Eastside BBQ were offering up a wild boar sloppy joe sandwich with a salad of fresh veggies with a lemon herb vinergarette. The sandwich was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and had an excellent crunch from the raw onions that we’re added as a topper. The sandwich/salad ran at $10 which was totally reasonable for the size of the sandwich and the allure of what wild boar meat would taste like in a sloppy joe.  Wanting to try some more off the beaten path foods- like the raved about soft shell crab sandwich from vinegar hill house- we did another quick sweep to find out that most of the vendors were starting to run out of food. This proved to be a problem as the festival still had over five hours to go including a dinner time rush. As the crowds started to pour in and lines got to be beyond a thirty minute wait, we decided to cut our losses and head home. There was no use in staying around to hear the music of Hall & Oats if I was going to be broke and starving by the time they took the stage.   For our final Googamooga treat we decided to grab some dessert in the form of fried cheesecake bombs from James. They were more like fried chocolate cake but delicious nonetheless. As I picked up my order of three, I overheard their chef telling the cashier that they only had two orders left. This seemed to be the overall theme for the majority of visitors to the festival.

In theory this festival worked. What’s not to love about having some of the greatest culinary delights from NYC descend upon a beautiful park for two days of music and eating?  The problem started when the vendors, who knew that forty thousand tickets had been distributed, started to run out of food.  In fact, some of the top food choices of the event were sold out by 2pm when the festival was open until 9pm.  The prices were a little steep making it hard for those of us on a budget to really try new unique dishes. Another problem I noticed was that there seemed to be no direction for the entire event. Only after wondering around in the tasting tents for 15 minutes did we become aware of how the tastings actually worked.  There was also a twisted ‘Googamooga bucks’ system for the tastings that was never fully explained and thus was poorly executed.

Going into the event I had pretty minimal expectations. Ive been to quite a few free concerts in NYC and was well aware that anything ‘free’ in this city is bound to be some kind of disaster.  Even with the high prices, lack of focus, and long lines I had a nice time at this festival and would probably go back if they have it again.

I have to give the promoters at Superfly lots of credit for putting themselves out there to create something new and different for the city. Hopefully next year they will be able to smooth out some of the first year glitches that seemed to add tons of stress to an otherwise lovely weekend of great weather.

 ________

For more info on these Thrifty Adventures in NYC check out:

South Brooklyn Pizza

southbrooklynpizza.com

Georgia’s East Side BBQ

georgiaseastsidebbq.com

The Red Hook Winey

redhookwinery.com