Eating Up in a Down Economy

It's no joke this recession. Back when I was a spry recent graduate and a rising young professional in San Francisco's elite I used to frequent the local restaurants. Now that I'm an unemployed, sucker of state resources I don't go down that road as often. Below is a pictorial of the way we keep our bellies full on the cheap.

As a side note, I've had a pizza stone on loan and I have to say it really does enhance the pizza making experience. Whole wheat pizza crust (Trader Joe's) with homemade tomato sauce, organic mozzarella, spinach, tomatoes, and green pepper on one half, pepperoni and green peppers on the other.

Nothing says winter time warm-up on a shoe string budget like packaged Asian noodle soup (available at Berkeley Bowl and local health food stores). MSG free and organic these little dream snacks run you about $1.50. I'm a big fan of the Spicy Dragon flavor and like to add Sambal Olek for extra heat and whatever green I have on hand, bok choy or kale are great. You can even sautee them before in a little sesame oil with white pepper salt and ginger powder for an added flavor boost.


I love fried eggs (over easy or over medium) and laid simply over a piece of toast with a few glittering green olives on the side is a delightful savory breakfast or afternoon snack.





A popular dinner at our place is spaghetti and meatballs with salad and garlic bread. I'm not really one for meat but these ground turkey meatballs are truly exceptional (a little hard to see in the pic but they are clustered in the 11:30 position of the bowl below). The recipe here is halved which is still more than two of us can eat:
1/2 lb ground turkey
1/4 c chopped Italian parsley
1/4 c grated parmasean cheese
2 Tbs bread crumbs
1/4 medium white onion finely diced
2 cloves garlic finely diced
1 Tbs red pepper flakes (adjust for desired heat)
1/2 egg beaten well
1-2 dashes balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
optional: sprinkle of Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until they are well incorporated.
Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil
Roll meatballs 1.5 - 2 inches at widest point
Add a drop of olive oil to the top of each meatball
Meatballs will need to cook from 16-18 minutes. Check them mid-way through and when the bottoms start to brown flip them once. When both sides are browned they are down.

Makes 9-12 meatballs

Lastly I should mention I'm not the only one encouraging how to eat well on pennies. Visit my friends Gabi and Adam over at BrokeAss Gourmet for more recipes and ranting.