Sweet Potato Corn Chowder

Last year I went a little overboard during the holiday season. And not just with food. There were too many activities; there were too many presents; and, yes, there was too much food. It got to the point by the end of December where I'd see a dessert tray and think "Ug." But then I'd eat the desserts off the dessert tray, or at least sample them. Sampling usually works for me, but not when there are 10,000 things to sample, not when you're making cookies at home every other night, not when your kids are bringing candy home by the pocketful.

I gained 10 pounds from October to December. I rarely weigh myself and when I got on that scale after a couple months, I swear I thought it was broken. Nope; the one at the YMCA told me the same thing. I had never gained holiday weight before in my life and I wasn't so happy to be on the bandwagon. I believe there were many factors to that weight gain. I was blessed last year not to get sick, so there was never any kind of forced pause in my sugar plum eating. Foods that weren't normally around and don't normally tempt me were all over the place. I'm not a big candy eater, but if there's a bunch of candy around (think Halloween), I'll eat a piece or two each night--a piece or two I wouldn't have even thought about if it hadn't been there. I was attending too many food-laden activities. And I was making a bunch of sweet, wonderful food for this blog. I didn't think it would matter that much, yet it seemed to. Several months later, after I'd cut my sweets way back and lost my 10 pounds (or at least 9-ish of it), I made a treat. I noticed that before the treat was even in the oven, I'd already probably eaten a couple of servings in licking. That's not a big deal when treats are, well, a treat. But when you're making them constantly, it can kind of add up.

So--forgive me; I didn't mean for this to end up as a Holiday eating confessional--this year I wanted things to be different. I didn't want to look at my calendar or the presents under my tree or desserts on a tray and think "Ug" and then attend/unwrap/scarf them down anyway. I wanted to enjoy the season. I wanted to indulge infrequently enough that it actually felt like indulging.

So far this year, we've gotten sick 4 days after Halloween and I didn't host Thanksgiving, so we're on the right foot:). Tomorrow begins December and I hope to keep things on that right foot (minus the sickness if that's okay with you, universe).

To celebrate that, I give to you this super duper delicious and wonderfully healthy chowder. It's got a lot of good stuff going on. It's homey and warm and comfort-food-like. But without the two cups of cream (not that there's anything wrong with a little cream). It's veggie filled, yet inexpensive. It can be made with roasted summer vegetables in late summer, but here in the fall, it can be made well with canned foods. I got the recipe in the summer and was worried it wouldn't translate well to using canned foods, but it was delicious. In fact, it can be made almost entirely with canned foods if that's what you've got. Which means that it can also be a great pantry meal or the perfect thing to come home and whip up after a long day of shopping/sledding/serving/working.

Merry December.

Sweet Potato Corn Chowder
adapted from Gluten-free Goddess
Serves 10-12
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25-30 minutes
Cost: $6.90 or about .70/serving
garlic: .05, onion: .10, corn: 1.00, sweet potato: .25, tomatoes: 2.00, coconut milk: 1.50, broth: 1.00, chicken breast: 1.00,

Note: I didn't have a sweet potato. I swear my kids must have thrown my bag of them out of the cart because I distinctly remember standing in front of them at the store and planning to put them in my cart. Consequently, I used an acorn squash. (I bet a butternut squash would work too.) It was good, but sweet potato would be better. However, my point is that any chunks of winter squash will do.

Another note: I used home-canned tomatoes. They are ridiculously good and their juices did a lot for the flavor of this soup. If using store bought, I recommend an extra big squirt of lemon juice and possibly a few extra shakes of salt (but taste it first) to bring out the best in your tomatoes.

1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp curry
1/4-1/2 tsp chili powder
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (or if you're onion-texture averse like my husband, grated in the small holes of your grater, so it's a pulp)
2 cans corn, drained
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes with juices (plain or Italian. I used home canned tomatoes and I have to say they were completely more awesome than store bought, but store bought will do)
1 quart vegetable broth
1 14-oz can coconut milk
1 breast of chicken (optional; you can make this vegetarian if you wish)
salt and pepper to taste
a squeeze of lemon or lime if you wish

Chop your onion and garlic. Cube your sweet potato and chicken (you can used leftover cooked chicken to good effect, or you can cook your chicken here. It's up to you).

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add cumin, curry, and chili powder. Stir until fragrant (30-60 seconds. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes or so. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add chicken if it's raw and cook until it's browned on the sides.

Add corn (without juices), sweet potato, tomatoes (with juices). Stir it up. Add broth.

Cover and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently until the sweet potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked through (about 20 minutes).

Add coconut milk and heat through. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add a squirt of lemon or lime if you wish.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

A Week on Foodstamps

It's happened again. There's a mayor in the news doing a food stamp challenge. At this link, you'll find the "rules" he'll be using for said challenge (it's $35/person of food and beverage for the challenge week, or about $140 for a family of 4).

Let me start by saying this: I am not opposed to food stamps. I think the program could be improved (oh, yes, I do), but the concept of feeding our hungry and needy is one I am completely 100% comfortable with.

However. (There's always a however isn't there.) However, these food stamp challenges always (always) irritate me. They irritate me on both sides of the coin. They irritate me because on the one end people are doing this little challenge for one week and considering themselves in tune with what The Poor have to go through. This can make us either over pity them (you've heard it a billion times: "no one can eat healthfully on food stamps") or disdain them (you've heard this too: "my family and I spend less than a food stamp budget every month"). I'm not sure either of those attitudes is very helpful to anyone.

And then these challenges irritate me on the other end because, well, of course it can be done. Yes, it takes a little effort, cooking, planning, and time, but of course if people are careful they can eat well on a food stamp budget. I think that generally speaking those who flat out say it can't be done are those who have generally lived most of all of their lives with plenty of money in their pockets. The rest of us are used to a bit of budgeting, planning, and sometimes doing without. The idea that this shouldn't be part of life (for The Poor or otherwise) is a little ridiculous to me. Come on, budgeting, planning, and doing without are often part of our lives in general--not just the food part of it. There are--and will always be--things that we want that we can't have, things that we wish were easier that aren't, and things that must be cut out because they will not--in the long run--contribute to that which will make us the most happy or benefit us the most. You don't have to be on food stamps to know what I'm talking about. It has just as much to do with marital fidelity as it does to screen time as it does to going to the grocery store. We give up some things so we can make other things work. It's called life. Welcome to it.  

With that attitude which will surely irritate everyone on the political spectrum, let me offer my best advice and a little menu for how to eat on $5/person/day.

Tips: 

1. Cut out soda, bottled water, crackers, chips, processed snacks/cookies/candy.

2. Plan a menu that uses things from meals prior to build the coming meals.

3. Get to know your Quaker Oats man.

4. Take your lunch.

5. Eat soup, homemade or otherwise.

6. Try having breakfast for dinner at least once a week.

7. Eat your leftovers (even if they're too small for a full meal--you can always add a piece of bread, fruit, or something else to even it out)

8. You're probably not going to buy all organic (though if you're a savvy shopper or have even a mildly green thumb, you might be able to get a fair amount of your food organic anyway). This "how can they buy organic" is one of the arguments against the current food stamp budget. It's a silly one to me because I don't think that the majority of non food stamp consumers eat organic either. You may send me hate mail if you like, but I don't consider eating organic food an inalienable right. If it is, perhaps the government should regulate our food industry differently. Ahem.

A Few Thoughts on a Basic Menu for a Family of 4:

Breakfast:
3 days a week: Oatmeal with brown sugar, a piece fruit, plus a cup of milk to drink.
2 days a week: Eggs and toast with an orange (or other seasonal fruit).
2 days a week: Generic cereal

Lunch:
2 days a week: PBJ's baby. With an apple or small Caesar salad.
2 days a week: Quesidillas or bean burritoes.
2 days a week: Large Ceasar salad with a bit of leftover chicken (from that roast down below).
1 day a week: Tomato soup

Dinner (most can be prepared in less than 30 minutes):
1. Roast chicken with potatoes and carrots. 90 minute cook time, unless you stick it in the crock pot before work. Then it's 10 minutes of prep and it's ready when you get home.
2. Spaghetti maybe with meatballs and a salad or broccoli on the side. 30 minutes or less
3. Fried rice (with some leftover bits from that chicken). 30 minutes or less
4. Soup soup soup with bread bread bread. You can make it with the stock from the roast chicken, but you don't even have to and soup is still kind to the budget. Butternut squash, tomato, potato, lentil, and noodle soups are all extremely cheap and easy to prepare. 30-45 minutes
5. Breakfast for dinner with applesauce or fruit. (We're talking eggs and fried potatoes or pancakes--that sort of thing.) 20 minutes
6. Fish with rice and broccoli. 20 minutes (40 if you're doing brown rice)
7. Leftover night if you've got leftovers. Otherwise, try a dal or bean soup with bread or tortillas. 30-60 minutes

Snacks (I am not an enormous snack advocate so you're not going to get a lot of boohoo from me here if this is skimpy):
Fruit
Bread and PB
A few nuts
maybe even bean dip or salsa with toasted tortillas

Dessert:
Pudding
Homemade chocolate chip cookies

Drinks:
water
milk

Shopping List (Walmart-ish prices in the midwest):

Oatmeal: 2.00
2 dozen eggs: .58 (they're wicked cheap here right now; I realize this is not realistic, so we'll say 3.00 to be fair).
2 boxes generic cereal: 4.00
4 loaves whole wheat bread 4.00-8.00 (depending on whether you've got a bread outlet nearby)
jar PB: 5.00
jar jam: 2.00
tortilla shells: 1.00
8 oz cheese: 2.00
romaine lettuce: 2.00
caesar dressing: 3.00
4 cans tomato soup: 2.00
whole 4-lb chicken: 7.00
5 lb potatoes: 3.50 (right now, they're cheaper; we can get a 10# bag of russets for $1.00)
2 lb bag carrots: 2.00
1 lb spaghetti: 1.00
1 lb hamburger: 3.00
1 can generic spaghetti sauce: 1.50
2 lb bag rice (go brown if you want it healthier): 1.00-2.00 dollars
2 lb broccoli: 4.00
can corn: .50
3 gallon milk: 6.00-9.00 (cheaper here right now)
chicken stock: 1.00
bag of whole wheat flour or small bag pancake mix: 2.50
butternut squash (for soup or side veggie): 2.00
syrup or brown sugar: 2.00
1 lb fish such as tilapia or salmon: 6.00
bag lentils: 1.00
can tomatoes: 1.00
butter: 2.00
bag apples: 3.00
bag oranges: 3.00
bunch bananas: 2.00
seasonal fruit: 2.00
small jar peanuts: 2.00
bag chocolate chips: 2.00
pudding mix: 1.00
can refried beans: 1.00
salt and/or season all: 1.00

Total: 100.00. Divide this by 4 and you've got 25.00/person/week

No, you're not eating like a king (and I don't even know what damage teenagers can do, so this doesn't take them into account), but you're eating whole grains and fruits and vegetables and you've still got another 40 dollars to wiggle with. No, that's not a lot. I don't mean to say it's easy or you can eat whatever you want or anything like that. It would be a big adjustment if you were used to buying whatever, eating whatever, and doing it whenever. But it can be done. Most nights it can be done in 30 minutes or less.

Christmas Pizza Ideas

Okay, guys, so you know all those glam shots you're always seeing on Pinterest that make you feel like you're failing as a mother, cook, and overall human being. Well, these aren't quite those. Aren't you happy? But hopefully they'll give you some fun ideas for December pizza nights. A pre-made crust and this is a 30 minute meal. A bread-maker crust and it's just as easy, though you have to think ahead. A quick pizza crust and it's still done in an hour.

I don't know what my obsession is with themed pizzas lately, but I'm just going to go with it.

This one is a Christmas tree.

I shaped it into a basic triangle, then cut the branches, so they were branchier, although once decorated, they were harder to see anyway, so you could probably go with just a triangle if you wanted to. This one was a ranch pizza, and the broccoli in the sauce gave it a bit of a green undertone (which was nice, but could have been done with a regular tomato sauce). Then it was decorated with pepperoni and olive "ornaments" and given a spinach garland. I cut the spinach into strips. A similar thing could have been done with basil leaves for a more grown-up taste.

And this here is a Christmas ornament.

Basic round pizza with an, um, hook at the top. Basic tomato sauce topped with cheese, then decorated with olives, pepperoni, and spinach.

The kids were in love.

They actually looked really great. And tasted great. Very crowd pleasing. And even though each of my kids picked his or her spinach off, they did not fuss about it being there as they normally would have.