Angel Hair...Don't Pull YOUR Hair Out!

This was a big hit!  Our Smith's stores had a great stocker upper sale, buy 8, get $4.00 off:  the pastas were .49 per 1 lb. package, after the discount.  I meant to get all spaghetti, but some Angel Hair found its way into the mix.  A quick, cheap lunch, I boiled water, cooked 2 lbs. of the pasta.  Added 3 small cans of tomato sauce, garlic salt to taste, and stirred.  In retrospect, a little more tomato sauce and some parmesan would have been nice, but the cupboards were a little bare.  The kids loved it!  Not the healthiest meal, but definitely frugal, filling, and satisfying!  Great for an improv moment when the hungries hit, it came in at $1.82 for the whole pot, just .91/meal, as it spanned two lunches.  Further, it served 9 of us, working out to a grand total of approximately .10/serving.  Thin the noodles to one package, add some chopped onion, chicken bouillion, and water, and that will drop to about .06/serving for a sopa fideo!  ¡Delicioso!

Not so Improv...Rootbeer!

For a summary and more info, see this article at Hubpages...we ran out of brown sugar, and weren't able to make the second batch, so on my list for the day, making rootbeer.  Also on the list, Corned Beef and Cabbage, as our St. Patrick's Day is dh's b/day, and we serve tacos on his day!  Also on the list, maybe, is to try our hands at homemade yogurt...maybe.  Time may be the deciding factor.  Some things lend themselves to an improv mindset;  these do not!  Happy Saturday!

Couscous...A Tasty Pasta For a Quick Treat

I ordered a 5 lb. bag through a health food co-op recently, and have to say that this is an interesting pasta, and a potentially time saving soup filler in my kitchen.  Walking through my warehouse store, I found some intriguing containers offered, with a colorful version as well as the plain.  Prepared in a 1 to 1 ratio with liquid, either water or broth, this has a lovely texture and flavor.  I'm thinking about preparing it with a sprinkling of cheese melted and stirred in, just to experiment.  A worthwhile flavor and texture, I found that the price is comparable at Amazon Grocery, with some couscous products available at a 15% discount via the subscribe and save option. 

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More Than Just Pasta, Baby!

I started this little blog with the concept of dressing up leftovers, pasta, and other quick meal items.  Just to clarify, I don't restrict myself to macaroni!  The kids would get bored!  Quickly!  There are so many intriguing things to make for a quick meal, and I must say that discovering them is fun.

Barley has become one of my favorites!  I order pearl barley through a buying club, which orders from Azure Standard .  At less than .50/lb when purchased via my co-op, this is an interesting grain to work with.  I toss it into homemade soups as a filler, and believe me, it makes a thin soup thick and hearty.  For a very hearty soup, I go with about 4 measures of liquid to 1 measure of barley...in our household of 10, that measure is a cereal bowl.  For a slightly thinner soup, perhaps 5-6 measures of liquid.  I don't usually buy broth to use as the liquid, but opt for the more frugal flavoring, chicken bouillon powder, about 3-4 dollars for a big jar at our Costco. 

Barley also works well with stir fry, in place of rice.  Cook with a ratio of 2 parts water to 1 part barley, just a tinge longer than you would cook rice.  I haven't tried it in a Mexican rice type dish yet, but have used it with albondigas flavorings.  I'm confident it would do quite well as a substitute in my Mexican rice dish. 

One place I did not like the barley was in a sweet version, similar to arroz con leche.  The flavors were not great. If I don't care for it, I'm probably not fixing it again...if the kiddos reject it completely, not gonna be on the menu again.  Their feellings are mostly positive about the more savory barley meals, though one son has been very vocal about his displeasure.  9 out of 10 is a great approval rating, in my opinion, so barley gets a green light at the Macaroni Improv.  This grain is sure to be on the menu for many meals to come, and I will be on the lookout for intriguing ways to dress it up!  Be sure to give it a try before you invest in a 25 lb. bag, like I did!

Hiatus...

I've been away from this one for a while...forgot it existed...uh, oh! But I think it's relevant and pertinent to make the most of one's kitchen resources, so I'm gonna play with this a bit! LOL! For those who may stumble across this site, patience, please! It's a work in progress, by all means!

Leftoverama

Ever had one of those days where there doesn't seem to be anything to fix for dinner, and there are bits of many meals in the fridge? Nothing like noodles to tie it all together!

Most of the kids were a little skeptical. Except the toddlers. They're used to making unusual combinations. Leftover spaghetti noodles, leftover sauce, onion, garlic, a couple of chicken breasts cooked and cut into small pieces, leftover rice, leftover scrambled eggs, a little extra tomato sauce, and a couple of chopped up pieces of string cheese. Voila. Sounds awful, but the kids actually enjoyed it, I cleared my fridge a bit, and dinner came and went without too much trauma. Improv in action!

Infrequent Posts

I'm trying this out...my main blog is Song of the Sagebrush. Just checking out some of the other blog options out here, and I do like blogger. As time permits, I'll try to do more over here!