NWFlyer 2 #26 January 17, 2007 Note to self: crash dinner at the Mitchell house again. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bodypilot1 0 #27 January 17, 2007 Quoteincredible italian meal (with appetizers and decent wine) and I only spent about $50 9 people? $50 food and wine? Ripple or MadDog 20/20? Be safe Edwww.WestCoastWingsuits.com www.PrecisionSkydiving.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #28 January 17, 2007 << If you cook yourself>> Yeah that can save you money, but it's a one time deal .. (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #29 January 17, 2007 QuoteNote to self: crash dinner at the Mitchell house again. Saturday is prime rib. Come on down. I'm serious.Gimme a call, sweetie. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #30 January 17, 2007 Yup. The cost of the food was super cheap. The wine was $6 a bottle, 2 bottles = $12. (Yellow Tail Shiraz). Sure that's cheap of me only having 2 bottles for 9 people, but I told people to bring wine if they wanted it, 4 other bottles showed up (which made it perfect). Tell you what, I just typed up the recipe for someone else, here's what I made. I was able to cheat since I had some of these things on hand anyways. It feeds well, especially with the appitizer that I made (as listed below). Quote*2 regular packages of fresh tortellini *(I prefer to mix the chicken herb and the 3 cheese, these are those ready to boil packages from the refrigerator case). *1 jar of decent red pasta sauce *(spend about $5, get something like 3 brothers or similar, whatever flavor you like) *1 bag of mozzarella cheese *(2-cup bag, shredded) *2 ripe tomatoes 1 can of pited black olives Minced garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil *(referenced as EVOO from here on out) *Balsamic vinegar 1 wedge of quality fresh parmasean cheese 1 block of quality fresh mozerrella cheese 1 loaf of a decent quality fresh bread *(unseasoned, i.e. no "italian garlic bread") *1 bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz *(this is a red wine, should cost under $10, Wold Market carries it, don't let the price fool you, its a good quality wine with a great taste) Now, how to make what we're making. Firstly, take a Pyrex style container, medium-ish size and place all the tortellinis in it. Do NOT add water or anything else at this point, this is without boiling the pasta. You can add some dashes of EVOO, but its not needed. Pre-heat your oven to 375F on bake. Take a medium sauce pan and pour your jar of sauce in it, start heating it over medium heat. Take a medium/small frying pan with a good lip on the side and pour in about 1-1 1/2 cups of wine over medium to medium-high heat. The point is not to boil the wine, but let it simmer slightly and cook down. While this is going on, slide your tomato (thin to medium slices), slide your olives (thin), shred your fresh parasean cheese and slice the mozerella (slightly thicker then thin slices, no more then 1/4" thick). Also, slice your fresh bread. You should have a normal thickness slice as a regular store bought loaf of bread. By now your wine has probably cooked down enough. It should be syrupy looking, but not burnt looking and it should not boil. Don't let your sauce boil either. Add the wine to your sauce and bring to a low simmer. Let simmer for a few minutes, no more then 5 of simmering. While that's simmering, take your bread slices and lay them out on a cookie sheet, sprinkle EVOO , then balsamic vinegar over all the slices. Dash the minced garlic across the bread, put 1 slice of the Mozerralla cheese on each slice of bread, followed by a tomato slice and a small handful of olives on top of that (about a tablespoon's worth). Put that in the oven on the bottom rack and set timer for 5 minutes. The goal is to get the bread a bit toasty, the tomato just starting to cook and the cheese just starting to melt. May take longer then 5 minutes, but you don't want it to burn. Now take your Pyrex with the tortellinis, pour the sauce over the top and try to coat the top evenly. Now cover with the entire 2-cups of shredded Mozerrella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 25 minutes. Sometime right about now the bread should be ready. Serve and eat. After 25 minutes in the oven, pull out your Pyrex, pull back the foil and lay tomato slices evenly spaced across the top. Cover with the fresh shredded parmesean cheese. Recover and put back in the oven for 5-7 minutes. You want the tomatoes to still be a bit crisp when you pull it out and you want the cheese to have browned a bit. Cut and serve the dish as if you were serving lasagna. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #31 January 17, 2007 Quote<< If you cook yourself>> Yeah that can save you money, but it's a one time deal .. Quote of the night! Thanks for making me laugh out loud! ltdiver Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elisha 1 #32 January 17, 2007 I'm about to go to bed and that makes me hungry. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bisqit999 0 #33 January 17, 2007 when I'm broke I live off of spaghetti-O's and store brand saltine crackers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,593 #34 January 17, 2007 Yep, learn to cook and buy carefully. The newsgroup misc.consumers.frugal-living used to be my mainstay during my post-computer frugal years. As an example, you can make a chicken last at least 4 meals if you try. Roast it; have a meal. Have leftover roast chicken. Then turn some of the leftover meat into chicken curry or chicken salad, and use the bones and rest ts to flavor some soup. It's all in what you buy and cook. And when the little one is born, nurse for as long as you can. It's way way less expensive, and better for him too. If you can't, that's fine (lots of kids are raised on formula). Wendy W.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lisamariewillbe 1 #35 January 17, 2007 Just depends how you eat, I can feed this family with 75 to 100 a week and that includes packing school lunches.Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #36 January 17, 2007 More stuff I thought about as I was pulling stuff out of the fridge for breakfast ... Keep an eye on package sizes. I buy 32 oz yogurts instead of the individual serving sizes. I'm eating it at home, anyway, so it's no big deal to spoon it out into a cup. Better for the environment, too. Soda's another one ... 2 liter bottles are a lot cheaper than cans or smaller bottles. Store brand is cheaper than name brands. I still buy cans of diet coke, because I'm really picky about carbonation, but if you're going through a lot a day, buy the bottles instead."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #37 January 17, 2007 What's all the fuss? Have fun with it! Go to all the MAJOR grocery stores. They GIVE food away!...They all have a huge dumpster around back...My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
