Trying New Meals

I've been trying out some new meals (Ryan) trying to recreate things I like from eating out.  Here are four meals I am proud of.   I usually just pay attention when I eat something and then google for recipes and menus to recreate things

1. Middle Eastern Meal   

Mostly mixes and such, all from a normal grocery store.  I got falafel mix and tambouli mix from Kroger and got the hummus pre made.  I've made hummus from scratch before, and thats kind of fun to try different flavors and is cheaper, unless hummus is on sale.  The yogurt salad was cheap and easy to make-  you just buy plain yogurt and add a few herbs and cucumbers.  Also most stores sale pitas  6 for under two bucks.  I think the whole meal was about 25$ and we ended up with 6 servings.  This restaurant was my inspiration: http://mamouns.com/, I used to go there weekly in grad school to the location in Greenwich village.

2. Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza

Cheyn and I used to eat at CPK a lot when we dated and ofter ordered a fun pizza there that we have successfully recreated at home.  Miss Mindy bought me a pizza stone and it makes such a difference for homemade pizzas.  I use a standard pizza dough recipe in the bread machine, but add a bit more honey/sugar than it asks.   I roll out the dough, butter it a bit and put mozzarella and gorgonzola cheese on top-not too much gorgonzola, it is a type of blue cheese after all.  On top that you put thinly sliced Bosch pears and walnuts, both of which you caramelize before hand.  After you get it out you top it with mixed greens or arugula mixed with a vinaigrette.  This is really yummy and the most expensive ingredient is the gorgonzola cheese (5$), but a chunk of that can make 3-4 medium pizzas.  Total cost under 15-20 bucks, for 4 servings, but then we used all the left over ingredients to make another pizza (one pizza serves 2) a few days later. http://www.cpk.com/menu/#Pizzas

3.  NC BBQ meal (No picture)

Not a lot of good BBQ out here in Colorado, and if there is it is  TX BBQ.  NC is great because of the acidic cider vinegar and pepper sauce of the East and the sweet tomato based BBQ of the West.  The Eastern is easy to make your self.  For the Western sauce we usually just stock up on Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet BBQ sauce when were back in the South or in TX visiting family or for work.  For true NC BBQ it should be pork, but I make chicken in the crock pot.  Buy some shredded cabbage and add a little mayonnaise, lots of apple sider vinegar, some sugar, and celery seeds to make a good slaw.  Cooks some frozen biscuits, maybe some fresh corn on the cob.  One time when she was here I make Cheyn's Mom Miss Mindy make Hush puppies from scratch, but usually those are too hard to make.   Cost: Less than 20 bucks, serves 4-6

Inspirational BBQ restaurant: http://clydecoopersbbq.com/

4.  Pad Thai

A thai restaurant opened up about .6 miles away so we've been eating a lot of Thai food.   I found out there was a good Asian Supermarket on the other side of town and went and bought a wok, rice and a bunch of supplies.  This past week I made Pad Thai.  in the next couple of weeks I'm going to try to recreate some thai curries.  Its really pretty easy to make Pad Thai.  They have pad thai sauce and rice noodles, and I bought the rest from Kroger: Peanuts, limes, sprouts, etc.. 5-6 servings was only 12 bucks total.  I like that when you make it at home you can add a lot more vegetables.  It taste close to what we eat at the thai restaurant, minus the extra cup o f oil and half cup of sugar in those

Up next on my list besides the Thai Curries, I want to make Indian food from scratch like I used to in my college days.   Will have to search around Colorado Springs to see if they have a good cheap indian spice shop.

 You guys trying any new meals your rotating in or want to recommend in the comments?