creamy spinach and artichoke dip

Our homeschool group had our Not-Back-To-School potluck picnic today. I brought my Spinach and Artichoke Dip and it was a hit! One mom even called it "her dessert." It's great to have pleased a nice bunch of moms with something as easy as this.

I will be posting the recipe soon, so hang on. This has spinach, artichokes, Better Than Cream Cheese, veganaise, lemon, and roasted garlic. I've been making this for potlucks for years, always bringing home an empty dish.

A little about the cost.

I had to buy the artichokes from a Safeway store because Whole Foods was not open yet, and I paid $4 for a bottle of artichokes that I pay $2 for at Whole Foods. If you are fortunate enough to live near one and are not shopping there for the 'specialy' items, Whole Foods is a bargain. Their strict buying practices are a bonus as they do not sell anything of questionable ingredients; in fact, it was as a Whole Foods clerk was pulling  Willow brand margarine off the shelves that I learned the hazards of hydrogenated vegetable oil. Whole Foods does not deserve their 'whole paycheck' nickname if you shop for wholesome, great groceries.

Cost Breakdown:

spinach: $2

artichoke: $4

panko: $1

lemon: $.50

bread/cracker: $3

garlic, olive oil: :$.75

veganaise, Better than Cream Cheese: $3

Total to feed 15 people apps:

$14.25

chinese stir-fry cabbage with soy dumplings

Tuesday is Asian Day

It is so troubling that it is Tuesday already and I still do not have my menu ready for the week! Holidays tend to throw me off - David is home and things just move at a different pace. So tonight I grabbed my trusty Chinese cookbook, Bryanna Clark Grogan's Chinese Cookbook, and opened the book at a page.

That was it. I had the ingredients, or close enough to them, and away we went. Dinner was ready in an hour, eventhough the 'pork' balls needed to be made from scratch.

I changed things up just a little by stir-frying the cabbage before I added the 'chicken' broth (see recipe page). I simply adore the flavor of stir-fryed cabbage and I wasn't going to merely just simmer them.

Everyone loved the meal and I loved that I could make it fast.

School has started in earnest here and it is always a challenge to get everyone back in rhythm. This is also Literature Group week and I have to prepare for that as well.

Back to work!

Cost Breakdown:

cabbage: $3

tofu, TVP: $2

onion, carrot, tamari, sherry: $1.50

rice: $1

Toal to feed a family of 5:

$7.50