I have been cooking...a lot. I have also been eating out, an awful lot. Too much. Not that its too much because its not good, its very good, but very expensive. I have good taste, what can I say? Say, you need to figure out how to eat well while spending less Tara Ann Irwin!

I am currently eating breakfast at work, as per usual. Today, I am eating leftover oatmeal my partner Clay made-with frozen blueberries, butter and maple syrup. It is very good of course with maple syrup! Usually I put coconut oil and banana and its sweet enough.

So anyway, I need to plan out some budget friendly meals to keep food expenses down this month. This week we made (and by we, I mean Clay)

* ricotta, walnut, mixed mushroom pappardelle
* white bean, chicken chili in the instant pot
* nachos
*white sturgeon with rice

Everything tasted great, and we have enough for leftovers. Its a fine line-how much to make for leftovers. If you make too much, some people don't want to eat it the next couple days...I try to freeze leftovers in portion sizes to take out when we need a quick meal. Except I always forget to do that so it sits in the freezer for a long time. I need to work on that.

Quinoaand Rice Bowl with Kale, Kimchi and Egg

I am always looking for good vegetarian meal that is filling. I have tried numerous NY Times recipes and from what I remember, they've been pretty good.

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016855-quinoa-and-rice-bowl-with-kale-kimchi-and-egg

This recipe turned out great! It didn't take TOO long. I did see reviewers complaining of too many pots needed but you can be smart and make minor changes. I actually followed the recipe exactly which is very rare. I always have something to substitute or not enough time to measure...

Cant see any quinoa and rice? Perfect. Lots of toppings-just how I like it.

• kimchi
• avocado
• seaweed sheets
• steamed kale
• soft boiled egg
• scallions
• yummy sauce
• brown rice
• quinoa

Then you mix it all together like bibimbap! I want you to notice how perfect that soft boiled egg is too.

All of the ingredients came from The East End Food Co-Op or Whole Foods.

Enjoy!

I was so proud of myself yesterday for planning out all the meals for this week. I choose a few recipes from www.vegetariantimes.com that incorporated the vegetables and herbs from my garden. I also got a few-actually a lot of butternut squash and yellow squash from a friends garden that I wanted to use up.

The recipes I decided on:

• Summer Squash, Goat Cheese and Herb Roulades with sautéed collard greens

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/summer-squash-goat-cheese-and-herb-roulades/

• Kale, Caramelized Onion and Parmesan Pizza with Summer Squash, Avocado and Cherry Tomato Salad

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/kale-caramelized-onion-and-parmesan-pizza/

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/summer-squash-avocado-and-cherry-tomato-salad/

• Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew with Couscous

good food for me and you

Because food is such a big deal in my life, I thought it appropriate to have a way to share my findings and creations with others interested in the same.

Here I will share good recipe websites, websites related to health/fitness/wellness, my own recipes/restaurant reviews and whatever else may come about.

Enjoy!