Pumpkin carrot stew -living leaner
Stew with pumpkin and carrots and served with quinoa
I walk through the isles of the supermarket and for the first time I really see how ridiculously expensive everything is. Not that I shopped blindfolded before, but we’ve always been in the somewhat luxurious position of not having to count every penny we spend. And especially when it comes to food we don’t really pay attention if something is maybe 10 cents cheaper then the brand next to it. But ever since Mona started her living leaner challenge that has all changed. I have renewed respect for the people that manage to live of a salary half that of ours and have four (or more) mouths to feed too. I feel spoiled and somewhat embarrassed for having lived so recklessly before.
It’s also coming at a perfect time for us to be looking more at our spending pattern. Tom is without a job and while he still gets paid until the end of the year, finding a job has so far not been easy. And December is historically the worst month of the year to find a job anyway so it’s not very likely that he will succeed before the end of December. That also means that as of January our income will dramatically decrease. Neither of us have never been out of a job before. Well I think I was at the age of twenty for a whole month.. but that doesn’t count. Tom doesn’t like it. Gets terribly frustrated that he can’t find anything.
And that is understandable but I think we will somehow get through this and come out stronger at the other end. I will be glad that 2011 is about to end as it has been the worst year ever with loved ones dying, holidays cancelled due to earthquakes and other reasons, Tom losing his job… lol.. you would get depressed over less. Still in the grand scheme of things I do realize that there are tons of people who scrape by on far less and are in situations I hope to never be in, so it’s all relative. And I’m a positive person so all will work out in the end!
But to come back to the topic at hand; we’re having a fun time trying to eat for under the 10 euro and sofar it’s going fine. We’ve had to make some choices which we would otherwise not have made but also some delicious meals as a result of that! This pumpkin meal is another delicious one and coming in at € 7,37 for the meal but it will feed us for two days I’m sure.
- Butternut squash / pumpkin € 1,75
- Cilantro € 1,39
- Canned tomatoes € 0,28
- lemon € 0,47
- onions € 0,59
- Italian sausage € 2,89
Used out of existing supplies are all the spices and the quinoa so that would be a big dent in the budget but they do last for quite a while normally. In the photos the sausages are not appearing as they weren’t ready yet but trust me if I say they go well with this otherwise vegetarian meal. So leave them in or out (leaving them out would make this even cheaper!)
pumpkin carrot stew
Yield: 4
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Total Time: 1 hrs
Ingredients:
Stew
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Pinch of saffron
- 1 cup water
- 1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 cups 1-inch cubes peeled butternut squash (from 1 1/2-pound squash)
- 2 cups 3/4-inch cubes peeled carrots
- Optional : sausages
Quinoa
- 1 cup quinoa*
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup finely chopped peeled carrot
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint, divided
Directions:
For stew:
- Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until soft, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Mix in paprika and next 8 ingredients. Add 1 cup water, tomatoes, and lemon juice. Bring to boil. Add squash and carrots. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)
- Rinse quinoa; drain. Melt butter with oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and carrot. Cover; cook until vegetables begin to brown, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, salt, and turmeric; sauté 1 minute. Add quinoa; stir 1 minute. Add 2 cups water. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover; simmer until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes.
- Rewarm stew. Stir in half of cilantro and half of mint. Spoon quinoa onto platter, forming well in center. Spoon stew into well. Sprinkle remaining herbs over.
- *A grain with a delicate flavor and a texture similar to couscous; available at natural foods stores.
Recipe from Epicurious
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
I will eat that! Great colors! I am preparing a squash dish too and I am working on the styling now. Somehow I have hard time photographing orange food, I like your styling with the white plate idea and the green accents.
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 13th, 2011 at 10:30
Thanks Laura! Yes orange and brown colors can be very tricky to photograph. I’ve had my share of utter failures in that department too, but I’m sure you’ll do fine! Can’t wait to see it!
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Love the dish ..warm by colors already:)
As to the supermarkets..other day i saw a man standing in front of the packaged meat.He was picking up packed meat and nodding his head.
I asked him if he thought that meat was too expansive and he said .He was a cattle holder .And he almost never goes to supermarket and certainly does not buy meat.But he was shocked to see the prices.After counting from the catle holder through the slaughterhouse and packaging. to supermarket ..who was holding all the profit?
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 13th, 2011 at 10:30
Yes it would be easier if we could probably go directly to the source and buy our produce there. But at least here, that is difficult and the source I know has wonderful meat but it not exactly cheap. It’s in fact more expensive!
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Well done Simone. You are coming up with some great ideas for Living Leaner and I am really impressed with your prices! We had a vegetarian night tonight with friends. Totally delicious…And within the budget!
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 13th, 2011 at 10:29
Wow, so you had friends over and still managed to stay within budget?! Now THAT is really impressive. Well done Mona!
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Yes, life and food in general are very expensive and when you have to count every penny, it can be very exhausting. I have an extremely tight budget and cannot go over it which means that we cannot buy what we want or have to make a few sacrifices in order to buy something a little more “luxurious” like cheese, meat or fish. As a result we rarely eat meat or fish more than once a week and have to feed on a vegetarian diet. Eventhough my meals are mainly vegetable-based, I always manage to make a feast out of them and cook refined, flavorful and original, yet cheap meals….
That stew looks wonderful and so tasty! This is exactly the kind of food I cook on a regular basis.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 13th, 2011 at 10:28
Looking at your blog I would never have guessed you’re on a tight budget Rosa as it all looks delicious and beautiful. Yes it is challenging at times to stay on budget but I love doing it and you can eat really well for fairly decent money. And this stew is perfect for anyone on a budget. Soo delicious!
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this is a flavourful fall dish looks wonderful
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 13th, 2011 at 10:26
Yes, absolutely perfect for fall!
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Oh wow, your photos are killing me Simone. This looks sooooo good. Now I want to have this for breakfast. It so looks like it’s comfort food at its best. Can’t go wrong with quinoa and squash…
I truly hope that Tom finds a job soon… an even better one than the one he lost. Tell him to hang in there. It’ll happen!
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 13th, 2011 at 10:25
O lol… not sure if this is breakfast material but it is for sure very tasty. We totally loved it and it was even better the second day..
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This recipe looks very tasty, the photos are gorgeous.
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Hey Foodies, Simone’s Stew recipe has been selected by Knapkins to be featured in a Recipe Guessing Game. Invite fans to play: http://knapkins.com/guess_games/594?source=blog
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 13th, 2011 at 10:24
Thanks Christine!
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Now THIS is MY kind of stew! I love a good vegetable mix and cannot eat meat (doesn’t digest well) so this is something I am excited and eager to try. Does it ever look sensational!
V
YUMMMMMM
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 13th, 2011 at 10:24
Thanks Valerie and it was indeed so incredibly delicious! Loved it!
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I hope Tom will get a lovely job offer,…really soon! Your stew is a tasty one. It contains all of the flavours I love right now! Thanks for sharing, Simone! Good luck with it all!
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This looks so delicious and great for the fall! I think you’ll really enjoy my recipe for curried couscous salad. Please check it out here: http://bit.ly/curriedcouscousrec
Thanks!
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This looks really beautiful! I am so attracted by the color!
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