Kyuuei's Cook book!

[kyuuei]

Other folks can add recipes??

Have this pasta recipe, that I'm totally addicted to at the moment:

15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta — Oh She Glows

Ingredients:

9 ounces (255 g) uncooked pasta (use gluten-free, if desired)
1 to 2 small cloves garlic, to taste
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, plus more for serving
1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, to taste
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 ripe medium avocado, pitted
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon (1 to 2 mL) fine-grain sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Lemon zest, for serving

Directions:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.
- While the pasta cooks, make the sauce: In a food processor, combine the garlic and basil and pulse to mince.
- Add the lemon juice, oil, avocado flesh, and 1 tablespoon (15 mL) water and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed. If the sauce is too thick, add another 1 tablespoon (15 mL) water. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Drain the pasta and place it back in the pot. Add the avocado sauce and stir until combined. You can gently rewarm the pasta if it has cooled slightly, or simply serve it at room temperature.
- Top with lemon zest, pepper, and fresh basil leaves, if desired.



(I like the pasta creamier, so I add little to no water, and a little extra oil. Also I never add lemon zest or extra basil, but I do usually stir in cherry tomatoes and/or wilted spinach. Plus parmesan cheese, which is necessary IMO.)

Ooohh my god I love Oh she Glows!! And of course you can post other recipes in here! I use this as a collection chamber of sorts, so having more options is cool sometimes I browse through here to get some obscure recipes and such. That pasta salad looks like something I'd really enjoy making I have almost all the ingredients too! Thanks for the inspiration!

I wonder if I thinned out those other ingredients if it'd work just as well as a salad dressing...

 

[kyuuei]

^ I did a variation of that recipe today [MENTION=4945]EJCC[/MENTION] it inspired me. I used coleslaw mix, broccoli slaw, and some greens as the base and I blended together those ingredients above for the sauce except I used wasabi-soy almonds soaked overnight instead of avocado because that's what I had and I added a couple pickled jalapeno slices. It came out really decadent with a dollop of sour cream and dijon mustard to round it out.

 

[kyuuei]

Horchata -- A cinnamoned vanilla rice drink that's comforting and filling when you're not hungry but want calories in the morning to get you going.

Part one:

- 1 1/3 cup uncooked rice
- 2 cups water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 3 cups water
- Vanilla bean (optional, if not use vanilla extract in part two)

Add the first three ingredients into the blender, and blend until roughly chopped. Then add the other 3 cups of water and blend until well combined. Scrape out vanilla bean and stick them and the pod into the mixture. Stick this all into a pitcher of some sort and let soak overnight in the fridge. The next morning, strain with a fine sieve, cheesecloth, or coffee filter depending on how smooth you want the drink to be.

Part two:

- 1 cup milk (any kind)
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract if not using the vanilla bean, or just scrape some more vanilla beans into the mixture
- 1/3 - 2/3 cup sugar, any kind. 1/3rd will make it less sweet and more earthy, 2/3rds will give it that sweet dessert-like touch.

Combine these things into the strained liquids and mix thoroughly until the sugar dissolves. Serve cold or warm.

What to do with the leftover rice: Rice pudding, or rice porridge, or combine it with leftover cooked rice and saute it up into a cinnamon-y savory meal.

 

[kyuuei]

I've been getting more into freezer meals lately. It's a great way to buy cheap things and have homecooked meals available whenever. On the menu for this week:

- Frozen steamable vegetables
- Wild rice, cooked and frozen for quick thawing
- Spicy black bean burgers Spicy Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayonnaise | Skinnytaste
- Teriyaki Burgers without the pineapple because they're fine on their own Grilled Hawaiian Teriyaki Burger | Skinnytaste
- Salisbury Steaks with mushroom gravy sauce Skinny Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy | Skinnytaste
- Cheeseburger casserole Cheeseburger Casserole | Skinnytaste
- Root soup Root Soup | Inn at the Crossroads

 

[kyuuei]

Just tried that root soup. It would be such a great winter/sick soup. Very mild flavor, hearty with lots of calories while feeling light, and lots of vegetables in it that totally soften up to an easily digested mush in the process. I think that next time I would stick something more flavorful, meat wise, into it like a ham hock than the salted pork... or just straight up bacon. But still, if you're looking for something quick, not savory enough to want seconds but good enough to finish, and to give you necessary calories without trying to eat a lot so you can work without feeling loaded down, this soup is it. Which you might think is a very specific scope of things, but.. it's the opposite of Pho soup-wise. Pho is full of flavor, there's tons of it and little calories, and you feel refreshed, hydrated, and heavy and full afterwards as if you'd eaten at a huge restaurant meal while getting great nutrients and it is so easy to burn off later.

I'm packaging it up in tupperware tomorrow morning, eating some for breakfast with some jalapeno poppers, and then cooking up the rest of the hamburgers and steaks so that they're freezer prepped and calling it a DAY cooking wise. Plenty of ready-to-cook meals now.

 

[kyuuei]

Winter soups!!!

Potato Leek Soup:
- A bazillion potatoes peeled. Like. At least 4, or 8 if you don't like cauliflower. Chopped into cubes.
- 2 tbsp EVOO
- 1 medium onion diced fine
- 5 cloves garlic diced fine
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- Low sodium beef stock 2-4 cans depending on how much sodium you want in your soup
- You want somewhere around 8-10 cups of water in total so the stock cans - 10 cups
- 1-2 leeks washed and chopped thin
- 1 parmesan rind, my secret weapon to soups (I bought mine at whole foods for like $3 because the places I usually troll for the throw-aways didn't have any, but that 3$ came with like 6 rinds and they keep in the freezer for like ever)
- 1/2 head cauliflower
- seasonings you like. I like hamburger-style seasonings in this because I think potato soup ought to be lemony and peppery ... and baked potatoes remind me of steak seasoning, so I use hamburger seasoning or something like that. somewhere around 1 tbsp or 2 of those
- 1-2 lemons, zested and juiced
- 2 teaspoons of whole wheat flour dissolved in some of the broth pulled out while cooking
- Optional toppings to change the flavor: (simple chives, salt, and pepper) (1-2 heaping spoonfuls of queso/velveeta with rotel and ground beef in it) (tortilla chips, pico de gallo, jalapeno, lime, hot sauce) (green onion, shredded cheese, bacon cooked and crumbled, sour cream)

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion's soaked up most of the oil and started to really brown and get mushy and gross/awesome looking. Then add the water, and add the other stuff as you pull it out and prep it. Boil, then simmer to maintain that boil and cook it until the potatoes are suuuper soft. I like this soup chunky, so I just use a potato masher when its super soft and mash up half the potatoes and keep the other half chunky. Once it's nice and thick from the mashing and flour solution, ladel into bowls and use the optional toppings.



Sweet potato, Carrot, Ginger, Apple Soup
2 medium or large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes or smaller
1 package of frozen carrots
2 apples peeled and chopped fine
1 yellow onion chopped fine
5 gloves garlic chopped fine
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp ginger
2-3 teaspoons of herbs de provence
2 cans low sodium chicken stock OR 2-3 teaspoons bouillon
Enough water to allow things to boil, somewhere around 8-10 cups depending on how thick you want it or how thin
2-4 packets of turbinado sugar or coconut sugar or 2 tbsp of honey
salt and pepper to taste
1 lime juiced
Optional, but I didn't do it this time: Add apple cider, pumpkin cider, or pumpkin beer to the soup in lieu for some of the water for a more earthy hearty flavor.
Optional toppings: Sour cream or cheese, but this soup didn't need anything extra to be honest.

Saute the onions and garlic like in the previous recipe. Add water and stock, add the other ingredients as needed, and allow to boil until everything is soft and mushy, somewhere around 20-40 minutes. Once it is, add it all to the blender, and blend it on high until it's all a smooth, soft soupy texture of delicious. Sweet and savory.. high sugar content, but it's mostly natural sugars from the veggies and fruit (can t lower to remove the sugar added), it's also low fat (you can omit the fat entirely with the olive oil) and low calorie. If you say it serves 6 people, and it easily does (I ate two bowls and the rest of my family ate a big bowl) it's around 261 calories according to my fitness pal. Warm and festive too.

 

[kyuuei]

Jalapeno lemonade:
1 jalapeno, cut into circles and seeds removed. I removed like most of the seeds but wasn't too picky about it all.
1 cup each water and sugar
1/8th teaspoon of salt, or a slight pinch

(more ingredients later)

Basically add the water and pepper slices, bring to boil and allow to boil for like 2 minutes extra. Then drop the sugar and salt, stir and drop the heat to low, dissolve completely and turn off the heat and let that shit cool off.

But a strainer over the pitcher. Strain the pepper syrup into the pitcher. Juice of about 6 lemon, or approximately 1 cup lemon juice, gets thrown on top of the peppers through the strainer into the pitcher next. Then 6 cups of cold water follow. To spike it, just subtract a cup of water for alcohol of choice.

The result is a very mild heat you feel after swallowing the lemonade. If you want it spicier, you just add more jalapenos.

(Re-posting from my blog.)

 

[kyuuei]

In honor of keeping up with my own damn tips.

The menu for the next week's lunches:

Sauteed x meat from dinner or mushrooms and onions + herbes de provence + vegetables chopped
Spicy sauce
Shredded cheese
Oats

And a miso soup or pho soup on the side. I'm totally getting ingredients for those two tomorrow.

 

[BadOctopus]

I am so subscribing to this thread. [MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION], your Final Fantasy drinks are inspired. (Your food recipes look great, too.)

 

[kyuuei]

Jalapeno Lemonade with Huevos Rancheros oatmeal!

Lemonade recipe from above for the drink of course.

For the oatmeal:
- Old fashioned oats, cooked in half water, half fat free low sodium beef broth or stock with smoked paprika seasoned in the water.
- 1/2 cup of thickened potato soup added to the oats after they've cooked. Garlic mashed potatoes can also be added to this, but I used 30 clove garlic potato soup. If using a canned potato soup, either drain off the liquid and just add the chunks, or leftover potatoes, or cook the soup until you cook off the liquid and make it thicker.
- Scallions and crumbled bacon and sour cream and lime wedges and hot sauce for the toppings.
- 3 eggs, cracked into a water/vinegar mixture at a simmering gently boil, and cooked in the water until the whites are done.
- 1/4 cup shredded cheese per bowl
- A few canned beans or a black bean burger from the freezer cooked and crumbled up and thrown in
- 3 tsp of olive oil, onion, mushrooms, frozen spinach, and herbs de provence sauteed together until cooked and tender

First the cheese, then layer the hot oatmeal so it melts the cheese. Add the sauteed veggies and black beans on top, the egg, and the toppings.

For approximately 1 1/8th cup oatmeal cooked (or 1/2 cup dry), and all the toppings, it came out to about 400 calories a bowl. This made 3 bowls. The veggies are light on calories, so you can add as much or little as you like, just keep the proportions of the grains and sauces wrangled in.

It came out spicy, and citrusy (for me, I'm addicted to citrus), and savory. Texture is interesting if you're used to sweet oatmeal, but if you've eaten grits before you know mushy savory grains are awesome too. If the oatmeal puts you off, replace with brown rice.

I am so subscribing to this thread. [MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION], your Final Fantasy drinks are inspired. (Your food recipes look great, too.)

Thanks! Dude those FF drinks are so on point. You put a little cactaur picture next to a green shot, and it's like Ooooo.. Aahhhh... Definitely might just do that for my birthday and go full FF7. I might even bust out my wall scroll from like 12 years old and everything!

 

[kyuuei]

Ultimate banana pudding to feed a potluck/large army.

Stolen from FB, which never gives great credentials.

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies OR 2 bags Vanilla Wafers
6 to 8 bananas, sliced
2 cups whole milk
* 1 (5 oz.) box instant French Vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz.) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Mix the french vanilla pudding with the milk as per instructions on box. While mixing/whisking, add cream cheese, and condensed milk. Vanilla bean paste would be preferred but if you don't have it extract is fine. (Cheapest way to buy it in a store: wait for Michael's craft store to put out 40% off coupon, and use it on the paste.)

Line a 13x9 inch pan with as many layers of cookies and bananas (bananas layered thicker than cookies) as possible. If you want to get fancy, you can soak the cookies briefly in an orange or amaretto liqueur+coffee mixture before placing them down for a crazy touch to it. After that, pour the bowl of mix on top of the banana/cookie layers, tapping the pan several times to work it all the way to the bottom. Top with cookies if you have any left, and then whipped cream to totally cover it all and make it look all cake-like. If you're going fancy, sprinkle some flavored sugar on top.

 

[kyuuei]

Two recipes I want to try making:

- Tortilla chicken soup oatmeal
I basically intend on making this nothing more than tortilla soup base-cooked oats with leftover chicken-and-veggies from the soup
And toppings of avocado, lime, cilantro, onion, and salsa


- Cheeseburger Oatmeal

1/4 lb hamburger meat
scallions, carrot, ginger, garlic mixture pureed
^ Add to that: 1 teaspoon each ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, dill pickle diced.. just enough to make a paste-like mixture of all of this stuff
Shredded cheese
1 tbsp sour cream
BBQ spices
Dash hot sauce
Sprinkled in diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, cilantro, chives, onion, red bell pepper, diced avocado

Cook oatmeal in beef broth and water, cook hamburger meat, take the paste mix, stir it all together, add cheese while still hot, sprinkle toppings on top.

 

[kyuuei]

How to make healthy ice cream without an ice cream maker

But you DO need a blender.

Version one: Frozen over ripe banana. Really soft but not banana-bread-quality quite yet. Just shove them in there and mix them until they become ice cream like. I usually just stick some milk in with it to let it blend better then stick it in the freezer while I eat dinner for an hour covered.

Version 2: Frozen yogurt. Just dump yogurt into a larger-than-necessary ziplock bag. You can also put in some sugar or vanilla beans or other flavorings and mush it all together in there or you can keep it straight yogurt like I do. Lay it in the freezer really flat and skinny--so that when it freezes hard it'll be like a big thin sheet. Keeping it in the bag, start folding the pieces and breaking them up so that they turn into icy yogurt chunks. Stick them in the blender and turn them into mush, then pour that mush into a bread pan or something like that (or a plastic container or something) and put some plastic wrap down against it so that it seals out most of the air (or a lid if it all fits perfectly inside without much air gap) and stick it in the freezer for an hour or two.

 

[Kullervo]

This is a recipe for Sachertorte, a chocolate cake from Austria that I grew quite attached to after visiting the country last year. Tip: I read in a comments section to use couverture - a chocolate with higher fat content - to prevent the cake from getting too dry. You can buy it online or from delis.

So, the recipe:

Makes one 9-inch, 2-layer cake; Serves 12
CAKE
•
7 tablespoons (3.5 ounces)
unsalted butter, softened
•
Scant 1/2 cup (2 ounces) confectioners' sugar, sifted
•
6 large eggs, separated
•
3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
•
Pinch of salt
•
7 tablespoons (3.5 ounces) superfine sugar
•
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3.5 ounces) cake flour

FILLING
•
1/4 cup granulated sugar
•
3 tablespoons dark rum
•
1 cup (12-ounce jar) apricot preserves
SACHER GLAZE
•
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8.75 ounces) granulated sugar
•
7 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
TO MAKE THE CAKE
1.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 2.5-inch springform pan and line the bottom with a parchment or greased waxed paper circle.
2.
With an electric mixer on low speed (or with a stationary mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat the butter for 1 minute, or until light. Add the confectioners' sugar and beat for 2 minutes longer.
3.
Add the egg yolks two at a time, beating for 10 seconds between additions, or until absorbed by the butter. Scrape down the beaters and sides of the bowl and beat for 1 minute longer, or until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and mix until combined.
4.
Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form soft peaks. With the machine running, add the superfine sugar, about 2 tablespoons at a time, and beat until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. With a rubber spatula, fold 1/2 the egg whites into
the batter. Transfer the flour to a strainer and sift it over the batter as you fold it in along with the remaining beaten egg whites.
5.
Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan, smooth the top, and set the pan on a larger baking sheet (to catch the drips). Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out dry.
6.
Cool the cake to room temperature in the pan on a wire rack. Run a knife around the cake to loosen it from the sides, then unlock the springform and lift the cake out of the ring.

TO MAKE THE FILLING
1.
Turn the cooled cake upside down onto a cardboard round cut slightly smaller than the diameter of the cake. Remove the metal base and peel off the paper. With a serrated knife, split the cake horizontally in two and set aside the top layer.
2.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar with 1/4 cup water and bring to a boil, stirring. Remove from the heat and add 2 tablespoons of the rum.
3.
Puree the apricot preserves in a blender with 1 tablespoon of water and strain out the chunks by passing the puree through a small sieve. Transfer the preserves to a small saucepan and bring them to a boil over low heat, stirring. Boil for 2 minutes, or until thickened, then remove from the heat
and add the remaining tablespoon of rum.
4.
With a pastry brush, soak the cake layer on the cardboard with IA the sugar syrup (be generous or the cake will be dry). Spread 1/3 of the warm apricot preserves over the syrup and top it with the second cake layer. Brush the second layer with the remaining sugar syrup and brush the top
and sides with the remaining apricot preserves. Set the cake on a cooling rack or an icing grid set over waxed paper to catch the drips.

TO GLAZE
1.
Bring the sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan and cook until a candy thermometer registers 220 degrees F. Add the chocolate, stir, and cook until a candy thermometer registers 230 degrees F (the "thread" stage). Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir until smooth.
2.
Pour the hot glaze back and forth over the top and sides of the cake. Be generous as you pour so that the sides get covered, because the glaze can't be moved once it is on the cake. If there are any unglazed patches on the sides of the cake, use a small offset spatula to patch the nude spots with more glaze. Let the cake stand for 1 hour before transferring it to a plate or platter.

Storage:
Keep at room temperature, under a cake dome or an inverted large mixing bowl.
Refrigerate only after a couple of days, but bring the cake back to room temperature before serving

 

[kyuuei]

Cake Oatmeal:

- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup oats
- 1 banana
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp butter flavoring (extract-style)
- 2 tbsp sugar or honey, or any mixture of the two
If you want a fruity-sort of 'cake': add chunks of pineapple + lemon curd + some berries blended up with chia seeds. If you want a far-more vanilla cake: vanilla-infused sugar in place of regular sugar/honey, and 1 tbsp vanilla bean curd. For a lemon-chiffon cake: vanilla bean curd + lemon curd + 2 more tbsp of cream cheese + lime zest.. but for THIS recipe, we're doing funfetti, so:
- sprinkles
- whipped cream

Boil water and salt, add the oats, when the oats seem to be absorbing lots of liquid add the milk and cook just enough to heat the milk up as well. Chop the banana into skinny chips, and when the oatmeal is done throw the chips in and beat the shit out of it until it submits into being a crushed, mashed part of the oatmeal entirely. You can add the cream cheese in there at that time too. When it's done, add the sugar and the extracts, and stir it up more. Put into bowls, sprinkle tons of sprinkles over it, and add a dollop of whipped cream on top.

 

[wolfy]

Cake Oatmeal:

- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup oats
- 1 banana
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp butter flavoring (extract-style)
- 2 tbsp sugar or honey, or any mixture of the two
If you want a fruity-sort of 'cake': add chunks of pineapple + lemon curd + some berries blended up with chia seeds. If you want a far-more vanilla cake: vanilla-infused sugar in place of regular sugar/honey, and 1 tbsp vanilla bean curd. For a lemon-chiffon cake: vanilla bean curd + lemon curd + 2 more tbsp of cream cheese + lime zest.. but for THIS recipe, we're doing funfetti, so:
- sprinkles
- whipped cream

Boil water and salt, add the oats, when the oats seem to be absorbing lots of liquid add the milk and cook just enough to heat the milk up as well. Chop the banana into skinny chips, and when the oatmeal is done throw the chips in and beat the shit out of it until it submits into being a crushed, mashed part of the oatmeal entirely. You can add the cream cheese in there at that time too. When it's done, add the sugar and the extracts, and stir it up more. Put into bowls, sprinkle tons of sprinkles over it, and add a dollop of whipped cream on top.

That looks nice

 

[kyuuei]

That looks nice

I enjoy it. I usually add coconut flour too because of the added fiber plus I need to use it all up lol

 

[ceecee]

Ultimate banana pudding to feed a potluck/large army.

Stolen from FB, which never gives great credentials.

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies OR 2 bags Vanilla Wafers
6 to 8 bananas, sliced
2 cups whole milk
* 1 (5 oz.) box instant French Vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz.) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Mix the french vanilla pudding with the milk as per instructions on box. While mixing/whisking, add cream cheese, and condensed milk. Vanilla bean paste would be preferred but if you don't have it extract is fine. (Cheapest way to buy it in a store: wait for Michael's craft store to put out 40% off coupon, and use it on the paste.)

Line a 13x9 inch pan with as many layers of cookies and bananas (bananas layered thicker than cookies) as possible. If you want to get fancy, you can soak the cookies briefly in an orange or amaretto liqueur+coffee mixture before placing them down for a crazy touch to it. After that, pour the bowl of mix on top of the banana/cookie layers, tapping the pan several times to work it all the way to the bottom. Top with cookies if you have any left, and then whipped cream to totally cover it all and make it look all cake-like. If you're going fancy, sprinkle some flavored sugar on top.

I can vouch for this recipe. I don't like the vanilla wafers type much but this is excellent. I make it at Christmas and I found they have holiday Chessmen cookies for it even. Also use vanilla bean paste.

 

[SD45T-2]

- Cheeseburger Oatmeal

Sounds like a Frank Zappa song.

 

[kyuuei]

I have an abundance of fresh food here lately that's pretty much free, and I'm taking advantage of it.

I got inspired by a $4/day challenge book. Those things are always such bullshit, because they require ingredients you "already have in your pantry" as if it didn't cost you $2 for that bag of flour alone. Sure the breakdown is $0.05, but you still had to shell out that $2 and the rest of that money doesn't get added in for weeks.

So, can I make a REAL $4/day thing? I have a bread maker I make use of, free farm food, salvage grocery stores, discount grocery stores, and I'll post the full prices. It also has to be decent food that can be eaten for a healthy diet... so at the end of the month, when I hit "divided by 30/31" it should show up as $4/day or less. So, at the end of the week, how is it going so far?

Starting off this week:
Breakfast: Cereal and milk or instant oatmeal packets (The cereal was $0.98, the oatmeal was $0.98 for 6 packets, the milk was $2.87) with yogurt (Fage yogurt in the big tubs was $2.99 and vanilla bean curd was $1.25 for a jar)
Lunch: Sandwiches (Liver mousse was $1.99, cheese was $2.89, greens mix was $2, box of bread mix was $0.98, mustard was $0.99, and sour cream was $0.99) with coleslaw (Dressing was $2.99, cabbage was $0.50 a head, zucchini was free, cherry tomatoes were free, greens were also in the sandwiches, onion was $0.35, vinegar was $0.99), and soup (which isn't free technically, but I made them last month..)
Dinner: Jambalaya recipe which I'm going to call $5 total for the meat, rice, spices, and vegetables needed, some previously frozen things I've made, and some quick meals are going to go here because I need to make room for more stuff in that freezer.
Snacks: We got some beef sticks today for $0.25 each ($1.00 total), and hummus and chips ($3.99 total), and an apple pie and vanilla ice cream we got for free from a party are all available..

Total so far?: $4.81 a day... I guess if you're saying $4-ish a day, it counts technically, but I'm also relying on a lot of previously owned stuff and free food. So.. I'm calling bullshit on it.