Budget vs. Tastebuds

One thing I really miss about living on my own is having my own kitchen. I think I got spoiled with knowing it was always clean, where everything was, and having a fridge with ONLY my food, instead of 4-5 other people’s.

 

 

I have only had gnocchi once before. Mark made it for me and I never actually knew how to cook it. I decided to give it another try tonight, in my own way. 🙂

 

 

 

I found a recipe for Chickpea, Spinach & Squash Gnocchi from eatingwell.com and decided to give it a try. I made a few modifications, like leaving out currants.

 

The first step was to boil the gnocchi. I brought water to a boil, plopped them in, and waited until they floated to the top which took about 3 minutes. I drained them, and added them to a skillet to brown.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, I chopped up an entire bag of baby spinach (8 cups) into smaller pieces.

 

 

I also chopped up two (2) cups of butternut squash, two (2) shallots, and drained one-15oz can of chickpeas.

 

 

Once the gnocchi was done browning, I transferred it to another bowl. I added in a spoonful of minced garlic, olive oil, butternut squash, and the shallots. After a few minutes, I added a 15-oz can of veggie broth, the spinach, chickpeas, and gnocchi.

 

 

While it was cooking, I sprinkled in some sage, salt, and pepper. The sage really made the kitchen smell amazing!

 

The recipe called for balsamic reduction to be drizzled over top of the finished product, but it was still cooking when the reduction was ready. I went ahead and stirred it into the pot, which made the flavors really mesh together.

 

 

Wow! This was seriously delicious. The combination of the sage, butternut squash, and balsamic went very well together. The smell filled up the kitchen and made it feel like winter time.

 

Mark cooked a piece of tilapia for us to share as well. He covered it in sage, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar before searing it in the pan. It went so well with the gnocchi salad!

 

 

 

As per the October Grocery Budget challenge, the cost breakdown:

 

Spinach	$2.49
Butternut Squash	$1.81
Tilapia Fillet	$2.04
Sage	$3.99
Veggie Broth	$0.99
Gnocchi	$2.49
Shallots	$1.69
Chick Peas	$0.63
Total Paid	$16.13
I paid	$8.00
Total October Grocery Bill	$66.72

 

This meal was an interesting challenge. I was in the mood to cook a delicious meal (with company) but it ended up costing more than was really in the budget. I got to thinking, at what point does the cost matter enough to sacrifice doing what makes you happy?

 

Sure, we could have eaten a box of macaroni and cheese for $0.83 and saved a ton of money. My stomach would have been satisfied (as in, not hungry) but I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the pleasure of trying a new recipe, experimenting with new foods, or having a fun night with Mark!

 

Even though $16.00 for a 4-serving meal isn’t outrageous, it still isn’t cheap. Interesting thing to think about.

 

Is cooking important to you? Is it something that brings joy to your life, or simply something that you find a necessary part of life? Where do you draw the line in terms of budget vs. taste buds?

 

❤ MegaNerd