This blog is primarily a chronicle of my weekly farmers market shopping and meal planning based on whatever is fresh and local in Cleveland and northeast Ohio–shout out to North Union Farmers Market, and the Shaker Square market and farmers in particular! Each week I try to shop at the market and then plan my meals based on what I’ve found, as well as anything I need to finish up from the last week and whatever I happen to be craving.
In my weekly meal plans I link to any recipes that I’ve found online, and as much as possible I create posts with my take on any of the week’s recipes that I’ve found in cookbooks. These plans are just that–my Saturday sense of what I’ll eat throughout the week, taking into account evenings when I won’t be home, batch cooking, etc. I definitely don’t expect myself to follow the plan exactly!
At the end of each week, I go back and review the meal plan and make any edits–unexpected meals out, leftovers that lasted more or less than expected, mid-week cravings. Each meal recap includes a rough accounting of the cost of ingredients, how many servings each meal yielded, and the approximate average cost per serving; I do this primarily because I’m a nerd and like to track these things, but I hope it’s also helpful for anyone looking to get a sense of what it costs to follow these plans each week.
In my meal recap accounting, I generally don’t keep track of the fractions of a dollar that I technically spend on pantry staples; here are some of the things that I tend to keep on hand for savory cooking:
- Olive oil
- Vegetable oil (usually safflower)
- Balsamic vinegar
- White wine vinegar
- Red wine vinegar
- Apple cider vinegar
- Pomegranate molasses
- Lime juice
- Lemon juice
- Mustard
- Tomato paste
- Red curry paste
- Fish sauce
- Tamarind concentrate
- Garlic chili paste
- Most frequently used spices: cumin, turmeric, chili powder, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, ginger
- Also try to have: fenugreek, cardamom, cloves, mustard seeds & powder
And then for baking:
- All-purpose flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Molasses
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Yeast
cleveland kitchen 