We are Mixed Media/Collage Artists living in the bay area, California. We create art and teach workshops at our funky little studio "Collage Cafe" in downtown Morgan Hill California. Come along with us on our artistic adventures! Remember... "Life is a canvas waiting to be created"!
You know how they charge an arm and a leg for those bistro/brewing company wood fired pizzas? Well now you can do your own at home for literally a couple of bucks! Just get Trader Joe's already made pizza dough in a bag, about $1.29 (or any other store brand dough for that matter) and any tomato/marinara sauce, your favorite fresh veggies and some grated cheese! Roll out the dough on a floured surface with a floured coated rolling pin. Bake the crust on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes. My cookie sheet may look dirty to you but I prefer to think of it as "seasoned" lol! Then take out of the oven and spread the sauce on the dough. Sprinkle the grated cheese and any chopped veggies on top. Bake for another 10-15 minutes and you'll have the best little healthy gourmet pizza on the planet! Add a chopped green salad on the side and of course a glass of vino and you will have yourself a little gourmet meal for way under $10.00 dollars! Think pizza party! Everyone could make their own little pizza! Make a big salad and pour the wine. Perfect meal for a wine tasting party too! So cheap and so very chic!
Tonight I made a very cheap and very exotic meal using Trader Joe's Curry Simmer Sauce. Ever since my son Carson watched the movie "Food Inc" he has decided to go vegetarian unless he can track where the meat is coming from and where it was slaughtered/prepared and packaged. Smart boy! However now this means that considering his 6'3" frame he now wants to eat almost every 2 hours because let's face it veggies don't stick to your ribs as long as meat does. Well anyway back to my recipe... Both he and I love Indian food so I purchased a bottle of Trader Joe's Curry Simmer Sauce and decided to make it with all vegetables over rice. I steamed two cups of rice in 4 cups of vegetable broth with a teaspoon of curry powder in a large sauce pan. I stir fried some veggies (chopped onion, chopped green pepper, 3 minced cloves garlic, 3 sliced carrots, 2 chopped zucchini, 1 small head of cauliflower chopped in 1 tablespoon of olive oil) in a large frying pan. I added the Curry sauce with one cup of water and a little splash of white wine (which I was drinking while preparing the meal, lol)! I then added a can of drained garbanzo beans. I brought the whole thing to a simmer, covering with a lid for about 20 minutes. Ummmm the smell was incredible!. I served this concoction over a bed of rice with some finely chopped cilantro on top (you could use parsley of any other herb you have on hand). Wow! What an awesome vegetarian meal and so filling and cheap too!!! Give it a try! I ate it alone but I'm sure it would be great with a chopped green salad on the side with some ranch or vinaigrette dressing! Wowza!
I do believe that I have found the best fish tacos on the planet! It's the best kept secret in Northern California! Their fish tacos and any/all of their seafood dishes are literally 5 star restaurant quality with "Super Taqueria" prices!
The place is called "Marisco's Puerto Vallarta" and is located in Watsonville California in "Rodriguez" produce market/liquor store. There is literally a "hole in the wall" (order window) on the side of the store (behind the white van in the picture)!
You walk up to the window, place your order and have seat at one of the outside tables underneath the awning. There are a few tables inside the store as well.
What you get is a seafood feast comparable to (if not better than) what I've had in some of the best restaurants in the bay area! Everything is FRESH as if it were just caught right before they cooked it. No frozen stuff here! The chef (forgot to get his name) should be cooking at the Ritz Carlton in New York or something. He's that good! He cooks the fish, shrimp, octopus and whatever else to perfection! No over cooking here just tender succulent fresh seafood galore! Okay, okay so the atmosphere is not the greatest but this is definitely worth trying and worth the trip. Once you have tried it I guarantee you will find yourself craving this stuff. I could make this a regular weekend stop. If you love seafood you really must go! So this weekend go try some of the best seafood in the bay area!
Marisco's Puerto Vallarta 17 Porter Dr Royal Oaks, CA 95076-5338
I made this yummy salad for lunch today! It consists of romaine lettuce, purple cabbage, green onions, bell peppers, celery, tomato and 3 oz of drained and flaked Albacore tuna. I dressed it with a little bit of olive oil, rice wine vinegar, garlic powder, salt and pepper. It really hit the spot considering it was a pretty hot day today! This was a cheap chic and refreshing meal!
When I make a big pot of Albondigas (Mexican Meatball Soup) it lasts for days and days! It also freezes well in an air tight container for future eating. This is a family favorite! Enjoy!
Bring to a boil. Place the meat mixture into a large bowl and mix together with hands. Form into approx. 1 ½ inch meatballs. Drop them a few at a time into the boiling soup. Add the cubed potatoes and zucchini. Adjust the soup temperature to a steady simmer and cover loosely with a lid. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Adjust seasoning to your taste by adding salt if needed of Tabasco/ hot sauce if desired. Makes approximately 8-10 servings.
This is definitely a comfort food. It keeps well in the fridge and warms up great in the microwave!
* Chop up a couple of bunches (2lbs) of broccoli and steam it till tender. Drain and spread out evenly in a 9x13 cake pan.
* In a seperate bowl mix together 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, 4oz jar of pimentos (if you don't have pimentos you may use a 1/2 cup of chopped red peppers, or a 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes), 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup of mayonnaise (yes, I said Mayo!). Then I splash a little white wine or a squirt of lemon juice. You may add a tsp of yellow curry if you like it (I love it).
*Spread the mixture evenly on top of the broccoli.
*Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
I serve this yummy cassarole over rice with a nice green salad on the side.
Note: You may add chopped, cooked chicken. Just sprinkle it in with the broccoli before spreading the sauce on top.
I cooked and drained a 1lb bag of shell pasta, chopped up a bunch of veggies (whatever I had on hand), mixed it all up with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar (any vinegar will do), 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and there you have it! This is so good to keep in the fridge during the summer for a meal or a snack! I added a couple of slices of salami to my bowl for a hardy lunch time meal!
I've been rather manic today as I've been cooking most of the day! I've decided to make Monday a cooking day (this week anyway, lol). I think by doing this I can have things in the fridge ready to just warm up or pull out during the week. This will hopefully allow me to focus on other things during the week such as my ART! YAY! (Collage Cafe Art Studio)
I started off the day by cooking a big pot of pinto beans that I had soaked over night. Dried pintos are only $1.25 for a 1 lb bag, wow! They turned out soooo yummy! My son loves making bean burritos whenever he gets hungry (which is about every hour it seems) and I can also use these in soups or whatever.
Here's how I cooked them.
*1lb bag of dried pinto beans (rinsed, picked and drained) soaked over night in 6 cups cold water, or a couple of inches of water above the beans.
*The next morning drain off the soaking water and add 2 cups chicken bouillon and enough water to cover the beans by 1-2 inches (or just use water if you don't have bouillon).
*Add a small chopped onion, a couple of cloves of minced garlic, 1 tsp of dried oregano, 1/4 tsp of cumin, 1/4 tsp of Cayenne pepper and 1/4 tsp if black pepper (note: don't add salt until the end of cooking cuz it interferes with the cooking of the beans, or so I read).
* Bring beans to a slow simmer and partially cover with a lid.
* Let them simmer for about 2 hours until tender, stirring occasionally.
I didn't even have to add salt at the end, I think because of the boullion. Anyway now they're ready to use for whatever and they're so much better than the canned mushy ones and way CHEAPER!
Note: You may use this same recipe in the crockpot for 6-8 hours on high.
Wow, with gas prices and food prices going up almost daily there are always new and demanding challenges to living a cheap but chic lifestyle. It can be quite depressing sometimes! I think this is part of the reason I've neglected this blog for so long. That and the fact that my hard drive died a few months ago and I'm so busy trying to buy food and gas that I wasn't able to replace it until now. With all these new challenges I've decided to commit myself even more to blogging about the cheap chic lifestyle. I'm renewing my belief that it can be done! IT MUST BE DONE!
There is something about cooking and eating a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving that fills the basic need of family love and comfort in all of us. It could be the up coming holidays, the cooler weather or the fact that it's getting darker earlier, but somehow the smell of turkey roasting in the oven is the smell of memories and home! After our Thanksgiving dinner a tradition for our family is the making of turkey soup! There is something about this soup that is healing to the body and soul. A virus wouldn't dare touch you after eating this medicinal soup. I also equate the making of it to the making of a piece of art. I never use a recipe. I just keep adding and tasting in secession, little by little, until I've created a masterpiece of flavors which can change from year to year. Here is the "recipe" as follows... first pick the meat off the carcass (for leftovers) and then place the carsass in a large dutch oven/stock pot and cover with water. Bring this to a boil and reduce to a simmer adding a cup of white wine, a tablespoon of Italian seasonings and two bay leaves. Simmer uncovered for 4 hours occasionally pushing the carcass down little by little until it's completely submerged into the water. After 4 hours strain the meat and bones (through a colander) saving the broth and pouring it back into the pan. Allow the bones and meat to cool down so you can pick through them to get the best tidbits of meat (light and dark) to add back into the broth. Place this mixture of meat and broth into the refrigerator over night. The next day (day after Thanksgiving) scrape the fat off the top of the mixture and discard it. Bring the broth to a boil again and add chopped vegetables of your choice, such as, yellow onion, 3-4 cloves garlic, carrots, celery, corn, green pepper, 14 oz can of tomatoes, etc... (about a cup of each) and some additional chicken broth as needed. Spice your soup with fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, tabasco, soy sauce, thyme, curry powder, sage, Italian seasoning, etc... Sprinkle these ingredients a little at a time and adjust them to your taste buds. You may also add a 1/4 cup rice or 1/2 cup of pasta if you'd like. Simmer the soup for about 30 minutes and serve with bread or rolls and butter. This makes a great day after Thanksgiving meal or you may freeze it to eat later. Enjoy!
One of the cheap chic dinners that we made when I was visiting my parents in Arizona was a homemade pizza margarita and fresh chopped green salad. We bought a bag of pre-made pizza dough from Trader Joe's for $1.19. You can use any pre-made pizza dough from the grocery store.
Dad rolled the dough out on a floured cutting board. Then he transferred the dough to a pizza stone (or cookie sheet) that had been sprinkled with corn meal. Actually we made the mistake of spreading the sauce on before transferring the dough to the pizza stone... oops! This made it more difficult to transfer the dough to the stone but we managed to carefully do it. So, be sure to place the dough on the stone (or sheet) before spreading the sauce on it. We used my sister's homemade sauce (recipe below) but you could use a bottled sauce like "Ragu", etc... Mom grated about a cup of mozzarella. It's cheaper to grate it yourself than buy the pre-grated stuff and it's good exercise, ha! Mom chopped some fresh basil (about $.79) to sprinkle on top along with the cheese. You've got to have fresh basil for pizza margarita. Well okay, if you really can't get fresh then you can use the dried kind, but it's not as good.
Then place the pizza in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. Double check the temp/time on the pizza dough directions just incase I'm wrong. While the pizza is baking, chop up a nice green salad. You may slice up some fresh tomatoes on top of the pizza before putting it in the oven or put them on after it comes out of the oven which is my preference, or leave them off all together. Once you've finished chopping the salad, it should be almost time for the pizza to come out of the oven, oh boy, oh boy! Now doesn't that look marvelous?!!! And the smell! This was so exciting! It's ready to cut! And there you have it, an awesome, healthy cheap chic Italian meal! Two gorgeous pieces of homemade pizza, a beautiful crisp salad with your favorite dressing and a lovely glass of vino! Yummy! You could make a few pizza's and have a party! Everyone would love it and it would be cheap! This pizza probably cost around $3.00. You can't beat it!
Note: I found some awesome pizza pans at Wal-Mart! Look for the ones with the holes in the bottom. This allows the crust to get crispy. They run about 7.99 for a package of two and are well worth the investment!
My parents are so crafty and talented. Many times when I was growing up my parents would buy "fixer upper" homes and with mom's imagination and dad's muscle they would transform these homes into something one could have never imaged at first sight. They should have had their own HGTV show back in the 60's and 70's. Anyway now they have transformed their current home in Sun Lakes Arizona into a cozy little "shabby chic" cottage with the use of a little paint, garage sale and fleamarket finds and lots of imagination! I only wish they had taken some "before" pictures because there is quite a difference in the way their home looks today compared to a year ago when they first moved in. Mom and dad you rule! This is looking towards the front door from the far side of the living room. Look at the beautiful parkay floor that my dad had just laid down before I arrived! A view of the sectional sofa in their living room. The dining room with a built in hutch. Mom and dad painted it a creamy yellow and green. This dining set was left behind when they bought the house. It was an ugly brown with pink crushed velvet cushions. They painted it white and recovered the seats with double stuffing and a cottage motif. Looking from another angle at the living room. My Mom painted this cabinet green and hand painted roses on it. The chair on the right came from an estate sale and so did the tables which were painted white. Newly painted and remodeled kitchen. My dad took out the 70's double oven and replaced the space with shelves for a microwave and baskets creating more storage space.
Next they will be re-doing the bedrooms and bathrooms. Then next fall it will be time for a yard makeover. Can't wait to see it guys! xxoo!
I had such a fun time in Arizona staying with my parent's at their cute little "cottage" in Sun Lake's retirement community. It was like going back to my second childhood. I got lots of love and attention. During the day my mom and I would shop around at the antique malls, Susie's Deals (clothes for $5.99 and under, wow) and the craft stores. Then we would go to Trader Joe's or the grocery store and pick up stuff for dinner. We prepared many cheap chic healthy meals in the evening. I even lost 5 pounds following my mom's type 2 diabetes diet, of course I have now gained them back, damn it! We would watch T.V. shows at night like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. This was unusual for me because I don't have T.V. at my house. We haven't had it for over 4 years now. It was one of the things we cut back on to save money when my husband was layed off in 2002. We can't get reception unless we have cable or Direct T.V. so we haven't had anything except the occasional movie rentals. It was a real treat to watch all of these shows. We also watched a lot of HGTV. It was awesome. It's probably a good thing I don't have television because I could easily spend all my time in front of the tube and never get anything done. The Internet is hard enough to tear myself away from. Anyway I had a great time out there in cactus land, the land of the huge pre-historic cockroaches. Thank God I only saw one while I was there and that sucker had to have been at least 4 inches long. Mom and I had to scream for dad to come to our rescue and kill it and get rid the carcus. That's one thing I do NOT miss about Arizona. The weather was beautiful while I was there. Only a couple of days where the temps were in the 90's. The rest of the time it was 70's and 80's! Amazing for this time of year. I thought it would be much hotter. I spent some quality time with my sister Toni and her wonderful family. I was treated like royalty and practically waited on hand and foot. They took me out to lunches and dinners at cool little restaurants. I definitely got a taste of the "NON cheap chic" lifestyle for a few days. Thanks so much to all of them for making me feel so special and loved! Well anyway I mentioned the cheap chic healthy dinners that mom, dad and I prepared so I'll be sharing some of those recipes with you all. My parents thought it was funny that I wanted to take pictures of each step of our dinner preparations so that I could post them on my blog. They started getting used to posing their hands with spoons and knifes, etc... while making our dinners, lol! Stay tuned for some good and always cheap menus and recipes. It's good to be home but I do miss my mummy and dada.
Yes I am still busted but I have an opportunity to visit Arizona and teach some of my collage classes. I'll get a little vacation and thank God it's not too hot there yet. I'll get to see family and make a little extra moola teaching my classes! So... sing it with me every one... "I'm leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again" (that's for all you old school peeps), actually I do know when I'll be back, April 23rd. So stay tuned here at cheap chic lifestyle blog.
Tonight I didn't feel like cooking. The weather is getting warmer and it can get pretty hot standing over a stove for long periods of time. I had thawed out 2 boneless chicken breasts (Costco) so I was racking my brain for recipe ideas. I thought about making a salad with grilled chicken but I wanted something more than a salad. Then I remembered that I had a 16oz bag of frozen mixed vegetables in the freezer and a jar of stir fry sauce from Trader Joe's in the cupboard. That's it! We'll have stir fried chicken and veggies on top of steamed rice. It's easy, it's fast and it's healthy. Best of all... you guessed it, it's CHEAP!
This is what you'll need and how it's prepared...
1 lb of Boneless Chicken Breasts (cut into bite size pieces) Marinate about 1 hour in 3 tbsp Soy Sauce, 1 tbsp Oil (any), 2 Cloves Minced Garlic and 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional). Stir Fry on medium high until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Transfer to a bowl.
1 16oz Bag of Frozen Mixed Vegetables (any kind) Steam in Microwave according to package directions. Drain off excess water. Stir fry in the same pan for about 3 minute on medium high.
Add Chicken back into the pan with the veggies and mix together.
Stir about 1/2 jar (6oz) of Stir Fry Sauce (any kind). I used Ginger Scallion Thai Stir Fry Sauce from Trader Joe's ($1.99)
Cook a Cup of white Rice according to package directions. Makes about 3 cups cooked.
Viola!!! (That's my new word, ha!)
Place the rice on cute little plates (like the one above - from a thrift store) and spoon stir fry mixture on top.
Garnish with Chopped Green Onion, Fresh Cilantro, Slivered Almonds or anything you'd like! I bet this would even taste good with a few bits of pineapple...yum!
Makes about 6 servings
This was so satisfying and I only spent a few minutes at the stove. A nice glass of Gallo Sauvignon Blanc ($5.99 per 1.5L bottle) goes very well with this dish. It cut the spice and cooled the palate! Oh my my aren't I quite the gourmet!
I did some Easter shopping today at where else... the Dollar Tree! I mean really why would anyone go anywhere else? (note: I think Dollar Tree should start paying me for advertising) I found Easter egg dye and even real eggs! They also had the cutest ceramic crosses! The sign above the crosses said "Starving Artist". Now I know, if all else fails, I can make art for the Dollar Tree ha! I got lots of Easter basket goodies too. Time to buy lots of sugary treats and useless little crap for the kiddies! Better get shopping ya'll Easter's just around the corner!
The beautiful colors on these Easter eggs are extra vivid because they were left in the (cheap) dye for about 20 minutes. For a different display look put them in a vintage glass ice bucket as my friend Becky has done. These look beautiful sitting on her kitchen counter.
Here is a funky little tea set that I've put together comprised of items I've collected. I got the tray at a thrift store for $2.99. I got the teapot during a separate trip to another thrift store for around $3.99. I found those funky little cups at Cost Plus World Market for about $1.50 a cup.
Today my daughter Natasha (aka "Amy Lynn" - more on this later) and I (aka "Mama") went to a newly opened discount store in our town. It's called "dd's Discounts". I found out that it's owned by Ross Stores. It is set up like Ross but the merchandise is much cheaper! I didn't think things got any cheaper than Ross, Yee Haw! We had so much fun looking around the store. They've got a great selection of clothes, shoes, purses, housewares, toys, funiture, books, etc...etc... for 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of Ross. Look up dd's online and find a store near you. I think this is going to be my new favorite place to shop! The best thing is that it's in the very same shopping center as the Dollar Tree, yay!!!
Yes, even on a tight budget you can afford to have a cheap chic wine tasting party! It's a wonderful way to celebrate any occasion and can be adapted to any taste and budget.
Okay, here's the plan.... invite about 8 to 10 people (4-5 couples) or more, or less. Ask each person/couple to bring a bottle of wine according to the type of wine and price range that you've designated. For example... a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for under $10.00. Or, you could choose all Chardonneys or Merlots, etc... depending on your taste. Designate an amount per bottle ($7.00 or less, $10.00 or less, $15.00 or less, etc...). Have each person/couple bring a favorite hors d'oeuvre (appetizer) and their own wine glass to use during the party. You can make little name tags for each glass using a small piece of paper and punching a hole in the corner. Then use a piece of string, yarn or ribbon to tie the tag to the stem of each wine glass and have the person write their name on it. This insures being able to keep track of one's own glass. After five or six tastes of wine a person can get confused and possibly loose their glass, ha ha!
As each person arrives at the party place the bottle of wine they've brought into a brown paper lunch sack. Tie a piece of string, yarn or ribbon around the top of the sack, or put a piece of tape around it. Using a marker pen, write an assigned number on each sack beginning with the number 1, for the first bottle that arrives, etc.... Give each person a piece of paper and a pen . Instruct them that while tasting a particular bottle to write down the corresponding number of the bag and any tasting notes about that wine next to the number. Then give that wine a rating between 1 and 5 (5 being best, 1 being worst). After everyone has tasted and rated all of the wines, gather all of the papers and add up the scores to determine the best and worst rated bottles. Then announce the scores and unveil the bottles to reveal each wine and how it was rated! It is fun to have a small prize for the person that brought the top rated wine. This could be a bottle of wine, a corkscrew or a small candle, etc... It is also fun to have a "booby prize" for the worst rated wine. This could be something like a silly candy from the Dollar Store or a second hand book or funny candle, etc... from the thrift store. Use your imagination!
If you want to something extra for your party, you could make a big pot of soup and serve it in mugs with warm french bread after the appetizers and the wine tastings are finished. My "Rainy Day Chicken Soup" is perfect for this! The recipe is on this blog under the title "Chicken Soup for the Anxiety Ridden Soul". I will be posting a recipe for Albondigas (meatball soup) here very soon. This would be great to serve with red wines. If you are having a party during the spring or summer you could make a chicken salad or pasta salad and serve it with bread. See my "cheap chic pasta salad" on this blog under the title "Too Hot to Cook".
Now for a dessert idea.... make cupcakes (from a cake mix) and frost with a can of frosting. Make a fresh pot of coffee (Folgers is cheap) and/or some herbal tea (Dollar Store) with honey, lemon and milk!
Wow, you really can have a chic wine tasting party for very cheap!!! Cheers! Stacey
You know how they charge an arm and a leg for those bistro/brewing company wood fired pizzas? Well now you can do your own at home for literally a couple of bucks! Just get Trader Joe's already made pizza dough in a bag, about $1.29 (or any other store brand dough for that matter) and any tomato/marinara sauce, your favorite fresh veggies and some grated cheese! Roll out the dough on a floured surface with a floured coated rolling pin. Bake the crust on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes. My cookie sheet may look dirty to you but I prefer to think of it as "seasoned" lol! Then take out of the oven and spread the sauce on the dough. Sprinkle the grated cheese and any chopped veggies on top. Bake for another 10-15 minutes and you'll have the best little healthy gourmet pizza on the planet! Add a chopped green salad on the side and of course a glass of vino and you will have yourself a little gourmet meal for way under $10.00 dollars! 
Think pizza party! Everyone could make their own little pizza! Make a big salad and pour the wine. Perfect meal for a wine tasting party too! So cheap and so very chic!
