Wedding Budget Tracking

Wedding planning is kicking off. With just about a year to go, I have plenty of time. However, I thought I would share how I'm tackling this whole budget concept.

Our budget is $3,000...max. We're aiming for less. I think $2,500 would be great. To make this budget work, I am tracking everything via Excel. Since I've just begun, I haven't gotten much further than what you can see above.

I plan to keep track of the separate categories to see how well we stick to our budget. The big categories will be music (we're musicians, after all) and attire. That's my guess.

Anyway, happy Sunday! I'll continue to check back on this and let you know how it's working for me.

Risotto Primavera

Creamy, comforting, and fresh.

Classic risotto meets late-spring freshness, with a slight twist on the classical primavera vegetables. This one-pot meal is a lovely dinner option. Impressive (but really quite simple to make), risotto is often not vegetarian due to the chicken stock. Fortunately, that's an easy fix. This recipe utilizes vegetable stock and sherry as a base for the sauce. If you do not have sherry, simply substitute more stock, or use another dry white wine.

The asiago is optional. Since many types of asiago contain rennet, either check your labels, or leave it out--the dish will still be excellent. In this particular recipe, I used vegetarian asiago which I purchased at an Amish bulk food store, of all places.

The recipe is adapted from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, Vegetarian and Vegetable Cooking, by Christine Ingram. This book provides beautiful photography, trustworthy recipes, and especially, histories and culinary biographies of nearly every vegetable you can think of.

Risotto Primavera
(serves four; or two, with plenty of leftovers)

Ingredients:
4 cups vegetable stock
1 small red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 small carrots, diced
1 ear of corn, off the cob (or use canned)
1/2 cup chopped green beans (or use asparagus)
1 small summer squash, diced
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup of freshly-grated asiago
2 tbs butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
Make sure the stock is heated, whether in a saucepan or a microwave. It does not need to be boiling; just hot.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan.  Add the onions and garlic, and heat through for a few minutes. Add the rice, stirring.
Add a cup of the stock and all of the wine. Stir.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, lightly saute the vegetables in a dash of olive oil.
Once the rice has absorbed the liquid, add a half cup more of the stock. Continue observing and stirring, replacing the stock as necessary. Continue for approximately 40 minutes.

At this point, add the sauteed vegetables to the pot. Add the butter, asiago, and season to taste. Serve warm.

Broccolini and Tofu Stir-Fry

I picked up some broccolini at Trader Joe's earlier this week while in St. Louis. While there is plenty to be done with this vegetable, I felt the need to use it in a simple, wholesome dish.

Broccolini replaces its usual relative, broccoli, in this dish. Simple yet satisfying, the tofu is marinated, lightly fried, and paired with wilted broccolini and garlic. Serve over a bed of rice (or quinoa).

Ingredients:
1lb tofu, drained and pressed
8oz broccolini
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs grapeseed oil
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 tbs arrowroot powder (or corn starch)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp coconut palm sugar (or regular sugar)
Fresh-cracked pepper, to taste

Method:
Begin by making the sauce. Mince the garlic and saute in a small saucepan using the oil. Once heated through, add the vegetable broth. Add 1 tbs arrowroot powder, then bring to a simmer. Add the soy sauce, sugar, and black pepper, and let simmer a few minutes.
After the sauce is finished, marinate the tofu (30 minutes to an hour) in about a fourth of the sauce mixture. Shake it up about halfway through to ensure even coating.
Using a large skillet (cast iron if possible), heat a layer of oil. Add the tofu and allow to brown for a few minutes; then flip to the other side. Stir occasionally until tofu is mostly browned. At this point, broccolini may be added. Cook until the broccolini is wilted and heated through. Add the remaining sauce and cook an additional two to three minutes. Serve over rice, or enjoy as is.

How to get rid of scratches in vinyl floors

I love my apartment, but one of the adjustments I've had to make is dealing with the flooring. It's hard to clean, and requires a lot of upkeep to look nice! For the tiniest scuffs and scratches, a lot of detailed cleaning is required. I love cleaning with baking soda, and I was pleased to find that it works well for this task!

To clarify, in doing this, you aren't really getting rid of the scratches--you are cleaning them.

Baking soda acts as a mild abrasive here, and gets the grime out of the tiny crevices that the scratches have made. However, in a few months, with regular use of the floor, the marks will probably return. At that point, simply repeat the process.

Above you can see what you need: baking soda, an all-purpose cleaner (mine is castile soap and water), rags, brushes, and if you're like me, coffee.

My rags are an old flannel shirt which I cut up and sewed a zig-zag stitch around the edge. They work really well.

I increased the contrast of the above photo to make the scratches more visible. What an eye-sore. And so that you can have some context, there is a picture of the room I am working on--my dining area.

 

Begin by spraying the area with your all purpose cleaner. Just as a side note, be sure to use a cleaner that will be safe to use with baking soda. Soap and water would be fine. Vinegar would only work if you use a lot of baking soda (since the two react, it would be difficult to form a paste). You want the floor to be pretty saturated. Work in small areas for this. Next, sprinkle some baking soda.

Using a brush, mix the cleaner and baking soda into a paste and scrub away. Scrub in the same direction of the scratch, then opposite. I found this method to work effectively.

  

As you can see, most of the scratches are no longer visible!