Archive for December, 2010

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Shoestring Austin’s Best of 2010


2010
12.29

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Posted in Budget Travel, Recipes, Restaurants | 1 Comment »

Seeing as today’s high was 68 degrees in Austin, I’m going to have to say that today was one of the best days of 2010. I mean, where else in the world can you write notes on your novel-in-progress while you lounge, barefoot, on your balcony on DECEMBER 29?!

Okay, maybe in Hawaii, but I’m talking contiguous 48, peeps. Shut up, California.

Anyway, before 2010 finally draws its curtains shut and we miss our chance entirely, I wanted to highlight some of Shoestring Austin’s BEST OF 2010. We found some delicious restaurants, made some tasty recipes, and found a lot of cool things to dig about this town in this, our first year in Austin, and I just want to give mad props to the people and places that made it worthwhile.

So without further ado, here’s what made our year!

Best Chips and Salsa: Beanitos and Texas-Texas salsa – delicious, local, good for you!

Best Farmers Market: Barton Creek Farmers Market – granted, this was the only one we hit up in 2010, but we’ll remedy this in 2011 for a more even-handed awards ceremony, mmmmkay?

Best Local Charity: I Live Here, I Give Here - helping Austinites keep money in our community with focused giving campaigns that highlight different charities on a monthly basis

Best Mexican: La Tapatia - tasty breakfast tacos, delicious migas, affordable prices and no lines! (R.I.P. our previous fave, A La Carrera)

Best Cheap Wines: Gato Negro and Sea Ridge - find ‘em at your local Randall’s or H-E-B for only $4! Ya can’t beat deals on delicious wine.

Best Cheap Recipe Apps: Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything On The Go app ($4.99) and Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals ($7.99) – the Minimalist and the Naked Chef both kick ass in the kitchen, and their apps (available in the iTunes store) will help you achieve culinary greatness with much less pain than the average cookbook or highfalutin’ app. LOVE!

Best Staycation: Ye Kendall Inn (Boerne, TX) – mixing business with pleasure, Celebrity Intern and I stayed at this very cool hotel in San Antonio, and savored their decadent food at their award-winning Limestone Grille. Highly recommended if you’ve got the scratch for a romantic weekend get-away!

Best Comedian: Tig Notaro – Ok, so Tig is actually originally from Mississippi, but we saw her in Austin, so we’re counting her as our fave comedian of 2010. Deal with it! If you’re looking for homegrown talent, however, we also saw Lucas Molandes, who was voted the Funniest Person in Austin for 2010, so we will wholeheartedly endorse him as Austin’s funniest comic.

Best Tips for the Broke-Ass Traveller: Rideshare, couch surf, explore your own hometown, and get the hell online for crazy deals! – ‘Nuff said.

Best Italian Recipe: Italian Sausage-Pepper-Onion Wraps – Easy to make, any time of year. Colorful. Delicious. Lower on carbs than your average pasta pot. DIG IT!

Best Chili: Cook’s Illustrated Beef Chili with Bacon and Black Beans – The recipe is a secret (unless you Google “Cook’s Illustrated Beef Chili with Bacon and Black Beans” and find an unauthorized copy, which you TOTALLY didn’t hear from us), but the chili is delish. Savor it in the winter months or sweat your cheeks off in the summertime to its delights. Either way, a surefire winner.

Best Homemade Tacos: OURS! – Here’s the recipe so you can recreate them for yourself. YOU’RE WELCOME.

Got a fave dish, restaurant, or other inexpensive Austin score you’d like to share? Let us know @shoestringATX on Twitter or in the comments section!

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The world’s best chips ‘n’ salsa are from Austin, Texas!


2010
12.26

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Posted in Groceries | 1 Comment »

If you’ve lived in Austin for any amount of time, you’ve probably noticed we’ve got a few Mexican joints in the city. This is not about the many fine Mexican restaurants Austin has to offer, as it’s almost impossible to hand out a Top 10 list without pissing somebody (or a lot of somebodies!) off for missing their favorite.

Instead, we just wanted to call your attention to the fact that the world’s best chips AND salsa are both made right here in Austin.

Corn chips are traditional when you’re eating salsa, and we’ve eaten our way through many a bag of gnarly Tostitos when the right salsa’s in the house. But dude: corn ain’t so great for your bod, particularly if it’s been deep fried. So what’s a salsa-lovin’ shark supposed to do?

Enter Beanitos, Austin’s very own corn free, gluten free, soy free, trans fat free, high-fiber chip made from beans!

Celebrity Intern first spotted them advertised in the pages of Edible Austin, and ripped out the ad to remind us to look for them on our next grocery trip. Hitting up the H-E-B this week (now that we’re TOTALLY ADDICTED TO THEM!), we were pleasantly surprised to find a coupon for $1.50 off a bag.

Nope, these mofo’s aren’t cheap ($3.99 a piece for a 6-oz bag, yowza!), but they are oh so worth it if you’re counting your carbs and care about healthy—and delicious—snacking. Made from actual beans, unlike most of the so-called alternatives to corn chips on the market (check your labels; most still list corn as one of their primary ingredients), the chips are as tasty as they are good for you, thanks to beans’ naturally low glycemic index. The Black Bean chips (our fave!) have a GI rating of 33, and also come in 3 additional flavors: Pinto Bean and Flax (GI 44), Chipotle BBQ (GI 42) and Cheddar Cheese (GI 43).

Invented by Austinite Doug Foreman to help trim down his own expanding waistline, Beanitos are (according to the Austin American-Statesman) a product born of trial and error in the home kitchen. Hats off to you, Doug! These are a truly exellent chip for dipping, and we can’t stop snatching up bags when we’re at the grocery store.

As for our favorite salsa to load atop our Beanitos, here at Shoestring Austin we’re devotees of the Texas-Texas brand. One of their latest additions to their line of natural, Austin-made products is the Fresh Roma Roasted Salsa.

Smoky, chunky and full of roasted flavor, we are equally addicted to this tasty salsa. Made with fresh-roasted Roma tomatoes, onions and jalapeños, Texas-Texas’ website notes that this salsa is made “sado style (roasted) with a molcajete & tejolote (crush & grind).” Any way you slap it onto a nice fresh chip, with a bit of sour cream, you’ll love it!

The best part? Texas-Texas salsas do NOT contain water, fillers, oil, gluten or preservatives, so there’s nothing but fresh, delicious ingredients in your dips. Yum!

And there you have it: Austin’s best chips and salsa!

What’s your favorite brand of chips, or way to dip?

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Vegetarian holiday survival guide


2010
12.23

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Posted in Holidays, Recipes | No Comments »

by Emily Ramsey

For anyone living life as a vegetarian—or even more strictly as a vegan—it can be difficult to eat out or in other social settings. Beef, chicken, fish, cheese and milk are all staple ingredients of the American diet. So the holidays, of course, pose a particularly challenging time for those aiming to stick to their values.

Thankfully, with the increasing spotlight on food manufacturers and their mistreatment of animals, more and more people are subscribing to an animal-free diet, thus creating a growing need for meat-free food providers and recipes.

The International Vegans Union, for instance, offers an array of meatless holiday dishes, including Baked Pumpkin with Vegetable Pilaf (recipe below).

Many of us find pumpkins hanging around after fall has faded away. Even though winter is now in full swing, it still feels wrong to simply throw those poor, beautiful pumpkins away! There must be long lists of ways to reuse them; cooking with them is just one enjoyable option.

Baked Pumpkin with Vegetable Pilaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium-sized pumpkin (5-6 lbs.); or substitute another winter squash if your pumpkins have already been used
  • 1 T. canola oil
  • 1 diced onion
  • 1 diced red bell pepper, seeded
  • 1 diced jalapeno pepper, seeded
  • 1 diced zucchini, equaling about 1 ½ cups
  • 2 T. minced shallots
  • 5 ½ cups brown rice
  • ¼ cup raisins
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 8 medium-sized broccoli florets, blanched
  • 2 T. fresh cilantro

Directions:

  1. Prepare the pumpkin by cutting a 4-inch lid off the top of the pumpkin; scoop out seeds and any stringy fibers inside.
    Cover the hole with foil and replace the lid.
  2. Place pumpkin in baking pan with ½ inch water. Bake at 375 degrees F for 50 minutes to one hour, until inside is
    tender.
  3. To make the pilaf, heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, peppers, zucchini and shallots; sauté about 7 minutes, or until
    vegetables are tender.
  4. Stir in rice, raisins, black pepper, turmeric and salt; cook for an additional minute. Add water, cover and cook until liquid is absorbed—roughly 45 minutes.
  5. Fluff pilaf with fork and add broccoli and cilantro. Spoon pilaf into pumpkin and cover with lid.
  6. When spooning out the mixture, make sure to scrape the sides of the pumpkin and mix it with the pilaf.

The pumpkin makes a striking centerpiece that serves more than simply an aesthetic purpose. Your guests will be amazed by both the food and the presentation!

For those willing to consume a couple dairy products, Foodnetwork.com offers a tasty after-dinner treat. An Eggnog Custard Pie will, without a doubt, be the crowning event of your beautiful holiday meal.

Eggnog Custard Pie

Ingredients:

  • 15-ounce packaged pie crust
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 4 large eggs (free range and hormone free, to help ease the conscience!)
  • 12-ounce can evaporated milk
  • ¼ c. rum
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • Whipped cream and powdered sugar for garnish

To prepare:

  1. On a lightly powdered surface, roll pie crust into a 12-inch circle. Press pastry into a 9-inch pie plate, crimping edges if desired. Lightly poke holes into bottom of dough to allow for air flow.
  2. In a large bowl, beat sugar and eggs until well combined. Add evaporated milk, rum, salt and ¾ cup water; beat at low speed until combined.
  3. Pour mixture into crust. Sprinkle top with cinnamon and nutmeg. Place pie onto rimmed baking sheet with depth of ½ inch; add hot water to baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  4. Garnish individual pie pieces with whipped cream and powdered sugar.

Voila! Here’s to a wonderful evening of good food and even better family and friends.

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Freebie Friday: Free books!


2010
12.17

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Posted in Books & Lit, Freebies | 2 Comments »

One of my favorite free sites is Book Mooch. If you’re the type who’s always borrowing books from friends, checking out enormous stacks at the library, or scouring Amazon for bargains on paperbacks, then Book Mooch is about to become your best friend.

The concept: List the books you’ve got cluttering up your bookshelf. You know, the ones you thought you’d read someday, but haven’t gotten around to for the past 10 years? Type in the ISBNs (that number on the bar code) and Book Mooch will grab the cover from Amazon for you and put it in your “inventory.” These are the books people can “mooch” from you. You get 1/10 of a point for every book you add to your inventory, plus 1 point every time you mail out a book to someone (3 points if they live in another country), and once you’ve got at least 1 point, you can start mooching from others.

Why “mooch”? Because it’s FREE to get books from others! The idea is to share books, and this is generally achieved by everyone paying for postage, but not the books themselves. It’s like a worldwide network of people who like to trade books. How awesome is that?

If you want to keep your costs down, you can set your account to trade only within the U.S., and if you’re feeling generous, you can have foreign traders ask you if you’ll ship to their location before making any firm decisions.

The other excellent thing about Book Mooch is that you can create a “wishlist” of books you’ve been wanting to read, and you’ll get an automatic email sent whenever anyone lists those books in their inventory so you can jump on it.

Free books! What’s not to love?

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Frugal Fashion: Hand-painted jewelry deals for Xmas


2010
12.16

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Posted in Frugal Fashion, Steals and Deals | 1 Comment »

Mercedes La Rosa is a Canadian artist I had the privilege of meeting when I lived in Montreal. She designs beautiful hand-painted jewelry for her line, bijougraphie, of which I’m a huge fan. I’ve got a pair of her pink and red “Neuromantics” earrings and, frankly, I had a hard time deciding which ones to get because I loved them all!

What does any of that have to do with Shoestring Austin? Why, XMAS DEALS, of course!

If you live anywhere in the U.S. or Canada, Mercedes is offering free shipping until December 20, 2010 to ensure that your holiday orders will arrive on time.

I’m loving her latest offering, the bunched chain Lucky Charm Necklace shown above ($45), and I’m tempted to order the matching Neuromantics with a black tone chain to go with my earrings… but maybe I’ll wait to see if one shows up under the tree with my name on it, first!

Grab one for the frugal fashionista in your life while supplies—and this crazy free shipping deal—last.

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A trip to the Barton Creek Farmers Market


2010
12.04

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Posted in Groceries | 2 Comments »

We here at Shoestring Austin inadvertently took part in the first day of Eat Local Week (Dec 4-11) by hitting up the Barton Creek Farmers Market and perusing the local vendors’ wares. In case you haven’t been, you should definitely go! Just hit up the Barton Creek Square Mall between 9 AM and 1 PM every Saturday, rain or shine, and check out great locally-grown produce, farm-raised meats, Austin artisans and live music, tucked in the back of the mall behind Dillard’s. There are plenty of free samples to munch on as you snack your way through the market, but you’ll have to be sure to get there early for dibs on the best offerings. When they’re gone, they’re gone!

The highlight for Celebrity Intern and I was the delicious cheese from Full Quiver Farms, hailing from Kemp, TX. We, tragically, missed their superb cheddar (which sold out before 11 AM), but were able to score some Colby on the rebound. We even doubled back for a container of their Garlic-Basil Cheese Spread, and sampled the Chive spread as well (yum!), after making the rounds of the remaining vendors. They’ve got plenty of samples for cheese-heads, and if you want to know more about the farm (which has been making cheese since 2002), you can check out their website for more info. LOVE!

Just try to tell us this doesn't look AMAZING! "Cheddar from Full Quiver Farms" photo by Flickr members Michelle and Jimi

In addition to the cheese, we were able to talk a bit with a farmer on the issue of agricultural reform, the subject of the recently passed Senate Bill 510. While well-meaning, the bill seeks to place further restrictions on small farms under the guise of food safety, which may require farmers and small food vendors to submit to FDA regulations that simply don’t apply if you’re growing and producing food in a facility smaller than the typical Big Agriculture Congomerate. Or so explained our small-farm representative. We’d like to think that tainted meat produced in huge factory farms are a far cry from the kind of concern and care smaller farmers have for their individual animals, and object to any restrictions that would require all farms to be treated equally, but see Food, Inc. for a more thorough investigation of Big Agriculture vs. The Little Guys.

In other news, Celebrity Intern and I also picked up some of Lamba’s Royal Indian Food, and served it up with a hunka hunka burnin’ cauliflower for dinner this evening. Edible Austin describes Lamba’s chicken curry as “already legendary,” and we found it delightfully tender, with a slow burn. Apparently the secret ingredients are serrano chilis, which are more common in Tex-Mex cuisine than Indian, but have a nice kick to them. We regret not buying a container of the Tikka Chicken as well, but hey, there’s always next Saturday!

Finally, to round out our purchases, I insisted on picking up one of the all-natural soaps from Fleegal Farms. With tons of variety, I wasn’t sure which to choose (and didn’t see the Lemon Smack advertised on their website, but will have to aim for that one next time!), but Celebrity Intern stepped in with his usual aplomb and suggested a bar of the Sensitive Sweet Birch Soap. From the label:

This bar is scented with sweet birch essential oil which is well respected for it’s healing properties especially for eczema and other skin sensitivities. It creates a beautiful lather in any type of water and is one of my most popular soaps.

Nice one! Made from a variety of oils, including coconut, palm, castor, wheat germ, avocado, cocoa butter and shea butter, it smells delightful, and I’m looking forward to hitting this shower with this one tonight.

Before we left, we grabbed a flyer from Greenling, a local company that delivers organic fruit, veggies and more straight to your door. Order a minimum of $25 one time, or get a regular delivery once a week, depending on your needs. You can even schedule the time of the delivery to suit your schedule. Sweet! I’m looking forward to checking this company out and taking advantage of the 10% off coupon from the back of their flyer, and I’ll keep you posted on the results!