Throwing it all together

Things to always keep on hand:
good cheese*
tortillas
produce

*I've had a block of Romano cheese in the fridge for months!

Cooking for two can be a challenge at first. Grocery Shopping for two can prove to be even more difficult.

For me, over the past several years "on my own" I have done a lot of over-buying on groceries. So much food has gone to waste, and some food I have moved from apartment to apartment. At times, I was almost obsessed with grocery shopping. I was visiting 6 different stores, sometimes 3 a day. Enough is enough. Time to be smart about this.
I've stocked up on dry goods like rice, pasta, flours, cornmeal, oats. I'm keeping a few things in the freezer like veggie burgers and soy/gluten "chikn" patties and good bread. I've been shopping at Whole Foods for produce and cheese and a few other things to make quick easy comforting meals (like macn' cheese & quesadillas.) The other day Anna and I vistited the Dallas Farmers Market. The prices were unbeatable! And so was the quality. awesome!

So, now I am trying to conserve as much money as possible and still make quality and nutritious meals.

I try to always keep potatoes and onions on hand. They are so versatile, inexpensive, and last longer than most produce. This recipe could have been executed with a variety of produce, but I used what I had on hand.

Quesadillas with Roasted Potatoes
1 red onion
1/2 red bell pepper
1/3 bunch asparagus
4 small red potatoes
cheddar, swiss & romano
salsa/pico de gallo
2 tortillas
oil

DIRECTIONS
heat oven to 350
1. Know that the onions and potatoes will take the longest to cook. cut potatoes into bite size pieces and dice the onion. In a medium pan pour a couple TBL high heat oil & set at med-high heat. Once hot, throw in the potatoes and stir over the next 20min or so until crisp, tender & browned.
2. In a smaller pan at the same time heat some olive oil and saute the diced onion until translucent and tender. Add chopped red bell, cook until tender, then chop the asparagus into small pieces and add to onion/pepper mix. (it will cook quickly.)
3. At this point I put the potatoes on a pan in the oven to let them finish cooking/stay hot, while I quickly created the quesadillas. Using the potato pan (its hot & coated in oil) quickly heat each side of the tortillas then fill with cheddar & swiss cheese, some of the onion/pepper/asparagus mix and some salsa, then toast each side.
I mixed most of the remaining onion mix with the potatoes (and am saving some for omelettes tomorrow!) Then grated some Romano cheese on top. Sprinkled on some scallions and seasoning salt and called it dinner.

Of course, this is the USA, I served this dinner with an option of condiments.. BBQ sauce, ketchup, ranch, sour cream, hot sauce.. mmmm so simple