Starting a new chapter of creative cooking. New ingrediants, new to me at least, and Alton Brown's advice becomes more appropriate than ever. Know your ingrediants. Know your food. If you know a food, you know what to do with it and can be creative with how it works and plays with other foods. Tonight's dinner is not completely wheat-free, but the main dish is so if you want you can be safe.

On the side: Potstickers. Ling-Ling is our preferred brand. It comes with nifty little sauce packets in a great big bag. Brown in 2Tbsp oil for a few minutes, then add about 3/4 cup water and cover. Simmer for a minimum 8 minutes. Uncover, and continue simmering until the water is evaporated and the potstickers brown up. Sprinkle with one of the packets of sauce and let stand until you're ready to serve.

On the main side: In a standard saucepan combine some frozen broccoli (and carrots, if you like) and some chopped, cooked meat. I had a cup and a half of roast pork. Add a couple cups of water and bring to a boil. Add half a package of thin rice noodles. Remove from heat, cover, and stand until the noodles cook, about 8 minutes. Drain the excess water. In a large pan (I used my dutch oven) heat 2 Tbsp oil and another packet of potsticker sauce. Add the drained noodle mixture and stirfry a few minutes until it's all mixed and happy.

Cost of meal:

leftover pork, about 1/4 of a $5 roast. Approximately $1.25.
Broccoli. 1/2 of a 16oz bag. $0.75
Thin rice noodles. 1/2 package, $2.49 a package. $1.25.
Potstickers. 1/3 a big bag, bag was $7.99. $2.66

Total dish cost $5.91
4 servings for $1.47 each.