Another Successful Meat Less Chili

Budget tip for the day: Use up all leftovers. Just add chili powder and cumin to make a delicious chili!
Well, I haven't been posting a lot lately. Mostly because life got really busy again, and we haven't been sticking to a budget. My husband got "The Four Hour Chef" for his birthday and has been following all of Tim Ferriss's directions to a "T." I have been really enjoying his amazing creations!!! I am actually going to write Mr. Ferriss a letter thanking him for writing such a wonderful book. The book is perfect for people who have never cooked before - it gives pictures with directions in paragraph form and the food recipes are absolutely delicious. The only problem is, Mr. Ferriss doesn't really teach what to do with leftovers. I have to admit we have wasted a lot of food lately, mostly because I didn't have time to deal with the leftovers. Now that I've been off school a couple of days due to the beautiful snowy weather (welcome to Virginia!) I've been able to work on how to avoid waste in cooking. Last night, we used leftover beef from his roast that he made to create yet another delicious chili. So easy to make, and so great to use up leftovers!



Here's what I did:
2 cans chili ready diced tomatoes
1 onion (I used 1 cup frozen chopped onions)
1 tbs garlic
2 tb chili powder
1 tb cumin
1 lb beef (we used leftover roast, cut up)
1/2 cup beef broth (came with the leftover roast)
1/2 cup mushrooms (came with the leftover roast)
I actually staggered the recipe so the beef wouldn't be over cooked. So I put the tomatoes, onions, and spices in the crock pot for about 2 hours on high. Then I added the rest of the ingredients and cooked on low for about 3 hours. The nice thing is, this meal is even more delicious the next day after you put it in the fridge over night! Hope you enjoy, and let me know how it works out for you in the comments!

Paleo Breakfast Casserole

Paleo budget tip of the day: use frozen veggies to save time and money. In this case, I used frozen organic spinach and frozen pre-cut peppers and onions. Another option is to buy spinach at the salad bar - it's light weight keeps the cost way down, even though it's being charged at $7.99 a pound! This also works for mushrooms. :)

Paleo Egg Casserole

This was delicious! This recipe was adapted from Jason Jacob's slow carb breakfast recipe from his Finding My Fitness blog. I am so excited to share because it was absolutely delicious! Jason is an awesome resource to check out as well - he does a lot with paleo and slow carb. Honestly, I think it was the mango jalapeno chicken sausage that did me in. I picked that up at BJ's (east coast warehouse store.) Any kind of sausage would do, though, the spicier the better! Chorizo, andouille, or chipotle sausages would be good. The Johsonville chicken sausage is cheap and they always have a coupon. I have to wonder about the treatment of those chickens, though. Unfortunately we couldn't afford the organic eggs this week.
From my calculations, this cost me about $1.15 per serving, assuming six servings. Most of the cost is in the eggs and meat. This recipe could be stretched by buying the spinach at the salad bar, adding additional egg whites from a container, adding more onions, and using one less link of sausage.
Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

7 eggs and 3 egg whites
1 tb butter
1 1/2 cups peppers and onions
3 links spicy chicken sausage
2 cups frozen spinach
1/2 cup coconut milk (I had to use rice milk)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp sage
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sauté peppers and onions in a small amount of olive oil until onions are translucent.
3. While that's heating up, melt butter in a big bowl using the microwave.
4. Cut up pre-cooked sausage (or cook sausage first if you are using fresh.)
5. Add eggs to the bowl and whisk until combined.
6. Once onions are done, add everything to the bowl except spinach.
7. Heat up the spinach in the saucepan until it's just wilted, then transfer to a cutting board and cut it into small pieces. The frozen spinach has big chunks.
8. Add spinach to the bowl and mix together.
9. Pour into 9x13 pan and cook at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Voila! Put leftovers in separate containers and eat throughout the week. This was enough for 4 people who eat seconds - add more veggies and eggs for more people, especially if they may want seconds. This would be great to take to a potluck and freezes well. My husband had thirds, and would have had more if I let him.
What do you think? Do you have any breakfast ideas? I never tried sage with my eggs but I've found it to be quite good. Thanks, @FMFBlogger!

Day 17 - Paleo Lunch for $3 or less

Budget tip of the day: make a big batch of something (chili, soup, casserole, etc.) on the weekend and then stretch it for lunch.



So today I decided to take a picture of my new favorite lunch, the paleo lunch. This is so much more filling and satisfying than cafeteria food. Here you will find:

1. Leftover chili - made with chicken instead of beef, and meat was bought at discount - $1.10
2. Leftover turkey cutlet - $1.00
3. 1 whole cucumber - $.48
4. Paleo granola - $.30
5. Date - $.20
6. Frozen Peaches - $.41 (would be $.62 for organic)
7. Banana - $.20
Total: $3.68

Of this, the granola, date, peaches, and banana would be the snack, so this is really a lunch plus a snack for around $3 or $4. I might add some paleo pumpkin "custard" to satisfy the 2:00 p.m. sweet tooth as well, still keeping things under $4. Delicious!

Day 13 - Grocery Bill Tips

Budget tip of the day: buy frozen veggies. Stock up on cucumbers this time of year (skin them before you eat, though, unless you buy organic.)

Our grocery bill (food) - $82
Paleo stuff  - $42

This included:
Rice dream milk - 3.86
Turkey breast Cutlets - $3.99
Frozen spinach - $1.50
Frozen peaches - $2.48
100% cranberry juice - $2.78
Peppermint tea - $2.38 ($1 coupon)
Vitamins - $2.94
Bacon - $3.98
Limes - $.44
Grapefruit - $.68
Coconut - $1.72
Eggs - $2.88
Eggs - $2.88
Organic apples - $4.97
Kiwi - $.30
Cucumbers (3) - $1.44
Bananas - $1.37
? - $1.83

Total: $42.42

I didn't need to buy a lot of veggies because I already have everything frozen. Meat this week will be turkey and bacon. I have to get rice milk because almond milk upsets my stomach. We got the cage free eggs - but not necessarily Omega 3, sorry. I didn't need nuts because I already made the granola this week. Also, I had some chicken chili in the crockpot ready to go for tonight and the next couple of days. My husband got his regular fare of frozen waffles, french toast, burritoes, and chimichangas, as well as the slow carb beans and chicken italian sausage.

So, the paleo diet isn't that expensive, after all. What do you do to save money?