It has been quite a while since I last posted "From our Kitchen" so I thought I'd write one in lieu of our normal "Weekend Update". It works out well because Jay and I did quite a bit of cooking this weekend. I'd also like to add that these recipes happen to be low cost AND pretty healthy!
Saturday night we were browsing our newest copy of Cooking Light and decided to try Balsamic Pork with Shallots for dinner. It was great because we already had everything in the house that we needed (yes, even the shallots believe it or not). Instead of pork tenderloin, we used pork chops which worked out quite well. It was delicious and is definitely something we will cook again.
While Jay was chopping and sauteing the shallots, I decided to make Lemony Hummus and Fresh Whole Wheat Pitas. I knew we'd be spending some time at the pool on Sunday afternoon & that we'd want a yummy afternoon snack. Again, we had all the ingredients on hand, so it was very inexpensive to make and healthy too! Note for anyone wanting to make this at home: we did not have any bread flour, so thanks to Google I found that I could make it by adding 1tbsp. of gluten flour (yes, we actually happened to have some at home thanks to Jay) per cup of all-purpose flour. Both the pitas and the hummus were delicious and hit the spot after a few hours in the sun!
My yummy homemade pitas
Tonight, I made black bean soup for dinner. I love black beans and knew that we had everything we needed to put together a good batch. I tried this recipe and found it ok, but not fabulous. I found it a bit thick and therefore did not use the cornstarch. I also substituted carrots for red bell pepper and threw fresh cilantro on top for extra flavor.
Black Bean Soup (Pre-Blend)
Of course after I ate tonight, I got a call from Jay asking about dinner (he's coming home at 10). I tell him about the soup and he nicely asks if I can blend it for him. I caved in & spiced it up a bit with some salsa which added a nice element. Next time I think I'll try blending more (but not all) and add some more spice to it. Or perhaps I'll try a new recipe :)
During these scary economic times, I am grateful that Jay and I are able to keep our expenditures to a minimum when it comes to food. Yes, we still go out to eat a couple times a week, but when we are at home, we keep costs down with a few main tips:
1. Buy meat on sale and freeze it. Jay is awesome at spotting a good deal so when he comes home with several pounds of ground beef, pork, or chicken, we have a little assembly line to package it up into dinner-size servings in freezer bags.
2. We write our "menu" out each Saturday or Sunday before going grocery shopping. We check out what meat is in the freezer and build our meals around that.
3. We get our veggies at the local fruit/veggie stand (where prices are lower and produce is fresher) before we go to the grocery store.
We save a lot of money each month by following these few rules and don't feel like we are sacrificing at all! The great thing about all the healthy meals and snacks is that I can justify eating desserts like this! Gotta go before it melts....
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6 comments:
These recipes look yummy. Though, my DH isn't a hummus fan. I made hummus this wknd and no one touched it. Pooey on them! I'll have to try the pitas!
Are you buying CAFO-free meat (grass finished)? If so, how do you find the prices and sales?
Reading all this makes me hungry. You seem to be loving the kitchen lately. Good for you.
good for you guys being frugal kitchen lovers! I love this post
Hey Nat - no CAFO-free meat for us (at least for now). I'd love to do that at some point (as well as go all/most organic), but I am sure it's more expensive? I know once we have kids I'll be way more serious about getting all natural meat and produce into our fridge. You do a great job for your family!
CAFO-free meat has less "bad" fat and higher omega 3's. Also, the cows recieve much less antibiotics b/c they don't stand, all day, in their own feces, fattening up on corn and food that they wouldn't normally eat if they were grass-finished. CAFO cows are sprayed with antibiotics b/c they get so sick in that environment (and the antibiotics get into our environment and so on and so forth). If they lived in that environment much longer than they do, they'd die of a painful stomach disease.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is a great book to read about it (among other things - and the recipes are good). The author and her family gave up CAFO meat years and years ago. Since it's typically red meat and we're not really supposed to eat much of it, she says that the higher cost of the meat is worth it if you're only eating red meat once or twice a week. The health benefits make up for the price diff.
All that being said, I eat the meat here and I don't know, for sure, if it is CAFO-free. I know that the wild boar we eat is CAFO-free and I get organic ground beef (usually CAFO-free). But we only eat red meat about once a week. So, I don't worry about the price at all. Also EU laws are much more strict about the use of hormones (illegal), and much of the cattle is free-grazing. I'm sure, however, that some of the meat we eat must be CAFO. I just don't speak enough of the langauge to ask where I can get all CAFO-free meat. A few more months and I'll try to figure it all out in my new city. I am assuming the task will be daunting if I can't find a local food co-op, natural food store and/or farmer's market where beef is sold - or advertised for sale. Urgh. It's all so frustrating and I just wish our government would put humane and safer farming practices into place!
Nat - if your new city is in Kansas like it sounds like it will be, I'm sure you'll have a better time finding the kind of meat you want. Gotta love the midwest for some delicious beef! I'm sure you will be able to find a farmer that you can buy 1/4 cow from or something...I know that once we have kids and a "real" house, we plan on going straight to the farm!!
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