After that epically boring list yesterday, I am going to cut right to the chase. Today was day four. It is 8:18 PM and everyone in my house is in bed, including my exhausted husband. (Starting school is hard on teachers too.) So, there is no menu plan happening. Here is your update.
I bought 2 dozen eggs today from my friend with chickens for $5.
Here are some meals we’ve eaten. Last night we had this.
This is Summer Salad with Cumin-Crusted Salmon and brown rice cooked in broth. Have you used Allrecipes.com before? If you haven’t, you should start. (I don’t work for them or anything, nor do I subscribe. I just use their free service and love it. You can type in the ingredients that you have and VOILA, recipes with those ingredients will appear. I found this salmon recipe by entering “Salmon and cilantro.”
Folks, I am not exaggerating when I say this was the best and possibly easiest salmon I’ve ever made. ALL my kids DEVOURED it. I used ALDI wild caught Salmon, which is usually $5.99 a lb. With the other ingredients I used, I’d estimate this whole meal for all 5 of us cost between $12-14. It was really good and had all real food ingredients that I had on hand. (Well, I might have substituted a few obvious ones, but basically . . . ) Yippee.
Sorry these pictures are so unglamorous, but here at The Poorganic Life, you get the bowl just as it appears the minute I remember to take a picture of it–melty ice scooped from my daughter’s bowl and all. This is was tonight’s dinner of crockpot vegetarian chili (all organic) with organic mixed veggies and homemade cornbread. I have NO guess on how much it cost since the veggies and some of the beans were hand me downs from a friend’s freezer, but I’d put the whole meal at $5-6. The kids ate it, so that is a win.
I don’t have any pictures of breakfast or lunch, but it has just been cereal, oatmeal, bananas, peanut butter, eggs, and sandwiches with fruit. One disappointment is that the kids don’t really seem that crazy about my homemade Lara bars, but then I recalled that they weren’t really too enthusiastic about the $2 a bar kind either. So anyway, live and learn. We grown-ups like them, so that’s enough for us.
I wish I could finish off this post with something clever or funny, but it is raining so peacefully and the house is so quiet that I’m lulling myself to sleep, so good-night my fair readers. Without you, I would be muse-less. 🙂 Maybe tomorrow there will be meal plans.
Do you like lentils and feta cheese? I have a great recipe using those along with some whole grain pasta. Very easy to make. Let me know if you want the recipe.
Yes to feta. Yes to lentils. The only food that I’m really opposed to is goat cheese. Addie hates peppers. Dylan hates mayo. Jeremy hates eggs that aren’t hot. (ie: egg salad.) Anika . . . well, that girl just is totally unpredictable so she gets what she gets. 😉
Katrina recently posted…Short and sweet
LENTIL LINGUINE
olive oil for pan
1 onion, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 c lentlls
3 cups water (I usually do half broth* and half water)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less to taste- this is quite spicy, so you might want to start with a little less)
28 oz. can diced tomatoes (could use fresh)
linguine – whatever kind floats your boat
4 oz feta cheese
Saute onion and garlic in a little olive oil over medium heat till softened. Add lentils with 3 cups water/broth and bring to boil. Add salt and red pepper flakes, stir. Add tomatoes and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer,uncovered, till tender (this can take a couple hours). If it starts to dry out before it’s tender, add some broth. (*chicken or vegetable – they both work).
Serve over cooked linguine. Sprinkle crumbled feta over the top. Eat.
Now – the recipe says it serves 4. I make HALF this recipe and have plenty for 3-4 adults and some leftover for lunch the next day. Each time you reheat, you need to add a little water/broth and it grows…. 🙂 It also freezes well.
Is the Aldi salmon fresh or frozen? Filets? big pieces? I go to Aldi occasionally, but mostly for produce. I usually buy my salmon at Costco, but it looks like fresh wild-caught is done for the season?
Frozen. They don’t have fresh fish at ALDI that I’ve ever noticed. I get my tilapia and salmon there. They used to have mahi-mahi for a good price, but it’s been a while. I also often get shrimp there too.
Good to know. I will give it a try.
Just recently found your blog and am loving it! It really speaks to the way I try to feed and raise my family! I have a couple of recipe suggestions. Not sure if they are to your taste, but I believe you have most of the ingredients on hand.
First-Black beans and rice. My husband isn’t a huge bean fan, but they are so economical and I like them. I had this recipe for the first time last week and we all liked it. Though I see there is a no pepper fan in your house, I imagine you could leave it out, or sub it for another veggie.
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/06/classic-and-simple-black-beans-and-rice.html
Second Chickpea stew- I added a few things to this recipe to modify it to what I was imagining (basically combining several recipes I found). I added around 1 tsp of cinnamon and chopped zucchini that I needed to use up. It was a big hit.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chickpea-Stew-107549
Chicken and rice casserole-I have made this before using my own version of a cream soup. Milk, flour, chicken broth, some spices to taste and it is still yummy. I’ve never used an actual cream soup as I don’t buy the stuff. http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeId=27173
Biscuit pot pie-you have the ingredients I think to make your own biscuits and could use your frozen mixed veggies. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moms-fabulous-chicken-pot-pie-with-biscuit-crust/
Curry-this is a friends recipe who took a cooking class in Thailand. We love it and it uses bacon so seriously how could it be wrong! I serve all the little extras in small bowls on the table so everyone can put what they want on top. It sounds strange to put all that extra stuff on top, but it is so good!
½ Onion, chopped
3 tbsp butter, or olive oil
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup chicken broth
1-2 tbsp curry powder
3 tbsp flour
¼ tsp ginger powder
1 tsp salt
4 cups cooked chicken, diced
1-2 potatoes, diced
Melt butter in large skillet, add onion (and if you didn’t cook your chicken- go ahead and throw in the raw chicken here. If your chicken is cooked wait to add it later) and cook until soft (its ok if the chicken is still pink). Add in curry powder, ginger, and flour and mix to coat the onions. Add coconut milk (I usually end up pouring in the whole can- I figure why waste it), broth and potatoes. Simmer until chicken is cooked/ and potatoes are soft but not mushy. You can add more broth/coconut milk if you want to thin it out. Serve with rice and an assortment of toppings: peas, crumbled bacon, peanuts, cashews, coconut, pineapple, raisins etc.
You could easily make carrot salad as a side to something else. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/classic_carrot_salad/
My daughter’s preschool serves oats in a savory way-with soy sauce, sesame seeds, and raisins. Butter if you want it. I was amazed how good it actually tasted. Could do that for lunch one day.
I hope it isn’t too hot where you are! Pantry cooking ends up with lots of things in the oven or on the stove! I am amazed that you can stick to a $500 budget, great job! I need to get better at lowering my food budget. If I think of anything else, I’ll send it your way!
Wow, Janelle, thank you!! Those recipes sound RIGHT on for my family. Actually, we used to live in Papua New Guinea and we had something like that curry dish that we called “Pacific Pile-Up.” I haven’t had it in forever, but wow am I craving it now. Thanks for all the links and info. You are my hero! 😉
Now I’m hungry for everything but melty ice!