Crock-Pot Chili

Hello friends!

I recently remembered this lovely website and wanted to contribute a simple recipe.

I don’t know about you, but I am all for soups, stews, and crock-pot meals, especially as the weather turns cold. In honor of the fall season we are now in, here is a simple crock-pot chili recipe. It’s one I inherited from my family’s cookbook so it’s tried and true. It’s gluten free and you can swap out the ground beef for a vegetable and make it vegetarian if you want as well! You can double or just stretch and shrink it however much you need, it’s a pretty forgiving recipe. This version makes about five servings. And if you don’t have a crock pot or don’t have time to slow cook it you can make it on the stove top instead.

15.5 oz Kidney beans (rinsed)

15.5 oz Black beans (rinsed)

15 oz Tomato sauce

14 oz Stewed or diced tomatoes

1 Package of corn (off the cob or frozen)

1 pound Ground beef

1 Tablespoon Maple syrup (use real syrup if you can) or brown sugar

2-3 Tablespoons Chili powder

Salt to taste

Shredded cheddar cheese for serving (optional)

Brown down the beef, after its’s done put the beef, tomato sauce, stewed/diced tomatoes, beans and corn in the crock-pot. Mix together, then add the Maple syrup, chili powder, and a dash of salt. Mix the spices in and set the pot to low for at least 3 hours, or you can put it higher if you need to make it faster. Add more spices as you taste it, after it has heated through.

Serve with and cornbread, rice or both! Enjoy!

In a Pinch Salad Dressing

So I haven’t bought a vegetables in a couple weeks. The good news is, I recently inherited a head of lettuce and an apple. I also had eggs and some cheese (because rarely do I forget to buy cheese). I made a big ‘ole salad but didn’t have any salad dressing. So I mixed the following:

A biggish splash of olive oil (about a 1/4 cup)
A long squirt of lemon juice until I got bored (about a 1/4 of what I put in for olive oil)
Seasoning. I chopped up a clove of garlic real small and put in some random seasoning that smelled appropriate for the occasion. Typically I would just go for salt and pepper, but that is on the grocery list for September (along with vegetables).

Cheap Chicken and Vegetable Soup

The hardest part about this tasty recipe is eating all of it.

This soup is for chicken and vegetable lovers. And I mean lovveeerrrrs. Because even if you don’t double the batch as I so courageously did, you will still end up eating soup twice a day, every day for over a week.

However, it’s persistence in the face of consumption makes it a highly economical soup. A real bang for your buck.*see economic breakdown at end*

The link pretty much spells out the soup instructions, and I won’t be redundant. However, it doesn’t suggest the best method for seasoning and cooking the chicken or explore alternative ingredients for those who like to break rules and/or are too lazy to care about the specifics, so I will provide that along with some sad attempts at humour.

Continue reading “Cheap Chicken and Vegetable Soup”

Pierogi and Roasted Vegetables

Pierogi – Might not be the healthiest option, but these are my top survival food.They are cheap, easy, fast, and yummy.
- You can pick up a box for about $2 and feed yourself for a couple meals.
- If you’re feeling fancy, you can fry them a bit to get them crispy. I usually just boil them, because I’m lazy like that. The hardest part about pierogi is spelling them.
- Depends on the box, obviously, but generally about a ten minute process. And if you’re an animal like me, you can eat them on the go.
- It’s flavored mashed potato wrapped in a noodle. Again, not your most nutritious option, but they taste great and keep you alive.
Roasted Vegetables – On a good day, I like to have these with my pirogi. The general idea is you heat your oven up to 400 degrees, chop up your veggies to bite sized pieces (or whatever feels right), toss them about in olive oil and whatever seasoning sounds good to you (seasoned salt is a go-to for me), and put them in the oven. I use this site to estimate cook times, but ultimately you just watch them.

an Instagram-ad recipe gone RIGHT

Hi everyone! First post here.

I got married two months ago and got my first taste of buying and cooking my own food! Andrew and I both grew up with parents who did the majority of the household cooking, and then we went to college and Metz did the cooking. And then we moved to NH into a tiny apartment and suddenly had to come up with recipes and meals every night! We’re also trying to be thrifty with our finances and not eat out or spend on expensive foods.

A few weeks ago, an ad for a one-pot pasta dish came up on my Instagram. I *almost* scrolled right by it, but then changed my mind. Andrew and I love pasta and hey, maybe it’ll be good!

So I made it the other day and it was so good! I’ll drop the recipe at the end. It’s vegetarian, which I appreciated (I’m not a vegetarian, but we try to eat one meatless meal a week). It’s VERY simple to make, and has a lot of flavor. It only takes the one pot, too, so clean up is easy (Andrew and I both work full time, so more time together and less doing dishes! Side note- we don’t have a dishwasher). The only thing we changed was that we didn’t add fava beans (I searched the grocery store for SO LONG for them…and eventually gave up). We also didn’t add a chive blossom, because, hey. We’re not that fancy. We just like to eat.

Anyways, there ya go! If you like pasta and vegetables, try it out!

Easy Tabbouleh

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/tabbouleh-recipe-2131154

I just made this over the weekend for my work’s “Healthy Potluck”. It’s yummy, healthy, fresh, and super easy (just chopping). The prep time isn’t too terribly long, unless you’re like me and have too much fun chopping vegetables; but it’s best if you let it sit overnight before eating.

A few notes on this:

I do not use bulghur wheat. Mostly because I don’t know what it is and therefore suspect it would be expensive/difficult. The first time I made this recipe I used quinoa instead and most recently I did itty bitty pasta. If you try bulghur wheat and love it, keep me in the loop.
The hardest item to find was the mint (unless you go the organic, packaged route, which is more expensive). HOWEVER, a lot of grocery stores are selling little mint plants right now, if you’re okay with keeping something alive/watching it die. If you do try growing it, it’s supposedly low-maintenance.
This recipe calls for flat parsley, which is the same as Italian parsley. There’s also curly parsley, which with I have not experimented .
My aunt, who is a much better cook than me, recommends using half the mint. I push it a bit, because mint is the best.
I used red onion instead of scallions, because that’s what was easier to find at Niagara Produce, and I don’t know a lot about onions. It still tasted yummy, but there were a lot of tears.

Salutations

Dear friend,

Like the two previous posters, I’m not exactly sure to whom I should address this post. But if we are linked on this blog, I know that you’re at least a friend of a friend, and you want to survive this mysterious experience that is called ‘adulting.’ And these two criteria tell me everything I need to know: let’s skip the friend of a friend business and settle for friend. Much simpler.

So that you know who you’ve just become friends with, here’s a couple salient details about me. My name is Anna. I’m a reader and writer and avid tea-drinker. I adore baking and am very good at it; I find cooking to be a chore and am in the process of learning how to avoid sucking at it. If you haven’t set a pot on fire yet, you’re ahead of me on the learning curve. (Pro tip: olive oil has a lower flash point than other oils. If you’re sauteing anything, say for a lentil soup in a big stew pot, DON’T HEAT THE OIL ON ANYTHING HIGHER THAN MEDIUM).

Accordingly, there are some cooking rules I live by:

The recipe must be simple enough I can manage it without tearing my hair out.
I like to cook with fresh ingredients whenever possible.
I prefer recipes that are healthy and cheap.
I will try any food at least once. If it’s good enough, I might try to replicate it.
I try to expose myself to foods that are unfamiliar to me and my European-spiceless background. I am also learning to cook some of them, with varying degrees of success.

Accordingly, most of the recipes I share here will be time-tested. They will also be cheap and simple. If you’re looking for creme-brulee tips, I’m afraid I won’t be of much help. But if you’re looking for food that you can make on a college budget, in any city in the world, and in mass-batches, I’m your girl.

I’m also, by the way, looking forward to reading about you and your food philosophy. I’m eager to steal your recipes, and above all, I hope that we can continue this friendship for a long time. Because when my life gives me lemons – if I don’t want to blow another pot up – I’ll need some advice on that lemonade.

All the best,

Anna

P.S. If for some reason, you want to see what I get up to in my spare time, here’s the link to my non-cooking blog: http://www.nimbusofawriter.wordpress.com.

Hello to those who can’t eat (and those who can)

Hello from Emily V!

I don’t know who all will be participating in this, so I want to introduce myself as someone who loves cooking and eating and knows her way around restrictive diets/allergies.

I am completely gluten and dairy-free, except for the extremely rare exception of Applebee’s boneless chicken wings. I have been GF/DF for nearly 3 years and a few extra when I wasn’t as strict, so if you are experiencing gut issues and looking to explore improved health or are already GF and/or DF, let’s talk! We can also talk if your gut is fine and you eat bread 🙂

START HERE IF YOU DON’T CARE WHO I AM

Geographic location can make it difficult to find food, and it can be even more challenging to afford food. I would like to offer a few strategies that have worked for me in locating, sourcing and affording quality ingredients.

First, I would like to recommend the app, MyFitnessPal for nutrition info and food tracking. You can scan the barcode and get all the nutrition facts AND how they influence your macros (carbs, fats, and protein. hint: you need more of them than you think).

The free version is awesome and what I use, but the subscription gives you incredible detail. Either way, it’s important to know what and how much is entering your body, even if you’re not trying to lose/gain weight.

DEFINE YOUR GOALS
1. Know what you want to achieve with eating. Weight loss/gain/maintenance? Enjoy good food? Try new things? Whatever your goal, knowing it ahead of time makes shopping and prep easier and more rewarding.
2. My suggestions are for average people who want tasty, healthy clean food for weight maintenance and overall health. YOUR GOALS AND RULES MIGHT BE DIFFERENT.

Mindfulness is the first step to GREAT FOOD.

LOCATING FOOD

In season:

In season, there is likely a summer farmer’s market or stand nearby. This is great because you can ask the farmer questions and know your food is locally sourced and (usually) of higher quality and flavor.

You might also be able to find a meat distributor at a market. If you have interest in subscribing to organic, free-range beef packages, let me know! I know of a few great options. They’re more expensive than store meat, but I can PROMISE you they taste better, love the earth more and are better for your body.

Out of season:

In the winter, finding good produce can be sticky.

You can stock up on storable food like potatoes and onions in season and use them year-round.
You can buy fresh veg in the summer and flash freeze/can (more info later) it to be used in winter for soups, stirfry, smoothies, etc.
You can learn about the growing seasons in your area/where food is ported from and see how long it’s been on the shelf.

KNOW WHAT FRESH LOOKS & FEELS LIKE.

SOURCING FOOD

This is about where you want to look once you’ve found a place that has food, whether that be market, grocery or dumpster. If it’s a dumpster, look for somewhere that isn’t a dumpster.

THINK IN COLOR
1. Typically, carts look really brown/yellow from carbs like bread, potatoes, bananas, and cereal. These aren’t bad foods, but you need variety. Your shopping cart should look like the CareBears just shat their unicorn love all over. If you have LOTS of color, you probably have a wide variety of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins. I.E. red peppers, orange carrots, yellow bananas, green kale, blue blueberries, etc.
STAY ON THE OUTS
1. Shop a grocery store perimeter, which has fresh foods, milk/eggs, and meat. Avoid the lure of the aisles filled with chemicals and preservatives. The outside can be even tastier than candy with the right recipe.
JUDGE A CAN BY ITS LABEL
1. Not a book by its cover, but a can by its label. If you buy canned/packaged food, (I eat mountains of canned beets), be sure to read the label. If it has a lot of goofy stuff you don’t know, research it and scan it with MyFitnessPal to learn more.
2. If it’s so bad it’s good, eat it in moderation. NatureValley bars are dessert to me, but they have loads of sugar, so I have to curb my intake to avoid a carb/sugar-heavy day and potential afternoon crash. Eat a little on occasion, because food should be fun, but don’t indulge every day.

AFFORDING FOOD

Ohh the challenges of buying enough food to avoid raiding the dumpster and not spending so much it becomes your new residence.

BUDGET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot stress how critical this is. None of the above is sustainable without a budget. (another article later). BUDGETING IS NOT HARD OR TIME-CONSUMING! All you need is a calendar, a paycheck, and goals.

As I said in the beginning, know what your goals are, for life and for food. Make your goals your budget priorities and factor in how much it will cost to complete your food goals.

Your budget should include:
1. Mandatory expenses (rent, loan payments, transpo, other fees)
2. Secondary expenses (doctor visits, food, gas if transpo not mandatory)
3. Maintenance expenses (insurance, car bills)
4. Savings
5. Fun money $!$!$!$!$!
Track each month with a digital or written calendar, receipt log – something to let you know what you’re spending monthly and how that trends over time.

Make a list/plan

Shopping is like a fun tactical mission. Know your objective. Get in. Get out. Don’t go when you’re hungry. If you know what you want to make that week and what you’ll need, shopping is a lot less hectic. Personally, I love a nice aimless grocery wander, but having a list means I don’t have to make 10 trips in a week.

Become a member

TOPS BONUS PLUS MEMBER right here! I earn money off gas, special rewards and constant discounts. This works because TOPS is the nearest grocery (30 min… :/) and there’s no way in hell I am driving 1.5 hrs to Wegmans.

Coupon

You don’t have to get weird about it, but lots of stores have online coupons that can go on your phone and save you a lot of money over time. Check it out!

That’s all for now. I know it’s a lot, but hopefully, the outline is helpful in approaching food. There is a lot more to cooking than just tossing stuff in a pan, and this is what I have learned about locating, sourcing and affording life as a lowly office-woman. If I can feed two people with one salary and a 30 min drive to the nearest grocery, you got this!!

Also, I care a lot about this and pondering starting my own blog? about health. Let me know what you think and what you’d like to know more about.

CHEERS!

Emily 🙂

Hi!

The idea here is to create a public forum where we can learn tips and recipes big and small from each other. If you have a recipe that goes great, please share! If something goes horribly wrong, please also share! Please feel free to invite any friends you think may be interested in joining. While I am not experienced at creating it, I believe food is a valid love language. My hope is this can be a way we can stay connected and support each other as we transition into our next stage of life.

“Fitbits are just like Tamagotchis, except the stupid little creature you have to keep alive is yourself.”
—Jimoiseau