Comfort food, Healthy, Less than 5, Main Dishes, Soups

Ham and White Bean Soup

November 19, 2015 BudgetEpicurean 2 Comments

As the days grow colder and shorter, sometimes there is nothing quite so amazing as a steaming bowl of soup. Soup is wonderful for so many reasons. You can easily sneak all kinds of healthy veggies and ingredients into soup. Soups are generally very kind to the budget, with frugal ingredients like beans and grains, and the ability to save about-to-expire produce. Soup feels good on a sore throat, and is mostly healthy (if broth based, not fatty/creamy).

And soup just tastes great.

This ham soup starts with a rich & nutritious broth made from the ham bones, but if you don’t have the time (or the bones) you can use pre-made stock as well. You can also substitute in any type of veggie you prefer, though I recommend sticking to about 2 cups of some sort of leafy green, and 1 cup of another harder veg for contrast.

Ingredients:

1 ham bone + 6-8 oz meat
2 large carrots
1/2 bunch kale
1 large can white beans, or 2 small cans
Optional: 2 tbsp chicken bouillon

Step 1: In a crock pot or stock pot, simmer the ham bone in enough water to cover for 8-12 hours, during the day or overnight. Strain the liquid, pull any remaining meat off the bone and shred it, and return it to the pot. Discard the bones.

Step 2: Bring the stock to a boil, and add the kale and carrots. Drain and rinse the beans to get rid of excess sodium and add to the pot. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until carrots soften.

Step 3: If needed, add in the bouillon. This soup seems simple, but the base is so flavorful from being stewed so long.

I suggest serving this with thick, soft Italian or multi-grain bread, and you may or may not want to shred some cheese over top. I added just a touch of Vermont white cheddar, and it was absolutely scrumptious! Even the fiancee, who just kind of tolerates soups, loved it and had seconds. If you’d like your soup a little thicker, add less water and mash up one of the cans of beans before adding it.

Dips and Sauces, Healthy, Informative, Vegan, Vegetarian

Green Tomato Salsa

November 17, 2015 BudgetEpicurean Leave a comment

When you have lots of green tomatoes and are tired of fried green tomatoes, what else can you do besides wait for them to ripen? You can turn a whole bunch of them into salsa! Red tomatoes shouldn’t have all the fun. Salsa is a classic condiment, and is great on tacos, eggs, in soups, or on chicken or pork. Green tomato salsa has a unique vegetal taste that red tomato salsa can’t match. And once you’ve made a big batch, you could can the rest and have it all year long! Or give them as cute, thrifty, from-the-heart gifts.

This recipe includes no added sugar, you instead get some sweetness from baking apples. If you require your salsa to be sweeter, you can add in a tablespoon or two. I’d recommend apple cider vinegar over white, but you can also use white vinegar. Add hot peppers to your own spice preference level too. Same goes for sea salt, if you want some salt in your salsa. I prefer my salsa as plain and clean as possible so I know what is in it and can adjust the meal as a whole later when I use it.

Ingredients:

10 pounds green tomatoes
2-3 large green apples
1 red onion
1 head garlic
2 green bell peppers
1 hot pepper (serrano, jalapeno…)
1 cup apple cider vinegar

Step 1: This step definitely takes the longest, but is fun. Rinse your tomatoes and other produce, and chop everything into small bite-size pieces. I just did them in rotating batches of lots of tomatoes, then half the onion, then one pepper, etc. until everything was chopped up. Put it all in a big stock pot.

Step 2: Put the heat on medium-high, and add the cider vinegar. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover, and cook for at least one hour. You can go do something else while this is cooking down, and could probably do it in a slow cooker as well.

Step 3: If you want certain spices/flavorings (like bay leaves, cumin, sea salt, cilantro, etc) add them here.

Step 4: To use a pressure canner, consult the instructions for your machine. To use water bath canning, same prep work. Sterilize your empty jars by running through a dish washer cycle and/or boiling in plain water 20 minutes.

Step 5: Fill each jar up to 1 – 1/2 inch from the rim. Wipe the rim clean, and place a lid and ring on it, tightening it (but not too tight, you need air to escape). Here I tried the Tattler re-useable jar lids for the first time!

Step 6: Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and place the jars inside. Process the jars for about an hour. Adjust for your altitude if above sea level.

Step 7: Remove the jars to a towel, and let them sit, undisturbed, overnight or about 8 hours, to cool. The lids should “pop” tight and will not give or bounce when pressed. Put any unsealed jars in the refrigerator and use within 2 weeks. Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place for up to a year.

Healthy, Less than 5, Main Dishes, Vegetarian

Easy Stuffed Peppers

November 15, 2015 BudgetEpicurean Leave a comment

Do you love meals that don’t take much work? Do you want to eat healthier? Do you want healthy meal ideas that don’t take much work? You’ve come to the right place!

This is a super simple meal I had at work during my “track every thing I eat week“. It took less than 10 minutes in the morning to put together, then I just let it cook in our small toaster oven at work for an hour. By lunchtime it was hot and ready to go! With no preservative, added fats or sugars, and all fresh produce from my or my neighbor’s garden, it doesn’t get much better.

You can of course use whatever produce you have available to you. Other pepper colors can be sweeter (for example, red bell peppers) and you can stuff just about any vegetable in there. You can also use other grains if you don’t like couscous, for example rice, barley, quinoa, or wheat germ.

Ingredients:

2 small bell peppers
1 large tomato
1/2 small eggplant
6 tbsp couscous
2 garlic cloves
8 tbsp hot water

Step 1: Cut the tops off the peppers and pull out the seeds. Cut in half and lay in an oven-safe container. Chop the eggplant and garlic, and cut the tomato into quarters.

Step 2: Pour 1 1/2 tbsp couscous into the pepper, mix with chopped garlic, and top with eggplant pieces. Add 2 tbsp hot water to each half to get the couscous soaking. If you want to add some ground turkey, go for it. Cover with the tomato slices.

Step 3: In an oven or toaster oven, cook on high (350) for about 1 hour. Add more water to each pepper half as needed.

This is a lovely, hands-off meal, just assemble and let it go. It is light and healthy but packed with flavor.

Comfort food, Dips and Sauces, Healthy, Less than 5, Main Dishes, Pasta, Sneaky Healthy, Vegetarian

Veggie Packed Pasta Sauce

November 12, 2015 BudgetEpicurean Leave a comment

Pasta sauce is one of my absolute favorite things to pack extra veggies into! Any time you have a sauce, chili, soup, or stew, is an excellent opportunity to be sneaky healthy. By blending things in, no one knows they are there, yet you are giving the people eating the meal extra doses of fiber and vitamins. There’s no reason not to!

The best things for blending in include beans, greens, and carrots. Beans thicken the sauce because of their natural fiber content. Greens may change the color a bit, so keep that in mind. And carrots provide a slight sweetness while not affecting the overall color very much. Keep in mind with carrots, you must cook them first so they soften before trying to blend them in, or juice them.

In this sauce, I went really bold and added some spinach as well as a half bag of frozen carrots and peas I had left from a previous meal. To this I added a full can of stewed tomatoes, and 1/2 cup milk. Simmering everything together makes it soften, and then if you have eaters that won’t tolerate chunks, pop half or all of it into a blender before serving.

Ingredients:

1 package frozen spinach, thawed
1 can stewed diced tomatoes
1/2 bag frozen carrots & peas
1/2 cup milk

Step 1: Thaw the spinach, and squeeze out extra water. Put in a pan with the peas and carrots, and cook, stirring often, for about 15 minutes or until carrots have softened.

Step 2: Add the tomatoes and milk, and cook another few minutes. Puree in a blender. You can further cook it down to thicken the sauce, or serve as is.

I added some crumbled cooked bacon and sprinkled on Parmesan cheese, but if you serve as is this is a perfect vegetarian meal. You can see what I mean about the greens changing the color of the sauce. If that is a problem, just start with very small amounts of greens, maybe just a handful of spinach rather than the whole package.

Informative

What do you eat?

November 10, 2015 BudgetEpicurean Leave a comment

A question that I sometimes am asked when talking about food with people, and all the terrible things our current food system claims as “food” and poisons us with, the multitude of processed, chemical-filled, animal products, and sugary junk that I will not eat, and how I am “flexitarian*”, is what do you eat?

Good question. Lots of things!

I could give you the whole litany of healthy food choices, like raw vegetables, green juices, fruits, nuts, soy products, lean meat, fish and seafood, whole grains, etc. But instead I challenged myself to record every single thing that I ate for one week. Every. Thing.

This is a great exercise for yourself too.

If you are struggling with symptoms of fatigue, digestive upset, migraines, depression, etc, tracking your food may allow you to see patterns. Especially if you track for a long period of time as you withhold food types, and then reintroduce them, you may see that red wine, or chocolate, or fatty foods make your symptoms worse.

If you are struggling with weight gain or inability to lose weight, tracking your food intake may open your eyes to problem patterns you hadn’t seen before, or were in denial about. Nothing quite so sobering as seeing a list of every single bit and bite to make it real.

And if you are just curious about your actual habits and want to live a more mindful way of nutritious eating, then this will force you to think about each thing you eat, whether before or after it goes into your mouth. This exercise may shock you, because we all tend to under-estimate how many calories are in food and how much food we think we eat.

If at all possible, actually use things to measure amounts, like measuring cups and spoons or a food scale. But be sure to measure it after you take your usual portion, no cheating just because you know this is being counted. You are the only one who will know, and you need an accurate baseline measurement to know where you can and should improve. Find a method of tracking that works for you, whether it be an actual notebook you write in, an online program, or like me, just a list in your cell phone.

Here’s one typical week of food for me:

Monday

12 oz water, 40 min walk
12 oz coffee + 2 tbsp creamer
Vitamins: 3 cranberry, 2 g fish oil, women’s multi, Vitamin D, Vitamin C
Breakfast: 1 wheat tortilla + 1 turkey sausage + 1/2 egg scrambled + 1/4 c peppers & onions + 1/4 c beans + 1/2 potato diced
Lunch: 1/2 c rice + 1/2 c beans + 1/4 c peppers & onions + 5 black olives + 2 roma tomatoes + 2 tbsp salsa + 3 oz chicken breast
12 oz puh-er tea + 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 Andes mint
1/2 dark chocolate coconut truffle
2 snack sized Twix
6 cups popcorn

Water intake: 6 12-oz glasses

Tuesday

12 oz water, 15 min yoga
12 oz coffee + 2 tbsp creamer
Vitamins: 3 cranberry, 2 g fish oil, women’s multi, Vitamin D, Vitamin C
Breakfast: 1 wheat tortilla + 1 turkey sausage + 1/2 egg scrambled + 1/4 c peppers & onions + 1/4 c beans + 1/2 potato diced
Lunch: 1/2 c rice + 1/2 c beans + 1/4 c peppers & onions + 5 black olives + 2 roma tomatoes + 2 tbsp salsa + 3 oz chicken breast
2 snack size Twix
12 oz BB Detox tea
Dinner: 1 1/2 c rice + 1 tbsp vinegar + 2 cups stir fry (cabbage, yellow squash, asparagus, fish sauce, soy sauce, pork)
6 oz red wine

Water intake: 10 12-oz glasses

Wednesday

12 oz coffee + 2 tbsp creamer
Vitamins: 3 cranberry, 2 g fish oil, women’s multi, Vitamin D, Vitamin C
1 slice pumpkin spice cake
1 medium apple
1 cup miso soup + 2 sheets of seaweed
Lunch: 1/2 c rice + 1/2 c beans + 1/4 c peppers & onions + 3 oz chicken breast
Pumpkin sugar cookie
6 oz Black cherry Greek yogurt
8 oz detox tea
8 oz “remember when” tea
Dinner: 3 slices whole wheat bread + 6 oz pork + 1/2 c BBQ sauce + 2 oz Colby cheese
1 1/2 c corn & potato soup
6 oz red wine
1×2 inch homemade Snickers bar

Water intake: 8 12-oz glasses

Thursday

12 oz warm water + juice of 1/2 a lemon + 1/2 tsp chipotle pepper powder
12 oz cool water, 15 push ups
12 oz coffee + 2 tbsp. hazelnut creamer
Breakfast: 1 tbsp. coconut oil + 1 large tomato + 1/2 c mixed veggies + 1/4 c mixed beans + 1 egg + 1 egg white
Vitamins: 3 cranberry + fish oil + women’s multi + Vitamin D + Vitamin C
Snack: 1/4 chocolate plain glaze donut + 12 oz pu-ehr tea + 1 tsp lemon juice
Lunch: 2 small green bell peppers + 2 oz ground turkey + 6 tbsp. couscous + 1 large tomato + 2 oz eggplant + 2 cloves garlic + s/p
Dinner: 1 1/2 c pasta + 1 cup sauce + 2 oz turkey
2 cups mixed greens + 2 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar + 2 tbsp. olive oil + s/p
6 oz red wine
1 oz tequila + 1 slice lemon + sea salt
5 cups oil popped popcorn
2 oz chocolate cake
Snack sized snickers

Water intake: 10 12-oz glasses

Friday – dinner party

Upon waking: 12 oz coffee + 2 tbsp. hazelnut creamer
12 oz cool water + juice of 1/2 lemon
Vitamins: 3 cranberry + women’s multi + Vitamin D
Breakfast: Croissant egg & cheese sandwich
10 oz coffee + 8 oz pumpkin spice cappuccino mixed, + 2 tbsp. amaretto creamer (free coffee Friday!)
Lunch: open-faced turkey BLT sandwich + 1/2 cup broccoli
Snack: 1 medium apple
Dinner: 1 wheat tortilla + 4 tbsp. guacamole + 1 cup beans + 1 roma tomato + 1/2 cup basmati rice + 3 oz ground turkey + 6 black olives + 2 tbsp. shredded cheese + 1 tbsp. red salsa + 1 tbsp. green tomato salsa + 2 tbsp. peppers/mushrooms/onions
1 slice spice cake
4 oz fireball whiskey + 4 oz horchata
1 snack sized snickers

Water intake: 9 12-oz glasses

Saturday

12 oz coffee + 2 tbsp. hazelnut creamer
Breakfast: 1 cup diced potato + 2 eggs scrambled + 1 tbsp. sour cream + 2 turkey sausage links + 1 slice spice cake
12 oz chai tea + 1 tsp local honey
Vitamins: 3 cranberry + fish oil + women’s multi + Vitamin D + Vitamin C
Snack: 1 piece wheat toast + 1 tbsp. country crock
Lunch: 1 slice pepperoni pizza + 1 slice cheese pizza w/peppers and mushrooms
Dinner: 2 squares homemade spinach lasagna
2 margaritas
5 cups popcorn

Water intake: 9 12-oz glasses

Sunday – Halloween

12 oz coffee + 2 tbsp. hazelnut creamer
Breakfast: 2 pancakes + 4 tbsp maple syrup + 2 clementines
Lunch: 3 corn hard taco shells + 3 tbsp. ground turkey + 3 tbsp. black beans + 3 tbsp. guacamole + 3 tbsp. salsa + 2 tbsp. shredded cheese + 2 tbsp. lettuce
12 oz ginger tea + 1 tsp honey
Vitamins: 3 cranberry + fish oil + women’s multi + Vitamin D + Vitamin C
Dinner: 2 squares veggie pizza + 1 cup romaine + 2 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar + 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes + 1/2 c edamame
2 snack sized Twix
5 cups popcorn

Water intake: 8 12-oz glasses

This exercise was interesting for me, and I learned several things about myself. First of all, I already know that I am a certified popcorn addict. I am queen of the popcorn lovers, and everyone who knows me knows it. And normally, popcorn is a healthy and wholesome snack choice. However, I learned that the stove-top popcorn I make contains a lot of oil (1/2 – 1 cup per batch!) and I inhale an awful lot of it! Regularly!

Not to mention that corn is one of the most contaminated crops with GMOs and roundup ready genes… So I need to re-think my snack of choice and come up with a better, organic, healthier option.** That may mean buying bags of organic seeds online in bulk and using an air-popper… Cause there is no way I’m going cold turkey! If anyone knows of a place to get a good deal on 50 pounds of organic popcorn, please share. Not kidding.

Lesson number two: I snack at night way more than I thought I did. I am not often a snacker during the day, I plan them in on purpose as part of my diet, to keep protein and carbohydrate levels constant during the day and prevent extreme hunger. However, once I had to list out each and every thing, I noticed that I have more sugary cravings after dinner than at any other time during the day. And I give in to them far too often. This means I need to start planning a sweet treat after dinner for myself to calm the sugar craving, and monitor more closely so that I don’t indulge afterwards too.

This is also linked to my desire to rid myself of excess processed sugar in my diet. Halloween is a dodgy time because I want to have candy for the neighborhood, yet I know when it is in the house I will probably eat some of it… (I’m sure I’m not the only one!) Perhaps next year I will be brave enough to cut the cord to Big Candy (looking at you, Mars and Hershey) and go with non-food treats.

Lesson number three: I need to be better about drinking water at home. The vast majority of my water intake is during work, when I have two reusable bottles at my desk at all times. If I don’t get my eight glasses during the day, I very rarely drink more water once I’m at home. Even if I have a cup next to me, I don’t know why…

So there you have it, one week of actual food I ate. I do find that I don’t mind eating the same thing 2 or 3 times in a row, but then I start to get bored. Making ahead a batch of breakfast burritos, for example, is a great time saver for hectic mornings. But after 2-3 days, I want something different. It helps to have several different quick options, such as burritos and/or English muffins.

Same thing for dinners, it is great to cook up a big batch of rice and beans. Then use them in several different ways so that you don’t get bored. You can make burritos or quesadillas, stir fry, put it into soups or chilies, or scrambled with eggs. Being able to re-purpose leftovers makes sure you aren’t wasting food, which is good for the Earth and good for your pocketbook.

Give this exercise a try yourself, just for a week, and see what you can learn!

*Note: For those who are curious and continued reading this far, flexitarian is a term I heard somewhere once and I’m pretty sure it means that you will eat just about anything, but try to go meatless often. I do usually have at least one meatless dinner per week if not more, and I try to have more than 50% of the time my breakfast and lunch meatless as well. But I do eat pretty much all foods when given them or craving them.

**Popcorn and sweet corn are two totally different crops. About 90% of the sweet corn crops in the US are now GMO. Sad face. Luckily for me, there are as yet no GMO popcorn crops! Hooray! However, the oils it is cooked in, and the flavorings we usually top it with, are very likely genetically modified. So I need to pay attention to what oils I buy it seems. And organic is still always a good idea.

Crock pot, Dips and Sauces, Main Dishes, Slow cooker

Slow Cooker Chicken with Peanut Sauce

November 8, 2015 BudgetEpicurean Leave a comment

Peanut butter is a great source of health protein, as long as you don’t go overboard the fat content isn’t a deal-breaker. It is also a very cheap staple to keep in the kitchen. But even the most devoted lover of peanut butter sandwiches can get bored of them in time. A simple peanut sauce goes great with chicken (or pork!) and when made in the slow cooker, it is a breeze to whip up something exotic in no time at all with basic staples.

This sauce is a complex mixture of creamy, salty, spicy, and peanuts. Obviously do not make it or eat it around people who have a severe peanut allergy, as it contains both peanuts and peanut butter. You can control the level of spice by choosing what kinds of pepper to add, if any. Feel free to tweak the seasonings to your preferences.

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds chicken
3 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp peanuts, crushed
4 tbsp fish sauce
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 lime, juiced, or 1 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp plain yogurt
2 tbsp sour cream
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 inch fresh ginger, diced
1 tbsp curry powder
Optional: 1 tsp Thai chilie

Step 1: Mix all wet ingredients in a bowl.

Step 2: Add chicken and all of the spices. You could either mix this in an oven-safe container and bake at 350 degrees for 2 hours, or mix in a crock pot and bake on low for 5-6 hours.

And here you have the chicken and sauce in a crock pot.

The crushed peanuts are added on top, then cooked on low.

The peanut sauce thickens over time, and is delicious served over pasta or rice.

Dips and Sauces, Healthy, Main Dishes

Pork with Peppermint Raspberry Sauce

November 5, 2015 BudgetEpicurean Leave a comment

This is a super-easy dinner you can create in less than 30 minutes, and it looks like you slaved all day. Raspberry and peppermint naturally go together, with a sweet yet menthol cooling after taste. Thin boneless pork chops are great to keep in the freezer for a quick last-minute dinner, because they defrost very quickly, and take to hundreds of different flavors and sauces well.

For this recipe, use either 4 small pork chops, or one larger 1-1.5 pound pork roast. The sauce can be made while the chops cook, so that they are ready at the same time. I made some potatoes and wilted spinach, but you could have a salad or any roasted veggie you like on the side to complete the meal.

Ingredients:

4 pork chops or 1 pound roast
1 tbsp butter or margerine
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp cran-cherry juice
2-3 drops peppermint
1/2 pint raspberries

Step 1: In a frying pan, melt the butter and fry the pork chops. Cook 5-6 minutes, then flip and cook another 4-5 minutes.

Step 2: In a small sauce pan, mix the juice and vinegar. Add the raspberries, and bring to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Step 3: After the raspberries have basically fallen apart, add the drops of peppermint, and strain it if you don’t want the seeds. Drizzle over the cooked pork.

Dessert, Dips and Sauces, Holidays, Side dishes, Vegetarian

Mom’s Special Cranberry Sauce

November 3, 2015 BudgetEpicurean Leave a comment

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I am getting ready for cooking up all the associated goodies. If you are lucky enough to have a mom, aunt, grandmother, etc who has special family recipes that have been passed down over generations, do yourself a favor and start to learn those recipes. Instead of watching cartoons or football, get into the kitchen and help out. You never know when it will be your turn to feed yourself, your family, or your whole neighborhood.

This recipe is passed down from my fiancee’s mother. It is hands-down his favorite Thanksgiving dish, so much so that his mom usually makes a double recipe just so he can have one whole batch to himself. I also doubled the recipe, and it was still all gone within two days. You can easily multiply this recipe to make as much as you need, this makes about 10 cups of sauce.

It is a perfect blend of tangy cranberry and sweet from the sugar. The orange juice and orange peel gives it a nice depth of flavor, and you can adjust the other spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice, etc to your own liking.

Ingredients:

1 can crushed pineapple
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 16 oz bag cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup grated orange peel
2 tbsp cinnamon

Step 1: Put the orange juice in a pan and bring it to a boil. Rinse the cranberries and add them to the pot.

Step 2: Add the sugars and the entire can of crushed pineapple.

Step 3: Then add the spices. You might want to make sure you use a pot that will be big enough to hold everything…

Step 4: Grate the orange peel. Try not to get any white pith in there. Add it to the pot, mix well.

Step 5: Simmer for at least 1 hour, until the cranberries begin to burst and liquefy. It will thicken as you cook it down, and will thicken even more upon cooling.

This stuff is so good, I don’t even have a picture of the finished product! The recipe is great for doubling or tripling, and freezes well. This can easily be made up to a month ahead of time, and simply reheated the day of, for an easy time-saver.

Casseroles, Comfort food, Crock pot, Finances, Healthy, Main Dishes, Slow cooker

Ten Crock Pot Freezer Meals in 1 Hour

November 1, 2015 BudgetEpicurean 2 Comments

This post is about my newest addition to my Kindle offerings: “10 Crock Pot Freezer Meals”! You can see for yourself at my Budget Epicurean Kindle Author page. The eBook contains a complete grocery list, with the items categorized in order to easily breeze in and out of the store in minutes, as well as ten of my best & most loved slow cooker recipes, including Cranberry Spiced Chicken, Orange-Glazed Pork Chops, and White Bean Chicken Chili. I even added some handy, easy printables to label your bags, so you know what you have days or weeks later!

To watch the short video on how easy it is to shop for and assemble everything, check it out here! Of course ALDI was the store I went to (I just love them for their focus on providing the best prices over flashy ads or in store perks). I had my list in hand, and the total for everything that was going into these ten meals (minus just a few pantry staples) was $87. Given that each meal is made to serve 4, that is only $2.18 per meal!!

Of course, you can substitute as needed, such as if you have a hatred of a specific type of bean, swap it for a different kind, or if you do not eat pork, use chicken or beef instead. Definitely the highlight of the trip was finding this little bonus deal: $0.35 for canned, organic, reduced sodium black beans!!! Oh yeah, I bought 2 cases. That doesn’t count towards the meal totals…

The entire shopping trip took me probably about a half hour. And that is with writing down prices of things, and forcing my significant other, who was such a trooper, to take pictures and help me double check that I hadn’t forgotten anything. 🙂

http://www.amazon.com/Budget-Epicurean/e/B00KM8JR4U

Garlicky Sweet Lemon Chicken
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Orange-Ginger Glazed Pork Chops
Creamy Italian Chicken
Cranberry Spiced Chicken
BBQ Pulled Pork
Chicken Cacciatore
Classic Salsa Chicken
White Bean Chicken Chili
5 Bean Vegetarian Chili

As a reminder, you can purchase the nice printable ebook HERE.

First things first, I got everything organized. This means putting all the ingredients for each recipe into a pile. Some ingredients were used in multiple recipes, so I put those piles next to each other. Then I cut out the labels, and taped them onto a bag.

Next, take a cutting board, and for each recipe that requires dicing, chop up the peppers, or onions, or whatever, and place the raw veggies in the corresponding bag. It is best to get all that out of the way first. I actually ended up wearing goggles, because the onions were so strong and stung my eyes so that I couldn’t see for all the watering they were doing!

Next, take a can opener, and open up all your cans. Drain things like beans if you like, I didn’t even bother, just dumped the whole thing in there. Pour the canned goods into the bags. Any seasonings like chili powder or honey, pour those in next. Finally, open the meats (if using) and add those to the bags last. Be sure to keep meats separate otherwise so as to not cross-contaminate, and wash your hands after touching them.

Orange-Ginger Glazed Pork Chops

BBQ Pulled Pork

Crock Pot 5 Bean Vegetarian Chili

Salsa Chicken

Creamy Italian Chicken

Tortilla Soup

Spiced Cranberry Chicken

White Bean Chicken Chili

Garlicky Sweet Lemon Chicken

Chicken Cacciatore

Once you have your bags filled, you can take them to your freezer. Ideally, freeze them laying flat so that you save freezer space. You can also put any of these recipes straight into the crock pot, as I did with the garlicky sweet lemon chicken.

The day before you plan to eat one of these meals, just take the bag from the freezer and put it into your refrigerator. Preferably put the bag onto a plate or in a bowl, just in case it leaks or drips water as it thaws. The next morning, pour the whole contents of the bag into your slow cooker and cook as instructed. You can use each recipe’s suggestions, or serve with whatever you have handy. And there you have it! Ten meals that serve 4, from cans to freezer to cooked!

Freezer meals assembled and ready to go!

You can purchase this list of ten slow cooker, freezer-approved recipes, plus a complete one-page shopping list, serving suggestions, and printable freezer bag labels on Amazon!

Just search “Budget Epicurean”. Or visit this link: http://goo.gl/VtfKOq

I’m hoping to expand these meal plan offerings soon to include a vegetarian option, diabetic meal plans, gluten-free meal plans, and more! Please let me know if you have any feedback, questions, or something else you want to see in the future in the comments below or by email at budgetepicurean (at) gmail (dot) com!

You can view the video of how easy the shopping & assembly is here:

Many many food bloggers and regular people alike love this method of cooking! It is hard to overstate how much time, energy, and cash you can save by cooking this way. If you’re already experienced with meal planning based on grocery store sales, or want to try coming up with your own recipes, here’s a great article from one of my favorite frugal sites, the Simple Dollar, fully explaining the process!

Beverage, Healthy, Informative, Less than 5

Morning Health Shot

October 29, 2015 BudgetEpicurean Leave a comment

One of the most consistent recommendations for better health is always to drink more water. It is almost certain the majority of people do not drink as much water as they need. (Take your weight, divide it in half, and that is how many ounces you need per day. For example, a 200 pound man needs about 100 ounces of water.) The next most common advice I have found is to drink lemon water, possibly with cayenne pepper and/or honey every day.

The reasons for doing so range from boosting the immune system to cleansing the liver, kick-starting the metabolism and weight loss to a burst of natural energy. Lemon juice itself has several health benefits associated with it. It is well known as a useful treatment for kidney stones, detoxifying with Vitamin C, reducing diabetes risk, and aiding in alkalinizing the body. Lemon is antioxidant, astringent, and contains boatloads of vitamins and minerals.

Cayenne pepper is recommended because it contains capsaicin, a spicy compound which stimulates the circulatory system. It opens capillaries, aids digestion, and helps to regulate blood sugar levels. It also kick-starts the metabolism and increases your internal body temperature, which can contribute to weight loss over time.

And finally, honey can also help in weight loss when consumed with warm water and lemon juice. Honey is packed with 22 amino acids and a number of valuable vitamins and minerals, many of which benefit the body’s metabolism. By regulating metabolic function, food is broken down and utilized properly, fat is converted into usable energy, and overall health is improved. Be sure to use local, raw, unfiltered honey whenever possible.

I gave this a try for 4 weeks. I could not handle the full-glass-of-warm-spicy-water, so I distilled it down into one shot. I know, the whole drink-a-big-glass-of-water is part of the deal, but I always followed it with a 16 oz glass of water. Here’s what I did:

2 tbsp. lemon juice (fresh when I had it, bottled when I didn’t)
1-2 tsp local honey
Pinch chipotle pepper (I didn’t have cayenne, but it is basically the same thing)

Mix those in a shot glass, down it, and follow with a big glass of plain water.

The results?

Well, the horrible taste of sweet/acidic/spicy does kinda wake you up a bit. Overall I didn’t notice a huge variation in energy levels, in the morning or throughout the day. Neither did I notice a big difference in how I felt, health-wise. This may be because I already eat a pretty nutritious diet full of things that help detox and alkalinize me, but I didn’t notice a big enough difference to stay with it long term.

How about you guys? Have you ever tried a lemon water/cayenne detox, or is it part of your daily life? What benefits have you seen? Please share your experience in the comments!

The fusion of food, fun, frugality, and curiosity.