Saturday, October 31, 2009

Late Lunch/Early Supper: Leftovers


So today I had a little bit of leftover meatloaf and was really hungry, but so was hubby. As I reheated it I layered some packaged salad mix and some spinach leaves on plates (35¢ total). Crumbled the meat loaf and put it on top, with some shredded cheese (33¢) sour cream (39¢) and salsa (50¢). The entire meat loaf cost about $3.50 (rounding up) originally, and we've had, now, 4 meals out of it - today's portion was MAYBE 1/10th of the whole thing, but probably not even that. So for 2 huge taco salads, our meal cost about 2 bucks. For both.
(NOTE: I was too hungry to bother prettying up this photo, or removing that piece of lettuce in the upper left corner that was losing its color from the shot...but this is how we eat, folks! *G*)

Friday, October 30, 2009

A Quick Post About Today's Lunch

I won't do the math for this one because it's easily <$1.00 for the whole plate of food (plus what's left over in the kitchen that didn't fit on the plate).

These are crackers (grated swiss & ground sesame seeds, spread in a pan, melted in the oven, scored, cooled, & broken into crackers), each topped with a spinach leaf, a teaspoonful of tuna/mayo, & a little paprika and dried parsley on top because I was going to take a picture :). Usually I wouldn't bother with the fancy stuff.

My daughter has my camera, so this was taken on my cell phone. Poor quality, but you get the idea.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Smoked Ham Casserole


Today I haven't gotten hungry, although I did have a cup of coffee this morning with heavy cream, and a tall glass of diet Vernors with a splash of heavy cream in it - I'm thinking the fats have kept me from wanting food. But now that supper is done, it's great!

Tonight's supper is a Smoked Ham Casserole. I started by coating a 9x13 glass casserole dish with bacon drippings (negligible cost). In the bottom I put 1# of frozen/semi-thawed brussels sprouts ($1.29), cut in half, and a half-cup (one serving) of Dreamfield's penne pasta (40c worth); to this I added about 2c of water, covered it with foil, and put it in a 350 oven. (NOTE: Do not overcook the pasta, as overcooking will cause the carbs to become digestible.)

While the pasta and sprouts were cooking, I cut up about 2# of smoked picnic ham that I'd gotten on sale for 99c/lb yesterday. After 40 minutes, I removed the foil, stirred in the ham, and put it back in the oven at 375 until the remaining water had evaporated. Tossed with 1c (66c) of shredded cheese and returned it to the oven until the cheese melted over all. (Another note: I didn't add salt because the ham and cheese are both rather salty; I never add pepper to anything because I don't like it.)

4 servings (of which my husband ate 2) for about $1.12 each. I could have added a salad or rolls (oopsies or flax or whatever) but it was plenty hearty for a complete meal on its own.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

SHOPPING!

After being down with the flu for 12 days, and only out of the house yesterday when I went to the doctor and the pharmacy, it was good to get out today and get some much-needed grocery shopping done. I don't actually plan my menus in advance; rather, I plan my menus around what is in the house - and that depends on what was on sale. (Remember as you're reading this that I don't serve desserts or sweets as a rule...once a week I might make a sweet dish or cookies or something similar.)

First of all, I already have some meat in the freezer from former sales, so I didn't have to buy much that way. I did purchase 2 packages of smoked picnic ham chunks (99c/lb), 4.5# ground beef (which is ground fresh at our store, for $1.49/lb), and 2# ground mild sausage for $1.00 each. In our freezer we already have pork (country ribs and/or roast and/or steaks), chuck roasts (which we slice and broil as steaks sometimes), and chicken - I don't typically stock up on chicken because I can almost always get it for <$1/lb. We also have salmon burgers (expensive but a nice treat once in a while!). I will add meat in larger quantities to the freezer as I find great sales on it; otherwise, our meals get planned around what we already have.

Shredded cheese was on sale also; 3c packages for $1.99, or about 66c/cup. (There is no point in figuring $/lb if you use it by volume rather than by weight, right?) So I got $10 worth. 2 heads of cauli for $1.25 ea on sale. A large but lovely eggplant (lasagna this weekend, I already have full-fat ricotta and sauce on hand!) for $1.49. A cuke for a quarter - will have tuna salad "boats" for lunch tomorrow, <$1.00 for the meal. Ready-to-eat salads for half off, or 65c/bag. Fresh spinach, half off, or 1# for 99c. Fresh mushrooms for $1/8 oz (and that's a lot of mushrooms!). Yellow onions for 59c/lb.

Staples: canned mushrooms (59c/can)...quarts of heavy cream ($3.12/qt)...canned tuna (59c/can)...parmesan cheese ($2.49/can)...a quart each of full-fat sour cream ($1.57) and plain yogurt ($1.82) - although the yogurt is for the dogs, not us ...and a loaf of lowcarb bread for my husband.

Obviously there are things I didn't have to buy, like low carb tomato sauce, SF peanut butter, lowcarb ketchup, mayo, eggs, and so forth, because I already have them on hand. But I will continue, of course, to post my shopping trips, since that's a big part of the reason for this blog - so that you can see that eating low carb doesn't have to be expensive - as well as the meals I prepare with the food that I buy - so that you can see that eating low carb doesn't have to be complicated or difficult :).

So what's tonight's supper? 1# of ground beef & 1# of ground sausage with an egg, 1/4 chopped onion, seasonings, and ground porkies for a meat loaf; fauxtatoes; salad.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Low Carb Pancakes - Video Link

I found this video on YouTube. They look easy and delicious, although I'd probably use coconut flour instead of soy flour, or a mixture of coconut flour/protein powder, or whatever. When I make them I will experiment. But don't they look really good?

Monday, October 26, 2009

Day 10, and...

...I don't much care if - or what - I eat. I'm so physically worn out from being sick, and still have no appetite. I eat because I know I should, but beyond that I don't much care. So today Casey got pizza and that's what I ate. For the most part though, through this worst-flu-of-my-life, I've eaten low carb because that's what's in the house.

Tomorrow, day 11, I see the doctor. This is getting ridiculous. After she gives me the magic shot (or pill, or whatever) and I feel all better, I will be back up and at 'em, cooking up a storm, having fun in the kitchen with all of my healthy vegetables and meats and seasonings and sauces, using my gadgets, and posting about it here :).