Wednesday, February 22, 2012

OH! MY! GOODNESS! My #Lowcarb Lunch

I know I've used the word AMAZING quite a bit in the past, but I didn't know what AMAZING was until I ate today's lunch. It was TRULY AMAZING. And cheap...and easy...so it fits perfectly into this blog :)



First I cut three 3/4"-1" slices of cabbage, brushed both sides of each slice generously with olive oil, seasoned with S&P, and put them on a baking pan in a 400* oven.

Next I chopped up 2 small yellow onions - no particular size or shape, just sliced them up and cut through each slice a couple of times. I put them in a hot frying pan with olive oil in the bottom, gave them a stir to coat, and let them cook over medium heat.

Then I pulled a breast and a thigh off of the chicken I roasted a couple of days ago, and diced up the meat. (As a side note, this makes meal #3 from that $4.40 chicken, and I still have the legs and wings left which will be a nice lunch for Pete at work.)

At this point I opened the oven and flipped the cabbage over, turning the heat up to 425* to get some browning action going on.

Then I added the chicken to the onions, which were now translucent and starting to brown, sprinkled in a generous amount of dark chili powder, S&P, and a can of diced tomatoes (with the juice - but there wasn't much juice). Stirred together, covered, reduced heat to medium low, and let heat together for 10 minutes.

To serve, I scooped a slice of cabbage onto the plate (arranging the wonderful crispy bits along the side), then the chicken mixture (using a slotted spoon so it wouldn't be runny), and topped it with a generous dollop of full fat sour cream which both balanced the spiciness of the chili powder and added some much-needed fat to the dish.

It was heavenly! The cabbage was tender but with some firmness to it, and so sweet from being roasted - you just don't get cabbage to sweeten up by boiling or frying! The outer leaves that came loose in the oven got dark brown and crispy, adding not only another texture, but also were even sweeter - they were like crispy candy! The slight spiciness of the chicken mixture blended with the sour cream just set off fireworks of pleasure in my mouth. I just can't begin to describe what a fantastic dish this was, and my husband is totally in awe of my skills in the kitchen - lol!

And, it was cheap. About $1.25 worth of leftover chicken, 59c for the can of tomatoes, half of a head of cabbage - or 50c worth, 35c worth of onion, and I'll add a generous 50c for the olive oil (maybe 4T in all?) and seasonings. This made 3 LARGE servings, and would easily serve 4. For about $3.20 TOTAL, plus maybe 25c worth of sour cream per serving.

THIS, ladies and gentleman, is what Cheap'n'Easy Low Carbing is about :).

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Making #Lowcarb Flat #Breads (click title for #recipe)

I'm really sick with a nasty virus, and everything I do causes me to break out into a sweat and get all achy...but when you've gotta have 'em, you've gotta have 'em! However I just used up the last of my Wheat Protein Isolate 5000 and the last of my oat fiber. I'm down on almond flour too. So it's looking like I'll need to put in a netrition.com order soon - or else no more baking :(. Anyway, the ball of dough has been kneaded and is in the rising stage now. In the past I've always made about 16 six-inch flat breads but that is time-consuming and hard on my back. Today I think I will make 8 bigger ones, which should cut the rolling-out time in half if my math is correct :).

And now I am all stoked for a warm one, straight off the griddle, later tonight with melted butter, cinnamon, and a little splenda, then rolled up, with a good hot cup of (decaf) coffee! These are SO dreamy...

Bad News for the Grocery Budget! #lowcarb

This is a prime example of why I don't like going to the store too often. But as I've mentioned, I'm sick with a nasty miserable virus (the doc told me yesterday this one lasts THREE WEEKS! I'm on day 8, and was down with vertigo a couple of weeks ago) so I'm not doing the shopping/cooking like I usually would, depending on hubby who does a good job but not like I do it. And I'm over my $200 budget for the month already. I won't beat myself over the head about it, and some months - when I'm stocking up on a big meat sale, for example - I go over and don't give it a 2nd thought, and some months - like last month - I'm under budget. But this month it happened just because I didn't do a big shopping with my coupons or shop the sales, and this is the result. Hopefully you can at least learn from it :).

Sav-a-Lot (now that I've gone to Aldi's a few times, I'm really hating paying SaL's high prices!)

(3) pkgs shredded cheese @ $3.19 ea (4 oz smaller & $0.20c more than Aldi's)
(2) quarts half'n'half @ $1.99 ea ($0.20c more than Aldi's)
(2) lbs. butter @ $2.39 ea ($0.10 more than Aldi's)
(1) 4.54# whole chicken $4.40
(2) frozen pizzas (!) @ $1.79 ea
(1) 24 oz. fish $3.19
(100 ct.) sugar sub $1.19
(4) bags salad mix @ $0.29 each ($1 off each)
5# potatoes $2.29

TOTAL $34.34

TOTAL for month so far $207.24