I posted my first - my major - shopping trip for the month a few weeks ago; the total from that one was $165. I have in front of me my receipts for the rest of the month:
I've made a few trips to Sav-a-Lot this month. Being just a mile away and convenient for when I just need a couple of things, that's my go-to store most of the time. The problem is - and I admit it's a problem - I go for 1 or 2 things, and see other things I forgot I needed, or see a sale...then I come home with more than I intended! But I did pretty well this month with that, spending an additional total of $94.89 for lots of meat that was on sale (last-day/red-sticker, which I rarely pass by if it's a good price), extra supplies for the large casserole I took to a church potluck, canned goods (mushrooms, tomatoes, tuna), bottled water, porkies, and condiments.
I also made a trip to GFS for the big bags of frozen vegetables that I use. While I spent $55.68 there in September, the food will actually last through October (plus of course we used it the remainder of September). I stocked up on (9) 2# bags of vegetables, plus 24 cans of Diet Coke for my mom when she's here, plus Pete likes to take one in his lunch, and a big package of hot dogs - 40 for $8.99. The last two things I wouldn't buy for myself, but Pete loves his hot dogs, and I paid more for the better hot dogs with fewer objectionable ingredients.
Then while I was at other stores (Big Lots, KMart, Walmart) I picked up a couple of other things that I use and that were a good price, such as a 16oz. can of Parmesan for $4.00, a liter bottle of EVOO for $6.50, a 24 oz. jar of Peter Pan PB (my favorite brand; it contains some sugar but I don't eat that much of it - certainly not enough to worry about - FOR ME, YMMV) for $4.29, and 3 half-gallon cartons of half'n'half for $3.58 each.
In addition, I placed an order at Netrition that came to $98-something. The items in that order will last for a MINIMUM of 3 months: WPI5000, Vital Wheat Gluten, coconut flour, almond flour, polyD fiber, oat fiber, resistant corn starch (1st time buying that), peanut flour, CarbQuik, EZ-Sweetz, and 3 bottles of SF flavored syrups. I still have Carbalose flour from my last order. Many of these were in multiples as well - AND I got a free t-shirt :).
I spent quite a bit more this month because of the netrition and GFS foods, but of course those weren't just for this month, and because of all I bought in September, I anticipate that October will be much much lower. It all evens out in the end :).
So, doing the math in my head (and therefore rounding off), I figure I spent $440 during the month of September, for enough food to get through the month, much of October, and even beyond!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Grocery Prices Are Going UP! Now What?? #lowcarb #frugal
It is getting harder and harder to eat low carb meals cheaply. I've never seen the price of food rise so much, so quickly, in the 35+ years I've been buying groceries. On many of my usual purchases the price has doubled in the last year. It is impossible to buy as much as I did when I started this blog, for the same prices. Even while I'm spending more, however, I'm also finding ways to stretch our dollar. Some of things I'm doing now, I've always done - but now it is even more important if I want to continue to feed my husband and myself (and several days a week, my grandson) as well as I always have.
I want to mention that we are big meat eaters. We like a big hunk of meat on our plates, and I typically serve it with 2 veggies. Once a week or so we do have a potato also, which many (most?) low carbers don't do. But we do. On potato days I can get away with a smaller portion of meat, which is of course our biggest cost.
First - and I've always done this, for the most part - I only buy meats that fit in with my budget. I have $/# in my head that I won't go over: $3.25 for beef, $2.00 for pork ($3.00 for bacon), $4.00 for fish, and $1.00 for chicken. Mostly I can get my meats at a meat market in the next town, and they have excellent quality fresh meats there. I usually make a trip there once a month - sometimes more, sometimes less - and then throughout the month if I'm at another market and see meat on sale that falls within, or below, these prices, I buy as much of it as I can afford and it goes into the chest freezer.
Second, in season I buy fresh vegetables, and I shop the "last day" racks at the local markets when I'm already there for other things, then plan the next day's meals around what I buy. What I can't buy fresh, I buy frozen in big bags - 2.5-5# - usually from Gordon's. I've always done this, but never really shopped the "last day" racks so much. Roadside stands are a wonderful way to save on fresh produce, but we don't have many (any?) that I've seen around here.
Third, I'm in the process of learning to make my own condiments and pasta. I bought a pasta maker, and am experimenting until I can get a decent result (which I will post here). Once I can do a decent pasta, that will replace one of our more expensive meals once in a while. Ketchup is nearly $3 for a small bottle (the 1gN kind from Heinz), and mayo has more than doubled in price since last year for a smaller jar. Forget that! I have a blender, I have eggs and oil and I'm not afraid to use them :). But it is typically less expensive - and definitely gives you more control over what goes into your body - to make as many foods yourself as you can, rather than buy processed.
Fourth, shop around, including the internet. If you live in a city where low carb ingredients are available (I don't, our small town has mostly the basics), compare the prices locally with amazon.com, netrition.com, honeyvillegrain.com and others. Watch for free shipping offers (Amazon Prime has saved me a LOT of money...although not necessarily on food) and sign up for newsletters and sale flyers through email. Always figure your price per ounce or pound, and include shipping costs if buying online - but also include costs for your time and gas if shopping locally! If you drive past your local health food store all the time anyway, not a problem; if you have to go out of your way, or to the next town, a low shipping fee (or all for one price shipping, like netrition.com charges) may be less expensive, with gas prices being what they are. Typically I buy my flours and baking products, sweeteners, and some of my seasonings online.
Fifth, buy whole, and make it small for yourself. This applies to big hunks (tenderloins or whole strips) and "family size" packages of meat as well as grains (flax, quinoa) and other dry foods (nuts). MUCH less expensive in many cases, especially when you find a sale! A small coffee grinder from KMart for less than $20 is perfectly adequate to make rough flour and meals out of most dry ingredients. There are exceptions but most of the time, you can get more for less.
Sixth, make adjustments. My husband and I both eat larger meals (although I don't eat as much at a sitting as I did before my fundoplication surgery in December), and I have learned over the years that if I try to reduce portion sizes, my husband especially will go looking for snacks a short time later - and an additional snack costs more than a larger portion. But I will often reduce the portion sizes of the more expensive parts of the meal, and increase the portion sizes of the cheaper parts of the meal. Also, sometimes adding a sauce made from the drippings (the seasoned oil the veggies were roasted in plus the meat drippings, a pinch of xanthan gum and a squirt of cream) which would otherwise go to waste will also add to satiety, enabling me to reduce portion sizes.
Seventh, replace at least one meat dish with a casserole every week. No, not with noodles and rice, as we did before :) but with other filling but lower carb options. My casseroles typically consist of meats - but in smaller quantities -and vegetables, lots of different kinds of vegetables!, with some high-fiber additions (baby corn, water chestnuts) and a fatty sauce to fill us up. (Fat=satiety and we don't have to fear fat when we're eating low carb!) Add some low carb rolls or biscuits from one of the trillions of recipes on the web and in low carb cookbooks, and you've got a great meal plus leftovers for lunch the next day!
Lastly, I have made cuts in other areas of my budget that enable me to spend a little more on food. This is a personal choice, and not one that many would want to make. But for me, making a single tank of gas stretch for an entire week and keeping the thermostat at 62 instead of 65 are acceptable trade-offs. We like our beef twice a week and our fish every week, both of which are more expensive and also more important to us than extra trips in our gas-hog van or walking around the house without a sweater. And as dairy prices have skyrocketed but we aren't willing to give up our cheeses, cream, and butter we need to make a way to pay for those. It's rotten when we have to choose between heat and healthy food but such is our country now, decisions made by leaders who don't have to pinch every penny...but that's a post for another blog :).
Hope some of my changes will help you too!
I want to mention that we are big meat eaters. We like a big hunk of meat on our plates, and I typically serve it with 2 veggies. Once a week or so we do have a potato also, which many (most?) low carbers don't do. But we do. On potato days I can get away with a smaller portion of meat, which is of course our biggest cost.
First - and I've always done this, for the most part - I only buy meats that fit in with my budget. I have $/# in my head that I won't go over: $3.25 for beef, $2.00 for pork ($3.00 for bacon), $4.00 for fish, and $1.00 for chicken. Mostly I can get my meats at a meat market in the next town, and they have excellent quality fresh meats there. I usually make a trip there once a month - sometimes more, sometimes less - and then throughout the month if I'm at another market and see meat on sale that falls within, or below, these prices, I buy as much of it as I can afford and it goes into the chest freezer.
Second, in season I buy fresh vegetables, and I shop the "last day" racks at the local markets when I'm already there for other things, then plan the next day's meals around what I buy. What I can't buy fresh, I buy frozen in big bags - 2.5-5# - usually from Gordon's. I've always done this, but never really shopped the "last day" racks so much. Roadside stands are a wonderful way to save on fresh produce, but we don't have many (any?) that I've seen around here.
Third, I'm in the process of learning to make my own condiments and pasta. I bought a pasta maker, and am experimenting until I can get a decent result (which I will post here). Once I can do a decent pasta, that will replace one of our more expensive meals once in a while. Ketchup is nearly $3 for a small bottle (the 1gN kind from Heinz), and mayo has more than doubled in price since last year for a smaller jar. Forget that! I have a blender, I have eggs and oil and I'm not afraid to use them :). But it is typically less expensive - and definitely gives you more control over what goes into your body - to make as many foods yourself as you can, rather than buy processed.
Fourth, shop around, including the internet. If you live in a city where low carb ingredients are available (I don't, our small town has mostly the basics), compare the prices locally with amazon.com, netrition.com, honeyvillegrain.com and others. Watch for free shipping offers (Amazon Prime has saved me a LOT of money...although not necessarily on food) and sign up for newsletters and sale flyers through email. Always figure your price per ounce or pound, and include shipping costs if buying online - but also include costs for your time and gas if shopping locally! If you drive past your local health food store all the time anyway, not a problem; if you have to go out of your way, or to the next town, a low shipping fee (or all for one price shipping, like netrition.com charges) may be less expensive, with gas prices being what they are. Typically I buy my flours and baking products, sweeteners, and some of my seasonings online.
Fifth, buy whole, and make it small for yourself. This applies to big hunks (tenderloins or whole strips) and "family size" packages of meat as well as grains (flax, quinoa) and other dry foods (nuts). MUCH less expensive in many cases, especially when you find a sale! A small coffee grinder from KMart for less than $20 is perfectly adequate to make rough flour and meals out of most dry ingredients. There are exceptions but most of the time, you can get more for less.
Sixth, make adjustments. My husband and I both eat larger meals (although I don't eat as much at a sitting as I did before my fundoplication surgery in December), and I have learned over the years that if I try to reduce portion sizes, my husband especially will go looking for snacks a short time later - and an additional snack costs more than a larger portion. But I will often reduce the portion sizes of the more expensive parts of the meal, and increase the portion sizes of the cheaper parts of the meal. Also, sometimes adding a sauce made from the drippings (the seasoned oil the veggies were roasted in plus the meat drippings, a pinch of xanthan gum and a squirt of cream) which would otherwise go to waste will also add to satiety, enabling me to reduce portion sizes.
Seventh, replace at least one meat dish with a casserole every week. No, not with noodles and rice, as we did before :) but with other filling but lower carb options. My casseroles typically consist of meats - but in smaller quantities -and vegetables, lots of different kinds of vegetables!, with some high-fiber additions (baby corn, water chestnuts) and a fatty sauce to fill us up. (Fat=satiety and we don't have to fear fat when we're eating low carb!) Add some low carb rolls or biscuits from one of the trillions of recipes on the web and in low carb cookbooks, and you've got a great meal plus leftovers for lunch the next day!
Lastly, I have made cuts in other areas of my budget that enable me to spend a little more on food. This is a personal choice, and not one that many would want to make. But for me, making a single tank of gas stretch for an entire week and keeping the thermostat at 62 instead of 65 are acceptable trade-offs. We like our beef twice a week and our fish every week, both of which are more expensive and also more important to us than extra trips in our gas-hog van or walking around the house without a sweater. And as dairy prices have skyrocketed but we aren't willing to give up our cheeses, cream, and butter we need to make a way to pay for those. It's rotten when we have to choose between heat and healthy food but such is our country now, decisions made by leaders who don't have to pinch every penny...but that's a post for another blog :).
Hope some of my changes will help you too!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
YUM YUM YUM!!! Pumpkin MiniCakes #lowcarb #recipe #glutenfree #grainfree
Yesterday evening my 28MO grandson and I talked about making bread, which he really REALLY loves to do. But I had sort of a sweet tooth so I was able to persuade him to make cupcakes instead. I didn't know what kind yet, and of course didn't have a recipe (I rarely use them, and even when I do it is just for guidelines), but I sat him on the kitchen counter, pulled out the mixer, and got started anyway. These are pretty close approximations of ingredient amounts, since I do measure when baking with him. He likes using the cups and spoons, and is learning to level off the tops as well. So here we go.
- 4 eggs
Whip with whisk attachment in mixing bowl until fluffy.
- 1/2 of a 15 oz. can of pure pumpkin
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Add to eggs and continue whipping until very smooth.
- 1c pecan meal/flour
- 1/2c coconut flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2c erythritol (or your choice)
- 1/4c brown Sugar Twin (or your choice)
Mix well with fork or wire whisk.
Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix thoroughly with paddle attachment. It will be very thick, almost like cookie dough.
- 1/2c melted coconut oil
Drizzle into "dough" with mixer on low speed.
This will help thin it a little but it will still be too thick for cake batter.
- heavy cream
Drizzle into bowl with mixer on low until "dough" becomes batter and reaches desired consistency; I used probably 1/3c (guesstimate); mix until well incorporated.
Grease (or spray) your mini-muffin tins WELL. Bake in preheated 350*F oven about 25 minutes, until a knife inserted into the middle of the largest muffin comes out clean.
Remove from tins to a cooling rack and cool completely.
NOTE: This recipe made exactly 48 mini-muffins, or 2 trays. I did make frosting for these, and once I put it on, they went from superb to SUPER AMAZING! Just did a standard cream cheese frosting, whipping together about 2 parts cream cheese to 1 part butter, with a splash of vanilla, sweetening to taste with liquid sucralose drops, and drizzled in cream while whipping until desired fluffy consistency. Since the frosting needs to be refrigerated we are frosting them as we eat them - I don't want the muffins to dry out in the fridge.
These are SO SO SO SO good, especially with a nice hot cup of coffee!
- 4 eggs
Whip with whisk attachment in mixing bowl until fluffy.
- 1/2 of a 15 oz. can of pure pumpkin
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Add to eggs and continue whipping until very smooth.
- 1c pecan meal/flour
- 1/2c coconut flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2c erythritol (or your choice)
- 1/4c brown Sugar Twin (or your choice)
Mix well with fork or wire whisk.
Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix thoroughly with paddle attachment. It will be very thick, almost like cookie dough.
- 1/2c melted coconut oil
Drizzle into "dough" with mixer on low speed.
This will help thin it a little but it will still be too thick for cake batter.
- heavy cream
Drizzle into bowl with mixer on low until "dough" becomes batter and reaches desired consistency; I used probably 1/3c (guesstimate); mix until well incorporated.
Grease (or spray) your mini-muffin tins WELL. Bake in preheated 350*F oven about 25 minutes, until a knife inserted into the middle of the largest muffin comes out clean.
Remove from tins to a cooling rack and cool completely.
NOTE: This recipe made exactly 48 mini-muffins, or 2 trays. I did make frosting for these, and once I put it on, they went from superb to SUPER AMAZING! Just did a standard cream cheese frosting, whipping together about 2 parts cream cheese to 1 part butter, with a splash of vanilla, sweetening to taste with liquid sucralose drops, and drizzled in cream while whipping until desired fluffy consistency. Since the frosting needs to be refrigerated we are frosting them as we eat them - I don't want the muffins to dry out in the fridge.
These are SO SO SO SO good, especially with a nice hot cup of coffee!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Some Good #Lowcarb Eatin' This Week! #recipes
Just a few Cheap'n'Easy Low Carb meal ideas, in case you're interested :).
Pork dinner: I love pork with something sweet! Saturday I made a very pretty and delicious roast pork rib (country style) dinner that was easy prep and easy cook! Got some brussels sprouts out of the freezer, and tossed them in a bowl with a little olive oil and sea salt. Washed 3 small sweet potatoes and put them in the oven to roast, right on the rack. Seasoned my pork (this time very simply - S&P, garlic and onion powders) and put it into the oven. Then I sat with my feet up for about 30 minutes while I checked my facebook and email accounts. Poured the brussels sprouts onto a small baking sheet and added it to my oven for the last 30 minutes or so. Fiddled around for another half hour, then dinner was ready. Beautiful plates of color and nutrition! Served my sweet potato with a lot of butter and cinnamon, and a little brown Sugar Twin. Everything else was perfect as it was. Served 3 of us for about $7.
Fish dinner: While I really love crunchy coated fried fish, I've never managed to get it right. The coating either slides off or sticks to the pan, and I'm not sure why. (Christmas gift idea - a deep fryer that doesn't have a nonstick coating!) So I usually just season and bake my fish. On Monday it was pollock, which is so easy! I coat both sides with butter/olive oil mixture, very lightly sprinkle some coconut flour and seafood seasoning on top, and that's it. I had a couple of small potatoes (most low carbers don't eat potatoes at all; I eat 1-2 small ones/week) so I cut those into chunks, tossed with olive oil and sea salt, and roasted them at 375. Then I put a couple of Tbsp of butter in a saucepan with a couple cupfuls of frozen chopped spinach, covered, and set it on the "vent burner." After the potatoes had a 20-minute head start I put the fish in the oven and let them get acquainted in there for 25 minutes. When it was time to serve I turned the vent burner on and added a splash of lemon juice to the spinach while I pulled the fish and potatoes out of the oven, poured drinks, and so forth; since the spinach was already thawed and warm it only took a minute and a quick stir before it was good and hot. $4 for the meal for 2 of us.
Steak dinner: As I've mentioned, I buy chuck - it is my favorite cut, and it is cheap. And I buy the roasts, which I slice across into 2 "steaks" when I get home. I have grilled these, broiled them, fried them, you name it, and they act and taste like the chuck steaks that cost more. Anyway...I fried a chopped-up onion in plenty of bacon fat, then moved it to the side and added a "steak" that I had cut into big (about 2 oz.) chunks. Seasoned with sea salt and granulated garlic. I turned them until they were nice and brown on each side, but rare in the middle (how we like it). With a salad on the side, this was a great meal for about $4.50.
Chicken and bacon: I put my chicken thighs and bacon into the oven in separate pans (because I save my bacon fat) and just cook them together. I think chicken and bacon go well together, and with a big heaping side of my saucy green beans it makes a great meal. Plus, the next day we get another meal out of a big plateful of greens or lettuce (this week lettuce because I'd gotten it on sale), piled with leftover chicken and bacon plus a handful of shredded cheese and some chopped veggies - whatever is in the fridge at the time. Lots of food, very filling, about $3 for both plates of salad fixed the way we had them this week.
Saucy green beans: Everybody loves these, but they're so simple! I melt some bacon fat in a saute pan, and add the powdered onion (not granulated, it's fine powder, like flour), and it makes like a roux - maybe 3 Tbsp of bacon fat and 1 tsp of onion powder will do it. Once it thickens I add my frozen whole baby green beans, some sea salt, and some granulated garlic and cover. As soon as the beans are softened, I stir it all together and return the cover to let the beans cook well (but not mushy). The liquid comes out of the beans and mixes with the "roux" and makes a lovely light but tasty sauce. So easy but really REALLY great! And cheap - about a buck for the whole panful which serves 4 - or 2 when my husband and I have them :). Add some bacon and it's a light meal!
Simple Stir-Fry: Only it's not really a stir-fry because I don't make it like the Chinese do, in a hot wok, quickly. But I don't know what else to call it. I use an electric skillet, and fry my meat chunks and chopped onion in fat. Then I throw in a package of frozen stir-fry vegetables and a package of cole slaw mix, season with soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil, toss it all together, lower the heat, and that's it. Ready to eat in about 10 minutes. Depending on what I have on hand I also have been known to add a can of baby corn, water chestnuts, mushrooms...whatever. Sometimes I chop up shirataki noodles and add those too (at the beginning, with the meat and onion). But it is filling, inexpensive (under $5 for 4 portions - and the 2 or 3 of us usually eat it all), fast, and easy.
Cucumber salad: Did I already write about this? I take 4 cukes, peeled and seeded and cut into bite-sized chunks...4 tomatoes, de-seeded and cut into bite-sized chunks...1 onion (red is pretty, sweet yellow ones are tastiest, sometimes I use both!) sliced into thin slivers...toss with balsamic vinaigrette and a little sea salt. The longer it sits in the fridge the better it tastes - next-day is excellent! We paid 49c each for the big cukes, the tomatoes were from our own plant, and the onion was about 50c ($1.29/lb, less than 1/2#). The balsamic vinaigrette was $1.79 for the bottle, I used 1/4 of the bottle. So the salad, which feeds both of us for several meals/snacks (8 servings?) cost $3 with the free tomatoes. I've taken this to church potluck and gotten rave reviews, and it is colorful and beautiful as well!
This is what we've been eating the last few days. Of course we've also had breakfasts and other things, but we've had some great suppertime meals using the bounty of groceries I purchased on Saturday morning!
Pork dinner: I love pork with something sweet! Saturday I made a very pretty and delicious roast pork rib (country style) dinner that was easy prep and easy cook! Got some brussels sprouts out of the freezer, and tossed them in a bowl with a little olive oil and sea salt. Washed 3 small sweet potatoes and put them in the oven to roast, right on the rack. Seasoned my pork (this time very simply - S&P, garlic and onion powders) and put it into the oven. Then I sat with my feet up for about 30 minutes while I checked my facebook and email accounts. Poured the brussels sprouts onto a small baking sheet and added it to my oven for the last 30 minutes or so. Fiddled around for another half hour, then dinner was ready. Beautiful plates of color and nutrition! Served my sweet potato with a lot of butter and cinnamon, and a little brown Sugar Twin. Everything else was perfect as it was. Served 3 of us for about $7.
Fish dinner: While I really love crunchy coated fried fish, I've never managed to get it right. The coating either slides off or sticks to the pan, and I'm not sure why. (Christmas gift idea - a deep fryer that doesn't have a nonstick coating!) So I usually just season and bake my fish. On Monday it was pollock, which is so easy! I coat both sides with butter/olive oil mixture, very lightly sprinkle some coconut flour and seafood seasoning on top, and that's it. I had a couple of small potatoes (most low carbers don't eat potatoes at all; I eat 1-2 small ones/week) so I cut those into chunks, tossed with olive oil and sea salt, and roasted them at 375. Then I put a couple of Tbsp of butter in a saucepan with a couple cupfuls of frozen chopped spinach, covered, and set it on the "vent burner." After the potatoes had a 20-minute head start I put the fish in the oven and let them get acquainted in there for 25 minutes. When it was time to serve I turned the vent burner on and added a splash of lemon juice to the spinach while I pulled the fish and potatoes out of the oven, poured drinks, and so forth; since the spinach was already thawed and warm it only took a minute and a quick stir before it was good and hot. $4 for the meal for 2 of us.
Steak dinner: As I've mentioned, I buy chuck - it is my favorite cut, and it is cheap. And I buy the roasts, which I slice across into 2 "steaks" when I get home. I have grilled these, broiled them, fried them, you name it, and they act and taste like the chuck steaks that cost more. Anyway...I fried a chopped-up onion in plenty of bacon fat, then moved it to the side and added a "steak" that I had cut into big (about 2 oz.) chunks. Seasoned with sea salt and granulated garlic. I turned them until they were nice and brown on each side, but rare in the middle (how we like it). With a salad on the side, this was a great meal for about $4.50.
Chicken and bacon: I put my chicken thighs and bacon into the oven in separate pans (because I save my bacon fat) and just cook them together. I think chicken and bacon go well together, and with a big heaping side of my saucy green beans it makes a great meal. Plus, the next day we get another meal out of a big plateful of greens or lettuce (this week lettuce because I'd gotten it on sale), piled with leftover chicken and bacon plus a handful of shredded cheese and some chopped veggies - whatever is in the fridge at the time. Lots of food, very filling, about $3 for both plates of salad fixed the way we had them this week.
Saucy green beans: Everybody loves these, but they're so simple! I melt some bacon fat in a saute pan, and add the powdered onion (not granulated, it's fine powder, like flour), and it makes like a roux - maybe 3 Tbsp of bacon fat and 1 tsp of onion powder will do it. Once it thickens I add my frozen whole baby green beans, some sea salt, and some granulated garlic and cover. As soon as the beans are softened, I stir it all together and return the cover to let the beans cook well (but not mushy). The liquid comes out of the beans and mixes with the "roux" and makes a lovely light but tasty sauce. So easy but really REALLY great! And cheap - about a buck for the whole panful which serves 4 - or 2 when my husband and I have them :). Add some bacon and it's a light meal!
Simple Stir-Fry: Only it's not really a stir-fry because I don't make it like the Chinese do, in a hot wok, quickly. But I don't know what else to call it. I use an electric skillet, and fry my meat chunks and chopped onion in fat. Then I throw in a package of frozen stir-fry vegetables and a package of cole slaw mix, season with soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil, toss it all together, lower the heat, and that's it. Ready to eat in about 10 minutes. Depending on what I have on hand I also have been known to add a can of baby corn, water chestnuts, mushrooms...whatever. Sometimes I chop up shirataki noodles and add those too (at the beginning, with the meat and onion). But it is filling, inexpensive (under $5 for 4 portions - and the 2 or 3 of us usually eat it all), fast, and easy.
Cucumber salad: Did I already write about this? I take 4 cukes, peeled and seeded and cut into bite-sized chunks...4 tomatoes, de-seeded and cut into bite-sized chunks...1 onion (red is pretty, sweet yellow ones are tastiest, sometimes I use both!) sliced into thin slivers...toss with balsamic vinaigrette and a little sea salt. The longer it sits in the fridge the better it tastes - next-day is excellent! We paid 49c each for the big cukes, the tomatoes were from our own plant, and the onion was about 50c ($1.29/lb, less than 1/2#). The balsamic vinaigrette was $1.79 for the bottle, I used 1/4 of the bottle. So the salad, which feeds both of us for several meals/snacks (8 servings?) cost $3 with the free tomatoes. I've taken this to church potluck and gotten rave reviews, and it is colorful and beautiful as well!
This is what we've been eating the last few days. Of course we've also had breakfasts and other things, but we've had some great suppertime meals using the bounty of groceries I purchased on Saturday morning!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Another #LowCarb Shopping Trip - MEAT!
We like to buy our meats at Steve's in Harrison, MI for the most part. It's about 20 miles away but I have found their meats to be far superior to what I can buy for a decent price in Houghton Lake. We have Glen's, who have good meat, but unless it is last-day-marked-down or part of a super-sale, it is just out of our budget. Sav-a-Lot has decent meat. But it's nothing like Steve's. So once a month we drive down to Steve's and stock up for the month. I plan on spending about $100 each time - we are big meat eaters.
This month we did it for just $80 and change. And here is what we got:
3.84# of Pollock
6.55# of chicken thighs
13.38# of pork (steaks, chops, country ribs)
11.87# of chuck roast, which I usually slice across and broil as steaks
We averaged $2.24/lb for our meat. Last year I would have been disappointed in anything over $2/lb but this year, considering many prices have almost doubled since last summer, I consider this excellent!
After rewrapping the meat for the freezer, I ended up with 8 chuck (my favorite cut!) steaks, 9 packages of pork, 5 packages of chicken, and 3 packages of fish. Easily a month's worth, considering we go out for our fish dinners once a week, and sometimes we have dishes that don't involve much meat...
Then I went to Sav-a-Lot to stock up on $70 of other stuff, like dairy, eggs, tuna, and other canned goods. I haven't shopped as much as usual this summer, so we'd use up all of the meats and veggies in our big freezer. I don't have my usual "stock" on hand at the moment (except baking supplies), so we're eating what we're buying. This is a great chance to have a more realistic picture of what we are actually spending each month.
So far this month I have spent $165 on groceries. We will probably need some more dairy and some more produce, and I will place my monthly amazon.com and netrition.com orders...but we'll still be under $300 for the month for food. YAY!
This month we did it for just $80 and change. And here is what we got:
3.84# of Pollock
6.55# of chicken thighs
13.38# of pork (steaks, chops, country ribs)
11.87# of chuck roast, which I usually slice across and broil as steaks
We averaged $2.24/lb for our meat. Last year I would have been disappointed in anything over $2/lb but this year, considering many prices have almost doubled since last summer, I consider this excellent!
After rewrapping the meat for the freezer, I ended up with 8 chuck (my favorite cut!) steaks, 9 packages of pork, 5 packages of chicken, and 3 packages of fish. Easily a month's worth, considering we go out for our fish dinners once a week, and sometimes we have dishes that don't involve much meat...
Then I went to Sav-a-Lot to stock up on $70 of other stuff, like dairy, eggs, tuna, and other canned goods. I haven't shopped as much as usual this summer, so we'd use up all of the meats and veggies in our big freezer. I don't have my usual "stock" on hand at the moment (except baking supplies), so we're eating what we're buying. This is a great chance to have a more realistic picture of what we are actually spending each month.
So far this month I have spent $165 on groceries. We will probably need some more dairy and some more produce, and I will place my monthly amazon.com and netrition.com orders...but we'll still be under $300 for the month for food. YAY!
My Produce Haul - Yes, REALLY This Time! #lowcarb
So I uploaded a photo directly to this blog from my DroidX the other day, thinking that it posted...but I see that it didn't, so here it is again WITH the photo.
Just $15 and change...that's all I paid for ALL THIS yesterday! I also got more fresh produce today...more about today's shopping trip later, but isn't this just BEAUTIFUL??? I bought a lovely eggplant, a butternut squash, a spaghetti squash, 3 small sweet potatoes, 2 heads of iceburg lettuce, a MASSIVE cantaloupe, 4 big cukes, 2 big red onions, and 3 bananas. (only 1 shown - my grandson ate the other two!)
Doesn't it just make a wonderful picture?
Just $15 and change...that's all I paid for ALL THIS yesterday! I also got more fresh produce today...more about today's shopping trip later, but isn't this just BEAUTIFUL??? I bought a lovely eggplant, a butternut squash, a spaghetti squash, 3 small sweet potatoes, 2 heads of iceburg lettuce, a MASSIVE cantaloupe, 4 big cukes, 2 big red onions, and 3 bananas. (only 1 shown - my grandson ate the other two!)
Doesn't it just make a wonderful picture?
Thursday, September 8, 2011
A Deliciously Simple #Lowcarb Day!
Because we were saving up for our anniversary celebration trip I didn't do a big grocery shopping in August. Besides, if you've read my blog for long, you already know that I keep a good stock of foods on hand so that I can "shop" each day for whatever meals we are in the mood for - or have the time to make. At any given time I have a minimum of several weeks' worth of frozen meats and vegetables; once a month I fill in gaps in my stock and buy sale items to add, and several times a month I fill in with fresh produce and dairy.
So I didn't do a bigger monthly shopping in August, and didn't even do any smaller shopping trips the week before the trip. As a result we are getting low on our stock and have had to be very creative to make our meals until I get a chance to do a BIG shopping on Saturday...
I'm not into breakfast, as I've mentioned...but late mornings I start to get hungry. Today I had to really dig around to figure something out for a quick and easy meal for Pete and I. I ended up with some chicken breast strips (it is ALWAYS a great idea to keep a few pounds of chicken breast - bought on sale, cut into strips, roasted, and frozen - for last-minute meals!) and a bag of broccoli/cauli/carrots. I tossed those together with a partial bottle of salad dressing from the back corner of the bottom shelf of the fridge...in this case, a balsamic vinaigrette...and heated it all through. It was simple, quick, cheap, and delicious!
Suppertime I used a few "fabricated" black angus beef patties that had been in the freezer for a while, and fried those in a little olive oil on my griddle. I also sliced up our first tomato from our tomato plant (this is the first time we've grown anything, we just had a single tomato plant and are just now starting to get a few tomatoes) into 4 chunks, and threw those onto the griddle also. Then I made these - and they were AMAZING! Saved the whole meal, really. They don't have a chewy bready texture, but I thought they were rather like a cross between garlic breadsticks and crispy hash brown patties. Hard to describe, but absolutely delicious! They were easy, but not cheap at about $4 for the 6 sticks, so I'm not sure how often I will make them. But I was very pleasantly surprised!
And this evening I'm about to make one of my Lovely Loaf bread loaves, that I use for Pete's sandwiches for work. I rarely buy lunch meat because of all the junk in it, but Eckrich bologna was on sale for 59c/package a few weeks ago so I bought 4 packages, 3 are still in the freezer. Thankfully it's only 2 more days until I shop!
We can do this, we can make it through the day tomorrow, we will make it through Saturday! :)
So I didn't do a bigger monthly shopping in August, and didn't even do any smaller shopping trips the week before the trip. As a result we are getting low on our stock and have had to be very creative to make our meals until I get a chance to do a BIG shopping on Saturday...
I'm not into breakfast, as I've mentioned...but late mornings I start to get hungry. Today I had to really dig around to figure something out for a quick and easy meal for Pete and I. I ended up with some chicken breast strips (it is ALWAYS a great idea to keep a few pounds of chicken breast - bought on sale, cut into strips, roasted, and frozen - for last-minute meals!) and a bag of broccoli/cauli/carrots. I tossed those together with a partial bottle of salad dressing from the back corner of the bottom shelf of the fridge...in this case, a balsamic vinaigrette...and heated it all through. It was simple, quick, cheap, and delicious!
Suppertime I used a few "fabricated" black angus beef patties that had been in the freezer for a while, and fried those in a little olive oil on my griddle. I also sliced up our first tomato from our tomato plant (this is the first time we've grown anything, we just had a single tomato plant and are just now starting to get a few tomatoes) into 4 chunks, and threw those onto the griddle also. Then I made these - and they were AMAZING! Saved the whole meal, really. They don't have a chewy bready texture, but I thought they were rather like a cross between garlic breadsticks and crispy hash brown patties. Hard to describe, but absolutely delicious! They were easy, but not cheap at about $4 for the 6 sticks, so I'm not sure how often I will make them. But I was very pleasantly surprised!
And this evening I'm about to make one of my Lovely Loaf bread loaves, that I use for Pete's sandwiches for work. I rarely buy lunch meat because of all the junk in it, but Eckrich bologna was on sale for 59c/package a few weeks ago so I bought 4 packages, 3 are still in the freezer. Thankfully it's only 2 more days until I shop!
We can do this, we can make it through the day tomorrow, we will make it through Saturday! :)
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Yeah, it's been a month. I sort of took a week-by-week hiatus from blogging altogether. It was a busier month than I can recall in recent history, and anything internet-related (Facebook, email, blogging, games) had to take a back seat to real life.
I did well all month, made some really tasty dishes - and thought, "I need to blog this recipe!" but then of course real life took over again and I didn't...no worries, there are plenty more where those came from :). Then over Labor Day weekend my husband and I went to Marquette, MI for a few days to celebrate our anniversary. My meals in all of the restaurants ran the gamut from spinach salads to hamburgs and onion rings. The good thing was that the lovely motel where we stayed had a nice breakfast buffet, and every morning had real eggs, meat, and melon among the many offerings. We only ate one other meal each day, in the late afternoon, so that helped...but did have snacks in our room that definitely were not lowcarb. (I don't have a big sweet tooth but a bag of fritos turns my knees to jelly!)
So I'm up 7# and that'll take a couple of weeks of really low carb and really high fat to get back off - but it was worth it, and I don't feel badly about it at all. Plus I got a lot more exercise that I do at home, which was awesome because now I CAN do just about anything I want to do, compared to the last few years when I was so sick!
So things should settle back down again now, I've missed blogging (in all 3 of my blogs) and it feels GOOD!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
My Simple Method to Make EXTREMELY WONDERFUL Yogurt :) #lowcarb
I thought that I had already posted my "how I make yogurt" method here a while back, but I'm not finding it now. I just wrote it up as a comment on another blog though, so if you are interested you can read that HERE.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Low Carb Meals to Beat the Heat!
Here in northern lower Michigan, we can usually count the 90°+ days on our fingers without even having to get toes involved. But the last couple of years have had more than our fair share of heat, and cooking is the LAST thing I want to do in my hot mobile home that doesn't have air conditioning! The GREAT thing about summer, though, is that there is plenty of food available - very cheaply! - that we don't even have to cook! Cold dishes are easy and tasty, and you can mix them up with just a few pre-cooked (before the heat wave hits, or in the cool of the early mornings or late evenings) foods to create complete meals!
Here are a few of my own ideas in the hope that they will trigger your imagination! Adapt these as you will, this is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a jumping off point for your own creativity.
First, fill the fridge. Load up on raw veggies and dip, eggs, lunch meat/coldcuts (or whatever your diet allows), greens, cream, cheeses, berries, melon, torillas or wraps, pre-cut bagged cole slaw mix, etc. If it's cold, if it can be eaten without a standing at the counter doing a lot of prep work while your ankles swell, it's good! (A couple of other goodies I like to keep in the fridge are cottage cheese and yogurt, both of which mix with berries or top gelatin, as well as being good on their own.)
Second, prepare before the hot spell strikes, or pick an early-morning or late-evening that's a little cooler and commit to an hour of prep. During that time, hard-boil a couple dozen eggs, clean and wash your berries, slice and dice your veggies and melon, wrap some cream cheese with cold cuts, cook up some bacon, whip up some cream, mix your cole slaw, chop up a cooked rotisserie chicken or 2, clean, dry, and toss your greens & store them in a big zipper bag (or 2!), make up some SF gelatins, make up some tuna or chicken with mayo/celery/onion/pickes/whatever you use, and fill your ice cube trays. You will now be all set for your meals for several days!
With the above all ready to go, you can have some really great, filling meals! Here are some ideas:
- Chicken salad: peel, seed, and dice 2 cucumbers, half of a rotisserie chicken, 1/4 of an onion, and 2 HB eggs; toss with S&P, celery seed, mayo, and a short squirt of mustard
- Tuna unmelt: Flake 3 cans drained tuna into a bowl; add finely chopped onion and celery to taste; mix in 3T freshly-grated swiss cheese; toss with mayo. Serve in low carb wraps, or on a Sassy Sandwich Roll.
- Lay some greens on a Sassy Sandwich Roll, top with a scoop of tuna or chicken salad, and a slice of cheese.
- Toss chicken or tuna with your cole slaw, or apples (if your plan allows) and nuts, or cold cuts, chopped celery and mustard, or...? Cole slaw is a versatile starting point for several salad-type dishes, you can so many different things to it, and is also great to add with meats into wraps!
- Devil up some of those hard-boiled eggs. Just mash the yolks with mayo, a touch of mustard, S&P, and some onion powder. Then sprinkle with paprika and parsley for a festive look. Or fill your whites with your premade tuna or chicken salad and top with crumbled yolk! (You can use the rest of the yolks in other salads or add to the deviled eggs.)
- Use your greens, cold cuts, chicken, bacon, HB eggs, and veggies to make a Monster Salad on a big platter. Keep the salad bowls cold in the fridge so you can cool off and take care of your hunger at the same time.
- Serve your gelatin with berries and whipped cream as a snack or a dessert
- Toss together chopped raw cauli and broccoli florets, bacon, celery (or toasted walnuts!), and even an apple if your plan allows, and a dressing of mayo, cream, and your sweetener of choice - just enough so it doesn't taste mayonnaise-y.
- Toss together some cantaloupe, honeydew, and strawberries for a pretty summer salad.
Lastly, we are big coffee drinkers here, but iced coffee is easy and wonderful! Simply pour half a pot of cold coffee, 10 (or so) ice cubes, 1/2c cream, a couple tablespoons of your favorite SF syrup, and sweetener to taste to a blender. This makes enough for 6 servings for us, and stores for a day nicely in the fridge.
When it is hot out - and in! - I love to open my refrigerator door and see a slew of prepared dishes that I can just grab and serve - or eat on the spot. At suppertime, set out a combination of these dishes - such as your Monster Salad platter, a plate of deviled eggs, and some gelatin with berries and whipped cream - or a dish of chicken-cuke salad, some cream cheese roll-ups, and a bowl of melon-strawberry salad - and you can feast on summer's best, with very little effort! The whole point is to have a good stock on hand of cold foods, already prepared, that you can mix'n'match into various dishes for lunches, suppers, or snacks.
Here are a few of my own ideas in the hope that they will trigger your imagination! Adapt these as you will, this is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a jumping off point for your own creativity.
First, fill the fridge. Load up on raw veggies and dip, eggs, lunch meat/coldcuts (or whatever your diet allows), greens, cream, cheeses, berries, melon, torillas or wraps, pre-cut bagged cole slaw mix, etc. If it's cold, if it can be eaten without a standing at the counter doing a lot of prep work while your ankles swell, it's good! (A couple of other goodies I like to keep in the fridge are cottage cheese and yogurt, both of which mix with berries or top gelatin, as well as being good on their own.)
Second, prepare before the hot spell strikes, or pick an early-morning or late-evening that's a little cooler and commit to an hour of prep. During that time, hard-boil a couple dozen eggs, clean and wash your berries, slice and dice your veggies and melon, wrap some cream cheese with cold cuts, cook up some bacon, whip up some cream, mix your cole slaw, chop up a cooked rotisserie chicken or 2, clean, dry, and toss your greens & store them in a big zipper bag (or 2!), make up some SF gelatins, make up some tuna or chicken with mayo/celery/onion/pickes/whatever you use, and fill your ice cube trays. You will now be all set for your meals for several days!
With the above all ready to go, you can have some really great, filling meals! Here are some ideas:
- Chicken salad: peel, seed, and dice 2 cucumbers, half of a rotisserie chicken, 1/4 of an onion, and 2 HB eggs; toss with S&P, celery seed, mayo, and a short squirt of mustard
- Tuna unmelt: Flake 3 cans drained tuna into a bowl; add finely chopped onion and celery to taste; mix in 3T freshly-grated swiss cheese; toss with mayo. Serve in low carb wraps, or on a Sassy Sandwich Roll.
- Lay some greens on a Sassy Sandwich Roll, top with a scoop of tuna or chicken salad, and a slice of cheese.
- Toss chicken or tuna with your cole slaw, or apples (if your plan allows) and nuts, or cold cuts, chopped celery and mustard, or...? Cole slaw is a versatile starting point for several salad-type dishes, you can so many different things to it, and is also great to add with meats into wraps!
- Devil up some of those hard-boiled eggs. Just mash the yolks with mayo, a touch of mustard, S&P, and some onion powder. Then sprinkle with paprika and parsley for a festive look. Or fill your whites with your premade tuna or chicken salad and top with crumbled yolk! (You can use the rest of the yolks in other salads or add to the deviled eggs.)
- Use your greens, cold cuts, chicken, bacon, HB eggs, and veggies to make a Monster Salad on a big platter. Keep the salad bowls cold in the fridge so you can cool off and take care of your hunger at the same time.
- Serve your gelatin with berries and whipped cream as a snack or a dessert
- Toss together chopped raw cauli and broccoli florets, bacon, celery (or toasted walnuts!), and even an apple if your plan allows, and a dressing of mayo, cream, and your sweetener of choice - just enough so it doesn't taste mayonnaise-y.
- Toss together some cantaloupe, honeydew, and strawberries for a pretty summer salad.
Lastly, we are big coffee drinkers here, but iced coffee is easy and wonderful! Simply pour half a pot of cold coffee, 10 (or so) ice cubes, 1/2c cream, a couple tablespoons of your favorite SF syrup, and sweetener to taste to a blender. This makes enough for 6 servings for us, and stores for a day nicely in the fridge.
When it is hot out - and in! - I love to open my refrigerator door and see a slew of prepared dishes that I can just grab and serve - or eat on the spot. At suppertime, set out a combination of these dishes - such as your Monster Salad platter, a plate of deviled eggs, and some gelatin with berries and whipped cream - or a dish of chicken-cuke salad, some cream cheese roll-ups, and a bowl of melon-strawberry salad - and you can feast on summer's best, with very little effort! The whole point is to have a good stock on hand of cold foods, already prepared, that you can mix'n'match into various dishes for lunches, suppers, or snacks.
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