In an effort to make our grocery money go farther, we are having "Bean Week." First, some background. Leanne and I went to the West Side Food Bank and did their Food Value Club (you should check it out everyone can do it). The first time we did it, we each received 1 lb of dry pinto beans. I have never cooked a pound of dry pinto beans. So, I put them in the cupboard and tried to forget about them- you know fear of the unknown. Well, given my cookie dough adventure, I figured it was time to break out the beans; good, cheap protein; and put them to good use. I wanted to cook them all at once and use them before they went bad. So here's our menu for the week (which I plan on the weekends and shop for once, by the way).
Monday- Bean Burritos (think Chipotle if you can!)
Tuesday- Veggie Bean Burgers (this is my stretch one)
Wednesday- Chili (this is my easy one)
Thursday- Chicken Surprise (the beans will be pureed and added to this easy recipe)
Friday- Beans, rice and mild sausage (also acquired from the Food Value Club)
So, the moral of the story is: Don't come to the Long's house this week :)
Seriously though, if you want more details on the Food Value Club let me know. I'd like to say my food budget stretched super far this week, but Fry's is having a sale on some baby food items Emery loves so I spent the leftover money on that and stocked up. But, I did refuse to buy the cereal I planned on getting because it was $4.95 a box. That's CRAZY. Maybe you too will do your own "Fill in the blank" week. Let me know how it goes.
PS- God is good!! Our doorbell is broken so I won't know when more fundraising kids are coming to sell me something, unless they knock. And, we ARE NOT going to fix it right now! Just one of the many ways I see God's sense of humor in my life.
2 comments:
Hey - you can crock pot cook your dry beans overnight. Fill it 3/4 full of water and add the beans and they're constituted by morning! Also check out: http://frugalupstate.blogspot.com/2008/06/frugal-food-part-three-beans.html for a bunch of great bean recipes.
What do you mean "don't come to your house this week"? If I lived in AZ I would be stopping by. Sounds like you are being incredibly creative. In fact, I would love to have your recipe for the veggie burgers!
In our houe (even when we are not tight with money) we have cheap staples that we use all the time. We use these when we are tight on money. Funny thing is - most of the time these meals tend to be better than the most expensive meals that we eat.
Our staples that we have in the house at all times are:
Potatoes
Beans
Pasta (all types)
Rice
Flour
Sugar
And a few others.
We consider these cheap ingredients that we can make numerous meals out of.
One of the cheap meals we eat that I ask Jani to make all the time is Potato and Ham soup. Jani also makes a mean bean soup too. There isn't much you can't do with potatos and they are cheap - baked, fried, soup, etc.
As far as pasta and rice - well Jani can make just about anything tasty! I used to think that if you didn't have Ragu - then pasta was useless. Jani has shown me different!
I don't know if you are able to do this - but last fall I made a garden for Jani in the back yard. This is one of my best ideas. In the spring I planted about 15 tomato plants, bell peppers, green beans, cucumbers, herbs, squash, broccolli,lettuce, and spinach. This summer we have been blessed with more tomatoes than we know what to do with. Thankfully my family loves tomatoes. When the kids ask for a snack - we tell them to go to the garden with the salt shaker. But at any given night, Jani can take a couple of one dollar packages of pasta, and go out to the backyard and get basil, tomatoes, brocolli, peppers and we have a meal fit foir kings for only a couple of dollars. Of course, come wintertime we won't have that luxery!
I think it would be great if you started a blog called "poor people's meals". This would be a great benefit for all of the bloggers on your site. Not to mention we could all contribute with our recipes. With a family of 5, we are always looking for ways to make heathy and filling meals without spending an arm and a leg!
Have you ever watched the movie "Ratatouille"? Even though it is an animated film, it has a very good perspective. Even the cheapest meals can be a gourmet.
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