You know yesterday I had the realization that I have been eating like total and utter crap lately. My tummy is bulging, I'm tired, I'm short of breath and I look pregnant (fortunately for me, when I gain weight its all in my tummy area).So I started to think about how I could start eating better but still maintain my budget. Jeff certainly won't eat well. He doesn't like "rabbit" food. And with a $60.00 a week budget for 4 people, I have to buy the cheap cuts of everything to make the money stretch.
Well tonight, I made a great soup. I mean a GREAT soup. Totally from scratch. And it is good for me too! Chicken Tortilla soup. Well a variation of it using what I had on hand. I haven't gone grocery shopping since the Sunday after Thanksgiving so I'm trying to make whatever we have stretch until I get a chance to go again.
Also, I wanted to have some tortilla with the soup but I used the last of my tortillas Saturday to make the girls some chimichangas for lunch. So I made some. Yep, made some from scratch. To top it all off, I have some "baked" oatmeal going in the crock pot for tomorrow morning. If I have breakfast on hand, then I won't be tempted to stop at Burger King and take advantage of their dollar breakfast menu tomorrow.
I don't know why I'm so proud. Many people make their meals from scratch everyday. Its just not done so much in the Western world I guess. We can go to the store and buy soup in a can and tortillas in a plastic bag. But there is just something satisfying about making something yourself from scratch.
Now I'm tired. But its a good tired. I cleaned my kitchen, made a great dinner and I still have some oomph left to make a pumpkin pie tonight and some rice krispies treats. Jeff needs snacks for work or he will buy some.
Oh and sorry for the pic. I'm no Pioneer Woman when it comes to picture taking.
Oh my. I just had to update. I just put away the "baked" oatmeal and of course I had to taste it to make sure that it wasn't poisoned. :) It was SOOOO yummy! This recipe is a MUST TRY! Its so easy and its definitely something that you can eat on the go in the car. When you break it into portions some of it crumbles and you can use that over yogurt. Oh my. Its so good! I know that tomorrow morning my girls are just going to love it.
Its easier for me to just feed them in the car when we drive up to drop Jeff off at work. It makes my morning less harried.
Oh and this recipe is cheap cheap cheap. I already had everything I needed in the fridge or pantry. Yep, I keep flax meal on hand. You mix it all in the crock pot and then forget about it for 4 hours. Mine took 4 hours though the recipe says 3-5. I would recommend though letting it cool completely before you break it off into portions so it stays together more and doesn't crumble as much.. I was to excited to wait. It would have been a good idea to put the entire crock insert into the fridge and just break it into portions tomorrow morning. But I was impatient. Oh well, it still tastes yummy.
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2 comments:
This is awesome, Kristi! I want to accelerate the crock pot to the top of my Christmas wish list now. Tortillas from scratch too - wow :). I am also a total nut case about healthy (and cheap!) home cooking. My boyfriend is a vegetarian, so I have the opposite task as you - finding interesting ways to prepare "rabbit food" hehe. I like whole wheat thin crust pizza with low fat cheese and tons of veggies on top. Or taco salad with black beans (minus the chips for those of us counting calories!). These recipes always make eating veggies delicious and tolerable. Maybe you can trick Jeff into liking some veggies ;).
Amy, I have so many great vegetarian recipes that I can forward you. I have recipes for vegan cookies and brownies and some moms on my moms board have posted stuff like vegan pumpkin pie made with tofu and fettucine alfredo with tofu.
I love the blog that the oatmeal recipe came from. Shes AWESOME! She has some great vegetarian recipes on there too. I am dying to try her indian curry recipe with her spinach side dish.
For me I usually have to hide things in the food. I pureed the veggies in the soup. I think it tastes better that way and then my picky eaters don't know that they are eating something good for them. ;)
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