Back to School is Blowing my Budget
I know I’m not the only one guilty of just flying to the Chick-fil-A drive-through- especially since ordering on the app makes it soooooo easy omg. But let’s be honest, that can be a real budget killer. Here’s some things I’m doing to try and save my budget as well as my sanity to get better about cooking at home:
Fresh roasted veggies prepped ahead
Two pieces of squash: maybe 80 cents each? Cut them up, throw in some olive oil (I don’t know how much just enough to coat it… you won’t end up putting all of it on the pan), and my very favorite Unicorn salt. (If you are in Macon like me I get mine from Ingleside Village Marketplace – or you can go to their website here to find retailers). Place it in a plastic bag- be sure to label the date you did it if this isn’t for the next day! But now you’ve got something you can throw in a glass pan or cookie sheet to roast.
Crock Pot “Dump” Meals
I don’t love calling these dump meals but here we are… and that’s really what they are: meals that have not been pre-cooked but are put together in a bag and then the ingredients are dumped into the crock pot. Really if I can just find ways to dummy-proof my own un-diagnosed what I suspect is ADHD tendencies to get in my own head and not want to cook even though I know it’s healthier and cheaper and really probably shorter than the drive-through…. wait, what was I saying? Anyways… here’s some of my favorites:
Roasted Pork Tenderloin & Blackberry Jam & Rosemary
I don’t use measurements, sorry! But take a piece of pork tenderloin whatever size it should be to fit in a plastic freezer bag. Coat with about a 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar. I also add in enough blackberry jam or preserves to cover the whole thing. Throw in a spring of rosemary OR wait and do that fresh later.
If you want to use as pulled pork you can, which is what happened to me because I let it cook too long and it fell apart.
I also like to add vegetable broth so there’s some liquid in it while cooking.
Taco Chili – 5 Ingredients
My grandmother, who passed away a few years ago, gave me this 5 Ingredient Crock Pot book not long after my oldest was born. I have used this recipe from it over and over again since then- and he’s 15! You’ve got: ground beef (brown it), 2 cans diced tomatoes, 2 cans of corn, 1 pack of taco seasoning, and 2 can kidney beans. That’s it. Put all of that together in the freezer bag and done. Depending on the size of the crock pot I might only use one can of each. You can also add black beans, diced chilis, jalapeno. The choices are endless! You can also add shredded cheese and sour cream at the end.
I treasure this recipe because my grandmother did not have much to give us, but she gave from the heart. I love and miss her.
Ok so I feel like I’ve got a good handle on how much seasoning I need- but my daughter argues otherwise. I find that these Grilllicious wipes are helpful! They were kind enough to send me some to try out and honestly I had no expectations but they worked really well. I used mine with seared salmon. Doing this with my pre-cut and seasoned veggies cut down my prep time tremendously. *please do note that I have affiliate links here, and if you use them it’ll help me out!*
Also, if you’re in the market for a new Crock Pot- like I was- here’s a link to the one I just got! It’s fully programmable and works wonders.
Maybe now I’ll finally buy an air fryer….
UPDATE:
I’m adding my (well actually my mom’s) easy Ground Beef Veggie Soup recipe here:
Ground Beef
1 can of Margaret Holmes Tomatoes & Okra
1 Kroger package of frozen vegetable soup mix (the gumbo blend works as well)
1 can of vegetable soup
I know this is probably an odd list but I’m telling y’all- it makes the easiest bestest veggie beef soup EVER. I also like to add the Unicorn Salt here, too.
