Sub $100, Two week meal plan 4/16 – 4/29

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Well, I haven’t really posted here in ages, and recently, my menu and grocery list came up within a few different groups of folks I see on the regular. I decided to share what I do and will link up recipes as I get them going this week.

For me, this is a win-win. I have been meaning to get back at this whole blog thing for a while, and I like the idea of encouraging folks to eat real food instead of crap we all seem to eat these days.    I’ll make an effort to keep things delicious, nutritious, and not too pretentious.

Below is my shopping list and menu for the next two weeks. My only real goal was to reduce the amount of red meat 🍖,  refined grains 🍞🥯🥞, and processed sugar 🍫🍬 I consume. Also, I wanted to stay under $100 for the two weeks.

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Shopping list

• 10 Bananas (fresh)
• 2 Lemons (fresh)
• 2 pkgs spring mix salad (purchase 1 each week to guarantee freahness)
• 3lbs bag cutie mandarin Oranges 
• Baker potatoes
• 1x 15 oz container of ricotta (cold)
• 2x 1lbs ground beef
• 1x 48 oz bag private select triple berry blend (frozen)
• 1x 12 oz pkg Kroger Wild caught boneless skinless pacific cod (frozen)
• 1x 12 oz pkg chopped frozen spinach
• 1 pkg Joseph’s Lavash flat breads (dry)
• 1x 6 oz jar artichoke hearts (dry)
• 1x 12 oz can evaporated milk (dry)
• 1x 16 oz pkg quinoa (if you’ve got rice use rice) (dry)
• 1x pkg corn tortillas (dry)
• 1x can green enchilada sauce (dry)
• 2x suddenly salad pasta salad mix (dry)
• 1x Deli rotisserie chicken (deli)
• 1x rack of precooked ribs (deli)

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MENU – will repeat for both weeks

Sunday

• Breakfast – Oatmeal w/ brown sugar and cinnamon
• Dinner – Loco Moco w/ side salad

Monday

• Breakfast – banana berry Smoothie
• Dinner – Cod Florentine

Tuesday

• Breakfast – banana berry Smoothie
• Dinner – Chicken Enchiladas

Wednesday

• Breakfast – banana berry Smoothie
• Dinner – Ribs w/ Pasta Salad

Thursday

• Breakfast – banana berry Smoothie
• Dinner – Chicken Quinoa bowl

Friday

• Breakfast – banana berry Smoothie
• Dinner – Ricotta artichoke flat bread topped with salad greens & balsamic drizzle.

Saturday

• Breakfast – Oatmeal w/ brown sugar and cinnamon
• Dinner – loaded baked potato w/ side salad.

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Southwest Chopped Salad

Load it up into a foil pan for easy transport

I’m always making chopped salads of one kind or another, and the one today is a favorite of mine. Its all Veggie, Super filling, and insanely easy to whip up in no time flat. I like to do a big salad like this on Mondays and the house eats on it for lunches for a few days. I also like to make this one for pot lucks and other event like it because it takes no time and is always well received. If you are looking for a tasty, easy meatless option for your meals give this a go.

The Ingredients:

2 Romaine hearts, Chopped

1 cup black beans, Drain and Rinse

1/2 cup frozen corn, Defrosted

1 Tomato, Diced

Sweet peppers, Sliced

1 handful of cilantro, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

The Instructions:

• Slice, chop, or otherwise go Swedish Chef on your veggies

  • Layer them as you see fit, top with corn kernels and black beans.
  • Dress the salad as you like and enjoy.
  • If you want greater contrast of texture add in some tortilla chips slightly crushed up or those pre-made Salad tortilla crouton things you see in the dressing aisle of you local grocery store.

• Layer them as you see fit, top with corn kernels and black beans.
• Dress the salad as you like and enjoy.
• If you want greater contrast of texture add in some tortilla chips slightly crushed up or those pre-made Salad tortilla crouton things you see in the dressing aisle of you local grocery store.

Ramen at home, a general overview.

I know most people hear ramen and they think…

I do not, I think of a Chinese noodle dish that made its way to many other Asian nations and taste freaking delicious. First off you pick whatever you are going to be putting into your soup, and yes ramen is a soup, I have seen people just eat the noodles and if that’s your thing cool, but its not my thing.  Prepare your Ramen Eggs and get some water boiling.

The Ingredients:
Ramen or somen noodles
Veggies chopped to bite size (I had asparagus, Matchstick carrots, Sweet peas, and some random greens)
Broth (Homemade if at all possible)
You Ramen Shop Eggs
Tsp seasame oil

The instructions :
Get your broth going first, the longer it has to steep and do its thing the tastier it will be. I use a boxed chicken broth and add green onion, ginger, garlic and soy sauce to get the flavor I like.  I have used veggie broth and it works quite nicely too.

While that’s doing its thing, chop any veg that needs chopping, set them aside.  Next cook off any meat you will be using, if you will be using meat, in my case I used two boneless skinless chicken thighs, I seasoned them with salt and pepper and cooked them in a dry pan.  The thighs have some fat on them so I don’t usually add anything to them, the pan will lube its self as they cook.  While the meat is cooking get your water for your noodles boiling, I find starting the water in an electric kettle and transferring it to the pan saves a bunch of time.  Once the meat is cooked through set it on a cutting board and slice it into strips.

From this point things go really quick.  Toss your noodles in the water, fresh should cook in a few minutes, dry in about 5. Get a big bowl read and waiting to serve all that noodley goodness in

Once the noodles are done to your liking place them at the bottom of the bowl and toss with a little sesame oil. Guys i do mean little, sesame oils goes a long long way with only a few drops. Begin layering in all the goodness. When they are all in top off with your broth and drop in a Ramen Shop Egg or two. You are ready to dine or some fine ramen.

5 Minute Bread Dough

Prep time: 5 minutes

Bake time: 40 minutes

Total time: variable

Entry number two in the Broke Ass baking series.

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts”

-James Beard

There is nothing better than some crusty bread fresh from the oven.

The Ingredients:

• 6 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 3 cups water (80° to 100°)
• 1 Tblsp Kosher Salt
• A Splash of Olive Oil

The Method:

Pour water, salt, and oil into large container.

Stir to until salt is dissolved .

Stir in 6 1/2 cups of flour.

Stir ingredients until a wet dough forms, do not bother kneading gluten will form in time.

Let dough sit at room temperature for 1 hour to 5 hours until it had risen and begun to deflate.

Put the dough in the fridge and make use of as you see fit.

Making Bread

• Open dough container take out a fist sized ball.
• Roll in to a ball and place on either a peel with corn meal on it or with a sheet of parchment paper on it.
• Cut dough either in decorative or traditional ways.
• Pre heat oven to 400° with a baking stone approx 6 inches from the top of the oven.
• While preheating place a broiler pan in to heat up.
• Let dough do a second rise for about 30 minutes or until it has about doubled in sized.
• Slide dough ball on to baking stone and pour a cup of water in to the roasting pan. (You have just made a steam oven… of sorts.)
• Bake until crust is browned to your liking and firm to the touch. About 30 minutes.
• Lastly if you have the spiritual fortitude to do so, let the bread cool to room temp before eating, you crumb will be better and this the texture.

Final Thoughts:

When it’s all said and done this dough can be used in many different applications honestly I mostly use it for pizza and calzones during the week. But it makes great crusty bread that goes with most dinners.

If you are wondering what the strange plastic container is, it’s an old red vines container cleaned and repurposed. I’m a big fan of repurpising containers to reside plastic waste and because it’s way cheaper than buying a container.

2 Ingredient Ice Cream.

This is quickly becoming a household favorite,  it tastes like old fashion ice cream but requires less effort or specialized equipment. Just five minutes of work and 6 hours of Self control (ok so it isn’t all easy).

After you make the base mix the flavors are endless. My personal favorite is rocky road loaded with mini chocolate chips, slivered almonds, and mini marshmallows. I’ll detail a few of my favorites at the end.

Two Ingredient Ice Cream

The ingredients:
16 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
7 oz Sweetend Condensed Milk (1/2 a can)
2 Tblsp Vanilla Extract.

The Instructions:
Mix together the Sweetend Condensed Milk and Vanilla extract and set aside. In a seperat bowl whip your cream using your stand mixer or hand mixer until it holds its form when you lift out your beater.  I believe they are called stiff peaks.  Once your Whipping Cream is at the stiff peak stage fold the Condensed Milk mixture into the whipped cream until an even consistency is reached. At this point you are done with a vanilla ice cream, but you could fold, swirl, or layer  in other goodies to create something even better. Lastly set the ice cream by freezing for 6 hours or over night.

Mix ins:
Chopped up candy bars
Crushed cookies
Nuts
Flavor extracts
Chocolate chips
Chopped up fruit
Cream cheese

A few ideas…

Cookies and Cream:
Add crushed Oreos to Vanilla base

Strawberry cheese cake:
Layer 1/3 vanilla base, crashed graham cracker, chopped Strawberries,and whipped room temp cream cheese then repeat ending with a vanilla base top.

Chocolate ice cream
Just mix 3-6 tblsp cocoa powder into Condensed Milk mixture and follow instructions as above

Rocky Road:
Make chocolate ice cream and mix in sliced almonds, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows.

Sauced: Tzatziki (Greek yogurt and cucumber sauce)

Tzatziki (Yogurt and cucumber sauce)

So I love me some Mediterranean and Middle Eastern foods. All those herbs and spices
Pack an awesome punch of flavor without adding a ton of salt. Incidentally I’m trying to take in 500-1500mg of sodium daily, if I can.

I will use this on grilled meats of all types, beef, lamb, chicken, or fish, it is delicious.

The Ingredients:
*2 cups plain whole milk yogurt or 1 cup Middle Eastern-style plain yogurt
*1 medium cucumber, peeled, halved, and seeded
*2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus a pinch
*1/2 clove garlic
*1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
*1 teaspoon lemon juice
*1/2 teaspoon dried dill

The Instructions:
If you’re using plain whole milk yogurt, line a small sieve with a coffee filter. Put the yogurt in it, set it over a bowl, and refrigerate 12 hours. Discard the expressed liquid and put yogurt in the bowl.

Grate the cucumber on the large holes of a box grater into another bowl. Sprinkle with the 2 teaspoons salt and rub into the cucumber with your hands. Set aside 20 minutes, then squeeze the cucumbers to express as much liquid as possible.

Smash the garlic, sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt, and, with the flat side of a large knife, mash and smear the mixture to a coarse paste. Stir the cucumber, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and dill into the yogurt. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Yield: 1 1/4 cups

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Sauced: Garlic Yogurt Sauce

When I make anything grilled with a Mediterranean or Middle Eastern flare I like to make this sauce with it.   It’s the perfect mix of savory, sweet, cooling and warming.  It goes great with any kind of Kebab, just splash it on to a pita with some arugula, tomato, and thin sliced red onion and you are ready to go.

Garlic Yogurt Sauce

The Ingredients:
*3 Clovers Garlic, chopped
*1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
*1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
*1/2 a lemon, juiced
*Fresh Cracked Pepper

The Instructions:
Mash garlic to a paste with salt using a mortar and pestle (or mince and mash with a heavy knife). Stir together garlic paste, yogurt, and lemon juice.

Yields: 1 Cup

Prep time: 5 minutes

“Paella”

When I was younger I got a chance to go to Spain. What I remember the most was the food and the architecture. The food most of all, and of all of it the paella was the best! So much fresh seafood available off the Mediterranean. Is this recipe authentic 🤔? Nope. Is it a fair approximation that is tasty? Heck Yeah!
The Ingredients:

• Arborio Rice( in a pinch you could use regular old long grain rice)
• Chicken Thighs, Bone in/Skin on
• Frozen peas, 8 oz
• Red Bell Pepper, sliced into strips.
• Shrimp (U15 or Colossal)
• 4 Cloves Garlic, Chopped (depending on how you like it)
• Olive oil, 1/4 cup
• 2 Lemons, wedged
• Saffron, like 2 sprigs.
• Spanish onion, medium chopped
• Paprika
• Bay leaf
• Chicken stock
• Parsley
• Dried red pepper flakes
• Spanish chorizo

The Process:
In a medium bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons olive oil, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper.

Stir in chicken pieces to coat. Cover, and refrigerate.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet or paella pan over medium heat.

Add Spanish chorizo and onion then cook to render the fat and soften onion.

Stir in garlic, red pepper flakes, and rice.

Cook, stirring to coat rice with flavorful oil, about 3 minutes.

Stir in saffron threads, bay leaf, parsley, and chicken stock.

Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium low.

Simmer 20 minutes
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a separate skillet over medium heat.

Place in the marinated chicken and cook 5 minutes.

Stir in bell pepper and cook 5 minutes.

Stir in shrimp allow to cook, turning the shrimp, until both sides are pink.

Sprinkle peas over the top and allow to cook through.

Serve family style from the pan.

And of course the hardest step, pop open a bottle of Red, or make a Clarita and enjoy with friends.

Chile Colorado (Red Chili)

One of my all time favorite Mexican dishes is Chile Colorado or red chili. It is usually beef in a delicious red cause made of peppers, onions, and spices. I find it to be best served with some pinto beans (Homemade), and a warm (Preferably Fresh) Tortilla.

The Ingredients:

• 3.5 Lbs Chuck roast (you could use stew meat for this)
• 1 bag of dried New Mexico Chilies
• 1.5 cups Beef Broth
• 1 Red onion, Sliced thin (not pictured)
• 2-4 Tblsp Cumin
• 2 Tblsp Mexican Oregano
• 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 2 Tblsp Paprika

The Method:

First up is the beef, you will need to cube up your roast into uniform pieces.and begin to fry off the meat in about a tablespoon of oil. you will want to do this in batches to make sure you brown all sides of the meat, and don’t stew it in its own juices instead.

Chop chop

Once the meat is fried off you will transfer it to a crock pot with 2 cups of beef broth, to cook for approximately 8 hours or until it is fork tender. Mean while you can start you red sauce, for this you’ll need to boil some water, I use an electric kettle myself (way faster).

Clean your dried chilies by wiping them down with a paper towel and then de-seeding them. Place a pot on the stove and boil your water in it. dump in you thinly sliced onions, and dried chilies. boil for a few minutes or until the chilies and onions are soft. once the chilies and onions have done their cooking, its time to blend them down, toss all the solid ingredients into a food processor and blend them down as smooth as you can. Don’t worry it will never be perfectly smooth, there are other steps to get you to that point.

Onion chili paste

Once you’ve got your mixture blended as much as you can, pour it through a fine mesh sieve to get out any seeds or skin that remain. next carefully pour the boiling liquid through the sieve to get out any particles. re-combine the chili puree and boiling liquid and place back on the stove and reduce. set this aside as it is ready and awaiting some delicious slow cooked beef.

When your beef has reached that folk tender stage of existence its time to finish this all up. First return the chili sauce to the stove to heat up, next and this is optional but I think it make better flavor, pour all the cooking liquid from the crock pot into the chili and reduce again (lots of flavor concentrated in there now), finally add the sauce to the meat in the crock pot and you are all set.

Cook time: 8 to 10 hours

Serves: 8-10

The Down and Dirty:

Don’t have all those ingredients? Fine, the down a dirty solution is to toss some stew meat in to a instant pot with some beef broth, maybe add an onion in there. Once the meat is cooked and tender add in a can of red enchilada sauce and a slurry of cornstarch and water. Let the sauce thicken a bit and you are ready to go. This isn’t nearly as awesome, but it gets the job done

Crock Pot Kalua Pork

I loves me some pork, that said I really loves me some Hawaiian food. With their powers combined I am… well not Captain Planet, that distinction goes to Don Cheadle 😉 . I’m just really satisfied.

Crock Pot Kalua Pork

The ingredients:
1 pork roast
2 Tblsp Kosher salt or Pink salt
2 Tblsp Liquid smoke (whatever flavor you like)
2 Tblsp apple cider vinegar.

The method:
Pierce pork all over with a fork or knife. Combine liquid smoke and salt. Rub mixture over meat. Toss your roast into the crock and if possible let your pork hang out in the fridge for an hour or two to really let the brine do its thing. Place roast in a slow cooker.

Cover, and cook on low for 10 to 15 hours fat cap up so that lovely fat melts into the meat. Turn once during cooking time, my recommendation is to do so later in the cooking time 14 hrs or so.

Remove meat from slow cooker and shred.
Serve with some potato mac or slaw.

Obviously I went slaw since I had cabbage leftover from making okonomiyaki the other day.

Cook time:10 to 15 hours

Serves: 8-10