Recipes - or non-recipes

The one thing missing from my last post was recipes. But, the post was long enough already and I don't follow recipes a lot of the time - and by not including them I had another ready made post! Usually I'll start with a recipe and maybe follow it, or look up a few and mash them together.

For the sope base, since it was the first time and it's not so much a throw together recipe, I used this one (of course I picked my own fillings).
https://pinaenlacocina.com/2015/05/11/sopes-de-chorizo-con-papa-potato-and-mexican-chorizo-sopes/
Having never made them before, there was a bit of trial and error in making them (see the evolution pic in my last post). My only suggestion if you try to make them, you really do need to pinch the dough after the first cooking - like you're making the edge of a pie crust.

The queso fresco - which again is way easier than you would think - I used this one:
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/11/queso-fresco-easy-cheese-recipe.html
The recipe looks more difficult than it is - I heat it as directed but I just line a colander with a cotton dish towel and dump it in there (you can save the whey, but I haven't figured out what to do with it yet) and then squeeze out the liquid and add the salt. Since you're probably making something that involves beans, just put the can of bean on top of the cheese (on its side, on the outside of the towel) and let it compress the cheese for a bit. You'll know it's ready when it's crumbly.

And finally - the Shepherd's Pie - this was loosely based on this - and I do mean loosely:
https://www.homeandplate.com/blog/leftovers-cottage-pie

I used all butter (no olive oil) - about 2T, I didn't use mushrooms, I didn't have enough leftover carrots so I cut up another one and added it to the onions/butter so it would be soft.  I dumped in all my leftover cooking liquid/broth, probably ~2 cups (which is why it didn't look quite as pretty when it was done cooking) and added frozen peas. I also don't think I used as much beef as the recipe. And...I didn't have leftover potatoes, so I cooked 3 (4?) potatoes and
mashed them with just enough milk/butter to be spreadable. I also made it the night before and then heated it up for dinner. I baked it at 325 so it wouldn't get overly brown before it was heated through. And I didn't use any cheese.

Yesterday I didn't do much cooking - I took down all the Christmas decorations. 😔Breakfast was an easy poached eggs on toast, blackberries and a Cutie. Lunch was a baked potato and dinner was sopita (https://practicalfamily.org/recipe/sopita-mexican-shells-cheese/). If you know me, you know I love Spaghettio's. This is basically Spaghettio's with cumin! 💞

Today I made breakfast tacos, and since I'm talking about budget, I calculated the cost - .68 for two breakfast tacos! Lunch was leftover sopita and dinner was bean and cheese tamales from the freezer with "cheater" enchilada sauce (https://www.budgetbytes.com/red-enchilada-sauce/).

I'm still working on this week's menu....

It's my annual "I'm going to work on this blog!" 😂 It's not that I don't want or intend to keep it up - but life happens. Warning - loooooong post!

This year, the snow has been helping a lot and I've been doing a lot of cooking and experimenting (because I'm stuck at home but also for other reasons). I had planned on taking on the pantry clean out this month to save money (more on that later) and make some pantry room. But, I had to cut out wheat, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, and artificial sweetener for a while (randomly occurring, known stomach issue). Since I have a lot of wheat based things in my pantry, that wasn't going to work too well.

The first few days of eating this way, I just put random things that sounded good together to make sure it was going to fix my stomach unhappiness - it did. So then I started trying to meal plan around the restrictions.

As I mentioned above, saving money was a big part of this. I'm fortunate and make a decent living so this is more of a personal challenge than a necessary one. But, seeing three months of retirement plan contributions wiped out at the end of the year - and not wanting to work until I'm 80 - I wanted to work on saving more money and grocery shopping/eating out was a fairly easy place I could cut.

Snow

I started the "elimination diet" the evening of Monday (the 7th). The first meal planning I got my act together for was Friday - the beginning of the snow storm - so when I got home I had a nice roast with potatoes and carrots waiting for me.

Evolution of sopes

On Saturday, while I was getting snowed in with nearly 16 inches of snow - I made some meal plans. Anytime I make roast I usually have roast beef hash for breakfast. I also frequently skip lunch on weekends and have an early dinner. This week it was sopes. Sopes are thick corn tortilla "bowls" usually filled with beans (I had leftovers in the freezer) and other tasty things - I used shredded beef, avocados, a little cheese (more later), and a little sour cream. By this point, I had also decided to try a little dairy and since I had almost a whole half gallon of milk I didn't want to waste, I made queso fresco. It's easier than you think! For my first try, I think they came out okay. Sunday was a lazy day of leftovers as leftovers.

Sope

Monday I had to take my foster cat across town for a vet appt and stopped at the store on my way home - the roads were nice and clear and there was no one out! I had been craving ribs and even though it was a hit to my grocery budget, I bought them, cole slaw mix and baked beans. (I figured out the cost of the ribs/meal at the end of the week and it was 1.85...so I thought it was a splurge and yet not really). Dinner was ribs, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw. Also on Monday, I pre-made a Shepherd's Pie to bake when I got home Tuesday (where the mashed potatoes to have with ribs came from!). Then it was back to work on Tuesday - oh, did I forgot to mention Monday was a snowday?

Shephard's Pie - precooking 

BBQ Tacos

Tuesday lunch was leftover ribs, beans and coleslaw. Tuesday night I made delicious, but messy, Shephard's Pie. By Wednesday I was trying to get creative with leftovers and made BBQ tacos; baked beans, rib meat, coleslaw, bbq sauce and queso fresco on a corn tortilla. It was tasty!

One night this week I has a tortilla pizza (yum!) and lunches were leftover Shephard's pie and another round of BBQ tacos. Breakfasts have been overnight oats, egg salad with a few crackers, and smoothies. I was lucky that my stores had bananas on sale (.29/lb) and chocolate, PB, banana smoothies (now made with almond milk) are one of my favorites. I have also stock piled blackberries (.68/package!) and some pineapple (.88/each). What I couldn't use, I have frozen for weeks when nothing is on sale.

Anyone that has bought almond/coconut milk knows that is costs more than regular milk so that - along with the corn tortillas I "needed" - cut into my food budget a lot. Which means I only have $18 left for the month! 😮

But, I have a lot of leftovers and food I didn't mention - potatoes, 2lb bag of carrots, 40 oz package of chicken things (2.99 special!), a little bit of roast, two servings of ribs (because I really stretched them with the tacos), and all my pantry/freezer items. Not to mention I have barely touched my "eating out budget" ($3 of $25) so I can always reallocate that. So, I will keep you updated on the rest of the month - while I wait out this weekend's blizzard conditions. 😔