Easy Week Night Dinner

I have thought about this a lot over the last many months.  I constantly hear that it is impossible to feed your family inexpensively and healthy.  I just don't agree.  The meals I make aren't fancy or complicated, but they are filling and healthy.  I generally don't eat meat, but if you do, it is easy to add small amounts to most of things I make.  I would love your comments and ideas.

Yummy Pineapple Rice with a side of leftover broccoli.  Very easy, low fat, and healthy.

2 cups of cooked brown rice
1/2 cup of pineapple tidbits
4 T of pineapple juice (saved from the can of tidbits)
a few T of soy sauce
green onion

Mix everything together.  Season with extra soy sauce.  I added a few drops of hot sauce to mine.  This makes 4 servings.  I made this for myself and ate the leftovers for lunch the next few days.  This is very inexpensive...maybe 25 cents a serving.  It would be good with a little shredded carrot added.  The broccoli was leftover from Sunday night.  Add another 25 cents for the broccoli.  You can have some of the leftover pineapple for an additional side, or save it for another day and have it as a side with the meal that day.  A very inexpensive, delicious, easy meal.  

Sunday Dinner

So, I'm trying to keep the cost of meals to approximately $1 a serving.  My own version of the Food Stamp Challenge.  Last night I boiled potatoes and them served them with butter and salt and pepper, heated up frozen broccoli, and made a lettuce salad with a few tomatoes, croutons I found in the pantry, and carrots and then drizzled on some bottled dressing.  Cost less than $1 a plate.  The meat eaters had roasted chicken thighs.  That added about another $1 per plate.  But still very reasonable.  It was delicious and pretty. There were potatoes and broccoli left over which I took for my lunch today.

Romaine lettuce - one bunch (3 to a package) approx. $.70
Other chopped vegetables and drizzle of bottled dressing.  $.30
Served 4 -- About a quarter a serving

Bag of frozen broccoli - approx. $1
Served 4 -- About a quarter a serving

Potatoes - approx $1
Served 4 -- About a quarter a servings

Big beautiful plate of food for about 75 cents.

Sunday Breakfast

I was craving a fast food breakfast this morning.  A McDonald's McGriddle sounded good for some reason.  I didn't want to go out of the house, so I decided to make one at home.  I now "fry" my bacon in the oven.  So I started by laying out the bacon on two cookie sheets lined with foil.  I popped them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  If you try this, keep an eye on them and when they are at the level of crispness you like, pull them out. Meanwhile, I made up the maple flavored pancake part of the  sandwich. 


Pancakes

1 cup Bisquick - (I'm sure you could make your own healthy version of the baking mix)
1 egg
1/4 cup maple flavored syrup 
1/4 cup milk

Mix all the ingredients.  Pour slightly less than a 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto a 300 degree griddle or hot skillet ( I used my cast iron skillet with about a tablespoon of oil added).  Flip when pancakes start to bubble.

Once done, butter each pancake.  You should get approximate 8 small pancakes.  In the same pan, I then fried the egg.  I broke the yoke in each one, and then flipped it and cooked the yoke a bit, so that it wouldn't break when bitten into.  Although, if you prefer, you could easily scramble the egg.  The fast food version also has a slice a cheese.  I left off the cheese when I assembled my sandwich of a slice of bacon broken in half and the egg between two of the pancakes.  It was delicious.  The cost?...I calculated each one to have cost about $.60 each.  Much cheaper than McDs.  The time?...about 20 minutes.  I bet you couldn't get through the drive-thru and home in that time.