Tamale Pie

I apologize for no pictures, for some reason blogger isn't uploading my pictures. :(

We are at the end of week two on my new budget rules, and things are going swimmingly.  The first weeks food total was $73.49, this week was $74.99.  I know its going to get a little tougher in a month from now, when a lot more of my staples start to need replacing, but I'm happy with my progress so far.

This week I purchased some meat.  Pork Carnitas to be exact.  Trader Joe's sells a nice little package of carnitas for $3.99 (I forgot to check the package, but guessing its a pound of meat).   This package of meat is great and simple.  Open it up, heat in the microwave a few minutes, then use two forks to shred the meat.  I turned this into 3 different meals this week.  All of these meals could have been completely vegetarian though, simply substitute the meat or just leave it out.

Monday: Breakfast Burritos.  A pack of flour tortillas, a couple scrambled eggs, some sauteed veggies and maybe a little soy cheese.  We add a little amount of carnitas with it to make it feel more like a dinner meal.

Tuesday: Taco Salad.  Some organic lettuce, 1/2 a can of organic black beans, carnitas, some more sauteed veggies, and a bag of unsalted tortilla chips for a base.

And Wednesday was our Tamale Pie.  This meal is $6.08 for 6 servings.  Pair it with some spanish rice, or a nice salad for a complete meal.

Tamale Pie
2 cups Masa flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 oz carnitas
1 cup black beans (rest of the beans from Tuesday's dinner!)
1/2 a 15oz can enchilada sauce
1/2 a 15oz can spinach

Heat the chicken broth to boiling, then remove from heat and add the masa flour, forming a dough.  In a casserole dish, lay half of the masa dough into the bottom.  Spread half the enchilada sauce on top of the masa, then layer your spinach, beans and carnitas.  Using your hands, make "masa patties" with the rest of the dough and arrange them as your top.  Spread the rest of your enchilada sauce as your topper.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake the tamale pie for 25 minutes.  Serve hot and enjoy.

Great Blog Post About Superfoods

I wanted to direct your attention over to Mission: Vegan for an excellent post on Superfoods in smoothies.  I use many of these ingredients for my own smoothies (and I love cacao on my oatmeal!).  I recognize that these products are not cheap, however, I think if you concentrate on buying one or two a month, you will find it easier.  The small amount needed for smoothies (or other things) will stretch the cost out for you.

So my favorite smoothie recipe?  Its a Mango-Strawberry Smoothie.  It comes to about $3.50 for about 18 oz of smoothie, which I share with my daughter.  On top of the goodness from coconut water and goji berries, it has a nice healthy dose of calcium (which those of us on a dairy free diet always appreciate).

1 cup coconut water
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp goji berries
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 a banana
2 large leafs of kale

Blend and enjoy!

Slightly New Direction and General Tsao Chicken

I am going to change my blogs focus, but only slightly.  Everything on here will still be dairy free recipes, and other allergen free when applicable.  However, in an effort to stay budget friendly, I'm going to be trying to make healthy, low-cost meals.  My hope is this will help others feeling the money crunch and help me organize the cheapest meals in my repertoire.

So the rules: my budget is $75 a week, or $300 a month.  I am only buying organic produce and meat.  I am only shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.  And finally, everything will still be dairy free (of course!).  A tall order I think, considering the high cost of organic and dairy free, but I aim to make it happen.  Now on to the food.

This was a veery simple dish, and pretty tasty.  I found the sauce at Trader Joe's: General Tsao Stir Fry Sauce.  It's tangy and slightly sweet, it went great over my battered fried chicken cubes.  I also sauteed some zucchini to mix in the sauce as well, with some green onion too.  Some plain white rice to put it on top of, and viola!  Here is our meal.

Price breakdown for 4 servings came to roughly $5.50 total or $1.47 each person.

General Tsao Chicken

2 chicken thighs or breast, cubed

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup corn starch

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 cup General Tsao Stir Fry Sauce

2 medium zucchini, sliced

1/2 cup chopped green onion

Oil to fry in (we prefer Safflower for frying)

2 cups cooked rice

Mix the flour, cornstarch, water, salt and egg to make a simple batter.  Coat chicken cubes in batter.  Heat up your frying oil.  When hot enough, fry chicken cubes.

Meanwhile, saute zucchini to just al dente.  Remove to large bowl, add cooked chicken and green onions.  Pour sauce over and stir to coat evenly.  Serve with rice and enjoy!