Organic & Thrifty

This week’s thrifty menu from New Seasons is packed with such flavor that you’ll never believe it’s vegan! Full of veggies and GAPS-friendly ingredients but light on the budget, you can enjoy this simple meal on a Friday or Saturday night!

For this recipe, you’ll save lots of money by making your beans from “scratch”, meaning that you purchase them dry (at $0.10 per ounce, it’s a true bargain!) and effortlessly cook them in your slow cooker. Keep reading for the recipe.

This recipe for refried beans makes 15 servings, which for my family is about 4 meal’s worth. These can be made into burritos and frozen for a quick, convenient meal-on-the-go. I tweaked the recipe slightly, but the link below will lead you to the instructions on how to make this!

The Ingredients:

Refried Beans:

1 onion, peeled and halved ($0.25 when purchased in bulk from Costco)
3 cups Western Family navy beans, rinsed ($0.50 for 3 cups)
1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped ($0.25)
2 tablespoons minced garlic ($0.35)
5 teaspoons salt ($0.03)
1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper ($0.02)
3 teaspoons ground cumin ($0.36)
3 teaspoons chili powder ($0.33)
1 teaspoons oregano ($0.26)
9 cups water

Total Cost for Refried Beans (15 servings, mind you!) $2.10

5-Layer Dip

3 cups refried navy beans ($0.70)
1/2 lb roma tomatoes (diced) ($1.00)
1 avocado*($2.50) mashed, seasoned with salt, pepper, and juice of 1 lemon ($0.60)
1/4 bunch of cilantro ($0.30)
1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped ($0.25)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped ($0.13 when purchased at Costco)

Directions:

Spread the warmed refried beans in the bottom of an 8 x 12 casserole. Next, cover with diced tomatoes, then onions, then cilantro and jalapeno. Cover with mashed avocado. Serve with sliced carrots, for dipping ($0.25) or if you can tolerate them, Blue Corn Chips ($1.00 for 1 meal’s worth).

Total Cost for Meal (carrots only): $5.72 (with chips): $6.72

*Why that expensive avocado? Is it really worth it?

Yeah, that avocado really pops out to me as uber-expensive, making the meal a little more costly than without. Nutritionally,however, the avocado is an important component when fasting because it supplies lots and lots of good fats, taking the place of dairy in a traditional dip. If you really want to save money, you can get the avocado elsewhere (Grocery Outlet has them for $0.80!) which would make the meal legitimately under $5.00!

For more bargain meals at a local store near you, visit $5 Dinners!

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