Low Carb & Lenten Main Dish Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:
organic lettuce or baby greens (sales and coupons abound for these, more about this tomorrow!)  ($0.50)
1/2 cup of non-starchy veggie (cucumbers, bell peppers, red onions, whatever you want!)  ($0.25)
1/2 an avocado, cubed   ($0.50)
1/2 cup of olives              ($0.50)
1/4 cup of sunflower seeds or chopped nuts   ($0.10)
1/4 cup of cooked, tiny bay shrimp    ($0.50)
1/4 cup of cooked navy beans, cooked from dry             ($0.25)
1-2 TBS of lacto-fermented vegetables (pictured here is my “PurpleKraut”).   ($0.25)
1 TBS of homemade balsamic vinaigrette (optional, see recipe below)   ($0.50)

Layer all ingredients in order listed above in a salad bowl. Toss to coat.  This is surprisingly filling and delicious!

Total Cost: $3.35

Balsamic Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, smashed (optional)
1 TBS flaxseed oil

Mix all ingredients together.

This post has been a part of Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and $5 Dinner Challenge!

So this post is meant to inspire those who think a healthy, low-carb, gluten-free, nourishing meal costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time.   This meal had all of the health in none of the time and hardly any cost.

I estimate that this is basically a $5.00 dinner because I took an $8.00 roast and split it in half. I plan to use the rest of the meat at the end of the week for “barbecue beef”.  I probably used a little over a dollar’s worth of produce; a few handfuls of arugula for a side salad, a burdock root and a few carrots, some onions, celery, and assorted spices. 

On the salad I plopped some herbed chevre (a deal at Grocery Outlet) and a few Cajun walnuts that were part of a homemade gift basket.  I added some coleslaw leftovers (a deliciously simple blend of sliced apples, red onions, green cabbage, homemade mayo, and a touch of pomegranate vinegar) which thankfully keep for a while in the fridge!

The roasted veggies were simply burdock root (think parsnip) and carrots cut into small cubes, tossed with dried thyme, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  This could have been added to the pot roast, but I wanted a more crisp-tender flavor, so I threw them in during the afternoon.  If you needed advanced prep, consider cutting all the veggies and mixing the herbs/spices in advance and so they would be ready to throw in right when you get home.  I convection-roasted them for about 30 minutes, turning them every 10 minutes or so.  They turned out deliciously crispy on the outside, tender on the inside!

The roast was a spur-of-the-moment creation based on what I had on hand, which I threw into the crockpot in the morning:

 1) I sliced two onions and covered the base of the crockpot with the onions.

2) I added the rump roast, to which I had inserted about 8 peeled garlic cloves into random slits I made with my knife.

3) I generously covered the roast with dried basil, 21-seasoning mix from Costco, dried leeks, sea salt, and pepper.

4) On top of all that, I drizzled pomegranate molasses (something I got in a gift basket last year). I’m told that this is a great stand-in for Worcheshire sauce. 

5) Over the whole thing, I poured about a cup of homemade beef broth.

6) I cooked it on low for about 8 hours, and after 7 hours I shredded the meet with a fork, added about 8 sticks of celery and let it cook another hour.

Afterthoughts:

This made the entire house smell like heaven today. The kids devoured their meat and my son loved the roasted veggies (my daughter needs to avoid starch, and thankfully she naturally does!).  My daughter did eat an arugula salad, which kind of shocked me!  There are plenty of leftovers with this meal and I plan to take the pan juices (with all the onions/leeks/garlic flavors) and blend them up with some tomato paste, pomegranate molasses, dijon mustard, and a hint of chipotle powder to make a BBQ sauce to serve on the leftovers Saturday night.

I must say, this meal is grain-free, low-glycemic (as long as you go easy on the roasted veggies, keep them to 15% of your meal), nourishing and not too spendy!  And I promise when you eat this way, you start to go longer between meals, not needing snacks for 4-5 hours (seriously) and feeling satisfied for longer periods of time.  Ultimately, that saves money in the long run!

This post is being shared with the good folks at “Tempt my Tummy Tuesday“.

Subscription update:  I am in the process of getting automatic, normal subscription options on this blog. Until then, if you’d like to receive old-fashioned e-mail updates, send me a note at carrie [at] organicthrifty [dot] com.

As promised, I’m declaring the entire month of January a “Fridge and Pantry Cleanout” month whereby every meal will be formulated from stuff I have on hand in the fridge, freezer, other freezer, storage shed, or pantry.  I just finished my proposed menu plan for the week, and I’ve gotta say, I think I’m going to be able to easily make it through the month of January (possibly February too) easily without buying much of anything.

My rules for No-Spend January are:

1) Use everything I have on hand to create all of our meal plans.

2) No going out to eat (unless we have a gift card, or it’s our anniversary—January 13th).

3) There is a $10 spending allowance per week for fresh produce, household items, and eggs. Oh, and maybe organic cream. The husband can’t live without that!  But since we have a winter CSA and a good stockpile of household items (I make lots of cleaners and stuff) we should really only be spending our weekly money on eggs & cream.  Alas, I do not yet have a hen or a cow :( 

4) Post a “before and after” picture of the meal I created, the recipe, and approximate cost breakdown (if appropriate) and how the family liked it.

5) All meals contain real food and are grain-free and have a macro-nutrient ratio of 30/30/40 (protein/fat/unrefined carbs).

So today, I started out by building a meal around something that’s been hanging around the depths of my fridge for about a year and a half. Back in fall 2008, a friend and I went to a local orchard to pick plums for $.80/lb.  I picked a lot of plums.  I dehydrated many of them, ate a lot fresh, and experimented with lacto-fermentation for about 2-3 quarts of them.  Well, I have to be honest that after lacto-fermenting them, they lost all appeal for me. I just wasn’t interested in trying them! But they’ve been on my conscience for several months now, and it was finally time to use them.

I also had a nice pack of organic, free-range Trader Joe’s drumsticks in the freezer (the dear daughter’s absolute favorite) and I thought I would build on the “Asian plum chicken theme”.  It turned out that my trusty Better Homes & Gardens cookbook had a recipe that was easily adaptable.

Plum Chicken with Cabbage
serves 8

1 package of 6 organic, free-range chicken drumsticks ($4.35)
1 onion, sliced into rings ($0.25)
2 cups of pitted, lacto-fermented (or canned) plums ($0.20)
1/8 cup of unpasteurized nama shoyu (aka soy sauce) ($0.25)
4 garlic cloves ($0.10)
1 ” piece of fresh ginger ($0.05)
1-2 Tablespoons of raw honey ($0.25)
1/2 tsp five spice powder ($0.05)
2 cups of shredded savoy cabbage ($0.50)
1 cup chopped celery ($0.25)
lacto-fermented ginger carrots, for garnish ($0.25)

Total : ~$6.50

For this meal only: $3.25

In a 6 quart crock pot, place the sliced onions.  Top with the drumsticks (mine were frozen). Meanwhile, in blender, blend the plums, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and five spice powder.  Pour over the chicken.  Cook for about 6 hours on low (or at least that’s what I did).  Add shredded cabbage and celery and cook for 30 minutes until veggies are slightly tender but not completely limp.  Serve with lacto-fermented ginger carrots and pass the hoisin sauce (we happened to have a little left from a long time ago that was still good).

The Outcome:

Very good! My 4 year old gobbled up the chicken but ignored the cabbage. We had a friend who cleaned his plate and enjoyed it, and I thought it was a very tasty, refreshing meal (as did my husband). And, I have two large pyrex bowls leftover, which will provide for two more meals for us this next week. So overall, I would say $6.50 for 3 meals makes this meal officially a “$5.00 dinner”, even with using organic, free-range chicken. This would have tasted great sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and scallions (which I didn’t have).  The chicken is really flavorful and falls right off the bone, which makes it easy to “stretch” the chicken further.  My daughter was the only one who insisted on having her own drumstick.

Leftover suggestions: Wrap with a lettuce leaf for Asian-inspired lettuce wraps, add to chicken broth for an Asian-inspired chicken soup.

Some thoughts: For a family of 4 plus 1 male guest, this meal made plenty with leftovers.  I think it’s so nice and satisfying to know that you can use high quality, organic ingredients and eat a filling, grain-free, low carb meal!  The dark meat of the drumsticks has more fat (which is a good thing; it will fill you up!) and also contains more minerals. It’s also the thriftiest part of an organic, free-range chicken to buy. This meal would obviously be way cheaper with conventional chicken, but knowing what I know about how these chickens are raised, I prefer organic. I figure that the extra money I pay is providing more nutrients (organic, free-range meat has more omega-3s than conventional and more nutrients as well) which means that ultimately I’m eating less calories to consume the nutrients I need. 

Thus concludes Day One of the Fridge and Pantry Cleanout. Join me tomorrow as I piece together another meal from the “fragments”…I press on until I can reach all the way into the back of my fridge, freezer, pantry, and storage shed!

If you’d like to “subscribe” to this blog, I have a ghetto way of doing it: You e-mail me: carrie [at] organicthrifty [dot] com and ask me to add you to my subscription list. You’ll get an e-mail whenever a new post is up. Or you can follow on twitter! 

Also: Do you have any delicious, filling ways of cooking Butternut Squash or Pumpkin that are Grain-Free? I have enough in storage to last me till kingdom come and need some inspiration!  E-mail me (see above) if you have any ideas!

One of the things we miss most being grain-free is good old spaghetti.  Being of Italian origin, this depravation really hits home.  Fortunately, I’ve found some frugal, low-carb, nutrient-dense ways of enjoying all of my favorite Italian-themed pasta meals without all of the starchy, carby, low-nutrient pasta!

In the wintertime, my solution is easy: Bake a spaghetti squash, peal out the “innards” and top it with all the Mediterranean goodness I can find.  But since I try to eat local and seasonal, I need a summer-version and since zucchini abounds (nearly everyone I know who has a garden is looking to unload a few of the big puppies onto friends, so buddy up with a gardener and I’ll bet you can get one or two for free!), I have found a very enjoyable way to eat spaghetti!

Even though Mark beat me to the punch by posting his version last week, I am not copy-cat blogging because what I am sharing is my own original version (although ours are practically the same, but do check out his post to fill in any gaps!).  And just for the record, I started this post a few days before he posted!

To make the noodles:

Figure about a pound of zucchini for 3/4 a pound of noodles.  Two medium-large (not the baseball-bat sized) zucchini worked perfectly for our family of four.

1) I use this absolutely amazing little gadget from The Pampered Chef (and no, I don’t sell it, so free advertising for them, although I might have to start….) that is the best $7.50 ever spent:

This peeler effortlessly takes zucchini and beautifully shreds it into delicate, angel hairlike pasta. I like to just peel the zucchini on until I get to the seeds, then I flip it over and shred the opposite side until I hit seeds, and then flip the zuke over 90 degrees and repeat until all the usable flesh has been shredded.  I tend not to try to shred the middle part with the seeds as it really doesn’t work well.  You could just use a knife to cut the middle if you wanted, I have done that and it works.

2) Once you have pealed your desired amount of pasta, salt it with about 1/2 tsp. of sea salt and let the noodles sit for at least 30 min, more if you have time.

3) After the allotted time, throw your noodles in a tea towel and gently wring them so as to release the water. This is so that your noodles don’t turn to mush.

4) You can actually enjoy the noodles raw after they’ve been salted and drained; this would provide the most “al dente” texture.  The noodles also taste great when “flash sauteed” in about 1 Tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (scroll down on the page for Chaffin Family Orchards; they’re awesome!) for just about 3-5 minutes in order just to tenderize them without loosing shape or flavor.

5) Serve as a base for traditional meat/marinara sauce, alfredo sauce, or stir-fried meat and veggies.  

6) My kids LOVE these, by the way. They are so tender and easy to eat, just like angel-hair pasta. 

Total Price for the Noodles: $0.75 (at a local farm stand for 2 zucchini) 

Easy, Nourishing Meat Sauce
This simple meat sauce combines mineral-rich bone broth with simply tomato paste, garlic, and herbs. I sometimes add a chopped carrot or two because my vitamix can easily handle it and that just adds to the veggie load.  I love this recipe with lots of fresh basil. Add as much or as little grass-fed meat as your budget allows; a little can go a long way, especially if you hide a little sneaky liver or heart in to make it stretch.

1 can of organic tomato paste ($0.50 at Grocery Outlet)
2 cups of homemade chicken stock ($0.50 by my estimation) more to thin, if needed
2-4 cloves of garlic (depending upon your taste) ($0.20)
1/2-1 lb. of organic, free-range beef (depending upon your budget) $2.50/half pound
1 onion, chopped ($0.25)
1-2 TBS Italian Herb Seasonings OR 2 Handfuls of fresh garden Herbs (such as basil, oregano, thyme) (free from my garden)

1) Brown the beef and the onion in a large saute pan.

2) Meanwhile, in a blender (I use my Vitamix and it’s awesome!), blend the tomato paste, chicken stock, garlic, and herbs.  Adjust seasonings to taste.

3) Once the meat has browned, add the sauce and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.

4) Serve atop zucchini spaghetti and garnish with a little raw parmesan cheese, if desired.

Total Cost for the Dish: $4.70 (We also included a “free green salad” from the garden, but I could hardly eat much of it as this meal was so filling in and of itself!)

Health Notes:

This meal is an optimal nutritional meal as it is mostly plant-based, with good, mineral rich stock and nutrient-dense grass-fed beef included.  The herbs add medicinal value and flavor without added calories, and the garlic has a host of benefits as well, including anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.  This meal is very filling because of the richness of the nutrients, yet is relatively low in calories. The same meal, served over wheat or rice pasta would clock in 3 times the amount of carbs! Zucchini is also an alkalizing vegetable, which balances out the acid of the tomato paste and the meat.  Since grains are also acid-forming, the “traditional” version of this meal would carry a strong acid load.

I hope you’ll try this simple, nourishing recipe and see for yourself that low-carb, nutrient-dense, “paleo” meals are not only affordable, but rich in nutrients that your body needs!

This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet.

This week, Kimi, over at The Nourishing Gourmet (a beautiful blog, so inspirational!) is hosting her weekly Pennywise Platter Round-Up and I’m excited to jump in and share a thrifty recipe that is nourishing and “paleo”.  So often, we think of “beans and rice” when we consider frugal foods, but does thrifty necessarily mean high-carbs?  My mission, here at Organic and Thrifty, is to prove otherwise!!!!

This delicious meal combines a thrifty and nutritious staple vegetable, green cabbage, with pork jowl bacon, a rather odd (but extremely frugal) cut of meat found in my local grocery store, WinCo.  The entire meal cost way under $5.00, and was devoured by my husband and two children. 

I chose to use pork jowl bacon at the recommendation of my massage therapist whose intense research into the human body has lead him to the conclusion that Westerners are all hopelessly devoid of collagen in their diet.  As a devout Weston Price “follower”, my LMT knows that animal fat and protein is important, but we Westerners tend to avoid the organs, tendons, and cartilage of the meat….you know, the “grizzle”.  Though not necessarily pleasing to the palate, these parts contain lots of collagen which is crucial for the body’s repair of muscles and ligaments.  While beyond the scope of this post, I do want to devote an upcoming post to the importance and benefits of collagen in the diet.

After the collagen pep talk, I decided to seek out sources and I was pleasently surprised to find abundant options at my local WinCo (which has a multi-enthnic customer base, so carries a variety of interesting meat choices that most typical chain grocery stores don’t carry).  It turns out that Pork Jowl Bacon is very high in collagen and is a pleasant way to consume it! (I’m not quite brave enough for pig’s feet!)

Pork Jowl Bacon does not come sliced, so it’s easy to cube, which is what I did for this recipe. It has a taste and texture like that of a ham steak, yet with more of a bacon “kick”. It’s hard to explain, but if you think “ham” it should go down just fine. At any rate, it pairs perfectly with cabbage.  Here’s what I did:

Sauteed Cabbage with Pork Jowl Bacon
(Makes 4 Servings)

1 Tablespoon each of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Butter ($0.30 for both)
2 cups diced pork jowl bacon ($1.50 at Winco)
1/2 medium yellow onion ($0.15)
1/2 medium head of cabbage (about 4-5 cups), shredded (approx. $0.75)
1/4 cup of homemade chicken broth (less than $0.10)
2 teaspoons dried, crumbled sage (free from garden, or negligible if bought in bulk)
2 teaspoons dried, dulse flakes ($0.60)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1) Melt butter and olive oil in a cast iron or stainless steel saute pan.

2) Add diced pork jowl bacon and saute for 10 minutes over medium heat.

3) Add the shredded cabbage and onion cook until limp, but still “crunchy” looking.

4) Add the chicken broth and cover the pan to steam-cook for about 5-7 minutes until completely soft.

5) Add sage and dulse, sea salt, and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.

 This meal is truly thrifty in so many ways. It costs a total of $3.40 for 4 people (there was not a lick of the dinner left in the pot!!!), but the great thing about it is that the nourishing fat from the pork and butter, paired with the calcium-rich broth and the vitamin-rich cabbage satiated me for the rest of the evening.  This meal is also very quick to prepare. In fact, for those paleo-types out there who are not adverse to such things, it would make a fabulous breakfast!

I hope you’ll try the pork jowl bacon and let me know what you think. For the price, you can’t beat it! 

Join me and head over to Kimi’s Pennywise Platter Thursday and check out the other like-minded folks who are stretching their dollars with nutrient-dense food!

This recipe is surprisingly simple to make in the slow cooker. It took about 10 minutes to prepare and 8 hours to cook. Combined with favorite taco toppings and safely tucked into an appropriate tortilla, your loved ones will never know they’re eating tongue!
I know this looks like a total turnoff, but believe me, it’s good! This is 1 beef tongue, covered with water and 1 onion, sliced. There is also one bay leaf floating around in there. There are also 6 cloves of crushed garlic. I added about 1 TBS of cumin to the recipe because I felt it needed a little bit more “kick”. I also added a strip of kelp (kombu), even though the recipe called for salt to taste. I simply covered and turned on the crock pot and forgot about it. Then 8 hours later, I found this:

Still not the most appetizing, but oodles of delicious, gelatinous broth along with some tasty shredded beef await!

Remove the tongue. Cut away and discard the outer covering. Shred the beef with a fork or cut into little cubes. Top with your favorite taco condiments:

The verdict? Two thumbs up! My children devoured this dish, and my husband enjoyed his “hidden” in a rice tortilla! The leftovers cooked up wonderfully, refried in lard, with a splash of fresh-squeezed orange juice and chili spices.

The price breakdown is as follows:

Tongue $1.75 (this is 1/3 of the tongue, plenty for 4)
1 Onion $0.25
1 Bay Leaf $0.02
6 Cloves Garlic $0.10
1 TBS Cumin $0.10
1 Roma Tomato $0.50
1 Serrano Pepper $0.10
Shredded Cheese $1.00 (this is the raw, organic stuff,cheaper otherwise)
Romaine Lettuce $0.25
1 Lime $0.30
4 Scallions $0.50

Total: $4.87

For more frugal and healthy meal ideas, visit $5 Dinners!