Today's Cheapskate Meal: Chipotle Pork Tacos

The sliced pork loin marinates briefly in a mixture of lime zest, lime juice, oregano, chipotle in adobo (sauce only), salt, and garlic.

I cooked up some sliced white onion then removed them from the pan.  The sliced pork loin cooks super quickly, then the onions rejoin it in the pan. 

I'm serving it on rice instead of in tortillas.  Rice is soooo much cheaper than a pack of tortillas.  I gave a thought to trying to make tortillas myself today, but I didn't think seriously enough about it to actually work up the effort it would take.  Maybe next time.  These tacos are on the menu again next week, so maybe I'll give it a shot then.  This stay-at-home vacation is the perfect time to try making tortillas.  Maybe you'll see a "cheapskate meal" post in the next week or so all about homemade tortillas.  If you don't, you can assume that either I didn't try to make them or that I did and they totally flopped!

See the original recipe for this delicious meal from ourbestbites here.

Here's the breakdown of what we had tonight:

Chipotle Pork Tacos

1 lb. pork loin or chops, sliced thin ($2.00)

zest and juice of one lime ($.33)

1/2 tsp. dry oregano ($.03)

1 tsp. brown sugar ($.03)

chipotle in adobo ($.18)**

2 tsp. minced garlic ($.15)

1/4 tsp. salt ($.00)

3 tsp. olive oil ($.08)

1 c. chopped onion ($.21)

2 c. rice ($.17)***

sour cream ($.50)

Shredded cheese ($1)

Total cost: $4.18, plus the cost of tomatoes and ranch served alongside.  So, maybe around $6?

**I used just about 1 Tbsp. of sauce from the can of chipotle in adobo.  Our family doesn't want much heat at all, so I go easy on it.  The original recipe calls for 2 tsp - 1 1/2 Tbsp, depending on the amount of heat desired.  The peppers themselves contain more heat than the sauce.

***The original recipe calls for corn tortillas.  I saved at least $2 by substituting rice.

In a bowl, combine the pork, lime juice and zest, oregano, garlic, salt, and chipotle in adobo.  Set aside. 

Saute chopped onions in a bit of olive oil, about 4 minutes.  Set aside.

Add a little more oil to the pan, then saute the pork until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. (See, the recipe goes together QUICKLY!)

Add onions to the pork and allow to cook together and get all happy.

Serve on tortillas (or rice) with sour cream and chopped cilantro. 

I like to add shredded cheese to mine.  Salsa isn't necessary and would be insulting to the spicy pork, I think. 

Shredded lettuce, diced tomato, diced avocado, etc., wouldn't be amiss, either but would add to the price bottom line.

Today's Cheapskate Meal: Dinner Rolls

Dinner rolls during the first rise.

Uniform dinner rolls during the second rise.  The recipe made 80 rolls weighing an average of 25 grams each.

Dinner rolls just after they came out of the oven.  They're beautiful.

This recipe comes from the website http://www.onceamonthmom.com/.  It is designed to be frozen part of the way through the procedure then thawed at some later date.  The batch makes so many that you could totally do that. I could easily see making sets of 20 of these little beauties.  However, I don't have the number of smaller baking dishes needed to freeze these.  Plus, now I have plenty of excuse to eat delicious carbs over the next couple of days.

These rolls have a slightly pretzel-y flavor that I can't explain.  If I were more like Alton Brown I might know why they have that distinct taste.  Since I'm not more like Alton Brown, I'll just remain ignorant and enjoy the pretzel-y-ness. 

These rolls have very normal rise times.  Being slow in the kitchen, though, I - of course - have to find a way to make them take longer than necessary.  I'm obsessive about uniform rolls so I weigh them out on my digital scale to get them to weigh the same.  I weighed in grams and made rolls that were 24-27 grams each.  I ended up with one roll that was 36 grams.  I made two 18 gram rolls out of it and didn't notice a bit of difference when we ate them tonight.

  I made this recipe at Thanksgiving and it was the one failure of the day.  I think I made them too large, and that caused them to not cook through in the middle.  These smaller rolls, though, were perfectly done.

I am planning to make potato soup for lunch tomorrow, and these will go great alongside.

Dinner Rolls

2 cups warm milk  $.47

1/2 c. melted butter $.63

1/2 c. sugar $.17

2 1/4 tsp. yeast $.12

4 1/2 c. flour $.16

1/2 tsp. baking powder $.03

1 tsp. baking soda $.03

1/2 tsp. salt $.00

Combine warm milk, melted butter, and sugar.  Stir until the sugar is dissolve, then add the yeast.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  The yeast should be bubbly.  (I assemble my bread doughs a little differently.  I add the yeast to the milk and butter and let stand for 10 minutes.  Then I add the sugar and stir until dissoved.) 

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Pour the milk/butter/sugar/yeast mixture over the dry ingredients.  Mix very well.

Place bowl in a warm place, cover, and let rise for about an hour.

After the rise is complete, punch down, and divide into two sections.  Roll dough into golf-ball sized rolls and place in a greased 9x13 pan. (I used a 9x13 and a 9x9. I also didn't divide the dough into two sections; I just weighed it out.)  Cover and allow to rise until double. 

About half way through the rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the rolls for 12-15 minutes. (I started at 12, then reset the timer for another 3 minutes when they were still very raw looking.  After that 3 minutes, they still didn't look quite done, so I let them go another 3 minutes.  That gives me a total of 18 minutes.)

Upon removing rolls from the oven, rub with cold butter.  (I also like to sprinkle them with a tiny bit of salt.)

Enjoy as soon as you can touch them without blistering your fingers.

The total cost of these rolls is $1.61.  These will last several meals.

Today's Frugal Meal: Caldereta with Pork

Either my camera is on a weird setting or my kitchen lighting is funky.  I promise this dish is not so completely orange. 
Last Christmas, one of my students and her parents prepared a Filipino meal for us as a Christmas gift.  It was incredible.  They made us lumpia; we love lumpia.  And they made us caldereta.  I'd never had caldereta before.  I'd never HEARD of caldereta before.  We loved it! So much so, as a matter of fact, that I asked the mom of that student to share the recipe.  Today is the second time I have made this dish.  The first time I tried it, it was a hit, which is a good thing since I was being very daring and cooking it when we were having company. 
The recipe calls for mixed vegetables to be added in, but I just didn't want to. 
Tonight I made linguine noodles to serve under the stew.  I also made some rolls which will show up in another post, probably later this evening.

Pork Caldereta

2 lb. pork loin, diced ( I used just 1 pound for our family.) $2.00
1 Tbsp. olive oil $.10
4 cups of water, divided $.00
1 pkg. Mama Sita's caldereta mix, available at Asian food stores (I used only half the packet for our little family.  I didn't want the stew to be too spicy, and I wanted to minimize the amount of MSG I used.) $.60
3-4 medium potatoes $.99
2 c. frozen vegetables (peas, mixed veggies, etc.) $.99
1 Tbsp. cornstarch $.10

In a large skillet, brown diced pork in olive oil.  When browned, add 2 cups of water and caldereta mix.  Bring to light boil, then allow to simmer for several minutes.
Meanwhile, peel and dice potatoes.  Add potatoes and vegetables to the pork. (I added an extra cup of water at this point.  I didn't feel like I had enough to cook the potatoes through.)  Allow to cook until the potatoes are tender.  (I let it go 10 minutes.) 
Mix cornstarch with 2 cups of cold water.  Pour into pork and potato mixture.  Bring back to a boil for a minute, then reduce heat and let simmer.  (The whole cornstarch and extra water step is optional but is very appropriate to dilute the spicyness of the dish.  Even with using only half the caldereta mix, I still did this step.)
Serve with rice or noodles.
The total cost for this meal is $5.18, including the cost of half a box of linguine.  I only spent $4.19 since I left the veggies out tonight.  Add to that the cost of the dinner rolls I made ($1.61 for the whole batch; we used 1/3 of that batch, or $.54 worth.), and tonight's dinner cost us $4.73.

Today's Cheapskate Meal: Black Bean Tomato Soup

That's right, just two measly slices of bacon.  You'll be able to taste it in every bite.

Hmm.  Kinda doesn't look so good at this point.  I'm telling you, though, less than 15 minutes after this moment: bliss in the form of creamy black beany soup.

I've stumbled upon a new-to-me cooking blog - http://www.deliciousmeliscious.com/ - and have saved about half of her recipes to my favorites.  I've got a long list of new recipes to try.  It will easily take me into the spring to try all of the dishes that appeal to me.  I've tried two recipes already: mongolian beef, which was a HUGE hit at our house, and this black bean tomato soup.  The kids weren't a big fan of the soup, but they don't seem to care for black beans much. (crazy kids)  My husband is very easy to please, but he did make some happy sounds as he ate the soup.  (maybe he tasted the bacon)

I'm pathetically slow in the kitchen - although I really do think I'm getting faster the more I cook - but this recipe didn't take too long at all.  In fact, I made this soup, pao de queijo, rice, and moroccan beef (in case the soup didn't go over well) all at the same time.  I wish I had one of those fancy blenders, like a vitamix or a ninja.  Oh, well, my old food processor did the job well enough, even though I did wonder if the soup could be even smoother. 

Black Bean Tomato Soup

2 center-cut bacon slices (I used the thick slices I like so much.)

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/4 c. chopped celery (I left this out since I didn't have any celery.  I didn't miss it.)

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed

1 (14.5 oz) organic no-salt-added diced tomatoes (I used the non-organic, salty, whole stewed tomatoes because that's what I had on hand.  Since everything was pureed in the food processor, I don't figure it made a whole lot of difference.)

1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth

Cook up the two slices of bacon then remove it from the pan.  Allow it to cool, then crumble it and set aside.  Drain some fat, if necessary, so that there is just a trace left.  (I didn't have to drain at all.)  Add in the chopped onion and celery.  Cook for 5 minutes or until the celery is cooked through.  Stir in cumin, chili powder, garlic, and pepper; cook for 1 minute.  Add in beans, tomatoes, broth, and crumbled bacon.  Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.  Ladle half the soup into the bowl of your food processor or the carafe of your fancy blender.  Process or blend until smooth, leaving the lid open but covered with a cloth to let steam escape.  Remove blended soup to a bowl and repeat process with the rest of the soup. 

Serve soup with sour cream.  (The recipe on deliciousmeliscious gives guidelines for making a lime-cilantro cream.  My hubby doesn't care at all for cilantro, so I didn't bother with this.)

I served it over rice, with the sour cream and a tiny sprinkle of cheddar cheese.  It was really good, fairly healthy (would be more so without the bacon, but I couldn't do without the bacon!), and filling. 

I'll definitely make it again.  Two successful meals from this blog make it a winner in my book, and I can't wait to try another recipe!



Today's Cheapskate Meal: Pao de Queijo

Oh, these rolls!  They're AmAzInG!  They really aren't cheapskate-y, except for the fact that they are part of a meal that is oh-so-much-cheaper than eating at a restaurant.  I made these rolls to go alongside creamy black bean tomato soup.  The un-cheapskate-y part of them is the tapioca flour.  I paid $5.50 for a bag that will only make about 4 batches. 
Once again, I called upon a recipe from my favorite cooking blog, http://www.ourbestbites.com/.  I have wanted to make these rolls for, like, infinity, but couldn't because I couldn't find the tapioca flour that is a must-have.  I finally stumbled upon it this morning, so I couldn't let the day go by without giving them a try.  Sara of ourbestbites suggests sprinkling rosemary on top.  I put a pinch of dried rosemary into the batter instead.  Other than that, I pretty much did exactly what the recipe said to do.  Oh, with one more exception: I used mild cheddar instead of sharp because that's what I have.
For Sara's great backstory and lots more fabulous recipes, be sure to check out http://www.ourbestbites.com/.

Pao de Queijo

1 large egg $.16
1/2 c. milk $.12
1/4 c. oil $.06
1 c. tapioca flour  $1.38
1/2 tsp. salt $0
1/4 c. cheddar cheese  $.22
1/4 c. parmesan cheese $.12

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put egg, milk, oil, flour, and salt into your blender or food processor.  Blend until smooth.
Add cheeses and pulse a couple of times until combined.  (This is when I added the rosemary, too.)
Pour into greased muffin tins, filling 3/4 full or a little less. (Sara says this gets her 16-20 muffins.  I only got 9.  Maybe she uses mini muffin tins?)  Sprinkle with a little extra parmesan and/or salt.  Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes. (15 was perfect for me.) Try one as soon as it's cool enough to handle, and serve the rest while they're still warm.  (They don't reheat well, according to Sara, so don't waste time with this!)
Total cost for this side dish: $2.06, or $.23 per roll.

Today's Frugal Meal: Homemade Barbeque Pizza

This picture does not do this pizza justice.  It's HUGE.  It's delicious.  It's saucy and cheesy.  I'm getting hungry all over again just looking at the picture!
I used a wonderful dough recipe, one I regularly use for pizza dough as well as for breadsticks.  I topped the beautiful pizza with a tub of barbeque pork in sauce and a couple of handsful of shredded mozzarella cheese.  I baked the crust for about 10 minutes, added the toppings, then baked again for 10 or so minutes.  I turned on the broiler for about half a minute to try to get the cheese a bit crispy, but it didn't work like I had hoped.  I must have just not let it go long enough in my fear that it would burn. 
The key to this amazing pizza is the crust.  I use the recipe and method I learned on http://www.ourbestbites.com/.  I rarely ever deviate from this recipe at all, with one exception that I'll mention in the recipe directions below.

Pizza Crust (Or Breadsticks)
from http://www.ourbestbites.com/

1 1/2 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 1/2 c. flour

In a large bowl, combine the water, sugar, and yeast. Allow to bloom for about 10 minutes.  (Here's what I do differently: I only combine the water and yeast.  After the 10 minutes, I stir the sugar in.) 
Stir in the salt.
Add in 2 cups of flour and stir until well combined.  Then add flour little by little (up to a total of 4 1/2 c.) until the dough is soft and elastic. 
Spray a bowl with non-stick cooking spray, put dough in the bowl, and cover with a damp towel.  Allow to rise for about 45 minutes. 
Punch down and roll into a circle.  (For last night's pizza, I put the whole dough into the cast iron skillet and pressed it out.  Next time, I will only use half the dough because it got realllllllly big.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt.  Use a pastry brush to spread seasoned oil all the way to the edge.  Prick with a fork several times.  Allow to rise for a few minutes, while the oven preheats to 425.
Bake at 425 for about 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and top.  Return to oven for another 10-12 minutes.
Enjoy the giantness that is your pizza.

Weekly Menu, Week of 12/5

Ah, December!  What a busy month!  I've tried to plan out a few weeks in advance, even though I know full well that plans will change, and I'll end up doing something out of the plan somewhere along the way.  Oh, well, it's important to me to at least start the month feeling organized!

Here's what I'm planning for us to eat this week.

Monday: Chili and frozen garlic bread
Tuesday: Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf and noodles
Wednesday: Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Thursday: Hamburger Helper
Friday: Not-sagna pasta toss
Saturday: (Lunch) birthday party
               (Dinner) Sausage-Tortellini soup and breadsticks
Sunday:  (Lunch) Pot roast and rice
              (Dinner) Barbecue Pork Pizza using this crust

A couple of weeks ago I had a menu that I realized was really Asian inspired, though I didn't realize it until I typed out my meal plan here.  This week, I realize that our menu is really heavy on red meat.  But that's what we have, so that's what we're eatin'.

Look What I Made!: Stretchy Flower Headbands

I am so excited about the success of this little project.  I am so NOT crafty it's scary, so the fact that I was able to assemble anything at ALL is a minor miracle.  Not only was I able to get through this project, but I also completed the project in just a few minutes.

Almost everything I bought was 50% off at Hobby Lobby.  I bought 2 single-stemmed flowers for $1.67 total.  The stretchy headbands were $.99 each, and the pearls in the center cost $1.49 for 105.  I bought a package of alligator clips for $1.99 for 25.  The only things that weren't 50% off were the glue gun and glue sticks I bought, at a total cost of $12.98.  The cost for each headband was $1.96, plus the cost of the glue gun and glue sticks.  And really, I probably completed both in just 15 minutes.  I prepped myself thoroughly by reading through this blog post and assembling all my materials before beginning.  I cannot get over how easy it was!  I hope I remember to post pictures of my little girls wearing Mommy's handiwork tomorrow! 

Weekly Menu, Week of 11/21

Wow, another week already!  I am feeling my freedom slip away, as this week is my last week of maternity leave.  This time next week, I'll be teaching language to my second class of beloved sixth graders. 
Last week's menu was such a blessing; I loved having a game plan for each day.  I will say that, on a couple of days, I changed my mind and made something else.  That's acceptable, right?  I mean, this is a menu PLAN, not a menu "commandment", after all.
Here's this week's plan:

Monday: Sausage Tortellini soup and breadsticks
Tuesday: baked chicken and garlic noodles
Wednesday: chili and garlic bread
Thursday: Thanksgiving feast!
Friday: Not-sagna pasta toss and garlic bread
Saturday:
Sunday: Chicken and Dumplings (Sunday dinner)
             Summer sausage fried rice (after evening church service)

I'm purposely leaving Saturday undone.  I want to see where we stand with Thanksgiving leftovers before I plan anything for that day!

If you didn't check out the recipe for Tuesday's baked chicken, you totally need to.  I just saw it this morning on Rachael Ray.  I don't have the ingredients for the poblano gravy, but I will totally try that sometime.  The chicken (she used turkey on the show), looked AMAZING.  I hope I can make it as mind-blowing as it looked!

I'm all set for a great week of home-cooked meals!

Menu Plan Monday: Week of November 14

Wow, is November half over already? How did that happen?  The FlyLady habit of the month is menu planning, and I'm getting in on it.  I'm very proud to proclaim that I have been a menu planner for ages.  Finally, a habit that I already have down! 
Here's what my family will be eating this week:

Monday: fried rice with summer sausage, served with teriyaki vegetables

Tuesday: Orange-sesame chicken with rice and broccoli (I have made this once before, and we found the flavor from the marinade to be very mild.  I'm planning to increase the amount of orange marmalade and red pepper flakes to give the flavor a bigger punch.  I'll also marinate the chicken a good bit longer than called for.)

Wednesday: General Tso's chicken with rice and raw carrots (first-time try, but I've loved everything I've tried from this website)

Thursday: Japanese fried chicken with rice and orange slices (another first-time try, but my SIL has made it, and her family loved it.  I really trust her when it comes to cooking, so I think this will be a winner.)

Friday: pepperoni and cheese pizza using this crust recipe

Okay, so I didn't realize that this week was so Asian-inspired.  Next week looks pretty similar, to be honest.  Must be cheap to make Asian food!  Either that, or I have lots of Asian ingredients in the pantry already; I am looking to make as many meals as I can without buying additional ingredients.
Well, that planning session was fun.  I have a menu planned for most of the rest of the month, with just 2 open slots.  Since it's all subject to change, I'll keep it a secret for now.

Flylady mission #2: After

Flylady Mission #1: Before

Today's Frugal Meal: Three from One

Not gonna lie: The past few weeks have been extremely tough financially.  And it's not going to be easier this month.  So, I am trying to be really, REALLY careful with menu planning.  I have been browsing my favorite cooking blogs and exploring new ones to find recipes I can complete with the items I already have on hand or that I can make with only minimum additional ingredients to purchase.  I am learning to repurpose (I don't know if that's the right word for it.) ingredients I have on hand in order to make a meal.  One recent example was the package of ground pork I've had in the freezer for a month or more now.  I bought it with the intent of making the best meatloaf I've ever had.  (Seriously, those ourbestbites girls have it TOGETHER!)  Some of the ingredients, though, can be pretty expensive: bacon (I don't mind the high cost of bacon, since I just LOVE it so much.  I think I probably bought it and then used it for something else.) and chili sauce.  I need to figure out how to make my own chili sauce.  Or just find it on sale.  I NEVER see coupons for chili sauce, and I don't remember it ever being on sale.  It pains me to pay full price!  Anyway, I never made the meatloaf, and now I'm trying not to buy those expensive ingredients.  So, how to use the ground pork?  I was able to stretch that one package of ground pork into three separate meals.  I wish I had taken pictures of the dishes, but alas . . . I didn't.  You can check out the links to the recipes below, though, to get an idea of how they looked. 

Meal 1 - Sausage Tortellini Soup
This is another ourbestbites masterpiece.  I really tweeked it this time, though.  I used ground pork instead of sausage; I seasoned it up as close as I could come to match the flavors of that italian sausage.  I also used a plain pasta instead of cheese tortellini because I only had a tiny bit of tortellini left.  I had to leave the carrots and onions out, since I didn't have any.  (I did use onion powder to give the flavor of the onion.) Truth be told, this soup was delicious as served.  We didn't miss the missing ingredients or find it lacking at all.  We ate almost the entire giant pot, just the four of us.  After I cooked up the pork, I set half of it aside, so that I could make . . .

Meal 2 - Notsagna Pasta Toss
I could eat this meal every week.  Rachael Ray has taught me to love ricotta.  I could seriously eat the pasta with the ricotta, parmesan, and starchy water without the meaty sauce.  Yum.  I love it when I get bites that have extra of that creamy cheese.  I didn't have to tweek this recipe that much, except to replace the onion with onion powder.  I don't cook with wine, so I always leave that out.  I usually use a bit extra stock to make up for the missing liquid.  Oh, and I used beef broth instead of chicken . . . I think the recipe calls for chicken broth.  My biggest tweek was to use the rest of the ground pork instead of ground beef.  I love this meal.  If I ever have opportunity to make you a dinner, don't be surprised if it's this lasagna-like feast.  When I made the tomato sauce, I added a bit of extra stock to stretch the sauce and went a little bit shy on adding it to the creamy cheesy pasta.  I knew I wanted a good bit of meaty sauce left so I could make . . .

Meal 3 - (Semi-) Homemade Pizza
I enjoy making pizza crust from scratch using this ourbestbites recipe, but this particular night I needed to be fast so I ended up using a refrigerated pizza dough from the Publix bakery. ($2.59 -- ouch! I think I could make 3 batches for that price.)  I used a bit of plain tomato sauce plus the meaty tomato sauce from the previous meal along with shredded mozzarella for the toppings.  The pizza was delicious, and I only missed my homemade pizza crust because the store bought one ended up being MUCH thinner than the crust I make. 

All that from one 2-pound package of ground pork.  I think I spent around $5 for that meat, so that averages out to $1.67 per meal.  These three meals average out at about $4 each.  We feasted! We didn't feel like we were being cheapskates, that's for sure.  I'll just keep that little bit of information to myself.

Shake up!

While I haven't left behind my wannabe cheapskate mindset, I'll admit to being seriously off track. The summer was tight financially; it always is. I thought for sure I'd do a better job starting in September, but I didn't. I discovered how much I like cooking from scratch at home and have come across several recipes that we love. I have found myself shopping for ingredients to make those dishes instead of buying what's on sale and at rock bottom price. I really do intend to get back to it soon.
Then, just about two weeks ago, we had the biggest shake up our family has ever experienced. The baby girl we were expecting to be born the week of thanksgiving was born October 4 - eight weeks early. Our little Audrey is doing great, but we are looking at another month in the NICU. I plan to make several posts about what brought about her early birth and pictures of our precious girl. I know it won't really have anything to do with being a cheapskate, but I'm so crazy about our little one and so amazed by the goodness of God and our friends that I just can't help it. Plus, it's my blog, and I can post whatever I like.