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MarilynW
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| Posted: Nov 23 2013 at 7:14am | IP Logged
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4 lads mom wrote:
Try to eat cheap with food allergies, Mr Ramsey!!  |
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Amen sister! And I'll add that it is a challenge to eat healthy for cheap (cost of fruits and vegetables is just skyrocketing)
What are cranberry beans?
Our allergy people do ok with black beans and pinto beans. Red beans do not work.
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SallyT
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| Posted: Nov 23 2013 at 7:59am | IP Logged
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I've been buying bags of frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs at Aldi. We like dark meat better than light, so for us these are an improvement on the equivalent chicken breasts, and a dollar or so cheaper.
I found a lot of frozen cranberries (from last year . . . how did they make it this long?) in the back of my freezer, and I've been throwing handfuls of them into chicken thighs stewed in the cast-iron pan on the stovetop. I dust the frozen chicken with pepper and sage, or maybe some dry mustard and caraway seed, start it cooking, covered, in some coconut oil, then add cranberries more or less to taste. Roast sweet potatoes, whole, cubed, or scalloped in the oven, and some skinny green beans (also frozen from Aldi), and it's an easy fall feast. The sweet potatoes aren't fast, unless you cut them small and/or thin, but they're also nice when you have the opportunity to throw something in the oven and forget about it for a couple of hours.
Sometimes when I need a fast filler for hungry people I make crackers: whole wheat flour (sometimes I sub or mix in flaxseed meal, barley flour, buckwheat, etc), water to make a play-doh-y paste, some sea salt and whatever other flavors I want (garlic powder, herbs). I spread the paste out thin in a lightly oiled baking dish, divide it with a knife so that it comes out in nice rectangles, and bake until crisp. I started doing this years ago to make "matzoh" for our Holy Thursday Seder, but now it's become something of a year-round staple. I wish I could keep up enough that nobody ever wanted to buy chips . . . We don't buy them often, but somehow I'm never quite on the ball enough to have homemade crackers ready for those occasions when people do want them. And when I make them, they're gone. No leftovers.
Brown rice + milk or coconut milk, fruit and desired seasonings in the crock pot makes a good warm breakfast. We also do oatmeal this way.
I always keep dry beans on hand and cook them often, but I also keep some canned beans -- the Wal-Mart brand is $.68 a can, which isn't bad, especially when it's things like black beans, chick peas, or cannelini beans -- so that even if I haven't planned ahead, I can still make a bean dish quickly when I need one. The other night I made a really fast, good black-bean chili with canned black beans, the smallest package of ground beef I could find (meat as flavoring, really, to make people feel that I had fed them something satisfying), tomato paste, and frozen corn. It went together in minutes, was delicious, and provided dinner one night and lunch the next day, so it was a good value.
We do baked potatoes for lunch a lot lately. Aldi sells a big bag of fairly small russet potatoes, and I just nuke them, split them open, and add cheese. It's the perfect convenience lunch. I also do a huge skillet of scalloped potatoes sometimes as an entree.
Clearly we didn't stick with the paleo thing . . . in the end, it was just too expensive to do completely without grains. For our budget, though, I think we do all right. It's been a busy, busy fall, and things are even busier as we head into Advent, with extra choir practices eating up what evenings I have left over from tutoring -- but I think we've eaten really well.
Sally
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4 lads mom
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| Posted: Nov 23 2013 at 9:56am | IP Logged
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MarilynW wrote:
4 lads mom wrote:
| Try to eat cheap with food allergies, Mr Ramsey!! |
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Amen sister! And I'll add that it is a challenge to eat healthy for cheap (cost of fruits and vegetables is just skyrocketing)
What are cranberry beans?
Our allergy people do ok with black beans and pinto beans. Red beans do not work. |
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Cranberry beans are just one more variety of beans that look like pinto beans with red streaks through them. They are on the larger end of beans, bigger than black beans, but not as big as limas. I was impressed, they kept their shape and had a firmer texture. That’s interesting that your crew can’t do red beans as well! We are always in good company with the W family! 
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Nov 23 2013 at 2:15pm | IP Logged
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Red lentil dal and basmati rice- we call it our vegan kraft dinner. Even dh can make it! I just cook the red lentils in water to cover them, throw some tumeric and curry paste when they are done, with some salt, and call it a meal. If I am feeling adventurous I fry some coconut in butter to serve on top. I serve this with basmati (or plain long grain rice- but basmati is better).
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JennGM
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| Posted: Nov 23 2013 at 4:02pm | IP Logged
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MarilynW wrote:
4 lads mom wrote:
| Try to eat cheap with food allergies, Mr Ramsey!! |
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Amen sister! And I'll add that it is a challenge to eat healthy for cheap (cost of fruits and vegetables is just skyrocketing) |
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Second Amen here, ladies!
We don't tolerate beans too well, here, so they aren't in my regular rotation. It's not enough protein for me, and then other issues.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Jenn Sal
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| Posted: Jan 11 2014 at 10:06am | IP Logged
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Bumping this! Anymore cheap, healthy meals out there? 
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Jennifer, Texas
Wife to Mark, Mom to Cora 13,Kade 10, Sarah in Heaven 12/05, Colette 7, Corin 5, & Kieran 2
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Fave Fast Good Cheap Food
