The experiment continues!

Well let's see. We are still under budget for January and have been enjoying some fabulous meals! I knew that my little experiment would require a lot more cooking from scratch and that's proven to be true. I added a "bulk cooking day" to my week last week and we ended up with a pot of vegetable soup, cabbage rolls, a pan of rolls, loaf of bread, and 3 pounds of homemade meatballs. It was definitely a lot of work but sooo worth it!

I follow several cooking blogs but have found the 5 dollar dinner mom to be most helpful with this experiment. I thought I'd forward some of the recipes we've been enjoying on to you!
-Cabbage Rolls (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cabbage-Rolls-II/Detail.aspx) Used ground beef from the freezer and cabbage from the Rosauer's sale .49/lb.
-Vegetable Soup (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cabbage-Fat-Burning-Soup/Detail.aspx) Used the rest of the cabbage from the Rosauers sale and the rest of the veggies I had in the fridge. This is a super yummy soup, perfect for snacks and lunch.
-Homemade "Hot Pockets" or as we've been calling them "Dinosaur Breads"-Make ww bread dough and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Fill 2 pieces with homemade chicken mixture (I put cooked chicken, cream cheese, fresh spinach and some Longaberger seasoning from Sandy in the food processor). Bake @ 350 degrees till lightly brown. The girls love 'em!




-Orange Sesame Chicken with roasted asparagus (http://www.5dollardinners.com/2010/12/aleas-orange-sesame-chicken-butter-tossed-asparagus.html) (Chicken and asparagus were from the freezer. We thought this was good, but a bit sweet. I'd probably add less sugar and some vinegar next time to make it more of a sweet & sour sauce, and some thickener).
-Baked Pasta -pasta & sauce from my pantry stash, ground beef & cheese from the freezer. I had a lot of leftovers I didn't want to throw out so I added a bowl of split pea soup and some kidney beans. I was a bit apprehensive that the fam wouldn't like it but they LOVED it! ;)
-And of course, the ultimate healthy, low-cost, super yummy comfort food: a pot of pinto beans! I know, l know, the #1 complaint about beans is the uh, GI upset they can cause. I find that if I soak them overnight then cook them slowly all day in the Crock-Pot that effect is greatly diminished. We eat a LOT of beans around here. I think it's a good way to cut down on meat consumption, therefore keeping cost and fat in check. And they're a great way to get fiber!
We had bean/rice/chicken/salsa/guacamole/cheese burritos yesterday. SO good! Although we do have a continuing discussion going on around here about "Chipotle"-style burritos (J's fave) vs. "Real New Mexico" burritos (once you've grown up on New Mexican food there's no comparison). Opinions?