Rice & Beans?!!

 

“Oh no!  Don’t tell me that in order to save money and pay off debt I have to eat rice and beans!”  Ugh, right?  Well, I’m going to tell you to eat them, but not in the way you think.  I keep a variety of dried beans, split peas, and rice in my pantry to use in so many of my meals and I don’t feel deprived or bored.  I personally do not care for lentils, but if you do definitely ad lentils to your pantry as well.  Not only are these items budget friendly, but they are packed with good nutrients too.

 

I will often cook a batch of dried beans in my slow cooker to make chili, homemade refried beans, add to soups and extend ground beef when I make taco meat.  I brown a pound of ground beef with some diced onion, drain the fat and add a cup or two of the cooked beans along with some taco seasoning.  It is perfect for tacos and burrito filling.  I also like to add cooked black beans and frozen sweet corn to my homemade salsa.

 

Rice makes an excellent side for beef and gravy, sweet & sour pork, a family favorite crack chicken, etc.  I like to season my rice with spices or salsa for Spanish style rice or cook it in broth for extra flavor.  Another family favorite is to make rice pilaf to serve next to pork chops or roasted chicken.  We also love pork fried rice.

 

Of course rice & beans is a very delicious meal to enjoy and I to make it from time to time, but there are so many other great ways to use these in a multitude of other meals.  No boredom.  So go through your cupboards and pull out those bags of rice and dried legumes and get creative.  Your budget will appreciate it and I’m sure you family will too.

 

Do You Have A Stockpile? You Need One!

 

Years ago my first stockpile began with a copy paper box and lid I brought home from work and evolved from there.  I squeaked out every extra penny I could from my existing grocery shopping budget to fill that box with items I used on a regular basis.  It evolved from there until I was able to fill another box and then another.  I stacked the boxes in my hall closet where they were safe and out of the way.  It didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen and that practice saved my bacon many times through any financial hardship I faced while raising my family as a single mom.

 

I still keep a stockpile of groceries and nonfood items in my home to this day.  It is a huge part of my financial success and why I am easily able to stay on budget with my expenses and spending.  I would buy one for now and one for later until I had an extra item for nearly everything I had listed on my basic pantry list.  Before long I had two of each item and then three.  Then I added additional numbers of the items I used more often like canned tomatoes, soup, green beans and peanut butter.

 

This is all you really need!

By creating a basic pantry list of items I keep in my home I know that as long as I have those items in the pantry, refrigerator or freezer I can pretty much make anything at any given time so I am not rushing out to the store to pick up an ingredient I don’t have to complete a meal.  If you are interested in receiving a workable Excel copy of this list you can tailor to your needs simply click here to email me.  I will happily send you one.

 

As time has gone on my boxes became tubs and eventually shelving I keep in a spare room for storing my long term food storage.  I added a freezer to our garage to stock with meats and vegetables I bought on sale or markdown.  I have a shelf to stock butter, flour and cornmeal in my freezer too.  Should I find myself facing a financial hardship I know I can now keep myself fed for a year or more.

 

The freezer we keep in our garage

Having a well stocked pantry, refrigerator and freezer gives great peace of mind that, if nothing else, we don’t have to worry about how we will be able to feed our family.  At the onset it may seem unachievable, but if you consistently chip away at it you will be surprised at how quickly you can make it happen.

 

 

Let’s Get Cheesy!

 

There is no doubt we have seen the price of cheese rise, along with everything else, but I feel it is still a very affordable option, especially if you follow these simple tips.

 

Always Buy It On Sale 

I wait until it goes on sale for no more than $2.99 a pound and then I stock up.  I find those sales tend to cycle around about every six to eight weeks and when they do I pounce purchasing as much as I need to keep me going at least six months, sometimes even a year.

 

Buy The Block 

Cheese that is already sliced or grated utilizes ingredients to keep the slices and shreds from sticking or clumping together.  Some brands of sliced cheese will place a paper in between the slices but they are often more expensive.  To keep it simple and healthier I choose the block.  Then I can slice, cube, make my own cheese sticks and grate it how I like.

Consider It A Garnish 

While I would love nothing more than to nosh on a bunch of cheese, I really shouldn’t.  Instead I use it like a flavor and texture enhancer rather than the main ingredient.  By purchasing stronger flavors of cheese such as medium or sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack in place of mozzarella, I find I can get by using far less than the milder options.

 

Wrap & Freeze 

I find that if I layer sliced cheeses with waxed or parchment paper and place them in a Ziploc bag or wrap with plastic wrap they freeze them just fine.  I also freeze my own grated cheeses by placing two cups of it in a Ziploc bag.  I don’t add anything like cornstarch to the bag and have had no issues with clumping.  To further prevent any chance of freezer burn I date the bags, place them inside a larger bag and make sure I use it up in date order (first in; first out).  Freezing the entire block works too, but it will make the texture more crumbly.

 

A little goes a long way!

Watch for those sales and when they pop up that is the time to buy your cheese.  With a little bit of prep you can have a nice stockpile tucked away in your fridge and freezer saving yourself some big $$!

 

My Best Friend In The Kitchen!

 

Hands down the most utilized small appliance in my kitchen is my slow cooker.  I can do a ton of stuff with this bad boy and it frees me up so that I can do other things while still accomplishing a lot in my kitchen.  To me it is the ultimate multi tasker!

 

If you have a slow cooker I want you to pull it out of the cupboard, dust it off and put it to work.  If you don’t, please do not run out and buy one.  Instead I want you to put out the word to your friends, family and co-workers that you would like a slow cooker and would be happy to take one off their hands.  I’m fairly certain that inside your circle there is someone with a slow cooker they are not using that they would happily gift to you.  If not, join your Facebook Buy Nothing Group and put out the word there.  Someone somewhere has an extra slow cooker they aren’t using.

 

Preparing a big pot of soup

Making applesauce

I use my slow cooker year round and all the time.  In the summer I can cook or bake without heating up my kitchen and I can do smaller batches without having to use the oven.  It is perfect for making soups, stews, chili, bone broth, pasta sauce, applesauce, apple or pear butter, you name it.  I also bake in mine.  It is perfect for baking a large batch of potatoes.  I even bake my meatloaf in my slow cooker.  The possibilities are pretty much endless.

 

Meat loaf ready to bake

Large batch cooking and meal prepping is one of my favorite ways to utilize this appliance allowing me to work on other things at the stove.  I will often start a batch of pasta sauce early in the morning and while I’m doing the other things I have planned it is ready to be divided up into freezer containers by the time I am finished with everything else.

 

Making tomato sauce for canning 

Beef broth ready to be strained

I will also fill it up with chicken, beef or ham bones and vegetable scraps, top it up with water and let it go an entire day making the most delicious broth which is basically a FREE food.  It is also a very important ingredient for me to use in recipes, when I make soup and even cooking rice.  My slow cooker definitely earns its keep around my kitchen and I can’t imagine not having one.  We even take it on vacation with us, no joke.  Let’s get slow cooking!