Cheap Eats

So, as you know, the girls are gone, which means that I have to fend for myself in terms of all the stuff that Shannon normally does, like laundry and cooking.

Sadly, we’re not talking any sitcom hijinks, here. I do know how to cook, I do know how to clean, I do know how to run the washer, dryer, and dishwasher, although I prefer hand washing dishes. Less spots, and hey, if you have to rinse them to put them in the dishwasher, why not go the rest of the way?

So, in an effort to save money, I started experimenting with some of the recipes at Budget Bytes. This is a nifty blog that had recipes that are inexpensive and supposedly healthy. Either way, it’s gotta be better than frozen burritos and box meals, which with the amount of time I have, is what I normally eat.

The first thing I experimented with was taking black beans from bag to cooked without soaking. This went well, I put them in the crock pot overnight, and they were mostly okay. However, since I overslept (they were supposed to cook for 6 hours, I slept 8), I cooked out all of the liquid which dried some of them back out, but for a learning experience, it wasn’t too bad and I was able to get most of a pound of black beans packed and put in the freezer for cooking later this week.

Later that evening, I went to try out the Black Bean Quesadilla recipe that should give you enough to freeze for later meals. At this part, I realized that I should NOT have put all the black beans in the freezer, so my dinner was a bit late. Once the beans I needed had thawed enough, however, to assemble the quesadillas, I had enough for a week’s worth of lunches, and a couple for dinner. Delicious!

Tonight, I’m going to cook and pack up to freeze some burritos using these instructions, once again going with one for dinner, then freezing the rest. Since I honestly have no issues with eating the same thing for lunch and dinner, as long as I’m being fed, I’m okay with this.

I have food for later, as well. They have a recipe for lentil tacos, so guess who is learning to cook lentils? Breakfast is a half a cup of oats, some brown sugar, and mixing in some dried berries or raisins. I’m going through cupboards, figuring out what we’ve got, and trying to use it before it goes bad.

Waste not, want not, especially when you’re living with a $200 deficit every month.

Do you have any frugal tips for me? Any sites you visit? Any favorite cheap recipes? Let me know in the comments!

Have a good one,
Tony