Budget Meal Plans

By Rachel Cotler

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

For most Americans, juggling life can be very difficult. First you have to contend with long hours at work, endless laundry, dishes,paying bills and of course your children who ask the popular question, "What's for dinner?". Grocery shopping, planning meals, and the preparation of meals take a lot of time, and usually by the end of the week you are so burnt out you end up feeding your dear family hot dogs and mac-n-cheese. Did you know that 63% of Americans are overweight and many people suffer severe health problems because of the food that they eat? There are several ways to cut back on the time spent cooking and preparing food for your family without denting your budget or preparing less than nutritious meals.

THE PLAN

The first important step in starting anything new is to have a plan. First things first, decide how much money you can invest every month on groceries. Make sure you take in account all of the extra items you need for breakfast, and lunch. The plan I have in place is simple. The basic ingredients you should always have in your kitchen should be purchased from a bulk retailer like Cosco, or Sam's Club, where you can purchase large amounts of certain ingredients for a fraction of the price.

For all of your fruits and veggies, try shopping at your local farmer's market. You will save a ton of money and you are supporting your local economy. Now take a look at all the meals you would normally make in a month and find all of the common ingredients. You will probably see, to list a few, Chicken, Pork, Beef, Olive Oil, Garlic, Rice, Pasta, Corn, Green Beans, Cheese, Eggs and Milk. Then you must decide which items will store for a long period of time, that can be bought in bulk, that you can save money on. Shop once a month for these items. Why go to the store several times a month for groceries.

THE EXECUTION

Write your recipes in chronological order. I'm sure you are wondering " What does that mean?". I mean write your recipes down in an order in which one recipe could flow into another recipe. If your going to have Sausage and Peppers over Rice tonight, you should make 3 x the amount your family would consume. When everyone is finished eating dinner you simply throw your Sausage and Peppers into a blender and turn it into a sauce, then split it 2 ways. The first portion left over can be frozen for a quick pasta dinner some other time when your in a hurry, and the second portion can be saved for chicken Parmesan for another meal.

Now for the rice, save the first portion for a chicken and rice dinner and the second left over portion for a quick soup made with left overs. Did you notice the mention to the chicken? This is where time is your friend. When you prepare the chicken for your "chicken and rice dinner", you can prepare the chicken for your chicken Parmesan as well. Then you can just freeze your preparation for a different night. There are so many ideas you can come up with by making a simple list and finding common trends. With a little time and effort you can be feeding your family homemade, quick dinners, that are healthy, every night of the week.

Rachel, is a single mother who writes recipes and meal planning on a budget. You can learn more by visiting my website at http://www.budgetmealplans.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rachel_Cotler
http://EzineArticles.com/?Budget-Meal-Plans&id=1228271

400 Best-Ever Budget Recipes: How to create fuss-free, economical and delicious dishes, with fabulous recipes shown step-by-step in 1300 beautiful photographs; ... low-cost dishes for all the family that

What's for Dinner? Savory Pork and Sweet Potato Stew

By Shannon W.

Feel free to subsitute chicken broth for the beer, if you do not care for it.

Ingredient

1 t each: ancho chile powder, cumin
pinch of salt
1 garlic clove, minced
vegetable oil
4 boneless pork chops, trimmed
1 small onion, minced
1 fresh jalapeño, chopped
2 (12 oz) Mexican beers
1 cinnamon stick
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
fresh cilantro, snipped and divided

Mix first four ingredients together; press onto pork. Marinate overnight.

Heat a Dutch oven, drizzled with oil, over medium high heat. When oil is hot, add pork to pan; cook several minutes on each side. Remove pork and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium and add onions and jalapeño and sauté for about five minutes.

Stir in beer while stirring. Add pork back to pan along with cinnamon; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or til pork is tender.

Stir in sweet potato and a handful of cilantro; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Discard cinnamon stick. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

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Christmas Pasta

By Rachael Ray

on 10/10/07

From Rachael: "We eat fish on Christmas Eve, no meat allowed. After Midnight Mass, all bets are off! We make this sauce for Christmas Day: you can't fit another meat in the pot! As many times as you reheat it, it just gets that much better, so if people are coming and going throughout the day, cook off only as much pasta as you need at the time – half a pound for every 3 people. I suggest

Ingredients
* 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
* 4 cloves garlic, crushed
* 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
* 1/4 pound pancetta, thick-cut, chopped into small bits
* 1/2 pound bulk hot Italian sausage
* 1 pound combined ground beef, pork and veal
* 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
* 1 rib celery, chopped
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 cup good quality dry red wine
* 1 cup prepared beef stock, packaged in a box container or canned
* 2 cans chunky style crushed tomatoes (32 ounces each)
* A handful of flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
* 1/4 teaspoon allspice or cinnamon (a couple of pinches)
* Coarse salt and black pepper
* 2 pounds penne rigate, cooked to al dente
* Grated Pecorino Romano cheese, as an accompaniment
* Fresh, crusty bread, for mopping

Preparation

Heat a deep pot over medium-high heat. Add oil, garlic, bay leaf and pancetta bits and brown for one minute. Add meats and brown and crumble them for five minutes.

Chop carrot, celery and onions near the stove and add to the pot as you work. Cook vegetables with meat for five minutes and add wine. Cook for one minute; add stock and tomatoes to the pot.

Stir in parsley, allspice or cinnamon and season sauce with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 10-15 minutes minimum before serving. Reheated sauce only improves.

Toss pasta (cook only as much pasta as you need at the time: half a pound for every three people) with a couple of ladles of sauce to coat, then top bowl with extra sauce. Top pasta with lots of cheese and pass bread at the table.

The sauce will cover up to two pounds of pasta.

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Traditional French Cassoulet Recipe

By Jen E Carter

The French have a wonderful tradition of good food with many delicious regional specialities.

Eating in the Languedoc Roussillon or Provence regions, you're likely to come across the speciality of Cassoulet. It's a wonderful country recipe that's a combination of beans, pork, sausages and, of course, garlic and herbs. Some have called it a peasant stew, but it far exceeds that humble name.

This is a wonderful dish to cook in the cold of winter as you can leave it warming whilst you're out and tuck in when you return.

However, this is not a dish for the reluctant as it's quite time-consuming to prepare - yet one taste will have you hooked and enjoying it regularly.

Traditional French Cassoulet recipe

Ingredients


500g tin of cannelini beans
500g belly pork, cut into 4cm squares
500g lamb pieces or mutton
250g chopped smoked bacon (cooking bacon is fine)
450g Toulouse sausage, cut into pieces
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp provencal herbs
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper


Preheat the oven to 180C, GM4
Place the beans, onion, garlic, bacon and herbs in a pan
Add 500ml water
Bring to the boil and simmer for ten minutes
Fry the belly pork and lamb pieces in olive oil
Cook in the oven for ten minutes
Add the Toulouse sausage and cook for a further twenty minutes
Place all cooked ingredients into a large casserole
Add more water, if necessary
Cover & cook for one and a half to two hours on a low heat
Check regularly to ensure that there's sufficient water
Serve!

If you're out of time, it's possible to buy large tins of this traditional meal when you're across the Channel at the French supermarkets - don't miss out!

About the Author

Jen loves cooking, especially foods from different countries. She has an adult daughter with diabetes, so also enjoys searching for recipes suitable for diabetics.

For further ideas for French foods & cooking or diabetic Christmas recipes , visit her websites.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jen_E_Carter
http://EzineArticles.com/?Traditional-French-Cassoulet-Recipe&id=444682

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