Sunday, March 13, 2011

Cheap, Healthy, Good

Cheap, Healthy, Good is one of my favorite blogs. It's challenging for me to come up with meals that fit all three criteria, and I get lots of good ideas there. But when one member of the family can't have poultry, another doesn't like (most) meat or beans or cheese, when sodium and calories are issues, and cost is a big issue, it's a little daunting some nights.

That said, we don't do too badly. We all like a wide variety of vegetables, especially salads. Stir fries are a great way to have a lot of vegetables and make a bit of meat go a really long way. We do reasonably well with soups (most of the leftovers go for my lunches, though). I'm starting to do more meatless main dishes, including beans.
  • Tonight's dinner is a ham & 13 bean soup.
  • Tomorrow is miscellaneous, since only two of us will be home, and there are lots of leftovers around.
  • Tuesday, I'm going to try Sara Moulton’s Orecchiette (er, Macaroni) with Broccoli and Chickpeas. I have a can of chickpeas, but I got a package of the dried variety, and I'm going to give those a try. Any I don't need for the recipe will go in the freezer, to be happily added to my salads & soups as I go.
  • Wednesday is mostaccioli with a little Italian sausage and a lot of vegetables.
  • Thursday is something with a bit of cod currently in the freezer (suggestions? there's only 3/4 pound). This is the night Jeff always has Mongolian Barbecue for lunch, and brings home leftovers for his dinner. If I make chicken, it's usually on a Thursday. If I can't think of anything else, I'll fry up the fish with some chips for the kids, and have some leftover soup myself. Kind of low on the "Healthy" continuum, though.
  • Friday is Moors & Christians (aka black beans & rice--we'll get a little history in there, too!)
  • Saturday we're going to a hockey game. The ticket includes a hot dog or slice of pizza, neither of which sounds all that appealing to me, so I'm not sure what I'll eat. I'm also working registration at a Homeschooling Fair (gets me in for free and I get early entry to the used book sale, woot!), so chances are I'll have a big salad for lunch and scarf the pizza for dinner. Once in a while, a splurge totally works for me.

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