I've been thinking about how to get more out of my grocery dollar lately, while still eating wholesome real foods.
Today I made a meal that fits the bill- literally.
Organic Free Range Chicken Legs- 1.99/lb -Cost was about $3.60 for 6 legs
Long Grain Brown Rice- about 2 cups dry- .75c
Black Beans- 1.5 cups dry- .75c
1 quart of chicken stock from freezer batch....cents on the dollar (bones and veggie scraps...)
Broccoli and Organic Carrots sliced- 2.50
Butter- 2-3 tbsp .50
garlic cloves .05
Soy Sauce, can of diced green chilis, a bit of vinegar, pepper, salt, bay leaves- not more than 1.00
Lard (for beans)- free (I rendered it myself.)
The whopping cost of this real food meal for 4 is $7.50!
The good part of this is- I can use leftover rice and beans for other meals, like quesadillas or bean dip. AND I can throw these chicken bones from the legs into the next batch of chicken stock!
I think this is a practical way to stretch the dollar and nutrition!
Want the recipe? I can tell you how I made it!
Chicken Adobo (Thanks Take n Bake ppl for the recipe!)
3-4 lbs chicken
1/2 cup-3/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup vinegar
garlic cloves (I grated them)
bay leaves
pepper
optional: corn starch (if you want a thicker sauce or for stove cooking)
I mixed them all together in a crock pot then coated the chicken in the crock pot, I let it sit in the fridge overnight, then just popped it in the crock the next day to cook on low.
Beans
Rinse. Soak Overnight with a bit of lemon juice, yogurt or whey in the water.
Rinse in the morning. Boil or cook in crock pot with water, or chicken stock for more nutrients. Add a pinch of salt and some lard to the pot for the fat.
Rice
Rinse rice. Soak in water overnight with 2 tbsp whey, yogurt or lemon juice.
Rinse in morning. Boil 1-2 hours previous to eating. Add a pinch of salt to the water. Boil in chicken stock for more nutrients. When rice has absorbed the liquid add a pat of butter to melt into the rice.
Veggies
Slice up throw in a pan add 1/2'' of water to the pan. Cover. Steam for 5-10 min till soft. Drain water (or save water for stock) and cover with 1-2 tbsp butter and a pinch of real salt.
Why Soak? Soaking grains and legumes (and nuts)with an acid (lemon or whey) neutralizes an anti-nutrient called Phytic Acid. Phytic acid if not neutralized steals (binds with) minerals from our food and bodies. We need to get all the minerals out of the food we can, so it's worth it to soak. It takes a little overnight planning, but it's worth it!
2 comments:
I have a question about phytic acid in canned beans. I am too lazy to cook my own dried beans these days. Do you know if rinsing off canned beans removes most of the phytic acid? I guess they're soaked *after* they're cooked in this case. Is that sufficient to get rid of most of it?
I think to neutralize phytic acid it has to be soaked in an acidic medium. I suppose you can cook the dried beans in a crock pot after soaking them overnight. I'm thinking beans don't have that much phytic acid (its more in the skins/outer layer of nuts and grains.)
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