Archive for the 'crock pot' Category

Today’s Eats– Pineapple chili

I had a bunch of beans that I bought dried. Dried costs less than canned. I’d soaked them overnight and then drained them and let them soak some more. There were about two pounds of beans when they finished soaking the second time.

I had some leftover polenta that I didn’t know what to do with. I’d made it incorrectly so it tasted like cornmeal mush rather than polenta.

I took the polenta, and put in some garlic. I fried that up. Heated it a bit and then put in the beans.

Beans are a cheap source of protein and some kinds of beans are low flatulence. Plus there are ways to make sure you have less flatulence too….

So I stared in the pot and decided I needed to fill it out a little. Bulk meals taste better long term if there is a “surprise” in them. Beans and more beans doesn’t taste very good.

I went to the store and bought one pineapple whole.

I was supposed to buy some ginger which helps with the digestion problems, but I forgot because I was hungry. In theory this should help with some of the problems, but since I pickled some stuff earlier and that has ginger, I figure I can use that.

I bought several cans of petite diced tomatoes too. They were luckily on sale.

I also bought some ingredients for pizza and bought some thigh fillets. Those are surprisingly cheap and usually cheaper than the ones with the bones in them. Plus they are better than red meat and don’t taste dry if you forget about them for a while.

In total, California price for everything I bought, 64.00. Mix this with the chili and it should last me about a week and a half.

The ingredients for this chili itself costs probably around 10-15 dollars. Bags of beans are really cheap. You can sometimes find deals where the whole bag is 99 cents. Yes, even in LA!

Canned tomatoes are also a good choice to keep around. It makes a cheap vegetable filler and goes towards a lot of crock pot ideas, like chili, pasta sauce, soups, casseroles, etc. The individual can on sale was 1.99. I put in the only one can. The pineapple is probably more expensive than those two. And or an extra surprise, I added some bacon. I usually don’t eat bacon. Too expensive. But for crock pots it’s really easy to get sick of eating the same thing, so a bit of bacon doesn’t hurt. That was about 5.00.

I also added cumin and some bay leaves for extra flavoring. Spices look expensive initially, but some of the spices on my shelf have been there for 7 years plus and they make me not realize the lack of fat or salt that most recipes call for on regular occasion. It’s also better for you if you *don’t* add salt to the original crock pot and wait until after. Saves money too. Same with cracking pepper over. It’s a good investment to have. Some spices also have added health benefits.

I also found some old Korean stringy pepper. I threw that in. Hot pepper makes it taste like something. It’s also pretty good for you because it boosts up the immune system and gets your blood pumping. If you are feeling lethargic late at night, sometimes black cracked pepper tea or something spicy will wake you up without the side effects of caffeine which can make your eating habits, worse and not better. Caffeine, in general, also messes with your sleep schedule. But pepper won’t and besides, who can argue with getting less colds?

I might cook some rice, which I buy in bulk. Since I live in California, I learned recently that one should not leave large portions out in the heat. Bugs grow in it. While I would say, yes there is extra protein in that you could consume… it’s still disgusting to look at. So I’ve been refrigerating it.. along with my sugar, and various flours in the fridge. This might not be an issue up north though…

So this meal has, vegetable, Vitamin C (the Tomato), protein (lots of it), flavoring and it’s relatively cheap. With a little effort I can make it last most of the week. Healthy eating that doesn’t feel like eating crap!

Ingredients
2 bags of dried beans, soaked overnight. (Black beans)
1 pineapple
3 slices of bacon
garlic (whatever amount)
1 can of diced tomatoes
spices (oregano, hot pepper, cumin, bay leaves, ginger all to taste)
leftover polenta

extras: cooked rice

You can also add: sausage (count as an extra), mango (also an extra), onion (Filler), carrots (Filler), celery (filler)

Lasts: Meal lasted for lunch and dinner total of ~7 days for me. Probably longer for everyone else.

Nutrition:
Pineapple has vitamin C. The beans have fiber and protein, tomatoes has lucene and Vitamin C. hot pepper has vitamin C. If you choose carrots it has vitamin A. Celery eaten raw will help clean your teeth and protect them.