Divine Meat-ervention

This guest post was written by Alyssa Noel, a DIY fanatic, lover of wine, and virtual assistant. She writes about all things DIY, musings, recipes, and daily adventures over at her blog. If you would like to see what else she has to say on food, life, small business tips, and more, follow her on Twitter.

We have all seen the out-of-control prices of meat lately. I am sure that you have heard “Meatless Monday” at least somewhere on the internet. I like to promote this for a plethora of reasons, but it’s hard to deny that it will give your grocery budget a little extra breathing room.

If you had asked me a year ago if I would ever be a vegetarian, I would have laughed. Then suddenly, I was. I won’t go into the gory details of what led me to this lifestyle. You’re welcome!

After the “honeymoon phase” of vegetarianism, something happened. We really missed some of our favorite meat-based foods. That’s when we began seeking out recipes that would help us recreate these meals sans meat. One of our favorites is - drumroll - meatloaf! I know; the irony is overwhelming. Let me tell you, though- this mexican style “meatloaf” is delicious!

All of the ingredients are pictured; most of them are really cheap, and you might even have a few of them in your kitchen already!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 small red onion, chopped (we used half of a sweet vidalia)

• 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained

• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained

• 1 (4 oz) can diced green chili peppers, hot or mild, drained

• 1 cup whole kernel corn, unsweetened

• 2 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp cumin

• ½ tsp black pepper

• Sea or kosher salt to taste

• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 ¼ cups bread crumbs

• ⅓ cup barbecue sauce (They suggest no sugar added; we used what we had on hand!)

  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large skillet on medium-low heat, sauté onions until tender. Add kidney beans, black beans, chili peppers, and corn. Continue to sauté until beans are tender - about 3 minutes. Add oregano, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper. Stir.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine bean mixture, cheese and bread crumbs. If it’s not too hot, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty!

4. Lightly spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer the bean mixture, and mold it into the pan.

 

1. Bake for 30 minutes. Add the barbecue sauce to the top, and bake for an additional minute.

2. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

We failed on the whole “sitting for 5 minutes” thing, and that’s why the first picture of this post didn’t turn out to be the cleanest-cut slice! We were too hungry and excited to eat, so we jumped the gun. Oops.

This loaf tastes just as good the next day, if there is any, and makes a great sandwich! We served ours with garlic mashed potatoes and an old family recipe of “burnt peas,” (No, they’re not really burnt!) which I may share with you if you’re lucky. :)

You can easily make meatless meals that are family-friendly, and sometimes your kids (or husband) might not even know the difference! (Omit the corn, cut the onions smaller, and they might actually believe this is beef based!) Other things are just as easy to make, like homemade calzones. Get creative!

What is your favorite meatless dish?

Stop by here for the original recipe.

Meal Planning When You Have no time

There is this song that the lovley, singing vegetabls of VeggieTales sing. Well, a lot of people have sung it, it's called "Oil in My Lamp." But in the VeggieTales version they sing "give me umption in my gumption so I can function, function, function..."

Ever felt like that? Like you need some umption in your gumption to function? I know I do... a lot. 

But one way I feel more "functional" is to plan our weekly menus. Don't get me wrong, I think the practice is boring and I often feel like I am just making the same thing over and over. But I'm not. 

Here are some tips to meal planning when you have zero time. 

1. Have a theme: I know that each Friday night we have pizza and a fresh fruit salad. Now sometimes that is a pizza I make myself (crust, sauce, cheese toppings. Take no time.) and sometimes it is a pizza I got at Publix with a coupon while it was on sale. 

But I know I can skip over planning that day because it is already set. 

You could do the same thing with a meatless Monday or Taco Tuesday. You get the idea. 

2. Plan to have leftovers: We're pretty good about eating leftovers for lunches, but we still have quite a bit leftover. So on weekends that's what we eat for a few meals. We will have a buffet of leftovers for lunch Saturday. 

Also, I love cooking a whole chicken or roast and then making 2-3 meals out of that. 

3. Pull from your freezer: If you are like me and you make two casseroles and stick one in the freezer, pull from there during a week when you are strapped for time or creativity. 

Click here for my free freezer inventory printable. 

Are you on a tight budget? Here are some tips for meal planning when you are low on cash. 

Chicken and Roast Vegetables in One Pan

Sometimes it's hard to get everything on the table at the same time while it's still hot and good. 

That's why I LOVE one pan dishes like this chicken and roast vegetables. It's easyh, quick to throw together and pretty healthy. 

What you'll need:

4-5 chicken breasts. You could also use thighs, boneless skinless breasts, leg quarters etc. 

5 red potatoes, diced

1 pound green beans or 2 cans green beans

1 couple table spoons dry ranch mix or your favorite herbs

2 tbsp melted butter or EVOO

Preheat your oven to 350.

Place your chicken in the bottom of your glass pan. Line one side with green beans and the other with potatoes. Cover in your butter. 

Sprinkle with ranch dressing mix. 

I made two. One for now and one for later. Cover your pan with foil, slide into the oven and bake for one hour. 

This recipe is great because you could use any cut of chicken (except a whole chicken) and any vegetables or seasoning you like!

Do you have a quick prep dish? Or a favorite on pot dish? 

Dinner in 20: Tortellini, sausage and edamame

This is my go to recipe. It requires little time and little effort and I can have it on the table in 20 minutes!

And it's so good my husband will ask me to make it. Just 4 ingredients! 

What you'll need:

1 package cheese tortellini ( I recommend Buitoni)

1 pacakge turkey sausage

1 package edamame (shelled)

1/2 bottle of Italian dressing

Get your water boiling and warm up some olive oil in a skillet. You will want to chop and brown your sausage until it is crispy. 

Once your water is boiling throw in your pasta. You won't need to cook them long, just until they plump. 

Throw your edamame in the microwave, in the bag, to steam for about 4 minutes. 

Once your pasta is plump throw it in a bowl. Add your crispy sausage and your edamame. Then pour that Italian dressing over it. 

Voila! You're done in under 20 minutes. 

Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla

I feel like I have accidentally done a small series on things to make with buffalo sauce and chicken. Let's see there's been dip, mac and cheese and enchiladas. And now quesadillas. I promise I will stop. 

As you know I love working with leftovers and I had every intention of making quesadillas. Just regular olquesadillas. Boring!

So why not ad a little buffalo sauce and a healthy portion of blue cheese? 

What you'll need:

2-3 cups shredded chicken

a little taco seasoning

6-8 tortillas

1/2 cup buffalo sauce 

1 cup blue cheese crumbles

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

1/2 onion

Cook your onions. 

Add your chicken, taco seasoning and buffalo sauce. 

Warm your tortillas and add your cheese. 

Scoop in your chicken. 

Fold in half and then bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.