Speaking of pictures, little miss Sawyer Beth just keeps getting cuter and cuter, if that's possbile, ha! Here are some favorites I have taken recently:
She loves seeing my cell phone, still not sure what my thoughts are about this, but for the time being I let her look at it every once in awhile...
She's wearing Addy's (the little girl I used to nanny for) dress in these pictures, it was so stinking precious
And who needs toys...Sawyer helped me in the kitchen while I made dinner
I have been trying to cook with a very small budget. It's difficult but I have found some simple meals that are pretty cheap. We are also, trying to eat healthy and cutting back on how much meat we eat, mainly for the cost but also for health benefits. Here are two recipes involving lentils which are super cheap and good for you, Clint loved these:
Lentils and Rice Casserole:
3 cups water or chicken broth
3/4 cup uncooked lentils, washed and soaked as needed
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice, washed and soaked as needed
3-4 Tbsp Liquid Aminos or seasoning salt, to taste
1 small onion, sliced in rings
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
fresh parsley & sour cream, if desired
Soaking Step, if desired for increased nutrition: Combine lentils, rice, and water to cover and juice of 1/2 lemon, whey, or another acid medium. Soak for at least 7 hours. After soaking, rinse the lentils and rice and add the amount specified above in water or broth to cook.
Fry onions and garlic in oil (I use coconut oil) for about 10 minutes until nicely browned. This adds wonderful flavor! Set aside. Combine remaining ingredients (except cheese and parsley) and layer in a casserole dish. Cook for 2 1/2 hours at 300 degrees until tender or the water is absorbed. About 10 minutes before completed, top with cheese and browned onions and cook till melted. Before serving, top with parsley.
You can also cook this on the stove for about 40 minutes if you don't want to have your oven on for that long, thats what I did!
Here is what we had tonight:
Sloppy Lentils ( similar to sloppy Joes)
3 cups water
1 cup lentils, rinsed
salt to taste (optional)
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
15 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2-1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
3-5 tablespoons rapadura, molasses, or honey
1 Tbsp white vinegar
salt and ground black pepper to taste
4 hamburger buns, split
Soaking Step (for benefits read here), optional: Allow lentils to soak over night in warm filtered water with 2 Tbsp acid medium. Rinse and cook as described below.
Combine water and lentils in a saucepan; season to taste with salt if desired. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook onions with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the onions have softened and turned translucent, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, ketchup, mustard powder, chili powder, molasses/sweetener, vinegar, salt and pepper; simmer 5 to 10 minutes until thickened.
Drain lentils and reserve cooking liquid. Stir lentils into sauce mixture, adding cooking liquid or water as needed to obtain the desired “sloppy joe” consistency. Serve on buns.
I don't follow these recipes to a T...I use whatever I have around the kitchen.
And, an FYI for those who care (not many I'm sure, haha) but I LOVE my bread machine. I have made whole wheat sandwich bread, rolls, and morning sticky buns, which were AMAZING, I will for sure be making these every Christmas!!!!
Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. It is suppose to be hot and humid here...I'll take that over cold and rainy!
ooohh those look good alex! i love lentils too! my sweet husband is a big meat eater......but i too usually incorporate a veggie night, breakfast night, etc. so i dont have to do so many meat dishes and b/c of the expense and health benefit as well. all my wierd cooking/food things he thinks are crazy---he's just a meat and potatoe guy who LOVES fast food--oh well, i do what i can! i still might try these and see--you never know! sorry i never wrote you back, got your message. i'll try do that later--we saw jessie and aaron a couple weeks ago, made me miss seeing you guys : ( but love keeping up with you on here!
ReplyDeleteThese do look yummy!! :) I'll have to try these soon. We also try to have a few meals that are either vegetarian or that have the meat as the "side" instead of the entree...every little bit helps! :)
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