Beef Stirfry
Beef…in a stir fry… How much better does it get? erm… not much! This stir fry though is ultra cool because it combines fresh and frozen ingredients. Which is my favorite way to save money… why? Because you can use mainly frozen veggies and add in a fresh veggie and it boosts the flavor to the point where most would have no idea there was ever anything frozen in it! It’s also a great way to do either a freezer or a fridge dump when you don’t have a lot of ingredients on hand.
This was so yummy and filling which makes me a very happy camper!
Ready for it? Here it is!
Ingredients:
• 1.5 lb ground beef
• 1 bag frozen veggies {Mixed bag… I used carrots, broccoli and cauliflower for mine!}
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 medium fresh tomato, chopped
• 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
• 3 tsp Basil
• 1 tsp Dill
• Salt + Pepper
• 2 tsp Oregano
• Lemon Juice to taste {Or Apple Cider Vinegar}
• Coconut Oil {or fat of choice}
How To:
• Get a big ‘ol skillet heating with some coconut oil, and slice up your onions. When they’re all pretty toss them in the pan to start to sweat, you don’t want them caramelized just translucent.
• Once those get to a good spot, toss in your frozen veggies and let them cook for a few minutes, then add in your ground beef and continue to let it all cook.
• Once it’s almost cooked all the way through, add in your spices / herbs and Lemon Juice. Stir and finish cooking.
• Literally seconds before your ready to serve toss in your tomatoes and give a quick stir. That way you still have the cold bite of the tomato and still tastes “meaty” {and hasn’t softened}.
• Enjoy!
That’s it! Wicked Easy right? I added in a splash of olive oil and dollop of mayo to my plate, and mixed it all around. Made it extra yummy, if that’s possible!
Oh and if your frozen veggies are pretty big {my cauliflower had been in huge pieces}, feel free to let them soften a little and chop them down to smaller pieces!
Chili Got A Re-Do
That’s right! You read it here first, Chili has gotten a re-do, it’s gone from the older recipe to something a bit more new and more mellow. This isn’t a spicy one, but you could easily add pepper flakes or jalapenos or something and make it spicy! But I really wanted something that was full of flavor and not a omg-that’s-hot sorta dinner you know?
Cool tip? If you miss sour cream on your chili, make some mayo and add extra Apple Cider Vinegar or some Lemon Juice to it to make it tangy. Put a dollop ontop {or you know.. maybe two} And you’ve got insta- feels like sourcream with out the dairy!
I also think avocados, chopped tomatoes, scallions, and olive oil are great Chili toppers!
Ingredients:
• 1 lb pork
• 2 medium onion, medium dice
• 4 carrots, medium dice
• 1/2 – 1lb of some kind of meat {See How To For Details}
• 8 oz package of mushrooms
• 3.5-4.5 tbsp Chili Powder
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tbsp of Dried Basil and Oregano
• Salt + Pepper
• 1.5 Tbsp Cumin
• 1 Big {28 oz} Can Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 14 oz can diced tomato
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
How To:
• In your crock pot put your chopped onions and carrots in and your mushrooms. I bought the pre-sliced because they were one sale, but feel free to use whatever is cheapest at the grocery store.
• Then Add your Ground Pork and Meat… I had left over roast so I used that, use whatever left over steak you might have or if there’s bits and pieces in the freezer use that. Doesn’t matter… just steak / red meat of some kind… cooked uncooked.. whatever floats your boat and makes it as cheeaaappp as possible for you!
• Then add in all your Herbs / spices, Canned tomatoes, and Apple Cider Vinegar. Stir it all up, cover, and set on low in your crock pot for 6-8 hours {or High for around 4 or so}.
• It’ll look thick when it first starts, but about 30 minutes before serving it, if it looks a bit watery / thin, feel free to add in a tablespoon or so of Tomato Paste to thicken up!
{{You could also do this over the stove, just add in veggies and meat, cook all the way through, add in your spices and tomatoes, etc. Then let simmer for around 30-45 minutes}}
Enjoy!
Burgers
Have I done a post dedicated to burgers? I don’t think I have… weird right? I mean I eat them at least twice a week {They are sooo good }. Before I get to the recipe exciting news!
I got a standing desk.. it’s epic, but weird to get used to.. I’ve been working off of the couch for a while now and just wanted a change, so I used a microwave stand /butcher block top thingy I have {My parents bought it for me way back when I was in Rhode Island from Target}. This thing is a beast and I hated moving with it… Ok back to my story.. anyhoo if there’s any way you can make yourself a standing desk for when you’re home I think you’ll like it a bit more, I just feel more productive with it.
{I don’t even need to wear heels to work at it like most typical standing desks.. so double bonus for me!}
Now this recipe was an accident actually… I had bought myself a ton of dried spices and not really realized what I was putting into my burger.. well it was a very happy accident. This works with Pork or beef last night I did pork for the first time and it was really stupidly yummy… and this is easy Really easy…
And for those of you starting up a Whole 30 with us on Friday this is totally Whole 30 approved as long as you use either clarified butter or Coconut oil for your fat 
And the picture for it almost didn’t get taken… why you ask… This is why:
She’s so cute but so freaking. sneaky…….. ok onto the recipe!
Ingredients:
• 1 lb of ground beef or pork {just use what’s in the freezer}
• Salt + Pepper
• 1 tbsp of dried Rosemary
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• Some sorta fat, Clarified Butter, Ghee, or coconut oil {Bacon fat is wicked good w/ this too}
How To:
• Heat le big skillet with fat
• Dump all ingredients into a bowl. Mix well {but don’t over mix, meat gets tough when over mixed}
• Form into patties and cook until done.
Cheap and easy…. It cost me what I think $2.75 to make it and I made 9 burgers {we make smaller burgers so it feels like you’re eating more.. and they’re not going a bun so they don’t need to be ginormous }.
Quick tip: Make the patties in the morning or even the night before and stick them in the fridge. That way when you get home from work they’re ready to go! I made these with carrot fries, so while the carrot fries were cooking up I could cook up the burgers and it was all done at the same time
No Chopping Dinner
You know those nights when you just can’t cook… those are the nights that you’d normally grab a pizza or take out right? STOP don’t grab the phone… come back… Ok now before you do that try this first. It’s a dinner of literally no chopping, you dump in a pan, stir and eat. Just as much effort as calling in take out {because lets face it..deciding on what to eat takes way to much brain power}. It’s also kind of nice because it’s a semi-freezer dump where you can use bags of veggies that are only 1/2 or less full and clear that out.
This is recipe is JUST a method, don’t think you have to follow it to the letter, use what you have and make it work for you. From start to finish you’re looking at 10 minutes {maybe more if you’ve got a ton of veggies heating through in the pan}.
You ready? Here you go…
Ingredients:
• 1 lb of some sorta ground meat {I used pork}
• ~ 1.5 bags frozen veggies {I used a big bag of california veggies and 1/4 of a bag of Peppers + Onions}
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Some sorta fat {I used KerryGold Butter}
• Herbs {I used Rosemary and Basil and Pepper Flakes}
• Salt + Pepper.
How To:
• Heat your fat up {literally anything works but I love veggies drenched in butter so I used a ton of it}.
• Dump the veggies and let them and the butter do the bffl thing
• Add your ground meat of choice, stir.. cook.. when it’s half way cooked through sprinkle in your seasoning and apple cider vinegar {Apple cider vinegar was a 2 times around the pan and spices to taste}.
• Let it finish cooking, taste test, adjust seasoning.
• Boom. You’re done, that’s it. I did however drizzle some good olive oil over the top of the bowl for some extra noms.
**** A note from Mr. Not So Paleo: It had an “Asian theme” to it {according to him}, so for the Non-Paleos adding rice and soy sauce into it is a very very good idea. {If adding rice for the Non-Paleos, use the quick cooking rice, and get that rocking and rolling before you start cooking… I’d rather have the rice waiting for me than vice versa}.
Steak + Yummy
This was beyond yummy. One of my favorite flavor combinations is peppers mushrooms and onions sauteed. Not to mention steak really goes with almost anything. I used to love these on a sub roll.. but really this mix is so much better without the bread. You get more steak per bite, which = amazing. I used shaved steak for this and before that I made it with just steak tips.. either or will work. If you’re going to do this as a meal for paleo and non paleo people I’d go with the shaved steak because it’s better for sandwiches, all paleo people? Go with steak tips it’s wicked good.
But a quick word on the shaved steak? It’s yum, it cooks quick because it’s so thin, and it’s generally cheaper or on manager special / discounted price more often because a lot of people don’t eat it. It’s one of those random cuts of meat everyone forgets about… Stop! Don’t forget about it, buy it try it! You’ll love it, it happens to be Mr. Not So Paleo’s favorite form of steak and did I mention it cooks quick? Bonus.
Ingredients:
• 1.5 lbs shaved steak
• One Large onion, sliced
• Bag of frozen Pepper strips {12 0z}
• 8oz of mushroom slices
• Seasoning of choice {I used Italian Seasoning}, Salt + Pepper
• Coconut Oil
• Scallions – Optional
• Mayo – Optional but highly recommended
How To:
• Big Skillet drop some coconut oil in and get it melty. Toss in your sliced onions let those start to sweat.
• Add in mushrooms, let those get to be friends with the onions, after they’ve cooked for like 5 minutes add in your peppers.
• A few minutes before you’re ready to eat {depending on how much steak you have} Toss in your steak and seasoning {to taste} and then boom it’s done. I topped mine with some scallions {totally optional}. Yeah it was that easy and yummy.
Here’s Mr. Not So Paleo’s Meal:
I just put his on english muffins { or you could a sub roll, sandwich bread, whatever your not so Paleo member would like }, cheddar cheese, ketchup, {paleo} mayo, scallions. As you can see I made carrot fries and we both had them, if carrot fries don’t work then you could bake regular fries for them. Or just do a side salad or veggies or whatever you’d like!
Paleo Chili
Ha! Here it is… I decided to hold off on the meatball / sauce / green bean recipe and upload this tonight, I’ll upload the other one tomorow.. Both are good for the Whole30|Whole9, not sure about the 21 Day Sugar Detox though… I’m going to assume both are good to go! {If it’s not let me know so I can leave a note in here!}
Ingredients:
• 1.5 lbs ground beef
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion
• 4 carrots
• 1/2 medium sized bag green beans
• 1/2 medium sized bag pepper strips
• 1 28oz can Crushed Tomato
• 1/2 28oz can Tomato Puree
• 4-5 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp cumin
• 1/2 tbsp thyme & Oregano
• 1.5 tbsp Italian Seasoning
• 1.5 tsp salt & crushed red pepper flakes, cracked pepper
• 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
How to:
• Dig out the crockpot
• Chop up your onions and carrots {share a few pieces of carrots with the puppy or kids!}. I like bigger pieces in my chili but cut them to however you like it.
• Chop up your chicken, toss that in with the ground beef {this is where you’d add in steak or sausages if you wanted to}
• Layer on your frozen veggies.
• Spices go in next, then give it a mix, you want to coat the meat in the spices before the tomatoes go on!
• Now your tomatoes. I also took the can and rinsed it out {filled it like 1/4 the way up, to loosen the chili and get all the extra sauce out }
• One last stir, cover… let it go for as long as you can {On high 4 hour min. on low 6-8 hour min.}
Enjoy!
You can serve with sliced avocado, homemade mayo on top, almond bread, or topped with a fried egg !
Steak + Asparagus
Helloo! so as most of you guys know we’ve got an epic POAB Whole 30 Challenge going on on facebook! We have even have a facebook group started {Thanks to Ericka for creating it!!} so if you haven’t joined yet and you want to come on over and visit {Link here}. Whole 30 Challenge starts Sunday {January 1st}! So excited
IF you have whole 30 recipes that you want to share please email me {liz@paleoonabudget.com} And I’ll post them to the blog so everyone can see / use them! {and make sure to include your blog link if you have one so people can see what other yumminess you’ve got on there }
So all of the recipes you’ll be seeing will be whole 30 approved and yummy and easy. This was created with my need for something fresh and summery…. in the middle of winter lol so here it is!
Ingredients:
• Steak – Use either steak tips or get a piece of it and cut it up {which is what I did}
• 1 bag frozen Asparagus {I believe it was 8oz}
• Handful or so of frozen pepper strips
• 1 bunch of scallions
• Lettuce
• Sea Salt + Pepper
• Thyme + cumin
• Olive Oil + Apple Cider Vinegar
• Some sorta fat source, clarified butter, bacon fat, ghee, or coconut oil… take your pick!
How To:
• In a large skillet heat up your fat {I used clarified butter}. Toss in your asparagus {I snapped them in half}, your chopped up scallions, and pepper strips.
• When those are almost all the way heated, add in your steak.
• While those are becoming friends, add in your spices and wee bit of Apple Cider Vinegar.
• I chopped up my lettuce at this point.
• When your stir fry is all set, put it on top of your salad, dress with some more pepper and your oil + Vinegar.
It’s done! That was it.. easy right? You could totally use fresh ingredients. But I saved almost $6.00 {and a lot of time} by using the frozen pepper strips and the frozen asparagus! Also, if you have lemon on hand replace that with the Apple Cider Vinegar and you’ll get an even more summery dish!
This would also be great to do over a bed of Cauliflower rice or with a side of roasted veggies!
Steak + Kale
So way back when I posted about my steak- paleo pizza, and how I was using a smaller amount of steak to stretch into a full meal to save money. Well… I’ve been thinking about that more and more recently, and found another way to make it work!I love kale, my Mum loves kale, my Mum is actually the inspiration behind the Kale + Sausage soup! It also explains why I crave Kale on an almost weekly basis… Mr.Not So Paleo is obsessed with the Kale + Sausage soup, and as much as I love it, I wanted another new way to eat it. And here it is!
Quick Public Service Announcement: There are no Coupon Inserts in your Newspaper today or next Sunday! There should be at least a Proctor and Gamble insert {the best insert ever} on January 1st! {I gotta admit I’m a little sad lmao}
And Here is a preview of the 2012 insert schedule!
Alright enough of this coupon business onto the yummy recipe!
Ingredients:
• 1 bunch of Kale {a good sized one}
• 8oz of Mushrooms {at least}
• 1 Medium onion chopped
• 1 lb steak, cut up into bite size pieces
• A mug full of chicken stock
• Butter
• Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes, Dried Basil, Cumin
How To:
• Get butter + Onions in a pan.. to start sweating the onions {ok it really is a term for cooking but every time I type it I think of middle school when girls would look at guys and be like “I sweat you” and I burst out laughing…-sigh-}
• While they’re becoming friends, clean and chop your mushrooms, you can use whatever is on sale that day.. Baby portobellos were only $1.59 so I grabbed those! Then toss that into the pan
• I don’t buy steak tips unless they are stupidly cheap, so I got a piece of steak and cut it up.. {which is what you should be doing at this point}! Then add that in the pan, I added more butter at this point {steak + butter = amazing}
• While it’s all cooking, wash and get your Kale ready {just pull the leaves away from the stem and then break it up with my hand, but you could go ahead and chop it with a knife}.
• Add your kale into the pan, it’s going to look like a lot but it’ll shrink!
• Then add some chicken stock in, it totally depends on how much kale you have, you just want enough to create steam { I was still feeling icky that day so I just drank the rest of the stock!}.
• Cover with either the lid or tin foil for a few minutes, stirring it occasionally until the Kale is soft and has wilted down.
• Add in spices {I added in only a dash of cumin, just to round out the flavors, totally optional though}, taste test and serve!
I served this up with sweet potato fries and homemade mayo! It was so freaking yummy.
Brilliant!
Haha that makes me think of those Guinness commercials. Come on you know the ones I’m talking about! Ok so back to this epically brilliant post!
I’ve been thinking about how to make life easier for everyone, and more so dinner.. and I’ve thought of it! It’s a great idea.. I’m guessing half of you have thought of it.. but in case you haven’t yet here it is:
Pre-making and freezing a ton of ground meat ready to go. Vague I know but here’s what I mean.. Think about what goes into meatballs, stuffed cabbages, meatloaf, egg-bakes, stuffed peppers, stuffed tomatoes, anything that needs a “filling”. Now think about how its all pretty much the same thing, ground meat, bit of seasoning, an egg, some onion, carrots, maybe celery { I’m not a celery fan}. Now think about how many times carrots, meat or onions have potentially gone bad because you just had no idea what to do with it. I know with me carrots and onions go bad all the time.
So here’s my idea.. lets start making the ground meat filling and freezing it into portion. When the grocery store has as ton of ground meat cheap, use what you have to pre-make your filling. Then it’s ready to go when you are. If you’re going ot make stuff cabbages all you need to do is add some diced tomatoe, or if you’re going to make a meatloaf add in a few sprinkles of almond meal.. boom its done.
Dinner will be so so so much easier for you now. Before you leave for work in the morning, leave it on the counter. Come home, and half the works done. I know it doesn’t seem like putting it together takes a ton of work.. but it’s more the point that you aren’t going to have to actually do that or have the ingredients on hand. On nights you have no idea what to do, you could just use it for a stirfry or for burgers.. It’s really endless. The best part is nothing will go bad, everything will be easy{er} and its one less bowl to clean when making the filling.. you know how much I hate dishes!
At least give it a go.. if it doesn’t speed things up or make life easier don’t do it.. but if it does.. once a month, make a plan to just make a big bowl of filling, and even label it! This is for burgers, this is for meatloaf, etc. That way you’re not using a bag with too much filling for meatball soup you know?
Anyhoo hopefully you found said idea kind of helpful… and you can take it and run with it. And don’t constrict yourself to ground beef! Mix it up, or mix your meets.. beef and pork go well together. As do lamb, pork, and beef.. It’s really endless what you can do
Yummy..Baked…Thingy
Before I start the baked thingy recipe post.. I’m freaking in love with Modern Paleo Warfare. It’s hilarious and epic! Go read it! Ok well after you read the recipe and stuff <3
Ok so here’s the recipe! I have no idea what to call it… any ideas? Someone.. anyone? Help! lol
I happen to think baked thingy is hilarious though, so I might keep it as that!
Ingredients:
• 1lb Ground Beef
• 1 Medium Onion Diced
• 1-2 Large Carrots, chopped up
• 1 14oz Can Diced Tomatoes {Or fresh if you have them}
• Seasoning of your choice {I used Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Dried Basil, Dried Oregano, and Dried Rosemary}
• Zucchini { or String beans or whatever meaty veggie you have on hand}
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Butter or Coconut Oil
• Optional: Cheese!
How To:
{It’s easy I swear}
• Preheat oven to 350 {F}
• In a skillet add butter {or coconut oil} and start to cook through your veggies and after a few minutes add in your ground beef. Now here’s the thing folks, I’ve made this twice in the last week, one time I had a zucchini in my fridge.. and the other time I had a bag of frozen string beans… Switch it up, use what you have. If you only have broccoli add that or if you have a mixed bag of veggies or peppers or whatever, just add in what you have.. which is what makes it so affordable you don’t have to buy something special for it!
• After the meat is about half way cooked through, add in your spices to how you like it, then your tomatoes. Then about one to two cap fulls of Apple Cider Vinegar {it’s totally optional.. but I like it in a lot of my foods, I feel like it makes it a bit “cleaner” I’m weird I know!}
• After you’ve got it all mixed together, put it in a baking dish, but don’t pour in all of the liquid you might have. When it’s baking it creates even more juices so you don’t need to add in everything from the pan if you have a lot, it’ll just turn soupy!
• Let it bake for about 25-30 minutes
• If you want cheese, at the end of the 25 minutes, add it on and stick it back in the oven for about 5-10 minutes
• Pull it out and admire your easy beautiful food!
*** Awesome tip:
Make this on a day off and make one really big batch, and freeze it in containers you can bake in the oven {I have a set of gladware {I think it’s gladware} That you can put in the oven after it’s defrosted.. makes it perfect for the freezer and its easy to clean up}, that way when you’re beyond busy… you’ve got a meal all ready! Just add a salad if you want with it! The other thing is .. if it doesn’t all fit in the baking dish, freeze the leftovers too! I’ll add that into eggs or an egg bake or it’d be a great addition to chili or a stirfry, it won’t go to waste!
This meal was also really cheap for me.. because all of the ingredients I keep in my house at all times. Like I’ve said.. stock up on your frozen veggies and your ground meats and your diced tomatoes, seasonings, etc. That way when money is a littler tighter you’re able to make meals like this.. where you could even have people over for dinner and they’d have absolutely no idea you were strapped for cash! The only thing extra I bought for this one.. was when I had the zucchini.. but they were cheap because they’re in season.. so it didn’t break the bank!
Go forth and make it! And enjoy it.. Ohh and feel free to add hot pepper flakes! That would be kick ass… and if you only have a different ground meat at home it’s fine! Use it! Pork, turkey, chicken, lamb whatever.. it’ll all taste good just work your spices so the compliment the meat the best!
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