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Last night at the grocery store, the hubby bought some cheap beer.

Have you heard of it? It’s like PBR, but with a different name. He’s been seeing it pop up at bars lately and wanted to try it out. The best part about cheap beer (to me) is that I can play around with it in my recipes without wasting a lot of money if it turns out badly 🙂

I’ve been making hummus like crazy these past couple of weeks and last night I made another batch of our current favorite- roasted garlic. Today I decided to try my hand at some crackers to eat it with. I love crispy, crunchy crackers so I settled on a batch of flatbread crackers.

I found this recipe and decided to give it a try! For the flour I used 1 c white whole wheat flour and 1 c AP flour. I probably ended up using closer to 1 c beer. I started with 3/4 c and then added just enough to make the dough stick together so I could knead it.

While the dough was resting, I minced the garlic and added it to the olive oil to infuse! After about 20 minutes, I divided the dough in half, rolled it out as thin as I could and then brushed on some of the oil. I didn’t use even half of the 3 Tbsp….I just like a thin coating to help everything else stick. Then I added black pepper, red pepper, paprika, sesame seeds and a sprinkle of garlic powder. I didn’t measure, just did what looked good to me. I did add extra red pepper because I wanted them to have a bit of a kick!

I baked them at 400 degrees but mine too about 15 minutes. Then I repeated everything with the other half of the dough. Next time I’d divide it into 4 batches so I could roll it even thinner and I’d bake it on a pizza stone.

I used a pizza cutter to cut into cracker sized pieces!

I may or may not have eaten at least 1/2 of these for lunch 🙂

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Well friends, we’ve made it through another week! We had one obstacle this week but I’m proud to say we overcame it! We had a wedding to attend on Saturday night and had chosen our meals prior to deciding to do veggie month. We tried to get our orders changed to vegetarian but it was too close to the date of the wedding. It would have been easy to just ignore the challenge and eat the meat we ordered, but instead we planned ahead and made a delicious vegetarian curry to eat at home before we left for the wedding. Then we just ate our salads, rolls and vegetable sides at dinner, along with some candy from the candy bar 🙂

We also went to the Farmer’s Market with my in-laws this weekend and stocked up on delicious produce!

So what have we been eating this week?

Thursday: Black Bean Veggie Burgers with Grilled Potatoes

Friday: Happy Hour dinner- Margarita Pizza and Parmesan Risotto Balls

Saturday: Veggie Curry with Potatoes and Green Beans (I made the sauce pretty much the same way as the Bean & Mushroom Curry but with an extra scoop of red curry paste)

Sunday: Black Bean and Mushroom Enchiladas with Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup and Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Monday: Salsa Omelets and roasted poatatoes (The salsa had corn, black beans, tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, jalapeno and avocado in it- perfect omelet fillings if you ask me! Hubby is the expert omelet maker and he made one giant one for us to share. He added a leftover black bean burger and brown rice, and some fresh mozz as well!)

Tuesday: Asian Style Wheatberries (It was just as good as the last time I made it!)

Wednesday: Another curry! We just can’t get enough 🙂 This one had tomatoes, potatoes, green peppers and onions. Hubby made the sauce a little thicker by adding less broth and a bit a cream cheese!

 And for lunch:

Quesadillas with black bean burgers, hummus & veggies
Egg & veggie scrambles with wheat toast
Buckwheat crepes with greek yogurt and fresh fruit
Buckwheat bread with peanut butter

Some things I’m thinking about for next week:

Barley & Veggie Soup
Pesto & Veggie Grilled Cheese
Veggie Pot Pies
Another tofu experiment! Any suggestions?

We’ll see what happens! What’s the best veggie dish you’ve eaten this week?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

A while ago, Brandi posted this recipe for Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup. I immediately thought about my all-time favorite Chicken Enchiladas and I knew that next time I made them, I wanted to make the cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup at home. Well, I never got around to making them until last week, and seeing as we’re in the middle of veggie month, I had to make a few modifications….but it all worked out!

Instead of chicken enchiladas, I made a black bean and mushroom enchiladas. I started by making the cream of mushroom soup. I made a few changes to Brandi’s recipe…here’s the recipe I used:

 

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Cream of Mushroom Soup

6 oz. portobello mushrooms, diced
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp flour
1 can (12 oz) fat free evaporated milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Add mushrooms to a pan with 1 Tbsp of oil and cook until browned. Remove from the pan.
2. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil and flour and whisk together.
3. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly, until mixture is smooth. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat and let cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened.

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The original recipe had 12 oz of mushrooms. Clearly I had no idea how many mushrooms that was…and I felt like 6 oz was enough once I started chopping.

Next, since I was on such a homemade kick, I decided to tackle homemade enchilada sauce. I’d been thinking about trying to make this at home for a while now because the canned versions have so much salt. I looked at this recipe and this recipe and ended up with a mixture of the two.

 

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Homemade Enchilada Sauce

1 1/2 c water
8 oz no-salt added tomato sauce
3 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp flour
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Mix the flour oil and chili powder together in a sauce pan.
2. Add the water, tomato sauce and the remaining spices and whisk until smooth.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened

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The sauce was good, but next time I’d probably only use 2 Tbsp chili powder since the flavor can be a little overwhelming and I’d add a bit more cayenne.

Once both of those were prepared, I was ready to make the enchiladas.

 

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Black Bean & Mushroom Enchiladas

2 cups black beans, cooked
1 c red pepper, diced
1 c brown rice
1 1/2 c chopped Portobello mushrooms
1 1/2 c Cream of Mushroom Soup
3/4 c low-fat Mexican cheese, divided
5 whole wheat tortillas
1/2 c enchilada sauce

Directions:
1. Mix  all of the ingredients except 1/4 c cheese in a large bowl.
2. Pour a thin layer of enchilada sauce over the bottom of a 9×13 pan.
3. Portion the mixture into the tortillas and roll up. Place seam side down in the pan.
4. Top with the remaining enchilada sauce and cheese and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

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Just ignore my sad looking tortillas…I had some trouble with the tortillas sticking together. Also ignore the fact that there are only 4 enchiladas in a smaller pan. I had some trouble with the tortillas sticking together.

So there ya have it, friends. About as homemade as enchiladas can get. Maybe I’ll even make my own tortillas next time!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

Hi Friends!

Some strange, yet wonderful things have been happening around The Bean household lately. The hubby’s been saying things like, “We need more hummus” and “It tastes pretty good” (with regards to tofu) and “This is the best thing I’ve ever made” (about something that has no meat in it).

Let me back up a little bit. Two weekends ago, I was working in the family room on my computer and the hubby came into the kitchen. He said, “Do you want to not eat meat for the next 6 months?” Not gonna lie, I may have had a mini heart attack! Who was this guy and what had he done with my hubby?

If you’re a long-time reader, you know that I quit eating meat for 3 months last year and I don’t eat a lot of it to begin with. My hubby, on the other hand, loves his meat- especially steak (which he rarely gets because I don’t eat red meat). As shocked as I was, I immediately wanted to jump on board with this challenge. I said, “Sure! But six months might be a bit of an aggressive goal….maybe we try one month and see how it goes?”

I already had salmon thawing in the fridge so I used that up to make these Thai Peanut Salmon Burgers and the next day we were off to the races. We’re still eating eggs and drinking milk…but no meat!

So what have we been eating for dinner this past week?

Let’s recap!

Wednesday: Spaghetti with Veggie and Lentil Bolognese
Thursday: Flatbread Veggie Pizzas
Friday: Spicy Bean & Mushroom Curry with Rice and TJ’s Naan
Saturday: BBQ Tofu Tacos with Corn & Fiesta Quinoa (quinoa mixed with garlic, onion, red pepper, spinach, mushrooms, corn and black beans)
Sunday: Portobello and Fried Egg Sandwiches (sorry, can’t find my picture of that one!)
Monday: Soba Noodle and Veggie Bowls
Tuesday: Loaded Sweet Potatoes (topped with Fiesta Quinoa for me and a mixture of brown rice, black beans, onion, red peppers, tomato, cheese, cumin and cholula for him)
Wednesday: Leftovers!

For lunch we’ve been kind of obsessed with veggie wraps. Usually they include a mix of homemade Roasted Garlic hummus, baby spinach, carrots, red peppers, portobello mushrooms, avocado and fresh mozzerella cheese. We’ve also turned these into veggie quesadillas. Fresh fruit with Greek yogurt is always a lunchtime staple and I’ve really been loving my fiesta quinoa.

Everything we’ve had so far has been great! I’m so proud of my hubby for doing this challenge! I’m working on trying to get him to write a guest post about what he thought of the whole thing. Whaddya think? Would you guys like that?

Now here’s where you come in. The first week of a challenge is always the easiest. Give me your best veggie ideas (meals, lunches, snacks…whatever you got) to help us get through the next three weeks!

Here are some things that are already on my list:

Veggies with roasted red pepper sauce
Mediterranean chef salad
Miso soup with sweet potato dumplings
Veggie potstickers
Portobello philly cheese steak sandwiches
Portobello parmesan
Black bean burgers
Taco salad (rice & beans)
Veggie grilled cheese
Barley and vegetable soup
Frittata
Pesto pasta
Veggie spring rolls
Veggie potato lasagna
Veggie fried rice stuffed mushrooms
Veggie pot pies
Indian- not sure what yet

Got any good recipes for any of those?!

Wish us luck 🙂

Enjoy your veggies!
–Lindsay–

 

 

 

 

Hi Friends!

For my birthday this year, the hubby got me a cookbook devoted entirely to Curries. Last week we looked through it and got some inspiration for whipping up a curry of our own.

I didn’t take very many pictures while we were actually cooking, but I just HAD to share the recipe with you because it turned out so well.

For the veggies, we used approximately 2 cups green beans, 1 cup portabello mushrooms, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 red pepper and 1/2 cup onion. We added black beans and cannelini beans because the hubby isn’t the biggest fan of chickpeas and lentils…but I think both of those would be excellent substitutes.

Our veggie base was pretty basic and you could add or subtract veggies based on your personal preference, but it’s the sauce that made the dish. Here’s what we came up with:

 

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Red Curry Sauce

1 can lite coconut milk
1 c veggie broth
3-4 Tbsp hot red curry paste
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
4 dried red chilis
1 jalapeno

Pour the coconut milk to a saucepan and heat it over medium heat until warm. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.

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We poured the sauce over the veggies and let everything simmer together for about 15 minutes and then served it all over rice.

This sauce is SPICY…but not so spicy you can’t eat it. If you’re not a fan of spicy, use mild red curry paste and leave out the dried red chilis.

I preferred sauteed veggies which is why we cooked them separately, but the hubby says it’d be better to cook the veggies IN the sauce so they can absorb more of the flavor. You choose!

What’s your favorite curry recipe?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Happy Saturday!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

Allie and I have been working diligently this weekend to get Foodie Penpals up and running and we’re so excited to share the details with you.

Here’s how it’s gonna work:

-On the 1st of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact each other and get mailing addresses and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! I realize it probably won’t take 2 weeks for you to get your goodies, but this will ensure we can have everyone publish their post on the same day.

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. *US Residents only please at this time- hopefully we can expand soon!*

So that’s the deal, friends. If you’re interested, email me at [email protected] by August 15th. In the email please include:

-your full name
-your email address
-your blog name (if applicable)

The first penpal matches will be sent September 1st. Please only sign up if you truly intend to participate. We don’t want anyone to not receive a box!

Side note: If anyone likes designing buttons and wants to make one for foodie penpals, let me know!

Please help spread the word if you know of any other bloggers/readers that might be interested! The more the merrier 🙂

Hi Friends!

I’ve had this idea floating around in my head for a while now and I’m super excited to share it with you!

Everyone likes getting mail right? I know I do! And we all know how I feel about food….put those together….food in the mail!!!

Allie of Healthy Balance, Healthy Life and I are looking to put together a group of people that are interested in being Foodie Penpals. We’re still hammering out the details but the basic gist is that once a month you would be assigned a penpal and you’d gather up some of your favorite local/healthy/foodie things and exchange them with your penpal for the month. It’d be an awesome way to try some new products, especially things local to your penpal that you might not otherwise be able to get!

After tweeting the idea on Friday, we’ve already got 10 ladies who have expressed interest!!

If you think this is something that might interest you, send me an email, leave a comment, tweet me or something to let me know. I’ll add you to the list and keep you updated as we figure out the details- like the $ limit. From there, you can decide whether or not you want to participate! Feel free to spread the word on your blog or tweet about this. The more the merrier 🙂

Happy Saturday!
–Lindsay–

Happy Saturday 🙂
–Lindsay–

This weekend we were out of town remembering and celebrating the life of my grandma.

We enjoyed our time with family members- eating, drinking and reminiscing.

We looked at pretty flowers and saw beautiful sunsets, all the while celebrating a beautiful life.

We gathered together as a family and laughed over the antics of a crazy dog.

We played Grandma’s favorite game and revisited our childhood.

And we looked at hundreds of pictures and remembered all the beautiful things grandma was a part of and gave thanks for the wonderful years we shared with her.

 

We didn’t always live close by, but she was always there for me. She watched countless soccer and basketball games, hosted a million birthday parties and holiday dinners, and she was there for every single milestone in my life- my Confirmation, all of my graduations, my wedding….She was a beautiful person, inside and out and she will be missed.

I love you Grandma.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to make some of Grandma’s jello and a big bowl of Turkey Dumpling Soup.

~Lindsay~

 

 

Recently I got a reader request for a post about eating healthy on a budget, specifically including tips for grocery shopping. Lots of bloggers have written posts about this topic but I thought it might be fun to do one of my own!

So here we go:

1.  Plan, plan, plan.

-Never go to the grocery store without a list….and stick to that list! (My hubby made me a checklist that lists foods by aisle. I can circle what I need and makes it really easy to make sure you don’t miss anything on your list when you’re in the store!)
-Plan menus that use ingredients more than once so things don’t go to waste.

-Use grocery store ads to plan your meals around what’s on sale
-Use coupons, but only if they’re for things you would normally buy. There’s no sense in getting $1 off Swiss cheese if you don’t even like Swiss cheese. In the end you won’t be saving money because you’ll probably end up throwing those things away
-Same thing goes for 10 for $10 sales, don’t buy something just because it’s included in the sale if you’re not going to eat it!
-Realize that most coupons are for processed foods, which you should try to limit in your diet.
-Be realistic. Most people will always have some amount of processed food in their diet. Focus on choosing wisely for the ones you do include.
-Never grocery shop hungry. It leads to more impulse purchases!

2. Keep a well-stocked pantry
-See the post I wrote about my pantry staples for some ideas to get you started. It will be an expensive one-time investment and then it’s pretty easy to keep stocked by just replacing things one at a time as you run out

-Know what you have on hand. Don’t buy tomato sauce every time you go to the store if you already have 6 jars in your pantry.
-Keep a running list of things you run out of throughout the week so you don’t forget anything.

3. Shop in season

-Shop your local farmer’s markets in the summer and plan your menus around the things you find there.
-Grow your own vegetable garden. Seed packets are cheap and with a little planning, you can have fresh herbs and produce several months a year for a very low cost.
-Buy what’s in season. (Here’s a great list by state) Don’t try to buy strawberries in January if they’re not in season where you live. Instead, go strawberry picking in June and stock your freezer so that you can enjoy berries on the cheap all year round.
– Check out the frozen section for fruits and vegetables. The produce is usually flash frozen at its peak and therefore can be just as beneficial nutrition-wise as fresh produce.

4. Only buy organic when it matters.
-Memorize the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen (Check out my friend Jenn’s post for a great visual guide!) . In other words, don’t waste your money on organic sweet potatoes. As for meat and milk, do your own research and decide if it’s something you feel strongly enough about to spend the money on.

5. Unit cost/Buying in bulk
-I cannot stress this enough. I look at the unit cost of every single thing I buy, especially things like spices, peanut butter and chips.  The price may seem higher at the time, but it will save you money in the long run.
-On the other hand, don’t buy something in bulk just to save money if you can’t eat it or freeze it before it’s going to spoil.
-Buy and cook a whole chicken. It’s way cheaper than just buying the breasts or legs, and then you can use the bones to make stock. All it requires is a little extra time cutting.

6. Make your own
-There are TONS of things you can make at home that require very little effort and yield products that are similar to and often better than store bought (Read cheaper and healthier). Some examples: hummus, tomato sauce, crackers, bread, pizza crust, trail mix, granola, bagels, broth, lean pockets….

7. Eat less meat and more beans and other legumes
-Meat is expensive. For the most part, grains, beans and legumes are not. Buy bags of dried beans, peas, lentils, rice, quinoa, barley and cook them yourself. Most require no more than a hour of soaking before cooking, if any at all.
-Cook a whole bag of black beans at once. Portion them into Ziploc bags and store them in the freezer. When you’re ready to use them, just pull some out and defrost them n the microwave or add them directly to whatever dish you’re making.

 

8. Know your portion sizes

-If you’re eating 6 ounces of meat at every meal, of course you’re going to spend more money than you should at the grocery store. Learn to eat correct portion sizes and your food will last longer. (Click here to see portion sizes in pictures with everyday objects).
-Fill your plate the right way.

9. Just drink water
-Don’t waste your money on soda, juice and sports drinks. They’re fine to have occasionally, but if you don’t buy them every time you shop, you will save money. If you have a hard time drinking plain water, add citrus fruits or frozen (unsweetened) berries to a pitcher of water for a twist of flavor.

10. Limit processed foods

-Packaged foods are notoriously overpriced. They’re also filled with stuff you don’t need in your body. Stick with fresh, natural foods that you can combine yourself into tasty meals, rather than buying pre-packaged meals filled with who knows what.

11. Read the labels. I buy Kashi 7 grain crackers instead of Wheat Thins. Are they more expensive? Yes. Are they better for me? Yes. They have less sodium and sugar and more fiber and protein. Is that worth the extra money to me? Yes.

12. Stock up when things are on sale. Check the expiration dates and the amount of space in your freezer and then buy several when things go on sale. This can save you a lot of money, especially on things like meat, as long as you have a place to store it!

13. Consider store brand products.
I’ll be the first to admit that there are definitely some things that I refuse to buy store brand. However, for the most part, store brand products have the exact same ingredients as name brand and can usually be found at a MUCH lower price! Just remember to check the nutrition facts and compare between brands as usual.

So there you have it. Eating healthy on a budget can be a challenge, but with a little effort it can be done.

Some other posts that may be of interest:

Cutting Down our Grocery Bill from The Avid Appetite
Grocery Budget from Yes I Want Cake
Saving on Groceries from Faith, Fitness, Fun
Getting it Under Control from AliGirl Cooks
Eat Well, Spend Less from GoodLife Eats

Any other tips that I might have missed?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Recently, I cooked up a whole bag of black beans to restock my freezer supply. Usually I try to undercook them just a bit because when I add them to different dishes, they tend to cook a bit more.

However, I accidentally overcooked this batch a little bit. They’ll still be fine, and I still put most of them in the freezer…but I decided that since they were a bit mushy, they might be good in a dip.

Honestly, I’m not a big fan of black beans by themselves. So I didn’t want to make just a plain old black bean dip because I knew I wouldn’t like the flavor. I had an avocado that was nice and ripe and I found myself wondering what a mix of those two flavors would taste like.

I put some beans in the food processor, added an avocado, a little bit of Greek yogurt and the juice of one lemon and gave it a whirl. I made mine pretty smooth, but you could achieve a similar, yet chunkier, result by simply mashing the beans and avocado by hand and then mixing in the yogurt and juice.

Since I do prefer a chunky guacamole, I added some red onion and tomato to the mix for some texture.

I also added some cayenne pepper for a little extra kick!

It turned out great! The avocado flavor definitely covers up the black bean flavor and adding the beans and yogurt help boost the amount of protein! Protein and healthy fats? Yes please!

Printable recipe below- quantities are estimated since I didn’t measure anything!

 

 

Eating this with some Food Should Taste Good jalapeno chips was pretty much the best thing ever! By the way, have you entered my Food Should Taste Good giveaway for your chance to win five bags of chips?!

What’s your favorite way to eat guacamole? Mine is probably on a chicken and guac panini! YUM!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

For my last birthday, my sister got me this cookbook.

Since my birthday happened to fall right in the middle of my busiest quarter at school, I haven’t had much time to look through it until recently. After spending some time browsing the recipes, one really stood out to me.

Crockpot Granola.

Does that sounds genius or what? I don’t know about you but I always seem to burn granola when I make it in the oven. I get annoyed that it takes so long and I slowly keep turning up the temperature on the oven…and then BAM! it burns. and then I’m sad.

So I decided to give it a dry. The cookbook suggests cooking it on high for an hour and a half and then turning it down. It also suggests melting the liquid stuff like honey and peanut butter in the crockpot and then adding the other stuff. I opted to just melt the peanut butter and honey in the microwave, then mix in the oats and other stuff and dump it all in the crockpot. I cooked mine on low because my crockpot tends to run hot.

A couple things to remember:

1) You do have to stir this granola….about once every half hour. That makes this a great recipe for a Sunday afternoon when you’re hanging around the house anyways…perhaps doing some food prep for the week?

2) Watch your granola carefully. I only cooked mine for about 3 hours even though the recipe said almost 6 hours. It definitely depends on your crockpot.

3) After reading some other recipes online, I left the lid cracked on my crockpot even though my recipe didn’t say to. Leaving the lid on can lead to some soggy granola!

So let’s get started shall we?

The best thing about granola is you can put in pretty much whatever you want….and you don’t need exact measurements. Use your favorite recipe or check out one of mine. This time I used oats, raw, unsalted sunflower seeds and almonds, wheat germ and flax seed. In a small bowl I warmed up some honey, peanut butter and vanilla.

Spray your crockpot, stir to combine and pour into the crockpot:

Cook on low, with the lid tilted for 3-4 hours, stirring every half hour until golden brown. Remove from the crockpot and spread on a sheet tray to cool. Stir in your favorite mix-ins! I added raisins, craisins and a few chocolate chips.

If forget about your granola and don’t stir it, some will burn. Just scoop that out and move forward 🙂

Store in an airtight container for up to a month.

And might I suggest making a batch of granola cookies with your new homemade treat?!

Do you have a favorite granola recipe? Share it with me!! I love putting vanilla in mine!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–