captain_slinky (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
captain_slinky) wrote2009-04-10 06:53 am
captain_slinky) wrote2009-04-10 06:53 am
One Week Chili
I can't find my original post regarding this, so I'll just recreate it here as faithfully as possible; One Week of meals from one pot of super-cheap beans.
DAY 1: THE $4 POT OF ONE-WEEK CHILI
2 Lbs Pinto Beans (98-cents a pound)
1 Onion, diced (25-cents)
1 Lb Frozen Ground Turkey (98-cents a pound)*
8-10 Taco Bell Mild Taco Sauce packets (Free)
2 Jack In The Box BBQ Dipping Sauce packets (Free)
1 Jack In The Box Marinara Dipping Sauce packet (Free)
6-8 To-Go containers of Taco Time Salsa (Free)
4 Packets Pizza Hut Crushed Red Chili Flakes (Free)
1 8-oz can of the cheapest Chili you can find (2 for $1 if you know where to shop)
(You can substitute any meat you like for this, just so long as it is the cheapest meat in the store. I have done this with "Reduced For Quick Sale" breakfast sausage, veal, pork, stew meat, chuck steak and others, but Frozen Ground Turkey is ALWAYS a cheap alternative)
Cook the beans however you like. Standard format is to soak over night or till "Rubbery", then boil till tender. Stir in your can of really cheap store-bought chili and let simmer on the back burner. In a separate frying pan, brown your cheap meat in a few tablespoons of Fat (I always have a can of bacon grease on the back of my stove for just such an emergency). Add the diced onion about half-way through the process so you can fry/saute the onions a bit and get them kinda soft. Once the meat is brown and the onions are clear/soft, dump 'em in to the pot of beans. Then empty all the other ingredients in to the pot and stir, let simmer for a good half-hour before eating. Salt and pepper to taste.
DAY TWO: CHILI-MAC HELPER
2 Boxes of cheap Macaroni And Cheese (Up to one dollar if you include the milk and butter used to prepare it)
2 Lb Loaf of Cheddar Cheese ($3, but we're gonna get a lot of mileage out of it)
1 to 2 Cups of leftover Chili, depending on how chili-ee you want it
Go ahead and shred the entire block of cheese, stick it in a tupperware or ziploc baggie in the fridge. Over the course of the week we're gonna use it all like that anywho. Prepare the two boxes of Mac-N-Cheese as directed, only instead of doing the whole thing in one pan transfer the cooked noodles to a large skillet before adding the powdered cheese and milk and margarine. Once it's all mixed-up and in the pan, stir in your cup of Chili. Sprinkle with grated cheese and let sit till cheese is all melty.
DAY THREE: TEX-MEX BBQ CUPS
4 Wendy's BBQ Dipping Sauce packets (Free)
1 Lb Cheap Meat (98-cents a pound)
1 Tube of Refrigerator Biscuits ($1 with coupon)
1 Up to One Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (from last night)
Leftover Chili
Brown your meat and stick it in your entire left over pot of Chili along with the Wendy's BBQ Sauce. I prefer Wendy's for this step over any other fast food sauce because it has a slightly smokier, bolder flavor. Open your tube of biscuits and place each one in the cup of a muffin tin, attempting to make a "Cup" that climbs up the side of the muffin tin. Fill each little cup with a scoop of your newly BBQ-flavored meatier chili and top it with just a little bit (2 to 3 Tbsp) of the cheddar cheese, shredded. Bake for like 8 to 10 minutes or however long it takes the biscuits to be done. The cheaper the biscuit the better, because cheaper biscuits don't rise as much.
DAY FOUR: OLD COUNTRY GOULASH
1 and 1/2 cups of Leftover Chili
1 8-oz Container of Cottage Cheese ($1.50)
6 Packets Jack in The Box Marinara Dipping Sauce (Free)
1 Small Bag of Egg Noodles ($1)
Heat your 1 and 1/2 cups of chili in a sauce pan and add the Marinara Dipping Sauce while you cook your noodles. Drain the cooked noodles and combine them with the hot chili. Then stir in the container of cottage cheese and stir, stir, stir.
DAY FIVE: SPANISH RICE
2 Cups uncooked rice ($1?)
1 Can Whole Kernel Corn (50-cents)
10 Taco Bell Hot Sauce packets (Free)
4 To-Go Taco Time Salsa Containers (free)
1 Cup leftover Chili
2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Cook your rice however you cook it. I personally have a rice steamer that works AWESOME. In an oven-safe pan that is large enough to hold all that rice plus more (I use a Dutch Oven), heat your cup of chili along with the can of corn (drained) and all the fast food sauces. Add the rice and mix it up good. Then stir in all that shredded cheese. Pat it down and smooth off the top, then sprinkle on a layer of shredded cheddar cheese. Bake at 350-degrees for about a half an hour or till the cheese on top is crisp and bubbly.
DAY SIX: SEVERAL-LAYER DIP
1 8-oz container of Sour Cream ($1.50)
1 Can Whole Kernel Corn (50-cents)
3 Green Onions (98-cents)
2 Packets Pizza Hut Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (Free)
1 Can cheap Refried Beans (50-cents)
1 Lb. Cheap Ground Meat (98-cents)
10 Packets Taco Bell Taco Sauce
1 Large Bag Cheap Corn Chips ($1)
All the leftover shredded cheddar cheese
All the leftover chili
The most complicated dish on my menu, but it's also the one that ends up being made on The Weekend!
First, drain your corn. In a frying pan, melt some butter over medium-high heat and toss in the drained corn. Add the Crushed Red Pepper Flakes and a bit of sauce. Stirr it good, mixing all the flavored and browning the corn a bit. Remove from heat (this only takes a minute or two) and put the cooked corn in your fridge.
Next, brown your cheap ground meat in a little bit of fat and add half of the Taco Bell Hot Sauce. Cook and stir till all the meat is thoroughly coated and then remove from heat; put it in the fridge.
Take all your leftover chili and mix it with the remaining Taco Bell Hot Sauce and the can of refried beans. MIX THOROUGHLY and stick it in the fridge.
In a large bowl or Pyrex baking pan (which is that i use), layer the stuff like this: Chili/Refried beans, thin layer of cheese, Meat, Corn, Cheese, Sour Cream and finally your green onions all cut up nicely. Serve with corn chips.
DAY SEVEN: LEFTOVERS
On the seventh day he rested. Enjoy leftovers!
DAY 1: THE $4 POT OF ONE-WEEK CHILI
2 Lbs Pinto Beans (98-cents a pound)
1 Onion, diced (25-cents)
1 Lb Frozen Ground Turkey (98-cents a pound)*
8-10 Taco Bell Mild Taco Sauce packets (Free)
2 Jack In The Box BBQ Dipping Sauce packets (Free)
1 Jack In The Box Marinara Dipping Sauce packet (Free)
6-8 To-Go containers of Taco Time Salsa (Free)
4 Packets Pizza Hut Crushed Red Chili Flakes (Free)
1 8-oz can of the cheapest Chili you can find (2 for $1 if you know where to shop)
(You can substitute any meat you like for this, just so long as it is the cheapest meat in the store. I have done this with "Reduced For Quick Sale" breakfast sausage, veal, pork, stew meat, chuck steak and others, but Frozen Ground Turkey is ALWAYS a cheap alternative)
Cook the beans however you like. Standard format is to soak over night or till "Rubbery", then boil till tender. Stir in your can of really cheap store-bought chili and let simmer on the back burner. In a separate frying pan, brown your cheap meat in a few tablespoons of Fat (I always have a can of bacon grease on the back of my stove for just such an emergency). Add the diced onion about half-way through the process so you can fry/saute the onions a bit and get them kinda soft. Once the meat is brown and the onions are clear/soft, dump 'em in to the pot of beans. Then empty all the other ingredients in to the pot and stir, let simmer for a good half-hour before eating. Salt and pepper to taste.
DAY TWO: CHILI-MAC HELPER
2 Boxes of cheap Macaroni And Cheese (Up to one dollar if you include the milk and butter used to prepare it)
2 Lb Loaf of Cheddar Cheese ($3, but we're gonna get a lot of mileage out of it)
1 to 2 Cups of leftover Chili, depending on how chili-ee you want it
Go ahead and shred the entire block of cheese, stick it in a tupperware or ziploc baggie in the fridge. Over the course of the week we're gonna use it all like that anywho. Prepare the two boxes of Mac-N-Cheese as directed, only instead of doing the whole thing in one pan transfer the cooked noodles to a large skillet before adding the powdered cheese and milk and margarine. Once it's all mixed-up and in the pan, stir in your cup of Chili. Sprinkle with grated cheese and let sit till cheese is all melty.
DAY THREE: TEX-MEX BBQ CUPS
4 Wendy's BBQ Dipping Sauce packets (Free)
1 Lb Cheap Meat (98-cents a pound)
1 Tube of Refrigerator Biscuits ($1 with coupon)
1 Up to One Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (from last night)
Leftover Chili
Brown your meat and stick it in your entire left over pot of Chili along with the Wendy's BBQ Sauce. I prefer Wendy's for this step over any other fast food sauce because it has a slightly smokier, bolder flavor. Open your tube of biscuits and place each one in the cup of a muffin tin, attempting to make a "Cup" that climbs up the side of the muffin tin. Fill each little cup with a scoop of your newly BBQ-flavored meatier chili and top it with just a little bit (2 to 3 Tbsp) of the cheddar cheese, shredded. Bake for like 8 to 10 minutes or however long it takes the biscuits to be done. The cheaper the biscuit the better, because cheaper biscuits don't rise as much.
DAY FOUR: OLD COUNTRY GOULASH
1 and 1/2 cups of Leftover Chili
1 8-oz Container of Cottage Cheese ($1.50)
6 Packets Jack in The Box Marinara Dipping Sauce (Free)
1 Small Bag of Egg Noodles ($1)
Heat your 1 and 1/2 cups of chili in a sauce pan and add the Marinara Dipping Sauce while you cook your noodles. Drain the cooked noodles and combine them with the hot chili. Then stir in the container of cottage cheese and stir, stir, stir.
DAY FIVE: SPANISH RICE
2 Cups uncooked rice ($1?)
1 Can Whole Kernel Corn (50-cents)
10 Taco Bell Hot Sauce packets (Free)
4 To-Go Taco Time Salsa Containers (free)
1 Cup leftover Chili
2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Cook your rice however you cook it. I personally have a rice steamer that works AWESOME. In an oven-safe pan that is large enough to hold all that rice plus more (I use a Dutch Oven), heat your cup of chili along with the can of corn (drained) and all the fast food sauces. Add the rice and mix it up good. Then stir in all that shredded cheese. Pat it down and smooth off the top, then sprinkle on a layer of shredded cheddar cheese. Bake at 350-degrees for about a half an hour or till the cheese on top is crisp and bubbly.
DAY SIX: SEVERAL-LAYER DIP
1 8-oz container of Sour Cream ($1.50)
1 Can Whole Kernel Corn (50-cents)
3 Green Onions (98-cents)
2 Packets Pizza Hut Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (Free)
1 Can cheap Refried Beans (50-cents)
1 Lb. Cheap Ground Meat (98-cents)
10 Packets Taco Bell Taco Sauce
1 Large Bag Cheap Corn Chips ($1)
All the leftover shredded cheddar cheese
All the leftover chili
The most complicated dish on my menu, but it's also the one that ends up being made on The Weekend!
First, drain your corn. In a frying pan, melt some butter over medium-high heat and toss in the drained corn. Add the Crushed Red Pepper Flakes and a bit of sauce. Stirr it good, mixing all the flavored and browning the corn a bit. Remove from heat (this only takes a minute or two) and put the cooked corn in your fridge.
Next, brown your cheap ground meat in a little bit of fat and add half of the Taco Bell Hot Sauce. Cook and stir till all the meat is thoroughly coated and then remove from heat; put it in the fridge.
Take all your leftover chili and mix it with the remaining Taco Bell Hot Sauce and the can of refried beans. MIX THOROUGHLY and stick it in the fridge.
In a large bowl or Pyrex baking pan (which is that i use), layer the stuff like this: Chili/Refried beans, thin layer of cheese, Meat, Corn, Cheese, Sour Cream and finally your green onions all cut up nicely. Serve with corn chips.
DAY SEVEN: LEFTOVERS
On the seventh day he rested. Enjoy leftovers!