My Husband Cooks

 Meals Plan on a Family Budget: What we are eating

I raised a family of 5-8 off and on for many years with a low income. What that did for me was, 1) taught me how to shop on a budget, and 2) how to make a wide variety of stews and other one-pot meals - sadly, KidChow has not been invented yet. I had 5 teenage boys all at the same time, so you can imagine what our food budget must have been and how fast things disappeared from our fridge. It was similar to a plague of locust. This has informed our eating habits for years. 

We started out with Keto but it didn't stick. So, on December 31, 2021, we decided to eat with the following criteria: mostly whole foods (i.e. no convenience foods, canned goods except pumpkin, beans, pasta, and tomatoes), fruits, vegetables, low fat proteins, and no or very little sugar - BTW, a tsp of sugar is only 13 calories, is much better for you than Sweet N Low and has 4.6 gms of carbs. However, a cup of sugar is very vary bad, so be careful. WW has been a really good education, but it is too expensive for us to stay with the program. I have lost about 20 lbs and it has stayed off for several months now. My assumption is, IF (big if) I stay on my food plan, it continues to go down. Not a fast weight loss, but I think it's consistent and not going back on. 

So, after doing this meal planning for about five years, I think I'm ready to fly solo. Many of the on-line "meal plans" have a lot of stuff we don't eat, i.e. egg plant, sword fish, kale, monk fruit, tofu (yuk), etc., don't address my diabetes or are too high in fat/carbs for us. We have very simple tastes (and a very simple budget since we're on retirement only). Here is what we are eating;

Fruits (only 2 servings a day) - Bananas, oranges, apples, and stone fruit (in season) - Frozen strawberries and other fruit that might be on sale (usually for snacks with Sweet n Low and cinnimon)

Vegetables (as many as I can do per day) - Potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, golden beets, celery, onions, green onions, corn (in season), mushrooms, asparagus (on sale), spinach, sprouts, micro-greens (I grow these myself), pre-chopped garlic

Proteins: Eggs, Chicken Breasts, Chicken Thigh (occasionally), Chicken Drum Sticks (occasionally), ground Turkey (instead of ground beef or lamb, though we use ground beef for tacos as a treat and lamb for kafka), Turkey Sausage (on sale), chicken sausage (on sale), shrimp, fish (on sale), deli turkey (on sale)

Dairy: Half n Half (our last vice is coffee with H&H and my one indulgence), low fat cheeses (on sale), whole fat cheeses (very sparingly), cottage cheese (full fat - very sparingly - can't stand the low fat stuff), plain yogurt, lemon-yogurt. Laughing Cow (sparingly with fruit)

Grains & Beans: Rice (sparingly), pasta, rice noodles, ramen (very sparingly), oats, farro, barley, refried beans, black beans, kidney beans (in stews)

FOR TODAY:

Breakfast: Eggs & Hash Browns coffee with cream
Lunch - Chicken sausage, shrimp, and farro jambalaya
Dinner - Rosemary Roast Chicken, Sheet Pan Asparagus Parmesan (Recipes Below)

ROSEMARY ROAST CHICKEN

2 Medium Potatoes (cut into bite sized pieces)
2 Chicken Breasts
2 Tsp Olive Oil
2 Tsp Fresh Chopped Rosemary
Salt & Pepper to Taste
1 Garlic Clove (chopped)
1/4 Cup White Wine


Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray the bottom of a broiler pan with cooking spray.
• Add the potatoes to the pan and toss them with 2 tsp oil, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp black pepper. Roast until the potatoes begin to brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining oil, the garlic, rosemary, and the remaining ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the mixture.
• Stir the potatoes and move them to 1 side of the pan. Add the chicken and ¼ cup wine to the pan and roast for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken over, add the remaining ¼ cup wine to the pan, and continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken registers 165°F and the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes more.

Per serving: 4 oz chicken breast and ½ cup potatoes

Sheet Pan Asparagus Parmesan

Cooking spray
4spray(s)
Uncooked asparagus
1 1⁄4pound(s), trimmed (about 2 bunches)
Kosher salt
1⁄4tsp

Store-bought marinara sauce
2⁄3cup(s) (Note: I make my own, but store bought is fine)
Shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1⁄2cup(s)
Grated Parmesan cheese
2Tbsp
Dried oregano
1⁄4tsp
Crushed red pepper flakes
1⁄4tsp (Optional: we don't use this)

Instructions:

• Place a large sheet pan in the oven. Preheat the oven to 400°F (leave the pan in the oven as it heats).
• Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and coat it with cooking spray. Arrange the asparagus on the pan, lightly coat the asparagus with cooking spray, and sprinkle the asparagus with salt. Spoon a line of marinara over the middle of the asparagus. Top the marinara with mozzarella, Parmesan, oregano, and pepper flakes. Bake until the cheese is melted and the asparagus is crisp-tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Serving size: one-fourth of the asparagus