Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry

Ommm nom nom. i really really like Asian inspired food. Since we really dont have any GOOD Asian food around here i occasionally need to make it at home or i will explode! Yesterday i made this stir fry and it makes a ton!!!

Beef and Cabbage stir fry

2lbs thin cut beef sirloin cut into small pieces 

2 cloves of garlic minced 

2 medium or one large onion

1 bell pepper cut in bite sized pieces 

2 carrots shredded (or buy matchstick!)

1 large head of savory cabbage 

heat about 2 tablespoons of butter or oil in a LARGE wok or skillet to medium high

add the garlic and cook until aromatic then add the beef! 

cook, turning until browned. its ok if its pink inside! 

remove contents to a bowl to sit 

reduce heat to medium

add cabbage, onion, carrots, and bell peppers

put enough water in the pan so that your stir fry doesnt stick or burn

you may need to add more as the cabbage cooks and wilts down! 

its ok! just add a few tablespoons at a time 

when the veggies are almost done return the beef and pan drippings to the pan with the stir fry 

crank up the heat to medium high to cook out the liquid. 

Dont forget to stir!!

allow to cook stiring occasionally until your veggies are tender and the cabbage is mostly translucent 

for the sauce:

wisk together 

1/4 cup natural crunchy peanut butter

at least 1/4 cup soy sauce 

1-2 tsp sesame seed oil

1 tablespoon sugar 

1/4 cup orange juice if you feel like it! 

taste the sauce as you are mixing it. Adjust measurements to your liking. i dont like my sauce with orange juice in it so i just omit that step completely and use a little more soy sauce. Most peanut sauces also call for a bit of rice vinegar but i HATE vinegary things so i dont put that either! 

pour sauce over the stir fry and toss to combine :) 

15 bean stoup!

Today i made a soup/stew concoction that came out pretty good! I started out with a recipe and then decided i wasnt going to follow it at all and just did my own thing instead! I've been trying to implement more greens into our diet, keep us all full, and stay under my budget.

15 Bean Stoup

1lb ground italian sausage

1lb bag 15 bean soup 

a big ole bunch of washed and chopped mustard greens 

2 medium onions

lots of garlic 

chicken broth or bullion

salt and pepper 

pick through your beans and remove any debris 

put them in a 4qt or larger pot and cover with water

heat on high until rapidly boiling

boil for 2 minutes then turn the burner off and let them sit for an hour

drain and rinse beans well. 

heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil to medium high

add sausage, onion and galic and cook until sausage is browned

add about 4 cups of chicken broth and 4 cups of water to de-glaze the pot

bring to a boil, add beans and reduce heat to medium

simmer with the lid tilted for about 2 hours or until your beans are as tender as you like them 

add the mustard greens after 1 hour you want them to wilt but not turn to mush

Stir occasionally and add more broth if liquid is needed. 

What we ate this last week

So this week i wasnt good at taking picture's of the meals we had but i did get a few. For lunch today i made a buffalo chicken salad from Well Fed 2. It's a great cookbook. it's all paleo(if that matters to you) and its all whole 30 approved. You can find it here. . It was lunch and dinner for me and it was all three of jesse's meals and dinner for abigale. Actually even Owen ate the chicken and lettuce and i wasn't expecting he would. Even after all of those meals i still have enough left over for probably three more salads.

i think the whole salad cost me maybe $6 for everything and it makes a TON really, it makes alot! 

i also made a lasagna using sliced zucchini instead of noodles! i had a huge brain fart and didnt leave out enough sauce for the top layer so i had to use plain pasta sauce which is why it looks so juicy on top. I also almost burned it lol!! It tasted really good though even if it was ugly. 

We have had lots of chicken this week too. Chicken with green beans, chicken and turnip greens and black eyed peas, chicken with stir fry veggies. For breakfast we have had eggs galore! Eggs and bacon, eggs and sausage, eggs and bell peppers and avocado. LOTS of eggs. if you know me well you know i am weird about eggs.... but i have finally found a seasoning that makes them less gross- LAWRYS garlic salt. Who knew...... 

this week i am meal planning so i will do better about remembering what i actually made with my $100 budget :) 

Well i blew it, kind of

I finished my shopping for the week this morning. My last post i had $60 remaining. Here's how i spent the rest.


Taco Casa $15

Walmart
5lb zucchini $8.94
bananas $1.19
2.25lbs hamburger meat $7.98
1lb pork sausage $2.98
big bag o string cheese $5.98
Shredded parm $2.98
Shredded mozz $2.98square
Sharp cheddar slices $2.38
oikos vanilla greek yogurt(2 packs) $7.66
spaghetti sauce (2 cans) $2.00
Toilet paper $6.97
Bread $1.88
total: 53.72

So, if you can add you'll see that i blew my $100 budget by $8.72. I was a little disappointed to see this BUT i am giving myself a little credit because this was my first week, i didnt meal plan, i didnt shop by the sales ad's, and i bought some of the things my kids actually like to eat rather than skimping for the sake of saving money.

Jesse and i have decided that once a week we will eat out. Whether it be fast food or sit down food. We have limited time as a family and when we do get that time i would like to be able to enjoy it with them and have an easy meal together too. I'm adding it into  the budget but i'm not gonna let myself feel bad if we blow the budget only because of our "treat" meal.

Abigale takes her lunches to school everyday, and Jesse takes all 3 of his meals to work each day.

I bought almost no processed packaged garbage and almost no bread(besides the one loaf obviously). I am doing no grains, but Abigale likes her little sammies for school and owen enjoys his too so im ok with that :)

i didnt get a ton of pictures ( just didnt think about it) but i can say that i have a stocked fridge!!!!!

Oh and nevermind the beer lol that was already there! 

is it even possible?

Happy new year!! Yep, it's officially 2014!! Jesse and i have been wanting to buy a home for over a year now but we haven't had the best of luck. Last February we found a house we both loved and that was completely remodeled on the inside. we though YES we found it!! NOPE, wrong!! The seller accepted our offer, bank approved the loan, we signed the contract and then inspection time came... WORST INSPECTION EVER. Seriously.... they made the house LOOK good but underneath the skin all the guts were falling apart. So sadly we let that one go and decided we should wait a while. Well, the time has now come for us to get serious about finding something. We are paying month to month at our apartment so every month we stay is rent+fee that we are paying. i say all of that to say this:

BUYING A HOUSE COSTS A LOT OF MONEY!!!

In efforts to save money for the fees, inspections, down payment, earnest money etc. that comes along with buying a house i have set up some SERIOUS spending limitations for our family. From now until we have enough saved we will try our darndest to only spend $100 a week on everything except bills. IF i can make this happen we will be able to save a significant amount of money in a short period of time. This would help us SO much!

Unfortunately we have some medical necessities that need to be taken care of also. My glasses are being held together with hot glue. EEK, for someone who is virtually blind without glasses this is a huge deal. With me having nystagmus and needing to see a specialist its an even bigger deal because my glasses and appointment typically cost me around $300. Then there is Jesse's wrist. His cyst has moved!! its now in a more painful spot so we really need to have it taken care of. Who knows how much that'll cost us.

And then there's my birthday girl. Abigale will be turning 8 in February so we will also be needing to spend money for a very special party for a very special girl!

SO here is the plan! The money we save this month will be to take care of our medical needs and abigale's party. February will begin the actual house savings and i am SOOOOO excited about it. I plan to blog about what we spend, and how i manage meals and such with only spending $100 a week. I started this today by withdrawing the $100 from my bank account. So far today i have already spent $20

Braums: $15
1 gallon of milk
1lb bacon
1lb pork sausage
2 dozen eggs

Walmart: $5
2lbs fresh frozen green beans
2lbs frozen stir fry veggies

Tomorrow i will spend an additional $20 on gas for the week leaving us with $60 to last us until next thursday. We are starting this venture having already purchased quite a bit of meat... We took a trip to costco and bought 6lbs of chicken and i've also got a huge roast and a few pounds of hamburger meat. Starting this off with the fridge mostly stocked will help us out a ton i think!! So, what do you think of this idea? Can we do it? is it even possible?? What are your money saving plans this new year?

wouldnt you like to have his kind of money minus all of the killings and meth and other general grossness?? Which reminds me!!! Netflix needs to add the last season nowwwww!!!!!