Frugal Cooking for Singles 101

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I know several people online who are single and they’ve shared the struggle to cook when it’s just for themselves. At the same time, I’ve had to move my own dinner time to 4 pm – way before my husband gets home from work. It has been the one thing that got me sleeping soundly again. I’m cooking for one now and I get it. Many days, I feel like it just isn’t worth the effort.

So where do you start?

Get a heavy skillet. If you don’t have one, your most economical option is a cast iron skillet and Amazon has one for less than $20.

12.5″ Cast Iron Skillet

Local stores probably carry the American made Lodge brand and it’s a good one too. Amazon has this 10″ Lodge skillet for about $15.

Next watch this video.
Gordon Ramsay Chicken Marsala

We made it using a small head of romaine lettuce instead of chicory (which may be the British term for radicchio). Radicchio is crazy expensive here – about $8 for a small head. You could also buy some fresh broccoli or even some fresh green beans. If that part of it stresses you out, just leave it out and serve up some fresh salad on the side. If you can’t find fresh thyme easily, you can leave it out too.

That’s it! It’s a meal you won’t mind having one night a week. It’s good enough to share with a friend and a glass of wine. If you have a sheet pan, roasting a few potatoes would fill it out nicely or buy a baguette when you pick up the chicken to heat in the oven.

Here’s a list of what you need to buy:

• extra virgin olive oil
• skin on chicken breast (1 per person)
• Marsala wine
• Kosher salt
• butter
• chicken broth (I buy a can when it’s just me)
• fresh thyme
• a head of fresh garlic
• radicchio or another vegetable substitute

You now have a solid way of cooking chicken and a great piece of kitchen equipment you’ll own for the rest of your life. The skillet can be used for many things. It’s extremely versatile.

How to clean and season cast iron cookware

If you enjoyed this, consider making it several times in a row until it becomes second nature. I’ll write a few more posts in this series to give you some techniques and to build your kitchen up with good inexpensive equipment that makes cooking easier.

Powering Up

We keep saying we’re going to the gym. We keep not going. Unused gym fees are going to the Money Game. Enough said.

Today’s Deposit: $15.00
Level Completed: 182 out of 251
Amount Deposited this month: $101.86
Total Balance: $36,767.23
Our Money Game fund has increased .28% so far this month.

$956.25 is needed to reach the next level

New? Start here …

Google Doc spreadsheet showing all 250 levels of the Money Game

5 minutes and a crock pot

Dump a pack of stew meat, a bag of frozen stew vegetables and a jar of pizza sauce (spaghetti sauce works too) into your crock pot. Cook on low all day.

Hey! That was probably less than 5 minutes.

My oldest son came up with that when he was 9. We loved it and named it “Pizza Stew”.

Why is this tagged “Food Friday” on a Monday? It’s all I got!!

Yesterday was the property tax for our home. Today it’s the property tax for the lot we own at the beach. The taxes went up and so did the value of this property in its red hot market. It has doubled in value since we bought it two years ago.

It’s giving us a power up of $177.10.

Today’s Deposit: $177.10
Level Completed: 174 out of 251
Amount Deposited this month: $710.82
Total Balance: $24,625.96
Our Money Game fund has increased 2.97% so far this month.

$906.78 is needed to reach the next level

New? Start here …

Google Doc spreadsheet showing all 250 levels of the Money Game

Why grocery shopping should be one of your top priorities

I can sear a chicken breast and steam a fresh green vegetable plating it up in exactly 9 minutes. I asked my son-in-law to time me and he was amazed. He ate every bite and agreed that it was a good dinner.

But I can’t cook it if I don’t have it. It’s easy for me to say that a delicious easy dinner is faster than drive-through IF I have the food ready to cook.

That takes planning and it takes grocery shopping.

I have two ways of approaching this. If I’m going solo, I like to go early in the morning before anyone else gets there. I arranged my list in the order of the aisles (this is super easy to do if you don’t buy processed foods as you’re mostly shopping the perimeter of the store for meat and veg). I can get in and out with a week’s worth of groceries in less than half an hour. To me, it’s worth it just in having an empty parking lot. But the time savings is incredible. If you have young children, you may be able to go in really early while your spouse is still home to watch the kids.

The way we do it right now is to turn it into a date. We go together on Saturdays and we really enjoy this time. It’s easy to look up recipes on our phone if we see seasonal food we want to take advantage of. This way is a little more risky with respect to our budget as we’re apt to have a little too much fun. But seriously – eating and cooking together is a huge part of our lives. Turning it into a celebration has been good for our hearts and souls.

Find something that works for you and realize the pay off from getting this one done. Keep some emergency meal food on hand in your pantry in case you get delayed. It’s one thing to eat out because you planned to go somewhere nice. It’s another to just hand over your hard earned money to fast food places day after day because you don’t have a plan.

Staying within our food budget is the #1 reason our Money Game fund continues to grow. Going over was stealing from other areas as we whacked the moles in our budget. Now we find extra everywhere and we’re eating better than ever. You can make this work for you too.

Speaking of staying under … the grocery budget was under over $11 this week. I’ll take it thank you!

Today’s Deposit: $11.27
Level Completed: 173 out of 251
Amount Deposited this month: $1,592.01
Total Balance: $23,723.10
Our Money Game fund has increased 7.19% so far this month.

$593.79 is needed to reach the next level

New? Start here …

Google Doc spreadsheet showing all 250 levels of the Money Game

Sugar (and energy) cravings

I crave sugar the most in the afternoon. We don’t eat it so I usually reach for Raw Fit (a vegan protein shake that gives me a ton of energy from pea protein I think). It’s expensive though I lessened the cost by subscribing to it on Amazon. Adding 4 other items to the subscription bought the cost down another 15% (it was already priced a good deal less than what our local health foods stores were charging).

I started freezing bananas a few days so I bought a bunch of them at Costco yesterday. I didn’t know an entire bunch of bananas cost only $1.39! Try peeling one and freezing it whole. They taste exactly like a banana popsicle. It feeds that sugar craving that is making me crazy as I deal with fall allergies in a healthy and frugal way. This is definitely another example of a frugal choice being a better choice.

I have a small power up today with fuel coming in 3.91 under budget last Wednesday. I wrote before that I keep blogging about these small deposits as they make up the bulk of the $20k+ balance that’s in our Money Game fund. They keep make our fund fatter and fatter.

Today’s Deposit: $3.91
Level Completed: 171 out of 251
Amount Deposited this month: $912.77
Total Balance: $21,097.73
Our Money Game fund has increased 4.52% so far this month.

$514.89 is needed to reach the next level

New? Start here …

Google Doc spreadsheet showing all 250 levels of the Money Game

Chicken Fajita Salad

I’m going to set up an official Costco rotisserie chicken page because all of these ways to use them are so good and save so much money!

George came up with this one and it was a home run. We both wanted it in the standard rotation.

This recipe serves 2. One whole chicken and 3 or 4 onions would serve 6 – 8. We serve it over chopped lettuce. If you’d rather add a carb to your meal, you can serve it over beans and/or Mexican rice.

Start by making some fresh salad and dress it lightly with olive oil. We like lettuce and tomato but do yours any way you like as long as the flavors will meld with Mexican flavors.

Cut at least one onion (two are better) in half and slice all the halves. Cut a fresh pepper (or use the Costco jarred red peppers) into strips. Toss all the veggies in a skillet with some extra virgin olive oil and cook until they get tender (letting them carmelize adds even more flavor).

Meanwhile remove the meat from either one breast or the two leg quarters and slice it into strips about the same size as you sliced the veggies. Put the meat in a bowl and sesason well with chili powder and cumin. Just sprinkle it on and start tossing. You can taste the meat to get an idea of how seasoned it is. When we make it, we like to see spice on all of the meat. Just do it to your taste.

Toss the meat in the skillet, stir and continue cooking until it heats through. You may have to drizzle on more olive oil.

Spoon the hot fajita mixture over your salad greens (or your beans and/or rice). We like to serve homemade fresh salsa on the side. Other condiments you could add are the typical avocado, sour cream and shredded cheese.

I zeroed out fuel and last week we didn’t have to fill up at all. Having one car has it’s advantages. Today’s powerup is $80.

Level Completed: 167 out of 251
Amount Deposited this month: $1,141.88
Total Balance: $17,659.37
Our Money Game fund has increased 6.9% so far this month.

$486.27 is needed to reach the next level

New? Start here …

Google Doc spreadsheet showing all 250 levels of the Money Game

My secret weapon – Costco rotisserie chickens

Costco has these down to a science. The chickens are juicy, cooked to perfection and seasoned well. They have a great flavor and texture.

It’s just George and me so one chicken does 3 meals + bone broth. Here’s one example of how I pull it off:

Meal 1 – While the chicken is still warm, I cut it in half and remove one breast. The wings come off (we both get one as an appetizer). I slice the breast and serve it with Paleo gravy and steamed veggies.

Meal 2 – The other breast gets cut into strips to go into a coconut curry (easy peasy – just stir fry some onions and broccoli (or any veggies you like), toss in the meat, a can of coconut milk and some curry paste).

Meal 3 – Pick the dark meat off the thighs and drumsticks, shred it by hand or in your stand mixer and top with Paleo BBQ sauce.

Bone broth is easy in our Instant Pot. If I don’t have a soup planned, we often just heat it and enjoy it either as broth or poured over fresh chopped veggies and topped with sliced green onion. It adds a ton of flavor to our cooking too. When I make the broth, I use the carcass and also the drippings that are in the bottom of the container the chicken comes in.

I like to pull all the meat off the carcass while the chicken is still warm from the store. It’s just easier that way. Separate it into ziplock bags or your container of choice and promptly refrigerate. If I don’t have any other plans, I’ll make a chicken and vegetable soup and then freeze for emergency meals later. It may not sound glamerous, but when you come home late, they are a goldmine in the freezer. Just be sure to label and date the containers before sticking them in the freezer.

These chickens have been priced at $4.99 the entire time we’ve been Costco members (about 3 years). If you use at least one of these chickens a week, the savings over the price at a regular grocery store will pay for your Costco membership.

Other ways I use them:

• • fresh homemade chicken salad
  • any type of homemade chicken soup
  • chicken chili
  • chicken croquettes
  • chicken fajitas (slice the breasts, cut into strips, toss in seasoning and throw in a skillet after quickly cooking sliced onions and peppers)
  • chicken cacciatore
  • toss in a white cream sauce and serve over lightly steamed peas and carrots
  • jambalaya
  • shred and bake in a cornmeal dressing (this is a fall family favorite thanks to our beautiful daughter in law)
  • baked chicken casseroles
  • chicken enchilada casserole
  • chicken tacos
  • chicken pot pie
  • Avocado Chicken Salad (hat tip ChefJess on DebtFreeFanatics)

 

If you have any ideas to share, please leave a comment or let me know and I’ll add your suggestion to the list!

Doing the math – 1 chicken serves 2 adults 3 meals and we use 1 each week. I don’t know of any other protein source that can stretch to that many meals for $5.

With a  little  planning, these chickens can help you come in under your grocery budget! Remember – don’t just “save” money. Grab those savings and physically move them to your Money Game fund!

Today’s  post comes with a teensy power up of $4.14 leftover after paying the cable/internet bill.

Level Completed: 162 out of 251
Amount Deposited this month: $484.13
Total Balance: $13,893.84
Our Money Game fund has increased 3.6% so far this month.

$323.74 is needed to reach the next level

New? Start here …

Google Doc spreadsheet showing all 250 levels of the Money Game

 

Costco rotisserie chickens

Since food is such a huge expense, let’s talk about ways to get your food budget down without sacrificing great meals.

My secret weapon is Costco and one of the best ongoing deals they offer is their rotisserie chickens. If you have only tried these from a grocery store, you may have been disappointed. Our Kroger offers them but I found them to be dry and over cooked with a cardboard like flavor.

Costco has an entire operation that cooks these to perfection. Their chickens are hormone and anti-biotic free. They are tender and flavorful and they only cost $4.99 each. I’ve read that if you use one a week, the savings will pay for your Costco membership each year.

I do buy one a week. We use one chicken breast warm from the store with vegetable sides for the first meal. I use the other breast for a second meal reheating it with some kind of gravy to add moisture and flavor. Alternatively, I’ll dice the breast meat and add it to spaghetti sauce or make a a white chicken chili. Green enchildas are another favorite of ourrs. For those, I shred the chicken breast and toss it with shredded cheese and green chilis to make a filling for corn tortillas.

The two thighs and drumsticks get shredded and tossed with BBQ sauce. Finally I take the carcass and toss it in a stock pot with 2 quarts of water to make bone broth in our Instant Pot.

If you like this idea, plan on buying one chicken for every 2 people in your home.

New? Start here …

Google Doc spreadsheet showing all 250 levels of the Money Game

This post ends with a small powerup of $28.03 having come in under budget for the week in fuel.

Level Completed: 142 out of 251
Amount Deposited this month: $548.16
Total Balance: $5,189.02
Our Money Game fund has increased 11.8% so far this month.

$169.44 is needed to reach the next level.