Frugal Meals...

Another one today :) Chili and cole slaw. I would make some cornbread too, but I'm hot and tired and we have some corn chips.

Budget Chili

1lb ground beef or turkey
1 cup dried beans- I used red kidney-or 1 can of beans
1 medium onion
half a bell pepper- green or red or whatever color
1 T chopped garlic (1-2 cloves) or garlic powder
1 can diced tomatoes
6-8 cups of broth of some type- I had leftover canned beef broth- and water, or use all water
seasonings to taste- chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper

Soak your beans in warm water with 2 T whey, vinegar, buttermilk, or kefir for 12 hrs.
Drain and simmer until soft.
In a large pot brown ground beef. After it gets mostly browned add chopped onion, garlic and bell pepper. After meat and veggies are cooked add beans, tomatoes, seasonings, broth or water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and allow to simmer 30 minutes until liquid is reduced a bit and chili as a nice consistency. Be sure to taste and adjust seasonings to desired spiciness.

Serve with shredded cheese, corn chips, sour cream, chopped fresh onions etc.


Simple Cole Slaw

First off, this would be hard to do without a food processor. I guess you could slice it by hand, but the texture would be coarser. Anyways...

1/2 head of regular green cabbage
3-4 large carrots or 6 medium-small
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 T buttermilk or milk, to thin the mayo a bit
1 t dijon mustard
1/8th cup of apple cider vinegar
honey or sugar to taste
salt and pepper

Shred cabbage and carrots. Combine in a large bowl. In another bowl mix dressing ingredients together well. Toss dressing and slaw mix together. Chill for at least 30 minutes. Sorry I am not more specific with amounts- that's just the way I am. I added probably about 1/3 sweetener to the dressing and this was on the sweeter side for me. Some people like it real sweet and others not.

So this meal probably costs less than $5 and would easily feed around 8 people. Not too shabby :)