Potatoes Au Gratin

For dinner last night, I put cheap in action. I found this recipe and it was perfect. I already had some potatoes that I bought last week, so all I had to buy was some cheese. I picked some spring onions from the back garden to add for flavor, and added some sausage from last weekends leftovers for a yummy kid pleasing dinner. My son said it was potato cheese heaven, it was so delicious. I had to force them to save enough for lunch the next day. This recipe probably wouldn't have had any leftover though if hubs had been here with us.

When trying to tighten the belt loop, I've found it's best to skip the meat.  Organic in my house is a must, I refuse to expose my children to toxins to save money.  Having meat once or twice a week is healthy, good for the environment and good for your pocket book.  No one's saying you have to have health food, because this is certainly not it.  I will say, I'm glad I have a garden.  I squeaked out one amazing salad to eat with this dinner.

What is some of your favorite cheap meals?

Quinoa -- easy healthy eating

This week we adventured a bit with food and tried some Quinoa based off my best friend's suggestion. I am a believer now, and it will definitely become a staple in this house.

So why is this a health food? First, it's a great source of vegetable protein; it contains iron, magnesium, copper and phosphorous. It is a whole protein, as an in and out vegetarian, I know this is key, making this a fantastic alternative to beans and rice, or soy (which I avoid like the plague!). It contains omega fatty acids, which the typical American doesn't get enough of.

Here is another link to the recipe we tried this week. If anyone else has any quinoa recipes that are yummy, please share. If you haven't tried this yummy grain, I can't recommend it enough.


Sources:
1. The world's healthiest foods
2. Quinoa.net

Vegetarian Barbeque

Part of my being green is being a vegetarian. There are multiple reasons why I have omitted meat from my diet, but I won't go into them all for now. Green Surfers really summed up many of my reasons so if you have time, take a look.

Having been invited this weekend to a barbeque, I looked up some recipes that I'll be passing along. I can't expect my hosts to always have adequate food for my picky diet, and I think well made vegetarian food may gently influence the food choices of my friends.

So, here's some things I plan on trying this weekend. I'll be sure to let you know how they turn out.

First, I found this mushroom veggie burger recipe. I plan on cooking my own pinto beans like I did last week to add to chopped up mushrooms. I'll precook these, shape them into patties and then toss them in a plastic container to bring with. I even get to dip into my frozen parsley that I froze a few weeks back. Yay!

I also found this cole-slaw recipe that looks divine. I always end up putting my twist to things, so if I change any of these recipes I"ll be sure to let you know. If your not vegetarian, I challenge you to try it for a day. My kids are not vegetarians, but they only eat meat once or twice a week. It's not that hard, and the health benefits are amazing. ;)