Crockpot Pork Chalupas

Most nights I feed my family of four a really nice dinner for $3 to $3.50 total. But tonight I did even better than that. The giant pot of food pictured here was only $5.19 and made enough for 12 people. And it was easy. And, it was crock pot. My college roommate Lisa requested more crock pot recipes, so here you go.

When you are on a budget, it can make you feel sorry for yourself when you see other girls throwing all kinds of organic produce and prettied-up food packages into their carts, with no double-taking on the price of things. But the truth is, a lot of  girls are like me. We end up with newsprint on our foreheads from thumbing through sale fliers, and rubbing our brows in concentration after trying to put together a menu on sale items. Pity  us not, girls with a big grocery budget. We are happy for you, but we can cook great meals too with some real planning.

If you want to cook great meals for less, follow these rules:

* Stock up on pantry staples on sale and with coupons. Pantry staples can mean things like red and white wine vinegar, molasses, dried herbs and spices. However, it also means canned tomatoes, pasta, rice and dried beans. (please don’t buy instant rice — total waste of money!) If you stock up on pantry staples, you can literally go to the store and just buy what is on sale and create meals. Check out your dollar store — they will likely have a lot of your pantry staples.

* Buy meats and cheeses on sale, or at Warehouse stores, such as Costco or Sam’s Club and stock up. I get ground beef for $1.88 a pound on sale in large packages, for instance. I freeze the meat into 1 pound portions. I also use pork shoulder/butt a lot. My cousin actually just got it for 79 cents a pound, and I was totally jealous because I just paid 89 cents a pound. Green with envy I tell you. Green.

* When buying cheese on sale, also freeze into portions. I buy shredded mozzarella at Costco and freeze into 8 oz portions. Or, you can flash freeze it by spreading out evenly on a cookie sheet and throwing it in the freezer. After frozen, place into a large zip lock and take out what you need, when you need it. I also buy eggs for a great price (18 for $1.75) and milk (about $2 a gallon) at Costco.

* Check out ingredient search engines on places like allrecipes.com. After plugging in the ingredients you have, it will spit out recipes for you. Pretty cool.

* Use sausage and bacon in small quantities to give something like a casserole or pasta a lot of flavor.

This following recipe is a great budget meal to serve a crowd. If you don’t happen to have a crowd, freeze leftovers into portions. I serve these in tortillas with some shredded cheese (that I got for $1.88 a pound, thank you very much), chopped cilantro and onion. Now, I live in California so I did get 20 smallish avocados for only five bucks at a roadside stand, so I made some quick guacamole too. Put it all in a tortilla and truly divine!

When you read this recipe you will be tempted to cut back on a lot of the seasonings. I know, for instance, 2 TBSP of garlic powder seems like a lot. But, trust the recipe. The only thing I change is to add only 7 ounces of green chilies and at the beginning of the recipe. As you are shredding the pork, try and remove as much fat as possible. At the end I take the lid off and turn it on high for about 30 minutes to decrease the liquid and condense flavors. Condensing the flavors  makes the flavor a lot more rich, which is how you will feel every night at your dinner table  if you stock up and plan.

Pork Crockpot Chalupas

Allrecipes.com, Submitted by FANIFERGUS

• 1 (4 pound) pork shoulder roast
• 1 pound dried pinto beans
• 3 (4 ounce) cans diced green chile peppers
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 12 flour tortillas

Place the roast inside a slow cooker coated with cooking spray. In a separate bowl, stir together the beans, 2 cans of the chile peppers, chili powder, cumin, salt, oregano, and garlic powder. Pour the whole mixture over the roast, and add enough water so that the roast is mostly covered. Jiggle the roast a little to get some of the liquid underneath.

Cover, and cook on Low for 8 to 9 hours. Check after about 5 hours to make sure the beans have not absorbed all of the liquid. Add more water if necessary 1 cup at a time. Use just enough to keep the beans from drying out.

When the roast is fork-tender, remove it from the slow cooker, and place on a cutting board. Remove any bone and fat, then shred with forks. Return to the slow cooker, and stir in the remaining can of green chilies. Heat through, and serve with flour tortillas and your favorite toppings.

Show-Stopping Fall Vegetarian Dish

I really love vegetarian cooking – - I think it’s exciting. Exploring vegetarian cooking really exposes you to new techniques and ingredient combinations you would have never considered. This recipe is one of my all-time favorites.

This recipe uses my favorite vegetable of all time – - butternut squash – - in a really interesting way. I would have never thought to combine butternut squash and tomatillos. If you have never seen a tomatillo before, they are small and green, with a paper husk on the outside. After you husk the tomatillos they will be sticky on the outside, so you really have to wash them.

I am submitting this recipe as written, but would like to make a few suggestions I got from the recipe review on the Epicurious website. First of all, chunk the butternut squash and toss it with olive oil, a little chili powder, cumin, and a pinch of cinnamon. Roast it until it starts to carmalize and go from there. I have also added black beans instead of corn before, but if you do use corn you can buy roasted corn in bags at Trader Joe’s. Speaking of Trader Joe’s, I am not a believer in the pre-peeled butternut squash. I read a review in Cook’s Illustrated that confirms my belief that the stringy part where you get the seeds has a lot of flavor that you only get with the fresh. But, if you are busy, do what you need to do!

Butternut Squash Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

Bon Appétit, 1998

• 2 small butternut squash (about 2 1/2 pounds total), halved
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup drained canned corn
• 12 6-inch-diameter corn tortillas
• 2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 8 ounces)
• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (about 8 ounces)
• Tomatillo Sauce
• Sour cream
• 1/3 cup chopped pitted black olives

Tomatillo Sauce Recipe

• 1 1/4 pounds tomatillos, husked
• 2/3 cup chicken stock or canned low-salt broth
• 2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2/3 cup chopped green onion tops
• 1 large jalapeño chili, sliced

Cook tomatillos in pot of boiling water until soft but still whole, about 4 minutes. Drain. Place tomatillos in processor. Add remaining ingredients; puree. Transfer to bowl. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Let’s talk about dried beans/Crockpot recipe

I was looking for a budget-friendly recipe and found one that uses beans – - canned beans. I did the math and realized that if I bought four cans of beans at $1.20 each I could instead have a pound of shrimp on sale. Beans are so good for you and my kids love them, so I decided to beat the system and cook dried beans and divide them for the freezer.

Cooking dried beans is easy, and you can control the sodium and flavorings. Add chipotle, garlic and cumin to some dried black or pinto beans if you want. Cook chickpeas and have them ready for a quick hummus – - in fact I have some in my freezer right now.   You can get dried beans for 99 cents a pound at the dollar store and elsewhere. At some places if you buy two pounds at a time you might even be able to get them for 50 cents a pound. I have before. One pound of dried beans cooked up equals about three cans of beans. One can of beans is 1 1/2 cups, so divide them into those portions for recipes. Or, you could always flash-freeze them, which involves spreading them out on a cookie sheet evenly and freezing them. They will not freeze together this way, so you can throw them all in one gallon bag and take out what you want as needed.

One caution about dried beans — they often do have rocks. I almost always find one little pebble. Spread the beans out on a cookie sheet and inspect for rocks, wash the beans and proceed with directions on the bag. When I cook beans I add big slices of onion and whole cloves of garlic. And for sure, salt. Probably more salt than you feel comfortable with. At least a tablespoon, maybe more. Don’t cringe because you have probably been ingesting more than that eating canned beans. Experiment and see what you think. Next time you are tempted to get canned beans in the store, think of me saying into your ear in a little, sarcastic voice, “What, are you rich or something? Put down that can of beans, fancy-pants, and reach for the dried.”  Then, go buy some shrimp on sale.

Here is a recipe for refried beans in the crockpot, except there is no fat involved. We make these constantly at my house. I get tortillas from Costco – - 24 for $2.50 – - and use these beans for the filling. Now that is an inexpensive main dish! Freezes well too.

Crockpot Refried Beans

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 3 cups dry pinto or black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped or 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 5 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin, optional
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 9 cups water

1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.