Coconut Chicken Curry

Hi! I have been experimenting with the paleo diet, and I tweaked a curry recipe that I just HAD to share with all of you. I wasn’t very price conscious because I had most of the ingredients in my kitchen already except for the coconut milk and the cauliflower, which was, together, $2.79. This makes around 3 servings, and it’s soooooo good. There is quite a bit of prep for this, so make sure to do everything in order!

For this recipe you will need:

• A frying pan
• A small pot
• A cheese grater
• A chopping knife

Food wise, you will need:

• 2 cloves of garlic
• A yellow onion 
•  1 head of cauliflower, half a long carrot, and 1 celery stalk
•  2 tbsp of curry powder and 3 tsp of cumin
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth or chicken boullion (tastes WAY better with bouillon) 
• I recommend caldo de pollo by knorr
• 1/2 can of full fat coconut milk
•  Coconut Oil

****Optional: black pepper and some lime

Directions:

1. Chop your onion into baby squares. What I normally do is chop it into slices, then slice those slices both vertically and horizontally, from left to right. There are faster ways to do it on youtube!
2. FINELY chop your two garlic cloves.
3. Chop your carrot into circles. It’s ok if they are a little thick. DO NOT make them thin. 
4. Chop your celery stalk. I normally slice it long ways down the middle, then chop left to right. 
5. Place a cheese grater on top of a bowl, and grate the entire top of your cauliflower into it. When your done, there should be no more “flower”. 
6. Heat up your frying pan and place about 2 tablespoons on coconut oil in it. When it melts, put all your vegetables in except the cauliflower. DO NOT COVER. Let it cook for about 7 minutes. 
7. While your veggies are cooking, boil your 3 1/2 cups of water in your small pot, and add in your chicken bouillon to taste. The packaging for caldo de pollo says 1 tbsp/1cup water, but some people use more or less depending on taste. I personally like to just throw it in until I like it. 
8. Add your cauliflower in with the rest of your veggies in your frying pan, and stir. You wanna fry up your cauliflower till it turns an off white color. 
9. Add your spices! The curry powder and cumin are what give most of the flavor, so don’t forget this step. 
10. Now your gonna do something that makes you uncomfortable, so you’re just gonna have to trust me. After everything is cooked up and boiling, your gonna put everything that was in your frying pan, in the pot of chicken broth. I know, it looks crazy, but just do it. 
11. Let that simmer for about 10 minutes at a low temperature. 
12. Cook up your chicken with some olive oil or coconut oil! Cut your chicken breasts into slices, then maybe cut each slice in half before cooking. When its done, add that to your pot. 
13. Add your 1/2 cup coconut milk. 

TADA!!! You can eat this by itself or over rice(: I like adding pepper and lime to mine, but a lot of people don’t like what the lime does to the flavor. Up to you! 

Chipotle Chicken Fajita Kale Salad

For this recipe you will need:

• A frying pan with a lid
• Tongs
• A cutting board
• 2 knifes knives (1 chopping, 1 pairing)

Your Shopping List:
*Keep in mind that you can make this recipe around 5 times with all of these ingredients, or use them for other things. I did my grocery shopping at Ralph's this week because of their back to school sale. If you don't know about the back to school sale: Ralph's marks down their prices by a good portion, and allows you to bring in separate coupons plus the coupons you are able to add to your Ralph's card online. I spent $56 on my groceries for the next two weeks, so I would say it's worth the trip to your local Ralph's. These are the prices strait from my receipt! Single items are divided by the number you need.

1. 1 Bag of Kale $2.36
2. 1 small bag of rainbow baby bell peppers  $2.49
3. 1 yellow onion (they were $0.99/lb this week!) $0.37
4. 1 bag of Kroger Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast $6 (GET THIS COUPON ONLINE, YOU GET AN ENTIRE BAG WITH OVER 10 PORTIONED PIECES) (You will need one breast)
5. 1 can of chipotle peppers in adobada (La Costena is my preference) $0.50
6. Pepper, and a pink of salt

Your total will come out to $11.47, for 5 meals. If you mix and match recipes you will see you can use the left over products from this to create a previous recipe. You could potentially have 11 meals with the purchase of lean turkey, 1 Serrano, 1 egg, and 1 zucchini (see previous post)!

I know what you're thinking, this is a very odd combination of foods, but when you taste it, it will be worth it!

So here's what you're going to to:

1. Heat pan with a tablespoon of olive oil (around half heat)
2. Defrost your 1 chicken breast, and cut them into strips
3. Use your chopping knife to slice your onion into wheels, I like to cut two slices then cut each slice in half. You can even cut them half of the half so your strips of onion are longer. 
4. Place both in frying pan and cover for 3 minutes. 
5. Add one chipotle pepper, break it up, and pour in juice, then recover
6. Chop 4 Baby Bell Peppers into Strips
1. Cut of stem
2. Core each
3. Slice into 5-6 strips each
7. Add to pan, mix, and recover
8. Add washed Kale, as much as you like! Remember that it shrinks. I personally Add 2 handfuls.
9. Add pepper to your liking and a pinch of salt.
10. Re cover
11. When kale shrinks, mix and uncover so liquid can evaporate. Raise temperature two marks over what you cooked with. 

Here's how I chop my bell peppers: 

Now you have some choices:

• I personally like to eat it with two tortillas and some avocado
• You can add it so some romain lettuce, and it serves as its own dressing
• Add some black beans! 
• Cook longer, and eat with Corn Chips

The choice is yours!

Thanks for stopping in, 

Soli

Turkey Burgers and More!

Good Evening Everyone,

For my first real post, I wanted to do a protein because I feel like that's the center of the meal for most people. Although I will be posting vegetarian options, later in the course of this blog, this is not one of them.

Today I worked with Turkey! This will give you up to 6 meals for under $6. That's basically 6 McDonalds Cheeseburgers, but 3 times more filling, and 9 times healthier for your body! You Will need:

• A large bowl (I use a rice pot because I don't have a large bowl)
• A frying pan with a lid
• A cutting board
• A small sharp knife (I use a pairing knife, but please don't use a pairing knife for your onion)
• A spatula
• Some salt, pepper, and olive oil you probably have around your kitchen. 

***Tip: This is what I paid in La Jolla for what you will use. These Prices are relatively high, so if you are paying more than this, you may want to look into visiting a different grocer. I bought my turkey on sale at Ralph's. Always look out of meat sales. At Ralph's and Vons, they are anywhere from every other week to once a month. Figure out your grocer's cycle, and buy in bulk (especially boneless skinless chicken breasts).

1. 1lb of Jenny O's Ground Turkey (my preference) or Kroger 85% Lean Ground Turkey ~2.99 avg. Other brands of ground turkey are absolutely fine! Just make sure the one you buy is relatively lean! 
2. Sereno pepper $0.15
3. 2 baby bell peppers or 1 bell pepper (preferably red or orange) $0.40
4. 1 Yellow onion  $0.67
5. 1 Green Squash (AKA Zucchini) $0.72
6. 1 Large Egg $0.20

* I also sometimes use a Chipotle McCormick Spice, but this is absolutely optional ($1.50)

Now here's the instructions:

1. Dice your bell peppers. MAKE THEM SMALL. This consists of taking out the seeds, and cutting your bell pepper(s) into strips to create tiny bell pepper rectangles. (Here's a video to assist you: Can be anything from the first size she cut, to the second to last brunoise, you're choice, just not too big!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIEChqw7YwM)
2. Dice your onion the same size as your bell peppers. (Need Help?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmr1l5IV9Os)
3. Cut your Serrano in half. You will only be using half unless you want a small kick, this is mostly for flavor, not spice. Cut that half, in half long ways, then cut into thin slices.
4. Dice maybe 1/4 of your zucchini squash. 
5. Place all in bowl, then add DEFROSTED ground turkey. 
6. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 Large egg, 1 tbsp of salt (can add more but not more than 3 tbsp, that will be far too salty), lots of pepper (i normally just shake until I can see the pepper after mixing)
7. Mix by hand until vegetables are evenly spread throughout the meat. 

After this is done you have options:

• Pack Turkey Burgers (you should get 6), into individual sandwich baggies, and freeze for later use. 
• Cook on med temperature to avoid burning, if you need to lower ur temperature, add a small amount of water to the pan and cover before lowering.
• I like to get whole wheat bread, peppercinis, pickles, tomato, romaine lettuce, dijon mustard, and make a sandwich.
• Cook your favorite marinara sauce, and use a pasta topping. 
• Cook meat before you add the sauce to avoid food poisoning. 
• Add a taco seasoning, and place on corn tortillas for Taco Tuesday!

Any option you may choose, you have 6 portioned meals to enjoy for under $6 (:

Thanks for Stopping in, 

Soli

Greetings!

Hello everyone! My name is Soli, and I’m a college student attending UCSD, which can be a bit of a hectic lifestyle. I work two jobs as a full time student, so eating has always been just about the last thing on my mind. Sometimes I would get home and lay in bed, and realize I had gone the whole day without eating, then want to order food, but not have enough money.

Majority of time I would eat out, or get something quick from an on campus market, and that all really adds up. It also adds up your weight.

However, I was stuck in the mindset that in order to eat clean, healthy, foods, or eat at all, I was going to have to fork over loads of cash. Then a friend of mine suggested meal prepping. She said she would go and buy $20 of vegetables each week, and whatever meat she bought in bulk, she’d cook in bulk, and package meals into tupperware for the whole week. It was a way to save money, and eat healthy, so I decided to try it.

After experimenting with this new lifestyle, I got the chance to make a variety of meals in bulk, and tweak recipes that catered to my cravings. 

Like many other young adults, I take a lot of pictures of my food, and so I decided to start this food blog in order to help other college students like myself, save some money, and still eat some pretty good tasting, healthy meals.

I hope to post monthly, if not more, with recipes, and other cool stuff!

Thanks for stopping in, 

Soli!