Get some pork on your fork!

I have a serious craving for pork! A really serious craving, drooling at the thought of sticky pork ribs or salty pork crackling.
They aren't the healthiest of options though are they?
Since I'm spending $40 a week on bootcamp (when hubby isn't interstate) then I don't want to undo all my hard work by eating crap.

So off to pinterest I go to find some clean pork recipes and share them here and drool over them like I've just seen Channing Tatum in his birthday suit.



This I think will be dinner tomorrow night, mmmmmm looks so good, now I want pineapple too!

Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple

I would tweak this a little, instead of the sour cream I'd use Greek yoghurt as there are no organic options near me, certainly sounds good though!

Almond Crusted Pork Chops with a Creamy Mustard Sauce

It has been ssooooo long since I had meatballs and these sound delish, some go really dry when you cook them but I think the apple in these will keep them nice and moist

Pork Apple & Sage Meatballs

Egg rolls nom nom, I could never say no. These aren't crispy since they're baked not fried but that picture makes them look devine, I'm not sure about the ginger dipping sauce as I'm not a huge ginger fan but a plum or garlic sauce would work well I think.

Pork Mushroom Egg Rolls with Creamy Ginger Sauce

These are just a few of the many recipes that have had me drooling tonight.

A family of 6 living on $600 or less a month (foodwise)

 

When a lot of people find out how little we spend compared to others on food they automatically assume I a) don't feed my children, b) don't have a healthy or balanced diet or c) think I'm crazy

Now c maybe up for debate but I certainly do feed my children and we eat very healthily and a very balanced diet.

Here is the receipt from my latest shopping, this doesn't include fruit and vegetables either or toiletries because I forgot the toiletries and I shop at a separate fruit and vegetable store so add another $80 on there.

 

 

So lets call it $190 for arguments sake. This $190 now includes all groceries, meats, fruits and vegetables and toiletries :) This is to last us 2 weeks, to calculate that to a month you have $380.
So what do we eat for $380 a month?

Here is a fortnightly example, I double batch so you will only see a week. This way I just cook double and have a meal ready for next week. If it cannot be frozen I just simply make it again the next week, buying in bulk saves money!

Breakfasts consist of:
Slow cooked oats - I do mix it up a little with different variations like cherry and almond or banana and blueberry.
Eggs and vegemite soldiers
Smoothies
Yoghurt and fruit sprinkled with some oats although I Plan on making my own granola one day
Scrambled eggs with baby spinach, capsicum, garlic and tomato.
For quick and on the go I have these breakfast muffins handy.

Lunches are generally:
Scrambled eggs with baby spinach, capsicum, garlic and tomato
Salad wraps with poached chicken
Poached eggs on homemade bread
Frittata and salad
Yogurt and fruit
Vegetable sticks and fruit with a homemade dip

Our dinner menu is:

S- Homemade pizzas - the kids love participating
S - Turkey chilli con carne with brown rice
M - Pumpkin soup - great winter warmer
T - Rainbow Chicken - I also add kale to this
W - Pea & ham soup - another winter classic
T - Fajitas - I do add a mix of beef and chicken here
F - Sweet potato & pear soup - can you tell I love soups in winter?!

Snacks generally are nuts, fruit, raw vegetables and yogurt.
School lunches are a little different but I'll do a new blog post on those.


Broccoli & Leek Soup

BROCOLLI & LEEK SOUP

Here's my recipe. I was going to use one I found online but my terrors hid my phone so I had to make it up. I have to say it turned out quite nice.

2 leeks

1 decent head of broccoli

3 cups chicken stock

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 cup coconut milk (or cows milk/cream or both if no allergies)

Chop leeks and saute with garlic for a few minutes, add the broccoli and saute for a further 3 minutes.

Add your stock and cook until broccoli is soft but not mushy (we don't want mushy!)

Blend with a stick blender or food processor/blender.

Stir in milk.

Serve.

Some nice parmesan bread would be perfect with this. 

It's healthy, allergy safe (for most common allergies) and tastes delicious.

Why is food so important in this transformation of our lives?

Food is vital for the changes in our families life because as you all know I am battling bi-polar without medication so food plays a very important part, the healthier the food the better I seem to be.

My twins who are 2 also have dairy, soy and casein allergies which makes shopping, cooking and finding recipes a challenge.

My 5 year old daughter who is borderline aspergers but has to be reassessed once she starts school and a lot of foods she reacts to, the more gluten she consumes the more meltdowns she has so we have now eliminated gluten as well.

Not only does this now seem a very costly venture but a frustrating one too.  There are so. Many books out there for nut free cooking or egg free or dairy free but nothing that is  a complete package, I'll find one recipe that is dairy, casein and gluten free but will contain soy and I don't know a substitute.

School lunches are what seems to be another struggle, along with the lack of time factor I am struggling to find suitable school snacks as they also need to be nut free to follow school policy.

So school snacks need to be nut, dairy, casein, gluten AND soy free, I know the twins aren't yet in school so the soy and dairy isn't a must BUT I do want to be able to make snacks that the whole family can eat and not have to worry.