Homemade Beef Chilli

Beef chilli is a favorite in our house. Easy to make and super yummy. We often make this for potlucks and having friends over for drinks in the Fall and Winter. 

Beef Chilli

1 cup dried beans (soaked, drained and cooked) (~$0.50)

1 lb extra lean ground beef (~$5)

1 chopped onion (~$0.50 or $3/ bag of 6)

1 chopped fine jalapeño (~$0.25)

1 540 mL can of chilli chopped tomatoes (~$1.50)

1 540 mL can of chopped tomatoes (~$1.50)

1/2 can of tomato paste ($1/ can or $0.50)

1 chopped yellow or green pepper ($1.25)

1 cup of frozen corn ($4/ bag of about 8 cups or $0.50)

Homemade taco seasoning (Start at 1/2 a teaspoon and go up) ($0.50)

Or 1/2 tbsp chilli powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder

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Total for 6-8 servings: ~$12 or $2/ serving. 

Directions for beans:

Put beans and 3 cups of water in a large pot. Bring to a boil and let boil 2-3 min. Take off heat and let sit 1-2 hours. 

Drain beans and rinse with cold water. 

Put rinsed beans and another 3 cups of water in the pot. Bring to a boil, simmer 1-2 hours or until beans are soft. 

Alternative directions for beans: 

Put beans and 3 cups of water in a large pot. Bring to a boil and let boil 2-3 min. Take off heat and let sit 1-2 hours. 

Drain beans and rinse with cold water. 

Put rinsed beans and water in crockpot and cook on low overnight. 

Taco seasoning:

4 tbsp chilli powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp cumin

-Mix in a small container and use for tacos, chilli, Mexican meatloaf, etc. 

Directions for chilli:

Put everything in crockpot. Don't drain tomatoes. Stir and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. 

Enjoy with shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro as garnish. 

Try on cooked pasta for a twist. 

Notes:

Omit jalapeño and sub more plain chopped tomatoes for the chilli ones, if you like it more mild. 

If you don't really like chopped tomatoes, sub 8oz of tomato sauce for one can and the tomato paste. 

You can sub 1-2 cans of kidney, black or navy beans for the dried beans. We like more beans than meat for cheaper cost. 

For extra veggies, add in chopped celery, zucchini, spinach or kale. 

Ground turkey can be subbed for beef. 

Add garlic for yummy flavor. D is allergic. 

Can brown beef and onions in a pot and add all other ingredients and cook for 45-60 min on the stove. 

Crockpot beef chilli. We used black turtle beans and white kidney beans. 

Chilli is toddler approved (with sour cream and shredded cheese, of course). 

Homemade beef stew

Juniper's favorite food is stew. We sometimes use moose or elk. I like adding turnip or rutabaga 

Beef stew: 

0.8 kg/ 1.75 lbs beef stew pieces ($8)

1/4 cup flour (pennies from a large bag)

2 carrots - peeled and chopped ($1.70/ bag of 10/ $0.35)

2 stalks celery - chopped ($1.70/ bag of 8/ $0.43)

1/3 cabbage - chopped into large pieces ($2.50 for whole cabbage/ $1)

10 mushrooms - cut in 1/2 ($1)

1/2 bag baby potatoes (16) - cut in 1/4 ($3.99 for whole bag/ $2)

2 large parsnips - chopped into large pieces ($2) 

1 onion - cut into large chunks ($3/ bag of 6/ $0.50)

2 Knorr homestyle beef stock (~$2) + 4 cups water

Or 1 tetra pack of beef stock or 4 cups homemade stock

2 bay leaves

Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper

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~$17.00 for 8-10 servings or $1.75/ serving

Instructions: 

Toss the beef pieces with flour, salt and pepper

Cut all veggies and put in bottom of crockpot

Add seasonings

Add beef to top (do not mix)

Cook 4 hours on high

Time to prep: less than 15 minutes

Notes: 

This recipe is a lot more veggies than beef. You can do 2 lbs of beef or less veggies.

Add some chopped garlic as seasoning, if your husband isn't allergic like mine. 

Add some flour mixed with cold water at the end if not thick enough and let cook another 20-30 min. 

You can cook on the stove too. Brown the flour covered beef in a pot. Add the veggies and stock and stir. Bring to a boil and then simmer until veggies are soft. 

Freezes great. 

Homemade turkey noodle soup

Turkey and chicken noodle soup are huge favorites in our house. I make this all the time in the winter on chilly days. I love the way our house smells. Yummy. 

Turkey stock:

-Turkey backs (<$2)

-1 peeled and chopped onion (~$3/bag of 6 or $0.50)

-4 unpeeled and chopped carrots (~$3/bag of 20 or $0.60)

-4 ribs of celery chopped (~$2.50/bag of 20 organic celery ribs or $0.50)

-broccoli stalks chopped ($2 for broccoli, I normally throw the stalks out so $0)

-4 small parsnips unpeeled and chopped ($4/bag of 25 or $0.65)

-2 bay leaves ($1/ bag of 20, so pennies)

-salt and white pepper

-parsley and thyme from the garden

-7-8 cups of water

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Total: ~$4.25

Instructions for stock:

Put everything in the crockpot on low overnight. 

Prep time: Less than 15 min with toddler interruptions 

For soup:

-keep meat from the turkey

-strain stock and discard veggies and herbs

-you will end up with about 7 cups of stock

Add:

-1/2 chopped onion (~$0.25)

-2 peeled and chopped carrots (~$0.25)

-2 celery stocks chopped (~$0.25)

-1/4 cup small pasta ($2/bag of 2 cups or $0.25)

-additional seasoning

Instructions:

-add all ingredients back to the crockpot (except pasta)

-cook on high for 2 hours or until veggies are soft

-add pasta and cook ~15-30 min

Prep time: 10 min

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Total for soup: <$6

Notes:

I buy turkey or chicken backs at my grocery store. You can easily use the scraps from Thanksgiving or a roast chicken too. Or even bone in poultry. 

If you are going to freeze, don't add noodles. 

Top left: stock cooking

Top right: stock strained

Bottom left: turkey

Bottom right: yummy soup

Cheap & Healthy

There seems to be a lot of discussions on my online mommy boards about cheap, easy and healthy meals for your family. I grew up without a lot of packaged foods. Both of my parents grew up fairly poor with moms who grew huge gardens. Making things from scratch was just how you did things back then. I believe that when you are disconnected from your food source, you eat poorly. Making your food from scratch (as much as possible) brings you back to a relationship with your food which equals eating healthier. Plus, it saves you tons of money. Which means you can buy the more expensive wine. ;)

I will be posting some of my family's favorite recipes and some meal plans along with budgets. No one in my house is dieting or has major allergies. I am a sahm with a full-time working husband. We have one 18 mo toddler who eats everything.