Tightening Our Belts For More Than One ReasonWell, that's it. Time for change.
Following a summer of hard work, a mid-season extravaganza (my wedding) and then a full month of lazy don't-wanna-cook-dinner, let's-eat-out-constantly indulgence, I am spending my Labour Day reflecting on how I can spend less, eat healthier, cut corners, and just live a simpler, thriftier lifestyle for a bit.
I was so busy with wedding planning early this summer that often, I'd forget to do grocery shopping, and most evenings I didn't have the time to cook anything, so we got takeout a lot. That was expensive, but because it was before my wedding, I did my best to keep it healthy (since I still had to fit into the damn dress haha). After the wedding, I adopted a "oh well this is my honeymoon month" mindframe and treated myself to pretty much anything and everything I wanted.
Now it's back to school and back to autumn, and the first place where I'm kicking extravagance to the curb is the food department. No more restaurant lunches during the work week, no more bagel-and-coffee stops before I start my shift, no more takeaway dinners, no more high-priced, not-too-healthy ingredients. I'm serious about back to basics.
I'm starting off by serving my family very frugal meals today:
Toast and hard boiled eggs for breakfast
Tuna sandwiches and a salad for lunch
Baked chicken legs, roasted potatoes and salad for dinner
This week will have a frugal home-cooking theme. I'll explore fun, healthy, yummy brown bag lunches, quantity cooking for the days you just want to pull something out of the freezer, how to cut corners at the grocery store, and more. I also promise to feature at least one cheap, delicious recipe every day. Oh, and since I have to lose twelve pounds, everything will be low carb (but so delicious you won't even notice!) so stay tuned while Gwen gets back to basics - and to blogging!
Today's recipe is for low carb chicken with wine stew. It's a crockpot recipes, perfect for crisp, cool, busy fall days. What keeps this recipe cheap are the ingredients - bone-in chicken thighs are a great option, and at this time of year locally-grown produce is in abundance. Don't break the bank buying the wine - although some would disagree with me, I've always found that the cheapest white wine tastes just as good as an expensive one when you're using it in a cooked or baked dish (red wine is a different story though). This recipe is high in protein (30 grams per serving) and low in effective carbohydrates (7 per serving). The fat content is high though, at 14 grams per serving, so if you wanted to cut that down you could use chicken breasts instead of thighs and maybe turkey bacon.
Low Carb Chicken with Wine Stew (Serves 6)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 pounds (1 kg) skinless chicken thighs
- 6 strips bacon, chopped
- 2 medium onions, quartered
- 2 whole garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (or 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon oregano, and 2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 cups sliced mushrooms
- 2 green onions (scallions), sliced
- 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream
In a large, non-stick skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken thighs and bacon in until the chicken is browned on all sides and the bacon is cooked. Transfer the meat to the crockpot.
Combine all the remaining ingredients except the cornstarch in a large bowl and stir to combine them. Pour them over the meat.
Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or until the meat and vegetables are tender.
Remove a small amount of the broth from the crock pot. Whisk the cornstarch into a small amount of the broth. Combine the starch/chicken broth mixture with the stew and stir to combine. Let stand a few minutes while the broth thickens.
