If you’ve ever thought “Cooking’s too hard” or “Cooking takes too long,” or “Eating healthy is too expensive,” THINK AGAIN. What if I told you my supper last night was Whole 30, took 35 minutes to prepare and cost under $1.75 per serving??? Does this change your mind?
I’m constantly challenging myself to “perfect” the recipes I use in terms of efficiency and cost. So, yeah, maybe the first time you make the same thing I made, it might take a little longer. Or maybe you use the straight up ingredients instead of the shortcuts. Or maybe you buy only organic or live somewhere prices are higher. I’m still confident you can cook easier, quicker and healthier than you think!
Disclaimers
- I don’t buy organic…too many other things demanding my money right now, and my health is actually very good.
- I do my own grocery shopping in 4 stores every week…loss leaders kept my mortgage paid when my husband lost his job.
- I buy meat ahead when it’s on sale. So, my meats here were at the lowest price…but probably weren’t bought this week.
- Sometimes I take 2 hours to prepare a meal. But I don’t wanna do that on a daily basis. So, I’ve been heavily shortcutting these recipes.
- Some people need more quantity than others so I’ve given a range of servings with the cost.
- And of course, if you want to add some fruit or another veggie, that will add cost and possibly time.
Now with that out of the way, here are some tests I’ve done recently. (Thanks to unboundwellness, Prevention, nomnompaleo, Taste of Home and 5dollardinners for such wonderful recipes to start with!)
One Pot Unstuffed Cabbage Roll (original recipe here)
- 35 minutes to prepare
- 5 to 6 servings
- $1.73/serving for 5, $1.44/serving for 6
Turkey Chili (original recipe here)
- 40 minutes to prepare
- 5 to 6 servings
- $1.60/serving for 5, $1.33/serving for 6
Madras Chicken Salad (original recipe here)
- 30 minutes to assemble (chicken was pre-cooked/Whole30 mayo already made, see more on this below)
- 3 to 4 servings
- $2.45/serving for 3, $1.94/serving for 4 (I serve mine over a bed of spinach leaves)
Hamburger Fry Pan Supper (original recipe here)
- 41 minutes to prepare
- 4 to 5 servings
- $1.48/serving for 4, $1.19/serving for 5
Korean Beef with Butternut Squash “Rice” (I use squash instead of cole slaw – original recipe is here)
(Oops guess I forgot to take a picture of this one…we must have been hungry!) Check out how to “rice” butternut squash here.
- 31 minutes to prepare
- 4 to 5 servings
- $2.90/serving for 4, $2.32/serving for 5
Taco Chicken and Veggies (done as soup) (original recipe under different name here)
- 10 minutes to put in crockpot/10 minutes to shred chicken
- 5 to 6 servings
- $1.32/serving for 5, $1.10/serving for 6
It does help to set aside a day for your shopping and some prep. It only took me 15 minutes to put several pounds of chicken in the crockpot for use in salads and another 15 to take it out and cool enough to put away. (I forgot to time the cutting, but I’ll do that next time and update this post!)
Whole 30 mayo takes me about 10 minutes to make (don’t make my mistakes!) and costs about $2.50 for a little over a cup. Yes, you can buy compliant mayo, but I just don’t want to pay that much.
Anybody surprised? Anybody wanna try my shortcut versions of these recipes and test for yourself? Shoot me an email at missmellie@missmelliecooks.com and I promise you’ll be cooking easier, quicker, and healthier than you ever thought possible!
