As the recession continues I am always looking for ideas on how to stretch our grocery budget while eating healthy REAL food. This is not an easy task…especially when a dozen hot dogs and a box of KD are cheaper than a tossed salad and some fresh locally made sausages. How does the average family do it? 
Our family…me…has been on a personal mission for years to figure this out. We have so many food allergies and sensitivities in our household that meal planning is just that…a lot of planning. There are times that I want it to be easy but I know that the people I am feeding will suffer. So I keep on keeping on. As I learn more about food from documentaries like Food Inc I have become even more vigilant about what I am preparing for my family.
All of this planning and preparation in the kitchen takes time and energy. Can you feel my excitement about the conversation that happened at the coffee shop today.
While chatting and catching up about the upcoming week the Skipper said ” I feel like wontons”…now being the comedian I am I said” You don’t look like a wonton”…hehehe. I know you were totally expecting that. Yahoo the Skipper has a hankering to cook…which for me is real pleasure. It means that I don’t have to cook tonight and to be honest he is a great cook.
Thankfully we have some leftover pork from the awesome BBQ I did for Sunday’s supper. I love to try new recipes and I found the BBQ Pit Boys and this awesome recipe for BBQ Pork Loin Roast. I used a tasty naturally raised Pork Loin I picked up on Saturday from Kuinshoeve Meats in Rothesay NB. You can pick up locally raised pork and poultry products, Armadale Dairy products and specialties, such as head cheese and sausages….it is worth the trip if you live in the area.
As I am writing I can hear the whir of the mini chopper as the Skipper is getting the Pork Loin ready to make some yummy Wontons. We like ours boiled and we drizzle soy sauce over them…I am drooling already. Here is a great video I found to help you with your own Wontons. Check it out.
As a side note we will use the leftover pork roast, will omit the salt as the meat was salted for the BBQ on Sunday and we will boil them.
So for less than $14.00 for a small Pork Loin I had enough meat to feed the 4 of us on Sunday and tonight all 5 of us will be enjoying the delicious Wontons made with the Pork leftovers.
Economical, healthy and delicious…what could be better.
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Great to hear you are buying locally raised meat. I understand that it’s better for us, better for the animals, and better for the planet – not to mention that it tastes better! And of course it’s important to support local businesses (and farms are businesses)!
Janet, and believe it or not it tastes better!
After watching Food Inc as a family I have 3 little people who now question where the meat portion of our meals come from…once you take the genie out of the bottle you can’t put it back
I was at the market today and for $30 I purchased a dozen fresh eggs, 2 lbs of ground beef, 4 filler free buffalo sausages and a pork loin roast. All from naturally raised animals and it was no more than what I would have paid for grocery store meat.
It just feels right.
We watched Food Inc. recently too, and it really does open up your eyes to what happens to that meat before it reaches the store. I am working towards finding alternate sources in my area.