Substituting Half the Meat with Dried Beans

Hello! So, one of the money saving things I wanted to try this week was substituting half the meat in a Mexican dish with dried beans. I tried it on an evening we were supposed to have a lot of company, but weather had different plans (tornado season! Woooohooo...not) so I just had some family come grab tacos and run back to shelter. Overall, this recipe saved me about $2.50 that I would have had to have spent on an extra lb of ground beef. Every little bit helps!
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I used one pound of ground beef that I bought at a discounted price ($2.62 for 80/20! I bought 5 lbs that day) and about a cup and a half of cooked black beans and it tasted pretty good! I think the best bargain is dried beans, just keep in mind that they take a while to cook and your best bet is to soften them first by doing something like soaking them overnight in water. Here is my usual method:

Select desired amount of dried beans, cover with water and boil. Boil for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Simmer beans with lid on for another hour, continuing to stir occasionally. Turn off heat and let covered beans sit in hot water for an hour before adding to your recipe.  Add more water as needed as the beans will absorb much of what you put in. Add a little salt, garlic and/or onion if desired.

Half-the-Meat Crockpot Tacos

Ingredients

1 LB Ground Beef
1.5 C Dried Beans (I just dumped the hot water/bean mixture in)
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
1 Small Onion, chopped
1/4 C Homemade Taco Seasoning (Recipe coming soon- you could also use a packet of taco seasoning!)
Salt
Black Pepper
Corn Tortillas
Oil for frying
Your favorite taco fixin's! (We used cheese, salsa, sour cream, tomatoes and lettuce)

Instructions

  Brown hamburger with salt and pepper to taste. Drain grease, and add to crockpot along with your cooked beans with any leftover water. Add garlic, onion and homemade taco seasoning. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally. About 15 minutes before dinner, add a little oil to a pan and fry up those corn tortillas because they are delicious that way! Top with your favorite taco extras and enjoy!

7 Money Saving Tricks I Want to Work on This Week

1. Make a Mexican dish, but substitute half the meat with black beans.
2. Make a list of 15 meals I've been cooking a lot lately (5 breakfast, 5 lunch, 5 dinner) and price them per serving. Start getting a better idea of the most frugal meals for my family's taste buds.
3. No restaurant food this week.
4. Use one coupon.
5. Make one thing from scratch that I usually buy premade and packaged.
6. Don't touch the thermostat!
7. Sell one thing on Craigslist.

AoNPiR

One of my worst character flaws (probably not the most egregious, but definitely the one that affects me in more areas than any of the others) is my all-or-nothing attitude.

I'm talking about doing things like just not cleaning at all because I can't do it all in one day. Or, setting a goal to not eat out and then just giving up cooking altogether because we ended up having to order pizza on a bad night. If I can't have it all the PERFECT way (this post is really revealing because I'm also revealing my perfectionist tendencies), then I don't work for it.

I discovered this about a month ago, and surprisingly, my life has been much more pleasant even though all things stressful have picked up. I'm All-or-Nothing Perfectionist in Recover. AoNPiR.

Right now I'm doing a lot of things to organize, to save money, to make our lives earlier and I want to share them with the internet because I really have noticed our life getting smoother...getting easier.

I'm excited to share!

(But I don't have a timeline for when I'll post because in putting aside perfectionism and unrealistic expectations for myself, I admit I really don't know when I'll have time to post again! ALSO, I know I'll be able to come back and post again because hey! This blog isn't all-or-nothing, it's just a hobby!)