• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Nourishing Gourmet

Nourishing. Satisfying. Gourmet.

  • THM Coaching
  • About
    • Privacy
    • Contact
  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
    • Everyday Nourishing Food
    • Salad Cookbook
    • Soup Cookbook

The Healthy $1 Menu

Simple Baked Italian Meatballs (Grain/Dairy/Egg-free): The Healthy $1 Menu

October 10, 2013 by KimiHarris 42 Comments

Simple Baked Mini Meatballs that are paleo, and frugal too!

These meatballs are everything you need them to be. They stay together, but are moist. They are flavorful and delicious straight off the pan, or added to a wide variety of dishes (like pasta dishes, served over mashed potatoes, or made into a meatball sub. You name it, these work for it).

I love baking meatballs as I find it a reliable, worry-free method to cook them. In this recipe, it’s breadcrumb-free, so you don’t even have to drag out the food processor, but simply mix, shape, and bake!

Oh, and did I mention they are grain -, dairy- and egg-free and that they are super-frugal to make? Meatballs are one of those humble foods that should be getting more attention, but often don’t. I love that they are a fun way to get my girls to enjoy their protein – they seem to especially enjoy eating them plain or dipping them into organic fruit sweetened jam.

They would fit well into a daydream that I have. In it, I step up to a counter and say, “Yes, I’d like to order off your Healthy $1 menu. I’d like two grassfed, grain-free meatballs plates, and a side of organic mashed potatoes and carrot salad.” I receive the gratifying answer, “Your order will be right out, ma’am.”

And then I wake up.

And then I decide to make my own dollar menu at home.

Because you know what? Homemade, healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive. Not to pick on McDonalds, but because it IS one of the most known and biggest fast food restaurants out there, have you ever thought about how expensive fast food can be? The average cost for a big mac (as it varies across states) is $4.56. Add to that fries and a soda pop, and you have, in my opinion, a not-very-frugal meal.

While on the one hand I acknowledge that eating well can be expensive, and sometimes eating an ideal diet is out of reach. On the other hand, often, eating well is much more frugal than you think, and that is why I, along with my contributing writers, are reviving The Healthy $1 Menu series!  Some of us use all organic, some use ingredients from the farmers market, and some use ingredients from the local supermarket, so you will see a variety of “purity” standards. But what is consistent is using “real food”, and the dishes being about $1 a serving.

Some of the dishes will be main dishes, some, like the following recipe, can be a “side order” side dish, or a “add to meal” item. The point of the series is not simply to offer frugal and practical recipes (though I sure hope it does!), but to help us all think about our budget in a new way. When seeing how much our dollar can buy when cooking at home, it can be really encouraging!

Take these meatballs. Now, I am not saying that one serving is all you need for a meal, just like buying a $1 taco out may not be your whole meal. But really, isn’t it a great deal to be able to get a side order of meatballs made with superior ingredients for this price? See, eating well isn’t always terribly expensive. You can serve these over frugal dishes, like mashed potatoes, or on butter toast, or add to marinara pasta, or eat plain, like we like them. Plus, meatballs freeze really well, so you can make up several batches, and have them on hand!

Because even my costs for this dish vary, depending on where I buy the meat, if it was on sale, or whether I was buying it as part of the meat co-op, I decided to use both the lower price and the higher to give you a sliding scale. Other ingredients are priced from my affiliate, Vitacost.com

Cost Analysis:

  • $3.25 to $6 for a pound of grassfed beef
  • $.25 for herbs and salt (priced according to buying in bulk)
  • $.19 for coconut flour
  • Liquid -$.25 to .0

Total for meatballs: $3.94 to $6.94

With 30 mini meatballs, 6 per serving, it will cost you between .78 per serving to $1.38 per serving.  If you are feeling really extravagant, serving with a small spoonful of raspberry jam costs about $.20-.40 per serving, when buying store-bought, sugar-free, organic.

Not too shabby for just one dollar, is it!

Ground beef is actually a great food item to use for a frugal main dish, by the way. Here are a couple other recipes that use it: Quinoa Mexican Bowl, Sloppy Joes in a Bowl, Ground Beef and Cabbage, Kelly’s Easy Shepherd Pie, Diane’s Sloppy Joes and Beef Chili

 
Author:
Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet
Recipe type: Italian/Main Dish
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Print
 
Sometimes I add a minced garlic clove to the meatballs, but more often then not, I actually keep it out, as it doesn’t become cooked as soft as I like when cooking mini meatballs. Sometimes I make medium sized meatballs too, and just cook them longer (it makes about 18 medium sized).
Ingredients
  • 1 pound grassfed beef
  • 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning or ½ teaspoon each dried thyme, basil, and oregano
  • 3 tablespoons dairy-free milk of choice, or water
  • ¾ teaspoon unrefined salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees
  2. In a medium sized bowl, dump all of the above ingredients, and mix them thoroughly with your hands.
  3. Using a tablespoon, melon scoop, or hands scoop out small balls of the mixture and quickly roll into small balls. I make about 30 mini meatballs, or 18 medium with this amount.
  4. Line up on a parchment lined sheet pan, and cook for about 12-15 minutes (for mini meatballs) or until cooked through. Serve right away.
3.2.2124

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: $10 Main, $5 Dishes, 52 ways to save money on a healthy diet, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Main Dishes, Nourishing Frugal Recipes, The Healthy $1 Menu

How to Make Kombucha Vinegar and Kombucha Salad Dressing

September 5, 2013 by KimiHarris 16 Comments

how to make kombucha vinegar and a homemade salad dressing with it!
Did you know that you can make kombucha vinegar cheaply and easily? This kombucha vinegar is a gentle vinegar that can easily be used as an addition to soaking grains, a “detox bath” ingredient, or used in a homemade salad dressing! The below recipe for a Homemade Kombucha Dressing, is a super simple, very frugal, probiotic salad dressing.

If you are already making kombucha on a regular basis, brewing up a batch of kombucha vinegar here and there can definitely help you save money considering the price of organic vinegars. (This post is part of the 52 ways to save money on a healthy diet series).

As many of you will remember, I have become a real fan of continuous kombucha brewing. I LOVE this method. But I did kind of lose track of it this summer, and I literally have a kombucha scoby that has grown to become a massive couple inch thick scoby. This is exciting to see, but it has also made my brew, brew too quickly, making it vinegar instead of kombucha tea! I need to take the scoby out and thin it down, but meanwhile I have this beautiful kombucha vinegar to use!

So how to make kombucha vinegar? It’s simple; you just allow it to continue brewing until it is quite sour. I find that I can get it to taste pretty similarly to raw apple cider vinegar. If you are doing single batches, this could take 30-60 days. With the continuous brew, it will be much shorter. Just keep tasting it until it has consumed all of the sugar, and converted it to vinegar. That’s it!

How to make kombucha vinegar

Kombucha Salad Dressing
 
Author:
Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet
Prep time: 5 mins
Total time: 5 mins
Print
 
This simple and frugal salad dressing is very simple to make with soured kombucha.
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup homemade kombucha vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon style mustard
  • ¾ teaspoon unrefined salt
  • 1-3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
  • Pinch of dried basil, thyme, or oregano (or minced fresh herbs)
Instructions
  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a mason jar. Lid and shake vigorously. Toss with a green salad, legume or grain based salads, or even pasta salads!
3.2.2124

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: $5 Dishes, 52 ways to save money on a healthy diet, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nourishing Frugal Recipes, Nutrient Dense Foods, Sides, The Healthy $1 Menu

Simple Baked Apples

January 15, 2013 by KimiHarris 13 Comments

Tender apples are stuffed with crunchy nuts and sweet raisins, and spiked with cinnamon. This old fashioned treat is not only a frugal dessert, but it is delicious too. I am putting this into the category of “The Healthy $1 Menu”, because each serving cost less than one dollar to make!

This is the type of dessert that Dr. Price would have served to the school children in his programs, by the way. While I don’t think that fruit always needs to be on the menu, fruit can help provide needed vitamins and nutrients not always found elsewhere.

I served this with a side of homemade ice cream. For a dairy-free version you could use my coconut milk vanilla ice cream. We tried a goat milk version, since we just recently found out that goat’s milk may be okay for us. Next time I may try a combination of coconut milk and goat’s milk to up the creaminess of the ice cream. We tried 3 cups of whole goat’s milk (raw and fresh, so that it wouldn’t taste “goaty”), ¼ cup honey, 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Very yummy and light.

When we think of baked apples, we generally think of whole apples, baked. But you don’t necessarily have to leave the apple whole. Traditionally, sometimes they were halved or even sliced before baking. I got tired of coring my apple, so here; I cut them in half and then stuff each half. You could easily make this with any amount of apples you want. I use about ½ tablespoon each of nuts, dried fruit per half of apple, and butter (or coconut oil). Then add as much sweetener and cinnamon as you’d like and you have your stuffing mixture!

I have been making a small amount of apples at a time. This will serve 2 people, for a whole apple each, or 4 people, with a half apple each.

…

Read More

Filed Under: $5 Dishes, Dairy Free, Desserts, Gluten Free, The Healthy $1 Menu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Miso Brown Rice Congee (and why I love this nourishing & savory porridge)

December 6, 2012 by KimiHarris 11 Comments


Brown or white rice is softly cooked in lots of homemade broth until the rice is falling apart into a smooth consistency. Served with a variety of toppings, including soy sauce or tamari, freshly grated ginger, green onions. roasted salmon or other seafood, spiced boiled eggs or poached eggs, ground white pepper, and chili pepper flakes, there are as many variations to this delicious and flavorful dish as there are cooks in the world.

Every Asian or rice eating culture has their own rice porridge or “congee” version. While a very boring name (anything with the word “porridge” in it, seems unsexy), these soups/porridges can be amazingly comforting and flavorful. Some are thick, some are thin, some are fish based, some are chicken or pork, but all are delicious.

Traditionally this nourishing dish started the day out right at breakfast, was given as a first food to young children, or given to those under the weather. With the rich stock base and the softly cooked rice, it is a wonderful food that I think many of us would enjoy. Think about how much more nourishing this dish is in comparison to the typical bowl of cold cereal! We eat it at whatever meal we feel like.

Americans have fallen in love with certain Asian influenced soups, such as beef pho (I know I have!). I think that rice congees will be one of the next soups that make its way to our homes and restaurants. We have already started seeing some attention being drawn to this delicious dish both in some upscale restaurants near us and, of course, you can find it at some authentic Asian restaurants too.

On a personal note, my two year old is a very picky eater but when I first discovered this delicious dish, she gobbled it down like there was no tomorrow! I love this dish and so does my family!

For my book, Ladled: Nourishing Soups for All Seasons, I devoted a section on Grain Porridges and Rice Congees. I wanted to share one with you today, so I am bringing you my Miso Brown Rice Congee. Other recipes in that section include: Chinese Congee (with chicken and/or Marbled Spiced Tea Eggs), Thai Congee (a beautiful mix of hot, sour and sweet flavors), Japanese Congee with Soy Ginger Salmon, Simple Brown Rice Congee with Variations, Korean Sesame Seed Porridge, Irish Yellow Broth (oatmeal thickened soup), and Spice Moroccan Millet Porridge with Milk.

This recipe for congee uses miso to both give an oomph of flavor but it also acts as the catalyst for soaking/fermenting the brown rice overnight for better nutrition and absorption (To read more about soaking grains, go here). This is a simple favorite in our household. I hope you like it!

…

Read More

Filed Under: $10 Main, $5 Dishes, Breakfast and Brunch, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Main Dishes, The Healthy $1 Menu

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

ConvertKit Form

Get Every Recipe

And the insider's view from our kitchen

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Follow Me

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS

Search

Please Read:

The information you find here at The Nourishing Gourmet is meant to help you become a better cook! This site is primarily for sharing family friendly recipes. It's not meant to give medical advice or to make any health claims on the prevention or curing of diseases.This site is only for informational and educational purposes. Please discuss with your own, qualified health care provider before adding in supplements or making any changes in your diet. Also, any links to sponsors or affiliates (including Amazon) may give me a percentage of the sale or a pay per click. Thank you for supporting this site.

Categories

  • $10 Main (42)
  • $5 Dishes (43)
  • 52 ways to save money on a healthy diet (53)
  • AIP (23)
  • Baked Goods (83)
  • Beverages (72)
  • Breakfast and Brunch (61)
  • Condiments (8)
  • Dairy Free (491)
  • Desserts (183)
  • Dietary Needs (6)
  • Egg Free (11)
  • Egg Free (85)
  • For the Kids (66)
  • For the Love of Food and Books (18)
  • Gluten Free (484)
  • Grain Free (95)
  • Health (75)
  • Kitchen Tools (4)
  • Main Dishes (126)
  • Nourishing Frugal Recipes (167)
  • Nourishing Frugal Tips (70)
  • Nourishing Practices (56)
  • Nutrient Dense Foods (70)
  • Q and A (15)
  • Salads (39)
  • Sides (101)
  • Snacks (123)
  • Soups (50)
  • The Healthy $1 Menu (21)
  • The Low Energy Guide to Healthy Cooking (18)
  • THM (2)
  • Trim Healthy Mama (2)
  • Uncategorized (846)
  • Vegan (240)
  • Vegetarian (360)

Recent Posts

  • Herbal Hibiscus Lemonade (Keto, THM)
  • Creamy Curry Red Lentil Soup
  • One-Pot Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese
  • Healthy Pumpkin Spice Granola
  • Crispy Pumpkin Spice Granola (oil-free)
  • Why I Use THM Principles Now
  • Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad
  • Coconut Flour Pancakes
  • Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Chicken
  • Tender Instant Pot Carnitas (shredded pork for tacos)

Recent Comments

  • KimiHarris on How to make heavenly coconut milk whipped cream (with an isi dispenser)
  • KimiHarris on Autumn Beef Stew (Tomato Free)
  • KimiHarris on How to make heavenly coconut milk whipped cream (with an isi dispenser)
  • Milia on Our Experience Using Activated Charcoal When We had the ‘Stomach Bug’
  • Sharon on How to make heavenly coconut milk whipped cream (with an isi dispenser)

Fresh: Nourishing Salads for All Seasons

Get Every Recipe

And the insider's view from our kitchen

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Footer

Privacy

Copyright © 2022 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework