They changed the Meat Bin at my store.  No longer do they have the $4.00 off coupons so I could get a $5 piece of beef for $1.  They now have 30% or 50% stickers – so obviously the most I’ll save is 50%.  Which isn’t bad, but I was routinely saving around 70% on my weekly meat haul!

It won’t prevent me for checking it out each Saturday.  I didn’t let 8 inches of snow on Friday prevent me from going to my WW meeting – I am so glad I did because there was only 15 of us vs. the 70+ there usually is – so it was more conversational.  I was down another 1.1 pounds – whoop! 

I did score on pork country ribs.  If you’ve not tried it before, its super economical – as luck would have it I found two packages – buy one, get one, and they were both 50% off – so I bought nearly 2 pounds of pork for around $2.30.

Jewel also has their canned beans and tomatoes on sale – go stock up!  3 cans for $1!  So I knew chili was going on my menu plan this week.

Marion’s Kitchen sent me a line of their products – I’ve only tried three so far, and holy balls they are amazing.  They are only 10 calories a serving, low sugar, low carb.  And delicious!  I used their sriracha lime marinade in this chili – just 1/4 cup but it really packed in a lot of flavor.  They sell their products at most Walmarts.

There is the package of pork ribs – they are meaty, have a bit of a bone in them, but once cooked in the slow cooker, I removed the bones and most of the fat and was left with a pound of delicious pork, which was the base of the chili.

Since I did the pork in the slow cooker while I went about my business Saturday, after I chopped the pork, it was really a matter of throwing everything together and the chili was ready!  I reheated a small bowl for tasting, it needed a bit more salt, but the spice level was nice.

 [sp_recipe]

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It was freezing in Chicago this weekend.  I only left on my usual Saturday morning errands and didn’t leave the house at all yesterday.  Love!

I tried making gummy bears at home.  I tried three different recipes and they all taste like . . . jello!   I’ll figure it out one day.  

My daughter in law Liz has a new post up on her YouTube channel – check out her to 10 favorite vegan products!

Since I was home, I’ve been working on my recipe index – some links are broken, I need to update excerpts – back when I started blogging I didn’t know that if I didn’t describe the post, it would just grab the first sentence of the blog post, which usually wouldn’t have anything to do with the recipe.  Like I would have a picture of Italian meatballs and the excerpt would read “it was cold as fuck this weekend.”  Classy, but that’s not going to help anyone try my recipe.  Right now the link to my recipes is here.  I need to figure out how to put that on my home page, but it’s a start!   I describe it in this short video below:

My dry January is still going strong, although I made beef last night and thought, “a hearty cabernet would be great with this meal!”  

Last Friday my sister and I had the opportunity to meet Gina from SkinnyTaste!  She was so nice and down to earth.  I tagged her on an Instagram post a couple weeks ago – Jenn and I walk Macy’s in Chicago when it’s cold or crappy out, which is how we found out about this event.  For $20 we got her new cookbook, and a $10 Macy’s gift card!   When I tagged her I showed her the venue, and was like “I’ll just talk to you when we see you on the 18th!”

Jenn got there first – I wasn’t sure if she grabbed my loot bag with the cookbook, and when she told me she didn’t, as I was walking back to get it, Gina was walking in.  I just casually said “Hey Gina!” and she looked right at me and said “I know you!”  Um, guys.  She follows me on Instagram.  She has almost a million followers and follows only 1700 and I am one of them!  How cool is that!

Sadly, I had to get back to work.  Jenn had the afternoon off and graciously stood in line to get our cookbooks signed.   For the record, you don’t need an air fryer or an instant pot to make any of these recipes – she has alternatives for making on the stove, or in the oven.

One day I will be on that side of the counter doing a cooking demonstration and you’ll come see me cook!  You have to dream big, but make sure your goals are just as big. Because dreams don’t come trueā€¦ but goals do!

Part of the discussion at the WW workshop this weekend was “what’s your why.”  My WHY?  To show people that being on WW doesn’t mean that you have to give up flavor or taste in food – don’t eat plain poached chicken just because it’s free.  Um, turns out my chicken tikka masala is also zero points which a shit ton of flavor.  

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The best part about that big batch of chili I made?  It’s going to morph into several dishes this week.  My guess is that the whole batch of chili cost me around $4.  With that I can make:

  • Chili Mac (I am making pasta with my skinny pizza dough tonight!)
  • Tumaro Wrap Enchiladas
  • Loaded Baked Potatoes
  • Stuffed Peppers
  • Chili Empanadas (OMG – these are so good!)
  • Scrambled egg chili burrito

When meal planning, think of how one ingredient can morph into many things – even if you bought a rotisserie chicken for $5 – that can be sliced for sandwiches, made into chicken tacos, white chicken chili, chicken salad, tuscan chicken with penne pasta – you get the idea! 

Alright, going to hit publish and make some breakfast.  I am off work today because of Martin Luther King Day – but I have an eye doctor appointment later today – at least I didn’t have to use a sick day for my appointment!

Happy Monday friends – make it a great day!