Ideas for low Budget - Low Carb cooking

Reposting by permission from a Low Carb WLS Graduate support site....I LOVE the "cooking ahead" plan and have been able to save oodles of money and oodles of "goody grabbing empty calories" by following this type of cooking.  "Fail to plan and plan to fail"!!

Grocery List/Cooking On a Budget
Grocery List
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10 lbs chicken thighs or chicken breasts, cook 1/2 on shopping day, freeze the rest in dinner size portions
2 dozen eggs
6 cans of tuna
10 pound of ground beef, cook 1/2 on shopping day, freeze the rest in dinner size portions
5 lb roast
2 boxes Lipton onion soup mix
6 cans of beef broth
6 cans of chicken broth
celery
zucchini or yellow squash
red or yellow pepper
green onions
6 cans French cut green beans
2 canned mushrooms
alfredo sauces, 2 plain, 2 with cheese and garlic or whatever :)
zip lock bags

What to do with what you've bought
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Take the 10 pounds of beef and divide in 2 parts.  Take one part and place in a large Dutch oven and add two cans of beef broth and one envelope Lipton onion soup mix.  Add two cans of water to that and bring the entire mixture to a boil over medium heat stirring to break up the beef into smaller pieces.  Reduce to simmer and continuing cooking until all the moisture is gone.  Cool the beef and then place into ziplock bags in 2 cup portions.  Freeze.  Now you always have something ready to heat and eat!!  I add this to alfredo sauce and serve over French cut green beans.  Very tasty and really lowcarb.
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Now with the chicken, take half boil it in chicken broth until the meat falls from the bone, remove bones and skin (if using boneless coo****il the chicken looks like shreds) return chicken to Dutch oven, and continue cooking until moisture is absorbed, add some chopped red pepper and chopped green onion for the last 10 minutes of cooking.  Remove from heat.  Divide into 2 cups portions and place in ziplock bags.  Now you have chicken for chicken taco salads, or Chinese chicken soup.
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Cooking day:
5lb beef roast at 325 in covered roaster with one half cup water.  Sprinkle 1 tbsp salt or season salt and/or other desired seasonings over all surfaces of roast before putting it in the roaster.  Add the water and one large yellow onion sliced.  Cook for two hours or until tender.
 
After you put the roast in, put six split chicken breasts in a baking dish.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste and add half cup of water.  Cover and bake along with the roast.  Chicken should be tender in 45 minutes or less.
 
On the stove in a large saucepan, put the liquid from two cans French style green beans.  Simmer uncovered until liquid is almost gone add a quarter cup meat stock, one Tbsp olive oil and beans.  Simmer until liquid is almost gone, stirring occasionally.   Refrigerate.
Cut up a pound of yellow squash.  Melt 1/4 stick of butter in sauce pan and add squash.  Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid is gone, stirring occasionally.
 
Cut two large tomatoes in half.  Scoop out pulp and seeds and add to squash.  Wrap tomato shells tightly in plastic and refrigerate.  Sweeten to taste a 16 ounce tub of plain yogurt.
 
When chicken is done, wrap each piece and refrigerate.  Add half a cup of water to the pan and deglaze (wash off the brown stuff) with the liquids in the pan and a fork.  Pour into a glass and refrigerate.
 
Do the same deglaze and stock refrigerate thing with the roast.
 
Cut the roast into three pieces.  Slice one part into two steaks.  Dice one into large chunks.  Shred the third part or chop it fine.
 
Boil half a dozen eggs.
 
Wash and refrigerate salad greens and veggies.  Chop a sweet pepper and reserve some for salads, the rest in the squash.
 
Make some devilled eggs.
 
When fat is solid on top of stocks, remove it and discard.  If it's winter, leave it outside for stray animals.  Reduce chicken stock (simmer uncovered until it reduces in volume****il it's very strong.  Melt 8 oz cream cheese in it.  You may use fat free if you like.  That's chicken gravy.
 
Defat and reduce beef stock.  Add a quarter of it to the green beans.  Melt 8 oz cream cheese and 8oz sour cream into remaining beef stock.  There's beef gravy.
 
To 3/4 cup beef gravy, add one tbsp of ketchup . Barbecue sauce.
 
Make meat salad with one chicken breast and some roast chunks.  Add mayo and chopped celery, sweet peppers, pickles on whatever you think will taste good.  Stuff tomato halves with this for lunches and/or snacks.
 
This should all take less than six hours including cleaning as you go.  You can break some of it up over the day or break it up over two days but the point is that you can prep an entire week's fast meals and snacks in a single cooking spree that will take far less time than cooking the same menu daily would.
 
You can add the step of assembling your meals in gladware.  Instant home-made TV dinners.  From Monday until the next weekend, you'll do a lot less dishwashing and kitchen cleaning.
 
Repeat weekly with different meats and veggies.
 
A few hours on one weekend day and you have fast food all week.  Since you have so much food prepped and will no doubt do something fresh as well from time to time, there will be plenty of stuff for snacking on as well.

 
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Joyce

This is great, but I wanted to check to see if maybe the "roast" is missing from the shopping list? 

Gheesh Becky!  Didn't you have a 5 lb roast already in your freezer? 

Good catch sweetie pie!  Pleeeez add a 5 lb roast to your shopping list!!!  (I'll edit my posted shopping list)

You and Joe coming up for the potluck?  (bring your sweetie pie grand daughter....she's definitely out of diapers and is very well behaved!)

Hugggzzzz!