Yes, you can afford to eat steak!

I've heard a few people say, from time to time, that eating steak just costs too much. Sure, if you eat at Ruth's Chris every day I may tend to agree with you. That's not realistic for most people, but let's get real -- if you can afford to go eat at McDonalds, you can afford to eat a steak dinner. Let's consider the dinner I made tonight for a perfect example.

1 Organic sirloin steak, 5oz, from Sprouts - $2.34
2 cups of frozen vegetables, also from Sprouts - $1.99
$4.33

Misc - Coconut Oil is about $10 per jar, I used about 1tsp worth and some pepper. Those two together may have a net cost of a quarter!

"But I am a terrible cook"

pfffffffff

Let steak sit out at room temp 30-40min, a bit longer if larger, then season with pepper (I don't use or like salt, but do what you like). Heat skillet medium-high heat, add coconut oil and allow it to melt. Cook steak about 2 min per side for medium rare. Your stove, skillet, thickness of the steak, etc will make this vary a bit. The coconut oil and pepper will put a really nice crust on the steak.

Vegetables...this is so easy! I use a vegetable and fish steamer. Just add water, vegetables, and cook in microwave for about 5-6 min depending on how powerful your microwave is.

Total time - about 8 min! Can you even get in your car and drive to get fast food that fast? Oh, and trust me, the food came out MUCH better than the photo :)

Almond crusted chicken breast with spaghetti squash

1 - egg
1/2 cup - almond meal (blanched skinned almonds)
2 - chicken breasts
1 - spaghetti squash
1 - jar Rao's tomato basil all natural sauce 
- Extra virgin olive oil
-Coconut milk, 1tbs
-black pepper


Cut spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise and remove seeds. Put 1/4" water in baking pan, place spaghetti squash cut side down (so it looks like an oblong dome) in pan, bake 40min @ 375.  Pull at 40 min, flip spaghetti squash over, and spray olive oil as desired all over the squash and add pepper to taste. Back in the oven for 40 more min. Pull and dig out all the yummy goodness into a large bowl - there will be a LOT of food here, depending on size of your squash.

Beat one egg with 1Tbs coconut milk then coat chicken breasts with mixture. Next, coat chicken liberally with almond meal. Bake 20min or so at 375 - check this depending on size of chicken so not overdone or undercooked. Pull chicken, coat with Rao's sauce, return to oven for 10 min. 

Simply heat Rao's sauce on stove in sauce pan to use on spaghetti squash. Time all the above so that it all comes out at once. 

Hawaiian Pork Shoulder

This is a first go at this. I will tweak and update this posting next time I make it.

 1 Pork Shoulder
1 Bell Pepper, sliced into strips
1 Cup Pineapple, chopped
1Tbs Coconut Oil
1/2 Cup chicken stock
Pepper etc to taste

Rub pork shoulder with pepper and any other seasonings you desire. Set crock pot to low heat. Cover the bottom of the crock pot with bell pepper strips, diced pineapple, and coconut oil. Pour in chicken stock. Place pork shoulder fat side up - this is important.  Cook in crock pot on low, 6-7 hrs depending on size of shoulder. My meat thermometer has a minimum internal temp of 180 for pork, so that's where I stopped cooking.

Pull from crock pot and place in pan, broil on high a few minutes to brown if desired. Do not leave in broiler too long, or it will dry out the meat.

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Any feedback welcome on how to improve this is definitely welcome.