Grocery Haul for Two and Pork & Black Bean Chili

Hubby and I did our grocery shopping in the evening after a long day with my doctors appointments and discovered that the stores were a whole lot less busy. Since we live so far away from the grocery stores normally shopping is done early. Since we were both pretty exhausted from a day at the hospital it was nice to be able to get in and out quickly.

Our first stop was Winco and it was a smaller size haul.

Fresh fruit is a must each week for us and we picked up the regular apples, bananas and oranges. I also bought a few cans to restock the pantry, diced tomatoes, cream of mushroom soup and spaghetti sauce. Tortilla chips were on sale so we grabbed an extra bag of those.

I needed to restock a lot of my veggies I picked up cabbage, spring lettuce mix, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, beets and a bag of sweet mini peppers. I also went to the bulk section and got some more brown jasmine rice.

The last items were a quart of half n half, some coleslaw and pepperoni slices from the deli.

The total for Winco this week was: $41.00

Then we went to Costco and picked up a few items..

Two cans of coffee – one is regular the other is decaf, a 2 pack of french bread, ranch dressing, mixed nuts and a bag of tortillas.

Since it was so late that evening I didn't want to do any cooking so I picked up a rotisserie chicken. 

 

I love their rotisserie chickens. So flavorful and so easy. We had the chicken with sliced french bread and the coleslaw. This ended up being enough to feed us for two nights and I have the bones left to make some chicken stock. Not a bad deal for $4.99.

The total for Costco was: $59.00

My total spending on groceries this week was:

$100

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Pork & Black Bean Chili

This was one of the meals I made from the pork roast I cooked last week. It was delicious and fed us for 2 meals. It's a great meal to make if you have leftover pork from a roast. My recipe says ¾ to 1lb, but you can use less. If you want more volume of chili simply add more black beans.

I used my Instant Pot to make this but in the recipe below I give both IP and stove top instructions.

I started by cutting up all my veggies. I then heated up my IP and added a little avocado oil and sauteed my veggies until soft. I added my spices and stirred them around for a few seconds. Then I added my black beans, leftover pork and diced tomatoes...

I added liquid based on my own desired thickness. If doing this in an IP you will need to add at least 2 cups..

I set the IP for 20 minutes..

I served it with salad, tortilla cchips and topped the chili with a little cheddar cheese. It was delish!

The recipe..

Pork & Black Bean Chili

a small amount of oil (your choice, I used avocado oil)

1 medium onion, chopped

½ a green pepper or a few sweet mini peppers

½ cup sliced celery

Jalapeno slices (fresh or from a jar), maybe 3 or 4 slices, based on how spicy you want your chili. This can also be omitted if you don't have any or you can sub 1 4oz can green chilies

1 can (14oz) diced tomatoes

2 to 3 cups black beans, drained – these can be your own home cooked beans or a couple cans of black beans

¾ to 1lb of pre cooked pork roast

2 to 3 cups (approx.) chicken broth or reserved bean broth if you cooked your own beans

Heat up a soup pot on the stove or in your Instant Pot (use the 'Saute' function and wait until it says “hot”) until it is hot and pour a little oil in. Add your veggies and cook until soft. Add spices and stir around for a few seconds. Add tomatoes, black beans and leftover pork. Stir. Add chicken broth or reserved bean broth until the chili is to your liking, If you are using the Instant Pot make sure you add at least 2 cups of broth.

On the stove top, bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

In the Instant Pot: Put the lid on, push the 'Manual' button and set for 20 minutes. Close the knob at the top to “sealing”. When the timer goes off all it to cool down for 10 minutes or so and then release the pressure.

When done cooking taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

I served this meal with a salad and tortilla chips and sprinkled a little cheddar cheese on the top.

That's all for this week's Grocery Haul!