Flo's back, and she's getting thrifty

OK. As soon as I decided that I would blog every day, I realized that I couldn't possibly do that and stopped blogging altogether. Makes perfect sense, right?

However, my convoluted thinking and neuroses have deprived the world of my culinary insights for nearly a year, and I owe it to my legions of fans (or at least to the two or three people who might read this) to make a comeback. I'll be signing autographs after the blog.

Because our financial situation has not been great, we recently made the long-overdue decision not to eat out at all -- not that we did it very much or at very expensive places, but still, that's an obvious way to cut expenses.

So my new bible has become an excellent cookbook called Cheap, Fast, Good! by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross, who are also known for Desperation Dinners! I've been starting to plan meals more effectively, going through my favorite supermarket's sale circular along with the cookbook for ideas. I'm also trying to use up odds and ends that have been hanging around the refrigerator and pantry for a while.

Last week I bought a huge piece of pork loin on sale and made the cookbook's Savory Pork Pot Roast. This gave me a delicious broth with which to make Super-Saver Tortilla Soup and Twice-Cooked Pork Stir-Fry from the cookbook.

The pot roast itself was a mixed success. The meat was delicious, but even after 12 hours in the slow cooker, the veggies were just barely done and didn't taste very good. Next time, I will do it without veggies and serve the pork with rice on the side. And there will definitely be a next time. These meals worked out so well that before the sale ended, I picked up another roast for the freezer.

Savory Pork Pot Roast (adapted from Cheap, Fast, Good!)
About 4 lb. pork loin roast (I had a 5.5 lb loin end roast, from which I cut off the bony flap, saving it in the freezer; the original recipe specifies a 3 to 3.5 lb boneless pork loin roast)
(4 medium red potatoes)
(2 medium onions)
(2 ribs celery)
(3 carrots)
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup dry white wine (or apple juice)
1/4 cup ketchup
Juice of 1 lime (I used about 2 tbsp. from a squeeze bottle)
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt

Trim excess fat from meat and place the roast in a large slow cooker. Peel and cut up veggies, if using (no need to peel potatoes if they look good). Add veggies to the pot.

Whisk together all the other ingredients and pour the mixture over the meat. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low all day (10 hours for a bone-in roast, less for boneless. Slice half the roast to serve; reserve the rest for another recipe. Save the broth for soup.

Super-Saver Tortilla Soup (adapted from Cheap, Fast, Good!)
About 3/4 lb. boneless, skinless, chicken thighs (or breasts)
2 tsp. olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3 cups broth from Savory Pork Pot Roast
1 can (14 oz.) low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup bottled salsa of choice
Tortilla chips
Sour cream (reduced fat is fine)
Shredded cheese (I used a bagged reduced-fat Mexican blend)

Heat oil in a 4-quart soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and saute, stirring occasionally. While onion cooks, cut chicken into bite-size chunks and add them to the pan. Cook until the chicken is nearly done. Stir in cumin.

Add pork broth, chicken broth, and salsa. Cover pot and cook 5-10 minutes more, until soup is very hot and chicken is completely done.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese.