It doesn’t take too much effort to take good care of yourself if you make a habit out of eating at home.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to go to a nice restaurant and eat rich foods just like anyone else.  But you can save more than just your life by eating at home, you can save a lot of money.  Living in Los Angeles, it’s well know that it is an absurdly expensive city to reside.  Having multiple sclerosis isn’t cheap either, because you cannot get away with not having health insurance.  So it’s a good idea to remain thrifty with your cash.  We limit ourselves to a $300 monthly budget that we used strictly through our Simple Card, and we stick to this budget.  This $300 budget also includes a few instances of take-out foods such as a visit to an In n Out, maybe a taco truck, or even something more expensive.  Yet, our food budget remains on point and we still have a few bucks at the end of the month.  We also tend to shop at multiple stores.  Some foods we get at Trader Joe’s (asparagus, broccoli, onions), some occasionally from Whole Foods (brisket), some from our local Japanese grocery store (brown rice, meats, vegetables, Japanese food staples), and some from the weekly farmer’s market (mainly certain fruits). It’s about shopping smarter, and since we don’t usually eat processed foods we don’t waste a lot of money.  I also don’t like to waste a lot of time, so I taught myself how to prep and cook quickly. 

Broccoli Pork with Spinach

• Thinly sliced pork – 8 – 12 oz
• Broccoli – 1 decent sized crown (chopped)
• Spinach – 1 handful (cleaned and chopped)
• Yellow onion – 1 thinly sliced
• Ginger – 1 inch piece
• Carrot – 1/2 (skinned, and sliced thin)
• Soy sauce – 1 tablespoon
• Garlic – 1 clove, chopped finely.
• Black pepper.

1. Shave your ginger really nicely and squeeze all the juice onto your thinly sliced pork in a mixing bowl before tossing the ginger scribbits in there with it. 
2. Heat up your chopped garlic in some olive oil on a skillet over medium-high heat before adding your ginger gingered up pork. 
3. Grind some black pepper onto your pork and allow it to heat until it begins to change color, making sure to get both it colored on both sides before adding your onions. 
4. When the onions begin to become translucent, mix in your carrots with your broccoli and spinach. 
5. Add your soy sauce, mixing it up so that it gets itself nicely into your mixture. 
6. Cover, lower your heat and allow to simmer about a minute and a half before serving.

As you can see by the picture below, I often serve my dishes with a small cup of spiced brown rice.

Bon appétit!