Spending too much on restaurant lunches? No time to prep the vittles at home? Here is the first in a series of easy, healthy lunches you can make – even if you have never cooked before.
My readers often comment that sure there are savings to making lunches and bringing them to work, but who has the time? Much easier to grab something from a restaurant. Here is a great meal that you can make in 30 minutes, feed a family, or load into Tupperware for a week of work lunches or freeze for the big game.
Five cans, one can opener – you got this
If you can wield a can opener, you can pretty much make this dish. But wait, how do you make $250,000 eating chilli? Let’s work the math. 5 cans of beans and tomatoes at about $1.50 per can, and another $7 in vegetables, oil and seasonings, you can make 8 servings for about $2 each. That’s about $10 cheaper than a fast food lunch, saving about $200 per month, just on lunches through the work week. Invest that at 7% over a 30 year career and you will have nearly $250,000 in additional wealth. In addition, it is delicious.
Yes, that does assume that you eat this chilli every day for your working career, but there are more recipes coming. If you want to learn more about how to invest and earn 7% read this post.
Wealth building chilli ingredients
- 1 large onion (diced)
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 1 green or yellow pepper
- 1 can (14 oz) of pinto beans
- 1 can (14 oz) black beans
- I can (14 oz) kidney beans
- 2 large can (14 oz) of diced tomatoes
- 1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth
- Hot sauce to taste
- Cumin to taste
- Chili powder to taste
- Flour and water (optional) to thicken
The Prep
In a large stockpot, cook the diced onion in the oil until translucent. Open the cans of beans and rinse in a colander, add to pot, then add the diced tomatoes and the broth and bring to a boil then simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the hot sauce and spices to taste. For a thicker chilli, thoroughly mix 2 tablespoons of flour into a cup of hot water and add it to the chilli as it comes to a boil. That’s it!
But chilli every day for a week?
Of course not! If you are living solo, load up some glass or plastic storage containers with individual servings and load them in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge the night before work. Or have one for lunch early in the week then have your friends over for the big game on the weekend to polish off the rest.
Love the 5 Can Chilli, but getting ready to tackle a new recipe? Stay tuned for more recipes in the series.
Saving on lunch is just the start. For more ideas on saving and investing check out the rest of my blog posts and my book, Cashflow Cookbook.
A big thanks to reader Deb for the recipe. What recipes are you using to save on food and build wealth? Let.me know in the comments below!
