I'm making a turkey breast for dinner. Looking at the recipes for roasting it in my crock pot, I always seem to be right between the "high" and the "low" cook times. For example, they'll say "Cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 6-8 hours."
My dilemma is two-fold: I love the flavor boost from slow cooking, but I never seem to be able to get up at 5:00 am to put it on. I'm sure you'll have some suggestions, and sure, Thanksgiving or Christmas make it easier, but just an average Friday doesn't get the 5:00 am treatment.
My second dilemma is that I usually can get my bum up to cook early enough that some slow cooking could be enjoyed. So, here's my formula for when you want slow cooking, but don't want to eat dinner at 10:30 at night.
I'm a mathematician by degree (and I'm not the only one in the trailer park) so bear with me as I give you the math by brute force and then go back and explain it.
Food safety warning: I don't know all the science for this, so while I don't use the "cook on high" time in my math, I DO NOT use this formula if the recipe doesn't say that the item can be cooked on high. Also, if I have less time than what the recipe says to cook on high, then I need to wait until a day when I have more time, or, of course, cook it in the oven.
Let T1 = the time the recipe gives if you only cook on low
T2 = the amount of time I have
First, subtract the time I have from the high time: T3 = T1 - T2
Then, subtract this time (T3) from the high time (T2): T4 = T2 - T3
T3 will be the number of hours on high.
T4 is the number of hours on low.
EXAMPLES:
Recipe says: "Cook 10 hours on low." I have 8 hours:
T1 = 10
T2 = 8
T3 = 10 - 8 = 2
T4 = 8 - 2 = 6
So, I have eight hours, so I'm going to cook 2 hours on high and 6 hours on low.
Recipe says: "Cook 12 hours on low." I have 7 hours.
T1 = 12
T2 = 7
T3 = 12 - 7 = 5
T4 = 7 - 5 = 2
So, I have 7 hours, I would cook 5 hours on high and 2 hours on low.
I'll let you know later how my turkey breast comes out... but right now, my kitchen is already filled with smells of butter, turkey, rosemary and thyme!
Friday, September 13, 2013
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Coming Attractions...
Whew! A lot going on around this mobile home park with back-to-school and all! Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, but I have been very busy in the kitchen! I have several posts coming up, including a three-part post on HAM!
In the mean time, I saw this article and thought you'd like it. I saw it on facebook, posted by one of my favorite tv shows, Deals!!! After this article, I'm thinking maybe it is my Scottish roots that makes me so frugal??? Maybe!
This Couple Spent $1.56 on Their Wedding -- Could You??
In the mean time, I saw this article and thought you'd like it. I saw it on facebook, posted by one of my favorite tv shows, Deals!!! After this article, I'm thinking maybe it is my Scottish roots that makes me so frugal??? Maybe!
This Couple Spent $1.56 on Their Wedding -- Could You??
Monday, August 26, 2013
Teenager Deterrent
I'm a horrible speller. I rely on my computer/internet spell checkers a lot! The other day, I was writing out my shopping list. Even though I was doing it with a pen and paper, I paused for a second after writing broccolli brocolli broccoli for the little red line to show up.
This all reminds me that there are some words I can't remember how to spell. Top of the list: DETERRENT.
Being a particularly "blonde" morning, deterrent sends me on a directly different mind track which of course leads to the kitchen. I'm hungry, too, so it doesn't take much.
Wait... back to deterrent... a couple of years ago, I came up with a fool-proof teenager deterrent. I was having a little trouble with a couple of the neighborhood boys. One of them had set up a basketball net in our cul-de-sac. Now, I'm all for exercise, blah blah blah, but these guys would let the stupid thing sit for days on end, and then, late on Saturday night, when Sunday is the only day that I can't oversleep, THAT'S WHEN THEY WOULD PLAY BASKETBALL. I was so inspired to tell you this tale that I drew you a quick picture:
This all reminds me that there are some words I can't remember how to spell. Top of the list: DETERRENT.
Being a particularly "blonde" morning, deterrent sends me on a directly different mind track which of course leads to the kitchen. I'm hungry, too, so it doesn't take much.
Wait... back to deterrent... a couple of years ago, I came up with a fool-proof teenager deterrent. I was having a little trouble with a couple of the neighborhood boys. One of them had set up a basketball net in our cul-de-sac. Now, I'm all for exercise, blah blah blah, but these guys would let the stupid thing sit for days on end, and then, late on Saturday night, when Sunday is the only day that I can't oversleep, THAT'S WHEN THEY WOULD PLAY BASKETBALL. I was so inspired to tell you this tale that I drew you a quick picture:
So there I was, about 11:30 on a Saturday night, and about eight teenage boys would start their game. BOING BOING BOING (what sound does a basketball make?) and STOMP STOMP STOMP (I think all of them wore size 19 shoes).
What to do? I'm ready to go full grouchy-old-lady in the neighborhood, but I don't want to rush things. So, I thought to myself, "How can I strategically remove these boys from my cul-de-sac?" I didn't think my friend Renda could get her bulldozer here fast enough, and I don't know any supermodels. I'm too proud to just call the police. So I asked myself, "What else would move these teenage boys?"
I headed to the kitchen.
I flipped on the vent fan for the oven.
I whipped up a batch of brownies and started baking. While I waited for them to get full scent, I sauteed some garlic and onions. Ten minutes in the kitchen, fifteen minutes after they arrived on the cul-de-sac, the young men had vanished.
DETERRENT -- From the Latin, deterrere, which means, "to frighten away." You see, I realized that night that every teenage boy is deathly afraid of starving to death.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Well, you can't win them all...
So, last night's dinner... um...
It started innocently enough. I decided to make the Homestyle Bakes Dumplings and Chicken. That was my first mistake. Of course, I had to doctor it up a little. And, for that matter, if you ever buy this product, which you should NEVER buy, then do NOT prepare it according to the box. You HAVE GOT to doctor it. This product is just awful, and any doctoring only makes it barely palatable.
The product itself is a dry biscuit mix that you prepare with water and then drop it by spoonfuls in the bottom of the baking pan. That part is pretty good. The bad part is the chicken stew part in the can. You're supposed to pour that over the dumplings and then cook it. From the second I opened the can, I knew I had made an awful mistake.
Way back in ancient times when I was a child, I liked chicken soup. Chicken and stars, alphabet soup, chicken and noodle -- I loved them all. Then in college, something happened. I worked a summer in a camp for Jewish girls. I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of this summer, except for Fridays. The camp celebrated Shabbat every Friday and the celebration itself was just amazing. The hard part was the diet. We had no meat during the day on Fridays--just PB&Js for lunch. Dinner was just delicious: Matzo ball soup, Challah bread and fried chicken.
My problem came because of two events. First, I was a water safety instructor and by the time I got to dinner, I was starved. Second, I was a counselor for the 15-year-old cabin, so we were one of the last tables to be served. So, we'd come into dinner, just starving, fill up on rich chicken-based matzo ball soup and even richer Challah bread. I literally made myself sick eating that soup. And, unlike all the dozens of foods that made me sick when I was pregnant, to this day I can never eat canned chicken soup again.
The second I opened those cans last night, that smell took me back twenty-five years ago to those Friday nights.
I lost all zeal to make it delicious, but I tried anyway. I roasted about six frozen chicken tenders to add to the meat. I used milk instead of water to make the dumplings. I added in a small package of mixed vegetables. I sprinkled it all with rosemary and thyme. All of these things helped immensely.
The family ate it and said that they liked it. (Meh.) It served 5 of us for dinner, and a couple of the guys ate seconds and thirds. They cleaned it all up--there were no leftovers.
For the five of us, it cost about $2 for the extra chicken, $6 for the Homestyle Bakes, $1 for the mixed vegetables, so for the five of us, it was about $9 total.
There you have it. My sad, sad story of how I broke up with chicken soup, so many years ago. Sniff.
What food have you broken up with?
(Someday I'll tell you why I'll never again drink rum, but you can probably guess how that story ends.)
It started innocently enough. I decided to make the Homestyle Bakes Dumplings and Chicken. That was my first mistake. Of course, I had to doctor it up a little. And, for that matter, if you ever buy this product, which you should NEVER buy, then do NOT prepare it according to the box. You HAVE GOT to doctor it. This product is just awful, and any doctoring only makes it barely palatable.
Way back in ancient times when I was a child, I liked chicken soup. Chicken and stars, alphabet soup, chicken and noodle -- I loved them all. Then in college, something happened. I worked a summer in a camp for Jewish girls. I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of this summer, except for Fridays. The camp celebrated Shabbat every Friday and the celebration itself was just amazing. The hard part was the diet. We had no meat during the day on Fridays--just PB&Js for lunch. Dinner was just delicious: Matzo ball soup, Challah bread and fried chicken.
My problem came because of two events. First, I was a water safety instructor and by the time I got to dinner, I was starved. Second, I was a counselor for the 15-year-old cabin, so we were one of the last tables to be served. So, we'd come into dinner, just starving, fill up on rich chicken-based matzo ball soup and even richer Challah bread. I literally made myself sick eating that soup. And, unlike all the dozens of foods that made me sick when I was pregnant, to this day I can never eat canned chicken soup again.
The second I opened those cans last night, that smell took me back twenty-five years ago to those Friday nights.
I lost all zeal to make it delicious, but I tried anyway. I roasted about six frozen chicken tenders to add to the meat. I used milk instead of water to make the dumplings. I added in a small package of mixed vegetables. I sprinkled it all with rosemary and thyme. All of these things helped immensely.
The family ate it and said that they liked it. (Meh.) It served 5 of us for dinner, and a couple of the guys ate seconds and thirds. They cleaned it all up--there were no leftovers.
For the five of us, it cost about $2 for the extra chicken, $6 for the Homestyle Bakes, $1 for the mixed vegetables, so for the five of us, it was about $9 total.
There you have it. My sad, sad story of how I broke up with chicken soup, so many years ago. Sniff.
What food have you broken up with?
(Someday I'll tell you why I'll never again drink rum, but you can probably guess how that story ends.)
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Grand dinner tonight!
Well... it was so-so... but everyone is happy and full.
Dinner was these simple chicken patties that Save-a-Lot sells. They're 14 for $3.99 and the buns are a package of 8 for 75¢ at the discount bread store. That makes 14 chicken sandwiches for $5.30.
I went to the farmer's market on Saturday and got a ton of delicious fruits and vegetables. I got three giant zucchinis and five yellow squash. Tonight I crinkle cut sliced them and then steamed them. I made a cheese sauce with some American cheese to go with the zucchini and squash. There is plenty of leftovers of both, and I'm not exactly sure how much it was, but I'm going to say the veggies were about $3 and the cheese sauce was about $3.
Finally, I had really splurged and bought three pounds of fresh cherries at the farmer's market. We had eaten two pounds just by grazing, but the last pound needed to be either eaten today or prepared into something else. So, I got out my trusty Pampered Chef Cherry and Olive Pitter (THAT THEY HAVE DISCONTINUED -- GRRRRR!) and pitted all those cherries in just a few minutes.
I made a quick glaze with this recipe. I also whipped up a quick 2-layer chocolate cake (mix). My new favorite icing is to use this recipe without the oats or nuts, and this time I substituted 1/3 cup shortening and 1/3 cup margarine for the peanut butter.
To assemble the cake, I put the bottom layer on the cake tray and iced it with the icing. I layered the cherry glaze. Then I added the second layer and iced the whole cake. I served slices of the cake with a spoon of extra icing and cherry glaze poured over the top.
It wasn't cheap, the cherries made that expensive, but all-in-all this black forest cake came to about $5, including the extra ingredients (eggs, milk, etc.)
In total, that made our meal about $16.30. I served eight with vegetable and cake leftovers. We can't do this every night, but when I consider that last night's dinner was about $5 for eight of us, I think we can splurge every once in a while and have a Freaking Black Forest Cake! (My name for the recipe.)
Dinner was these simple chicken patties that Save-a-Lot sells. They're 14 for $3.99 and the buns are a package of 8 for 75¢ at the discount bread store. That makes 14 chicken sandwiches for $5.30.
I went to the farmer's market on Saturday and got a ton of delicious fruits and vegetables. I got three giant zucchinis and five yellow squash. Tonight I crinkle cut sliced them and then steamed them. I made a cheese sauce with some American cheese to go with the zucchini and squash. There is plenty of leftovers of both, and I'm not exactly sure how much it was, but I'm going to say the veggies were about $3 and the cheese sauce was about $3.
Finally, I had really splurged and bought three pounds of fresh cherries at the farmer's market. We had eaten two pounds just by grazing, but the last pound needed to be either eaten today or prepared into something else. So, I got out my trusty Pampered Chef Cherry and Olive Pitter (THAT THEY HAVE DISCONTINUED -- GRRRRR!) and pitted all those cherries in just a few minutes.
I made a quick glaze with this recipe. I also whipped up a quick 2-layer chocolate cake (mix). My new favorite icing is to use this recipe without the oats or nuts, and this time I substituted 1/3 cup shortening and 1/3 cup margarine for the peanut butter.
To assemble the cake, I put the bottom layer on the cake tray and iced it with the icing. I layered the cherry glaze. Then I added the second layer and iced the whole cake. I served slices of the cake with a spoon of extra icing and cherry glaze poured over the top.
It wasn't cheap, the cherries made that expensive, but all-in-all this black forest cake came to about $5, including the extra ingredients (eggs, milk, etc.)
In total, that made our meal about $16.30. I served eight with vegetable and cake leftovers. We can't do this every night, but when I consider that last night's dinner was about $5 for eight of us, I think we can splurge every once in a while and have a Freaking Black Forest Cake! (My name for the recipe.)
Sunday, August 18, 2013
$800 Yearly Grocery Budget
Wow! No, it isn't us. This family of four spends just $800 on everything -- just $200 per person! Very interesting article. By the way, I LOVE the Deals Show and follow them on facebook. If you get a chance tune in -- I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
But couponing... do you do it? I don't. As much as I can muster is to scan the weekly circulars online for each of the three stores I frequent. I tend to have a hoarding personality, so it looks like a big "red zone" of danger for someone like me.
What do you think?
But couponing... do you do it? I don't. As much as I can muster is to scan the weekly circulars online for each of the three stores I frequent. I tend to have a hoarding personality, so it looks like a big "red zone" of danger for someone like me.
What do you think?
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Not much to report...
Today is Thursday, the last day before hunny gets paid tomorrow, so there won't be much creativity going on today. The nice thing about nearly empty cupboards is that it's easy to get them cleaned out. I'm also thinking that the refrigerator is due for a cleaning today or tomorrow before shopping on Saturday.
On Tuesday night I made the last of our "full meal" food. I had five pounds of chicken thighs and a five-pound cut-up chicken. I used my favorite dry rub recipe, let it sit for a few hours with the rub in the refrigerator and then slow-cooked it in the oven. Wow. It was so delicious. I use this rub for everything, from chicken to ribs to tofu, so I'm trying to think how to make a large batch of it to keep on hand. Stay tuned for details....
Anyway, that much chicken (and the older kids eating out!) made dinner for not only Tuesday, but last night, and there's a few pieces left that I'm going to put into the Banquet Chicken and Biscuits tonight. It's a pot-pie kind of mix, so some extra meat will be delicious!
Another thing that helped the chicken last is that my dear mother (who happens to live across the street) bought us a delicious box of Long John Silvers fish with some hush puppies!!! Seriously, that is the one thing I have missed so much since days gone by... fish. We used to have it so often, but while it is so incredibly healthy, fish filets are just outside of our budget. When we get this kind of treat, that fish is GONE before you know it!
So, breathing a sigh of relief that we made it once again to another pay day.
What are you having tonight for dinner?
On Tuesday night I made the last of our "full meal" food. I had five pounds of chicken thighs and a five-pound cut-up chicken. I used my favorite dry rub recipe, let it sit for a few hours with the rub in the refrigerator and then slow-cooked it in the oven. Wow. It was so delicious. I use this rub for everything, from chicken to ribs to tofu, so I'm trying to think how to make a large batch of it to keep on hand. Stay tuned for details....
Anyway, that much chicken (and the older kids eating out!) made dinner for not only Tuesday, but last night, and there's a few pieces left that I'm going to put into the Banquet Chicken and Biscuits tonight. It's a pot-pie kind of mix, so some extra meat will be delicious!
Another thing that helped the chicken last is that my dear mother (who happens to live across the street) bought us a delicious box of Long John Silvers fish with some hush puppies!!! Seriously, that is the one thing I have missed so much since days gone by... fish. We used to have it so often, but while it is so incredibly healthy, fish filets are just outside of our budget. When we get this kind of treat, that fish is GONE before you know it!
So, breathing a sigh of relief that we made it once again to another pay day.
What are you having tonight for dinner?
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
$30 dinner -- yowza
Last night after dinner, Erich and I were talking about my new blog and how we're eating well, but this week is going to definitely be tight. I don't remember exactly what we were talking about when Tim (15yo) said, "What costs $30?" He had mis-heard what we were talking about, but I then asked the question, "Wow. What would it look like if I spent $30 a dinner?"
For starters, $30 a dinner would still be far from steak and lobster if you're feeding eight. I think for us the big difference would be meals that were less "one-dish meals" and more "course meals" with separate meat, potatoes/noodles/rice, veg, salad, dessert, etc. I'm sure there's some fancy chef term for what I'm saying, but it hasn't reached us yet here in the mobile home park. (If you know what it's called when you have the opposite of a one-dish meal, tell me in the comments.) As it is right now, I think each of us might have gotten about 1½ oz of meat last night. I would love to have a meal where I put a large pork loin or a full chicken breast on each plate.
But, right now, that's just not feasible. $30 per dinner, while it would definitely lower our lunch costs due to leftovers, would mean we'd be spending $210 per week on groceries that would just cover evening meals. That is more than I have now for our entire grocery budget, which includes other meals, toiletries, paper products and pet food.
Don't get me wrong... we are extremely blessed. Just for some "re-centering," check out this slideshow from Time Magazine: What the World Eats. Seeing a family of six from Chad who spends $1.23 a WEEK on food makes our table seem like a banquet.
Thankful....
For starters, $30 a dinner would still be far from steak and lobster if you're feeding eight. I think for us the big difference would be meals that were less "one-dish meals" and more "course meals" with separate meat, potatoes/noodles/rice, veg, salad, dessert, etc. I'm sure there's some fancy chef term for what I'm saying, but it hasn't reached us yet here in the mobile home park. (If you know what it's called when you have the opposite of a one-dish meal, tell me in the comments.) As it is right now, I think each of us might have gotten about 1½ oz of meat last night. I would love to have a meal where I put a large pork loin or a full chicken breast on each plate.
But, right now, that's just not feasible. $30 per dinner, while it would definitely lower our lunch costs due to leftovers, would mean we'd be spending $210 per week on groceries that would just cover evening meals. That is more than I have now for our entire grocery budget, which includes other meals, toiletries, paper products and pet food.
Don't get me wrong... we are extremely blessed. Just for some "re-centering," check out this slideshow from Time Magazine: What the World Eats. Seeing a family of six from Chad who spends $1.23 a WEEK on food makes our table seem like a banquet.
Thankful....
Monday, August 12, 2013
Ooops! Breakfast for dinner again!
Last night, I posted how I made pancakes and turkey bacon for dinner. Son-of-a-gun if I didn't make breakfast again tonight. Not the same menu though, so (phew!) I didn't get any complaints.
I baked three loaves of bread today (then ran out of flour). I made a white loaf that got eaten immediately, then a cinnamon raisin loaf that I glazed and saved to have with dinner and finally, made a white loaf that is safely tucked away.
After baking today, I wanted something simple for dinner. I have to say, that Banquet Homestyle Bakes never fail. They're only $3 a box at Walmart (and even cheaper on Amazon with Amazon Prime). I used two boxes of Cheesy Ham Hash Browns and two boxes of Sausage Gravy and Biscuits -- 4 x $3 = $12.00. Prep time about ten minutes. I usually would serve some kind of fruit with this, but we're just out of everything, so used the raisin bread as a side (about $1.00).
The one bad thing about these is that the vegetarians are a little left out. They loved the raisin bread, and ate leftovers and cheese sandwiches.
So, this meal fed 6 for about $13.00.
I baked three loaves of bread today (then ran out of flour). I made a white loaf that got eaten immediately, then a cinnamon raisin loaf that I glazed and saved to have with dinner and finally, made a white loaf that is safely tucked away.
After baking today, I wanted something simple for dinner. I have to say, that Banquet Homestyle Bakes never fail. They're only $3 a box at Walmart (and even cheaper on Amazon with Amazon Prime). I used two boxes of Cheesy Ham Hash Browns and two boxes of Sausage Gravy and Biscuits -- 4 x $3 = $12.00. Prep time about ten minutes. I usually would serve some kind of fruit with this, but we're just out of everything, so used the raisin bread as a side (about $1.00).
The one bad thing about these is that the vegetarians are a little left out. They loved the raisin bread, and ate leftovers and cheese sandwiches.
So, this meal fed 6 for about $13.00.
Bread
I was so hoping you'd send me one of your cheap but delicious family favorites for this Monday. But, I know you're busy... here's hoping for next Monday...
Anyway, today I'm spending the day making bread. For some insane reason, Dollar General had yeast in the clearance aisle for 5¢ for a three-pack (and no, doesn't expire until 2014). First loaf is done, and getting ready to make second -- perhaps a cinnamon raisin loaf???
I'd have to do some concentrating to figure how much each loaf costs, but $1 a loaf is a high estimate.
I hope your house smells as good as mine does right now.
*****
Update -- kind of funny...
My first loaf of bread always seems to be the worst one. It looks great and smells great, but the second we start slicing it, it just falls apart. Today's was no different, so I decided to google what I might be able to do to improve it before the second loaf.
Turns out that the problem is that we slice it and eat it too quickly and don't give it enough time to let it cool! HAHAHAHAHA! With my house, I'm just lucky that they let me cook that first loaf thoroughly and don't try to eat the dough raw. Once it starts to fill the house with that aroma, the vultures start circling and there is NO way they'll wait for it to cool. Oh, well. At least the later loaves we wait until they cool.
*****
Update -- kind of funny...
My first loaf of bread always seems to be the worst one. It looks great and smells great, but the second we start slicing it, it just falls apart. Today's was no different, so I decided to google what I might be able to do to improve it before the second loaf.
Turns out that the problem is that we slice it and eat it too quickly and don't give it enough time to let it cool! HAHAHAHAHA! With my house, I'm just lucky that they let me cook that first loaf thoroughly and don't try to eat the dough raw. Once it starts to fill the house with that aroma, the vultures start circling and there is NO way they'll wait for it to cool. Oh, well. At least the later loaves we wait until they cool.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Goin' full veg
We're in a season of church shopping, and as much as I hate that, seven of us in the family actually went to church today (one had to work). It was a wonderful service and while our kids with us were 12, 15, 19, 19, and 21, they all said that this church was just wonderful.
Anyway, getting back to food... getting ready for today, I made all eight of us breakfast this morning -- eggs, sausage and biscuits ($4.64 total). We were still a little full from that this morning, so couldn't quite decide what to make for lunch.
I finally decided on hummus. I had bought some tahini for the first time ever from Amazon last week and have been dying to try it. I used this recipe from Allrecipes.com. I adjusted the recipe from 16 servings to 24 servings (just a click on Allrecipes!) because two cans of drained chickpeas (garbanzo beans) is 3 cups not 2. So, here's the breakdown:
We also used the baby spinach left over from the other night, but I think next time we do this, I'm going to try to get cucumbers and carrots.
This recipe just couldn't have been easier. Drain the chickpeas, add the seasonings, blend in the food processor. You put it in a serving dish and then drizzle with olive oil. Once in the bowl, I thought, "Why not?" and drizzled it with a little balsamic vinegar and a couple of spins of the pepper mill, and WOW! That really made it fantastic.
That fed seven of us for lunch for $6.00. Even the 12-year-old ate it (and liked it!)
**An Update: Tonight for dinner, we had turkey bacon and pancakes. Overestimating the cost (syrup and spices) it came to about $7-8. Let's just say $8. That means, today, I fed 8 for breakfast and dinner and 7 for lunch, 23 meals (with leftovers!) for about $18.00. Not bad.
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained - these were $1 a can at Winn Dixie -- $2.00
- Tahini, 1/2 cup -- about $2.00
- And let's say the other ingredients total about $1.00
- Crackers -- about $1.00
We also used the baby spinach left over from the other night, but I think next time we do this, I'm going to try to get cucumbers and carrots.
This recipe just couldn't have been easier. Drain the chickpeas, add the seasonings, blend in the food processor. You put it in a serving dish and then drizzle with olive oil. Once in the bowl, I thought, "Why not?" and drizzled it with a little balsamic vinegar and a couple of spins of the pepper mill, and WOW! That really made it fantastic.
That fed seven of us for lunch for $6.00. Even the 12-year-old ate it (and liked it!)
**An Update: Tonight for dinner, we had turkey bacon and pancakes. Overestimating the cost (syrup and spices) it came to about $7-8. Let's just say $8. That means, today, I fed 8 for breakfast and dinner and 7 for lunch, 23 meals (with leftovers!) for about $18.00. Not bad.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Cheeseburger Casserole and Baby Spinach
Back about a hundred years ago, when hunny and I were first married, I couldn't cook worth anything. The only cooking shows on television were gourmet shows like Julia Child. We wouldn't hear about Martha Stewart or America's Test Kitchen or Rachel Rae for years and years. Needless to say, I could not cook at all. I remember the first meal I made for my husband was chipped beef and toast. It was very ambitious for me, and I remember him saying, "Is this all?" I knew I'd better learn to cook.
Fortunately, two lovely ladies took pity on me and gave me two of the best gifts I ever received. Mrs. Handren gave me a tote filled with all the kitchen gadgets you could imagine. It took me years to figure out that one thing was a pastry blender. In with all those gadgets was also a Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Wow. I wore out that copy years ago, wore out my second one years ago and finally realized I needed a hardcover copy. White sauces and blancmange, simple and easy and tastes like you were trained in Paris. My favorite part of this cookbook is that it takes lots of things, like different vegetables, pieces of meat, even kitchen equipment and tells you all about those. Like what to look for, what it's used for, etc. Perfect for someone starting at the base level -- and now like me, who cooked eggplant for the first time this year, it takes me through step-by-step.
The other gift was from our landlady, Mrs. Westmoreland. I married my husband and for the first time in 23 years, I was moving out of Indiana. He rented this one-bedroom farmhouse outside of Durham where Mr. Westmoreland used the land to keep his five pet cows. I was sad about the only thing I knew to take to a church potluck was macaroni and cheese with cut-up hot dogs. She immediately delivered to the house the First Baptist Church's Cookbook. Now this cookbook was how to open some cans, throw them together and make something worth eating. You know those super-easy recipes all over the internet these days? Half of them are already in this book printed nearly thirty years ago. I'll never forget making "Cheeseburger Casserole" for my hunny the first time and he loved it.
All these years later, he still loves it. It isn't as cheap as I like to get, but it isn't bad.
Cheeseburger Casserole
While the beef is cooking, boil the pasta and drain. Preheat the oven to 350°.
This was a large batch of casserole, so here's the geography:
Basically, divide the pasta, about half into the Rectangle and a quarter into each of the smaller dishes. Divide the meat, two-thirds into the Rectangle and one-third into the Round. Add one can of tomato soup into the Square, and divide the other two cans between the Rectangle and the Round.
Top with cheese. Yea, we were all craving cheese, so we used the whole package between the three dishes, and since this was the only protein in the Square Vegetarian dish, it got even extra cheese.
Pop them into the oven until the cheese melts. Et voilà ! Cheeseburger casserole. This served six of us tonight, with I'm sure two more home after work to eat. But, we had more than half of the vegetarian, all of the round, a little bit of the rectangle and more than half of the baby spinach. It won't be another full meal for us, but it will cover lunches tomorrow. We've really been eating on the cheap this week (lots of Ramen and REALLY Cheap Chicken Patties from Winn Dixie), so it was nice to have a higher quality meal.**
All in all, I'm guessing that this meal will amount to close to 15 meals for us. And, the total? $24.02. I know that is high, but when you dole it out to the cost per meal, it is about $1.60 per person.
And yes, hunny still loves it after all these years.
*Ugh. I can't remember exactly. It was either 75¢ or 69¢.
**I confess that we also could have done this with just 3 or maybe even 2 lbs of ground beef, but we might be eating vegetarian completely tomorrow night and I thought I'd better give the men a meal of beef first.
Fortunately, two lovely ladies took pity on me and gave me two of the best gifts I ever received. Mrs. Handren gave me a tote filled with all the kitchen gadgets you could imagine. It took me years to figure out that one thing was a pastry blender. In with all those gadgets was also a Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Wow. I wore out that copy years ago, wore out my second one years ago and finally realized I needed a hardcover copy. White sauces and blancmange, simple and easy and tastes like you were trained in Paris. My favorite part of this cookbook is that it takes lots of things, like different vegetables, pieces of meat, even kitchen equipment and tells you all about those. Like what to look for, what it's used for, etc. Perfect for someone starting at the base level -- and now like me, who cooked eggplant for the first time this year, it takes me through step-by-step.
The other gift was from our landlady, Mrs. Westmoreland. I married my husband and for the first time in 23 years, I was moving out of Indiana. He rented this one-bedroom farmhouse outside of Durham where Mr. Westmoreland used the land to keep his five pet cows. I was sad about the only thing I knew to take to a church potluck was macaroni and cheese with cut-up hot dogs. She immediately delivered to the house the First Baptist Church's Cookbook. Now this cookbook was how to open some cans, throw them together and make something worth eating. You know those super-easy recipes all over the internet these days? Half of them are already in this book printed nearly thirty years ago. I'll never forget making "Cheeseburger Casserole" for my hunny the first time and he loved it.
All these years later, he still loves it. It isn't as cheap as I like to get, but it isn't bad.
Cheeseburger Casserole
- I dug into the freezer and used the last of the ground beef that Winn Dixie had on sale a couple of weeks ago for $3.99 for a two-pound package. I used two of them, so the meat was $7.98.
- Save-A-Lot had pasta on sale for 89¢ for a 1-lb box and I used two -- $1.78
- I used three cans of tomato soup that, of course, I had gotten on sale, Save-A-Lot, 75¢ * -- $2.25
- Big (really big) bag of shredded cheddar cheese from Walmart -- $8.32.
- I also used a dash of Worcestershire, seasoned salt and vegetable oil.
- We also had baby spinach for a salad -- $3.69
- Salad dressing
While the beef is cooking, boil the pasta and drain. Preheat the oven to 350°.
This was a large batch of casserole, so here's the geography:
- 9x13 Rectangle Stoneware -- Meat
- 2-quart Round Pyrex Casserole -- Meat
- 9-inch Square Pyrex -- Vegetarian
Basically, divide the pasta, about half into the Rectangle and a quarter into each of the smaller dishes. Divide the meat, two-thirds into the Rectangle and one-third into the Round. Add one can of tomato soup into the Square, and divide the other two cans between the Rectangle and the Round.
Top with cheese. Yea, we were all craving cheese, so we used the whole package between the three dishes, and since this was the only protein in the Square Vegetarian dish, it got even extra cheese.
Pop them into the oven until the cheese melts. Et voilà ! Cheeseburger casserole. This served six of us tonight, with I'm sure two more home after work to eat. But, we had more than half of the vegetarian, all of the round, a little bit of the rectangle and more than half of the baby spinach. It won't be another full meal for us, but it will cover lunches tomorrow. We've really been eating on the cheap this week (lots of Ramen and REALLY Cheap Chicken Patties from Winn Dixie), so it was nice to have a higher quality meal.**
All in all, I'm guessing that this meal will amount to close to 15 meals for us. And, the total? $24.02. I know that is high, but when you dole it out to the cost per meal, it is about $1.60 per person.
And yes, hunny still loves it after all these years.
*Ugh. I can't remember exactly. It was either 75¢ or 69¢.
**I confess that we also could have done this with just 3 or maybe even 2 lbs of ground beef, but we might be eating vegetarian completely tomorrow night and I thought I'd better give the men a meal of beef first.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Dinner Treat for a Hot Day
Today it was about a thousand degrees outside and with just our couple of feeble window air conditioners, it was about two thousand degrees inside. Our afternoon rain was a pittance today; usually it is such a blessing to cool things off if only for a little while.
Back to dinner. I just couldn't bare the thought of cooking and didn't think ahead enough to put something in the crock pot, so I called hunny and asked him to please pick up Taco Bell. Now, before I start, Taco Bell isn't exactly cheap for us, but the way we order it is, of course, cheaper than usual restaurant fare.
You see, regularly, with everyone ordering à la carte Taco Bell for eight can run up to as much as $60. (We keep telling the kids that "some glorious day" we'll do this. In the mean time, they're more than thankful for Taco Bell at all.) When Erich goes, he gets three big boxes. The tacos come in 12-packs and the bean burritos (for me and the vegetarians) come in a 10-pack. He gets one 12-pack of crunchy tacos, one 12-pack of soft tacos and a 10-pack of bean burritos. Each box is $10.
So, that's fast food for all eight of us for just $30. Yea, I might be able to cook tacos and burritos for less homemade, but it's so worth it not to go have to venture into Sierra Kitchen.
Back to dinner. I just couldn't bare the thought of cooking and didn't think ahead enough to put something in the crock pot, so I called hunny and asked him to please pick up Taco Bell. Now, before I start, Taco Bell isn't exactly cheap for us, but the way we order it is, of course, cheaper than usual restaurant fare.
You see, regularly, with everyone ordering à la carte Taco Bell for eight can run up to as much as $60. (We keep telling the kids that "some glorious day" we'll do this. In the mean time, they're more than thankful for Taco Bell at all.) When Erich goes, he gets three big boxes. The tacos come in 12-packs and the bean burritos (for me and the vegetarians) come in a 10-pack. He gets one 12-pack of crunchy tacos, one 12-pack of soft tacos and a 10-pack of bean burritos. Each box is $10.
So, that's fast food for all eight of us for just $30. Yea, I might be able to cook tacos and burritos for less homemade, but it's so worth it not to go have to venture into Sierra Kitchen.
Monday, August 5, 2013
What's Cooking?
Today's Monday and I want to start a new thing for Mondays... there has to be something to look forward to Mondays, right?
Here's what I want to do: In every relationship I have every had, I seek to learn about people. I collect stories from people that I hold on to like a scrapbook. I love humanity and I love their stories.
In this relationship, you, dear reader, and I are here to talk about food -- cheap food. I want you to share with me your CHEAP (but delicious!) recipes. They can be yours or your mama's or a recipe that you just tried once and had to have it. Tell me your regional recipes, your family recipes, your own creations. Each Monday will be "Reader Recipe Monday" and will feature a recipe (or maybe two or three) from YOU!
I won't lie to you though... in these days with this economy and no end in sight, I'm seriously needing creative ideas to feed this brood of mine. I am going to use these recipes for my own family!!!! Ooooo! I have shivers of excitement!
Here's what I want to do: In every relationship I have every had, I seek to learn about people. I collect stories from people that I hold on to like a scrapbook. I love humanity and I love their stories.
In this relationship, you, dear reader, and I are here to talk about food -- cheap food. I want you to share with me your CHEAP (but delicious!) recipes. They can be yours or your mama's or a recipe that you just tried once and had to have it. Tell me your regional recipes, your family recipes, your own creations. Each Monday will be "Reader Recipe Monday" and will feature a recipe (or maybe two or three) from YOU!
I won't lie to you though... in these days with this economy and no end in sight, I'm seriously needing creative ideas to feed this brood of mine. I am going to use these recipes for my own family!!!! Ooooo! I have shivers of excitement!
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Not Dining...
... but I didn't want to start a new blog called "Mobile Home Fashion." Today, we stopped by one of our favorite stores. Hunny (Men's XL), 15yo son (Men's XL), 12yo son (boys 12) and I (women's) got some clothes.
Me:
Yes, we got them at Salvation Army, but if any of it has been worn it's only been worn once. I know that the blouses I have look like they literally TODAY came off the rack at Macy's, JC Penney's or Cato -- where they were originally bought based on their labels.
============
*He will only get green t-shirts now because he says he slowly wants to work up to having 7 green t-shirts so he wears one every day.
Me:
- White pants
- Sheer floral blouse with turquoise shell
- Maroon business blouse
- Pink business blouse
- Suit (jacket and pants)
- Business casual (like dockers) pants
- Green t-shirt*
- Black denim jeans
- Green business shirt
- Black dress pants
- 3 polo shirts
Yes, we got them at Salvation Army, but if any of it has been worn it's only been worn once. I know that the blouses I have look like they literally TODAY came off the rack at Macy's, JC Penney's or Cato -- where they were originally bought based on their labels.
============
*He will only get green t-shirts now because he says he slowly wants to work up to having 7 green t-shirts so he wears one every day.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Friday night supper -- using up everything before grocery shopping tomorrow
I can't believe we made it to payday and still had food in the house. But there at the back of the freezer was a bag of frozen chicken tenders, some rice, and some green beans. Well, to me, chicken and rice just scream "Chinese" again, so that's what we did.
Tonight's Menu:
Black Bean Veggie Burgers for the Vegetarians
Chicken Teriyaki
White Rice
Green Bean Casserole
Fruit Cobbler
I'm going to give you the total first because it's Friday and why not?
The black bean veggie burgers were for the vegetarians, I was able to make about 16 and there were 12 leftovers. But to make the entire batch ran $1/can for two cans of black beans, $2; 3 eggs, a little bisquick and spices -- about 50¢. So, the 16 veggie burgers ran a total of 16 "burgers" for about $2.50.
The Chicken Teriyaki, etc., ran like this:
That means for the dinner, the total was about $15.50, and a grand total with the Black Bean Veggie Burgers, about $18.00. That's really high for us, but, I figure we got about five meals of the chicken and will get a lot more meals out of the veggie burgers. So, feeding seven on $18.00 (about $2.60 per person) and having leftovers -- not too bad.
For the black bean veggie burgers, I loosely used this recipe: Black Bean Veggie Burgers. I basically tripled this recipe with two 26 oz cans of black beans instead of their 15.25 oz can. I also had no bread and couldn't make bread crumbs, so I used about a half-cup of Bisquick for my thickener. These taste excellent with sauce, like the teriyaki below or barbecue. They'd really taste good done up like a burger, but, like I said, we don't have any bread.
Chicken Teriyaki
I used this recipe for a dry rub for the chicken, but wow, with the salt in the soy sauce later, it made the chicken REALLY salty. They all said they really loved it like that, but next time I'll use little or no salt in the rub.
I baked the chicken for 30 minutes along with the pear cobbler. I used this recipe for the pear cobbler.
While they were cooking, I made the Green Beans. No french onions (I know, best part) but made do with just 2 cans of beans, 2 cans of mushroom soup, milk, pepper and onion powder. Without the onions, it just needs to heat up, so that went into the microwave for 5 minutes.
I used this FANTASTIC recipe for the Teriyaki Sauce. It was super easy and absolutely fantastic. I doubled it, but could have easily tripled it. I didn't have cider vinegar, so used balsamic and white vinegars to make 1/2 cup. Again, a cup of soy sauce meant that with the chicken already seasoned with salt--well, we definitely needed beverages close by. Also, it says low heat, but I found I needed medium heat to get it hot enough to activate the corn starch and thicken it up. In the end it was just perfect.
Tonight's Menu:
Black Bean Veggie Burgers for the Vegetarians
Chicken Teriyaki
White Rice
Green Bean Casserole
Fruit Cobbler
I'm going to give you the total first because it's Friday and why not?
The black bean veggie burgers were for the vegetarians, I was able to make about 16 and there were 12 leftovers. But to make the entire batch ran $1/can for two cans of black beans, $2; 3 eggs, a little bisquick and spices -- about 50¢. So, the 16 veggie burgers ran a total of 16 "burgers" for about $2.50.
The Chicken Teriyaki, etc., ran like this:
- 2.5 lb frozen chicken tenders, WD had them on sale B1G1, so this package was $5.50.
- Homemade Teriyaki sauce used a cup of sugar, a cup of soy sauce and various spices, so I'd say it ran about $2 at the most to make. I'm not going to figure the price in for any other spices because I know this is way over estimated.
- White Rice, $1
- Green Bean Casserole, $3
- Fruit Cobbler, $4
That means for the dinner, the total was about $15.50, and a grand total with the Black Bean Veggie Burgers, about $18.00. That's really high for us, but, I figure we got about five meals of the chicken and will get a lot more meals out of the veggie burgers. So, feeding seven on $18.00 (about $2.60 per person) and having leftovers -- not too bad.
For the black bean veggie burgers, I loosely used this recipe: Black Bean Veggie Burgers. I basically tripled this recipe with two 26 oz cans of black beans instead of their 15.25 oz can. I also had no bread and couldn't make bread crumbs, so I used about a half-cup of Bisquick for my thickener. These taste excellent with sauce, like the teriyaki below or barbecue. They'd really taste good done up like a burger, but, like I said, we don't have any bread.
Chicken Teriyaki
I used this recipe for a dry rub for the chicken, but wow, with the salt in the soy sauce later, it made the chicken REALLY salty. They all said they really loved it like that, but next time I'll use little or no salt in the rub.
I baked the chicken for 30 minutes along with the pear cobbler. I used this recipe for the pear cobbler.
While they were cooking, I made the Green Beans. No french onions (I know, best part) but made do with just 2 cans of beans, 2 cans of mushroom soup, milk, pepper and onion powder. Without the onions, it just needs to heat up, so that went into the microwave for 5 minutes.
I used this FANTASTIC recipe for the Teriyaki Sauce. It was super easy and absolutely fantastic. I doubled it, but could have easily tripled it. I didn't have cider vinegar, so used balsamic and white vinegars to make 1/2 cup. Again, a cup of soy sauce meant that with the chicken already seasoned with salt--well, we definitely needed beverages close by. Also, it says low heat, but I found I needed medium heat to get it hot enough to activate the corn starch and thicken it up. In the end it was just perfect.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Mini-loaves for breakfast
This morning, just a quick post... Woke up hungry (last night's spaghetti leftovers were scant on meat and quantity overall), so decided to make a couple of muffin mixes.
Ugh... don't have the stoneware muffin pan (hintedy-hint-hint) and we're out of cooking spray so I didn't want to mess with the metal pan, so I used the mini-loaf stoneware. I made two packages of muffin mix, and then spooned them evenly into the four spaces. The instructions said to bake muffins at 425° for 15 minutes, but loaves need to cook lower and longer. So I cooked them at 375° for 25 minutes. Each of us got a half (about the size of a regular muffin).
That fed eight of us for breakfast for $2.
Ugh... don't have the stoneware muffin pan (hintedy-hint-hint) and we're out of cooking spray so I didn't want to mess with the metal pan, so I used the mini-loaf stoneware. I made two packages of muffin mix, and then spooned them evenly into the four spaces. The instructions said to bake muffins at 425° for 15 minutes, but loaves need to cook lower and longer. So I cooked them at 375° for 25 minutes. Each of us got a half (about the size of a regular muffin).
That fed eight of us for breakfast for $2.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Breakfast for Hunny
With some recent events, I've been worried that Hunny goes 24 hours between meals. He just simply does not have time to eat at work. When he gets paid on Friday (TWO DAYS!!!!) I'm going to get him some snack mix at Walmart -- hey... anyone got a suggestion on making it cheaper? Anyway, I try to make him a protein breakfast when I can (he's often up and gone before dawn, so...)
This morning I made him shirred eggs. Don't get excited... it's all done in the microwave.
First, I have to say that I LOVE my little oval stoneware bakers from Pampered Chef. My pusher -- er, I mean "Pampered Chef Consultant" -- Angie is a super-star and feeds my stoneware addiction very well. I just hate that they retired the small oval dish. This is one of the very best items in the whole stoneware collection. I was able to get six of them back when we had money. I use them for a million different things, including shirred eggs.
SHIRRED EGGS
1 T margarine
4 Brown n Serve LINK Frozen Sausages
3-4 med eggs
First, melt the margarine in the dish in the microwave. Arrange sausages across the MIDDLE of the dish. Gently break eggs on either side of the sausages.
Gently place in microwave (so the sausages don't roll to the edge). Cook in the microwave 3 minutes on 50% power and then 45 seconds on high. Add two forks and have breakfast with your hunny.
Cooking it like this, the eggs are a perfect medium egg, closer to poached than fried.
Here's the breakdown, got everything at Save-a-Lot:
- 4 Sausages, box of 8 for $1, so -- 50¢
- 3 eggs, 30/2.69 -- 27¢
That's breakfast for two for a total of about 80¢
Monday, July 29, 2013
Good ole mac n cheese... sort of.
Ugh. Did not want to cook tonight. Surreal day and still so freaking hot. "Beef or chicken?" I asked the sons. I wasn't too shocked to hear "beef" as an answer as we've had a few days of meatless/chicken.
So, I decided to do a few boxes of mac n cheese (Save-a-lot brand) with ground beef and onions. Here's the breakdown:
2 lbs ground beef (Winn Dixie sale, 1.99/lb) -- $3.98
4 boxes mac n cheese, $1/box -- $4.00
Onion, milk, margarine -- abt $1.00
I first sauteed the onion in a little oil. Then I added garlic powder and the ground beef. In a large pot, I made all four boxes of mac n cheese. When it was done, I put about 2/3 of the mac n cheese in with the cooked (and drained) ground beef and onions.
Served 7 of us tonight. Wish I had been able to have a vegetable, but we did have a little salad from last night. Total = $8.98.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Light Sunday Supper
Today, I had planned my usual Sunday: go to church, make lunch for us, knit and chat with my craft friends all afternoon and then have evening potluck and teach Bible study. But, other events occurred and even though we sat there in the parking lot at church, with the food in the car, we turned around and headed back home.
So, when we got home, I made biscuits and summer sausage -- fed five of us for $6.
Tonight, we wanted something light -- and I had a bunch of lettuce since I was going to take a salad for tonight's potluck -- so I made egg salad sandwiches and salad for dinner.
Here's the breakdown:
So, that leaves us feeding 6 for a total of $6.27, and we have leftovers of a lot of lettuce and enough egg salad to make a couple of sandwiches.
Of course, the vegetarians liked it, but I got this from one of the carnivores: "For a meatless dinner, it isn't bad."
So, when we got home, I made biscuits and summer sausage -- fed five of us for $6.
Tonight, we wanted something light -- and I had a bunch of lettuce since I was going to take a salad for tonight's potluck -- so I made egg salad sandwiches and salad for dinner.
Here's the breakdown:
- 15 eggs, sold 30 for $2.69, so $1.35.
- Loaf of bread, $1.19.
- Mayo, relish, yellow mustard, dash of tobasco, salt and onion powder -- about $0.75.
- Two heads of lettuce, $1.49 each -- $2.98.
So, that leaves us feeding 6 for a total of $6.27, and we have leftovers of a lot of lettuce and enough egg salad to make a couple of sandwiches.
Of course, the vegetarians liked it, but I got this from one of the carnivores: "For a meatless dinner, it isn't bad."
Sigh... I wish I could afford sausage.
I knew I shouldn't have looked. We won't have a single penny before hunny gets paid again on Friday and by then the sales will be over, but I just had to look and see what Winn Dixie has on sale.
They have their bratwurst and Italian sausage on sale!!! $2.99 a pound. I could just cry. Granted, it's not our regularly cheap meal -- it's more like $2 per person rather than $1 per person -- but, wow, it is a good meal.
I found the recipe on the Johnsonville website: Gyro Brat Hoagie. Of course, it goes without saying that Johnsonville's brat is better tasting, but the Winn Dixie brat doesn't let you down either. And, either is sooooooo much cheaper than lamb! Seriously, try this recipe sometime.
We don't have a grill, so I cook the brats in about 3/4" of water in a big skillet, letting the water boil off and turning them to cook on all sides. Then I slice them longways. At this point, it's good if I already have the onions and tomato sliced and the tzatziki (cucumbers and sour cream) prepared because the vultures are already circling trying to get a nibble of meat.
Some day, I really want to make the tzatziki with Fage yogurt... ah... that will be living the dream!
This is a good one for the vegetarians as well. They love filling their sandwich with the veggies and tzatziki.
If I can get to the farmer's market for the tomatoes, cucumbers and onions; get a good price for the Italian bread, the sausage and the sour cream; we can feed the eight of us for about $12-15 total, but there won't be any leftovers. ;-)
They have their bratwurst and Italian sausage on sale!!! $2.99 a pound. I could just cry. Granted, it's not our regularly cheap meal -- it's more like $2 per person rather than $1 per person -- but, wow, it is a good meal.
I found the recipe on the Johnsonville website: Gyro Brat Hoagie. Of course, it goes without saying that Johnsonville's brat is better tasting, but the Winn Dixie brat doesn't let you down either. And, either is sooooooo much cheaper than lamb! Seriously, try this recipe sometime.
We don't have a grill, so I cook the brats in about 3/4" of water in a big skillet, letting the water boil off and turning them to cook on all sides. Then I slice them longways. At this point, it's good if I already have the onions and tomato sliced and the tzatziki (cucumbers and sour cream) prepared because the vultures are already circling trying to get a nibble of meat.
Some day, I really want to make the tzatziki with Fage yogurt... ah... that will be living the dream!
This is a good one for the vegetarians as well. They love filling their sandwich with the veggies and tzatziki.
If I can get to the farmer's market for the tomatoes, cucumbers and onions; get a good price for the Italian bread, the sausage and the sour cream; we can feed the eight of us for about $12-15 total, but there won't be any leftovers. ;-)
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Imitation Crab Fettuccine Alfredo
Okay... again, like everything else in this blog, this is NOT a healthy recipe, but it is cheap.
Usually this recipe makes enough for the 8 of us to eat as well as leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day... about 12-15 meals altogether.
Here's the breakdown:
2 pkgs Imitation Crab from Save-a-lot, 12-oz pkg*, $2.99 each -- $5.98
2 cans sliced mushrooms, drained -- $1.50
2 sticks margarine -- about 50¢
1 brick of frozen chopped spinach -- $1.00
2 lb fettuccine -- $1.98
2-3 cups half n half -- abt $2.00
2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese -- like a million dollars unless you get it on sale. Last time Winn Dixie had it, I think it amounted to about $1.99
In a skillet, melt one of the sticks of margarine. Add the drained mushrooms. Cook until just starting to turn brown. Because of the vegetarians, I remove the mushrooms before adding the crab, but you don't have to. Add the imitation crab and cook until heated through. (Sometimes -- I add a little minced garlic before the mushrooms and once the mushrooms are cooked, I'll add some kind of liquor to them, anything from Marsala cooking wine to white wine to Southern Comfort, just an ounce and then let that cook down for a minute.)
In a batter bowl (or microwave bowl), add the cheese, half n half, and the other stick of butter. Cook it in the microwave and stir occasionally until cooked through.
Most of the time, I just boil the noodles and the spinach altogether, but you can cook them separately if you want, then drain.
Before vegetarians, I would then just toss this all in a big bowl and serve it. Now, we serve it as a sort of "pasta bar." When we can afford it, we also have garlic bread and maybe even salad. But, the total for this meal is just $14.95, and, like I said, it is not unusual for us to get 15 meals from this.
*I'm pretty sure that it is 12-oz. I know it is at least 12-oz, but it could be as much as a pound (16-oz.)
Usually this recipe makes enough for the 8 of us to eat as well as leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day... about 12-15 meals altogether.
Here's the breakdown:
2 pkgs Imitation Crab from Save-a-lot, 12-oz pkg*, $2.99 each -- $5.98
2 cans sliced mushrooms, drained -- $1.50
2 sticks margarine -- about 50¢
1 brick of frozen chopped spinach -- $1.00
2 lb fettuccine -- $1.98
2-3 cups half n half -- abt $2.00
2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese -- like a million dollars unless you get it on sale. Last time Winn Dixie had it, I think it amounted to about $1.99
In a skillet, melt one of the sticks of margarine. Add the drained mushrooms. Cook until just starting to turn brown. Because of the vegetarians, I remove the mushrooms before adding the crab, but you don't have to. Add the imitation crab and cook until heated through. (Sometimes -- I add a little minced garlic before the mushrooms and once the mushrooms are cooked, I'll add some kind of liquor to them, anything from Marsala cooking wine to white wine to Southern Comfort, just an ounce and then let that cook down for a minute.)
In a batter bowl (or microwave bowl), add the cheese, half n half, and the other stick of butter. Cook it in the microwave and stir occasionally until cooked through.
Most of the time, I just boil the noodles and the spinach altogether, but you can cook them separately if you want, then drain.
Before vegetarians, I would then just toss this all in a big bowl and serve it. Now, we serve it as a sort of "pasta bar." When we can afford it, we also have garlic bread and maybe even salad. But, the total for this meal is just $14.95, and, like I said, it is not unusual for us to get 15 meals from this.
*I'm pretty sure that it is 12-oz. I know it is at least 12-oz, but it could be as much as a pound (16-oz.)
Saturday Brunch for Seven
Save-a-lot has been having sausage and turkey bacon on sale lately and coupled with their great price of eggs and canned biscuits... WOW!
Here's the breakdown:
4 cans biscuits, $4*
2 pkgs turkey bacon, $2
2 pkgs Brown 'n Serve Sausages, $2
15 eggs (SaL sells them in flats of 30 for $2.69), $1.35
I beat the eggs in the Batter Bowl and put in the microwave (fat free -- to make up for the other stuff). I put the sausage in a skillet and barely covered with water and cooked until the water boiled off; turning half-way through. Then I fried the bacon in the skillet.
Served hunny, 20yo nephew, 19yo daughter, 18yo niece, me, and 15yo and 12yo sons. Seven of us got our fill for a total of $9.35.
*I know 40 biscuits for seven sounds like a lot, but the vegetarian girls don't eat meat and it's always good to have some leftover biscuits in the fridge.
Here's the breakdown:
4 cans biscuits, $4*
2 pkgs turkey bacon, $2
2 pkgs Brown 'n Serve Sausages, $2
15 eggs (SaL sells them in flats of 30 for $2.69), $1.35
I beat the eggs in the Batter Bowl and put in the microwave (fat free -- to make up for the other stuff). I put the sausage in a skillet and barely covered with water and cooked until the water boiled off; turning half-way through. Then I fried the bacon in the skillet.
Served hunny, 20yo nephew, 19yo daughter, 18yo niece, me, and 15yo and 12yo sons. Seven of us got our fill for a total of $9.35.
*I know 40 biscuits for seven sounds like a lot, but the vegetarian girls don't eat meat and it's always good to have some leftover biscuits in the fridge.
17 meals of Sloppy Joes
Each Sunday, we have a potluck dinner at church. This past Sunday, I knew we had a lot of people on vacation, so I wanted to take something to church that would be a whole meal if needed, so after looking at the weekly ads, especially Winn Dixie, I decided to make sloppy joes.
WD had ground beef on sale, 2 lb packages for $3.98, and they had Manwich on sale, $1 a can. I also got buns at Save-a-lot for 99¢ for eight hamburger buns.
So, it looks like this:
Talk about your loaves and fishes! At church on Sunday night, we had 8 adults and one child, and several of them had two sandwiches. We brought the leftovers home, and between the 20yo nephew, 15yo and 12yo sons and myself, we ate those sloppy joes for DAYS.
I said 17 meals, but it really was closer to 25 meals... all for a total of $17.90.
WD had ground beef on sale, 2 lb packages for $3.98, and they had Manwich on sale, $1 a can. I also got buns at Save-a-lot for 99¢ for eight hamburger buns.
So, it looks like this:
- 4 lb ground beef, $7.96
- 4 cans Manwich, $4.00
- 6 packages hamburger buns, $5.94
Talk about your loaves and fishes! At church on Sunday night, we had 8 adults and one child, and several of them had two sandwiches. We brought the leftovers home, and between the 20yo nephew, 15yo and 12yo sons and myself, we ate those sloppy joes for DAYS.
I said 17 meals, but it really was closer to 25 meals... all for a total of $17.90.
Lasagna Noodles
Last night, I made the Save-a-lot store brand of Hamburger Helper, Lasagna. It is $1 a box, and I used Winn Dixie ground beef, that was on sale for $1.99/lb in a 2 lb package. I also added a can of diced tomatoes that were on sale 2 for $1.00 (=50¢). Here's the breakdown:
Hunny (husband), nephew (20yo) and I ate, and there was some leftover that the 20yo ate for a midnight snack. So, four meals for about $6.50. Not my best feat, but not bad.
- Lasagna pasta, 2 boxes -- $2.00
- Ground beef, 2 lbs -- $3.98
- Diced tomatoes -- $0.50
Hunny (husband), nephew (20yo) and I ate, and there was some leftover that the 20yo ate for a midnight snack. So, four meals for about $6.50. Not my best feat, but not bad.
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Tonight I wanted Chinese Food, but the $60+ price tag on take out was just impossible with less than $20 in my pocket.
Sooooo... Save-a-lot, Winn-Dixie and me to the rescue. Sweet and Sour Chicken for 8... about $12 total.*
It went like this...
- Frozen chicken tenders, 2.5 lb package. They are regularly $10.99, but they were on sale B1G1, so I used one package = $5.50.
- Rice-a-Roni, Fried Rice flavor, 2 boxes at $1 each, so $2.00.
- 2 cans chunk pineapple, $1 each, so $2.00.
- 2 green peppers -- like all veggies, this was the big ticket item, $0.79 each, so $1.58.
- 1 small package of mixed vegetables, canned or frozen (I used a couple of cups from a large bag I keep on hand in the freezer), $1.00
Here is the entire ingredient list:
- Vegetable oil or shortening for frying, about 2 cups (½" deep in a large skillet)
- 2.5 lb frozen chicken tenders, thawed and cut each tender into three pieces.
- 2 sticks margarine, melted (but melt each one in its own separate dish)
- 2 cups Bisquick
- 1 cup milk
- 3 eggs
- ½ tsp garlic powder, pepper and seasoned salt (or to taste)
- 2 boxes Fried Rice Flavored Rice-a-Roni
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (or a can, drained)
- 1 cup maraschino cherry juice (and any strays left in the jar)**
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup pineapple juice (=the juice from two 20-oz cans chunk pineapple)
- 1 cup cold water
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 2 20-oz jars chunk pineapple (juice used above)
- 2 green peppers, seeds removed, cut into 1" squares
- A little soy sauce
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Mix the Bisquick, eggs, and spices in a bowl. It should not be "gummy" but it should flow off the spoon like pancake batter, so add the milk a little at a time to ensure that the batter is not too thick or too thin. Add a few pieces of chicken to the batter to coat completely and then add to the hot batter. Cook until golden brown on each side and then drain on a plate with a paper towel.
While the chicken is cooking -- but keeping a close eye on it -- start the rice.
RICE-A-RONI:
You can always use just white rice in this! Makes it cheaper even still!!!!
I cook the Rice-a-roni in the oven. First, put a casserole dish in the oven with a stick of butter in it and turn on the oven to 375°. When the butter is melted, add the two boxes of rice and pasta. Leave in the oven about 5 minutes and stir. Keep repeating until the pasta is golden brown. Add 4 cups water and the seasoning and the frozen vegetables. Cook, stirring a couple of times, for about 25 minutes.
→Keep watching the chicken and cooking it in batches.
SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE:
I used this recipe from allrecipes.com for my starting point: Fruity Sweet and Sour Sauce.
Add the cherry juice, pineapple juice, vinegar, and sugar in a microwave bowl. A Pampered Chef Batter Bowl works wonderfully. Put in the microwave for 6 minutes. When it's almost done, mix the corn starch and the cold water together thoroughly. Add this to the sauce and stir. Put it back into the microwave for 5 minutes.
Add the cherry juice, pineapple juice, vinegar, and sugar in a microwave bowl. A Pampered Chef Batter Bowl works wonderfully. Put in the microwave for 6 minutes. When it's almost done, mix the corn starch and the cold water together thoroughly. Add this to the sauce and stir. Put it back into the microwave for 5 minutes.
PINEAPPLE, ET AL:
When the chicken is done, pour out the oil from the skillet. Return the skillet to high heat and add the pineapple, green peppers and any cherries that you had. (You can also add other cool stuff like that dusty can of water chestnuts, sliced onions, even mushrooms!) Drizzle soy sauce over the skillet -- I had to take off that little plastic thing. You'll add about a tablespoon total. Cook just until green peppers are tender, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
TO SERVE:
On a plate, add a spoon of rice-a-roni/vegetables. Place a few chicken pieces on the rice. Add a spoon or two of pineapple/green pepper and then a drizzle of sweet and sour sauce.
We had this tonight and it served the husband, the 20yo nephew, the 15yo and 12yo sons, and me. The two vegetarians, 18yo niece and 19yo daughter loved the rice-a-roni and vegs. I confessed that the pineapple was cooked in the same skillet as the chicken, but they both ate some anyway. We had about ten pieces of chicken leftover and a ton of sweet and sour sauce (that the vegetarians will gobble up on white rice later). There was no rice-a-roni or pineapple/green pepper left.
We had this tonight and it served the husband, the 20yo nephew, the 15yo and 12yo sons, and me. The two vegetarians, 18yo niece and 19yo daughter loved the rice-a-roni and vegs. I confessed that the pineapple was cooked in the same skillet as the chicken, but they both ate some anyway. We had about ten pieces of chicken leftover and a ton of sweet and sour sauce (that the vegetarians will gobble up on white rice later). There was no rice-a-roni or pineapple/green pepper left.
*I am not including all of the price of some pantry staples, like spices, vinegar and sugar. If you count the small portion of these, it might come to about $15 tops (still a quarter of the price of take-out). But, if you have none of these in your kitchen, and you just run to the store with the entire ingredient list, it could cost as much as a hundred dollars to stock your kitchen.
**You know we all have that jar of maraschino cherries left in the back of the refrigerator from the last time we could afford ice cream or had a birthday. Basically, take the jar and dump the juice in with the Sweet and Sour Sauce and put the three cherries left in it in with the drained pineapple and cut green pepper. THIS IS OPTIONAL. If you went crazy and threw that old jar out the last time you were cleaning the fridge, never fear. It isn't needed in this recipe. Certainly, don't go buy a jar just to have the juice. Just take some red food coloring and add a few drops into the sauce. Shhhh....
**You know we all have that jar of maraschino cherries left in the back of the refrigerator from the last time we could afford ice cream or had a birthday. Basically, take the jar and dump the juice in with the Sweet and Sour Sauce and put the three cherries left in it in with the drained pineapple and cut green pepper. THIS IS OPTIONAL. If you went crazy and threw that old jar out the last time you were cleaning the fridge, never fear. It isn't needed in this recipe. Certainly, don't go buy a jar just to have the juice. Just take some red food coloring and add a few drops into the sauce. Shhhh....
Welcome
Hey. Well, this economy is just the pits. With a household of eight (seven adults and one 12yo), never having enough money for food, I've gotten pretty savvy about what to cook and what to cook CHEAPLY.
You aren't going to find too much health here, but with two of our household being vegetarians (NOT vegan) you'll see some, uh, "interesting" vegetarian recipes. Again, you can either eat cheap or healthy, so right now our budget is dictating cheap.
On any recipe, if you'd like to add any comments or ideas, I love the idea of learning from you as well. But, if you get snarky, I will delete it. Life is just too hard to deal with that, so take it somewhere else.
Well, buckle up and hold on tight....
You aren't going to find too much health here, but with two of our household being vegetarians (NOT vegan) you'll see some, uh, "interesting" vegetarian recipes. Again, you can either eat cheap or healthy, so right now our budget is dictating cheap.
On any recipe, if you'd like to add any comments or ideas, I love the idea of learning from you as well. But, if you get snarky, I will delete it. Life is just too hard to deal with that, so take it somewhere else.
Well, buckle up and hold on tight....
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