Black Bean Linguine

A new twist on pasta.
Photo by lobster20

This is a recipe that was provided to me by my cousin Tandra.  It’s an excellent choice for a healthy and inexpensive meatless meal.  Plus, it went together very quickly and was delicious!  I’m providing the recipe as we made it, with notes about how it differed from Tandra’s recipe.  Enjoy!

Black Bean Linguine

8 ounces linguine (we didn’t have linguine, so we used spaghetti)
¼ medium onion (the recipe calls for 1 whole onion, but we don’t like a lot of onion)
1 clove garlic  (we used the diced garlic that comes in a jar)
1 15 ounce can black beans
1 TBL vegetable oil
12.5-oz can stewed tomatoes
1.5 C picante sauce (we used enchilada sauce because we like the flavor better)
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tea oregano
4 ounces colby jack cheese (we used cheddar cheese)
cilantro (we didn’t add any)

We also topped ours with some light sour cream.  Yum!

Cook pasta using package directions; cover to keep warm.

Chop onion. Mince garlic. Drain and rinse black beans.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add onion and garlic, cooking until onion is tender.

Add undrained tomatoes, picante sauce, black beans, chili powder, cumin, and oregano.  Mix well and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Uncover and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring frequently, until desired consistency is reached (about 5 minutes). Place hot cooked pasta on plate and spoon the sauce over. Top with cheese and cilantro (or sour cream!!).

*****

Thanks again for the recipe Tandra!  This is one of our new family favorites and we usually have the stuff on hand.

Weekly Meal Plan 2/14 to 2/17

Image by chawalitpix

This is a short one… we’re shopping tonight, then again this weekend, so we only needed a few meals to get us through the week.  Some of the ones I found look pretty tasty though, so I wanted to share them with you.

Tuesday – Appropriately named for a Valentine’s Day dinner, Romantic Chicken with Mushrooms and Artichokes.  We’ll be serving spinach salad with it.  And I’ll probably treat myself to a glass of wine with dinner.

Wednesday – Spaghetti with kielbasa and pasta sauce, because sometimes it’s nice to just throw stuff together and be lazy.  This is one of our go-to lazy meals.  I could give you a recipe, but the listing pretty much says it all. Fresh salad on the side.

Thursday – Extra lean ground beef is on sale this week (still pricier than I like, though) so we are going to grill hamburgers and let the side dish of home fries star.  This recipe looks fantastic, so I hope they turn out as tasty as they look.

Friday – My cousin Tandra Zimmerman, posted a photo of a recipe she made on Facebook called Black Bean Linguini.  I thought it sounded great, so I begged her for the recipe.  We’ll give this one a test run and post the recipe later this week!  I’m looking forward to trying it!

Any of these sound especially good to you?  What are your dinner plans for Valentine’s Day?

Greek Turkey Burgers

One of the things I love best about these is the way the feta cooks when it’s mixed into the meat.  If there’s a hunk of feta on the outside, it caramelizes and gets that glorious crispy, crunchy grilled cheese texture.  The feta inside the burger appears at first to stay solid, and then it melts in a moment when you bite into it, bursting with oozy salty feta goodness. 

You can serve these on hamburger buns or round crusty rolls.  They are also delicious stuffed into pitas with tzatziki sauce.  We served salad on the side, with tomato and cucumber. 

Ingredients:

½ cup crumbled reduced-fat feta

2 tbsp. Italian salad dressing

2 garlic cloves, minced

A pinch of salt

¼ tsp dried oregano

A pinch of pepper (or more, if you like)

1 lb. ground turkey (lean or extra lean)

Combine the first six ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the turkey and mix well with your hands, until the ingredients are incorporated.  Shape into four patties.

Heat a pan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat.  Cook about seven minutes per side, or until a meat thermometer reads 165.  Covering the pan during the cooking time will help them get done through.  

The Weekly Meal Plan – January 21, 2012

Looks like this is going to be a regular feature!
Image by winnond

So here’s what’s being chowed down this week at our place!

Friday (last night) – Petite sirloin steak, baked potatoes, green beans

Maddie LOVES green beans.  I’m going to have to start making more at a time – they are just getting scarfed down!  We scored a good deal on petite sirloin at Fred Meyer last week, so we decided to treat ourselves.  We cut each one in half and actually stuck to the recommended serving of meat, about the size of a deck of cards.  And you know what?  It was fine.  Nobody was left hungry after dinner.  Important point here:  You don’t have to eat 16 oz. of steak!!  We have plenty of potatoes, so baking them was a no-brainer.  Good dinner and it really felt like a treat.

Saturday – Paprika Spiced Pork Chops

Pork chops were on sale at Fred Meyer ($1.88 per pound!!).  We are making the spinach sauté that goes along with this one.  Looks tasty!  I’m looking forward to it!

Sunday – Greek Turkey Burgers, salad

This uses ground turkey, which can often be found for fairly cheap.  It’s usually cheaper than ground beef and lower in fat.  Loaded with feta and spices, they are really delicious.  The salad is going to feature tomatoes, cucumbers and kalamata olives to continue the Greek theme.  I’ll post the recipe later.

Monday – Broccoli and Ham Casserole

We still have some leftover ham to use, so I found this recipe online.  It uses some processed ingredients, but I think we’ll be okay.  I don’t think it’s a tragedy to use them occasionally, as long as they aren’t the focal point of every meal.  I’m also making some changes to the recipe, like using the Healthy Request soup, low-fat sour cream and cutting the cheese, probably in half.

Tuesday – Beef Stroganoff, egg noodles, green beans

I had a taste for stroganoff this week, plus we have all that petite sirloin.   I looked for a recipe that is a little lighter than the usual and this one looks pretty promising.  We’re using low-fat sour cream. 

Wednesday – Bean and Rice Burritos, salad

This is our meatless meal for the week.  We are altering the recipe a bit.  Again, low-fat sour cream and instead of using the processed cheese, we are using good old cheddar.  I think about a tablespoon or two of shredded Tillamook per burrito ought to do the trick nicely. 

Thursday – Crockpot Pork Roast

Yes, again.  We still have another chunk of pork to use and this one just really does it for us! 

Laughing Cow Chicken and Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes

You can probably use any type of potato.
Photo by Simon Howden.

I’m sorry, I completely forgot to take pictures of these before they got scarfed down!  I wanted to share the recipes with you, though, since it was a delicious dinner.

Laughing Cow Chicken

Ingredients: 

4 small (4-oz.) chicken breasts

12 slices ham lunchmeat

4 Laughing Cow brand cheese wedges

Shake n Bake

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Pound the chicken breasts to about a quarter-inch thickness.  Spread the cheese wedge on the chicken, and place 3 slices of the lunch meat on top.  Roll the chicken and secure it with a toothpick. 

Place the shake and bake in a bowl and dredge each chicken roll.  Place rolls in a baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Remove toothpicks before eating.

Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes

Ingredients:

12 small red potatoes, quartered or halved

Olive oil

¾ teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

Pinch of salt

Ground black pepper

Spray a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Place the potatoes in the pan, then drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with the seasonings, using more or less per your personal preference.  Toss with a spatula to coat the potatoes.  Bake at 425 for about 30 minutes.

Because I had two dishes going into the oven, I decided to do them both together, using the chicken’s cooking directions.  They turned out fine, although the potatoes didn’t brown quite as much as usual.  

How Does Your Garden Grow?

The balcony in question.

I know it seems a little odd to be thinking about my ideas for my container garden when the snow is drifting up onto my balcony.  But it’s been in my head more and more these last few days.  After all, isn’t it sort of comforting to be dreaming about warm days and fresh veggies during the midst of a major cold snap?  The stores are already prepping their shelves for Easter (crazy stores) and our local small nursery has their “Re-opening Soon” sign up.

I love having my little garden out on the deck.  I don’t have a lot of room, but I try to do the best with what I have.  And after all, what could be more frugal than actually growing your own food?  Stepping out on the patio to pick a handful of tomatoes or a few leaves of basil is a lot more efficient than driving to the store.  Tastes better, too. 

Last year, unfortunately, was a bit of a bust.  The weather just never warmed up enough.  I only got about three itty-bitty tomatoes off my plant and one poor little pea-pod.  The blueberry plant never got going, Elias’s sunflower struggled gamely before ultimately keeling over, and the beans never actually appeared.  The herbs hung in there (as herbs are wont to do), and, funnily enough, the strawberries went bonkers.  We actually had two seasons of strawberries!  

Maybe I’m being optimistic, but I’m hoping for a better season this year.  I have all the pots, I have all the soil… I just need the plants.  I’d like to try raising more plants from seeds this year.  I still have a number of little peat pellets and mini-greenhouses, and seed packets are really inexpensive.  I’ve decided this year I’m going for a lettuce or two, Elias has requested spinach (probably let him go for that on his own – would be a great way to work toward his gardening merit badge), definitely doing tomatoes again, the usual herbs (basil, oregano and rosemary)…. What else?

I think I’ll do another hanging basket of strawberries.  The kids loved ‘em.  Not sure if I want to try blueberries again or not.  Knowing the PNW climate and my gardening limitations (second floor balcony, not a lot of direct sunlight), what would you try to grow?  

Tortilla Soup

Did you save your broth from last night’s pork roast?  Time to put it to good use!   This recipe is fast and versatile – it never comes out quite the same way, since I add or delete ingredients based on what I have on hand.  It always turns out fantastic though.  Here’s how I made it tonight…

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• Onion, diced (use however much you like)
• 1 lb. chicken breasts (or less), cut into bite-size pieces
• ½ tsp. chili powder
• ½ tsp. cumin
• Pork broth
• 2 cups chicken broth or stock
• 1 cup or small jar salsa
• 1 can corn
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• Baked tortilla chips
• Sour cream (optional)
• Cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Start heating a large pot over medium heat and add the olive oil.  Once the oil is hot, add the onions and cook until they soften. 
2. Add the chicken, and cook until nearly done.  Sprinkle with the cumin and chili powder and stir to blend.  You can adjust the amount of spice you add to your preference.
3. When the chicken is nearly cooked through, add the saved broth from the pork roast and two cups or canned or homemade chicken broth. 
4. Stir in the salsa, corn and tomatoes.  Kidney or black beans are also delicious in this soup and can be added at this point.  I didn’t have any on hand tonight. 
5. Bring the soup to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. 
6. Ladle the soup into a bowl then top with a handful of crushed tortilla chips, a spoonful of sour cream and a sprinkle of shredded cheddar.   Dig in! 

This soup makes awesome leftovers, by the way.  Sorry that I couldn’t get a picture; it tasted delicious, but it doesn’t photograph well!  I also need to find a way to un-yellowify all my pictures.  That drives me nuts!  

Why Should Only Rich People Be Healthy?

I am loving this book.

How many times have you avoided doing something good for yourself and cited a lack of money as a reason?  I know I’ve used the argument plenty of times.  “I can’t lose weight – Weight Watchers and gym memberships cost a fortune.”  “Who can afford to eat healthy?  Have you seen the prices on produce lately?”  “I can’t make time to work out.  I have to work full time and take care of the kids.”  Feel free to add your own.

As you know, I’ve taken the weight issue in hand and decided to make this thing work.  No, I can’t afford one-on-one sessions with a health guru, and yes, Weight Watchers is definitely out of my budget.  The heck with it. 

As of today, I’m down 7.5 pounds since Christmas.  Not too shabby, right?  What am I using?  A book I purchased for 12.99 and a free website.  I have a free membership to the Y courtesy of the CCORS program, but even if I didn’t, the apartment complex has a gym, I have a car to drive to Seward Park, a number of DVDs and a whole library of workouts of Netflix. 

Has food been more expensive?  Nope, I’m spending less on groceries now than before.  Funny how a bag of oranges costs the same as my favorite brand of potato chips.  I can buy the chips without even thinking about it, but I complain about the cost of the oranges.  When I’m not making all the impulsive junk food purchases, the bill goes down.  Strange, how that works!

Okay, so how about this book?  Why did I spend anything at all when so much information is out there for free?  The book is Full-Filled by Renee Stephens.  I found Ms. Stephens through her podcasts (free, by the way).  She has over 200 podcasts available for free on her website.  They are also available through iTunes.  What makes this book so special?  There’s not a word in it about how to count calories or how many times you should exercise in a week and for how long.  So many of us who struggle with our weight struggle with a lot of inner baggage as well, and that’s what the book addresses.  Her words are powerful.  She has taken the essence of the podcasts and condensed it into a workbook.  I can’t believe how much I’ve already gotten out of it.  If you can’t get the book right now, see if it’s available at the library (request it if it isn’t) or start listening to the podcasts.  Good stuff.

The website I’m using is LoseIt.com.  There’s plenty of other excellent free websites out there… SparkPeople and MyFitnessPal come to mind.  SparkPeople has many of the same tools as Weight Watchers Online (except that it’s free).  I found it too cluttered.  It demanded too much of my time and the emails were tiresome.  I haven’t tried MyFitnessPal, but I’ve heard really good things about it from people who have.  I like LoseIt because it’s simple, without too many frills.  It helps me track calories in and calories out, tells me how many calories to shoot for each day, gives me reports and breakdowns if I want them (without shoving them in my face) and has a great network of supportive people.

Speaking of support, I’ve been getting the most support from my friends and family through Facebook and emails, and those are completely free. 

What’s your best cheap/free way to stay healthy?

Crockpot Pork Pot Roast

This is one of our favorite crockpot meals and a great way to use pork loin bought in bulk.  Not only does it make enough to keep you in leftovers all week, the broth is used in tortilla soup.  Lots of flavors blend together and the pork, potatoes and carrots absorb them.  The pork cooks until it is fork tender and moist, and the potatoes are fluffy.  Sometimes they lean against the base of the crockpot and then you get a nice caramelization on the outside. 

Ingredients:

• Boneless pork loin roast (about 2 to 3 pounds)
• 4 peeled russet potatoes, quartered
• 1 onion, sliced into quarters and separated
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped (or about 1 cup baby carrots)
• 1 cup orange juice
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ¼ cup ketchup
• Juice of 1 lime (I use bottled, and I substitute lemon juice when I don’t have lime juice)
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or 1 tbsp. jarred minced garlic

Directions:

1. Place the meat in the crockpot.  Add remaining vegetables, tucking around the meat.
2. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and whisk to blend.  Pour over the meat and vegetables. 
3. Cover and cook on low for 8 – 10 hours.  If we are short on time, we will start on high for about 4 hours and then switch it back to low.  

This Week’s Meal Plan

Trying out some new tastes this week.
Image by digitalart

Continuing with the theme of using whole foods and a minimum of processed ingredients, I worked out a plan with some new tastes for our family to try and some old favorites that always go over well.  I was able to replace the nasty chicken with 2.49 a pound chicken from Fred Meyer. Not the best price in the world, but I didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter.  What a hassle!

Here’s the plan.  I’ve linked recipes available on the internet, and I’ll create a separate post for the ones that aren't available.

Saturday (last night) – Orange Chicken with Bulgur   This was sooo good.  I was worried that the chicken might be too “orange-y” (I’m not a big fan of fruit-flavored meats, although I know some folks are).  It turned out fantastic.  The meat had just a hint of orange, and the juice created a nice caramelization on the chicken.  I don’t think I’ve ever made bulgur before, but after this, I will definitely make it again.  It was cheap (1.99 a pound in the bulk bin at FM, and 1 cup made more than we could possibly eat), filling, tasty and the kids scarfed it down.  In this recipe, it was mixed with grape tomatoes and kalamata olives (drooool) and a bit of olive oil.  Oh, and we had enough chicken that Gavin was able to wrap some up for his lunch later this week.

Sunday – Crockpot Pork Pot Roast  This is a recipe from Cheap, Fast, Good by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross.  It’s one of our favorite cookbooks, but not all of the recipes are exactly healthy.  This one fits in perfectly with our healthy eating plan and is ideal for a cold, snowy day!  One of the biggest bonuses of this meal is all the leftover pork we get and the amazing broth that is left.  We use the pork in a number of other dishes, like stir-fry or sandwiches.  The broth goes into another recipe…

Monday – Tortilla Soup  This is the recipe that uses the broth.  It’s also from CFG, and makes the best tortilla soup I’ve ever had.   The broth of the soup is incredibly savory and flavorful thanks to the boost it gets from the pork roast broth, the homemade chicken stock and the salsa that goes into it. 

Tuesday – Laughing Cow Chicken  I’ve also seen this one called “Poor Man’s Cordon Bleu.”  There’s a number of variations on it, and I’ll happily share ours with you.  We’re serving rice and salad with this one. 

Wednesday – We are babysitting some kids for a friend on Wednesday evening, so we are going the cheater route.  I have a couple frozen pizzas hanging out in our big freezer, and those bad boys are going straight into the oven.  Tossed salad will help us fill up and avoid a pizza binge. 

Thursday – Sage Pork Chops   I found this one on the web after discovering I had a batch of bone-in pork chops in the freezer and doing a search for healthy pork chop recipes.  It looks quick and easy, it fits into the healthy eating plan and it sounds really delicious.  We’re serving it with roasted red potatoes and green beans.

EDIT:  Due to some schedule flip-flopping, we did the pork chops tonight (Tuesday).  We found that they were far too salty for our taste.  I would definitely make them again, but cut back to about half the salt used in the recipe.  

If you decide to try any of these, let us know what you think!  

Going Easy on the Meat (and the Wallet)

Chop it up.  It'll last longer.
Photo by Worakit Sirijinda

Something I took into consideration this week when I was setting up my menu and grocery list was reducing how much meat we use.  We are a family of carnivores, and unfortunately our budget (and our tummies) show it. 

Meat is expensive.  It’s hard to find quality, lean meat for less than 1.99 per pound.  Frozen chicken breasts are usually as good as you’re going to get, but who wants to eat nothing but chicken day in and day out?  If you want to eat some steak, you’re going to be paying at least 3.99 per pound (the cheapest I can usually find for petite sirloin).

So we have a few options here.  We can either drop the meat entirely and go vegetarian (yeah, right), we can continue shelling out for menu plans that feature meat as the main part of the meal, or we can make meat an “accent” and have occasional meals that don’t feature it at all.

We have opted for option number three.  Take a look at our meal plan for the week.  Notice anything?  Most of those meals are just using a little bit of meat.  The Golden Chicken and Caesar salad only used two breasts to feed the whole family.  The split pea soup is using a cup of leftover ham that was in the freezer.  I bet we'll have enough of that soup to eat for the next few days, too.  The steak salad is using a leftover hunk of London broil, maybe about a pound total.  Even that chicken and rice dish only uses two breasts because we chop it up and toss it in the rice.  The pasta salad had just a smidge of turkey pepperoni in it, for a little burst of the flavor every now and then.  Tonight’s spaghetti pomodoro recipe doesn’t use any meat at all.  Score!

Because we buy our meat when it’s on sale, we want to make it last as long as we can.  Doing this, we can make a bag of frozen chicken or a nice hunk of steak last two to three weeks.   There’s a ton of different meals you can make that stretch meats out like this:

• Chili
• Spaghetti
• Stir-fry
• Salads
• Soups

One of the big benefits of doing this is that you will need to find another type of food to round out your meal.  May I suggest going heavy on the veggies?

Set up your menus for the week and give this a try.  Go through your freezer and see what’s hanging out there.  Can you get through a shopping trip without purchasing any meat?

Greek Inspired Pasta Salad

I don't claim to be the world's best photographer,
but trust me, it's tasty!

This recipe is fast, tasty and flexible.  You can modify it to suit practically any palate.  Don’t eat meat?  Leave out the pepperoni, no harm done.  Like your food with a bit of a zing?  Sprinkle in some red pepper flakes.  If you have fresh herbs lying around, toss those in.  Basil and oregano go especially well in this.  It makes enough that you can have leftovers the next day (when it’s even better, in my opinion).  After eating our fill tonight, we still had enough for Gavin to take to work tomorrow and for me to have for my lunch. 

12 ounces whole grain pasta (we use Smart Taste penne)

2 ounces turkey pepperoni (about 25 slices)

2 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped

2 cloves of garlic (or 1 tablespoon of jarred minced garlic)

1 small can sliced black olives, drained

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon onion powder

4 ounces reduced-fat feta cheese

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Black pepper

1. Cook the pasta according the package directions, until al dente.
2. Place a paper towel on a microwave-safe plate and then place the slices of pepperoni in a single layer.  Cover with another paper towel and microwave for 45 seconds.  This step is great because it crisps up the pepperoni just a bit and also causes it to release oil, which is then absorbed by the paper towels.
3. Place the chopped tomatoes in a large bowl.  Add the garlic, olives, and artichokes.  Roughly chop the pepperoni and add it to the bowl.  Sprinkle with the onion powder. 
4. Once the pasta is done cooking, drain it and add it to the other ingredients in the bowl.  Toss in the feta cheese and drizzle with the olive oil.  Mix it very well to blend all the flavors and season with the black pepper to taste. 

Makes 8 servings, 235 calories per serving.

My Amazing Half-Price Grocery Bill

Shopping the produce section does wonders for the grocery bill.
Photo by kratuanoiy

Last night we hit the grocery store to get our supplies for the week.  On Thursday, I set up our meal plan for the week, with a focus on whole foods with lean proteins, whole grains and lots of veggies.  I was expecting our bill to be kind of high.  My jaw practically hit the floor when the total came up.  It was easily half of most of our grocery bills. 

How was this possible?

1. We didn’t have to buy many proteins because our freezer was well-stocked.  As I pointed out to Gavin, though, even if we had needed to buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts, we still would have come in under $100. 
2. We used a lot of items that were already in our cupboards.  However, we saw a good sale on the whole grain pasta we liked and bought a few boxes to keep.
3. Bagged salad was on sale for super cheap this week.  We decided that once it goes off sale, we’ll just buy whole heads of lettuce instead -- the good stuff, not iceberg.
4. Most of our purchases came from the produce and condiment aisles.  We barely touched the rest of the store.  

What meals are we having this week?  Are we going to be eating meager rabbit-food meals?  Nope.  Check out our meal plan:

Friday (last night):  Golden Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives, brown rice, tossed salad (this was AWESOME by the way, and we had enough leftover – yay, portion control!—that Gavin could take some to work for his lunch today).

Saturday :  Greek-Inspired Pasta Salad (this has tomatoes and artichoke hearts in it, so it’s pretty much a full meal)

Sunday:  Chicken Caesar Salad (we’re going to marinate the chicken breasts and cook them up earlier in the day)

Monday:  Spaghetti pomodoro, with tossed salad (we are making a few modifications to the recipe based on what we have on hand)

Tuesday:  Steak salad, French bread (we have a loaf of French bread in the freezer from Christmas, and we are using the last of a London broil – this will stretch the meat so it goes farther)

Wednesday:  Crockpot split pea soup (split peas are CHEAP, and the ham is more Christmas leftovers out of the freezer)

Thursday:  Chicken and rice, salad (not very creative this time, but it’s a simple meal that everyone likes)

Lots of variety, lots of flavor, nobody is suffering here.  And I can use the leftover from the grocery budget to put toward a bill!  Everyone wins! 

Cheap and Easy Meals with Chicken

Stir-fry is a great way to use chicken breasts.
Photo by Sura Nualpradid

Today we scored a really good deal on chicken breasts.  We got a 10-pound bag of frozen chicken breasts for $1.66 per pound.  That’s a lot of chicken at a really good price.  So, what are our plans for all that chicken?

Chicken Tacos

• 1 lb. chicken breasts (frozen is okay)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• Soft or hard taco shells
• Favorite taco toppings

Place the chicken breasts in the crockpot.  Mix the taco seasoning and chicken broth together.  Pour over the chicken.  Set to low and cook for 6 to 8 hours. 

When chicken is ready, shred with forks.  You can add in another pound of chicken breasts to have leftover meat for nachos or enchiladas.

Poor Man’s Cordon Bleu

• 1 lb chicken breasts
• Laughing Cow cheese wedges, or cream cheese
• Ham lunch meat
• Shake ‘n’ Bake or bread crumbs

Flatten the chicken breasts using a meat mallet.  Spread each breast with a cheese wedge, or about 2 tbsp. of cream cheese.  Place a slice or two of the lunch meat over the cheese.  Roll each chicken breast and secure with a toothpick.  Cover outside of the chicken in Shake ‘n’ Bake mix or bread crumbs.  Place in a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake at 375 F for 45 minutes or until done.

Mexican Chicken Soup with White Beans

• 1 lb. chicken breasts
• Onion
• Minced garlic
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried cumin
• 2 15-oz. cans white kidney beans
• 3 cups chicken broth
• Cheddar cheese

Cook chicken breasts in a nonstick skillet with about 2 tbsp. of olive oil until they are no longer pink on the outside.  Place in a slow cooker.  Add a little more olive oil to the pan and cook onion (however much you like, I use about ¼ of a sweet onion), a clove or two of minced garlic, oregano and cumin, just until the onion is soft.  Add this mixture to the slow cooker. 

Drain and rinse the kidney beans, then add to the slow cooker, along with the broth.  Stir well. 

Cook on low for about 8 hours.  When cooking time is complete, use forks to shred the chicken.  Mash beans against the side of the crockpot with a large spoon to thicken the soup.  Garnish with shredded cheese.

Chicken Stir-Fry

• 1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• Assorted fresh vegetables, we like carrots, snow peas, celery, mushrooms, sliced
• Canned, sliced water chestnuts

Sauce ingredients:

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp. ketchup
• 2 tsp. minced ginger
• 1 tsp. sesame oil

In a large skillet or wok, cook chicken in 1 tbsp. vegetable oil or wok oil over medium-high heat until cooked through.  Add vegetables and cook until desired texture is reached.  Add water chestnuts.  Mix sauce ingredients together and add to pan.  Cook a minute or two until sauce thickens slightly.  Serve over hot rice.

What are your favorite ways to use chicken breasts?

Getting Deals at the Grocery Store

Comparison shopping pays off.
Photo by Ambro

Okay, so we’ve established that I don’t rely on coupons to whittle my grocery bill down to nothing.  However, I do make an active effort to get our food bill as low as I can.  At the same time, I don’t want to eat beans and chicken soup every day. 

I use a combination of several tactics to lower my grocery bill.  I plan meals, shop the ads, shop different stores, use coupons WHEN PRACTICAL, and buy in bulk when I get a good deal.  Here’s my weekly approach to shopping:

1. Scan the ads.  My go-to store is Fred Meyer.  Not only is it practically in my back yard, it seems to have better sales and lower regular prices than Safeway or Albertsons.  I can occasionally catch a really good meat deal at Albertsons and I’ll go for that, but as a general rule, if it isn’t on sale at Albertsons, it’s going to be more expensive than anywhere else.  Unfortunately, Winco doesn’t have a weekly ad so I never know what the sales are going to be, although they do make a point of beating other sales.  They also don’t have a great selection of lower-fat foods and their produce can sometimes be crummy, so we don’t go there all the time. 
2. Look for stock-up items.  What am I looking for in the ads?  Deals on the proteins that I’m going to build my meals around.  I’m looking for really good meat sales.  If I can spot a really good one, I plan to buy several pounds so that I can get a few meals out of it.
3.  Plan my meals.  The goal is to always have enough meat for meals in the freezer (from previous stock-ups) that I can pull meals straight from the freezer and never have to buy meat that isn’t a good deal.  I see no reason to ever pay more than $1.99 for chicken breasts.  This doesn’t mean that I have to have 7 days’ worth of meat – we don’t have meat in every meal.  To keep Gavin and the kids happy, though, we usually have it four to five days per week.  Spaghetti nights or breakfast for dinner (pancakes and eggs) can fill in the blanks. 
4.  Look for coupon deals.  Once I’ve made my main meal list and built my grocery list around that, this is when I look for coupon deals.  I go through the ad with my coupon binder and look for “matches.”  This is the only way to use coupons.  Combine them with a sale and you can get a really good deal, especially on stuff like bath wash, toothpaste, baby wipes and stuff like that.  Normally I would also add detergent and household cleaners to that list, but I don’t know of any coupons that knock detergent down to a penny per load!
5. Fill in the blanks.  Some items we need pretty much every week:  Milk, eggs, yogurt, veggies, fruit, bread… These are our regular staples.  Occasionally we need some cereal, cheese, peanut butter and stuff like that.  I try to catch bread when it’s on sale and stock it in the freezer.  I need to get Gavin baking more bread! 

What’s your shopping technique for keeping costs down?

The Opposite of "Extreme Couponing"

I am both fascinated and repulsed by the concept of extreme couponing.  On the one hand, IT'S FREE STUFF.  On the other hand... it's free stuff I generally don't really need.  While the idea of getting $600 worth of groceries is appealing, how many bottles of barbecue sauce does one really need?

If you've ever watched the show Extreme Couponing on TLC, you know what I'm talking about.  These people proudly walk through their homes displaying their wares as if they were the crown jewels.  Toilet paper is stuffed under their kids' beds.  Closets are converted to storage areas for Chef Boyardee.  Basements hold practically an entire supermarket's worth of canned goods and toothpaste.

They brag about how many hours they spend clipping and organizing their coupons; it's essentially their full-time job.  The whole family, kids included, is gathered around the table setting up coupons for mom (or occasionally dad) to cut with industrial-sized paper cutters.  I remember one woman, who I thought was particularly sad.  She made a big deal out of how dressed up she got every time she went shopping, because she didn't want people to think she was poor or that she needed to use all those coupons.  She then did her hours-long shopping trip in knee-high stiletto boots and full makeup.  I don't know about anyone else, but I generally don't give a second thought to anyone I see in the grocery store (although I do occasionally wonder about those who shop in their pajamas...).

I have better things to do with my time then spend it cutting and organizing coupons, planning out shopping trips and searching for deals.  When I get deals at the grocery store, I want it to be on healthy foods my family can eat.  Have you ever noticed that coupons are always on processed stuff?  How often do you see a coupon for fresh fruit and vegetables?

I do like coupons for household products.  But since I'm now making my own cleaners (and I'm having a crack at making laundry detergent tomorrow -- I'll let you know how it goes!), that's one more area I really don't need coupons (unless I can score one on Borax).

I do still clip coupons.  But here's my couponing technique:

• I only clip coupons for stuff I will actually use.  You shouldn't feel obligated to buy a product you wouldn't otherwise purchase.
• I only clip coupons that come to me.  I don't spend a lot of time scouring the internet.  I get inserts every Wednesday in the mail and I go through those.  I clip coupons in magazines I have.  I use the store coupons in the weekly flyer and that print out at the checkout.
• If a coupon expires, I throw it away.  I don't buy a product just to keep the coupon from expiring.
• Even with a coupon, I still check to see if the store brand is cheaper.  With a really good coupon, sometimes the brand name will be cheaper, but that's not a guarantee.
• I use coupons for the following products:  soap, shampoo, conditioner, toilet paper, paper towels, night pants, frozen vegetables, cheese, canned vegetables, pasta and cereal.  I check the weekly ads for items that match my coupons.  I have caught some good stock-up moments that way.  I was recently able to snag two bottles of name-brand body wash for 50 cents each.  That's about as extreme as I get.

The Great Chicken Broth Experiment

Make your own chicken broth!  Now!

Photo by winnond

Making my own chicken broth is another one of those “la-di-da if only I had the time” prospects (kind of like making my own cleaners).  I always thought of it as something that took all day, was messy, and kind of pointless.  After all, I would tell myself, I can get 4 cups of store brand chicken broth for about 2 bucks.  What’s the difference, right? 

After we made our roast chicken the other day, we hung on to the carcass.  Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that stuff.  At our trip to the store, we picked up carrots and celery, spending about a buck. 

When we got home we got out the big blue stockpot (I suppose there’s an irony in calling it that, since this was the first time it would ever actually be used for that purpose).   Into the pot went the chicken carcass, followed by a palmful of peppercorns, a quartered onion, 3 roughly chopped carrots and 3 celery stalks broken into quarters.  We ran cold water into the pot until the whole thing was covered and then threw in a little bit of kosher salt. 

We got the pot boiling and then brought it back to a simmer.  Soon after, the whole apartment filled with a fantastic smell.  Remember the herbs that Gav rubbed on the chicken when we roasted it?  There were still some sticking to the carcass and they floated into the broth, adding to the aroma.   We checked on it periodically, skimming off the foam.

We let it cook for about four hours, then poured it through a strainer.  Wow.  The broth was golden and rich.  We each took a taste and let me tell you this – I am never buying chicken broth from the store again.  This broth was so flavorful, you could taste the hint of the herbs and seasoning.  It was savory and delicious. 

We packaged up the broth into two cup containers and stored it in the fridge to finish cooling before it went into the freezer.  All in all, for the one dollar’s worth of vegetables, we got 10 cups of the best broth I’ve ever tasted.  I’m looking forward to cooking with it! 

Our Recipe for Roasted Chicken

Need an idea for a fresh whole chicken?

Photo by Freedigitalphotos.net

We are still working through all the chickens from Gav’s mom, and we’ve been trying out different cooking methods to see what we like best.  Maddie in particular is an absolute chicken fiend.  She scarfs down her serving and then starts demanding more.  Whole chickens are a wonderfully economic dinner choice.  You can often find them for only 79 cents per pound, and I don’t think you need me to tell you that that’s a good deal.  Plus, they often have enough meat for leftovers and you can use the carcass to make homemade chicken broth (more on that soon).

The other day we were set to try out a chicken in the crockpot recipe, but the chicken didn’t get pulled in time to thaw, so the crockpot was out.  We decided to go ahead and roast it in the oven.  Gavin mixed up a seasoning blend and prepped the chicken.  What we had later was some of the best roast chicken we’ve ever made, and we wanted to share the recipe with you:

Roast Chicken

Gav didn’t take exact measurement of the ingredients when he was measuring them, so adjust according to your own personal taste preferences.

Mix the following in a small bowl:

• Garlic powder
• Thyme
• Paprika
• Rosemary (crushed a bit to release the flavor)
• Black pepper
• Kosher salt

Rub the chicken all over with a bit of vegetable oil, just enough to make the skin glisten, not so much that it’s dripping.  Rub your spice rub into the skin.  Chop up an apple and place it and any remaining spice rub into the chicken’s cavity.

Place the chicken on a roasting sheet and cook at 350 degrees for about  1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear.  You may wish to use a cooking thermometer.

The chicken was well-seasoned, juicy, just right.  Gav pulled it off the bone and we served it with a side of seasoned rice and a green salad.  It was delicious, even if we do say so ourselves!

Thanksgiving on a Budget – Can it be done?

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Image by digitalart

We’re heading into a pretty scary time of year for families who are struggling financially and trying to live on a tight budget and save money.  The first of the major spending holidays is coming up on Thursday … Thanksgiving.

I know sometimes it’s hard to find something to be thankful for this time of year.  I struggle with that, too.  And when we are expected to provide a feast for our family that is intended to outdo every other meal we will prepare this year, that’s a lot of added pressure. 

We got lucky this year.  We originally thought we were going to be hosting, but my brother jumped at the opportunity.  He loves to cook, so this will be his year to shine.  The pressure is off and our only Thanksgiving Day costs will be the gas to get down to Tacoma and two pies.  Not too shabby.  In that light, I thought I’d put together a list of some ideas to whittle away at your holiday food budget.  While it might be too late to implement some of these this year, you can store them away for next year or keep them in mind for another holiday.

5 Ideas for Thanksgiving on a Budget

1.  Take advantage of those free turkey deals.  Many stores offer free turkeys in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, providing you purchase a certain dollar amount (usually about $100 to $150).  I know I’ve been working hard to keep our weekly grocery bill less than $100, but that can be pretty difficult the week of Thanksgiving.  Even if you aren’t hosting and your bill comes to over the amount that week, get that turkey anyway (if you have a place to keep it).  Roast it up in March or so, and you’ll have cooked turkey for casseroles, soups, sandwiches, or whatever for quite some time, not to mention a lovely carcass for making broth.
2. Can you go somewhere else for Thanksgiving?  Surely some family or friends would love to have you over.  Offer to bring a dish and you can have Thanksgiving for the price of a 10 lb. bag of potatoes or a can of pumpkin.
3. See if anywhere in your area is doing a bundled deal (like the one we found here). 
4.  Plan ahead.  If you can start planning your meal at least a month ahead of time, you can start nabbing items you need as they go on sale.  Adding a little bit here or there to your regular grocery trip will break up the hit so you don’t feel overwhelmed.  For example, one week add a can of pumpkin.  The next, add some green beans and stuffing mix. 
5. Have a Thanksgiving potluck.  If you are hosting, make sure everyone else brings a dish.  You can be responsible for the turkey, but assign a dish to everyone else.  Let your sister bring the ingredients to make mashed potatoes, have your mom assemble the green bean casserole, tell your brother to pick up dinner rolls, and so on and so forth.  This will make dinner easier for everyone. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.  And even though things might be tough right now, don’t forget to say a huge “thank you” for everything that is wonderful in your life.

Our Trip to the Trading Post

I'm always on the lookout for a great grocery deal.

Image by digitalart

Grocery prices keep rising, so finding the best deals on food has been a real challenge.  We usually shop at Fred Meyer, watching the ads and planning our meals around any good deals we can find.  Some weeks, we can score a great deal, while other weeks we fall flat.  I hate paying more than 1.99 a pound for any kind of meat, and I can’t figure out when ground beef, originally the staple of most cheapo diets suddenly became just as expensive as most cuts of steak.

While at a dinner this week held by Wraparound (a service that helps us coordinate care for our son), we were told about a special deal going on at a local store called the Tukwila Trading Post.  I vaguely knew where they were, but I had never checked them out.  The deal was pretty good:  For twenty bucks, you got a 4 lb. boneless ham, a 3 lb. boneless turkey breast, gravy, a can of corn, a pack of biscuits, 5 lb. of potatoes, and 1 lb. of carrots.  That’s enough ham and turkey for several soup and casserole recipes. 

Something I noticed when I worked it out though – it was a good deal, but not a “OMG THAT’S INSANE” deal. The way the show it in the ad, it’s buy the ham for $20 and the rest is free.  Okay, but it’s a 4 lb. ham.  That $5 a lb. and I wouldn’t spend that much on meat.  Once you subtract the regular prices from the $20, you get about $14 for the meat, which works out to about $2 a lb.  About what I normally aim for. 

They did have some pretty decent sales.  I scored a ton of pork loin, also at 1.99 a lb. and I’m going to get a bunch of meals out of that.  But the rest of their prices were, for the most part, higher than Fred Meyer.  The ad had a number of one-day deals, for example, if I had gone on Thursday I could have scored boneless, skinless chicken breasts for 1.49 per lb. as long as I got more than 10 lbs.  We would definitely go through 10 lbs. of chicken breasts, and that’s about the lowest price I’ve ever seen them at, so I wish I could have caught that deal. 

I think the trick with this place is going to be to keep an eye on the ad and just make a special trip for the super good deals.  The meat all looked like it was in pretty good shape, but some of the produce was kind of funky.  The apples that were on sale were a bit mushy (except for the Fujis, those were in pretty good shape), and some of the kiwis had mold.  Considering that it’s the weekend before Thanksgiving, I was actually surprised by how empty the store was.  Maybe everyone else got their cheap stuff and left already.



EDIT:  Please see this post to see why I will never be shopping here again.....