Meals

Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

I’m trying out this recipe with some substitutions.  I personally love crockpot recipes but I know there are some doubters out there who claim it isn’t “real” cooking.  Think whatever you want, I will continue to enjoy hearty meals that are ready when I’m hungry even if I spent the entire day working.

The changes that I made to the recipe include using dried beans instead of canned (we talked about the benefits of using dried last week).  I also used a small bottle of wine instead of beer because neither of us drink beer and Kroger apparently doesn’t sell single bottles anymore.  I made my own taco seasoning instead of using a packet.  If you read the ingredients list on the packet you’ll see that it is usually just chili powder, cumin, and preservatives.  Those spices are super cheap and as an added benefit you don’t have to worry about MSG or any other weirdo ingredient.  Finally, instead of using chicken breasts, I used boneless chicken thighs.  Thighs are a dark meat.  White meat, like breasts, tend to dry out faster and in my opinion have less flavor than dark meat.

Stir Fry

If you’ve never made a stir fry before, you might want to find a recipe, otherwise just throw together the usual ingredients (rice, veggies, chopped up meat, & sauce) for a super easy meal.  We have a small oriental grocer within walking distance and they carry all kinds of sauces at prices that put the big chain stores to shame.  Check around and see if you have any ethnic grocers.  The owner/clerks are usually happy to help you pick out some items to try.

Pot Roast & Mashed Potatoes

Here is another slow cooker recipe.  Throw a pot roast (or really any kind of beef roast), potatoes, carrots, onion soup mix, and cream of mushroom soup into a crockpot and set for low for 7-8 hours or put in the over at 350 for 5 hours.

Crab Stuffed Flounder

This is another new recipe we’ll be trying out.  You could substitute any white fish in place of the flounder.  Here is an example of the same recipe using haddock.

I like to include fish into our diet at least once a week if I can.  There is a tremendous variety of seafood to tickle your tastebuds and there are some health benefits such as omega 3 fatty acids (good for your brain), low cholesterol (good for your heart and circulatory system), and it is an excellent source of protein.

Living in the Midwest makes it difficult/expensive to get fresh seafood so much of what we eat has been frozen.  Regardless I still think the benefits are worth the slight loss in flavor and available variety!

Snack Food…

Bananas!

Did you know that a banana can set off a highly sensitive radiation detector?  It’s true!  Bananas are loaded with potassium, a naturally occurring radioactive element.  Don’t worry though, and don’t stop eating bananas!  You would have to eat nearly 4 million bananas in a year before you succumbed to radiation poisoning.

Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Pork & Shrimp

Shae’s employer hosts six (give or take) picnic dinners during the summer.  Each dinner features a different cuisine and is catered by an area restaurant.  Tickets typically run around 5-6 dollars and include a full meal plus dessert.  If you want a cheap dinner date, keep a lookout for local events where you live.  It isn’t too uncommon for some organization to be having a dinner of some sorts!

Bacon Bolognese (with Saffron)

I put the saffron in italics because although the original recipe calls for it I’ll be omitting it due to cost.  This recipe comes from a cookbook we checked out of the public library.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 slices of bacon, finely chopped
• 1 medium-size onion, finely chopped
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I’ll probably use a teaspoon or two of dried)
• 2 medium-size cloves garlic, finely chopped (might substitute garlic powder instead)
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes with added puree
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsps chopped fresh oregano leaves, or 1 tsp dried oregano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper (I always omit salt when making recipes)
• 12-14 oz orecchiette (little ear-shaped pasta) or medium-six macaroni
• 2 generous pinches saffron threads crumbled
• 1/4 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese, plus additional cheese for serving

Directions:

1. Cook the bacon in a large deep pot or saucepan over medium heat until it begins to brown and some of the fat is rendered, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the onion and cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the ground pork, parsley, and garlic and cook until the pork is lightly browned, about 8 minutes, breaking up any chunks of meat with a wooden spoon, adjusting the heat as necessary if the pork browns too quickly, and stirring occasionally.
2. Stir in the crushed tomatoes with their puree and the bay leaves, oregano, and 1/3 cup of water.  Cover the pan and let come to a boil.  Then, reduce the heat as necessary and let the sauce simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the flavors blend, about 25 minutes.  Remove and discard the bay leaves.  Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Bring 4 to 5 quarts of water to a boil in a large pasta or soup pot 10 to 15 minutes before the sauce is done.  Salt the boiling water.  Add the orecchiette and crumbled saffron threads and cook until the orecchiette is al dente, following the package instructions.  Set aside 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the orecchiette.
4. Return the orecchiette and the reserved pasta cooking water to the cooking pot.  Immediately add the sauce and the pecorino romano cheese and toss to mix well.  Serve the orecchiette with more pecorino romano on the side.

Squirrel’s Great Beef Steak Recipe

I’m making some room in the freezer this week.  That means its time to eat some sirloin steak.  Here is the recipe I want to try.  I haven’t made up my mind yet as to what kinds of sides I want to serve.  What do you think?  Sweet corn and ??

Pizza (frozen or homemade)

It’s cheap, quick, and sometimes you just need a break from cooking.

Snack Food…

Texas Caviar

This delicious salsa alternative can be made a dozen different ways.  Shae’s Aunt gave us a recipe that is packed full of beans, corn, and other goodies.  I like it because it uses vinegar instead of a heavier dressing that some recipes call for.  Google around for “Texas Caviar” and find a recipe that you like!  If you want to be extra frugal, consider buying dried beans instead of canned.  They are a little bit cheaper but do take quite a bit longer to prepare.

Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

Tuna Salad with Tortilla chips

This simple recipe is one that I learned as a kid and it still tastes great.  Cook a box of your favorite short noodles (I like to use tri-color rotini).  Drain the noodles and in a big bowl add the noodles, 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sweet relish, 1 cup of mayo (or substitute), and 2 cans of tuna.  Give it a stir and then put it in the refrigerate.  Serve chilled with tortilla chips.  note: I rarely measure the relish and mayo so just go with what looks good to you.

Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Bread & Steamed Corn

Spaghetti is delicious but it always tastes so much better on day two.  This is the basic recipe I like to use to get that melded flavor faster!  Of course, I always add in a bunch of other ingredients to add a bit more texture and flavor.  Try adding some mushrooms, green pepper, onion, chile pepper, garlic, and some red pepper flakes.  If you use skinny noodles like Angel Hair then the next day it is really easy to cut into small cubes.  They’re perfect for packing lunches!

 Pork Chops w/ Mac and Cheese & Steamed Broccoli

Comfort food at its finest.  I want to try out a new pork chop recipe this week.

Snack Food…

Cantaloupe with Cottage Cheese

Tis the season for melon fruit in the stores or in your garden.  Cantaloupe plus cottage cheese makes a surprisingly refreshing snack that not only fills you up but packs a lot of protein in it as well.

 

What are you eating this week?