So I enjoy leftovers, but sometimes we end up with something that is kind of hard to use. For instance- we had exactly eight small meatballs left over from our spaghetti and meatballs (the meat was leftover from hamburgers- the deer meat is packaged in two pound packages).
So, what to do, what to do?
Why not meatball subs?
However, we have eight tiny meatballs and no sub rolls. Bah.
So this is what we did! I took out a package of hot dog buns and popped two in the toaster oven, (split open) with a slice of provolone cheese in the middle.
I made up some spaghetti sauce and reheated the meatballs, then we simply spooned the meatballs and sauce over our buns and laid a piece of provolone on the top. Voila!
Then, because each "sub" was tiny, we repeated it- with ham. I took some sandwich ham, cut it up and put it on the sauce covered hot dog buns, then threw a slice of provolone on them and heated them up.
Talk about a leftovers meal! The only thing purchased FOR this meal with the 1/4lb of provolone, of which we have some leftover.
It pays to think outside the box! Now we have plenty of hot dog buns left for our hot dog meal later in the week, we're both full, and the meatballs didn't go to waste! I call that a successful dinner. :)
-Kristen
Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Too many buns!
We have a small household- there are just the two of us, so things like Hot Dog buns and Hamburger buns kill me. We have to buy them in packs of 8, but we don't eat Hot Dogs or Hamburgers often enough that I can use a whole pack of buns before they go bad!
At least I can buy the weenies in packs that allow me to split them up and we make our own hamburger patties, so I combine the meat- one day we may have spaghetti and meatballs, then two days later, we'll have burgers. That's the easy part to divvy up.
So what are some ways to use those excess buns?
Garlic toast: I throw a little butter on the buns, sprinkle a little garlic salt (or sometimes, cheese) and pop it in the toaster oven as a compliment to other meals.
Breadcrumbs: Yes, even buns work well to make your own breadcrumbs. The easiest way is to tear the buns in chunks and toss them in your food processor. A few spins later, breadcrumbs!
Sandwiches: Yep, I've been known to make myself a sandwich using a hot dog bun. Better than letting it go to waste! It's kind of like a small sub.
Hot Dogs on Hamburger buns: I hate Hot Dogs on sandwich bread. Don't ask me why, I always have. So imagine my dismay recently to open up a leftover pack of buns and find mold on them! Ugh, and here I thought I was doing so well!
Hamburgers are on the menu later this week, so we hit on an idea-
After cooking the hot dogs, Tim sliced them lengthwise down the center (then he threw them back in the pan because he loves them a bit charred lol). Then, we cut the hot dogs in half width-wise. We put four pieces to a bun, topped it like normal and enjoyed our lunch. Yes, it was a little more bun than we usually have with the dogs, but hey.... it killed two birds with one stone, since now I don't have to worry about what to do with the leftover hamburger buns we'll end up having!
-Kristen
At least I can buy the weenies in packs that allow me to split them up and we make our own hamburger patties, so I combine the meat- one day we may have spaghetti and meatballs, then two days later, we'll have burgers. That's the easy part to divvy up.
So what are some ways to use those excess buns?
Garlic toast: I throw a little butter on the buns, sprinkle a little garlic salt (or sometimes, cheese) and pop it in the toaster oven as a compliment to other meals.
Breadcrumbs: Yes, even buns work well to make your own breadcrumbs. The easiest way is to tear the buns in chunks and toss them in your food processor. A few spins later, breadcrumbs!
Sandwiches: Yep, I've been known to make myself a sandwich using a hot dog bun. Better than letting it go to waste! It's kind of like a small sub.
Hot Dogs on Hamburger buns: I hate Hot Dogs on sandwich bread. Don't ask me why, I always have. So imagine my dismay recently to open up a leftover pack of buns and find mold on them! Ugh, and here I thought I was doing so well!
Hamburgers are on the menu later this week, so we hit on an idea-
After cooking the hot dogs, Tim sliced them lengthwise down the center (then he threw them back in the pan because he loves them a bit charred lol). Then, we cut the hot dogs in half width-wise. We put four pieces to a bun, topped it like normal and enjoyed our lunch. Yes, it was a little more bun than we usually have with the dogs, but hey.... it killed two birds with one stone, since now I don't have to worry about what to do with the leftover hamburger buns we'll end up having!
-Kristen
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Delicious Buffalo Chicken Tacos
You'll need:
Soft tortillas (taco size)
chicken tenders (I use fried, frozen tenders, but feel free to fry up your own)
Homemade Pico de gallo
Shredded lettuce
Buffalo Sauce
Shredded Cheese
Cook your chicken up, either by hand or by popping the frozen tenders in the oven.
While that is cooking, I like to make my fresh pico de gallo. Yes, you can use salsa. Yes, you can use store bought pico- but I really enjoy the homemade stuff.
Get your shredded lettuce ready- I like to use a head of romaine and pull off a leaf at a time, washing it, patting it dry, then using a knife to cut thin slices. Use whatever kind of lettuce you prefer, or buy it shredded already. This is a laid back recipe.
When you chicken is done, cut it in to small chunks, then put in a small container with a top on it. Pour in your buffalo sauce, put the top on the container and shake shake shake....shake shake shake...shake your boootayyy. When the chicken is well covered, you're ready!
Spread out your tortillas and spoon a generous amount of chicken down the center of your tortilla. Spoon pico de gallo to taste, add lettuce and shredded cheese to taste.
Enjoy!
-Kristen
Soft tortillas (taco size)
chicken tenders (I use fried, frozen tenders, but feel free to fry up your own)
Homemade Pico de gallo
Shredded lettuce
Buffalo Sauce
Shredded Cheese
Cook your chicken up, either by hand or by popping the frozen tenders in the oven.
While that is cooking, I like to make my fresh pico de gallo. Yes, you can use salsa. Yes, you can use store bought pico- but I really enjoy the homemade stuff.
Get your shredded lettuce ready- I like to use a head of romaine and pull off a leaf at a time, washing it, patting it dry, then using a knife to cut thin slices. Use whatever kind of lettuce you prefer, or buy it shredded already. This is a laid back recipe.
When you chicken is done, cut it in to small chunks, then put in a small container with a top on it. Pour in your buffalo sauce, put the top on the container and shake shake shake....shake shake shake...shake your boootayyy. When the chicken is well covered, you're ready!
Spread out your tortillas and spoon a generous amount of chicken down the center of your tortilla. Spoon pico de gallo to taste, add lettuce and shredded cheese to taste.
Enjoy!
-Kristen
Friday, January 10, 2014
A quick, easy meal- and unpaid review
So, you guys know I'm all about quick, cheap meals-(I love to cook, but sometimes you just wanna throw something together and EAT.) I picked up a box of Chicken Helper for a buck at Food Lion and thought- let's give this a shot.
So today, I finally decided to use it. I had a chicken breast in the fridge from the package we bought the other day. I fired up the stove and started making the mac and cheese side dish that is included, while Tim cut a chicken breast in to four "tenders". It took less than 20 minutes for us to make the meal.
I have to say- I was reasonably impressed. There was enough Mac & Cheese for three people to have good sized helpings. There was more than enough bread crumbs to have coated three sets of chicken tenders- so hey, I am going to go on and say "this is a good size for three folks".
The chicken was a little bland- you could catch hints of the bacon flavor occasionally, but mostly it just tasted like friend chicken. Hey, I like fried chicken, so that's not necessarily a bad thing.
The Mac & Cheese was actually pretty good. I love Kraft Mac & Cheese- the cheap stuff. The powdered deliciousness. This was actually pretty close- and believe me, I can tell the difference.
Overall, I'd say these are a great, cheap "emergency meal" kit to keep on hand. A box of Mac & Cheese will cost you a dollar these days, after all.
Something to keep in mind for your pantry! :)- Plus, it's way cheaper than eating out :D.
-Kristen
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Back in the Saddle-
It's a New Year and I'm back in the saddle again. What saddle, you ask? The saving money saddle.
Ok, so this blog post is born from procrastinating on doing my Menu Planning- I can be honest and say that.
So, the biggest way I am planning on saving money this year is to drastically reduce how much money we spend on eating out. This is a common theme in the blog, but I tend to get lazy and if *I* don't plan meals, they don't get planned.
Tonight we had a delicious Bear Creek Soup- Potato (Spoiler alert, the regular potato is the ONLY good soup I have found. My mother-in-law concurs). The cost was $3.33 (without tax) for the soup. I couponed a free ham steak, which I chopped up and added to the soup, and approximately half a bag of shredded cheddar cheese between Tim & myself. I paid around $1.00 for the cheese, again, thanks to couponing. So for under $4.50, we had a delicious, filling meal, with leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Much better and healthier than that $10 pizza we were seriously considering going to pick up. We were able to eat the soup because I happen to keep a few bags of it on hand, for "emergency" (Oh-crap-I-didn't-plan) meals.
So- my goal today is to plan out this next week's meals and get my grocery list created.
I am hoping that saving on eating out will help us grow our savings account. We would dearly love to take an amazing vacation in 2016 for our 10th wedding anniversary and I would rather count pennies now, to do exactly what I'd like to then!
-Kristen
Ok, so this blog post is born from procrastinating on doing my Menu Planning- I can be honest and say that.
So, the biggest way I am planning on saving money this year is to drastically reduce how much money we spend on eating out. This is a common theme in the blog, but I tend to get lazy and if *I* don't plan meals, they don't get planned.
Tonight we had a delicious Bear Creek Soup- Potato (Spoiler alert, the regular potato is the ONLY good soup I have found. My mother-in-law concurs). The cost was $3.33 (without tax) for the soup. I couponed a free ham steak, which I chopped up and added to the soup, and approximately half a bag of shredded cheddar cheese between Tim & myself. I paid around $1.00 for the cheese, again, thanks to couponing. So for under $4.50, we had a delicious, filling meal, with leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Much better and healthier than that $10 pizza we were seriously considering going to pick up. We were able to eat the soup because I happen to keep a few bags of it on hand, for "emergency" (Oh-crap-I-didn't-plan) meals.
So- my goal today is to plan out this next week's meals and get my grocery list created.
I am hoping that saving on eating out will help us grow our savings account. We would dearly love to take an amazing vacation in 2016 for our 10th wedding anniversary and I would rather count pennies now, to do exactly what I'd like to then!
-Kristen
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Menu Planning Saves Money
So just the other day I posted on how eating meals based on leftovers can save money- we ended up getting five various meals off that Turkey Breast, by the way. Yes, we threw a little away, but hey, there is only so much turkey you can eat, even when you love it and it's delicious.
I want to share another way we have money with meals- by meal planning.
We had Breakfast for Lunch the other day. Lunfast, if you will, because Brunch is so done already. It's also fun to make up words. We made sausage, but knew that Tim and I would never eat an entire package of sausage. Luckily, we had planned to make our own pizzas the next day, so we kept back some sausage for that purpose. I had already frozen some small packages of hamburger just for such a purpose, so we thawed a bit of that too.
After making the mini pizzas, we had leftover hamburger, sausage, jalapenos and pieces of onion. I tossed all of these leftovers in an airtight container and tossed them in the fridge.
Tonight's dinner? Spaghetti! Ohhh what a spaghetti sauce it was too, with two kinds of meat, chunks of real onion, small pieces of jalapenos- and of course, my other assorted spices. Not the smallest piece of sausage, hamburger, or any other piece of food went to waste between Lunfast and the next two days.
When you know you won't use all of something- say you won't use a pound of hamburger in spaghetti sauce or an entire package of sausage on a pizza. You can easily package and freeze it in to smaller portions, or you can save that effort and the freezer bags (or food saver bags, which are expensive!) by planning a menu based on "paying forward" extra amounts of food, the way the sausage appeared in three meals, the hamburger, onion and jalapeno in two- even the mozzarella cheese, which often ends up having small amounts thrown away, showed up in two meals, rather than being crammed in the back of the cheese drawer until it turns green and I find it. Believe me- I never find it before it turns green, no matter how clean the fridge is. Yuck.
Plan your weekly menu and take a second look at it. Do you always end up with too much hamburger? Plan hamburgers for dinner one night, spaghetti for the next, and split the package of beef! Woo hoo.
Rather than toss out that leftover onion from the pizzas, can you add them to salad for the next meal? See how you can save food, money and your time, by organizing your meals in advance!
-Kristen
I want to share another way we have money with meals- by meal planning.
We had Breakfast for Lunch the other day. Lunfast, if you will, because Brunch is so done already. It's also fun to make up words. We made sausage, but knew that Tim and I would never eat an entire package of sausage. Luckily, we had planned to make our own pizzas the next day, so we kept back some sausage for that purpose. I had already frozen some small packages of hamburger just for such a purpose, so we thawed a bit of that too.
After making the mini pizzas, we had leftover hamburger, sausage, jalapenos and pieces of onion. I tossed all of these leftovers in an airtight container and tossed them in the fridge.
Tonight's dinner? Spaghetti! Ohhh what a spaghetti sauce it was too, with two kinds of meat, chunks of real onion, small pieces of jalapenos- and of course, my other assorted spices. Not the smallest piece of sausage, hamburger, or any other piece of food went to waste between Lunfast and the next two days.
When you know you won't use all of something- say you won't use a pound of hamburger in spaghetti sauce or an entire package of sausage on a pizza. You can easily package and freeze it in to smaller portions, or you can save that effort and the freezer bags (or food saver bags, which are expensive!) by planning a menu based on "paying forward" extra amounts of food, the way the sausage appeared in three meals, the hamburger, onion and jalapeno in two- even the mozzarella cheese, which often ends up having small amounts thrown away, showed up in two meals, rather than being crammed in the back of the cheese drawer until it turns green and I find it. Believe me- I never find it before it turns green, no matter how clean the fridge is. Yuck.
Plan your weekly menu and take a second look at it. Do you always end up with too much hamburger? Plan hamburgers for dinner one night, spaghetti for the next, and split the package of beef! Woo hoo.
Rather than toss out that leftover onion from the pizzas, can you add them to salad for the next meal? See how you can save food, money and your time, by organizing your meals in advance!
-Kristen
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Save Money- Eat Leftovers!
I decided to cook a turkey breast today. Now, turkey is one of those items that I often find myself thinking "Gah, that is so expensive!" I paid around $11 for a 4lb turkey breast.
That makes me cringe a little, not going to lie. Then I sat myself down and said wait a minute- let's take a look at these numbers.
Tonight we will have Turkey, potatoes and homemade bread.
Day 1:
Turkey- $11
Potatoes- approx. $0.50 (I paid $2 for a five pound bag and suspect we will not cook more than a pound of potatoes tonight)
Homemade Bread- I'm going to randomly say $1 here for easy math- the cost of the ingredients for each loaf of bread is negligible.
The total of our meal tonight will be $12.50.
But wait. We always have leftover turkey, and on the menu tomorrow night is Shredded turkey in salad!
Day 2:
Turkey- $5.50
Romaine Lettuce- $1.49
Cheese- $2.00
Cucumber- $0.69
Tomato- $0.22
Croutons- $1.00
Onion- $.25 (one onion out of a bag we purchased)
The meal tonight will cost $10.52
But wait! We won't use that whole package of cheese, we will only use half. We will only use half the head of romaine. We will use a small fraction of the cucumber and half the tomato. There will be perhaps a fifth of the bag of croutons used- so our real meal cost looks like this:
Turkey- $5.50
Romaine Lettuce- $0.75
Cheese- $1.00
Cucumber- $0.15
Tomato- $0.11
Croutons- $0.20
Onion- $.25 (one onion out of a bag we purchased)
So our real meal cost is $7.96
We still have turkey leftover. Sandwiches time!
Day 3:
Turkey: $3.66
Romaine- $0.38
Cheese- $.50
Homemade Bread- $0.50
Tomato- $0.11
Chips- $1.25 (half a bag)
Our meal cost is $6.40
We will still have turkey leftover. So do you see how the cost of your ingredients goes down each meal when you do a little planning ahead? By using the turkey for three meals, instead of that original meal costing us $12.50, it will end up costing $5.16. Day 2, instead of costing $7.96 drops to $6.12. Day 3 is $6.40. If I can stretch leftovers until Day 4 (which with only two people, I definitely can), all those meals drop again!
So for $23.90 (before tax) I end up with:
4lb Turkey
Loaf of Homemade Bread
Bag of Potatoes
Bag of Onions
Head of Romaine Lettuce
Bag of cheese
Bag of Potato Chips
Roma Tomato
Cucumber
None of these numbers include coupon prices!
At the end of THREE meals, I still have most of the bag of potatoes, most of the bag of onions, a small amount of lettuce, a small amount of cheese, half a bag of chips, half a cucumber, half a loaf of bread and some leftoever turkey- We can easily get 4+ meals off this one turkey breast- Day Four could be a few chunks of turkey with some macaroni and cheese- which costs less than $1.00 a box. I have some beans that I canned from a package of dry beans that will be a quick warm up side dish as well.
Or I can go out and spend that same amount of money for a single meal.
When you plan something like cooking a turkey, ham, pot of soup, etc. Try to consider ways you can use the leftovers that will make them fresh and new- and different. The worst is to throw out your leftovers after one meal- instead of paying $3.66 a meal for the turkey, I would end up paying $11 for it. While it is still a better value than going out to eat, the real value comes in the leftovers.
-Kristen
That makes me cringe a little, not going to lie. Then I sat myself down and said wait a minute- let's take a look at these numbers.
Tonight we will have Turkey, potatoes and homemade bread.
Day 1:
Turkey- $11
Potatoes- approx. $0.50 (I paid $2 for a five pound bag and suspect we will not cook more than a pound of potatoes tonight)
Homemade Bread- I'm going to randomly say $1 here for easy math- the cost of the ingredients for each loaf of bread is negligible.
The total of our meal tonight will be $12.50.
But wait. We always have leftover turkey, and on the menu tomorrow night is Shredded turkey in salad!
Day 2:
Turkey- $5.50
Romaine Lettuce- $1.49
Cheese- $2.00
Cucumber- $0.69
Tomato- $0.22
Croutons- $1.00
Onion- $.25 (one onion out of a bag we purchased)
The meal tonight will cost $10.52
But wait! We won't use that whole package of cheese, we will only use half. We will only use half the head of romaine. We will use a small fraction of the cucumber and half the tomato. There will be perhaps a fifth of the bag of croutons used- so our real meal cost looks like this:
Turkey- $5.50
Romaine Lettuce- $0.75
Cheese- $1.00
Cucumber- $0.15
Tomato- $0.11
Croutons- $0.20
Onion- $.25 (one onion out of a bag we purchased)
So our real meal cost is $7.96
We still have turkey leftover. Sandwiches time!
Day 3:
Turkey: $3.66
Romaine- $0.38
Cheese- $.50
Homemade Bread- $0.50
Tomato- $0.11
Chips- $1.25 (half a bag)
Our meal cost is $6.40
We will still have turkey leftover. So do you see how the cost of your ingredients goes down each meal when you do a little planning ahead? By using the turkey for three meals, instead of that original meal costing us $12.50, it will end up costing $5.16. Day 2, instead of costing $7.96 drops to $6.12. Day 3 is $6.40. If I can stretch leftovers until Day 4 (which with only two people, I definitely can), all those meals drop again!
So for $23.90 (before tax) I end up with:
4lb Turkey
Loaf of Homemade Bread
Bag of Potatoes
Bag of Onions
Head of Romaine Lettuce
Bag of cheese
Bag of Potato Chips
Roma Tomato
Cucumber
None of these numbers include coupon prices!
At the end of THREE meals, I still have most of the bag of potatoes, most of the bag of onions, a small amount of lettuce, a small amount of cheese, half a bag of chips, half a cucumber, half a loaf of bread and some leftoever turkey- We can easily get 4+ meals off this one turkey breast- Day Four could be a few chunks of turkey with some macaroni and cheese- which costs less than $1.00 a box. I have some beans that I canned from a package of dry beans that will be a quick warm up side dish as well.
Or I can go out and spend that same amount of money for a single meal.
When you plan something like cooking a turkey, ham, pot of soup, etc. Try to consider ways you can use the leftovers that will make them fresh and new- and different. The worst is to throw out your leftovers after one meal- instead of paying $3.66 a meal for the turkey, I would end up paying $11 for it. While it is still a better value than going out to eat, the real value comes in the leftovers.
-Kristen
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Cheesy Chicken Bake
You'll Need:
2 cups of shredded chicken
2 cups of chicken broth
5 burrito shells (or 10 soft taco shells)
2 cups of shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
3 tbsp of butter
3 tbsp of flour
1 cup of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 (4oz) can of diced green chiles (not spicy)
While your oven is preheating to 350 degrees, grease up your 9x13 pan.
Mix your chicken and 1 cup of your cheese in a bowl. Roll in your tortillas and place in the pan. I added a little extra feta cheese since I had it on hand. Nom nom. I also cut two of the rounded edges off the tortillas once I start to roll- I don't like when there is a ton of extra tortilla- I'm weird, sue me. So, the ends are still rounded, the part you roll over the meat and cheese are straight edged!
In a sauce pan, melt your butter. Sirt in the flour and cook one minute . It kind of looks like you're making a biscuit in a pan at this point. Add in your chicken broth and wisk it until smooth. Heat it over medium heat until it's thick.
Stir in your chiles and cream of chicken soup. Heat and wisk until smooth.
Pour over your stuffed tortillas. Are you drooling yet?
Dump the remaining cheese on top, then Bake for 22 minutes. Under high broil, brown your cheese for another 3 minutes.
It's done!
I think next time I may add in some more cheese and maybe a little salsa inside the shells. This is another very customizable recipe.
-Kristen
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Htipiti Recipe
I've really been enjoying cooking lately- it's amazing what you enjoy doing when you are home all day! However, I do feel like my life revolves around loading and unloading the dishwasher. Sigh
So, on to Htipiti! It's a Greek Dip that I first tasted in a little hippie grocery store- I fell in love with it, but did not want to spend $6.00 for the tiny little container, so I decided to give it a shot myself.
1 12oz Jar of Roasted Red Peppers (or equivalent of peppers you have roasted yourself!)
4 oz (1/2 cup) of Feta Cheese
1 tbsp. of Olive Oil
Red Pepper Flakes to taste
Minced Garlic to taste
The great thing about this recipe is it is highly customizable. You can try it by also adding a teaspoon of lemon juice, more garlic, less garlic, no garlic but a scallion- don't be afraid to play.
Drain your peppers (I also rinse them off in cold water), then lightly squeeze them in a paper towel. You want to remove as much liquid as possible. Also, remove any skin you see on the peppers.
Add your peppers, feta cheese (I used 1/2 heaping cup of crumbles, if you use regular, drain off the liquid and then cut it in to chunks), garlic, pepper flakes and olive oil to your food processor. I use around 4 shakes of the pepper flakes and 3 spoonfuls of garlic- I really like garlic.)
I put some minced garlic in, then added a little "juice" from the garlic jar, which made the dip a little runnier than I was expecting- but it still tastes good!
I think this would make a fantastic alternative to tomato sauce on pizza as well- my mouth is watering just thinking about it! I eat it with Pita Chips! Yum yum.
Refrigerate after it's made and enjoy!
-Kristen
Monday, July 29, 2013
Awesome Diced Potatoes
You'll Need:
*3-4 medium sized russet potatoes. Adjust this based on the amount of people you will be feeding, but these are great- you'll end up scarfing them up, trust me.
* Lipton's/Great Value/Whatever Onion Soup Mix (1 packet)
* 1 tbsp. of Olive Oil.
Peel and dice your potatoes.
In a baking dish, mix your potatoes with the Olive Oil, making sure they are coated. You don't want them too oily. These cook better if they aren't piled up too deeply in your baking dish, so try to keep them to a thin layer.
Dump in your soup mix and stir well, making sure the potatoes are well coated.
Pop in to the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, making sure to keep a check on them. Stir occasionally.
You're done! Delicious! This recipe can also be adjusted to use canned potatoes quite easily- just reduce cooking time in the oven.
-Kristen
*3-4 medium sized russet potatoes. Adjust this based on the amount of people you will be feeding, but these are great- you'll end up scarfing them up, trust me.
* Lipton's/Great Value/Whatever Onion Soup Mix (1 packet)
* 1 tbsp. of Olive Oil.
Peel and dice your potatoes.
In a baking dish, mix your potatoes with the Olive Oil, making sure they are coated. You don't want them too oily. These cook better if they aren't piled up too deeply in your baking dish, so try to keep them to a thin layer.
Dump in your soup mix and stir well, making sure the potatoes are well coated.
Pop in to the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, making sure to keep a check on them. Stir occasionally.
You're done! Delicious! This recipe can also be adjusted to use canned potatoes quite easily- just reduce cooking time in the oven.
-Kristen
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Canning
I'm doing more canning this year- I've found it so darn convenient- I love taking an hour to make 3-4 times the amount of something I need, if it means I will only take 10 minutes to use it later on!
For instance- tonight we had French Onion Soup for dinner. My preferred recipe can take forever to make and messes up multiple dishes (pots, pans, the mandolin slicer, measuring spoons, etc. Not to mention I have to get all that junk out). I also can put it in the exact amounts I need it- we don't end up with WAY too much soup leftover that we have to either toss out or eat until we are sick of it. Money saving! woo hoo! Bags of onions? Cheaper than buying a few at "full" price.
By doing it all at once, I can simply pop open a jar, toss in the croutons and some gruyere cheese and it's done! Today I cut up a small onion (by hand- it's not such a task when it's only ONE) to add a little crunch to the soup. I didn't have to measure a single thing and a dinner that would have taken me an hour to make took 10 minutes.
I plan on canning potatoes this year. I'm able to buy bags of small russets and do all the peeling, dicing, etc. just once. Then I can pop open a can of potatoes, mix up any ingredients I want (I have a killer recipe coming for you guys- cheap, easy and quick!) and voila- fancy side dish is done. It also will take them a shorter time to cook, since the potatoes cook while being canned.
Don't feel good? Pop open a can of french onion soup instead of ordering pizza. In a hurry? Pop open a can of potatoes to make hashbrowns, instead of paying out the nose for a bag of frozen ones. Not to mention- my salsa tastes way better than the junk you get at Walmart. Sorry- but it's totally true. Healthier too- we don't get all that extra sugar, GMOs, whatever.
There is something satisfying in seeing all that homemade food on your shelves as well. Makes me feel so darn self-sufficient!
-Kristen
For instance- tonight we had French Onion Soup for dinner. My preferred recipe can take forever to make and messes up multiple dishes (pots, pans, the mandolin slicer, measuring spoons, etc. Not to mention I have to get all that junk out). I also can put it in the exact amounts I need it- we don't end up with WAY too much soup leftover that we have to either toss out or eat until we are sick of it. Money saving! woo hoo! Bags of onions? Cheaper than buying a few at "full" price.
By doing it all at once, I can simply pop open a jar, toss in the croutons and some gruyere cheese and it's done! Today I cut up a small onion (by hand- it's not such a task when it's only ONE) to add a little crunch to the soup. I didn't have to measure a single thing and a dinner that would have taken me an hour to make took 10 minutes.
I plan on canning potatoes this year. I'm able to buy bags of small russets and do all the peeling, dicing, etc. just once. Then I can pop open a can of potatoes, mix up any ingredients I want (I have a killer recipe coming for you guys- cheap, easy and quick!) and voila- fancy side dish is done. It also will take them a shorter time to cook, since the potatoes cook while being canned.
Don't feel good? Pop open a can of french onion soup instead of ordering pizza. In a hurry? Pop open a can of potatoes to make hashbrowns, instead of paying out the nose for a bag of frozen ones. Not to mention- my salsa tastes way better than the junk you get at Walmart. Sorry- but it's totally true. Healthier too- we don't get all that extra sugar, GMOs, whatever.
There is something satisfying in seeing all that homemade food on your shelves as well. Makes me feel so darn self-sufficient!
-Kristen
Monday, July 22, 2013
Benefits of Eating In-
I was thinking today- as I often do. The topic was money and how to acquire more of it, or keep more of what I have- as it often is.
I thought of the website 5 Dollar Dinners and said to myself "Hmm. $5 a dinner for a month is $150. Fast Food at $12 for 2 people is $360. $20 a dinner (going out to a decent place for 2 people) is $600! WOW."
That's right. Eating at home can save so much money. I know most of us won't spend $20 a meal every night, but think about it this way- Let's say you go out for a sit down dinner twice a week (let's call it dinner on the weekend), and grab fast food one night a week. That's $72 in food that week, compared to $35 making a $5 dinner each night. Wowza- that's twice the cost.
Sometimes you can come in better than $5 by eating out. For instance- by utilizing a Papa John's coupon code tonight, I got a large pizza with tons of toppings for $8.54. We'll get two meals (for 2 people) off the one pizza, coming out to $4.27 for each meal.
Now is the time to start if you are interested in making cheaper meals. Cheap corn is easily frozen. You can go ahead and can your tomatoes, freeze your peppers- whatever you want to do. I'm going to try canning potatoes this year as a quick to prepare and inexpensive side dish.
Couponing and working the sales is essential to making cheap dinners. When you do go out, utilize coupons and bring home leftovers! $20 for your two people meal out isn't a budget buster if you get two meals off of it!
Drink water! That helps cut the costs of eating out as well.
The benefits to eating at home extend beyond saving money. You know what is in your food, how it was prepared, you don't have to wait in line to get it and it always is going to be just the way you like it.
I'm currently working on eating in more. It's satisfying to make your own meal and even more satisfying to make it with ingredients you grew or hand chose.
-Kristen
I thought of the website 5 Dollar Dinners and said to myself "Hmm. $5 a dinner for a month is $150. Fast Food at $12 for 2 people is $360. $20 a dinner (going out to a decent place for 2 people) is $600! WOW."
That's right. Eating at home can save so much money. I know most of us won't spend $20 a meal every night, but think about it this way- Let's say you go out for a sit down dinner twice a week (let's call it dinner on the weekend), and grab fast food one night a week. That's $72 in food that week, compared to $35 making a $5 dinner each night. Wowza- that's twice the cost.
Sometimes you can come in better than $5 by eating out. For instance- by utilizing a Papa John's coupon code tonight, I got a large pizza with tons of toppings for $8.54. We'll get two meals (for 2 people) off the one pizza, coming out to $4.27 for each meal.
Now is the time to start if you are interested in making cheaper meals. Cheap corn is easily frozen. You can go ahead and can your tomatoes, freeze your peppers- whatever you want to do. I'm going to try canning potatoes this year as a quick to prepare and inexpensive side dish.
Couponing and working the sales is essential to making cheap dinners. When you do go out, utilize coupons and bring home leftovers! $20 for your two people meal out isn't a budget buster if you get two meals off of it!
Drink water! That helps cut the costs of eating out as well.
The benefits to eating at home extend beyond saving money. You know what is in your food, how it was prepared, you don't have to wait in line to get it and it always is going to be just the way you like it.
I'm currently working on eating in more. It's satisfying to make your own meal and even more satisfying to make it with ingredients you grew or hand chose.
-Kristen
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Canning French Onion Soup
We enjoy French Onion Soup, but it's such a pain to make fresh- so many dishes to mess up, etc. So I pressure canned some!
You'll need:
Canning jars
Pressure Canner (you can not process this using a water bath)
8 cups of beef broth
8 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of white cooking wine (optional)
4 tbsp of garlic
7 medium onions
worcestershire sauce (to taste, I used around 20 quick shakes)
butter
Slice your 7 medium onions, then half them. I've found that a mandoline slicer makes this step incredibly easy. It was an onerous task the first time I made this soup. Set your onions aside.
Mix your beef broth, chicken broth, white wine, garlic and worcestershire sauce in a big pot. You may have to do it in two pots unless you have a large stock pot. If you do it in batches, just split the ingredients in half. Stir well, then heat up over a burner until it starts to boil.
While your liquids are heating up, caramelize your onions in a pan with 2 tbsp of butter. This is another step I had to do in small batches.
When your onions are ready, split them in to your canning jars. I made 4 quart jars and 3 small pints of soup based on this recipe. (Please note, on the original recipe I tried, I found that the lady called for 12 cups of broth only and it supposedly filled up 5 quart jars. I did not find this to be the case and increased the amount of liquid to 16 cups of broth and added the 2 cups of wine).
Pour your broth over top of your onions, leaving about an inch of headspace.
Add your tops and rings, then place in your pressure cooker. You'll want to process them for 75 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.
When you are ready to eat your soup, just pop open a jar, add some crusty french bread and some gruyere or mozarella cheese and voila! Delicious.
-Kristen
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Save Money- Eat Soup!
Well, one good thing about late fall and winter is that it is the perfect weather for soup.
Soup is the perfect food for saving money.
I purchased a package of Bear Creek Potato Soup Mix at Walmart the other day. It cost $3.89, give or take a few cents.
I put the small package in to 8 cups of boiling water and voila- I end up with 8 cups of soup. Toss in some grated cheddar cheese, put a piece of bread on the side and there we have it- a cheap dinner. We end up with around 6 bowls of soup. Over the course of those 6 bowls, we use less than a bag of shredded cheese ($2.00) and the amount of bread is such a negligible price, but let's call it $0.10 per slice.
So the total for 3 meals for myself and Tim is $6.49. It works out to $1.09 per person, per meal. You can toss in a little ham (great use for leftover Christmas ham) and it ups the price a little, but still- where else can you go and get a full meal for $1.09?
Now is the time to invest in an excellent soup cookbook or start flipping through old books for new recipes. It's a great way to find cheap dinner ideas- plus there is the opportunity for leftovers!
-Kristen
Soup is the perfect food for saving money.
I purchased a package of Bear Creek Potato Soup Mix at Walmart the other day. It cost $3.89, give or take a few cents.
I put the small package in to 8 cups of boiling water and voila- I end up with 8 cups of soup. Toss in some grated cheddar cheese, put a piece of bread on the side and there we have it- a cheap dinner. We end up with around 6 bowls of soup. Over the course of those 6 bowls, we use less than a bag of shredded cheese ($2.00) and the amount of bread is such a negligible price, but let's call it $0.10 per slice.
So the total for 3 meals for myself and Tim is $6.49. It works out to $1.09 per person, per meal. You can toss in a little ham (great use for leftover Christmas ham) and it ups the price a little, but still- where else can you go and get a full meal for $1.09?
Now is the time to invest in an excellent soup cookbook or start flipping through old books for new recipes. It's a great way to find cheap dinner ideas- plus there is the opportunity for leftovers!
-Kristen
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Make ahead Cookies
Do you do a lot of baking? What about around the holidays?
Try making your dough ahead of time, or doubling your recipe when you are making cookies. Take the extra dough and roll it out into a block about an inch thick and the size of the bag you want to store it in. Score the dough (you can take something as simple as a toothpick to score it), then freeze the dough and simply snap off however many frozen cookie dough blocks you need later on!
You can also put the dough in ice cube trays and flash freeze it. Then pop the dough out of the trays, put them in a freezer bag or food saver back and stick them in the freezer until needed. It will save you a lot of time, mess and money later on!
-Kristen
Try making your dough ahead of time, or doubling your recipe when you are making cookies. Take the extra dough and roll it out into a block about an inch thick and the size of the bag you want to store it in. Score the dough (you can take something as simple as a toothpick to score it), then freeze the dough and simply snap off however many frozen cookie dough blocks you need later on!
You can also put the dough in ice cube trays and flash freeze it. Then pop the dough out of the trays, put them in a freezer bag or food saver back and stick them in the freezer until needed. It will save you a lot of time, mess and money later on!
-Kristen
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
French Onion Soup
The French Onion soup recipe I tried was...a success! I was worried because I'd never made it before, but found a recipe about how to can it.
I had originally planned to make a huge batch and do a lot of canning, but the onions were so tear-inducing that I gave up and just made a batch for us to eat for dinner.
Ok, the batch ended up big enough a dozen people could come eat for dinner, but who's counting servings?
I'm going to tweak the recipe a little (cause you know what I do), then I'll post it here!
-Kristen
I had originally planned to make a huge batch and do a lot of canning, but the onions were so tear-inducing that I gave up and just made a batch for us to eat for dinner.
Ok, the batch ended up big enough a dozen people could come eat for dinner, but who's counting servings?
I'm going to tweak the recipe a little (cause you know what I do), then I'll post it here!
-Kristen
Monday, October 29, 2012
Storing
I've always joked I'm part squirrel, because I love to "squirrel" things away. I've got a tendency towards pack-ratty-ness, but thankfully nothing Hoarder level.
I think this is why canning appeals to me so much. I've got the opportunity to take too much of something (like too many tomatoes, too many peppers, etc) and turn it in to something I can store and use later- salsa, canned tomatoes, stew fixings, etc.
Imagine how excited I am right now to have a bag of apples, a carving pumpkin and five pie pumpkins sitting on my dining room table, waiting to be stored.
I'm expecting to use most of the pumpkins to can pumpkin pie filling- that way when I want to make one, I have it already cooked and spiced- voila! Tim has guilted me in to making some more apple butter, so that takes care of the apples.
However- I've got something new to can that is making me all kinds of excited:
French Onion Soup! That's one of those things that is yummy, but can be a pain to make, between cutting the onions, caramelizing them, etc- plus you end up making too much and you mess up a lot of dishes, spoons, etc.
I'm planning on making a big batch of the soup and canning it in to more manageable portions (sans cheese and croutons of course), so any time we want some, we can just eat it up and eat. Look for that post soon.
Canning is definitely a good way to direct my "storing" tendencies. It leads to less mess, less clean up and more good food for us! Yum yum.
-Kristen
I think this is why canning appeals to me so much. I've got the opportunity to take too much of something (like too many tomatoes, too many peppers, etc) and turn it in to something I can store and use later- salsa, canned tomatoes, stew fixings, etc.
Imagine how excited I am right now to have a bag of apples, a carving pumpkin and five pie pumpkins sitting on my dining room table, waiting to be stored.
I'm expecting to use most of the pumpkins to can pumpkin pie filling- that way when I want to make one, I have it already cooked and spiced- voila! Tim has guilted me in to making some more apple butter, so that takes care of the apples.
However- I've got something new to can that is making me all kinds of excited:
French Onion Soup! That's one of those things that is yummy, but can be a pain to make, between cutting the onions, caramelizing them, etc- plus you end up making too much and you mess up a lot of dishes, spoons, etc.
I'm planning on making a big batch of the soup and canning it in to more manageable portions (sans cheese and croutons of course), so any time we want some, we can just eat it up and eat. Look for that post soon.
Canning is definitely a good way to direct my "storing" tendencies. It leads to less mess, less clean up and more good food for us! Yum yum.
-Kristen
Monday, October 22, 2012
Pancake Batter Dispenser
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| Not my picture- like I have that much counter space! |
The next time you finish a squeeze bottle of ketchup, rather than tossing out the bottle, wash it out. Put in your pancake batter and you can squeeze out exact amounts instead of slopping the batter all over the place while you try to spoon it in to your pan.
You could even do fun shapes with the control the bottle gives you.
-Kristen
Monday, October 1, 2012
McCormick's Recipe Inspirations
I don't get paid or any kind of anything for telling you about these. Hi McCormick! Come pay me!
A friend of mine gave us a package of McCormick Recipe Inspirations recently. She had purchased it, but decided she probably wouldn't get around to using it, though she loves these little packages.
Basically, it's the spices you need for a particular recipe (recipe card is on the back of the package). They are pre-measured and actually really convenient. So if your spice cabinet is not as stuffed full as mine are, read on!
We made the Apple & Sage Pork Chops and they were incredible. I'm not a big fan of "sweet meat", but this recipe was much more savory than sweet. I didn't have Allspice or Rubbed Sage on hand, so it worked out well to have it in the package. Plus, now I have the recipe card so when inevitably I do get the Rubbed Sage and Allspice, I can make my own recipe, minus a little convenience. The ingredients I needed outside the spices were minimal- an apple, an onion, the pork chops, apple juice and a tbsp of flour. Not bad at all.
There are quite a few different flavor packets- I am thinking these would be perfect to take on vacation with you, if you know you'll be cooking in the room. I'm actually planning on getting at least one packet for the upcoming trip to Florida.
So, here is an easy way to spice up your cooking- learn a bit about flavors and how they interact while making a quick and easy meal. It'll impress anyone that eats it and you don't have have a Ph.D. in Cooking to pull off the recipe.
Overall- I'm a huge fan!
-Kristen
A friend of mine gave us a package of McCormick Recipe Inspirations recently. She had purchased it, but decided she probably wouldn't get around to using it, though she loves these little packages.
Basically, it's the spices you need for a particular recipe (recipe card is on the back of the package). They are pre-measured and actually really convenient. So if your spice cabinet is not as stuffed full as mine are, read on!
We made the Apple & Sage Pork Chops and they were incredible. I'm not a big fan of "sweet meat", but this recipe was much more savory than sweet. I didn't have Allspice or Rubbed Sage on hand, so it worked out well to have it in the package. Plus, now I have the recipe card so when inevitably I do get the Rubbed Sage and Allspice, I can make my own recipe, minus a little convenience. The ingredients I needed outside the spices were minimal- an apple, an onion, the pork chops, apple juice and a tbsp of flour. Not bad at all.
There are quite a few different flavor packets- I am thinking these would be perfect to take on vacation with you, if you know you'll be cooking in the room. I'm actually planning on getting at least one packet for the upcoming trip to Florida.
So, here is an easy way to spice up your cooking- learn a bit about flavors and how they interact while making a quick and easy meal. It'll impress anyone that eats it and you don't have have a Ph.D. in Cooking to pull off the recipe.
Overall- I'm a huge fan!
-Kristen
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Apple Chips
I was given a bag of red delicious apples yesterday- yum yum. Red delicious are most definitely my favorite and these are crisp and sweet. However, there are definitely more than I can eat, so I decided to give dehydrating them a shot.
I only made two trays (two apples) because I didn't want to mess them up and waste the entire bag. I sliced the apples around 1/8th of an inch thick and left the skin on. One tray was plain, one tray had cinnamon sprinkled on it's apples. I started the dehydrator at 6:00pm last night and then checked the apples when I got out of the shower this morning, around 8:15.
Perfection! The apple chips are crisp, but not burnt. There is a very slight discoloration from being exposed to the air, but it's not bad at all.
I packed the flavored and unflavored chips in to separate mason jars and sealed them. I'll let them sit for a few days (shaking the jar occasionally) so that any moisture helps redistribute, then they will go in to food-saver bags. I'm confident in my ability to make delicious apple chips now- hooray! Now I just need to find that recipe for dehydrated apple pie... what a time saver it would be later on!
-Kristen
I only made two trays (two apples) because I didn't want to mess them up and waste the entire bag. I sliced the apples around 1/8th of an inch thick and left the skin on. One tray was plain, one tray had cinnamon sprinkled on it's apples. I started the dehydrator at 6:00pm last night and then checked the apples when I got out of the shower this morning, around 8:15.
Perfection! The apple chips are crisp, but not burnt. There is a very slight discoloration from being exposed to the air, but it's not bad at all.
I packed the flavored and unflavored chips in to separate mason jars and sealed them. I'll let them sit for a few days (shaking the jar occasionally) so that any moisture helps redistribute, then they will go in to food-saver bags. I'm confident in my ability to make delicious apple chips now- hooray! Now I just need to find that recipe for dehydrated apple pie... what a time saver it would be later on!
-Kristen
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