Frugal Menu Mamas

Well, its Friday again.  My freezer co-op meets tomorrow, yippee!  I enjoy restocking my freezer.  For this exchange, I made teriyaki chicken.  Basically, its a marinade that you freeze fresh chicken in.  I like that idea.  So, one of my new thoughts is to have a few tried and true marinade recipes and ingredients on hand.  Then, the next time boneless, skinless chicken is on sale, buy a bunch and make several marinades.  Freeze some of the chicken in the marinades and you have a quick, easy, and cheap freezer meal! 

This recipe came from the Once-A-Month Cooking cookbook.  I have only used a few recipes from this cookbook, but have enjoyed all of the ones tried so far.  If you have a cookbook, you’d like to do a review on for us, please email me at:  chadsjoy@gmail.com.

Enjoy!

Teriyaki Chicken

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tbs. red wine vinegar

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 small minced garlic clove

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 lb. boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

-Mix soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, oil, garlic, and ginger to make the marinade.

-Put chicken into a 1 gallon Ziploc bag and pour marinade over.  Freeze flat.

-When preparing to serve, thaw chicken.  Pour chicken and marinade into a baking dish.

-Bake at 350 F for 35 minutes.  Serve over rice.

SUPER EASY!

I made this yummy crock pot recipe tonight.  Got the recipe from a friend a year or so ago and we love it!

First, a tip about the meat.  This is a pork roast recipe.  Pork roasts can be expensive if you don’t buy them on sale.  A inexpensive way to get a great cut is to get it at Sam’s.  When we lived in Florida, a friend gave us this idea.  We go to Sam’s and get the huge, long pork tenderloin.  We have the meat man cut it into 2 good size roasts and the rest into chops.  This way, we get it for about $1.97/lb.  I freeze it all in individual meal sizes.  I also only buy pork every other month or every 3 months.

Here it is:

Teriyaki Pork Roast

3/4 cup apple juice

2 Tbs.  sugar

2 Tbs.  soy sauce

1 Tbs. vinegar

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 lean boneless pork loin roast (about 2  3/4 lb.)

3 Tbs. cold water

1 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch

-Place roast in crock pot.

-Mix apple juice, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic powder, and pepper. Pour over roast.  Cover and cook on high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours or until meat is very tender.

-Transfer meat to a warm platter.  Cover and keep warm.

-Strain cooking liquid and place in a small saucepan.  Skim off fat, if desired.  Over medium heat, bring to a boil.

-Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix water and cornstarch until smooth.  Stir into boiling liquid.  Stirring, bring to a boil and boil for 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened.  Serve gravy separately.

-This says to serve with fried rice and mixed Oriental vegetables.  I don’t.  I serve it with mashed potatoes.  We pour the gravy over the meat and over potatoes.  DELICIOUS!

Check out this great series on 100 different ways to save $100 this year on Money Saving Mom.  I use several of her ideas like a budget, a partial cash system, the envelope system, meatless meals, menu planning, using thrift stores, and the library.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

Sorry for the lack of posts.  It has been an incredibily crazy week, which I will explain later.  Tonight we are having Teriyaki Pork Roast in the crock pot and I KNOW you will want this recipe.  Its from my friend, Angela, and we love it.  Check back soon!

This post is by my friend, Wendy, who has been making one big pot of soup each week all winter.  I asked her to share one of the recipes with us.  Thanks Wendy for the guest post, great photo, and yummy sounding recipe!  Wendy also let me know that on Saturday the roasting chickens were on sale at Wal-mart for $.78/lb.

Chicken, Lentil, Barley Soup

1 & 1/2 cup to 2 cups shredded chicken $2.75 (I buy a whole roasting chicken at Walmart for .88 cents a lb. This one was $5.50 for the whole thing. I roast it with veggies and potatoes for dinner one night and use the left over for the soup. I actually had even more left over with this particular chicken and used it as well to make chicken salads.)

10 cups chicken stock-make your own from the roasting chicken FREE  (POST ON THIS SOON TO COME!)
(if you prefer to buy your stock you will need 2 & 1/2 boxes $4.25)

1 can petite cup diced tomatoes .43

1 small bag mixed veggies .99

1/4 to 1/3 cup frozen chopped spinach leafs .25

1/4 cup lentils .10

2/3 cup quick cooking barley .30

Hot sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbs onion powder
1 tsp basil
salt
pepper

In a large stock pot, bring chicken stock and diced tomatoes to a boil. Add frozen veggies and lentils, return to boil. Add chicken, spinach, and barley. Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic powder, onion powder, and basil. Add hot sauce, salt, and pepper to taste. (I’m pretty liberal with the seasoning. I actually use a little more garlic powder, onion powder, and basil than the recipe calls for as well) Reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer slightly covered for 45 minutes to an hour, or until lentils are tender.

I made this soup last Tues and have served it for lunch almost every day since and I still have a little left so it really goes a long way.

Did I make it under $50 for dinners last week?  Let’s see:

Monday-Taco Soup & corn muffins $7.05

Tuesday-ham & cheese stromboli  approx. $4

Wednesday- leftovers FREE

Thursday-Chicken Tortellini Soup $6.35 + homemade bread & butter ~$.75= $7.10

Friday-Cooker Chop, peas, rice $6.25

Saturday-hot dogs & leftovers (we went out for big lunch)  $2

Sunday-We ate more leftovers because it was a busy day!  FREE

TOTAL ON DINNERS FOR THE WEEK=$26.40

So, far I’ve learned 2 things:  #1-I make many meals that cost more that $5 (I thought maybe I could be a $5 dinner mom  :)  )  #2-Staying under $50 a week for dinners is not too hard for our family.  HOW DOES YOUR FAMILY DO?

Check back later for how I did last week at $50 for dinners and on Tuesday a guest post by my friend, Wendy.

Here is our menu plan for the week:

Monday-spaghetti & meatballs (I didn’t get to last week-this is happening a lot!), “golf ball” bread
Tuesday-baked potato soup, salad, bread
Wednesday-LEFTOVERS
Thursday-Teriyaki pork roast, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole
Friday-country style steak (from the freezer), leftover mashed potatoes, peas
Saturday-DATE NIGHT so something for dinner like nuggets or leftovers
Sunday-grilled cheese, fruit

For more great menu plans, check out OrgJunkie’s Menu Planning Monday.

Here is a yummy soup recipe I think I found on Mommysavers a few years ago.  I have tweaked it some for our family.  My changes are in parentheses.  And let me just say…USE LOW SODIUM CHICKEN BROTH.  If not, it is way too salty.  You could also reduce the amount of boulion to help with that.  Also, I did take a picture of this yummy soup, but now I cannot find the USB cord for my camera.  :(  Anyway, this is tasty!

Chicken Tortellini Soup

(I usually half the recipe)

4 cans low sodium chicken broth (I used 1 box this time=$1.29 @ Aldi)

2 cups water (I used 1=free)

4 chicken boulion cubes (I used 2=I don’t know, its been in the cabinet awhile, maybe $.30)

2 large skinless chicken breasts (I used a package of boneless, skinless tenderloins=$1.96 @ Kroger)

1 T. olive oil ($.10)

pepper ($.05)

onion powder ($.05)

garlic powder ($.05)

Italian seasoning ($.05)

5 cups cheese filled tortellini (I used 1/2 of a 13 oz. bag of dry Barilla 3 Cheese Tortellini=$2.50 for half @ Wal-mart)

TOTAL=$6.35

-Pour oil in large pot.  Heat until hot.  Add chicken and season heavily with the seasonings.  Cook until lightly browned.  Once chicken is browned, add chicken broth, water, and boulion.  Bring to a boil.  Once at a boil, turn down to med-low heat and simmer until chicken falls off the bone (mine was boneless).  Remove bones from broth (again boneless).  Let simmer for another 15 minutes then bring up to a boil and add tortellini.  Bring to another boil and cook for amount of time the package calls for.

-Serve hot with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on and with hot crusty bread.

Happy Friday!

Sorry this is late!  I couldn’t figure out what recipe to post!  As I’m typing, I still don’t know and am hoping something will come to me.  :)  A reader did send me this link to Kraft Foods website that has some suggestions for freezer recipes. OK, I decided on a yummy recipe I made awhile back.  It makes one 9 x 13 size pan, but I gave everyone 2 8 x8 size portions.  I also divided the topping into 2 bags.  This recipe is from the freezer co-op e-book available through 30 Day Gourmet.

Poppy Seed Chicken

Makes one 9 x 13 pan

5 oz. wide egg noodles

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 1 /2 cup chicken broth

16 oz. sour cream

4 cups boneless, skinless chicken, cooked and cut into small pieces

½ stick margarine, melted

1 ½ cup Ritz crackers, crushed

2 T. poppy seed

Cook noodles slightly less than package directions. Mix soup with broth together. Drain noodles and add to broth mixture. Add sour cream. Stir in chicken. Freeze in gallon Ziplock bag. Combine crackers, poppy seeds, and melted butter and freeze in separate bag. To serve: Thaw chicken mixture, Spread in 9 x 13 pan and stir (mixture will separate in freezing.) Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Stir, add topping and bake 15 more minutes or until bubbly.

So, when I posted about menu planning many weeks ago, I mentioned that I plan one crock pot meal per week.  This is for many reasons:

-It saves money by not using energy from the stove or oven.

-In the summer, it doesn’t heat up the house.

-It gives me a break from cooking during that “crunch” time of the day.

-It makes life easier.

-There are so many yummy easy recipes to use with the crock pot!  Check out the CrockPot Lady for some ideas.  And I will be posting my favorites on here every so often.

I am picky about using my crock pot.  I do not make any recipes that require cooking the food prior to putting it in the crock pot.  (I might make a few that require ground beef since I normally cook mine up as soon as I buy it.)  Cooking food before putting it in the crock pot defeats the purpose of the crock pot being easy (in my opinion)!  I have the Fix It and Forget It cookbook.  The recipe I’m posting is from that cookbook, but many of the recipes I’ve gotten from friends or from the internet.  I hope you enjoy!

Cooker Chops

4 pork chops ( I prefer boneless-$1.97/lb. @ Sam’s, so about $3?)

1/4 cup ketchup (~$.30)

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (~$.20)

1 can cream of mushroom ($.49 @ Aldi)

2 cups rice ($.50)

1 can peas ($1.76-I only eat LeSeur and they weren’t on sale.)

TOTAL COST=$6.25 (less for us, we only use 2 pork chops)

-Place chops in crock pot.  Combine all other ingredients (except rice & peas) and pour over chops.  Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 8-10 hours.

-Cook rice according to package and peas according to can and use as sides.

-Serve pork chops with rice and the “goop” from the crock pot.