Frugal Menu Mamas

I think my quest is over! I have not found the EXACT recipe I was looking for but this is sooooooo close!  It was delicious.  I loved that it cooked in the slow cooker.  However, it took me forever to chop all the celery and carrots and onions and to peel 5 pounds of potatoes.  I had celery and carrots left over, so I am going to chop them now and freeze them in the amounts the recipe calls for.  Then next time, I’ll just pull them out of the freezer all ready to go.  That’s right, I said next time because I will be making this again.  My husband, sister, and I all loved it!  The texture was just right and the flavor was fantastic.  My husband didn’t even mind the carrots and celery that he usually doesn’t like and I didn’t even mind the onions.  So, I suggest you check it out and try it!  I don’t know if it freezes well, so I took a little of it and filled a quart size Ziploc and froze it.  We’ll see in a week or so how it looks and tastes. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!  And thanks for joining me on this quest that is now over. 

Creamy Slow Cooker Potato Soup

I know, weird huh?  We had lots of guests this week and getting a post up yesterday was just too much.  Plus, I actually made a freezer meal today and I wanted to post it for you today with a photo!  :)  I got this recipe from the book Don’t Panic, Dinner’s in the Freezer.  I like that I just bought all the ingredients and plopped them in a freezer bag!  So easy!  I like even more that to prepare it all I did was thaw it and plop it in the crock pot!  So simple!  Can you tell I’m excited?  Oh yeah, it tasted good, too!  :)  The picture does not do it justice…

Hawaiian Chicken

6 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

2 16 oz. cans pineapple slices, drained

2 15 oz. cans mandarin oranges, drained

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

rice

Optional-green pepper chunks, almonds

To Freeze:  Place chicken in freezer bag.  Mix together fruit, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice, salt, ginger, and ground red pepper.  Pour over the chicken in bag.  Freeze.

To Serve:  Thaw chicken mixture.  Place in crock pot, cover, and cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.  Add green pepper chunks to the crock pot one hour before serving, if desired.  To serve, sppon over rice and top with toasted almonds.

When I did this, I made this recipe and used 4 large chicken breasts.  I divided it all into 2 bags, since we don’t need much and made it into 2 freezer meals. I omitted the green pepper and almonds.  I also did not like the oranges too much. 

One more thing, the freezer lasagna that my mom wrote about last week?  Well, those photos are of a batch that she brought here.  We ate it Thursday night and it was delicious!

Next week, I will be on vacation….actually until the 6th or 7th of July.  I have set up some posts to auto-post, but you may not get all the same stuff.  Bear with me and check back in a week and a half!  Thanks!

Welcome to the “TOP 5″!  This regular feature will explore the top five easy and frugal ways to use various food items.  The last food item was boneless/skinless chicken breasts.

Today’s item:  a rotisserie chicken.  Can you say “YUM!”?  This item can be found at your local supermarket in the deli section.  This did not used to be a typically frugal item.  In past years they have been $6-$7 a bird!  Yikes!  This price caused me to become creative about using the rotisserie chicken for more than one meal.  Now, they are priced $4.99 at Kroger, which is a pretty nice price.  However, saving money is the goal…so here are some more ways to stretch your bird…

#1-First, serve it as a main dish with inexpensive sides like a baked potato or rice and a veggie.  If you have a more than 4 people in your family, this may be all   you can do.

#2-Chop up or shred the leftovers for a recipe later in the week or freeze in one cup portions for later.  How about this one?

#3-Use the extra chicken for casseroles like Chicken Casserole, salads, or soups.

#4-Use the extra chicken for sandwiches like chicken salad sandwiches or BBQ chicken sandwiches.

#5-Use the extra chicken for making simple chicken quesadillas or a wrap.

Now, if you want to be even more frugal, make your own rotisserie chicken.  How you ask?  Buy a whole bird when it is on sale, I just got one for $.79/lb. and at that price a 5 lb. bird is only $3.95.  Then cook it in your crock pot.  First, ball up aluminum foil into 4 balls.  Place those in the bottom of your crock pot and place the chicken on top.  Use one of these delicious recipes from the CrockPot Lady!  I made one on Monday night, but forgot to take a photo!

I know there are more than 5 uses for a rotisserie chicken.  Here are a few more ideas, but I want to hear from you!

Leave a comment with your favorite ideas or link up to your post with Mr. Linky about the best uses for a rotisserie chicken.

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!

So, I was talking to a friend last night who is also trying to use the crock pot more.  For those of you who don’t use your crock pot, why not??  It is so easy!  Now personally, I do not make anything in my crock pot that I have to cook first.  Some recipes ask you to brown the chicken or beef first.  I feel like this defeats the purpose of using the crock pot to make life easier.  :)  I also like that using the crock pot in the summer means that my home is not heated up by the oven.

If you are looking for some good crock pot recipes to get you going, check out The Crock Pot Lady’s blog.  She used her crock pot every day in 2008!  It wasn’t always dinners, she did breakfasts, desserts, beverages, and dips, too.  I have tried two recipes from her site so far and LOVED them both.  Try the “brown sugar chicken” and the “rotisserie style chicken”.  I have trouble with a new crock pot that cooks too fast and she has a great post about that, too.

So, the recipe I’m going to post today is a crock pot recipe, but not from that site.  :)  Its from my friend, she made it for us once and it was delicioius.  I’ve never made it, so I don’t have the price breakdown on it yet, but enjoy it!

Mediterranean-Style Pot Roast

1 2-3 lb. boneless beef chuck pot roast

1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (use the ones withbasil, oregano, and garlic, undrained)

1/4 cup sliced pitted black olives

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. dried herbs de Provence-crushed (my friend just used Italian seasoning)

1 tsp. coarsely ground pepper

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 medium onion

-In crock pot, place sliced onion and add meat.  In bowl, stir together tomatoes, olives, Worcestershire, herbs, & pepper.  Pour over mixture in crock pot.

-Cover & cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

-Remove from crock pot.  Arrange meat & mixture on serving platter.  Sprinkle with feta cheese.

I thought you’d like to have some of the recipes I am using, so each week I will post a few. As part of sticking to my $50 per week for dinners, I will be figuring the cost of each meal. I encourage you to do the same to see where your money is going. (Some things will be estimates.)

This is a great recipe for the crock pot that the kids will eat!

Cheesy Chicken & Rice

2-4 chicken breasts ($1.77/lb. @ Kroger, approx. $3.54 for 4)

2 cans cream of chicken soup ($.49 each @ Aldi)

1 can cheddar cheese soup ($1.67 @ Kroger, used a $.40 off 2 coupon that

doubled, so actually $1.27 each)

½ tsp. garlic powder (maybe $.05)

2 cups rice ($.76 –Kroger 2 lb. bag $1.89)

corn (depends on how you like it, 1 can @ Kroger $.79,

1 bag frozen corn @ Kroger $1)

TOTAL COST $7.39 (less for my family, we only use 2 chicken breasts)

Put chicken breasts in crock pot. Mix together the soups and garlic powder. Pour over chicken.

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours (this depends on your crock pot, my cooks fast). At

meal time, cook rice according to package and serve the chicken with the soup goop over the

rice. Serve with frozen corn, canned corn, or corn on the cob.

Here is another from this week’s menu plan:

Crispy Parmesan Chicken Strips

(from Pampered Chef’s Stoneware Sensations cookbook)

1 ½ cups seasoned croutons, crushed ($.95 @Aldi)

1 ½ ounces (1/3 cup) Parmesan cheese ($.56 –Kroger brand is $2.92 for 8 oz.)

1 tsp. dried parsley (maybe $.05)

¼ tsp. garlic salt (maybe $.02)

2 egg whites ($.30—Kroger large eggs 18 ct. $2.67)

1 Tbs. Water (free)

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast ($1.77) cut into 1-inch pieces

¼ cup prepare lite ranch dressing (approx. $.50—Kroger, Hidden Valley Ranch

dressing $4.69 for 24 oz.)

Macaroni N Cheese (I am going to use Velveeta Shells N Cheese I got for $1.67 each @ Sams, to make it cheaper you could have a meal another night of homemade mac and then use leftovers for the side here)

Salad (I need cheap salad ideas! We just use a ½ head of iceberg lettuce $.47, 1/3 of a cucumber $.33, and 1/3 a bell pepper, $.66. We add cheese and croutons or eggs if we have them and they are cheap.)

TOTAL: $7.28

Preheat oven to 450 F. Crush coutons in researlable plastic bag. In cowl, combin crouton crumbs, cheese, parsely and garlic salt. Whisk egg whites and water. Dip chicken pieces into egg mixture, then into crumb mixture to coat evenly. Arrange on stone. Bake 14-16 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Serve with dressing.

THIS IS SO YUMMY!

Easy Baked Potato Soup (from an old Quick Cooking magazine—NEW to us)

3-4 medium baking potatoes, baked (approx. $.67—Kroger 5 lb. bag $1.99)

5 bacon strips, diced ($1—Kroger bacon $3)

2 can cream of potato soup, undiluted ($.99 each @ Kroger)

1 can cheddar cheese soup, undiluted ($1.27)

3 ½ cups milk ($.70 –Kroger gal. milk $3.19)

2 tsp. garlic powder (maybe $.05)

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (maybe $.10)

½ tsp. onion powder (maybe $.02)

¼ tsp. pepper (maybe $.02)

1 cup sour cream (8 oz.) ($.50—Kroger 16 oz. $1)

shredded cheddar cheese (maybe $.50)

Serve with bread. (I got a manager’s special loaf of Italian for $.99)

TOTAL: $7.78

Peel and dice the baked potatoes; set aside. In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels. Drain, reserving 1 ½ tsp. drippings. Add the soups, milk, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, pepper, and reserved potatoes to the drippings. Cook, uncovered for 10 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally. Stir in sour cream; cook for 1=2 minutes or until heated through (do not boil). Garnish with cheese and bacon.