Thursday Dinner

Tonight I cooked one of those Eye of Round roasts that Lowes Foods had on sale last week. This is the method I used and it came out great - medium-rare and reasonably tender, given what a tough cut this is.

High Temperature Eye of Round Roast

I sliced it thin and served it with gravy (from a packet) and horseradish. I also made rice and Japanese-style sauteed squash and zucchini with onion.

My sister ate with us and everyone remarked that it felt more like a Sunday dinner than an ordinary Thursday night.

Totals:

$5.48 - roast
.50 - gravy packet
.25 - rice
.25 - onion
free - squash and zucchini from garden

$6.48 for dinner for 4, with lots of leftover everything

Wednesday Dinner

Tonight I put together a nice salad with romaine lettuce, roasted cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomato glazed chicken, gorgonzola cheese crumbles, and everyone's dressing of choice. On the side, I served a loaf of bread fresh from the bread machine.

The yellow cherry tomatoes came from my garden. I tossed them in about 1 T. olive oil, sprinkled with salt (I used garlic salt) and pepper, and roasted on a baking sheet at 400 for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. It's amazing how much it concentrates the flavor - it also really brings out their natural sweetness.

I also sauteed up some cubed boneless chicken breasts in Kraft Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette. I love using this technique because the dressing cooks down to a thick, syrupy glaze on the chicken. The trick is to keep cooking until all the liquid in the pan is gone, the chicken is browned and the dressing is just coating the chicken.

Totals:

.66 - 1 head of romaine (bag of 3 for $2 at Aldi)
$1.33 - chicken (Buy 1, get 2 free at Harris Teeter)
.50 - ingredients for bread
.25 - cheese, salad dressing
free - tomatoes

$2.74 for dinner for 3

Over 1/2 loaf of bread left over, plus plenty of chicken and roasted tomatoes for more salads

Wednesday Deals

I've looked over all 3 chain ads and am not seeing any deals that impress me.

Lowes Foods

BOGO
Edy's and Blue Bunny Ice Cream
Del Monte canned vegetables
Nabisco Snack Packs
Klondike Bars
Pillsbury biscuits or pizza crust
Krystal Farms chunk cheese

Instasav members can get up to 4 1lb packages of Cabot butter for .97 each (best deal of the week)

Buy a Duke's mayo for $2.99, get a free loaf of Lowes Foods bread

Buy 3 select Quaker, Lays or Diet Pepsi products, get a free 2 liter Diet Pepsi

They are also having a 5/$20 "sale" on select meat and entree items. You must buy 5 to get the $4 each price. Most items in this "sale" aren't a good deal (in my opinion). The only one I'd take advantage of is the Hormel fully cooked entrees, which usually cost in the $5.99 - $6.99 range. But I wouldn't want 5 of them.


Food Lion

BOGO
Lance Crackers (8-packs)
Breyers Ice Cream
Orville Redenbacher popcorn
Cheez Doodles
Deli turkey (per lb.)
Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes or french toast
Ore Ida frozen potatoes
Butterball Deep Fried Turkey (lunch meat)
Ball Park Franks
2.5 lb. bag frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts (but Harris Teeter has better price)

.79/lb - whole pork picnics


Harris Teeter

eVic members can get 1 loaf of HT brand bread at .47

2.5 lb. bag frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
Harris Teeter Naturals brand ice cream bars or quarts
Keebler Chips Deluxe
Kelloggs Smart Start cereal
Klondike Bars
La Brea Rosemary Olive Oil bread rounds
Nestle Pure Life flavored water 6-packs
Northland Cranberry Juice
Ocean Spray Drinks
Old Orchard Apple Blends
Goldfish Crackers
Skippy Peanut Butter
Tetley Tea Bags
Thomas' English Muffins
Purina Puppy or Dog Chow
Tidy Cats Litter
Fresh Step Cat Litter

Tuesday Dinner

Tonight I made homemade pizza. I tried a new recipe for crust from my bread machine. The verdict: better than Pillsbury pizza dough from a can, and definitely better than the kind from a mix. About the same, taste-wise, as frozen bread dough or those pre-baked Mama Mia crusts. So the real benefit here was cost - ingredients for 2 crusts cost me less than $1.

After stretching the dough into oiled pans, I pre-baked them at 400 for 10 minutes, then I brushed them with a little olive oil.

I made one Pizza Margharita. First I spread a little minced garlic over the crust. Then I topped with fresh tomatoes from my garden, sliced thin and seeded so the whole thing wouldn't be too wet and sloppy. I added salt and pepper, than 1/2 of an 8oz package of shredded mozzarella. After baking for 15 minutes at 400, I added fresh minced parsley and fresh chiffonades of basil, both from my garden. I then baked an extra 3 - 5 minutes.

I topped the second pizza with spinach, carmelized onions, bacon, and gorgonzola cheese. First, I topped the crust with about 2 cups fresh spinach leaves. Then I spread my carmelized onions over that, and sprinkled with 3 sliced of diced, cooked bacon. I topped with the other 1/2 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese and also baked it with the one above (400, 15 mins). I sprinkled a few tablespoons of gorgonzola cheese crumbles over the top, and put it back in the oven for an extra 3 - 5 minutes.

Both pizzas were delicious - the spinach/onion/bacon/gorgonzola one being slightly more awesome than the tomato/basil one.

Totals:

$1 - pizza crust ingredients
$2 - mozzarella cheese
$1 - bacon, onion, gorgonzola
free - spinach (the last of what my sister brought us), tomatoes and fresh herbs from garden

$4 for dinner for 4 (sister joined us), plus leftover pizza that almost certainly won't last 'til morning


Note: My sister doesn't like blue cheese, but she loved the pizza with gorgonzola anyway. The trick is using it as an accent, and cooking it until it melts in with the other ingredients. This way, it just added a layer of salty tanginess to the flavor without being overpoweringly "blue-cheesy."

Monday Dinner

Tonight I tried something totally and completely new - not just a new recipe, but a flavor profile that is way outside my realm of experience and comfort zone. I made Indian food. It comes with a story. :)

I recently made a cake that called for 1/2 cup coconut milk. I didn't want to throw out the rest of the can, but I didn't want to make the exact same cake again either.

OK...that's a lie. The cake was so awesome I did SO want to make it all over again, the minute the last piece was gone. (Which happened less than 24 hours after we first cut into it, if that tells you anything.) But I didn't think it was such a great idea, health-wise. Because although I believe any food has a place in our diet in moderation, there was no "moderation" used with the first cake, and I knew there wouldn't be with the second one, either. We'd gobble it all up in 24 hours again. OK for every once in awhile, but not for twice in the same week. So I went on the hunt for a recipe using coconut milk.

It wasn't easy. The search I did for "coconut milk" as a ingredient brought up lots of recipes that used "coconut" something or other (flakes, cream of, extract, etc.) and some form of milk (whole, skim, evaporated, etc.), but very few that used actual "coconut milk." Of the few I found, they were all flavor profiles I'm completely unfamiliar with - Indian, Thai, Caribbean, etc. And most of them required me to buy a whole bunch of other ingredients I didn't have and/or wasn't familiar with.

Then I found this recipe:

Curried Coconut Chicken

It was simple, it didn't require anything I didn't already have on hand, and it got rave reviews. So that's what we had tonight.

I usually never follow recipes exactly - I always make small changes to suit my tastes, time and ingredients. But since this flavor profile was so unfamiliar, I decided to follow it to the letter. The verdict: very good. The entire family (sister included) thoroughly enjoyed it, and were surprised at how mild it tasted, given how strong it smelled. I don't know if I'd give it the raves that other cooks have given it, but I'll definitely make it again.

Totals:

$1.39 - coconut milk
$2.66 - chicken
.50 - diced tomatoes
.33 - tomato sauce
.20 - onion, rice

$5.08 for dinner for 4, with enough leftovers for 1 more serving

*****

Now, here's the recipe for the cake that started the whole shebang. Words cannot describe. You must try this for yourself.

*******

Banana Tres Leches Cake

1 box white cake mix (I used Supermoist French Vanilla)
1 1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup mashed bananas (2 medium)

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (from 14oz can) coconut milk
1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream

Cool Whip
Toasted Coconut


Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom only of 9x13" baking pan.

In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and bananas on low speed of electric mixer for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl often. Pour into greased pan.

Bake 30 - 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about one hour.

Combine sweetened condensed milk, cream of coconut, and cream. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes all over the top of cooled cake. Pour milk mixture evenly over cake. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 12 hours - 24 hours is even better.

Remove plastic wrap and frost completely with Cool Whip. Top with toasted coconut. Cut into squares to serve. Serve cold.

Sunday Dinner

Tonight I made The Kid's favorite - breakfast for dinner. After getting such a good deal on blueberries at Harris Teeter ($1.25/pt), I made blueberry pancakes. I made them with Hungry Jack pancake mix - also a great deal at .29/box after triple coupons a few months back. (I stockpiled several boxes at that price.) On the side we had bacon (2/$2 at Food Lion the other week), and orange juice.

Totals:

$1.25 - blueberries
.10 - pancake mix
$1 - bacon (1/2 a $2 package)

$2.35 for dinner for 3

Saturday Dinner

The Kid is back from camp with a laundry bag full of damp, filthy clothes - sunburned, bug-bitten, and talking non-stop about what a great week it was. As for me, I'm back in a cooking mood because my baby is home safe and sound.

Tonight I made "Loosemeat" sandwiches, just like the ones "Roseanne" made in her restaurant. I looked at a lot of recipes online before deciding on this one - from the comments, it seemed the most authentic. (Apparently a lot of folks were raised on these.) Here's the recipe as I found it - I'll note my changes afterward. (It came from Recipezaar.com, so the links embedded in the recipe are theirs, not mine. Too much of a headache to take them out.)



Blue Mill Tavern Loosemeat Sandwich

30 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 4 -5

• 1 lb of real good ground chuck or ground beef round or ground sirloin
• 1 tablespoon fat like lard or Crisco (if meat is round or sirloin)
• 2 teaspoons salt, just enough to lightly cover bottom of your skillet
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• water, to cover
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Get out a cast iron skillet-they are the best for loosemeats-or other kind if you have no iron skillet.
2. Melt fat over medium heat and lightly salt bottom of skillet.
3. Break ground beef up in skillet and start crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon-this is very important-the meat must end up being cooked up into small crumbles.
4. Add chopped onion while browning meat.
5. Keep working with the back of spoon to break up meat.
6. When meat is browned, drain off any fat and return meat to skillet.
7. Add mustard, vinegar, sugar, and just enough water to barely cover meat in the pan.
8. Cook, at a simmer, till water is all cooked out-between 15-20 minutes.
9. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
10. Heat your hamburger buns-they're traditionally steamed for loosemeats-I like mine toasted lightly-do it the way you like it.
11. When buns are warm, put yellow mustard on them and add some dill pickle slices-I put on lots!

I used ground chuck, so I didn't add extra fat. After following recipe exactly, I found the meat mixture too bland for my tastes. I added another Tablespoon each of mustard, sugar and vinegar. That was better but something was still missing, so I added about 2 T. Worchestershire sauce. (Other loosemeat recipes I found used Worchestershire sauce, so I didn't just pull that out of the blue.) That was what it needed. I thought the sandwiches were tasty but nothing special. The rest of the family loved them, further proving that taste is subjective. The Kid pronounced them awesome and inhaled THREE of them. Also, we didn't add any mustard or pickles to the sandwiches - just the meat mixture on warmed buns.

With the loosemeat sandiches I served sliced tomatoes from the garden (I almost have too many to know what to do with), and Simply Potatoes hashbrowns.

Totals:

$1.59 - ground chuck (purchased on sale at Food Lion)
$1.25 - buns (5 out of 8/$2)
.75 - hashbrowns
free - tomatoes

$3.59 for dinner for 3, with enough meat mixture left over for another sandwich for lunch tomorrow (if The Kid lets it last that long)