Thursday Dinner

I was still in a cooking frame of mind tonight, but in the mood for something a bit more homey.

I made Ultimate Chicken Fingers (an oven-baked recipe from the side of the Bisquick box) - they're so buttery and good you don't need sauce for them. They're also 10 times better than frozen, pre-breaded tenders, with the added benefit of knowing exactly what went into them. (The only change I make from the recipe is I don't use the parmesan cheese.)

On the side I made orange mashed sweet potatoes and spinach with hot bacon dressing. Both went really well with the rather plain chicken and the flavors played nicely off each other. As a bonus, I was able to put both side dishes together well ahead of the entree, so I didn't have to time everything together perfectly at the last minute.

I've had a big can of sweet potatoes in syrup kicking around my pantry since Thanksgiving (I decided not to make them), and I thought they'd go well with the chicken. I brought the entire contents of the can to boil in a saucepan. Then I drained out the syrup, mashed the sweet potatoes with a fork, and added the juice and zest of 1 orange, a pat of butter, salt & pepper, and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. They were perfectly sweet and creamy without any additional sugar, and the orange flavor was wonderful and fresh. (I made them a little early, then reheated in the microwave for 2 minutes just before serving.)

For the hot bacon dressing, I diced 1 slice of bacon and cooked it until crisp in a large skillet. I removed the bacon from the pan and added the following to the bacon drippings: 3 T. each of cider vinegar and water, 1 T. of sugar, plus salt, pepper, and a dash of ground mustard. I did this part ahead of time and left the dressing in the pan. At serving time, I reheated the dressing until hot, then added 1/2 of a bag of fresh spinach and quickly tossed to coat. Sprinkle with reserved bacon and serve.

Totals:

$2 - chicken breast (frozen, bagged, BOGO)
$1.39 - sweet potatoes (always cheap around Thanksgiving)
$1 - 1/2 bag spinach
.50 - remaining ingredients (butter, orange, etc.)

$4.89 for dinner for 4 (sister joined us), plus leftover chicken and sweet potatoes

Wednesday Dinner

Pork Carnitas with Pineapple-Avocado Salsa

I feel like flinging myself through a doorway and yelling dramatically, "I'm back!"

I honestly don't think it would be possible to make a better meal, for less money, than the one I made tonight. It would have been wonderful at 2 or 3 times the cost, but for as cheap as it was it was truly astounding.

It started with a pork shoulder - the other half of a larger piece purchased 1/2 price ("buy 1, get 1 free") at Lowes Foods. I'd had my butcher cut in half for me. We had the first half in Spicy Asian Pork on a snowy January weekend, and I froze this one. First, I made a rub out of Kosher salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and a few drops of liquid smoke. I rubbed it all over the roast and let it stand for about 2 hours. Then I dropped it in the crock pot, poured over 1/2 cup cider vinegar, and let it cook on low overnight. This morning the meat was falling-apart tender. I took it out of the liquid and let it cool to room temperature before shredding. Meanwhile, I refrigerated the liquid so the fat would rise to the top and solidify. Once I could spoon off the fat, I poured the liquid into a saucepan, added another 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1/2 cup tomato sauce (1/2 of an 8 oz. can), 2 T. brown sugar and a few more drops liquid smoke. I brought to a boil, let reduce by about 1/3 until thickened, then strained to get any little bits out. I passed this sauce at the table - a sort of South of the Border BBQ sauce.

I can't take any credit at all for the Pineapple-Avocado Salsa recipe. It was 100% Melissa d'Arabian from Food Network's 'Ten Dollar Dinners.' She used hers on marinated fish, but I'd seen similar fruit salsas served with pulled pork, so I decided to give that a try. I used fresh pineapple instead of canned because I ran across a great price on fresh at Aldi, and I added a teaspoon of minced garlic, but otherwise I went straight off her recipe.

juice of 1 lime
squeeze of honey
drizzle canola oil (about 1 Tablespoon)
2/3 fresh pineapple, cut into small chunks (The Kid commandeered the rest)
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 small fresh jalapeno, seeds and white membrane removed, finely diced
1 tsp. minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1 avocado, cubed
1 small bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
salt & pepper

Mix lime juice, honey and oil together, add pineapple, onion, garlic, jalapeno, and salt & pepper. Mix well. Let stand at least 15 minutes. (I made mine the night before). Just before serving, gently fold in cubed avocado and cilantro leaves.

To assemble, I spooned the heated pork over heated flour tortillas, drizzled with a little of the sauce, and topped with a generous scoop of fruit salsa.

Totals (you won't believe it):

$2.30 - pork shoulder
.25 - dry rub + additional sauce ingredients

$2.55 for pulled pork shoulder for 8+ (we only served about 1/2 tonight)

$1.29 - fresh pineapple
.78 - avocado
.35 - 1/2 red onion
.09 - 1 jalapeno
.10 - cilantro
.33 - lime

$2.94 for big batch of salsa (we used about 1/3 of the batch tonight)

If I added in the cost of a full package of flour tortillas ($1.79), I could have served 8 people easy for under $8. Add some sides of rice and black beans (at pennies per serving), and a pitcher of Margaritas, and you've got a party. (You can put the money you've saved on the food toward a bottle of the really GOOD tequila.)

NOTE: I've found that WalMart is the cheapest option for specialty produce IF (and this is a big if) it's used in Mexican cooking. I think that's because Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods cater to an upscale clientele that occasionally dabble in ethnic cuisine., but WalMart caters to working-class folks who cook with it daily. A very small bunch of cilantro was $2.29 at Lowes Foods, and if I wanted to buy the cilantro concentrate in a tube (so it would go bad so quickly, I presume), I could have spent $3.99. I've seen similar prices at Harris Teeter. But WalMart sold HUGE bunches of cilantro for 79 cents. I couldn't possibly use it all before it goes bad, but at that price I don't care. (Although I have another dish using cilantro planned for later in the week.) Also, Lowes Foods didn't sell loose jalapenos at all, but WalMart had them for $1.38/lb. It's amazing how cheap this ingredient really is when you consider that you'll probably only need 1 or 2 peppers at a time - I paid 9 cents for mine.

Monday & Tuesday Dinners

Sorry for the gap in postings, y'all. But in my defense, there really weren't any interesting dinners going on at my house over the past week. Lots of leftovers (I'm now deathly sick of turkey), and a night of cheeseburgers and fries was as good as it got.

I've missed cooking and would have been back in the swing of things Monday night, but The Kid had a function and we had to eat and run. I managed to get a quick dinner on the table with Trader Joe's Teriyaki Chicken, white rice, and steam-in-the-bag edamame. (This represented the last of my Trader Joe's stash, so it's about time to make another run up to Chapel Hill.)

Monday Totals:

$4.99 - teriyaki chicken
.20 - rice
$1.35 - edamame (BOGO)

$6.54 for dinner for 3, plus a full serving for lunch (which The Kid promptly claimed and brown-bagged)

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As I've mentioned, Tuesday is usually a busy day for me. Today was no different, so dinner was more about putting different elements together than it was about really cooking. I made meatball subs with a bag of frozen turkey meatballs, heated in jarred spaghetti sauce, sprinkled with shredded mozzarella, and served on soft bakery sub rolls. On the side I tossed a quick Ceasar salad with romaine, bottled dressing, a sprinkle of grated Asiago, and garlic-butter croutons.

Tuesday Totals:

$1.50 - meatballs (sale + HT super double coupon)
$1 - spaghetti sauce (about 2/3 jar purchased for $1.50 after sale + super double coupon)
$1.66 - sub rolls (4 out of package of 6)
.75 - mozzarella cheese (1/2 package)
.66 - romaine lettuce (1/3 of $2 package)
free - dressing (after triple coupons)
free - croutons (after double coupons)

$5.57 for dinner for 4 (sister joined us), plus leftover meatballs in sauce for another sandwich

Tuesday & Wednesday Dinners + Making Markdowns Happen

Tuesday was another of my busy days, so I put together a largely heat n' eat meal when I got home. Jack Daniels Sliced Beef Brisket in BBQ Sauce (heat n' eat entree), packaged buttered noodles, and a combination of leftover veggies from the fridge. Nothing to write home about, but everyone was satisfied...plus there was Italian Love Cake for dessert.

Tuesday Totals:

$3 - beef brisket (rain check for BOGO)
.04 - Knorr/Lipton Buttered Noodles (after triple coupons)
.20 - butter and milk for noodles
free - leftover veggies

$3.24 for dinner for 3

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Wednesday also turned out to be a busy day. The Kid was out of school (along with the rest of GCS students), so we took advantage of the free day and got a lot of shopping and errands out of the way (including a rather expensive trip to Michael's for social studies & science project supplies). A quick grocery trip to pick up a few essentials netted me some great meat markdowns (including ground beef), so I picked up buns and frozen fries for a Cheeseburger & Fries meal.

Totals:

$1.25 - ground beef
$1 - buns (1/2 package)
$1 - fries (1/2 package)
.30 - cheese

$3.55 for dinner for 3


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Make friends with the employees at your local grocery store, especially Harris Teeter. These people are invaluable for helping you get the best deals and special finds.

Case in point: This week I was browsing the imported/specialty cheese counter at a local Harris Teeter. I struck up a conversation with the employee behind the counter. She pointed to a basket with 2 large wedges of cheese in it and told me to always look in that basket for "Manager's Specials" - code for markdowns. I looked over the contents and remarked that $5 was still too expensive for me. She said, "Let me see the dates on those....how about $2 apiece?" I agreed, and she marked them down on the spot. Keep in mind these would have been $8 - $10 apiece at full price. So now we have some exceptional snacking cheese in the house for less than a package of store-brand American would have cost.

A Harris Teeter deli manager sold me a food-service sized bag of chipotle mayo at less than his cost after I commented on how much I loved it but couldn't find a comparable product on their shelves.

I offered to buy several marked down seafood items if the seafood manager could go a little lower on the price. He agreed because he'd rather see it sold than thrown away.

I got several good meat & seafood markdowns yesterday, but two were really exceptional deals: .50 for a nice piece of smoked salmon (regularly $4.99), and $4.25 for a $17+ boneless leg of lamb. The lamb went into the freezer and the salmon is going to be a snack with cream cheese and crackers this evening.

From the Bakery

Italian Love Cake (modified)

I started with this recipe from Allrecipes.com, but I made a few changes. Most importantly, the original called for the cake to be topped with a chocolate pudding & Cool Whip mixture that I didn't think would do the recipe justice. I admit to loving me some Cool Whip, but it always seems rather low-end, 1970's housewife to me, and the rest of this recipe seemed to have some real high-end potential. So I made a simple chocolate ganache to go over the top. I think my instincts were dead-on. It was fantastic, and you'd never guess it started with a mix. If I baked it in a springform pan and served it whole and unmolded on a cake stand, you'd swear it came from a posh bakery.

The other changes I made were small ones, like increasing sugar and vanilla extract, using whole-milk ricotta instead of skim, and reducing baking time because it was done before the recipe said it would be. Here's the recipe in a nutshell:

1 box chocolate cake mix (I used Supermoist Chocolate Fudge), prepared according to package directions

Pour batter into greased 9 x 13" pan and set aside.

Combine 32 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese (one of the big containers) with 1 cup sugar, 2 t. vanilla extract, and 4 eggs. Mix well, then carefully spread evenly over cake batter, all the way to the edges.

Place in oven preheated to 350 degrees. Ricotta layer will sink and chocolate cake layer will rise to top while baking. Bake at 1 hr. 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake layer comes out clean. (Recipe called for 1 hr. 15 - 1 hr. 30 mins, but mine was done at 1 hr. 15.)

Let cake cool.

For chocolate glaze: heat 1/3 cup heavy or whipping cream in microwave until very hot but not boiling (about 2 minutes). Stir in 2 Hershey's Special Dark chocolate bars, broken into pieces, until mixture is smooth. Let cool for 10 minutes, then spread evenly over cake. Refrigerate several hours before serving (and store in fridge because of all that dairy).

Monday Dinner

Pork Chops Paprikash

I came across one of Mom's old recipes that she used to make when I was growing up. There was a lot about it that I loved (mmmm...sour cream gravy) and a lot I didn't (pork chops cooked 1 hr. + until stiff as a board), so I modified it. The result tasted exactly as I remember, maybe even better - but I did it in less than 1/2 the time.

1 lb. thin-cut boneless pork chops
flour for dredging, seasoned with salt, pepper & paprika
1 T. vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 t. each: paprika, caraway seed
1/4 t. each: dill weed, garlic powder
1 8 oz. carton sour cream
Salt & Pepper to taste

Dredge pork chops in flour that has been seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika. Heat oil in skillet until hot, and pan-fry chops for 2 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned and cooked through. Work in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding pan.

Remove chops from pan and keep warm in oven.

Add sliced onion to pan - with a little additional oil if necessary - and saute for 3 - 5 minutes. Deglaze pan with chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits, and add spices. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, or until liquid has reduced by about half and onions are tender. (Add a little more broth as necessary.) Reduce heat, stir in sour cream and heat through but do not let it boil. Serve chops with generous spoonful of sauce over hot cooked rice or noodles. Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika.

We cleaned the fridge out of leftover veggies - green beans and collard greens - to make this a really economical meal.

Totals:

$2.20 - pork chops (meat markdown)
.25 - onion
free - sour cream (after super double coupons)
.20 - rice
free - leftover veggies

$2.65 for dinner for 3 (The Kid and I were extra hungry and both went back for seconds, but normally this dish serves 4 - 5, depending on how many chops you get to a pound.)

Sunday Dinner

Tamale Pie

My late father really loved this recipe. I've never met anyone who didn't, really. It's rich and hearty so it's perfect for a cold winter day.

Tamale Pie

1 lb. ground turkey
1 packet Taco seasoning mix
1 14 oz can corn, drained (or 16 oz bag frozen corn)
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 large can French Fried Onions (I think this can is in the 3 oz range)
1 package corn muffin mix, with milk and egg called for on package directions
1 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

Brown turkey, drain fat if necessary (I never need to). Add taco seasoning, corn, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Cook, stirring constantly, until hot and bubbly. Stir in 1/2 can fried onions. Spread in 9 x 13" pan. Top with corn muffin batter that you've prepared according to package directions and spread evenly to seal edges. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes, or until cornbread is done. Sprinkle with cheese and remaining 1/2 can onions, return to oven for 3 - 5 minutes or until cheese melts and onions are lightly browned. Pass sour cream at the table. Serves 6 - 8. (We served 5 generously and had leftovers for lunch.)

Sunday Totals:

$1.39 - turkey
free - taco seasoning (after triple coupons)
.33 - corn
$1 - tomatoes and tomato sauce
$1.50 - fried onions (Aldi brand)
.50 - corn muffin mix
.25 - egg & milk
$1 - cheese

$5.97 for dinner for 5 (sister & husband joined us), plus leftovers for 2 - 3 lunch servings