Monday Dinner

I'm so excited - this is my first year at trying a vegetable garden and tonight we picked our first produce and used it in a meal. (We would have had stuff earlier, but rabbits ate my lettuce, swiss chard and edamame - and that's after I special-ordered the edamame and heat-resistant lettuce blend seeds. In retrospect, I think that's probably why my late father never grew anything but cukes, peppers and 'maters - he didn't want to fight with the bunnies. Oh well, live and learn. Next year I'm putting everything attractive to bunnies in one bed and fencing it in.)

We used 1 bell pepper and 1 jalapeno pepper and made chicken fajitas. I marinated boneless chicken breasts in Lawry's Tequila-Lime marinade (purchased for about .50 when Harris Teeter had triple coupons). I sauteed an onion, several slivered cloves of garlic, and our fresh peppers cut into strips. After grilling the chicken on the George Foreman, I let rest for 10 minutes, then thinly sliced and tossed in with the veggies. Everyone served themselves by spooning the chicken-veggie mix into heated flour tortillas. We passed shredded cheese and salsa at the table, along with a bowl of refried beans as a side. It was a perfect summer meal - light and fresh.

I also made dessert tonight - a rarity. But the strawberries at Aldi looked so good and were so cheap, I couldn't resist. So I made a batch of strawberry sauce, which we served over sliced poundcake (Sara Lee, $1.50 at Lowes after sale + coupon), and Breyers vanilla ice cream (that B1g2 free deal from Harris Teeter the other week). Scrumptious!

Totals:

$1.33 - chicken (purchased at Harris Teeter buy 1, get 2 free sale)
.80 - 1/2 package flour tortillas (Aldi)
$1 - remaining ingredients (onion, garlic, salsa, cheese, marinade)
.25 - 1 can refried beans (after sale + double coupon at Harris Teeter)

$3.38

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$1.29 - strawberries
$1.50 - pound cake
$1.88 - ice cream

We have about 1/2 of dessert stuff left. ($4.67 \ 2 = $2.33)

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$5.73 for dinner & dessert for 4 (my sister stopped by)

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Tips: The seeds and white inner membrane are where jalapenos keep most of their heat. De-seed them, and slice away that white membrane and you'll have a much milder pepper.

Garlic gets stronger as the pieces get smaller. Finely chopped/minced garlic has the strongest flavor, while whole roasted garlic cloves are the most mild. Sliced or slivered garlic cloves, sauteed in a dish, add a nice garlic flavor without being too strong even when you bite into a large piece.