Thursday Dinner

Salmon with Lemon-Cilantro Vinaigrette and Couscous

This is the second time I've made this recipe, which comes from Real Simple magazine. It's light and tangy and a perfect warm-weather dish. This isn't a new photo, it's the one I took the first night I made it. I wasn't fond of edamame for a side dish that night, so tonight I made sauteed spinach and it was a much better accompaniment. I just heated 1 T. olive oil in a large nonstick skillet, and sauteed 1 tsp. minced garlic over medium-high heat. I added in a 10 oz bag of spinach leaves (de-stemmed), and sauteed just until wilted. I seasoned with salt, pepper and a splash of lemon juice and served immediately.

Totals:

$3 - salmon (from Aldi - 4 fillets for $3.99)
$2 - fresh spinach
$1 - 1/2 box couscous
.50 - ingredients for lemon sauce

$6.50 for dinner for 3

Tuesday & Wednesday Dinners

Tuesday night The Kid had a function, so the two of us had grilled chicken breasts (Perdue Perfect Portions, bought on meat markdown), and cleaned out the fridge of leftover veggies/sides. Cost, about $1.50 for the chicken.

Wednesday I served those Hatfield individually-portioned boneless pork chops that I blogged about last week. I marinated them in Lawry's Signature Steakhouse marinade, then grilled them on the George Foreman. The verdict - tasty, but very large (these were the "London Broil" cut), and a little dry since I overcooked them a bit. On the side we had onion roasted potatoes because I had a large bag of them about to go bad - and also because we love these potatoes. The recipe is on the side of Lipton onion soup mix and is one of the best "convenience foods" recipes ever, in my opinion. For a green veggie we had a Harris Teeter pre-packaged salad kit (also bought on markdown) that consisted of baby spinach, white balsamic-raspberry vinaigrette dressing, honey-roasted almonds and golden raisins. I added a little crumbled gorgonzola on my own because it seemed like a good pairing. The salad was especially good, although it came with way too much dressing - the spinach would have drowned had I used it all. So I poured the rest of it into a little plastic container to save for a future salad.

Wednesday Totals:

$2.40 - pork chops (3 out of 5 purchased for $3.99)
$2.29 - salad kit
.20 - onion soup mix (sale + triple coupons)
.80 - potatoes

$5.69 for dinner for 3

Monday Dinner

Pork Chops Paprikash

I didn't take a new photo for tonight's dinner - the above pic is one I took the last time I made this dish. As I mentioned in that original blog entry, this recipe is one my mom used to make when I was growing up. I stumbled across it this winter and made a few changes for the sake of taste and convenience. In a nutshell, I brown a large sliced onion, then add boneless chops to the pan to brown. I remove the chops, deglaze with chicken stock, and stir in a little flour until thickened. When the onions are completely tender I stir in sour cream, dried dill, paprika, and caraway seed, then add the chops back. As you can see, I like to serve this over rice (although noodles are good, too).

Tonight's side dish was a little experiment. I usually braise red cabbage in apple juice for a sweet-sour taste, but the only juice I had on hand was a Cranberry-Pomegranate blend. I tried that instead and it was absolutely delicious.

Totals:

$2.12 - pork chops (meat markdown)
.20 - onion
free - sour cream
.20 - rice
.75 - red cabbage

$3.07 for dinner for 4

Weekend Dinners

We were out of town visiting friends for the weekend, but got back Sunday afternoon. I didn't have time to thaw anything, and wasn't up for anything complicated anyway, so pasta fit the bill.

Harris Teeter had Barilla bagged tortellini on an eVic special back in February or March. It's not a product I normally buy, but it seemed like a good price to try it. I boiled up a bag of according to package directions, tossed in 1/2 a jar of Barilla Fire-Roasted Tomato sauce that's been in the fridge for awhile, and heated up some frozen sliced garlic bread. I've never tried dried tortellini before but I have to say I was impressed - the taste and texture was very good and the whole family (sister included) loved it. (The Kid isn't fond of red sauce, but instead drizzled on olive oil and topped the pasta with plenty of cracked pepper and grated parmesan.)

Totals:

$3 - tortellini
free - leftover sauce
.80 - frozen garlic bread

$3.80 for dinner for 4

Thursday Dinner

Gnocchi with Ham, Mushrooms, Peas & Parmesan

One of my favorite dishes to make with leftover ham, so we usually get to have it at least once after Christmas and Easter (we've just about used up the last of the Easter ham now, but I'm proud of how far I stretched it). I sauteed 8 oz. sliced mushrooms in a little butter with garlic salt & pepper, then added about 1 cup diced ham. I boiled the gnocchi in salted water until done (according to package directions) and tossed them into the pan with mushrooms and ham. I added 1/2 a package frozen green peas, lots of cracked black pepper, and a good sprinkle of grated parmesan. (I covered for a few minutes to let the peas thaw.)

Totals>

$1.99 - gnocchi (from Trader Joe's)
$1.50 - mushrooms (from Aldi)
.50 - 1/2 package peas
free - ham
.25 - parmesan

$4.25 for dinner for 4, with leftover for 1 lunch serving

Wednesday Dinner

Chicken Tamales

I've never made any sort of tamales before, but after finding this recipe in Food Network Magazine a few months ago, I decided to give them a try. (You should also go to the site to see a much more appetizing photo of them. I've said it before - I'm no food photographer, y'all.)

According to the article, they're a little more Caribbean than Mexican, which might be why this particular recipe sparked my interest. The traditional Mexican types never inspired me to make them myself. Check out the actual recipe for amounts and techniques, but the basic ingredients were 1 rotisserie chicken (meat separated from skin and bones and shredded), green salsa, cilantro, frozen peas, pimento-stuffed green olives, shredded cheese, and self-rising cornmeal, all wrapped up in corn husks and steamed.

The verdict: tasty, but a little dry. Next time, I'll have more green salsa to serve on the side (I used the entire jar in the recipe, so next time I'll buy 2). I might also use less cornmeal. Also, too time-consuming, what with getting all that meat off the chicken carcass. Next time I'll either boil & shred some boneless chicken breasts, or start with canned chicken.

The filling was delicious on its own before adding the cornmeal, so I might make that again to fill tacos.

Totals:

$4 - rotisserie chicken
$1 - 1/2 package shredded cheese
$2.50 - 1 jar green salsa
$1 - 1/2 package corn husks
.50 - remaining ingredients

$9 for 13 tamales (4 of us ate 8 for dinner, so the rest will be for lunches/snacks)

Tuesday Dinner

I'm always looking out for inexpensive quick dinners for nights when I'm too tired and/or too busy to cook. I had a different meal entirely planned for last night, but was out running errands so late that I scrapped the plans. Instead, I picked up a deli pizza from Aldi because I was there anyway. These are the same sort of giant pizzas sold fresh (not frozen) and uncooked at Walmart, Costco, etc. I'd never tried the Aldi version before, but I figured it would make a decent on-the-fly dinner with a side salad.

The verdict: best pizza of its kind that we've tried, with a bonus of also being the cheapest. It's a little better than the Costco pizzas, and head & shoulders above the ones from Walmart.

Totals:

$5.99 - cheese pizza
$1 - lettuce & tomatoes for salad

$6.99 for dinner for 4 with leftover pizza for 2 lunch servings today

Monday Dinner

I've run into some good Harris Teeter meat markdowns over the last few days. One to keep an eye out for is Hatfield pre-packaged pork chops. There are several varieties & cuts, all pre-portioned & individually wrapped, sold in 24 - 30 oz. bags. I've found marked-down short-dated packages at more than one store this week, in the $3.99 - $4.99 range (down from $8.99). All the packages have a $1 off coupon inside, so it's worth it to open the package when you get it home even if you aren't cooking the chops yet. (I'm freezing mine for future meals.) I'll carry these coupons with me in the hopes of getting an even better deal.

I took advantage of another meat markdown tonight - angus skirt steak, which I used for beef stir-fry. I just sliced against the grain into bite-sized pieces and stir-fried in a little hot oil until browned. I removed them from the pan and added in a bag of Birds-Eye broccoli stir fry veggies, and stir-fried until thawed. I prepared a packet of Sundown Beef & Broccoli stir-fry sauce according to directions (adding water & soy sauce), added it to the veggies and then added the beef back in. I served the stir-fry over Jasmine Rice (more of the Uncle Ben's Ready Rice pouches I have stockpiled), and served it with Kahiki frozen egg rolls.

The verdict: eh. I think it was too close to what I had for lunch for me to truly enjoy it. The rest of the family did, including my sister who ate with us. And The Kid concocted a special egg-roll dipping sauce (soy sauce, wasabi paste and sesame oil) that was delicious. In fact, The Kid heated another egg roll and made another batch of sauce as a bedtime snack. (These egg rolls are great - only 100 calories and 5 grams of fat, plus plenty of veggies.)

Totals:

$3.50 - beef skirt steak
.55 - stir fry veggies (after sale + coupon)
$1 - stir fry sauce mix
.4 - rice
.65 - egg rolls (triple coupons)

$5.74 for dinner for 4, plus leftover stir fry for another serving

Thursday - Sunday Meals

Thursday night was a quickie sort of meal - frozen chicken taquitos and refried beans. The Taquitos were BOGO at HT the other week, plus I had $1 off coupons, which brought the cost down to about $2.25/box. The refried beans were something like .20 a can after triple coupons. (Y'all know I don't like to spend much on convenience foods. If I'm going to go over my nightly dinner budget I'd just as soon eat out.)

Friday was a close repeat of Monday's dinner because I guess I was out of steam and ideas. I marinated chicken breasts in Lawry's Signature Steakhouse marinade, then slapped them on the George Foreman. They ended up too thick for sandwiches because I hadn't pounded or butterflied them beforehand, so I sliced them thin on the bias and arranged the slices on bakery rolls. We topped them with sliced pepperjack cheese, lettuce & tomato and served with oven fries. Totals should be about the same for Monday, minus the edamame.

Saturday I boiled a 2 lb. bag of frozen EZ-peel shrimp with some Old Bay. I served them hot with rice, leftover collards, and a pan of cornbread. The shrimp was $5.98 (as cheap as it ever gets at HT), the rice was those Uncle Ben's Ready Rice microwave pouches I got for 4 cents apiece during triple coupons, the leftover collards were free, and the cornbread probably cost me less than $1 to make.

Sunday is The Kid's night at youth group, so we're cleaning out the fridge of leftovers.

Wednesday Dinner

Last night's dinner was just what we needed after leaving the table unsatisfied on Tuesday. I made homemade mac & cheese and homemade collards. I confess it was the first time I tried making collards from scratch - I always just get Margaret Holmes or Glory Foods brands in the can (which are darned tasty). But I made them from scratch this time because I had that lovely ham bone left over from Easter and I couldn't bear to just throw it out. I always use the one from Christmas to make split-pea soup, but that's really a cold-weather dish. I searched out ways to use my ham bone in (that sounds vaguely dirty, doesn't it? LOL), and collards were just about the only non-soup recipe suggested.

Now, as to why I'd never made collards before. Well, it's largely because my cooking experience is far more high-end than low-end. That's partly because those are the recipes that always interested me most. And it's also due to having a Midwestern mother. I just didn't grow up with Southern foods like collards at the table. Now The Kid pointed out that my collards weren't "really homemade" because I took a shortcut and started with frozen, bagged collards instead of fresh. I said that was hair-splitting, like saying that homemade mac & cheese isn't homemade unless you make the pasta from scratch, too.

I cut as much of the leftover ham off the bone as I could and set it aside. (This is long after we removed the sliced ham and cut away the big chunks. This is just what was clinging close to the bone.) I placed the bone in a large stock pot, covered with water, and simmered over medium heat for about 3 hours, or until the bone was clean and made a rich broth. I removed the bone, strained out all the little solid bits, then added 2 bags of frozen collards to the pot. I brought to a boil for 3 minutes, then reduced heat and simmered for another 45. To season, I added lots of salt, about 1/4 cup sugar, several dashes liquid smoke, and several dashes hot sauce. At the very end, I added all the reserved ham, which I had chopped (about 1 cup). We passed vinegar and more hot sauce at the table. These came out AWESOME. Now I won't say I'll never go back to canned because I just can't see going to all this time and trouble on a regular basis. But I'll definitely be doing this again...and again...and again.

My mac & cheese is as basic as you can get, but I think it's about as good as you can get, too. I just melt 1/4 cup butter in a large saucepan or skillet, then add 1/4 cup flour. I cook the roux for about 4 - 5 minutes, or until it's fragrant and lightly golden, then add about 4 cups of milk. (I use 2% because that's what we buy.) I season with plenty of salt (although The Kid always says I don't use enough), pepper, dried mustard, paprika, and a little nutmeg, then bring the sauce to a simmer to thicken. I remove from the heat for about 10 minutes to cool a little, then stir in one 8oz bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. I fold the sauce in to my cooked macaroni (1 lb. box) in a large casserole dish. I top with Panko breadcrumbs - about 1/2 cup, mixed with 1 T. melted butter. Then I bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Totals:

$3 - collards (2 bags, frozen)
.40 - macaroni (B2G3 free sale at HT)
$1.50 - cheddar cheese (BOGO sale at HT)
free - milk (free coupon from Kelloggs for buying cereal)
.25 - butter, breadcrumbs

$5.15 for dinner for 3, with leftover mac & cheese for at least 3 more servings, and leftover collards to feed an army

Tuesday Dinner

Tonight's dinner was full of favorites, but nothing came out quite the way it should have.

First, I made my "Fake-Out" Lemon-Asparagus Risotto. I've gotten in the habit of making it with broccoli when fresh asparagus is out of season. Let's face it, that's most of the year. So I'd completely forgotten that The Kid didn't much care for it with asparagus. (I was reminded of that tonight after dinner was already on the stove and it was too late to change.) Second, my asparagus spears were so thin I was afraid they'd turn to mush during cooking, so I delayed longer than usual before adding them. As a result, they were undercooked and had a rather grassy flavor.

The solution? I'm going to change the recipe to "Fake-Out" Lemon-Broccoli Risotto and leave it at that. Turns out I like it better with broccoli, too.

The entree was baked salmon fillets, but those didn't turn out so great, either. Normally I just coat them liberally with Chef Prud'homme's Magic Salmon Seasoning and quickly pan-fry them. But tonight my big skillet was already in use for the risotto (I've never made them both together before). So I decided to bake the salmon instead. Since they didn't lose a lot of their seasoning while being turned (as happens during pan-frying), they ended up much too peppery/spicy.

So, all in all, good food that turned out....not so good. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.

Totals:

$3 - salmon
$1.29 - asparagus
$2 - remaining risotto ingredients (rice, lemon, onion, chicken broth, etc)

$6.29 for dinner for 3 (with lots of risotto left over - hopefully the asparagus will cook more fully upon reheating)

Saturday, Sunday & Monday Dinners

Saturday was all about getting the garden planted. This year we're growing tomatoes (3 kinds), squash, bell peppers, arugula, bok choy, edamame, pole beans, romaine lettuce plus a heat-resistant lettuce blend of several varieties, and basil, chives, parsley and cilantro. It was a lot less work than last year because the raised beds were already in place, but I was still hot and tired by the time we were done. So I made it easy on myself and told everybody to clean the fridge out of leftovers. That also meant dinner was free, because I'd already accounted for the cost in other meals.

Sunday was a similar story, but this time we were busy running errands and ate a late lunch out. So everyone fended for themselves - the adults had leftover potato soup and The Kid had PB&J.

Monday I was back in the kitchen. We had grilled teriyaki chicken sandwiches on soft rolls, plus frozen french fries and steamed edamame. For the sandwiches, I butterflied thick chicken breasts, marinated in teriyaki sauce, and grilled on the George Foreman. Halfway through, I topped each with a pineapple slice, then served on buns with sliced monterey jack cheese.

Totals:

$1.50 - chicken
.75 - rolls
.30 - cheese
.20 - pineapple
.66 - frozen french fries
$1.66 - steamable edamame

$5.07 for dinner for 3, with leftover edamame

Friday Dinner

Last night's dinner was a big pot of potato soup with ham, plus fresh fruit (strawberries & pineapple) and a loaf of cheese bread on the side. My soup recipe is the sort of thing I don't really measure, but the following amounts should be close:

I peeled & boiled about 8 smallish russet potatoes, then drained them and set aside. In the same big pot, I sauteed a large onion, chopped, in about 4 T. of butter. When the onion was tender and golden, I upped the heat and added 4 T. flour to make a roux. I cooked for a few minutes, then added about 3 cups of milk and brought to a simmer to thicken. Then I added about 2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth and the potatoes. I used a potato masher to break them up well into small chunks. I seasoned with plenty of salt & pepper, plus celery seed, ground mustard, and a dash of nutmeg. Lastly, I added about 2 cups chopped leftover ham, and heated thoroughly.

It was darned good - quite possibly the best potato soup I've ever made (and I've made lots over the years). The cheese bread comes from the Walmart bakery, and is a frequently requested purchase at my house. It's a bargain at $3 a loaf - my other favorite, La Brea Semolina Cheese Bread from Harris Teeter, runs about $4.50. Fresh strawberries ($1.25/lb at Harris Teeter) and fresh chunked pineapple ($2/each at WalMart) made a nice tart counterpoint to the richness of the soup and bread.

Totals:

$2 - soup ingredients (at most, with cost of ham accounted for at Easter)
$1.50 - 1/2 loaf of bread
$1.50 - pineapple & strawberries (about 1/2 of each)

$5 for dinner for 3, with about 1.5 quarts of soup left over

From the Bakery - Banana Praline Muffins

My camera batteries are now dead, and I'm afraid there won't be any of these left by the time they've recharged.

So go here to get the recipe and make them yourself. They rock.

Thursday Dinner

Crab Cakes with roasted asparagus, basmati rice, and hollandaise sauce

One-pound tubs of pasteurized (refrigerated) crabmeat are on sale this week at Harris Teeter. At $11.99/lb, it's still way out of my price range. But I tell you this because it's likely they've ordered extra for the sale, and that increases the possibility that they'll be overstocked and have to eventually mark some down. That's how I ran across several tubs of crabmeat marked down to - wait for it - $4 each. The store had 6 at that price, but I knew I couldn't use up that many so I only bought 3. They went straight into my freezer, but I plan to use them up fairly quickly anyway.

The crab cakes recipe I used is fairly standard. There are a zillion variations that call for onions, celery and/or bell peppers, but I really think simpler is better. On the side I served roasted fresh asparagus ($1.29/lb at Harris Teeter), hollandaise sauce (from a Knorr mix), and basmati rice (Uncle Ben's Ready Rice packages - only 4 cents each during triple coupons 2 weeks ago! I'm embarrassed to tell you how many I bought at that price). It was a wonderful dinner but I really wish crab cakes smelled as good as they taste, because now the kitchen fairly reeks of fish. Yuck!

Crab Cakes

1 lb. pasteurized crabmeat, picked over
1 egg
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tsp. mayonnaise (I used Hellman's Light)
10 saltine crackers, crushed
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

Combine ingredients and form into patties. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to "set up," then pan fry in hot oil for 3 - 4 minutes per side, or until nicely browned. Squeeze a fresh lemon wedge over before serving.

Totals:

$4 - crabmeat
.08 - 2 packages basmati rice (see above)
$1.29 - asparagus
.75 - hollandaise mix
.25 - additional ingredients (milk, butter, egg, etc.)

$6.37 for dinner for 3, plus leftover everything for lunch tomorrow

(For The Kid's lunch tomorrow I'm making a crabcake sandwich on a hamburger bun with lettuce, tomato, and light mayo mixed with more Old Bay. My lunch will be leftover rice and asparagus with hollandaise.)

Tuesday & Wednesday Dinners

Do you ever just forget about a favorite recipe? That's what happened with Tuesday night's dinner. I did a lot of cooking before our mountain trip because I didn't want to show up at our friends' house empty-handed. While searching (in vain) for my signature chocolate cake recipe, I came across my old recipe for Asian Sloppy Joes. These are so delicious, easy, and a favorite of my late father's - but I can't remember the last time I made them. (Possibly not since his death 2 years ago.) I'm not sure why, I just forgot about them. But after rediscovering the recipe, I was determined to make them as soon as possible - and I did. (P.S. I never did find my recipe for Scotch Chocolate Cake, but a quick internet search turned up a recipe that was *almost* identical. Luckily, I knew my own recipe well enough to know where to make the changes.)

Along with the Asian Sloppy Joes I made on Tuesday, we had sweet potato fries, and Asian-style slaw. The sweet potato fries were frozen (triple coupons), the Asian slaw was just bagged coleslaw mix tossed with Kraft Toasted Sesame dressing and a can of drained Mandarin oranges.

Here's the recipe for Asian Sloppy Joes:

1 lb. ground turkey
1 tsp. minced garlic*
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger*
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
3 T. hoisin sauce
3 T. water
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. rice wine vinegar

Brown ground turkey with garlic and fresh ginger. Drain fat if necessary (I never need to). Add rest of ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve on heated buns.

* - if you don't have fresh garlic and ginger, add 1/2 tsp. garlic powder and 1/2 tsp. ground ginger with sauce ingredients.

Totals:

$1.19 - ground turkey (Aldi)
.59 - 1/2 package buns
.20 - can tomato sauce
$1 - 1/2 package sweet potato fries
$2 - bagged cole slaw mix
.70 - canned mandarin oranges

$4.68 for dinner for 4, with leftover sloppy joe mix for 1 - 2 more servings

__________

Wednesday was a fast-food fundraiser night for The Kid's school, so we ate out.

Monday Dinner

Mainly a heat n' eat sort of dinner - leftover Easter ham, leftover yeast rolls, wild rice (Uncle Ben's), and frozen broccoli & cheese. (I have a little grocery shopping to do before I can start to get creative with the leftover ham.)

Totals:

ham & rolls were accounted for in yesterday's dinner, so the only additional expense was:

.25 - wild rice (after triple coupons awhile back)
.60 - broccoli & cheese (sale + double coupon)

.85 for dinner for 3

Happy Easter

A view from the front porch
Floyd County, Virginia

Happy Easter, y'all!

Sorry I've been behind on my dinner posts. We spent Spring Break in the mountains and just got back last night. The above photo is the view from our friends' front porch - you can't tell, but that's a river winding through the valley down there. We can't wait to get back up there when the weather is a little warmer to do some serious 'tubing. (They're about 2 weeks behind us, season-wise. They had a warm week like we did, but everything still looks like winter up there. And that mountain water is COLD.)

After a nice, peaceful week in the mountains, I'm happy to be back in my own kitchen but have so much unpacking & laundry that I don't want to spend all day there. I won't post later today, but I already know we're having a easy-on-the-cook Easter dinner.

Spiral sliced ham ($1.59/lb at HT, + additional $2 off for eVic members)
Mashed sweet potatoes ($1.29 for large can, flavored with a little fresh orange zest & juice), Roasted spring asparagus (2 lbs at $1.29/lb)
Hollandaise sauce (from a Knorr mix - .75 after coupon)
Sister Shubert's Parker House rolls (.75 after BOGO + double coupon)
Edward's Key Lime pie ($5.99 after sale + double coupon)

Total $24.36 for a holiday dinner for 5, with lots of leftover everything (especially ham, which I plan to make into several meals to come)