What's Cookin' In Your Kitchen? How I Stretch My Meals

I've started to notice Facebook statuses and other comments from young wives who spend a lot of money on groceries each month.  I am a bargain hunter by nature, but I can't stand spending the time to ad-match and extreme coupon down to every last item I purchase.  Since many are the same way as I am, I thought I would do a few posts on how I grocery shop, cook, and menu plan on a budget. 

Stretching my  meals is one of the best things I have figured out since I've been married.

My meats to use are:

a pot roast, ham, ground beef, and chicken.

Pot Roast

Usually I will buy a small pot roast, and prepare it in the crockpot.

I'll do the chopped onion, carrots, and potatoes with Lipton Onion soup mix.

The first meal, that's how we eat it--like a traditional Sunday dinner pot roast.  It's delicious and easy!

When the meat has cooled, freeze it to use for a later time (so you don't eat the same meat for every meal of the week) if you want to.

Other meals I use the left over meat for:

BBQ sandwiches (I love KC Masterpiece Hot 'N' Spicy BBQ Sauce)

Stew
Quesadillas

There is 4 meals from that small roast.

Ham

For the ham, I'll put it in the crockpot and use brown sugar and then top it off with a little bit of glaze (that it comes with) right before serving. 

First meal, we eat this as sliced ham with a salad, green beans, and potatoes (mashed or baked).

When the ham has cooled, chop it into cubes and freeze it for a later time.  SAVE THE HAM HAWK (BONE) AND FREEZE IT FOR A LATER TIME!

Other meals I use with this left over ham:
ham sandwiches

omelets

ham and pineapple homemade pizza

ham and bean soup (boil the ham bone with 6 cups of water and then simmer for 3 hours to make a stock)
ham and potato casserole
added to potato soup

There is at least 6 recipes from that ham!


Ground Beef
I typicallly buy ground beef and portion in out raw and place it in the freezer.  When I buy a 2 lb. package (I try to get at least 90% lean), I usually portion it out into 3-4 different bags to freeze.  Usually recipes call for more ground beef than needed. 

A few of our favorite meals to make using ground beef are:
taco salad
*chili (strech this meal too!)
soups
hand-squashed hamburger patties
sloppy joes
spaghetti meat sauce

There are 6 recipes (+1 if use chili suggestion below) for ground beef.

*Another meal I like to stretch, is chili.  This is especially great for the cool weather that is here!
I make a big batch in the crockpot. 

The first evening we eat the chili topped with sour cream and cheese, and some cornbread on the side.  Then for dinner a few days later, we eat baked potatoes with the leftover chili on top. 


Chicken

Either buy a rotisserie chicken, boil, or use the crockpot to get some pre-cooked shredded chicken and pop it in smaller portions in the freezer.  If you use a rotisserie chicken, be sure to save the bones/skin and boil and then simmer them in water with onions and carrots for an easy and healthy chicken stock! 

Meals we frequently use shredded chicken to enjoy:
chicken noodle soup
enchiladas
chicken pot pie
other soups

Here are 4 recipe ideas to use chicken!
For a previous post on using a rotisserie chicken, check here.

All of these meals are super simple, and only require a little planning to use every last bit!
Brett almost always takes left overs to work for lunch the next day.  We rarely throw leftover food out because of this, and he is the envy of the break room when they get a smell of his homemade leftovers!

And don't forget, you don't have to have meat in every meal...throw in some meatless dinners in between (which usually cost less), and you have lots of delicious dinners on a budget!
How do you stretch your meals?  I would love more ideas!

Grilled Pizza

Nearly every Saturday evening, we make grilled pizza. 

Our favorite combination:

alfredo sauce

basil pesto

fresh mozzarella cheese

fresh sliced tomatoes

and occasionally, we throw on a little chopped chicken

Seriously delicious! 

It tastes like a yummy pizza from a restaurant. 

the grill master

I make an easy homemade dough (recipe below), but our friends have used the Trader Joe's whole wheat dough, and it is delicious!  I want to attempt a homemade whole wheat dough soon.

I might be making this marinara sauce soon, it could be a good red sauce to try!  I liked this marinara recipe because it uses the crockpot and doesn't call for wine.

Here's the pizza dough I use.  It is simple, fast, and only needs to rise 5 minutes (but it can rise longer if needed).

1 pkg yeast (1 T)
1 c. warm water
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp salt
2 T. oil
2 1/2 c. flour

Dissolve yeast in water. Add remaining ingredients and beat 20 strokes. Let rise 5 minutes.

Grill the pizza!

(or bake at 425 degrees if using oven) 

Although we love this combination and make it often, if we keep making pizza every week, we want to experiment with different combinations.  What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Grilling Weather

For most people, the grilling season starts in the summer. 

And while we still BBQ in the summer, it isn't enjoyable to lounge outside because the heat is just awful. 

So springtime means we've been grilling up a storm around here lately!  Summer is creeping up on us, but we don't see our grilling habit stopping anytime soon.

We tried teriyaki burgers the other night...

The patty was wrapped with bacon and topped off with a piece of grilled pineapple.  They were yummy and a nice variation to try!

We also love making kabobs, with fresh produce and chicken.  We love the Rosemary Ranch Chicken recipe from The Sisters Cafe.  It is so simple, and you probably already have all the ingredients on hand!  We use the marinade for kabobs, and just regular grilled chicken.  Here's the recipe, for your grilling pleasure!

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Recipe
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tb Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dry rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
fresh ground pepper to taste

Combine marinade ingredients. 
Place meat, veggies, and marinade in Ziploc bag.
Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour. 
Enjoy!

Told ya--so simple and so delicious!  Definitely need to try it!

I've also been into cheesecake lately (I'm starting to think it's a pregnancy craving...but let's be honest, I always have had a love for cream cheese!).  I made some lemon blueberry cheesecake bars for our picnic to the Easter Pageant.  They turned out delicious, but were so time consuming, and our house felt like a furnace after using the oven for such a long time!

So I tried this "mock" (no-bake) cheesecake in a springform pan, and it turned out fabulous!  I think this is the kind of cheesecake I will stick to during the summer months. 

How Juicy!

When the orange blossoms started blooming, we decided to pick all the oranges off of our two backyard trees and JUICE!

My mom and dad loaned us the juicer attachment for our Bosch.

We juiced all these cans, plus three more gallons!

The juice was so yummy, and since we had so much, we topped the night off with an orange julius!

What's Cookin' in Your Kitchen?

As a newlywed, cooking can be a bit daunting.  Usually I love to do it, but sometimes, I'm just over it!  It's always one of my favorite things to chat with my friends...what do they make for dinner?  It seems everyone has some tips and tricks that work for them. 

So I thought I would occasionally post a few of the things I have learned since being married about

"cooking for two".

First off though, Brett and I both eat quite a bit.  Usually we have a bit of leftovers, which Brett takes to work the next day.  It's a system that has been working great for us and saves us a ton of money!

My first secret (or not-so secret): rotisserie chicken.

I love the rotisserie chicken because it is moist, already cooked, and slightly seasoned.

I love Costco's, but I've gotten them at other grocery stores. 

Costco just has the biggest for the best price ($5).

My tips for picking a chicken out is to find one that is touching or close to touching

the top of the case (it will be bigger and have more meat).

When you get home, take all the meat off of the bones and then divide it into quart size freezer bags.

Make sure to label and date them!  Then stick them in the freezer.

(You can use the leftover skin and bones and simmer them in water with onion, carrots, and celery to make your own chicken stock--this also freezes very well!).

They are ready for you to thaw out the day you have a recipe that calls for chicken! 

Here are my top three choices for using this chicken:

Chicken Pot Pie with a Cornbread Crust

(this is a really hearty and healthy dinner)

Honey Lime Enchiladas

(a really yummy twist on traditional enchiladas)

Chicken Noodle Soup

(use the "homemade" frozen noodles to kick chicken noodle soup up a notch!)

Must-Try Pumpkin Cookies

I adore the cream cheese/pumpkin combination just as much as the next person (let's be honest: I love cream cheese with anything).  Although these cookies do not have that "comfort Autumn food" combo--they are definitely a must-try!  They are a light, moist pumpkin cookie with a brown sugar glaze.  They don't end up looking the most gorgeous, but wait until you have a bite, and you will never regret making them!

These pictures are from a batch I made a few years ago, but I didn't take any of the batch I made today (and they really looked almost exactly the same).  So go ahead and try them out, I know you won't be disappointed!

Pumpkin Cookies

1 cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

Drop by spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes

Frosting:

Boil until mostly smooth (2-3 minutes)

3 Tbsp butter

½ cup brown sugar

Cool

Add:

¼ cup milk

2 cups powdered sugar or until desired consistency

Whip with a hand mixer

Spread on cookies

Boo Treats

This is one of my "staple" Halloween treats, that I thought I should share.  They are super easy and extremely delicious!  My aunt taught me how to make these years ago and I've made them every year since. 

They are edible little ghosties 

Ingredients:

Nutter Butter cookies
almond bark or white chocolate (I prefer almond bark--cheaper and easier to work with)
mini chocolate chips

Melt almond bark/white chocolate according to the package directions.  Using a slotted spoon, dip a Nutter Butter in the white chocolate until entirely covered, and then place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper/parchment paper.  Before almond bark/white chocolate has set up, place three mini chocolate chips on one end--creating two eyes and a mouth.  Let them set up and then dig in, package up pretty, and share! 

Obviously the downer to this is if anyone has any peanut allergies.  I am not sure of anything else that looks just like ghosts, but there is probably something out there.  Get creative!  Hopefully you have time to make a few of these this year!

Grilled Banana Splits

The other night after our family night activity, Brett and I tried out grilled banana splits.  What are grilled banana splits, you ask? 

Just take a banana and split the peel in half, but leaving it on.  Stuff the banana peel with any goodies you want to.  Then, roll the banana in aluminum foil and put on a hot grill for 3-5 minutes.  We put it on closer to 3 minutes, but we should have left it on slightly longer.  We put a swipe of butter, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and a large marshmallow (torn into pieces) on each of our bananas.  We think next time we'll incorporate some peanut butter somehow!  And we will definitely do the butterscotch chips everytime (Brett's fabulous idea). 

Once removed from grill, unwrap the aluminum foil and top the banana with ice cream.  The grill makes everything into a gooey, delicious mess! 

After a long day...not the best picture of us, but the post needed a few faces :)

Home[made] Comfort Food: Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

Have you ever had Paradise Bakery's Fire Roasted Tomato Soup?  It is so good!  I don't even like tomato soup either.  Campbell's tomato soup is so yucky.  But this soup is full of flavor!  Not too tomato-y and just the perfect comfort food.  Add a dollop of sour cream!

We had it tonight with grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread and sharp cheddar cheese. 

I found this knock-off recipe on this website.  It makes a huge batch, so I always half the recipe and we still have plenty.  And for the tomatoes, I use Hunt's canned "Fire Roasted Tomatoes" (and when I half it, I use 3 cans total).  And instead of blending the soup in a blender, I use a hand blender and just leave it in the pot, so much easier (if you don't have a hand blender, you should definitely invest in one!).  Here is the recipe:

Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

1 large onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil

2 -28 to 32 oz cans tomatoes (use ready cut to simplify)

1 -32 oz bottle fire roasted tomatoes (or sun-dried tomatoes)

2 -8 oz cans tomato sauce

2 -6 oz cans tomato paste

8 cups water (add 8-10 bouillon cubes)

2 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

2 cups milk or cream

- In a large soup kettle, saute onion in olive oil until almost translucent

- Add garlic and continue to saute a few minutes more

- Add tomatoes, sauce, and paste—along with water

- Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes

- Puree in blender until desired consistency (use hand blender)

- Add milk/cream and seasonings and continue to simmer for another 5-10 min

Date Night: "Cheesy" Idea for a Date Night In

Our newlywed friends Jacob and Camille have a fun dating blog that I love to follow.  When I saw this post, I knew we needed to put our fondue pot to good use.  So we had a fantastic date night in.  I used a different cheese fondue recipe, and I used white grape juice instead of white wine.  My cheese fondue did not turn out exactly the right consistency, but it still was delicious!



A photo of the feast

We have some amazing photography skills! 
And I am obviously very photogenic, ha!

For the dipping, we had cajun turkey from the deli (which was super delicious!), slightly steamed brocolli (just to take the raw crunch out of it), apples, and homemade artisan bread (I'll need to post that easy recipe soon!).  We also had some grapes and a salad with chopped pecans and strawberries (forgot to buy some feta cheese).  It was super tasty and suprisingly very filling.  We didn't eat all of the food--not even close. 

After we let our stomachs settle, unlike Jacob and Camille, we ALWAYS have room for dessert :)  So we whipped up some chocolate fondue.  And the things to dip included strawberries, bananas, homemade chocolate chip cookies, graham crackers, and pretzel rods. 

Another fun and inexpensive (although splurge a bit on yummy cheese and cajun turkey) date night in.  It was a unique way to eat a meal that we would recommend!  We think we need to do it with a group next time.  Thanks Jacob and Camille for the great idea!

Home[Made]

Two homemade things that we have been loving on lately are:

These homemade chicken taquitos--recipe found here.  We were very pleased with how they turned out.  And they were very filling!

And...

This homemade laundry detergent!  Super easy and inexpensive to make!  The recipe I used is found here.  It yields about 16 pounds of detergent.  I have used it for lots of loads already and it smells wonderful and cleans very well. 

What are your favorite homemade things?

What We've Been Up To

Mid-week lunch date with Brett near his work building.  We went to Grimaldi's Pizzeria.  So yummy!  We would really reccommend this restaurant. 

We order a pepperoni pizza (the pepperoni has a great kick) and a Mediterranean salad.

We celebrated my Great-Grandpa Breinholt's 92nd Birthday!  

Apparently he was distracted, and didn't look at the camera 

Brett whipping up some of his "Killer Omelets" (named by himself, but they really are!)

Seeing Harry Potter opening weekend down in Sierra Vista.  We went with Brett's two brothers and their wives (Matthew and Maren hadn't arrived yet). 

The giddy Allred Boys: Michael and Brett

Kami, Michael, Brett, Me

Pizookies in Pajamas!  We recently purchased a new air mattress and put it to good use by blowing it up in our living room and watching "Back to the Future" while eating pizookies.  I love fun, free dates like this! 

Please excuse the no make-up and granny nightgown (but I love my nightgowns!)

Mason Jar Meals

Lately the heat has been getting to me.  117 degrees isn't what you'd call ideal weather.  And after the infamous "haboob" dust storm hit the valley and no rain has followed, the weather is even nastier (if you can imagine that!).

So I have been dreaming of going on a picnic.  And while perusing the internet, I came across the coolest thing ever: Mason Jar Meals

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Is that not the coolest idea?  The possibilities are endless!  You could even make a beautiful parfait with shortcake, strawberries, and whip cream layered (although it would get soggy quickly, so it would need to be made right before the picnic).  There are so many creative ways to make a mason jar meal, and they are perfect for a picnic.  Throw these in a picnic basket with a few mason jars full of lemonade and a couple filled with ice to keep things chilled, and you have a phenomenal and fun picnic!

To see how to assemble them and for more ideas, check out The Decorated Cookie Blog, here.

I had to post these so that when it is picnic season here (come mid-November), I can try these out with Brett.  Maybe my fellow cousins in the Utah area can give these a shot, since picnics aren't impossible in the summertime!