5.08.2013

Pork Tacos

I'm a fan of this lady's blog. I actually used pork instead of beef since i had some boneless ribs hanging out in my freezer that needed to be used. http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2011/06/shredded-beef-soft-tacos.html

I also halved the recipe omitted the jalapeno just using the green chiles. Because I never pay attention to how much meat a a recipe calls for and just use my pre-bagged frozen meat I should have realized not to cook this as long since there wasn't as much meat in there, but I didn't, so it got a bit crispy. I could still tell the flavor was so good!

Shredded Beef:

  • 1-2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 lb lean chuck roast (trim most of the outside fat off)
  • Cumin, to taste
  • Chili powder, to taste
  • Paprika, to taste
  • Oregano, to taste
  • Coriander, to taste
  • Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
  • 2 cups of beef broth (plus more if needed)
  • 1 7 oz can of whole green chiles
  • 1 jalapeƱo, seeded, de-veined, and chopped
  • 6 cloves of garlic, minced
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Trim the outside fat off of the chuck roast. Season the chuck roast evenly with cumin, chili powder, paprika, oregano, coriander, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper on both sides of the roast. Place them beef in the hot Dutch oven for 2-3 minutes on each side to sear the meat. Add the beef broth, whole green chiles, jalapeno, cilantro, and minced garlic. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and place into the oven for 2-3 hours making sure to check each hour to make sure you don’t need to add more broth. The beef is done when the meat is tender and shreds easily with a fork. Carefully, remove any fat that you see in the beef then shred the beef using a fork.
Other Ingredients:
  • Small flour tortillas
  • Refried beans, warmed
  • Lettuce, shredded
  • Extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
  • Grape tomatoes, halved
  • Green onions
  • Cilantro
  • Roasted tomato salsa
  • Guacamole
Heat the refried beans. Place the tortillas in a damp cloth and microwave for 20 seconds to warm up. Spread a bit of refried beans down the center of the tortilla then add some shredded beef followed by lettuce, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro. Serve with salsa and guacamole. Enjoy!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Found recipe here - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/strawberry-spinach-salad-i/

Even if you don't like spinach, everyone loves the strawberry spinach salad crumbled with feta and this is a tasty one!




  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for one hour.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
I've been in love with all of my new Pampered Chef tools and it has made cooking so fun! Strawberries went from awesome to Amazing! ;0) The core and more scoops the top off perfect and the egg slicer slices them into perfect thin even slices! I left out the sesame seeds, added candied walnuts and of course feta! My husband asked me to make more! which took me seconds to throw another batch together!





Greek Pizza

Found recipe here - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/greek-pizza-with-spinach-feta-and-olives/

I bought a big thing of feta at Costco and have been looking for recipes to use it!

pizza crust - there was a sale on Pillsbury pre-made crusts for $1.20 so I bought a bunch for those nights when you don't have time to make one. I think they actually taste pretty good and are so easy to use!

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup feta

1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/8 cup olives
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup feta
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
*mozerella cheese


  1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix mayonnaise, garlic and feta in a small bowl. Place pizza crust on a cookie sheet; spread mayonnaise mixture over pizza, then top with tomatoes, olives and oregano. Bake until heated through and crisp, about 10 minutes.
  2. Toss spinach and onion with the 1 Tb. sun-dried tomato oil. Top hot pizza with spinach mixture and remaining feta cheese. Return to oven and bake until cheese melts, about 2 minutes longer. 
I adjusted the recipe for us. We don't like olives, so left those out altogether. I chopped the spinach to sprinkle on top. I added mozerella cheese on top too (recipe actually calls for double the amount of feta). I just used fresh sliced tomatoes (though I did just order some sundried tomato seasoning from Pampered Chef I am excited to get!) and sprinkled it with some greek seasoning. I thought it turned out yummy and is a nice variation to add to the mix!

May Dinners

1- taco soup
2- tortellini caesar salad
3- greek pizza
4- strawberry spinach salad
5- pork tacos
6- chicken strip salad
7- black bean bbq pizza
8- bbq at friends - hamburgers
9- fajitas
10- end of year work bart
11- bbq at neighbors - ribs
12- Mother's Day
13- leftovers
14- sesame noodles

8- creamy chicken noodle soup

Freezing Meat in Bags

I think I'll add occasional posts about my money saving tips.

As far as buying meats goes, there are lots of things I could say, but one thing I do is put my meat in individual bags. If a recipe calls for something, I grab my bag from the freezer, thaw it, and that is all I use, no matter how much the recipe calls for. Cooking lets you do that and we don't notice a difference!

Chicken breast - one chicken breast per bag. I know it sounds crazy, but just about all my meals that call for chicken, I just use one chicken breast for our whole family of 4. When I've cooked at my parents, I'll use 2, and that is for 5 adults and 2 children. You can do it!

Ground beef - I put a little less than 1 lb per bag. If I buy a 5 lb chub, I'll divide it into 6 bags so I'm able to get one whole additional meal just by taking a little off everyone's lb. :) And yes, it even works for meatloaf! I keep the recipe the same (which I think mine calls for 2 lbs), but only use that much meat and it feeds our family of hungry boys!

Ribs - I think I normally divide them into 1 lb bags. It is usually 4-6 boneless ribs that we'll use for sandwiches, salads, tacos, etc!

I think you get what I'm saying. Buy in bulk, you'll save money; if there is an awesome sale, buy a lot of it! Determine how much you will need for each meal for your family, then put them in bags so they are easy to go to and you won't end up spending more on your meals than you want to!


Revitalize!

I've kept track of our menus and recipes for the last year, and they're saved as drafts I planned on going through and publishing. But I wanted to attach links to everything before I did that. Well, it hasn't happened, so I figure I'll start fresh right now, and hopefully go back to publish it all since there are some yummy things up there for cheap! However, by the end of June is my goal, since I'm extra busy with other things going on right now. Anyway, we'll start fresh with May 2013!

3.03.2013

Cream of Chicken Soup Substitute

Anybody referred to this page from the Dinner on a Budget class I taught, it will be updated with LOTS AND LOTS of recipes and meal plans in a week or two. Until then, several asked about the cream of chicken soup substitute, so here it is! SO GOOD!

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup low-sodium instant chicken bouillon granules
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes or 1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Directions:

1.) Blend ingredients.
2.) Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
3.) When ready to use, combine 1/3 cup soup substitute mix with 1¼ cups water to equal 1 can of soup.