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 jalapeño, 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!

• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

• 1/4 teaspoonWorcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
• 1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced
• 1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
  *feta cheese
  *candied walnuts (chop some walnuts, rinse them under hot water, sprinkle with powdered sugar, salt, and cayenne and cook lightly

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!

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.

January Dinners

1- Leftover Pizza
2- roast beef tacos w/ carmelized onions
3- Cuban sandwiches
4- BBQ beef Sandwiches
5- Seminary Mtg-Panda Express
6- fried chicken
7- french bread pizza
8- pork roast at nana and papas
9- chicken parmesan over pasta
10- Pork Leftover Stew
11- Broccoli Pork Stir-Fry
12- Cobb Salad
13- Stuffed Shells
14- Hot Dogs, beans, chips
15- meatball sandwiches
16- Alfredo Mesquite Chicken Pasta
17- Crockpot Lasagna
18- Tostadas
19- Cole's B-day- Hotdogs
20- Date night
21- chad's party, creamy chicken noodle soup
22- Ham, twice baked potatoes, salad
23- White Chicken Chili
24- sloppy joes and homemade fries
25-  chicken enchiladas
26- Ham Pineapple Sweet and Sour Rice
27- bbq pineapple chicken quesadillas
28- eggs&ham
29- canned soup
30- baked potatoes
31- meatballs with ketchup glaze

December Dinners

1- Anniversary-half price Applebees appetizers

2- Ward Christmas dinner-enchiladas, meatballs, lasagna, turkey

3- BYU football game party at Hatch's - Dominos

4- pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs and ham

5- leftovers

6- Dairy Queen - out shopping

7- french bread pizza

8- Panda Express - 12 week appt

9- Faculty Christmas Party - ham, potatoes, salad, rolls

10- southwestern egg rolls and southwestern salad

11- leftover roast salad

12- tacos, spanish rice, black beans

13- Relief Society Christmas dinner

Didn't keep track the rest of the month. December was full of parties and we were out of town for about 2 weeks...

November Dinners

1- canned soup

2- Hawaiian haystacks

3- chicken sandwiches

4- DUBS

5- potatoes.chili

Well let me be honest. I am pregnant and was very sick the month of November. There wasn't a lot of cooking going on in our house, and when I did make dinner for the family besides pancakes or chicken nuggets, I didn't even care to keep track of it. :)

Chicken Taco Soup

This another recipe I can't believe hasn't been posted yet. This one is the EASIEST to make, not quite as good as the white chicken chili, but it's close! Use the recipe found here.

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans (I use kidney beans)
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (I obviously use chicken broth instead :)
• 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
• 3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I use 1/2 can of Costco canned chicken)
• shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
• sour cream (optional)
• crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Directions

1. Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, broth, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.
2. Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

I chop my onion and saute it in a little oil in a big pot. Then I add the beans, corn, sauce, broth, tomatoes, taco seasoning, chicken until it heats through. The optional sour cream, cheese and chips are really not optional. :) It is YUMMY!

Vegetable Cheese Soup

We had this soup at a Relief Society activity awhile back and I've made it a few times since, it's good, but not the healthiest of soups. :)

I cut this recipe in half and it still makes a lot-

Cook till tender in 3 quarts water:

4 large sliced carrots

6 sticks celery with leaves chopped

1 large onion chopped

3 large potatoes diced

12 – 13 chicken bouillon cubes (I use McCormick’s chicken soup base – ½ tsp per cube)

Melt ¾ lb butter in different pan. Blend in well 1 ¼ cups flour and stir slowly into soup. Add 16 oz Cheese Whiz. May add some grated cheese also.

About 20 minutes before serving, add:

1pkg frozen broccoli or fresh broccoli

1 pkg frozen peas (I put in a can of corn instead)

Served great with bread bowls. This soup freezes well.

I never have cheese whiz. Sometimes I just use cheese and a little milk or sour cream, this time around I actually had some fake nacho cheese in a jar I put a little in. I top with shredded cheese, salt and pepper!

BBQ Chicken Salad

Slight variation from a taco salad.

Lettuce

1 can black beans

1 can corn

red onion

cheese

chicken nuggets coated with BBQ sauce

ranch dressing

additional bbq sauce as you like

I topped mine with crushed corn chips and pineapple. Yummy and Easy!!

Black Bean Tacos

Black beans are my best friend. That is no surprise. So it mexican. So to combine the 2 gives you a great cheap, meatless, fast meal!

There was an awesome recipe I used from a book I got from the library, but I didn't have it and never wrote it down, so I used one found here - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/black-bean-soft-tacos/detail.aspx It's definitely not as simple, but still yummy.

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 can diced tomatoes with green chiles (I had 1/2 can in my fridge. You could use more if you wanted probably)
• 1 can diced green chilies
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 8 (6 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
• 1 large ripe avocado, peeled and sliced (optional)

Directions

1. In a nonstick skillet, saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the beans, tomatoes, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3-5 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Spoon about 1/2 cup off center on each tortilla; sprinkle with cheese. Fold one side of tortilla over filling. Garnish with avocado.

We ate ours on corn tortillas with sour cream!

Alfredo Mesquite Chicken Pasta

Oh my goodness, this was SO GOOD! But warning, so not healthy. That shouldn't be surprising though right? :)

I didn't feel like cooking and Jack offered to make dinner while I took a nap. I said I left the recipe open on the computer, he couldn't find it, so instead of waking me up made up his own and it was divine! I need to ask him again what he did, but it was something like this-

Half block butter

Half block cream cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

some milk

mesquite seasoning

melted and poured over pasta with cut up chicken nuggets :)

Chicken Souvlaki

This is one of our favorite meals. But a MUST is the tzatziki sauce to accompany it

Use recipe found here - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-souvlaki-gyro-style/detail.aspx

• Souvlaki Marinade:
• 3/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• • 4 large pita bread rounds
  • 1 heart of romaine lettuce, cut into 1/4 inch slices
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tomato, halved and sliced
  • 1/2 cup pepperoncini (I use sometimes)
  • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (let's face it, rarely have, but still yummy!)

  Directions

  1. In a small bowl, mix the balsamic vinaigrette, juice from 1/2 lemon, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade over the chicken, seal, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  2. Remove chicken from marinade and place on prepared grill. Discard remaining marinade. Cook chicken until juices run clear, about 8 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from heat, and allow to sit about 10 minutes before slicing into thin strips.
  3. Place pita rounds on the grill, and cook for about 2 minutes, until warm, turning frequently to avoid burning. Arrange warmed pita, sliced chicken, lettuce, onion, tomato, and pepperoncini on a serving platter. Serve tzatziki sauce and feta cheese in separate bowls on the side. Stuff pita pockets with chicken and toppings to serve.
  4. 
     

  

White Chicken Chili

I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe yet. It is by far my favorite 5 minute meal. Open a few cans, a dash of seasoning and you have a delicious meal.

Use variation of recipe found here - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cha-chas-white-chicken-chili/detail.aspx

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chiles
• dash of ground cayenne pepper
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 can of Costco canned chicken
• 1 can white beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can corn
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion until tender. Mix in the garlic, green chiles, cumin, oregano and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender. Mix in the chicken broth, chicken and beans, and corn. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. *BUT if you don't feel like waiting, eat right away and enjoy!

I don't think this tastes nearly as good without sour cream, cheese, and a little salsa mixed in then served with chips. You won't be disappointed! ;)

October Dinners

1- out of town

2- out of town

3- chili and chips

4- meatballs and rice w/ gravy

5- white chicken chili

6- chicken enchiladas

7- chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes and gravy

8- hamburgers

9- grilled chicken with roasted carrots and mashed potatoes

10- pastrami sandwiches

11- stir fry

12- ?

13-chicken soulvaki pitas

14-Brick Oven

15-chicken sandwiches

16-bbq chicken and pineapple french bread pizza

17-alfredo mesquite chicken pasta

18- black bean tacos

19- BBQ chicken salad

20- fish sticks

21- vegetable soup and bread

22- hamburgers

23- leftover soup and BLTs

24- block party-sloppy joes

25- rice-a-roni meal

26- taco soup

27- spaghetti and meatballs

28- Halloween party

29- Toquerville

30-pancakes and spam

31- chili dogs

Rice Pudding

Jack really likes rice pudding. I decided to do something nice for him so made it. :) Used recipe found here.

• 3/4 cup uncooked white rice
• 2 cups milk, divided
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup golden raisins
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. In another saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg and raisins. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm.

Pretty simple. I omitted the raisins. Served it cold. And Jack liked it. :)