May 9, 2012

Dinner last night: Slow Cooker Casserole

website: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1638,144184-254204,00.html

picture:

Slow Cooker Casserole with Dinner Rolls and butter

The differences: Ok, in the ingredients I used a can of green beans (undrained) and I added garlic, basil, and thyme to add some flavor. In the cooking instructions I chose to make the recipe a crock pot recipe rather than heating up the house by turning on the oven. The layering happens exactly the same and you would cook it for 6 to 8 hours on low.

The prep: It takes about 10 minutes to brown the ground beef and during that time you can peel and slice the potatoes and an additional five minutes to slice the onion. Five minutes to layer everything in the slow cooker (crock pot) and 6 to 8 hours to cook... So prep is about 15 to 20 minutes and cook time is 6 to 8 hours.

The Cost Breakdown:
Ground Beef: $5.22
Potatoes: $1.59
Cream of Mushroom Soup: $1.49
Dinner Rolls: $1.99
Butter: $2.99

I did not include the cost of an onion, the garlic, or spices, or the can of green beans since I had all of those things in my fridge and pantry.

Total: $13.28 or $3.32 per person for a family of four

The Verdict:  I really liked this meal. It was hearty and it tasted good. Erik, on the other hand, really didn't like it. He felt that the meat tasted overcooked and that all the flavors blended together in to one taste that he couldn't decide if he liked or not so he was ambiguous about it. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. Realistically not everyone is going to like everything I cook but I liked it and it was inexpensive and easy to put together so it gets a thumbs up from me. =)

May 7 and 8, 2012

All right all right... I know I didn't do a post yesterday and I'm sorry but I do have a post for yesterdays dinner... =)

What was for dinner last night? Baked Cheese Ravioli

No need for a recipe, its that easy!

picture:

Baked Cheese Ravioli, Garden salad with Ranch dressing, and Garlic Bread

What you need: Frozen cheese ravioli, a jar of pasta sauce, a pound of ground beef, Parmesan cheese, a bag of salad, carrots, grape tomatoes, cucumber, and garlic bread.

The Prep: Okay, boil water. Once its boiling dump in the frozen ravioli, once it comes back to a boil boil the ravioli for 4-7 minutes. While you are doing that brown the ground beef, drain off the grease, and mix in the pasta sauce. Drain the ravioli and mix it in with the sauce and beef. Use cooking spray on a baking dish, put the ravioli in the dish and top with Parmesan cheese, stick in the oven. 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Mix the salad, tomatoes, carrots, and sliced cucumber together and toss with your favorite dressing. Cook garlic bread according to directions. So 10-15 minutes for everything leading up to baking the ravioli, 20 minutes for the actual baking (including the tossing of the salad, and cooking of the garlic bread). So it takes about 35-40 minutes to make dinner.

The Cost Breakdown:
Ravioli: $4.99
Pasta sauce: $1.69
Ground beef 1 lb.: $3.48
Salad: $2.99
Carrots: $1.50
Tomatoes: $3.99
Cucumber: $0.99
Garlic Bread: $1.99

not included in the cost was the salad dressing

total: $21.62 or $5.41 per person for a family of four.

The Verdict: Warm, yummy, and very easy to put together. I enjoyed it, it made me think of eating Chef Boyrdee Ravioli when I was little. One of my favorite foods was that ravioli so it was a nice memory (by the way the ravioli I made was better than the canned stuff). Erik enjoyed the dinner as well which was very nice indeed. Dinner for tonight is in the crockpot now so tune in tomorrow to see what it is!

May 4, 5, and 6, 2012

Ok here is the skinny... I will be back with meals on Tuesday (posting for Monday). I didn't make dinner yesterday because Erik and I went and saw Avengers (which was TOTALLY awesome!!!!), because the kids were with a babysitter I ordered them Pizza and Erik and I ate leftover pizza and other leftovers from the refridgerator. I didn't make lunch or dinner today because I made a breakfast for 20ish people this morning, I slept thru lunch, and had leftovers for dinner. I won't be making a lunch or dinner tomorrow because I will be at my Bestie's house celebrating my daughter's third birthday and we fully plan on going out to dinner (lunch will happen in the car I am sure)... so don't be disappointed in me I plan to be back on the meal planning track on Monday... love you all and have a fabulous rest of your weekend!!! Love, Jamie

May 3, 2012

Dinner last night... Wild Rice Casserole

website: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1742,149177-239192,00.html

Picture:

Wild Rice Casserole and Green Beans

The Differences: I did not use mushrooms or onions (not my families preference), the chicken breasts that I used were the extra ones that I cooked a couple of days ago, I did not use flour, cream, or chicken broth... instead I used a can of cream of mushroom soup and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. I did cook the rice according to the package directions, I did cook the sausage and set it aside, since I used chicken that I cooked a couple of days ago I didn't have to cook the breasts just cut them up. Then I combined the rice, sausage, chicken, soup, and Worcestershire sauce together, poured it into a baking dish and baked it at 350 for 30 minutes.

The Prep: 25 minutes to cook the rice and sausage and cut up the chicken, 5 minutes to combine everything and prepare the dish to go in the oven (this includes topping the casserole with Parmesan cheese) and 30 minutes to bake so a total of an hour to put this meal together.

The Cost Breakdown:
Wild Rice: $1.76
Sausage: $2.89
Chicken: $2.66
Cream of Mushroom Soup: $0.77
Green Beans: $0.99

not included in the cost of the meal: Worcestershire sauce, Parmesan cheese, and seasonings for the green beans.

Total: $9.07 or $2.27 per person for a family of four

The Verdict: OH MY GOODNESS!!! That casserole was so good! Now my mother-in-law and I make a wild rice casserole straight out of the Southern Living Cookbook and that is pretty good but this one is WAY better in my opinion. The sausage was a great addition to the wild rice, it wasn't overly creamy but there was a nice consistency to it in general. I just don't have any better words... its really good and I highly recommend it!!! Now Erik, the spicy wuss, felt that the sausage had a bite to it but other than that it was good. I told him that he was insane and a big wussy cause there was no spicy in this recipe... Men are weird, make it for yourself and see...

May 2, 2012

Dinner last night? Tangy Meatloaf

Website: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1726,154165-241193,00.html

Picture:

Tangy Meatloaf with Baked Potato and Peas

The Differences: Number one I used two pounds of ground beef instead of one of beef and one of pork. Four eggs instead of two and 6 slices of bread instead of 5. I also used Parmesan cheese as an additional binding agent considering how wet the meat was rather than breadcrumbs. I threw in seasoned salt, salt, and pepper as my seasonings. Now the topping that I ALWAYS use on meatloaf (because Erik LOVES it and always requests more of it) is Ketchup and brown sugar. I chose not to use the chili sauce or the garlic (again, because too spicy for Erik). Mix all the ingredients (except the ketchup and the brown sugar) pat them into a dish (if using a loaf pan use a deep one or it might overflow) and top with one third of your ketchup and brown sugar mixture. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, put another third of the ketchup mixture on top and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until cooked through.

The Prep: 2 minutes to soak the bread, 5 minutes to hand mix the meat mixture, 5 minutes to get it in the pan, 60 minutes total bake time for the meatloaf and the potatoes, and 7 minutes to make the peas (during the bake time). So your total from beginning to end is 72 minutes.

The Cost Breakdown:
White Bread: $0.99
Ground Beef: $6.98
Potatoes: $1.33
Peas: $0.99
Parmesan Cheese: $3.39

not included in the cost is the milk, seasoned salt, salt, eggs, ketchup, brown sugar, butter, and pepper.

Total: $13.68 or $3.42 per person for a family of four

The Verdict: I'm going to tell you a funny story... I was told to put a broiler pan under my meatloaf but knowing better than anyone else I didn't do it. This meatloaf is fairly wet in its  execution and as you cook the meat the meat tends to produce grease. The pan was already pretty full so the addition of the grease caused the pan to overflow. Unfortunately the pan overflowed onto the hot surface beneath and through the vent leading to the actual fire that makes the oven hot causing the oven to fill up with smoke... when I went to add more sauce to the meatloaf I released the smoke into the house causing the smoke alarm to go off and requiring me to open numerous windows. So the consequences of that was the meatloaf wasn't well done it was medium rare. Still it was good and I actually enjoyed it more than the recipe I normally make... the food was yummy and that is really all that matters! See you tomorrow!

May 1, 2012

I will be completely honest... usually the first day of the month I INSIST that we eat out as a day off for me =) I did NOT do that last night! I am so proud of myself and I am glad I didn't give in to the temptation, LOL.

What WAS for dinner anyway? White BBQ Chicken (sounds yummy, right?)

Website Recipe: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=872600

Picture:

White BBQ Chicken with Steak Fries and Texas Ranch Beans

The Differences: Ok... here goes! I used 3 pounds of chicken instead of 3 breasts because I was making some chicken ahead for a meal later in the week (Doing stuff like that will have a tendency to save you money later on) but 3 breasts is what you need to feed 4 to 6 people. I used one cup of miracle whip (I prefer it to mayonnaise) compared to the 6 tablespoons of Mayonnaise. I used one teaspoon of salt versus the one tablespoon the recipe called for but the amount of pepper stayed the same. I used one cup of vinegar AND one cup of lemon juice, it fit the flavor profile AND would potentially increase the moistness of the chicken (which is a BIG deal when cooking white meat chicken). I left out the sugar... I don't think it was necessary AND using the sugar would negate the point of the tang of the lemon juice and vinegar... why have the tang and the sweetness when they cancel each other out? I also did not use the milk for that reason and the additional miracle whip would make the mix creamier without the milk. I did not mix the sauce in the blender HOWEVER I wish that I had it would have made the consistency better. Everything else was the same EXCEPT I cooked the chicken about 10 minutes longer than suggested and I didn't cover the chicken.

The Prep: Mixing up the sauce took about 5 minutes and another 5 to put the chicken and sauce together and get them into the oven. You might have to take the chicken out in order to cook the fries since the temperatures are WAY different, which is what I did. So 40 minutes to cook the chicken and 25 minutes for the fries. The beans can be heated during the cook time for the fries. So the total is One hour and 15 minutes from start to finish.

The Cost Breakdown:
2 pounds chicken breasts (the other pound that I cooked is for a different meal): $5.32
Steak Fries: $2.49
Beans: $1.99

not included in the cost of the meal was the miracle whip, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

Total: $9.80 or $2.45 per person for a family of 4. Well the cook time wasn't quick but the price was certainly worth it!

The Verdict: The chicken was tangy, creamy, juicy, and extremely yummy! I greatly enjoyed it, as did Erik! The starchy fries were a great accompaniment. A note about the beans... the can of beans that I got (Bushs Grillin Beans Texas Ranch Style) were made with jalapenos... now knowing how my husband feels about spicy stuff I dumped in about a handful of brown sugar to cut MOST of the spicy. Now when I tasted them I didn't feel any spicy on my tongue... it was strange I felt like there should have been spicy, if you know what I mean, but there wasn't. However, apparently my palate is less sensitive than Erik's. He said that if I hadn't put the brown sugar in he wouldn't have been able to eat the beans at all. It was still spicy enough that he felt that he had to cut the spice by eating the beans with the starchy steak fries... he said the sauce was awesome on the potatoes. But the most pleasing part of the meal for him was definitely the chicken, he said he could have kept eating it all night long! Enjoy!

April 30, 2012

Last Dinner of the month... what shall it be?

BLT Sandwich

It's a sandwich! No recipe required...

Picture:

Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich on French Bread with Pretzels and Fresh Pineapple

The Differences: Since there is no actual recipe there aren't any differences. What do you need? Bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise (or miracle whip in my case) and your bread of choice (I chose french bread). The nice part is that your sides can be whatever you want.

The Prep: The nice part is that while you fry up the bacon you can prepare everything else. So about 15 minutes to prepare everything.

The Cost Breakdown:
French Bread: $0.99
Lettuce: $0.99
Tomato: $0.68
Bacon: $6.99
Pretzels: $1.29
Pineapple: $1.50

not included was the mayonnaise (or miracle whip)

Total: $12.44 or $3.11 per person for a family of 4.

The Verdict: This is probably the best BLT I have ever had. Part of the reason is that in BLT's that I have bought from sandwich places the bacon is usually overcooked, the lettuce and tomato are usually wilted, and the bread is DRENCHED in mayonnaise. When you make things at home you have the ability to control the ingredients and make them what you want them to be. As far as I am concerned the french bread was an inspired choice. It was soft and crunchy at the same time and, man, did it taste good. The beginning of summer is the best time to have fresh pineapple! The meal was so easy, easy to put together, easy to eat. My husband liked the change to something cooler for dinner... 4 BIG thumbs up!

By the way... did you like the cost analysis yesterday? Did it make you think? Even a little? It made me think, about how much groceries cost nowadays, and how there are things that I can do to make it easier on my husband, on my family in general. I hope it helps you too... =) See you tomorrow!