Pesto Pizza

One good thing about only working three days a week is that I get to try out more time intensive recipes. Today I made Pesto Pizzas, and even made the dough! I know. The best part is when M got home she said that she could smell the pizzas all the way outside. This is a big deal, because we always smell other people's cooking outside and it always smells amazing and makes us jealous--I like to think I made a few people jealous.

For the dough I used a recipe from Lauren's Latest. It doesn't take that long to make, and then you need to let it rise for about 2 hours. It yields enough for 2 pizzas.

Then I put pesto on (from a jar--I think it was Classico brand), spinach, mozzarella, red onion, and a sprinkle of shredded parmesan. Presto Pesto!

The last time I made pizza, it definitely wasn't round. I think I'm almost more proud at the roundness of the pizza than anything else.

One Pot Mac and Cheese

It's been a long while since I shared a recipe, so I thought I would share a new recipe I tried this last week. I was thinking of something to have for dinner that was rather easy to make, and didn't involve me having to go to the store. I found this recipe and this recipe on pinterest and sort of combined them using the things I had in my kitchen. It's not as good as my dad's mac and cheese, but it was easy and fairly quick to make.

One Pot Mac and Cheese

1/2 lb pasta (all I had was wagon wheel)
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon dijon mustard (I have no idea why I have dijon mustard--I don't like mustard, but I do, so I used it)
lemon pepper
cheddar cheese (how ever much you want)
freshly ground pepper

In a sauce pot, combine ingredients from the pasta to the lemon pepper. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, then turn to low, cover and cook for twenty minutes. You'll want to continue stirring to make sure the pasta doesn't stick together. At the end of the twenty minutes the pasta should be all the way cooked. Turn off the burner. Add in the cheese and stir until it's melted. Put pepper in to taste.

Creative Cooking

So the past week my parents were out of town, which meant cooking for myself. It was kind of nice to be reminded that I can take care of myself when necessary, but it also reminded me how creative I have to be to cook for one person. But, it was nice to be cooking for me and to be able to use as many burners on the stove as I wanted, without having to make room for roommates. So, that was a plus. :)

Several times at work today my mind would wander to what I would have for dinner when I got home. The only thing I could think was, "Well, I have some chicken in the freezer." So that's what I decided to do (after looking through everything else in my freezer).

I cut the chicken into strips, then dipped the strips into flour, an egg, and bread crumbs with grated parmesan cheese and italian seasoning. Then I fried it in a pan with olive oil. I like cooking the chicken nearer high than medium, because I feel like it makes the chicken more juicy. I also had a summer squash fried in butter with salt and pepper, and pasta-roni parmesan flavor. It was a pretty good dinner!

The rest of the week I had some leftovers and had dinner with a good friend and her adorable daughter. I also made some really yummy spaghetti sauce from this recipe. I actually ended up making 6x as much (on purpose). The size of recipe here is enough for about three people (I've made it before for my parents and me to eat). I use stewed Italian style tomatoes, but also put in some more herbs. Then I just made some pasta to eat with it. The rest of the sauce went into the freezer for a quick meal another time.

So, next time you're making dinner for yourself, look into making some good chicken or tomato sauce!

New Recipe: Asian-style Chicken Salad

I don't know if I've shared a recipe since the 8-week Experiment, and I think part of that is that the 8-week Experiment kind of drained me from wanting to share recipes, even though I have tried some great new recipes since then. Well, tonight I made a new, good, summer pasta salad. I took this recipe, and this recipe and made my own!

Asian-style Chicken Salad
1-16 oz package pasta (I used trio Italiano because that's what I had)
3 spears celery, biased cut
3 green onions
shredded chicken (about 1 lb, I think . . . we had some already shredded in the freezer)
fresh parsley (I actually think that I will leave this out next time, but it was a good way to use some of the parsley in our garden)
wonton strips (I used the precooked ones from the grocery store--they were in the produce aisle next to the salads)
lettuce (I used about half a head of iceberg since I had it in the fridge anyway)
Asian salad dressing (I used Kraft Asian Sesame Seed Dressing and Marinade)

Put everything except wonton strips and lettuce together at least 2 hours before dinner to let the flavors blend. When you are ready to serve, put in lettuce and wontons. You might also want to put on more dressing.

Week 7: Wait, you want dinner EVERY night?

Okay, one more week. I'm getting a little tired of my self imposed rules, but I am determined to follow them out. I tried out 3 new recipes this week!

Sunday

For Sunday dinner I started with these two recipes as inspiration. Then I changed, added, and made them my own. These are super easy, and super yummy. We had fruit with them.

Stuffed Shells

20 jumbo shells

15 oz ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 cup chopped fresh spinach

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 jar spaghetti sauce (again, I used Prego Traditional)

Cook noodles. In bowl, mix together ricotta, eggs, spinach, parmesan, and 1 cup mozzarella. Spoon into cooked shells. In 9x13 pan, put one cup sauce on bottom. Arrange shells in pan. Pour rest of sauce on top and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Cook at 375 for 30 minutes.

Monday

Since it was President's Day and yet I still had to go to work, I asked Pops if he would be willing to grill some chicken for dinner. He agreed and I planned to make a pasta salad to go with it. Well, when I got home, I found that Mom had already made a salad for me and planned to steam some asparagus. What a great surprise!

Tuesday

MARDI GRAS!! To celebrate, we had jambalaya. As you can see, this recipe isn't very exact, but as you probably know by now, I don't usually stick exactly to a recipe, so it was fine! I made this Monday night because Superdad had a meeting he needed to leave for at 6. Funny story, after it was made, Dad was helping me put it in a container to put in the fridge. He asked if he could try some, I said yes, then he asked if it was spicy. I said I thought so. He tried a little bit and said, "It's kind of spicy." About two minutes later, I hear him sniffing. I ask him what's up and he said, "Well, it doesn't get any less spicy!" Anyway. We had a green salad and an apple with it.

Wednesday

Daddy wanted to go to Subway sometime before the end of the month because it's any footlong for $5 this month. So, that's what we did tonight. We split a footlong sandwich. We brought it home and had some chips with them.

Thursday

We had a wonderful, basic dinner on Thursday: Shepherd's Pie. So easy to make, which was great because I had to come home quick from work, put it together, then go out to do some errands right after. I made a spinach salad to go with it.

Shepherd's Pie

Combine 1 lb gr. beef, 1 can green beans, and 1 can cream of mushroom soup. (I know that a lot of people use tomato soup instead, and I have one friend who makes it with vegetable soup.) Put mashed potatoes on top. (We use the potato pearls from the LDS Cannery.) Top with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Friday

So, ol' man went to have dinner with his siblings, which meant I didn't have to cook dinner! Instead I just had some leftover jambalaya from Tuesday.

Saturday

Since today's dinner is something completely new for me, I thought I'd give a play by play of the day.

8:30 am. I put together the coconut chicken curry. As I was measuring out the spices, I kept looking back at the recipe to make sure that they really wanted me to put an entire tablespoon of both curry powder and garam masala. Yes they do. As I poured the sauce over the chicken, my eyes started watering. And it wasn't even cooked yet. I'm thinking this is going to be a lot spicier than I was anticipating.

10:30 am. Start putting together the naan bread (recipe at the bottom of previously linked page). I used the Kitchen-aid to make bread for the first time and it was pretty amazing! I discovered that the plain yogurt I thought I had in the fridge had been stolen by the Frigerator Fairies, so I had to go get some from Smith's. Let the mixer do it's thing, then I put the dough in the fridge until I was ready to get it out and let it raise.

Noon. Plugged in the crock pot to let it do it's thing while I spend the afternoon in Provo. (Can I just say how great all the appliances I have are? Kitchen-Aid mixers that knead for me, refrigerator to keep things cool, crock pot to do the cooking for me, a blender to make things smooth. Awesome.)

3:00 pm. Went to get brother and took him grocery shopping. Bought some Bazmati rice because I forgot to buy it earlier in the day.

4:00 pm. Took brother home to put his groceries away. Called Mom and asked her to take the naan dough out of fridge to raise. She already had! What a great mom.

5:15 pm. Got home from Provo with brother. Started the rice, got the naan ready to go in the oven. For the next 45 minutes I am getting everything ready for the meal. The curry smells great. (Another thought: isn't it amazing how many cultures have a flat bread/pancake as part of their cuisine? Fry bread, pitas, pancakes, anjera, naan, laffa, crepes. Seriously. So cool the things that connect the entire world.)

6:00 pm. We sit down to eat. The curry is not as hot as I expected, but it tastes so yummy! The chicken is really tender. The naan is great, as is the spinach salad I made. I think even Sir Dad-a-lot liked it--even though he says he doesn't like curry unless it's Ethiopian curry. Success!

And now, another different thing. A picture of this wonderful meal.

Week 6: Getting Appreciated

Well, I've only got two more weeks to go now! I realize that there are women that do this everyday--and that most of them are cooking for more than just two people. And truthfully, I hope I get to be one of those women someday. But it still doesn't take away from the fact that this has been a tough little Experiment I've created for myself! I don't think it would be so hard if I hadn't given myself those rules at the beginning of it. But it's also been fun trying out new recipes (which I would never do for just myself) and learning more about crock pot cooking.

Sunday

Sunday was this month's family dinner, so I didn't have to make an entire meal. Instead, I tried a new recipe for a potato casserole and we took a green salad.

Swiss Potato Bake (from Bless Your Heart)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp lemon pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3 lbs red potatoes, thinly sliced

2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (I was able to buy exactly 2 cups from the grocery store in the deli section)

4 tbsp butter, divided (I used margarine since we didn't have any butter)

2 cups chicken broth (1 can)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray 9x13 pan. In a small bowl mix all spices. Place 1/2 of potatoes in the baking dish, sprinkle with 1/2 the seasoning and 1 cup of cheese. Dot with half of butter. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients. Pour chicken broth over the top. Bake for about 1 hour or until golden (30 minutes into the baking time, the bake was starting to get golden but the potatoes weren't done yet, so I covered the pan and cooked for another 15 minutes).

Monday

We had one of my favorites on Monday! Fettuccine al Fredo. I love this recipe so much. It's really rich, but so creamy and flavorful. I used to ask for this every year for my birthday dinner. To round out the meal, I heated a can of corn and we had left over green salad. I did make a half recipe since it was just for the two of us, but what is below is the full recipe.

Fettuccine

1/4 c margarine or butter

1/4 c flour

8 oz cream cheese (I usually use neufchatel because it's cheaper and less fattening. Slightly.)

salt and pepper

1 1/2 c milk

1/2 c parmesan cheese

Melt butter. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Add milk and cream cheese. Stir over medium heat until thick. (Just keep stirring. It seems to take forever until, voila! It's super thick.) Pour over noodles, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Toss and serve.

Tuesday

For our Valentine's Day meal I planned Engagement Chicken--mostly because I thought it was clever. :) There's some story that goes behind the name about how every girl that made it for a boy ended up getting engaged to that boy. It was in a magazine or something. Anyway, because of when I get home, Mom kindly offered to get it together and put it in the oven for me so we could eat at a reasonable hour. I am a little bummed because this was going to be my first time cooking a whole chicken. I made rice, half a bag of Caesar salad, and strawberries.

Engagement Chicken

1 whole chicken (about 4 lbs)

1/2 c fresh lemon juice, plus 3 whole lemons--including 1 slice for garnish

1 tbsp kosher or coarse sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

fresh herbs for garnish (ie rosemary, sage, thyme, or 1 bunch flat leaf parsley)

Position oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400. Remove giblets from chicken, wash inside and out with cold water. Let chicken drain, cavity down, in a colander for 2 minutes. Pat chicken dry with paper towls. Place the chicken breast-side down in a medium roasting pan fitted with a rack and pour the lemon juice all over the chicken, both inside and out. Season chicken all over with salt and pepper inside and out. Soften lemons by rolling, then prick 2 whole lemons three times each with a fork and place them deep inside the cavity. If one lemon is partly sticking out, that's fine. Put chicken in oven, lower temp to 350 and roast for 15 minutes.

Remove roasting pan from oven and turn chicken breast-side up. Return chicken to oven and roast for about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes (I feel like it's always taken way longer than this) or until meat thermometer reads 165 and the juices run clear when the thigh is pricked. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. Here's the secret: Pour the juices from the roasting pan on top of the sliced chicken--this is the "marry me juice." (That was in the recipe. I'm not making this up.) Garnish with fresh herbs and lemon slices.

Wednesday

We had one of the daddy-man's favorite meals--Enchilada Casserole. Super easy, 5 ingredients, no rolling involved. For a complete meal we had orange slices.

Enchilada Casserole

10 corn tortillas (the smaller ones)

1 lb ground beef (we had some already cooked in the freezer)

1-20 oz can red enchilada sauce (I kind of used the big can of sauce instead of the medium, they turned out fine, just a little saucier than normal)

onion (usually I would dice the onion and cook it with the hamburger, but since the meat was already cooked, I just sprinkled on the layers)

cheese, cheddar or taco blend

Spray 9x13 pan and layer tortillas, meat, cheese, sauce, and repeat. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes. Top with sour cream, avocado, lettuce, and/or olives.

Thursday

The new crock pot recipe of the week comes from Betty Crocker's Easy Everyday Vegetarian cookbook. It's a Winter Vegetable Stew. I don't think my dad liked it too much, and it isn't really my favorite either, though it's good. I think we gave it three out of five stars. I put it together the night before. We had the other half of the Caesar salad from earlier in the week.

Winter Vegetable Stew

1-28 oz can of italian-style tomatoes (haha, I did it again! I'm pretty sure I did not use this big of a can of tomatoes. I really should pay attention to these things better! I thought the regular sized can of tomatoes was plenty though.)

4 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (all veggies cut into 1/2-inch pieces)

4 stalks of celery

3 carrots (totally missed that there were carrots in the recipe--but I was talking on the phone while making it, so . . .)

2 medium parsnips (I had never seen a parsnip before.)

2 medium leeks (never used leeks before either!)

1-14 oz can vegetable broth

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

1/2 tsp dried rosemary leaves

3 tbsp cornstarch

3 tbsp cold water

Put everything except cornstarch and water in crock pot. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours. In small bowl, mix cornstarch and water; gradually stir into stew until blended. Increase heat setting to High, then cover and cook for 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened.

Friday

Last week, as I was cleaning up from dinner, the dad-i-nator says "Since you've been doing such a good job, how 'bout I take you out to eat sometime next week? We could go to the Greek Souvlaki." So that's what we did today! I was talking to my mom about how I had started thinking "Is this what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life when I get married--trying to think of a different salad to go with dinner every night?" And she said, "That's why you get to be taken out to dinner sometimes." It was nice to know that Dad appreciates what I've been doing for him these past 6 weeks, and it was really nice to not have to cook dinner or clean up afterwards.

Saturday

We had bought a rack of spare ribs when they were on sale last, so I just cut it in thirds, stuck them in the crock pot, put a bottle of barbecue sauce on them, and cooked them for 8 hours on low. With them I tried a new kind of potatoes. For the work, I didn't seem them as anything really fantastic. We also had a green salad.

Week 5: Downward Slope

After you make it halfway through, shouldn't it be easier? This week wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, but it wasn't storm clouds and puddles either. Just kind of one of those blah weeks. By Thursday the week started looking up though and I think I'll be just fine next week (once we get past that nasty V Day :) ).

Sunday

Since it was the Super Bowl, we just snacked on Super Bowl food. This included wrapped lil smokies (smokies wrapped in crescent rolls), a fruit plate, a veggie tray, barbecue wings (Tyson's in the freezer section), and potato chips and onion dip. And we watched the BBC Pride and Prejudice while we ate. (Darcy won! I was rooting for him the entire time--it got sticky in the middle when Wickham intercepted, but Darcy performed a second half comeback and successfully threw Wickham off his game before coming in for the winning TOUCHDOWN!)

Monday

We had one of my favorite soups for Monday's dinner; Chicken Noodle! This recipe is adapted from the old (around 1980) Lion House cookbook. We had "good" bread with it, La Brea Country Sourdough (you can get La Brea breads in the bakery section of most grocery stores here in the Salt Lake Valley).

Chicken Noodle Soup

carrots

celery

onion

(I just cut up whatever looked right)

2 cans chicken broth (about 4 cups)

Cut up veggies and put in pot with broth. Cook until veggies are tender. Then add:

2 cans cream of chicken soup (this is really what makes the soup. I have a hard time eating clear chicken noodle soup now.)

1 large can chicken (you can also use fresh chicken, obviously, but this is a lot easier)

1/2 bag of Country Pasta noodles (you can use whatever kind of noodles you want, but these taste homemade)

salt, pepper to taste

Heat through and enjoy!

Tuesday

We had hamburgers (grilled by the Dad-man), steak fries, apples, and oranges. I added some avocado to my burger. We actually switched what I had planned since the parentals were going to the temple.

Wednesday

This is the meal I had planned for Tuesday, and switched, but I should have switched it to Thursday since Mom and Dad were going to the tax specialist and this takes a while to cook. We had top-stuffed pork chops and a spinach salad with blueberries, mandarins, and almonds. I was going to put poppyseed dressing on (because that would have totally rocked the salad), but we didn't have any, so instead I used raspberry vinaigrette.

Top-Stuffed Pork chops

4 pork chops (I used two since there is just the two of us)

3 cups bread crumbs (I used the rest of the stuffing from week 1's crock pot meal--I'm pretty sure it wasn't 3 cups, but then I was only using 2 pork chops, so it worked out)

2 T chopped onions (we had a little bit on an onion left in the fridge, so I used that)

1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 a stick)

1/4 cup water

1/4 tsp sage (I didn't use this since the stuffing mix was seasoned)

Brown chops (I didn't do this; it takes extra time and is only for the flavor). Cook the chopped onions in butter (I didn't do this either [it's almost like I didn't even make the same recipe], instead I just stuck the onions and butter right in the stuffing mix). Combine ingredients. Place pork chops in pan and put stuffing mix on top. Pour 1 can cream of mushroom soup mix with 1/3 cup water over the stuffing. Bake, uncovered, 1 hour at 350.

Thursday

This week's new recipe was mostly just a new food, though I did make a sauce to go with it. We had potato and cheddar pierogies with a sour cream and chives sauce. Not too bad, but when I asked my dad if he would want them again, he said something to the effect of "uuhhh, they aren't my favorite" which we all know means "no." :) I don't think I'd mind so much though. Consequently, Thursday was the day I felt the best all week. Part of that might have something to do with the catching up I did with a good friend on the way home.

Friday

For our crock pot meal this week we had Herbed Mushroom Round Steak. Oh yum. It smelled so good when I walked in the house. I did cook for a bit more than the recipe says and Mom says she put a little water in when she got home from work. So keep that in mind. I put it together Thursday night, and we just had peas to go with it.

Herbed Mushroom Round Steak

2 lb round steak (3/4" thick) (I used a sirloin steak because it was in the freezer. It worked really well though)

1 T oil (I didn't use this and you'll see why later)

2 med onions, sliced (In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE onions. I use them a lot.)

2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced, or 2-4 ozcans

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 tsp dried crushed oregano

1/4 tsp dried crushed thyme

1/4 tsp pepper

3 cups hot cooked noodles (I used egg noodles)

Trim fat from meat, cut into serving sizes, brown in oil (I skipped the browning. Again, it's only there for the taste and it takes time). In crock pot place onion slices and mushrooms. Place beef on top. Combine in bowl soup and herbs then pour over meat. Cook on low 8-10 hours or high 4-5. Serve over noodles.

Saturday

Tomorrow we will be having tortellini (left over from last week's soup) with left over Prego and probably a salad of some sort. (UPDATE: I made a spinach salad with apples, blueberries, and chopped walnuts with pomegranate blueberry vinaigrette).

Week 4: Halfway!

Well, here I am, halfway through the Experiment! Four more weeks to go and they are going to be good ones (I really don't know if they are or not, since I have no idea what I'm going to make next week let alone four weeks down the road . . . ). I've actually really enjoyed making dinner, some nights more than others. It's a time to unwind, listen to my music, sing out loud, and dance, all while feeding "my man" (ie, Dad). I think the key to enjoying this is just deciding that it's going to be enjoyable. Probably my least favorite thing is coming up with the weekly menus.

Sunday

Sunday dinner probably used the most pots, pans, and dishes than any other meal I have made so far! We had a pot roast made in the crock pot with a packet of dry onion soup on top. Mashed potatoes and gravy (Dad's the gravy champ), steamed carrots, and a spinach salad. This spinach salad is one of my favorites: toasted slivered almonds (I forgot I was toasting the first batch and had to start over again. oops!), craisins (dried cranberries), red onion, and light raspberry vinaigrette. Yum!

Monday

I found Monday's recipe this last summer as I was trying to think of ways to use up zucchini from our garden. This tortellini and zucchini soup is pretty hearty--lots of veggies, and the yummy tortellini. It's even better if you sprinkle some shredded parmesan cheese on top. When I came home today I had the start of one of my stress headaches, but I put on some music, and in the process of chopping up veggies, the headache started going away (rare for this to happen). This is something that I've liked about cooking meals: most of the time it's a more productive way to wind down after the work day; just me in the kitchen making a meal. Anyway, to complete the meal we had strawberries and blueberries (I love it when berries are on sale during the winter!).

Tuesday

Tin Foil Dinners was the menu for Tuesday (when I was a kid we called them "hobo dinners," but maybe that's not considered PC?)! Anyway, really easy, fast clean-up. Put a hamburger patty, sliced carrots and potatoes, with some onion on tin foil (make them individual sized). Wrap the tin foil up. Stick it in the oven at 350 for about an hour (this is the only hard part about this--waiting an hour for them to cook). Pull out of the oven, dump on a plate or leave in the tin foil, and smother with ketchup (I love ketchup--just not this much)! Yum! To make a full meal we had orange slices with it.

Wednesday

We had breakfast for dinner on Wednesday. The great thing about this is that in a couple of weeks, we could have breakfast for dinner again and it won't be a repeat because there are so many different things you can make! For this breakfast we had bacon, hashbrowns (the shredded kind, they're my favorite), scrambled eggs (part egg substitute to watch out for that high cholesterol!), and a fresh pineapple.

Thursday

Since this was Groundhog's Day we bought a pizza, and as per tradition, we got sausage on it. What does sausage have to do with Groundhog's Day? Well, what's another name for a pig? Hog. What is sausage? Ground up pig. Therefore: ground hog. And now you know how twisted my family's sense of humor is. This actually worked out perfect for me because I had a department meeting at work on Thursday that went late, so I got home, we put the pizza in the oven (Papa Murphey's Cowboy pizza), and I put together a quick salad.

Friday

We did something on Friday that we call at my house "Good Sport's": if there is something edible in the refrigerator, it's fair game. Basically, it's leftover night. Now this is not breaking the rules because . . . well because I say so and I made the rules, so I can do that. But I can't do another "Good Sport's" for the rest of the Experiment. This actually worked out pretty well because I spent most of my time at work today standing in on spot, resulting in an aching back and sore legs (it kind of took my back to my days at the CONE . . .) and the idea of having to stand to chop, mix, and cook something would probably have had me dissolve into tears. The clean up is pretty easy too. I guess this week of cooking has been pretty easy.

Saturday

I tried my hand at Greek food today--not one but TWO new recipes! The first was chicken for Greek pitas made in the crock pot. They probably didn't need to cook for as long as the recipe said, and I added a bit of fresh lemon juice at the end. I also brushed the pitas with a light coating of olive oil and heated them in a pan before we ate them. The second new recipe was Lemon Rice Pilaf. I had to cook this for about 15 minutes longer than the recipe says and the last 5 minutes I did it without the lid on. I think I would have about 1 cup less liquid in it. We finished off the meal with artichokes.

Week 3: Cooking on a Budget

I'm not going to complain too much here because my parents' food budget is way more than my personal budget, but it is a little difficult to shop on someone else's budget. So, this week (besides the new recipe on Wednesday) was basically trying to make a menu on what we had since it was the week before payday. Fortunately, I'm amazing and was able to stay under budget even with all the stuff we had to get for this week's new recipe! The good thing is that I am used to making do with whatever I have/can afford (college taught me that at least!), so I didn't find it that difficult.

This is what I've learned about shopping on a budget (I rarely coupon, because that takes too much effort):

Shop the ads--I am still learning to do this better but plan your menu around what's on sale, keeping in mind that just because it's on sale doesn't mean you have to buy it. If you aren't going to eat it, you are wasting money for all it's on sale. Also, watch out for traps. I worked in a grocery for 4 years to pay my way through school and I can't tell you how many times we had a sale that was "3 for 5" and people thought you had to buy three to get the sale price. About 90% of the time, this is not true. It's a marketing ploy to get you to buy more.

Buy store brand, (or the cheaper brand)--Everyone has brand loyalties, I get this. I don't buy cheese unless it is Tillamook (I . . . don't buy cheese much). But when you are shopping on a budget, sometimes you should just buy the cheaper brand. I love Western Family because it's cheap and most things are pretty similar to brand name items, though there are some Western Family items I will never buy. And this week at the store I was buying enchilada sauce and put the brand we usually get in the cart before noticing that a different brand was much cheaper. Back went the usual brand! It's almost like a bonus when the brands you like are on sale, like how my favorite pasta brand was on sale this week.

One last thing . . . when I was in school, there were times when I would go over my food budget because there was an awesome sale going on. Usually pasta and chicken. But if you know that you use something a lot and it's on sale, don't be afraid to buy some. It's going to save you money in the long run.

Sunday

For Sunday dinner we had grilled pork chops (grilled by Dad the Grill Master; and already in the freezer), steak cut fries (we had half a bag in the freezer), and the World's Best Applesauce (Mom's homemade and canned applesauce). No money spent on this meal!

Monday

Monday was Chinese New Year!! Go dragons! (I was born in the year of the dragon. They're cool.) We decided to celebrate with half a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies (already had), some dumplings that were in the freezer (unfortunately, they seemed a little old--they fell apart when I was boiling them), and ham fried rice (we had all the ingredients). Again, no money spent on this meal!

Ham Fried Rice

1/2 cup ham, cubed

1 stalk celery, cut diagonally (oops, I didn't do this! haha)

1 1/2 cup pre-cooked rice

1 green onion

1 beaten egg

soy sauce

Heat wok (or pan, we don't have a wok) to medium with 1 tablespoon oil. When heated, fry ham, celery, and onions. Saute until tender. Add scrambled egg. When cooked, stir in. Add rice and mix well. Let cook for a couple of minutes. Add soy sauce to taste.

Tuesday

Just because you're on a budget doesn't mean you can't have fancy food! For Tuesday's dinner we had salmon, rice, and peas. And all it cost was 33 cents! We already had the salmon in the freezer (they come in individual packets and we bought a bunch when they were on sale for 10 for 10), as well as the peas, and then we used Rice a Roni Chicken flavor (the only flavor we had, haha). I mixed dried rosemary, garlic, and olive oil to put on top of the fish as well as a slice of lemon (there was probably too much rosemary). It was the lemon that cost 33 cents (again, on sale).

Wednesday

New recipe tonight and oh my gosh, it's a keeper! Tonight was Chicken Enchilada Pasta and it was very yummy! I was recommended this recipe by a friend who I'm pretty sure found it on pinterest. It's super easy to make (I already had the chicken cooked and shredded from a recipe I made last week), smells great while it's cooking, and tastes just as good as it smells! Even though I had no idea what it tasted like I have been craving this for about two weeks and it was as good as I imagined it being. The only disappointment was that my avocado wasn't ripe. :( We ate orange slices to make it a meal. It was the most expensive meal, but almost everything we bought was on sale or store brand.

Thursday

For our crock pot meal this week we had potato bar. Just poke the potatoes with a fork a couple of times, wrap in foil and stick in the crock pot on low for 8-10 hours. To shakes things up a little bit, after I poked the potatoes, I put them in a bag with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and coated them. Then just put your favorite toppings on. Potato bar is a full meal as itself, but we did have a clementine each. As for cheapness, we already had everything for this meal. The potatoes were small, so I cooked all five and we ate them all (like, they were really, really tiny).

Friday

For Friday's dinner I raided the freezer. Mom had made some taco soup before the Experiment started, so I got that out, heated it up, and made a salad. Just popped some cheese, sour cream (we ate a lot of sour cream this week--and it's not over yet), cheese, and tortilla chips on top!

Saturday

For tomorrow I'm making one of the ultimate comfort foods (I haven't been feeling 100% the past three days, so I need it): Hamburger Stroganoff. This recipe is from Mom's home ec days. If 13 year olds can make, anyone can make it. We're going to have peas and a salad with it.

Hamburger Stroganoff

1 lb hamburger

dried onion

1 can cream of mushroom

1 can cream of chicken (to halve this recipe, just use cream of mushroom)

1 can evaporated milk

1 cup sour cream

Cook hamburger with onion. Add everything else and let thicken. Put on top of egg noodles (my personal favorite), rice, potatoes, toast, or biscuits.

Week 2: Getting into the Groove

Before I started doing this experiment, I would come home from work and sit down and wait until dinner was ready--usually bumming around on my computer. I always felt exhausted and worn out. Something I've noticed since I've been cooking dinner every night is that I feel happier, have more energy, and feel like I can make more out of my night. It's hard sometimes, too, like on Wednesday when the day felt like it took forever to end and I didn't feel like I had really accomplished anything at work and then dinner took longer than I thought, but for the most part, I think that cooking dinner has helped me conquer the winter blues a little bit. Having said that, here's this week's menu:

Sunday

Every month we have a family dinner with my mom's family, which made Sunday dinner pretty easy! My dad made a German chocolate cake (mix with canned frosting) and I made a family favorite--Hot Artichoke Dip:

2 cups mayo

2 cups sour cream

2 cans artichoke hearts

2 cups shredded parmesan cheese

pepper

cayenne pepper on top

Mix together and cook at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve with french bread or crackers.

Monday

Dad got to choose what we were going to have and he chose brats. He grilled them (in about 20* weather), and I made a pasta salad (Suddenly Salad, Caesar flavor) and cut up a fresh pineapple.

Tuesday

Dad had a club meeting this night, so I was going to make my crock pot meal Monday night and plug it in, but I learned something about crock pot meals--When you are gone 10.5 hours out of the day, sometimes it makes it hard. I have had to search for more crock pot meals that take 10 hours to cook. Anyway, I had to rearrange my menu a little bit, and still made something fast and yummy--BBQ Cups. These are definite crowd pleasers! I have taken them to different parties before and everyone has loved them! And they are way easy to make. We rounded out the meal with strawberries, cucumbers, and carrots.

BBQ Cups

2 packages biscuits (I use Western Family homestyle and they taste fine)

1 lb hamburger (We had some already cooked and in the freezer, which makes it easier)

dried onion (OR 1/2 fresh onion)

~1/2 cup of favorite BBQ sauce (I'm not exactly sure how much, I just put some in until it looks right, but I'm pretty sure it's about 1/2 cup. My family's favorite is Honey BBQ)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

cheddar cheese, shredded

Cook hamburger and onion together. Add BBQ sauce and brown sugar. Mix well. Press biscuits into muffin tins. Spoon hamburger mixture into cups and sprinkle with cheese. (I forgot the cheese and had to pull them out of the oven to put it on. This became a theme this week.) Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

Wednesday

For this day I made quiche. It's not Dad's favorite, but I like it and he'll eat it. Again, I forgot to add the cheese to the mix and had to sprinkle it on top. It looked pretty. :) To round out this meal I made a fruit salad using leftover pineapple and strawberries from earlier in the week, half an orange, and apple, blueberries and blackberries (all the berries were on sale last week).

Thursday

Wednesday night I put together the casserole for Thursday. Right after I took out the quiche, I stuck three chicken breasts to cook in the oven, then made the rice. Here's a health tip about rice: use half white and half brown. It's healthier than white, but tastes better than brown. But the cooking is a bit different: 2 to 1 ratio of water to rice, add rice to boiling water, cook on low for 20 minutes, then turn it off and let sit for 10 minutes. This guarantees that the brown rice is cooked all the way. Anyway, I basically made two meals in one day, which was a little hard, but I also ended up with enough chicken for a recipe I'm making next week, so that's a plus! To make this a complete meal I heated a can of corn and sliced some oranges.

Chicken and Rice Casserole

1 square margarine

1 cup chopped celery (I use three ribs)

1 cup chopped onion (I did 1/2 onion)

Saute until brown

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice

Cook, then add:

3 cups chicken, shredded or diced

1 can cream mushroom soup

1 can cream chicken soup

1/2 cup milk

Put on top:

slivered almonds

buttered bread crumbs (I used panko, but that's just because that was all we had)

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Friday

I was so excited for this new crock pot recipe from Betty Crocker's Easy Everyday Vegetarian cookbook (I highly recommend this cookbook. I'm not a vegetarian, but there are great recipes in here)! Dad only worked half a day today, so he was able to put it in for me. A couple of things: this makes a LOT! So, you could probably halve it. We just put the rest of it in the freezer for another day (after the Experiment is over) Also, it got burned on the sides. I don't really know what to do about that. Anyway, we had 1/2 a bag of caesar salad, and a can of french cut beans with butter and salt and pepper. It was so good!

Cheesy Ravioli Casserole

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

2 jars four-cheese-flavored tomato pasta sauce (I just bought traditional, since there was already a lot of cheese in this. My favorite is Prego.)

1-15 oz can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

2 bags frozen cheese-filled ravioli (we bought the round ones because they were cheaper, and they really puffed up!)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, optional (we didn't do this. Buying fresh herbs is crazy expensive and you always have to buy more than you really need.)

Heat oil and cook onion and garlic until onion is tender. Stir in pasta sauce, tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning. Spray slow cooker and place 1 cup sauce in the bottom. Add 1 bag of ravioli, put half of cheese on. Then put rest of ravioli and cheese and pour remaining sauce on top. Cook on Low for up to 6 1/2 hours (Pasta will hold up to 30 minutes). Sprinkle with parsley before serving, if you want.

Saturday

Tomorrow we are going to have BYU Creamery Pasta Salad. When I had to close and didn't want to get something from the grill, I usually got pasta salad. I don't even know if they still make it, but I liked it. We'll probably have oranges with it.

Creamery Pasta Salad

Mix together tricolor pasta, olives, green peppers, tomatoes, with shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Instead of mozzarella, I'm going to use the rest of the feta from the quiche. Pour Italian dressing over top.

Week 1: Easy Peasy

The first week of the experiment was pretty easy.

Tuesday

I had visiting teaching on this day, so Dad made dinner. He made his famous macaroni and cheese. To complete the meal, we added frozen peas and home canned pears. Here's the recipe for our mac and cheese:

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups macaroni

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c milk

1 tsp dry onion

pepper

1/2 lb cheddar cheese, cubed

Cook macaroni. Combine other ingredients and mis with macaroni. Put in greased casserole dish. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. OR (and we did this because of time) you can cook it in the microwave for about 10 minutes. We like the oven better because then you get crispy cheese, but in a time crunch, the microwave works well.

Wednesday

Dad had a work dinner, so I cooked some frozen tortellini and put some canned mushroom al fredo on it. Not the best, but it works. I fully intended to make it a meal by eating an apple, but that didn't happen.

Thursday

Dad cooked again! Twice in one week! We had sloppy joes, with potato chips and finger jell-0.

Sloppy Joes

2 lbs hamburger, cooked (we had some already cooked in the freezer)

1 can chicken gumbo soup

1.2 onion sliced (OR 2 T dry onion)

Brown hamburger and onion. Pour off grease. Then add:

Soup

2 T mustard

1/2 c ketchup (or catsup, whatever you prefer)

1/2 tsp. chili powder (so, Dad couldn't find the chili powder, so he used chipotle instead. It was quite a bit spicy than we are used too!)

salt and pepper

Cook until consistency desired.

And then to make finger jell-o:

1 package jell-o

1 package knox gelatin

stir, then add

1 cup boiling water, stir until dissolved

1 cup cold water

chill until set.

Friday

I'm in love . . . with my crock pot! Seriously, this thing is fabulous! I put it all together the night before, stuck it in the fridge overnight, plugged it in before I left for work, and it's done when I get home! It's like it does the work for you. Amazing! (And the house smelled awesome when I got home.) So, I made crock pot cordon bleu. I used 3 chicken breasts from the freezer instead of 6 because they were humongous. If I ever make this again, I would cut up the chicken (not too small) to cover the entire bottom of the crock pot, probably double the amount of soup and milk, and pour the soup over the stuffing, otherwise the stuffing was a bit dry. Also, it was a little bit overdone because I'm gone 10 hours out of the day and the slow cooker I used didn't have a "warm" setting. I'd probably make it on a Sunday or something like that where I could make sure it didn't go way over the cooking time. We filled out the meal with a green salad and the left over jell-o from Thursday (we were going to have oranges, but I changed my mind)

Saturday

Tomorrow we're going to have spaghetti and meatballs. This is super easy because the last time Mom made meatballs, she made enough to freeze, and Dad made a whole bunch of homemade spaghetti sauce from the plethora of tomatoes we got during "harvest." We're going to have a salad and french bread baked with parmesan cheese and salad supreme.

Well, one week down, 7 more to go. Right now I'm having a hard time planning the meals, but I'm hoping that maybe that will get easier? (Who am I kidding, I'm going to run out of things to make in three weeks!) I just put the shopping list together and by some magic about three things I need to buy were on sale (the big things too)! It's like fate! Or something. So, keep a look out for next week's recipes!

Christmas Eve Recipe

Every Christmas Eve, we have clam chowder for dinner. This year was the first time that I had ever made it, and my dad called it a "sacred undertaking" and warned me not to mess it up. :) I thought I would share this recipe with you all. Merry Christmas!

Bratten's Clam Chowder

1 cup onions, finely chopped

1 cup celery, diced

2 cups potatoes, diced

3/4 cup butter

3/4 flour

1 quart half and half

1 1/2 tsp salt

pepper

2 T red wine vinegar (optional)

Drain juice from clams and pour over vegetables in saucepan. Add enough water to barely cover vegetables. In another pan melt butter, add flour and cream, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until smooth and thick. Add undrained vegetables, clams, and vinegar. Heat through.

Summer Vegetable Pasta

This new recipe I create tonight uses white sauce. It is my belief that everyone should know how to make a white sauce--it's easy and can be used for all sorts of things. Once you know how to make a basic white sauce, you can add cheese of any kind, use it for pasta sauce, a chicken pizza sauce, in cream soups, or for creamed vegetables. It is so versatile and if used correctly, it can make any recipe seem elaborate!

Ingredients:

1 package favorite pasta, cooked

olive oil

half an onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 large carrot, sliced

shredded zucchini

fresh spinach

medium white sauce

Medium White Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups milk

salt and pepper to taste

grated parmesan cheese

Melt butter; add flour. Mix together to make a roux. Add milk. Use a whisk to mix together. Add cheese. The sauce will get thick--remember to stir constantly!

Heat olive oil in pan. Add onion, garlic, and carrots. Cook until onions are transparent and carrots are crunchy tender. (You can start making the white sauce once you put everything in the oil.) When the pasta and white sauce are almost done, put zucchini in with the other vegetables. Mix up. When you are ready for everything to be put together, add spinach (this way it will be able to cook down a little, but not enough to get really wimpy). Combine pasta, sauce, and vegetables and sprinkle with more parmesan cheese.

Serve with strawberries and enjoy!

Homemade Rice Pudding

When I went to London on my study abroad I fell in love with rice pudding. You just can't get good rice pudding in Utah. So I decided to find a recipe. I found a lot, but this was one of the easiest looking--and it has raspberries. Enjoy!

Rice Pudding with Raspberry topping (from Shirley Privratsky)

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup long grain rice (I used arborio, which is actually a short grain rice that is used in risotto because it is known to make a creamier mixture)
• 3 cups milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen raspberries, thawed
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in rice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in milk and sugar. Cook 20-30 minutes longer or until rice is tender and mixture is thick and creamy. (I had to cook it about 35 minutes, probably because I changed the kind of rice. Also, do this part with the lid off.) Remove from the heat; cool. Fold in whipped topping. Refrigerate.
2. Drain raspberries, reserving juice. In a small saucepan, combine the cornstarch and reserved juice until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in raspberries. Remove from the heat; cool. (I totally did this part wrong, haha. I had forgotten to get the raspberries out of the freezer the night before to thaw, so when I went to make this, I had to resort to crushing up all the raspberries in order to get enough juice. Then I just decided to put the crushed raspberries in so it ended up being more like jam than a raspberry syrup.)
3. Spoon the rice pudding into individual dishes; top with the raspberry mixture. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Baby Shower Cupcakes

Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 8oz package cream cheese cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup chocolate chips

Make a chocolate cake mix according to package directions. In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, and egg. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. Fill cupcake papers 2/3 full with chocolate cake mix. Then place generous teaspoonful of cream cheese mixture on top. Press down lightly. Bake at 350 for 18 to 25 minutes or until they test down with a toothpick.

I decided that instead of frosting the cupcakes (not too big on frosting), I was going to try making little edible decorations out of starbursts. I chose red and pink because they matched the color theme of the baby shower I was hosting:
Put them on a plate (we did four at a time), and heat them up for about 6-8 seconds:
Roll them out, first going one way and then the next:
Cut with your favorite small cookie cutter. You might recognize this from when I made cookies earlier this year:

Place on the tops of the cupcakes. Success!
I'm pretty proud of these cupcakes and can't wait for the baby shower!

Veggie Quiche

I had a roommate in college who was wizard at putting random ingredients together and making them taste yummy. She made this quiche which was great, so I talked with her a bit about what she usually made it with. I make dinner for my parents every Friday and I made quiche one week. It was way yum! So I thought I would share the recipe.

Vegetable Quiche

6-8 eggs

1 cup of milk

fresh spinach (don't use frozen, it makes it watery and the eggs don't cook in the center)

1/2 red pepper

1/2 yellow or white onion

1 clove garlic

mushrooms (optional--I don't like mushrooms so I didn't put them in)

tomato-basil feta cheese

salt and pepper

2 deep dish frozen pie crusts

Pre-heat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together and put in the pie crusts (makes 2 pies--but quiche is easily frozen). Bake for 30-45 minutes until the center is firm. If your crust starts to burn, cover with aluminum foil.

Enjoy!

(To reheat frozen quiche, thaw the pie in the refrigerator. Then bake at 375 for 23-35 minutes, until the middle reaches a temperature of 165.)

An Adventure in Baking

About a month ago I found a recipe for thin mint cookies. I decided it would be a nice thing to make some and take them to my co-workers for Valentine's Day. Little did I know what an adventure it would be!

I doubled the recipe, which was not necessary at all. I am including the regular recipe which I got from the internet at The Family Kitchen, posted by Brooke McLay.

Cocoa Wafer Cookies

3 T butter

1 egg white

1/4 c brown sugar

pinch of baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c cocoa powder

1/2 c flour (plus 1/4 c)

2 drops pure peppermint oil

Combine all ingredients together (I ended up using a pastry cutter, and then my hands). The dough shouldn't be sticky, and you should be able to roll it out. Preheat the oven to 325. Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut out shapes. I found a really cute heart one at the store. Roll the dough out. The recipe says "verrrry thin" but I don't think that's accurate. Just do what you think it best. Bake for 4-7 minutes until cookies have firmed and browned slightly. Let cool.

Baked cookies, cooling.

Peppermint Buttercream Layer

2 c powdered sugar

4 T melted butter

2-3 drops peppermint

1/2 tsp milk (the recipe says heavy whipping cream, but I didn't want to buy a whole thing of whipping cream for 1/2 tsp.)

Mix all ingredients together. The buttercream layer will be stiff, and not sticky. You will be able to roll it out. I was going to make them pink since it is for Valentine's Day, but I forgot. I realized this after I rolled them out.

Cut with the same cookie cutter you used before. To make the cookies and the buttercream layer took me about an hour and a half. I have no idea why. AND! I was trying to make the buttercream layer, and measuring out the milk and I was trying to not spill a whole bunch of milk so I got this great idea of just sticking the measuring spoon into the milk carton. Well, the spoon is now in my milk carton. And I ended up with too much milk anyway, so I had to put more powder sugar in. But it all worked out and I got it rolled out.
After you cut the buttercream, put it on top of the cookies.
The next step is to dip it into chocolate. The original recipe said to use Candiquik, which I don't know what that is. I just used confectioner's chocolate from the grocery store. I bought two pounds (since I was making a double recipe), one pound milk chocolate and the other dark. Follow the directions for melting on the package. I did the microwave directions.
Dip the cookie in the chocolate and cover. Set on parchment/wax paper to cool. This step took FOREVER! My hands got all chocolatey and I kept licking the chocolate off, which meant I then had to wash my hands, and I got sick of chocolate. For the time being.
Here's the finished product. I don't think I will be making these again in, like, ever. They were majorly time consuming and frustrating. I spent all afternoon on them with very few breaks and I finally finished them at around 8. My parents said they taste good though--I was so disgusted with them by the time I was done that I haven't even tried them yet.

Anyway, if you're up for it, try them. They look cute and I really hope that my co-workers like them.

What's For Dinner?

Garlic Lemon Pasta! Here's how you make it!

Take a pat of butter and melt in a frying pan. Then mince one clove of garlic and add to butter with a pinch dried onion. When the garlic is slightly brown, add a dollop or two of sour cream, a splash of milk and a squeeze of lemon juice. Mix together. Add one generous shake of lemon pepper, and a few shakes of parmesan cheese. A dash of salt and some parsley. Mix together and stir until thick. Put on top of your favorite pasta. Toss and sprinkle with more parmesan cheese and parsley.

This makes a tangy and slightly sour pasta sauce (the cheese lessens the tang and sour just enough). So good!

Enjoy!

A Summer Recipe

Yummy Chicken Salad*

1 large can chicken

1 package bowtie pasta

1 can mandarin oranges

grapes

2 spears celery

2 green onions

almonds

miracle whip

2 capfuls of milk

salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta. Mix in with the rest of the ingredients. Chill and enjoy! The perfect summer food!

*adapted from a recipe my mommy gave me

New Recipe!

Today is a day for new things! Here's a new recipe that I have adapted from my mom's Sausage Filled Crepes recipe!

Sausage Crescent Rolls

1 lb ground sausage

1/4 cup minced yellow onions (about 1/2 a small onion)

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 packages crescent rolls (I only used two and had filling left over!)

Set cream cheese out to soften. Brown sausage in a pan with onions and drain. Mix cream cheese, cheddar and sausage together. Preheat oven to 375*. Open crescent rolls packages and pull the triangles apart. With a spoon, flatten the rolls just a little bit to make them bigger. Spoon some filling on top, then roll up the dough. Tuck the ends in to keep the filling from escaping while cooking. When done, cook for 11-13 minutes until the rolls are golden brown. Enjoy!

Here's another way to use crescent rolls in your cooking!