Pretzels!

So I LOVE soft pretzels, I also have waaaay too much time on my hands, plus if you buy baking supplies in bulk these are DIRT cheap.  I decided to make pretzels a while back and now into my 3rd or 4th batch I have a whole batch that actually look like pretzels.  All of the batches taste AMAZING!!  They also freeze fantastically.  

I used a recipe that I got from Alton Brown on Foodnetwork.com.  You can find the recipe here.  Below is a rough calculation of the cost for the batch of 11 that I made.  It comes to 84 cents for the whole batch!!  I didn't calculate the salt or the baking soda, because a whole container is like .59 cents to begin with.  And I didn't count the tiny bit of oil to grease the bowl/work surface for rolling.  As for the pretzel salt?  I dump every package of salt in a package of Super Pretzels (in the freezer section) into a container so I have always had  a container of pretzel salt hanging out in my spice cabinet.  

Alton's recipe is really simple and easy to follow like all of his recipes if you don't have a digital scale, it is something worth getting if you can find it cheap.  I found one for like $10 at Aldi over Christmas and I love it it is great for dividing bread doughs and anything you buy in bulk!  A few tips that make Alton's recipe work better for me.  I usually try to get about a dozen pretzels out of it even though he says 8.  If I divide the dough in 8 pieces my pretzels are WAY too FAT and they don't look nice.  I divide the dough evenly on the scale.  I think mine weighed about 3 oz apiece, but I don't remember for sure.

The other thing is to let the little balls of dough rest for about 10 min before you start rolling.  I can fit 3 or 4 pretzels on my baking pan so I do them in batches. Spread a tiny bit of vegetable oil on the area of your work surface that you are rolling on.  Then I roll all of them about the length of my cutting board then when I finish the last one I pick the first one back up and roll it out much longer.  The time it takes to sit in between lets the dough calm down and not want to spring back up.  Then I for some reason feel the need to do a full twist in the middle rather than just cross over as he says to do.   Other than that I follow his recipe exactly and they come out AMAZING!! I let them cool on a cooling rack (while I eat one) then I put  them in a gallon ziploc in the freezer.  When you freeze them the salt on top stays perfectly.  The ones I kept out on the counter had the salt kind of melt back into them.  I used to keep most of them out as I intended on eating them quickly.  But freezing them works so, great I don't think I will bother keeping them on the counter.  Just pop in the microwave for like 35 seconds.  I usually do 30 sec and then pop it in a 350 or so oven for a few minutes to crisp it just a bit.

Water	Free
1tbsp sugar	.03
yeast	.26
4.5c flour	.33
2oz butter	.12
1 egg	.10
total	.84

 

Pot Pie

Pot pie is so delicious and super easy to make, also since you know what goes in it you don't have the calorie shell shock from reading the back of the Marie Callender's package.

You can either buy the pre-packed pie crusts in the refrigerated section at the market, they are usually near the dough and biscuit tubes or occasionally near the cheese.  Or you can make your own pie crust if you feel up to it.  Pie crust is a fine line between easy and a pain because it really likes to be at too cold or too warm for what you need it to do.  My pie crust recipe below.

Heat oven to 400-425 degrees and prep your pie pan with your pie crust.  Place pan with bottom crust in fridge until ready.

For the innards you need a gravy, some veg and a meat.  I usually make chicken pot pie with onion, carrot, peas and potatoes in them.  For the gravy you can use either a can of cream of chicken soup as your base or chicken broth.  If you go the cream of chicken soup route you may want to add some spice to knock out that canned flavor I find a bit of mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce do the job well.  If you use chicken broth you will need to thicken it with a rue and let it cook down to the desired consistancy.  Salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder are all good additions.  I also like to toss in a bit of bouillon or chicken base to bump up the flavor a bit.

1/4 to 1/2 white or yellow onion	diced fine
2 cloves garlic	minced
1-2 carrots	diced fine
1/4 to 1/2 c peas fresh or frozen
3 medium potatoes	Large dice
Appx 10 oz chicken	Diced
1 tbsp butter
1 can cream of chicken soup + 1/2 can of milk Or 1 c chicken broth 1/2 c milk 2 tbsp flour 1 tbsp butter Opt. 1 bouillon cube

Dice your potatoes into bit sized pieces and boil in a saucepan with salted water.  Cook until they are just a bit firmer than you would want for mashed potatoes but soft enough to bite.  Drain.

Get your rue or your chicken soup going in a sauce pan so it has time to thicken.

Place your onion and a couple of cloves of garlic in a large skillet on medium heat.  Add a bit of salt and pepper, when they have sweated down a bit and started to brown add the carrots.  Cook until carrots are softened and add chicken.  When the gravy is of a decent consistency add it to the skillet and let it all cook up together to meld flavors.  Reserve about a 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of gravy.


After everything has cooked up into a relatively unified mass add the peas, if they are frozen they can just go right in no need to defrost and then add reserved gravy and potatoes before pouring into pie pan.  The potatoes will absorb a lot of gravy if you let them so I add them last minute.  Add top pie crust vent for steam and bake for about 40 minutes or until top is golden and delicious.


This is my pie crust recipe it is an old family recipe from my Aunt.  Get the big mixing bowl out if you don't you'll have flour everywhere unless you are much more talented than me.  Yes the recipe calls for lard and yes that is a scary word for many people, my opinion is you don't eat it everyday so it's not a big deal.  I have made it with shortening and it comes out extremely flaky, which is both a good and bad thing.  Make sure you chill the shortening if you want to go that route.

5 3/4 c flour

2tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1 lb Lard

1tsp vinegar

1 egg beat in cold water to make 1 cup

Mix the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder together in mixing bowl.  Stir the vinegar into the water and egg mixture.  Cut in your fat.  Meaning use a pasty cutter or just a couple of butter knifes to slice it down into little pieces in the flour mixture.  Go at it until the fat is worked in and the mixture is kind of crumbly, but work quickly.  If you have a food processor I know that way works great too, but I have never tried it.  You want to stir in the liquid very slowly until the dough clings together.  You may not need all the liquid.  Roll the dough into a ball, wrap well in plastic wrap and toss into the fridge.  

Divide chilled dough into 4 sections.  You get 4 single crusts so 2 tops and 2 bottoms.  I find it easiest to place each section of dough in between 2 pieces of wax paper for rolling out.  Let the dough sit out until it is just soft enough to roll.  Test it by trying to smash the ball like form into a flat like form.  Roll out into a circle for desired pie plate.  

You can pre-roll and refrigerate or freeze remaining crusts if desired.

Garden update

zucchini

 Well so far my IKEA bag idea seems to be working out well.  These are some zucchini plants that are growing like crazy and have been moved into their bag.  I am so happy because they are seeming so content in their new home and have grown a lot already. They are going on their third week now and I am so excited.

carrots

My carrot bag that got totally trashed by my charming puppy have been replanted and are sprouting happily in their new home.  They are about 12 days in. Yay!

spinach

So cheapy planting idea part 2 milk jugs for plants that need to be in a gallon sized pot.  I have these spinach plants moved into these jugs that I have cut the tops out of.  I drilled some holes in the bottom, and spray painted them.  I had some spray paint left over from other projects so the pots cost me nothing. :)  These are super awesome because you can pour the water into the handle of the jug.  I just moved them into their new homes today and I hope that soon they will flourish.

green beans

These green beans have also taken off wonderfully.  I am so excited.  These are also going into their third week and are very happy.

cucumbers

The cucumbers I have moved into these peat  pots that can be transferred straight into the bags when they are ready.  I am keeping those that are waiting to be transplanted in the little green house still.

basil/ parsley

Basil and parsley have also been moved into peat pots while I wait for them to develop a bit more before they move out into their homes.  I am totally going to baby these as long as possible.




There are a few more that are in their little seed thingie still while they develop a bit more.

Fish Tacos

My husband's salsa only tacos.

I've been meaning to post this for a while.  I love fish tacos, they are a California thing and they are so delicious.  Here at Aldi they have these awesome packages of Tilapia in the freezer section for super cheap.  They are great because the fillets are individually sealed so you just pop them in water in the package and in just a few minutes they are defrosted and ready to go.

For my seasonings I used.

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp each pepper, chili powder, cumin and sugar

1/2 tsp each garlic and onion powder

Dash cayenne pepper

Mix all the dry ingredients together and them set the fish in it like a dry rub.  You may want to use more seasonings if you have more than a couple fillets.

Marinating fish.

Then pour in:

juice from 1 lime

2 tbsp OJ

1 tbsp pineapple juice

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tbsp tequila (optional)

Let the fish marinate for at least 30 min to several hours.

Flaked fish.

Heat a skillet and place fish in, pour remaining marinade on top.  Flip when fish lighten in color around the edge.  Using a spatula gently flake apart the fish.

My tacos.

Heat flour tortillas and spoon fish in.  Top with salsa, and to be traditional cabbage and a crema (Mexican sour cream).  I didn't have cabbage so I used lettuce and some queso fresco.  I did top mine with a cilantro salad dressing that I mixed up. (recipe to follow)

Biscuits and gravy

So everyone knows I am NOT a southern girl, but I do love biscuits and gravy.  While I obviously am not on a super healthy diet, I do try to eat 'healthier' and not go buck wild on fat and calories, one of the reasons I like to cook at home a lot.  (btw I know I am way behind on postings).  Yesterday morning AllRecipies in their daily dish sent out a lovely picture of biscuits and gravy which made me crave it.  I decided to make that chicken pot pie (not healthy either) I had stuff prepped and hanging out for for dinner last night, which is a great excuse to make biscuits, and leave left overs for breakfast. (sneaky huh?)

So how to make this meal not deadly?  Number 1 check your biscuits.  Number 2 fudge your gravy.  Number 3 Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles.  If I haven't run on about the amazingness of these yet I have failed you.  Somehow Jimmy Dean has made Turkey Sausage amazing.  (a hard feat) and they work great in breakfast and on pizza or anywhere else you want to tuck sausage.  The most amazing fact is that they consider a serving 2/3 of a cup with 4 grams of fat, and I can't ever see a need for more than like 3 tablespoons at a lot in a serving.  So that is about a 1/4 of a serving, making it just over a gram of fat! Amazing purely amazing!

So as for biscuits I used a recipe that I found from one of my favorite chef's Alton Brown (I LOVE Good Eats educational and delicious).  His recipe calls for buttermilk, which I don't have ever on hand but there is a super easy substitute.  Take your regular ole milk (I use 1%) and toss in a tablespoon of white vinegar per cup.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes and your golden.  I got 13 biscuits from the recipe.  (Also a drinking glass makes a great 2in cutter since I didn't have one of those either)  Making the nutrition facts come in at 112 calories, 4 grams of fat, 16 grams of carbs and 2.5 grams of protein per biscuit.  Not great but considering Grands Buttermilk Biscuits are 193 calories, 8.4 grams of fat, 25 grams of carbs and 4.2 grams of protein per biscuit and nearly twice the sodium, it really is almost a 2 for 1 and seriously who eats 1 biscuit?

Now there is no real getting around the gravy bit, but here is what you can do.  Take 1/2 a tablespoon of butter melt it in a saucepan and add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of flour, stir immediately and well and then let cook on low heat for 3-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stiring like crazy slowly add in half a cup of milk.  Let cook on low heat stirring constantly until it thickens up.  Add salt and pepper to taste and I add about 2 drops of hot sauce.  Add 2-3 tablespoons of sausage crumbles and let it all blend together for a few minutes.

While you crank out your gravy heat the oven up and toss in 2 biscuits, slice them, plate them and top with the gravy.

For 2 biscuits with sausage gravy you are looking at a total of 424 calories, 54 carbs, 16 grams of fat and 14 grams of protein.  Is this a great breakfast break down? Absolutely not, but considering all nutrition facts I could find for biscuits and gravy were along the lines of 500 calories, 31 grams of fat, 43 carbs and 12 grams of protein for 1 biscuit!  This recipe is looking to be in really, really good shape!

Garden update

Yes that is a dog on a cat tree.

This monster (my new 6 mth old puppy who has been home for just about 2 weeks now) dug all the dirt out of my IKEA bag planter.  :(  poor carrots

I was also reminded that nearly all of my yard is a massive leaf collector thanks to my lovely oak trees.

I am going to look in to a cheapo way to keep my dirt in and the leaves out.  Right now I am thinking plastic sheeting, nailed to the fence.

Will let you know how it goes.

Go, go gadget garden.

So I'm not really a green person (as my excessive use of ziplocs has probably indicated) but I love fresh tomatoes, and the idea of having a slew of veggies out my backdoor which can be saladed, side dished, frozen, sauced and whatevered makes me super, super excited.  So I am on to my first real attempt at gardening.  Tried last year but car accident, combined with crazy weather got things off to a bad start.  

My cute little greenhouse.

I am a nutcase and therefore am growing a lot of stuff.  I got one of the seed starter kits.  I found it at big lots for $4.  Lesson learned, get the Jiffy ones or make double sure the one you have comes with the pellets I had to run out and get some dirt.  Hoping that the little seeds are happy in the dirt or I will be bummed out.  I did find a really cool little greenhouse for $20, there though.  I like the greenhouse because it gives me a place for them to hang out while seeding, that rain, wind and dogs won't take out.  The greenhouse is really, really light weight and since I just have the seed tray and a strawberry grow kit in it I made sure to toss a bag of soil on the bottom to weigh it down.

Problem? = Super sandy soil.

 Now my biggest hatred when it comes to the gardening idea is having to buy pots. I have terrible super sandy soil in my yard, trees which are dropping leaves like crazy and other reasons that make me scream container garden.  But why the heck are the dang pots so pricey??  And then you have to buy the dirt to go in them.  Poo.  So I decided to be extra creative.  I was reading up on sizes and things for containers and something mentioned "growing potatoes in a potato bag".  Ding!  I hopped up grabbed a tape measure did some maths (impressive I know) and decided I had my solution to the pot problem and they were $0.59 a piece and a size of about 15 gallons.

Solution? = The IKEA bag!

For those of you not familiar with this little blue multi-tasker this is the IKEA bag!  IKEA is the bomb diggity for those of us trying to do things cheaply.  And the IKEA bag is no different.  It measures about 22" long x 15" wide and 15" high. (from memory)  That gives it about a 15 gal measure and means I need about 2.5 cubic feet of soil per bag.  Not to shabby all in all.  Big Lots has a surprisingly decent potting soil available for $7/ 2 cu ft bag.  Which makes pot and dirt significantly cheaper than similar sized pots alone.  I am hoping that it works out well.  I started carrots and green onions in this bag setup.

Compost bin

 Another thing I wanted to get set up was a compost bin.  A Rubbermaid tub with some holes poked in the top, bottom and around the top edge works great for a small scale cheap bin.  (So says the internets).  The trick is to remember to turn it frequently (no shovel needed just roll the thing over a few times) and to keep a high ratio of brown to green (ie when you add veg that has gone south or scraps add some leaves shredded junk mail and a bit of dirt at the same time)

Holes in top

I drilled holes in my bin with a power drill and a drill bit that was 3/16 or the next one up.  You want air to get in, but hopefully nothing that wants to crawl around too much.  The holes in the bottom are necessary to let water out.  There are all sorts of great sites out there that will help you figure out your composting needs.  This is a pretty cool list of what is a good idea to toss in the bin. 

So now just wish me luck!

Carne asada

In LA I used to get ranchera meat from Vallarta, I haven't hunted down a carneceria and since there is much more of a Caribbean influence here than Mexican I decided to just go with my own seasoning anyways.  Skirt steak or flap meat are the top choices for carne asada, but flank steak works well so long as you cut it right and don't over cook it.  I bought flank because it was in bulk at Costco and relatively cheap.

For Marinade:
1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder, pepper, cumin, onion powder, flour

1/4 tsp chili powder

Dash cayenne pepper, and cinnamon

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp pineapple juice (optional)

1 tbsp orange juice (2 tbsp if no pineapple juice)

2 tbsp Coca-cola

Juice 2 limes

1-2 tbsp cilantro leaves lightly chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

1 md onion sliced thinly (separate rings)

12oz flank steak (or skirt steak)

Mix all dry ingredients together well and apply to steak like a rub.

Mix all other ingredients except the onions together.  Place the onions on the flank steak roll up and shove into the smallest ziploc bag it will fit in.  Pour the liquid mix over it and put in the fridge for several hours to over night.  Turn over if you happen to be in the fridge.

Grill the flank steak whole (you really don't want to go above medium at most or it will be tough)  and cut thinly ACROSS the grain. (Skirt steak is not as tough) Toss the onions in a skillet and let brown slightly.  Toss cut meat in pan with onions for a few minutes on medium heat, to meld the flavors.  Heat the tortillas on the grill, wrap in a bit of foil or a towel to keep warm while you cut the meat.  


Top with salsas, sour cream, cheese, whatever you like and enjoy!

Chocolate peanut butter ice cream

I love ice cream and I love my ice cream maker, but no way am I going to buy all that cream and half and half and stuff.  So I have a great cheater ice cream recipe.  You get added fat from the peanut butter so it doesn't get all weird when frozen.

1c 1% milk	$0.19
3/4c sugar	$0.19
1/2tsp salt	<$0.01
2 egg yolks	$0.08
2 tbsp choc chips	$0.05
2 tbsp cocoa powder	$0.13
5 spoons peanut butter	$0.30
1 can evaporated milk	$0.69
total	1.63

Mix sugar, salt, milk and egg yolks in the top of a double boiler with wire whisk stir occasionally cook until thickened slightly.  About 15 minutes.  Mix in chocolate chips until completely melted.  Mix in cocoa powder.  Stir in peanut butter, I use just a large dinner spoon, rather than measuring it into proper tablespoons.  Mix peanut butter in completely.  Then stir in evaporated milk.  Place in ice bath then put in sealed container and place in fridge overnight before freezing in ice cream maker.  Serve immediately for soft serve or place in freezer for several hours.  

Nutritional Info
1. Servings Per Recipe: 8
2. Amount Per Serving
3. Calories: 216.9
4. Total Fat: 7.9 g
5. Cholesterol: 54.6 mg
6. Sodium: 264.0 mg
7. Total Carbs: 30.8 g
8. Dietary Fiber: 1.3 g
9. Protein: 8.1 g

2/11/2012 Lamb chops with Stovetop style stuffing

Tonight we had some lamb chops done up on the grill.  Publix really had a great sale that time, I love having lamb to just pull out of the freezer.  I made some stuffing to go with it Stovetop style and broccoli with a bit of cheese sauce.   I meant to get a picture but somehow I totally forgot.

For the stuffing cut up some stale bread (hot dog buns, hamburger buns, bagels whatever) into small pieces just like for the croutons, but I tend to cut the stuffing a bit smaller. Spread out on a cookie sheet, and season with spices of your choice, I just used garlic, salt and pepper, onion powder, and some season salt.  (Some chicken bouillon is great here)  Pop it into the oven set to 200 until it is dried out fully.

Finely dice half an onion and some celery about a 1/4 cup (I only buy celery occasionally so I dice and portion it then put in the freezer to pull out).  Add onion and celery along with 1-2 cloves minced garlic and a bit of salt to a frying pan and sweat over low heat.  Add some (2-3 tablespoons) white wine part way through if you like.  Once translucent stir in bread mix.  You want to have about 6-8 oz by weight of dried bread.  I keep some stuffing mix in a tupperware in the cabinet to assist if needed.  Stir bread and veg  until well combined leave heat on until well mixed.  Let sit until about 5-7 minutes before you are ready to eat.

Heat up 2 cups of chicken broth and 2-3 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan, when it boils add bread mixture stir well remove from heat let sit about 5-7 minutes, fluff with fork before serving.

For the cheese sauce make about one cup of white sauce, (1 tbsp butter melted add 1 tbsp flour on low heat to make a rou when combined add 1 cup milk stir like crazy to combine stir constantly over low heat until thickened)  Add a dash each of salt, pepper, ground mustard, onion powder, garlic and cayenne pepper.  Stir in about a 1/2 cup grated cheese.  I used colby jack.

Pour cheese sauce over steamed broccoli if desired.

Baked Ziti ... mmm cheesy!

I love, love, love pasta and it is even better with cheese! So I love this baked pasta and it's super easy.

Boil pasta and drain.  Chop up the mozzarella into roughly diced bits.  Shredded works great too, but I like the bigger pieces.  Return pasta to pot, turn heat on low, stir in the ricotta cheese, and the mozzarella, then add in the pasta sauce.  Pour mixture into a 9x11 baking pan and smooth it out.  top with the shredded cheese.  Bake in 350-400 degree oven until cheese on top is melted and slightly brown.

I lb ziti or penne pasta	$1.00
8oz Mozzarella	$1.99
16oz Ricotta	$1.69
2c Shredded Italian Cheese	$2.99
1 jar Pasta sauce	$0.94
total	$8.61
serving	$1.07

We usually get about 8 servings out of this.  Also good is to toss in some spinach or sausage or both.

Great with garlic bread

Two Timing Hot and Cold Pasta

This is an awesome pasta dish because it is great hot and then cold from the fridge as pasta salad later on.  According to the pasta box you get 8 servings of pasta in a pound so this is about $0.25 a serving.

1lb rotini pasta	$1.00
1/3c Garbanzo beans	$0.15
1/4 c shredded Mozzarella cheese	$0.22
1 tbsp parmesan cheese	$0.10
Green onions chopped	$0.20
1 roma tomato diced	$0.22
2 tbsp olive oil	$0.16
total	$1.96

Also 2tbsp (apx) each Italian salad dressing, apple cider vinegar and red wine vinegar.  (I don't have prices on these)

Salt and pepper to taste, pinch each of basil, onion powder, rosemary, oregano and fennel.

Optional 2 tbsp red onion diced, 1 clove minced garlic, chopped black olives.

Cook and drain pasta return to pan, off heat.  Add about 2 tbsp of olive oil and coat well.  Add chopped green onions, and tomato stir until well blended.  Add in salt and pepper to taste and a pinch each of some herbs/spices to boost the flavor I used basil, onion powder, rosemary, oregano and fennel.  Then add a couple of tablespoons of any Italian salad dressing you like.  Stir well add garbanzo beans and cheeses and stir again.  Serve.

For the portion you intend to save add a few extra tablespoons of vinegar, I use cider vinegar, red wine vinegar and a little bit of balsamic.  You may want to add a little bit more salad dressing or olive oil as the pasta will suck up the moisture in the fridge.  

Sorry for not posting

So I haven't posted lately, I had a fight with my ice maker and though I won the battle I forgot that I took a container filled with packets of frozen hamburger out so that I could have some space in the freezer and ended up defrosting nearly a week of food.  Fortunately my fiance found it and popped it in the fridge before it went bad.  So it's been hamburgers and Manwich and tacos, which unfortunately had been featured recently in planned meals so I wasn't all gun ho to write it all up.  In addition I left a few things off the list or had shopping plans change and have a bunch of "doesn't work together" or "am missing an ingredient" to work with.  Blech!  While my typical answer to this is Spaghetti! or other pasta, I have some awesome frozen battered fish from Aldi and a packet of mashed potatoes.  Will get things back on track in the next few days.

El Pollo Loco part 2 - The Pollo Bowl

One of my favorite items from El Pollo Loco is the Pollo Bowl, with or with out chicken it is freaking delicious.  Rice and beans, chicken topped with cheese salsas and sour cream?  What could be better?

First you need to make some Mexican style rice.  I heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet with a clove of crushed garlic and then add my rice.  I used 2/3 of a cup.  When the rice has been heated (it gets like a more opaque white)  add in the liquid.  For this I used about a 1/3 cup of salsa and a cup of chicken broth stirred together.  I added a bit of salt and cumin for extra flavor.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to low heat, cook for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.  You can do this with canned tomato sauce, with some taco sauce added for spice and use water instead of chicken broth, but I had this available today so went with it.

Heat up some about a 1/2 cup of black or pinto beans (I use canned I haven't mastered bean making yet) with a tiny bit of salsa added.  Add chicken to the heated beans to heat up if you have/want it.  Put the rice in a bowl, add beans and chicken,  top with some grated cheese (today I used cheddar but crumbled queso fresco is amazing on this too)  add desired salsas, sour cream and guacamole if you have it (I did not).      

Mmm Smoothies

I'll admit it sometimes I am really bad about getting my daily veg and protein.  I love summer fruits but especially in winter months I just don't get near that 5 a day.  I also hate breakfast foods.  But all of these problems can be solved with awesome smoothies.  Right now I alternate between strawberry banana and orange pineapple.

For both I make frozen yogurt.  (I love my ice cream maker) I make a pineapple frozen yogurt for the pineapple one and vanilla frozen yogurt for the strawberry.  Frozen yogurt can be hard to find and expensive so this works great. You can use regular non frozen yogurt too but the smoothies will be thinner.  I freeze the bananas to balance it out.  Toss all the ingredients in a blender till smooth.

Orange pineapple smoothie

4-5 ice cubes	Free
1 banana (cut up)	$0.16
1/2c Frozen pineapple yogurt	$0.26
1/4c pineapple	$0.25
1/2 scoop protein powder	$0.31
Apx 1 c orange juice	$0.75
total	$1.73


pineapple frozen yogurt

Crushed pinapple	.89
32oz yogurt	.99
3/4 c sugar	.19
total	2.07
1/2 c	.26




Strawberry banana smoothie

4-5 ice cubes	Free
1 banana (cut up)	$0.16
1/2c vanilla frozen yogurt	$ 0.15
1/2 scoop protein powder	$0.31
1/4c Frozen strawberries	$0.29
Apz 1 c milk	$0.19
Total	$1.10

 

Vanilla frozen yogurt
32oz vanilla yogurt
3/4 c sugar
mix together toss in ice cream maker.

Got stale bread?

Stale bread is great!  You can make croutons, bread crumbs, and stuffing mix from it!!  Today I am making some croutons from some old bread.

Chop the bread up into relatively even sized squares and lay out on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Melt a tablespoon of butter in the microwave and lightly press it on to the sheet of bread squares with a pastry brush.  Don't let too much sit in any one place.  Sprinkle them with spices.  I used salt, pepper, basil, rosemary, oregano, garlic and onion powder, along with some parmesean cheese.  Put them in the oven on a low rack.  Either turn the oven on to a low heat or put them in a cooling oven after cooking.  Let them hang out over night.  The next day when they are relatively dry dump them in a paper grocery sack and sprinkle a second layer of spices I just put garlic and cheese this time.  Shake the bag several times then melt another tablespoon of butter.  Shaking the bag continuously drizzle the melted butter in.  Lay them back on the baking sheet and pop into a 225 or so degree oven remove when they are the desired level of crunch.  Put up in a Tupperware for delicious salad topping.

Rule #2 Chop, dice, slice and shred.

A chicken breast with a side and some veg feeds a person reasonably.  That same chicken breast shredded up and mixed with a quarter cup of cheese can make 16 10" long taquitos which can really be halved to a reasonable 5" giving you 32.  4 or 5 of these 32 with some rice and beans is a super filling bit of Mexican happiness feeding nearly 8 people.
Think stir-frys, tacos, pasta bakes, casseroles and even pies.  Whatever you can do to take a small amount of meat chop it up with with veg and a bit of carbs will massively stretch your dollar.

El Pollo Loco Chicken 1/28/2012

I am so sad that I don't have an El Pollo Loco near me.  They need to move on out from the West Coast.  But most of my cooking is rooted in desperation to satisfy a craving so...Fear not! Pollo Loco can happen for all!

This is the marinade I use for a whole chicken cut into pieces.  Any assortment of chicken will work fine.  It is absolutely best grilled, but desperate times can call for baking or in a skillet it just won't have the charbroiled awesomeness of a gas BBQ.

1. Cut up whole chicken or buy pieces (click for a good tutorial on cutting up a chicken)
1. (if you cut up your own chicken (slice breast meat off bones) you can toss the carcass and some veggies in a stock pot for chicken broth)
2. Place chicken parts in gallon ziploc bag.
3. Combine all ingredients for marinade in small bowl until well blended with fork or whisk.  Pour on top of chicken and mush around until chicken is well coated. 
4. Place in fridge for several hours until ready to cook.  (Turn bag a few times if you can).

One of the best part about El Pollo Loco is the salsas, so while your chicken hangs out it's salsa time.  Get out your chopper, food processor or blender and get to it.  I make a medium to spicy Pico de Gallo for me, a super mild Pico de Gallo for my fiance (I either use like half a sliver of jalapeno or green bell pepper instead) and Avocado Salsa (the best part!).

Roll out the topping tray.
Spicy salsa, mild salsa, avocado salsa,
pinto beans, sour cream and cheese.

The price break down on this one is tricky with all the seasonings but I priced what a bought for the meal. remember you are also getting about 9 cans worth of broth in this for free if you broke down your chicken, and you have tons of tasty salsa left for other meals.

Whole chicken	4.11
4 limes	1.00
8 tortillas	0.50
avocado	0.79
jalapeno	0.14
Tomatoes 1lb	1.37
cilantro	0.69
Onion	0.22
Total	8.82
Per person	4.41

Right now on the El Pollo Loco website is a deal for a $10 whole chicken with eight tortillas.  Granted you get salsa there for free, but you don't get about 2 cups worth of it for later.  Our chicken and tortillas is $5.36, so almost half price.