Last night’s dinner was an aromatic Lemony Garlic Chicken Thighs. Instead of using a crock pot, I used my dutch oven and put it inside a conventional oven at 250º F, with a total cook time of about 2 hours. One thing I would change would be using fresh spinach instead of frozen. Though it tasted fine, the look of the frozen spinach wasn’t as fresh. Total meal cost $9.62*. (*Note: Most of the ingredients I have already, so the price may be higher if you’re buying things from scratch.)
Category: cooking
Aug
20
Pork Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
For tonight’s dinner, we had a scrumptious delight of Pork Tacos with Pineapple Salsa. It was fairly easy to make, where most of the prep work went into making the dressing and salsa. One thing I know to do for next time is to cut the chunks of pork into smaller bite size portions. Total meal cost $8.24*. (*Note: Most of the ingredients I have already, so the price may be higher if you’re buying things from scratch.)
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Aug
16
Penne with Sausage & Peas
Today’s dinner was a delicious serving of Penne with Sausage & Peas minus the parmesan cheese. It was so simple, that the most time consuming parts were waiting for the water to boil and cutting up the veggies and sausage. We had enough for the hubby to take to work and a small lunch for me tomorrow. Total meal cost $4.04*. (*Note: Most of the ingredients I have already, so the price may be higher if you’re buying things from scratch.)
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Aug
14
Slow Cooker Corn & Crab Chowder
What a hearty meal today! Today I made Slow Cooker Corn & Crab Chowder, but instead of a slow cooker, I used my dutch oven in the oven. Cut the cooking time tremendously. The bulk of the time was cleaning and cutting the vegetables, but there was a lot of down time during cooking. I could not find the Old Bay Seasoning at the store so I substituted with Tony Chachere’s. After cooking, I tasted and noticed it needed more flavor, so I added a bit more of Tony Chchere’s, All Spice and a pinch of salt. It was quite delicious. I had enough to share with my neighbors. For a dipper, I baked some wheat rolls that enhanced the meal and was free. Total meal cost $12.41*. (*Note: Most of the ingredients I have already, so the price may be higher if you’re buying things from scratch.)
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Aug
12
Grilled Shrimp & Cold Rice Salad
Today’s dinner was a twist on Grilled Shrimp & Cold Rice Salad. Instead of doing the wild, brown and red rice mixture (the Rice Select cost over $8.00 for a jar of it, I didn’t want to spend that much not knowing if it was going to be good), I opted for a cup of white rice. Afraid that the rice would not cook with the amount of water suggested, I added a little bit more water to cook. The rice came out a little mushy but it was very tasty. I just know for next time to use the water suggested. It was the first time cooking with craisins and I think I’ll have to keep that in my back pocket, it was quite good. I was not wanting to fire up the grill for the shrimp nor make the house hot using the broiler, so I decided to sauté the shrimp in a non-stick skillet with a little bit of EVOO. Also, instead of doing a cold rice dish, after the shrimp were done cooking, I added the rice mixture to the pan to dry up some of the rice. The dish reminded me of the consistency of a paella. Needless to say, there was not any leftovers tonight. Total meal cost was $5.75*. (*Note: I bought a 2lb. frozen bag of shrimp, that way I have extra for another meal. Also, most of the ingredients I have already, so the price may be higher if you’re buying things from scratch.)
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Aug
11
Chicken Stir-Fry with Mushrooms & Bok Choy
Today’s dinner was Chicken Stir-Fry with Mushrooms & Bok Choy. I apologize, I forgot to take pictures of the dish, but this I can say, the hubby couldn’t stop eating it. Fairly easy to make, mostly in the preparation of cleaning and cutting the vegetables. Total meal cost was $9.83*. Wowsers! Pretty good for 6 servings, enough for the hubby to take to work tomorrow. This is a dish worth keeping in the recipe books. (*Note: this does not include the cost of the Sesame oil and teriyaki sauce since I can use this for other dishes as well. Also, most of the ingredients I have already, so the price may be higher if you’re buying things from scratch.)
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Aug
09
Cooking hiatus
I took a little break from cooking since I’ve been busy with work. But I’m happy to say I’ll be back to the stovetop this week. I usually find my meals for the week using Martha Stewart’s Everyday food magazine, but it looks like I’ve made all the meals from the magazines I received. So, I recently subscribed to Family Circle and this month’s food section features Healthy options, each meal being 350 calories or less.
Day 1
Chicken Stir-Fry with Mushrooms & Bok Choy
Day 2
Grilled Shrimp & Cold Rice Salad
Day 3
Slow Cooker Corn & Crab Chowder (instead of the slow cooker, it’ll be in my dutch oven)
Day 4
Penne with Sausage & Peas
Day 5
Pork Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
I’ll keep you posted with pictures and reviews of the recipes.
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May
11
Meal #2 :: Dutch Oven Lasagna
I was anxious to use my handy Dutch oven again. It’s a one-pot wonder and I love it. This time, I decided to try my hand at Dutch Oven Lasagna, found on Tasty Planner. I made some changes to the recipe that I thought would enhance the dish. Be warned, the prep time is longer than 10 minutes. Or maybe I’m just slow, but I doubt that. I started by sautéing onions and garlic in the dutch oven with a little bit of EVOO. Then I added lean ground turkey meat until browned and flavored to taste. An addition to the meat mixture, I added fresh roma tomatoes. After prepping the meat, I laid out the lasagna layers for the meat mixture to lay on top. For the cheese mixture, instead of ricotta and cottage cheese, I opted for a shredded Italian Cheese mix, which was on sale at Kroger’s. I also added fresh cut basil between the layers for added flavor. With all the layers complete, in the oven it went for an hours time. For side dishes, I made my version of Bruschetta, diced roma tomatoes, shredded cheese, dried basil, ground pepper and a drizzle of olive oil, as well as Garlic Bread and a side salad. All in all, it was an easy meal to prepare, however took longer than expected. The meal cost under $20 total and fed me and the hubby for a few days as well as some extra for the neighbors. Delicious. Enjoy some more photos on flickr.
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Apr
22
Meal #1: Sweet and Sour Brisket
I was anxious to use my Dutch Oven and since I didn’t receive my cookbooks until later in the evening, I pondered what to make. A buddy on facebook suggested Sweet and Sour Brisket from Food Network’s Ellie Krieger. It was rated easy, with prep time being 20 min and cook time 2.5-3 hours. The only problem was, I didn’t have the ingredients and it was getting late. I set out my grocery run at around five in the evening. The only item on the ingredients list I was not able to purchase was the allspice berry, which I substituted for crushed allspice. To be honest, I haven’t used my kitchen to cook in a good while, which makes me a little sad because I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but I’m glad to be back in. I paired the brisket with some salad and corn and it was a great meal. The hubby gives it 3.5 out of 4 stars. The reason being, it could’ve used a little bit more salt. I think it’s because I didn’t put enough crushed allspice to make up for the allspice berry. Total meal cost was only $17. Enjoy the pictures on flickr.
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ramblings from a creative mind
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