The Rainbow Creek Kitchen

Menu Plan Monday

2011-11-28T02:34:00.000-08:00

I am definitely off budget now to the point of not even wanting to talk about it. Signing up for the school craft fair, Thanksgiving and a family birthday party caused me to lose my mind, so I am pleading temporary insanity. At least I hope it is temporary, but the holidays are here now and I am pretty sure my rehabilitation is going to require more than a stern talk with myself. A written plan is my only hope of getting back on track. Starting with a menu plan seems like a good first step anyway.

The grocery stores are off limits for this week except for bread and milk. I'll have Mr. Rainbow Creek pick those up because he can always be counted on not to deviate from the list. That's just one of those things that men are good at, and somebody has to be! We have plenty of food anyways, so I might even be able to stretch for 10 days without shopping.

Breakfast:
Belgian waffles
Cereal
Yogurt
Toaster Strudel

Dinner:
Monday: Steak and black bean chili, corn muffins
Tuesday: Pork chops, mashed potatoes, corn
Wednesday: Chicken and cheese enchiladas, black beans
Thursday: Pot roast, potatoes and carrots
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Leftover pot roast or enchiladas
Sunday: Grilled chicken, oven fries, mixed vegetables

Nesting Time

2011-10-05T02:25:00.000-07:00

Well the good news is I didn't miss out on the Concord Grape harvest at Marly's while I was gone to visit my parents. I seriously considered telling my sis that I couldn't go because I was worried they would ripen while we were gone. We got priorities here, and grape jam is right up there at the top when you have as many PB&J eaters in the house as we do.

When I got home I went out to the store and decided to stop by Marly's to check on the grapes, only to find that the gate was locked because she had furbaby visitors last week. I drove to the back and it was locked too. I noticed that the fence was only as high as my hip so figured I could jump over and take a peek. Yeah, well I couldn't jump a fence 25 years ago when I was young, so what the heck was I thinking. Plan B: I pulled a trash can over and gingerly stepped on it. But then, as I was hoisting myself over, the lid went crashing in, my leg plunged into the can and I landed hard, astraddling that chain link fence. oooouuchh! As I "sat" on the fence for a few moments contemplating whether this might be a permanent injury I decided there was nothing to do but get over it and carry on with my mission.

And I guess my timing couldn't have been more perfect! Eat our heart out Welch's, those Concord Grapes shall be mine!

Marly had a good laugh when I told her about my fence "hopping" adventure, and she left the gate open for me to come back with a couple helpers to harvest the fragrant little jewels.

Miss Morgy May took the job very seriously as she has a great interest in being sure that Grandpa has an adequate supply of jam to keep the two of them well fed on PB&J for the year. Both of my helpers helped themselves to many samples just to be sure these grapes were at their peak.

Little C-man discovered a cement mixing truck and determined that it was the perfect vehicle for delivering grapes into the collection bin.

Cooperation! They got the job done and were very proud of their work.

I think it was about 30+ lbs of grapes. Morgy was a big help with picking all of the grapes off the stems. What a trooper, she stuck it out for the whole tedious chore. I am sure that jam will taste extra special to her since she had such a big part in the making. I have them all cooked down and strained, about 3 gallons of juicy pulp in the refrig. I really prefer to can when there aren't children running about. Big pots of boiling water and sugar can be dangerous so I'd rather not take any chances. So I will be jammin' all day while the kids are in school. Can't wait to try it!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-08-22T23:41:00.000-07:00

It's Jelly Time! Aren't they purty? I just love seeing my jelly's lined up like beautiful jewels. I have 3 batches of strawberry and 2 batches of cherry so far. We picked up some Red Globe Peaches fresh from the orchard yesterday so I am going to be working on those tomorrow. Mr. Rainbow Creek's favorite is Cherry-Peach and he always get mad when I give it away as gifts and then run out. Guess I will try to make an extra batch or so this year.

Back to school came way too soon, and now Destructo Boy has football practice 4 nights/week too, so I am going to try to buckle down to some real menu planning. I have come to the conclusion that it is a lot harder than I thought it would be, but maybe I am just making it too hard. We have a ton of food to get used and I would love to make it to after Labor Day with no extra shopping trips except for milk and produce. I always say that, but never seem to make it. derrr!

We are loving the Belgian Waffle Maker still! I found a great simple recipe (below) and make a batch of 12 waffles at a time to put in the freezer in a zip lock bag, all ready to heat up in the toaster in the morning! I also have been pre-cooking a pound of bacon on the broiler pan in the oven, wrap it up in some paper towels and put in a zip lock to zap a couple strips in the microwave for 15 secs. in the morning for the kids. And I pre-cook sausage patties or links too. I love homemade convenience foods. And saving money too!

While I was doing the jellies I figured why not make a little blueberry syrup for the waffles? I got 2 pints and it is yummmy. Might have to put a little squirt of whipped cream on there next time I have me some waffles.

Breakfast: Waffles, cereal or PB&J

Monday: Grilled cheese sandwich, chips and pickles

Tuesday: Grilled tuna steaks, red cabbage slaw, noodles or rice

Wednesday: Roasted Red Pepper and Asparagus Frittata, salad

Thursday: Spicy Italian Roast Beef sandwiches on homemade rolls, oven roasted fries, salad

Friday: Grilled pizza

Saturday: Grilled chicken, green beans and boiled baby red potatoes

Sunday: Family BBQ at the lake, BIRTHDAY CAKE for Mr. Rainbow Creek! shhhhh, it's a surprise = 0)

Whole Wheat Belgian Waffles

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar or honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl, set aside.
Beat eggs in medium bowl until well blended, whisk in milk, oil and vanilla.
Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and beat until well mixed.
Ladle into waffle maker, cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes.

If you are going to freeze them lay on cookie sheet and allow to cool completely, place cookie sheet in freezer to individually freeze waffles before bagging them in zip lock bag. Heat in toaster or toaster oven until hot and crisp.

I am linking up with Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. Go check it out!

Frugal Finds For the Week

2011-08-07T02:23:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to get out and do my first payday of the month shopping trip on Friday. My plan was to go to Sam's and then maybe King Soopers to use a few coupons I had that were expiring that day. I skipped getting on I-470 for some reason and decided to take County Line which happens to go past a Goodwill Store and Dollar Tree next door to it. Yay!

My real purpose at Goodwill was to check and see if they had any decent jeans for the girls since school is starting so soon. We haven't figured out what those kids do on the playground to destroy their clothes so fast. But it seems that it doesn't matter if you pay $19.99 or 1.99 for jeans, the knees will be ripped out in less than a month. So that is a no-brainer isn't it?

I passed on the jeans that were on the rack, nothing too great, and I wandered to the back to look at the furniture and what-nots. Behind the furniture is the wall of small appliances and I noticed that they had a bread making machine sitting there. That is something that has been on my want list for quite a while. I just picture myself in the cold winter days baking up a fresh loaf to fill the house with that smell of fresh baked bread while my stew or pot roast is slowly simmering in my red enamel cast iron dutch oven. When everybody comes home from work and school after braving the bitter cold I will be a hero, filling them with warmth and comfort! Such is my fantasy life. But it could happen!

I noticed that there were actually several bread makers on the shelf and I pulled them all down and lined them up on a coffee table in the furniture department so I could investigate their various features. This Breadman Plus seemed to have the most potential because it makes two small loaves at a time and even has a setting for making a small batch of homemade jam. How cool is that?

If you have ever shopped at Goodwill you know that the shelves are not meticulously organized and you have to do some digging sometimes to get to what you want. While I was trying to get one of the bread machines out I came upon this little Belgian waffle maker.

Whenever I travel with the kids we stay at hotels with free breakfast and one of Destructo Boy's favorite things in the world is making his own Belgian waffles at the hotel breakfast. And recently Big K told me that he has been telling people that his grandma was going to buy him a waffle maker so he could make them at home. Now I honestly can't recall this conversation, but here was an opportunity to make good on my promise for a mere $4. How could I go wrong with that?

Now here is the best part. I got my first "senior discount" ever in my life when I went to check out. The cashier was an older woman and she looked at me kind of funny and said, "I hate to ask this, but you don't qualify for a senior discount do you?" I asked her what the age was for seniors and she said 55. So I have been missing out on that for a whole year?? She told me I really should come back on Mondays because the discount is 25% instead of the usual 15% and I promised her I would do that!

My total was $20 for the waffle maker, the bread machine, a stack of paperback chapter books for the kids and a wood jewelry cabinet that is going to get a makeover for a gift.

On to the Dollar Tree, I picked up a pancake mix with a waffle recipe on the side of the box.

Lemon juice: Miss Banana loves to make lemonade on a hot day to serve to her grandpa and friends. It is the easiest recipe ever: 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of lemon juice, stir together in a 2 quart pitcher, fill the rest of the way with water and ice.

I picked up some baking mixes and spaghetti sauce and pickles too. Total $20 at the dollar store

When I woke up this morning Destructo Boy and Miss Banana had discovered the waffle maker and all on their own they mixed up some batter and were busy making waffles for themselves and Big K. I had to have one too. They got carried away and made a few too many but we are thinking maybe we can make them ahead and bag them up in the frig or freezer to cook in the toaster oven on school days. Goodbye expensive Eggo's!

Sadly, I found out today that the bread machine is missing one of the kneading paddles so I spent the day finding and printing an instruction manual and looking to see if I can order another paddle. I decided to try it out and if it works OK I would order the paddle for $5.95+shipping.

There is my instruction manual. It was 80 pages but I decided to just print the first 20 pages and then I can print out the recipes that I want to try later. I found a recipe on the King Arthur Flour website for a basic white sandwich bread and decided to try it first.

And here it is! Cheap, easy, delicious and kid approved. I didn't have any whole wheat flour on hand that I trusted, but I am going to get some fresh and try to make it a little healthier next time. Once I get the other kneading paddle I might just cut out store bought bread altogether. Wouldn't that be nice?

So my frugal Friday was pretty successful and turned into a lot of fun. Next week I think I might try making my own laundry soap. I read about it here at The Family Homestead, and it sounds pretty easy. Mr. Rainbow Creek might think I am going off the deep end when he hears about this, but why not give it a try? It does look kind of gooey and messy scooping this gel concoction out of a bucket, will have to let you know how that goes.

Frugal Friday- Iced Coffee

2011-07-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

Heading into our 2nd month of serious buckling down on the budget and I have to admit that I have fallen back on the debit card a few times for some off budget items. Oh well, at least I am paying attention and making those decisions, and mostly they were things we need. Like when you happen to find Levi's in the right size at Sam's Club for $22 and you know hubby is down to raggedy work pants then that's a good choice to buy them. Bath and Bodyworks and Victoria's Secret, not so much. But I had coupons!

Love this stuff!

It doesn't look like that on me! Go figure...

Now back to the frugal Friday tip. I saw this post about a recipe for cold-brewed coffee from the New York Times and I really love a good iced coffee.

When I was on the east coast Dunkin' Donuts knew how to do them right, but here in Colorado I have found it is really hit and miss. McD's has great coffee, and their iced coffee would be good if they didn't always screw up the sugar somehow. Starbucks has been less than stellar, not sure why, but iced coffee doesn't seem to be their forte. So I got all excited when I saw this cold-brewed coffee idea and decided to give it a try. Only problem was that I wasn't too excited about the messy process of straining the grinds out of the water after it brewed for 12 hours. The first time I tried it I discovered that I had a few filter bags of coffee like the ones they put in the hotels for the in-room coffee service. Picked those up at the cabin we rented a couple months ago, what can I say ;) So I put them in a mason jar with 1 1/2 cups of water/bag and let them stand overnight and voila! No muss, no fuss and it was really good.

Now I don't have a regular supply of those bags, but I figured I could make them myself with some coffee filters and string. I actually used button thread because that is what I had on hand, kitchen twine would work too if you have some and can find it, but I couldn't find mine of course.

Since Big K commutes every day I have been making a pitcher full and keeping it in the frig. I make 1 coffee bag for every 1 1/2 cups of water.

Put 1/3 cup of coffee in the filter, then cut a piece of thread or twine long enough to tie around the top a couple of times.

Carefully gather the top of the filter, tie it into a neat little bundle like this.

Measure 1 1/2 cups of water for each bag and put the bags in the pitcher. Let it stand for at least 12 hours. Remove bags and refrigerate.

WARNING! DO NOT attempt to squeeze the liquid out of the bags when removing them. They will burst open and you will have a huge mess of grinds in your coffee concentrate. Yuck! You don't want that. Then you will have to strain it, which is what you were trying to avoid by making these nice little filter bundles.

Now if you are commuting you can get yourself a nice reusable cup like this at WalMart and fill it with ice, fill about 2/3 full with coffee, fill the rest with milk and add sugar or Splenda to taste. Now get yourself a "tip jar" and deposit $2 that you saved by doing it yourself! Hey, that is $10/week that you didn't even plan to save!

.And since she discovered the coffee Big K got the idea to buy this little pitcher and make her own iced tea to take to the office instead of going to 7-11 or Subway and paying $2/day for it. She fills it with water every night, drops in 2 tea bags and sets it in the 'frig. In the morning she fills it the rest of the way with ice. That's another $2/day in the "tip jar." I always see these articles about how to save money, and beverages like coffee, tea and bottled water seem to top the list of money wasters. But you don't have to give them up, just DIY and save yourself a lot of money too!

The Kitchen is Open

2011-07-23T01:57:00.000-07:00

The Rainbow Creek Kitchen is re-opening. I was initially planning to integrate all my posts on food and budgeting over at Up the Rainbow Creek. But then I thought it might be nice to have a place to chronicle my journey separately from my crafty space. And here I am again.

One of the reasons I quit this blog is that I was facing too many challenges in trying to accomplish what I wanted here. The first one being my horrific kitchen is just not conducive to food blogging. Another issue was our blended family and the fact that we have food issues here. But I am working through those issues and more and more I find myself wanting to share these experiences and blogging in my head about the little tidbits that I think others might find useful or interesting.

So I made some decisions today and I am going to move ahead and face my challenges and do what I can.

If you want to take a chance on following along or stopping by for an occasional visit at The Rainbow Creek Kitchen here is what you can expect to find:

Some good recipes that I know you will love to try. But I don't guarantee that I will have perfect measurements. You have to be willing to "wing it" a bit to follow my recipes. That is because I am a little loosey oosey when it comes to cooking. I tend to throw things together and if they turn out good I try to remember how I did it so I can share it or do it again. But I am always around and willing to answer questions if you want to ask, or just call me up while you are cooking dinner and I will talk you through it. Really. I am used to that because that is how my daughter's all learned to cook.
A look at how we are learning to budget and live more frugally. This is the end of Month 1 of my plan to live a simpler more stress free life. And even though we are still light years away from our goal I can tell you that I am already feeling calmer and more focused.
A focus on living and eating healthy and fresh foods that are affordable and kid friendly.
An occasional rant.
Horrible pictures from the ugliest kitchen on the planet, which will most likely be the subject of the occasional rant.

See, that is actually a delicious Warm Steak and Spinach Salad w/balsamic vinagrette and Gogonzola, on a turquoise Fiestaware plate on a white cutting board. But something went horribly wrong and I am pretty sure that I would never convince anyone to want to eat this if they saw this picture.

Then I dropped my camera in my drink at the beach a few days ago. I guess my camera is a lightweight and can't handle her vodka tonics because she has been in an unresponsive state ever since. So that's actually the good news. I am definitely going to be investing in a new camera :)

Fall Flavors: Home Made Chunky Applesauce

2010-10-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

Maybe you have never thought of applesauce as a "side dish" for a savory meal. But to me apples are one of those fall flavors that just pairs beautifully with heartier cool weather dinners, like pork chops or chicken and stuffing. I am not talking about the pureed kind you get in a jar, but a sweet spicy chunky homemade applesauce that you can eat with a fork.

Happening to have a neighbor who gifted me with a big bag full of sweet golden apples inspired me to cook some up last week.

It was a big hit with our rather ordinary baked chicken breast with stuffing and green beans. It is super simple to make if you want to give it a try!

Homemade Spiced Applesauce

3 lbs (about 6 medium) apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

1/2 cup water

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons sugar

Put into heavy pot and bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer stirring occasionally until apples are tender. Lightly mash with potato masher. Taste for sweetness, add a little more white sugar if needed. Add a sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon to taste before serving. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Frugal Fun Mini Muffin Treats

2010-10-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

I love to have some Jiffy Mix in my pantry. I like to pick up a variety of those super cheap muffin mixes to have on hand when I want to bake a little quick bread or snack on short notice.

So it was short notice when Marcy and me decided on Tuesday night that we might lose our minds if we had to spend the rest of "Fall Break" ~~drinking wine and listening to 5 kids whine about wanting to go to Skate Park~~ hauling the kids to the skate park. That is when we hit on the idea of scrounging up the funds to head up to the mountains to Indian Hot Springs Lodge and getting a couple of cabins for a night. We did some creative math and figured we could swing it if we could cover all the food from our pantry supplies.

We came up with a menu of:
Lunch - tuna or egg salad sandwiches, carrot and celery sticks and dip
Dinner- spaghetti and meatballs, Caesar salad, garlic bread, choice of Cabernet or Root Beer
Breakfast- pancakes, bacon, eggs, English muffins, choice of Bloody Mary or MILK

We had all that covered and I pre-cooked the spaghetti and meatballs the night before so we only had to heat them up and toast the garlic bread, which worked out great. Then I thought since this was a special occasion of sorts we should have a treat for the kids. Jiffy Mix Chocolate Muffin Mix to the rescue!

I decided to make mini muffins because kids love mini things. And I used two boxes of mix and ended up with 42 muffins so there were plenty to go around for 5 kids. (Approx. cost less than $1.50!)
I always spray my paper muffin liners with a little non-stick spray so they will peel off clean without ripping half of the muffin off. I just hate that! Then I dropped a little dollop of peanut butter into the center of each chocolate muffin.
The peanut butter melted as the muffins baked and made these nice little streaks of peanut buttery goodness.
I mixed up a half batch of Hershey's cocoa buttercream frosting and happened to have a container of orange sprinkles with little bats so that added a little to the "Fall Break" festivities. These were definitely a hit and the kids didn't even lick the frosting off and throw the muffins away, they ate them all.
After relaxing in the pool all afternoon the kids were ready to head back to the cabin for a good spaghetti and meatball feast.
It was a Thursday night and when we trekked back to the pool for the evening we found that we had the whole place all to ourselves! That's when we decided maybe "Fall Break" isn't such a bad idea after all.

I am linking up to these Frugal Friday Parties. Go check them out!

Too Many Cooks or Too Few?

2010-10-18T00:58:00.000-07:00

We are going to try this again.

Menu planning that is. It has been suggested that each mom here should be responsible for planning, shopping and preparing 2 meals each week, leaving one night open for leftover buffet, going out or what have you. I am not sure that we are all "bought in" on this plan but it is a plan. Big K took the initiative to do some menu planning for this week based on what we have in the various storage facilities around the house. Next week we will try to be a little more organized.

The kids are out of school for "Fall Break" whatever that is. We haven't quite figured that out. What do you do on "Fall Break?" You can't go to the lake too cold, you can't go skiing too warm, and who has the money for a trip to Disneyland when the holidays are fast approaching? So this week will also include some day trips to find some cheap entertainment and there goes the plan, out the window again. Sigh.

Sunday - Italian Beef sandwiches with pepperoncini, Olive and Goat Cheese Pasta Salad (Recipes below)

Monday - Roasted pork tenderloin, asparagus, rice pilaf

Tuesday - Spaghetti and meatballs, bread, salad

Wednesday - Homestyle pot roast with potatoes and carrots

Thursday - Leftover Buffet

Friday - Margarita chicken, black beans, rice

Saturday - Pizza

Recipes:

Olive and Goat Cheese Pasta Salad

1 lb package curly pasta cooked
1/2 can black olives sliced
1/2 small bottle of sliced green olives with pimento
1/2 cup celery cleaned and chopped
1/4 cup thin sliced red onion
1 small package crumbled goat cheese
2-3 tablespoons cider vinegar
drizzle of olive oil
2-3 teaspoons Salad Supreme Seasoning
1/4 cup Light Caesar Salad dressing

Toss all ingredients together while pasta is still slightly warm. Cool to room temp or chill before serving.

Italian Beef Sandwiches (Spicy!)

1 Round roast or sirloin tip roast
1 jar whole pepperoncini
1 box beef broth
1 tsp Italian seasoning
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
1/2 onion sliced
Salt and pepper
olive oil

Rub the roast with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven and brown roast on all sides on medium heat. Add all the remaining ingredients. Cover tightly and roast in oven at 350 for 2 1/2 hours. Remove meat from pan, slice thinly and return to pan, continue cooking in oven for another hour. Serve on toasted hard rolls, spoon a little of the broth and the peppers on top of meat. This is spicy! You can cut back on the pepperoncinis if you want it less spicy, or don't put all the juice from the peppers in.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-08-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

We are going to make do with what we have on hand this week. We had a shopping fiasco last week. Big K and little K went shopping at WalMart at the same time Mr. Rainbow Creek and I went to Sams. We failed to coordinate and ended up buying duplicates of tons of stuff, but of course we forgot some things too and had to go back for laundry soap and juice packs and a few other necessary items. Well, we plan on not repeating that!

It is peach and crab apple time and I have to get started jellying too so the kitchen might be running non stop this week. I hope so anyway!

Here is our menu, subject to change if I am busy with jelly and jams:

Monday: leftover buffet

Tuesday: Pork chops, green beans and boiled potatoes, salad

Wednesday: smothered chicken, smashed potatoes

Thursday: tostadas, salad

Friday: grilled chicken, summer squash, rice pilaf

Saturday: Uncle Herb's 80th birthday dinner at the VFW

Sunday: grilled pizza

Menu Plan Monday - Back to School Time

2010-08-16T21:33:00.000-07:00

Sadly, school started last week and our leisurely tuna and egg salad picnic at the beach days have come to an end. Mama K started a new job too (YAAAAAY!!!) so it is time to get our act together and get back to menu planning and a little more structure.

I don't know if I have mentioned this, but since I started this blog our household has grown from 2 adults to a total of 5 adults and 3 kids. We are actually 3 families living under one roof now and although we have found it challenging at times I don't know of any nefarious plots being hatched, BUT Little K has some strange dreams about the kids setting rattlesnakes loose in the house and some of us packing up and leaving. HA! It was actually yours truly who stormed out of her dream and left her here to fend off the snake!

Last week we did a pretty decent job of getting meals planned and on the table about the time that Big K got home from work and I know she really appreciated that. This week I want to try to use up what we have on hand and keep shopping to a minimum until payday.

Monday - Baked Steak with gravy, baked potatoes, corn (recipe below)
Tuesday - Pinto beans, green chile, tortillas
Wednesday - Spaghetti with meatballs
Thurday - Smothered bean and cheese burritos
Friday - Hamburgers, oven fries
Saturday - Pizza and salad
Sunday - Chicken fajitas with pico de gallo, refried beans, corn on the cob

Fresh Pico de gallo: diced onion, finely diced jalapeno pepper, diced tomato and chopped cilantro, a pinch of salt. Let stand for about 30 minutes before serving.

Here is how to make good restaurant style fajitas. DO NOT slice the meat and cook in a skillet with the vegetables. I have seen so many recipes that say to do this and the result is that the meat braises in the juice and ends up overcooked and really just plain awful.

Slice the peppers and onions and cook in a hot skillet until slightly tender, turn up the heat to carmelize them. Chicken or steak should be seasoned with garlic salt and pepper and grilled on high heat, then slice and place on platter over vegetables. Chicken takes about 10 minutes if using boneless skinless breasts, steak should be cooked to med/rare about 6-8 minutes depending on thickness. Squeeze a little fresh lime juice over before serving. Serve with cheese, lettuce, avocado, sour cream and fresh pico de gallo. Perfection!

Sorry, I didn't get pictures of this but here is my dad's baked steak recipe, a family favorite for 3 generations and it can actually be prepared 2 ways, both are super delicious and kid friendly with mashed potatoes or wide egg noodles!

I use thin cut sirloin steak for this, but you can also use a good quality top round.

Trim fat and cut 1 1/2 lbs of steak into serving size pieces. Pound with a meat hammer to tenderize a bit. Season generously with your favorite grill seasoning or garlic salt and pepper. Dredge meat in a little flour and kind of pound the flour in with your fingers. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in skillet on med/high heat, add meat and brown on both sides. Transfer to 13"X9" baking dish when browned.

Add a tablespoon of flour to skillet and a little more oil if needed to blend in all the flour. Cook for a minute or so and then slowly add 1 can of beef stock, bring up to a simmer blending in the flour mixture.

Version # 1 - Sprinkle one package onion soup mix over meat then pour the gravy mixture from the skillet over the top. Cover with foil and bake in 350 oven about one hour.

Version #2 Swiss steak - Pour one can of stewed tomatoes over the meat, add a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce, then pour the gravy mixture from the skillet over the top and bake in 350 oven about one hour until meat is tender and sauce is thickened.

Enjoy!

I am linking up with Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. Go check it out!

Frugal Friday - $21 Dinner Party!

2010-08-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

So, frugal is the new black, they say. And now that I am into being frugal my challenge is not only to eat for less but to eat pretty well.

I whipped up this Chicken with Roasted Red Pepper Cream sauce last week just for a weeknight dinner because I found this huge can of roasted red peppers for a great price at the SmartCo store grand opening. It wasn't actually on sale or anything, just a good everyday price. But, I was thinking that you could actually pass this off as a nice dinner for entertaining friends. All you would need to add is a salad, a loaf of crusty bread and a decent bottle of white wine and you could do dinner for 6 at an amazingly frugal cost of just $21!

This is definitely not a low cal type meal, but I don't think it is too terribly bad. Just if you are planning on serving dessert you might want to keep it on the lighter side, like a thin slice of pound cake with fresh berries and a dollop of light cool whip.

Cost:
Chicken- $4
Red Peppers- $3
onion- $0.50
cream-$1.25
chicken broth-$0.75
cheese-$1
pasta-$1.25
seasonings-from pantry, use what you have on hand!
salad-$1.50 (I actually got local grown leaf and romaine for .50/head and store brand Ceasar dressing)
bread-$1 (nightly store special french loaf)
Wine-$7 (Barefoot Chardonnay)

Total: $21

This was so quick and easy, here is the recipe if you want to give it a try:

Chicken with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced into 1/2" strips
1 onion thin sliced
1 bottle roasted red peppers, sliced into strips
2 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream or half and half
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
garlic pepper seasoning
6 pepper blend seasoning OR crushed red pepper flake, garlic salt and paprika to taste

1 pkg Fettucini noodles, cooked

Season chicken with grill seasoning to taste. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, add the chicken and cook until it starts to turn white on outside. Add the onions and cook a few more minutes. Reduce heat, stir in the flour and cook one or two minutes making sure it is all absorbed in the oil. Add the red peppers and slowly add chicken broth, bring heat up to med high again and bring to a simmer. Add cream and red pepper flakes, simmer for a minute then reduce heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese until it is melted. Serve over pasta with a little extra grated cheese to top it.

Now I must apologize for my sorry lack of photos. I just forget sometimes that I am supposed to be taking pics when I get busy cooking. Anyways, I need to do something about my horrible pictures because my kitchen is a dark brown gawd awful ugly place and no matter how nice the food might look in person it just won't look good when I take its picture. K suggested a white tablecloth and some white dishes to use for the background, so I will have to scrounge around and see what I can find to help the situation. I am sure there is a frugal solution to the problem, although a $50K kitchen remodel would be my preference and a lot more fun.

ENJOY!

Funday Food and Perfect Sugar Cookies

2010-07-26T01:11:00.000-07:00

I remember one time when I was grilling some chicken and I yelled at the guys that I needed a pot holder, and Mr. Rainbow Creek and Fatty both ran out of the garage and each handed me a welding glove.

What immediately came to my mind was Jeff Foxworthy's "you might be a redneck" jokes.

Now I see all these shows on Food Network and sure enough those BBQ champions are all wearing those redneck potholders. And they probably are teaching their one year old's to play with fire, but in a good foodie kind of way, don't ya think?

Destructo Boy with a look that says "I got this s'mores thing down, man!" It's all in the gloves of course.

Sometimes we do a little indoor food fun too.

Didn't they used to tell kids "don't play with your food!" Well what fun was that!!??

We found a good way to use up leftover frosting from cake decorating class, turn the kids loose with a batch of sugar cookies.

I went on a sugar cookie binge last year in search of the best sugar cookie recipe ever. This blue ribbon winning sugar cookie recipe is my all time favorite so far.

My secrets to a perfect sugar cookie:

They have to be frosted with a good buttercream frosting that sets up just a little hard on top.
I love frosted sugar cookies so much. And the milk in the frosting is the secret to keeping these soft and just a little moist.

I also make sure to get them out of the oven when they are just set and don't let them start to brown. Let them set up on the pan for a few minutes before removing to the cooling rack.

If they are browning too quickly turn your oven down to 325 degrees.

Nature Girl gives them her seal of approval too.

Enjoy!

Frugal Friday - getting serious about saving now

2010-07-22T23:57:00.000-07:00

Wow there is so much to be learned from blog hopping! I love some of the ideas I have been finding and I am starting a list of things I am planning to try.

The way I see it, this need to cut back and manage our money better is an opportunity to be more creative and use our talents. I love that we are working together to come up with creative ideas for having fun and living well even on a limited budget. And it has pushed me to become more proactive on my personal desire to simplify my life and become more self sufficient.

Here is a list of things I plan to try this week:
Grow celery from celery stalk bottoms: Premeditated Leftovers: Something From Nothing
Grow green onions from roots: Penniless Parenting
Make a sourdough starter: Frugal Creativity
Bake a batch of soft pretzels with the kids: hmm, can't find that link right now but it sounded wonderful and Destructo Boy loves soft pretzels and baking so that will be our Sunday Funday treat.

Oh, she found me, thanks Haleyleanne! Here is the link to the soft pretzels recipe.

One of our biggest challenges is finding fun and affordable things to do with the kids.

Here is what we will be doing tomorrow:

We have tuna salad, bread, chips, grapes and cherries and kool-aid so we should be all set for a day in the sun. When we get home we are going to make a batch of homemade plain vanilla ice cream. Yummm...
There is a Dragon Boat Race and Festival at Sloan's Lake this weekend so we are planning to take the kids. They have been really good about doing chores this week so we will give them each part of their allowance to spend. We have found that it helps a lot when we go places if they have a little money of their own to decide what to spend it on. It does seem to keep them from asking us to buy them trinkets and garbage.

Sis, who was the most brilliant single mom I have ever known used to go through the coupons with BB when he was young and let him pick which cereal and snacks he was going to "spend" his coupons on. She knew she was going to have to buy those things anyway, but it gave him a little buying power and he didn't wheedle and whine for things she couldn't afford. She is a genius, don't you think?

This week's challenge is to menu plan for 2 weeks using only what we have on hand. That shouldn't really be too hard because I went shopping and stocked up on neccessities today. I will probably try to push it into an extra week of using everything we can before shopping again, that will be more fun.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-07-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday dinner

My favorite, Pico de Gallo! Fresh tomato from my tiny garden, green onion, jalapeno and cilantro.

Grilled zucchini, yellow squash and jerk seasoned chicken breasts.

Serve with black beans and yellow rice.

We made homemade chocolate ice cream for dessert. Tried a Martha Stewart Wedding recipe and no one liked it. The flavor was too chocolatey and overpowered the creamieness. This really bummed me out because I looked at about a million chocolate ice cream recipes and chose this one. If anyone has a good tried and true recipe that is more kid friendly I would love to try it. We are thinking about making a batch of vanilla tomorrow and swirling the chocolate in.

The heat wave continues and our menu this week will be pretty simple and involve a lot of grillin' and chillin'.

Breakfast: cereal, bagels and cream cheese or waffles

Lunch: PB&J sandwiches, ham or turkey sandwich's, chili dogs and chips

Monday: burgers and brats, pasta salad, baked beans
Tuesday:Leftover chicken, black bean and squash tortilla wraps with cheese, lettuce and salsa
Wednesday: Grilled chicken, penne pasta alfredo, steamed broccoli
Thursday: Easy no bake enchiladas (recipe below), refried beans, lettuce
Friday: Ciabatta Cheese Steaks with the works, oven roasted potatoes (Rachael Ray's recipe. I am dying to try this, if you ever saw this episode of 30 minute meals you will be drooling. I am using sirloin steak since that is what I have in the freezer)
Saturday: leftover pulled pork from freezer, chips, baked beans
Sunday: Steak or chicken fajita's, rice, beans

Easy Enchiladas

In large bowl, combine cooked diced chicken or steak or taco meat, diced onion, and shredded cheese. (you can use leftover grilled squash or corn and black beans in the mix too if you prefer a veggie version)

Pour 1 large can or 2 small cans enchilada sauce into a wide shallow bowl.

Heat a TINY amount of oil in large skillet over medium/high heat. Lightly fry corn tortillas a few at a time to soften them. Remove from skillet, dip into the sauce and place the tortilla on a plate then fill with a couple spoonfuls of the filling and roll. Spoon a little more sauce over the top, microwave until cheese is melted, garnish with a little green onion. Serve with sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes on the side.

Enjoy!

Linked to: Organizing Junkie's menu plan Monday. Go check it out!
Fireflies and Jellybeans Show off Your Stuff Party

Way late, but I do have a plan

2010-07-14T01:47:00.000-07:00

At least I have a menu plan this week! Just finding the time to post it seems to be difficult.

We are still working on the finer points of eating big on a small budget, but I am getting better at it. I did the shopping by myself this week and bought the basics with a few meals in mind and figured we could get creative and make something up from what we have on hand. I am actually hoping to stretch my last shopping trip into next week, we'll see how that goes.

So the weather is HOT, HOT, HOT and we are cooking accordingly. Most of what I have planned will be cooked outside on the grill or baked in the roaster downstairs.

Did you know: If you have one of those big electric roasters you can use it as a small oven to bake in. I plug mine in down in the basement or sometimes outside and then we don't have to heat up the kitchen while we bake.

And now it seems that we have grown to a 3 grill family! With 8 people here we just didn't have enough room on the big grill so we sometimes have to fire up the gas grill and another small Weber to get a meal together. At least we have enough cooks to man/woman all the grills anyway!

For breakfast: waffles, cereal, bagels and cream cheese or eggs and toast
Lunch: ham, turkey, cheese or PB&J sandwiches, or hot dogs and mac and cheese

Sunday: Chicken under a brick, grilled corn on the cob, grilled potatoes, salad

Monday: Grilled pizza (recipe below)

Tuesday: (leftover chicken) Fiesta Salad with black beans and corn salsa and salsa ranch dressing

Wednesday: (beach day) chicken salad sandwiches, chips, fruit, brownies

Thursday: grilled steak, baked potatoes, salad

Friday: chicken enchiladas, refried beans, lettuce and tomatoes

Saturday: grilled chicken with penne pasta and alfredo sauce, garlic bread

How to Throw a Grilled Pizza Party!

Prepare dough:

In food processor or electric mixer:
3-3 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 package rapid rise yeast (or 1 Tablespoon dry yeast dissolve in 110 degree water)
1 cup very hot (120 degree) water
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Mix all ingredient to form a ball. Knead about 10 times on floured board. Shape into ball and drizzle a little olive oil in bowl to prevent sticking. Cover and let rise about 30 - 40 minutes

Divide dough into 6 portions. Roll out each portion on well floured board to make a thin circle about 8" diameter.

Move hot coals to one side of grill and place one or two pizza doughs on opposite side of grill for indirect heat. Allow crust to bake slightly, then spoon sauce on, add any desired toppings then top with mozzerella cheese, fontina and parmesan. Cover grill and bake for 5 minutes, rotate the pizza and bake a few minutes more until crust is browned and crisp and cheese is melted.

We always make a party of this, let everyone pick their own toppings from a topping bar and serve them up to order.

I am linking this post to:

Organizing Junkie Menu plan Monday

Fried Tortilla Cinna-Crisps

2010-07-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to cut back on "off-budget" snack items around here. It seems that the kids can just go through them like there's no tomorrow. And then tomorrow they want more snacks. Go figure, huh?

So sometimes we have to get creative and cook up something fun and tasty to satisfy their bedtime snack craving.

The other night I pulled out my Fry Daddy and fried up some tortilla crisps and the kids thought it was an amazing new invention. I cut the tortilla's into quarters and only needed a couple inches of oil in the fryer. Cook them at about 375 degrees for a minute or so until they are bubbled up and just barely starting to brown.

Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar. We did both since I have these handy little shaker dealies from Pampered Chef. I keep one filled with cinnamon sugar and one with powdered sugar for toast and French toast.

They disappeared as fast as we could make them! Be careful about little ones grabbing them too quick, as they are very hot when they come out of the fryer.

These make a great garnish on the side of a bowl of vanilla ice cream with a little peach or blueberry topping too!

ENJOY!

A bunch of Breakfast Burritos

2010-05-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday mornings are soccer game day. We all go out to cheer Morgy May on, and hope that she will last for at least part of the game before having a meltdown and leaving to sit on mama's lap. But with a bunch of 4 year old's it really is anything goes out there and the valiant "coaches" take it all in stride. Anyway, if anything is worth getting up early and standing outside in a damp field and freezing for, it is watching the "grasshoppers" and "munchkins" run around trying to kick a soccer ball. They are just too cute! And then breakfast burritos help too.

These are a good make ahead breakfast and can be pretty handy any day of the week for a quick grab and go handheld meal.

Breakfast Burritos Recipe:

1 lb bulk breakfast sausage
4 medium potatoes, diced
1 dozen eggs
1 lb grated cheddar or colby jack cheese
1 jar salsa
salt and pepper, dash of cayenne pepper
1 dozen flour tortillas

Boil diced potatoes for about 5 minutes, drain well.
Cook sausage in large skillet until lightly browned, do not drain. Add the par-cooked potatoes to the skillet, season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Cook over medium heat to brown the potatoes, stirring occasionally. Remove to large mixing bowl.

Scramble the eggs and cook in the same skillet until just set. Do not overcook, they will continue to cook after adding to the meat and potato mixture! Stir together with meat and potatoes in mixing bowl.

Place a tortilla on a square of wax paper or foil that is slightly larger than the tortilla. Put about two serving spoons of meat and egg mixture in center of tortilla, leaving plenty of space all around for rolling. Sprinkle with cheese and a spoonful of salsa. Fold ends in toward middle then roll up the burrito. Fold wax paper ends toward center then roll. Place in a plastic zip lock in the frig and they can be microwaved for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes before serving.

For soccer games I wrap in foil and heat as many as we need on a cookie sheet in the oven in the morning,take the to the game in a small cooler to hand out as needed.

Visit the Make It From Scratch Carnival for more recipes and home made ideas!

Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday is Back!

2010-05-03T00:03:00.000-07:00

We are on a learning curve here going from a family of 2 to 5 and now 8! Yikes! I have never lived with 7 other people before in my life so there is a lot to learn. Of course food is a central theme for every family and blending 3 families into one can present some challenges. Luckily we have 3 good cooks here and it is just going to require some coordination.

The kids were a little disappointed that we had to cancel "Sunday Fun-day" due to the lousy weather today. I just couldn't bring myself to hang out on the deck and cook brats and s'mores when it is only 32 degrees and raining again. {{{sigh}}} Praying for next week to finally bring us some sunshine and heat so we can put the Fun back into Fun-day.

I tried to pin everyone down for ideas for the menu this week and we all agreed that menu planning is going to be key to keeping everything functioning. We also need to use what we have on hand to make as many meals as possible before going out and buying more. There seems to be a problem with people buying whatever they like but not planning on what we are going to use it for. LOL So I decided to get back to posting our menu plans with orgjunkie.com to keep us motivated.

Monday-
Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, garlic bread (cook extra pasta for Thursday)

Tuesday-
Pork Tenderloin with black beans and yellow rice

Wednesday-
Enchiladas, salad

Thursday- Recipe below
Chicken/shrimp scampi with noodles alfredo, peas, garlic bread

Friday-
Homemade Pizza

Saturday- Recipe below
Pepper Steak Sandwiches, oven roasted potatoes

Sunday-
Bratwurst with grilled peppers and onions, baked beans, grilled potatoes and S'Mores!

Recipes:
Quick and Easy Alfredo Noodles and Scampi

Cook fettuccine noodles, while hot add one tablespoon butter, 1/2 cup whipped cream cheese and season with garlic salt. Stir to melt butter and cream cheese. Top with 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese. Stir in 1/2 cup cooked frozen peas.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in hot skillet with one clove garlic smashed. Add 1 pound diced chicken or peeled raw shrimp to skillet and cook until done, 3-5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper. Squeeze juice of 1/2 lemon over meat and add another tablespoon of butter to make a sauce. Serve with pasta.

Pepper Steak Sandwiches

Finely chop: 1 lb sirloin steak, 1/2 red pepper, 1/2 green pepper, 1/2 onion, 4 ounces mushrooms, (1 jalapeno pepper *optional.) I usually add the fresh jalapeno and then add diced nacho sliced jalapenos after cooking because we like a lot of heat.

Season diced steak with Monterey Steak Seasoning

Heat one tablespoon vegetable oil in large skillet on high heat, add the meat and saute for 1-2 minutes until brown, add vegetables and saute until the juices start to reduce. Serve meat mixture on toasted buns, sprinkled with grated cheese or cover with cheese slice.

Cream of Mushroom Soup, Just Say NO!

2009-09-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

Come, let us harken back to a time when Cream of "anything" soup did not exist.

Can anyone please post a recipe on the internet for a casserole that does not involve opening a can of "Cream of Glop" and mixing it into noodles, rice or stuffing with some chicken and vegetables?

This is what was going through my mind tonight when I was pondering what to do with some frozen chicken breasts and I hit on the idea of a casserole of some type. I challenge you to google "chicken casserole" and find me one that does not contain "cream of --- soup" in the ingredients list.

Since I do not stock Cream of --- Soup in my pantry I have learned a very tricky way to substitute for it by making an old fashioned cream sauce from natural ingredients. The beauty of this is that is does not require a long list of chemicals and it tastes good. The downside is that you have to actually do a little bit of cooking. But, trust me, it is very little and can be done by any novice.

You can make this with some basic ingredients that you should have on hand anyway:

Onion, mushrooms, butter or light olive oil, flour, chicken stock, milk or cream, salt and pepper.

You really should keep some heavy cream or half and half on hand. The ultra pasteurized stuff has a very long shelf life and if you buy a pint to use for sauces it is well worth it. DO NOT buy Fat Free Half and Half or Cream! There is no such thing in the natural world, and it should be illegal to label it that way but they do sell such a thing and it is not fit for human consumption.

So, here is what you do to make your basic sauce.

Chop up some onions and mushrooms, about 1/2 onion and 4 ounces of mushrooms. Heat a pan over medium high and add a couple tablespoons of butter to the pan. When the butter is melted add the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and saute for a while until limp. Add 1/4 cup of flour to the pan and cook over medium heat until the flour is all absorbed in the vegetable/oil mixture, add a little more butter or oil if neccessary. Add 2 cups of chicken stock to the pan, stirring it in slowly, bring up to a simmer over med/high heat. It will be very thick once it comes to a boil. Add 1 cup of cream or milk. Bring to boil again to thicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Thats it. No can opener needed.

The Tea Party Chronicles Homemade Tiered Plates

2009-04-20T00:00:00.001-07:00

Are you a tea party rookie? I am too.

When the tattooed mama and me decided to have a bridal shower for the College Boy's lovely Bride to Be a tea party sprang to my mind. Miss Bride is so sweet and we wanted to do something very special for her. Thus I came upon the idea of a "real" formal tea party and we began planning. I was pretty sure we could pull it off since we are so crafty and clever, and I figured I would find all the "How To" I needed online.

I did find a lot of good information and especially quite a few recipes to choose from.

But I was starting from scratch for tea partyware and with a limited budget I set out to do the best I could to create the elegant tea party atmosphere that I envisioned. We were estimating about 20 guests, so my idea was to set up 4 tables with 4-6 place settings at each.

So off to the Goodwill I went.

I discovered that there are plenty of pretty dishes to be had for 49 cents each. Since I was planning on a "mismatched" place setting for each person that would work. It would take several trips to several different thrift stores and I added in the cups and plates from Mr. Rainbow Creek's grandma's china set which I had stashed in the basement for years.

Oh yeah, and I also thought it was totally worth all the trouble to have to peel off all the price stickers and handwash all those dishes before and after the party.

Teapots are somewhat more difficult. I managed to find 2 for $3 each and then purchased a new one from the Corningware outlet store for $7. The little tea light candleholders were from the dollar store. They were cute and matched our "spa theme." But I forgot to light them. DUH!

I found some pretty napkins at Tuesday Morning.

So keeping with my clever and crafty theme, I assembled the tiered platters for the food using thrift store plates, wine glasses and my trusty hot glue gun.

I had this well planned out, but it was a little scary because you have to get the dishes centered while handling a hot glue gun and, as I soon learned, the hot glue sets as soon as it meets the cold plate. So, you have one shot at getting it right or you get to start over again.

So here are a few tips on hot gluing dishes together to make a tiered serving plate.

1. Use small dots of glue around the edge of the glass, not a thick bead.

2. If you get the plate off center DO NOT use a razor blade to try to unstick it while holding the plate with your other hand and pointing the razor blade at your hand! Ask me how I know.

3. If you need to unstick the plates run some hot water over the glue beads and gently wiggle the plate until it pops off. The glue can then be removed by rubbing it with your fingers, no razor blade required.

The plates turned out really pretty.

Next up: Fabulous food and how to spend an entire day making 35 brownies.

Rice Krispie Treat Easter Bouquet

2009-04-12T00:15:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this last weekend, but goodness I have been so busy.

Anyway, I love Rice Krispie treats and when they are dipped in chocolate and made into a cute centerpiece how can you go wrong? I mixed Easter sprinkles into the treats and then sprinkled the chocolate dipped bunnies.

This is a little more work than a vase of flowers, but edible and they were a hit with adults and kids. Carter thought they were the best thing to happen to him in his tender 13 months of living and kept coming back for more.

3 Layer Red Chile Enchiladas

2009-03-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

Since I have been slacking on menu plan Monday's for the past few weeks I find myself coming up from my sewing studio at whatever hour hunger strikes me and scrounging around for what to make.

Tonight I opened the frig and found: an open can of refried beans with a small scoop missing that I assume Mr. Rainbow Creek used for bean dip, a package of corn tortillas that were on the verge of expiration, 2 thighs and one leg leftover from the roasted chicken we had earlier this week, a package of Sargento 4 Cheese Mexican blend left from the queso fundido. My heart leapt at the thought that I might have a can of enchilada sauce in the lazy susan. And indeed I did had not one but two cans! One last thing, an onion.

I make my enchiladas lasagna style because it a lot less work and not as messy as the rolled up kind. And just as tasty.

Once you grab all your ingredients it is a good idea to prep everything and line it up. I am all about mise en place, everything in place before assembling and cooking. It dirties a few extra dishes but at least you aren't running to the frig or struggling to open a package of cheese with sauce dripping down your arm. Ask me how I know.

First cut your tortillas in half, I find that this makes it easy to line the whole pan nicely. You can do an 8X8 or 13X9 pan. But you might as well do the big pan because the leftovers are so good for lunch tomorrow or can be frozen for another meal.

I chopped the chicken into small cubes and mixed in one small diced onion. Put the sauce in a wide bowl for dipping the tortillas, pour your cheese into a bowl, I heated the beans a little so they would spread easily. I also sprayed the pan with Pam to prevent sticking, baked on cheese can be hell to clean up.

For the first layer dip the tortillas in sauce and line the pan. Cover this layer with one can of refried beans (1/2 if using 8X8) sprinkle a little cheese over the beans.

Here is the layout of the next layer of tortillas. I put the cut sides toward the outside of the pan and lay a row down the middle.

Next add the chicken and onion layer, top with a little more cheese.

Add the last layer of tortillas and cover with the rest of the sauce. I use the large can of sauce that I get at Sam's. If you live somewhere like the east coast where you can only get those tiny cans of sauce you will need at least 3 cans, maybe 4.

Cover the top with the rest of the cheese. Cover pan tightly with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, uncover and cook 10 minutes more until cheese is bubbly.

I keep it simple and serve this with a side of salad greens with a little cilantro mixed in, and diced tomatoes. A little sour cream is good for topping too.

Enjoy!

Just Discovered No-Knead Bread - WOW!

2009-03-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

I have really been in a cooking mood (or maybe I should say eating mood?) since I got back from my trip.

Sunday is usually our foodie day and I started out the day searching for some recipes I had seen on the morning news by Chef Mick from Tony's Fine Meats. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was totally engrossed in reading about the No-Knead Bread recipe by Jim Lahey from Sullivan Street Bakery and decided I had to try it even though I am not really a baker. I guess this recipe has been going around for a couple of years and some serious cooks swear by it.

For Sunday though, I decided on a western theme grilled filet mignon, warm potato salad, and cowboy beans.

For an appetizer I decided to try this no-knead flatbread with a pepper jack queso fundido.
I drizzled a little olive oil and a sprinkle of jalapeno salt on the flatbread, baked it on a pizza stone at 450 degree. We got the first one a little crisp, second one turned out golden brown and crisp on the outside with a soft chewy center. The recipe seems to call for 1 1/2 Tablespoons of salt. I took that to be an error and reduced it to about 1 1/2 tsp. That was plenty. I have half of the dough in the frig and will make a couple of grilled pizzas with that later this week.

For the Queso Fundido: I heated about 1 cup white wine (a sauvignon blanc is good) in a double boiler. Stir in one cup shredded natural pepper jack cheese, 1/2 cup mexican cheese blend with cheddar, monterey jack, queso, and asadero, and 1/2 cup mozzerella. You can use whatever cheeses you like, these were just what Ihad on hand. Just be sure they are natural cheese not processed. Stir over low heat until blended and smooth. Transfer to fondue pot or small ramekins and serve with warm flatbread. Serve this with the rest of the wine or any cocktail you like.

The steaks were seasoned with a heavy rub of Spicy Monterey Seasoning Blend and grilled on the Weber over very hot coals, 3 mins /side. Perfection!

My favorite potato salad is this super simple warm version. The flavors are mild and uncomplicated and it goes together quick so it is no more trouble than any average side dish.

Warm Potato Salad: Wash and cut 4 medium unpeeled red potatoes into 1 1/2" chunks. Boil in well salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and return to pan, let stand on warm burner to dry. This is important, you don't want any excess water on the potatoes to water down the dressing. Add a couple of tablespoons diced red onion, 1/4 cup chopped celery, 1 Tbl dijon mustard, about 1/3 cup mayonnaise to pan. Sprinkle a couple dashes of rice vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar, salt, pepper and a good pinch of dried herbs of choice. Stir to mix, taste for seasoning, adjust if needed.

Cowboy beans: I use almost any variety of canned beans I have on hand for my cowboy beans, but most of the time I use pinto, black bleans and butter beans. Dice and cook a couple of slices of bacon in saucepot until it is beginning to crisp. Add 1/2 cup onion and saute over med low heat. Add 3 cans drained beans, about 1/4 cup barbeque sauce and a couple tablespoons brown sugar, a dash of cayenne pepper and a few dashes of Tobasco or Franks Red Hot sauce, simmer over low for 15 to 30 mins. or until ready to serve. I also add a small handful of chopped nacho slice jalapenos sometimes because I like the extra kick.

Now, to the no-knead bread. Definitely, I will be playing with this recipe alot more. All I can say it is everything I expected and not nearly as fussy as you might think. I substituted active dry yeast for the instant and used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for part of the bread flour. I also had to leave for an appointment and got back later than expected so let the second rise go for a little over 4 hours. No problem, it turned out just perfect.

I didn't wait until it was all the way cooled, cut into it after I had waited as long as I could. The outside is so crunchy and the inside soft and a bit chewy. Try this even if you are not a baker! I might try it with a little more yeast for flavor next time. Mark Bittman does it with more yeast and less rising time so you can actually get it done in one day. But I do like the long and not so precise nature of this recipe and see no reason to hurry it.

Finally, the Irish Stew. This was just very similar to my basic stew recipe. I like to use chuck roast and cut it myself. You can buy the packaged stew meat too, but I like cutting my own so I can trim the fat as I like.

I don't peel the potatoes. I quarter them and quarter a couple of small onions. I use peeled baby carrots and baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced.

I sprinkle a good scoop of flour over the meat, and then season heavily with garlic pepper blend, salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands. Then place in hot pot with heated oil to brown well over medium high heat. Use your heaviest pot, cast iron is good. Remember if it starts browning too fast or smoking remove from heat and lower the heat before continuing! The floured meat will act as a rioux when you add the liquid, so nice golden brown is good, burnt is not so good.

This recipe called for a dark black beer. I used Sam Adams Black Lager because that is what I had on hand. Guinness is good too.

Then I added about 3 cups beef broth, 1 small can tomatoe paste, 1 bay leaf and some dried herbs. Bake in 325 - 350 oven for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours until meat is tender. If liquid gets too low after 1 1/2 hours add a little more broth or water. This makes a really rich and tender stew. I served some boiled cabbage with it since it was St. Patricks day, and the homemade bread with soft butter.

Enjoy!

Frozen Pasta Chicken Parmesan 15 minute meal

2009-03-06T01:22:00.000-08:00

Tonight Mr. Rainbow Creek got home late and I was in the middle doing battle with a quilt I wanted to finish by this weekend. (That is another story for another time!) But I knew he was hungry and so was I since I had been down in the batcave all day working. I decided to offer to cook him some breaded chicken tenders and that was fine with him, but sounded pretty crappy to me. Then I remembered that I had some precooked angel hair pasta in the freezer so I threw together a big plate of chicken parmesan, it took about 15 minutes after the oven was heated and I was happy not to have a big mess to clean up.

I know you can buy those refrigerated pasta's that you just dunk in boiling water for a minute and they are really good. I used to buy those back in the day before I was being frugal. But they are really expensive. Now, when I make a meal with pasta I cook the whole package and it makes a lot more than we need, so I take the extra and drizzle a little olive oil over it and put it in a ziplock bag in the freezer. All you have to do when you need some pasta is heat some water to boiling in the microwave and pour it over the pasta in a large bowl. Take it out of the bag before you do this! It will defrost and heat through in a minute or so and you can hold it in the water til everything else is ready.

This chicken parmesan recipe is kid friendly and good for hardworking dads too. Add a salad and some garlic bread and you can do this meal in under 30 easily.

Cook frozen breaded chicken tenders according to package directions. Top with a little bottled spaghetti sauce and mozzerella and parmesan cheese, put back in oven for a few minutes to melt cheese. Serve with pasta and extra heated sauce.

If you don't like the breaded chicken you can use raw chicken breast tenders for this too, just bake about 10 minutes and cover with sauce and cheese.

Enjoy!

Beans for Breakfast - Frugal Friday

2009-02-27T23:17:00.000-08:00

I like almost all kinds of beans. Especially beans and cornbread like my mom used to make when I was a kid. It was one of my dad's favorite meals because he grew up during the depression and they never went hungry because they always had a pot of beans to feed him and his four brothers and 1 sister. Some people who grew up during the depression had bad memories of "poor" food and when times got better they never wanted to eat beans or meatloaf again. But my dad always said that when he was in the Navy during the war his favorite day aboard ship was when they had Navy beans, I guess it reminded him of home.

I did a search for The Great Depression foods and found that most people did not go hungry during the depression. Due to deflation, food prices were pretty low and people were very resourceful. Charity groups sprung up to take care of the truly needy and they even had "penny diners" for people who were too proud to accept charity and wanted to pay for their meals despite the fact that they had no income. You can read about it here.

I visit some foodie forums and there always seems to be a thread with a question about your foodie secrets. Mine is that I sometimes eat leftover beans for breakfast. Just a bowl of hot beans and a corn muffin with a little butter. I like it because I won't be hungry for the rest of the day and really it is probably healthier than most regular breakfast food.

I usually cook pinto beans instead of white beans and I add a little ham or bacon and onion for seasoning. And I cook them down until they are really thick, then I add some water if I want to make a bean soup, or I can smash them to make refried beans for burrittos or heuvos rancheros.

Here is a quick Heuvos Rancheros recipe that makes a great breakfast or a fast dinner. If you don't have leftover beans to smash you can use canned refried beans.

Heat the beans.

Melt 1 Tbl. butter in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat, break the eggs in the pan and cook until whites begins to turn opaque. Add 2 Tbl. water to pan and cover pan for a minute until the eggs are done on top.

Plate the beans and eggs.

Add about 1/4 cup per serving of salsa verde or tomatillo salsa to hot skillet and heat through quickly. Pour hot salsa over eggs and beans and sprinkle a little grated cheddar cheese on top. Serve with warm tortillas.

If you prefer, use scrambled eggs instead of the basted eggs.

No Boil Spinach and Cheese Manicotti

2009-02-26T02:34:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make manicotti on Sunday night and Mr. Rainbow Creek suggested that it could be done "no boil" like you do the lasagna. I wasn't so sure of that, even though I do use regular lasagna noodles without boiling rather than buying the no boil kind. I googled for a no boil manicotti recipe and found a few, but then some of them started out with directions for boiling the pasta first. So I decided to wing it and I was really happy with how easy it was and it turned out fantastic.

The thing I hate about making manicotti is that the boiled pasta usually splits open when you stuff them with the cheese mixture, not to mention that you have to dirty a pan to cook them, then drain them and keep them from sticking together.

For the no boil method I used a large pastry bag with a large straight tip and just squeezed the filling in, no muss, no fuss. If you don't have a pastry bag you can try putting the filling in a large zip lock bag and cutting off the corner to make a large enough hole to pipe the filling through.

This recipe makes a 13 X 9 pan size. I always spray my pan with non-stick spray for easier cleaning.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

4 ounces white mushroom or baby bella mushrooms chopped

6 ounces fresh baby spinach chopped

1 clove garlic

olive oil

1 package manicotti pasta shells

8 ounces riccotta cheese

1 cup grated mozzerella cheese + extra for topping

1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

2 eggs

2 jars spaghetti sauce

Saute the mushrooms and smashed garlic clove on medium heat in large skillet with a Tbl of olive oil. Add the spinach and saute until wilted.

Cover the bottom of pan with about 1 cup of the sauce.

Mix cheeses, eggs and the spinach mixture. Fill uncooked shells with filling mixture. Pour sauce over the top to completely cover. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of water over the top. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and top with additional cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

This is a good make ahead dish too. If you are going to make ahead I wouldn't add the water before refrigerating. If your family doesn't enjoy spinach and mushroom you can do this with just cheese and maybe a little fresh chopped basil for the filling.

Enjoy!

February 23 Menu Plan Monday

2009-02-22T17:29:00.000-08:00

I changed up my menu a little last week, but I think we did pretty well on budget and getting things used that we have on hand. I am seeing a big decrease in food waste and have space in my frig to put things since it is not crammed full of unused leftovers. So I have to say that joining Menu Plan Monday has been a great success for me. And it keeps me motivated to tweak my menus and try to get even better at budget cooking.

I have also gotten better at going through my freezer and noting what I have on hand to incorporate in my plans. I have stopped buying new items and shoving the old to the back to be forgotten. I remembered I have some ham that I froze after Christmas and pulled that out to use for the Crockpot Scalloped Potatoes and Ham.

Monday: Leftover Manicotti

Tuesday: Crockpot Scalloped Potatoes and Ham from Snow White (I am excited to try this recipe, it looks so good!)

Wednesday: Pinto Beans and cornbread (didn't get to this last week)

Thursday: Grilled Teriyaki Chicken, grilled veggies, rice pilaf

Friday: Bean and cheese burritos, green chile sauce, chopped lettuce

Saturday: Hot ham and cheese sandwiches on onion rolls, chips

Sunday: Grilled Pork Tenderloin, black beans, yellow rice

I am going to get my green chile sauce with pork recipe posted this week, and my no boil manicotti recipe too. Hope you will visit me again soon! Enjoy all the menu plans at orgjunkie.com too!

How to Cook Seasoned Rice

2009-02-19T01:36:00.000-08:00

I had a craving for chicken fajitas today but decided to do a chicken fajita rice bowl instead of tortillas. I sauteed onion, red and green peppers, and mushrooms and then cooked the chicken tenderloins in the same pan. I seasoned with grill seasoning, chili powder and lime. I heated a can of black beans with a little diced jalapeno, a spoonful of petite diced tomatoes and chopped cilantro. We spooned the veggies and beans over rice and sprinkled a little cheese on top. I found avacodos on sale today so sliced that on the side. It was so good we didn't have as much left for lunches as I thought we would.

Rice is a good inexpensive side dish and is perfect for quick and easy 30 minute meals. What I like about rice is that you can start it first and then turn off the heat and let stand while you finish up the rest of your cooking. It stays hot for quite a while and when everything else is ready you just fluff it with a fork.

You don't have to pay extra money for seasoned rice mixes, just use plain white rice and add your own seasonings.

Use one can of chicken broth or two cups of water with a teaspoon of chicken boullion, 1 cup of white rice and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and let cook for 20 minutes.

Use the above recipe and add whatever else you like to match your main dish.

Here are some ideas:

Saute 1 Tbl of fine chopped onion, 1 Tbl fine chopped red pepper, 1 tsp dried parsley and a Tbl of slivered almonds in a Tbl of butter for about one minute, add rice and chicken broth, cover and cook for 20 minutes.

Carrots, onion, bell pepper and cajun seasoning.

Onion, 1-2 Tablespoons salsa, cilantro.

Curry powder, onion, carrots.

Soy sauce, onion, garlic, carrots, almonds.

I try to keep the seasonings on the light side, and remember that the chicken broth may have salt, so you might not want to add any additional salt.

Enjoy!

Teriyaki Stir Fry

2009-02-17T01:18:00.000-08:00

Looking at all those flashback to the past pictures has gotten to me. So Rainbow Creek is going to have to go healthier on the menu plans.
I was planning on grilling all this tonight, but it was getting late and I was starving so I checked out the baked teriyaki chicken recipe I saw on orgjunkie's menu a couple weeks ago and decided to adapt it for a quick fix meal.

When I met Mr. Rainbowcreek he only ate one vegetable. Corn. And occasionally a salad, with Italian dressing. He was not an adventurous eater and I just blindly stuck to the rules of serving meat and potatoes, or noodles and sauce stuff.

Eventually I discovered that his mom was just an awful cook and after he learned that I knew what I was doing in the kitchen he would try something new and be surprised to find that he liked it. Or maybe he just got sick of me feeding him corn every night, because I believed that every meal should have a protein, a starch and a veggie. And I know that corn is actually a starch but it was the principle that mattered.

So he does like a variety of things now and I get to enjoy cooking for someone who is not picky. Sometimes I crack up when I am talking to his mom and mention something that I fixed and she says "does he know that there is squash in it?" I am like, "yeah, it was squash" and she says, "did he know there were mushrooms?" umm, yes.

This was super fast and was really good.

The teriyaki sauce was quick and I think I might have doubled the recipe. I used brown sugar and red wine vinegar, just tasted 'til it was sweet enough so I cut back the sugar a lot, and I also added a 1/2 tsp of 6 pepper blend spice. I only used part of it and put the rest in a jar in the frig for later. I might use it to brush on the grilled mahi mahi later this week. I used chicken breast tenderloins, and brushed them with the sauce, baked about 10 minutes, at 375 degrees, turned and baked for a few minutes more.

I sauted the veggies in a hot skillet medium high heat, with a Tbl. vegetable oil for about 3-4 minutes. Spooned a little of the sauce over them and turned off the heat.

I had some leftover rice from last week which I heated in the microwave.

This was really low fat. Maybe not so good on the sugar, but the sauce was good and I didn't use much of it.

Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-02-15T22:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, last week went fast. And Mr. Rainbowcreek had a rough week due to weather delays and late trucks, so I had to play it by ear on my menus according to his schedule. This week looks about the same, so late nite and easy is on the menu for most of the week.

I am really trying to lighten up on the calories too. Winter foods are so tempting and yummy, but by this time of year it starts to weigh ya down. So some of my menu depends on the absolutely gorgeous but fickle Colorado weather cooperating on said days of the week. If not I can always adjust.

Monday: Grilled chicken tenderloins, zuchinni, yellow squash, onion, baby bella mushrooms and red peppers, rice pilaf, mixed greens with sesame dressing.

Tuesday: Jambalaya, red beans

My easy Jambalaya recipe: In large skillet heat one TBL vegetable oil, saute 1/2 onion large diced, 1 bell pepper large diced, one clove garlic smashed. Add 1 lb diced raw chicken, 1/2 lb smoked sausage sliced thin, stir fry over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add 2 cups chicken broth, one can petite diced tomatoes, 1-2 tsp Emeril's Cajun Essence seasoning, a few dashes of Tabasco Sauce and 1 cup uncooked rice. Cover tightly and cook for 20 minutes over low heat without removing lid. Serve with seasoned red beans on the side. I use canned red beans and season with Essence, simmer on low for 5-10 mins.

Wednesday: Black Bean Taco Salad

Mixed greens topped with black beans, corn, onion, red pepper, black olives, shredded cheese, tortilla chips. Cilantro Ranch Dressing: 1/2 cup ranch dressing, 1/4 cup salsa, 2 Tbl chopped cilantro, squeeze of fresh lime.

Thursday: Pinto beans and cornbread

Friday: Grilled bacon and blue cheese burgers, oven fries

Saturday: Grilled Mahi Mahi seasoned with lemon and dill, grilled veggies, steamed broccoli

Sunday: Grilled Pizza (weather permitting)

Thanks to orgjunkie.com for hosting this. I love Menu Plan Monday!

Party Rice Krispie Pops

2009-02-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

I sent K a link for these Rice Krispie Pops. So cute! She ended up making 70 of them for the kids school party. Luckily they aren't in one of those school districts that only allow carrot sticks and celery for class parties!

When we were in Massachussetts someone in the state legislature introduced a bill to ban "fluffernutter" sandwiches from school lunch menus. GASP! The Boston TV stations were all over that! It was like an attack on the American way of life. They grew up on peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches and they were damned if they would allow some politically correct lawmaker deprive the children of the Commonwealth of their God given right to fluffernutter sandwiches. Oh My! It was really in good humor, but I love the way New Englanders cling to their traditions.

I am not sure if the kids were helping or just making funny faces for the camera. They probably ate all the scraps from the cutouts. I wish I could have been there to help too!

I love them! Now I want to make some too. I bought some Easter cookie cutters at Wal-Mart today but I don't know when Easter is.

These would make perfect birthday party favors or a bouquet of them decorated with curly ribbon in a tall coffee mug would make a nice gift too.

Make the basic Rice Krispie Treat recipe, cut out shapes with medium to large cookies cutters. Insert lollipop sticks, dip in melted chocolate, dip in sprinkles. Set aside to dry before wrapping in cellophane and tie with ribbons.

2009-02-11T23:35:00.000-08:00

Menu Monday LOW BUDGET Week

2009-02-09T20:49:00.000-08:00

We kind of splurged on our 30th anniversary over the weekend to put it mildly. It was a nice time, and planned for, but I feel like we better cut back a little to make up for it. And Matty the Daddy is still not able to work since his accident 8 weeks ago, so we have been stretching our budget to feed two families for the past couple months. After 4 weeks of calling and waiting for a WIC appointment I finally found a number for them to call and get a live person, so on Wed. I am taking Krissy and baby David for an appointment to get WIC checks I hope. That will be some relief anyway. Little David is chunking up pretty good, so a little help with formula will be nice!

Another no shopping week, picked up milk and eggs and some hamburger last week and I have lots of freezer stores to work with.

Monday: Steak fajita's, refried beans, rice, tortillas, salsa, cheese, shredded lettuce

How to: I used a couple of small strip steaks, they were thin, sirloin or chicken tenders work well too. In medium/hot skillet, heat a little oil, add 1/2 onion sliced, one red or green pepper sliced, saute for 2-3 minutes. Season steak with grill seasoning or S&P, move veggies to one side and add steaks, turn down heat if it is smoking. Cook steaks 2-3 mins on each side, stir the veggies around occasionally. Add a squeeze of lime juice over all just before the steaks are done. (I was out of fresh limes, used Real Lime juice) Remove the steaks and let stand one minute, slice into strips. Plate the veggies on platter and lay the steak strips on top.

Tuesday: Chicken Alfredo, salad, garlic toast

How to make easy Alfredo sauce: Heat one cup half & half slowly with one smashed garlic clove, add 1/2 pkg cream cheese (low fat is ok) whisk until blended. Add 1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese, cook gently on low heat until cheese is melted, taste for seasoning if needed and slightly reduce while noodles cook. Serve with angel hair pasta, sauteed chicken tenders.

Wednesday: Grilled cheese sandwiches, chips, pickles

Thursday: Grilled hamburgers, oven roasted fries, lettuce

Friday: Bean and cheese burrittos, lettuce

Saturday: Homemade pizza

Sunday: Valentines Dinner a day late because Mr. Rainbow Creek works late on Saturday.

Grilled Marinated Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin, rice pilaf, black beans, asian salad, red wine and Molten Chocolate Lava Cake with a glass of champagne maybe?

Visit orgjunkie too, for more Menu Plan Monday.

10 Frugal Ideas

2009-02-07T01:01:00.000-08:00

1. Keep a budget diary for at least 2 weeks. Ask everyone in the family to participate and insist that they keep track of every dime they spend. Finding places where money is being wasted can help, but it is also helpful just to have a realistic idea of what items you need to budget for.

2. Menu planning and making a grocery list cuts down on trips to the store.

3. Be careful with couponing. Most coupons seem to be for processed and convenience foods. If it is not something you would normally buy then it might not be such a good deal to use that coupon.

4. When you have leftovers package up some frozen dinners to take for lunch or use on nights when your schedule is too busy to cook.

5. Be sure to label everything you put in your freezer so you will remember what you have in there. Mystery packages never seem to get used.

6. Unless you know that you will be using it right away, freeze the leftover portion of canned ingredients, such as tomatoe sauce or chicken broth, immediately, instead of putting it in the frig. That way you know it won't go bad before you need it.

7. If you shop at "bulk club" stores be sure that you know the prices of items so you know if the you are getting the best deal. Sometimes stocking up on sale price items is cheaper than the bulk price.

8. I got this one from my single mom sis 'n law. If you shop with kids let them pick out a coupon for their favorite cereal or snack ahead of time so they know that they are "getting something" and you won't have to argue with them asking for everything they see that they want.

9. Go halfsies on bulk items with a friend or family member.

10. Make your own snack foods, a 90 cent package of chocolate chip muffins will make 8 small muffins or a couple dozen mini muffins and can be wrapped up individually for lunches or after school snacks. Homemade cereal bars can be healthier and cheaper than the store bought ones. Be creative!

Frugal Bread Makes Me Happy

2009-02-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

Our trip to the bread outlet store today was a HUGE success. I mean HUGE, really. OK, maybe I went a little crazy.

But I have been seriously stressed out by the price of bread since the prices started creeping up last year. When it hit $4/loaf I just couldn't stand it. Mr. Rainbow Creek eats a lot of sandwiches. PB&J to be specific. He likes them for breakfast, and for his midmorning snack, and he takes another one or two to work with him for the evening when they have a truck to unload at 5 or 6 pm. He is not a fast food kind of guy and won't leave the office usually to go grab something. So bread is not an option in our house.

I have never been to the bread store myself before. Last time M went for me I just asked her to get me about $20 worth and she showed up with a big load and I was happy for a good 6 weeks with my freezer full of bread. And when it was gone I was sad.

So today she called to see if I wanted to go with her to load up again. When we got there Channel 4 News had a camera man there taping the frugal shoppers for the evening news. He was leaving before we checked out. The ladies at the store said they sure wished we had showed up earlier, since we had driven up from Castle Rock to Denver to buy all this cheap bread.

I grabbed a couple of coffee cakes and cookies too.

Ok here is what I didn't know, that for every $5 you spend they make you take another free loaf of bread or package of rolls, and if you spend $30 (which I did) you have to get another free loaf of bread and a free cake.

Now I have a pretty big freezer but I figure I am going to have to share some of this with the kids. It won't go to waste anyway, and I am happy again because I have two big jars of peanut butter from Sams, and a couple of cases of my homemade jams downstairs. So Mr. Rainbow Creek won't be going hungry even if I get lost in the batcave and don't show up to feed him for a while.

Can I fix you a sandwich?

Oops, how to make chicken pot pie

2009-02-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

I was gettting too tired last night when I posted my menu and forgot to add the Chicken Pot Pie directions. Here you go, and I also added the Beef Stoganoff, recipe free of course!

Chicken Pot Pie:

What you will need: 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts OR 6-8 chicken breast tenderloins cut in bite size pieces, 2 cups chicken broth, 1/2 bag frozen mixed vegetables, 1 medium potato small diced, one can large biscuits, flour, milk, vegetable oil, seasoning.

Put it together:

Parcook the diced potatoes in a small microwave dish with a little salted water, about 4-5 mins. Drain.

Season chicken with your favorite seasoning blend or salt and pepper. Heat 2 TBl cooking oil in large skillet, add meat, stir until cooked on medium heat.

Add 1/4 cup flour to pan with meat, stir to mix with the oil and coat the chicken about one minute. Add the chicken broth, raise heat to med/high and bring to boil, this should be a very thick gravy. Add a little milk at a time to thin a little to consistency you want. Taste and season if needed with salt and pepper. Keep the heat up! Add the parcooked potatoes and the frozen veggies. Bring it up to a good simmer.

Pour the pot pie mixture into a 13"X9" baking pan. Seperate the biscuits and roll lightly with a rolling pin to flatten them a bit. Lay the flattened biscuits on top of the pot pie mixture. Bake in hot 400 degree oven until biscuits are golden brown on top.

Easy Beef Stoganoff:

What you will need: 1 lb. sirloin steak or leftover pot roast, sliced thin, 1/2 onion sliced thin, 4 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms, 2 cups beef broth, cooking oil, 3-4 Tbl flour, 2 Tbl ketchup, 1 cup sour cream, cooked noodles or rice.

How to make it:

Heat cooking oil in large skillet on medium high, season meat and cook in hot skillet until browned, add onions and mushrooms cook for about 2-3 minutes until soft and slightly carmelized. Add flour stir to mix with oil and coat meat about 1 minute, add broth and ketchup and bring up to a boil to thicken. Taste and reseason if needed. Turn down heat to low, stir in the sour cream and gently heat. Serve over rice or noodles.

Another version: If you want to do a more "high end" stroganoff for company or a special occasion dinner, use beef tenderloin or sliced ribeye steak, before adding the beef broth add 1/2 cup red wine, such as cabernet sauvignon or melot. Reduce on medium heat until all the liquid is evaporated. This will concentrate the flavors and cook off all the alcohol. Add 1-2 Tbl butter to pan and then add the flour. Proceed with recipe above.

This Week at Rainbow Creek

2009-02-02T00:24:00.000-08:00

Elliot with his Superbowl brownie.

I found my menu plan last week was extremely helpful. I was pretty busy with the bloggy giveaway carnival and had pretty good sales in my online stores too so was spending most of my time in the batcave working. There were a couple of days that we skipped because Mr. Rainbowcreek was working late and we did fend for yourself, leftovers or whatever.

We had an impromptu Superbowl Party yesterday. It was fun and I didn't have a menu for it but we managed to throw some stuff together. Just chicken tenders, popcorn shrimp, and artichoke dip with crackers, olive etc. I made some brownies for the kids but they were a big hit with adults too so got wiped out pretty fast, I sprinkled some Heath Toffee and Chocolate Bits and pecans on top before baking, yummmeee.

I still have enough supplies on hand for most of the week so my shopping will be limited to picking up a few items that I am out of, bread, milk, eggs and lunch meat. Marcia is out of bread too so we are planning a trip to the bread outlet store for Tuesday to stock up. I love the bread store, fill your freezer with a month's worth of bread for less than half the price. You can't beat that.

Menu for this week:

Monday: Cheese and onion enchiladas, refried beans, lettuce

Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff, noodles, salad

Wednesday: Chicken Pot Pie (recipe)

Thursday: Leftover pot pie or stroganoff

Friday: mini BBQ meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes, salad

Saturday: Pizza

Sunday: Fondue Dinner at the Melting Pot for our 30th Anniversary!

Don't forget to check out organizing junkies blog for more menu plan monday !

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival Winner!

2009-02-02T00:11:00.000-08:00

Winner of the Rainbow Creek Go Green Grocery Bag is Julie!

Enjoy!

What Is "Pittsburgh" Food?

2009-01-31T23:17:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Superbowl, and if you are not from Pittsburgh or Phoenix, you are going to have to pick a team to be for and a menu to go with it. The Tattooed Mama called and asked me last week what you would plan for Pittsburgh food. (She also asked me to order her a "terrible towel" on ebay but I forgot.) I guess I didn't know. Cheese steaks are really Philly food, although they are popular in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh seems to be very ethnically diverse, I know Italian is pretty predominant, and German and Dutch.

I finally got curious enough to google it and here is what I found. Pierogies. And Keilbasa. I guess there is a large Polish influence there too, didn't know that. But here is a discussion on Chowhound.com that is pretty interesting.

Or at least I found it pretty interesting that they have a famous restauant there that serves fried bologna and egg sandwiches with fries and coleslaw on it. And coleslaw seems to be a recurring theme there too. They put it on the keilbasa sandwiches too.

If you want to make Pierogies, here and here are some recipes for them. Be warned: the second link is about some serious Pierogie making. Or the kielbasa cooked in beer with the chili sauce and pineapple dipping sauce might be a little more manageable. Here is my version for that: one pkg Little Smokies Sausages, Bullseye Spicy BBQ Sauce, Grape Jelly. Simmer sausages in the sauce until hot.

Or if you want to be an Arizona fan that is a little easier. Enchiladas and chimichangas. Margarita's too, don't forget the margarita's. Personally I have never forgiven Pittsburgh for the utter humiliation they handed us Broncos fans in the playoffs 3 years ago, so I am going for the margarita's and the commercials.

About Cooking and It's Frugal Friday Already

2009-01-29T23:48:00.000-08:00

I got so wrapped up in the giveaway carnival and swapping that it was a good thing I had a menu plan for this week. It really does help to have a plan when you wake up in the morning instead of putting that off to the last minute when everyone is starving.

Tonight was chicken Parmesan and it was a really quick and easy meal to put together. While I was making it I was thinking of some frugal and time saving tips too.

First, how to do the chicken Parmesan: otherwise known as a recipe but I am recipe free so we'll just wing it ; )

Defrost 6-8 chicken breast tenderloins. Mix 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup bread crumbs together and season heavily with your favorite house seasoning. I use Tone's Garlic Pepper Blend from Sam's. Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper too. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and brown lightly in a medium hot skillet in a little olive oil. Remember: turn down the heat if it is smoking and browning too quickly. Remove the chicken to a baking dish and place a spoonful of your favorite bottled spaghetti sauce over each portion. I used Bertolli's Olive Oil and Garlic. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese over the sauce and bake in a hot, 400 degree, oven for 10 minutes. Serve with pasta, bread and salad. This takes about 15 minutes to prepare and we beat Rachel Ray by 15 minutes, so how good are we?

Now a couple of frugal tips.

Salad dressing: salad dressing is expensive if you buy the bottled kind. You can tell that this is a hugely profitable market because the grocery stores have entire aisles dedicated to display the great variety of salad dressings. I quit buying it years ago because I can't stand the chemical taste in most of them, and if you read the ingredients... well you just wouldn't really want to go there.

You can make your own salad dressings very easily and it does not have to involve a lot of mixing and emulsifying. I often plate my salads and dress them with a quick drizzle of olive oil, a couple of splashes of red wine or balsamic vinegar. And here is the secret ingredient: sugar. I take a tiny pinch of sugar and sprinkle over the vinegar drizzle and then a fresh grind of pepper and VOILA, salad dressing. If you like you can add a sprinkle of garlic salt or Italian seasoning too. I do make the more traditional emulsified kinds sometimes, but for a quick dinner salad this works and saves lots of time and money.

Bread: Bread can be frozen and used as needed. So if you pick up a loaf of French or Italian bread to use for one meal, and you know that you are not going to use the whole thing for one meal, just freeze the unused portion for another time. You can even slice and butter it before freezing so that it is ready to go when you need it. Wrap tightly in foil and freeze, then take it out and pop it into the oven.

Pasta: Why not cook ahead when you are cooking pasta? Save a little bit of time and electricity by cooking double the amount. The extra portion can be stored in the freezer in a ziplock bag and defrosted in the microwave when you need it. Drizzle with a little olive oil before freezing to keep it from sticking together if you want.

Geez, I am sorry, no pics on this post cause I was just too busy today to remember to take any cooking pics. But scroll down and look at my green bloggy giveaway bag if you missed it.

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival! All About Green

2009-01-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

In celebration of my new blog template (don't you love it?) The Rainbow Creek Kitchen is joining the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival today!

Here is what I am offering: one of my favorite Go Green Rainbow Creek Creations Cloth Grocery Bags. I just love this batik print with the sunflowers. I have this in orange too, but the green is most definitely my favorite.

Can't you just see yourself carrying this cute bag to the farmers market and loading it with goodies? Or to the supermarket, where all the other shoppers will surely be green with envy.

This green bag is fully lined with a natural quilters cotton fabric and very sturdy. It has doubled handles and an added bonus of a nice sized pocket inside to stick your debit card, checkbook and keys in there. Heck, you could even put my business card in there so when everyone asks you "where did you get that awesome bag?" you can remember me and tell them to check out my store.

This is my first carnival so I am a little green about rules, but you must enter to win so here are the guidelines:

Leave a comment by 12:00 am January 31, 2009.

Live in the US, Canada, UK, Australia. I am not too picky about where I ship to as long as it is not difficult. So consider yourself in if your country in not so prohibitive that it is impossible to ship to you.

Tweet my giveaway on Twitter for an extra entry, leave me a comment with your tweet.

Follow my blog or twitter for another entry chance.

Make sure that your email address is valid so I can contact you if you are the winner.

Winner will be drawn on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2009 and announced on Monday.

I have more giveaways at Up The Rainbow Creek, so click on over there to enter.

Don't forget to go back to the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival to check out all the giveaways!

Do You Love It?

2009-01-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

How about this blog makeover from DesignsBySheila? Isn't this wonderful and so much easier to read?

Thanks Sheila! I love it! This will inspire me to spend more time on this blog.

I have a Bloggy Giveaway to post here later this afternoon, be sure to check it out!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-01-26T19:14:00.000-08:00

I missed a week here somewhere. I got off to a slow start in getting back to work on my online sales, but now I am up and running again. So time to get back to some of my resolutions for organizing and saving money this year.

I am not planning on shopping this week, as I have a lot of food stocked up from my last trip to sam's club.

I am planning on challenging myself to use what I have on hand and come up with as many creative meals as I can before I go shopping again.

Here is what I came up with for this week.

Monday: Mexican Pork Chops and Rice, black beans, chopped romaine

Tuesday: Grilled ham and cheese sandwich, chips

Wednesday: Three Bean Soup, corn muffins

Thursday: Chicken Parmesan, noodles, salad, bread

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Asian Spinach Salad with Chicken Strips

Sunday: Thin NY Strip Steaks, Grilled Shrimp, baked sweet potato, salad, Wine!

Recipe: Mexican Pork Chops and Rice

I just made this up tonight and it turned out very well, so thought I would share it.

In large skillet heat a little cooking oil, brown 4 seasoned (salt, pepper) pork chops in oil on medium heat. Add one can roasted diced green chiles, 1/4 cup diced onion, one rough chopped garlic clove, 2 cups chicken broth, 1 cup canned crushed tomotoes, and one cup of uncooked rice to pan. Stir well and bring up to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover pan tightly. Simmer for 20 minutes before uncovering. Check to see if rice is tender, it may take another 5 minutes or so. When rice is done set aside to stand for about 5 minutes. Serve with black beans.

Note:
If you like more heat you can add a tablespoon of jalapenos or other hot roasted chiles to taste. We buy our chiles by the bushel from the chile roasters in the fall and freeze them for the winter, so I used serrano's which were pretty hot.

Don't forget to check out more great menu plans over at Organizing Junkie's! I am number 496 this week, WOW!

Frugal Friday, I missed a deadline?

2009-01-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

Not really. I was planning on doing a Frugal Friday post to link to A Cowboy's Wife's post but she was a no show til today and her Mr. Linky was not working.

With the economy on everyone's mind it seems that everyone is all about being frugal. I guess it's the new black.

Now you can't get more frugal than FREE can you? If you google free samples you can find tons of websites with offers for free product samples. There are some good ones out there, but a word of caution is in order here too. Remember that many of these offers are solicitations for your email and home address info so the samples may come with some consequences. I saw some that required joining book clubs etc. so sampler beware.

I would say that most of the big name brand companies really do want you to just try the product in hopes that you will purchase more, so some of those can be a great way to save a few cents or even dollars. It all adds up!

This one from Dove sounds pretty good. http://www.dove.us/#/haircare/free_sample.aspx

And did you know that Wal Mart has a free sample category on their website? you can order coupons for free stuff here.

This week I will try harder to write down my frugal ideas and have a proper Frugal Friday post ready.

Here is an idea for cutting back on the temptation to order pizza or go out when you have a tough day or too much going on and can't get a meal prepared. I keep a couple of those ready made pizza crusts on hand, a jar of pizza sauce, a pack of pepperoni and a bag of grated mozzerella cheese. You can throw one of these pizzas together in less than 5 mins and bake in 10 minutes for a fraction of the cost of delivery pizza.

If you have a little extra time you can do more toppings, like peppers, onions and mushrooms. And I like to drizzle a little olive oil on the crust and then rub it with some rough chopped garlic. I also cook extra Italian sausage when I am making something that calls for it, then keep the extra in the freezer to use for pizza topping. My favorite is Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage, I buy it when it is on sale and cook the whole package at one time and freeze it to use as needed.

Sorry no pics of the pizza, we ate the whole thing before I remembered!

Planned-Over Dinners

2009-01-14T18:26:00.000-08:00

Many people will say that they hate leftovers or that their family won't eat leftovers. And of course one of the most hated things about leftovers is the dreaded day of reckoning when you have to face the fact that you can't cram another thing into your frig until you dig out the hazmat suit and remove the biohazards that have taken up residence in there. YUCK!

I especially hate when I have to make the decision to dispose of the objects bowl and all, or face the task of opening them and flushing them down the disposal and washing the bowl. I have chosen the former option on more than one occasion, and who hasn't?

Which brings me to the idea of Planned-Overs. There are many dishes that fit the bill perfectly for transforming from one meal into another. And you can take advantage of the fact that half the preparation is already done and use these on your menu plan for the nights that you need a quickie meal.

Like this yummy Cheese Steak Sandwich made from thin sliced leftover pot roast on a deli roll.

First I sauteed some onions, red peppers and mushroom in a small skillet. Add some seasonings.

Add the meat, and stir to heat it through. Next I covered the meat and veggies with a sprinkle of grated cheese. Remove from heat and cover to let the cheese melt through.

Toast the rolls, I did that in the toaster oven, and they were ready to go once the cheese melted.

You could also use this same dish for Steak Fajitas, just squeeze a little lime juice over the top of the meat and veggies, serve on flour tortillas with cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream.

Enjoy!

Pot Roast Report

2009-01-14T00:52:00.000-08:00

That Sweet and Tangy Pot Roast was definitely a keeper.

Of course I didn't exactly follow the recipe. I just can't follow recipes. But my adaptation turned out melt in your mouth delicious, and we were happy to have the leftovers again for dinner tonight.

First, I don't get up early enough to do anything in the slow cooker. So a slow oven was my next best option and I started the roast by about 2:30 pm at 325 degrees so it would have plenty of time to get nice and tender, about 4 hours. I didn't have brown gravy mix so I added a package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix, and I used 2 cups of water and 1 cup of beef broth, plus a good dash of red wine vinegar since I didn't have a box of wine handy and didn't want to open a bottle of red wine at 2:30 in the afternoon. About one hour before the roast was done I added 4 medium potatoes quartered, one onion cut in large chunks, and two whole garlic cloves.

I made a flour and water slurry to thicken the gravy and poured that in about 10 minutes before I took it out of the oven. Perfection.

I was also thinking that this recipe would work pretty well with a can of stewed tomatoes or petite diced tomatoes instead of the ketchup. It might not be quite as sweet, but with the red wine vinegar added it would be pretty good and maybe a few less calories, if you are counting those.

I am working on my Frugal Friday, check back for a few money saving hints and a link to more participants!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-01-12T00:19:00.000-08:00

I really want to get a new design for this blog as soon as possible so I will feel more inspired to post here. That was my intention when I went to look at some blog designs tonight on Designs by Sheila's website. Then I started following links from one of her client's blogs and came across I'm An Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

So I think I will give this a try. Menu planning is really a good idea and can be especially helpful if you are trying to stick to a budget because you can make a shopping list and get everything at once. Avoiding those quick trips to the supermarket to pick up something for dinner can save you a lot of money because it is almost inevitable that you will pick up extras. Those add up fast and can really blow the budget fast.

I am actually the type that does a big shopping trip once or twice a month. I usually have everything on hand for a large variety of meals and make things up as I go. But that doesn't always work out, because I forget that I have mushrooms or fresh green beans and don't get around to using them before they spoil. With menu planning I am hoping to do better and cut down on wasted food and excessive leftovers that don't get used.

So here goes: this is my first try at this so I won't have links to all my recipes this time, but will plan on that in the future.

Monday: Sweet n Tangy Pot Roast (as seen on Organizing Junkie's blog) Potatoes and Carrots, Salad

Tuesday: Leftover Pot Roast

Wednesday: Homemade Mushroom, Onion and Red Pepper Pizza, made with premade pizza crust, sauce, mozzerella and parmesan

Thursday: Ham and Potato Gratin, fresh green beans seasoned with bacon and onion

Friday: Panini's (turkey, salami, red pepper, onion, lettuce) with chips and pickles

Saturday: Leftover Ham and Potato Gratin

Sunday: Cheese Enchilada's with Refried Beans, lettuce

In the future I think I will try to include a shopping list and price range for the menu too.

Here is how to make the Ham and Potato Gratin:

Slice 4 medium potatoes thin. I leave skins on but you can peel if you like. Slice one half onion thin. Dice ham into bite size pieces.

Layer potatoes, ham, onion and sprinkle grated white cheddar cheese or any other cheese you like over each layer, ending with the cheese in a large casserole dish, . Pour one cup half and half and enough milk to cover the potatoes just to the top layer. Bake in 375 degree oven for about one hour until top is beginning to brown and the potatoes are tender.

Enjoy!

The Low Down On Aunt Ruby's Pork Chops

2009-01-08T22:53:00.000-08:00

When my kids were babies we lived next door to Mr. RainbowCreek's Aunt Ruby. We were poor. Not like dirt poor, but like when you have 3 kids and one of them outgrows their shoes suddenly and there goes the grocery budget poor.

So sometimes I used to go next door and literally "borrow" dinner from Ruby. She was just one of those kind of Aunt's, so when I would mention that I just didn't know what to do for dinner she would pull out a few things from the cupboard and 'frig and rattle off some instructions for how to make a certain dish and send me on my way. She raised 7 kids and she knew how to make all those good comfort foods. And she made pork chops that I craved but could not quite accomplish.

It took me a while to figure out how those pork chops always were so tender and delicious, but finally it came to me that she just cooked them for a very long time on low heat in a heavy skillet. Some things can't be done in a hurry and I guess pork chops are one of them. If you cook them that way all they need is a little salt and pepper. I prefer mine pretty peppery, but just pepper to taste and they will be good. Start them on medium and as soon as you get them brown on one side turn the heat down. Cover the pan and turn them every so often, for about 45 mins. or even a little longer if you want. When you remove them from the pan you will have the perfect makings for an excellent cream gravy.

How to make a gravy: You will need a little bit of fat in the pan for making a proper gravy so if your pork chops were too lean (yes, there is such a thing as too lean) you may need to add a tablespoon of vegetable oil or butter.

You will want to turn the heat up a little bit but not too much, and add 3-4 tablespoons of all purpose flour to the pan. Stir this around with the oil for a while to get it mixed in and slightly bubbly and brown. This should look smooth with no lumps before proceeding to the next step.

Add about a quarter cup of water or chicken broth to the flour mixture and stir this until it is mixed and smooth. Now you can turn your heat up a little more to medium high, and add some milk, probably about a cup and bring this to a boil so it starts to thicken. If it is too thick add a little more milk until it is the right consistency. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.

This basic technique of making a roux for thickening a sauce may take a little practice. The most important thing is to control the heat, start slow so things don't go crazy on you all at once and remember to taste and re-season before serving your final product.

The Simple Sauce

2009-01-04T22:19:00.000-08:00

Many foods demand a good sauce or gravy. All of which are based on one of the five "mother sauces" of cuisine. Luckily for you and me, we do not have to know how to create these mother's because they are almost all readily available in the local supermarket, with the exception maybe of the cream sauce, which is milk and flour and butter. That is pretty easy and I will get around to some recipes with that later, like a good macaroni and cheese, and chicken pot pie that you could be proud to serve even to adults.

So, if you tried the smothered chicken recipe then you know how to make a simple "pan sauce" which is nothing more than deglazing the pan in which a meat was cooked, with a flavorful liquid and perhaps adding a bit of flavorful fat, such as butter, cream or oil.

That is a technique that you can really use and build on. For example, the chicken can be replaced with steak and rather than chicken broth you can use beef broth or red wine. You can also do the same with pork chops or pork tenderloin medallions, I would leave off the cheese, and for adults you could use a fortified wine like Marsala for the pan sauce.

So now I would like to say a few words about heavy cream and butter. You should buy a pint of ultra pasteurized heavy cream and keep it in your refrig. The date on the ultra stuff is pretty long, about 6 weeks. And if you divide this up over a 4-6 week period among the number of family members this is not going to kill you. Nor is REAL butter. These ingredients are just indespenable when it comes to cooking flavorful dishes.

I don't care how much propaganda you hear about the evils of fat, you have got to get over it and understand that in moderation you can use real foods such as butter and cream and cook fresh foods in a healthy way. My grandparents did not used processed foods and spreads and packaged sauce mixes that came from a chemistry lab. They lived to 90+ years because they worked hard and ate well. So tell the food police to F off and buy fresh, buy organic, but eat real food and you will be just fine.

Recipe? What Recipe?

2009-01-03T23:48:00.000-08:00

I think it is about time some of you learn to cook.

Why? Because you have to eat and if you have a family they do too.

And I find it very disturbing when I hear people (well, especially mom people) who say they just don't cook. I worry about your babies, those chicken globule thingies and that watery powdered cheese and slimy pasta from the blue box is scary stuff. Is that what they are eating? While you choke down a Lean definitely not Cuisine with exactly one chunk of some processed chicken product in a glistening puddle of sauce made from substances you cannot pronounce the name of? You know that just is so not right.

I know how to cook. Recipes are plentiful on the internet, and there are probably thousands of beginner cookbooks. But I would like to encourage you to learn to cook without recipes. Cooking is really about learning techniques and using them to prepare fresh foods that you and your family enjoy.

30 minute meals sound like a great idea until you buy the book and find out that they are suggesting that you serve your kids or your hard working partner kale soup and roasted cauliflower. Well that just isn't going to fly now, is it?

So here is a quick and easy dinner that involves a few simple techniques.

Smothered Chicken: I buy the bags of frozen chicken breast tenders because they are better sized for portion control than the full size chicken breasts, and they are quick to cook.

Defrost a number of chicken breast portions to serve your family. Season them with salt and pepper or your favorite grill seasoning. I use a Tone's garlic pepper blend that I get at Sam's Club, it is my staple seasoning for almost everything.

Sear the Chicken in a hot skillet. To sear meat you should heat the pan on medium high, then add the oil just before you add the meat. Use a combination of olive oil and butter, the olive oil will prevent the butter from scorching when you add it to the hot pan, and the butter adds flavor. I do not use "spreads" they are not suitable for cooking. If the skillet seems too hot and the meat is smoking when added to the pan, turn the heat down. (duh!) Turn the chicken so it is browned on both sides. Remove it from the pan to a baking dish.

Turn down the heat to medium if you haven't already done that. Add some sliced onions and sliced fresh mushrooms to the pan and stir them around to begin to caramelize them. That means they will be getting slightly browned. If you hate onions or one of your family members won't touch them with a ten foot pole, leave them out. The same goes for the mushrooms. Remember this is not a recipe, you are cooking for yourself and can do whatever you like.

De-glaze the pan with some chicken broth from a can or a box. Turn up the heat a little if needed and stir well with a wooden spoon to get all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan mixed into the sauce. Add a tablespoon of butter or heavy cream to give the sauce a little thickness and added flavor. Add pepper to taste and if you are using unsalted chicken broth taste to see if it needs salt.

Place a slice of Swiss cheese over each chicken portion, pour sauce over top. Put the baking dish in a 375 degree oven until the cheese is melted and starts to bubble a bit. If using the chicken tenders this will take about 10 minutes, if full size chicken breasts it will be about 15 or more depending on size. The cheese acts kind of as a meat thermometer and won't start bubbling until the chicken is done.

Serve this with mashed potatoes, rice or noodles and a salad or steamed vegetables.