Monday, February 28, 2011

5 Meals out of 5 Chicken Breasts?! Really!?

JessieLeigh from Parenting the Tiniest Miracles shows you how to make five meals from five chicken breasts.

Now, I'm not usually one to re-post others post's. However, I found this one fascinating! I'm always looking for ways to stretch a buck, so this fit right in. I know many of my friends/family members are also looking for more frugal ways to cook! So here it is.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Recipe Tryout


I tried a new recipe from Hungry Girl and LOVED it! I'm telling you, everyone should have these books! I'm not going to give the recipe away, mostly because I have probably given away to many! However, take a look at this.

This is Chicken Enchilada Casserole:


BUT..... I did come up with a NEW recipe. I had Zucchini and Squash along with some chicken. So I cut it all up and threw it together on a pan and preheated the oven to 375 degrees and cooked it for about 30 minutes. It turned out great. The kids AND hubby both enjoyed it!


I didn't use EVOO because I wanted to save on calories. Yes, I'm always looking for ways to shave off a few calories.

If you are doing weight watchers then this would be about 3 points per serving. I could have eaten this WHOLE thing for like 12 points. Pretty good since it fed my family of four AND had leftovers!







Next up, DESSERT!!!! This of course is another Hungry Girl recipe. I had been craving chocolate and these cupcakes were perfect! Let me just say, Marshmallow fluff, hot chocolate, and chocolate chips. Yes, Yes it was delicious and a HUGE calorie bargain!






Okay now that I have officially used more pictures in this post then I have EVER used in one blog I have one more. This is just a small piece of heaven. Yes, it's homemade pizza. I got the dough from LifeasMom.com. She has some amazing recipes and awesome ideas for freezer cooking and organizing. You can find the recipe for her pizza dough HERE.




Friday, February 25, 2011

Cakes


Since my camera cord is temporarily misplaced, I decided to stop procrastinating another blog and do a cake blog. I have decided that buying a cake although good and easy is not always the most cost effective!

I started making my own after I ordered my son's 1st cake and it was a sheet cake with a sticker on it. Seriously I could have done that for $30!! So here are a few of my creations! Enjoy!! I've also made a Lightning McQueen and a Crown! They are somehow not downloading!

I also am willing to make cakes for others so let me know if you are interested! :)




Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Spring Fever

With the amazing weather the last couple of days it's got me thinking about summer. Summer is full of flowers and gardening. I have been trying my hand at gardening and flowers the last couple of years. The gardening part has gone great, the flowering part, not so much. However, with Spring Fever kicking in, I have been thinking about both!

This year I'm going to do some different things with my garden, but it will include squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, lots of peppers(of all colors), carrots, okra, and that's all for now! I have already told my hubby to be ready to make me a double the side garden spot this year, so he has been warned!

Flowers are going to go in the front of the house in the pot deal we have. I have been ignoring this spot for about 5 years, and the spot on the other side is going to also turn into a flower garden.

That's my small rant on Spring Fever. Can you tell I'm excited for summer? Are you guys gardening this year? What's going in your Garden?

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentines Day Recipe w/ 4 ingredients!!





This is a ridiculously EASY recipe. I made this for my Valentine and he thought I had spend a long time working on it. It did take me about a 1/2 hour at first to cut the chicken and fat ect, plus it was my first time so it was a little dry. It did turn out good though!

This is for 1 serving so I had to triple as I made three.
5oz Boneless, skinless, chicken breast
Laughing Cow low fat Swiss cheese triangle
1oz of Ham
salt & Pepper

Flatten out the chicken by pounding it out. Using a butter knife spread the cheese out over the entire chicken. Place a piece of ham down and roll up keeping it in place with a toothpick. Put salt and pepper to your liking.

Bake COVERED for 20 minutes, then take off foil and cook another 15 minutes.
Bake at 350 Degree's

This is what it will look like when it comes out.

Recipe of the Day


Backyard BBQ beef cups

12 ounces ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped ( I used minced onion)
3/4c. BBQ sauce
1 package Pillsbury crescent recipe creations seamless dough sheet

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with "Pam"

Bring a lg. skillet sprayed with Pam to med. high head. Add beef and onion. Cook
Reduce head to low stir in BBQ sauce and let simmer for 5 minutes

Roll dough out into a 12x9 rectangle using a knife cut into 12 squares.
Place each square into a muffin cup, and press it into the bottom and up along the sides to form a dough cup for the beef.

Evenly distribute beef mixture among the cups. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Let cool and chow down! :)

Another way to make this easier is to have your hamburger already made. I had made up a couple extra pounds so this literally took about 10 minutes to put together!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Pantry Challenge Week 2


We are on to week 2 of this pantry challenge! Last week went well, with no eating out and no extra trips to the store for anything! To me that is what I call one BIG success!

This week is a little different. I have spend $50.00 roughly in groceries. Due in large part to the meal swap. I now have 4 extra meals in my freezer to eat throughout this challenge which to me was worth it!

I put the other $50 we generally use for groceries in our savings so that will be nice to have next month! This week I am a little behind posting this and I was not feeling the best so we have already ate out for our one time this week. Here is what the rest of our week looks like.

Thursday: Left over Chow Mein (freezer meal)
Friday: Homemade BBQ bf Pizza
Saturday: I will be at a Valentines Bazaar all day so will probably have Jeff bring me a piece of left over pizza or something. They will eat leftovers. PLUS my mom will be here so we may go out to eat?!?!
Sunday: Runza Casserole

Then for Next week my goal is to only go to the store for milk, eggs, bread, and cereal.
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Meatballs (freezer)
Wednesday: Pizza Meatloaf(freezer Meal)
Thursday:Left overs
Friday: Pizza (homemade)
Saturday: Something with Chicken ( I haven't found the recipe yet, will let you know!)
Sunday: Chicken Fried Steak *ww recipe*

This week besides the few things I need for these items, I will be stocking up on some really good Safeway sales!