Chicken Enchiladas from the freezer

The enchiladas were AWESOME. I made a modification in the recipe assembly and it turned out fantastic. I just wanted to make a quick mention that enchiladas of any kind would probably freeze really well. Happy meal freezing.

15 Meals in a Day

A few weeks ago my sister forwarded a blog post about a woman making 30 meals in one day. I had heard about this concept before but never found it necessary in my life to do this. Well, times have changed. I have 2 weeks until school starts and we had to really crunch our budget to afford to hire the nanny while I'm in school. So we cut our grocery budget by almost half and I'm soon to be short on time!

I decided to attempt a modified version of the 30 meals in a day using software and a book called "Dinner is Ready" (you can buy it at www.30mealsinaday.com). I choose 8 recipes and based on serving size, I was able to generate 16 dinners, 6 lunches and an unexpected pot of chicken noodle soup (which equals 2 more dinners and 4 lunches).

Using the software, I picked my recipes, printed my grocery list, food freezer labels and cooking instructions for each item on the menu. I was all set to start shopping. I had a few extra days to look around for deals and I made some concessions on my organic food and bought regular chicken. However, the organic grass fed beef at whole foods was almost $2 cheaper per pound than Jewel's non-organic meat. I got all my canned goods at Target and bought the target brand to save more money. I got my dairy products at Jewel because everything was on sale. Over all, the total cost of food and packaging products it cost me $143.45 (my grocery budget is $220 every 2 weeks) However, when calculating the cost per meal, I didn't include the freezer bags or the aluminum foil because I will be using that for many many more freezer meals and I didn't feel it was fair to include in the per meal cost. So when all the calculations were done and the freezer was stocked it came down to $7.70 per dinner for the whole family. If I include the 10 additional lunches that were also created and break down the cost per meal per person, it comes to $1.92. That beats the cost of eating out any day! There isn't even a hot dog place where I could get dinner that cheap.

As far as the cooking goes, I started one stove top recipe, one crock pot recipe and then I started assembling all the recipes that didn't need to be cooked at all ahead of time. I had cooked all the chicken the day before and cubed and shredded it based on the recipe (these were the recommendations from the book). I also used the food processor to chop 7 onions and shred 2 pounds of cheese. (I always prefer to used cheese not previously shredded because it melts better in any meal.) I started cooking/assembling at 10:30 and I was mostly done by 2. I have most of the kitchen cleaned before bed time. At 9pm last night I started the crock pot again with the slow cook chili and let it cook on low for 10 hours overnight. We woke up to an amazing smell in the house and those meals will be bagged once the chili cooks.

All in all, it was totally worth it. I have 10 lunches for me and Erik and 18 dinners that only took me a total of 5 hours to create. I still have $60 in my budget to include fresh fruits and veggies and of course breakfasts and lunches. Here is the dinner menu I choose:

Broccoli Chicken ad Rice

Cheese Manicotti

Meaty Lasagna

Chicken Enchiladas

Corkscrew Chicken

Cream Cheese Chicken

Slow Cooked Chili

Taco Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup-this happened on accident and I had everything I needed to make it after the face. I made my own stock when I poached all of the chicken ahead of time. The fresh veggies I already had in the fridge!

This was an awesome experience. I would recommend this for anyone on a budget, anyone with time constraints, anyone who doesn't like to cook or doesn't really know how, and really anyone just looking to free up some time in the evenings. The other thing that I thought about was that I will likely only have to clean up the pot I use to reheat the dinner in and the plates we use to eat with :) That saves me TONS of time in itself.

If you live in or near Chicago and your looking to get cooking, I'll be doing this once a month so hit me up if you want to jump on the Once A Month Cooking band wagon and I'll help you get started! I'll let you know how things taste as we thaw and eat the meals!

P.S. If I didn't already say this, the book and the software were what made this a piece of cake!

White Fish w/ Rainbow Chard

I'm not always thrilled about veggies that I make. I like vegetables. In fact, I can't think of a vegetable I don't like. However they don't always turn out the way I want. But tonight I made baked fish with a lemon oregano bread crumb and a side of Rainbow (swiss) Chard with fresh ginger and jalapenos. It was FANTASTIC. The fish was fresh and light and the Rainbow Chard was tasty and refreshing. Everything was fresh from the market today. This was a great meal that even a novice cook can make for their family or friends.

So here is what I did:

White Fish-

Bread Crumbs:
1 lbs White fish (or other mild flavor fish like tilapia)
2 slices of bread (I used home made oat/wheat bread)
1 Tablespoon Parsley
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 Lemon (zest half lemon for bread crumbs and juice half or all of lemon in bottom of baking dish)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil (maybe more or less...you want the crumbs to be moist but not wet. They should still be separate but moist)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the fish into individual size pieces. I made bread crumbs from home made bread. To the bread crumbs I added parsley, oregano, salt, lemon zest, and olive oil. In a baking dish I added white wine, lemon juice, smashed garlic, and olive oil to the bottom 9x13 baking dish. I placed the fish in the in the dish, making sure not to place it on top of any garlic pieces. Bake for 20 minutes and serve.


Rainbow Chard-

1 bunch Rainbow or Swiss Chard
1 teaspoon fresh zested ginger
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 small Jalapenos

Cut colored stems off the leafy greens. Cut stems in half lengthwise and then dice into 1/4 inch pieces. Cut Jalapenos and deseed and devein them (if you like a more mild spice) then cut into 1/8 inch pieces. Peel and zest 1 Teaspoon fresh ginger. Heat skillet to medium high heat (12 inch is best, but I used a chinese wok because its the only pan I have large enough to hold the chard) with 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Add colored stems, jalapenos and ginger zest and saute while you are cutting up the leaves. Cut Chard leaves into 1 inch pieces and rinse well then add to skillet. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes then remove the lid and continue cooking until the greens have wilted down and the stems are slightly soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste and Serve warm.

Olive Oil Pie Crust

This recipe came about because I couldn't find a "good for you" recipe for pie crust for my Turkey Pot Pie. I did a little research and found a recipe that calls for Olive Oil as the fat. I have not tried this myself, but for the sake of those trying to make my recipes, this is a healthy alternative to the traditional pie crust. I want to give credit where credit is due. I found this at helensrecipes.blogspot.com. Here it is:

Ingredients for 2-Crust Pie:

2 c. sifted Unbleached Flour
1 t. Salt
1/2 c. Olive Oil
3 T. Cold Water

Ingredients for 1-Crust Pie:

1-1/3 c. sifted Unbleached Flour
1/2 t. Salt
1/3 c. Olive Oil
2 T. Cold Water

Sift flour and salt into mixing bowl.

Add oil and mix well with a fork.

Sprinkle cold water over mixture and mix well.

With hands, press mixture into a smooth ball. (If mix is too dry, add 1-2 T. more oil, a little at a time and then shape into a ball - it is rare that I ever had to add more oil.) Divide ball in half.

Now, you are going to roll this out a little differently than you are used to doing. You are going to roll it between wax paper. (Your rolling pin never touches the product and so it stays clean!) Because you want to make sure you roll out the dough large enough for your pie pan, use two pieces of wax paper underneath the dough and two pieces of wax paper on top of the dough - making a cross (+).

Turkey Pot Pie

I just ate a delicious Turkey Pot Pie that I created with what was in my fridge. I'm totally surprised and how great it turned out. It is a little sweet, but a good turkey (poultry) flavor. I would go back for seconds but I'm trying to loose 12lbs before I leave for my trip to India! The dish is mostly good for you- everything but the crust. I'm on the hunt for a better crust recipe so there isn't as much fat.

I used this recipe as my guide but I changed quite a bit: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Turkey-Pot-Pie-I/Detail.aspx. Here is what I did below:

1 small acorn squash, roasted then cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 small onion
1 cup cut green beans, about 1 inch pieces
4 button mushrooms cut in half then sliced
2 Tbs fresh Parsley, fine chopped
1 tsp dried Oregano
Salt to taste
2 cups chicken broth plus 2Tbs for saute
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
1-1/2 cups cooked shredded Turkey breast or chicken breast

Here is what I did:
1. Cut the acorn squash in half, Seed, and Roast the squash for 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Reduce oven heat to 375. Let squash cool then peel and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

2. Dice onion and garlic and saute on medium high with 2 Tbs chicken stock (I use this method to reduce the amount of oil in the recipe). After about 5 minutes, add oregano, parsley, green beans, and mushrooms. Add additional chicken broth if needed to keep the pan moist. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, keeping the pan moist.

3. In separate sauce pan, melt butter until bubbling subsides, about 1 minute. Add flour and mix quickly to create paste. Add 2 cups chicken stock and bring to a boil to allow for it to thicken. Then add milk and bring up to a slight simmer. Reduce heat to low and add the Acorn squash and the onion, green bean, mushroom mixture and add in your cut up turkey.

4. Put filling into a 9-1/2 or 10 inch pie dish. Lay pie crust on top carefully. Trim and tuck the edges under (I used a standard pie crust recipe I found without sugar on allrecipe.com). Bake pie for 40 to 45 minutes until your crust is lightly browned and filling is bubbly. Be sure to put a baking sheet under the pie to prevent a bubbly mess on the bottom of your oven.

Enjoy!

Turkey Meatloaf w/ Black-eyed peas and Collard Greens

Tonights dinner turned out just as I had hoped. Everything was tasty, but totally well rounded. I had legumes, veggies, lien protein. It was flavorful with tons of fresh herbs and whole ingredients. Rather than typing the recipes up, I'm just going to put the links.

A quick note about the Meatloaf, I half the recipe, use half fresh half italian seasoned breadcrumbs, and I use slightly less chicken broth. The recipe won't be any good with dried herbs...so don't try that as a shortcut. I have tried this recipe 5 times now and have finally come up with what I believe is the best variation.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Turkey-Meatloaf-with-Mushrooms-and-Herbs-355229

The Black-eyed Peas and Collard Greens was good just as it was but it serves 6 so half the recipe if you don't want to eat it for leftovers for days as Erik and I will be doing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/health/nutrition/27recipehealth.html

Enjoy this healthy meal with whole, fresh ingredients! We did.

Pot Roast w/ Potatoes, Carrots and Onions

I found a pot roast recipe from my trusty Cooks Illustrated book (that I have been borrowing from my brother for the last few months....Thanks Chris!). I started cooking at 4:14 or so and I didn't have the roast in the oven until 5 because of all the browning and then sauteing of the veggies and the other series of ingredients. So it took me 45 minutes to prep and then it had to cook in the oven for 3.5 hours. This wouldn't be that bad if it were for the fact that you have to flip it every 30 minutes for 3.5 hours. Then I had to add the potatoes and carrots and let it cook for 30 minutes longer. THEN I had to separate the fat, add red wine, and boil it for 20 more minutes to finish cooking the veggies.

All of this work and was it worth it? What do you think? NO NO NO. If it had been, you would see the recipe posted. I decided that throwing all those ingredients into the slow cooker and pressing "8 hours" on the timer produced a much better Pot Roast that this million step process.

I just want to quickly justify why I always go to cooks illustrated first for recipes. If you have ever picked up a Cooks Illustrated cookbook you discover that before every recipe, they thoroughly discuss how they came up with the recipe as well as any cooking techniques that you need to know to create the meal. If you don't know how to cook and want to learn...Pick up a cooks illustrated magazine which has 30 for just under $10 and get your cooking going. There is lots of joy in creating a healthy meal for you or your family that tastes great!

Pork Loin w/ Creamy Pesto & Whole wheat pasta

Last night I made an easy meal that was low in fat and had good flavor.

I used 2 pork loins, cut in half so I had 4 pork logs. I heated oil in a 9 inch skillet until just smoking (that way the meat browns well and doesn't stick). I browned the meat on all sides, about 10 minutes. Then I transferred them to a 9x13 pan lined with foil and placed them in an over preheated to 450 degrees. I cook them for 15 minutes and removed from the oven and wrapped the foil around the port to continue cooking the meat until it reached 150 degrees. Then I sliced it into 1/4 inch slices and covered it with a glaze. With the pan I used to sear the pork, I made a glaze.

Glaze:
Juice from 1 orange
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
2-3 Tbs of honey

I simmered the glaze until it was thick and rich and drizzled it over the port after cutting.

The Creamy Pesto was a Cooks Illustrated recipe from their Light cooking book. After having made it once, I would opt for slightly more olive oil so it coated the pasta better. It may have something to do with the Wheat pasta, but since thats a staple in my diet now, I have to adjust to that! Here is the recipe (with my modification)

4 Medium garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 cups fresh basil
1 oz fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 shallot, minced
2 Tbs olive oil (I would use 3 or 4 Tbs)

Start by toasting the garlic in a dry skillet on the stove. flipping them a few times to get even roasting. Remove, cool, peel, then put the a garlic press. Place basil in a large ziplock back and beat with meat mallet or rolling pin (I used a mug) until the leaves are bruised. Put Garlic, basil, parmesan, ricotta, shallot, oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the food processor. Process until smooth, about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape the sides down. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I tossed it with hot whole wheat pasta. The recipe is 80 calories for 2-1/2 Tablespoons of pesto. It was easy and delicious.