Thoughts on buying Meat...

Here are a couple of tips on buying meat for you to think about.

1. Never buy step savers. Prices can double or even triple! Marinate the meat yourself. After all, how much time and effort does it really take to threw a bottle of marinade or salad dressing in a bag with the meat in the morning?
2. Boneless is often a better buy averaging 4 servings to the pound. With bone -in, you get only an average of 2 servings to the pound. Take that in to consideration when you are figuring the cost.
3. Boneless chicken is my families favorite. You can do so many different things with it and it comes on sale every couple of weeks. Stock your freezer up when it is on sale, and you will never have to fuss with bone-in chicken again!

My favorite (quick) chicken recipe: (Warning... I dont' really write down recipes, so often I estimate... you may have to adjust to taste.)

• One to one and a half pounds of boneless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces.
• Lemon-Pepper seasoning
• Two large heaped spoonfuls of frozen orange juice concentrate.
• Half to three fourths a cup of sugar (you can adjust this to taste.)
• One to two tablespoons of butter (or marg)

Just spray down your saute pan with oil, and toss in the chicken with some lemon pepper seasoning. Cook till browned... just a few minutes. Spoon in your orange juice concentrate and sugar and stir. Allow the chicken to cook through in the sauce, then stir in the butter just at the end.
Serve over rice with the following toppings available for the family to choose from: manderin oranges, chunked pineapple, coconut, la choy chow mein noodles (the cooked light and crunchy kind that you can serve over salads).
You could also use lettuce, tomatoes, anything you like... be creative. It is all good. Serve with a side of peas, and I'll be in heaven!

What's For Dinner? Cheap AND Easy!

Need a quick go-to meal when you are in a pinch that doesn't break the budget? Check out THIS RECIPE on my home blog. It is fabulously quick and easy and super budget friendly! (Not to mention, delicious!)

Sams Club HOAD...

I was in the Jordan Landing Sam's club today and they have BONELESS pork loin (you know, those big, vacuumed sealed packages which usually have at least 5 lbs of meat in them), for just $1.38/ pound. This is an amazing deal. $1.79/pound is a rare find, but $1.38 is just plain fantastic! I got a very large pork loin for just over $11.

Just open the package, cut into roasts and freeze individually or slice up for pork chops. I repeat, this is BONELESS, good quality meat. The date has not expired... there was a lot when I was there, but I am sure it will go fast so get over to Sams and stock up while you can! :)

Need ideas on what to do with this meat? Well if you want super simple, you can just put one of the roasts in the crock pot, season with salt and pepper, cover with large chunks of raw onions, then add chopped potatoes and mini-carrots. Pour a can of chicken broth over the top and cook on high for about 6-7 hours. Yum.

However, my all time favorite recipe for pork loin is the Cafe Rio Sweet Pork recipe:

1 good size pork loin

2 cans coke (I use caffeine free)

1 16oz jar of salsa

2 cups brown sugar

Put the pork loin and 1 can of coke in the crock pot. Cook the roast on high for 5 hours. Drain off coke and mix together the other can of coke, the jar of salsa (I blend it to get rid of the chunks), and the 2 cups of brown sugar. Cut the roast in half, and pour the mixture over it. Cook an additional 3 hours on high and then shred the pork with two forks. Put the crock pot on low until ready to serve.

Serve on tortillas with rice and veggies... or go the whole mile and make all the salad toppings including the Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing:

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

1 pkg dry ranch buttermilk dressing

2-3 medium tomatillos (remove outer leaves)

1 tsp crushed garlic

3/4-1 bunch of Cilantro

2tsp green Tabasco sauce

Juice from 1 lime

Salt & pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve. (At least one hour.)

(*HOAD=heck of a deal)

Swedish Almond Cake...

Want a sweet treat that takes just a few minutes of your time and costs pennies to make? Try this recipe for Swedish Almond Cake... it is delicious. This recipe was given to us by a lady where my hubby works. Everyone in the family loves it.

1 stick butter (melted)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp almond extract

1 cup all purpose flour

A handful of sliced almonds

Powdered sugar for dusting

Beat together the butter and sugar. Beat in all the other ingredients one at a time. Spray 9” cake pan with non-stick spray. Line the bottom with wax paper. Pour batter in and top with sliced almonds. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before removing from pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Dinners on a budget...

Check out these recipes on kraft.com. They are cheap AND easy! :)

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/Dinner/BudgetRecipes/BudgetRecipes.aspx?e=email

Ground Beef...

Ground beef can be an inexpensive meat... (you can get it on sale for less than $2/pound), but what can you do with it besides spaghetti & hamburgers???

My son is a VERY picky eater, but he has labeled this recipe "his favorite" which surprises me because it is a mish mash of ingredients... I have to admit though, the flavor is to die for!

If you need a new, CHEAP recipe for ground beef (made with ingredients that often come on sale), try my VERY fast and easy version of Shepherds pie, an old English favorite. This makes quite a lot... you will definitely have leftovers if you are feeding a family of 4. (And my family includes two hungry teenagers!)

(Reminder: I never measure or write recipes down... so you may have to adjust seasonings to taste.)

1 1/2 - 2 pounds of ground beef
2 TBSP Onion powder
1 TBSP Italian seasoning
2 cups frozen peas
6 TBSP brown gravy powder mix (or 2 small pkgs)
1 1/2 - 2 cups hot water
*1 box of Betty Crocker Sour Cream & Chive mashed potatoes
8-12 oz shredded cheese

Spray a 13x9 glass pan with cooking spray. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef till cooked well. Drain off excess fat. (If I have bought ground beef with a higher percentage fat, I like to run the ground beef under hot water in a strainer after cooking to remove as much fat as I can, then return the meat to the pan and cook for a minute or two to cook off any additional water.)

Stir in the onion powder, Italian seasoning and peas. Let simmer on med-high while you move on to the next step.

In a small bowl, whisk together the hot water and gravy powder till there are no lumps. Slowly pour the mixture into your ground beef while stirring. This mixture will thicken quickly, so keep stirring. (If the sauce seems a little thick, add a little more hot water and stir.)

Pour ground beef mixture into the prepared pan, sprinkle with 1/2 of the shredded cheese and set aside.

The box of potatoes has two packages in it. Prepare both of them according to the directions on the box. Spread the cooked potatoes over the ground beef and layer of cheese, top with remaining cheese, and bake at 425 for about 20 mins.

Serve with salad and rolls on the side. :)

*If you want to go the extra mile on this recipe, you can make homemade mashed potatoes from scratch.

Copy Cat Recipes...

Eating out is fun, but expensive. One thing our family enjoys doing when we are looking to cut costs is to choose copy cat restaurant recipes to make at home! You will be surprised at what you can find. When I first started I would just google particular dishes that I like. For example, type the following in google, and see what comes up:

"outback coconut shrimp copy cat recipe"

(When you do a search, always use all lower case letters to get the most results.)

There are quite a few copy cat websites out there, however, I have found one site that I kind of lean towards... it is http://copycat.cdkitchen.com/. It has an alphabetical listing that you can just browse if you want some inspiration. (My guess is you all have some favorites in mind though.)

One of the dishes we used to make quite frequently was TGI's Sizzling Chicken & Cheese with Garlic Mashed Potatoes. My kids also loved Olive Garden Night when we would make a big pan of Fettuccine Alfredo with sliced grilled chicken over the top. (Mmmmm.) Now-a-days one of our favorite things to make is our own version of Cafe Rio. (If you don't have Cafe Rio where you live, then this is one way you can enjoy it!)

Whatever your preferences, I am confident you can find SOMETHING that your family will enjoy on the good old World Wide Web. :)