We really enjoyed this dish, though I changed it some last night. It turned out more like Chicken & Dumplings but that's okay because we love those. This is very good served over a little wild rice with a salad and fresh green beans. My notes on the changes I made in last night's version are at the bottom.

2 cups cooked chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 soup cans water
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
16 ounces buttermilk biscuits (8)

Combine all ingredients in crock pot except biscuits; blend well. Cut biscuits into quarters, stir into mixture. Cover; cook on Low 4 to 6 hours stirring occasionally or until biscuits are cooked.

Denise's notes -

I used 4 thighs I'd slow cooked the day before. I didn't measure the chicken. I just de-boned the thighs and chopped the meat into small pieces. I also used 1 can of milk and 1 can of water rather than 2 cans of water and ommitted the chicken bouillon granules, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. I threw in freshly ground black pepper, crushed garlic, and dehydrated onions and cooked it on high for about 3 hours. I like the changes I made and we'll have this again...and soon!

I love to cook. It's one of my all time favorite past times. I check out cookbooks from the library, haunt garage sales for deals on them, and am just generally obsessed with cooking and books about it.

Unlike so many fruglies who give up all subscriptions, I subscribe to three magazines - National Geographic, Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country. The three of them are worth every penny to me - NG for the sheer pleasure I get looking at the breathtaking photos and reading the stories of far away places and CI and CC for the kitchen knowledge they impart.

But over the last month I've gotten away from cooking so much and I really have to find my way back.

I have absolutely got to get back to planning meals at least a week in advance. Without that, we eat out too often, and that's a real budget buster! Spring Break is here so the 16 year old male bottomless pit is visiting and his 15 year old sister, almost as bottomless, will be here for a few days, too. In light of these facts, I need a little help planning meals. I've done it for years so I know how but my brain is tired of doing it and I need a little push.

In my freezer, I have a couple of whole hens (tough when baked or roasted but I can use the pressure or slow cookers for stewing), a package of charcoal steaks (5 small steaks), some ground turkey and turkey breakfast sausage, a package of beef smoked sausage, a dozen chicken tamales, lots of vegetables, and plenty of cheese.

In the fridge I have a dozen eggs but will get more today. I need to buy milk and bread, too.

In the cupboards I have plenty of canned vegetables, rice, beans, pasta, flour, salt, all those necessary things.

I have three slow cookers, a microwave, a digital pressure cooker, and an electric skillet. We have no oven or grill right now so baking/roasting/grilling are out.

Here are some thoughts I have on meals I can make this week:

Cut one to one and a half of the steaks into bite size pieces and use it to make 'beef tips' and rice. Rod and Stephen both love that. Serve it with a salad and a green vegetable.

Have breakfast one night, using ground turkey to make turkey sausage and have that with eggs and toast.

Cook beans in the slow cooker one night.

Make chili with ground turkey one night.

Cook a hen in the pressure cooker and use that for a few dishes. I have a few stand bys we like with cooked, cubed chicken but need some more ideas. If you have something you make with cooked chicken, please let me know!

Any other ideas?

That's our spending for yesterday and today. That includes $10.59 for food at Wal-Mart, $2.24 for a hot dog and drink for me at work, $1 for coffee for me at work, gas in our truck, and $35 for my oldest stepson. The hot dog and drinks for me at work should come out of the food money since that $87 is for groceries and eating out so I removed $3.25 from the food envelope and slipped it into the savings envelope. I'm not sure if I should have just kept it for myself since I used my money to buy the things at work but I decided to just put that money in savings. That seemed fair to me.

$66.07 seems like a lot of spending for two days but we didn't spend $28.71 on cigarettes in the last two days and that's a very good thing.

DH confessed that he found a couple of butts and has smoked them but he's an adult and I can't prevent that. As for me, I haven't had a smoke or even touched a cigarette since we quit the morning of January 31. I know myself. I can't smoke one, not even one little drag, or I'll be off and running again.

My patch came off at work last night and I haven't replaced it. I'm fine without it. Oh yeah, now and then I think about smoking but it's when I have nothing to do, which isn't often. And even when I think about it it's a fleeting thought. For some reason I don't experience the physical agony and such that so many people do. But that doesn't change the fact that I love to smoke and am addicted. Or that I have to avoid only one cigarette...the next one.

I so very much wanted to go out to eat tonight. Instead, I grabbed a container of store bought barbecued shredded beef from the freezer and nuked it and we had bbq sandwiches. I'd also put some wings in the slow cooker this morning and DH had drained them a few times for me. When I got home from work I drained them again and covered them with Country Bob's Sauce, let them cook about an hour more and we had those with the sandwiches. Not as tasty as mexican food would have been but certainly much cheaper!

And now I want a cigarette. Oh yes, I do want one. I won't have one but I want one!

I just used the last of the chicken I cooked on the 19th. It gave us three meals for two people and three more meals for one person and I finally finished it off making today's lunch for two;chicken dressing and gravy with green beans. Yum! So that one little chicken provided eleven meals, total. Hmm, that comes to about .11 per meal, right?

Wow, that was one thrifty and rubbery chicken!

Someone in a Yahoo Group I'm in mentioned that she made Bubble and Squeak recently. I haven't made it in quite awhile but that got me thinking about the dish. I love that stuff and will more than likely make it for dinner one night this week.

So, in light of that, how do YOU make it? The recipe I use is good but I'm always interested in how others prepare dishes.

Share your B & S recipe, please!

Yesterday before heading to work, I put a whole chicken (purchased for .49 a lb for 2.5 lbs) in the slow cooker. I seasoned it heavily with Cook's Choice Brisket Seasoning, wrapped it tightly in foil, and set it to Low. My other half didn't take it out until about 8 PM so it cooked about 6 hours. It was very moist and flavorful and dipped in Country Bob's Sauce it was especially good!

Today before heading to work I used some of the chicken to make quesadillas. I took 3 with me but ate only 1/2 of one so there's plenty in the breakroom fridge for tomorrow if I need it. Presuming no one else gets to it!

And tonight when I got in I used some of the chicken in chicken salad. So, that chicken has provided 2 meals for two people and 2 meals for 1 person and there's still enough left to feed us both at least one more meal.

That's some cheap eatin'! And its a good thing we love chicken like we do.

It's actually after midnight but I figure "Midnight musings" sounds better than "12:34 AM thoughts"...

Anyway, I'm listening to archived Dave Ramsey shows, reading news stories about the President's proposed stimulus package, and eating a bean burrito. I need to get to bed soon but can't sleep. Fortunately I don't have to be at work until 4 PM so I should be able to sneak in a nap or two.

After hearing the commercials on Dave's show, I checked out e-Mealz. It seems like a pretty good deal at $1.25 a week so I looked at some of the sample menus. I was particularly interested in the low carb menus but was disappointed that they featured quite a few items we don't eat and they don't seem to have a menu plan for kosher diets. We don't eat rabinically kosher but it's very close to our diet. Not that I am seriously considering signing up for e-Mealz but I know a few people who might really benefit from it. I already do what e-Mealz says they do but I don't spend hours on it like the commercial mentions. It takes me 10 to 20 minutes to create a frugal but healthy menu plan for two weeks and I think we do pretty well feeding two adults for $30 to $45 a week with some weeks coming in well under the $30.

Speaking of frugal food, it's the time of year when we normally begin garden planning but we haven't considered it yet because we don't know where we'll be when it's time to plant. We might be in an apartment and only have a few pots in which to plant but it's possible we'll find an affordable lot somewhere and be able to put in a full sized garden. I'm praying for the latter.

Tomorrow before I go to work I'm cooking a whole chicken. It will feed us dinner tomorrow night and several meals through the week, including my lunches at work. Yaaay for stretching chickens! We'll also eat some meatless meals which means more money will be added to the challenge!

Okay, I'm off to bed now. I'm finally tired and it's about 1 AM.

It was a good day at work. It wasn't quite as busy as I like but it wasn't horribly slow, either. During my lunch break I ate my turkey pastrami sandwich and a few of my chips and drank iced water. Spending today? Nothing, zip, nada, zero!

I got home a bit ago and decided to sit for a few minutes before making dinner. It won't be anything fancy, trust me. DH is having chili dogs and I'm having chicken tamales topped with chili. Later I might have a chili dog but right now that doesn't appeal to me.

In the past, he'd suggest that we go grab something and I'd heartily agree. But tonight he didn't suggest and I didn't bring it up or even consider it. Rather, I asked him to give me a few minutes to rest before making us something to eat. He agreed and we'll soon eat our frugal but tasty dinner.

While at work I priced the store brand nicotine patches. 14 of them cost $24.99 plus tax and that box will last us one week. So, even while we're using them we'll be spending less than we spend on cigarettes. Gotta love that!

The slow cooked chicken turned out well but it didn't turn out crispy as I was told it would. It wasn't as wet as most slow cooked chicken is but it was far from crispy. I might not have had it wrapped tightly enough. I'll try it again another time and wrap it tighter and see if that makes a difference.

If one of you tries it, let us know how it turns out!

Or at least in ours! I have a whole chicken seasoned with chicken rub in the large slow cooker. I don't mind slow cooked chicken but I'm not wild about the boiled meat effect that method of cooking gives it. So I loaded the bottom of the crock with crumpled foil and chunks of potatoes since that helps keep the bird out of the liquid. Right after I put the bird in the pot I got an email from someone suggesting I tightly wrap it in foil for that crispy skin like you get with rotisserie chicken. So, I removed the chicken, wrapped it very tightly in foil, and put it back on it's bed of foil and potatoes. We'll see how it turns out. Hopefully it will be good.

This bird and it's leftovers are part of my menu planning for the next couple of days. We'll have it tonight with broccoli, spinach, or some other green vegetable, and the leftovers will be used for chicken and dressing with gravy, chicken quesadillas, and chicken salad.

The bird cost me about $2.89 so getting from it four meals for two people makes it a very thrifty chicken!

I got this from a Yahoo group recently but don't remember which one. It's very good, though.

Linguine with Creamy Alfredo Sauce

1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
6 cups hot cooked linguine, cooked without salt
6 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
Chopped fresh parsley

Mix the flour, garlic powder and pepper in saucepan. Stir in the broth until smooth. Cook and stir until mixture boils and thickens and remove from heat. Stir in yogurt or sour cream. Toss with pasta and a few tablespoons of the parmesan. Sprinkle with parsley and remaining cheese. Serves 6.

This is very good with a salad and green beans.

For those who seek more vegetarian dishes for health or wealth, here are some of our favorite meatless dishes. I'm working more meatless meals into menu planning and maybe these will help someone else, too. In addition to beans, peas, and vegetable based soups, we love these dishes:

Southern Stewed Tomatoes and Okra

1/2 c. butter, margarine or olive oil
1/2 c. onions
3 lbs. cut okra
2 c. canned tomatoes
1/2 c. green peppers (I leave these out as DH and bell peppers don't get along too well)
1/2 c. chopped celery
Salt
4 pods garlic
1/2 tsp. cayenne (I reduce this a little)
1 tsp. thyme

Sauté onions in pot until tender. Add okra, tomatoes and green peppers, Cook 10 minutes. Add celery, salt, cayenne and thyme. Mix well. Cook until okra is tender.

Cabbage Lasagna

1 lb. TVP, cooked beans, or cooked rice
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 chopped green pepper
1 medium head cabbage
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1 small can tomato paste
8 oz. sliced mozzarella cheese

Cook tvp, beans or rice, onion, green pepper. Boil cabbage until tender then set aside, saving 2 cups of liquid. Combine 2 cups of liquid, oregano, tomato paste, salt and pepper and simmer, stirring often. Add meat mixture to sauce pan. simmer and stirring often. In a buttered 9x13 pan, layer cabbage and tomato mixture Top with mozzarella cheese slices as your very last layer only. Bake 400 for 30 minutes until cheese is browned. Serves 8.

Stuffed Mushroom Casserole Vegas Style

2 packages frozen spinach or 2 bunches of fresh spinach
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
1/4 cup green onion tops, chopped
1 & 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Italian herb seasoning
12 giant mushrooms
1 lb tvp, cooked beans, or rice
nutmeg

Cook spinach briefly in hot water; drain and chop. Mix with sour cream, 1/2 cup each shredded cheddar, monterey jack, and parmesan cheeses, chopped green onion tops, 1/2 tsp salt and herb seasoning. Place 12 stemmed fresh mushrooms, cup side up, in center of large baking dish. Spoon spinach around edges. Saute sliced green onions and one tsp salt. Add tvp, beans or rice and mix well. Spoon over mushrooms. Top with 1/2 cup each shredded cheddar and monterey jack. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg. Bake covered in 350 oven for 25 minutes. Serves 4.

Someone responded to one of my entries asking how I make homemade biscuits. I use a simple and straightforward recipe.

She also asked what Sticky Chicken is. The Sticky Chicken recipe I use is here:

http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/recipes/Foolproof_Sticky_Chicken.htm

And here's the biscuit recipe I use:

Rod's Biscuits

2 to 2 1/2 c flour
3 heaping tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 to 1/2 c oil
1 1/2 c milk (powdered milk works)

Sift the flour, salt and the baking powder into a large bowl. If you don’t have a sifter, go buy one. They’re cheap and the biscuits will be much fluffier after sifting. Add the oil and milk until you have a fairly stiff mixture. If the mixture is too runny, you can add some more flour to thicken it.

In another bowl, pour some flour into the bottom (roughly 1/2 cup). With a large spoon, scoop out enough of the biscuit mix to make a 2" ball. Drop this into the small bowl and roll the ball of mix around, covering the outside with flour. Pat this into a 1/2 inch thick patty and place into a baking pan.

Repeat this until you have used up all the biscuit mix. Place this into a preheated oven at 325 to 350 and bake for 15-30 minutes or until biscuits begin to brown on top.

I've been craving sweet and hot chicken wings for several days and since I don't have any wings and I'm experimenting with just how long I can eat on $50 (this is day 19, by the way) I don't want to buy any. I figured I could improvise and create something halfway palatable but I have to admit this recipe, if you can call it that, is a very tasty alternative that satisfied the craving.

I cut some boneless, skinless chicken breasts into strips, cooked them in a little butter with some Louisiana Hot Sauce and put them in a baking dish with Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce. I stirred them to ensure they were well coated and baked them for about 15 minutes at 300, then turned the oven off and let them sit for another 10 minutes, stirring periodically.

They turned out very well! Slightly hot and slightly sweet, just how I like them. And because I'm a frugal foodie (would that make me a froodie? or a frooglie?) I froze the butter and tiny bits of chicken in it and will use that savory concoction the next time I make chicken soup or casserole.

I had my Chicken a la Wings with steamed brussels sprouts and green beans and it was a fine and frugal dinner. There's enough left for lunch tomorrow and dinner another night this week.

::all said in best Grandpa Jones voice:: "Well, we have three bean soup with green onions, garlic, and turkey ham cookin' on the front burner. We'll have 'em with homemade biscuits and butter! We also have boneless, skinless chicken breasts defrosting and those'll be baked in the oven, some with lemon pepper, some with Country Bob's sauce, and some with fajita seasonin'. They'll all be cut into strips and used for salads, stir fries and just eaten with fresh vegetables throughout the week!"

Denise and Bob the Cat reply with "Yummm yumm!"

Okay, so Grandpa Jones wouldn't have cooked the way I do but y'all get the picture. That's my basic cooking for today in preparation for the coming few days.

I made this today and oh man, is it good! It's still too hot to drink it regularly but it will be good this winter.

Chocolate Snickerdoodle Coffee Mix

Makes 1 1/2 cups

1/2 cup sugar (I used 12 packets of Splenda and it's too sweet - will use less next time)
1/2 cup powdered milk
1/4 cup non-dairy powdered coffee creamer
1/4 cup cocoa
3 T. instant coffee granules (I want it to taste like coffee and might use more next time)
dash of nutmeg
dash of cloves
1/2 tsp teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients together and store in airtight containers.
To serve: add 3 Tablespoon coffee mix to 3/4 cup boiling water; stir to dissolve.

Today was planned to be a no spend day for me. I wasn't going to leave the house and that means I don't spend money. But my mother had a 'quick' errand to run and wanted me to go along so I did. It just so happens that the place she had to go was very, very near the new Kohl's that just opened. Since neither of us had been in a Kohl's, we had to check it out. We found things we both wanted but I'm happy to say I didn't buy anything at Kohl's. Oh happy day!

However, Mom remembered another errand she needed to run and since it was going to take awhile and we were both famished we stopped at a convenience store for a snack. I spent about $3 but that's it.

We ran the other errand and went home and I will not go out again tonight. Period!

So it was almost a no spend day for me, close anyway.

Dinner tonight is Poor Man's Steak, brussels sprouts and a slice of pumpernickel with butter. I decided to try a different recipe than I usually use for Poor Man's Steak. I used this one today but cut all ingredients by half:

1 pound ground beef
1 cup milk
1 cup cracker crumbs
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 small onion, chopped
1 can mushroom soup
1 cup water or milk

Mix all together, except soup and water/milk and shape into a narrow loaf. (I flattened it on a cookie sheet instead) Let sit in refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Cut loaf into slices and fry in a skillet on both sides until brown. (I skipped the frying) Put slices in baking dish. Mix 1 can mushroom soup with 1 cup of water or milk and pour over each piece. Bake at 325° 1 hour.

I'm stretching what I have to last through this month. Since I have Type 2 Diabetes, I try to keep the carbohydrate intake down and can't fill up on the inexpensive foods like pasta, beans, rice, and potatoes.

I have a 3 and 1/3 lb beef boneless rump roast I bought for $1.99 a lb and it's thawed and ready to go. I find that if I cook the entire roast it doesn't last very long as I'll eat it two or three times a day and snack on it, too.

So rather than cook the entire thing, I'll divide as follows: one third will be thinly sliced and used for pan frying or grilling and will be added to salads and other dishes, one third will be cut into chunks to use for soup, beef "tips", and the remaining third will be cooked as one piece with lots of carrot, potato, and onion. I should get at least 6 meals from that roast but may get 8 or more.

So, here's my basic dinner menu for the next two weeks in no particular order other than tonight's meal. I might change the meals slightly but this is the basic plan and I'll stick to it for the most part.

Wednesday - Thinly sliced boneless rump roast cooked on the George Foreman grill with a little olive oil and generously seasoned with fresh garlic and basil, served with steamed cauliflower.

***Note - I steamed the entire head tonight and thought I'd turned off the burner. I'd actually turned it to high and the pan scorched some but I think the cauliflower is fine. The house sure stinks, though! Have I mentioned how much I detest an electric oven/stove? If not, consider yourself told now. ***

Leftover great northern beans and tossed salad.

Tuna salad rolled in leaf lettuce, served with green beans and half a baked sweet potato.

Beef franks with chili, cheese, red bell pepper, and onions.

Sliced turkey ham cooked on the GF grill, scrambled eggs, and pumpernickel bread with butter.

Beef and cheese melt. I just recently had this at a friend's house and it was great! The overall effect is similar to Philly Cheesesteak, one of my favorite things to eat. We made it with beef labeled Carne Picada but I'm going to use thin strips of the boneless rump roast instead since that's what the beef looked and tasted like and that's what I have. Cook the beef with chopped onions and chopped green pepper. Add some garlic and other spices to taste. When the meat and veggies are cooked and tender, throw a handful or so of your choice of shredded cheese on top. Don't stir it - just cover it and let it sit until the cheese is melted. Spoon onto lightly toasted rolls or buns and enjoy! I'm going to add sliced mushrooms and eat it rolled up in a low carb tortilla with a salad on the side. I'll prepare a little extra to use later for beef quesadillas.

Chef salad with a crusty roll.

Oven baked chicken with tossed salad and half a baked sweet potato. I'll bake a whole chicken, de-bone what I don't eat and use it later.

Beef and vegetable soup with a crusty roll.

Beef and chicken quesadillas made with LC tortillas on the GF grill and served with tossed salad.

Poor Man's Steak, brussels sprouts, and pumpernickel bread with butter.

Beef tips and gravy over faux mashed potatoes and served with tossed salad.

Leftover Poor Man's Steak with leftover faux mashed potatoes.

my other half decided he wanted meat loaf bowls with mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch. So I went into the kitchen and whipped up a pan of 6 meat loaf bowls using the Better Baker Gourmet Bowl Maker from Cook's Choice (www.cookschoice.com). Here's the recipe I used for the meat loaf, which was awesome!

1.5 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1 package onion soup mix
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Country Bob's sauce

I mixed up the 5 ingredients and pressed some of it into each of the bowls and baked them at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. When they were cooled just a tad, I inverted the pan over a large cookie sheet, tapped it on the bottom several times and voila, meat loaf bowls!

While the meat loaves were baking I made gravy but I cheated and did it the easy way. I used 1 package of brown gravy mix, and 1 cup water, mixed together in a saucepan. Once that was hot and starting to bubble, I added one can of cream of chicken soup. Together, they made an excellent gravy!

Each meat loaf bowl was topped with mashed potatoes and a little gravy. DH ate two of them, DSS ate three and I got one.

Here's what the finished product looked like:



I really can't say enough good things about this bowl maker. Cook's Choice makes some of the best kitchen goodies around, in my opinion, and this addition just thrills me.

If you entertain much, this is a great tool for your kitchen. Even if you don't, it's still great! I've made chocolate peanut butter goodies in it, cornbread and enchilada bowls, turkey sausage and egg bowls, and now the meat loaf.

It's all good!

I don't normally think ahead about what to serve for breakfast or lunch. DH eats the same basic thing every morning and I rarely eat a thing before 11:30 AM or noon. When I do get hungry I either eat leftovers or whip up something quick for myself.

With those things in mind, here's this weeks night time meals in no particular order unless otherwise noted:

April 23rd - Beef and gravy (left over beef chuck roast cut into small pieces and simmered in mushroom gravy) over wild rice served with Normandy style vegetables and tossed salad that includes beet greens and green onions from the garden

Tuna salad sandwiches with chips and salsa

Egg pie with smoked beef sausage and green onions from the garden served with tossed salad and green beans

Stir fried beef over homemade noodles served with spinach and baked cabbage

You're on your own night where we eat leftovers, cereal, soup, or whatever else we can find

Veggie night where we'll have a huge salad with all kinds of vegetables and cheeses in it

Beans and hot water cornbread

Isn't it pretty? Tasty too!!!

It doesn't have a name. For now I'm just calling it Denise's Chocolate Delight Thingie.

The garden is already watered and I'm going to transplant some more iris bulbs today. I have about 50 to go but a few here and a few there will get them all done.

I'm also experimenting with one of my new kitchen toys, the Cook's Choice
Gourmet Bowl Maker found at cookschoice.com. So far I've made breakfast bowls with biscuit dough, eggs, cheese and homemade turkey sausage, enchilada bowls, and some desserts. Everything I've tried has been great but today I'm experimenting with a new dessert recipe I'm creating. Hopefully I'll have it perfected today and if I do, I'll post pictures of it.

I just love this Bowl Maker and really recommend it to anyone who loves to cook, entertains a lot, goes to church dinners, etc. And nope, I don't make a cent if you buy one - I just highly recommend it.

Today's been another no spend day for me. DH had to do an install and needed something from the hardware store so he's spent something. I don't know how much since he isn't home yet but it shouldn't be more than a few dollars.

We have more greenies peeking out from the soil today than we did yesterday and it's great to see the growth! Especially the tomatoes since gardening is all about the tomatoes for me. We have all varieties up out of the ground now.

My son and his girlfriend went out for Mexican food and brought me back beef fajitas. They were great and they were free! So the leftovers that don't get eaten tonight by DH will be eaten tomorrow for lunch.

I'm going to bed early tonight since tomorrow is going to be a busy day at my mother's house. Relatives from Iowa are coming in so Mom and I have some things to do before they arrive.

We have a fridge full of leftovers so Sunday night is YOYO night. In the fridge are leftover purple hull peas, hamburger steak, onions and mushrooms in brown gravy and plenty of vegetables. We also have two gallon size zipper bags of cornbread. So, we'll each have whatever appeals to us. Here are the rest of the week's meals in no particular order unless otherwise stated:

Monday night - Chicken and dressing made with whatever cornbread doesn't get eaten tonight and some canned chicken in the cupboard. With it we'll have a light gravy and leftover vegetables.

Spaghetti made with a sauce from one of those huge cans of tomatoes I dealt with recently. We'll have it with green beans, salad and garlic toast.

Soup made with ground beef, any leftover vegetables languishing in the fridge, more of that sauce in the freezer, and seasonings.

What my other half calls "big ass" salads meaning they have just about everything one can think of on them.

Sloppy joes with low carb tortillas, spinach and salad.

Scrambled eggs, turkey ham and toast.

Last night's dinner was a chicken seasoned with Cook's Choice
Brisket Rub and roasted with potatoes, carrots, and onions. We also had black eyed peas with smoked turkey leg leftover from lunch. The chicken I roasted served me, DH, my mom and stepfather with plenty left.

So tonight I used some of the leftover chicken, the vegetables, and a little of the juice mixed with some broth and seasonings and made a nice chicken soup. To it I added some homemade noodles and it was great!

Here's a picture of a bowl of the soup:

DH didn't want any but I had a bowl and it was tasty and very filling. I love homemade noodles and they're so easy to make. Here's my recipe:

1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp milk
1 cup flour

Mix egg, salt and milk; enough flour to make stiff dough. Roll thin, let stand 20 minutes. Roll up and slice 1/8" thick; spread to dry for about 2 hours. Drop in boiling broth and cook 10 minutes.

I don't worry about the noodles being perfect as long as they're savory. I love these noodles with some fresh basil and ground pepper added to the dough. They're even great with some cheese added to them.

So, if you get bored and want something different to do with your leftover chicken and veggies, try this! You won't be sorry.

My mother made the best coffee cake when I was a kid. She didn't make it often but when she made it, it was so tasty. I used to love a little piece with a small amount of coffee.

When I went to her house Tuesday to help her clean, I had a little bit of her coffee cake. She hadn't made it in many years and I didn't have the recipe so I hadn't eaten it in many years but it was just as I remembered. The stuff melts in my mouth and while it's sweet, it isn't sickly sweet. It's simply excellent. It's also frugal and easy to make!

She gave me the recipe and here it is, from her old cookbook she got when she and my dad married.

Coffeecake

1 beaten egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp melted shortening
1 cup sifted flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Combine egg, sugar, milk and shortening. Add flour sifted with baking powder and salt. Mix well and pour into paper-lined 8x8x2 inch baking pan. (Denise's note-Mom doesn't use the paper but oils and flours the pan well)
Sprinkle with mixture of 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 Tbsp flour, 1 Tbsp melted butter, and 1/2 cup broken nuts. Bake in moderate oven (375) 20 to 25 minutes.

Here's what I did with 1 can of the tomatoes.

I sliced two very large onions and sauted them with garlic in olive oil. Then I put one of the 6 lb 3 oz cans of tomatoes in a stock pot and added the onions and garlic, some oregano, basil, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and a little sugar. I let it cook all afternoon, about 6 hours, and oh man, it's good!

After it cooled I dipped it into freezer containers and it's now in the freezer, ready to be used next time I need a good pasta sauce or even sauce for Swiss Steak.

The other can still sits on the counter. Maybe I'll get to that tomorrow.

I have two 6 lb 3 oz cans of whole tomatoes and I need to do something with them. I'm thinking I might make one can into spaghetti sauce for the freezer. I'm not sure what to do with the other can. I don't have to do anything with it right now, I guess, but I'd like to do something productive that would get it out of the cupboard.

I've been craving Orange Chicken and the best place for it that I know of is about 2 hours away in Dallas. Well, we aren't going there any time soon so I decided to just try to make it. I looked over several recipes and took bits and pieces of them to create my own. I don't measure everything but this is close:

I skinned and de-boned 7 chicken breasts. Using my Better Breader, I lightly breaded the chicken chunks and baked them in the oven at 350 til done. I decided to lightly bread and bake rather than fry for carb and fat reasons. When the chicken was cooked I just put it all into a bowl and set it aside.

Into the wok I put about 1/2 serving spoon of orange marmalade I had lingering in the fridge. It's too bitter to eat on toast and I just don't like it but kept it thinking I might use it in a recipe. To that I added about 2 tsp pure orange extract, 1 tsp of minced garlic and some fresh ginger, minced. I didn't measure the ginger but it was about one thin slice. I heated all that through and mixed it well then added about 8 ounces of water with 2 tsp corn starch mixed in. I added about 1/2 cup soy sauce and stirred the concoction until it heated through and started to thicken. I tasted it, thought it needed something, so I added about 1/4 cup Teriyaki sauce and some crushed red pepper and let it heat again. Once it was thick, I added some Splenda, about 2 tsp or so and stirred some more. It needed more orange flavor so I put in a few more dashes of the extract and stirred it more. Then I dumped the chicken into the wok and mixed it all well until the chicken was well coated in the sauce. This made about 6 good sized servings.

DH thinks it needed more ginger, more orange, and a bit more sweetener but it was soooo close to Orange Chicken we get in Dallas. He suggested a bit of barbecue sauce, even, which would make it a bit sweeter and darker. Next time I'll add a few chopped green onions and a bit of shredded carrot and probably garnish it with those, also.

Anyway, it was excellent and here's a picture of some of it:



The total cost was about $16, which is a lot more than we normally spend on one meal at home! But it comes out to about $2.67 per serving which is less expensive than eating out.

I put the bones with the little pieces of remaining meat on them in the soup pot and am cooking that for stock. I hate to waste!

It's 42 degrees this morning with a predicted high of 77. I love this weather! By late this week the overnight temperatures will drop and the daytime highs will be in the 60s with upper 30s this weekend. But Spring is almost here so the beautiful temperatures will be more plentiful.

I was awakened at 4:45 this morning by the phone ringing. It was my 22 year old son. On his way home from work his truck had broken down so DH and I threw on some clothes and drove to get him. Poor kid, he was so distraught about it. He had it in the shop when he got this new job two weeks ago and now it seems to be doing the same thing it was doing then. I know the frustration of vehicle trouble!

When we got home DH made his breakfast and I made coffee and started laundry. As soon as it's light enough outside to find my way to the clothes line, I'll hang up the wash. I've swished and swiped the bathroom and stripped the bed linens to be washed later.

If you like to cook simple but tasty dishes and haven't yet done so, peruse
Nancy's Kitchen.
It's one of my favorite cooking groups and the people are very friendly. From the Daily Newsletter Index link, you can read each day's newsletter and that's where the good stuff is.