One Bowl Pesto Supper

Mmm! I can imagine many variations on this theme, but last night we had white beans, chicken, and pesto. Only 3 ingredients (unless you count the individual ingredients in the pesto of course) and so yummy! If I make this again, I'll try adding some sauteed onion and diced tomato. You could also make this a vegetarian meal by replacing the chicken with pasta or eating just the beans and pesto with whole grain bread. And then there's this soup that I'm going to have to try before the season is over!

Chicken, White Bean Pesto Bowl

Ingredients: 
1 cup dry white beans (great northern or navy)
1 cup cooked, diced chicken
1/2 cup pesto

Directions:
Soak dry beans overnight to make them cook faster and digest more easily. Cook until soft. Alternatively you can use 2 cans pre-cooked beans for this recipe.
Mix ingredients and serve. Easy-peasy!!

Linked to Real Food Wednesday and Tuesday Twister.

Chicken Fried Rice

A friend treated me to a stir fry the other day that got me craving fried rice so I made a batch and thought I'd share! This is one of my husbands favorite meals and it is definitely comfort food for me!

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked brown rice

1-2 cooked chicken breasts, diced

2 cups veggies, diced (I used peas, carrots, and sweet potato)

1 egg

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce or tamari

oil (I used coconut oil)

Directions:

Sauté veggies in oil until done in a wok, or high-sided skillet or saucepan. Add chicken, rice, and a tablespoon or so of oil to keep everything from sticking. Cook until warmed through, stirring often. In a small bowl, whisk egg and soy sauce together. Add to rice mixture and stir to evenly combine. Cook, stirring continuously, until egg is fully cooked - it should no longer look wet.

Don't worry, as long as you get the egg to 145 degrees for 15 seconds, you're not risking consuming any harmful bacteria - egg whites look "done" (coagulate) at 144-149 degrees, and egg yolks at 149-158 degrees. In other words, don't stress too much about cooking them forever, they are "safe" before they are "done." (And side note - using pastured eggs from a reliable source may decrease your chances of getting a bad one - http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/01/are-raw-eggs-safe-to-eat-real-food-wednesday.html)

Here are a few more recipes to help use up your leftover rice:

Fruity Brown Rice Salad

Split Pea and Sausage Dahl

Guest Post: The Reality of Pantry Cooking

This guest post is from Amanda Carlisle from A Few ShortCuts. A Few Shortcuts has Recipes, Coupons, Tips and Tricks to help you save time and money in the kitchen and at the store. You will find 3 new recipes a week including Weekly Meal Deal, “Snack”urday, and Tide you Over Tuesday. Amanda is a busy mom of 3 who loves to bake when she isn’t running to soccer practice, homeschooling, or helping her husband with their trucking business. Thanks for the great post, Amanda!

Let’s be honest. I would sometimes rather be eating anywhere else but from my pantry. I can think of a number of cozy, quaint little restaurants that serve hot rolls while you wait for your meal. You have a server come bring you refills on your iced tea, and you don’t have to wash a single dish. Then… my kids scream.

Yep, it just isn’t reality. While we all have these amazing fantasies of what our adult life will be, it just isn’t reality. Reality is everyone is struggling in this economy. Everyone wants A Few Shortcuts to save money and time so that they have more to spend on/with their families. Let’s face it. Your kids don’t want to be at that cozy, quaint restaurant. They want to be at home with Chicken Nuggets and watching Toy Story.

So, what do you do? The best you can! There are so many delicious, healthy, kid friendly recipes you can make from items in your pantry and freezer. These are meals that won’t break the bank, especially if you shop sales with coupons. Let’s be honest, twenty years from now you will cherish the time spent in the kitchen and around the table with your children. You won’t remember that little restaurant down the road. J

Here is a favorite Pantry Meal from our house!

Italian Pasta Toss

Printable Version HERE

· 2 Cups Cooked Chicken cut into bite sized pieces (about 2 breasts)
· 1 cup Italian Salad Dressing
· 1 box pasta cooked (Shape of your choice)
· 1 bag frozen veggies (again your choice…I like broccoli)
· Shaky Cheese (Grated Parmesan) Optional

Directions

In a large skillet mix 2 Cups Cooked Chicken Breast chopped into bite sized pieces, 1 cup Italian Salad Dressing, 1 box of pasta cooked al dente (I used Bow Ties), and frozen veggies ( I chose Broccoli).

Cook over medium heat until heated through.

Serve! Top with cheese if desired!

Yes, it’s that easy!
My kids loved this. The little one ate 2 bowls. I also, halved the recipe since it was just the kids and I eating.

*TIPS*
· Cook Chicken when you bring it home from store. Place in freezer bags for quick meals, or salads!
· Cook pasta the night before, so you just have to toss it all together! You will have dinner in 10 minutes!
· Change it up! Use a different type of veggie and salad dressing for a different taste!
· This is super kid friendly!

Thanks, Amanda! Don't forget that today is the last day to enter to win a Wrap-N-Mat reusable sandwich wrap and the last day to take advantage of the Savin' O the Green Sale!

Chicken & Lentil Loaf

Another experiment with leftovers... and it turned out just fine! Adding it to my list of things to make with the whole chickens I cook. Served it with a side of asparagus and cashew gravy (gravy was AWESOME - I did substitute arrowroot for corn starch). My only complaint is that it was a little dry. I think I will try it without any tomato anything next time and instead use milk like the recipe for this Dutch Chicken Loaf calls for. Then maybe I'd put the cashew gravy on the loaf itself!

Chicken and Lentil Loaf

Ingredients:

2 cups lentils - cooked

2 cups cooked chicken - diced

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 large onion - diced and sauteed

7 oz. tomato paste

2 tbsp. water

4 eggs

seasonings of your choice

(I diced my chicken pretty finely)

Directions:

Prepare lentils, chicken, and onions if you do not have them leftover from other meals. Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. In separate bowl, mix tomato paste with water to thin out and then add eggs and whisk thoroughly (I just used a fork). Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and work with a spoon or your hands until evenly combined.

Shape loaf in a greased bread pan and bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes or until set.

I originally intended to make 2 small loaves (to freeze one) but in the end went with 1 larger loaf. Still, I used whole numbers so this would be super easy to halve if you didn't have enough on hand or weren't sure your family would go for it!

1 Chicken, Many Meals

I can't think of a healthier, more frugal meat option than whole chicken (unless you catch and fillet your own fish)! Unfortunately, this guy:

intimidates a lot of the people that I work work with, and probably some of you as well. We are so accustomed to buying boneless skinless meat products that it's difficult to know where to begin.

Here's the short version: Thaw if frozen, take out any organs, wash it with cold water, plop it in a pot or dish, and COOK IT! :)

Really, there are probably a million different ways to prepare and cook a whole chicken, but the only important part is that you make sure the internal temperature (breasts) is at least 165 degrees. Roast that naked guy up there for a few hours in a 350 degree oven with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and you have this:

He cost me a little over $3 (on sale for $.98/lb) and I was able to use him in 5 different meals for 3 people (2 year old counts as a "people" in this case b/c he LOVES chicken)! I like to let the chicken cool to a temperature that is bearable to handle and then clean the bones right away. I store the breasts separate from the rest of the meat b/c we generally use them for different meals. Our typical usage in a week looks like this:

• 2 or more chicken sandwiches (usually breast meat with mayo and sometimes cheese or avocado)
• 1 stir-fry
• 1 soup
• 2 casseroles or frittatas or pastas (we eat spaghetti with shredded chicken)

Now that I know how to make my own broth, I also save all of the drippings:

and boil the bones and any leftover meat. That technically means many more meals than just 5 considering the number of ways I use chicken broth. Try cooking your beans and rice in chicken broth, use it to make gravy, or make more yummy soup!

Here are a few of the recipes I have covered that use chicken (remember to substitute fresh ingredients whenever you can), and a couple of resources to check out:

Chicken and Udon Stir-fry

Poor Man's Pesto Pizza

Use What You Have Frittata

How to Cook Chicken - TLC (different methods)

Cutting Up a Whole Chicken from Nook and Pantry

How to Make the Best Chicken Stock in the World from Kitchen Stewardship

**This post is linked up to the Real Food Roundup at Naturally Knocked Up

"Healthified" Stuffed Chicken Parmesan

The only thing I didn't like about this meal is that there weren't any leftovers! :D

So yummy! I'm a big Chicken Cordon Bleu and stuffed chicken fan. This meal really hit the spot and was pantry challenge friendly since we had just about all of the ingredients in the freezer! Hubby and son gobbled theirs up as fast as I did mine! Success!

From the Eat Better America site:

"Healthified" Stuffed Chicken Parmesan

6	boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 5 oz each)
1	box (10 oz) Cascadian Farm® frozen organic cut spinach, thawed, well drained
2	oz 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened
1/4	cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2	teaspoon dried basil leaves
1	clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4	cup fat-free egg product
12	stone-ground wheat crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup)
1	teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2	teaspoon pepper
1	cup Muir Glen® organic Italian herb pasta sauce
1/4	cup shredded mozzarella cheese (1 oz)

1.	Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Between pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper, place each chicken breast smooth side down; gently pound with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick.
2.	In medium bowl, mix spinach, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, 1/2 teaspoon basil and the garlic until blended. Spread about 1 tablespoon spinach mixture over each chicken breast; roll up tightly. If necessary, secure with toothpicks.
3.	In small shallow bowl, place egg product. In another small shallow bowl, mix cracker crumbs, 1 teaspoon basil and the pepper. Dip each chicken breast into egg product; coat with crumb mixture. Place seam side down in baking dish.
4.	Bake uncovered 20 minutes. Pour pasta sauce over chicken; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 10 to 15 minutes longer or until thermometer inserted in center of chicken reads 165°F. Remove toothpicks from chicken before eating.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake uncovered 25 minutes. Add sauce and cheese; bake 8 to 12 minutes. My photos didn't turn out as pretty as theirs - we were in too much of a hurry to eat it! :D The only modifications I made were that I used homemade breadcrumbs from a slice of bread I dried out over the weekend, and I used fresh spinach that I microwaved for a few seconds to wilt. Served with bread and butter. This post is linked up to Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Head over to check out more yummy recipes!

Chicken and Udon Stir-fry and a Confession

Made a mid-week grocery run on Wed. night to beat the winter storm. You might remember that there was only $3 left in my budget for this week. I didn't anticipate running out of eggs, but I should have known better. When I say that eggs are a staple in our home I'm making a ridiculous understatement. We go through 30+ a week when there are three adults here! Silly me thought we could make 18 work this week, but nope. :)

So got my dozen eggs and a $1.48 bag of coleslaw veggies for Wed. night dinner:

What? There's more in that photo??? Ok, time for my confession:

I sometimes purchase items at the end of the week to use the next week or later if they are on sale and just subtract them from the next week's budget.

Anyone else? I made a non-food related stop at Target that night and saw that Annie's Mac & Cheese was on sale for $1/box!!!! That's Kraft prices, friends!!! I had to stop myself at 10 boxes!! How do you guys feel about my little splurge? Did I go "over budget" or did I just do a little shopping ahead? How strict are you with yourselves? I imagine that if you use a cash/envelope system you don't have much "choice" when it comes to staying within the limit you've set. Our checking account is also our savings account (we get 4% interest) so there's always plenty in it. It would never work for me if I were single - I am *not* that disciplined - but I am blessed with a very self-controlled husband who looks at every item on the statement so I'm plenty accountable.

On to the recipe!!! I had some udon noodles hiding in the back of my cabinet and some ginger in the freezer that I purchased for juicing half a year ago and only used a tiny bit of that I needed to use up so I went rummaging through my cookbooks and came across a recipe that at least provided meal inspiration. The recipe was for Grilled Asian Chicken and Noodles (from Healthy Eating During Pregnancy) and it used both of those ingredients but was for a cold salad. Did I mention that we are in the midst of a winter storm??? After a little brainstorming, I decided on a simple stir-fry with a yummy sauce. If I would have had frozen pre-cooked chicken this would have been a 10 minute meal! Super easy! Let me know if you try it out sometime!

Chicken Udon Stir-fry

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (boneless or bone-in if it's all you have)
8 oz. package of udon noodles
14 oz. bag of coleslaw mic (cabbage and carrots)
sauce:
1/2 cup tamari or soy sauce
2 tbs. sesame oil (olive oil works too)
2 tbs. rice vinegar (I used brown rice vinegar)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

Combine sauce ingredients in medium size bowl.
Preheat oven to 350.
Cook Udon noodles according to package directions, drain an set aside.
Place chicken breasts in baking dish without cover and brush sparingly with some of the sauce mixture. Bake until breasts reach meat-thermometer shows 170 degrees inside, brushing with liquid that comes off of chicken every 5 minutes or so. Set aside until cool enough to handle, cut into cubes/strips.
Empty coleslaw mix and remainder of sauce into a wok or very large saucepan on stovetop and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes.
Add noodles and chicken and cook for another 2 minutes while stirring continually.
Serve and enjoy!

Stretch Week

We have recently decided to get serious about our food budget. We have been very blessed to be able to live off of one income since our little one was born, but we still have some student loan debt to pay off so we've made a plan to 1) live off of 1/2 of our income and 2) budget for things like food and gas. July was our first full month of budgeting for food and while I am a pretty frugal shopper in general, setting a limit forced me to get creative near the end of the month. The result was nearly a week of hunting down new recipes online and subjecting my husband to all kind of interesting food combinations. Some of our meals were so fun that even though they don't all fit the pantry theme, I feel I have to share them. :) Along with some staples like fruit, salad, and cereal, this is how our week looked.

Stretch Week: Friday, July 25th -

Roasted a whole chicken

Made a Chicken Crescent Braid

Yummy and pretty! I modified the Pillsbury recipe for Roasted Garlic Turkey Crescent Braid by using chicken instead of turkey and skipping the sun dried tomatoes since I didn't have any on hand. I did have some baby spinach, however, so that got thrown in and was a perfect fit. I also left out the mushrooms.

Saturday, July 26th -

Went to the farmer's market and spent $10 on peaches, apples, 4 eggplants, and 2 "spaceship squash."

Made Peanut Butter Banana Bread (without the chocolate) from Peanut Butter Boy. Didn't get a picture b/c it was gone in a matter of minutes. lol!

Ate chicken sandwiches with mayo from whole chicken cooked Friday.

Sunday, July 27th -

Tuscan White Bean Salad from Elana's Pantry using two kinds of canned white beans with oven-roasted tomatoes from Gluten-free Girl - it was perfect! And the leftovers were even better on Monday!

hamburgers at a dinner party (free! wohoo!)

Monday, July 28th -

More chicken Sandwiches and leftovers. :) Easy-peasy.

Tuesday, July 29th -

Rustic Garlic Onion Pizza from Fun Foods on a Budget, with Beyond Salmon's Honey Garlic Grilled Eggplant on top.

I used way too much salt on the eggplant - but now I know. We picked a few pieces of eggplant off each piece and were good to go! The foccacia bread crust was the best.thing.ever.

Wednesday, July 30th -

Spaceship Squash Fritters from The Leftover Queen and 40 minute hamburger buns from Taste of Home. I didn't get a picture of these unfortunately, but they were GOOD!

And for lunch I whipped up some quinoa with tomatoes, garlic, and baby spinach.

Thursday, July 31st -

Falafel and pita bread from Iron Stef, and Eggplant Caviar from Sam Cooks.

I've gotta say - we ate well this week! I spent a lot more time cooking than usual but now I can log all of these away as having tried them and should I decide to make them again, it will go faster the second time around. Thanks lovely bloggers for the inspiration this week!

Chicken Crescent Calzones

Last week I needed to make a super-fast-and-easy meal for friends of mine who just welcomed their first baby. I also didn't have any money or time to go to the grocery store for fresh food. These calzones pared with salad greens topped with pine nuts and mushrooms (which I thankfully had on hand) ended up being yummy-looking enough that I didn't feel bad passing them on.

I used the recipe from the Pillsbury website for Chicken Crescent Calzones but modified the ingredients quite a bit. Here's the original recipe:

Ingredients:

1	(8-oz.) can Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
4	(2-oz.) slices oven-roasted chicken (from deli)
4	(1-oz.) slices Monterey Jack cheese
1	(8-oz.) can Green Giant® Mushroom Pieces and Stems, drained
1	egg, beaten
1/2	cup Progresso® Plain Bread Crumbs
1	(12-oz.) jar chicken gravy
1/4	cup sliced green onions
1/4	teaspoon paprika

Directions:

1.	Heat oven to 375°F. Spray cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2.	Separate dough into 4 rectangles. Firmly press perforations to seal. Press each to form 6x5-inch rectangle. Top each rectangle to within 1/2 inch of edge with slice of chicken, slice of cheese and 1 tablespoon of the mushrooms. Reserve remaining mushrooms for gravy. Fold dough in half, forming a square; pinch edges to seal. Dip each calzone in egg; coat with bread crumbs. Place on sprayed cookie sheet.
3.	Bake at 375°F. for 20 to 25 minutes or until deep golden brown.
4.	Meanwhile, in medium saucepan, combine gravy and reserved mushrooms; cook over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Serve gravy over calzones; sprinkle with onions and paprika.

I used only canned turkey, swiss cheese, and mushrooms instead of the suggested ingredients. I left out the gravy entirely and didn't top them with anything but panko (japanese bread crumbs). I plan on making them again soon with lots more yummy stuff inside. Stay tuned also for another yummy-looking recipe I found on the Pillsbury site - Roasted Garlic - Turkey Crescent Braid.

Poor Man's Pesto Pizza

There could be unending variations on this theme, this is what I threw together last night:

Ingredients:

1 ounce (2tbsp) olive oil
1 tbsp dried basil
2 packages leftover pizza hut grated parmesan
1 ounce pine nuts (small handful)
just-add-water pizza crust mix
dash of italian seasoning
dash of garlic powder
chunks of leftover chicken

Combine olive oil and basil in a bowl and let soak overnight if you have time.
Put oil and basil in blender, add parmesan and pine nuts. Puree for a few seconds, don't worry about there still being chunks of nuts - that adds to the texture.
In separate bowl, mix crust as directed but add italian seasoning and garlic powder.
Spread crust out onto baking sheet or pizza stone. Spread pesto out evenly over crust and add chicken. Bake as recommended (my crust called for 15 minutes or until golden brown).

Tips:
If you have any of these ingredients fresh, add them!!!
In a pinch, use canned chicken chunks or even tuna!
Leave out pine nuts or cheese if you don't have them.
Other nuts work well too. Try cashews or walnuts.
Roasted red peppers would make this dish perfect.