Menu Planning: This Week: Chicken

Hi All,

Time for menu planning:  this will be a shortened menu planning, as we are going rv-ing on Friday afternoon (see previous post re need help).. and I have leftover pizza for tonight.  So, this leaves Wednesday and Thursday.  I'm hoping to make only 1 shopping trip to the grocery store this week to get me through till Tuesday when we return.  So, please post either here or on facebook your menu ideas!

My kids love chicken (well sometimes).. Ms J will eat the chicken usually fried in some form.. Lil'Chef A declares every once in a while that she hates chicken.  I don't blame her it's the only thing her sister eats without fussing, so it a staple.

Staples:  So I've been thinking about having regular meal staples.  Usually, I'm so excited about having new recipes that I wouldn't say that we have staples.  Does your family have staples? How often do you rotate?  I'm thinking about incorporating in 4 or 5 staples each month.. maybe 1 or 2 a week?  Might be really good for the budget! 

Sorry, I regress...     Something my picky Ms. J will eat is build your own tacos.  So my chicken has to be either ground or shredded.  Got it!  I'll cook up some baked chicken tenders (breaded with panko breadcrumbs, salt, white pepper, little paprika, little cumin...)  Then I will shred leftovers & put out a bit of lettuce (which they won't touch), tomatoes (ditto on the touching), sour cream, salsa and tortillaland tortillas!  

Thank you for your support!  

T

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Foodie-Mom-on-a-Budget/219392891406455

Around the world in 80 meatballs?

Hello All,


Thank you to my friends and family that have "liked" the facebook page.  Please encourage more friends to "like" and post your comments.  I know a large part of this blog is for my own entertainment but I do love cooking, cooking ideas, recipes, etc.  Please lets try to make this blog a bit more interactive.. I hope we all get more out of it that way.


On that note, check out this t-shirt: http://planetmomtshirts.com/benitomemita.html  I had to laugh!  But at $28 a t-shirt, a bit out of the budget!


Around the world in 80 meatballs!  Well, I ran out of time to roll and make all the meatballs, I am a foodie mom of 3.. So, I concocted something truly delicious last night and will use as a base protein for the rest of the week.  This is the key to my "foodie mom philosophy".. make one protein and use it in as many recipes throughout the week as possible.


I went shopping at my local "Whole Foods Market".  I was a little nervous because I am on a budget and they can be expensive.  I went there almost exclusively to check out their meat department.  I was not disappointed.  Beautiful meat, nice looking chickens, kosher chickens which I'm dying to try to see if there is a difference.. But alas I bought 2 pounds of ground beef 22% fat.  Why not just buy the chicken??  Well, my kids don't eat beef in any form.. I'll save the chicken for next week anticipating better results at the dinner table.  


What to do with 2 lbs of beef...  First, I sauteed a medium white onion in a few tablespoons of olive oil.  While that was cooking, I grated 2 large garlic cloves and threw that in when the onion was cooked clear.  When I could smell the garlic, next I crumbled in the 2 lbs of beef (which I had let come to room temp) and browned.  Then I drained most of the fat/oil out and returned to my pan. I put in 1.5 cups of hot beef broth, kosher salt, pepper and cumin to taste and simmered till the broth evaporated.  Just before the broth was gone (I mean you could see the bottom of the pan pretty clearly).. I put in 1/2 cup of spinach. I'm trying to sneak in veggies where I can and finished evaporating the broth.


I let it cool just a bit and put the majority of beef into a separate storage container for the rest of the week.   The remainder, I seasoned with chili powder, cayenne and a bit more cumin as filling for our Mexican (No. America) burrito filling!!


Find of the week!!!  While trolling the deli section of Whole Foods, I found something that I've never seen and will definitely be buying again!  Raw Tortillas! The tortillas are from "Tortilla Land".. "Fresh, Uncooked Tortillas: All Natural: Made with Canola Oil: No Cholesterol (huge concern for my family) and No Saturated Fat"!    You just heat them up in a dry skillet over medium heat for 30 sec per side! My house smelled AMAZING!  Definitely pick them up or ask your grocery store to carry them!


Tonight, going to Italy for some calzones!  Going to simmer my beef mixture in some home made tomato sauce and cook in refrigerated pre-made pie crusts!   


Talk to you soon.
T