Monday, April 30, 2012

April 30-May 6

The menu this week is chock full of new recipes! 5 new recipes....yes indeed, five. I totally go in swings like this: cooking a new adventure every day one week, to just using my favorite standards the next. That's one reason I love how my confidence in the kitchen has developed these past few years: following a new recipe or learning a new technique isn't daunting at all any more, since I know how to prepare myself and what to expect. So: onwards with the new culinary discoveries!

Monday
  •  Bankok Marinated Chicken. I bought this Peanut Satay Sauce on a whim, and this was what was recommended to do with it. Hope it's good! I also threw some of the sauce into the marinate.
  • Grilled pepper and onions, on skewers.
Tuesday
  • Subway
Wednesday
  • Chicken Enchilada Casserole. This has most of the same ingredients as the enchiladas I love so much, so it will be a major score if I can throw all that tasty-ness into a casserole and have it come out just as yummy! We'll see. :)
  • Salad
Thursday
  •  Sweet and Spicy Citrus Tilapia. I just buy individually frozen tilapia fillets at our no-frills grocery store Aldi. They come out to about $2.50/lb! Obviously fresh would be better, but for that price and convenience, I'm not being picky.
  • Orzo, with butter, parmesan, and fresh basil
  • Steamed Green Beans
Friday
  • Marinated Grilled Chicken
  • Gourmet Mushroom Risotto. Risotto is very time consuming, but incredibly, fantastic-ly rewarding. This is definitely a treat for us, since it's time intensive and uses expensive ingredients. I've found that the key to getting that super creamy texture is the slow addition of the hot liquid, and stir, stir, stir. The constant stirring isn't mainly to keep it from burning, as I thought, but actually makes it more creamy...something about cooking more evenly and releasing something from the rice. haha. To make my risotto, I use a combination of the title linked recipe and this Bacon and Wild Mushroom Risotto with Spinach recipe from cooking light. This time, I used the first link, combined with the bacon, shallots, thyme, and cheese from the second recipe.
  • Salad
    Saturday
    • Cranberry-Orange Scones. Thank you Pinterest...you are dearly loved. I have a college friend coming  to visit on Sunday and Monday, and thought these would be a nice thing to have around. Oh, who am I kidding, they look delicious and I would make them anyway. :)
    • Leftovers
    Sunday
    •  Tuna Melts with Avocado. Avocados are on sale this week, and I am rejoicing! Avocados are pretty much my favorite. Sliced on sandwiches, diced on salads, plain with ranch, guacamole....you get the idea. I probably will look up some new tasty uses for avocados next week, since they are in season for a while.

    Friday, April 27, 2012

    April 23-29

    Monday
    Tuesday
    •  Chicken Salad in Pita Pockets (for quick, clean on-the-go dinner)
    Wednesday
    • Marinated Grilled Tilapia. I made my own marinate out of caesar dressing, 3-cheese italian dressing, lemon juice, and dijon mustard,
    • Baked Potatoes....with sour cream (or actually Fage Greek yogurt), bacon bits, and cheddar cheese
    • Green Salad with bell pepper, tomato, cucumber, and sunflower seeds
    Thursday
    Friday
    •  Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca. I really liked this last time, but had to substitute poultry seasoning for the sage leaves. This time I bought sage leaves, so hopefully it will be even better!
    • Angel Hair Pasta with lemony-butter sauce
    • Green Salad
    Saturday
    • Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Muffins . I made a big batch of these midway through the week (the secret is out, now you know I back-posted this!), wrapped them individually in wax paper, and froze them. They are SO good...both the canadian bacon kind and the sausage ones. This provides a much more balanced breakfast than my normal plain Special K, and incredibly quick to just pop in the microwave, wrapping and all! And also, my came out to about $0.80 each, which makes them quite the cost effective breakfast!
    • Caprese Wraps with Chicken. This is a new recipe that looks quite tasty and quick!
     Sunday
    • Chicken Marsala. I don't actually use a recipe for this, but here's a good starting one! Make extra sauce for the potatoes. :)
    • Mashed Potatoes
    • Salad

    Sunday, April 15, 2012

    April 16-22

    Monday
    Tuesday
    • Subway
    • Strawberries and Cream Pie. This is my week to bring dessert to our Bible study. Oh. My. Goodness. This is seriously to die for. Like, as soon as it was gone, I was trying to figure out if I had the ingredients to make it again. Even without an excuse. It's that good.
     Wednesday
    Thursday
    Friday
    •  Crab Alfredo w/ Mushrooms. Don't have a recipe for this. I'll just use canned alfredo sauce, saute some mushrooms, and use imitation crab with whole wheat pasta.
    • Salad
    Saturday
    Sunday
    • Leftovers

    Tuesday, April 10, 2012

    April 9-15

    My budget is happy. Since I've started being more disciplined about my recording my menus and sticking to them, my grocery budget has been going further. This past week, we spent Easter with family, and I spent about $12 to contribute to the meal, and last week we also bought a pizza for dinner one night. Even with that, this week I still had $13 left over in my food envelope! Huzzah!

    Monday
    • Marinated grilled chicken. Used 3-Cheese Italian and Caesar dressing for the marinade
    • Caesar Roasted Cabbage. I hate cabbage. But it's so super cheap, and this recipe actually looked good, so I tried it. Very glad I did....yummy!
    • Roasted red potatoes. I put a sauce over them of butter, sour cream, dijon mustard, and mozzerella cheese.
    Tuesday
    • Taco Bus on our way to Bible study. It's an authentic mexican place that is literally in a parked bus. A huge burrito is $5, and it's enough for us to share. yum!
    Wednesday
    • Hamburgers. I form them myself...none of this wasting money to buy the pre-done ones. Also, this way I can put tasty-ness in! This time, I plan to knead fresh garlic and barbeque sauce into the patties, and stuff them with bacon bits and cheddar cheese. And along with the regular toppings, I will sauté mushrooms and green peppers
    • salad
    Thursday
    •  Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pasta
    • Vegetable Medley. This is a classic summer dish for me, when all the ingredients are cheap. Sauté sliced zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers, and mushrooms up in a bit of olive oil or butter. Season with Mrs. Dash, and melt parmesan cheese over everything.
    Friday
    Saturday
    • Fresh bread (in my bread maker)
    • Chicken Stir-fry. I just buy the bags of frozen stir-fry vegetables that already have the sauce packets, and use cooked chicken cubes and brown rice. Fast, easy, healthy. Perfect for the weekend
    Sunday
    • Leftovers/Freezer meals

    Sunday, April 1, 2012

    April 2-8

    Monday
    Tuesday
    • Subway
    Wednesday
    • Chicken Yakisoba . New recipe...looks quite yummy! It uses ramen noodles without the spice packet for the base, which is intriguing. I hope it's good, cause ramen noodles are so super cheap.
    • Seseme Soy Green Beans
    Thursday
    Friday
    • Chicken Salad pita pockets. We'll be eating in the car on our way to Chattanooga for Easter. This is a great alternative to fast food!
    • Fruit (whatever we have leftover from the week)
    Weekend : I'll be out of town with family for Easter, so no cooking for this girl!