Lots and Lots of Chicken

I bought 6 packages of Tyson Chicken Breast on the bone for .99 cents a pound. My total bill was $15.39. I brought it home...rinsed it all and put it in 2 large pots, fill with water to cover..add 1 stalk of celery to each pot. Bring to a boil...reduce to simmer..cover and cook for 1 hour.

I have 18 huge pieces of chicken from this batch. I personally prefer to have boned chicken when I am boiling it but I use boneless sometimes as well. I always use boneless to grill.

I pulled all the chicken and cut it into chunks.....Skimmed the fat off of the broth. I used 3 breasts tonight for our dinner. Chicken and rice...YUM a family favorite! I put about 1 cup in a small baggie and spooned a few teaspoons of broth over it so it wouldn't dry out and stuck it into the fridge for quesadillas tomorrow night. I made homemade chicken salad with part for lunch over the next few days. The rest I divided into family size portions for Chicken Soup, and Chicken Pot Pie for later. This saves me money and time!

Sweet Onions!!

I am so tired of trying to undo whatever I did to make my blog mess up??? I have a ton of pictures that I have taken of some really great recipes but because it is all messed up..I can't! Anyway...I'm going to give you one of my favorite summer time side dishes....I will write it all out and then put a few pictures to follow.

Start with a nice sweet onions...Vidalias are my pick here in the south! Cut the top..peel the onion leaving the bottom in tact. Use your knife and scoop out the top. Put onion on a piece of foil...drizzle top with olive oil. Put about 1/4 pat of butter on the top...garlic salt and pepper. Put a small piece of beef bullion or a small amount of granules if that is what you have. Wrap foil around onion and twist at the top. Place onion in a baking dish. Bake for 1 hour at 350. These are great to take to cookouts...they pull apart so easily and are so wonderful!

OK..I hope these are in order??? If not you will have to figure it our...cause once I put them in I can't change them!!!
Nope they are backwards????

Perfect Green beans

Think that green beans are hard to cook? I have a fool proof solution. I use canned cut green beans from Del Monte or Green Giant...sometimes I use blue lake cut green beans. For each can(do not drain the juice) that I use I put 1/4 teaspoon olive oil (I like the extra light)and 1/4 teaspoon beef bouillon granules or you can use 1/4 of a bouillon cube. Bring all to a boil for 10 minutes then reduce heat to low for 20 minutes.

If you prefer frozen...add enough water to cover completely and follow the same portions as above except cook for 40 minutes on low after boiling.

Try it...I promise they will not dissapoint!

Apple Crisp

Something funky is going on with my Blog...all my pictures are in html form until I actually publish which makes it crazy to know where to write??? So I will write it all here and you can scroll down to see the pictures?

We make this dish all the time here...sometimes for breakfast and sometimes for dessert. Start with 8 medium to large apples...I use Fuji or Gayla...peel and slice into thin strips. Place in a large casserole dish with a lid. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.....there isn't an exact science here...it depends on your taste....I put about 2 Tablespoons of each on mine. Top with 4 slices of butter.

Cover and microwave for 10 min. take out and stir the mixture well....cook for another 10 min. They are done when they are very soft but not mush.....Many times we eat them with our dinner just like this..no topping just the apples..yummy!

You may need to put them back in the microwave if they are not quite ready.

Topping

2 cups old fashion oats(this would be the kind you have to cook)
2/3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar(you can substitute 3/4 c honey)
1 stick butter....softened

mix all together in a large bowl.....it will seem as if it will not mix....just keep stirring and mashing with the back of a large spoon until you have a crumbly mixture.

Using a 9 x 13 pan.....glass or metal....scoop the apples out with a slotted spoon....you do not want all the juice...don't try to drain just spoon over into the larger bowl so that you keep some juice.

Using the back of your spoon, smooth the apples out evenly in the pan. Sprinkle the crumbly mixture all over the top of the apples. Bake for 40 minutes on 375.

I LOVE crock pots....I have the one pictured below..it holds 6 quarts and it is pretty.....not that that helps the cooking but it helps me every time I walk in and see it! I use mine all the time. They are relatively inexpensive...I have 2....my other one is small for dips and things like that.

Yesterday morning I loaded it up with boneless skinless chicken breasts......15 to be exact(on sale at Kroger last week :) I filled in all the way up with water. I didn't season these at all because of what I needed them for but sometimes I do this for chicken soup and I season the water. I turned it on low and left it for 10 hours. Oh my goodness...TENDER!!!!

This is the breakdown of how I used the meat.......6 chicken and cheese (remember all that free cheese!!) quesadillas. I would normally use 3 for my family but I was feeding another family of 6. It really doesn't take a whole lot of meat on these.



5 chicken breasts I used to make Ritz cracker caserole.....we don't eat many caseroles but this one is so good.....1 can cream of chicken soup......3/4 cup sour cream(you can't taste it I promise!) 1 sleeve Ritz crackers(Iuse the whole wheat kind) 1/2 stick of butter

Shread chicken with fingers and put on the bottom of pan...I usean oval casserole dish.....9x5 mix soup and sour cream together and spread over the top of the chicken. Crush crackers over mixture and drizzle melted butter over all. Bake 30 min. at 375 I serve with veggies and a salad.




The remaining 4 chicken breasts I froze covered in the broth and I will use them at another date either for quesadillas or for chicken and rice. Either way the crock pot was already running so why not load it up....now I am partly ready for another meal.

Meals.

One of the hardest things for me to get used to in regards to coupons was meal planning. It took a little juggling but I am pretty good at it now. For the most part I get the same type things over and over again so I can plan based on what I know I will get....for instance I regularly get spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, tomato paste and pasta. I collect all the supplies and wait for a really good sale on hamburger meat. I get my biggest pot and dump in everything.

One little trick I learned about cooking hamburger meat...you probably know this but I'll tell you anyway....brown meat slowly and stir frequently, this will help it to be tender. I have made the mistake of rushing the cooking time by turning the heat up...not good! I'm not very patient so this is hard for me! :)

I put it all together and then put as much of it as I can fit into my huge crock pot...on low...all day.....this just simmers it all together without burning to the bottom. I simmer the rest on top of the stove for 1 hour and then I use that sauce to make up 2-3 pans of lasagna. I cook these for 30 min..,...which is half way....cool, cover tightly and freeze. I have a convection setting on my oven so I can load it up with all three pans at once...if you do not have this...you can load your oven up as well but you will want to move everything around after 15 min.

We eat spaghetti the first night out of the crock pot and then I divide the cooled sauce into gallon freezer bags for another day. I am not one to have a "cook for the month day," but there are many things like spaghetti sauce that I make in huge batches.....seriously I make about 4 gallons at a time in 2 huge pots...my thinking is that it really isn't much more work but it saves me greatly in time later and if I am going to heat up the oven and use the stove anyway..it saves me there as well.

If you have a small family...you may not want to do 4 gallons :) but you can do 3 - 4 times the amount needed for your family. One of the great things about freezing spaghetti sauce is that if you have unexpected company...you can pull a bag out......set it in a large bowl of warm water and quiclky thaw to have a fast home-cooked meal!

Perfect Roast

I grew up on roast......amazing roast! Everyone who came to our house on Sunday ate my mama's roast and they all moaned and groaned because it was so amazing. The great thing is that is so very simple! I like Eye Round because of the way it slices but I also buy other cuts...like bottom round. The main thought behind good roast is low heat for a long time! Since I am using the oven so long...I load it up...I buy 2 whole eye round......about 5-7 pounds each....I serve it the first night with veggies and then I separate enough meat for "French Dip" sandwiches the second night. I divide the rest of the meat into meal size portions for more "French Dip" sandwiches and freeze for later.

So here we go...I promise you are going to love this! Preheat oven to 250
Rinse the meat...do not cut off the fat....trust me!
Place each piece of meat in a large oven safe dutch oven or large pan.
Sprinkle the top of the roast with garlic salt and pepper....plain ole table pepper...the dusty kind....I've tried the course variety...not so good. You want to use a whole lot of pepper.....cover the roast(like in the picture below). With the garlic salt you want a good even coating but not as heave as the pepper...I'm sorry that is the best that I can do.....it is hard when you cook without recipes! :)








Put 1 cup of water into the bottom of each pan, cover tightly with foil as I did or if you are using a large dutch oven...put the lid on! I put the meat in the oven at 11 PM before I went to bed. Warning...you may wake up in the middle of the night really...really hungry! I cooked 2 whole roasts for 14 hours at 250. If you have less time you can go to 300 for 7 -8 hours. I checked them at 12, and 13 hours, I wanted them to be fork tender.

When they were done...I turned the oven off and mixed up the goodness for the top. First mix the Au Jus Gravy according to the package...I used 3 packages for all the meat I made. Now you have a few choices at this point. I usually remove the meat from the pan......dip off the fat......strain the juice and combine with the Au Jus.....but sometimes....like this time....I left the meat so long that all the juice was gone....there was just dark coating left so I just used the Au Jus mixture....still delish! You can thicken the gravy at this point with corn starch.....I'll show you that trick another time....we prefer our gravy thin...my mom prefers it thick...same great taste...different texture.



Now put the meat on a large cutting board......See how crusty the outside is......oh that is so good....sometimes mine isn't quite this crusty.....that is fine as well.....you are looking for fork tender.


Now you will want to trim the meat first. There will be a layer of fat that will come off very easily...Just cut and pull with at fork and knife.




Turn the roast until you see this membrane....pull it off....it will come off in big sections. You will mainly see this on eye round roasts.

Now for the fun part.....thin slices.......OH MY GOODNESS!!!! This is making me hungry! Put the slices back in the pan and poor the Au Jus gravy all over it....I try to let it sit about 30 min. in the gravy...covered! Heavenly!

Who's a Turkey?

I bought a few Turkeys after Christmas when they were on an amazing sale and I froze them. This is one that we ate the last week of our "eat on $10" deal. Yummy! I sprinkled it with pepper and garlic salt and cooked it according to the directions that came with the turkey. Super easy!! We ate it the first night with veggies and then I cut the rest of the meat off and sealed it good and tight and we ate turkey sandwiches for the next several days.

Chocolate anyone?

This is one of my families favorite desserts. It is always a favorite when I make it for guests as well. It is light and yummy. I got this recipe from a good friend 20 years ago...Keith Farr...he used to bring it to gatherings at church and it was always the first to go! The best part is that it is better the next day so it is a great "make a head dish." First mix jell-o and milk for 3 minutes.
Leave pudding in bowl to set while you prepare the pan. Rub a few pats of softened butter in the bottom and sides of 9X13 pan.
Put one layer of graham crackers in the bottom...this doesn't have to be pretty just covered.





Now fold in the cool whip until thoroughly incorporated but not over mixed.



Ooooo doesn't this look yummy....I may have dipped into this once???twice????? well more than I should have! :)


Pour half the mixture over the crackers....then another layer of crackers and the second half of the batter. And top off with a third layer of crackers. Cover and put it in the fridge while you make the topping.


Now for the best part.......mix cocoa, corn syrup, powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and milk together and pour over top layer of crackers.....spread carefully with the back of a spatula or spoon. Here is a trick....spray the back of the spatula or spoon with Pam...then spreading will go much easier.

















Oh my goodness....look at all that yummy goodness! I think I need to have a chocolate break!
Graham Pudding Pie

2 3.4 boxes French Vanilla instant pudding
3 Cups milk ( I use skim or 1%)
1 8oz. cool whip
1 box Graham Crackers...plain variety

Topping
1/4 Cup Cocoa
4 Tablespoons Light Corn Syrup
6 cups powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons softened butter
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cups of milk (mix together and add a few more drops at a time if the mixture is too thick)

Put back in the fridge until ready to serve.....stay out of it......seriously...not a bite!!

Potatoes

I love potatoes in just about any shape form or fashion. This may be a bad thing! The scales seem to agree that I love potatoes a little too much! Anyway these are wonderful...easy and delicious.
Cut your potatoes into thin bite size slices into a bowl.
Pour a small amount of olive oil onto potatoes...this is not an exact science....I cut up about 8 cups of potatoes and put about 3 Tablespoons of oil...but I am feeding 7....so cut up the amount you need and put just enough oil so that they will be very lightly coated...not greasy.
I melted 1 Tablespoon of butter and poured it on the potatoes. Then toss them.

Place them in a pan single layered I do not literally put them single layer but you do not want to pile them on top of each other or they will not cook evenly. Then add seasoning...I put pepper, lightly sprinkle with garlic salt. I have used red pepper as well.
Cook in a preheated 450 oven for 20 minutes or until potatoes turn nice and golden brown. Oh my goodness...you are not going to believe how good these are and so easy to prepare!