Saturday, October 24, 2009

Honey chicken legs & Homemade applesauce

My friend Molly was on Facebook this morning asking about applesauce. Immediately I wanted to make some. SO easy and delicious! Tonight's chicken is inspired by $5 dinners.

2 lbs chicken legs (I got them on sale for $0.91/lb!)
1/2 c honey
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp minced garlic

Place chicken in a gallon bag. Whisk together honey, olive oil, ginger, cinnamon and garlic. Pour over chicken. Seal bag, and shake. Let sit in fridge for 30+ minutes (ours sat for two hours.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken in a baking dish, and pour whatever marinade remains in the bag over the chicken. Bake for one hour.

5 red apples
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 c water
cinnamon (optional)

Peel apples, remove core, and dice. Place into a slow cooker. Pour lemon juice and water over apples, and stir to coat. Add cinnamon as desired. Stir. Cover; cook on low 4-6 hours, until apples are very soft. Mash with a potato masher. Chill in refrigerator.

*I added too much water, so I used a slotted spoon to remove the apples, then mashed them in a separate dish. I've scaled down the amount of water here to what appears to be the correct amount. :)

Friday, October 23, 2009

Pasta with Pink Sauce

As I said earlier, I'm on day seven of a cold. I've been exhausted. Twice I put something in the slow cooker, once I went through the drive-thru, and the rest of the meals have been pulled from the freezer. Tonight was the first night that I've cooked in a week, if you can even call this that. ;) The groceries that I bought last weekend are still sitting on the counter. In that pile, is my good deal of last week. The store up the street had Classico sauce 2/$5 PLUS you got two boxes of pasta for free if you bought two sauces. So, this meal (which will feed us twice) was only $2.50 total! Can't wait to tell hubby that his dinner was only $1.25! :)

1 lb. pasta (I used bow-tie)
24 oz. meat-less spaghetti sauce (store-bought or homemade)
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

Boil pasta in salted water. Meanwhile, heat sauce in a sauce pan. When warm (but not yet hot), stir in heavy cream. Heat through, without boiling. Toss pasta and sauce together, and enjoy!

*Usually I'd make French bread in the bread machine during naptime, so that it was hot and ready for dinner, but I'm just not feeling it today. Maybe next time.

Blech.

I am on day seven of being sick. I am not enjoying it.

More food later.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Slow Cooker Poppyseed Chicken

This was very cheap, very easy, filling and good.

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts ($1.29 on sale)
1 bottle Creamy Poppyseed salad dressing ($0.98 on sale)
1 lb. fresh broccoli florets ($0.98 on sale)
1 lb. pasta ($0.99)

Place chicken in slow cooker, then pour dressing over top. Cover; cook on low 4-6 hours (my chicken was frozen, and was still done in just under four hours, so watch the chicken more than the time.) Set a pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Add broccoli to slow cooker, and return cover. Serve chicken, broccoli and "sauce" over cooked pasta.

Total: $4.24
We had enough to make at least two meals out of this, so it comes in at $2.12 (or LESS)PER MEAL. :)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Baked Pork & Apples

Photo courtesy of onceamonthmom.com

Delicious! We've had this a few times, and we're always scraping out every last bite that we can. Yes, it's that good! Thanks to Once a Month Mom!

Baked Pork and Apples

4 large pork chops
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 granny smith apples, cored and sliced thickly
1/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cold butter, diced small

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Brown pork chops in oil on both sides. Place apple slices in a greased baking dish. Top with brown sugar and cinnamon, then dot with butter. Top with browned pork chops. Cover with foil, and bake for 1.5 hours.

Great with rice, rolls, broccoli and/or sweet potatoes!