Chicken Packets

This is my favorite recipe from the Once a Month Cookbook that I mentioned yesterday. The Once a Month cooking concept is this: work hard in the kitchen one day, doing lots of prep cooking, chopping, and freezing so that the rest of the month the workload is minimal in the kitchen. This is a VERY efficient concept, and can save lots of time. If you are interested in the idea, I definitely recommend the book.

The positives to this approach are probably obvious, but I will briefly bullet point some of my thoughts:
-Gets the planning of meals knocked out for an entire month.
-Saves you money by not having to run to the store over and over again all month. (every time you go to the store you buy more than you anticipated)
-Find a sitter for a few hours one day so you can plug away at all the prep work, and not be so frazzled at dinner time the rest of the month if you are a mom with little kids who start nagging a lot around 4:30 each day. :)

Negative, from my opinion:
-There are lots of meals planned out in the book. Some are great; some not so great. If you are not a picky eater, and your family is open to eating whatever you set in front of them, this may be a great option for you. The chances, though, that you family would like all of the recipes on any given month long plan in the book is quite slim...which would require you to tweek each list, and meal plan outline, requiring more time.

What I do:
I love the concept of chopping, freezing food, and getting it available to use for future recipes. I chop and freeze lots of vegetables when they are a SWEET deal that is too good to pass up. The other week my grocery store had broccoli for 29 cents a pound! I bought 10 pounds of broccoli, steamed it, and froze it in ziploc bags for future recipes. Doing it this way saves money, saves time later, and creates less dishes to clean in the long run. The next time I need broccoli in a recipe, I will just thaw out what I need.

Having said all that, here's my FAVORITE one that I could eat everyday, if only it were healthy. :)


Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1 (6 -8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon chives, chopped
• 2 tablespoons milk
• salt
• 1/2 cup seasoned croutons, crushed to crumbs
• 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 1/4 cup melted margarine

Directions

Mix chicken, cream cheese, chives, milk, and salt in a medium bowl (mixing with hands works best) to make filling, and store in a 1 qt freezer bag.
Put crouton crumbs in another 1 qt bag, attach it to bag of chicken filling, and freeze.
Refrigerate crescent rolls.

To prepare for serving:

Thaw chicken mixture.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Unroll crescent rolls.
Each tube will contain 4 rectangles of dough with a diagonal perforation.
Press dough along each perforation so the rectangle halves will not separate.
Place about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture into the center of each rectangle.
Fold dough over the filling, and pinch the edges to seal tightly.
Dip each packet in melted margarine, and coat with crouton crumbs.

Place packets on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 8 packets.

Peanut Butter Syrup

The syrup in it's spreadable state a day later.

A while back we went to the Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg, TN and had ourselves a mighty sweet breakfast. My son ordered the kids pancakes which came with a beautiful dish of peanut buttery goodness. It was pancake syrup that tasted like peanut butter. The boys in my family went nuts. No pun intended.

So, I did some research. Looks like you can make a version of this syrup with Karo Syrup, but I did some modifications and came up with a yummy and nutritious version.

Peanut Butter
Honey
A Blender

On pancake morning I take peanut butter and warm honey and put them together in my blender. A Blend Tec has a "batter/syrup/dressing" button which can turn just about anything into well....batter, syrup or dressing. Its beautiful.

1. Step one. Heat honey on very low over the stove. Put into blender.
2. Step two. Add Peanut butter.
3. Step three. Blend well. Until smooth, creamy, and pourable.

I store this in a jar and it does solidify some, making it less of a syrup and more of a delightful spread. We use the remainder for apple dipping and tasty PB and J sandwiches.

ps....if using an industrial grade blender such as a vitamix or blendtec you do not have to warm the honey. The blender will warm and liqufy nicely. 

Balkan Meatballs

This recipe comes from my Once a Month Cooking Cookbook, written by Mary Beth Lagerborg, Mimi Wilson. It was not one of our favorites, and we will not be doing it again. Tomorrow I will be posting one of my favorites from this book, so be sure to check back for CHICKEN PACKETS!! They are very yummy, ooo la laa. You'll see.


For Meatballs
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup seasoned croutons
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. Ginger
1/4 tsp. Ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Ground Allspice
1 pound Ground beef (I just used ground turkey)
1/2 pound Ground turkey
1 small Onion minced
(8 ounces wide egg noodles)

For White sauce:
2 Tbs. Butter
1/4 cup Flour
2 cups milk
1/2 ounce parsley for garnish

Directions:
In a medium size mixing bowl, beat egg with milk. Mix in the crushed croutons, salt, sugar, and spices. Add ground beef, turkey and onion. Mix thoroughly. Preheat oven to broil. Shape meat into meatballs the size of walnuts. Place meatballs on a rimmed cookie sheet; broil until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Cool. Put meatballs in 1 - gallon freezer bag and freeze.

To prepare for serving. Thaw meatballs. Cook noodles according to package directions. At the same time prepare white sauce in a large skillet. Melt butter over low heat. Add flour stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly. (Okay, here's the part I don't get. Directions say smooth and bubbly, but if you add flour to melted butter, you get goop. Anyway, maybe this is why the recipe wasn't amazing to me...maybe I did something wrong?)

Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling over medium heat stirring constantly. Boil and stir one minute until smooth and thick. Add meatballs to sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover pan; simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve meatballs and sauce over wide egg noodles. Chop Parsely and serve over top.

(A special thanks to my husband, who finished the last steps of this recipe and took the remaining pictures for our website. You're my sweetheart, Scott Michael Hughes, and I appreciate all your do to support me. Thank you.)

Here's what's coming your way this week

Alisha Meal Plan for the week

Two of my recipes this week are from my Once a Month Cookbook, which means that two of these meals can be frozen and eaten later. Come back this week to find out which recipes they are. Here's what I get to share with you this week:

Monday: Balkan Meatballs
Tuesday: Chicken Packets
Wednesday: Seasoned Chicken with Rice and Veges
Thursday: BBQ Chicken Stuffed Pizzas
Friday: Asian Beef Dinner

Sunday: Spaghetti Squash

I am hoping that my experience can be yours also. It makes for a great and very frugal meal. During the fall season we stocked up on all types of squash. This made feeding a baby a breeze, plus gave us several go-to easy meals. Stick a squash in the oven, slap on some butter, and serve type of meals. Those are good every now and then.

As the squash season is ending I thought we would have to make do with what squash we had left until next year. I have so much summer squash I can not think straight and thus ignore it in the depths of my freezer. But, winter squash which screams for brown sugar and butter....oh...I could eat you every day. This year our garden did not do well, with the exception of the late blooming squash which overtook everything. We have left four spaghetti, several butternut, and  a lonely acorn. If kept cool in the cellar they should last nicely until March or even April. I covet them. I know, not good to covet.

Here is what I hope you might be able to find as well (in case you like squash too and are running low!)~ many stores in our area have beautiful squash on clearance. Our organic food shop has huge, sweet, fall and winter squash on clearance for mere dimes and nickles! I guess now that autumn is over people have moved past squash, but you should not because it keeps incredibly well, is a power house of goodness, and can be made into many wonderful meals for your family. So, check out the squash clearance that may be happening in your area and stock up. Keep those squash cool and dim and they will hold well for you.

This is a spaghetti squash. They do not always look like this. I paid a buck twenty-five  for this pretty boy at the farmers market. 

Take this guy and....ready for the hard part...?

1. Stick him on a baking sheet, in the oven, for 1 hour. Maybe a little more. Maybe a little less. Probably around 350 degrees. You are baking him until he is nice and soft.

2. Once that has been accomplished remove the squash and let it cool for a moment so that you can get your hands on it.

3. Cut it in half, remove seeds, and then using a fork scrape our the insides.

4. Place the strands of squash, which will resemble spaghetti noodles, onto a saute pan with a little bit of fresh garlic and some butter.

5. Put onto plates, pour your favorite marinara sauce on tops, grate a little parm cheese, and serve.

A roll and salad go along perfectly!  By the way, my kids are a very good eaters BUT I do think that this dish is so savory, flavorful, and familiar (even though its squash not noodles!) that many children would eat it. This is a very good way to introduce picky tots to nutritious food!

Ultra/ Town and Country Coupon Deals for the week of 12/2-12/8

I have the privilege of helping out my friend, Claire, over at Mummydeals, this month. She is one of many moms who has taken on the task of supplying us with coupon match-ups on a regular basis. She'll be having a baby in the near future and asked that I cover her Ultra/ Town and Country coupon deals for the month of December, and into January, so here they are. If you are in an area that has either of those grocery stores, read on, and see if there are any deals you might want to snag this week...

These deals will start Thursday, December 2...
FOUR DAY SALE (with in-ad store coupon and additional $10 purchase. Limit one for each)

Centrella Milk $1.78

Folgers $5.88
Use $1/1 from RP 11/07/10
Final Price: $4.88 each!

Diamond Shelled Walnuts $2.88
Use $2/2 or $.50/1 from RP 11/07/10 (keeping in mind that the $2.88 price is a limit of one)
Final Price: As low as $1.88 for one
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Progresso Soup $.88 each (limit 4)
Use $1/4 from GM 10/03/10, SS 11/21/10, GM 11/14/10, or SS 10/24/10
Final Price: $2.52/4 or $.63 each

Charmin Basic Bath Tissue 2/$10
Use $1/1 from P&G 11/28/10
Final Price: $4 each

Tide Liquid Laundry Detergent $14.88
Use $1/1 from P&G 11/28/10
Final Price: $13.88

Skippy $.88 each when you buy 2 with in-ad coupon
(in-ad coupon is a manufacturer coupon, and therefore, cannot be combined with another manufacturer coupon)

Toll House Nestle Morsels $1.48 each (limit 2)
Use $1/2 from here
Final Price: $1.96/2

Bar-S Franks 10/$10
Use $1/2 from here
Final Price: $1/2 or $.50 each

Crisco Vegertable Oil, 128 oz. $4.99
use $.55/1 from RP 11/07/10
Final Price: $4.44 each

Contadina Tomato Paste $.59
Use $1/3 from RP 09/26/10
Final Price $.77/3 or $.26 each

Palermo's Pizza 2/$8
Use $1/1 from here
Final Price: $ 3 each

Hershey's Chocolate Milk $.79
Use $.35/1 from here or here
Final price: $.44 each! (My kids are going to be really excited when I bring this one home!)

Starting Thursday, December 2, you will be able to view the circular for this week on the Town & Country website here. (Ultra and Town & Country offer the exact same sales each week, but operate under a different store name.)

Have fun grocery shopping this week!

Cereal Swap

We have been working hard around here to get rid of all things processed. It has not been a breeze, as it is an entire lifestyle change. Perhaps, if we had a working farm the change would be more inviting, more natural, a bit less fighting against the tide like. That is how I feel, which is a post I hope to write up soon and share. I do not live on a farm. I have to organize my dairy, produce, meat very well in order to obtain in locally without weekly driving to kingdom come to pick up a carton of eggs. I live far from a farm. I live right down the road from a Wal-Mart actually, so living a sustainable lifestyle of whole foods on a one income family budget has been trying to say the least and I am feeling like I need to share the up's and down's of this experience.

But, not yet. This morning I just wanted to share something encouraging I came across. A little discovery that brought me a lot of joy this morning.

Prior to our whole foods adventure my family ate a lot of cereal, both for breakfast and as a snack. It is one element of our food choices now that I believe my husband misses. The guy misses cereal. And, despite not watching much TV or having really ever been introduced to much cereal my four year old son knows that a bowl of puffed millet is not the same thing as fruity-o's.We do purchase cereal. Once a month I spend ten dollars on pre-made cereal such as Panda Puffs as a treat for my family. But, a bag of panda puffs go fast around here! My husband used to enjoy Honey Smacks. This is no longer a cereal we have in our home. This morning I made a discovery.

If you take a bowl of Arrowhead Mills Puffed Rice Cereal, which runs about $1.50 a bag, and put a bit of raw unrefined sugar on top, and add a few diced bananas you have created a bowl of cereal that resembles Honey Smacks but is tastier and significantly better for you (or the little tummy you are serving).
It is Honey Smacks without any corn syrup, preservatives, or fillers. And, its frugal.

This is so simple. And, that is exactly what I needed today. Last night I stayed up until midnight trying to make my own yogurt. Well, darn thing looks as though it did not turn out.  I needed a little victory this morning in the shape of a bowl, spoon, and sweet cereal filled smile saying, "Ohh, Momma this is delicious!"

Arrowhead Mills puffed cereal can be found at natural food stores, the organic section of many groceries, and online.