I'd like to take a second and introduce you to Connie from Smockity Frocks! Every 2 weeks, she'll be sharing how she feeds her family of 10 on a budget! First up... This Chicken Spaghetti is a real crowd pleaser! When I make this meal, I cook and debone a whole chicken. This provides me with plenty of meat to make 2 huge casseroles, so I can make one to eat and one in a … [Read more...]
Green Pepper Chili
Simple. Take your basic chili...and add 2 green peppers. Diced, of course! (I made this on the Dayton Fox News morning show this week! So if you've been looking for the recipe, here it is!) Remember those crazy wicked cheap green peppers I scored!?! That's what inspired the green pepper addition. I think I'll be adding green peppers to everything from now until … [Read more...]
Chicken Wraps with Balsamic Red Onions
I made up a new word. I think. I haven't googled it. And I don't plan on it. I'm going to play ignorant on this one and just revel in my new word. Balsam-melized. Onions. Caramelized. In balsamic vinegar. Balsam-melized. Add said onions with some grilled chicken, lettuce (and Swiss cheese if you're not dairy free) in a tortilla...and you've got yourself some … [Read more...]
Roasted Garden Ratatouille
So this meal involves a little vegetable chopping. Okay, Fine. A LOT of chopping. But it is worth every second. I promise. We all loved this...including the boys. Roasted Garden Ratatouille All the veggie chopping is so worth it! 1 small green bell pepper 1 medium eggplant1 medium yellow squash1 medium zucchini2 cups 2 cups cherry or grape … [Read more...]
How to Blanch Green Beans
So for the past several weeks we have been eating green beans for what seems like breakfast, lunch and dinner. Well, maybe not breakfast. (But chopped and baked into a frittata with some bacon...ooohhh...) I haven't really done anything exciting with our garden green beans. So I thought I'd share some old posts and some ideas for jazzing up these delicious garden … [Read more...]
Mediterranean Mini-Meatballs
I've had this hankering for olives lately. While I haven't set out to eat an entire jar of green olives, I have no doubt that I could do it...as long as I had a huge glass of water and something sweet nearby. As I was perusing the cupboards when making my meal plan over the weekend, my eye fell on the olive jar ($.49 from Walgreens). And as I started to tear into it and eat … [Read more...]
Chicken and Quinoa Waldorf Salad with Creamy Maple Vinaigrette
I had firsts. Then seconds. Then thirds. And *maybe* fourths. (Perhaps it's the half marathon training and the fact that my body is just CRAVING calories! Not only am I still full-time nursing, I've decided to train for the San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon that will take place in November. I think I'm burning close to 3,000 calories per day. Hence *maybe* the … [Read more...]
Grocery Budget Makeover – New Diet Restrictions
Maureen writes... Trying to be the organized mom, I keep a list of our meals, who likes them, what to have as sides, which meats we like & how expensive they are in an excel spreadsheet. I open up the spreadsheet every time I work on our grocery list and meal plan. I do this so we don't keep having the same things over and over, and forget about other things we like. … [Read more...]
Eggplant Pizza Bites
Last year when I saw pictures of Erin's eggplant flowers, I resolved to grow them in my own garden. Not for the fruit, mind you, but for the flowers. I have never grown eggplant before because my husband has always professed that it is the one vegetable that he did not like. He insisted that they taste like rubber tires and had brainwashed convinced my children that eggplant … [Read more...]
Chicken Verde Enchiladas
Alrighty friends...I'm a little stressed! It's only Monday of Back to School Week and my tail is getting kicked already! (Mind you, school doesn't start until Wednesday!) Not only is it back to school with new routines, I'm hostessing a church event, AND I have to get my cookbook edits returned BY Thursday. Needless to say, we'll be lucky if we eat this … [Read more...]