The BEST $4.00 I ever spent!

Ok, so my new found technique is to parooze the sale ads, see what meat is on sale, and then search for recipes using those meats. This week, whole chickens were on sale. Little did I know how much I was actually going to get out of that one little chicken! I made Beer Butt Chicken for dinner. Then I picked off all of the remaining meat and made Chicken Salad. Then I boiled the carcass with some herbs and veggies I had laying around and made chicken stock! Holy Moly! Like I said...best $4 I ever spent!!

Beer Butt Chicken

1 12 oz can beer
1 whole chicken (about 3 lbs)
1 large onion, sliced
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
Salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning to taste
1 (14.5 oz) can low-sodium chicken broth
4 red potatoes, sliced


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking dish. Pour out half the beer from the can, spray the can with cooking spray, and set it upright in the center of the baking sheet. Loosen the skin over the breast of the chicken, and insert an onion slice, and 1 rosemary sprig under the skin of each side of the breast. Place about half the onion, cracked garlic cloves, and 2 sprigs of rosemary into the cavity of the chicken. Spray the outside of the chicken with cooking oil spray, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning to taste. Place the chicken onto the beer can in an upright position, with the can inserted into the cavity of the chicken. Pour the chicken broth into the baking dish, and place the rest of the sliced onion and the potatoes into the broth. Roast about 1 1/2 hours. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before slicing.


Chicken Salad

Chicken pieces removed from whole chicken
Mayo or Miracle Whip to desired consistency
Sliced celery
Sliced black olives
salt & pepper
Dill (I use dried)

Combine and refrigerate overnight. There is no exact measurements, since this depends on how much chicken you have leftover.




Chicken Stock

1 chicken carcass
1 large onion, quartered
1 carrot, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 bay leafs
2 sprigs rosemary
salt
pepper
6-8 cups water

Combine everything in a large pot, bring to a boil. Turn down to simmer, cover and let cook for 2 hours. Strain through a fine strainer or line yours with a cheese cloth to get out all small bits. Allow fat to come to the top and skim it off with a spoon. Allow stock to get to room temp before placing it in the fridge. Make some yummy soup for dinner tomorrow!!

Blackened Chicken Wraps with Balsamic Mayo

Dinner for Tuesday-
I had this amazing wrap at Mimi's Cafe the other day, and I can not wait to re-create it! It was excellent! So I dug up a few recipes and threw in a little of what I thought I tasted and come up with this:

Ingredients:

Blackened Chicken:
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
Olive oil
4 boneless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all spices together. Drizzle olive oil over chicken breasts. Then coat evenly with spice mixture. Heat a non stick skillet over high heat until it is really hot. Place chicken in hot pan and cook for 1 minute on each side. Transfer chicken onto baking sheet and cook in oven for 5-10 minutes (depending on the size of breasts)

Balsamic Mayo:
1 cup mayonnaise
3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp cayenne (opt)

Combine all ingredients.

Wraps:
Sundried tomatoe tortillas
Lettuce
Tomato
Shredded cheddar and/or monterey jack cheese

Spread mayo onto tortilla. Lay down lettuce, tomatoe slices, and cheese. Place slices of blackened chicken. Fold tortilla in on the sides and then roll. Cut at an angle in the center and serve.

Feedback:
Oh my gosh, were these fantastic! Even my husband loved them. And I thought FOR SURE he'd give me a hard time about the sundried tomato tortillas, since that would trigger the "healthy flag" in his mind and he is positive that he can't stand any healthy/diet food. So I was surprised I got no resistance, and he loved it too!

School Lunch gone Japanese!

I saw these mentioned on another blog, and had to check them out for myself. These are Japanese lunch boxes called Bento Boxes. They sell dividers, and small silicone cups to divide the food, and silverwear. The thing I found so exciting is how much they can help with portion control! We are so apt to send our kids to school with a "snack size" bag of chips, box of raisins, etc., and all of these are huge portions. The Bento box can help cut down on sending a too-big lunch with you kids which they will either a)throw most of it away, or b)eat all of it and be too stuffed to pay attention in class. Brilliant, and inexpensive. I bought a box, silverwear, dividers, cups, and rice molds for only $6!!! I paid $10 for my sons lunch box this year, and nothing fun inside of it either! This is the way we will be going from now on.

Check them out: Bento Boxes

Shredded Chicken Paninis

My mom bought me a panini press last christmas, and I use it every chance I get! It makes for the best sandwiches. I picked up some foccocia sandwich bread at the store today in the day old bread bin for cheap, so I figured it'd be best used as a panini! I grilled up some chicken in the good ol' Foreman Grill and made some YUMMY sandwiches!

Ingredients:

Crusty sandwich bread
2 chicken breasts
salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
Mayo
Dijon Mustard
Sliced tomatoes
Provolone Cheese

Season chicken breasts to taste and grill. Shred. Spread mayo and dijon onto bread. Layer tomatoes, cheese and grilled chicken. Place sandwich in heated panini press, or on a stove top grill weighted down with a heavy pan. Heat through to melt cheese.

Feedback:

These were so yummy. The bread had some dried herbs on it...yum yum!! If you've never made paninis try them. You're missing out!

Baby BowTie Pasta

I made this today for lunch for the kids, and it was amazing! They ate it all, and I had some as well. And I got to use those fun new mini pastats from Barilla - Piccolini. I love the name!!

Ingredients:

1/2 box Mini Farfalle pasta (like Barilla Piccolini)
olive oil
1/2 onion finely chopped, or a shallot
1 clove garlic minced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, juices drained
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup frozen peas
grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Cook noodles in boiling water. Heat oil over medium heat and add onion and garlic. Saute until tender, about 2 min. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 min. Stir in the cream and the peas. Add the pasta and toss to coat. You may need to add a ladle full of the pasta cooking water to get a creamy consistency in the sauce. Serve, topped with grated parm and salt and pepper if desired.

Feedback:

The kids gobbled this up, they loved the peas. And the pasta is small enough to not have to be cut up first, which saves me a ton of time. Creamy and delish!!

Pigs in a Blanket

I'm sure most all of you have had these at one point or another, but believe it or not, I NEVER have! So I made them for us for lunch today and they were great. I've been missing out!!

Pigs in a Blanket

Nathans Hot Dogs (the best, in our opinion! Any brand will work)
1 tube cresent rolls
2 slices cheese

Heat oven to 325. Split hotdogs down the center and put slices of cheese into them. Roll hotdog in cresent roll. Place on baking sheet and bake 12 minutes.

Kids and I LOVED THEM!

Baked Chicken Finger Bites

Last night, I had a migraine from "you-know-where", so I was in no mood to cook. We ordered pizza and one of those new pastas from Pizza Hut. We got the chicken alfredo. It was pretty good!

Today I made my toddler a warm lunch to send to school. I got this recipe from my moms group, so I thought I'd share it. I tried one while I was packing the rest up for him. They are really good!

Baked Chicken Finger Bites

1 cup corn flakes

1 cup plain bread crumbs

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders, cut into 2-inch pieces

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs, beaten

Turn the oven on to 375 degrees F. In a pie pan or other shallow, large dish, pour out the corn flakes. Crush the cereal up with your hands. Mix in bread crumbs, sugar, salt, pepper. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons vegetable oil evenly over the breading, tossing it to mix the oil through the bread crumbs and crushed-up corn flakes. Cut the chicken fingers into smaller bite sized pieces, 2-inch pieces. Turn the chicken in flour, eggs and then in the crunchy breading. Arrange the chicken toes on a nonstick baking sheet. Place the chicken bites in the oven and cook 15 minutes or until crisp and brown all over.

*Use your favorite ranch or honey mustard to dip these treats in! (I sent ranch)

Student says:

"Mamma, I eat my chukin (chicken). I like it lot! And my raynins (raisins). They all gone!"