No eating out... again

Before our precious Gideon came alone we went I believe 2.5 weeks without eating out.  Talk about saving money!  I'm really going to try my best to do that again.  If we can go with only eating out twice a month, we would be rich!  Okay, maybe not rich....but at least we will be healthier.

Today was very productive.  Before noon I did all the laundry, swept the kitchen, emptied the dishwasher, washed bottles and other few dishes by hand, played with GX, ran my ct5k (2.25 miles), organized and sized GX clothes, made the bed/clean our room, and started on lunch!  AWESOME!!

Lunch:
Ham, Egg, Cheese, Biscuit sliders.  Very easy and affordable.
Ham was $6.00 for a pound - used maybe an ounce... so less than 50 cents for the whole bit,
Five eggs - another 50 cents
Three slices of cheese - another 50 cents
Biscuits, can of 10 off brand - possibly 25 cents.

Cooked the eggs on a low temp skillet until one side was done and then flipped.  I did break the yolks but did not scramble!  While cooking the eggs I baked the biscuits.  After the eggs were done I tossed in the ham slices to warm.  Combine into little sandwiches!  

I also served green grapes with this meal and Jeremiah made him self some chocolate milk.  It was really easy, cheap and pretty good (specialy if you like breakfast for other meals)!

Tonight Jeremiah has to work until 10:30+ so I threw something in the crock pot for us to eat. It's called Chicken a la Criolla.  I didn't put olives in it and used other type of tomatoes.  Might have added too much garlic too!  We shall see!   It kinda reminds me of chicken faijatas, but with different seasoning.

You basically chop all the ingredients (I just put the chicken in the bottom) and cook them together.  It says it is good served over rice.  So I will make some rice to go with it.    We'll let you know how everything taste!

UPDATE:  This chicken is not worth  making again.   It might have tasted better with a package of fajitas seasoning in with it or something.   Or just use pretty much the same ingredients and make fajitas.  It just didn't have much flavor.  It was pretty bland.  Not something going to keep!

Crock Pot Chicken a la Criolla
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 5 • Size: 2 thighs + vegetables & sauce • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 5 pts*
Calories: 211 • Fat: 6.2 g • Protein: 28.8 g • Carb: 9.9 g • Fiber: 1.9 g • Sugar: 2.1 g
Sodium: 447 mg (without salt)   

Ingredients:

• 10 (2 lbs) skinless boneless chicken thighs, fat trimmed
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 bell pepper, chopped or sliced
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 2 tbsp alcaparrado or pitted spanish olives
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• salt to taste
• 1-2 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (plus 2 tbsp more for serving)

Day one of second challenge....Chicken in Dumplings

Yup, we broke and ate out once in two weeks. So I'm going to start over with our count and see if we can go another two weeks without eating out. So day one, here we go. It seems as if we were defeated, but in reality we weren't.

Slow-Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

INGREDIENTS:
1lb of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (about 3)
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
2 cans (10.5oz) Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can (14oz) Chicken Broth (I think I'm going to try chicken broth out of the box... if it's still good).
1 medium White Onion, diced (half of a large)
4 Large Flaky Refrigerator Biscuits (half a can)

DIRECTIONS:
Place thawed chicken in crock pot and top with butter. Add cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and diced onions. Cook on High for 4-6 hours or Low for 8 hours. Do not stir while cooking.

Cut each uncooked biscuit into 9 small pieces and stir into the chicken mixture. Continue to cook on High for 30 minutes. Remove chicken from slow-cooker and shred with a fork. Return to slow-cooker and stir everything together. Serve hot.

Makes about 6-8 servings.

We'll see how this goes! =]

Edits:
I didn't have two cans of cream of chicken, so I used on chicken and one can of celery. I also used some extra broth from the box because I only had one 10 oz can. I used chicken pieces...

Jeremiah said it was really yummy (we added a bit of salt and pepper to our own bowls). Yummy!

Day six - chicken pot pie

Today is day six of no eating out. It is Saturday, and sometimes the hardest for us not to eat out. We have the time to go enjoy ourselves, we like to be with friends and so forth.

I have been feeling a bit sick... sneezing, running nose... boo! So I wanted something warm and "homey" to eat.

I made Chicken Pot Pie for Jeremiah, his friend Clayton who often is with us on the weekend, and of course myself and Gideon (Gideon jumped for joy with it's deliciousness)... we ate the whole pan. I only had a small bit, those two men were hungry!!

I don't have a "recipe" for chicken pot pie... it depends on a lot of things such as what I have available, who is eating it (I know Jeremiah could eat a pot pie of just potatoes and little chicken). This is the third meal I've made this week off of one whole chicken.

INGREDIENTS (amount varies on size of pan/pot and taste) that I usually use:
chicken cooked, chopped or shredded about one or two cups
Potatoes chopped (I typically use three)
Mixed vegetables (I use frozen, you can use fresh just make sure they care cooked first, or cans of corn, green beans, so forth)
1 to 2 can(s) of cream of chicken
Salt and Pepper to taste

1/2 cup milk
1 cup baking mix (I buy off brand Bisquick)
1 egg

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Boil potatoes (and/or other fresh vegetables) until they are soft. While potatoes are cooking in a pie pan or other casserole dish mix other vegetables, soup, and chicken. Add in drained cooked potatoes and mix all together in pie pan. Salt and pepper to taste.

In separate bowl mix milk, baking mix, and egg pour on top of pot pie. If you like a thicker crust you may double the recipe. Do note that it will take longer to bake and will need to be checked.

Bake for at least 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown and not running when sliced into.

Enjoy and serve.




Later today I also made the chocolate crackle recipe here. It is very, very, very sweet! But really easy to make. It does take a while to cool/harden.

Currently watching: American's Test Kitchen on PBS... one of my favorite cooking shows! Told Jeremiah we have almost made it a week without eating out and that I think we should try going two weeks! Maybe eat out twice a month...it would be more like a date instead of just getting our grub on.

Have a great Saturday everyone, even though it's almost over!

xoxo

Day four - Chicken Enchiladas

Yesterday we didn't eat out, we had salad and a frozen pizza. Nothing fancy!

Jeremiah spent the day working; because he's the best husband ever!! And I went to my grandparents with my mom to work on a building project with grandpa. We built recycling centers (pictures coming soon)for our house!!

Today, I am making chicken enchiladas.

Click here for a slow cooker recipe.

I found several different recipes for enchiladas, but I like what we have used in the past. What Jeremiah and I created!

Ingredients:
Tortillas
1 can of re-fried beans
1 can of enchilada sauce
onion chopped (however much you like!)
diced tomato can be canned or fresh
shredded cheese
shredded chicken
pepper and spices to taste

Directions:
Saute onions, tomato, and cooked shredded chicken. Pepper saute mixture to taste (or use other spices such as cayenne pepper and so forth).
Place tortillas on a flat surface, spread refried beans over tortilla. Spoon chicken mixture into tortilla, add desired amount of cheese, spoon a bit of enchilada sauce and then roll up tortilla and place in a 13x9 sprayed glass baking pan.
Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the rolled tortillas, top with more cheese.
Bake at 375 until cheese is melted, sauce is bubbly, and the insides are fully warmed.

We haven't made these in ages, they are one of my favorite recipes to cook because you can make them to suit your taste (Jeremiah doesn't like tomatoes so sometimes I only put those in mine. We don't always use tomatoes. Sometimes we add a can of chilis (the 4 ounce can). So have fun with this recipe.


It snowed here last night!! Nothing major (although a few rural schools were cancelled). Jeremiah made it to work safely. I'm getting ready to call his doctor about a form he needs to fill out. My mom is coming over to help sew some things together for Gideon's room and finish up the recycle bins. I think then we are going shopping...

Have a great day everyone!!! Be warm and safe.

Day one, no eating out - Chicken

Yesterday we cooked all of our meals, but then as we were going to a friends house Jeremiah wanted to stop and "reward" us with ice cream. I couldn't honestly say no; this pregnant momma loves ice cream! So we spent $3.35 on ice cream. I can handle that.

Jeremiah went back to work today (off from being sick). He took a lunch of hot pockets, chips, oranges, pudding cup, granola bar, peanut butter crackers.... he has a 10 hour shift to last through.

I had for breakfast, leftovers from yesterday's breakfast. A yogurt cup for a snack and here soon I plan on eating another snack before I go for a walk.

This morning I put a whole chicken into the crock pot. We have standard recipes for cooking chicken dinners, but I wanted to try something new.

At www.readyseteat.com I found the following easy recipe http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-Santa-Fe-Chicken-Packets-5555.html

INGREDIENTS:
1 can (15 oz each) Rosarita® Premium Whole Black Beans, drained, rinsed
2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
1 can (10 oz each) Ro*Tel® Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (5 oz each)
1/2 cup shredded reduced fat Mexican cheese blend

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat outdoor grill to medium-high heat according to manufacturer's directions. Stir together beans, corn, drained tomatoes and cumin in medium bowl.
Place four 18x12-inch pieces of heavy foil on counter. Spray each with cooking spray. Place 1 breast in center on each piece of foil. Spoon 1/4th bean mixture over chicken for each packet. Bring up short sides of each foil packet and double fold top. Double fold both ends to seal each packet, leaving space for steam to gather.
Place packets on grate of covered grill. Grill 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in centers (165°F). Carefully open packets; sprinkle 1/4th cheese on top of each breast. Close foil and let stand 2 minutes or until cheese melts.

COOK'S TIPS:
Packets may be baked on shallow pan in 425°F oven 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in centers. Or, to save aluminum foil, place chicken in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon bean mixture over chicken; cover dish with aluminum foil. Bake in 375°F oven 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in centers.

Serving Size 4 servings (1 packet each)
Calories 386


**Note**
I will be using the oven method. I also have to "switch" things up because my chicken will be fully cooked from the crock pot. Jeremiah also likes spicy food so I plan on adding some zest to it. I'll let you know how it goes and get back to you.


This was so yummy! I made a few of my own adjustments: I used one can of whole corn and one can of cream of corn instead of two cups frozen corn. I made this with a side or rice as well, which they went well together. Also, it need to be a bit more spicy (for Jeremiah's taste, he thought it was bland). Most importantly, DON'T FORGET THE CHEESE!!! I was in such a hurry I forgot the cheese. It was still delicious.




Need to go walk my mile, and then going out to take pictures for Andrea and Kellen.

I also got a call from a school district, wanting me to work for them. I turned them down =[ can't do it with having a baby soon!

xoxo