Menu Plan Monday 7/14

It's an easy week for me in the kitchen, which is great, because we have a busy week ahead!

MONDAY: *new recipe* Stephanie's Crockpot Peppercorn Steak & roasted potatoes

TUESDAY: eating out with friends to celebrate their new baby :) (We're ordering pizza at their house- I offered to bring dinner, but they want to treat us, so pizza it is!)

WEDNESDAY: birthday party/ cookout for my mom's 60th birthday ~ I'm bringing this yummy broccoli salad.

THURSDAY: Crockpot Hash Brown Casserole with ham added in, peas

FRIDAY: hamburgers with all the fixings & french fries

See? I told you it was an easy week- I feel like I'll hardly be cooking at all! I would like to take a cake or another baked good to our friends' house on Tuesday night~ since baking is not my forte, I'm open for any/ all suggestions!

Frugal Foods: whole roast chicken

Have you checked out Jenn at Frugal Upstate's series on frugal foods yet? Past topics have included eggs, tuna, beans, and ground beef. This week's ingredient is chicken-- specifically, whole chickens or wings or thighs. Here's my favorite frugal whole chicken recipe:

Crockpot Roast Chicken

1 3-4lb. whole chicken (I usually wait and buy these on clearance)

Season All Seasoning Salt

1 chopped onion

chopped garlic to taste (1 TBSP or so)

Place several golfball-sized balls of foil in the bottom of your crockpot. (This keeps the chicken from getting soggy from sitting in the juices.) Rinse chicken and pat dry. Place onion & garlic in cavity of chicken. Rub all outer surfaces of chicken with seasoned salt. Place in crockpot on top of foil balls, and cook on low all day.

My family thinks this tastes just like the roasted chicken you can buy in the grocery store deli- but this version is much cheaper! :)

Here's another frugal chicken recipe I use often... it actually uses chicken tenders, but I'm sure it would work with thighs, as well. Check out the Chicken Hurry recipe previously posted on this blog.

For more great frugal chicken recipes, check out the Frugal Foods series Part 5: Chicken.

P.S. Added 7/15/08: I made one of these last week, and for the price of a $3.59 chicken, it was three meals for my family. The first night, we had the chicken with stuffing and a veggie. The second night my husband ate his plain, the kids and I chopped ours up and added it into some soup. The third night, I used all the leftover bits in a pasta dish. Three meals for a family of four from a $3.59 chicken... that's what I call frugal! :)

(And yes I know I should have boiled the bones for broth, but I just didn't have time last week.)

Frugal Foods: Ground Beef

Jenn at Frugal Upstate is continuing her series on frugal foods.... I've already participated in the egg and tuna segments. The ingredient for part four was ground beef... I'm a little late on this one! :) The next ingredient will be chicken.

Here's what works for me: I buy large packages of ground beef at Sam's, or, wherever else I find them on sale. I unwrap all of the beef and place it into my largest stock pot, then fill it with enough water to cover. I usually add some salt and pepper at this point. I put it on high heat, and while it's heating up, I chop up a few onions and toss them in with the beef. I let the beef and onions come to a boil, then turn it down and simmer it for a while (half an hour or so) until the beef is cooked through and the onions are tender. Next, I let the pot cool a bit, then place the pot in the fridge for a while to chill. When chilled, I drain the liquid and skim off the fat that accumulates at the top. Then I just divide the beef and onions into two-cup portions (approximately a pound, which is what most recipes call for) and put them into labeled ziplock freezer bags. Into the freezer they go, and then I'm all set for quick meals.

What do I do with the bags of precooked beef?

• use it in any casseroles that call for cooked ground beef
• warm it in a saucepan before stirring in spaghetti sauce for use on pasta (For a really fast meal, a store-bought jarred sauce is great. If I have a little more time, I like this stovetop recipe.)
• warm it in a skillet with brown gravy to serve over mashed potatoes
• layer it in a crockpot for Crockpot Pizza

The other variation I make regularly is to use taco seasoning instead of salt & pepper. The ready-to-go taco meat works great for tacos, enchiladas, or Copycat Beef Meximelts in a hurry. We eat a lot of Mexican food at my house, so I regularly do a batch this way.

My other frugal tip for ground beef: stretch it! I regularly add a handful or more of oatmeal to anything that calls for ground beef. This has two benefits: the cholesterol-lowering oatmeal is disguised from the family member who needs that, and, the ground beef is bulked up. You'll never know it's in there, and, your family will get a little added nutrition.

Check out Part 4 of the Frugal Foods series for more great beef recipes & tips!

Menu Plan Monday 7/7:

After this past week's trip, we are all sick of eating fast food and ready to eat some real food! Everything this week is tried and true, no new recipes... I'm just too tired right now to feel creative! ;)

• MONDAY: Spaghetti with my favorite homemade meat sauce, garlic bread, green beans
• TUESDAY: broccoli-chicken casserole with our favorite cornbread (Cornbread recipe is in the post before this one.)
• WEDNESDAY: my mom's crockpot BBQ Ribs, mini ears of corn on the cob

My mom's BBQ Ribs:
3-5 lbs boneless spare ribs
1 bottle favorite BBQ sauce (we like Kroger's spicy sauce)
salt & pepper, to taste

Place ribs in crockpot, season to taste. Cook on low all day (do not add any liquids). About an hour before serving time, drain liquid that has accumulated, and pour in BBQ sauce.

• THURSDAY: Crockpot Salsa Sour Cream Chicken, rice, stewed tomatoes
• FRIDAY: frozen dinner or take-out

Head on over to Menu Plan Monday to share your menu and snag ideas from others!

P.S. Did you hear that Stephanie from "A Year of Crockpotting" (one of my very favorite cooking blogs) will be appearing on the Rachael Ray show this week? Check it out on the Rachael Ray site! :)