Making Every Penny Count -- Slowcooker Chicken

My grocery store rotates what meats are on sale each week. As I'm shopping for what's on my grocery list, I always keep my eye out for the sales. Chicken is one thing that is expensive at full price, but goes on great sales. That's when I snap it up! Occasionally I put the packages in the freezer for later; more often I fire up my Crockpot.

I layer aromatic veggies, seasonings and the chicken together in the slow cooker and several hours later I have chicken fully cooked, ready to be shredded and placed in the freezer.

3-4 pounds chicken (I prefer bone-in, skin-on and a mix of dark and white meats)
1 onion, peeled and quartered
handful of baby carrots
a few celery ribs with leaves, cut into 3 inch sections
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 cups of water/chicken broth
(seasoning of your choice, optional)

All this just goes in the slow cooker for  6-8 hours. Boneless, skinless breasts will cook faster and will require the use of low-sodium chicken broth instead of water. Depending on what I'll be using the chicken for, I sometimes add lemon-pepper seasoning or herbs, but mostly I just use S&P since the chicken is going in the freezer to use at a later date.

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, de-bone it and shred it (or dice it) placing it in quart-sized freezer bags. Don't forget to label the bags with the contents and date! Allow the chicken to cool fully before placing the bags flat in the freezer. Keeping them flat makes for easier storage and faster thawing when it's time to use them.

Finally, you'll want to strain your broth and reserve that, too. Make sure it's cool, then pour it into labelled freezer bags and freeze it flat. 

Cinnamon Cream Fruit Dip

It's a proven fact that if you give kids something to dip their fruit into, they'll eat more fruit. At least it works for my kids, anyway! Here's the recipe for one of our very favorite fruit dips:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

This works best when you start with a chilled (ten minutes in the freezer) mixing bowl and whisk (or whisk attachment).

In a stainless steel mixing bowl, whisk the whipping cream until it begins to thicken. Add in the extract, sugar and cinnamon. Continue whisking until the cream reaches a "dippable" consistency and soft peaks begin to form. (Lift your whisk up out of the cream. If peaks stand up, you're set!) Serve cold with fruit for dipping. We love it with apples, but the flavor would work with nearly any fruit your family likes. I use my stand mixer and it takes just a couple of minutes. If you whisk it by hand it will take a little longer, and it will feel like forever!

Apple Thyme Chicken

I'm never sure about the combination of sweet and savory, fruits and meat, but it seems to be very popular. I needed something different to do with chicken breasts the other night, and since I had an apple leftover from another recipe, I thought I'd give it a shot! My family really liked the combination, so I figured it was worth sharing. And now that it finally feels like fall outside, this would be a great new autumn recipe to try.

Marinade:
In a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag, combine:
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 garlic clove, smashed, peeled
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Marinate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Dredge:
In a shallow dish, combine:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon onion soup mix
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Remove chicken from marinade and dredge in the flour mixture.

Saute:
Saute chicken in 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, while covered.  Remove cover, flip chicken and saute for 5 more minutes. Remove chicken to a dish, cover with foil and keep warm.

Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced
dash of cinnamon

In your skillet, melt the butter, then add in the broth, whisking to pick up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add in the apple slices and cinnamon. Simmer for a few minutes until the apples begin to soften. Add in the chicken, turning to coat in the sauce, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through completely and apples are tender.

Making Every Penny Count

How many times have you stood in your kitchen staring into space, hoping a dinner menu will just appear out of nowhere? That you'll open the fridge and your dinner will be sitting on the top shelf just waiting to be popped into the oven. Well, that's probably never going to happen! But with a little planning ahead of time, it could come pretty close. I get asked a lot how to save money on meals, and how to pull it all together. This series of posts will be about how to do just that.

The key to making inexpensive, quick meals is two-part. First, you need to keep a stock of staples handy in your fridge, pantry, and freezer.  Two, you need to know how to use them! You can click on each of those words to see lists of what I keep stocked, but you'll need to adapt the list to your family's needs/tastes and your cooking style. Staples are generally inexpensive items that are the building blocks you use to make a healthy, tasty meal for your family. If your fridge, pantry and freezer are well-stocked you'll always know what you have and you won't be tempted to say, "Oh, I don't know what to have. We'll just go out to dinner tonight." Planning out several meals you'd like to make each week will save you time and money. If you know what you're going to make that week when you head to the grocery store, you're less likely to be tempted to make impulse purchases that you won't use anyway! That saves you money. I've shown you how I make my grocery list, and that's the process I go through each week. I write down main dishes, the side dishes to go with them, treats ... everything I'm planning to serve over the next several days. I don't buy anything I don't need, and I come home having everything I do need. (Usually!) That saves me time since I don't have to make anymore trips to the store later.

White Sauce

I use a basic white sauce recipe as a basis for many other recipes. It's a great alternative to buying cream soups, with a lot less sodium and fillers and a lot more flavor. Depending on what you're using it for, you can add different cheeses, herbs and spices. It's very adaptable and extremely easy to adjust the amount you make. all you have to is use a ratio1-1-1 or 2-2-2, etc. Because it uses pantry and fridge staples, I can whip some up in no time at all.

I'll walk you through making a typical lunch for me. I eat this probably once a week because it's so easy and adaptable.

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
(dash of cream) -- if I don't have cream, I use half broth and half milk.
salt and pepper to taste

In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, continuing to whisk, until the flour/butter mixture is golden. Whisk in broth/milk. Let cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Salt and pepper to taste.

That's the basic recipe! At this point, I usually add in about a teaspoon or so of fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary and a 1/4 cup or so of Parmesan or Havarti, or whatever cheese I have available.  While I'm cooking the sauce I have water boiling for angel hair pasta, which takes only 2-4 minutes to cook. Once the pasta is done, I drain it and toss it with the sauce. From start to finish, I can have lunch in less than 15 minutes!

Jeni's Pumpkin Bread

I've heard rumors that fall is on its way. I'll believe it when I see it! But a girl can dream, right? So I'll at least think about fall while sharing this recipe for my pumpkin bread. The recipe makes two loaves which means you can have one now and save the other one in the freezer for when it actually feels like autumn!

You can also make this bread into muffins! Just bake at 350° for 16-18 minutes.

 Jeni's Pumpkin Bread

1/2 cup butter
2 large eggs
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 cup chopped pecans

Remove the butter and the eggs from the refrigerator to allow them to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350̊F and coat two 9" loaf pans with nonstick spray.

Place the butter in a mixing bowl and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is pale yellow and very fluffy. This takes a few minutes and you'll notice a definite difference in volume!

On low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Add the pumpkin puree and orange peel; mix again.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together.

Fold in half of the flour mixture. Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla. Fold in the rest of the flour mixture and pecans. Be careful not to overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans.

Bake until the loaves are golden brown and set in the center, about 40 to 45 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a paring knife into the center of each loaf; if the blade comes out dry, the bread is done. YIELD: 2 loaves

***
This is wonderful with Orange Pecan Butter – soften ½ cup butter, stir in 1 tablespoon grated orange peel, and ½ cup finely chopped pecans.

A Tribute to White Beans

We love The Andy Griffith Show! And my sweetie certainly subscribes to Andy's theory here regarding dinner ... If he likes it, he eats it. If not, he doesn't! But he's learned to tell me, too, so if I can fix it I will. If not, I can always fix him a sandwich!

Aunt Bee Taylor: Did you like the white beans you had for supper?
Andy Taylor: Uh huh.
Aunt Bee: Well, you didn't say anything.
Andy: Well, I ate four bowls. If that ain't a tribute to white beans, I don't know what is.
Aunt Bee: Well...
Andy: Eating speaks louder than words.
Aunt Bee: You know, your education was worth every penny of it.