Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Fair warning… this recipe looks disgusting. But, I promise, it’s actually really good. Give it a shot!

This is great with meatballs or chicken or even just some stir-fry veggies. Cook up some rice and you’ve got yourself a quick, easy, and CHEAP dinner.

1 bottle honey barbecue sauce
1 can chopped pineapple
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 bag frozen meatballs or diced chicken

Drain pineapple. Combine sauce, pineapple, sugar, and meat. Either cook on stove or toss in the oven/crock-pot. Stove-top should be on med-low for 25 min or until meatballs are hot thru. Slow-cooker should be put on low for 6 hours, and oven should take about 30-45 min on 350.

Add green peppers or onions if you like, or a bag of stir-fry veggies!

7 Layer Dip

Generally speaking, I don’t make much in the way of snacks and appetizers unless it’s for a holiday meal or special request. However, I love this dip! I can’t stay away from it once I make it, and honestly… it’s fairly healthy so I don’t feel too bad about it.

Something else that’s awesome about this is it can help with a meal of either tacos or burritos. Just spread a little bit of the dip with all ingredients included on a burrito wrap, add some Spanish rice and lettuce, and you’ve got yourself a tasty lunch or dinner. Slip a little onto a taco shell and add chicken or beef, or jazz up some fajitas! Or… you can just grab a bag of corn chips and pig out. Whatever way you enjoy it best, it’s worth keeping a pan of this in the fridge.

Easy peasy to make, too.
1 can of refried beans (vegetarian if you swing that way and wanna keep it meat free)
1 8oz container of guacamole (or use thinly sliced avocados)1 small can green chilies
1 8oz container of sour cream
1 small can black, sliced olives
1 package Mexican blend cheese or sharp cheddar
1 small diced tomato

Layer all ingredients, starting with beans, guac, chilies, and sour cream in a 8×8 or 9×9 pan. Top with cheese, tomatoes, and olives. Some people like to add green onion. I hate onions raw, but it’s your choice. Some people also use salsa as one of the wet layers instead of tomatoes on top. All depends on your preference. It’s fun to play with, so make and serve up at your next southwestern style dinner or take to a party! (Try with my Enchiladas recipe too!)

Easy Granola Bars (no bake)

I just made these and I have to say, they are the best tasting granola bars I’ve ever had, as well as the easiest to make. Absolutely delicious, and about as complicated as making Rice Krispies Treats. Enough said, on to the recipe!

3 ingredients. That’s it.

• 3 1/2 cups of granola or cereal of your choice, or add other ingredients such as nuts, dried fruit, etc. Just make it all add to 3 1/2 cups. (you can mix grains, too. I used half granola, and half Maple Crunch cereal)

 

• 1/2 cup corn syrup or honey (corn syrup isn’t as healthy as honey, but it IS cheaper. DO what you gotta do. I, again, went half and half)

• 1/4 cup peanut butter.

 

Heat corn syrup/honey and peanut butter in large pot on medium heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, than add cereal/granola mixture and stir well. Spray your hands with cooking spray and press into 8×8 pan. (spray the pan too first…) To make sure I had it pressed tight enough, I also sprayed the bottom of a 2nd 8×8, and pushed down on top of the granola as hard as I could. Let cool and cut into bars. Makes about 10.

Enchiladas

I know it’s been forever since I updated. I’m a terrible person. Fact is, I usually don’t think of it unless I’m cooking. Blogging while cooking has led me to burn dinner 3x. So, I think of it, promise I’ll do it later, and never remember. The only reason I’m doing this now is because last nights dinner came out SO fantastic, SO delicious, that I simply MUST share!

So, enchiladas… fairly simple. You can do so much with them, or use a bare bones approach. You can’t mess this up. Here’s what I did last night.

1 lb ground beef

1 cup shredded cheddar

small flour tortillas

Enchilada sauce (canned, jarred, doesn’t matter. I’m too lazy to make my own. Never met an enchilada sauce I didn’t like tho)

Taco seasoning*

I browned the ground beef, drained, and followed the directions on the taco seasoning for about a lb of taco meat. (very handy if you have any left, btw… can make tacos and chili and all sorts of stuff) Next, I put a bit of beef on a tortilla, sprinkled shredded cheese on top, and folded it up like a mini burrito. You don’t have to do this, you can just roll it, but I found my filling doesn’t leak out this way. Pour a small amount of enchilada sauce into a greased/sprayed pan, and spread around. Lay the enchiladas in a nice row, and pour the rest of the sauce over-top. Top with cheese and bake at 350 for about 1/2 an hour. I topped mine with sour cream and crumbled corn chips, but you can do onions or salsa or whatever you like.

You can also use leftover chicken! Just shred and toss with a little salsa, picante, or taco sauce. * taco seasoning is nice, but not necessary* You could use beef, but I hate shredded beef… reminds me of dog food 😛 If you’re a vegetarian, use beans (whole or refried) and maybe rice. It’s just as tasty, I promise!

Enchilada sauce is cheap, about $1 a can, and tortillas are usually around $1.29 to 1.99. Cheese is expensive these days, but a bag of off-brand shredded cheddar runs around $2. Depending on your filling, you can have dinner for 4-6 people for under $10. If cooking for one, just save the rest of your filling and sauce for other meals. Tortillas freeze nicely, as does the leftover beef or chicken.

I hope you have as much fun making these as I had eating them! Wow, they were tasty! Enjoy!

Salisbury Steak

Wow… talk about comfort food… this had to be one of the top 10 comfort foods of all time, at least for me. Salisbury steak is SO easy to make it’s crazy! So, lets get started!

You will need:

1 lb of ground (beef, turkey, meatloaf blend, chicken, pork)

1 packet of onion soup mix

1 packet of mushroom gravy

A skillet for cooking

Start by mixing the ground with the onion soup mix. Form patties about the size of a hamburger. Cook on medium heat until browned. Move to side of pan. Mix mushroom gravy mix with 3/4 cup of cold water, stir thoroughly, and add to cooking steaks on cleared side. Whisk to mix and keep from clumping/sticking. When gravy is thickened as desired and steaks are no longer pink in centre, you’re done! That’s it! Serve with mashed potatoes or noodles or whatever you like!

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I know it’s been a while since I posted, but you know how it is when you’re busy… Ok, nevermind. I admit it. I’ve just been too tired and lazy 😛 Anyway, I promise to make up for it! I just finished putting tonights dinner together, and thought I’d share this with you.

Stuffed chicken breasts  are tasty if done right, and it’s pretty hard to mess it up as far as tastes go. Although, I’ve had some that tasted like paper stuffed with sand… These, I hope, will be delicious.

I had leftover stuffing from a turkey dinner a few days ago, so I grabbed that and 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. I used a nice, sharp knife to make an incision in each piece. I started at the thickest part, on the end, trying to stay towards the middle. I inserted the knife as far as I could without breaking thru to the other side. If you mess up, don’t worry about it. There’s lots of things to hold it shut, from toothpicks to bacon to cabbage to… well, you get the idea. I was lucky and was able to make a hole about an inch wide in the centre of the chicken, lengthwise.

After I made my cuts, I just stuffed the chicken with the dressing, using small bits at a time so I didn’t tear or break the chicken. I had enough (about 1/2 a box of Stove-Top) to fill 4 chicken breasts.

Now… you can stuff any way you like. Add bacon and cheese, or spinach and artichoke, or ham and Swiss topped with honey mustard for cordon bleu. You can wrap with bacon, as I said, or whatever else comes to mind. Stuff with mozzarella and wrap with pepperoni or salami. It’s easy to get creative with this.

For my dinner this evening, I’m going to sauté my chicken breasts with the new Land O’ Lakes sauté seasoning. If you don’t have something like this, than add your favourite herbs to a bit of oil or cooking spray and sauté that way.  I’m also going to add some blended veggies (green beans, yellow squash, carrots) to the pan, about 1/2 a cup or so.

I’m also making salt potatoes to go with this, which is basic as can be. Tiny baby reds or gold potatoes, add a bit of oil to a bowl, toss potatoes, sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt (I like to add a bit of rosemary) and bake at 375 for 45 min or so, depending on how many you have.

Anyway, there you have it! I hope you’ll try it and enjoy!

Country Fried Steak

I never had this until I married and moved to North Carolina. I’d tried a restaurant called The Black-Eyed Pea when I was a teenager, saw it on the menu, and was completely confused. Hell, the name black-eyed pea confused me. Never heard of those either. Marrying a southern boy changed all that… Now it’s something I like to make, and for years has been a tasty comfort food at our house. What’s even better than its awesome deliciousness is the fact that cube steak, the required cut of meat, is super cheap!

You can’t have country fried steak without country gravy, which if you’ve had biscuits and gravy before, you’ll be familiar with. That recipe will be included with this as well.

What you will need:

• Cube steak
• Flour
• Salt and Pepper
• Milk
• Eggs (1-2)
• Oil for frying

Whisk eggs together with a bit of milk. Soak steak in mixture. In separate bowl, combine flour with salt and pepper. You can use a bit of seasoned salt if you like, but it’s optional. My best tip for mixing a flour coating is lick your finger and taste before coating. If it’s too salty on your finger, add more flour. If not enough, add a few more dashes of salt. Easiest way to ruin this is to make it too salty… you can always add more, you can’t subtract. Heat oil in skillet on medium heat. Remove steak from egg mixture and coat with flour mixture. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Let drain on paper-towel lined plate. (If you are low on paper towels, try coffee filters)

Country Gravy:

Pour off half of grease from skillet. (If you want just the gravy for biscuits one morning, try using bacon grease after frying or sausage grease.) Add a tablespoon of flour and whisk well. Once you have sort of a paste going, pour in about a cup to a cup and a half of milk. Keep whisking until thickened. Add salt and pepper, heavy on the pepper. Pour over steak and serve. I really like this with fried potatoes or mashed, with seasoned green beans!

Chicken and Mushroom Rice

When I was at the grocery store the other day, I found a package of 10 boneless/skinless chicken thighs for about $4. My husband made BBQ chicken with about half of them, which was fantastic. He slow-roasts the chicken with BBQ sauce and real honey… it’s the best. Anyway, since there’s only 2 of us here, I saved the other half of the chicken for another night. I’ve been debating how to cook it, and remembered an all-time favourite.

My Nana would make this dish for me on special occasions, like my birthday, or just to pick me up if I was down. It’s always been my favourite, and I would beg for it as a teenager. If I knew this was on the menu, I’d stay home and out of trouble… for a few hours anyway. I didn’t know how to make it myself after I got married, but finally weaselled the recipe out of my Nana when I was 1200 miles from home and in need of some comfort noms.

*I do realize Campbells has a similar recipe. It’s not the same, and not nearly as tasty. I know. I tried. LOL*

I usually make extra of this, because leftovers are even tastier. You can modify it to your needs. I usually make it in an 8×8 pan.

You will need:

• 4-6 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken (I discovered it works well with pork chops too)
• 1 & 1/2 cups of uncooked rice
• Onion soup mix, 1 envelope
• 2 cups water (if you don’t have onion soup mix, use 2 cups beef bouillon and a teaspoon of onion powder mixed)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• salt and pepper to taste

Spread rice in bottom of tin-foil lined pan. Sprinkle onion soup mixture evenly over rice. Add water. (or skip onion soup and add bouillon/onion powder mixture) Lay chicken or pork on top of rice mixture. Spoon mushroom soup mix over chicken, spreading evenly. (DO NOT dilute) Add salt and pepper if you like. Cover tightly with tin foil and bake at 375 for about 45min- 1hr.

Easy Roasted Whole Chicken

I have no idea if this is an original idea or not. I couldn’t sleep and about 3am, the idea dawned on me, so I decided to try it. Turned out to be the best chicken I ever made.

I really like rotisserie chicken, but I don’t have a rotisserie. Even if I did, most places soak the chicken in brine/salt water prior to cooking. You can do that if you like, just place a whole chicken in a large baggie, add concentrated salt water, and soak overnight. I think it’s a pain in the ass. So, this idea works better for me. You might wanna try it… it’s delicious!

I had some of those concentrated stock starters from Knorr. I combined one with about 2-3 tablespoons of butter. If you don’t have the pre-packaged stock starter, you can use your own, or a tablespoon of powdered bouillon. Once mixed, I pushed the stock/butter mixture under the skin of the chicken, near the breasts, spreading it with fingers for even consistency. I coated the outside of the chicken with what was left, sprinkled onion powder, salt and pepper, and loosely covered with tin foil. Bake at 375 at 20 min per lb. Uncover during the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Best. Chicken. Ever.

What you need:

• Concentrated stock (looks like brown jello) about 1 tablespoon OR 1 tablespoon powdered bouillon
• 2-3 tablespoons butter or margarine, soft
• 1 whole chicken
• onion powder/salt/pepper

Follow directions above. The drippings make a most excellent gravy as well, just add a bit of cornstarch and cook until thickened. I served with easy stuffing and veggies, and splurged on some cranberry sauce. Tasted like a preview of Thanksgiving dinner!

Sandwich Salads

I don’t know about you, but nothing is more irritating to me than searching a recipe on-line, only to find something that looks delicious, yet impossible. I’m fairly good at cooking, but obscure ingredients I don’t have on hand, or can’t get hold of readily, can really put a bummer on my culinary plans. Frankly, there’s some things I’ve never heard of, never cooked with, or just refuse to buy due to price. (saffron is a PERFECT example of this) This food blog is dedicated to being simple and tasty. That’s it. Gourmet isn’t our thing… just good, inexpensive, feeding the family without breaking the bank food. That being said, I have a few tasty offerings too small for their own individual posts, so if you’re hungry and in a hurry, check it out.

I’m sure many of you have your own favourite way of making cold salads, but I thought for those who are new to cooking, I’d take a minute to offer up some quick and easy recipes.

Do you dig sandwich shops and deli’s? I do… One of my favourite sandwiches is the Seafood Salad sub from the sub shop with lettuce and tomato. Sure, you can get a $5 footlong, or… make enough for the entire family for about the same price. (This works with shrimp too)

What you need:

• Imitation crab meat, diced
• A few dashes of Old Bay (seafood seasoning)
• Mayo to coat

Slice. Dice. Sprinkle. Mix. Eat.

One of my other sub shop favs is “orchard” Chicken Salad. Again, super easy. Great for leftover chicken.

• Diced or shredded chicken
• 1 sm box raisins or 1/3 cup of dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup diced apple (about 1/2 an apple)
• 1/4 cup diced celery (about 2-3 stalks)
• Mayo to coat

Mix, chill, and serve.

I adore Tuna Salad. SO easy to make, easy to pack for lunches, good on a sandwich or crackers. Most know how to make it, it’s pretty simple. But, in case you don’t, here’s my favourite recipe. I used to hate tuna because everyone put onions in it. I LOATHE raw onions. Add what YOU like, and get creative with dill weed, celery seed, onions, eggs, celery, banana peppers, etc.

• 1 can tuna
• 1 teaspoon sweet relish
• 1 tablespoon mayo

Increase as desired depending on how much you want to make and how many cans you’re using.

One of my all-time favourite back-up plans for when I run out of deli meats is Egg Salad. Another one I used to hate, until I learned to make it the way I like it. Feel free to experiment, but this is my recipe.

6-8 hardboiled eggs, peeled, rinsed, and diced

2 tablespoons sweet relish

1 tablespoon golden mustard

3/4 cup mayo (more if you like it)

1/4 cup bacon bits

Mix together and chill. You can use soy bits if you like, or skip that part if you’re not a bacon fan. Also, you can use the same ingredients in different proportions to make devilled eggs!