I am a certified natural chef and I have held a couple of very challenging and interesting jobs in the culinary field. You would think that this would make cooking for me and my Beau much easier, but in fact it has proven very difficult to move away from the mindset that I need to buy copious amounts of ingredients and make everything from scratch. I have had to start from square one and re-learn how to do dinner when you are on a budget. This last week my answer was chicken.
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I was a vegetarian for much of my teenage life and it was not until I left home at 19 to become a natural chef that I started to eat meat again. No, it was not because being a natural chef taught me that eating meat is particularly good for you... shamefully I admit that I began to eat meat out of a rebellious sort of spite for my peers. Having grown up in Southern California with a very open-minded family and town, the hard-core hippies of the Bay Area and their very opinionated viewpoints did not sit well with me and I could not stand to be in the same category as they were. Maybe I was grumpy from working full time and still having an empty fridge or maybe deep down I am just a bit of a bitch... whatever the reason, I eventually came to the conclusion that like it or not, meat is a fantastic way to fill up for cheap!
With a very large football player looking boyfriend, filling up for cheap is no easy task! Here are some of my most recent findings...
1. Figure out what meat is on sale and center all your meals around it
2. Don't be attracted to "buy one get one half off" type sales! If you only need one, then get one. If you keep buying more than you need then you end up spending more and it just sits in your fridge anyway.
3. Plan your meals carefully and only buy what you need!
4. Leftovers make great lunches
5. Know where the deals are! As much as it is a pain in the butt, it pays off to go to more than one store if you have to
So this last week, chicken was on sale! $2.99 a pound! Unfortunately it was not organic, and as much as it pained me to buy it, sometimes you do what you have to do. So I bought 3 pounds of it and out of that I got 5 whole meals!
Monday was a fantastic 3 ingredient recipe for chicken rolled with asparagus and cheese. Very yummy and got a thumbs up from the Beau. It was great that it had the veggies right there rolled into the main dish. I still shredded some romaine lettuce and topped it with tomatoes and dressing for a cheap and easy salad and we ate cantaloupe for dessert.
Tuesday I cut up the chicken and made a large chicken salad with hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, apples and a creamy Cesar dressing. The other have of the cantaloupe was the side for this one. A little light, but very yummy.
Chicken and rice with beans was for Wednesday. This particular day I did not feel like cooking so I started to make rice, tossed in some za'ataar (an African seasoning that I happen to love) and a few other spices, then opened a can of black beans and tossed in some cubed chicken. I mixed it all up and made one pot meal. Beau said this was his favorite all week! We had plenty leftover since it was so filling and he ate it for lunch the next day.
We actually went out to eat on Thursday, but I did say I had 5 meals out of this chicken and this days meal was lunch. Chicken salad sandwiches. I shredded the chicken and mixed in some spicy mustard, mayo, celery and smooshed it on whole wheat toasted bread. Top with lettuce and vuah-la!
Last but not least, my last chicken breast was shredded and mixed in with an easy Spanish rice (just boil water with cayenne, paprika, taco seasoning, salt and pepper, add rice and cook) that I served on corn tortillas with some yummy toppings like avocado and tomato.
And there you have it! For lunches we had leftovers, sandwiches or salads and snacks were fruit or ants on a log (my favorite!). All in all I think I spent about $60 for the whole week and it was done in one shopping trip and then a trip to the farmer's market when I was out of tomatoes and avocados.
Now that we are out of chicken I am planning my meals for next week and I hope it turns out to be just as cheap and easy. I don't know what it will be yet, but I am thinking pasta...
Chicken and Asparagus Rolls
2 chicken breasts
1 lb asparagus
8 slices swiss cheese
salt and pepper
flour
toothpicks
1. Preheat the oven to 350. pound the chicken breast until it is flat and the same thickness all over. season with salt and pepper
2. layer on the cheese and then the stalks of asparagus. roll and skew with toothpicks to keep it closed
3. roll the chicken in flour. heat oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken on all sides. transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Slice into a few pieces and discard toothpicks. serve right away
1 lb asparagus
8 slices swiss cheese
salt and pepper
flour
toothpicks
1. Preheat the oven to 350. pound the chicken breast until it is flat and the same thickness all over. season with salt and pepper
2. layer on the cheese and then the stalks of asparagus. roll and skew with toothpicks to keep it closed
3. roll the chicken in flour. heat oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken on all sides. transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Slice into a few pieces and discard toothpicks. serve right away
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