Gourmet Meals For Less

A real "man-which"....Shredded Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

 
(Don't 'cha wanna take a bite?)


When I decided to start a blog about my cooking adventures and my $10 challenge, I headed into blogger world in search of blogs that were the type I wanted to emulate.  I stumbled upon one that just the name alone puts it at the top of the “coolness” category, but the content and beautiful pictures, kept me coming back to read more.

The Wicked Noodle, is one “wicked” food blog and when I saw Kristy’s Shredded Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches with Blue Cheese Celery Slaw, I knew I had to make them. 

Hubby looovveeesss going out and getting wings and a beer with his “boys” and while I would never want to try and replace his he-man, male bonding, hanging with the bro’s ritual guy’s night out, with dinner at home I was excited about making something that would replicate his beloved wings, and for a whole lot cheaper.  I mean this wasn’t a meal of little bitty chicken wings that you have to pick at to get a bite-full, but a huge fill both hands sandwich that was an awesome mix of spicy and cool and very blue cheesy.

I was sad not to be able to find the unique buffalo wing sauce that Kristy made her prize winning recipe with, but the sandwiches were still super delicious, with the sauce I purchased.  Hope you’ll give them a try, and I bet if you have a wing lovin’ hubby like I do he’ll like this sandwich as much as mine did!

Because chocolate is a food group...Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

 

Yum!  Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies.

 

Cookies can be a meal right? right? ..silence. Okay, but since it’s my blog,  and my rules I say they can be a meal.  They have oats…food group?, check!  Fruit…food group?, check!  White Chocolate Chips…food group?, check! (okay so it’s a food group in my mind, don’t ruin it for me.)

 

We love these cookies, they are a great mix of soft and chewy, sweet and tangy (because of the cran-raisins) and better yet, they were cheap to make since I scored the Ocean Spray* cran-raisins free on a special at Kroger.  Gotta love free!! 

 

Here’s the deal, I know I could have made something healthy with my free cran-raisins, like putting them in a salad (I have a good one I’ll share with you this summer) or sprinkling them on some healthy main dish, but this particular bag was just begging to be made into cookies, and who was I to deny it.  

So give your tired ole’ chocolate chip cookies a break and try these delicious little morsels with cran-raisins and white chocolate, I think you’ll love them!

*Disclaimer-I am in no way being paid, bribed or showered with free cran-raisins by Ocean Spray.  I just think this is an extra great recipe but I am not above buying store brand cran-raisins when they are cheaper.  In this instance, you couldn’t get cheaper then free so I bought the Ocean Spray ones.  Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

 

My crazy mind...and lazy four layer lasagna

  
  

Okay I know the word “lousy” and lasagna should probably not be included in the same blog post, but I can’t think of the world “lazy” without singing this little diddy

 

“lazy, lousy liza jane…” in my mind.

 

and yes I know it’s a little weird, and no I can’t help what pops into my head anymore than you can….but I bet my 30 and 40-something readers who are pioneer girls at heart, know exactly where I got that lovely little limerick (say that fast three times)

It came from the best 1970’s show EVER on TV (in my mind anyway) until it “jumped the shark” and Albert became a druggie and Almanzo and Laura's niece Jenny came to live with them, and then they burned down the town..

 

but in it's early days “Little House on the Prairie” reigned supreme in our home. 

 

 

See Eliza Jane was Almanzo’s spinster sister who traveled with him to Walnut Grove, to teach in the one room schoolhouse/church/hospital(during the occasional epidemic or blizzard).  She didn’t like Laura very much, and none of the students seem to like her since they chanted the above in an attempt to humiliate poor Eliza. 

 

So now three decades later, I can’t hear the word lazy without singing in my head…

 

“lazy, lousy liza jane…lazy, lousy liza jane”

 

 

So now that I’ve given you a little glimpse into my snow covered, befuddled, winter doldrums mind…please leave cause it can be a scary place.

Lessons I have learned in food photography...

Okay here are the three lessons I have learned this past month while photographing food...

 

Natural Light

Natural Light

Natural Light...did I mention??

Natural Light??

 

The problem is that this time of year, it's already dark out when dinner time rolls around.  Pictures of food just do not look good under kitchen lights. 


And in our little corner of the great state of Kentucky, it has felt more like winter in Seattle this month; with the gray clouds and darkened skies (and l can say this with authority since it's our former residence.  But in defense of Seattle it's gorgeous in the summer but shhh...don't tell anyone Seattleites like to keep it a secret).  This cloudy weather has made photographing my dishes very difficult, especially since I really wanted to start submitting some of them to various food sites. 


Then on Sunday, we had a long awaited visitor peak over the back fence.  I was so blinded by my visitor's beauty it took me a minute to realize who my guest was and then it dawned on me (pun intended) that it was...gasp...the SUN!!  I felt compelled to take a picture of this glorious moment

 

and then proceeded to re-make this recipe:


Cheese Tortellini with Shrimp in Tomato Cream Sauce

 

so I could take some new pictures, like this one..

and this one...

 and submit it to Foodista for their annual Best of Food Blogs Cookbook.

So if you feel these new pictures are cookbook quality and if you are really my friend and love me would like to see my entry considered for publication, than please take a moment to follow the link on the sidebar and vote for my recipe, and while you're at it I'd love it if you'd take a second to vote for my White Bean and Kale Soup as well. Each button links to a different recipe. Thanks!

Oh and tomorrow come back and pay me a visit, I'll be posting my Four Layer Lasagna...yum!

Waste not want not...Cucumber and Carrot Ribbon Salad

 

 

 

 

 

Part of cooking frugally is making sure that items you purchase do not go to waste.  For instance, the English Cucumbers I found hiding way at the bottom of my produce drawer looking a little pitiful and forlorn beneath the kale and celery.  I am pretty sure I had a plan for them when I bought them, but since I could not remember what it was and not wanting them to go to waste I had to rethink how to use them.

 

The concept of “ribboning” vegetables has recently become popular on Food Network shows.  When you ribbon items like cucumbers, squash, etc you end up with this pretty pile of vegetables, much prettier than merely sliced or julienned.  I wanted to try my hand at this and thought it was a perfect activity to bring my daughter into the kitchen.  We decided that we would make a ribbon salad and that adding in some carrots would give it a nice crunch.

 

When given a choice, both of us always gravitate towards items with an Asian influence, so we created a dressing out of some of our favorite Asian pantry items.  So we present to you:

Cucumber and Carrot Ribbon Salad

which my girl proceeded to eat entirely on her own for lunch (okay so she let me have one piece of cucumber), and it seemed to be a hit.  We agreed that this would be wonderful summer salad with a nice piece of grilled or broiled fish.  I’m sure this will be popping up again on here when summer arrives.

Seasonal Cooking...White Bean and Kale Soup

 
 
 

Cooking frugally is a combination of using fresh in season ingredients, utilizing high quality items you find on sale and being open to trying new things.  In the past I make a decision to cook something and purchased the ingredients with no knowledge of whether my purchases were “seasonal” nor giving any thought to sale items, honestly I didn’t even know when something was a “good price” or not. 

  

Now that I am into month two of my $10 challenge, I have to think differently.  I have to be willing to make substitutes if necessary, I have to know what is in season and therefore the best price, and I have to to expand my horizons with new foods…for example kale. 

This is a perfect time of year to purchase kale.

 

Since becoming a gardener this past year, I have had to learn what vegetables grown when.  Kale (along with spinach, all varieties of lettuce, cabbage, etc) is a cool weather plant.  That is why you will find leafy vegetables at the best price in winter and early spring.   

  

I wanted to try my hand at some kale recipes, so I started scouring my various cookbooks and magazines and I noticed a reoccurring theme, kale is very popular in soup.  So, wanting to use up some various sale items I had purchased recently and desiring to give kale a try, I attempted my own version of White Bean and Kale Soup.  Combining several different recipes and adding some of my own touches, for example the canned tomatoes (purchased on sale for .40 a can, so now I have 20 of them lined up in my pantry) and the bacon (purchased on a buy one/get one free sale and begging to be used), this was my end result, and we sure did enjoy it!

  

 White Bean and Kale Soup

 

Cookbook Junkie and Cabbage Rolls....

 

I have a confession, I am a cookbook junkie...I'm completely addicted.  I have dozens..so many that the shelf they all sit on is slowly dipping in the middle from all of the weight.  But,  I can't bear to part with any of them.  You just never know when you might need to pull one out for inspiration; or need that special recipe you cook once a year out of Southern Sideboards lovingly inherited from your husband's Mamaw. 

President's Day Cherry Pie....

 
  

I cannot tell a lie…I baked a cherry pie.  Okay so even though some say that the whole George Washington Cherry Tree Incident is just a legend; it still seemed appropriate to bake a cherry pie today in honor of President’s Day.  I will be the first to admit that I do not make homemade pie crusts, even though I keep telling myself someday I will try.  But, I do like to make pies.  All kinds of pies: Pumpkin, Pecan, Kentucky Derby, Sweet Potato Custard to name just a few.  Cherry on the other hand, I have never attempted until now.  It seems to have been a hit, since half of it was gone an hour after I made it.  It had just the right combination of sweet and tart from using both the pie filling and the plain cherries.

Following is my version of a “semi-homemade” cherry pie. 

 

I Love My Funny Valentine....

 
  I love my husband.."Well, of course you do",  I can hear you saying.  But in today's world that's not a given anymore.  After almost 18 years of marriage and 20 years together, I can honestly say I love him more today than I did then, and I love him more than I did 5 years ago or 1 year ago.  I am so blessed that I get to love him a little more each year, each day....can't wait to see what 50 years looks like!

Because I love him and because he gives me the gift of providing for me, and allowing me the blessing of staying home each day to educate our children in our home and the opportunity to be a homemaker in a beautiful house, because he never denies me really anything....I decided to do something special for HIM for Valentine's Day.  Really, who decided that Valentine's Day was a "ladies only" holiday? 

I wanted to surprise him, so I had to do a lot of secret behind the scenes preparation.  This involved finding a place for all four "children" to go, two who are human and two who are canine.  And then, deciding where to take him...This is where we ended up

Souper Easy Recipe...Minnesota Wild Rice Soup with Bruschetta

Minnesota Wild Rice Soup with Bruschetta

 

 

I have this special person in my life.  We think so much alike that we can finish each other’s thoughts and when we are talking we actually respond with the exact same phrases and words at the exact same time….it’s a little scary.  When we hear each other’s voices on home movies, it takes us a moment to realize that it’s our self talking and not the other.  Our children mistake our voices for each other when we are together.  She could take over my blog and my guess is you wouldn’t even know someone else was typing it.  She’s brilliant and so creative, she’s beautiful, she’s a wonderful mother and wife and friend and I get the privilege of calling her my sister.

She loves to cook just as much as I do, and she has always been a true “frugal gourmet”.  We are those funny kind of people that really like to have the kitchen to ourselves when we cook…we blame it on our dad he’s the same way; but we never mind cooking together.. we work so well with each other, and around each other.  We know what the other needs instinctively, and we are each other’s best sous chef.  

We’ve been talking a lot these days about how to cook well but inexpensively since I’ve started this challenge.  She’s my biggest advocate, always sharing great ideas and wonderful recipes.  Today, I’m going to share one of them with you.   It was beyond delicious.  Thick and creamy, and full of goodness.  I hope you will love it as much as my family did.  So today’s blog is dedicated to my sweet sister….I love you!