Gourmet Meals For Less

An alternative to Cordon Bleu...Chicken with Ham and Sauteed Tomatoes over Herbed Pasta

 

 

 

Deconstructed is a word that have been thrown around a lot lately on cooking shows.  In a nutshell it means that the ingredients used to make a popular dish are "deconstructed" to make a new unique dish that still has the essence of the original recipe.  For example one might "deconstruct" lasagna by putting all of the common ingredients found in lasagna on top of another type of pasta. 

In my opinion new concepts like this can become overused...if you don't believe me google deconstructed recipes.  But, it's still an interesting way to look at a recipe in a new light.

The recipe I prepared for today's entry, is in a way a "deconstructed" version of Cordon Bleu,  and is one of my family's favorite dishes.  I have, of course, made them traditional Cordon Bleu but it can be quite time consuming.  I love this recipe because the ingredients found "in" Cordon Bleu, namely the cheese and ham, are placed on the outside.   You get the same taste, for a lot less work.  Now, the original recipe calls for Mozzarella cheese, because the combination of tomato, basil and mozzarella work so nicely together.  But you could make it a more true deconstruction of Cordon Bleu by using swiss cheese instead.

After adding up my cost I found that this meal came in right at $10.00 but by using 5 chicken breasts instead of the called for 4, I had plenty left over for hubby's lunch the next day.

Southern Living never disappoints, this would make a beautiful dish to serve company, and you will look like you spent hours working on it, when in reality it couldn't be easier to prepare.  I hope you'll give it a try!

Bowties and Brussels Sprouts...a great combination

 

Today will be a quick entry...why?  One, because it's beautiful outside and I for one am going to enjoy every second of it, two because hubby is home today and willing to lay my flagstone around my fire pit, one must take full advantage of these opportunities.

This recipe is once again a fabulous one from Everyday with Rachael Ray, found in her $10 and under section no less.  Now, vegetarian meals aren't always high up on the list for my meat loving family, especially the two male members of it.  But they both said they loved this one.

It was such an unusual combination of ingredients I just had to try it, it did not disappoint.  And, the best thing of all it took easily under 30 minutes to make.  The perfect weeknight meal. 

It's all Greek to me...Lamb and Olive Burgers in Homemade Pita

Wow we did something frugal and fun today!  As a homeschool mom I love the educational moments that just "happen".  Cooking together can be a great opportunity for home economics, a practical way to use math and science and provides some great one on one time.

Today, the girl and I made homemade pita pockets!  Who knew they could be so easy, so cheap and so healthy to make.  It was so cool to see them puff up right before our eyes, and we learned what worked and what didn't when it came to making the perfect pita.  I see lots of homemade pita pockets in our future.

Our pita pockets were made to accompany lamb burgers with olives and homemade taziki sauce.  We felt "oh so greek today", which has always been one of our favorite ancient societies to study.  I'm sad I never knew, before now, how easy and frugal it could be to recreate an authentic greek meal right in our own home.  I hope you will give this menu a try, it's a great way to expose your family to a different culture, and to appreciate the special art of bread making in a fun and easy way!

Who says you have to go out for brunch... Corned Beef Hash on Rye Toast

 

Breakfast in our home (as I'm sure is the case for most people if we're all being real with each other here) usually consists of cereal, oatmeal, the occasional scrambled egg....nothing too exciting.

So when I offered to make brunch Saturday morning my families eyes lit up.  Isn't it funny how certain words can change our perception of something.  Brunch just seems so "fancy" to children, and when you pull out your nicest dishes, silver and stemware it is fancy and special. 

My decision to make brunch revolved around trying to create a second use for the last half of my near disaster corned beef.  You can see the story behind this on my Ruben Pie post.  I figured after two days of corned beef dinners, I was probably pushing my luck to serve it again in the evening.  So what better way to finish off our corned beef adventures than with Corned Beef Hash on Rye Toast topped with a fried egg.  I was able to use ingredients I had on hand, which always helps in the frugal department.

 

For those of you 'saving your pennies" (and who isn't these days) but missing your weekend brunch, I challenge you to come up with something special to make at home.  It takes a little effort, but the reward of lingering at the table with your family before the busy weekend gets started, is worth it!

 

Leftover corned beef?...make a pie! Reuben Pie that is!

So....I have a confession.

That I can make now that St. Patrick's Day is over and my recipe for glazed corned beef has been posted.  I actually made TWO corned beef briskets and almost ruined the first one.

See, in the past I have made my corned beef on a day where I have been home and so always cooked it in the slow cooker on high for 4-5 hours, like as described in my recipe.  But, I had wanted to make the corned beef on Tuesday and save it for St. Patty's day, so that I could have pictures to show you.  I knew I would be gone most of the day on Tuesday, so I put it in on low, for a longer time...um, not so great. 

It was tough and almost seemed boiled.  I was shocked, how could I blog about my wonderful corned beef when it looked and felt like shoe leather, how could I serve this to my family who has such high expectations for their corned beef dinner each year...I felt like a corned beef failure. 

The frugal side of me couldn't dare think of throwing it away, so I wrapped it up, stuck it in the fridge to worry about later.  Wednesday, I was able to cook another one, the way I have always done and as you can see from the pictures it turned out beautifully....but that first pitiful lump of meat was staring at me every time I opened the fridge door.  I had to do something with it....

Yesterday morning, I decided to tackle this corned beef dilemma.

I noticed that when I baked the corned beef during the last step of my recipe, that it became even more tender than straight from the slow cooker.  I decided to slow roast the brisket with a 1/2 cup of beef broth I had leftover from another recipe, covered it and let it cook at 250° for an hour.  Guess what...it came out perfect! 

Corned beef salvaged, now what to do with it.

I knew I had seen a recipe for Ruben Pie in one of my cookbooks, or so I thought, but for the life of me could not find it again.  I figured since I knew what was on a Ruben and I knew the basics of what should go in a savory pie, that I could give this a whirl on my own. 

Let's just say it was a winner. 

 

My girl gave it "5 thumbs up", now if that isn't an endorsement I don't know what is.  This is a perfect way to to turn the corned beef and potatoes you might have left over, into another meal.  Or be daring and buy TWO corned beefs while they are such a good price and save one, to cook this dish.  I will be trying out one more corned beef recipe with the other half of my "spare" corned beef and will post that as well.

St. Patty's Day Part 2...Pictures of our St. Patricks Day dinner

 

Top of the evenin' to you my friends! (or mornin' depending on when you are reading this)  I hope the luck of the Irish was with you all day and that you found a pot or two of gold at the end of rainbow.   As for me and mine, we enjoyed our annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner, and once again it didn't disappoint.  In Part 1 of my St. Patty's Day series, I shared with you the recipes for our meal.  Now, I will be sharing the pictures.  So follow along as I break down the steps of my meal preparation.

St. Patty's Day Part 1

 

 

I promised I would post the recipe for those of you who might be contemplating making corned beef today.  I will also be making potatoes, cabbage and carrots. 

Below are recipes for each of these with pictures to follow later.

For dessert we will be having Nutella Mousse, created by Kristy at The Wicked Noodle, because while not necessarily Irish (even though very European)it frankly has been calling my name all week.  And we love us some Nutella in this house. 

 

So if you're wanting to see some great food photo's, while you wait for me to post some go have a look at The Wicked Noodle.

Third rollover is a charm....Jerk Chicken Quesadillas with Slaw

this picture is why I love natural light 
Slaw Salad

I am tired.... and I hear you saying..."uh huh, what mom isn't?"  and I know that...but that still doesn't change the fact that "I" am tired.  And can't come up with anything clever or witty to say tonight.  It's just been one of those weeks and I'm ready for the sunshine to come out to stay, permanently!  So tonight you get just a recipe.  I will edit this later to include the price breakdown, it was under $10...didn't doubt it on this one.  So stay tuned for a more detailed breakdown and critique, but for those who might actually make the Rollover Menu in 3 days I wanted you to have this last recipe.  And thanks for understanding about my ho hum entry cause it's just been a ho hum kind of day.

Rolling it over...Jerk Chicken Sweet and Spicy Sesame Noodles

As promised here is recipe #2 from my second round of Rachael Ray Rollover Meals.  Recipe #1, Jerk Chicken with Roasted Vegetables and Pineapples was a huge success...but oh my!  This one was even better.  I thought it was interesting that we found the same thing to be true with the Pork Loin Rollover Meal.  We really liked the main recipe, but LOVED the Pork Loin Chili even better.  Maybe it's because in both cases the meat has had time to absorb even more of the flavors while waiting in the fridge to be used for the follow-up recipes.  But whatever it is, this recipe did not fail.

I was so excited to have a guest 'taste tester" over for the Sesame Noodles.  I often get suspicious that my family is so happy to have a good hot meal and is afraid that this might cease to exist if they are too critical, that they might not always be giving me their unfettered opinion.  So, it's nice when someone else is over to give me feedback. 


Now this person, tends to be a little bias cause she loves me dearly, and she knows when she stops in she is likely to get something good to eat, but I know she will ALWAYS tell me the truth...we have that kind of relationship...and it's a good thing.  So I was glad to get her take on this recipe...the fact that my friend who is very careful with "portion control" went back for seconds..and shhh I think even thirds...was a good sign!  She gave it two thumbs up and so did hubby and I, so I consider this one a big success!  I hope you will too...oh and it makes a TON!  Way more than I thought it would, so it's a great one for extra guests. 

And please indulge me for a minute on a little side note here to my extra guest...

Thank you for spending the evening with us.  It was full of good eating, hysterical laughter, some "interesting cartoons" (hehe) and "from the heart" conversation...you are a joy in my life!

 

 

Rachael Ray rollover meal round 2....Jerk Chicken

Here's the next promised 3 day Rachael Ray Rollover Meal Plan.  Jerk Chicken with Roasted Vegetables and Pineapple. I love these because it allows me to focus most of my cooking energy on one night making the next two evenings of meal preparation a breeze.

After having completed two of these plans now, the first one was Roast Pork Loin, I have realized that it is VERY important to start that first meal on a day when you have some extra time.  You do not want to make this first meal when you feel rushed or frazzled.  Save the next two meals for your "busy" days...now if I could just learn to take my own advise..

So, you are wondering, how was the jerk chicken with roasted vegetables and pineapple?  My husband's words when he walked in the door should give you a clue..."Oh man!  That smells SO good, what is it?"  Nothing like hearing those words to make you forget the hour you just spent blending from scratch jerk chicken rub; and peeling and coring a whole pineapple while trying to avoid chopping off a finger.

The aroma of the chicken cooking truly transformed the whole house...if I closed my eyes I even felt like I was on a Caribbean island somewhere...okay in reality not so much..BUT it did smell really good.  The chicken roasted beautifully, it was moist and delicious.  I was worried about it being a little "spicy" for the kids since it had two jalapenos in the rub but it wasn't at all!  Just a perfect blend of spicy and sweet.

Below you will find the first of three meals.  At the end I will list the additional ingredients you will need for the other two recipes so you can purchase all of them at once.