In the Kitchen

It's a bit blustery here today in Central Texas - - of course, nothing like what's happening up North, but I was truly looking forward to some time in the yard.  Since I'm chillin' in the house, I thought I'd do some bulk cooking for this week so that I'd have food for lunch.

2 things I'm making with leftovers:  chicken spaghetti and chili.

For both of these recipes, the only "new" items I needed were pinto beans, Alfredo sauce, canned tomatoes and pasta.  All other items were things leftover from other recipes.

Leftover items:  frozen celery and onion leftover from the holidays; rotisserie chicken; baked beans and hamburger patties from dinner last week; ground sausage from breakfast bowls.

Chicken Alfredo**  I just added this recipe to a weekly meal planner.

Add 1 cup rotisserie chicken, 1/2 cup chopped onions and 1/2 cup chopped celery to a saucepan.  Cover slightly with water and bring to a boil.  Once the chicken, onions and celery have softened, use a slotted spoon to remove from the pan.

Add extra water, if needed, and bring to a boil.  This will be the water to boil your pasta.

I often make homemade pasta sauce or use a mix.  In these instances, I make the sauce while the pasta is cooking.

Drain the pasta and add to a casserole dish.  Add the chicken mixture and pour the Alfredo sauce over the ingredients.  Stir.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.


Chili

In a crock pot, add all the ingredients.  The thing I love about this recipe is that it always differs in what I add.

1 can pinto beans with liquid
1 can chopped tomatoes
Chili powder and cumin

Leftovers:  1/2 pound ground sausage; 1/2 can baked beans; 1/2 pound cooked hamburger; 1/2 cup chopped onions; 1/2 cup chopped celery.

Add water to cover.  I cook my chili on low for over 6 hours, so I want enough water to keep the chili from sticking to the bottom or becoming too thick.  I often don't  add extra salt or pepper because the leftover food already has those, but you can add once the chili has cooked for a while and you have tasted.

What I love about making this chili is all the ways you can use it:  juevos rancheros, chili pie, baked potatoes, soup.  With all the ways you can eat the chili, you can use whatever you have on hand.  This week, I have some corn chips for chili pie and fresh baking potatoes.

Thrifty Menu: Crockpot Potatoes and Roast Beef

I had about 1/3 a pound of shaved roast beef left over from sandwiches.  It seems once we have sandwich night, no one wants to have them again for a few weeks.  I always try to purchase just enough deli meat for the occasion, but sometimes left-overs happen.

I knew I wanted to do something different, not traditional pot roast or hash.  I did some research.  What I put together was a combination of a couple different recipes. I also knew I wanted to throw it all into a crockpot.

Here's what I came up with.

Crockpot Potatoes and Roast Beef

2 medium potatoes
1/3 cup shaved roast beef
1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup butter
1/2 Tab chopped garlic
1/2 Tab flour
1/4 Tab chopped parsley
1/2 Tab mustard
salt, pepper
1/2 cup water

Coat crock pot with non-stick spray.
Peel potatoes; thinly slice.  Layer in crock-pot.

In skillet, melt butter.  Add chopped onions, garlic, parsley and salt / pepper.  Stir together and cook until onions are tender.
Add water and mustard and stir until well blended.
Add shaved roast beef and cook until covered.  If the mix is too thick, add water.

Pour over sliced potatoes in crockpot and cook on high for 1-2 hours.

Before serving, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella
or provolone cheese.

Leftover Lunch: Chicken Spaghetti

When shopping for chicken, it is often less expensive to purchase whole chicken than boneless.  I can usually find chicken breast with attached ribs at $1 pound as opposed to the $4.99 pound of boneless breast.  What  I am most often asked is what to do with the bones.  Whether I start with a whole chicken or with those pieces with bones, once I trim off the bulk of the meat, I put the bones in a pan of water and cook.  Once cool, save the broth and completely debone.  Depending on how much broth you end up with, you can divide, if needed for several recipes.  You should have about 2 cups of broth / chicken pieces.

1 envelope spaghetti seasoning
1 can tomato paste
Thin spaghetti pasta
Optional:  onion, bell pepper, mushroom


Add only the broth to a 3 qt saucepan.  Add extra water if  needed.  Your pot should be about 2/3 full.
In a bowl, combine the chicken pieces, envelope of spaghetti seasoning, tomato paste and any option vegetables you want to add.  Stir together.  Add chicken broth until you have a consistency you want.  I like my sauce thicker than most jar sauces.  Set aside.

Bring the chicken broth to a boil and cook the pasta according the package directions.  Drain.

Add the sauce to the pasta and stir.

Leftover Lunch - Spiced Orange Sweet Tea

Lots of thing can be salvaged in the kitchen.  Becoming proficient in using every bit of food purchased food takes a bit of patience and creativity. I truly hate throwing out anything.


Ingredients for this spiced orange syrup:

1 - 2 oranges.  I use ones that are not attractive and are a bit too mushy.
Spices
1 cup honey or 1/2 cup sugar

Thoroughly clean the orange.  Shave off any blemishes.
Slice the orange into rings.
1 Tab cinnamon
1 Tab ground cloves
1 family sized tea bag

Add 2 cups water to a 1 qt saucepan and add the orange slices, tea bag and spices only.  Simmer on low for 1 hour or until the orange slices become to soften.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Pour the mixture through a cheesecloth or coffee filter into a bowl.  Try to squeeze out as much liquid from the orange slices as possible.  Discard the orange slices and spices.

Return the liquid to the saucepan and add the honey or sugar.  On medium heat, simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.  Allow to cool.

Add ice to a pitcher and pour the tea mixture over the ice.  Add more cold water to taste.  Garnish with orange slices, if wanted.

Leftover Lunch - Taco Soup

Today's Leftover Lunch is one of my favorite and a standard in our home.  Living in Texas means lots of Mexican or Tex-Mex food.  Chili is big.

There are several ways to make "leftover lunch" really work for your family.

What I have done for years is to use a 3 cup plastic container and just add the leftover ingredients until the bowl is full.  Keep in the freezer.  Because food in a plastic bowl in the freezer will not come out easily, I normally rinse off the bowl and then invert into whatever pan or crockpot I'm using and pour 1 cup very hot water of it.  The water will become part of the stock.  Keep sandwich size zip bags of corn chips in the freezer, too.

In my pot today are the leftover parts of:

chili
black beans
corn
hamburger patty
ground sausage
pinto beans
chopped onion, bell pepper and tomato

My bowl of ingredients were not frozen, so this is how I started.  If you start with frozen ingredients, skip the sautee part.

In a 3 qt saucepan, sautee 1/2 chopped onion / bell pepper in 2 Tab oil.

Lower heat and add the leftover ingredients and 2 to 3 cups water.  If you do not have tomato, you can add pico, salsa or even 1/2 cup ketchup.  Simmer on medium for 30 minutes.  If cooking in a crockpot, turn on low for about 3 hours.

When the mixture has cooked together, reduce heat and add 1 cup crushed corn chips (the ones at the bottom of the bag).  Allow the mixture to simmer until the corn chips dissolve and become part of the broth.

Leftover Lunch - Creamy Chicken Casserole

Creamy Chicken Casserole

1/2 - 1 cup cooked and deboned chicken, chopped
1/2 can stewed, diced tomatoes
2 cups shredded vegetables (I use broccoli slaw)
1/4 cup chopped onion or 2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup mango sauce (I bought mine from HEB)
Salt, pepper to taste
Enough water to cover

If you have enough ingredients on hand to double this recipe, you can double and then divide for 2 different recipes.

Combine all ingredients in a 3qt saucepan.  Add enough water to cover.  On low heat, simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add additional water if needed.  The mixture should be moist, but not watery when cooked down.

At this point, add either 1 cup dry pasta or 1 cup instant rice to the mixture.  Add 1 can tomato paste, 1 cup water and 1/4 cup half/half.  Stir well.  Simmer on low, covered until rice/pasta are cooked.  You can also put in a crockpot if desired.

The idea behind leftover lunch is to use as many leftover items in your fridge as possible.  Food prices continue to rise, so what I actually get to bring home gets smaller and smaller. I think often to the Great Depression and Relief Gardens which became known also as Victory Gardens at the onset of WW2.  Many smaller communities are seeing a rise in community gardens in the last few years.  Living in an apartment in a part of town without a community garden, I have to be creative to stretch my food budget.

Extreme coupon-ing and shopping sales may work for many families.  Even joining a wholesale club could be beneficial.  I've looked into all these options.  Utilizing part coupons and part sales, I also had to develop techniques and recipes to use every bit of food purchased to keep my costs in line.

When I can purchase chicken for $1 a pound, for instance, I buy quite a bit of it and portion it in zip bags.  Each portioned bag contains enough chicken for 2 -3 meals.  When I cook, I prep as many meals at the same time to cut down on the time I am actually in the kitchen.

Recently, I created menu lists for my oldest daughter who was leaving the nest.  When I asked her how I could help her with recipes, etc, she asked for directions on my cooking many things at the same time.  This recipe was on the chicken page.