Baked chicken with brussel sprouts & sweet potato, Italian sausage & veggies, vegetarian chili, chicken à la king and cranberry-balsamic pork with squash gratin
This week I made several budget-friendly recipes with yummy, seasonal veggies and a variety of flavours.
Food costs just continue to rise and I've been doing my best to keep my grocery bill in check, preferably without sacrificing great-tasting food. So far, I am really pleased with how well that's going. I've been trying to buy more vegetables and fruits that are in season or have long shelf lives, like carrots, sweet potatoes, and apples, and I continue to cook at least one meatless meal each week. Watching the flyers and buying meat that's on special also helps. As someone who has always cooked more by feel than by the sales, this is a bit of a switch for me! I am enjoying the challenge, though, and there haven't been any complaints around here.
I'd love to hear what you do to combat high food prices, and how you stretch your food dollars while eating well.
On the menu January 19 - 25, 2020:
Tonight's recipe was simple but good. I love meals that combine carbs, protein and vegetables all in one dish. Cleanup was simple, and this meal cooked in about an hour. I am not usually a fan of chicken skin, but I couldn't resist it tonight - it was crispy and really flavourful.
Monday Leftovers / eat out / takeout
Tuesday One Pan Healthy Italian Sausage & Veggies and green salad
This recipe has been on my "make soon" list for a while... That list is constantly growing (and changing!) so "soon" can be a relative term. We used Trick's Creek Farm's mild Italian beef sausage and it was awesome! In fact, it might be the best Italian sausage we've ever had, with lots of great flavour and nothing hot to bother anyone (namely my mom!) If you live in (or near) Huron County, you definitely need to try it! I didn't cut my sausage into coins as the recipe suggested, but just baked it alongside the veggies. You certainly could stir it right in with the veggies as the recipe suggests. I also used a little extra olive oil, since my seasonings were a bit paste-like, but they did coat the veggies really well. I had cauliflower on hand rather than broccoli, so I used that instead, and I also chopped up a few mushrooms to use up the last of a package. I am always a fan of recipes that you can easily adapt to what you have in the house. This meal was really, really good, and the seasoning took it over the top. I will be purchasing that sausage again very soon!
Wednesday Can't-Believe-It's-Vegetarian-Chili
I loved this! The toppings were super - who can argue with sour cream, avocado, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips and cilantro? This was very budget-friendly (just what most of us need in January!), using only one can of kidney beans, a small can of tomatoes, and a cup of green lentils along with one red pepper and an onion. I haven't been able to find fire-roasted tomatoes around here for a while, so you can try adding a little soya sauce to regular diced tomatoes. It's kind of amazing how few ingredients it can take to create something truly delicious and healthy. The chili was hearty and filling, and I think your whole family will enjoy it!
Thursday Leftovers / eat out / takeout
Friday Chicken à la King in Toast Cups with green salad
When I was a kid, I always remember my mom serving Chicken à la King - apparently, it was a trendy food item in the '70s. I have made it a few times as an adult, but my son didn't like it so it's been a few years since I've served it. I had some leftover chicken in the freezer from Christmas and thought this would be a good way to use that up. The recipe I actually used comes from "Company's Coming Chicken, Etc." and is on page 139 if you need to scroll through the book in the linked copy. The recipe called for pimentos but since I am trying to keep my pantry staples to a minimum (and it was $4.49 for a small jar!) I opted to leave them out. I used a little diced red pepper instead. My mom always served this in "toast cups" and her original recipe came from Betty Crocker's "Dinner in a Dish Cookbook". I loved that cookbook and recently my mom gave it to me. It's been fun to "step back in time" and remember making some of those recipes for my brother and my parents. I look forward to trying them out again soon. The recipe linked above comes from Canadian Living and what I made tonight is a combination of both recipes. Basically, I followed the Company's Coming recipe but used the veggies listed in the Canadian Living recipe (it also tells you how to make toast cups). So good! Even my son loved it this time around.
Saturday Cranberry-Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin with wild rice and Merritt's Butternut Squash Gratin
Although we didn't have any company tonight, this meal was awesome and totally company-worthy!! Greta Podleski's Cranberry-Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Orange & Rosemary was so, so good. I've said this before, but if you haven't purchased her "Yum & Yummer" cookbook yet, it has been my favourite for more than a year and I highly recommend it. The pork was perfectly paired with a wild rice mix and butternut squash gratin. If you have a family who doesn't like squash, I think the linked recipe above is the one that could convert them! The whole meal was like something you'd order in a five-star restaurant (or so I was told!) My photo does not do it justice. Pork tenderloin was on sale this week for $6.97 for 2 large tenderloins, and I used up a squash that had been sitting on my counter for a while. I also used up some gruyere cheese I had frozen and made bread crumbs out of a baguette that otherwise would have been thrown out. That alone made me happy, but when the meal turned out so special, it felt like a double win!
#quickandeasymeals #weeknightmeals #mealplanning #eatmoreveggies #companyscoming #yumandyummer #alltheveggies #iloveveggies #gimmesomeoven #trickscreekfarm #skinnytaste
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