Homemade Weekend, part 2

Per the usual, this past weekend was a whirlwind! So, let's get right to it!

Friday is our "out to eat" day, and since we had not been already, we decided to hit up the Oklahoma State Fair.

credit: stephen moore, moorefoto.com

I mean who really goes to the fair for free pens and to buy random junk? No one! We all tolerate the taunting carnies and foul smelling people for the FOOD. Fried *insert random food item* on a stick! Turkey legs! Roasted corn! Cotton candy! Carmel-covered & candied apples! And, of course, beer!

Even though the fair is something every Okie should experience at least once a year, I always end up regretting the amount of calories I take in and the lack of money in my pocket. That being said, three hours and $80 later, I was ready to go home.
 
Since my work's annual "Employee Appreciation Day" at a local theme park would take up most of our Sunday, I declared Saturday my "crazy-all-day-food-planning-shopping-and-prepping" day.

For this week (Sept. 22 - 28), I planned out a little more complicated dishes than last week, just to see if I could pull it off, and so far so good! Here's this week's menu:
 

	Sat. 9/22	Sun. 9/23	Mon. 9/24	Tues.  9/25	Wed. 9/26	Thurs. 9/27	Fri.  9/28
B	Cereal	Cereal	Breakfast Burrito	Breakfast Burrito	Breakfast Burrito	Breakfast Burrito	Breakfast Burrito
L	Sandwich & Chips	Free Lunch @ Theme Park	Leftovers: Peach Whiskey Chicken & Potatoes	Leftovers: Pork Loin, Veggies & Corn Cakes	Leftovers: Pork Loin, Veggies & Corn Cakes	Leftovers: Tomato Cream Pasta & Bread	Leftovers: Shepard’s Pie
D	- Peach Whiskey Chicken - Whiskey Glazed Carrots -Twice Baked Potatoes (PW)	- Herb Roasted Pork Loin - Roasted Veggies -Corn Cakes (PW)	- Beef Beer Stew (PW) - French Bread	Weekly Dinner with Friends:         -Mushroom Cheddar Sliders (PW) -Baked French & Sweet Potato Fries	-Tomato Cream Pasta (PW) + chicken  + artichoke hearts -Garlic Bread	-Shepard’s Pie, using leftover Beef Beer Stew (PW) -Pint Night (>$20)	-Beef & Bean Burritos - Mexican Rice

After comparing what I needed for this week's meals to what was in my fridge and pantry, I made a list of everything else that we would need. Again, I organized my list by where each item was in the store (produce, meats, dairy, dry goods, frozen, etc.), and again, this made for a swift and fairly inexpensive shopping trip. We beat our last shopping trip about $10!

As you can see, we really try to implement my "$2 rule" and came out with only 20 out of 69 items that were over that limit.

This week was fairly sucessful, and every meal was WONDERFUL! I have included the recipes and pictures of some of the meals we had this week. Enjoy!

the final product.. AWESOME!!

Pioneer Woman's Peach Whiskey Chicken           
Prep: 10 min   Cook: 2 hours   Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 12 whole chicken legs (bone in, skin on)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs butter
• 1 whole onion (diced)
• 1 1/2 cup or 12oz whiskey (I used Wild Turkey's American Honey, YUM!)
• 1 1/2 cup or 12 oz BBQ Sauce (I used a whole med. jar of Head Country Original)
• 1 cup or 8 oz peach preserves (I used sugar-free to keep the sweetness down)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire
• 4 cloves of garlic (I used 2 tbs of minced garlic from a jar)
• 3 peaches, pitted & sliced
• 3 whole green onions (I left these out)

 
Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• In a large skillet, heat oil and butter over med.-high heat. Place 4-6 chicken legs at a time in the skillet for about 3-4 minutes on each side, until all sides are browned. Place on plate & repeat until all chicken is browned.
• Pour out the majority of the grease (NOT DOWN THE SINK! Paul taught me to drain off grease into a used metal can and throw it out once it cooled; what a smarty pants!), and return to the stove. Add diced onion and cook for 2 minutes.
• Pour in the whiskey (be EXTRA careful if you are cooking over an open flame). Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan, and allow whiskey to reduce for about 3 minutes. Pour in the BBQ sauce, preserves, garlic, water & Worcestershire. Stir until combined and let cook for about 5 minutes.
• This is where I ventured off from the original recipe since my skillet was too small: place chicken in a casserole dish, stick peach slices in open spaces between chicken pieces, and cover with sauce in skillet. Cover with foil, and place in oven.
• The Pioneer Woman suggests cooking for 1 and a half hours, but by 45 minutes my dish was boiling over and all over the oven. Be sure to check on the chicken at least every 15-20 minutes to prevent a HUGE MESS. I also put my dish on a baking sheet to catch anymore spillage.
• Pull dish out of oven and let cool for at least 5-10 minutes. The dish and its contents will be VERY hot.
• Suggestions: I served this with twice-baked new potatoes and whiskey-glazed carrots.

Pioneer Woman's Herb Roasted Pork Loin               
Prep: 5 min   Cook: 25 min  Servings: 6

Delicious dish!

Ingredients

• 2 whole pork tenderloins
• 8 tbsp Herbs De Provence (these were expensive, not going to lie.. but man, oh, man! They make pork absolutely delightful!)
• 1 cup or 8 oz preserves (I used the rest of my peach preserves from the Peach Whiskey Chicken, but you can use something like plum, fig, etc. Please avoid grape though.. ew)
• 1 cup water (my sauce was VERY watery, so I would reduce this amount to 1/4 cup and add a little more if needed; do not exceed 1/2 cup)
• 1 tbsp white vinegar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425° F.
• Season tenderloins liberally with salt, pepper, and Herbs De Provence, pressing them onto the pork so they stay put.
• Place the tenderloins on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 - 25 minutes. After center is no longer pink, remove from the oven and allow pork to rest for at least 10 minutes.
• While it is resting, combine preserves, water and vinegar in a small pan, and bring to a simmer for a few minutes. Reduce heat and allow to thicken.
• Slice pork into pieces about 1 inch thick, and spoon sauce over the slices when serving.
• Suggestions: I served this with roasted veggies (parsnips, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, red and yellow bell peppers and onion) and corn meal cakes (the few that turned out weren't bad, but they were not quite worth the disaster they created).

Homemade Weekend, part 1

Whew, what a weekend!

It never fails.. By Friday, there is nothing in the fridge but ongoing science experiments..

So, if you couldn't tell, we said "screw it!" and we went out to eat at one of my favorite Okie-grown Mexican restaurants, Chelino's. I grew up on this local joint, and I never turn down a chance to go!

Since I've been on a pretty tight budget, I decided to be super productive and efficient this weekend.

Saturday morning, I made breakfast with what I had around the house (scrambled eggs, homefries, and toast). While eating, I looked through my new cookbook in an attempt to plan out our meals for the entire week ahead.  I chose recipes that I thought would be fairly inexpensive, easy to prepare, and tasty, of course. I wanted to find meals that would fit in to our schedules as best as possible because I was sure that if I could make the first week work smoothly that I would be more likely to continue meal planning. So, this is the plan:

Per the usual, Paul didn't really want to go shopping with me, but I coerced him with lunch at Uptown Grocery. They have a really good hot food bar with an awesome selection. We both got their "lite lunch special" for $4.99 that includes one entree, one side, and a roll. I got baked chicken breast, and sauteed yellow squash, zucchinni and green beans, while Paul chose the meatloaf and loaded mashpotatoes (what he almost always gets since this girl isn't a fan of meatloaf, haha). For under $15, we were able to have a really nice meal! If you ignore the styrofoam, it's almost like going to a pretty nice restaurant and still walking out with money in your pocket.

With full bellies, we decided to start browsing. Before we left the house, I made a very specific list of everything I would need to make each meal for the week. I divided all the items by the section they would be in at the store. Without a list, I am liable to walk out with a cart full of nothing I actually need.

This is where my "$2 rule" comes into play: if it is over $2, it doesn't go in the cart. Now, with rising living costs, it is getting harder to follow, especially with dairy (milk & cheese), out of season produce, and meats. Although some of these things are necessary at times, I try to search for the best deal bycomparing products and avoiding name brands.

After about an hour of shopping, we hit the register. Paul and I always make a game of trying to guess the total amount we will spend: I think he guessed around $170 and I said about $160. We were both happily surprised to see that we did better than both of our guesses with a ticket for $155!!

As you can see, I circled everything that was over $2. Only 16 items out of 68 were over the limit!  It is always so gratifying when you see that you have everything you need but still saved money!

SATURDAY NIGHT

Following this week's menu planner, Saturday night was homemade pizza night. We had so much fun with this! All I had to do was make the dough about an hour before we were ready to eat, giving it time to rise.



The Pioneer Woman's Pizza Dough
1 scant tsp active dry yeast         3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup warm water                   3 tbsp olive oil
2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Combine yeast & water into medium bowl. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
2. Add flour to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
3. Sprinkle in the salt.
4. Turn the mixer on low, and slowly pour in the olive oil.
5. Finally, pour in the yeast/water mixture.
6. Stop the mixer when everything comes together.
7. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled/Pam'd bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
8. Allow the dough to rise at least 1 hour before using.

    *This dough can be stored in the fridge for several days before using.
     *The receipe can be doubled or tripled depending on the amount you need.
     *Reducing the receipe is not recommended since baking relies heavily on chemistry.

After the dough rose, Paul, who apparently is a pizza extrordinare, kneaded and rolled out the dough a few times, then tossed it so it would fit our new pizza pan! We decided to do our own thing from here, instead of attempting one of PW's fancier pizza receipes. Don't forget to Pam the pan for easier clean up!

We spread Prego's vegetable pizza sauce ($#.## for a # oz jar, using about 1/3 per 12" pizza) on the dough, leaving about a half inch of un-sauced dough around the outside for the crust. Then, we used 2 cups (one med. bag) of shredded mozarrella cheese all over the pizza, making sure to have a pretty thick layer of cheese near the crust. My first "real" job was at a local pizza place in Lindale, TX, and one thing I learned about the art of pizza was to make sure there was enough cheese around the crust to hold all of the toppings on to the slice once it was cut. If there isn't enough cheese, all of the toppings will just slide off when you pick it up. Awesome!

This is where it got really fun! We started pulling all sorts of things out of the fridge that needed to be used anyway, and started throwing them on the pizza. Paul stayed simple with pepperonis, black olives, and some parmesan, but I "vegged out" with chopped spinach, mushrooms, black olives, and fresh tomatoes.

Next, we baked the pie on the lowest rack in a 450 degree oven for about 12-14 minutes. It turned out wonderful! The crust was cooked perfectly, not doughy but not hard as a rock either. Success!

"The Lebanese Kitchen"

Stephen Heyman, writer for New York Times' T Magazine, most recently published 'Gran Cuisine,' an article about two very interesting cookbooks put together by 'a pair of unknown grandmothers, legends only within their immigrant families for simple, soulful recipes that taste of home.'

One of the books, "The Lebanese Kitchen" by Salma Hage (pictured above), is a collection of recipes originating from her homeland of Northern Lebanon. The cookbook includes a several variations of hummus and tabbouleh, as well as many other Lebanese dishes.

I was EXTREMELY excited to find this article because I am a second-generation immigrant of Lebanon. For the first five years of my life, I spent almost every single day with my tayta (meaning 'grandmother' in Lebanese). She is one of the best people I have ever encountered in my entire life. She taught me my first words (in Lebanese actually! I still know how to make simple conversation, but I lost most of it when I started school), how to treat other people with respect and love, and, of course, to love all things food!

My tayta holding me a few weeks after I was born.

Every day, Tayta would make breakfast at home, lunch at home, and a full spread for dinner AT HOME. It was rare for us to go out, mainly because nothing compared to her delicious cooking. Why stoop to the level of a Big Mac when Tayta is at home making fresh grape leaf or cabbage rolls (stuffed with ground beef and rice), babaganoush (a dip of mashed eggplant mixed with oil and spices), hummus (a spread/dip made of mashed chickpeas, lemon juice, oil, garlic, and tahini, a sesame butter similar to peanut butter), lebneh (a spreadable yogurt sauce), or one of her many takes on American dishes, always with a Lebanese twist.

Tayta taught me so much about how to live and love life. When Tayta was expecting me for dinner, so she would always make the dishes she knew I loved, and that was one of the best feelings in the world.