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).