Tomango Rice (tomangacado?)

For those of us still in summer, one of my favorite simple meals good cold or at room temperature:
Amounts are estimated because its variable to taste, plus your tomatoes, avocadoes, and mangoes might be large or small,you might need to feed more people and stretch it out, etc. It's all good!

Ingredients:
around 2 1/2-3+ cups cooked brown rice (I like brown basmati)
about 2/3 cup cooked black ("forbidden") rice
one large ripe mango, chopped
one or two ripe real garden tomatoes chopped (or grape tomatoes cut up)
one or two avocados chopped
(the goal is to have roughly equal amounts of avocado, mango, and tomato)
juice of one lime
optional handful of finely chopped cilantro (including stems)

Instructions:
Squeeze the lime over the avocado first to help it keep its color, stir everything together.

Notes:
This is good by itself or served with a baked sweet potato, maybe some fresh green beans. I batch cook and freeze the rice so I can just pull it out as needed. Keeps fine in the fridge for lunch the next day and travels well. Good picnic with some chewy or crusty bread.

Make $18 an hour cooking dinner; cheaper and healthier soups

I was asked to help teach a class in budgeting about the same time I got a recipe I had requested that looked rather more expensive than my usual thing. So I did a lot of research and pricing (even found a site with how many teaspoons in an ounce of various spices so I could estimate costs using my spice shelf) then used three versions as an example of how we can adjust our spending in more ways than we might think. Each recipe includes actual prices I have gotten, either this week or things in my storage.

Here's the recipe I got with notes from the sender, (it's really tasty and very easy, a handy recipe)

Southwest Chicken Soup                       

1 Chicken (I used Costco rotisserie chicken)   $5.99

64 oz. Chicken broth (any brand will do) $4.00

1 Package Near East Brand Rice Pilaf, Spanish Rice Flavor $2.19

                (I have used other brands, but this one is the best)

1 – 12 oz. container Salsa (I prefer fresh or refrigerated, but bottled will work). I like mild. $3.45

1 – 16 oz. pkg. frozen sweet corn (white or yellow) $2.39

Debone chicken, tear into chunks. Add broth, heat. Also use the juices from the rotisserie container. Add Rice, flavoring packet, and salsa. Cook until rice is done. Add corn, heat through. This soup can get quite thick, especially if you make it the day before – you might want a little more broth.

Serve with: sour cream, cilantro, cheese, tortilla chips. Could add chopped green onions, or even avocado slices.

to make enchilada casserole-. Sometimes the broth just disappears. Then I add black beans to the mixture. Layer it with corn tortillas and cheese. Bake it at 350 for about 40 minutes. Then top it off with fresh tomato chunks, green onions and olives.

The cheapest chewy artisan bread added $2.99. This makes a total of $21.89

(Optional additions - though of course you probably wouldn't use entire containers) could add up to $8.85, making it a casserole could add $8.15

Second is a version I would more likely make at my house: (Budget) Southwest Chicken Soup 
also easy, delicious, could be just as fast if you use previously made & frozen stock

Remains of a rotisserie chicken bought on sale and used for previous dinner (figure 1/4 meat left from $4.99 chicken, $1.25) 

2 bouillon cubes ($.09)

onion, half chopped and half used in simmering broth $.37

1 jar sale salsa (got some yesterday for $1) or canned diced tomatoes with green chilis

rice (white - $.08 for amount equal to packaged, or half box of instant brown rice for healthier soup - $.80) 

can corn or Mexicorn  (got lucky, a 50 cent sale) 

can black beans, rinsed and drained ($.69, more sales)

favorite spices (approx. 3 tsp. about $.30)

Cover the chicken carcass with water (include juices from package) and simmer with boullion and half onion, some leafy celery ends if you have them on hand. After about 30-40 minutes, strain. Brown the other half onion (chopped) and add broth, meat off chicken, salsa or diced tomatoes, rice, corn, beans. I like to use Penzey's Adobo seasoning, cumin, ancho powder. Simmer til rice is cooked.

serve sprinkled with saved tortilla chip crumbs (freeze) and a little bit of grated cheese. (.30)

Sale French bread saved in freezer $1.29

Total $6.62 with white rice, $7.34 with brown. 

And if you want to really save and use food storage items and have twice as much soup and bread...............

(Economy) Southwest Black Bean Soup instructions at link

black beans bought in bulk - $.67 lb

turkey carcass free (well, you were going to toss it, weren't you?)

onion, carrot, celery leaves for broth total about $.52

chopped onion, minced garlic, $.20

spices $.30

can of chopped tomatoes with green chilis (sale) $.87

squirt of lime juice .05

carrots, sale can corn, about .50 each

three corn tortillas torn up (saved in freezer) about .20

Homemade French Bread .60 (two loaves)

total $4.18

Think of it this way, you can save about $18 cooking the cheaper way, and the total work time is only about an hour more so you earned $18 an hour and ate healthy food with plenty for another dinner.

 

super-simple breakfast - cheap and healthy

Hot and Ready  Breakfast    

thermos-cooked grains

We've gotten interested in steel-cut oats (I was pleased that local stores have generic ones so I don't have to go 45 minutes to bulk food stores). And my husband likes cracked and whole wheat. All of these are a bit of a pain to cook. Unless you take the easy way out -

In the evening:
put any combination of whole or cracked/cut grain (I used 1 cup steel-cut oats and 1/2 cup whole wheat this time) into a good-quality thermos container with a sprinkle of salt. Pour in twice as much water as grain, heated to boiling in the microwave, and put on the lid. In the morning it's hot and cooked.

I found that cracked wheat seems to need less water and steel-cut oats a little more, whole wheat was perfect 2/1 (twice the water as grain) You can experiment to find the consistency you like best. You can make as much as your thermos holds and refrigerate the excess to zap (microwave reheat) the next day. You can add a little honey or other additions at night or in the morning.Craisins are good!

Hot Day Dinner with Pasta and Easy Variations

grilled peppers black bean and guac  sandwiches along with a bowl of super easy  Summer Pasta - Chop up a couple of good garden tomatoes, put in a bowl along with 8 oz fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2" cubes (or use "mozzarella pearls") and a handful of fresh basil leaves cut into ribbons. While the flavors soak in and blend, cook up a small batch of whole wheat rotini (or other favorite pasta) and drain, stir into other ingredients and serve.

This time I made the beans this way:
I had a margarine container of excess previously soaked beans in the freezer. I pulled them out and put them in a saucepan with 1/2 onion finely chopped, grated carrot, handful of slaw mix cabbage, plus two cups veggie broth, some Penzey's adobo seasoning, ground Ancho pepper, and cumin, plus a dash of lime juice. Simmer an hour or more and smash up if it hasn't gotten mushy on its own.

OR just open a can or two of seasoned black beans, rinse and drain and smash up.

We had some fruit to round it out - melon would have been best but we ate them all already.

My pizza-loving, anti-bean son ate these sandwiches and asked to finish the leftovers the next day -

In a Pinch fast Cheeseburger Mac

not so gourmet, cheap, or healthy, but not bad either. This is for when time (and possibly brainpower) is really short, there's not much in the fridge, and kids are hungry and need something fast that they will eat.

Start a pan of water boiling for pasta, put browned hamburger (from the freezer) and a large can or jarful of spaghetti sauce to warm in another pan. When macaroni is cooked, drain it and return to the pot, pour the hot meaty sauce sauce over it, stir in a large handful of grated sharp cheddar and sprinkle more on top. Put the lid on for a minute to melt. Hopefully you have some frozen  peas on hand  (put in a pan with a little boiling water, put on lid and turn off - they just need to get hot), and/or a bagged salad - or cabbage to cut in wedges, serve with some whole wheat bread and butter, maybe sliced or canned fruit - pretty fast, kid-friendly and no brainwork involved.

Confetti Spaghetti (squash)

unfortunately my family wasn't excited about squash used as pasta so I made up this way to use it as a vegetable - we love this - watch for the time of year that red peppers and spaghetti squash are both on sale

Bake a spaghetti squash - you can pierce it a few times with a sharp knife and throw it in the oven whole (on a pan or foil please, to catch possible drips). Bake about 45 minutes at 350 - or throw it in while making something else. When done, cut in half, take out the seeds and stringy middle, use a fork to scrape out all the spaghetti-like strands.You can do this ahead and freeze or refrigerate (so if you have lots of squash bake two or three, maybe throw in a butternut for soup......) Or put cut-side down in large frying pan with some water and lid and simmer maybe 25 minutes, turn over and simmer 5 more

Sliver a large onion, a red pepper, a green pepper, maybe orange if you have one too - (that means cut into thin slivers so they are close to shape and size of strands from the spaghetti squash). Melt more butter than is healthy (maybe 2 Tb) in a large frying pan and start the onion cooking. When it loses its rawness, add in the squash and peppers and season as desired. I use Penzey's Foxpoint and Rocky Mountain Seasoning, fresh ground pepper. You could add garlic back at the beginning. When its all pretty hot sprinkle and stir in parmeson-romano-asiago blend or whatever finely grated cheese you have that you like, and serve!

I like it as a main dish but it makes a great side for all sorts of things, is quick and colorful on a hot day or fresh and crunchy with more wintery fare.

Nacho Bake

for some of us who grew up wishing we could have "Tuna and
Potato Chip Casserole" more often (the tastier, faster, costlier and less healthy version of tunafish & noodles), here's a Mexican version just about as fast to make and pretty healthy, and easy to adjust to taste:

(Quick and Healthy) Nacho Bake

1 bag crushed baked tortilla chips
1 bottle of salsa (watch for sales)
handful of snipped cilantro (or tsp. dried)
one can each:
    Mexicorn (or "southwest" style corn, or regular corn)
    chopped tomatoes with mild diced green chilis
    black beans, rinsed and drained

stir it all together, bake til heated through (about 30-40 minutes at 350), throw some cheese on top and heat til melted


For the curious:  Tuna Fish and Potato Chips
one or two cans tuna, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
pkg potato chips, crushed
extra milk if needed to moisten

stir together and bake until heated through and crispy on top
(nutrition facts: extreme sodium and fat content, but then again, tuna is healthy food, right? and you can serve green beans and squash and salad and fruit alongside)

Simple Sweet and Sour Sauce

(adapted from "Chinese Cookbook" by Kiko Kay who taught Chinese cooking to Marine Corps wives in Okinawa)
Here's a great dish that will let you slip that brown rice into the diet:

1/2 cup sugar
1 Tb soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1 Tb red wine vinegar
1/2 cup pineapple juice
4 Tb catsup
1/2 cup water
3 Tb cornstarch

whisk together in saucepan, bring to boil (stirring often), boil and stir for one minute

great for dipping and as a vehicle for all sorts of veg and meat choices over rice (lower heat to medium and add other ingredients as suggested below)

notes:
easy to double, can freeze half for another day.


to make Sweet-n-Sour Chicken:
prepare about one generous cup each of about 6 items to feed a family of 4, use more items and/or larger amounts in a double batch of sauce to feed 8-10 (you can choose familiar things for kids or get adventurous):

-chunks of cooked chicken ("saute"  thawed chicken breast covered in non-stick pan with slight drizzle of oil just til done, add juices to sauce)
-thinly sliced carrots (precook slightly along with onion, microwave two minutes)
-chunks of onion (one large)
-diagonally sliced celery
-3/4 inch chunks green pepper
-pineapple chunks
          you can stop there for a perfectly good, economical dish or keep going......
-broccoli florets (precook in microwave slightly unless you like it very crunchy)
-sugar or snap peas - broken or cut in half
-baby corn
-bean sprouts
-sliced water chestnuts
-red pepper
-summer squash
or whatever you have or that is in season or that your kids like! Try to keep a good mix of color and to make the pieces as much the same size as you can, although since you can adjust cooking times by adding each ingredient when you want, this is mostly for looks and not worth getting too fussy about.



Whatever you choose to use, you can stir it all in right after the sauce gets its boil, or if some of your vegetables need more than warming up, you can add them first and give them time to simmmer in the sauce -  but always add green things very last even if you must pre-cook broccoli separately, because the acid in the sauce will kill the bright green after a few minutes.

You can feed a good-sized family plus a couple of missionaries with a double batch filled with veggies and chicken over rice. Or use meatballs - out of the freezer if you are very efficient (to save a lot of time and trouble, you can put the meat mixture in a flat baking dish and cut into squares with a pizza cutter and bake for "meatsquares" - when browned, drain and then freeze spread on a cookie sheet and gather into freezer bags so you can take out just what you need)

You can use this as a way to rotate canned chunk chicken from your food storage. If you had frozen some sauce and some rice, had a can of baby corn, some frozen broccoli or snap peas and a few carrots in the fridge, you're on your way to a super-easy dinner much tastier than store-bought canned oriental meals.

You've pretty much covered your whole need for fruits and veggies so just serve with some whole wheat bread and butter, maybe a cabbage wedge if you like or sliced tomato on lettuce.

5-minute dinner

To get things rolling, here's one of the fastest dinners I've found, if you have two or three kids helping it can be done in 5 minutes (we timed it once at a Relief Society activity). It does require that you do one of the most helpful time-savers for cooking dinners: when you buy hamburger on sale, brown it with a chopped onion, divide and freeze (I use old margerine tubs with an "H" on top written with the ever-popular Sharpie). Now I know there are many versions of taco salad, but this one works for us, the kids get some choice in what goes on their dinner and everyone comes out happy.

Grab from freezer and pantry:
a container of browned hamburger from the freezer (or for even healthier and cheaper version, grab a can of black or kidney beans - rinsed and drained -  instead),
a pack of cheap tortilla chips (also can be frozen to keep on hand),
a pack of grated Mexican cheese (tossed in the freezer from the last time HyVee had their $.99 sale)
a can of tomato sauce and one of refried beans.

Put the hamburger in the micrwave for one minute while opening the tomato sauce and pouring into a saucepan on medium - high. Add hamburger and turn it down to medium, stir in about one-third of the can of refried beans and your favorite mexican-type seasonings (Penzey's Adobo is good, cumin, cilantro, ancho pepper powder, etc). Stir occassionally - should be simmering until everything else is ready and on the table.
Meanwhile one helper is chopping lettuce, tomatoes if you have some, others are heating the remains of the refried beans in the microwave, putting some cheese in a serving bowl, finding the salsa and sour cream (we use fat-free, we're used to it so there's no turning back).
If your budget allows, pull out some guacamole and sliced olives (I freeze the guacamole that comes in pouches and thaw in a bowl of water - afterwards squeeze out all the air, fold and clip the corner and put back in the freezer til next time).
Smash the chips somewhat and put in a large bowl and microwave for one minute -- this heats them up and refreshes them.

If you have enough help you can have someone slicing some apples or combining some favorite canned fruits.
Lemonade goes nicely with this.