Money Saving Monday

Going into this week, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able stick to our budget.  There were great sales on meat so I knew I would be spending a good chunk on just that. Luckily, I had a lot of produce from last week and there wasn't a lot of good sales to push me over . And in the end, I wound up under budget! $76 spent! Here is what I got:

Produce Junction:

• Mushrooms
• Carrots
• Peppers
• Green Beans
• Broccoli 
• Basil

Shop Rite:

•  4 Rolls of Toilet Paper
• 5 Bottles Pepsi Max
• 1 Pack of Boneless Chicken
• 6 Purdue Chicken Roasters

Aldi:

• Eggs
• Bacon
• Saltines

Redner's Market

• 3 Packs of Boneless Chicken Breast
• 8 Rolls of Toilet Paper
• 1 Pack of Scrapple
• 1 Can of Enchilada Sauce
• 1 Jar of Horseradish 
• 2 Packs of  Cat Treats

The Chickens were on sale for .69lb at Shop Rite, and they also had a coupon in there circular for 1 pack of boneless chicken breast for 1.49lb - this is a really cheap price! I also had a coupon that I earned  from RecycleBank for $5 off when you spend $40, which makes it like I got 1 chicken for free!I am able to buy so much meat because I am fortunate enough to have an extra freezer to store everything.  If you have extra room in your freezer, stock up on meat when it is at a good sale price and you will save a fortune!

Pesto Turkey Burgers

So we've gone a little pesto crazy here at YHC, so here is another recipe!!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground Turkey
• 4 heaping tbsp of Pesto
• 1 Cup of Mushrooms, Finely minced
• 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
• Mayo
• Tomato, Sliced
• American Cheese
• Rolls
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1.  Combine ground turkey, 2 tbsp of pesto, mushrooms, Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper.  Mix Well.  Score into an X so that meat is even when you form patties

2.  Form into 2 patties. Make indentation in the center to help with even cooking 

3. Heat pan to medium high. Coat pan with evoo.  Add burgers and cook for about 6 minutes per-side
4. Top burgers with cheese and melt.
5. Toast buns lightly and slice a tomato
6. Make pesto mayo, the ratio we us is 2 tbsp of may for every 1 of pesto


This burger is really good made on the BBQ as well.  Usually that is where I would make it, but it was raining.

Football Food: Pesto Deviled Eggs

My husband and I are huge football fans.  On Sunday's during football season, you can count on it that we will be:

• At home
• On the coach, watching our sports package
• Cheering for the Broncos, LOUDLY (even though we live in Philadelphia)
• Eating some yummy homemade food.

My husband is a great cook, so on Sundays we each make an appetizer or two so we have plenty to snack on for the 1:00 and 4:00 games.  Each week, I am going to post about something that one of us has made.  This week, we made Pesto Deviled eggs -  Because right now we're pesto crazy!

Ingredients:

• Eggs
• Pesto
• Mayo (we use light)
• Spicey Mustard
• Paprika
• Cayenne Pepper (optional)

1. Cover eggs in a pot of cool water.  Bring to a rapid boil and remove from heat. Let stand for 12 minutes, and you'll have perfect eggs every time.  Drain and crack eggs, let set in cold water to cook.  Using eggs that are less fresh (sitting in the fridge a week, but not expired) will peal easier then fresh eggs.

2. Slice eggs in half long ways, and put yolk into bowl. Reserve egg whites.

3. Mix with Pesto and Mayo. Use a ratio of 3 tsbp of pesto to 4 tsbp of mayo. Pesto adds flavor but if it isn't creamy, add more mayo.

4. Mix in 1-2 squirts of brown mustard.

5. Take a ziploc bag and fill corner with mixture. Cut off tip. Use like a piping bag, to fill each egg white.

6. Top each with a pinch of cayenne and paprika

Menu Planning Saturday

 I love planning a menu.  This is the first time I've ever stuck with making a meal plan and I find it freeing because I don't have to put any thought into "whats for dinner?"  BUT I seem to be having a hard time actually sticking to it! I find myself using the same ingredients to make something different, which is fine but maybe I should start planning my ingredients instead of my meals!

• Sunday: Leftover
• Monday: Pork Chops, Stuffing, Green Beans
• Tuesday: Grilled Salmon, Corn on the Cob, Rice
• Wednesday: Sausage Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms and Tomatoes, Green Beans
• Thursday:  Boca Veggie Burgers, Salad
• Friday: Stuffed Peppers
• Saturday: Pesto Pasta with Shrimp

Cooking anything good this week? I’d love to hear about it!

Yummy Basil Almond Pesto

One of my favorite things to cook with is pesto. It is so full of flavor that it can be added it to almost anything for a delicious meal. I make a large batch because it stores well in the fridge for atleast a week. After that, I will freeze whatever is left in ice cube trays, so it is easy to defrost a small amount.
A few things we add pesto to:

• Pasta - Hot like spaghetti or cold like pasta salad
• Burgers
• Mayo to make a sandwich spread.
• Bread
• Eggs
• Soup

Ingredients:

•  8 Cups of loosely packed fresh basil
• 1 Cup of Almonds
• 2 of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Head of Garlic, Peeled
• 2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 1/2 Cup of Parmesan Cheese
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice

1.  Preheat over to 400 degrees. Lay almonds out on a cookie sheet, and toast for  10 minutes. These burn easy, so be careful

2. Combine basil and garlic in food processor. Turn on medium high to make room to add the nuts.

3. Let nuts cool, so that they don't melt the cheese.

4.  Combine all ingredients besides the Evoo. Turn on medium. Begin to drizzle Evoo in the top of the food processor, while on.  Blend for awhile to make sure everything is well mixed.

5. Store in container in fridge


Pesto is normally made with pine nuts, but I've always made it with almonds or walnuts.  Not only do I prefer the taste, they are also cheaper

Grilled Peaches

This past weekend my husband and I went to pick peaches at a local orchard (Styer Orchard). I couldn't believe the wonderful taste that these peaches held. There is something amazing about fruit picked with your own hands. The freshness can not be beat. We were grilling a lot over the weekend for Labor Day so I decided to grill some peaces for dessert.  I've seen this on countless cooking shows but never tried it. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at just how much it changes the flavor. They were oh so yummy.

1. Wash and remove core from peaches.

2.  Pre-heat grill to a medium/medium-low temperature. Spray peaches with a non-stick cooking stray and place on grill.

3. Close lid and let cook for 5 - 10 minutes, depending on how hot your grill gets.

4. Check for nice char marks on peaches. They should be soft but not falling apart.

5.  Serve plain, with cool whip, or vanilla ice cream.

Peach season is almost over, you only have until mid September before they disappear from local markets. So make sure to get out to your farmers markets to pick some up this weekend! 

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Tonight we were feeling a bit under the weather, so I decided to scrap the tacos and make some homemade chicken noodle soup. It is amazing the powers that are held with in a good chicken noodle soup. Hubby and I both commented on how much it helped to improve how we were feeling!

Ingredients:

• 12 cups of homemade chicken stock 
• I keep this stocked in our freezer. You could try to make this with a really good store bought, but I've never done that so I'm not sure how it would turn out
• 2 Chicken Breast (or left over roasted chicken is very good!)
•  2 tbsp Evoo
• 1 cup of onion, diced
• 1 cup of celery, diced
• 2 cups of carrots, sliced (usually use more but that is all we had)
• 2 Bay leaves
• 2 tbsp dry parsley
• 2 Bouillon cubes - chicken

 1. Dice chicken into small pieces, season with salt and pepper. Heat and coat pan with evoo. Cook chicken until done.

2. Heat large pot and coat bottom with evoo. Add carrots, onion, and celery. Cover and cook on low for 5-10 minutes, until veggies are tender.

3. Add chicken, bay leaves, parsley, bouillon and chicken stock. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Simmer on low for about an hour.

4. Cook pasta until al dente. Rinse pasta with water.

5. Serve by adding pasta to bowl, then chicken, then broth. Store leftover pasta separate from soup or the pasta will absorb all your yummy broth.

ZZSVQAWJUE9Z