52 Treats: Dinosaur Food Cookies

This was SO MUCH FUN! I really played up the ingredients, making a big deal about how yucky it was and how much the dinosaurs were going to love eating it. I think the girls actually thought the peanut butter was crushed bugs...AJ kept eating it and then saying YUCK!! and then making gagging sounds. When we were done I asked Mia if she wanted to eat some of the batter...she said, "do you think the dinosaurs will be mad if we eat their food?" We kept scaring eachother by saying, do you hear that?? It's the dinosaurs coming for their cookies! Then we took some of the finished cookies outside and pretended we could hear the dinosaurs coming.

AJ tasting the crushed bugs

Mia tasting the crushed bugs

Dinosaur Food Cookies

1/4 cup dirt (cocoa)
1/2 cup swamp water (milk)
2 cups crushed bones (sugar)
1/2 cup fat (margarine or butter)
3-1/2 cups grass (uncooked quick oats)
1/2 cup squashed bugs (crunchy peanut butter)
1 tsp. muddy water (vanilla)

mix dirt, swamp water, crushed bones and fat.  Bring to a boil; boil for one minute.  Add grass, muddy water and squashed bugs.  Stir until bugs dissolve.  Drop on waxed paper, let cool.

Recipe Budget Project: Week 3

I was below the grocery budget this week...so far this project is going well.  Since I prepared a lot of healthy recipes last week, this week I'm focusing a bit less on health and more on taste.  Plus, since I have the 1/2 marathon coming up this weekend, I don't want to limit my carb intake. 

This week's menu:

Monday and Tuesday:  Fiesta Taco Salad
Wednesday and Thursday:  Vegetable Lasagna
Friday and Saturday:  Chicken Cacciatore

Recipe: Fiesta Taco Casserole

This was really good and easy to make.  I served it with a big salad. 

Fiesta Taco Casserole

1 pound ground chicken or turkey
1 (15 oz.) can spicy chili beans in sauce, undrained
1 cup salsa
2 cups coarsley broken tortilla chips
1/2 cup sour cream
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 cup cheddar or monterey jack cheese
Salad greens, to serve

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook chicken in a skilled for 8-10 minutes over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain.  Stir in beans and salsa.  Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.

Place broken chips in 2 quart casserold (I used an 8x8).  Top with chicken mixture.  Spread sour cream over top.  Sprinkle tomato over sour cream.  Sprinkle cheese over top.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.  Serve with salad greens and additional sour cream and salsa, if desired.   Makes 6 servings.

Approximate cost per serving:  $1.86


Recipe Rating:
Taste:  7/10
Effort v. Payoff:  5/5
Kid-Friendliness:  2/3
Total rating:  14 points (four stars)

Decorating Cupcakes

There's nothing exceptionally special or creative about this activity, but we had a lot of fun.  I thought I would share in case there are any moms out there desperate on a rainy day for something fun to do.  I just used a boxed cake mix and some frosting that I found in the cupboard, and we had the leftover candies from our krispie treat snowmen earlier in the week.  AJ had tons of fun helping to make the cupcakes while Mia was at preschool. 

Cheap and healthy lunch ideas from eating well

Cheap and healthy lunch ideas from Eating Well

Recipe: Cinnamon Pork Tenderloin with Potatoes and Carrots

1 Pork Tenderloin
2 Sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 large white potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 lb. bag baby carrots
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 apples, peeled and cut into chunks
1/4 cup Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 Cup balsamic vinegar (optional)
4 shallots (or 1 onion), diced

Place all in dutch oven or heavy lidded pot and bake at 375 for 1.5 hours or until pork is cooked through.  Next time I might try adding a couple tablespoons of maple syrup.

This is really easy recipe to make.  I'm thinking about taking out the balsamic next time and maybe substituting apple juice or just leave it out altogether. 

The kids loved the pork and ate a couple of helpings each.  The potatoes are great fuel for my marathon training (15 mile long run this week!)

Approximate cost:  $3.05 per serving

Taste:  8/10
Effort v. Payoff:  4/5
Kid-Friendliness:  2/3
Bonus health points: 1
Total:  15 points (4 Stars ****)

Apple Chicken with Vegetables

4 Skinless, Boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks (I used whole skinless thighs because I had some in the freezer)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. minced ginger
2 carrots, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, cut into chunks
1 medium onion, diced
1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets
1 Cup apple juice

Place chicken in dutch oven or heavy lidded pot.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss in garlic and ginger.  Stir to coat chicken with oil, garlic and ginger.  Add vegetables.  Pour apple juice over all.  Bake at 375 degrees until chicken is cooked through. 
If you are using diced breast it should only take about 30 minutes.  The chicken thighs too closer to an hour.

Makes 4 servings

I am so excited about this recipe.  Thanks to Gillian McKeith for the recipe idea.  www.gillianmckeith.info. 
Mine has a few adjustments.  I left out a couple of ingredients that I didn't have and added zucchini because I had some on hand.   You can pretty much use whatever vegatables you have on hand.  The flavors of the apple juice, garlic and ginger really get into the chicken and veggies as it steams.  There is virtually no sodium in the recipe except for what small amount might be in the chicken already.  But the juice, garlic and ginger give it so much sweetness and flavor that you really don't miss any salt at all.  The juices make a great tasting broth.  You can really use whatever veggies you have on hand.  I wish I had taken a picture but we had gobbled it up before I remembered to get my camera out!

Rating
Taste: 8/10
Effort v. Payoff: 5/5
Kid-Friendliness:  1/3
Bonus health points:  3
Total:  17 points (four stars ****)

Cost Breakdown
Chicken thighs:  2.75 on sale
Onion:  .35
Carrot:  .25
Broccoli: $1.00
Red Pepper:  $1.64
Zucchini:  .75 (mine was FREE from the garden!)
Apple Juice:  .10
Garlic and Ginger:  .15
Olive oil:  .5
Total cost:  $7.49
Cost per Serving:  $1.88