Three meals for two for about $30 (total)

We are saving every penny possible for our house and wedding- clipping coupons, keeping up with fatwallet.com on twitter, and getting creative with meals.  We refuse to eat garbage, but decided to cut out red meat for both savings and health.  With the economy the way it is, I thought it might be nice to share my great revelation.  I made THREE meals for about $30.  I bought a whole chicken ($5), a bag of potatoes ($5), a lemon, a can of sweet corn ($0.99), string beans ($2), carrots, celery, two onions, tomato sauce (two for one: $1.39), a bottle of mojo marinade($4), a cheap bottle of white wine, ($4), a bag of flour ($2), a packet of yeast ($0.99), a box of stock ($2) and a ready-made pie crust (coupon: 2 packs for $3.59).  I don’t know how much the other things are because I always keep a few lemons and limes for drinks and mirepoix in the fridge, but it’s not much.  Another way to save money and still make great food: always have the basics on hand and supplement with different meats, styles, and different seasonings.  A good investment is a spice rack.  I have a package deal from Costco- a rack with 18 different spices that cost $40.  If you buy spices individually at the supermarket, you will end up paying a lot more and have nowhere to store them. 

The first night we ate fall-off-the-bone roasted mojo lemon chicken, roasted carrots, and roasted garlic potatoes.  The second night we had chicken pot pie and mashed potatoes, and tonight is tomato-based chicken corn soup with grilled cheese on homemade bread.  NOT TOO SHABBY!  Here are the recipes for the major stuff- I’m sure you can smash cooked potatoes and boil string beans… You’ll have to excuse my poor excuse for recipes; I don’t use recipes and I don’t write anything down and it’s different every time.  If you have any questions, please just comment or message me. 

3-legged kitten!

Jill’s simple mojo lemon chicken

1 whole chicken- innards removed

1 bottle of mojo

1 lemon- rolled and cut in half, seeded

2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, ½ onion- chopped

Salt and pepper

Vegetable oil

Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with vegetable oil.  Put carrots, celery, and onion in the pan.  Place chicken on top of the vegetables and squeeze lemon juice into cavity, then put the squeezed lemons into the cavity.  Pour mojo over the top of the chicken, salt and pepper liberally and put three pats of butter on top.  Cover and cook about 2.5-3 hours at 350°F.  Uncover and cook 20 minutes more for crispy skin.  Let rest, serve and enjoy, remember the wishbone!

"moooom, i think it's done!"

Jill’s simple chicken pot pie

Leftover chicken from above- deboned, torn up

Leftover gravy from above (if you ate it all because it was too delicious, substitute a can of gravy)

1 carrot, 1 celery stick, ½ onion- chopped

Splash of white wine (I used the wine with the foot on it- fine to drink if you’ve had a few)

Thyme

Salt and pepper

1 egg yolk- stirred with some water

1 pie crust

Vegetable oil

Coat a high sided skillet (I use a cast iron pan) with vegetable oil on medium heat.  Brown carrots then sweat onions and finally add celery.  Sprinkle with thyme and cook two more minutes.  Take the time to smell the thyme.  Splash in some wine and cook down.  Tear up the chicken as you put it in the pan (about ¼ of the whole chicken – we ate ½ roasted, so ¼ for pot pies and ¼ for soup).  Pour in leftover gravy, canned gravy, a little stock and flour, or a bit of all three and cook down, stirring often, until desired consistency.  Load the filling into four ramekins or a casserole dish and cover with circles of pie dough large enough to cover the edges of the ramekin.  If you have any dough left, and if you loooove crust like we do, you can make little shapes or ropes with it and add it to the tops of the pies.  Brush with egg yolk mixture and poke some holes in the dough with a fork.  Place ramekins on sheet pan and bake until golden brown at 350°F.  Serve hot, but watch your tongue!

Jill’s simple tomato-based chicken corn soup

It’s snowing outside and I can’t wait to have soup and grilled cheese by the fire! 

Leftover chicken from above- shredded, torn up

1 carrot, 1 celery stick, ½ onion- chopped

Thyme

Chili powder (optional)

Salt and pepper

1 can of sweet corn

32oz box of mushroom stock

½ cup or so of marinara sauce

Vegetable oil

Splash of cheap wine

Coat the bottom of a stock pot with vegetable oil over medium heat.  Brown carrots, sweat onion and sweat celery.  Sprinkle thyme and cook about two more minutes.  Splash in wine and cook down.  Add torn-up chicken and can of corn.  Stir in marinara sauce and cook one minute.  Add entire box of mushroom stock and simmer 15-20 minutes.  Add chili powder, salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot!  With grilled cheese!

Jill’s rustic White Mountain bread

2+ cups bread flour

1 packet rapid rise yeast

3 packets of sugar (extras from dunkin donuts) - about 1 T

1T honey

1t salt

1+ cup water (warmed until bubbly in microwave)

Sea salt

Mix 2c flour, yeast, sugar and honey in mixer with dough hook or with a spoon in a bowl.  Add hot water and stir in.  NOW add salt and stir/mix at slow/medium speed.  Add flour along the sides of the bowl so that the ball comes together in a dough-like consistency.  Take out of bowl; knead on a floured surface a few times if using a mixer, about 3-5 min if you are doing it by hand.  Let rise in pan spray- coated bowl covered with a towel, about two hours.  Knead and shape into a loaf, slit top with knife, place in oiled baking pan.  Spray vegetable oil on top of loaf and sprinkle with sea salt and some extra flour.  Let rise in oven at 200°F until about doubled in size, then turn oven up to 400°F and bake until golden brown and crispy on the outside, about 20-30 minutes.  It may be a little hard when you first take it out, but it will soften as it cools.  Let cool before serving.  It’s so great for sandwiches, toast, and grilled cheese.  Yuuuuum.