Category: What Cathy Eats!

Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!!, the blog about food.  Here is another installment of "$5 Fridays"- a meal for two for less than $5.

Hi.  I know I should be making a meal with some sort of chicken, since Vons has whole chickens on sale for 67¢/lb this week, but I wasn’t in a mood for chicken yet, although there is one in my fridge right now.  Instead, I got really lazy for this post. 

The "tubes" of soup mix by Manischewitz cost at most $1.75 when not on sale. The soup mixes have been on sale the last two weeks.  I like that there is a mix of yellow and green peas and a seasoning mix included.  No thinking.

Put the smoked ham hocks in a pan with 7 cups of water, bring to a boil. (If you can’t read the label above, the two hocks cost $1.59). Smoked ham hocks have more flavor.

Add only the peas TO the boiling water and ham.  Don’t put peas in the cold water, or they stick to the bottom when cooking.  If added to boiling water, they float and cook.

You will keep this on a low simmer for one hour.

There is a seasoning packet inside with the peas and it has a lot of salt (as well as onions, celery seed and sugar..and MSG).  I truly buy this mix for the seasoning packet, since you only need about 1/3 of it for this much peas, and can buy a pound bag of split peas for 99¢ just about everywhere… You add the seasoning mix during the last ten minutes of cooking..ONLY add 1/3 packet with this serving of 5 ounces of peas and 7 cups of water.

   

When cooking is done (about an hour), remove the ham and cool and cut off the bone.

It is smoked ham and will be pink like this.  There will be a lot of ham and not much bone.  The ham is not salty tasting because it is smoked.

Add the ham back to the soup.

I stir and mash so the peas are mushy and the soup is thick.

Always serve with rye bread, which will be the most expensive part of the meal.

Cathy’s Non-Lazy Pea Soup (not the one above)

Boil the smoked ham hocks with chopped up carrots, celery and onion in 8 C water(or broth or stock).  Add 1/2 C dried split peas.  Seasonings to add at end of a one hour boil are salt, white pepper, celery seed.

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food.  Today it is Cathy’s turn to write about her $5 for two meal…

Hi.  It is October and it gets darker earlier and is kind of chilly in the evenings(despite being in the 90’s during the day) and sometimes The Mister and I come home late from work and want something quick yet tasty to eat.

I sort of "invented" this recipe a few years ago when the power was out in the neighborhood.  We still have our propane fueled grill outside and were trying to use up things from the fridge and freezer.  It is simple and does not require you to go scavenging through the house for spices in the dark, yet is tasty and filling. 

Brown 1/2 lb of ground beef in a pan. 

Drain the grease.

You can brown things on a gas grill in any regular pan, just like on the stove.

Always have these ingredients in your cupboard (buy when on sale)- Diced tomatoes with green chilies; Chili beans in sauce and canned corn.  I got this MexiCorn when it was on sale. It is just corn with red and green peppers. 

Drain the corn and put into the pan with the ground beef.  Use the whole can of tomatoes and the whole can of chili beans.

Heat through.

Really, you don’t need to add any spices.

If you want to, serve with some shredded cheese on top, and some crackers.

I only have oyster crackers.  It makes things festive. Especially if you have no electricity. Whoo hoo!

Cathy’s Lazy Chili

1/2 lb gound beef- browned and drained

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 can (15 oz) chili beans in sauce

1 small (7 oz) can corn (or corn with green and red peppers), drained.

Heat through and serve

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food and Cathy is blogging today.

Hi.  I know I haven’t talked about many meals out lately, but things have been busy and I will have a lot of posts in a row for you soon.  For now, it is another meal for two that will cost less than $5, based on using some items on sale this week in local grocery stores.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale for $1.97 a pound this week at Vons.  They are small, from young chickens the package says.  Thighs were on sale last week for 99¢ a pound.  You can make this recipe from raw chicken breasts or from already cooked thighs.  You cook the chicken first anyhow and then toss it in the sauce at the end.

I ended up using one whole chicken breast, about half the package of mushrooms, 1/4 of the pack of pasta, 1/2 pint  of whipping cream, as much basil as I cared to and some salt, olive oil and butter.

First bring *salted* water to a boil.  This is the only salt you will use in this recipe.

If you don’t salt the water first, the pasta will never be able to get any flavor.

Cook and drain-don’t rinse.

  While that is going on, slice the mushrooms, not too thin and place in a pan with melted butter.

Saute until mushrooms are cooked, place aside.

Put olive oil into the pan, and place cubed chicken breast into oil and saute until chicken is cooked.  Place aside. Leave the excess oil in the pan. 

Put some butter on the olive oil in the pan, pour in the whipping cream, put julienned basil into the cream mixture, I put the mushrooms and their residual butter into the cream also.  Simmer so the flavors meld.

Add chicken last, just to re-warm.

Place pasta in bowl, ladle chicken/mushroom/cream mix on top.

Dinner.

It does not need salt or pepper.  Really. There is salt in the pasta and butter.  The cream sauce with the infused basil is wonderful.

Cathy’s Chicken and mushrooms in cream sauce

One chicken breast or three thighs, cooked. Remember a servicing is about the size of your palm. 🙂 You can cook by boiling and cooling, taking off skin and bones.  You can cook by sauteing in olive oil.  You will end up putting it back into the sauce  and re-warming.

Large handful of mushrooms Saute in butter and put aside.  You will add back into the sauce, excess butter and all.

One pint heavy cream or whipping cream or half and half or whole milk. One handful julienned basil. Simmer with some olive oil and butter so the basil flavor infuses.  You can put the mushrooms and their butter so those flavors infuse.

Add the chicken and simmer until warm

Serve on top of cooked pasta.  Cook the pasta in salted water.  Always.