Romantic Meal & Recipes

Looking for an elegant meal for 2!?!  I have just the menu for a low cost meal dining in rather than out. 

Here is what was on the menu:

Chicken Cordon Bleu

or

Homemade Breaded Chicken Tenders(if you want to go simple)

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Steamed Corn

Iceburg Lettuce Salad

Hot Biscuits

No Bake Cheesecake

Now to explain how I managed it!

For the Chicken Cordon Bleu, I used this recipe as my guide. I use 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast that I got for $1.89/lb ($3.74). I got a 1.87lb mini half portion boneless ham for $7.46($3.99/lb--cheaper than ham from the deli counter) and thinly sliced it with my electric slicer. I used only 3 thin slices so I figured just 75¢ for the ham. I used 3 slices of swiss cheese out of a 24ct. pkg. that I got for $1.88 so that figures to 24¢ for the 3 slices. 

Then for the 1 cup bread crumbs, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 cup flour, 1 egg, 1/2 stick margarine and spices, I figured about another 75 cents. That brings my total just for the meat portion of my meal to $4.73. I used the 1/2 stick of margarine as my "oil" for the pan. However, instead of melting it in the pan before adding the chicken to the pan, I used little pats of it on top of the chicken and it melted in the oven as the chicken cooked. Doing it this way makes it where you don't have to worry about flipping the chicken at the halfway point of cooking. 

I used 2 lbs of white pototoes which costed me 65 cents. I got a 5lb bag of white potatoes from Save A Lot for $1.29! You can figure in 1/4 cup milk, 3 heaping tbsps. sour cream and the other 1/2 stick of margarine for another 25 cents brings the total for the potatoes to 90 cents.

I used 1 can of sweet corn that I got on sale for 67 cents/can and simply heated the corn up(steamed it in the microwave).

For my salad, I used a head of iceburg lettuce that I got at Save A Lot for 50 cents and 1 large carrot. I also sprinkled shredded cheese, real bacon bits, and croutons on it so I figured that the salad costs me $1.00. It is hard to know exactly how much the cheese, bacon and croutons costs as these are a few things that I get in a monthly Sam's run.

The biscuits was a tube of Pillsbury biscuits that I got for 66 cents with a sale and coupon!

To whip up one of my no bake cheesecake recipe, I usually buy my supplies for that at Aldi's, I get a graham cracker crust for 99¢(its less hassle than making my own!), 8oz bar of cream cheese for 99¢, a can of sweetened condensed milk for $1.39, and then for lemon juice and vanilla, these are staples in my pantry so I am going to figure in another 20¢ for them. So for $3.57 I have a whole cheesecake!  Now if I divide the cheesecake into 8 pieces each piece is only going to cost me roughly 45¢!

So the grand total for this restauraut style meal  for two with dessert was $8.20!!! If  hubby and I were to go out to eat at a  nice "sit-down" restauraut we would have spent at least $20 or more if you include the tip! 

I can make this entire meal with the dessert for my family of seven for a little over $5 more!!  

Here is the recipe for the Chicken Cordon Bleu:

3 boneless/skinless chicken breast
3 thin slices of ham
3 slices of swiss cheese
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup flour
1 tsp. onion powder*
1 tsp. garlic powder*
a few dashes of black pepper and paprika*
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning*
1 egg
1 tsp. water
1/2 stick margarine

Combine flour and spices together in one bowl. Combine the egg and water in another bowl. Butterfly cut the chicken breasts just about all the way thru to where if you were to cut them totally apart you would have two pieces that look the same. Put one piece of cheese folded in two and one slice of ham in between the two pieces of chicken. Dip chicken pieces in the egg wash first and then in the spiced flour mixture. Place in a jelly roll pan or 9x13 pan. Place pads of margarine on top of each piece of chicken. (This is the secret to it tasting so delicious.) Bake 400 for 1 hour. I don't worry about spraying or oiling the pan as the pads of margarine work in keeping the chicken from sticking to the pan.

*spice amounts are approximate

This post is linked at:

• Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom!
• Recipe Swap at The Grocery Cart Challenge!
• Food on Fridays at Ann Kroeker!

Freebies #6--Homeschooling Resources

**these freebies are no longer available, however, you can purchase them at CurrClick's website!**

Another day of freebies over at CurrClick!!! Looking today at their site, I see that today is NOT the last day, like I stated yesterday.  So you actually have today and tomorrow to get your freebies!

To celebrate Mother's Day, CurrClick has been giving away FOUR freebies for you to download each day for the last five days!! The freebies have changed each day! This is the last day so do not delay in taking advantage of these wonderful resources!!

Today's Freebies are:

1. Hero Tales of American History--Looking for great short stories to supplement your student's American History--here are some exciting accounts from famous Americans in history: from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln and everywhere inbetween, 26 accounts that are sure to spark interest in your student (and solidify those historic facts)
   
   
2. Math Mammoth Add & Subtract 4--concepts geared for the 3rd or 4th grade level that covered in this book are mental addition and subtraction strategies; adding and subtracting in columns; Roman Numerals; the addition and subtraction connection, missing addend problems, and word problems with bar diagrams; order of operations; and graphs and money.
   
   
3. A Little Web Page--Make a fun web page with your child, aged 8 and over, using free-trial drag and drop software. Go ahead and get silly! Web Studio software has lots of fun features. This is a recipe for a fun afternoon that you can use over and over. When you are done, you can save the result as the page that pops up on your own computer when you open your browser.
   
   
4. Novel Ideas - Betsy Byars' The Summer of the Swans--This print and use workbook is a child-directed literature study that requires no teacher or parental prep time. The format is an exciting new approach to studying literature. Each page engages the student in many interesting activities. Children will explore new vocabulary in its context and answer questions that involve them in the story. Learners reflect on their own experiences to better understand those of the characters. This process ensures full comprehension of the novel. Additional activities involve illustrating, sequencing, analyzing characters, and point of view. The literature study concludes with an organized and detailed book summary.
   

Don't miss out!!! 

Where to find the freebies: You can click on the picture above to get to CurrClick's homepage (or the CurrClick links in this post)and then click on the same picture over on the homepage to find the freebies!!

These freebies are really working for me in helping me to prepare for my summer and fall curriculum.

This post is linked at: 

• Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family!

Pasta with Asparagus & Yellow Squash

Pasta with Asparagus & Yellow Squash

1/2 lb. asparagus spears
1/2 lb. yellow squash
1/2 red pepper, sliced thinly
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 lb. thin spaghetti or Angel hair pasta
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely broken
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 jar Alfredo sauce
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Trim asparagus spears and cut into 1- inch lengths. Halve squash lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/4- inch thick half moon slices. Slice the red pepper in thin strips. Simmer vegetables until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain thoroughly and rinse with cold water to prevent further cooking. Drain again and set aside.

Cook pasta in lightly salted, boiling water as directed. Drain and return to cooking pan. Mix Alfredo sauce with pasta, vegetables and walnuts. Turn pasta onto a warm platter, top with cheese and serve immediately.

Cooking Notes: Being that I am not very fond of nuts, they are optional in this recipe and do not effect the overall taste.  Also, you could use homemade alfredo sauce as well, however, I have not found a homemade Alfredo recipe that I like so I have stuck with using the jars of sauce for the recipe.

This dish could be served as a vegetarian meal or adding some cubed ham or along some Italian grilled chicken.

This post is linked at: 

• In Season Recipe Swap at Tammy's Recipes!

FREEBIES #5--Homeschooling Resources

**these freebies are no longer available, however, you can purchase them at CurrClick.

Another day of freebies over at CurrClick!!!

To celebrate Mother's Day, CurrClick is giving away FOUR freebies today for you to download each day for the next five days!! The freebies will change each day! The days that they will still be offering the freebies are today(12th) and tomorrow(13th)!!!! So do not delay in taking advantage of this wonderful resource!!

Today's Freebies are:

1. Bookmaking Bonanza--includes over 50 resesarch-based, classroom-tested bookmaking activities that expand writing time into a literacy adventure! Students will transform empty cereal boxes, paper napkins, cardboard tubes, and other household objects into books that explore the five critical areas of balanced reading instruction.
   
   
2. Dan's Doodles Coloring Book--keep busy hands busy by coloring in the doodles.
   
   
3. Daily Discoveries for JUNE: Thematic Learning Activities for EVERY DAY--In this series, each day has been researched around the history of a specific individual or event and has been developed into a celebration or theme with integrated curriculum areas. Use the activities to spice up language arts, social studies, writing, math, science and health, music and drama, physical fitness and art. Reproducible patterns for writing assignments and art projects, lists of correlated books and bulletin board ideas are also included
   
   
4. Seeds--This unit study covers what is a seed, seed identification, drawing seeds, seed anatomy, germination, how animals help with germination, seed dispersal, and a seed experiment.
   

Don't miss out!!!

Where to find the freebies: You can click on the picture above to get to CurrClick's homepage (or the CurrClick links in this post)and then click on the same picture over on the homepage to find the freebies!!

A New Twist to a Tried & True Recipe

Last week, I had the privelege of providing a meal for a young couple in my church that just had a new baby girl!  While I was there I even got to hold her...just a week old! Oh what sweetness!

One of the items that I brought was my tried & true no bake cheesecake recipe.  However, knowing that it was just the couple I didn't want to make a full recipe and take it and then it possibly get wasted from them not being able to eat all of it.

I decided to make a double batch of the cheesecake and make some mini cheesecakes. So I decided to pulled from my pantry a box of mini foil/paper liners and a bag of Nilla wafers.  I know you think I am crazy because I didn't want to make full recipe for fear of it going to waste so I make a double recipe instead?!?  Anyway, having never used Nilla wafers with my cheesecake recipe, I wasn't sure as to how it would turn out but I figured they would be less messy than making up homemade graham cracker crust to press into each mini cup. 

The fun part of this whole process was that the Nilla wafers were exactly the size I needed to cover the bottom of each of the mini cup liners, which I separated the paper and the foil liners so I had twice as many to work with.  I did learn that the cheesecake holds it form and doesn't soak through on the foil liners so next time I do this I will just use the foil liners and save the paper ones for baking muffins or brownies.


Once I had the cheesecake mixture made up I used my large scoop to put the mixture on the Nilla wafers.  As you can see from the picture, one scoop was plenty to fill each liner.  The other thing I did was put those liners on a cookie sheet rather than in my mini muffin pans because it was easier and less trouble than trying to pull out full cups out of the pans.  

Since I was running short on time the day I was making these little mini cheesecakes, I decided to speed up the process of "firming" the cheesecake up by sticking the cookie sheets with the mini cakes in the freezer for about an hour. In doing the "firming" in the freezer it kept the Nilla wafers from going mushy.  I ended up with a crisp crust.  A word of warning....if you stick them in the fridge afterwards you will find that the Nilla wafers will soften and you will have soft crust.  So it is your choice as to which type of crust you would like to have with your cheesecake. 

I left them plain and did not add any garnish to them. I placed eight of them on a paper plate and then into a ziploc bag(something disposable so I did not have to worry about getting a container back from them) to take with the meal for this couple.  

I will be making these again because they were quick and easy to put together. They are small enough for little hands to handle yet big enough for adults to get a couple bites of a sweet, delectable dessert.  Also having them as mini cheesecakes rather than one big one allows for several different garnishes to be put on them.  This dessert would be great to make up plain for gatherings and serve several garnishes on the side for guests to choose their favorite. 

Here is the recipe:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz. package cream cheese
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can of pie filling (cherry, blueberry...)
1 graham cracker crumb pie crust or Nilla Wafers

Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk. Stir in lemon juice. Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate until firm and then add pie filling on top if desired. Can use fresh fruit(strawberries, blueberries are best) for garnish as well.

This post is linked at: 

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
• Kitchen tip Tuesday, over at Tammy's Recipes!
  
• I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!
  
• Fearless Fridays at Home Ec 101!
• Friday Feasts at Mom Trends!