Rice Bowls with Peanut Sauce and Chicken Satay Today's rice bowl features my all-time favorite Peanut Sauce recipe. I have tried several others in the past, but they either tasted too acidic or called for ingredients that required a separate trip to the grocery store (Looking for obscure ingredients, with help from a well-meaning but confused clerk, is one of my least favorite activities). This sauce is creamy, peanuty perfection, and uses ingredients I almost always have on hand. I could eat it by the spoonful, which is why I usually double the recipe. The original recipe comes from lettuce wraps in Cooking Light's magazine years ago. That's a Read More
Chicken Lettuce Wraps (PF Chang’s copycat recipe)
Chicken Lettuce Wraps (PF Chang's copycat recipe) My garden is exploding with greens right now. We have been drinking more green juices and eating more salads than I can count. Sometimes when we're out in the backyard, my ever-hungry kids will even climb into the raised bed and start munching on kale leaves like overgrown rabbits! I don't say anything, for fear of startling them off and losing the magical moment. I had two beautiful heads of butter lettuce last week, so I used them to create one of my favorite copycat recipes for PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps. There are several versions of this recipe floating around the Internet, but in this one I Read More
Simple Roast Chicken recipe
d Simple Roast Chicken In my former life (the one where I worked full-time outside my home and had no one calling me "Mama"), those tasty little deli rotisserie chickens made a regular appearance on our dinner table. Weeknights were busy, and a dinner that required no more effort than popping a steamy little bagged chicken into the grocery cart seemed like a great deal and an easy meal. I almost never bought those whole raw chickens from the meat department because the very thought of dealing with all that raw poultry and those freaky little giblets was a bit overwhelming and intimidating to me. When I accepted my position as full-time homemaker, Read More
How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock
Homemade Chicken Stock Making homemade chicken stock is a super simple, versatile skill to have in your kitchen tool belt. In fact, if I had to pick just one frugal habit that consistently saves a significant amount of grocery money, while delivering a superior product, making homemade chicken stock would be it. If you are on a tight budget, trying to figure out how to cut back on expenses, food is a tough category. Your family is probably kind of attached to the whole 3-meals-a-day routine and beans & rice only get you so far. To make those grocery dollars stretch as far as possible, try this: At the beginning of the week, roast 2 chickens Read More
Simple Fall Dinner: Roasted Sausages with Apples, Potatoes, and Cider Cream Sauce
Roasted Chicken Sausages with Apples, Potatoes and Cider Cream Sauce My sister and I came up with this recipe the other afternoon as we were having that, "What are you making for dinner tonight?" "I have no clue. What about you?" conversation. It is a one pot-one pan-one hour combination that highlights some favorite fall flavors: cider, apples, sausages, and sweet potatoes. You could easily mix and match vegetables to suit your family's tastes; carrots, onions, and/or garlic would all work great. This recipe is also incredibly economical. As you know, cooking with the seasons will save you a bundle in the produce department. Apples are in season Read More
Healthy Coconut Chicken Soup recipe (Paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free)
Coconut Chicken Soup My friend Rebecca has been raving about this Coconut Chicken Soup for years. I couldn't take it any longer. Friends don't let friends describe delicious food without inviting themselves to dinner, so naturally I suggested she make it for me. Last month, she did just that. I ate one bowl and decided she was definitely onto something. Then I ate a second bowl just to be sure. My husband was equally as thorough in his taste testing. Instead of dropping by for dinner each month, I decided it was time to learn how to make it myself. This healthy soup is creamy and flavorful, thanks to the base which combines chicken broth, Read More
Chicken Tortilla Soup (a gluten-free, dairy-free recipe)
Follow Dougasyu on Pinterest! Fantastic range of boards from best recipes and tips for frugal living to gardening and budgeting help. Chicken Tortilla Soup I never used to make soup. Good grief! What was I thinking? Soup is so simple to prepare and satisfying to eat. You just saute some vegetables, add other ingredients and seasonings, pour in some broth, and simmer until all the flavors come together. It can also be really economical, as soup is a great place to combine leftover meat, beans, or vegetables, adding broth to stretch them as far as possible. If I had to pick only one soup to make for the rest of my days, this recipe for Read More