Meal Plan Monday...June 22nd & the Beginning of my CleanseFest

I am late again with my Meal Plan Monday, due to being out of town until late yesterday. This past weekend was taking #2 son to Camp & picking up daughter from her Staff Training Week at the same Camp. Daughter is hopeful that she'll be called back to work before Aug, when she is slated to work. People, for whatever reasons, don't show up to work their weeks every year, so she might get offered a few additional weeks. This would make us BOTH quite happy. ;-)

Since I have started my 2 Week Dietary Cleanse Program, my Meal Plan for the Week hardly IS a Meal Plan. (I'll be posting separately about the CleanseFest details.)

Daughter is doing this Cleanse Program with me, so 2 of the 3 family members here aren't eating(except for some fruit this week). That just leaves Hubby to plan Meals for.
Hubby is of Italian extraction so he says to just make him a big vat of pasta with sauce and he'll eat off of that all week. lol You just gotta love a LOW MAINTENANCE kind of guy!
I'll throw some meat on the grill for him every few days for a change of pace and that should make him happy.

Here's what our family of one will be eating this week...

Monday Stuffed Chicken Breast, Green Beans, Applesauce
Tuesday Spaghetti with Meatballs, Salad
Wednesday Kielbasa, Onions, Potato Salad
Thursday Spaghetti, Chicken Parmesan, Cauliflower/Carrot Mix
Friday Burrito, Corn, Rice
Saturday Rigatoni, Salad
Sunday Pork BBQ, a yet to be determined Veggie, Coleslaw

No recipes this week. Nothing here that needs or has a recipe. Just plain old food. It's a good menu for this week for me. Since I am not eating, I really don't want to be spending long hours in the kitchen preparing food. That might have a negative impact on my 'not eating' plan. The less I am around food, the less I will obsess over it, right?lol

Grocery List for this menu is some coleslaw mix or a small head of cabbage and some rolls for the bbq. Everything else is in house. This shopping list might run me $3-$4. There is a wonderful 2 week Catalina Promo over at ShopRite the next 2 weeks, so I'll be spending most of my grocery budget the next 2 weeks over there. ;-)

Of course, I am continuing in the "Clean out the Freezer Challenge" this week. The meatballs, burrito, bbq & kielbasa are all hidden treasures I found buried in the freezer that are single or very small portions, so this week is the perfect time to use them up on the 1 family member who is eating like normal people this week.

Food Waste Report.....lots of leftovers for the doggies, due to the week of family visiting and the extra food that was prepared and not eaten. I'll be stripping down the fridge this week and cleaning it out(more goodies for the doggies this week!) and then cleaning it up.

Check out Organizing Junkie's Website Here to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week!

Sluggy

Recipe-CHEESY CHICKEN BROCCOLI RICE CASSEROLE

Here's an easy crockpot recipe.

It's my take on a Schwan's product I use to buy, back when I spent too much money on things. It was called Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole, or something like that.

I can't find this item listed on their website anymore but it came premixed in a bag. You just had to dump it into a bowl and microwave or heat up in the oven.
They now sell the ingredients separately. They have a 'recipe' on the website that is similar to that product, that you can make, using their purchased ingredients.

It was a Chicken & Broccoli Casserole with Rice in a Creamy Cheesy Sauce. I think it went for about $7 a bag. I use to buy 2 bags to feed the 5 of us. That was $14 per meal for us 4 yrs. ago. So add for inflation and the cost now would be around $18-$20 if they still sold this item.

To make this Dish you need....

1 small Whole Chicken
1 Can of Chicken Broth
1 Can of a Creamed Soup(Cream of Chicken)
3 Cups of Rice(Any Type)
1-2 Bags of Frozen Vegetables
1 Block of Cheddar Cheese
1 Cup of Milk

To make my version of CHEESY CHICKEN BROCCOLI RICE CASSEROLE, get out your crockpot and a small whole chicken. I like to use about a 3-3.5 lbs. bird. You can use a bigger bird if you want more chicken in your casserole.

Basically, turn on your crockpot to high or med. high, rinse off your chicken and place it in the crock. You can season &/or pepper it if you like. You really don't need to salt it, as the cheese and chicken broth you add will make this dish salty enough.

Put the lid on your crockpot and let the bird cook until it is tender, fall-off-the-bone done. My crockpot takes about 4 hours to get the chicken to this point.

When done, remove the chicken.

There will be alot of juices from the chicken in the crock. Leave the juices in there!

Add 1 can of chicken broth. You can also use chicken bouillion & the appropriate amount of water instead.

Fill your now empty chicken broth can with rice.

You can use any type of rice you prefer. Empty the can of rice into the crock. If you like more rice, add another half of a can of rice and 1 full can of water or more bouillion. Replace the lid and let it cook for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, remove lid & stir your rice.

Now add your frozen vegetables. I had broccoli and cauliflower mixture on hand, so that is what I added. I also put in a partial bag of crinkle-cut carrots. You can basically add whatever vegetable(s) you like to eat.

Add at least 1 bag, more if you like alot of veggies.

Debone your chicken and tear or cut the meat into chunks. Put chunks into the crockpot with your rice/veggie mixture. Replace the lid and let it cook for another hour.

After 1 hour, remove lid and stir the mixture. Turn off the heat, replace lid.

Open and add 1 can of Creamed Soup to a mixing/serving bowl(or into a sauce pan if you prefer to heat this on the stove). I use Cream of Chicken. You could also use Cream of Mushroom, Cream of Celery or Cheddar Cheese Soup if you prefer. Fill the can halfway with milk & add to soup.

Stir & heat over medium on stove or in microwave.

Grate 1 block of Cheddar Cheese.

Using a wisk, integrate grated Cheese into your Creamed Soup a handful at a time. This keeps the cheese & milk in your sauce from separating.

When the Cheese is thoroughly incorporated into your Soup, remove from heat and add to the Chicken/Rice/Veggie Mixture.

Stir and Serve immediately.

My cost breakdown for this meal.

1 Chicken on sale $3.52

1 block of cheese $1.00

1.5 bags of veggies $1.75

Rice-1/3 of a bag $1.33

1 Can of Soup $1.00

1 Can of Chicken Broth $.54

1 Cup of Milk $.25

Total $9.39

Makes 8 Generous Servings.

$1.17 per Serving

I was rushed toward the end of making this, as we had to attend #1 son's Awards Ceremony at the High School, so I didn't have time to take pictures of the last few steps and the finished product. I'll take some photos the next time I make this dish and add them to the recipe post.

Sluggy

Chicken Wing Pizza

We had homemade Pizzas last week for one of our dinners. We hardly ever buy take-out pizza anymore. We find the quality of a homemade pie is so much better. Plus buying take-out pizza is somewhat limiting in topping choices for us. We are 5 different people here, with very different ideas of what tastes G-O-O-D. Oh, for the days of old, when the kids were little and Pepperoni and Cheese was good enough for them all!

And the cost of a good Take-out Pizza seems to be rising faster than the yeast in the dough.lol That use to be the lure of Pizza-it was cheap, quick & easy to eat. Now a pizza will cost you $10 and the frozen ones in the grocery stores are not much less than that!


Making pizza at home can be a most frugal of meals. If you don't have the time or bravery to make your crust from scratch & have a pizza parlor nearby, ask to buy a hunk of dough from them. Usually they will sell you a piece large enough for a couple of pies for $1 or so. If you have to, use a premade crust from the grocers. Boboli is pricey but there are other regional quality crusts a bit cheaper and just as good. Heck, grab a loaf of foccaccia at the grocers bakery dept. or your local bakery if you are blessed enough to live near one. If you have leftover pieces of other breads-english muffins, bagel halves, french bread chunks, etc. In a pinch, most any bread product can be used as your pizza base.

Don't buy premade jarred pizza sauce either. Save yourself some money here and make your own. Have you looked at what's in a can/jar of pizza sauce? All you need is a can of tomato paste, some italian herbs, garlic and a pinch of sugar. Dump the paste in a bowl, along with 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder & italian herbs to taste. Add enough water to the mix until you have the consistency of pizza sauce. You have just made pizza sauce! If you like your sauce chunky, add some diced or crushed tomato pieces, either canned or fresh.
Why pay double the price for something you already have the ingredients to make, that takes 1 minute of your time and costs so little?


You can top your pie with most anything you like. Be creative with your toppings. It's a great way to use up bits of produce or those couple of stray pieces of lunch meat in the fridge. Got a Hickory Farms beef stick laying around from a Holiday gift you got from your Uncle Bob? Slice it up and you've got a meat topping. 5 Mushrooms left in the produce bin?....marinate them for an hour in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and you've got gourmet sliced mushrooms for another topping. Sauteed onions or peppers are other tasty & cheap toppings.



At the family's request, I made Chicken Wing Pizza last week. It was a great hit!
Well, after they doused it with MORE hot sauce....YIKES!
Here's the recipe. It's not really chicken wings, but any chicken you have on hand. You can use fresh shredded breast meat or even breaded chicken like nuggets or filets. Just make sure it's cooked before putting on the pie. There is no tomato products in this pizza either so you don't even have to make your sauce. Just crack open a bottle of blue cheese salad dressing....or ranch will do in a pinch.



Chicken Wing Pizza
Makes 1 Large Pie


1 Pizza Shell or Dough to make 1 Shell
1 & 1/2 cups chicken-shredded, cut, torn up or diced
3/4 cup blue cheese dressing
1/8 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup Hot Sauce
3/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
Olive Oil
Bleu Cheese crumbles, Optional


Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Mix the Butter & Hot Sauce. Set aside.
Coat your pizza pan with Olive Oil. Place your shell or spread out your dough to cover the pan. Apply a 'glug' or two of oil on the top and rub into the shell.
Put chicken pieces into your butter/hot sauce mixture to coat.(If you like it real spicy, use more hot sauce in your mix.)
Spread blue cheese dressing evenly over your shell.
Arrange chicken pieces on your shell.
Layer Mozzarella cheese over your shell.
OPTIONAL-Sprinkle more Hot Sauce on top of pie. Sprinkle crumbled Bleu Cheese pieces on top of pie.

Cook in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

Pair with any Salad Greens splashed with a Vinaigrette Dressing and Mange!



Sluggy