Quick tip

Here's a quick tip for saving money. I buy the dry gravy and seasoning pouches for things like chili and taco dinners or creating Ranch dip etc...

Recently I noticed that a pouch of Old El Paso taco seasoning can run as much at 90 cents a pouch. It only has 1 ounce of seasoning for one round of a taco dinner.

But the other day I spotted a canister of Old El Paso taco seasoning that had 6.25 ounces in it. It's about half price if you buy it in bulk in the canister instead of the individual 1 ounce pouches!

Last night I had some chicken breasts to slice and cook. I had 6 breasts. I sliced them into thin strips, I chopped one onion, 1/3 of a bell pepper, and a small can of green chili peppers and coated them in canola oil. I sprinkled them with the taco seasoning and cooked them on my Geroge Foreman grill. Cook them for about 3 minutes.

Then I decided my kids would like this with cheese sauce. I added a little canola oil and milk to a skillet over low to medium low heat. I started adding small chunks of velveeta to the skillet until it was all melted. I added back the grilled onions and peppers to the cheese sauce. I sprinkled some red pepper on the sauce to give it a little bit of "hot". I ate mine in a warmed flour tortilla. The kids used the tortillas and they also just dipped their chicken into the cheese sauce. It was good ya'll. It was easy too! And if you're like me and you find that you can use taco seasoning on more than just ground beef, it's a good way to save money to buy it in the bulk shaker size to season as you see fit!

Souper Chicken Thighs

1 package of chicken thighs (4 - 6 pieces)
1 (10-3/4 ounce) cream of mushroom soup
1 (10-3/4 ounce) cream of celery soup
1 (10-3/4 ounce) cream of onion soup
1 small onion chopped
Tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 soup can of water

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees. Smear olive oil over bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Lay the thighs on the bottom of dish. Sprinkle the chopped onion over the thighs.

Next, add the three cans of soup together in a large mixing bowl and add a half soup can of water to the mix. Stir until blended well and thinned out. Pour over the chicken and onions.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour. Remove foil and bake on 350 for another 30 minutes.

I made this last week and I only had 4 thighs in my package so I had extra room in my casserole dish. After I let the thighs cook for the first hour with tin foil, I added some left over green peas to one corner of the casserole dish and two chopped carrots in another corner. The soup gravy covered them nicely. When I put the dish back in the oven to bake for the final 30 minutes the carrots were partially cooked to semi tender. The peas were already fully cooked anyway so that didn't matter. This came out of the oven smelling like home made chicken pot pie without a crust! My daughter had been napping before she had to go to work and the aroma woke her up it was so good! I was making home made biscuits to go with it but she couldn't wait for them to be done. She dug into my chicken dish before I could even take a picture of it! Later my two sons were just as enthused over it.

I had some of the soup-gravy left over for the next day. So I used it to top off baked potatoes. YUM! Use your imagination on this one. You could spoon this gravy over rice or noodles or mashed potatoes or...sop it up with a biscuit!

P.S.... I don't add any salt to recipes that have this much regular soup because soup is already salty. I do add black pepper because I like it. You don't have to though. It's all about what you like.

Country Pie From Josh

My friend and fellow cook Josh just sent me this recipe and the easy gravy recipe below. Thanks Josh!

1 pound of extra lean ground beef, or ground turkey
1 14 ounce jar prepared spaghetti sauce, divided
1- 1/2 cups minute white rice, uncooked
6 ounces velveeta cheese product, sliced (enough to cover the top of the pie)

Preheat oven 350. Combine meat and 1/2 cup of the spaghetti sauce and spread that evenly in the bottom of a deep greased 9 inch pie pan. Mix the remaining sauce and rice together and spoon that over the meat. Put the cheese on top of that and cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes and then uncover and bake 15 more minutes. Let it stand for 10 minutes, then drain off any fat. Cut the pie into 6 sections and serve. This sounds Yummy and easy!

No Fail Easy Gravy From Josh

1 can of cream soup (whatever flavor will match the dish your cooking) IE mushroom, chicken, celery, potato..

Drippings, cooking liquids, or stock for the dish you need a gravy

Mix the can of cream soup with the liquid. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir until it is warmed through. Really great and Really fast!

Macaroni Salad

8 ounces of uncooked macaroni
1 chopped Bell pepper
1 chopped onion
2 stalks of chopped celery
2 grated carrots
1 small jar of pimentos
1 can Eagle brand milk
1 cup vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sugar

Cook macaroni as directed on box. Drain and cool. Mix pepper, onion, carrots, celery and pimentos. Add to macaroni. Set aside.

Mix together Eagle brand milk, vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Pour over salad and set overnight in the refrigerator.

Mexican Style Corn Salad

This is a good side for all your grilling!

1 can Mexican style corn, drained
1/4 cup sliced radishes
1/2 cup prepared hidden valley ranch taco ranch creamy dressing

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl until blended. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Makes 4 servings

Grilled Salmon Steaks with Tomato Basil Butter Sauce

Make the sauce first and set aside.

Sauce:

Melt one tablespoon of butter in a small skillet. Add 1-1/2 cups of chopped, peeled and seeded tomato. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and 1 minced clove of garlic. Cook over medium low heat stirring frequently until liquid is evaporated and mixture is thickened.

Remove pan from heat and stir in 3 more tablespoons of butter until mixture has a saucelike consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir in 1-1/2 tablespoons very finely chopped fresh basil. Makes about 1 cup

Salmon Steaks:

4 Salmon Steaks at least 3/4 inch thick
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Rinse fish. Pat dry with paper towels. Brush one side of fish lightly with oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Oil the hot grid to help prevent sticking. Grill fish, oil side down on a covered grill over medium heat 6 to 10 minutes. Halfway through cooking time, brush top with oil and season with salt and pepper, then turn and continue grilling until fish turns from translucent to opaque throughout. (Grilling time depends on thickness of fish. Allow 3 to 5 minutes for each half inch thickness.) Serve with tomato basil butter sauce. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with noodles if desired. YUM!