Recipes for:

Makkani Murgh
Sauteed Spiced Chicken w/ white wine pan sauce
Lemon Cream Pasta (lacto-ovo vegetarian)
Bacon & Brie Risotto
Stuffed Cinnamon-Swirl French Toast (lacto-ovo vegetarian)
Black Bean Burgers (lacto-ovo vegetarian)

I still need to deal with pictures, and I don't want to clog up my netbook with GIMP - so it's going to have to wait until my new desktop is set up.

Just a quick edit to add tags and improve upon the method. Original recipe came from lizling , and she in turn got it from somewhere else.

1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion
garlic - as much as you like
1 package of no boil lasagna noodles
2 jars of spaghetti sauce
1 15oz. ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 of an 8 oz bag of shredded mozzarella cheese

combine all 3 cheeses in a bowl and set aside


In as skillet, cook beef, onion, and garlic over med. heat until no longer pink, drain.  Add a little spaghetti sauce to the meat to make a mixture.

Put about a cup of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your crock pot. Add noodles - you will need to break them to make them fit.  Add a layer of meat, a layer of cheese, and about 1/2 cup of sauce, then another layer of noodles. Repeat until you run out of ingredients. I had 2 sets of layers. 

Now, I know traditional lasagne calls for a layer of noodles between the meat and cheese, but do it this way in the crock pot.  You're going to need as much moisture as possible to cook the noodles. 

Cover the top layer of noodles with another cup or so of sauce and the remaining mozzarella. 

You can, as always, grate your own cheese.  We did bagged this week since it was cheaper. 

Cook 4-5 hours on low and serve with salad and crusty bread. If you're feeling wild, mix up some herbed olive oil for bread dipping. 

Budget Foodie will return soon.  

Until then, make yourself a nice natural peanut butter sandwich on this nine-grain bread I have here and read past entries. 

Dinner tonight is potato soup from the freezer, and I will try to remember to post a picture. 

Oh. My. God. Y'all.

I've had the Ainsley Harriot Gourmet Express 2 cookbook for the past three years.  I am totally kicking myself that we never tried this recipe until last night.  It is KILLER.  I made it over at my folks' house, and it got rave reviews from everybody, including the four year old.  We decided to go French with the rest of the menu, mashed redskin potatoes and green beans with garlic.  There is no added fat in this recipe, just what you get from the chicken.  Trust me, it works. 


Crispy Lemon Fusion Chicken
from Gourmet Express 2

8 chicken thighs, with skin on
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 tbsp dijon mustard
rind and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 c. white wine
1/2 c. chicken stock
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves plus 4 stalks
3 tbsp corn starch
salt and pepper

Mix garlic, mustard, lemon rind and thyme.  Pull back the chicken skin and spread this mixture underneath, then stretch chicken skin back over.  Combine corn starch with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Roll chicken thighs in corn starch and put into a nonstick skillet on low heat., skin side down.  Cook 20 min or until skin is golden brown and crispy, and chicken almost cooked through.  Turn chicken over, turn heat on high.  Add wine and let bubble for 3-4 minutes, then add chicken stock, lemon juice, and thyme.  Cook 2-3 min more or until sauce is thickened and chicken is cooked through.  Serve warm.

The sauce is so good, and really yummy spooned over your mashed potatoes, too.

Nom nom nom...

This is my favorite cake recipe.  It's completely and totally cheating.  The best part is that NOBODY will know you did not make this from scratch unless you tell them or they're some kind of pastry savant.


Basic Butter Cake (from Cake Mix Doctor cookbook)

1 white cake mix
1 stick of butter, melted
1 c. whole milk
3 eggs
3 tbsp REAL vanilla

Dump everything into a large mixing bowl.  Beat 30 sec on med. speed to combine, then 2 min. on med-high.  Scrape down sides as needed, batter will be thick, light colored, and fluffy.

Bake 30-35 min @ 350* F or until done.  Cupcakes take a little less time, a double batch cake (see picture) takes a little more.  Frost with your favorite frosting.  I used basic no-cook buttercream.

It's been such a busy week!  We ate at my folks the last two nights because we were in town for this n' that.  Firstborn's birthday is today, and we're in the throes of party prep.

I should be back with new recipes and tips next week.  The rest of this week is easy stuff like spaghetti bolognese, Heavenly Chicken, and soup out of the freezer.

I really apologise to any vegetarians reading.   I'm very much an omnivore.  I hope that at least the side dishes are proving inspirational!  The cheesy polenta is lacto-ovo veggie friendly, and it was VERY good.  You may want to stay away from the picture, we like our steak between "chase it through the kitchen" and "still mooing" around here.

It's summer, so we've been using the grill quite a lot. 

There seems to be a lot of culinary confusion on what exactly "london broil" is.  It isn't a specific cut of meat, although many stores will label a top round steak as "london broil".  The one I used for our dinner last night was labeled that way.  It's usually broiled or grilled after being marinated for several hours.  Top round and flank steak are both very tough because they have muscle fibers running the entire length of the cut.  You're going to want a significant amount of acid in the marinade to combat this.

The marinade here is to my best approximations.  I don't bother measuring, I just toss everything into a bowl until it smells right.  Quite scientific, isn't it?

London Broil


2-3 pound flank or top round steak
1/4 c. red wine
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. lemon juice
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp cracked black pepper

Combine marinade ingredients in a large zip top bag, squish or shake to combine.  Toss your cut of meat into the bag, zip it up, and put in the fridge.  Turn it every hour or so.

When you're ready to cook, a steak 1 1/2 inches thick will be medium rare cooked for 10 minutes on each side on a charcoal grill.  You might want to adjust times for a gas grill or oven broiler.

Allow to rest for 5-10 min, then slice thinly across the grain and serve.


Cheesy Polenta

3 c. water
1 tbsp salt
1 c. polenta (corn meal)
1/2 c. milk
4 tbsp butter, cubed
1/2 c. shredded cheese (anything you like)

Bring water and salt to a boil, and add polenta slowly, stirring with a whisk.  Continue stirring while polenta cooks, 10-15 minutes.  Turn off heat, add milk, butter, and cheese, and stir to combine. 


Grilled Watermelon

Slice watermelon about 1 inch thick, sprinkle both sides with demerara sugar, and grill until caramelized. 

It's been hectic here.  We had these delectable kebabs a couple of nights ago, and I'm just now getting a chance to sit down and upload pictures.

This is a tandoori-style dish, according to my copy of "Indian Heritage Cookery" by Julie Sahni.  I picked this cookbook up at a thrift store and we haven't been disappointed with it.  It's now out-of-print, but there are several other Indian cooking titles by the same author.

It does need some time to marinate, so you'll want to start this a couple hours before dinner, or even better, the night before.  The meat is skewered for cooking, so make sure you have either metal or bamboo skewers on hand.  If you have the bamboo variety, soak them in water for an hour before you thread the chicken on - it'll keep them from burning up on the grill.

If you make this moist, flavorful chicken you won't be disappointed.

 Murgh Tikka

2-3 pounds boneless chicken
1 c. sour cream or yogurt
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar - it's what I had on hand)
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger (the garlic press works well, actually)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp finely minced garlic
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
4 finely chopped green chillies
1 tsp salt

Cut the chicken into 1 1/2 inch peices and put into a large bowl.  Blend together the rest of the ingredients in another bowl, then pour over chicken.  Stir to coat thoroughly.  Cover and marinate at least 2-3 hours in the fridge, or overnight.  When you're ready to cook, go out and get the grill going OR preheat the oven to 475*.  Thread the chicken peices on the skewers.  Either roast in the oven on a baking sheet in a single layer for 10 min or grill until done, 8-15 min depending on the size of the grill, gas or charcoal, etc.

This was delicious here served with steamed cauliflower and warm pita. 

This is a pretty simple dinner.  I like it because Hubby mans the grill  while keeping an eye on the four year old, and I get to stay inside in the air conditioning with the sleeping baby. 

One of our local grocery stores tends to put pre-made frozen hamburger patties on sale for $6 for 12 patties.  This feeds us for 4 meals.  This is probably one of the ways I'm able to keep our grocery bill low.  Hubby has said he could eat more than one hamburger before, but I'm of the opinion that he does not NEED to.  Women all over the country are gasping, right?  How dare I refuse to feed my husband properly?  Doesn't he complain, make noise about leaving me, or sneak fast food behind my back?  Uh, no.

He works in an office.  I might feel like feeding him more if he were a farmer, rancher, or construction worker.

Anyway, we just sprinkle a little Montreal Steak Seasoning on the patties.  They grill up nicely from frozen.


Grilled fries came from a recent issue of Rachael Ray magazine.  I was quite dismayed I hadn't thought of them myself.   Look at it from a frugal perspective.  A bag of potato chips costs $3.  A 10 pound bag of potatoes costs $3.  Not only are the grilled fries more figure friendly, they're more budget friendly as well.  Besides, if you've already got the grill fired up, why waste propane or charcoal?

Grilled Fries

1-2 good-sized baking potatoes per person
olive oil
salt and pepper

Microwave potatoes 3/4 of the way done.  For 4-6 potatoes, you want them in there about 7 minutes.   Remove from the microwave and allow to cool.  Slice in 1/2 thick slices, brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Put them on the grill alongside the hamburgers and grill until crispy.

These work well with just about anything you can throw on the grill.

I've got some baby carrots with ranch dip to go along with this.

This is the post to check out if you want to learn how to make your own taco spice without relying on the sodium-laden packets at the grocery. 

You can use just about any kind of chicken here, and this works really well if you have a pressure cooker.  Never fear, though - the slow cooker also works well for this, just takes more time. 




Shredded Chicken Tacos

2-3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ancho chile powder

tortillas/taco shells
cheese (queso fresco is divine, but whatever you like)
lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, etc...

Mix together spices and rub on the chicken peices.  Throw the chicken in the pressure cooker, add a bit of liquid (water, chicken stock, Corona) and follow pressure cooker directions.  For the slow cooker, throw the chicken in the slow cooker, cover with your liquid of choice, and cook 6 hours on low. 

When chicken is cooked, shred with two forks working in opposite directions.  Add a little of the cooking liquid to the serving bowl.  

Assemble tacos to your liking.  Enjoy!  

Serve with Cilantro Rice

1 c. jasmine rice
1 1/2 c. water
4 tbsp chopped cilantro

Add cilantro to rice while cooking.  Jasmine rice is especially nice because you start the rice and water at the same time - when it comes to a slow boil, you turn the heat down, put on the pot lid, and wait ten minutes.

I'll update with a picture later, I'm off to start the pressure cooker right now.

 

Hubby requested Stroganoff.  His mom made it with sirloin.  Budget Foodie says "What you can do with sirloin, I can do with ground round."

I did take a gander at the Betty Crocker cookbook for inspiration, but since that recipe called for canned cream of mushroom soup, we just skipped it. Who needs all that sodium?  This is my own personal version - the measurements are my best estimates, as I rarely use measuring spoons and cups when cooking.  Baking requires precision, cooking requires creative abandon, basic knowledge of a few formulas, and a willingness to make mistakes.

Hamburger Stroganoff

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms - criminis were on sale last week (about 4 oz)
2-3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken or beef stock
1 cup sour cream (full fat, please.  Light or fat free will NOT hold up)
1/2 pound egg noodles

Start water for egg noodles. Brown beef with onion in a large skillet.  Add mushrooms and cook 2-3 minutes.  Drain all but 2-3 tablespoons of fat out of the pan.  Sprinkle over the flour and cook for a minute or two to brown the flour.  Slowly add chicken stock (you're pretty much making a veloute here) and cook until slightly thickened  Stir in sour cream and remove from heat.

Serve over cooked egg noodles.  We used kluski style noodles and it was very yummy.

This is also a new recipe to the budget_foodie household.  Once again, it was devoured before pictures could be even thought of. 

Heavenly Chicken

1/2 bottle of italian dressing
1/2 jar of apricot preserves
1/2 packet of onion soup mix
8 oz can mandarin oranges
enough chicken breasts to feed your crew.

There are two methods of cooking this dish.  You can use the slow-cooker, or you could bake it.  If you're going the slow cooker route, dump the sauce ingredients into the slow cooker, cut the chicken into large chunks, and cook 6 hours on low.  If you'd rather bake, leave the chicken whole, dump the sauce over the chicken, and bake 45 minutes at 350*. 

Serve over rice.  Could not be easier. 

We enjoyed this immensely here with a side of green beans.  It was like Chinese food without all the work.  Hubby suggested adding some ginger next time, and I think I'll take that suggestion.  It could use a little zing.

My lunch looked so pretty that I wanted to share it with you.

Zucchini and summer squash, sauteed with olive oil, garlic, salt, and white pepper.   I also have a turkey sandwich, but it's not as pretty as the squash.

Oh baby.

We had friends over for dinner last night.  I like to do something easy on those occasions so I can spend time with my friends, rather than slaving away in the kitchen.

Besides, the wife is pregnant, and I thought waffles were probably the thing on my 20-day menu least likely to offend a potentially delicate tummy.  They brought some real maple syrup from Michigan's UP with them. 

We usually just make waffles from a mix, but I did mix up a batch from scratch last night.  The Southern Living cookbook came in handy again.  It has the best recipes for muffins and such.

Out of This World Waffles

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c. vegetable oil (I used canola)
2 1/2 c. milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract (not in the original recipe)

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in another bowl, pour into dry ingredients.  Mix with a whisk until just moistened.  Cook on a hot waffle iron until steaming stops.

Hubby is the wafflemeister around here.  Just like with pancakes, you add the blueberries once you put the batter on the waffle iron.  Just scatter them randomly.

We had brown n serve sausages with this, but bacon, ham, or veggie sausage is just as nice.   Don't skimp on the butter or syrup.

I intended to get a picture of the actual waffles, but we were all really hungry - so this is the best I can do.

Corn Chowder is a summertime thing.  You could make it in the dead of winter with canned or frozen corn, but I don't advise it.

It's simple, yummy, and requires no special ingredients.  You probably have everything on hand right now, so run out and get some fresh corn from a roadside stand.  I'll wait.

Back?  Let's get started.

The original version of my corn chowder came from the Southern Living cookbook.  It's pretty well-nigh unrecogniseable from that now, but credit where credit is due, and all that.


Corn Chowder

12 strips of bacon, chopped  OR  olive oil
12 ears of corn, kernels removed and cobs scraped.
1 large onion, minced
2 c. potato, cubed
water to cover
4 c. + 4 tbsp. milk
4 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh marjoram or 1 tsp dried marjoram


Render bacon over med-low heat in a large stockpot or dutch oven.  Vegetarians skip this step.  Remove the bacon and set aside to drain.  Add onions to stockpot and saute until translucent and soft in either bacon fat or olive oil.  Add potatoes and enough water to cover.  Cook potatoes 5-10 min, or until JUST tender.  Add corn, adding a bit more water if neccesary.  Cook 10 min over med heat.  Add 4 c of milk, herbs, spices, and sugar.  Combine 4 tbsp milk and cornstarch, add to pot.  Simmer until chowder thickens. 

Serve hot, with reserved bacon on top.

If you can't eat it all in one sitting, put as much as your family will eat into gallon zip-top bags and lie flat in the freezer.  When it's a busy night and you don't have time to cook, just pull out a frozen soupsicle to reheat, slice some crusty bread, and throw together a salad. 

I don't have a lot of fancy gadgets or equipment.  I lust after fancy gadgets and equipment, but that's all I get to do.

I'm reasonably sure you can cook just about anything with what I've got, which is:

8 inch nonstick skillet
10 inch nonstick skillet
1, 2 and 3 quart saucepans (stainless steel with encapsulated copper bottoms)
8 quart stockpot
muffin tins in 3 sizes
9x13 baking dish
8x8 baking dish
9x7 baking dish
several pie plates
12 inch woks (carbon steel, nonstick)
16 inch wok (carbon steel)

various whisks, wooden spoons, spatulas, pancake turners, etc.

A set of GOOD KNIVES.  If you can only splurge in one place, splurge here.  I got my set because I joined the Cutco cult for a while.  I never made any money, but I got a set of great knives for cheap.  An inexpensive chef's or santoku knife is OK, just buy a sharpener too.  I know the santoku is all the rage right now, with it's indentations for less drag when chopping.  I like my chef's knife.  Always use a cutting board.  Not only does it protect your counters, it prolongs the life of your knives.

I also have a toaster, blender, hand mixer, George Foreman style grill, toaster oven, and two crockpots.

You can make do with half of what I've got, honestly.  You only need a 10 or 12 inch skillet, a 3 qt. saucepan, a stockpot, a decent size baking dish, and knives.

I really want a corn zipper.  It'd make getting all the corn off the cob for corn chowder lots easier. 

I'd also suggest a husband or grateful roommate to do the dishes.  If you're cooking, somebody else can clean up.

This one's a new recipe to the budget_foodie household.  Since it's new, I didn't tweak it.  The next time I make it, there might be some changes.

The recipe is from Gourmet Express II, by Ainsley Harriot. I've paraphrased it a bit here so I'm not typing for ages. For those of you not in the know, Ains is a Britsh chef and TV personality.  This particular book has lots of yummy recipes and I don't think we've disliked a single one that we've tried.

The chicken needs 1-2 hours of marinating time, so let's get started.  I haven't cooked this yet, but look for pictures of the finished product later tonight.

Coriander-Lime Chicken:

6 cloves of garlic*
4 tablespoons coriander leaves*
2 teaspoons ground black peppercorns
2 teaspoons sugar
juice of 2 limes
2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce*
2 tablespoons light soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons oil*
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts*


Chop the garlic and coriander together.  Place in a large zipper bag.  Add remaining ingredients, and combine well.  Add the chicken and marinate in the fridge for 1-2 hours, turning occasionally.  Don't let it go any longer than 4 hours - the lime juice will dissolve the connective tissue in the chicken and it'll fall apart on the grill.

When you're ready to cook, either fire up the outdoor grill, the indoor George-Forman style grill, or heat up a grill pan on the stove.  The idea here being that you want to grill the chicken.  If you don't have any sort of grilling implement, just use a non-stick skillet.  Cook 7-8 minutes on each side and serve over rice or the budget_foodie choice, Peanut Soba.

*2 tablespoons of prechopped garlic can be subsituted.  It's what I use.  It keeps a long time in the fridge and is pretty cheap.
*commonly sold as cilantro in the US
*comes in a huge bottle, keeps forever.  Use it for stir fries, too.
*the original recipe calls for sunflower oil.  I used canola/rapeseed
*this I buy in 4 pound bags when they are buy one, get one free at my favorite grocery store (Meijer).  This is the cheapest way I've found them.  I pay $15 for 8 pounds.  The breasts are individually frozen and ice-coated.  You just pull out the number you need.  If you don't intend to marinate the chicken or need to cut it for anything, they can be used from frozen.

Peanut Soba

1/2 pound soba or whole wheat linguine
salted, boiling water
1/3 c. peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
3 tbsp soy sauce

boil soba or linguine according to package directions.  Drain.  Combine peanut butter and soy sauce in a small bowl, and toss with hot noodles.  Serve alongside coriander-lime chicken.

I'll also toss some frozen broccoli in the microwave to go with this.

Post-Dinner Update: This was a big hit with hubby and junior foodie.  We ended up doing minted peas instead of broccoli.  Sorry, no pictures.  I left the camera at my mom's. 

Tomorrow night is Corn Chowder.

So, you're curious about cooking on a budget.  You're also curious about eating food that both tastes good and is good for you, again, on a budget.

Lucky you!  I can help with that!  I got a little tired of googling "cooking on a budget" and getting meals laden with fat, sodium, and over-processed junk.  That stuff is cheap, but it's not good.

I feed a family of foodies (two adults and a four year old - the baby is still too small for anything but baby milk) on $300 a month.  We eat whole, fresh food for the most part.  The key to this is planning ahead, watching the sales, and learning how to shop to maximize your food dollars.

You've heard that before, right?  I'm guessing some of the people reading this have had nutrition classes through WIC, or maybe through DHS if you're a family who receives food assistance.  Been there, done that.  Some of the things you learn help, but a lot of the so-called "advice" is nothing but worthless platitudes. 

I hope to remedy that, and pass along good, solid information.  Stick around, and see what happens!