Sunday 4/25: Black Bean Burgers with chips and asparagus
Monday 4/26: Potato-Leek soup and cheesy biscuits
Tuesday 4/27 Beef and Polenta Pie
Wednesday 4/28: Chicken Korma, jasmine rice, roasted cauliflower
Thursday 4/29: Tacos
Friday 4/30: Chicken Pot Pie
Saturday 5/1: Grilled Smoked Sausages, grilled veggies, pita

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.