Menu Monday

Good afternoon, I'm finally starting to get back into my schedule here. Or rather, my new schedule of summer lessons and being off by 2:00 every day, and some days noon! I love it! It means no extra money whatsoever, but it's worth it to get some down time. So I make my own coffee and reserve Starbucks for special occasions and can't buy myself anything that costs more than $10 without checking the balance of my checkbook, but that's okay, I only work 24 hours a week until September and I plan to love every second of it!

So, our menus are going to get a bit more budget friendly. If you're looking for cheap yet still at least mostly healthy meals, this is the place to be!

For this week-

Monday-Leftover (homemade) Pizza (before church meeting)
Crust recipe-
1 packet quick yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup HOT water
2 tablespoons extra virgin (or any oil in a pinch) olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water, let proof for 12 minutes or until doubled in volume and foaming

In large mixing bowl, combine water mixture, oil and salt

Gradually add flour until dough forms a ball

On floured surface knead for about a minute.

Place in clean oiled bowl and cover, let rise for 30-45 minutes.

Prebake on pizza stone or pan 7-8 minutes at 375, top and cook for another 10-12


Tuesday-Whole Roast Chicken, rice and broccoli

Whole chickens are so much cheaper than buying chicken breasts (unless they're majorly on sale!), so I try to cook a whole chicken at least once a month and then freeze the leftover meet to be used in casseroles, quesadillas, fajitas, soups, etc...

I have two methods, roasting and slow-cooking.

To roast-
Rinse chicken under cool water til water runs clear, remove any inside pieces, rinse again
Place chicken in a foil lined greased roasting pan
Coat chicken inside and out in melted butter seasoned with salt, black pepper and paprika
Cover in foil, roast in 375 oven for 20 minutes a pound.

To slow-cook-
Rinse chicken under cool water til water runs clear, remove any insides and rinse again
Place chicken in crockpot
Pour in one can low-sodium chicken broth
Cover and leave on low 7-8 hours, or high 4-5 hours

It's amazingly juicy either way and great with potatoes, rice, salad, anything really. Typically we get enough meat on one chicken to cook two dinners with a few leftovers for lunch, for around $5 a chicken. You can't beat that!

Wednesday-Quesadillas and Fresh Strawberries
Made with the leftover chicken from the night before, cheese, salsa and soft tortillas.

Thursday-Date night to either Panera or Red Robin cause those are the places we have gift cards for :)

Friday-Cottage, so I don't know yet, cause I don't know if it will be my night to cook or my mother-in-laws yet.

Saturday-still at the cottage.

Most of my menu mondays will probably only run through Thursday from now until August cause with the cottage I can't always plan until day of when I find out who will be there that weekend. Depending on how many people I'm feeding over how many days greatly effects my menu because of people's preferences and cost.

Enjoy!