Recipes

Matts Mom makes this and I love it, hope you enjoy it too.

Cucumber Salad

• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 2 Tbsp Cider Vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
• 3/4 tsp Dill Weed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 Medium cucumbers sliced (as thin as you can get them)
• 1/2 slices onions ( as thin as you can get them)

In a bowl combine the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, dill, salt and pepper.  Add cucumbers and onions, toss till well coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Shredded Beef and Cheese Biscuit Rolls Recipe  

Start by making your biscuit dough or used premade dough.

Baking Powder Biscuits ( from Clabber Girl site)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Clabber Girl Baking Powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening, margarine, or butter
• 2/3 cup milk
• Instructions:

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flour, Clabber Girl Baking Powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in center; add milk all at once. Using a fork, stir just till moistened.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for 10 to 12 strokes or till the dough is nearly smooth.

For this recipe you will want to roll the dough out as thin as you can get it.  Then top it with 2 cups of shredded beef and 2 cups of shredded cheese ( I used mexi-style).  Leave one end topping free so when you roll it closed you can get a good seal on the end.

 Start rolling into a roll ( kind of like Cinnamon rolls)

 Use a sharp knife to cut into 1 inch segments.

 Place into a greased baking dish.  Bake at $450 degrees 12-16 minutes till edges have started to brown and middle is cooked well.  Top with brown gravy and enjoy!

One way to save money is to cut down on food waste.  My family does not always like left overs so sometimes I will make “piggy back meals” … these are meals that are able to use leftovers, but give them new life in a different recipe or meal plan.

Meal #1 Oven baked ham, with potato casserole and rainbow carrots.

Piggy Back Meal Ideas~ Cheesy Ham and Potato Chowder 

Or Pork and Veggie Stir Fry with Pork & Seeds with hot mustard.

Click here for Piggy back meal ideas with Roast Beef.

One way to save money is to cut down on food waste.  My family does not always like left overs so sometimes I will make “piggy back meals” … these are meals that are able to use leftovers, but give them new life in a different recipe or meal plan.

For example this week I make a small  beef roast into French Dip sandwiches,  (for recipe click here)  But we ran out of the dipping sauce.  Which left me about 3 cups of shredded beef.

I then took the 3 cups of shredded beef, chopped it up real good added a can of refried beans, and a dash of hot sauce.

Stirred it all up till it looked like a nasty brown ball of muck …lol.

Then I rolled them into small  burritos.  You know kind of like the ones you buy at Taco Time… But they call them a Crisp Meat Burrito and charge you $2.25

I fried mine in a skillet with a bit of olive oil… but you could bake them in an oven as well.

Finished product is a totally different taste, and look (which keeps the menu plan new and fresh, and the budget happy)

What are your favorite meals to Piggy Back?

Which meal would you want to eat?

Top or Bottom

One looks like it came from an upscale restaurant, and the other greasy napkin looks like gas station food.

But they are both the exact same meal…. the only difference is the  presentation.

First tip is to cut the burrito on an angle and stack them.

It is amazing the difference a white plate, a cilantro leaf on top of guacamole and a few dots of hot sauce will make.

One of my secret kitchen tools is a 1 ml syringe, makes adding dots to the plate super easy!

Takes about 30 seconds longer to plate it this way, but is sure does look pretty… and if you are trying to impress dinner guest this a fun little trick.

I admit this sounded a little weird when my friend told me about Grape Salsa… but I whipped some up.  Matt did really care of it… but I loved it!  Our friends all liked it too.  Have you tried it before what did you think?

Grape Salsa recipe

• 2 cups seedless grapes , coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup white onion , chopped
• 1-2 tablespoon jalapeno (seeds taken out), diced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro , chopped
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 clove garlic , minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash of pepper

Almond Chicken Salad with Grapes Recipe

• 1 pound Diced Cooked Chicken Breast
• 3 green onions diced
• 1 cup red or green grapes halved
• 3 stalks of celery diced small
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Combine, salt and pepper to taste, best if it has a few hours to chill, for the flavors to blend.  Keep in refrigerator and serve on a roll, tortilla wrap, bagel…. or just plain bread.  Either way it is fabulous. This my personal favorite, hope you enjoy it too.

You can cook the chicken breast any way you want.  But I prefer to roast it in the oven or do a quick boil…. but if I boil it I always add a little onion, celery, and garlic to the water.  Gives it a much better flavor.

Once the chicken is cooked thru, cooking time will vary on size of breast. I normally cook them 25-35 minutes.  Take them out, and let them rest on a cutting board to cool.

Once they have cooled down some (normally 10 minutes) chop them into small bite sized pieces. Put them into the refrigerator to cool even more.

Chop your veggies, add all the ingredients in a bowl.

Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Veggies Pen Wheels Click here for the recipe

You can make these a little more festive for Christmas by only using RED and GREEN veggies.

• red or green bell peppers
• broccoli
• tomatoes
• green onions
• celery
• sun dried tomatoes