Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 whole chickens
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 4 stalks celery, halved
• 4 bay leaves
• 8 carrots
• 1lb pasta
• 8-10 cubes bullion
• pepper

Directions:

1. Put chickens, onion, celery and bay leaves into pot and cover with cold water
2. Boil until chickens are fully cooked
3. Remove chickens, cool and debone
4. Remove and discard, celery and onion
5. Skim the top, and remove all the oil
6. Add bullion and carrots
7. When carrots are about half-way tender, add deboned chicken, shred into smaller bite-size pieces
8. Add pasta
9. Add fresh ground pepper to taste and more bullion if desired

I did not boil my pasta first, but you can do this so that it won't soak up the broth. I also used up the contents of two leftover boxes of pasta that were half-full.

Tex-Mex Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 lbs ground beef
• Taco seasoning:
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp chili powder
• dash of cayenne or chipotle powder optional
• sea salt, according to preference
• pepper, according to preference
• 1 small can tomato sauce or tomato juice
• 1/2 green pepper chopped
• 1/2 red pepper chopped
• 1 can of black beans
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 2-3 cups Mexican cheese
• 1 lb (1box) of pasta, like penne or farfalle

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef with onions, peppers, taco seasoning, (drain beef if necessary) adding tomato juice after beef is nearly done browning.
2. boil pasta to al dente, and strain
3. combine beef mixture, beans and corn with pasta in a big bowl or pot that you boiled pasta in
4. layer pasta mixture with cheese
5. bake at 300 for 1 hour or 325 for 40 minutes or until cheese bubbles.

Shredded Chicken Sandwiches AKA "Ohio Chicken"

Alright, now I will divulge my deepest secret: How to make shredded chicken.

I found out that outside of Ohio, this is not a common thing. My husband, a New Englander, calls this "Ohio Chicken" and it is one of his favorites. I've always thought of it as either a hick food or some kind of traditional depression era cooking. Well I like it anyways so here it is:

Ingredients:

• 1 whole cooked chicken de-boned
• 2 stalks of celery diced
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1-1 1/2 c. chicken stock, or 2-3 cubes chicken bullion
• pepper
• water
• 2-3 tbsp. constarch
• cooking oil
• buns or rolls

Directions:

1. in a medium to large sauce pan, add 1 tbsp cooking oil, celery, and 1/4 cup broth or 2 bullion cubes and 1/4 c. water
2. sautee celery for 4-5 minutes over medium heat
3. add onions and cook until onions and celery are tender, add broth as needed
4. add chicken, stirring and shredding it with a fork, adding broth as needed to keep chicken from burning
5. dissolve cornstarch in water and add to pan, stirring frequently until thickened
6. season with pepper to taste

If extra salt is desired, add a bullion cube (or even a little sea salt) dissolved in a little water between step 4 and 5.

Serve on a bun or your choice of bread.

Note: I usually use a chicken that I have made stock from, making a smaller batch of shredded chicken and reserving some of the meat for chicken soup

Chunky Beef Stew

Ingredients:

• 4lbs beef top round roast, cubed
• water
• 4-6 red potatoes, cubed
• 1/2 lb green beans
• 3-4 carrots, sliced and peeled
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 lb of pasta
• 1 large onion
• 2 stalks of celery
• 8 cubes beef bullion
• 4 bay leaves
• pepper

Directions:

1. Add beef, onion, celery, and bay leaves to pot, covering with cold water
2. cook on low heat for 2 hours or until beef is cooked through, stirring occasionally
3. strain any fat or grease off of the top, remove onions, celery and bay leaves
4. add bullion, pepper,carrots and potatoes, cook on low-medium for 1 hour
5. add pasta, corn and green beans
6. cook until pasta, green beans and potatoes and carrots a done
7. add salt cautiously, if needed and pepper to taste, sometimes I even add more bullion instead of salt, if needed
   Serve with dinner rolls

Normally I make this recipe with soup bones as well, but I forgot them. This is a great recipe because you can add any of your favorite vegetables, or even beans. Overall, this is a pretty wallet-friendly recipe, and you can eat the leftovers for lunch or serve them with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich for dinner the next night.

Ranch Taco Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1- 1 1/4 lb ground beef, sirloin if you want to spend the extra money
• 1/2 c. frozen corn
• 1 carrot, shaved with a vegetable peeler
• 2-3 cups of your favorite shredded cheese, I like Kirlkand Mexican Blend
• 1 small can tomato sauce or 1 small can tomato juice
• Your favorite tortilla chips, I like Garden of Eatin Blues
• Ranch Dressing
• Hot sauce, optional
• Taco seasoning, you can use a packet or make your own:
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp chili powder
• dash of cayenne or chipotle powder optional
• sea salt, according to preference
• pepper, according to preference

Directions

1. Brown beef with carrots and add taco seasonings, drain fat if necessary or desired
2. Add can of tomato juice or sauce
3. Add corn and simmer
4. Assemble your salad, crumbling tortilla chips on top

Save money on this meal:

• buy beef and cheese in bulk and freeze in appropriate proportions for your family size
• keep a good stock of seasonings on hand to avoid convenience foods, which are almost always more expensive in the long run
• add pinto beans or black beans (at the end) with less meat or the same amount to stretch it out
• eat leftovers in a tortilla for lunch

Splurge:

• use ground sirloin (it is a lot more flavorful that regular old ground beef)
• use a specialty cheese (like chipotle cheddar and grate it yourself)
• use 2-3 cloves of minced garlic in place of real garlic
• serve with cornbread on the side