Well, this past week was full of thrifty finds. As the mother of 2 toddlers, I have to get creative in the kitchen. Thankfully, my kids aren't picky eaters, but they do have their preferences. My son LOVES grits - a good old southern boy. Grits are inexpensive, quick cooking, and full of iron so I love to incorporate them into everyday meals. My kids also like roasted chicken, as do the hubby and I, so when the Purdue whole fryers go on sell at Kroger for $0.77/ lb I generously stock the freezer. So my thrifty recipes last week include a chicken, the leftover chicken and its bones, and gritz. Good stuff.....we'll get to the footstools later.
Recipe #1: Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Thaw the bird in the fridge the night before
- drizzle the bird with a tbsp of oil
- rub the bird down with about 2 tbsp of lemon pepper seasoning (Big Lots $1 for 2.75 oz)
- Place breast side down( tip from Mellisa D'Arabian to keep the breast moist) in a 400F oven for 15m.
- Flip the bird and cook until juice runs clear ( about 30m)
Serve with steamed broccoli and whole wheat rolls.
Recipe #2: Buffalo Chicken Soup
- Take the left over bird and place in crockpot and cover with about 10 c of water
- Simmer on High for 4-6 hours
- Strain the liquid into a separate container and remove any remaining tender meat from the bird.
- Return stock and "salvaged" meat to the crock pot.
- Whisk in 1/2 block of cream cheese, 1c buffalo sauce, 1c cheddar cheese shreds or processed, 2 tbsp ranch dressing, 1 finely chopped onion, 3 finely chopped celery stalks, 1tsp garlic powder, and 1 can of yellow corn.
- Let simmer on low for another hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with crushed corn chips.
Eat
Recipe#3: Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Grits Casserole
-Add enough grits to the left over soup to create the correct grits/liquid cooking ratio (look on the grits bag). I think I added 2 cups of grits to about 6 cups of soup.
- Add 1 egg.
- Place in a 9x13 casserole dish and sprinkle top with cheese shreds.
- Place in a 375F oven and bake for 30-35m until bubbly.
Serve with pan fried garlic seasoned tilapia - YUM!
That's what we ate last week. Now, on to the footstool. My son is really into trains, specifically Thomas the tank engine. He enjoys recreating the scenes from his Thomas books and DVD's during playtime. His toy engines take a beating as they "fall from the cliff into the rushing river" or "pull large freight cars full of bricks" across the living room floor... I mean "the island of Sodor, a world of wonder." He's so darn cute that I can't help but to indulge him in his love for trains. However, I'll break the bank buying up all of the original Thomas and friends pre-packaged buildings, tunnels, tracks, and embellishments. Recently, during a trip to the dollar tree, I picked up a few plastic footstools for the kids to use in the bathroom or to assist my daughter in climbing onto her big brother's new toddler bed. These little footstools were a great value, but they became a real money saver when my son begin to use them as "train tunnels!" $2 bought him hours of dramatic scenarios for his tank engines. Going under the tunnels, falling off the tunnels, doubling the tunnels as caves...mountains...docks...endless possibilities from the mind of a 3 year old. My favorite part? The part where my son uses his creativity to assign a new use to a plain old footstool. That's my boy... a thrifty genius.
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