Grocery Challenge

Although I do not want this blog to turn into a deals-finding blog, I am, by nature, very frugal.  I enjoy getting a great deal on the things I would buy anyway.  So, when I found the All You Grocery Challenge was running this summer, I was so excited.  "What is this strange idea?" you ask.  Well, here are the details:

1. The challenge starts June 20th and runs for 4 weeks.
2. The purpose of the challenge is to help you stay on top of your grocery spending by allotting $25.00 per person in your household per week for food expenses. 

That's about it.  At the end of it, there may be a prize in it (I hope it's me, but I am not holding my breath!): a $1,000 gift card for groceries!  That would cover a lot of food! 

So, I will be participating and keeping updates right here on this little blog.  This will include any really great tips on savings I get (including local store deals).  Anybody up for doing the challenge with me?  Check it out here, sign up and leave me a comment saying you are in! 

Wordless Wednesday: Catching up

Calzone Casserole

Yeah, I had never heard of it either.  And to be quite honest, after eating tonight's dinner I wonder why you don't just make it into a calzone.  It has all the same ingredients as a calzone, but is just formed different.  Oh the lengths food editors will go to come up with a new recipe.

Tonight's recipe is inspired by a Cooking Light recipe called Spinach-Feta Calzone Casserole (see here), but I changed it very much so here's the adapted recipe:

Ingredients
1 pkg Pampered Chef Pizza Dough mix (or any pizza dough you have) + ingredients to make the dough
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion (thinly sliced)
2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
salt & pepper to taste
1 large bunch fresh spinach, washed, trimmed, and roughly chopped
1 1/4 c. ricotta cheese
1 c. Italian cheese blend
1 c. cooked chicken breast
2 Tbsp. Garlic Oil
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning blend

The Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.  Prep the dough according to package directions.  Turn out onto a floured surface and roll into a 12" square.  Place the dough in an 8x8 baking pan.  Leave the excess over the edges. 
2. Heat oil in dutch oven and add onions and garlic.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions start to brown.  Remove from pan and place in a large bowl.  Salt and pepper the onions and keep warm.
3.  Add spinach to pan in batches, stirring often, until the spinach wilts (about 4 minutes). 
4. Add spinach, ricotta cheese, Italian cheese, and chicken to the onion mixture.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, stir well.  Pour spinach mixture into the prepared pizza dough crust.  Fold edges over the top and brush with garlic oil.  Sprinkle Italian seasoning blend over the top. 
5.  Bake in oven at 425 F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. 

This was not Drew's favorite dish, but I really enjoyed it.  The fresh spinach tasted great and the ricotta was very mild.  I would make this again for a pot-luck event. 

An Apple a Day

Our harvest

Chick and Champ

Tonight's dinner was one of those easy to throw together kind of meals you need for a Monday night.  In about 30 minutes, dinner was on the table.  It was flavorful and comforting.

The menu: Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Tenders (Cooking Light), with Green Onion Champ (Cooking Light) and green beans.

For the Spicy Honey- Brushed Chicken, I swapped tenders for the recipe-called-for chicken thighs because I got a great deal on tenders this week at the market.  After getting half of my tenders in the rub mixture, I went ahead and cooked some plain ones alongside the ones for the recipe so I can use it for a recipe later in the week.  The only thing I changed about this recipe is the glaze that is brushed on at the last minute.  The glaze calls for honey and apple cider vinegar.  I wanted to kick it up a notch on the spice, so I added about a teaspoon of Siracha to it.  Drew likes his food really spicy, and the results were definitely spicy.  They had a great flavor.  I would definitely do this treatment for chicken tenders again, using alternative spices because it adds lots of flavor without adding any fat!  Gotta love that.  Since they are very figure friendly, we thought we would add a little bit of ranch and buffalo sauce for dipping - a great pairing.

For the uninitiated (as I was before this afternoon), "champ" is an Irish term for buttery mashed potatoes.  This version is very comfort-food pleasing.  For some reason, potatoes are not often on our menu.  We both grew up in household that ate potatoes often, but I still haven't added it to our list of "often" foods.   This might be because that list is incredibly short!  If you get a chance to try this recipe, do.  It is really good and flavorful.  A new cooking technique for me was the addition of green onions to the milk, heating it up and then adding it to the potatoes before mashing.  It infuses the green onion flavor very nicely into the potatoes and could have many applications.