Having given up sugar fruit has become the new candy in my life. You cannot believe how sweet fruit becomes when you give up sweets and refined food with added sugar. So I like to buy fruit at its best in the season at hand. In the fall that means I stock up on apples. In the spring I’m looking at the remaining apples and how to use them. Some of them don’t look appealing enough to eat as a snack, some had to be composted, but those on the edge are great for cooking with. Also I found a pie crust in the fridge that needed to be used up. So I made this pie that is kind of cross between a crisp and a pie. A single crust apple pie. I’m making homemade ice cream to go with it.

Leftover Apple Pie
Prep Time 10-15 min
Cooking Time 55-60 min
Ingredients
5-6 medium apples peeled, cored, cut into bite size pieces
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp butter cut into 3-4 pieces

Peel, core and slice apples place in a glass pie plate. (you can do this in a bowl and then pour into pie plate) Add spices, honey, lemon juice and flour. Toss until coated. Add pieces of butter on top. Cover with pie crust. Roll edge over the rim of the pie plate and crimp with a fork. Put pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

@25bucksaweek We will let you know of new menus and recipes!! Thanks for visiting us.

This week I got a great buy on a spiral cut ham. It has lots of flavor and makes quick meals. Starting with a big Sunday dinner to breakfast sandwiches to scalloped potatoes and ending the week a hearty bean soup. Yes you eat a lot of ham this week but it does freeze if you want to use it later, especially the bone for a future soup. I’m trying to point out that even though the ham is a big part of the budget this week it is versatile and stretches your money. Also this week for a special occasion I have ice cream on the menu. I usually get a pint of heavy whipping cream for under $1.70. I make my own because I don’t eat sugar( I make a batch with 2 tablespoons of locally sourced honey) and it tastes so good that most people lick the bowl. Will post it soon. The secret is a good vanilla. Serve it with a great fruit crisp.

SUNDAY
Brunch Quiche, fruit salad
Dinner Spiral cut ham,fresh asparagus, cauliflower gratin, ice cream

MONDAY
Breakfast Granola, orange or clementine
Lunch ham sandwich, carrot sticks
Dinner asparagus soup, fruit

TUESDAY
Breakfast Granola, orange
Lunch peanut butter sandwich, fruit
Dinner scalloped potatoes and ham, fruit

WEDNESDAY
Breakfast granola, orange
Lunch ham sandwich, fruit
Dinner roasted vegetables with sliced ham or chicken, fresh fruit

THURSDAY
Breakfast Breakfast sandwich, orange
Lunch asparagus soup, carrots
Dinner leftovers or chef salad,(use ham and fresh vegetables on hand) fruit

FRIDAY
Breakfast granola hot or cold, orange or clementine
Lunch cheese sandwich fruit
Dinner baked cod with roasted potatoes and asparagus (make a big bowl of popcorn and watch a movie)

SATURDAY
Brunch Breakfast hash or poached eggs and toast, orange
Dinner bean soup (use ham bone), fruit

SHOPPING LIST
Spiral cut ham, asparagus, cauliflower, cream, half and half, eggs, bread, cheese, fruit

I made this with chuck roast that I cut into cubes. I like the size of the piece of meat to correspond with the size of the vegetable with in the pot. It helps in the evenness of cooking plus it looks good on the plate. I have tried a number of recipes for stew and never liked them as much as this. It is an adaptable recipe that you can enhance with herbs and other vegetables. It’s a great stew to reheat. Sometimes I make it and refrigerate it overnight to let the flavors meld and the fat to rise to the top for skimming off. Slow cooking this in the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for four hours makes a big difference.
Beef Stew
Prep Time 15-30 min
Cooking Time 4-5 hours
Ingredients

1 3-4 lb chuck roast cut into cubes
1 whole Medium onion diced
1/4-1/2 cup flour for dredging
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black or white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp paprika
5-6 whole carrots cut into pieces the size of beef cubes
5-6 whole medium size potatoes cut into quarters
8 oz whole button mushrooms cut in half
4 cups chicken or beef stock (can use water just add 2 bullion cubes)
1-2 tbsp mustard whole grain or Dijon
1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

In a bag blend flour, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and blend. In batches add the cubed beef close bag and shake until well coated. In a Dutch oven brown the beef cubes in batches not crowding them. When brown set them aside and add onions and mushrooms to sauté until golden. (You can brown everything in a separate pan and then put everything in the dutch oven if you prefer.)Return beef to Dutch oven add the potatoes and carrots. Add stock, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Stir lightly to mix. Cover and put in oven for 4-5 hours at 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

When hot and bubbly right after you remove from oven and you want to thicken the stew take a 1/4 cup of flour and stir in 1/4-1/2 cup liquid from stew in a bowl carefully. Add that mixture to the stew and gently stir until desired consistency. To reheat the stew I place a desired amount in a casserole dish and heat it in the oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30 mins.

Great spring time soup. Fast and easy to make. Asparagus were on sale and I bought a pound and a half. I used about 3/4 of a pound in this soup along with a cup of frozen peas. The white pepper really adds a nice flavor. I used my immersion blender and puréed the soup right in the pot. You could double the amount of liquid to make a thinner soup but I like it thicker with more fiber in the soup. If you wanted to simply add more liquid and strain it for a smoother soup. I just ate it with a good hardy grain bread and some butter. Great as a meal but also a wonderful first course.

Asparagus and Pea Soup serves 4-6
Prep Time 5-10 min
Cooking Time 30 min
Ingredients
1 medium onion chopped
3/4 pound asparagus chopped
1 cup frozen green peas
2-4 cups chicken broth (add up to 8 cups depending on how thin of a soup you want).
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper (can use black)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

In a kettle with 2 tbsp olive oil sauté onion until soft add chopped asparagus that have been cleaned and woody bottom of stems removed and discarded. Sauté until they begin to soften and you can smell them cooking. Add the frozen peas and liquid. Cover and simmer for 20 min or so until they are soft but for that nice bright green color do not over cook. (I had pencil thin asparagus and mine were done in 10 min.) at this point use an immersion blender to purée the soup right in the kettle. So much safer than a blender but if that is all you have purée in small batches in your blender. Be careful with hot liquids when you are doing that. After puréed stir in Parmesan cheese until well blended. Serve. Enjoy the fresh spring flavor.

We start the week with a nice pot of beef stew that does a slow simmer for hours in the oven or slow cooker. Full of flavor it reheat or freezes well. We throw out too much good food every year. Instead I’m try to offer recipes that either reheat throughout the week or freeze until a later date for consumption. Your freezer is your friend if you use it as a tool. I’m guilty of turning it into a storage shed where food stays for eons. Your refrigerator/freezer is one of the many tools in your kitchen to help you. Use them wisely. So starting this week on the menu you’ll note that Thursday nights are leftover or reheat frozen food night. It helps circulate the assets you have stored in your refrigerator. It’s a discipline to develop. I find myself pushing aside leftover food for something new. I forget how much I enjoyed the food the first time. To my surprise I enjoy it more the second time such as the beef stew. I no longer use a microwave to reheat food. (I’ve moved from the house in the pic above and redoing my current kitchen) I use my oven or stove top. However I have found that a steam oven does the best job overall. A decent countertop model can be found for under $300. The same you pay for a microwave. It doesn’t change the flavor of the food. I personally feel safer by using it. Plus I use it for more than just to reheat food. Appliances that I have in my kitchen these days has to serve more than one purpose. The only exception is my ice cream maker.

SUNDAY
Brunch breakfast hash, toast w/ jam, orange
Dinner beef stew, fruit

MONDAY
Breakfast Granola, orange or clementine
Lunch salami sandwich, carrot sticks
Dinner chicken thighs w/ roasted vegetables, fruit

TUESDAY
Breakfast Granola, orange
Lunch chicken soup, fresh or canned fruit
Dinner leftover beef stew, fruit

WEDNESDAY
Breakfast granola, orange
Lunch peanut butter sandwich, fruit
Dinner buffalo style chicken thighs, salad w/ranch dressing

THURSDAY
Breakfast Breakfast sandwich, orange
Lunch chicken thighs or chicken salad
Dinner leftovers or reheated frozen soup or chef salad,fruit

FRIDAY
Breakfast granola hot or cold, orange or clementine
Lunch cheese sandwich fruit
Dinner baked cod with roasted potatoes and asparagus (make a big bowl of popcorn and watch a movie)

SATURDAY
Brunch Breakfast hash or poached eggs and toast, orange
Dinner hamburger, salad, fruit

SHOPPING LIST
Chicken thighs,chuck roast, hamburger, asparagus, eggs, milk, salami,bread, potatoes, carrots, romaine lettuce, fruit

This week I saw a great buy on chicken thighs at one of my favorite stores. I picked up a package because I’ve wanted to make buffalo style chicken thighs. I love buffalo style chicken wings and I judge restaurants on how well they do them. I like the flavor of chicken thighs so I wanted to develop a recipe that marries a good sauce with the chicken thigh without deep frying them. These turned out better than I had expected. They are as addictive as the wings but juicier and full of flavor. So much easier to eat and very satisfying.

I started by putting flour in a bag with garlic powder, salt, white pepper and paprika. Put the thighs in the bag and shake well enough to coat them with the flour mixture. Remove from bag and shake off excess flour. Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Test with an instant read thermometer to make sure the internal temperature is 185 degrees Fahrenheit.

Toss in a large bowl in which you have prepared the sauce made from hot sauce,(use your favorite to determine the heat), vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and melted butter. Serve and enjoy.

Buffalo Style Chicken Thighs
Prep Time 10-15 min
Cooking Time 30 min
Ingredients

Flour coating for 8-12 thighs
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp paprika

Put in a bag, close the bag and shake to mix. Add chicken thighs, close bag and shake to coat. Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Check internal temperature with instant read thermometer to make sure it reads 185 degrees Fahrenheit.

Buffalo Style Sauce 8-12 thighs
1/4 cup hot sauce (use your favorite for heat)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3-4 tbsp melted butter
Black cracked pepper to taste

Stir with a whisk to blend in a large mixing bowl. Take cooked thighs and place in bowl and toss until well coated. Serve.

There are many versions of this dish out on the Internet but I’ve adapted this one from a few of my favorites and tried to put my own healthy spin on it with italian turkey sausage. Also my red sauce is a simple can of diced tomatoes that cost less than 60 cents. I embellish the tomatoes with fresh garlic and Italian seasoning that I purée with an immersion blender in the can. If you think that might get too messy pour the can into a blender. The fresh garlic gives a lot of flavor to the dish.

For the other sauce I brown the Italian turkey sausage with mushrooms and onion. I add a thickening agent like flour which I did for this dish. Then I stir in sour cream and fresh spinach. I use a whole 12 ounce bag for this dish.

While I’m doing all of this, the dish in which I’m going to bake the lasagna which is 9″ x 12″, I’ve laid the pasta criss cross and poured boiling water over them to soak. By the time you’re ready to assemble the dish they are soft enough to finish cooking in the oven. The thing that I had always disliked about making lasagna was boiling the pasta first. This makes it so simple. 

I only use 6 pasta strips for this recipe. It all comes together quickly about 20 minutes time to prepare and thirty to cook in the oven. It reheats really well and in fact I usually have leftover lasagna that I then put in ramekins and put in the refrigerator. For a meal I simply put it in the oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-30 minutes and serve with a salad.

Lasagna
Prep Time 20 min
Cooking Time 30 min
Ingredients
10-15 oz. Italian turkey sausage (about 3-4 links)
4-8 oz. fresh mushrooms sliced
1 large onion diced
1 tbsp flour
1 cup sour cream
12 oz. fresh spinach
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with basil
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
6 lasagna pasta noodles soaked in hot water for 10 min
2-3 cups of grated cheese (I used a blend of mozzarella and provolone)

Brown the sausage. Add the onion and sliced mushrooms. You want to cook these until they are soft and have some color. At this point add the flour and stir it in. Cook it a few minutes to get rid of the flour taste. Add the sour cream and spinach. It all comes together fast. Cook until the spinach has reduced. Remove from heat. Meanwhile purée the tomatoes with the garlic and seasoning. Remove the pasta from the baking dish and drain the water. Now you are ready to start assembling. First put a third of the spinach sauce on the bottom of the dish add a third of the red sauce.
Next add a third of the cheese,place three of the pasta noodles on top and repeat the process.

Finish with the last third of the two sauces and cheese. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty minutes.

Remove from the oven when it is hot and bubbly and the cheese has a nice golden color. Let sit for 5-10 min for the sauce to settle or it will be runny. Enjoy.

This is easy to make. Tastes better the second day. I use about 1/8 of a head of cabbage per serving. My dressing is very similar to the horseradish sauce. The flavor of the whole grain mustard along with horseradish makes this a great side salad or as a topping for a sandwich like a Ruben or a burger.

Coleslaw
Prep Time 10-15 min
Ingredients

1/2 head cabbage red or green sliced thin
2 whole carrots shredded
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbs whole grain mustard
1-2 tsp prepared horseradish

Mix together in a bowl and toss until well coated. Salt and pepper to taste. Add more mayonnaise if you want a creamier sauce. I don’t add vinegar because the whole grain mustard has vinegar in it. If you want a stronger vinegar flavor add more whole grain mustard.

This is a quick and easy meal when you have leftover potatoes, carrots and corned beef. If you’re familiar with breakfast hash #2 then you already know how to cook this.

Corned Beef Hash
Prep Time 5 min
Cook Time 20-25 min
Ingredients
1-2 leftover potatoes per person
1-2 leftover carrots per person
1/2 cup cubed leftover corned beef per person
1 small onion diced
1-2 eggs per person

Cut the leftover vegetables and corned beef into bite sized pieces. Put in roasting pan and toss in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Roast in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for ten minutes. Stir the vegetables and corned beef to get the cooking even on all sides. Set the timer for another ten minutes. Stir the vegetables and corned beef. Crack 1-2 eggs per person over the top and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes until egg is cooked to your liking. Remove and serve. ( if you do not have leftover potatoes and carrots you can use fresh ones. I would recommend not using fresh carrots as they might not cook well enough for this recipe)