So...Cafe Rio Pork

If you love Café Rio as much as I do, than you will want to have these recipes on hand.
They are wonderful.

Cafe Rio Pulled Pork

3 lb pork roast

1 c Worcestershire sauce

1 t dried oregano

1 t ginger

1 t salt

1 t chili powder

1 t garlic powder

2 T minced dried onion

1 c brown sugar

1 can red enchilada sauce

 

Put roast in crock pot. In a small bowl, mix all remaining ingredients except brown sugar and enchilada sauce. Pour mixture over roast and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove roast and shred. Discard cooking liquid and return shredded meat to crock pot. Combine brown sugar and enchilada sauce. Pour over meat and simmer until ready to serve (about 1 hour.)

 

::for freezer meal::put roast, Worcestershire sauce, and spices in gallon Ziploc freezer bag.  put brown sugar and enchilada sauce in another gallon (or quart) Ziploc freezer bag.  place both bags inside another bag, and freeze.  to cook, thaw, then follow directions as shown above.

 

 

This pork is delicious!

I love to make all the fix-ins for salads and/or burritos (rice, beans, lettuce, salsa, avocado, cilantro, lime, tortillas), but it can also be served just over rice with veggies, or in a sandwich.  So delish!

 

 

Here are some other favorite recipes that I make along side:

 

Cilantro Lime Rice

1 c uncooked white rice

1 t butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t grated lime peel (zest)

1 (15 oz) can chicken broth

1/4 c water

2 T freshly squeezed lime juice

2 t sugar

3 T freshly chopped cilantro

 

In a saucepan, combine rice, butter, garlic, lime zest, chicken broth, and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, sugar, and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice. Serve warm.

 

 

Café Rio Tomatillo Dressing

5 tomatillos, peeled, washed, quartered

1 pkg buttermilk Ranch dressing mix

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1 cup mayo

1/8 tsp garlic salt

1/8 tsp chili powder

1 tsp brown sugar

5 large pieces bottled jalapenos

1 T jalapeno juice

juice of 1/2 fresh lime

 

Combine all ingredients in blender.  Keep refrigerated.

 

 

Tortilla Strips

corn tortillas, taco size

cooking spray

salt

 

Cut tortillas into thin strips (I use a pizza cutter).  Spread evenly on cookie sheet.  Spray strips with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.  Bake at 450 degrees until crispy, approximately 10 minutes.

 

 

Not necessarily cheaper or easier than just buying a salad at Café Rio, but it makes a lot so you can keep eating it until your heart in content :)  One of my Girls' Night favorites.

 

 

 

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Thanks for stopping by!

So...Pesto Ravioli and Baked Rotini

It may be silly that I'm even posting these recipes, but for the record I believe it is OK to not be a master chef and to make some Plain Jane meals that are more semi-homemade than actually homemade (it's actually more like home-assembly than homemade).  It makes life quite a bit easier, takes some of the pressure off to not have the perfect pinterest-worthy meal every night, and it still save some money cooking dinner at home rather than going out. 

Plus, there is value in having meals made at home - even if they aren't anything special - and satisfaction that comes from cooking for my family.  I believe home cooked meals are part of what makes a house feel homey and contributes to the safety and security a child feels in their home.  I believe this!

In order to be more successful at cooking at home, I believe in having some quick, easy, go to meals that don't take much skill in the kitchen and can be throw together without much effort.  This makes it easier to stick to my goal of cooking at home even on those days when life is crazy and the baby won't let me put him down long enough to boil water.  :)

Someday I may get a little more creative and elaborate in the kitchen, but not this day.

Here are two super easy (like super super easy) meals that are in my freezer and ready to be thawed and cooked for dinner any day or to give to a family in need of a meal.

Pesto Ravioli
Frozen Spinach Mozzarella Ravioli from Costco
Pesto from Costco

::optional::add cooked veggies of your choice and/or cooked chicken.

::to freeze:: place half of the bag of ravioli in Ziploc gallon freezer bag (Ziploc works much better than generic brand).  Pour 3/4 cup of pesto into a small Ziploc bag.  Place sauce bag into larger Ziploc bag with ravioli and freeze.  Thaw sauce in warm water before stirring with cooked ravioli. 

My kids prefer their veggies separate from the main dish, so I keep this meal super simple - just ravioli and sauce - and then serve with asparagus, broccoli, and/or salad or whatever veggie I have on hand.  Usually ends up being our green meal :)  Sometime we have bread with it too because I love cooking it and we love eating it :)

Another easy go-to is -

Baked Rotini
1 (16 oz) package of rotini pasta (any small pasta works - penne, ziti, bowties, etc)
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (or homemade sauce)
1/2 lb cooked ground beef (optional)
mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese

::optional::add cooked veggies of your choice - tomatoes, zucchini, spinach, etc.

Cook pasta as directed.  Toss with sauce, cooked meat and/or veggies, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 parmesan cheese.  Spread evenly in 9x13 aluminum pan.  Top with additional parm cheese and mozzarella cheese.  Cover with foil and freeze.  When ready to eat, thaw and then cook at 375 degrees for approximately 40 min.

Again, we prefer veggies separate so I keep this meal pretty simple and then serve with veggies on the side.  Cutting back on meat and cheese saves money - a little goes a long way in this dish. 

**This is a great dish to serve a lot of mouths pretty inexpensively.  Often I find pasta and sauce on sale for $1 or less each.


Knowing that my kids prefer vegetables separated from the pasta (they are not fans of casserole or anything with lots of ingredients mixed together) has really helped from wasting food.  Some may argue that I should teach them to eat it.  Maybe that's true.  But when I'm trying to save money, not wasting food is a big part of that.  If I know that there will be food left on their plate because it's all mixed together, but I can get them to eat their fruits and veggies by simply serving them separately, then I'm going to separate them.  No brainer.

Anyway...
Here are some super easy non-recipes for you :)



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Thanks for stopping by!

So...New England Clam Chowder

"What's the password?"

"New England clam chowder"

"Is that the red?  Or the white?"

(name that movie)

Last night we had clam chowder from my bulk cooking meal plan.
I cooked a huge batch to add a few meals to our freezer and a couple to give away. 
I have a friend who loves clam chowder and I promised him I'd always give him some when I make it.

I'm not huge on food photography, so sorry there's not a pretty picture of my delicious soup for you to salivate over, but believe me this chowder is amazing.  Just imagine it, make the soup, and see for yourself how yummy it is.

This is my mom's recipe and one of her go-to meals for cooking for a large group.  Almost every time I go home there's a huge pot of this on the stove ready to devour.  It is a favorite.


Mom's Clam Chowder
24 onces canned clams (I usually get minced clams)

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced celery

! cup diced carrots

4 cups diced potatoes

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon tobasco sauce (optional)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 pint half & half

1 pint milk
 

Drain juice from clams and pour over vegetables in a saucepan.  Add enough water to cover.  Simmer in a covered pan over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.  In the meantime, melt butter, add flour, blend and cook a minute or two.  Add half and half and milk.  Cook and stir until smooth and thick, using a wire whip to blend.  Add undrained vegetables and clams and heat through.  Do not boil.  Season with salt, pepper, hot sauce, and sugar to taste.  Serves 10-12.

 

I always double this recipe because it freezes well.

I freeze it in gallon Ziploc bags (2-4 meals)

I almost always substitute the half & half for additional milk 1) its cheaper 2) I always have it 3) less fat.

 

I serve this soup with bread and salad.

So yummy!

 

 

 

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Thanks for stopping by!

So...Meal Planning, Bulking Cooking, and Freezer Meals (Oh My!)

At the beginning of this year, Husband and I recommitted to and readjusted our budget to spend less and save more.  We want to be more careful with our money and plan better for our financial future - who doesn't want to do this?

groceries from last weeks bulk cooking



When our budget was super tight - not by choice, but by circumstance - I did a really good job planning and budgeting for groceries.  You've heard me talk about our $100/month grocery budget before - I still don't quite know how we did that, but I know that we did because we had to.  I found a lot of satisfaction out of being able to stay within that budget and still feed our family (back then we were three).  It was a challenge and it was kinda fun.
Even though we don't have the same need now to stay on such a strict grocery budget, we really wanted to do it again so that we could save more of that money or use it for other things (like fixing up this house!)  With a family of seven now, there's no way we could do $100/month - it's more like $150/week.

I have learned a bunch of tricks and tips on how to save money on groceries without having to spend hours coupon clipping and ad matching (which would save you even more). 

One trick is bulk cooking and freezer meals.

This helps me use my ingredients more efficiently, helps me avoid wasting food, and has my meals planned and ready to go in advance which equals $$$$ and time saved.  It is a beautiful thing.  And I really enjoy it!

To give you an idea of what I'm cooking, here is my bulking cooking list for this past weekend:

1 large lasagna

2 small lasagnas

2 large baked rotini meals

2 small enchilada casserole

2 chicken fajita meals

2 pesto ravioli meals

4 clam chowder meals

3 bbq chicken sliders meals

2 café rio pork roasts

That is 20 meals for our family, plus leftovers to eat for lunch or dinner.
I always make a few larger meals that we can use when we have family or friends over for dinner, or bring to a family that may be in need of a meal.  I love having it in my freezer ready to share.

Here's the shopping list and grocery bill:

Local Grocer $66.63
lasagna noodles, 2 boxes
spaghetti sauce, 6 jars
brown sugar
rotini pasta, 2 packages
pork sirloin roasts, 6 lbs
carrots, 2 lb
onion, 2
green bell peppers, 2
red bell peppers, 2
russet potatoes, 15 lb
clams, 8 cans
enchilada sauce, 4 cans
fajita seasoning, 2 packets
celery
tortilla chips
slider buns
bbq sauce, 3 bottles

Costco $93.20
1% milk
shredded cheddar cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese
chicken tenders, 6 lb
uncooked tortillas
cottage cheese
pesto
spinach mozzarella ravioli
ground beef, 6 lb

Total:: $159.83

P.S. This is not my entire shopping list - just the items for the freezer meals.  Sides dishes, snacks, fruits + veggie sides not including in this list.

I chose some of these meals based on items that were on sale - for example, pasta was on sale for $1 a package, pasta sauce and bbq sauce also $1 a bottle, pork roasts were on sale for $1.79/lb, brown sugar on sale for 2/$4, and peppers were also $1 a piece.  Shopping the sales help me decide what to cook that week and helps save money.

With the cost of Ziploc freezer bags (Ziploc brand is so much better than generic!), aluminum 9x13 pans (buy these at the dollar store!), and foil that I had on hand, plus tax, the total may come closer to $180.  But still!  That comes out to approximately $9 per meal - even less if you factor in the leftover meals.  All these meals for under $200 is amazing!  And having all those meals in the freezer, oven/crockpot ready is priceless!

This will feed us for well over two weeks, plus there are leftover ingredients such as ground beef, cheese, milk, and tortillas that can be used for other meals in the future.  That leaves about $120 (or more) for fresh produce, bread, and eggs that are other staples in our meals, if I'm sticking to a $300/pay period budget.  For a family of seven, that is not bad at all!

7 meals and 2 leftover meals ready to go in my freezer

 

There is so much more I could say about this topic.  I am such a fan of planning and cooking meals this way.  It makes grocery shopping and cooking so much more enjoyable and the impulse buying at the grocery store is so much easier to avoid.  Plus, I strangely enjoy seeing my freezer neatly packed with meals for my family ready to go.  Gives me a great feeling of satisfaction and  accomplishment.  And the money saved is a huge bonus as well.

I love having a plan and sticking to it.  It's a great feeling!
Hopefully I'll get some of these recipes up to share and some other tips and tricks I've learned.

What tricks do you have up your sleeve to save money on groceries?



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Thanks for stopping by!

So...more smoothies

I couldn't resist sharing this delicious and refreshing smoothie recipe:

1 c. strawberries, cut up
3/4 c. vanilla yogurt (strawberry works well too!)
1/2 c. sugar (it's still yummy with less)
1 c. milk
1 banana, sliced
1 c. orange juice
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. crushed ice
YUM!!!

I went for a long bike ride the other night with some girls and then came home to these. Perfect summer treat to go along with outdoor summer activities!

And of course, I bought in bulk, cut up, and froze strawberries for future smoothies!

So...yum!

I hope that my friend Hannah doesn't mind me sharing this delicious recipe with you...

She made and served this soup at our ward's Super Saturday Enrichment Activity (HUGE craft day) last October and it was so yummy! She was nice enough to share it in RS with anyone that wanted it. At church this past Sunday I found the recipe at the bottom of my church bag - yay! I've been craving it ever since and today I finally made it. It really is amazing. And I'm not even a tomato person! It's so creamy, flavorful, and yummy - perfect for these cold snowy days/nights. Watch out though, cause the recipe makes a TON. I'm going to see how well it freezes - I'll let you know.


Tomato Basil Soup

5 cups water

50 oz. marinara/spaghetti sauce

5 cups half 'n' half

5 cups heavy whipping cream

15 oz. can pumpkin pie filling (without spices)

6 chicken bouillon cubes

A few shakes of garlic powder

A few shakes of paprika

(optional) few cups of cooked orzo pasta


I didn't realize there was so much half 'n' half and whipping cream when I was shopping for ingredients, so I ended up substituting about half of both with milk. It worked fine and probably helped with the calories (like I'm worried about that now...).

We are having this for dinner tonight with warm, wheat Rhodes rolls....mmmm.....