Cheap, Quick and Easy Cooking for Those Without Much in the Way of Cooking Equipment, Ingredients, Time or Knowhow, and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Aldi has avocados for 49 cents each. Seedless watermelons are $1.99 each and cantaloupe are $1.49 each. Strawberries are $1.49 per pound and blueberries are $1.49 per pint (about 12 ounces).

Kroger has boneless pork loin for $1.99 per pound. Milk is $2.69 per gallon. Indiana sweet corn is ten ears for $3.00, or 30 cents an ear. Bartlett pears, Gala apples, red and black plums, black seedless grapes, and Roma tomatoes are all 99 cents a pound.

Marsh has red, white and black seedless grapes and red grapes with seeds for 99 cents a pound. Large seedless cucumbers are ten for $10.00, or $1.00 each.

IGA in Ellettsville and Bedford has several things for 88 cents each – 24 ounce cans of pasta sauce, 12 ounce bags of frozen vegetables, 20 ounce bottles of mustard, 24 ounce bottles of ketchup, 12 ounce bottles of hot sauce, 18 ounce bottles of barbecue sauce. Cabbage is 59 cents a pound. Cucumbers and green peppers are 79 cents each. Zucchini and yellow squash are 99 cents a pound.

Did you know that you can exchange food stamps for twice as many Market Bucks to use at the Farmers Market? You can get exchange up to 18 dollars of food stamps for up to 36 dollars of Market Bucks, and then you can spend the Market Bucks like cash at the Market. That’s like getting the food from the Market at half price! And speaking of the Farmers Market, here are some prices. They vary from week to week, of course, and from vendor to vendor, but cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash are about 75 cents each or three for $2.00. Peppers are about the same. Tomatoes start at about $2.49 per pound, though you may be able to find “seconds” or “ugly tomatoes” or “canning tomatoes” for less, sometimes for half price. Green beans are about $3.50 per box, or two for $6.00. These are all guesstimates, as I haven’t been there for a couple of weeks.  

Lots of sales on produce, but not protein, so I can’t build my post around a sale item. I could do the chicken leg quarters for 69 cents a pound in a ten pound bag at Walmart again. I haven’t done that for a long time. Or I could build my post around something that’s happening now. Labor Day is coming up, and picnics, or just people wanting to get in picnics while they still can. And then there’s IU students moving back into town this week and classes starting next week. I’ve already given menus and recipes for picnics, so I think I’ll go with IU students coming back. Now to figure out what there is about that to talk about. Hmmmm.

What do college students lack? Time and money. And usually anything more than just the most basic ingredients and cooking equipment. And frequently culinary knowhow. That’s it! Let’s see what I can come up with that’s cheap, quick, easy, and doesn’t require much in the way of cooking equipment or knowhow or very many ingredients. Should be a snap, right?

There are a lot of cookbooks that deal with each of these constraints. Eating on a budget. Quick and easy recipes. 15 minute (or 20 minute or 30 minute or…) recipes. Cooking for dummies and/or idiots. 4 or 5 ingredient recipes. I think I even remember a cookbook along the lines of cooking when all you have is one saucepan. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book of cheap, quick, and easy recipes for dummies and idiots who don’t have anything but the very most basic of ingredients and cooking equipment and appliances. Maybe I should write a book? Or maybe I should start with a few menus and see how far I get before I get too carried away.

I figure that to really qualify as a “meal” you need about three parts. Almost always a protein (meat, chicken, fish or eggs), and two of the following three – salad, vegetable, or fruit. Sometimes you can get by with two or three of them in the same dish – a casserole, for example, that has protein and vegetables in it, or a big salad with protein. And sometimes you can get by with just a protein and vegetable or salad, if the portions are big enough. But I usually aim for three parts to the meal. So I’m going to give some ideas for all three, give you the costs of the different meal parts (using this week’s prices, so the costs may not be valid any other time) and then some ideas for how to put them together into meals.

Pork loin is on sale this week. It’s not a great price, but because there is practically no waste on it you can start with a smaller piece than you would with, for example, bone-in and skin-on chicken legs, which is the other protein I’m going to talk about. The pork loin (a lean, boneless strip of meat from the back) is $1.99 a pound at Kroger this week, and I figure that one serving is about 6 ounces. That’s about 75 cents per serving. The chicken leg quarters are 69 cents a pound for a ten pound bag, or $6.90 a pound, at Walmart. I figure that a leg quarter, or at least the drumstick and thigh together, is one serving, for about 69 cents. That’s the usual price there, and I rely on chicken legs a lot. Higher price per pound for the pork, but the price per serving is almost the same.

 At $6.90 cents for a ten pound bag of chicken leg quarters, they’re a great deal. There are usually about 10 leg quarters per bag. A leg quarter is a thigh, a drumstick, and a piece of the back where the thigh and the back intersect. You can cut the leg quarters into the three pieces, but I’m going to assume you don’t have the interest and/or energy and/or time and/or knowhow to do that. No problem. I figure that a whole chicken leg quarter is one serving. I’ve found that if I take the meat off of the bones and measure it, it comes out to about one cup of meat.

Chicken legs are very easy, versatile, and forgiving. Because there is more fat in the legs, they aren’t as likely to turn out dry as chicken breasts are. I’ll start with some very easy, two ingredient recipes.

1.    BASIC ROASTED CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS. Just salt and pepper them, put them in a single layer in something that can go in the oven and that has sides at least an inch high (there will be some juices, and you don’t want them to spill in the oven or on the floor or on you), and bake them at 375 for about 45 minutes.

2.    BARBECUED CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS. That’s oven barbecued, not grilled. As in pour some commercial barbecue sauce over them after you’ve put them in that baking dish with sides, then bake them at 375 for about 45 minutes.

3.    TERIYAKI CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS. Same as barbecued, but with commercial teriyaki sauce instead of barbecue sauce. You could put the teriyaki sauce in a plastic bag, add the chicken, and smush it around so the chicken has sauce all over it, or you can just put the chicken in the pan and pour the sauce on the top.

4.    ITALIAN CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS. Use Italian dressing (the kind that’s based on oil and vinegar and is sort of clear, not the kind that’s thick like ranch or blue cheese or that orange French dressing) instead of the barbecue or teriyaki sauce. Again, you could do the plastic bag thing to get the dressing all over the chicken or you can just pour it on top.

5.    CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS MARINARA. At its simplest, it’s just chicken baked with pasta sauce instead of barbecue or teriyaki sauce or salad dressing. You can sprinkle it with some parmesan cheese if you want to, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.

So there are five quick and easy ways to fix chicken leg quarters, and you only need one ingredient in addition to the chicken. (I’m not counting salt and pepper as ingredients. I figure that everyone has those. Don’t they?) Actually, it’s more than just four, because there are so many different kinds of barbecue sauce and teriyaki sauce, or you can use a commercial marinade or sauce. There’s lots of scope there.

Assuming that you really don’t know what you’re doing, figure that it will take you about 10 to 15 minutes to prepare the chicken and get it in the oven, and then about 45 minutes for it to cook, while you don’t have to do anything. Be sure to turn on a timer, though, so you don’t forget to take it out. I’ve done that with more things than you can imagine, and it is really annoying for everyone who’s planning to eat whatever it is I just burned.

All of these recipes meet the quick-and-easy-recipes-for-dummies-and-idiots-who-don’t- have-much-cooking-equipment-or-many-ingredients test. But what about the cheap part? Well, a chicken leg quarter (a thigh and a drumstick plus a little bit more) will run you about 69 cents. A jar of barbecue sauce or teriyaki sauce or Italian dressing or pasta sauce will run you 88 cents this week at IGA and is enough for all ten of the leg quarters. (I’d suggest getting two or three different kinds, though, unless you’re feeding more than just yourself. They’ll keep in the fridge and you’ll be glad of the variety.) So that’s 78 cents for a leg quarter plus sauce, but let’s call it 80 cents. I like round numbers. They’re easier to work with and think about.

And now for what to do with a pork loin. It should run about 4 or 5 pounds and you’ll probably want to have the butcher cut it up for you. I’d suggest that you get half of it cut into pork chops and the leave the other half as a pork roast. Ask to have the pork chops cut about ½” thick. That way, one pork chop should be a serving.

The pork roast can be cooked pretty much the same way the basic chicken legs are cooked. Just rub salt and pepper all over it, put it in a baking dish with sides about one to two inches high, and bake it in a preheated oven at 350 for about an hour. Let it “rest” for about 10 minutes after you take it out of the oven. That means that you drape some foil over it and let it sit before cutting it so the juices get reabsorbed. It makes for a juicier roast. You can put some peeled carrots and onions around it while it roasts, and that takes care of your side dishes. Some potatoes, too, if you eat potatoes. Just don’t crowd the veggies.

As for the pork chops, you’ll want a heavy skillet. Turn the heat on under the skillet and let it get hot while you salt and pepper the chops, then put them in the skillet in a single layer. Let them cook for about 5 minutes, or until they’re nice and brown on the bottom, then turn them over and brown the other side. Turn the heat down to low and add about a fourth of a cup of water (you can use part orange juice if you want to), cover and cook them for about 30 minutes. The first time you cook pork chops you might want to check them after about 15 minutes and make sure there’s still some liquid in the pan. Now you have two choices. You can take the lid off and turn the heat up and boil off the liquid in the pan, which will make a nice finish on the chops, or you can take the chops out of the pan and cover them to keep them warm while you make gravy out of the drippings. To make gravy, put a tablespoon of flour in a small jar with a tight lid and add a cup of water. Shake it up really well so there are no lumps, then add it to the skillet. Stir it constantly as it thickens, and when it gets as thick as you like it, pour it into a bowl and serve it with the chops. An easier but more expensive way to make the gravy is to use condensed cream of mushroom soup. Carefully pour the juices from the skillet into a measuring cup and add enough water to make one cup. Pour it back into the skillet and add a can of mushroom soup. Stir it well so it doesn’t get lumpy and heat it until it just starts to simmer. Remove it from the pan and serve it as gravy.

If you’re trying to control your costs, you need to be aware of how big a serving is. A six ounce serving of pork will cost about 75 cents this week if you buy the pork loin at Kroger. That’s six ounces raw, not cooked. Weigh your roast and figure out how many servings you need to get from it, and then cut it into that many pieces. You should get five or six servings from a two pound roast, for example. The pork chops will probably be about 6 ounces each if you have them cut 1/2" thick, but weigh a couple of them to make sure. You may need to adjust the cost if they’re more or less than six ounces. There really isn’t any other cost to the pork, so just figure 75 cents per serving.

I had planned to talk about side dishes, but this is getting awfully long already, so I’ll do that another time. Just a few quick comments here.

First, plain lettuce makes a good salad. It’s usually 99 cents a head at Aldi and you should be able to get four to eight servings of lettuce from a head, depending on how big they are. (They vary a lot, so try to get big, heavy heads.) That’s about 15 to 25 cents per serving. Aldi has salad dressings for $1.29 for 16 ounces, and there are two tablespoons per ounce. A 16 ounce bottle of salad dressing is 16 servings of two tablespoons each, which is a reasonable size. That’s about 8 cents per serving. A simple salad of lettuce and dressing will run about 20 to 35 cents.

Roma tomatoes are 99 cents a pound at Kroger this week. There are usually four to five Roma tomatoes to a pound. Let’s say four of them, which means they cost 25 cents each. Tomato adds a lot to a salad. Figure on one Roma tomato, sliced or chopped, for two to three people.

Corn on the cob is ten ears for $3.00 this week at Kroger, or 30 cents an ear. If you have a microwave, pull off the silk that sticks out from the husks but leave the husks on. Set the ears of corn on a plate or a paper towel and nuke on high for about 4 to 6 minutes for two ears. Cook them one or two at a time. If you’re cooking very many, you might want to boil them instead of nuking them, but that takes a pretty big pot. Put enough water in the pot to cover the ears and bring it to a boil. Don’t add the corn until the water is boiling. Add about a tablespoon each of salt and sugar to the water and be sure it dissolves, then add the corn. Cook it for about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove it carefully, using tongs if you have them. Actually, if you don’t have tongs, you probably shouldn’t boil the corn because you won’t be able to get it out of the pan. You could get to the corn by pouring out the water, but you’re likely to (or I would be likely to) scald yourself with the steam and/or pour out the corn, too. I guess pouring the corn out too wouldn’t be too bad, as long as your sink is clean and you don’t splash yourself with the boiling water.

And finally, since I said I wasn’t going to talk about side dishes today, don’t forget fresh fruit. Whole seedless watermelons are $1.99 each at Aldi and cantaloupe are $1.49 each. You should be able to get a minimum eight servings from a watermelon and six servings from a cantaloupe, either of which would be 25 cents per serving. You may be able to get a lot more than that, depending on how big the melons are. You know how to fix watermelon, I’m sure. To fix cantaloupe, start by cutting it in half, then scoop out the seeds from the half you’re going to eat first. Cut that half into serving pieces. Cover the rest with plastic wrap. Frozen green grapes are a special treat. I don’t know why it’s just green grapes, but that’s what I’ve heard about. Just wash them and lay them out in a single layer on a plate or cookie sheet, preferably without touching. Freeze them for at least an hour and serve frozen.

So there you have it. You now know how to make Plain Roasted Chicken, Barbecue Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken, Italian Chicken, Chicken Marinara, Pork Roast, and Pork Chops. And know how to make a simple salad and corn on the cob, and how to fix watermelon and cantaloupe and frozen grapes. You can put together any number of three part suppers for under $1.50 per person by combining different meat dishes with salad and corn, or salad and watermelon, or corn and grapes, or whatever. You’re well on your way to becoming a chef!

Bon Appetit!

Mary Anne

PS – Wondering where the cheapest place to get groceries is? For general non-sale prices, I find that Aldi is usually cheapest. They’re across from Sam’s, just past the Steak ‘n’ Shake. Turn at the stoplight between Sam’s and Walmart. They don’t have a lot of variety – usually no more than one brand or size, and mostly just the basics. I do most of my shopping there. Walmart is usually next cheapest, and is usually cheapest for anything that Aldi doesn’t carry. For meat, I usually wait until Kroger or Marsh has it on sale. They sometimes have really good prices on fruit, too.

Check out the weekly specials online, and be sure to check the dates. Aldi’s sales run Wednesday through Tuesday, and Marsh and Kroger run Thursday through Wednesday. IGA (Bedford and Ellettsville) sales run Monday through Sunday.

Aldi – aldi.com – the sales are posted shortly after midnight Wednesday morning.

Kroger – kroger.com – the sales are posted early Thursday morning.

Marsh – marsh.net – previews are posted about 8 Wednesday morning for the following week, starting Thursday. I’ve gotten burned by this when I wasn’t paying attention to what was the current week’s ad and what was the preview.

MyIGA.com – ads are posted Monday, but not sure when.

Chicken Breasts and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Before I get to the sales at the stores, a quick reminder for those of you who use food stamps. Don't forget that you can exchange up to $18.00 of food stamps each week for up to $36 of Market Bucks to use for fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. at the Farmers Market. You're getting the Market goods at half price. A wonderful deal!

Aldi has lots of fresh fruit on sale again this week. Strawberries are $1.49 a pound and blueberries are 99 cents a pint. Mangos are 39 cents each and seedless watermelons are $2.99 each. Cherries are new this week at $1.99 per pound. Five-pound chubs of regular (73% lean) hamburger are $10.99, or $2.20 per pound. Feta crumbles are $1.99 for 4 ounces. Kalamata olives are $2.79 for 6 ounces. “New low prices” include canola oil for $2.49 for 48 ounces, vegetable oil for $2.29 and corn oil for $2.59, both also 48 ounces. Steak sauce is 95 cents for 10 ounces. Heavy whipping cream is $1.79 per pint. Nonfat yogurt is $1.69 for 32 ounces, or one quart. Canned salmon is $2.39 for 14.75 ounces. Salad dressings are $1.29 for 16 ounces. Ketchup is $1.29 for 38 ounces. Prices are good through Tuesday, July 8.

Marsh has Oscar Meyer franks at buy one get one free, but don’t know how much that first one costs. Seedless watermelons (average 10 – 12 pounds) are $2.98 each. Prices are good through Wednesday, July 9.

IGA has boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders for $1.69 a pound, which is the lowest I can remember seeing in a long time. Corn on the cob is 5 ears for $1.00. BBQ sauces are 99 cents for 18 ounces. Frozen veggies are 10 for $10.00 or $1.00 each, for 12 – 16 ounce bags. That’s a good price for 16 ounce and ok for 12 ounce. Kraft cheeses are $5.00 for 3 packs, or $1.67 each, which is good for the 8 ounce packs and not so good for the 5 ounce packs. Tomatoes on the vine are $1.47 per pound. Prices are good through Sunday, July 6.

Kroger has 8 packs of hamburger and hotdog buns for $1.00. Cheeses are $2.99 for 12 to 16 ounces, which is good at 16 ounces and ok at 12 ounces. Sour cream and dip are $1.00 pint (16 ounces). Ice cream is $1.98 for 48 ounces (a quart and a half) but that may just be through Sunday. The ad wasn’t clear about that. Regular (73% lean) ground beef in packages of three or more pounds is $1.99 per pound. Again, that may be just through Sunday. Eckrich hot dogs are 89 cents a pound. Ground turkey is $2.50 a pound. Oscar Meyer franks are $1.50 per pound. Green beans are 99 cents a pound. Cherries are $1.88 per pound. Red, orange or yellow bell peppers are 99 cents a pound. I’m guessing that’s somewhere around 50 cents each, but it depends of course on the size. Prices are good through Wednesday, July 9.

Rats! Kroger did it again. I try to get as much as possible done on Wednesday (especially when the Hub is closed on Friday), but that means that I have to select my meat before seeing the Kroger ad. I probably would have gone with their ground beef for $1.99 a pound if I’d known they had it for sale. Oh well. I just talked about ground beef a couple of weeks ago, and anyway, you can still get it at that price and have it for hamburgers on the Fourth. Buy some extra at that price, too, if you possibly can, so you can eat it later in the month and get some variety then. Ground beef recipes are under the Meat heading of the Other Recipes page.

So, since I didn’t know about the ground beef, it’s chicken breasts this week. Which is fine since I found a whole bunch of new chicken recipes recently. Don’t forget the links to chicken recipes on the special Fourth of July post, too, and the complete list of chicken recipes under Other Recipes.

Speaking of the special Fourth of July post, be sure to check it out if you haven’t already done so. It’s got links to all of the picnic-type food that’s been posted on the new blog so far.

A bánh mi is a traditional Vietnamese sandwich which includes meats and vegetables. (Here’s a site with a bit of info about the bánh mi.) Since I’m not doing bread, I’ve changed it to a GRILLED CHICKEN BANH MI SALAD by serving it on a bed of lettuce instead of between two slices of bread. I’m using grilled chicken breast, since chicken breast is the featured meat this week, but other meats can be used instead. And if you don’t have a grill, go ahead and season the chicken and then cook it in a skillet instead. It comes to right about $6.00 for four big servings of salad, though I had to estimate on some of the ingredients. I tried to err on the side of higher costs. Unfortunately, this doesn’t leave room in the budget for anything else. If you can squeeze it in, some fresh fruit would go well with this. A two cup serving of watermelon would run about 20 cents. Or serve WATERMELON ICE POPS for dessert for less than 10 cents per serving.

A traditional ingredient in bánh mi is do chua, or pickled daikon radish and carrots. I haven’t included it in this recipe because the recipe I’m copying from doesn’t use it. Here’s a link for a recipe for do chua  in case you want to try it for yourself. Daikon is available at the farmers market, though I’m not sure if this is the right season for it.

Summer, tomatoes, basil and grilled chicken all seem to go together, don’t they? BASIL AND TOMATO STUFFED CHICKEN is another take on that combination. This makes four servings at a cost of about $4.70. Add some GARLIC CORN ON THE COB and MINT WATERMELON SALAD for a summery dinner at a tad under $6.00.

Seems like there have been a lot of recipes lately that call for cooking on a grill, and not everyone has one or knows how to use it. So this final recipe is cooked on the stove top instead. CHICKEN LAZONE has a rich buttery cream sauce that would be good over rice or noodles or something starchy like that. Instead, buy a big zucchini at the Farmers Market and grate it coarsely. You want pretty big pieces – bigger than grains of cooked rice – but not too big. Maybe about the size of a piece of macaroni cut in half lengthwise? Put the grated zucchini in a bowl, cover it, and nuke it for a couple of minutes. It should still have some bite to it. Serve that alongside the chicken to sop up the sauce and, if there isn’t enough sauce, add some butter. Add some color to the plate with some sliced tomatoes.

The CHICKEN LAZONE will cost about $3.40. You should be able to get an overgrown zucchini at the Farmers Market for $1.00. A pound of tomatoes on the vine is $1.49, which brings the total to $5.90. By the way, when I say an overgrown zucchini, I mean it. Not baseball bat size, but bigger than normal. They aren’t much good for slicing that way because the seeds are too big, but grated or julienned (cut into matchsticks) they’re fine. And the farmers are usually glad to get rid of them and price them cheap.

50 Cent Budget Breakfasts

This week’s STRAWBERRY & BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE DELUXE uses plain milk instead of yogurt. You could use yogurt if you wanted to but you might need to add a bit more sugar. For a special summer treat pour the smoothie into popsicle molds (or small paper cups), stick in popsicle sticks, and freeze until firm, at least 6 hours. Send the kids outside to eat them! This makes two smoothies of not quite 2 cups each, for a total cost of $1.00, or 50 cents each.

Enjoy!

Mary Anne

Fireworks and Barbecues and a Special Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

The Fourth of July is Friday, and lots of us will be barbecuing and grilling and picnicking. I thought I'd pull together some recipes you might want to consider for the festivities. I don't know what's going to be on sale, so I'll just give you a bunch of ideas but no prices or costs.

Chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs are the most common meats to cook on the grill, especially for those of us on a budget. You're on your own when it comes to cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, and I've given several recipes for grilled chicken. Here's a list of them:

GRILLED CHICKEN
Basic Grilled or Roasted Chicken Breast
Better BBQ Chicken Sauce
Cornell Chicken Barbecue Sauce (aka State Fair Chicken)
Fused Grilled Chicken
Greek or Italian Grilled Chicken

Looking for vegetarian options? We've got those, too! Do you know the story of how Mother Hubbard's Cupboard got started? It was started by two mothers, one of whom was a vegetarian who had been given tuna and pork rinds at a food pantry, and thought that there had to be a better way. While the Hub is far from a vegetarian-only pantry, vegetarianism is still supported both for those who have chosen for whatever reason not to eat meat and also as a low-cost alternative for those who do eat meat. Here are some main dish alternatives that do not include meat. They're mostly make-ahead, unfortunately, but still very good picnic fare. And you can always cook veggie burgers and similar things on the grill.

VEGETARIAN MAIN DISH PICNIC FOOD
Black Bean Burgers
Eggplant Tempura (included because the picture with the recipe has Kayte cooking outside!)
Empanadas with Greens and Olives
Provencal Tart with Gruyere and Herbs
Russian Vegetable Pie
Savory Bread Pudding with Vegetables and Cheese
Quiche (the only recipes we have up so far have meat, but you can use more veggies instead of meat)

Baked beans, potato salad and macaroni salad are the usual side dishes at a picnic, and I assume you have your own recipes for those. Here are some alternatives.

PICNIC SIDE DISHES
Baked Beans
Grilled Corn on the Cob
Grilled Onions
Kittencal's Best Deviled Eggs
Mango Salsa
Salads -
  Beet Salad with Goat Cheese
  Coleslaw
  Coleslaw for Company
  Kale Salad
  Kim Chi - Korean Sauerkraut
  Laurel's Coleslaw
  Panzanella Bread Salad
  Russian Korean Carrot Salad
  Spicy Mexican Coleslaw
  Tomato and Cucumber Salad
  Tomato, Cucumber and Pepper Salad

By the way, have you tried a salad picnic? You can get everything done ahead of time and not have to worry about cooking at the last minute. And it's great for a potluck gathering and a great way to accommodate all the different food plans people are on - low fat, low carb, vegetarian, diabetic, low sodium, etc.

And then there's dessert. S'mores, of course. And you can take cookies and cake and fresh fruit. Watermelon for sure. Or try some COFFEE CAN ICE CREAM or GRILLED FRUIT.

Fortunately it's almost supper time, 'cuz I'm getting hungry from all this talk of food!

Have a wonderful Fourth of July, everyone. Be safe. And don't forget what it's all about. Thanks to all those who've gone before us to establish, maintain and defend this great country of ours.

Mary Anne

Chicken Legs, Fruit Salad, and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

IGA has peaches for 99 cents a pound. Corn on the cob is six ears for $2.00, or 33 cents an ear. Vidalia onions are 79 cents a pound, or a three pound bag for $2.29, which is 76 cents a pound. Prices are good through Sunday, June 22.

Aldi has lots of fruit on sale. Mangos are 39 cents each again. Peaches, plums, nectarines and grapes are all $1.98 for a two pound package, or 99 cents a pound. Honeydew melons are 99 cents each. Pineapples are $1.49 each and cantaloupes are $1.89 each. Prices are good through next Tuesday, June 24.

Kroger has boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs for $1.99 a pound. Four half gallons of milk are $5.00, or $1.25 each, or $2.50 per gallon. Cream cheese is $1.00 for 8 ounces. Eggs are two dozen for $3.00, or $1.50 per dozen. Prices are good through next Wednesday, June 25.

It’s back to chicken again. I hope you’re stocking up as much as you can on other meats when they’re on sale! It’s hard to do on a tight budget, but it can make a big difference and provide variety in the future.

CHICKEN IN LIME calls for two limes, but they can run anywhere from 50 cents to a dollar each! (They’re 79 cents each this week at Kroger.) Nice if you can afford them, but bottled lime juice will do instead. Figure on about 2 tablespoons of juice per lime. To get the most juice out of your lime, you can nuke it for about 25 seconds (let it cool before juicing it), roll it hard under your palm on the counter, and/or use a juicer or a reamer. Or, if you don’t have a juicer or reamer, nuke it and/or roll it and then cut it and squeeze it to get out as much juice as possible, then scrape it with a spoon to get out every last drop. And don’t forget to grate off the zest before you juice it. The grated zest freezes beautifully. A batch of CHICKEN IN LIME costs about $3.50. Serve it with ZUCCHINI AND CARROTS and give everyone a couple of fresh plums for dessert for a $6.00 meal.

GALLETTO MARINARA is basically just chicken in spaghetti sauce. You can use canned or jarred sauce. Just pick a basic tomato sauce, not a meat sauce or a cheese sauce. You can often find a 24 ounce can of Hunt’s for $1.00, and that’s what I’m assuming you’re using. You could fancy it up a bit if you wanted to by sautéing some onions and garlic in a bit of oil, then adding the can of sauce and some extra basil and oregano and cooking it for five minutes or so, but you don’t need to. Using Hunt’s sauce, this will cost about $4.25. Serve with a simple salad of half a head of lettuce and an oil and vinegar dressing for another dollar and finish it off with half a cantaloupe for a total of just about exactly $6.00.

And finally, a fusion of cultures – chicken marinated in a mixture of Italian dressing and teriyaki sauce, then grilled. FUSED GRILLED CHICKEN will cost about $3.40, or less if you make your own Italian dressing and/or teriyaki sauce. Slice a big zucchini (a pound or more) and throw it on the grill, too, and for dessert serve each person a cup of HOMEMADE YOGURT topped with about half a cup of chopped peaches. Total cost – almost exactly $6.00.

Of course, the best thing to do with this week’s sales is to make a huge fruit salad. Three-fourths of a pound of peaches, three-fourths of a pound of plums, and half a honeydew melon, all cut into bite-size pieces and mixed together, makes over six cups of salad, or over a cup and a half per person. Put a cup of cottage cheese in each of six big bowls, divide the fruit salad evenly among the bowls and sprinkle each bowl with a fourth of a cup of sliced almonds, and you’ve got a light, delicious supper that’s perfect for a hot summer evening. It comes to just over $6.00, but if you short each serving by a tablespoon of cottage cheese you’ll get the cost down below $6.00. HOMEMADE YOGURT instead of cottage cheese will bring the cost down by about $2.50, to just $3.50 or about 90 cents per person. 

50 Cent Breakfasts

A honeydew melon for 99 cents is a bargain, assuming it’s of reasonable size. A large honeydew contains about eight cups of melon balls; a small one about 6 cups. That’s about 12.5 cents a cup from a large melon or about 17 cents a cup from a small one. At either price, it fits right into a budget breakfast. A HONEYDEW SMOOTHIE, for example, only costs about 45 cents for two servings of not quite two cups each, or about 22-1/2 cents per serving. Using HOMEMADE YOGURT is key to keeping the price down. Commercial yogurt will add another 35 cents or more, or about 20 cents per serving.

If you’ve planned far enough in advance, you can make a FROZEN HONEYDEW SMOOTHIE. Prepare the melon chunks and put them in a single layer, not touching, on a cookie sheet. Freeze, then transfer the frozen chunks to a plastic bag and keep in freezer until you want to make the smoothies. If you’ve got room in the freezer, prepare and freeze a bunch of cantaloupe and honeydew chunks to use in smoothies later, when they’re not on sale. Two servings of between a cup and half and two cups will cost about 70 cents, or about 35 cents each.

Chicken Thighs, and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

It’s getting harder and harder to come up with complete suppers for $1.50 per person. I’m still shooting for that, and I’m still going to focus on supper, but I’m going to include either one breakfast or one lunch meal each week, too. I call it supper, because that’s what we called the evening meal when I was growing up and that’s what I still call it today. “Dinner” to me is a special meal that can be served either at noon or at night, like Thanksgiving Dinner or Christmas Dinner or sometimes a special dinner when there’s company. But for just the family, it’s supper.

The average food stamp benefit in Indiana in 2014, after the 5.5% cut the end of 2013, is about $4.15 per person per day, or $125.00 for the month. “They” usually put that in terms of just under $1.40 per meal, but that seems silly to me. The way most of us eat in America, the meals just don’t cost the same. Instead, I figure $1.50 for supper, $1.25 for lunch, and $1.00 for breakfast. That comes to $112.50 for the month. The extra $12.50 is to cover the cost of things that you have to buy more of than you need that month, like the whole jar of mayo when you only need part of a jar.

I’m going to shoot for no more than 50 cents per person for breakfast and no more than $1.00 per person for lunch, which would leave some extra for supper when there just isn’t anything on sale. Or for a snack some days, if you’re so inclined. At least to start with, I’m going to stick with not including breads and other starches, like I do for supper. That means I won’t say to just eat a bowl of oatmeal, or a peanut butter sandwich. You already know that you can eat cheap meals that way. My breakfasts and lunches will be eggs, meat, cheese, veggies, and sometimes other dairy and/or fruit.

But, since I do still rely on the sales – such as they are! – for my recipes and menus, here they are.

First of all, don’t forget the Farmers Market, especially if you have Food Stamps! You can double your Food Stamps by converting up to $18 a week of them into Market Bucks. You get two Market Bucks for each Food Stamp dollar, up to a total of Market Bucks per week. Then you can use the Market Bucks to shop anywhere at either the main Saturday market or the Tuesday market. Food at the Farmers Market isn’t cheap when compared with grocery store food, but it is healthier, supports the local producers and is better for the environment. And the Market Bucks makes the Farmers Market prices competitive with the conventionally produced, less fresh and frequently shipped thousands of miles food you buy at the grocery stores.

Aldi has mangos for 39 cents each, multi-colored peppers for 50 cents each in the three packs ($1.49 per pack), Tomatoes on the Vine for 99 cents for 24 ounces, or about 65 cents a pound, and blueberries for $1.49 per pint. These prices are good through Tuesday, June 10.

Marsh has chicken drumsticks or thighs for 87 cents a pound in the family packs. There’s more meat on a thigh (less waste) but there’s something extra satisfying about gnawing on a drumstick. I guess the kid in me still hasn’t grown up. Sour cream is $1.39 a pint after a 50 cent ecoupon. Prices are good through Wednesday, June 11.

Kroger has Roma tomatoes for 99 cents a pound, limes for 79 cents each, and two bunches of cilantro for 99 cents. Eggplant and English cucumbers (the long skinny “seedless” kind) are 99 cents each. Prices are good through Wednesday, June 11.

IGA has whole boneless pork loin for $1.99 per pound, and they’ll cut and package it for free. There’s a limit of two “with additional purchase” but it doesn’t say how much that additional purchase has to be. The special on pork is only good through Saturday, June 7. They also have salad dressings four for $5.00, or $1.25. This price is good through Sunday, June 8.

This week’s supper recipes and menus will feature the chicken thighs for 87 cents a pound from Marsh. Two average thighs, including bone and skin, run about three-quarters of a pound, or twelve ounces, according to something I read online, which would be three pounds for a family of four. They vary considerably in size, though. I’m going to figure on about a pound of raw chicken thighs, with bone and skin, per person. That should be between two and three thighs and something over a cup of boneless skinless cooked chicken. However, I’m also going to give myself some leeway because I’ll be figuring the costs based on four pounds of chicken instead of three.

The first recipe, GARLIC LIME CHICKEN, combines garlic, lime juice and herbs to make a tangy marinade. Chances are you have everything but the lime juice and the coriander (and the chicken, of course) on hand. Get the lime juice in the bottle, like ReaLemon, only lime. There should be a store brand that’s cheaper the ReaLemon brand. Either one will be cheaper than fresh lime juice, which would of course be best. Kroger has fresh limes on sale this week for 75 cents each, and there’s about two tablespoons of juice in a medium lime. That means that it would take about four limes, or $3.00, to get the half cup of juice that the recipe calls for. (That’s according to howmuchisin.com/produce_converters, by the way, a site I use a lot. It usually doesn’t make a lot of difference how many cups or tablespoons or ounces in a piece of produce, but sometimes it does, like here where we’re relying on the lime juice for a big part of the flavor. Or when I’m trying to figure out how many cups of cabbage I’ll get from “half a medium head of cabbage” – which is four cups of shredded cabbage, or eight cups from a medium head which is two pounds. In case you’re wondering.)

The chicken is going to cost about $4.80, which only leaves $1.20 for the rest of the meal. A can of green beans is 49 cents at Aldi, and half a head of lettuce is 55 cents, also at Aldi, the last time I checked. Two tablespoons of salad dressing per person, or half a cup total, is 35 cents at Aldi. That comes to a total of about $6.20, which is just a bit more than my goal of $1.50 per person, or $6.00 for a family of four. But then the chicken thighs will probably run a bit less than eight ounces each, so there should be a small savings there. It should come in at right about $6.00.

Mark Bittman is perhaps best known for his How to Cook Everything: 2000 Simple Recipes for Good Food. It’s a huge book – 1056 pages, and the shipping weight, according to Amazon, is 4.6 pounds! The next recipe, DEVILED CHICKEN OR PORK CHOPS, comes from a smaller cookbook, his The Best Recipes in the World, which is only 768 pages, with a shipping weight of only 3.9 pounds. The original recipe calls for EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), but pure olive oil is cheaper and I can’t tell the difference. If you have EVOO and you want to use it, I’m sure Mark Bittman (and Rachael Ray) would approve.

The olive oil and mustard will run about 50 cents, and the chicken will run between $2.60 and $3.50. Let’s say $3.00 for the chicken, bringing the total cost of the dish to $3.50. How about an ear of corn each ($1.34 at IGA through Sunday, or $1.49 at Aldi through Tuesday), to go with it, and MANGO SALSA, which, with mangos and cilantro on sale, should be about $1.00. Total cost for the meal – right at $6.00, or $1.50 per person.

Have you ever read those articles in women’s magazines about dishes you can whip up from things you always have in your pantry, fridge and freezer? I don’t know whose pantry, fridge and freezer they’ve been looking in, but it seems like there are a lot things that “everyone” has that I don’t have, and sometimes never have had. Anyway, The $21 Challenge is a lot like those articles. The idea behind the book and the website http://www.simplesavings.com.au/21dollarchallenge is that most of us have enough bits and pieces in our pantries, fridges and freezers to feed our families for a week with just $21 and some creativity. They give several recipes using those things that “we all” have on hand, including this recipe for FRENCH ONION CHICKEN. The original recipe calls for a packet of Onion Soup mix, and you can use a packet if you have one. Or you can make your own for a fraction of the cost of the commercial mix. Don’t forget that you can buy most herbs and spices a lot more cheaply by buying tiny dabs of them from Bloomingfoods than by buying the cans or jars at the grocery stores.

Using four pounds of chicken thighs (don’t forget to save the skin to make CHICKEN CHIPS) and homemade Onion Soup Mix, a batch of this will cost about $4.75. Serve it with COLESLAW for another 20 cents per person, or 80 cents. And you’ve got the tomatoes and onion that the chicken cooked in that you can serve as a hot vegetable. You might want to add another can of tomatoes to the sauce and cook it just long enough to heat it through. You may need it, and then again you may not. If you do, it will cost another 59 cents (at Aldi) and bring the total to about $6.15, or to right about $6.00 if your chicken thighs are bit less than 8 ounces each.

Budget Breakfast – Breakfast for 50 Cents per Person

And now for the inexpensive breakfast. I’ll keep it really simple since this is the first week. Three eggs scrambled in 2 teaspoons of butter comes to within fractions of a penny of 50 cents and is a filling and nutritious breakfast. Eggs are supposed to be cheaper during the summer, but it sure hasn’t happened this year. They were 79 cents a dozen at Aldi around Easter (admittedly, they were on sale then) and they’re $1.69 a dozen now. Almost double. They’re still a good source of protein and lots of other nutrients, though, and they’re very flexible. I go through a lot of them.

Chicken Salad, and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Chicken Salad with Grapes and Walnuts

Not much in the way of good specials this week. I’m starting to sound like a broken record that way, aren’t I? Don’t blame me; blame the stores. Or the drought. Take your pick. Anyway, here’s what I found.

Kroger has milk on sale, four half-gallons for $5.00, or $1.25 each, or $2.50 per gallon. Chicken of the Sea Chunk Light Tuna is two cans for $1.00, or 50 cents a can. Cheese is $2.99 for twelve to sixteen ounce packages, which at $2.99 a pound is a good price for the 16-ounce packages, and okay at $2.99 for 12 ounces, or $4.00 a pound. Chicken drumsticks and thighs are 99 cents a pound, which is more than the leg quarters at Walmart, but a good price if you specifically want only drumsticks or only thighs. You’ll end up with more meat per pound with the thighs than you do with the leg quarters, so the price per pound of cooked meat may not be all that much different. Green beans and red potatoes are both 99 cents a pound. Do you know whether they are available at the Farmers Market yet? Don’t forget you pay half price at the Farmers Market if you have food stamps. Red seedless grapes are 97 cents a pound. Seedless cucumbers are 99 cents each. Prices are good through Wednesday, June 4.

Marsh has boneless skinless chicken breasts in the family packs for $1.99 a pound. 12-ounce bags of Iceberg Garden Salad are 68 cents each, but you have to buy at least $30.00 of other stuff to get it at this price, and you’re limited to two. Some barbecue sauces are 49 cents for 18 ounces, after $1.00 off if you buy five of various things. Prices are good through next Wednesday, June 4.

IGA has corn on the cob three ears for $1.00, or 33 cents each. This price is good through next Sunday, June 1.

Aldi has pineapples for 89 cents each again, and cantaloupe and one-pound boxes of strawberries for $1.49 each. Mangos are 49 cents each. Kiwis are 69 cents for a 3-pack, or 23 cents each. Organic baby carrots are $1.29 per pound and organic grape tomatoes are $1.49 for a ten ounce box. These are both pretty good prices for conventional-raised produce. Boneless skinless chicken thighs are $1.49 per pound. Nonfat plain or vanilla yogurt is $1.79 a quart and assorted varieties of 6-ounce cartons of nonfat yogurt are 39 cents each. Pollack (a basic white fish) fillets are $4.49 for two pounds, or $2.25 per pound. Prices are good through Tuesday, June 3.

The weather this past week has made me really ready for summer! And that means, among other things, lots of salads. It’s just too hot during the summer to do much cooking. And no, it’s not that hot yet, but I still feel like salads. So that’s what I’m going to be talking about today. Main dish chicken salads. I scanned the ads before I started working on the recipes, but I missed the boneless skinless chicken thighs at Aldi for $1.49 a pound, and instead used the boneless skinless chicken breasts at Marsh for $1.99 a pound. You can use the thighs instead of the chicken breasts. It won’t hurt anything.

Chicken salads start out with cooked chicken, usually chicken breasts. You can cook up a bunch ahead of time so you don’t have to cook it when you make the salad, like in BASIC GRILLED OR ROASTED CHICKEN BREASTS. After all, the idea is to avoid cooking when it’s hot, and cooking the chicken at the last minute sort of defeats the purpose. Or, if you don’t have any pre-cooked, you can make some POACHED CHICKEN FOR SALADS. Of course, you can use other cooked chicken, too. Like ROASTED CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS or STEWED CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS or GRILLED CHICKEN. Or leftovers from cooking a whole chicken, either roasted or THE BEST WHOLE CHICKEN IN A CROCK POT. Or whatever other cooked chicken you have on hand, including canned chicken, though it tends to be pretty expensive, especially compared to chicken you cooked yourself.

However you choose to cook it, you can figure on two cups of cooked chicken from a pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs, one cup of cooked chicken from a pound of whole or split chicken breasts with skin and bones, one cup of cooked chicken from a pound of chicken leg quarters, and about a cup and a quarter from a pound of chicken thighs with skin and bone.

The first recipe is a simple CHICKEN AND SESAME SALAD. You can use either the whole chicken breasts, which you cook and then take off the bone, or boneless skinless chicken breasts. Since it’s the boneless skinless ones that are on sale, let’s use them. See my earlier post comparing the two options. Using the boneless skinless chicken breasts, a batch of this will cost about $4.40; using the boneless skinless thighs it will cost about $3.90. You have a couple of options for finishing off the meal. Some fruit is always good with salad (or just about anything else!) and there are several kinds on sale. Take your pick. Or you could add some CRISPY WON TON STRIPS to the salad. In fact, you could do both, if you chose one of the cheaper fruit options.

Don’t tell the guys, but variations on the next salad, CHICKEN SALAD WITH GRAPES AND WALNUTS, was a classic at ladies’ luncheons, back in the days when ladies had luncheons. You can still serve it for that, in which case a batch will serve eight. You should figure on it serving four, though, for a family supper. It comes to about $6.00 by itself, because of the grapes and walnuts, so there’s no room in the budget for anything else. I’m not sure what else I’d serve with it anyway. You don’t want fruit again for dessert. The original recipe called for serving it with crackers, bread, bagels, etc. and without the lettuce. You could do that if you wanted to, and keep it under $1.50 per person, if you’re ok with serving cracker, bread, bagels, etc. If you use the boneless skinless thighs, it will cost about 75 cents less.

Or you could make your chicken salad the way I usually do. I love looking at cookbooks and finding recipes on the internet. I have literally thousands of recipes that I have copied and stored on my computer, plus at least 12” of recipes that I have printed off the internet, and well over a hundred cookbooks. And that’s after I gave away seven or eight big boxes of cookbooks. But, in spite of all those recipes, I seldom cook with recipes. I usually keep things really simple. Like in this recipe for CHICKEN SALAD A LA MAW. Well, I had to call it something, didn’t I? I can’t give a cost for this since there’s no recipe and no set list of ingredients or quantities. But I figure it’s pretty cheap, unless you use a lot of nuts.

  

For other ideas for chicken salads, check out the SALAD UN-RECIPES and LEFTOVER CHICKEN SANTA FE SALAD. And don’t forget about chicken taco salads, too.

Summertime, and the Grillin' is Easy--weekly specials with Mary Anne

Well...it's nearly summer, and grilling is easy for some of us. Read on for the full story...

Nothing much on sale this week worth talking about except produce, and there are a few good buys there.

The only good sale on meat is at IGA in Bedford and Ellettsville, through Sunday the 11^th. They have some of their meat on sale in ten pound packages. The only one I’m interested in is their chicken leg quarters, ten pounds for $5.00, or 50 cents a pound. A few other things that I’ll mention because they fit in with my theme for the week – Kraft barbeque sauces, 99 cents for an 18 ounce bottle; sweet Vidalia onions, a three pound bag for $2.89 cents (96 cents a pound) or 99 cents a pound if you buy them individually; and sixteen ounce bottles of A-1 marinades, two for $4.00, or $2.00 each. I don’t know that these are good prices, but they’re “sale” prices on things that fit this week’s subject.

Marsh has sweet corn again, ten ears for $3.00, or 30 cents an ear. Strawberries are $5.00 for three one pound packages, or $1.67 a pound. Or you can buy a case of eight one pound packages for $12.99, or $1.62 a pound, which is a nickel less a pound.

Kroger has asparagus for $1.99 a pound. Sweet potatoes, red potatoes and green beans are all 99 cents a pound. Sweet corn is ten ears for $3.00, the same as at Marsh.

Aldi has pineapples for 89 cents each. Mangos are 39 cents each, and strawberries are $1.49 for a one pound package. If you’re into gluten-free, Aldi has a bunch of things now.

That’s all that’s on sale that I’m interested in.

And so, it’s chicken legs again. IGA has them in a ten pound bag for $5.00, or 50 cents a pound. That’s more than 25% off Walmart’s regular price of 69 cents a pound for a ten pound bag, which is also the lowest sale price I remember seeing in quite a while. At that price you can hardly not get them.

I checked the forecast at weather.com (on Tuesday, when I started putting this together) and it said that the highs for the next ten days would be in the 70s and 80s. That qualifies as summer, as far as I’m concerned! Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part. At any rate, let’s try some summer recipes. Like grilling and appropriate side dishes.

I don’t grill. Don’t laugh, but I finally gave up when I not only couldn’t get the flame on the gas grill to light, I couldn’t even get the lighter to light! So any recipes that call for cooking on a grill come strictly from books and the web. I was going to give basic directions for cooking chicken, but after looking at several recipes I decided I didn’t know what I was talking about. All I’m going to say is that grilled chicken can end up underdone and that’s not good. Ending up overdone and dried out isn’t good either, but at least it’s less likely to make you sick. What I will give you, though, are some recipes that look good and that got good reviews. Again, I haven’t cooked them because I can’t get a grill lighted. But the recipes look good anyway. You’re on your own when it comes to knowing how to cook it.

CHICKEN GRILLING BASICS

1. Be sure your chicken is done when you eat it.
2. There are two different opinions when it comes to washing the chicken before cooking it. The old school says it should be washed. (Mom knew someone who used soap, but most people just rinse it under running water.) I won’t get into why it should be rinsed. If you’ve seen documentaries about chicken processing plants you’ll know why, and if you haven’t, you don’t want to know why. The new school says you should not rinse it because when you do the germs and all splatter all over the kitchen. Take your pick.
3. Whether you wash/rinse the chicken or not, be sure to dry it with paper towels. (Yes, I know that there are environmental impacts from using paper towels, but you don’t want to get use cloth towels or rags because then you have those nasty chicken germs that you have to deal with. Use cloth for most things if you want to, but honest, it is better to use paper towels for raw chicken). The reason for drying the chicken is that the skin comes out crispier. If the chicken isn’t dry, then the skin steams a bit and that makes for flabbier skin.
4. Don’t serve marinade unless it’s been cooked after marinating the chicken. And don’t serve sauce in which you’ve dipped the brush you use to brush on the sauce. If you want to serve the extra sauce, reserve some sauce for that purpose and don’t dip the brush in it.

A chicken leg quarter generally weighs about a pound, so at ten pounds for $5.00, that’s 50 cents per leg quarter. Let’s say 25 cents per leg for the seasoning, though 5 cents will probably cover the cost of all but maybe the sauces. So that’s 75 cents per serving. I’ll use that in costing the menus with the various side dishes.

SIMPLEST GRILLED CHICKEN RECIPE

Just sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper, or maybe add some garlic powder. Or use a commercial grilled chicken seasoning mix.

NOT QUITE AS SIMPLE GRILLED CHICKEN RECIPE

Don’t season the chicken. Instead, slather your favorite commercial BBQ sauce on it for the last five minutes or so of cooking. Or teriyaki sauce or whatever kind of sauce you like. Or brush the chicken with the sauce every few minutes. Some recipes and experts say one thing, others say the other. That’s why I’m not giving directions on how to grill the chicken.

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH AN INCREDIBLY EASY MARINADE
     Greek Grilled Chicken
     Italian Grilled Chicken
     

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH AN EASY HOMEMADE RUB

     Cajun Turkey Seasoning
     Moroccan Rub

      Caribbean Jerk Seasoning Rub

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH A MORE INVOLVED HOMEMADE BBQ SAUCE
     Cornell Chicken Barbeque Sauce (State Fair Chicken)
     Balsamic BBQ Sauce
     Better BBQ Chicken Sauce

And now for some side dishes to go with the chicken. How about COLESLAW, CORN ON THE COB, GRILLED PINEAPPLE, and/or MANGO SALSA? When it’s really summer we can use that wonderful produce from the Farmers Market. And don’t forget that you can basically get it for half price if you have Food Stamps! Just change your food stamps for Market Bucks and get $2 of Market Bucks for every $1 of Food Stamps.

You probably have your own favorite recipe for coleslaw, but here are a couple of recipes you can try if you want a change.

First a basic COLESLAW from Dana Carpender, then a variation. This will make LOTS! Figure about four cups of shredded cabbage per pound, so a three pound head would make about twelve cups. You might want to make just half a batch, though leftover coleslaw is usually still good the next day. Assuming a three pound head of cabbage, a whole batch will run about $2.40, or 20 cents per roughly one cup serving. If your servings are bigger, and you only get eight servings of a cup and a half, they’ll run about 30 cents each. But I think a cup is probably enough for most people.

For an incredibly colorful salad, try her COLESLAW FOR COMPANY, which uses red cabbage instead of the regular green cabbage and adds a shredded carrot. Red cabbage usually cost more – like up to twice as much - plus there’s the cost of the carrot, so figure between ten and fifteen cents more per serving.

Laurel’s Kitchen gives a very basic recipe for LAUREL’S COLESLAW, with lots of variations. In fact, if I’ve done my math right (and it’s been a long time), there are over 600 possible variations, based on the optional ingredients! The basic coleslaw costs about the same as Dana’s recipe – roughly 20 cents per serving, assuming a pound and a half of cabbage and six servings. If you make it four bigger servings, they’ll be about 30 cents each. You’ll have to figure your own cost if you add anything.

GRILLED PINEAPPLE is really easy - just brush slices of canned pineapple with Heinz 57 Steak Sauce. If you get four servings from a can of sliced pineapple, it should run you about 25 cents per serving, or about a dollar for four.

When I told a friend that pineapples and mangos were both on sale and at great prices, she said “Salsa time!” so here’s a recipe for MANGO SALSA. The mango is 39 cents, but I don’t know about the rest, most of which I don’t buy. Let’s call it a dollar, ok, or 25 cents a serving? That’s probably high, though.

Okay, so we’ve got recipes for the chicken and for the sides. Let’s see what we can do to put them together into menus. Just a reminder – we’re figuring 75 cents apiece for the chicken leg quarters, 20 cents a serving for the coleslaw (30 cents if we go with Coleslaw for Company red cabbage version), and 25 cents per serving for the Grilled Pineapple and the Mango Salsa. We’ve also got fresh pineapple for 89 cents each, mangos for 39 cents each, strawberries for $1.49 a pound, and corn on the cob for 30 cents an ear. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it?

MENU #1 – grilled chicken, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and grilled pineapple

MENU #2 – grilled chicken, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and mango salsa

MENU #3 – grilled chicken, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and fresh pineapple

MENU #4 – grilled chicken, coleslaw, and a pineapple/strawberry salad

MENU #5 – grilled chicken, corn on the cob, and a pineapple/strawberry salad

MENU #6 – grilled chicken, coleslaw, corn on the cob and a pineapple/mango salad (add a bit of lime juice to it, and maybe some cilantro)

MENU #7 – grilled chicken, coleslaw, and fresh strawberries sprinkled with balsamic vinegar

MENU #8 – grilled chicken, corn on the cob, and fresh strawberries sprinkled with balsamic vinegar (or sprinkled with sugar if you prefer, or just plain, but balsamic vinegar adds a special flair)

Well, you get the picture. Everything is so cheap that there are lots of variations that are delicious, cheap (under $1.50 per serving), with generous portions. You could even splurge and have some ice cream under the strawberries without breaking the bank!

I’m sure there will be more barbeque and picnic recipes and menus as the seasons progress, but here’s a good start. It’s 84 degrees as I finish this Wednesday afternoon, and picnic-type meals sound even better than they did yesterday!

Grilled and Roasted Chicken Breasts and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Kroger has several things that are a good price if you buy “any five.” It’s really easy with a deal like that to buy something you don’t need to get in your five items. Don’t do it! You usually end up paying more than you would if you just bought the items you do need without the discount. At least that’s the way it works for me. Saving money can be really expensive! But on to their sales… Kraft salad dressings are 99 cents for a 16 ounce bottle. Kraft cheese is $1.99 for 5 – 8 ounce packages, which is a good price for 8 ounces but not for 5 ounces. Oscar Meyer lunchmeat is $1.99 for a 1 pound package. It’s going to be heavily processed, but it is convenient. All of these prices are assuming you buy “any 5” of the various sale items. They’re all $1.00 more if you don’t buy 5. There are also a few things that are on sale even if you don’t buy 5 items. Split chicken breast, drumsticks or thighs are 99 cents a pound. Cottage cheese and sour cream are $1.99 for 24 ounces. Butter is two pounds for $5.00, or $2.50 a pound, and you don’t have to buy two to get that price. These prices are good through Wednesday, March 26. There is also a four-day-only sale, with prices good only through Sunday, March 23. Among these sales items are five half gallons of milk for $5.00, or $1.00 each, or $2.00 per gallon. You don’t have to buy five gallons, and there is a limit of five gallons. Asparagus is 88 cents a pound.

Marsh has pork chops in the family pack for 99 cents a pound. Grapes – red, white or black seedless or red with seeds – are $1.48 a pound. Anjou and Bosc pears are $1.49 a pound. Jumbo cantaloupes are 3 for $5.00, or $1.67 each. These prices are good through Wednesday, March 26.

IGA has split fryer breasts for 99 cents a pound. Turkey sausage is $1.99 for a one pound package. “Jumbo size” lemons are two for $1.00, or 50 cents each. Ambrosia apples are $1.49 a pound. “Red ripe tomatoes on the vine” are $1.49 a pound. Some Kraft products are buy-one-get-one-free. Some cheeses $2.99 for two 5 to 8 ounce packages. That’s a good price for the 8 ounce packages, at $2.99 a pound, not good for the 5 ounce packages. Planters peanuts are $3.49 for two 1-pound jars, or $1.75 per jar, and peanut butter is $2.79 for two 15 – 16.3 ounce jars, or $1.40 each, also on the buy-on-get-one-free sale. These prices are good through Sunday, March 23.

We’re back to chicken breasts this week. IGA and Marsh both have split fryer breasts for 99 cents a pound. They’re bone-in and skin-on, so that’s something to consider when you see the price. By the way, I’ve been wondering how the price of split fryer breasts and boneless, skinless fryer breasts compare. The result of my little experiment was that it really is cheaper to buy the split fryer breasts and do the work yourself. Of course, the ones that are already boned and skinned are quicker and easier to use. I use both.

Figure that about half the weight of the split chicken breasts will be in the boneless, skinless portions, so if you need a pound of boneless skinless chicken, you’ll need to start with two pounds of split chicken breasts. Between 8 and 9 ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breast will yield a cup of diced, cooked meat. Let’s call it 8 ounces, so 1 pound of split chicken breast will yield about 1 cup of diced, cooked meat. More or less. That’s about 99 cents per cup of cooked meat this week, plus you get the bones, the skin, and some meat that’s left on the bones after you cut off the big chunks.

Twice as Nice: 25 Chicken Breast Recipes for Today and Later, by Sandra Liu, is one of the free books I found for the Kindle. (If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download Kindle for PC onto your computer. Unfortunately, the library doesn’t have Kindles and doesn’t have the Kindle software on their computers.) The idea behind the book is that you can buy chicken breasts when they’re on sale, grill or bake them, then cut them up and freeze them to have COOKED CHICKEN STRIPS available whenever you need them. They’re a lot cheaper that way than buying the precooked strips of chicken breasts. The book tells how to grill or roast them, how to cut them up, how to freeze them, and then gives 25 recipes using the cooked meat. 

To find recipes for the cooked chicken breast strips, I did a google search for “grilled chicken breast recipes.” One site that came up was the Tyson website, which included almost 90 recipes using their precooked chicken breast strips. I’ve included one of them. Of course, I adapted it to use your own home-cooked chicken breast strips instead of Tyson’s!

Let’s go back and start with the raw chicken breasts. Let’s start with six pounds of them, since you frequently have to buy them in the family packs to get the best price. First, cook them with the bone in and the skin on. (You could cut the meat off the bone before we cook it, in which case you’d pull the skin off, too. It comes out pretty much the same either way, and some people don’t like handling raw chicken.) Then you pull the nice crisp skin off of the meat and save it for a treat. Next, you cut the meat off the bones, trying to get it off in one big chunk, but not scraping the bones to get every bit of meat off of them. You put the bones in a pot of water with some vegetables and seasonings and make some soup for four people. And then use the meat you cut off in two main dish recipes for four people each. That’s twelve servings from $6.00 of split chicken breasts.

Let’s start with SIMPLE CHICKEN VEGETABLE SOUP, and its cousins, CREAM OF CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE SOUP, CHICKEN VEGETABLE EGG DROP SOUP. How much will this soup cost? It depends, of course, on what you end up putting in it. I figure that the broth and the meat and free, because I include the entire cost of the split fryer breasts in the cost of the chunks of meat that I cut off for other things. Let’s say 2 onions, 4 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 8 ounces of frozen peas, and 8 eggs. That’s going to be about $2.85 for four big servings of soup. Let’s call it $3.00, or 75 cents per serving, just because I like things that come out nice and even. You’d want to add a salad or something if you were having this for supper, but for lunch I just have a big bowl of this type of soup and call it good.

I figure $1.00 for breakfast and $1.50 each for lunch and supper, or $4.00 a day to keep my costs down to the average food stamp benefit per person received in Indiana. I don’t have the exact figure, but the latest I’ve seen is just under $1.40 per person per meal, or just under $4.20 per day per person. Since this soup is only about 75 cents per person for lunch, that leaves an extra 75 cents for other meals that might go a bit over $1.50 per person, or for special meals where you want to splurge a bit.

Now to a few recipes using those chunks of meat you cut off the bones in big chunks, and then sliced. I didn’t really intend to when I started today’s column, but I seem to have ended with Southwestern or Tex-Mex recipes. The cooked chicken breast doesn’t have to be used only in Tex-Mex recipes; it can be used plain, or in Italian dishes, or Thai dishes, or curries, or just about anything else. The recipes that I ended up using today just happen to be more or less Southwestern. 

Like SOUTHWESTERN FRITTATA. The frittata will cost about $4.00. Add half a cup each of sour cream and salsa to top it off (two tablespoons of each per serving) for another 60 cents. Serve it with a quick fruit salad of one cup of halved grapes and half a cantaloupe for $1.25 and you’ve got a good brunch or lunch or even a light supper for just under $6.00, or $1.50 per person. Or sauté a couple pounds of asparagus in butter with some garlic and serve that instead. Or serve salad. Or a salad and a pound of asparagus. There are lots of ways you can use that other $2.00 on side dishes to accompany the frittata.

LEFTOVER CHICKEN SANTA FE is different than I usually .give, with corn, beans and tortilla strips. The mixture of chicken, black beans, corn and cheese can be used in many ways. Add it to a salad, or to a wrap, or a burrito, or rice, or you could even make soup out of it. As a salad, it comes to about $5.50, not counting the tortilla strips. I have no idea how much they cost, though I do remember when I bought a big bag of plain corn tortillas for Mom they didn’t cost very much. You should be able to make plenty of TORTILLA STRIPS for the salad and stay under $6.00 for the meal, if you make your own. Making your own ITALIAN DRESSING helps keep the cost down, too.