Saving Time and Money Cooking

It's been a while since I gave you a recipe, so you are definitely due a few. I have a couple of new, incredibly easy recipes to share with you this week. The first recipe I'll share tells you how I made 1 pork roast last for 3 dinners and 1 lunch! I believe I paid around $8 for the roast. That is a great deal!

I purchased several large pork roasts while they were on sale for around $1.59/lb. I put them in my freezer and pull 1 out every once and a while. Here's what I did with the 1 I pulled out last week.

Meal #1- Pork Roast in the Crock Pot

(I cut 4 3/4" thick pieces of the end before I did this, I'll explain why in the next meal.)

Pork Roast

2 Cans French Onion Soup (or 1 family sized can)

Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder to taste.

Cook for 6-8 hours.

I served this with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

Meal #2 Fried Pork Chops

4 Pieces cut from the pork roast

coat in flour

fry on both sides for about 6 or 7 minutes each until white in the middle

(optional- add a can of cream of mushroom soup when chops are cooked fully and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes)

I served this with left over mashed potatoes and corn.

Meal #3 Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Used 1/2 of the leftover pork roast- shredded the meat and put it in a pot with 1/2 a bottle of BBQ sauce

Served on buns with Mac & Cheese and peaches for lunch.

Meal #4 Pork Tacos



Used the rest of the pork roast- shredded the meat and put in in a pot with taco seasoning and followed directions on the seasoning.



Served with taco shells, toppings and corn.

I cannot believe that we got 4 meals out of 1 big piece of meat! Next time these go on sale be sure to pick up a big one and let me know what you do with it!



Happy Savings!

Saving Time Cooking

I've not had many recipes for you lately, so I'll try to make it up to you by posting 2 Crock Pot Recipes. With it being cold outside I thought a good Crock Pot soup would be nice and with the Holidays coming up I thought an easy Crock Pot recipe that everyone will love would come in handy.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 16oz packages of frozen chopped broccoli
2 cans condensed cheddar cheese soup
2 12 oz cans evaporated milk
1/4 C onion powder
1t salt
1t pepper
1/2 C (1 stick) margarine
2 C Cheddar Cheese

Put all ingredients except the margarine and Cheddar Cheese into the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours. 30 minutes before serving add the margarine and Cheddar Cheese. Stir well. Serve with crusty bread.

Okay, this is soooo not a healthy recipe, but it is really good and not that expensive to make if you get the ingredients on sale. I use cheap chopped broccoli because the pieces seem to be smaller which works great in a soup. I used sharp cheese for the 1st time today and that worked just as well as mild, so you can pick which one you use. The base recipe for this came from 101Things to Do With A Slow Cooker. I added the margarine and cheese because I thought it was a little bland and needed a punch. So, try it before you add them and see if you like it that way, if you think it needs the extra punch, add the extra ingredients. I get my crusty bread from the day old bakery shelf. This time I found Italian and Sour Dough for $.99. Yummy.

Cherries Jubilee for the Crock Pot

2 Cans cherry pie filling
1 box white or yellow cake mix
1/2 C (1 stick) melted Margarine or Butter

Put cherries in crock pot. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over cherries. Spread melted margarine or butter over the cake mix as evenly as possible. Cook on low heat for 4 hours or high heat for 2 hours.

Okay, I have no clue where I got this recipe from, but it is delicious! My friends ask me to bring this to get-togethers. If you don't want to use the crock pot, you can even make this in the oven:

Cherries Jubilee in the Oven

2 Cans cherry pie filling
1 box white or yellow cake mix
1/2 C plus 2 T melted Margarine or Butter

Put cherries in a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over cherries. Spread melted margarine or butter over the cake mix as evenly as possible. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until cherries are bubbly and cake mix is a golden color.

The extra 2 T of margarine or butter really helps when making this in the oven. I guess because it's not covered more moisture leaves and the cake part gets kinda dry or the extra liquid helps that.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream if you want. I personally prefer it straight up. Yummy.

Happy Savings!

Saving Time Cooking

I have another Crock Pot Recipe for you today. This one I came up with myself using ideas from several friends. I love the crock pot.

Sherry's Pork Roast

1 Pork Roast
1 Can Chicken Broth
1 Package Dry Onion Soup Mix
1-2 T Garlic Powder

Put everything in the Crock Pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

You can even treat this like a Pot Roast and add carrots and potatoes. This is an easy meal that you can throw into the crock pot in 5 minutes and be off to your busy life and still have a home cooked meal for dinner. I LOVE that. You can even throw the roast in frozen if you don't have time to thaw it, just make sure you let it cook for the higher end of the time window then.

Happy Savings!

Saving Time Cooking

Okay, I've never tried this recipe before, but it looks delicious and my friend Sarah gave it to me and I trust her taste buds, I mean judgement, no I think I actually meant taste buds.

Sarah's Beef Stuff
(Okay, I named it that, but she didn't give it a name)

2 lbs chuck roast cut into 1" pieces (Sarah buys pre-cut stew meat)
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can 7-Up (Sarah uses Sierra Mist)

Put meat in the bottom of a crock pot. Do not season. Pour mushroom soup over meat. Sprinkle with soup mix on top. Add 7-Up. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice or egg noodles. (Sarah likes it with mashed potatoes.)

Tell me what you think about it! I'm going to have to try it out this week.

Happy Savings

Saving Time Cooking

Sorry I didn't get a recipe posted last week. With the power out and everything else going on in our lives, time just slipped away from me and I forgot to do it. This week is a 2 part recipe. There is an easy way and a, well, it's not any harder, it just takes longer way. (Okay, so I haven't won any awards for writing since 5th grade!)

Chicken Parmesan

2 or 3 chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 box spaghetti, prepared to box instructions
2 eggs
Milk
bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese
Garlic Powder
2 C mozzarella cheese

1. Mix equal parts bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese (I use roughly 2 C each) and Garlic Powder to taste (I use, umm, I use a lot, we LOVE garlic).
2. Mix eggs and a few tablespoons milk to make a milk wash.
3. Dip each piece of chicken in the milk wash and then in the bread crumb mixture to coat.
4. Place into a greased 9x13 pan.
5. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
6. Pour the jar of Spaghetti sauce over the chicken, place back in oven for 15 minutes.
6. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over chicken and sauce, place back in oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serve chicken over spaghetti!

Okay, you can also to this:

Follow steps 1-3 from above
4. Place in hot skillet (use 2T butter or oil)
5. Fry for 2 or 3 minutes on each side or until slightly browned
6. Place in 9x13 pan
7. Pour Spaghetti sauce and sprinkle cheese over chicken
8. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes

Serve chicken over spaghetti!

I usually do the first recipe, but if we're having company, I'll do the second one to make it fancier. Hope you enjoy this recipe! It's another favorite of my family!

Happy Savings!

Saving Time Cooking

This recipe I stole, ummm, borrowed from my friend Pam. Thanks Pam! She brought it to us after I had Jake and we just had to have the recipe!

Chicken Enchiladas

6-8 chicken breasts
1 Jar hot salsa
1 package flour tortillas
1 16oz container of sour cream
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 small can chopped green chilies
2 C shredded Monterrey Jack/Colby cheese mix

Put the chicken and salsa in the crock pot on low. Let it cook until chicken breasts are cooked and easily shredded (usually about 8 hours, you can cook them all day or overnight). When chicken is cooked, put 1/2 shredded chicken into a freezer bag or other freezer storage container (I'll tell you why later).

Mix sour cream, soup, chilies and 1 C cheese in sauce pan until warm. Place the remaining 1/2 shredded chicken into tortillas and roll, line them up in a pan (I use 9x13) roll side down, repeat until pan is full or you run out of tortillas or chicken. Pour mixture from sauce pan over the lined up tortillas. Sprinkle remaining cheese over and cover with foil. Bake at 350 until hot and bubbly or place in fridge or freezer until needed.

Okay, Pam uses fat free, low carb soft tacos, I use normal, filled with bad stuff, burritos. So, use whatever you want. You can use everything else low fat or fat free if you want. It still works!

I doubled the chicken and salsa part of this recipe when I started making it because you now have enough seasoned, cooked, shredded chicken to make chicken tacos. Place in a freezer bag and use it at will. 2 meals at once! I usually just use a bag of frozen chicken breasts, they are 4lb bags. You will want to let them thaw before using them in the crock pot, otherwise the salsa will be really runny and the chicken won't have as much flavor (I know that, now). The hot salsa does not make the enchiladas hot, I promise. I don't do hot. At all. I don't even do mild salsa because it is too hot for me. After cooking for hours the salsa looses it's hotness. I'm not sure that was a word, but that's the truth.

Chicken Tacos

1/2 Shredded Chicken left over from Chicken Enchiladas
Taco shells, hard or soft
Shredded Cheese
Any other toppings you want: sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, whatever you like

Heat chicken. Build your taco. Enjoy!

Happy Savings!

Saving Time Cooking

This week's easy recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks 365 Quick, Easy and Inexpensive Dinner Menus. If you aren't an experienced cook or if you need fast, family friendly food, it's a great cookbook to have in your cabinet.

Chicken Tetrazzini

1 lb chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 lb spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can chicken broth
1 T onion powder (optional, if you don't have any, oh well, leave it out)
2 C Mild Cheddar Cheese

Put everything except 1 C of cheese in a greased 9x13 pan and stir. Sprinkle the 1 C of cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Add a veggie and fruit and you're good to go for dinner! You can use fat free or reduced fat soup, it all works just the same. The original recipe calls for grated American cheese, haven't found that in the store yet and I don't have time to grate cheese, so you can try that if you want. It also calls for 1 C chopped celery and 1 can of water chestnuts, but I've never added them. Try what you like and see if your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine! This is one of those meals that is just as good warmed up as it is originally!

Happy Savings!

Saving Time Cooking

My family LOVES pasta. We could eat it every meal. Today I am going to share one of my family's favorite quick and easy pasta dishes.

Baked Ziti

1 Box Penne Pasta, cooked and drained
2 Jars Pasta Sauce of your choice
2 C Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Mix cooked penne and 1 jar of pasta sauce in a 9x13 dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Add 1/2 Mozzarella Cheese, stir. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Place back in oven for 15 minutes or until cheese on top is melted. After removing it from the oven and serving, let everyone add as much warmed pasta sauce from the other jar as they want and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top to taste.

Serve with a salad and my family's favorite, peaches, and you have a complete meal that took little more than stirring pasta!

Have a family favorite pasta dish you'd like to share? Leave a comment so we can all enjoy!

Happy Savings!

Saving Time Cooking

Okay, I have another confession to make. I LOVE to eat, but I usually HATE spending time in the kitchen cooking (sometimes I get it in my head to make fancy, complicated meals, but not recently, I blame my 2 wonderful boys!). Because of this I have gathered a large collection of quick, easy meals that I can draw from when I realize it's 4:30 and I haven't even thought about dinner yet. One of my friends told me I should start a weekly posting featuring 1 of these recipes, so here goes my 1st Saving Time Cooking Post!

Chicken and Stuffing

3 or 4 Chicken Breasts, cut to bite size pieces
1 box of chicken flavored stuffing mix, prepared to box instructions
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup (reduced fat works fine too)
1/3 C low fat sour cream

Cook chicken in a skillet (I use a 10" one that has a lid so I can do everything in it and Save Time doing less dishes) while making the stuffing in another pot. When chicken is cooked, (or almost cooked) add the soup and sour cream, stir until well mixed. Top with stuffing and cover with lid. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes to get the flavors all meshed together. Serve and enjoy!

I usually serve this with Broccoli (although, I usually serve most everything with broccoli, it's our favorite veggie around the Saving Sherry household). If you want you can actually add broccoli (or any frozen veggies) to the dish when you add the soup and sour cream, just cook until the veggies are done.

This is one of my favorite things to throw together because all the ingredients are stuff I usually have on hand anyway. I think I originally got this recipe from the Stove Top Stuffing box, but I can't promise that. I've seen many variations on this over the years like adding veggies, different flavor soups, cheese, and even putting it in the oven instead of making it on the stove.

This is my favorite version, try it and see what you like with it or in it!

Do you have any quick, easy recipes you'd like to see featured in a future edition of Saving Time Cooking? Leave the recipe in the comments section and let us all save time trying your favorite recipe!

Happy Savings!