Microwave: Creamy Chicken and Vegetables

This recipe adaptation was inspired by a recipe from @BudgetBytes. This a great recipe website. The author, Beth Moncel, writes in a fresh, clear, fun, informative style. Her recipes are always interesting and easy to make.

 

Also, I make miniature meals because as a single person, I don't need to make large meals. Plus, miniature meals reduces food waste.

 

As usual, I don't have all the ingredients. In this case, I was able to use several leftover items, so my measurements are a guess. Being frugal is a creative and adaptive process.

Microwave: Creamy Chicken and Vegetables

(Adapted from: https://www.budgetbytes.com/creamy-chicken-and-rice-skillet/)

Ingredients:

 

1 Cup Leftover Cooked rice

1/3 Cup Canned Salsa

2-3 Heaping TBspns Canned Mixed vegetables

1/3 Cup Cooked Chicken, diced

1/2 - 1 Cup Chicken broth (or use broth made from Chicken bouillon and water)

1 TBspn Crushed Dry Thyme

A few grinds of Black pepper

Plain yogurt

2-3 TBspns Mozzarella Cheese, grated (or use more if you desire)

 

 

Process: 

 

In a medium bowl, add ingredients, except the yogurt and cheese.

Stir and mix thoroughly.

 

Because, at the moment, I only wanted to taste the end result, I scooped out about 3 TBspns of the mixture and placed them into a dessert bowl.

 

Then, I microwaved it for 1 minute on high until hot.

 

After removing the bowl, I stirred in 1-2 ounces of plain yogurt and added cheese on top.

 

Then, I microwaved the mixture, again, for about 30 seconds to melt the cheese.

 

 

While it may not be clear, I made a larger batch than a dessert bowl and only microwaved a portion to make a miniature meal.

I can't say enough about the herb Thyme, I should use it more, it really makes this dish heavenly.

 

No Bake: Peanut Butter Balls with Chia Seeds Rolled in Oats

I do tend to repeat myself by making various versions of recipes I like. This is a pretty simple recipe with few ingredients.

 

Once made, these little balls are great to pop in your mouth when seeking a sweet treat.

 

 

No Bake: Peanut Butter Balls with Chia Seeds Rolled in Oats

 

Makes 10-12 balls.

 

Ingredients:

Two bowls

2-3 TBspns honey
2 heaping tablespoons  peanut butter
2 heaping tablespoons dry milk
2 TBspns Chia seeds
1/2 cup oats
1 dab of vegetable oil


Process:

Pour oats in a small bowl.
Mix honey, peanut butter, dry milk, chia seeds, oil in a soup bowl.
Chill for 5 minutes.
Take 1/2 a spoonful of mix and roll in palms to create a ball.
Roll ball in oats.
Place in freezer container.
Freeze and eat at any time.

 

Note: The Peanut Butter Balls do not really freeze. 

 

Skillet: Chicken, Vegetables and Fruit Skewers

Here’s a recipe that illustrates when a recipe search takes me down a rabbit hole.

I took to calling bits of food on a stick a skewer but what was a kabob or kebab?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kebab

See notes after recipe for options gathered from various sources.

Also, this recipe uses a gift of shrimp and a salvaged food item. (See Garlic Spread post).

 

After excessive research, this is the result.

 

 

Skillet: Shrimp Skewers with Vegetables and Fruit

 

Ingredients:

A large handful of frozen shrimp in a baggie

 

Marinade: add enough lime juice, crushed dry parsley, garlic spread to coat shrimp

 
Vegetable oil

A Dab of Butter

1/4 Squash, cut into chunks

A few Canned Pineapple chunks, drained

1 Cup Cooked rice

 

 

Pre-Preparation:

Add marinade to baggie with shrimp.

Close and shake baggie to coat shrimp with marinade.

Place in refrigerator to allow shrimp to defrost and marinate for 1-2 hours.

 

 

Process:

Cook Marinated Shrimp

 

Heat skillet at medium-high.

Add butter and oil.

Add shrimp to skillet.

Stir and spread over bottom of skillet.

Cover.

Cook 2 to 4 minutes until shrimp are opaque.

Remove and reserve.

In the same skillet, add slices of squash and chunks of pineapple in remaining vegetable oil.

Cook on medium-high until browned, flip, so both sides are browned.
Remove and reserve.

Thread shrimp, and pieces of squash, pineapple onto skewer.

 

Serve over rice.

 

I know I did this backwards, usually the uncooked items are threaded onto the skewer and then cooked. Then the items are removed and topped over rice.

 

But, my skillet was too small to fit a skewer, so I just did it for looks. Plus, I enjoy using the skewer like a utensil.

 

 

I was surprised, this recipe was tasty.

 

Notes from Various Sources:

Use one of several marinates:

- lime, parsley, garlic, veg oil, pepper

- butter, paprika, salt, garlic

- lime, garlic oil, parsley, worcestershire sauce, honey, salt, pepper

 

Other Addition Options:

 

Along with individual pieces of shrimp, add one or more of these items: chunks of cheese, cucumber curls, pineapple chunks, seared squash slices, bell pepper slices, olives, seared corn on cob, sausage, or items of your choice.

Optional: sprinkle with basil and feta cheese, mushrooms, onions

Variation: marinate cucumber curls in lime juice

Other shrimp cooking methods:

- Bake at 400F for 4-8 minutes.

- Broil in the oven if you don’t have a grill. Once the broiler is preheated, place the shrimp skewers on a sheet pan coated with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Broil for 2-3 minutes, then flip and broil for another 2-3 minutes; watching it closely so it doesn’t over-cook.

 

Resources:

https://www.themediterraneandish.com/mediterranean-garlic-shrimp-skewers/

https://www.saveur.com/gallery/essential-ways-to-cook-shrimp/

https://www.weightwatchers.com/uk/recipe/cucumber-prawn-skewers/5cf6281448a155007c53887e

DIY Garlic Spread

This was a delightful experiment.

Where I live, often some of my spices like garlic powder, get clumpy, or dry and hard.

As I was cleaning out some drawers, I picked out that jar of hardened garlic powder I had hesitated to toss out. Hmmm, what if I made a garlic dressing using the hardened garlic powder?

So, I got a small jar and filled it 3/4 with vegetable oil, then I scraped the garlic powder into the jar. Next, I filled the jar with apple cider vinegar.

With the lid, I closed the jar and shook it vigorously. I did not know what to expect. What I got was something like a thick garlic spread.

  

It didn’t taste bad. It had a milder garlic flavor than I expected.

The first recipe I used the garlic spread was in a marinade for Skillet: Shrimp Skewers with Vegetables and Fruit. It came out great!

Great Save!

 

Toaster Oven: Milk Toast

Got this idea from The Cook Book of Left-Overs.

 

Ingredients:

 

1-2 Slices of bread, toasted

Milk or milk substitute

Sugar (Optional)

 

Topping: Cinnamon

Process: 

 

Just make some toast, make it brown but not burnt.

Tear the toast into small chunks and add to a cereal bowl.

Add milk or a milk substitute.

Add Sugar, if desired, and topping.

 

Note: I used integral bread and a mixture of 1/2 Horchata & 1/2 milk (dry milk mix).

 

While this was a fast & tasty breakfast, you need to eat it immediately before it gets soggy.

 

 

Stovetop: Salmon Sliders

I was scrounging through my canned goods trying to figure out what I could make. I had a Costco can of salmon. Hmmm, let's look for a salmon recipe.

 

I quickly found a @BudgetBytes recipe for Salmon Burgers. As usual, I adapted the recipe, plus, I did not have all the ingredients. Where in the past, I would have been stymied, now, I am comfortable making adaptations and learning to use ingredients on hand.

 

Also, I reduced the "spicy" ingredients trying to make the sliders #GERD-friendly.

While I started the recipe in the afternoon of one day, I had to rush out to do an errand, so the mixture sat in the frig overnight which may have been a good idea.

I made sliders rather than cakes because I like small meals.

 

While I have made salmon sliders in the past, this recipe is different.

When I went to cook the sliders, I had a hard time "measuring" time to cook. But, I was patient this time and used my cell phone clock to measure 3-5 minutes. I washed some dishes as I waited. I determined one side was cooked by the brownness of the bottom before I flipped the slider over.

I wanted to use pumpernickel bread, so I cut two slices into small squares, spread mayo over them, added the slider then topped it with a DIY pickle relish.

 

I added a miniature side salad of diced cucumbers, apple and ribbons of carrot without dressing to this small meal.

In the end, I made six sliders.

This could be a more GERD-friendly meal, if you eliminate black pepper and hot sauce, and substitute the DIY pickle relish with greenery.

 

By the way, the pumpernickel bread was great. Any scrap bread went into the scrap bread bag in the freezer for future uses.

 

 

Stovetop: Salmon Sliders

(Adapted from: https://www.budgetbytes.com/wprm_print/41304)

 

Ingredients:

1 Small Can of salmon*, drained

1/4 Cup Breadcrumbs

1 Egg

1 TBspn Mayo

1/2 Tspn Yellow Mustard

2-3 Tsp’s Onion flakes

1/2 Tspn Paprika powder

1/4 Tspn Oregano Optional

1/4 Tspn Thyme

1/8 Tspn Garlic powder

1 Capful Hot sauce

1/8 Tspn Black pepper 

 

Vegetable oil
A bit of butter
Mayo
1-2 Slices Pumpernickel bread, cut into squares 

 

Topping:
DIY pickle relish or get creative and add your own topping.

 

 

Process: 

Add salmon to medium bowl.
Add breadcrumbs, egg, mayo, mustard, onion flakes and spices. 

Stir and mix ingredients thoroughly.
Refrigerate 30 minutes or more.
Shape mixture into patties.

 

 

Add oil and butter to skillet.

Heat skillet to medium-high.

Once oil and butter is hot, add patties.

Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Check bottom, is it brown and crisp?

 

Once cooked, remove and reserve on a plate.

Spread mayo over 2 cut bread squares.

Add one slider.

Top with DIY pickle relish.

*Different brands of salmon will change the amount of breadcrumbs you use because some brands are more watery than others. Plus, the amount of salmon may affect the number of sliders you can make.

Frugal Cooking in a Hotel Room During the COVID19 Pandemic

International traveling in Pandemic Times has been interesting.

 

Got my first COVID19 test. Obviously, it was negative. I was relieved, 14 months of taking precautions paid off.

When I left, both my states were following similar COVID19 patterns of precautions, vaccinations, and reopenings.

 

In early May 2021, both states were partially reopened. It was interesting to see how individual businesses handled their own partial reopening. For example, in some the places I visited upon arrival like Popeye's and Chik-fil-la there was no in-store seating but at TGIF and other restaurants there was partial indoor seating. Each establishment had clearly marked methods for customer movements to maintain safe distances as well as mask requirements and bottles of hand sanitizers for customer use.

 

At the hotel, there was a minimal number of staff, I had to be my own bellgirl.

 

Sadly, my planning for this trip was poor in many areas and I paid a price for that mistake. But, it was definitely a learning experience.

 

While I knew I’d be staying at a hotel for awhile, I forgot to figure in food expenses and fast food here is expensive and not always healthy.

 

For example:

Fast Food

$4.29US 1 Chicken Sandwich ($85.39MX @ 19.90)

$2.29 1 Lg Soda ($45.58)

$10.09 1 Bowl of Chicken Salad ($200.86)

$2.99 1 Can of Chickpeas ($59.52)

$2.69 1 Can Baked Beans ($53.55)

Groceries

$54.50 ($1084.91)

 

Sample Grocery Prices:

$1.89 1 Large Can of Greens

$1.99 1 Bag of Salad Greens

$3.89 1 Can Chicken (store receipt may be in error)

Not shown, 3 small bags of salad mixes and

2 cans of 7-11 beans.

 

While I had s/p, sugar, mayo, ketchup, and mustard from carryin meals, couldn’t decide whether to get a spice or which one. I knew I’d miss cinnamon but all I got was a small “lime” of lime juice. Will wait, maybe an idea will come to mind. Later, I used jelly as a spice.

 

Since I had not planned to “cook” in my room, I had to make do with items in the coffee/tea supplies and any carryin meal items as utensils, plates, and microwave containers. (Sadly, carryin materials equaled massive waste.)

 

 

I estimated with the groceries, I could make a minimum of 30 servings, including: fruit, chicken, sardine, or salmon timbales; scrambled egg bread puddings or sandwiches; overnight oats with fruit or jelly; soup and crackers; fruit parfaits; mug O'Banana cake; banana split; mini-cheesecakes; chicken or salmon crazy salads; salsas, fruit lassis; poached egg on plain bread; and more.

 

I was thrilled, my Chicken Timbale came out great, 2 Tsps canned chicken, 2 Tsps greens, 2 Tsps mushroom soup, 1 egg, 1 torn slice bread, pepper, lime juice, a dollop milk, microwave 3 minutes. Accompanied with hotel tea. Observation: the softer the bread, the more “pudding” like the Timbale.

 

 

 

Really proud of my in-room Crazy Salad with chicken, beets, pineapple chunks, Greens, and peanuts, with wheat crackers and a side of carryin dressing.

 

Those wheat crackers really came in handy. They made great snacks. Snacks are my weaknesses, so instead of chips, buttered popcorn or snack packs, the crackers were a better choice.

 

I got lucky, during my five-week stay, most of my meals were made in my hotel room. I kept my carryin and restaurant meals to a minimum. But, I did splurge, in the beginning, with hotel marketplace items. It took me awhile to figure out that the item selection was almost identical to 7-11 items but more expensive. Big lesson.

 

 

My favorite in-room meal was pineapple overnight oats.

 

You can see how useful the hotel soup cans were.

 

One thing I noticed was the taste of tap water in my state still tastes terrible, so I got an idea, get a bucket of ice and soon it will be water. It worked. The water tasted much better. Also, much better than buying bottles of water.

 

 

I enjoyed taking public transit, masks required. In this area of my state, public transit was readily available. But, I was very surprised that the subway was virtually empty every time I took a ride.

 

As the days passed, the state lowered their pandemic precautions, I could see the effects as more establishments began to hire more people and relaxed some of their precautions. By the time I left, the state had fully reopened and more people were going maskless.

Because I had come to get vaccinated and the timeframe for the 2-dose vaccine was longer than I expected, I did not stop wearing my mask or taking precautions.

I will continue to wear my mask and take precautions in my states until I am assured that the COVID19 pandemic is over. I do this to protect others.

 

 

After I got home, I revised my basic hotel groceries list for use at home and for any future need to cook in a hotel or rented room.

 

Basic Groceries:

 

2 Cans of fruit
1 Large Box of Raisins
2 Bananas

1 Cucumber
Can of Chicken
Can of Sardines
Can of Salmon
Can of Greens
Can of Mixed Vegetables

1 Lg Bottle of Salsa
1 Loaf of bread
1 Carton of Eggs
1 Carton of Oats
1 Jar of Jelly
1-2 Cans of Soup
1 Carton of Milk or Pkg of Dry Milk or
1 Carton Coconut Creme
1 Brick of Hard Cheese
1 Medium Yogurt
1 Box of crackers
1 Pkg Turkey lunchmeat
1 Pkg Veg Bouillon
1 Lg Pkg Nuts
1 Container of honey
Spices: Black pepper, Cinnamon, lime juice

 

 

Luxury Items:

 

1 Jar Peanut Butter

Chia seeds

1-2 Pkgs Cream Cheese

1 Jar Mayo