Food Prep

It is no secret I have been trying to save money this year.  My savings projects are going well. I am right on track with my 52 week savings plan and we all know my $5 project got a nice boost.

Cooking with fresh ingredients combined with my pantry is going well. We have cut our ordering out down to once a month and eating out by 75%. When we do go out to eat we try to make it a really big deal. Keely still gets her Monday Happy Meal after aqua therapy that is her reward for working hard. Saving at the grocery store is going well. Coupons combined with Ad Match is saving me $50-$75 from my bill each trip. I have been using my slow cooker quite a bit. One of the things about the slow cooker I hate is having to cook something on the stove before adding it to the slow cooker... My solution to that is precook and freeze. The biggest offender in this pet peeve is ground beef. So now I will buy 10 pounds of ground beef and cook it in 5 pound batches. I then pour the cooked ground beef into my over the sink strainer to let it drain and cool. (this also allows me to buy ground beef with a higher fat content = cheaper and not have to worry about the extra fat getting into my food) Once it has cooled I bag it in 1 pound portions and freeze them. I can get 7 portions out of 10 pounds of ground beef.

Another way I try to save a little is to buy my chicken with the bones still in it.   I don't cook with a lot of breast meat but when I buy it that is always boneless and skinless.  I can cut them into cutlets, tenders and nuggets but deboning a breast with all those ribs... my butchering stills are not that good.  However, I do use a lot of chicken thighs.   They are purchased with the bone and skin still intact.  I get my bulk package home and debone and remove the skin.  I then wrap them individually and freeze them in a zip bag.  I can then portion out what I need when I need it. The skin and bones are then frozen to add to the pot when I make my chicken stock. (Another money saving enterprise.) 

Sometimes I wonder if all this is really saving me money.  I am not working right now, so my job is to work at ways to cut costs and save money in my household.  

Last night I used some of my chicken to make Quick Chicken Marsala.  I used Campbell's Skillet Sauces Marsala packet.  (I got a great deal with my coupons plus I hit a sale.) 

Quick Chicken Marsala

1 pound Chicken Thighs

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons butter

1 package Campbell's Skillet Sauces Marsala 

Dredge chicken in flour and saute in butter until chicken is browned.  Stir in sauce and heat to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes until chicken is cooked through. 

Serve with sides of your choosing.  Pasta, rice or potatoes are all nice and the Marsala sauce tastes wonderful over any of them.