Thrifty Thursday: Chicken Tender Parmigiano and Roll Over Meal

This is a great comfort meal that I hope you enjoy!! Thrifty Thursday meals are always a meal for a family of four for under $10. Today, you can get two meals out of this meal by only buying 4 hoagie or sub rolls.

1 1/2 pounds of chicken tenders (or if chicken breasts are on sale you can butterfly them open and then slice into tenders)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
2 cups panko crumbs (you can also use regular bread crumbs but panko makes them crispier)
1 cup Parmesan
2 tbsp thyme (or 4-6 fresh sprigs)
2 tbsp parsley (or a couple of handfuls of fresh)
2 tbsp basil (or 4-6 leaves, chopped)
4 cloves of garlic (finely minced or use microplane to grate)
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
EVOO
1 cup cheese or a few slices (mozzarella or provolone)
parmesan for topping
Tomato Sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

Make your tomato sauce ahead of time (takes 45 minutes to simmer). It will be enough to put half of it in the freezer or save it for another meal later in the week.

Heat large skillet over medium high heat. Add a couple tablespoons of EVOO (a few times around the pan).

While it is heating, prepare dipping trays. In one, place the two eggs, whisked. In another, place the flour. In the third, mix together panko, Parmesan, thyme, parsley, basil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Season each tender liberally with salt and pepper. First, dip tender into flour (shaking off excess). Then, dip it in the egg mixture. Lastly, coat in bread crumb mixture pressing the chicken into the mixture to coat thickly and evenly.



Begin frying your tenders in the EVOO (3-4 minutes on each side until they are golden). They do not have to be cooked all the way through. Make sure to not overcrowd the pan. You might have to do a couple batches. As each batch finishes, place them on a cooling rack with a cookie sheet or paper towels underneath.

In a 9x13 casserole pan, place 1 1/2 to 2 cups of tomato sauce. Place chicken tenders on top of the sauce in a single layer. Put a spoonful of sauce on each tender. Then, top with shredded cheese or slices of cheese. Sprinkle with some Parmesan. Bake for 10-15 minutes. You might want to turn the broiler on for the last 2-3 minutes just to slightly brown the cheese.




You can make this dairy free by just leaving the cheese out of the bread crumb mixture. Then, when you assemble it just leave off the cheese or put cheese on those that can have it and leave a few tenders without cheese.

Great roll over meal: Open hoagie rolls (flat but still connected), place on a baking sheet, drizzle with EVOO and toast in the oven on 425 degrees. Once toasted, rub a garlic clove over each piece. The heat will melt it onto the bread. Spread a spoonful or two of sauce on bottom side of hoagie. Top with chicken. Sprinkle with cheese and put under the broiler in the oven just until cheese is melted. The other night I also put a couple of pieces of pepperoni on top of the sauce (before the layer of chicken) and I caramelized some onions and placed them on top of the chicken layer. YUMMY!!

Basic Tomato Sauce

This is the basic tomato sauce that I make. It is extremely simple and tastes great. It will store in the refrigerator for a few days or frozen for several months. I would make a double or triple batch of this and freeze it so it is ready to go when you need it. You can also add other spices that you like to change it up. Put it with some ground turkey, beef, or sausage and put it over your favorite pasta. Tip: When buying canned tomatoes, look at the ingredients closely. Good canned tomatoes should only contain tomatoes or maybe tomatoes and water. All of the other ingredients...salt, citric acid, etc. do not make good canned tomatoes. However, if those tomatoes are the best price then it is just fine and your sauce will still be delicious!

1/2 medium onion, chopped very fine (about 1 cup)
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
4 cans (28 oz) whole tomatoes (deseed by pressing through food mill) or you can use a good quality crushed tomatoes
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1/4 cup evoo
salt
pepper
6-8 basil leaves
2 tbsp evoo

Heat a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. Then add the oil, followed by the onions. Next, add a pinch of salt and let the onions gently cook until they soften and just begin to turn a slight golden color...not brown.

Once they’re ready, add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute or so, just until softened or until you can begin to smell it. Stir in the tomato paste and let it gently cook for a few minutes until it becomes a shade darker. Then add the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt. Now, stir to combine and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook uncovered for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.

Once the sauce has finished cooking, turn off the heat and taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper as you like. Add the basil...just tear into pieces by hand and drizzle with a tbsp or 2 of EVOO.

Thrifty Thursday: Two for One

Today, I am posting TWO Thrifty Thursday recipes! I am very excited about both of these. The first one, I am going to just give you the link to it. It is what I am making for dinner tonight so I can't tell you (yet) what I think about it. However, it looks so yummy! I got a great deal on some white fish at Aldi this week. I got a bag of about 6 filets for $3.99. They were out of tilapia but I think these will work great. I will let you know what I think about Bobby Flay's Grilled Tilapia with Lemon Butter, Capers and Orzo (for dairy free, just substitue the butter for smart balance light and omit the cream). If you can find a similar deal on a white fish or tilapia, then you can make this meal for a family of four for around $7.00.
Here is a pic of Bobby Flay's meal that I made last night. It got rave reviews from my husband! Now, if you read the reviews from Foodnetwork.com they say that the written recipe is not the same as how Bobby does it on his show. I did it like the reviews said to do it (make a butter sauce). However, my guess is that he changed it up a bit since making a butter sauce is kind of finicky. The trick is to remove the pot from the heat and whisk in room temperature butter...one cube at a time so that it doesn't separate. Do not re-heat in the microwave. If you need to warm it up put it in a bowl over hot water.

This next idea I got from Rachael Ray's Neapolitan Baked Ziti. I had planned on just making regular spaghetti but then I saw this on her show and thought it looked really good and figured I could do something similar with baked spaghetti. You can make this for around $6.10!! AND, it makes two dinners for a family of four!!

Jazzed Up Baked Spaghetti
1 pound spaghetti (Cooked a couple minutes short of what the package says...noodles will continue to cook when you bake it.)
1/2 lb ground turkey or beef, cooked
2 tbsp EVOO
1 onion, finely chopped
5-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped or use a microplane zester
seasonings (Use whatever seasonings you like in your spaghetti. I used about a tbsp of Italian seasoning and some extra basil because I LOVE basil.)
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 (15oz) can diced tomatoes
S&P to taste
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1 bay leaf
nutmeg, freshly grated
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 -1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Heat EVOO in a medium to large saucepan. Add the onions and sweat on low heat until they are translucent (do not brown). Add garlic and cook another minute. Add your seasonings (do not add the S&P yet). Let cook for another minute and then add the tomato paste. Stir and let cook for another minute. Then, add your tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Let simmer for about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

While the sauce is simmering, melt the butter in a small to medium saucepan. Once melted, add the flour and whisk until combined. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly. Slowly add the milk while whisking (you can also heat the milk before adding it so you don't have to worry about adding it as slowly). Add the bay leaf, nutmeg and season with S&P. Bring to a boil and then turn heat to low and simmer until thick, stirring often. Remove the bay leaf.

Combine the pasta, beef and red sauce and place in a greased 9x13 casserole dish (I split mine into 2 8x8 so I could freeze one of them). Pour the white sauce over the top. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese and then the parmesan cheese. Bake on 400 for 25 minutes. Then, place the oven on broil and broil for a couple of minutes until the top of the cheese is golden brown.

Thrifty Thursday: AMAZING pizza dough

Ok...so just the other day I posted a pizza recipe that I got from my cooking classes. However, you have to let the dough rise overnight. I didn't plan ahead for tonight's pizza night so I had to find a different recipe. I am SO glad I did! I found a pizza dough recipe on allrecipes.com. It is seriously amazing!! I had to add more flour as some of the other people commented. I added about a half a cup more flour. Just add flour until the dough has formed into a good consistency. You want it to be a little sticky (just use flour on your hands). Also, I put mine in a warm oven (turn your oven on about 200 degrees for a few minutes and then turn it off) and covered it with a thin dish towel to let it rise. You just want the oven to be warm...not hot. The cost of two pizzas (cheese, garlic, pepperoni for toppings) is around $7.00!!!



Now, for a few things that you must do in order to make this pizza dough taste like pizza at a restaurant. First of all, make sure that the dough triples in size while rising before forming it into a pizza crust. Mine took about an hour but it will all depend on the weather that day. I also double this recipe to make two pizzas since my boys can down some pizza!

The other pretty important thing is to use a pizza stone. I have one large and one medium round stone from pampered chef. I used 3/4ths of the dough for the large and the rest for the medium. I promise that it will make a HUGE difference in the crust of your pizza. There is no need to spray the stone with non-stick spray. First, place your cold stones into the oven. Then, turn your oven on 425 degrees and let it pre-heat. While the stones are in the oven, form your dough into pizza crust shapes on a well floured surface. After the stones have been in the oven for about 20 minutes, remove them from the oven and sprinkle them with ground cornmeal. Ground cornmeal will allow your pizza dough to move freely on the stone. Immediately after pulling the stones from the oven and sprinkling with cornmeal, lift your pizza dough from the counter and move it to the stones. Note: when making two pizzas I pull one stone out of the oven at a time so that the other stone will stay hot while I am situating the dough on the other stone. The heated stone will help the bottom of the pizza to set. Don't worry if, when you lift the dough from the counter, you get a couple of holes in the dough. Once you place it onto the stone, you can reshape it and fill in the holes.

Next, brush the dough with some olive oil and whatever spices you like (italian seasoning or basil). Top with sauce. Then, put whatever toppings on the pizza that you want. For this pizza, I just used freshly grated garlic, large pepperoni slices, and lots of cheese! Bake at 450 for 6-8 minutes.

If you can find this kind of chunky crushed tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano then you will have the easiest and most delicious pizza sauce! The only thing I did was add a couple of tablespoons of EVOO. One 28oz can is plenty for two pizzas.

Menu Planning Monday

Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie to see other meal plans or to join in on the planning!

Sunday - Rachael Ray's Baked Shell Casserole
Monday - Hungry Girl's Crispy Chicken Sandwiches
(tastes like Chick-fil-a and is SO yummy!) and Rachael Ray's Crispy Oven Veggie Fries
Tuesday - Chicken Curry with rice (Recipe to come later this week)
Wednesday - leftover stuffed shell casserole
Thursday - Homemade Pizza (dough and sauce recipe to follow)
Friday - Greek Chicken with roasted potatoes and broccoli (Recipe to come later this week)
Saturday - Parmesan Crusted Chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes (Recipe to come later this week)


Pizza Dough
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp instant dry yeast
2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup semolina flour
3 1/4 cups bread flour
2 tsp sea salt
To make the dough, add the lukewarm water to a large bowl, along with the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over top and wait until it dissolves. Pour in the olive oil, sprinkle in about half of the semolina flour and half of the bread flour and stir to combine. Then add the remaining flours and the salt. Stir a few times to combine the ingredients.

Use your hands to bring the dough together, and then turn it out onto the counter. Knead the dough for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until it feels and looks smooth.

Portion the dough and form each portion into a round. Lightly oil a large bowl with olive oil. Coat the dough very lightly with olive oil and place into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it slow-rise overnight in the refrigerator (or at room temperature) until double in size.

Step 2: Shaping the Dough
1/4 cup coarse cornmeal (for sprinkling on pizza stone)
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (for brushing on dough)
Place the pizza stone into a cold oven then preheat the oven to 450º degrees Fahrenheit. Let the stone heat for at least 30 minutes before baking your first pizza.

Place a piece of room temperature dough onto a lightly floured counter. Press it flat into a round. Continue to press and turn the dough while stretching it. You can also hold the dough upright, rolling it between your fingers as you stretch it. The weight of the dough will help to stretch it.
Sprinkle the stone with cornmeal. Gently transfer the dough to the stone and proceed with your pizza recipe.

Two Pizza Sauces
1 can crushed tomato (15 ounces)
1 to 2 cloves Fresh garlic
1 tsp Salt
1 can whole tomatoes (15 ounces)
1 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
salt (to taste)
1 clove Fresh garlic
6 basil leafs
For a thicker sauce, with a more concentrated tomato flavor, use a can of quality crushed tomatoes (look at ingredients to make sure that the ONLY ingredient is tomatoes). Add a clove or two of thinly sliced garlic, a bit of salt and stir.

To make the second sauce, simply strain a can of whole tomatoes and crush them by hand. Add the olive oil, salt, garlic, and fresh basil and mix together.