Italian Chicken with Basil and Garlic

With the costs of everything going up, it is getting harder and harder to stretch my food dollar. I am always looking at a package of meat and trying to decide how many meals I can possibly get out it. I am sure many of you are doing the same. We have many meatless nights and many nights were the side dishes take over the meal. You do what you can. It used to be where pasta was a good way to save money but even pasta got pricey. We now only buy it when we can get it for less than $1 a box. When the store has it on sale (recently it was 88 cents) we stock up!

During the week I had made a pot of marinara sauce and having some leftover but not enough for a meal on its own, I am using it as a base for my Italian chicken with garlic and basil. This is going to be very simple because my sauce is cooked. Here is how to do it.

I will be feeding 5 adults so I will figure on 4 boneless breasts. (the pasta helps to stretch the meal).

I have the sauce which is about 1 1/2 quarts. I will cook about 1 1/2 lbs of pasta (my son likes leftovers)

I take the chicken breasts, clean them of any extra chicken fat or scraps and then cut them into 3" pieces. Semi-thick because they will cook in the sauce.

I will saute them in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and then add them to the sauce. Allow it to cook for about 25 minutes. Simple and easy!

Serve with pasta and a side salad and fresh bread and we have a delicious meal!

Any leftovers can be put in a container for a brownbag lunch on Monday. Making your own sauce is much cheaper and tastes so fresh. My sauce is full of garlic and fresh basil so that is where the name Italian chicken with garlic and basil comes from. Really fresh and delicious. The chicken stews in the sauce and gives it so much flavor.

Enjoy!

Lighter Eating

A wonderful light recipe for the warmer weather is this one for Garlic chicken with cucumbers . It is a light yet satisfying dish that tastes fancy but is easy to make.

Mixing fruit with protein in your dinner entree is an interesting idea and you will be surprised at how tasty it is. This garlic chicken recipe also includes grapes. The combination makes for a really nice blend of flavors.

Make sure to buy locally grown produce. Not only are you helping to support local farmers, but you are getting a good value and fresher produce!

Need some more tips on fresh, light recipes for warm weather? Check these out.

Marinades for grilling

Passion fruit tropical drink

Homemade Tomato and Basil Salad Dressing

Sloppy Joseph

Some nights we have no "set" dinner plan. It is kind of a wing-it night. I had a marinated steak defrosting and a large container of browned ground beef defrosting also. The steak would be for the next night but what to do with the ground beef?

Lots of choices for ground beef recipes. Add to marinara sauce, make taco filling or enchilada filling, numerous kinds of casseroles or one-pot dinners ala homemade hamburger helper. Just wasn't "feeling" those. We decided to do a sloppy joe recipe that would be altered to go along with our own pickiness.

The son doesn't do tomatoes, I don't do peppers...most sloppy joe recipes contain both ingredients. Time to get creative. Loose meat sandwiches sounded good but there again, I don't like the taste of mustard so that wasn't going to work either. Okay, my kids are picky eaters and so am I. I have always managed (even with 5 children) to make dinner for us all without feeling like I run a diner.

I like to be creative and experiment. Looked around for what I did have and this is what we came up with.

I served this on big soft rolls with some spicy curly fries and a vegetable on the side. This recipe made four healthy sandwiches. Serve with plenty of napkins because it is SLOPPY!

Ingredients:
2 to 2 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef - browned and drained of fat
2 tablespoons minced fresh onion
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 large can brown gravy (fat-free works fine)

(notice I added zero salt- even fat-free canned gravy has salt in it)

Add onion and garlic to ground beef and simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes. Add remaining spices and brown gravy. Stir together well and heat to bubbling. Serve about 1 ladel full on each roll.

It will be sloppy but delicious. For those who just cannot survive a meal without ketchup, add some on your roll but believe me- you really don't need it. This was just "hot" enough with enough spice to leave a nice taste in your mouth.

I normally buy family size packages of ground beef. (leanest I can find) Browning the meat, draining the fat and freezing in containers saves so much time and also combats the "lazy" factor. (you know, Oh, I have to BROWN the meat??? UGH!)

Frozen, browned ground beef defrosts quickly. All you need to do is put it in a non-stick pan or pot and cook over a low flame. Add whatever ingredients you need for the recipe you are making. Saves lots of time.

Enjoy this Sloppy Joseph recipe. This is especially good for those who cannot handle the acidity of tomatoes or gassiness from peppers.