COOKING ON A BUDGET 04/08/21

GREG’S FOOD OF THE WEEK:

Market Basket – Kellogg’s Pop Tarts – 3 for $5 (Including the new Pretzel Pop Tarts)

KELLY’S BEER SALE FOR THE WEEK:

Market Basket – Kona, Zero Gravity, Shock Top (15 pack) - $12.99

Shaw’s – Laguintas - $9.99 (Just 4 U members – limit 1)

ROADKILL’S SWEET OF THE WEEK:

Market Basket – Honey Dipped Donuts - $2.49 (4 pack)

Dinner cakes - $5.99 (6 inch cake – tons of variety: Black & White •Vanilla Chocolate •Chocolate Fudge •Chocolate Mocha •Vanilla Coconut •Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge •Fudge Frosted Twirl •Maple with Maple • 6 More Varieties)

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HANNAFORD (SALES END SATURDAY) –

Boneless N.Y. Sirloin Steak - $3.99lb (N.Y. Sirloin Caprese Salad)

Haddock Fillets - $5.99lb (Haddock Tacos)

Avocados – 99 cents (Haddock Tacos)

Chorizo - $3.69 (Sausage stuffed dates wrapped in bacon)

ALDI (SALES END ON SATURDAY) -

Fancy Medjool Dates - $4.99 (1lb package – Sausage stuffed dates wrapped in bacon)

Ground Beef - $1.99lb (73% - good to freeze for the next time you want smash burgers)

Limes - $2.19 (16 oz. bag – Haddock Tacos, Garlic Lime Chicken Thighs)

Queso Fresco - $2.75 (Sausage stuffed dates wrapped in bacon)

Flour Tortillas - $2.19 (20 count, Haddock Tacos)

Taco Shells – 99 cents (12 count, Haddock Tacos)

SHAW’S (SALES START FRIDAY)

Chicken breasts or thighs - $1.47lb (Garlic Lime Chicken Thighs)

T-Bone Steaks and Raw Shrimp - $7.99lb (good deal for your next surf and turf dinner)

Three Color Cole Slaw - $1.49 (Haddock Tacos)

MARKET BASKET (SALES START SUNDAY)-

Fresh Whole Garlic - $2.99lb (Garlic Lime Chicken Thighs)

Fresh Mozzarella - $3.49 (N.Y. Sirloin Steak Caprese Salad and West Virginia’s Pepperoni Roll))

Cherubs Tomatoes – 2 for $5 (N.Y. Sirloin Steak Caprese Salad)

Thin Sliced Pepperoni - $4.99lb (West Virginia’s Pepperoni Roll)

Black Label - $3.50 (Sausage stuffed dates wrapped in bacon)

IDEAS FOR COOKING THIS WEEK –

HADDOCK TACOS

I have done fried fish tacos to but we will go for non-battered this time around because it is almost bathing suit season!In a bowl combine, cayenne pepper, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and lime zest and then rub all over your haddock. Spray a sheet pan with olive oil and cook your fish in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until your fish is flaky and white through.For your slaw, I use the bag cabbage mix slaw from the produce aisle and add in mayo, sriracha, honey, salt, pepper, lime juice, onion powder and fresh lime juice, cilantro and mix.You can use whatever tortillas you like, soft, hard, corn.I like to do a combination and put a wheat tortilla out, and spread fat free refried beans on it and then break a cooked hard shell taco in half and lay flat on the refried beans and then add the fish and slaw.You could also add sour cream, salsa, avocados.

N.Y. SIRLOIN STEAK CAPRESE SALAD

I just love a good steak and when it’s cooked right it just melts in your mouth!In a cast iron skillet, heat oil. Season your steak with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder and make sure the steak is at room temperature.I let it sit out for an hour.Once your oil is hot sear your steak on all sides and then add butter in your skillet with cloves of garlic and I put in rosemary and thyme and just keep spooning your butter on top of your steak to keep it moist. This won’t take you long to cook if you like a medium rare steak. Slice thin and serve on your caprese salad.Slice your sunburst cherry tomatoes (I like to use the variety of colors) and slice your fresh mozzarella, and sprinkle with sea salt, and chop your basil leaves of all different sizes, drizzle with balsamic glaze. Serve with toasted sourdough bread.

SAUSAGE STUFFED DATES WRAPPED IN BACON

I love dates and I have had them stuffed with a lot of sweet for desserts, but this is spicy and the date adds the sweet!They are delicious!You could do these as an appetizers or serve as a dinner over rice with the sauce.In a sauce pan heat oil and add in thinly sliced garlic cloves and shallots and cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Add in a jar of sliced roasted red peppers and 2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook for about 30 minutes until the liquid has become more like a sauce. I use my immersion blender to smooth out the mixture to a sauce. (You can also use your blender to make it smooth.)Mix your chorizo (no casing) with chopped queso fresco cheese and stuff into your pitted dates. Cut bacon slices (don’t use thick cut bacon) and wrap around each date.Cook your dates at 350 for 15 minutes or until your chorizo is cooked through.Then broil for a couple minutes to get your bacon crispy.Cook up some brown rice and put sauce mixture on top and then place your dates on top!

GARLIC LIME CHICKEN THIGHS

Very easy marinade will make this chicken so tasty! Fire up the grill or the blackstone griddle and get cooking! Serve up with a favorite grilled veggie! In a bowl, mix garlic powder, salt, paprika, pepper, cayenne pepper, parsley, chopped garlic, lime juice, cilantro and olive oil. Put it in a ziplock bag with your chicken and keep in the bag for up to 24 hours in the fridge.Then grill it up!

SANDWICHES!

Delish.com put out a list “The Classic Sandwich to Order in Every State”So I went through the list and boy do some of those sandwiches look and sound so good!I will try to post a different sandwich each week from the list. (These will not be the recipes from the restaurants, but I will be trying to recreate them from the description.)

WEST VIRGINIA’S PEPPERONI ROLL

I know this isn’t technically a sandwich but it was on the list.It’s an amazing calzone and it was written in the article that Italians working in the mines discovered pepperoni stuffed into a bread dough is a convenient meal to take underground with them. All the recipes I have found for this suggest making your own dough, but I am sure if you buy the refrigerated bread dough and roll out it might not be that different.If you have the time though you can make your dough and leave up to 4 days in the fridge. For your dough if you are doing homemade: 1 cup of warm water and 2 packages of quick acting yeast in a bowl and let stand until the yeast gets foamy. Then stir in ½ cup of melted butter, ½ cup sugar, 3 eggs and salt. Once mixed, add in a flour 1 cup at a time to form your dough (4 cups of flour total) drizzle with olive oil. Cover your dough and and let rise for 2 hours (or up to 4 days in the fridge). Turn your chilled dough out on a floured board and start to divide into equal sized rolls (this batch should make about 20 of the same size small rolls). Work the dough out with flour and flatten and add pepperonis on top (if your like me add in some fresh mozzarella) or stick to the classic just pepperonis and roll the dough around the pepperoni slices and pinch the edges closed. Grease a cookie sheet and bake the rolls for 15 minutes at 350 or until they are golden.Serve with a side of marinara sauce.

Laura

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