This is all Foodieblogroll's fault!
This whole post.....blame it on them.
If they hadn't sent me that email.....
If I hadn't opened it and read it......
If I hadn't entered their contest......
And if they hadn't announced that I had won....
Well, then
I would never have read The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook by Erin Chase
This book is full of savings tips and strategies for grocery shopping and meal planning. The recipes are simple. I do have to remind myself of the focus of this book when looking through the recipes. The focus is to save a lot of money while providing healthy meals for your family. Which it does a fantastic job of. I wouldn't hold her to the $5 part necessarily. With inflation these days, well...lets just say that it's a bit of a challenge. I failed miserably in this area. I mean....the bone-in split chicken breasts that she listed as $1.79 (total) were $2.99 a pound. which came out to be close to $5.00 on their own. If I had waited until they were on sale, like Erin instructs, then I'm sure I would've been a lot closer to the $5.00 goal. The sweet potatoes alone cost just over $2.00....which bummed me out. I guess when they're on sale they may have cost me under a dollar.
Anyways....the recipes aren't complicated by any means. I don't want to say they lack in flavor.....but sometimes the flavors are very basic. If you're in the mood for something more complex...and like to stretch your creative wings....well, you certainly could start with any of these recipes.
Oh, and this cookbook is loaded with a fun little "Frugal Fact" under most of the recipes. The Frugal Fact for this meal? "The breast meat portion on a bone-in, split chicken breast is often larger than the boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Buy bone-in split breasts for more meat, for less money."
Now for the meal:
Rosemary-Orange Chicken (a Slow Cooker Meal)
2 bone-in split chicken breasts
1/2 cup water
Juice from 2 oranges
1 orange, cut into 8 wedges
2 tablespoons chopped rosemary (dried or fresh)
salt and pepper
2 large sweet potatoes
2 cups frozen peas (I used mixed veggies)
Remove the skin from the chicken breast and place the chicken into the close cooker along with 1/2 cup water. Pour the orange juice over the chicken and then sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. Arrange the orange slices over the chicken.
Cover and cook on low setting for 8 hours.
During the last hour or so of the cooking time, preheat your oven to 350'. Cut slits into your sweet potatoes and place in a baking dish with 1/4 water. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.
Let the potatoes cool until they can be handled without burning your hands, yet are still nice and warm.....about 10 minutes. Peal the skin off and mash the potatoes.
When the chicken is done, pull the meat off the bone (actually, it'll just fall off) and serve.
Cook the veggies according to instructions on the bag.
Hmmm....I'm not known for being a sweet potato fan. And I knew that mash sweet potatoes that plain...wouldn't do it.
Then I figured that I'm soooo far off the $5 budget mark that I might as well just screw it and keep going. I added some plain yogurt, butter and salt and pepper....oh, and a little brown sugar to the sweet potatoes.
You know what I discovered?
YUM! I like mashed sweet potatoes.
Who would've thunk it?
They were good! The tanginess of the yogurt really tastes great with the sweetness of the potato. And along with the Rosemary-Orange Chicken? They really did compliment each other very nicely!
I totally enjoyed this dinner. Hassle free, simple.....no fuss, no muss....who could complain? Sir Sportsalot even liked it (I kept catching him picking at the chicken).
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