Chinese Pot Roast -- Crockpot Recipe

This is a family favorite -- even my pickiest loves it.  As always it is a versatile recipe and you can alter the veggies to suit personal preference.  You can use almost any cut of beef because of the slow cooking.  You can also use the same concept with a pork loin.

First Week of August -- The Frugal and the Not So Frugal

The first week of August was a bit of full one.  Our grandson spent the week with us, we had additional guests more nights than not, and my husband brought home a summer cold to share with us all. So here it is -- The Frugal and the Not So Frugal

 1. Due to an increase in laundry I ran the dryer several times.  While this wasn't frugal, we were able to send everyone home with clean laundry and that was nice.

 2.  I spent about $125 on additional grocery and snack items.  The cost sounds high, but again we had larger than normal amount of mouths.  We also needed some quick food items because of the varying schedules for some of our visitors, who were in town for a wedding and all it entailed.  This comes out of our entertainment budget.

 3.  On the frugal front, we took advantage of back to school sales to pick up a few art supplies.

 4.  I used a Target coupon to get $10 back -- I purchased my grandson's fall shirts, socks, and a baseball cap.  I also bought him 3 school workbooks and a puzzle.

 5.  We used a coupon to get a free "icey" drink from McDonalds. 

6.  We paid out hundreds in co-pays for doctors' visits this week.  Yeah.  Not frugal, but better than with no insurance.  We are hoping that they've figured out what is going on with my husband.  I'll update more as time and information presents itself.

 7.  I checked a book out from the library, but haven't had time to read any.

 8.  I crocheted two doilies using patterns that were given to me.

 9.  I've continued to use up supplies whenever I could.  Household cleaners, etc are going down nicely.  I did, however, pick up a few items for canning soup and to fill in a few gaps in the pantry.  I took $87 from the grocery budget to do this.  This also included some additional items the doctor has recommended for both me and my husband.  

 10.  We ate out two meals.  Fast food ironically.  Our guests from out of state don't have access to some of the restaurants we have here.  They love a particular chicken restaurant so one meal came from there and the other was a Krispy Kreme doughnut run. That is it.

It is hard to decide if financially I considered the week to be a win, but I definitely consider it to be a success.  We had wonderful times, hopefully found a course of treatment for my husband, and I had a whole week of spoiling my grandson.  He and I did a lot of free things -- we played in a wading pool, colored pictures, baked snacks, read books, played with board games, and played hide and seek.  

Entertaining and Trying New Recipes (Recipes Included)

I love cooking and I think if I had a love language it would be expressed in feeding people.

We had a great visit tonight and I really enjoyed the company.

 

 

I started the morning out by baking a carrot cake.

This is a modified version of a Betty Crocker recipe.

 

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease either a 9x13 pan, or two 8 or 9 inch pans and set aside.

 

Open an 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple (in juice) and drain.

Set aside

 

Grate carrots -- 3 cups total.  (This took me 3 decent sized carrots)

Add 1/2 cup of coconut to the carrots and set aside.

 

In large bowl combine:

2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsps. of cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together.

Set aside.

 

In mixer bowl:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Mix on low until blended.

 

Add flour mixture to mixer bowl and blend on medium speed for 1 minute.

This is a thick batter.

Stir in 1 tsp. of vanilla

Stir in the carrots, pineapple and coconut.

 

Divide evenly between greased round pans or pour into a 9 x 13.

For the 9 x 13 bake for 40 to 45 minutes and cool on rack

For the 9 inch pans bake 30 minutes, cool on rack 10 minutes, and then flip out.

For the 8 inch pans bake 35 minutes, cool on rack 10 minutes, and then flip out.

Let cool completely before frosting -- at least an hour.

 

Frost with cream cheese frosting.

 

 

I had purchased chicken over the weekend, but knew I would use veggies from my freezer for the sides.  A bag of frozen corn from Aldi, seasoned with chicken broth and chopped bell pepper was one side dish and I steamed broccoli for the second side dish.  (Sorry I didn't get photos of full bowls, but such is life. I took some but the first ones were blurry.)

 



 

 

 

 

The main dish was this chicken and rice casserole, which is one of the recipes I marked in my library book as one to try.  My kitchen lighting isn't great, but everyone liked the dish so I am considering it a keeper.  It wasn't difficult to pull together and it cooked rather quickly.  I did change a few things from the original recipe, so I am sharing what I did here.  The original recipe is from Taste of Home.

 

Italian Chicken and Rice

 

Preheat oven to 425F.

 

In a plate or shallow bowl, mix:

2/3 cup Bisquick

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheee

2 tsps. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. paprika

 

In second bowl, pour 1/3 cup of evaporated milk.

(You will use a whole 5 oz can for the entire recipe.)



 

Cut up 4 large chicken breasts (boneless, skinless) into roughly equal sized hunks.

I basically went for thirds.

 

Dip chicken in milk, then coating, and set on a platter.

 

Grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Pour in 3 cups of Instant Rice.

Pour in 2 cups of boiling water with 2 tsps. of chicken bouillon added.

Dot with 2 tbsp. of butter.

Pour the remaining milk into your measuring cup and add enough boiling water

to make another cup. 

Pour that over the rice.

 

Arrange your chicken on top and bake uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes or until your chicken is done.

(Mine took about 37 minutes.)

 

(This fed 5 adults and I have two pieces of the chicken left and the rice that was under them.)

 

Notes -- In the future, if I was not serving corn with peppers, I would add diced bell pepper to the rice for a pop of color.  Another thing I would consider is adding green peas or perhaps broccoli if I wanted an all in one casserole.