Homemade Croutons

I purchased a loaf of Italian bread, but you could easily make a smaller batch of croutons with leftover bread. Ingredients: bread, butter, olive oil and spices.

Because I am using an entire loaf of bread, I have melted one stick of butter and I have stirred in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Reduce this mixture if you are working with a smaller quantity of bread.

To prepare the bread, first slice your bread similarly to the thickness of a typical slice of sandwich bread.
Taking 3-4 slices at a time, cut the bread into 1" slices.

Turn the slices 90* and finish slicing the bread into 1" cubes!

I find it easier to work with smaller batches, it helps to evenly coat all of the bread cubes.

Drizzle the butter and oil mixture over the cubes, and mix thoroughly.

Mmmm, your cubes will look just as yummy as these! (Not saturated, just coated!)

Go ahead, eat a few... just don't eat too many or you'll have fewer croutons to enjoy later!

After you've finished taste testing your buttery cubes, add some of your favorite spices. I've added my ol' stand by of Good Seasons Italian salad dressing mix AND some dried Rosemary- I definitely recommend the Rosemary!!!

Spread an even layer in the bottom of a pan. Bake at 375* for 10 minutes, flip all of your half crispy croutons and bake for another 8-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on your crisping croutons- especially during the second half of the baking!

I prefer 2 metal 9x13's so that I don't accidentally toss half of my croutons off of the pan when I flip them half way through baking.

These croutons are a perfect addition to any salad! We are BIG salad eaters in our home, so I thought that I'd share some of my favorite salad add-ins.

Romain lettuce (best current price is $3.99/2 pound bag of pre-washed, pre-cut leaves at Gordon Food Service).

Cheddar, mozzarella, feta, diced eggs, bacon crumbles, grilled chicken, sliced steak, thinly sliced deli meat, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrot slices, sliced strawberries, dried cranberries or cherries, canned pineapple chunks, canned mandarin orange slices and, of course... yummy croutons!

And be sure to try my favorite 'homemade' salad dressing!

Bakin' Bacon

My boys are bacon lovers... but I HATE the mess! So I crank up my oven to 500.*

Make sure to line your baking sheet with foil... and lay your bacon across the sheet. *I will let my slices touch since they shrink while cooking!

When the bacon has finished... well, baking, I lay a few paper towels on the foil to soak up the grease... viola!!! Easy clean up!

PS: Don't leave your kitchen- bakin' bacon is a quick process! I normally bake mine for about 10 minutes!!!

Alfredo Sauce

Simple ingredients, scrumptious results!

Ingredients include: heavy cream, butter, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic and pepper.

NOTE: I am making a quadruple batch!

First, melt the butter in a stock pot, and then add the garlic and pepper.

Next, stir in the Parmesan cheese a little bit at a time- so it melts right into the butter! I stand at the stove and continuously stir.

Once you are confident that the Parmesan cheese has been thoroughly melted into the mixture, pour in the heavy cream. Keep stirring!

You will know that it is time to add the mozzarella cheese when the previous step begins to haze, letting you know that the cold cream's temperature has been raised. Slowly add the mozzarella, and stir for an additional 5 minutes!

Lastly, I prepare several meal sized containers for freezing!

Technically, I have made 4 batches simultaneously, but each of these containers holds just over 1.5 cups of delicious Alfredo sauce- plenty to feed between 4 and 6 people.

Making a single batch is just as much work as making several batches- but since this sauce freezes well, I plan ahead for several meals!

Recipe Recap: (single batch)

16 ounces of heavy cream

3/4 cup of mozzarella cheese -finely shredded

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

1 stick of butter

2ish cloves of garlic

a dash of pepper

My quadruple batch's estimated cost:

64 ounces of heavy cream- $6 (Costco)

4 cups of mozzarella cheese- $1 (self shredded a single brick)

2 cups of Parmesan cheese- $2 (sale at Super Kroger)

4 sticks of butter- $1.50 (Meijer store brand)

garlic & pepper- nominal

Total: $10.50/ 8 meals!

Tomato Sauce

I shopped at Gordon Food Service for a few of the key ingredients. I wanted large cans of tomatoes that were purchasable without a warehouse membership.

The ingredient list for homemade tomato sauce: Canned tomatoes (I chose diced), canned tomato puree, Kosher salt, garlic (I chose fresh, but you could choose garlic salt and omit the Kosher salt), Basil, Oregano, Italian seasonings and spaghetti sauce seasoning packets (for thickening).

I first opened all of my big cans, and I scooped out just the tomatoes with a slotted spoon.

I placed the diced tomatoes into my blender and pulverized them!!!OK, I did accidentally use the crushed ice setting- and these bad boys were blended into oblivion in 4.3 seconds... literally! (If you happen to love tomatoes as much as I do... this step smells AWESOME!)

The more tomatoes that I sifted out of the large cans, the more difficult it became to separate the diced tomatoes from the liquid, so I pulled out my favorite little strainer (circa: 1997, my first purchased 'move out on my own' item!) and sifted the remaining tomato pieces.

I reserved the juice for later (even though I just wanted to chug it!!!) The remainder was surprisingly about 3 cups of juice! *NOTE: I only added one can's worth of tomato juice into the tomato sauce. I am saving the remainder for another recipe.

OK, I far over estimated how much tomato puree I would need, and to add cherry on top (so to speak) I underestimated the size of my stock pot (8 quart).I used 1/3 of the large can (4 cups) of the puree in my sauce. I still think that it was more cost effective to purchase the large can ($4.50) and use 1/3 and freeze the remaining 2/3 for another sauce making day!

We are HUGE fans of garlic in our house! One full head of garlic minced was yummy, but next time I may add more... or I may just add more when I add my ground beef or ground turkey to the sauce!

Along with the freshly pressed garlic (bottom), I added 1 1/2t. Basil(left), 3t. Oregano (top), and 3t. Italian seasonings (right). I also added 2t. of Kosher salt (not in the photo!).

Sheepishly, I'll admit that this photo is actually NOT the truth! I added just TWO packets, three seemed excessive, and after taste testing the final product... TWO was the perfecto amount!!!

Mix all ingredients well, and it looks beautiful... just like this!!! I wish you catch a whiff of this!!!

I simmered the sauce for 3 hours, happily stirring every half hour or so. I must admit, I snitched a couple of spoon-samplings... just to make sure it was STILL yummy! Rest assured, it was!

I daringly (since I've experienced Ziploc bag fail) measured out 3 cups (24 ounces since jarred sauce is portioned at 26 ounces/jar) of homemade tomato sauce per Ziploc.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive (10) 3 cup portions! I'm looking forward to making hearty pasta dishes like: lasagna, spaghetti, baked spaghetti, and chicken Parmesan.

Recipe Recap: (with my pricing)

(2) 6lb/6oz Cans of tomatoes. (3.49/can = $6.98)

4 Cups of tomato puree. ($4.49/can, 1/3 can = $1.50)

1 1/2 Teaspoons of Basil. (unsure of cost, we already owned this spice)

3 Teaspoons of Oregano.(unsure of cost, we already owned this spice)

3 Teaspoons of Italian seasonings.(unsure of cost, we already owned this spice)

2 Teaspoons of Kosher salt.(unsure of cost, we already owned this spice)

(2) Packets of spaghetti seasonings. ($1.01 for McCormicks = $2.02)

Total: $10.50 for (10) jar size portions.

Personal Notes: We make several cold weather dinner dishes that call for tomato sauce. Normally with coupons I can purchase sauce for $1-ish per jar pretty easily. But what I like about the homemade sauce is that it magically seems *special*! The 30 minutes that it took me to prep and package the sauce was time well spent!

***Thank you Beth and Patrick for sharing your yummy recipe with our family!

Chicken Stock

Each week at the grocery store I make sure to pass through the whole chicken display. Normally, a whole chicken sells for about $.89/pound. I always keep an eye out for whole chickens that are nearing their 'sell by' date, so I can receive a 40% discount.

I always stick my whole chickens in the freezer when I return home, since I am not fond of the "juice" (ahem, gook!) that is packaged with the chicken.*Normally, the 40% off chickens are available during the colder months, I rarely find the whole chickens deeply discounted in the summer.

I like to begin cooking my chicken just after I have cleaned up from dinner. I like to allow my chicken to cook all night long. I placed this frozen chicken in my crock pot and filled my crock pot completely with water. *My chicken was pretty big, so a little lump broke the surface of the water.

The following morning, after 12 hours of cooking on low, I turned my crock pot off. Several hours later, around lunch time, my chicken (and stock) was cooled enough to handle.

I carefully removed the chicken and placed it in a bowl so that I could take care of the chicken stock first. *Be careful, your chicken will literally fall off of the bone!

To prepare the chicken stock, I place a paper towel into a small strainer.

This paper towel strains little pieces of chicken that have fallen from the chicken, and it actually keeps the fat (that has melted from the chicken while cooking) from draining through into the chicken stock.

Home made chicken stock is MUCH more flavorful than its canned counterpart. One cup of 'home brew' is the equivalent to one can of chicken stock. My favorite part of the home made variety is that I am in control of the salt that I add to my stock. Canned chicken stock is very salty!

I'm always impressed at how well my paper towels strain. I change my paper towels often, I may use 5-6 paper towels per crock pot of stock!

I prefer to package my stock in 2 cup containers, basically the equivalent of 2 cans.

My $2.54 chicken yielded the equivalent of TWELVE cans of chicken stock and 5-6 cups of shredded chicken. All of my 20-25-ish minutes of time spent with my whole chicken was well worth it!!!

12 cans of chicken stock would cost at least $12 at the grocery store, but my 'home brew' is a FREE byproduct to cooking my chicken. And shredded chicken can easily make, chicken noodle soup, fajitas, chicken taco's, chicken salad, chicken pot pie... or my favorite, chicken Alfredo lasagna!

Personal Notes:

1. I prefer to store my stock in plastic containers since I had a Ziploc bag fail while thawing stock in my refrigerator.

2. I label my reusable plastic containers with blue painter's tape, so I can easily peel the label when I've used the frozen contents.

3. Chicken stock can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days before using, but be aware that it will have the consistency of Jello.