My frugal healthy tip for the day: start it off right by taking your out-of-date and about-to-spoil foods and blending them.
Luckily for all of us, this only comprised mangoes and soy milk.
Still in food preservation mode, I peeled a bunch of pears from our tree that had ripened in the kitchen and made pear sauce out of them - just like apple sauce but with pears. I got them to just the right consistency and then put them on low heat and went off to do something else. Of course, I forgot about them, and when I came down again they had burned.
Or had they?
Turned out, the bottom layer of the pear sauce hadn't burned. It had started to caramelize, so I just whisked it all together to make a medium brown sauce. I am thinking it might be pretty nice warmed up and spooned over a good vanilla ice cream.
Also, I used the last of the plums from the fridge and made a quick jam which made a good accompaniment to tonight's meal.
* * *
Lunch for the three of us at Wonton Hut, and afternoon 'tea' with Flora at Cinnabon.
* * *
For dinner, a recipe I made up myself. Not that it is a majorly creative one, and I am sure it has been thought of before but here it is.
Six chicken thighs, marinated for about 20 minutes in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then browned in a hot pan, just to get the skin crispy. Take out the chicken and set aside.
Next, I added diced carrots, shallots, onions and cooked till soft. I'd usually use celery too - as in a classic onion/carrot/celery mirepoix - but forgot (again) that I didn't have any so made do with what I had.
Into that, I emptied a can of this
And almost a whole can of hot water. Stirred and transferred to a casserole dish, placed the chicken on top and baked in a hot oven till the chicken was done. As to how long, well, a lot depends on the size of the chicken and how long you fried it for. I know mine was about half done already, so it only needed about 15-20 minutes at 350. You have a lot of sauce that can go with rice, mashed potatoes or whatever you like.
FOOD COSTS:
Wonton Hut $ 24.00
Cinnabon $ 9.32
Soup $ 1.43
Chicken thighs $ 5.19
Parsley $ 0.99
Wednesday total $ 40.83
Looks so delicious!! What a great start for September 1st! =) Sigh.... I am so hungry for your food!
ReplyDeleteYou are so creative and the drink looks so tasty. Even though I had my dinner half an hour ago, I still have the craving to have another round of meal to taste the chicken thighs and mango drink. Your dishes not only look delicious, you are very decorative too. You garnish the dishes so well. GREAT JOB !!!!!
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