Swedish Meatballs

I love the Lean Cuisine and Smart One Swedish Meatball meals.  They are awesome!  I have been looking for a recipe to mimic those lunches and I combined about 4 different recipes to find one I like.  Please give this a try.   It has a lot of flavor.  Warning!  There are no vegetables in this recipe, so please serve with a large salad or a steamed vegetable. 

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground pork                       1.80
1 lb of lean ground beef                3.18
1/2 tsp all spice                               .10
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce          .10
1 tsp garlic powder                          .02
1 envelope onion soup mix             .52
1 egg                                                  .10
1/2-1 C Italian bread crumbs        .25
2 bags egg noodles                           2.84

Sauce:
2 cans 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup   1.84
2 cans 98% fat free cream of chicken soup         1.84
1 12 oz can fat free evaporated milk                      .78
S&P and all purpose seasoning to taste
1 tsp garlic powder                                                   .02

Directions:

Start with the meatballs.  In a large mixing bowl put the ground beef, ground pork, all spice, onion soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, egg and 1/2 C bread crumbs.  With clean hands mix the meat until all the spices look incorporated.  If it feels a little wet, add the other 1/2 C bread crumbs. 

Form the meat into 1 to 1/2 inch meatballs and divide into three 8x8" pans.  I got 63 meatballs out of my 2lbs of meat mixture.  In a separate bowl mix the cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soups with the evaporated milk.  Add salt, pepper and all purpose seasoning to taste.  Pour 1/3 of the sauce over all three pans of meatballs.  Here are two of the three pans I made.

I put these two pans into the freezer.  I covered them with foil and labeled them.  One pan I put into the oven at 350 degrees for 45 min.  When thawing a frozen meal, please thaw in the fridge for two days.  Then you may need to bake for 60 min if they are still cold.  When the meatballs are almost done baking boil 2/3 of a package of egg noodles.  Strain well. 

Then put noodles in a bowl and spoon the meatballs and sauce over the noodles.  Top with parsley or all purpose seasoning. 

Yum!  It smells like Ikea!  =)  I hope you give this a try.  I was able to make 3 dinners for $4.46 each.  My husband thought it was delicious.

Christie aka Keeza 

Peach Chicken

This is an easy recipe for marinated chicken.  You can cook the chicken in a pan over medium heat on the stove top, or you can bake the chicken in the oven for 45 min.   Alone this dish does not have any veggies, so make sure you serve with a starch and a good quality vegetable.  I like asparagus and rice to accompany this meal.

6 large or 9 small chicken breasts          7.28
18 oz jar of peach preserves                    1.98
1 bunch green onions--sliced                    .58
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar                            .25
1 Tbsp vegetable oil                                   .05
1/2 tsp pepper

There wasn't a sale on chicken at the store today...so I bought in bulk.  I used 6 large chicken breasts and put two in the freezer for another day.  In this package they cost $1.21 per breast.  These were so large I cut each one in half and put 4 halves in each meal.  I put 4 halves in a 8x8" pan for tonight's dinner and 4 halves into two separate gallon zip lock bags.

Directions:

Mix all of the peach preserves in a medium sized bowl with the pepper, sliced onions and balsamic vinegar.  It turns a wonderful caramel color.

Then pour 1/3 of this gooey marinade over each meal of 4 chicken breast halves. 

The pan on the left is for dinner tonight and the other two bags have been labeled with marker on the outside and go into the freezer.  When you're ready for the frozen ones thaw two days in the fridge, then pour into a frying pan on the stove top.  Heat over medium high heat for 5 min on each side and serve.  Or you can thaw the chicken and pour into a pan and bake.  Tonight I'm going to bake our chicken so it's going into the oven at 350 degrees for 45 min.  The chicken with marinade costs $3.38 each.  I'm going to serve ours with mixed steamed veggies and rice for an approximate cost of $6.50.  This will feed my husband and I for dinner, plus two left over lunches for work tomorrow. Yum!

I like to put some of the extra sauce from the baking pan onto the rice. 

Enjoy!
Christie aka Keeza

Green Bean and Chicken Rice Casserole

Who doesn't love Green Bean Casserole?  I have found and tested a recipe that is a perfect marriage between chicken and rice, and green bean casserole.  It is fabulous!  Be brave!  Give it a try.  The flavor is delicious. 

Ingredients:

1 6oz pkg of long grain and wild rice             1.00
4 C cooked and cubed chicken                       3.84
1 pkg frozen french cut green beans             1.00
1 med onion--chopped                                      .40
1 green pepper--chopped                                 .77
1 envelope onion soup mix                               .50
1 can 98% fat free cream of mushrooms       1.50
1 can 98% fat free broccoli cheese soup         1.50
1 bag fried onions (yum!)                                 3.29
1 can mushrooms (yuck!)                                  .50

    I forgot to put the mushies in the photo...so here they are in all their glory.  

Directions:

Prepare the rice to the box directions.  Meanwhile, mix all the remaining ingredients but the mushies and fried onions together in a large mixing bowl.  Add a little salt (you get some salt from the onion soup mix) pepper and all purpose seasoning to taste.  When the rice is done you can pour that in the bowl and mix it all up. 

Then you split the mixture into two 8x8 inch pans.  Carefully put mushrooms on half of each casserole.  Label the foil to include the name of the casserole, cooking directions and location of the mushrooms. 

Bake one at 350 degrees for 60 min.   Uncover and top with half the fried onions.  Turn the oven up to 400 degrees and bake 5 more min to brown the topping.   The other casserole can go into the freezer for a later dinner.   Put the leftover fried onions in the cabinet so it will be ready when you eat the other dish. 

Are you drooling yet?  How about our bowls?

Just make sure your husband gets the bowl with the mushrooms, and you get the one without them!  I made two casseroles for $7.15 each.  I know I can do better on the price, but I paid top dollar for the condensed soup and green pepper.  I was away from my usual grocery store and had to stop at another one. 
Christie aka Keeza