Not cooking out is a mindset. Once I saw the ridiculous amount we spent on eating out, I was determined to avoid it as much as possible. By pre-planning, I know for sure that I can cook a cheaper more healthy meal faster than buying take out.
Basil Chicken, Martian Heads, and Baked Potatoes
Last night, I left chicken breast tenderloins out to thaw. They were marked down for $2.73 from $4.55. I also cut up two containers of on-sale Brussels sprouts, or Martian Heads, as we call them at Chez Bremer. This took about 5 minutes.
This morning, I put the brussies to the boil with some "Caldo de Pollo," basically chicken bullion crystals from the Hispanic foods section. I will butter the sprouts with salt, pepper, and fresh ground nutmeg.
Whole nutmeg can be found in the same International section of the store. They can be grated with a cheese grater. The taste/aroma is nutmeg on steroids...simply amazing. Like ground nutmeg to the tenth power.
I took a shower while they boiled. I turned the brussies off early, just before they'rd finished cooking. I just left them on the burner in the pot with the lid. Four large baking potatoes were scrubbed and put in the cold oven.
Finally, I mixed one can of sale cream soup (reduced salt), a small amount of pesto from Big Lots, a slosh of white wine, and some garlic together. I sprayed a baking dish with off-brand Pam, poured in half the cream soup mix, added the chicken (which was still half frozen) and put the rest of the soup mix on top. The dish was covered with tin foil and refrigerated. All of this took perhaps 7 minutes, if that long.
When I got home from work, I turned on the oven to 400 degrees to start the potatoes first. About 20 minutes later, I turned the temp down to 350 and popped in the chicken. The chicken took about 25 minutes. Ten minutes before dinner, I re-heated the martian heads.
We had a delicious chicken dinner. The extra baked potatoes made up two lunches for Bruce, with a little chicken and some delicious sauce on top. All for 15 minutes prep time. Anyone can do this.
For all the reasons to "not eat out" check out this great NYC food blog:
Not Eating out in NY
Pic courtesy of My Recipes.
