March 24, 2012.


Another evening together and we decided to try some new dishes and use the husbands and kids as taste testers.  We are going to show you how to do an easy meal in one night including dessert and a drink.  Drema made the bbq chicken and the dessert and Mary made the pasta and drink.  We listed the prices we paid for each meal, not counting the basics like sugar, eggs, vinegar, etc.  We will make another blog post about what we consider the basics.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken (forkinit.blogspot.com)
Total Cost: $10.00 (if  you have the basics)


4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts (i threw them in frozen... even easier!)
1 bottle BBQ sauce (sweet baby ray's all the way!)
1/4 c vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder

Put chicken into crockpot.  Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over chicken.  Cook low heat for 4-6  hours.  I shredded my chicken after it was done and added a little more sauce. 

Our husbands commented that if they had a bun and some cole slaw it would have been good for another entire meal.  Might try that with the left-overs!

Three-Cheese Pasta Bake (myrecipes.com and southern living)

Total Cost: $13.00 (not counting eggs)

1 (16oz) box of ziti

2 (10oz) jar of Alfredo sauce

1 (8oz) sour cream

1 (15oz) ricotta cheese

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup fresh Parsley

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1. Prepare ziti according to package directions; drain and return to pot.
2. Stir together Alfredo sauce and sour cream; toss with ziti until evenly coated. Spoon half of mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
3. Stir together ricotta cheese and next 3 ingredients; spread evenly over pasta mixture in baking dish. Spoon remaining pasta mixture evenly over ricotta cheese layer; sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Everyone liked it except on hubby hates ricotta cheese and wishes we had left it out.  However, he ate two helpings of it lol!

 

Dessert: Hot Fudge Cake (like Shoney's)

Total Cost: $7.00

1 box Devils Food Cake Mix

1 jar Hot Fudge Sauce

1 container Vanilla Ice Cream

This dessert is really easy.  Buy 1 box of Devils Food Cake (doesn't matter the brand).  Make the cake exactly like the box says to.  Once cooled, cut into squares.  Top with one scoop of ice cream.  Heat up the hot fudge and drizzle over the top.  Instant hot fudge cake!

It has been warm here in West Virginia so we decided to make a summer drink!  

Raspberry Lemonade (from the sexyknitter.blogspot.com)

Total Cost: $6.00

Makes 2 Quarts

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Bring the cup of water to a boil. Add the sugar and stir constantly for one minute until sugar is thoroughly dissolved; remove from heat and add to a blender with raspberries. Puree until smooth. Add puree to 2-quart container with lemon juice and enough water to make 2 quarts. Chill before serving.

Two of us thought it was awesome, the other two thought it was too tart!  So if its tart you may want to add some more sugar.

These are our dorks...oh sorry...our loving husbands.  They truly sample everything we make, even if its not really good lol.  I think they were enjoying their chocolate cake (after the two helpings of chicken and pasta)!  

Overall it was a great meal.  This meal fed 6 people easily with some leftovers (and that was considering the men had seconds).  We spent a total of $36.00 which equals to about $6.00 per person.  This was a big meal but easy.  You can leave out the dessert and drink to same some change if needed.  This was still a whole lot cheaper than going out to a restaurant and we still had leftovers.  

Good luck and happy cooking!

Drema and Mary