Chicken Fettuccine with Cherry Tomatoes

Tim loves to cook, and I am extremely thankful for that! So, for Valentine’s Day this past year, I bought him a basket full of cooking things like recipe books, cooking tools, and a wok. Needless to say, we use the recipe books a lot, and this particular recipe comes from Better Homes & Gardens: Comfort Food cookbook. This recipe was so easy and different! Hope you enjoy. J

What You’ll Need:

9 oz of Fettuccine Noodles (Great Value Brand)- $1.00-Walmart

½ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese (we buy 4C brand cause it’s our favorite, but the cheaper brands are around $1.25)-Walmart

2 tbsp. of olive oil

1 large chicken breast- $2.00

1 or 2 Tomatoes cut and diced- $2.00-Walmart

½ cup of pitted ripe olives (Great Value Brand)- $1.15-Walmart

Salt & Pepper

Total cost: $7.40. Serves 4. Per Person: $1.85

Directions:

1.)  Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain & return to pan.

2.)  Cut chicken into strips and cook. Season to taste.

3.)  Remove from heat.

4.)  Combine chicken and noodles.

5.) Cut up tomatoes and olives.

6.) Add the tomatoes, olives, parmesan cheese, and olive oil to the chicken and pasta.

7.)  Serve immediately

This cookbook came with nutritional facts!

371 calories. 15 grams of fat. 39 carbs. 3 grams of fiber. 22 grams of protein.

Stay classy fellow food lovers,

J&T

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

If you remember, our first post in our blog was Asian-Braised Pork (we only used about a 1/2 of the pork we bought). We thawed the rest of the pork we had, and we made amazing Pulled Pork Sandwiches with the remainder of the pork. We have never tried this kind of BBQ pulled pork before, but we have to say, it was definitely awesome. We used our crock-pot to make this meal. We started cooking about noon and ate dinner at about 7. It's amazing how much better food can taste when it's been cooking all day!

What You'll Need:

2 pounds of pork shoulder or other roast- $4.00

1 can of root beer- $1.00

BBQ Sauce (We use Sweet Baby Ray's.)- $2.00

Hamburger Buns (Great Value Brand)- $1.25

Everything was purchased @ Walmart.

Makes about 8 sandwiches.

Total cost: $8.25. About $1.00 per sandwich.

Directions:

1.) Trim roast and place in slow cooker.

2.) Pour root beer over roast and cook on low for 7 hours.

3.) Drain roast and pull apart pork using 2 forks.

4.) Put pulled pork in container and add BBQ sauce to taste.

5.) Serve on buns for sandwiches or by itself.

Our side dishes were coleslaw & sweet potato fries!

Stay classy fellow food lovers,

J&T

Weight Watcher's Chocolate Cake

Who doesn't love chocolate? Ok...maybe a few people, but for all of you chocolate lovers out there: this is an amazing recipe that is not only good...it's also low on calories and fat! Jessica's grandma always makes this at Christmas, and now, it's time to share this great recipe with you.

What You'll Need:

1 8 oz can of diet coke (we bought a liter for $1.25)

1 box of German Chocolate Cake Mix-$1.00

1/2 can of fat free caramel topping-$1.25

1 tub of fat free whipped cream (Great Value Brand)-$1.00

Total cost: $4.50.

Directions:

1.) Combine cake mix, 8 oz (a cup and a 1/2) of diet coke, and 1/2 of caramel topping into mixing bowl. Mix well.

2.) Pour contents into a cake pan (remember to spray the pan with PAM beforehand).

3.) Bake on 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes (depending on your oven).

4.) After it's finished baking and cooling, add whipped cream and rest of caramel topping.

 

We love how easy this cake is to make, and who would have thought Diet Coke would taste so good in a cake? 

Stay classy fellow food (and chocolate) lovers,

J&T

Tropical Sushi

We love sushi. Whenever we have a chance to go out with our friends-we always want to get sushi. We pay on average $6 for about a roll of sushi, and we usually order about 4-5 different rolls (each roll comes with about 7 pieces of sushi). We decided to experiment if we could make our favorite sushi for less than what we pay at our favorite restaurant, and it worked out great. :)
We made 40 pieces of sushi (about 6 rolls) for around $10.00.

What You'll Need:
To make the sushi rice:

2 cups of uncooked white rice(We bought a huge 5lb bag of Kokuho Rose Sushi rice for 6$, but you can use regular white rice)-$1.50-Kroger
3 cups of water
1/2 cup rice vinegar-$1.00-Kroger
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. salt
Wax Paper-$1.50-Walmart

What You'll Need:
To put on the inside of the sushi:
Mango- .98c- Walmart
Imitation Crab Meat- $2.50- Walmart
Cucumber- .78c- Walmart
Cream Cheese (Great Value Brand)- $1.00-Walmart
Nori - Seaweed Sheets-$1.00-Kroger

Total Cost: $10.26. We made 7 sushi rolls which was about 40 pieces of sushi  out of this so it is about $1.50 per roll or about .25c per piece of sushi. Serves 4-6 people.

Directions:
To make sushi rice:
1.) Rinse the 2 cups of white rice in a strainer or colander until the water runs clear.
2.) Combine the 2 cups of rinsed rice with the 3 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Boil then turn to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
3.) In a small saucepan, combine the rice, vinegar, oil, sugar, and salt. Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
4.) Combine cooked rice and mixture. Stir well.
5.) Cool rice to touch.

Directions:
To make sushi rolls:
1.) Cut up mango, cucumber, cream cheese, and crab into longer strips.

2.) Lay out a sheet of roasted seaweed on top of wax paper and pat down rice on top of it until it is flat and stuck to the seaweed.

3.) Put the long cut-up strips of mango, cucumber, cream cheese, and crab onto the rice and seaweed.

4.) Lift and roll seaweed into a tight roll.

5.) Cut the pieces of sushi out of the roll.

LOTS of sushi for us. They are great leftovers for the next day too. :)

What could be a great side dish to your sushi? Try Edamame. Seriously, SO good and very healthy...unless you add the salt & soy sauce we do to it. ;)

This is amazing. We hope you love it.

Stay classy fellow food lovers,

J&T

Tomato Basil Pizza

We are both huge fans of the show The Office. We re-run all of the shows from time to time on the amazing Netflix, and we happened to come across the episode where Michael Scott wants to get some “Za” (pizza) with Jim. It made us want some “Za” as well so we decided to make this recipe. Hope you enjoy. :)

What You’ll Need:

Pre-made pizza crust- $3.00-Walmart

Philadelphia Italian Cooking Cream- $2.25-Walmart

Mozzarella Cheese (Great Value)- $1.25-Walmart

Basil (8 leaves, torn)- $1.00-Walmart

Tomatoes  (thinly sliced and round shape)-$1.00-Walmart

(optional but recommended) Feta Cheese-$2.00-Walmart

Total Price: $10.50. Serves 4. Price Per Person: $2.62

**Suggestions to make the recipe cheaper: Use Pillsbury Dough-$1.25 instead of Pre-made crust, and don’t use Feta Cheese** We wanted to use the Pre-made crust and feta cheese cause we think it’s better that way.**

Directions:

1.)  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2.)  Use ½ tub of the Philadelphia cooking cream and spread it on the top of the pizza crust.

3.)  Tear/Cut up the basil leaves to the amount you want on your pizza. Cut tomatoes into round, thin pieces.

4.)  Add Mozzarella cheese to the top of the pizza then continue adding the basil, tomatoes, and feta cheese.

5.)  Cook pizza for 12-13 minutes directly on rack or pizza stone.

6.)  Cut & Serve.

Like we said, we love The Office, and we’re really glad we watched this episode because we decided to make this amazing pizza out of it.

Stay classy fellow food lovers,

J&T

Barbeque Ranch Chicken Salad

Our favorite place to get a good salad is Panera Bread. Jessica’s favorite salad to get is the BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad. This is our attempt at making the salad, and we’ve got to say- it tastes exactly like the one from Panera. Plus, we pay around $8.00 for the salad at Panera, but we paid a total of $10.70 to make this salad (which serves 4), and you only have to use half of the cilantro and avocado. Loving this recipe.

What you’ll need:

Mixed Romaine Salad- $3.00-Walmart

Cilantro- $.65c-Walmart

Tomatoes- $.60c-Walmart

Avocado- $.75c-Walmart

Ranch Dressing- $1.50-Walmart

BBQ Sauce- $2.00-Kroger

Santa Fe Tortilla Strips- $1.00-Kroger

Black Beans- $.60c-Walmart

Corn- $.60c-Walmart

 Price per person: $2.67

Directions:

1.) Cook chicken with salt and pepper. Cut into strips.

2.) Cut up tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado.

3.) Open and drain cans of corn and black beans.

4.) Cook corn in skillet until hot.

5.) Mix 1/2 cup of bbq sauce and 1/2 cup of ranch for dressing.

6.) Combine salad, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, black beans, and corn.

7.) Top salad with tortilla strips and bbq/ranch dressing.

8.) Serve. :)

We love this salad just as much as we love it at Panera- only this time, we'll be saving a lot of money.

Stay class fellow food lovers,

J&T

Baked Tilapia & Veggies

Hello!
Tonight's dinner was just great, and now it's time to share our recipe with you. When we first started dating, all we did was cook together. Jess was living in the dorms, and Tim was off-campus so needless to say- she came over a ton for anything that wasn't cafeteria food. This Baked Tilapia & Veggies recipe- we actually put together ourselves. We both love fish, vegetables, rice, and cheese sooo why not combine them all together? We thought it was a good idea, and we're sure you will too.

What you'll need:

Frozen Tilapia Filets- $2.00

2 cups of any kind of vegetables you want- $2.00

((We used squash, zucchini, carrots, green pepper, and orange tomatoes))

2 cups of cooked rice- $1.00

Lemon Juice- $1.00-for a big bottle

Salt & Pepper

Parmesan or Mozzarella Cheese(optional)

Total Price: $6.00. Makes 4 servings.

Per Person: $1.50

Directions:

1.) Thaw frozen tilapia filets and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.) Start cooking the rice according to directions on package.

3.) Chop vegetables and set aside.

4.) Lay out about two 1.5'-2' of tin foil and spoon half of rice on each. Place fish on top.

5.) Put half of the vegetables on top of each and sprinkle salt, pepper and lemon juice.

6.) Fold foil over and make into packages. Poke holes in the foil with a fork and place in the oven.

7.) Bake on 350 for 30-35 minutes.

8.) (optional) Open package put mozzarella cheese on top and bake until cheese melted.

9.) Enjoy :)

{Tip: If you buy your tilapia filets @ Food Lion, sometimes they have their tilapia filets for buy one, get one!}

Stay classy fellow food lovers,

J&T