Recipe: Polish Chicken and Dumplings

This time of year, with 2+ feet of snow on the ground and temps that would make a polar bear wish for a tropical vacation, comfort food is usually the main thing on our menu.  A coworker recently shared this with me and I couldn't WAIT to try it!  It instantly became a new favorite, so I'm sharing it with you!  This super simple recipe will not disappoint.

Preheat oven to 350.

1 small box of frozen pierogies (we use Wegmans white or yellow cheddar, because we are cheese-aholics... but any flavor will work).  Flash boil until floating then drain.

2 chicken breasts- baked (or use leftover rotisserie, or heck even boil in the pierogie water if you're feeling super lazy).  Shred cooked chicken.

1 can of cream of chicken soup, mix with 1/2 can of milk, season with garlic salt and pepper.

In buttered/greased glass/casserole dish layer pierogies then shredded chicken on top.  Cover with seasoned cream of chicken soup mixture.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
 

Crock Pot Craziness!!

For the past few weeks, like any expectant mother, I have been thinking about doing some prep work and planning ahead for when the baby arrives.  One of the ideas that I had was to plan out, shop for and prepare some crock pot meals that can be frozen then thawed and cooked with little time or effort on my part.  I spent some time browsing around online and found a few websites for inspiration.  My initial plan was to select several recipes, prepare a shopping list with all of the ingredients we will need then go from there.  However, since Kevin and I pretty much never cook from a recipe, we scrapped that idea and decided to just wing it.

Before I go any farther, I have to say that I have the absolute most awesome husband in the world.  When I told him about my plan, he was all about it and jumped in head first to help.  So... we made our plans for Saturday (mind you, we only get one out of every 6 weekends off together and this weekend was our last weekend off together before the baby arrives)... and Operation MakeAShitloadOfCrockpotMeals was born.  :)

Saturday morning, we went to the local farmer's market and stocked up on as many fresh veggies are we could.  Unfortunately, the selection wasn't too great this weekend, so we didn't end up with much.  I would love to buy our meats and such from the market, but the price is just unreasonable.  :(  

 So... next up was BJs (Similar to Sams Club or Costco)

We loaded up on meats- bought a HUGE beef chuck roast and pork roast, then asked to have them cut into smaller roasts and stew size pieces (less work for us later!).  We got 2 large packages of boneless skinless chicken, a large package of ground beef and a large package of hot sausage.  

We needed more vegetables, since the farmer's market wasn't so hot this week.  We were torn on what kind (fresh vs frozen) of veggies to get, but ended up going with frozen... less hassle/prep and BJ's prices were great on their organic bulk frozen veggies.

Last up, we bought a handful of popular spices/seasonings in bulk (Ranch dressing mix, Onion soup mix, Italian seasoning, BBQ seasoning/sauce) as well as a few marinades, everything else we had at home.

The prep...

When we got home, I began labeling gallon size Ziploc freezer bags and making index cards for each meal with the ingredients and the recipe.  I highlighted anything we will need to buy later.

Meanwhile, DH prepped all of the veggies that were not frozen (potatoes, onions, carrots, garlic), then put all veggies (fresh and frozen) in their own individual bowl.

Finally, we started preparing the bags.  DH worked on the meat, then I went through with a measuring cup and scooped the veggies into the bags.  Last, we added any necessary seasoning and sealed the bags.  Dropped them into the freezer and... voila!!  We were able to make 36 meals out of our ingredients, several of them large enough to yield seconds for sure.  I must say, we are quite proud of ourselves.  :)

The finished products!!  36 meals!!

I did a price breakdown,and the total came to about $200...

I did use several ingredients that I had in my pantry already (olive oil, hot sauce, different seasonings, etc) that I didn't account for... 

 

Also, a few of the meals will require some sort of dairy to be added prior to serving, but it makes no sense to buy it now because it will spoil before we need it.  We will just buy these as we need them.  As such, I did not account for this in the total, but it shouldn't add more than $10-$15.

Also, several of the meals will be served with pasta, rice or bread... which I also did not account for.  We have a ridiculous pasta/rice stash and will buy the bread as we need it.  These were not factored into the total, but shouldn't add more than $10-$15.

 That said, all in all I think the grand total is probably closer to $6/meal.

Below is the price breakdown and a list of the meals I made... If you are interested in any recipes, let me know.  They are all super super easy!!

We are soooooo very glad we did this today.  Not only did we take one hassle away from the hectic transition to parenthood and save a boatload of money... but it was actually a really fun day with the hubby.  Win win!!

Price Breakdown...

Meat:

Ground Beef: $2.75/lb, approximately 6 lbs- total $16.56

Beef Roast: $2.99/lb, approximately 15 lbs- total $45.60

Pork Loin: $2.49/lb, approximately 8 lbs- total $20.10

Boneless skinless chicken breast: $1.89/lb, approximately 11.5 lbs- total $21.90

Hot Italian Sausage: $2.99/lb, approximately 3 lbs, total- $9.12

Veggies:

Potatoes: $4.69 for 10 lbs (only used half, so $2.35)

Carrots: $5.58 for 6 lbs

Broccoli: $6.59

Corn: $6.39

Green Beans: $5.99

Peppers & Onions: $5.99

Peas: $6.39

Canned diced tomatoes: $5.39 for 8 cans

Canned tomato sauce: $6.59 for 12 cans

Onion: 3 at 3 for $1.00

Garlic: 3 at 3 for $2.00

Seasonings and Marinades:

Onion Soup Mix:  $3.49 for 12 packets (only used 2/3, so $2.33)

Italian dressing: $2.99

Ranch Dressing Mix: $2.99 for 4 packets

Basil & Garlic: $4.99

Various seasoning packets: 6 at $1.00/each- total $6.00

General Tso Marinade: $4.19

Teriyaki Marinade $1.99

Soy Sauce: $1.00

Ziploc Bags- Gallon Freezer- $11.99- $3.00 coupon (used ¼, so $2.25)

Total:  195.27

 Meals

1. Sausage with Peppers and Onions with sauce 
2. Sausage with Peppers and Onions without sauce
3. General Tso Chicken
4. General Tso Chicken
5. Crack Chicken
6. Italian Herb Chicken
7. Chicken Fajitas 
8. Chicken with Corn and Black Beans 
9. Teriyaki Chicken
10. Jerk Chicken
11. Chicken-n-Dumplings 
12. Chicken Noodle Soup
13. Brown Sugar Bourbon Chicken 
14.  Beef Stroganoff
15. Beef Stroganoff 
16. Beef Stew
17. Beef Stew 
18. Extra Veggie Beef Stew
19. Savory Beef Roast 
20. Italian Style Beef Roast 
21. Asian Beef and Broccoli 
22. Spicy Tomato Beef Roast 
23. 3 Envelope Beef Sliders
24. Philly Cheese Steak
25. Dino BBQ Pulled Pork
26. Paula Deen Pulled Pork
27. Savory Pork Roast 
28. Creamy Ranch Pork Roast
29. Asian Pork Roast 
30. Spicy Asian Pork Strips
31. Hawaiian Luau Pork
32. Beef Tacos
33. Spicy Ranch Burgers
34. Meat and Pepper Sauce (for Spaghetti/Ziti)
35. Meat and Pepper Sauce (for Spaghetti/Ziti)
36. Meat and Pepper Sauce (for Spaghetti/Ziti)

Birthday Presents, Birthday Dinner and OOTD

So... what the heck was in the box??

Well, let me just say that I have the BEST brother and brother-in-law in the world.  Seriously.  Apparently Chad read in one of my previous blogs that I am too cheap to buy Uggs.  (it's true).  So... for my birthday, he and my brother bought me a pair of Uggs.  Aren't they sweet?  And oh my.. those boots are so comfortable.  I may never be able to go back to my Bearpaws again.

I tried taking a picture of my super cute new boots, but Lucy kept hogging the camera.  Ham.

Oh... and my mom sent a box of coffees for my new Keurig!  Awesome gift!

So for dinner... I originally planned on just cooking my own birthday dinner, but decided I better take advantage of a date night while I had the chance (it will help my 30 By 30 list, after all)... so I spiffed up a bit and off we went to Francesca's Cucina in Little Italy.

What I wore...

Jeans:  Express
Top:  No idea, but I love it!  Check out the back... sexy!!!

Clutch:  Target
And the best part....

Black sparkly heels (seriously... they sparkle!!) from Steve Madden

Lucy always loves making an appearance in my OOTD pics...

So.... off to Little Italy.  I LOVE Francesca's...

Well... it turns out Francesca's is closed on Sunday.  Boo!  Plan B was Pastabilities in Armory Square.  This was my first visit to Pastabilities and I was very impressed.  The drinks were great (here is me with my Basil Lime Gimlet)

And the food was amazing!  I had calamari and Kevin actually ate some.  Weird!  Then for dinner I had penne with vodka sauce and grilled scallops.  Delish!! 

So... it was an awesome birthday dinner and birthday overall.  I like being 29 already!!

Early birthday surprise!!

So... I'm pulling in the driveway while talking to my BFF, Allison (I never talk on my cell phone while driving, swear!)... anyway I notice a Zappos box on my door step and a white envelope tucked in the screen door.

Commence "Squeeee"ing

Now, my birthday is not officially until the 30th, but I couldn't help myself.  I tore the card open right away... it was from Kevin and super duper mushingly sweet.  Just when I was about to rip open the box (still standing outside on my doorstep)... Kevin opened the door and snatched it from me.  He told me I couldn't have it yet. but handed me a dozen roses instead.  Isn't he the best?  Turns out the box must be something from my brother because he called later to make sure I didn't open it.

Kevin had an idea to surprise me with my birthday dinner tonight because A. I wouldn't be expecting it (well, duh... my birthday is on Sunday) and B. because he will be working on my real birthday.  I'm always up for pampering and surprises, so I was totally ok with this idea.

Kevin sent me downstairs to play around on my computer/blog while he made dinner and ordered me not to come upstairs under any circumstances.  He even made my close my eyes when he walked me over to the table.  This...

was my super awesome birthday dinner.  Kevin made a delicious shrimp linguine with a white wine and garlic sauce.  The sweetest part of the whole thing?  Kevin does not like seafood.  Very rarely do I ever make it at home, because he won't eat it... but he knows I love it, so he made it for me... AND he even tried some... AND liked it.  :)  Yay!!

After dinner, he brought out a yummy Red Velvet cake (with cream cheese frosting... the best) that he made for me.  I am so lucky to have such a sweet guy!

Me bumming around in my sweats enjoying my birthday cake

Lucy and Kevin goofing around in the kitchen.  I think she is begging for cake.

More cake, please?

 Oh... I almost forgot... a few weeks ago, I ordered a canvas from etsy seller Geezees Click here to check out her shop!  I have been anxiously waiting for this beauty to arrive and... it finally did!!!  We haven't figured out exactly where we plan to hang it yet, but I couldn't resist taking it out of the box and snapping a shot.  This is one of our favorite pictures from the wedding and along the right side are the vows we planned to say to each other.  (Catholic wedding, couldn't use our own vows).  But I am SOoooo in love with this canvas and can't wait to have it hanging in our home.

That's it for today.  It has been such an amazingly wonderful afternoon with the hubby.  If my pre-birthday celebration is this good, I can't wait to see what my real birthday brings.