Amazing Facts on Technology-Internet, People, Gadgets

Amazing facts on the growth of technology. Absolutely unbelievable statistics on everything from the internet to foreign countries technology to our Ipods. The MySpace & India statistics blew me away. Upon watching this video, I have a point to ponder: Technology is advancing almost exponentially...is our education system going to be able to keep up?

RECIPES-Fast, tasty easy meals-Part 3

MY RECIPES-
The following are some of my recipes that I add to my fix & go combos, see previous post. These meals are quick, tasty and budget minded-some under $10 for a family of six. Add these ingredients to your shopping list to have a wide variety of meals for a couple of weeks.

Cherie’s Best Ever PEPSI Roast!!!!!!

Roast meat-buy the cut you like. I buy about a 5lb chuck roast with a little fat for flavor and tenderness, but most any cut will work in this recipe.

Potatoes peeled and cut into quarters (about 10)
Carrots-I buy the minis, 1lb package ready to go
1 onion-white or yellow cut into stew size chunks
1 clove of garlic
1 pkg lipton onion soup or generic version
1 pkg meatloaf seasoning
1 2 liter of Pepsi
salt & pepper

Put meat in large crock pot/slow cooker, season with salt and pepper, cut potatoes, carrots (if you bought the baby carrots, put in whole) & onions into crock pot. Add package of meatloaf seasoning and onion soup mix. Now add about 2 cups water. Next fill crock pot to the top of the ingredients with the Pepsi, approximately 4 cups. Put the lid on let cook on high for approx. 3 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook for approximately 1 more hour. May need to add a little water during last hours. Cook until veggies are tender and the meat is separating. Approx. YUMMY

Helpful hints:
Next day if you have left over meat, put the meat in a bowl and shred or separate with a fork, add your favorite BBQ sauce & voila you have BBQ pulled beef sandwiches.

German Stew
1 pkg Ekrich or similar brand sausage
10 medium new potatoes (Yukon Gold’s taste great)
1 red onion
½ cup margarine
2 cans cut green beans
salt & pepper

Boil potatoes. Slice sausage into ½ inch pieces.
Simmer butter, onions, green beans & sausage in a skillet until onions are soft & becoming translucent.
Drain potatoes. Add butter, onion, sausage & green beans. Mix together. Flavor with salt & pepper.

Oven Burritos-Beef
Tortillas-flour medium size
1lb ground beef-(use beef from the Fix & GO Recipes)
½ cup chopped onion
1 can Ranch style beans (if your family does not like beans, use a package of taco seasoning
1 jar cheese queso dip
Sour cream if desired

Warm oven to 350 degrees. Brown ground beef with onions. Drain. Add Ranch style beans and warm. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Let cool.
Place a large spoonful of meat/beef mixture onto tortilla, roll into a burrito. Place next to each other in casserole dish. Spoon cheese queso dip over the top of each burrito & spread evenly. Place in oven for 20 minutes. Garnish with sour cream & picante sauce.

Dorito Dinner
1lb ground beef
1 can Ranch Style Beans
½ cup chopped onion
2 cups grated cheese
Sour cream
Lettuce
Tomatoes-diced
1 bag Tortillas or Dorito Nacho Cheese Chips

Brown ground beef with onions. Drain. Add Ranch style beans and warm. In a bowl, crush tortilla chips into bite size pieces. Top with meat mixture. Then garnish as desired with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes & sour cream.

Crock Pot Stew
1 ½ lbs ground beef
3 cans any brand minestrone soup
2 cans Ranch style beans
1 can Rotel-diced tomatoes w/onions & chilies
½ cup chopped onion

Brown ground beef with onions. Drain. Pour meat mixture into crock pot. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on high for 1 1/2 hours or low for 3 hours. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Crock Pot Pork
1-2lbs family style pork steak or pork chops
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 clove of garlic minced
½ cup sliced onion
8-10 new potatoes, peeled potatoes or Yukon golds quartered
1 1/2 soup can of water

Put all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on high for 21/2 – 3 hours. Stirring occasionally. Salt & pepper to taste.

Crunchy Chicken Tortillas
Flour tortillas
Breaded chicken tenders –popcorn or tenders-I like Tyson, but any brand will work
Lettuce
Tomato
Picante Sauce
Sour cream

Prepare chicken tenders. Put in tortilla. Garnish with following as desired-tomatoes, lettuce, picante and sour cream.


Delicious Oven Baked Chicken Tenders
1 lb boneless chicken tenders- chicken breasts & cut up chicken works also
1 box instant mashed potatoes-try cheddar or herb & butter flavor
Spray vegetable spray or butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheet. Make sure chicken tenders are moist. Coat chicken tenders in instant mashed potatoes (use a plastic bag-fill with potatoes mix, drop tenders in & shake to coat). Place on cookie sheet (not touching) Put on cookie sheet. Cook for 10 minutes, then spray with cooking spray or put a very small (about a dime size) pat of butter or margarine or butter on each piece of chicken. Cook for another 15 minutes.

Quick & Easy Meatloaf
1 ½ lbs ground beef
1 pkg stuffing mix (generic or Stove Top)for pork
1 egg
¼ cup milk
1/4 cup water
4 tbspoons ketchup
1 pkg onion soup mix
salt & pepper

Tomato sauce- ½ cup ketchup, 2 tbsp mustard, 2 tbsp. brown sugar- combined in mug or bowl

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Combine ingredients. Press into loaf pan.
Bake for 45 minutes. Pour off grease occasionally. 10 minutes before done cover with tomato sauce.

Quick and Easy Tasty Canned Green Beans-
1 or 2 cans green beans & juice, dab of butter, 1 tbsp bacon bits, garlic powder and 1 tsp powder chicken bouillon. Simmer in medium saucepan while you cook dinner.

Potato Soup
10 potatoes peeled
1 onion chopped
1 minced garlic clove
1 tbspoon garlic powder
1 tbspoon onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
butter to sautee
4 slices cooked bacon cut into small quarter size pieces (save & freeze, next time you cook breakfast)
1 small pint or 1 cup half & half
2 cups milk (approx)
2 cups cheddar cheese
Sour cream if desired
Salt & pepper
In a large pot, boil potatoes. Drain potatoes leaving about 3 cups water. Sautee onion and garlic in butter. Add to potatoes. Add half & half, ½ bacon and ½ cheese. Heat over medium heat. Once soup is very warm & bubbling (soft boil, approx.. 20 minutes), add the rest of the dry seasonings. Add milk to desired consistency. Bring to soft boil again. Add salt & pepper to taste Use other ½ cheese & bacon to garnish. Sour cream if desired.
Helpful hints:
Cooked seafood such as, clams, shrimp and fish and a can of corn can be added instead of bacon for a wonderful seafood chowder.

White Chili
4 cups cooked chicken- about 3 or 4 breasts
1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes & chilis)
2 cans great white northern beans
1 onion chopped
2 cans chicken broth (regular size)
1 can hominy or corn-optional

Combine all ingredients in a pot. Add 2 or 3 cups water or additional broth as needed. Cook on medium for approximately 1 hour until onions are cooked. Serve with tortilla chips, a dollop of sour cream & Monterey Jack cheese.

Helpful hints:
The leftovers from this chili can be substituted into the Beef Burrito recipe. Just drain the liquid first! Use Monterey Jack cheese instead of queso sauce.

SAVE MONEY, EAT HEALTHY AT HOME- PART 2

PART 2-

AT HOME-We all have been there…probably on a weekly basis…Cheerleading, soccer, football, meetings, church, long day at work, hurry home…only to have issues…soccer shoes are missing? homework isn’t finished…not to mention stopping at the store...constantly running late…no time to fix a nice healthy dinner…okay, fast food…we will just go through the drive through… DON’T DO IT!

INSTEAD, set aside one afternoon and save your health, money and time!

This part seems detailed, but is really very simple. I will try to explain and break down in the simplest of terms, but the basic theory is to buy quantity of meats, pasta, rice, and vegetables and to pre-prepare meals by having the meat and pastas ready to go. AT THIS POINT, I MAY BE LOSING YOU. I PROMISE THIS IS NOT LABOR INTENSIVE. You already spend the time cooking the meat, pasta and veggies, why not spend a little extra and cook it all at once! I spend maybe 3 hours (often less) every couple weeks, and I save quadruple the money, time and hassle by doing so. Best of all, your family will be ending a lot of fast food meals!

THIS IS ALSO A GREAT PLAN FOR SINGLES, just cook smaller quantities.

BE BRAVE READ ALL!

THE PREPARATION-cooking- this takes approximately 2-3 hours, but you don’t have to be a slave to the stove, you can catch up on TV or fold laundry during the process.
The shopping list is below.

Time to start-get out the chicken!

Helpful hints:
Add about ½ cup water to stretch your marinade. If possible, try to marinade overnight, but otherwise don’t sweat if you don’t have time or didn’t remember.

CHICKEN
Split the chicken into 2 or 3 varieties & marinade in your marinades…leave some unseasoned if desired…this batch can be seasoned at FIX and GO time.

Start separating-I usually do 4 pots (wow, 4 burners on my stove). 3 pots with chicken and my chosen marinade or spice...and 1 pot plain chicken or I grill some chicken. Next time you grill out, grill some extra and freeze.

Here are some seasoning options, see shopping list below for more ideas:
Ott’s-alone or add to the taco recipe, yummy
Caribbean Jerk-our family favorite
Cajun Seasoning
Lemon pepper-put chicken in pot, water, lemon pepper & a little olive oil.
Taco-same, chicken in pot, water, package of taco seasoning, sometimes I add a little picante or rotel, if available.
Garlic-powder or salt & some cloves
Powdered chicken bouillon, add a few teaspoons (its salty, no need for salt, garlic powder, garlic clove
Lime & cilantro
Onion Soup Mix

Now that all the pots have chicken, water & seasoning or marinade in them, turn the burners to medium and let them cook until the chicken is done….you might have to add water as the tastiness cooks down.

When the chicken is cooked, put in separate bowls until cooled.

BEEF AND PORK
Helpful hints:
You can do the following meats, to the ratio that suits your family’s tastes…2 pots ground beef to 2 pork’s or any combination.

Next wash and dry the pans you just used for the chicken.

Divide the ground beef into two or three of the pots. Add onion, garlic and seasoning as above. Brown the ground beef.

While your ground beef is cooking, use your last pot for the the pork tenderloin (in marinade) and simmer the same way you did the chicken.

By the time, the ground beef and pork is well on it’s way to cooking, the chicken should be cooled.

You are ready for the next step.

Take your first bowl of cooked seasoned chicken and cut into bite size pieces. And put into small Ziploc sandwich size baggies. If you have a large family, make 1 or 2 larger sized servings, approximately 1 cup per adult.

Use a Sharpie marker to note the seasoning and meat on the bag. Example: Cajun Chicken.

Repeat for each flavor. Include a little juice/broth in each bag, except for one (works great in salads, better without broth). Put into freezer

Now upon completion of cutting & bagging all the chicken, your ground beef & pork should be done. Set aside in bowls to cool.

PASTA AND RICE
Helpful hints:
Rice is not hard to cook; the secret is having a good pot, with a good lid. Into pot put rice and water in at a 1 to 2 ratio. 1 cup rice 2 cups water. Add a little margarine, 1 tablespoon, put on high until it boils uncovered, the minute it boils, turn your burner to low or simmer & put the lid on the pot. Cook for 20 minutes. Check to make sure rice done & no liquid in pot.

I do not add salt, chicken broth or any flavor other than margarine, as the princess loves white rice, milk & butter & sugar for her breakfast. Wouldn’t quite be the same tasty treat with chicken broth. Otherwise, if your family is not one for sweet rice, go ahead & use chicken broth.

Again, clean and dry the pots, fill with water and boil, (check pasta for cooking instructions) cook as much pasta as your stove will hold. If you are tiring of the process reserve one pot for the rice or two. Sometimes, I am industrious, and do a round of cooking for each.

Now that the rice & pasta are cooking, drain & bag the ground beef into small Ziploc baggies, same as the chicken.

Once the pasta & rice have cooked, drain & cool to room temperature.

Separate rice and pasta into baggies, just as you previously did with the chicken and meats. Use large baggies for the pasta, as this will be used more often.
Put all your baggies in the freezer!!! YOU ARE FINISHED!

NOW THE FUN PART!!!!
I CALL THESE FIX & GO RECIPES:

The first time you do this it will be a learning experience, next time you will be the pro. You will know the size of bags to freeze and the combinations that work for your family. But I assure you that you will save time and money! Instant meals and snacks that just need thawed and combined. Pick a meat, pick a pasta or rice thaw or warm in the microwave. Cook your veggies as needed, add your seasoning, voila! a complete and balanced meal in about 10 minutes. Endless possibilities and lots of fresh healthy QUICK, did I mention QUICK meals ready to go in your freezer. Combine the frozen meats and pastas in the large baggies, with a special vegetable for a nice sit down meal.

To thaw, I place the baggies of pasta in a bowl & microwave. To thaw the meat, I empty from the bag & microwave.

If I am fixing a meal for the entire family, I use a large pot to warm the meat, while I steam or microwave my vegetables, then I combine the pasta/rice and vegetables. Use the large baggies of frozen meat & pasta.

I would love to hear more from the readers, but these are some of our quick fix meals/snacks. All of the kids can fix their own meal or snack if needed in about 5 minutes. The food is healthy; less costly and very little goes to waste!


FIX & GO COMBO’s:

Corkscrew or macaroni pasta & parmesan, little salt & pepper
Pasta, steamed veggies, parmesan season to taste
Pasta, meat or chicken (Caribbean Jerk is delicious), veggies, spaghetti sauce
Pasta, spaghetti sauce-hence why I keep a jar of Ragu in fridge, my teenage boys love this…surprisingly they don’t always add meat.
Pasta, meat or chicken, veggies, alfredo sauce
Rice, meat, veggies
Rice, queso, chicken
Baked potato (microwave), meat, cheese & sour cream
Yukon gold potatoes, chicken, canned green beans
Oven Burrito’s-see recipe below
Meat and a can of Manwich
Pasta. chicken, mushrooms, parmesan
Pasta, lemon pepper chicken, summer blend steam vegetables
Warm tortilla with taco seasoned meat
Warm tortilla, taco chicken, rice
Warm tortilla, taco chicken, sautéed peppers and onions, sour cream
Tacos
Tortilla chips, chicken or meat, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes. ***ADD a can of ranch style beans to stretch & add flavor.
Salad with chicken added.
Seasoned ground beef on toast or buns with bbq sauce
BAGEL or FRENCH BREAD PIZZA-great for after school snacks
Warm oven to 350
On open side of bagels or French bread, spread thin layer of spaghetti sauce, add cooked chicken, beef or pork. Sprinkle with fresh veggies, onions, green peppers, tomatoes. Cover with cheese. Put in oven for 6-8 minutes. Delicious quick snack!!! These can also be made in the toaster oven. I suggest toasting one side first.


SHOPPING LIST: I suggest that you go back through this list & highlight what you need to get started. Also, read through all my recipes below to complete your shopping list. I would also suggest that you shop at your local store that has featured sales on meat, as this is where you will spend the bulk of your grocery money.

Chicken tenders or breasts (boneless & frozen works great) save even more by cooking whole chickens-10lbs work great –
Ground beef-buy the big family pack-again 10lbs works great
Pork tenderloins-these usually come in smaller packages with no bones.-buy the most for your buck you can get.

Pasta-buy enriched good pasta, the few cents difference will not matter. Just make sure you buy 5 or 6 varieties.
Rice-white or brown, either or!

Spaghetti sauce-use your favorite brand, or try a few new varieties. I buy Hunts ($1.00 on sale) in the can & keep a few Ragu’s for special occasions. Don’t throw away the jar, save to store Hunts in the fridge for quick fix meal. It is not recommended to store opened cans in the fridge.
Alfredo Sauce-or make your own & freeze
Couple cans Manwich or similar

Packets of taco seasoning
Marinade for chicken- Buy 2 different kinds-I love the Caribbean jerk marinade in the bottle (salad dressing aisle) Italian dressing works great! Asian w/hint of peanuts is another family favorite
Ott’s tomato dressing
Queso dip in jar- chip aisle

Tortilla chips
Tortilla’s flour or corn
Bread, bagels, pita pockets

Lemon pepper-staple in my house
Powdered chicken bouillon-great to have, harder to find
Parmesan cheese-no the packets you get from the pizza guy don’t count. Go ahead and buy the big container or fresh!
Cheese-I buy shredded/grated Monterey/Cheddar blend and mild cheddar- a few 2 cup packages, depending on your family

Sour Cream
Margarine/butter-word from my mom the retired cardiac nurse, be cognizant of what you are buying…heart healthy is important. Shed’s Spread has the big tub of Country Crock with omega plus
Olive oil

Frozen vegetables-buy to suit your family’s taste-broccoli, summer blend and oriental blends are our favorites.
Microwavable-steam veggies work great!!!
PotatoesFresh veggies-carrots are a must, tomatoes, broccoli, onion, squash, zucchini again buy to your family’s taste.
Veggies for seasoning-garlic, onion, cilantro
Canned vegetables-carrots, green beans, corn-again to your family’s tastes

Potatoes- I buy on sale large quantity, regular & the ever yummy no need to peel Yukon golds

Baggies-gallon, quart and sandwich size
Helpful hints:
Buy good baggies. Buy baggies that have the slide that makes sure they seal!!!