Thai Chicken Ramen

So delicious! This is one of the better Ramen dishes I've made. Again, budget friendly, full of vegetables, chicken and lots of flavor. I used the Creamy Chicken Ramen because I wanted to add a little extra body to the sauce. I think a regular Ramen might taste OK, but the sauce would probably be too thin.
1 Chicken breast - 50 cents
2 packs of ramen - 25 cents
1/4 onion - 20 cents
2 green onions - 20 cents
1/2 red pepper - 25 cents (2 for a dollar)
1 carrot - 20 cents
2 Tablespoons peanut butter - 50 cents
1 Tablespoon cilantro - 5 cents?
Total cost - Approximately $2.15

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast, cut into small chunks
• 2 packages Creamy Chicken flavored Ramen
• 1/4 onion, sliced
• 1/2 red pepper, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 Tablespoon cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. In a large nonstick skillet, add 1 Tablespoon oil and heat over medium high. Add chicken and cook thoroughly. Add onion, red pepper and carrot to pan and cook 3-5 minutes until tender.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to rapid boil. Add Ramen noodles with seasoning packet and cook 3 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the noodles or they become soggy.

3. Drain noodles, reserving about 3/4 cup liquid. Add peanut butter, soy sauce and brown sugar to noodles, mixing well to combine. Add noodles to pan with chicken and vegetables and stir. If too much liquid remains, bring saute pan to a boil and simmer 3 minutes until liquid evaporates.

4. Remove pan from heat and add green onions. Stir to warm the onions. Top with chopped cilantro and hot sauce, if desired.

Oven Fried Catfish

This was a super easy way to cook the catfish that left it flakey and juicy and just darn tasty. It takes no time to prepare and only 15 minutes to cook, so it's a great meal when you don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.

We served it with a potato/onion/string bean stir fry that was also great. The cost breakdown is as follows:
2 pieces of catfish - $1.00 (frozen bag of 10 catfish filets was $5.00)
1/2 cup cornmeal and additional spices for breading - approximately 50 cents
2 baking potatoes - 15 cents (10 lb bag was 97 cents)
1/4 onion - 20 cents
4 ounces of string beans - 25 cents (97 cents a pound)
2 green onions - 20 cents
1 Tablespoon cilantro - 5 cents, maybe?
Total cost - approximately $2.35

Ingredients

• 2 catfish filets
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon each, of onion powder, garlic powder, & thyme
• salt & pepper to taste

• 2 baking potatoes, chopped into large pieces
  
• 1/4 onion, sliced thickly
• 4 ounces string beans, cut in half
  
• garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste
• 2 green onions, sliced
  
• 1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine cornmeal, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, salt & pepper in a shallow dish or large plastic bag. Coat catfish on both sides with cornmeal mixture, shaking off the extra, and place in lightly greased baking dish.

2. Add 1 tablespoon oil to large nonstick skillet. Heat on medium-high. Add potatoes to pan, and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. When potatoes have a golden color on both sides, reduce heat to medium.

3. Put catfish in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until fish is flakey. Meanwhile, cover the potatoes, and cook for an additional 7-10 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally.

4. In last 5 minutes of potato cooking, add onions to pan. Cook until onions are softened, about 3 minutes. Add string beans and continue cooking until all vegetables are soft and tender.

Pasta with Clams and Garlic

I've had quite a few comments that there's no way I'm making healthy, budget free dishes that actually taste good. Or that by using canned fruits and vegetables I'm sacrificing taste, blah blah blah.

It's now become a challenge every week to see how creative I can be for under $3.00 total. Last night's meal was my budget version of Linguine with clams. The dish cost about $1.50 total and was actually quite tasty!
2 packages of Ramen - 24 cents
1 can of whole clams - 88 cents
1 Tablespoon of garlic - a nickel, maybe?
1 Tablespoon minced onion - another nickel?
1/2 a pat of butter - another nickel?

Ingredients

• 2 packages of Ramen noodles, without the seasoning packet (save it for later when you need a quick broth, or want some extra zing in plain white rice)
• 1 can of whole clams
• 1 Tablespoon garlic
• 1 Tablespoon minced onion
  
• 1/2 a pat of butter
• fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat.

2. Meanwhile, heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and garlic in a small amount of butter, until onions are soft, about 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, and add can of clams to saute pan, and add Ramen to large pot.

3. Simmer the clam sauce while the Ramen is cooking, approximately 3 minutes. Drain noodles and combine with clams. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and enjoy!

Chicken Ramen w/veggies

Trying to plan meals for $3 each (that's $1.50 per person) has proven to be a challenge, but not an impossible one. Due to some inexpensive markets out here, we've been able to stock up on frozen veggies (just as many nutrients as fresh), pasta, ramen, chicken, and even catfish! This is one of our staples though, because it's cheap, quick, easy and definitely doesn't taste like ramen.

This meal cost about $3 total. Here's the breakdown:
2 chicken breasts - about $1
2 packs of ramen - 25 cents
1 bag frozen veggies - $1
Various spices, brown sugar, stalk of green onions, etc - 75 cents

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 packages of Ramen (any flavor, though we usually do 1 chicken, and 1 Oriental flavor)
• 1 bag frozen veggies (we use a 3 pepper and onion mix)
• 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  

Directions

1. Brown chicken in large saute pan, or wok, until cooked through.

2. Add water, noodles with seasoning packets (use 1/2 of each packet to avoid over-saltiness), soy sauce, ginger and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer about 5-8 minutes.

3. Stir mixture and add frozen veggies. Cover and simmer another 8-10 minutes until heated through and veggies are tender.

4. After placing noodles in bowls, top with freshly sliced green onions.

Old Bay Catfish & Couscous

Tonight's dinner was just an "on-the-fly" thing. We shopped at a new grocery store today and they had some wicked cheap bags of frozen catfish, so we picked one up. All our menus this week are trying to use up what we have in the cabinets. I did my best to use up canned goods, frozen foods, etc to help keep us on budget.

I had some couscous in the cabinet, and some fresh cilantro from last week, so I threw it together in a pot with some chicken stock and salt. The end result was quite tasty! As was the catfish, I must say. It comes out much flakier when cooked on the Foreman grill, versus pan frying in a cast iron skillet. The grill eliminates the need to flip the fish, which only causes it to break and turn to fish mush.

Ingredients

• catfish filets (about 4oz per person)
• Old Bay seasoning
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup couscous

Directions

1. Sprinkle catfish filets with Old Bay seasoning on both sides. Heat up your George Foreman grill and spray it liberally with nonstick spray.

2. Meanwhile, add chicken stock and cilantro to a pot with a tight fitting lid. Heat on high until boiling. Remove from heat and stir in couscous. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

3. While couscous is cooking, place catfish on the grill for 5 minutes, or until the fish is flakey and tender. Use two forks to remove fish from grill so it doesn't break.

Slow-cooked Mexican Style Chicken

This seems to be a popular recipe among our friends, and everyone seems to make it just a tad bit differently. Some add more veggies, some serve it in tortillas, some shred the chicken, etc. Here's our version of the Slow-Cooked Mexican Chicken.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• 1/2 jar mild salsa
• 1 cup canned, or frozen, corn
• 1/4 onion, sliced thick
• 1 red pepper, cut in thick strips
• 1 Tablespoon taco seasoning
• Green onions, sliced
• cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 cups rice, cooked
  

Directions

1. Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch chunks. Add all ingredients through taco seasoning, into slow cooker. Cook for approximately 5-6 hours.

2. Turn slow cooker off and uncover. Prepare the rice. Serve chicken over rice, topped with green onions and cheese. If the remaining sauce is too thin, stir in a tablespoon of flour to thicken it up.

Peanut Ginger Beef & Veggies

This is a Weight Watchers recipe from, "Cook it Quick!" The beef definitely takes on a Thai-inspired taste, but next time I'd double the peanut butter. It was good, but I was hoping for more peanut flavor. Be sure not to overcook the beef either -- the strips cook really fast, so I had to keep a close eye on them to make sure they didn't get too tough. We served this over white rice and it was a nice change from our typical stir-fry meal.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 3 tsp oil
• 3/4 pound top round steak, cut into strips
• 2 T grated fresh gingerroot or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 cups baby carrots, halved lentghwise, or precut carrot sticks (I used bell pepper instead)
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1/4 onion, sliced thick
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
• 2 green onions, sliced
  

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, peanut butter, pepper flakes and 1/4 cup water; set aside.

2. Place a very large nonstick skillet or work with a lid over high heat until a drop of water skitters. Heat 2 tsp of the oil until it shimmers. Stir-fry the steak until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add gingerroot and cook, stirring, 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.

3. In the skillet, heat the remaining tsp of oil. Stir-fry the carrots 1 minute; add broccoli and garlic; stir-fry 1 minute longer. Add 1-2 tbsp water; simmer, covered, until the vegetables are tender-crisp, about 1 minute. Return the steak and gingerroot to the skillet; add the peanut butter mixture and stir-fry until heated through, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat; stir in cilantro and green onions, and serve over rice.