the-cooks-butch

[the-cooks-butch]

i made REALLY delicious biscuits and gravy this morning. just saying

[the-cooks-butch]

creamy tuscan (style) chicken soup

rating: come back tmrw for final determination

this was good! the flavor really came out as the broth cooled. the sun dried tomatoes and oil are a nice touch and add brightness without being overly sweet. i like the crunch of the celery in this for some reason. the flavor wouldve probs been better if i had garlic (my bulb was molded ;-; had to sub garlic powder, wasnt enough), and if i seared the chicken thighs better (still working on that!!) the chicken might benefit from a marinade, or more complex seasonings/a rub before cooking. i also couldve chosen a better cheese (all i had was pre grated, cellulose coating impacts melting ability) and i might adjust the broth:water ratio since im not trying to economize too hard. deglazing with the wine was fun. it loses some points in ease compared to my chuck it in a pot and let it cook recipes, but still decent overall. i feel like this would be amazing if i made my own stock.

[the-cooks-butch]

update the celery and carrots soften spending a day in the fridge and microwave reheating... this soup is so fucking good

heres the recipe

tortellini soup!! carrots and celery couldve been more tender (maybe i should sautee them for longer before making the broth?) but its still pretty good!!

also came out not to shabby at about $1.50/serving (8 servings total)!

[the-cooks-butch]

tortellini soup!! carrots and celery couldve been more tender (maybe i should sautee them for longer before making the broth?) but its still pretty good!!

also came out not to shabby at about $1.50/serving (8 servings total)!

[the-cooks-butch]

made a lemon broccoli pasta a few weeks ago for dirt cheap that paires super well with a very basic (and delicious) honey garlic chicken thigh (i prefer over breasts). tasted divine. the lemon sauce was very light but perfect amount of sour. i excluded sugar from this sauce since 1. i dont like cutting sourness and 2. the honey chicken brought in the sweet.

[the-cooks-butch]

this was a really straightforward recipe. though i defininitely needed more like 1/2 cup of olive oil to make enough seasoning for all of this (will def scale up in the future) it still turned out pretty good. this would probs pair well with some rice with a wilted green or something in it ^-^

roast vegetals

[the-cooks-butch]

and chimken

roast vegetals

[the-cooks-butch]

roast vegetals

[the-cooks-butch]

hm....

[the-cooks-butch]

i also did the portion/budget math for that sausage pasta. i do this because it helps me put into perspective how much im saving compared to ordering food. i buy most of my stuff from trader joes, then anything extra they dont have at walmart usually.

monterey jack cheese (1 cup, about 4 or 6oz): $1 (about 3 cups shredded I think in 1 $3 block)

elbow mac from aldi or lidl? i forget how much this was but i wanna say no more than $2 for the 2 lbs bag. i used ~8oz for this recipe so: $0.50

smithfield smoked pork/chicken sausage, ~7oz: $1.99 ($3.98 for 13oz package) at walmart

3 cups (~3oz) fresh spinach: $1.50 ($2 for a 4oz bag)

1 yellow onion: ~$0.50? i think a bag of 4 or 5 yellow onions is like $3 at tj's

1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes with chiles: $1.99

2 cups chicken broth: $1 ($2 for whole box at tjs, 2 cups is half the container)

this recipe serves 4

($1 + $0.50 + $1.99 + $1.50 + $0.50 + $1.99 + $1)/4 = $2.12/serving!

[the-cooks-butch]

made more sausage pasta

[the-cooks-butch]

meal planning can be fun sometimes

[the-cooks-butch]

THIS IS OKAY. I AM VERY BRAVE AND I CAN FIGURE IT OUT TOMORROW

kind of incredibly fucked i spent 2 hours cooking today and it got me 1 meal for the week and i still need another one for dinner

[the-cooks-butch]

kind of incredibly fucked i spent 2 hours cooking today and it got me 1 meal for the week and i still need another one for dinner

[the-cooks-butch]

some other thoughts abt that last recipe:

- i think in the future if i had to cook raw chicken id sub chicken breasts for boneless skinless chicken thighs for flavor and extra juicy-ness. im still trying to figure out how id season them though, like what kind of rub id use

- the heavy cream is rich but weighs down the recipes proposed season portions... i'd up all of it a bit and double the amount of red pepper i added previously

- i used unsalted butter and found it didnt need salted really. the chicken broth has that covered

[the-cooks-butch]

laying on my floor in a pile of clean laundry because i forgot that while i was cooking for TWO HOURS my bed linens were sitting in the wash.

[the-cooks-butch]

coco was a huge help in my last recipe