Category Archives: Easy Recipes

These are recipes that can be done by a novice in the kitchen.

Here’s to you Mrs. Robinson

Posted by meredithfoster in American, Easy Recipes, Entree, Pork

My favorite thing about trendy social networking sites is the ability to keep in touch with people in your lives. One other thing I like about it is getting to know things about people that you may have never known. I have followed the lives of a lot of people I knew in high school. One of my friends, Kirsten Robinson, started a really cool business called Mrs. Robinson’s Twigs and Berries.

She sent me a sample of two of the mixes, and they were delicious! We made the most delicious and savory pork tenderloin with the Pistachio Twigs. I would highly recommend ordering a few packs to make this delightful dish time and time again. Not only is it wonderful and full of flavor and texture, but it is beautiful as well. It’s a great dish for entertaining.

To order from Mrs. Robinson, visit: www.twigsandberriesmix.com

Twigs Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Serves 6

Total Price- $14.86

Total Price per Person- $2.47

Average Retail Price- $18.50

Total Savings- $3.64

– 1 Pork Loin
– 1 Package of Twig’s Pistachio Trail Mix
– 2 tbsp each Dijon mustard, yellow mustard, honey mustard.
– 1 tsp salt, pepper, garlic salt

1. Stab the pork loin a few times with a knife or fork to allow for marinating
2. Combine pork, mustards, salt, pepper, and garlic salt in a large bowl or gallon sized Ziploc bag
3. Let marinate for 2-4 hours
4. Pour package of trail mix into a baking dish big enough to hold the pork loin
5. Roll the marinated pork loin in the mixture until coated evenly
6. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour

Sales in this recipe:

Twigs: Free sample

Pork Tenderloin- $2.49/lb at Publix

Crazy for Cauliflower

Posted by meredithfoster in American, Appetizer, Easy Recipes, Random Tips, Vegetarian

I am so glad that cauliflower has received the recent spotlight in several cooking magazines lately. As long as I can remember, I have loved cauliflower more than most people. I think it is key to any salad and also adds a unique flavor to any assortment of roasted vegetables. The thing I love the most about it is the ability to transform it. It packs flavor, but it’s flavor can be transformed in any way. One of my favorite snacks is raw cauliflower dipped in yellow mustard. I was eating it the other day at school when one of my students came to my desk and greeted me with a simple, “gross”.

In 2007, when I was on an disgustingly limited diet to prepare for my wedding, I ate only vegetables. After a few weeks, the raw and roasted stuff was becoming boring, and I needed a new twist. Blake made mashed cauliflower, and I fell in love with it. We replace mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower all the time now. Last month, Blake had a brilliant idea. He wanted to make a mashed cauliflower souffle. BEST.IDEA.EVER.

The pictures will never do this side justice. For two reasons, it is basically a colorless dish, and I am horrible at taking pictures. Trust me, this one is worth making.

Asiago Cauliflower Souffles

Serves 4

Total Price- $2.63

Total Price per serving- $0.66

Average Retail Price- $4.39

Total Savings– $1.76

(You will need 4 equal size baking ramekins)

Ingredients

– 1 head of cauliflower

-1 tbsp butter

-1tbsp sour cream

-1/4 milk

-3/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese

Directions

1. Break the cauliflower into large heads

2. Boil until fork tender

3. Strain and cool for 5-10 minutes

4. Blend with butter, sour cream, milk and salt and pepper (adjust seasonings and ingredients to your liking.)

5. After blending, the mashed cauliflower should be the consistency of grits.

6. Pour mashed cauliflower into baking ramekins.

7. Top with shredded Asiago (just enough cheese to cover the top)

8. Bake 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melted.

9. If you want to make these the day before or the morning of, compose them, place them in the refrigerator and bake from cold at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

Savings in this side dish

Cauliflower $1.38/head at Super H Mart

Asiago cheese $2.99/lb at Costco

Merango Tango

Posted by meredithfoster in American, Chicken, Easy Recipes, Entree, Italian

I am not a big fan of casseroles or meals that are all mixed together. For example, I don’t like Chicken and Dumplings or Chicken Pot Pie because each bite tastes the same. I love to have a variety of meat and sides, so I have the ability to transform every bite into a new taste. There are a few exceptions to my stance on this. One is Chicken Merango.

My aunt has made this meal for as long as I can remember. My sister-in-law made it last night. It made me think “what a good blog entry!” It is easy to make and it’s delicious. My brother is determined that egg noodles are a must. I was thinking of serving it on rice, but my brother said that would be like eating “Rice-a-cini Alfredo” and no one wants that.

Chicken Merango

Serves 4

Total price- $4.89

Total price per person- $1.23

Total savings- $5.67

Average Retail- $10.56

-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks

-2 cups of wide egg noodles

-1 can tomato soup

-1 can Golden Mushroom soup

-1 medium onion, cubed

– 1 jar of sliced mushrooms or 3/4 cup of fresh mushrooms

-1-2 tsp garlic powder

– 1tbsp of canola oil

– salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute the chicken until browned.

2. Pour in both cans of soup.

3. Add garlic powder, onion and mushrooms.

4. Simmer low heat for 30-40 minutes.

5. Do a little Merango Tango and enjoy!

Savings in this meal:

Chicken Breast on sale at Ingles- $1.48/lb

Campbell’s soup- BOGO Publix

Finger Lickin’ French Dippin’

Posted by meredithfoster in American, Beef, Easy Recipes, Entree

French Dip: Brilliant.

There is just something about the simplicity and infrequency of the consumption of these sandwiches that inspires me. Blake has always been a huge French Dip fan. He loves the one at J. Alexanders, but he rarely gets it because it’s darn near $30 a bite. After watching him enjoy one at the restaurant, I knew it was something that needed to be included on the Foster menu at home.

We both decided that we could recreate this simple and timeless masterpiece. We know that there are very few ingredients in this sandwich which indicates to us that each element much be spectacular. We started with the bread. The best match we found was a sub roll from Publix. They are hard (but not crumbly or flaky) on the outside and soft on the inside.

The major element is the meat. We all know that. We have found two different methods that we love. The first method, and the one we use most frequently is purchasing roast beef at the deli. I must have Boar’s Head roast beef because all of the other kinds are over cooked (in my opinion). Luckily, we found it on sale this week for $7.99/lb from $10.99/lb.

The other way we do the meat is to cook a rib roast and slice it thin. The great thing about this is that most grocers put rib roast on sale a few times a year. We purchase it when it is $5.99/lb and freeze it for a dinner party. We always have the butcher cut the ribs off but tie them back on for cooking. Then we have prime rib for one dinner, french dips (with natural au jus) for another and beef ribs for a third. Talk about eating for cheap!

French Dip Sandwiches and French Fries

Serves 4

Total Price $9.23

Price per Person $2.30

Average Retail Price $15.97

Total savings $6.74

French Dip

-1 lb of Roast Beef

-1 packet of AuJus mix (if not making the whole rib roast)

– 4 sub rolls

– caramelized onions (optional)

1. Make the AuJus according to the directions on the packet.

2. Butter and lightly toast the buns.

3. Top the buns with dipped mean and optional onions.

4. Serve piping hot with a side of AuJus.

5. Enjoy!!

Savings on this recipe:

*Buy day old sub rolls from your local super market or bakery. Generally they are 1/2 off

*Get rib roast when they are on sale and freeze them

*If you are lucky, catch Boar’s Head Roast beef on sale in the deli

Peter Piper Picked a Piece of Pizza

Posted by meredithfoster in American, Appetizer, Easy Recipes, Entree, Italian

Friday Night in the Foster home has become pizza night. Blake and I both make our own pizza, so we have a lot of variety. I never liked pizza until after I had Lottie. Now, I love it.

Every time they have the pizza at school, I partake. There is just something I love about the overwhelming dry flour taste that accompanies the school cafeteria pizza. One of my students always makes fun of me because I hate cheese on my pizza. I always scrape it off into the trashcan. Then I replace the toppings and chow down.

My very favorite pizza that I have made thus far is Granny Smith apple and hot Italian sausage pizza. It is to die for!

Apple Sausage Pizza

-1 premade pizza crust (We like Mama Mias from Ingles the best)

-1 cup of shredded mozzerella

-3 tbsp crumbled blue cheese

-2 HOT Italian sausage links- browned

-1 Granny Smith apple sliced thin

-1 cup Balsamic vinegar (reduced to 1/4 original amount)

– 2tbsp olive oil

We like to buy the precooked crust and just add the toppings. Mama Mias from Ingles is similar to the school cafeteria crust.

1. Remove the sausage from the casing and brown in the pan.

2. Reduce 1 cup of Balsamic vinegar by 75% until syrupy and sweet.

3. Slice apples thin for topping pizza

4. Spread a thin layer of olive oil to pizza crust

5. Top with mozzarella cheese

6. Evenly spread cooked sausage, apples and crumbled blue cheese on pizza

7. Cook as directed on crust package

8. After cooked, drizzle Balsamic reduction on top of pizza and enjoy!

Eat Your Veggies!

Posted by meredithfoster in American, Appetizer, Easy Recipes, Vegetarian

Entertaining is the best. I wish I had a bigger house so I could entertain every weekend. Since I can’t do this, I do my best to be invited to as many “potluck” parties as possible. This allows me to make friends via fun appetizers. You know how you go to potlucks and wind up eating four varieties of potato salad, two macaroni salads, a handful of pigs-in-a-blanket, three meat balls and a scoop or two of 7-layer dip and then leaving feeling unsatisfied, but miserably full? Well, maybe that is just me, but I love to bring something different- something that “wows” the crowd.

This summer Blake and I joined my childhood pool to have a place to spend our summer days, meet some friends and allow Lottie to meet some other kids.  We LOVE our pool. Anyway, we had a Memorial Day potluck right when the pool opened. Blake and I decided to bring one of our favorites- a veggie basket! The cool thing about this appetizer is that you can munch on it all night long and still leave feeling very healthy.

Veggie basket

This dish was a HIT! In fact, I met one of my Facebook friends based totally on the dipping sauce of this basket (J Tisha). The only problem with this basket is that everyone at the pools knows me as “Veggie Basket Girl” rather than Meredith. Oh well, take what you can get.

The key to this appetizer is to buy vegetables that look like they were just pulled from the garden. Tie a pair of garden gloves to the handle for a nice little touch. Be careful in the basket you choose. It really needs to be wide and FLAT. Otherwise the veggies all roll into the center and frustrate the dickens out of you.

Choose veggies that are on SALE!

The Veggie Basket

For the green beans and asparagus– boil for a few minutes (4ish) and then drain and transfer IMMEDIATELY to a bowl of ice water. Do not over boil!

For the potatoes– Boil until fork tender, but not as tender as a potato for mashing.

For the artichoke– cut stem down. Boil for 1 hour 15 minutes. Add water as necessary.

For the carrots – Try to find the ones with green stems to allow them to hang off edge of basket for the “fresh from the garden” look. They weren’t on sale when I made mine.

For the radish and celery– serve raw but try to find the ones with stems.

***You can make all these veggies the night before and store in ziplock bags in the fridge until a few minutes before the party***

For the sauces- (Serve in hollowed out bell peppers)

–         Spicy ranch– ranch mixed with a teaspoon of Sriracha.

–         Mock Hollandaise- ½ cup mayo, ¼ cup mustard, tsp lemon juice, salt and pepper and tsp of poppy seed.

–         Blue Cheese- Whichever kind is on SALE.

–         BE CREATIVE!