Chicken Parmesan with Homemade Pasta

Chicken Parmesan -- super tasty and expensive at an Italian restaurant. But can it be done for cheap? Of course!  

There are three components to making this dish:

1) Pasta

2) Red sauce

3) Breaded Parmesan chicken

Pasta - pasta is one staple that is fairly cheap to buy. Most boxes of pasta can be bought for a dollar. I personally like to make my own pasta, which is just as super cheap ( 2 eggs and a cup of flour) but allows you to have more (creative) control over your dish. Tonight I made pasta, which I won't be detailing today, but here are some pics:

Red Sauce - There about as many variations of red sauce as there are people on the planet. I like to keep mine super easy and inexpensive but incredibly tasty. Here are the ingredients I used tonight:

* 2 tbs of olive oil

* 4 cloves of sliced garlic

* 28 oz crushed tomato 

* 14.5 oz diced tomato  

* 1 tbs garlic powder

* 1 tbs onion powder

* 2 tbs grated Parmesan (the kind you sprinkle!)

* 1/2 of a red bell pepper diced 

* dash of salt to taste

* dash of sugar 

First I heated the olive oil to a medium heat in a sauce pan and added the sliced garlic. Once the garlic started to brown, I added both cans of tomatoes. I then added the diced red bell pepper (I only used half of the red bell pepper to add some flavor, I can use the other half of it for something else this week). Then I  added the remaining ingredients. It's important to note that I used the store brand of parmesan in a shaker container. Sure real Parmesan is fantastic, but way too expensive. There are times to buy authentic parmesan, but for how much we are going to be using it in this dish, I prefer the shaker at only $1.36 per container. It's a great trick to save money and still get all that Parmesan flavor.

Next heat up the ingredients and stir and taste. Red sauce tends to bubble and make a mess unless you are stirring continually. You can also use a high pot to prevent splatter. Taste the sauce and season until it taste perfect to you. Once you are convinced it's the best it can be, set aside. 

Breaded Parmesan Chicken - A great tip here is to buy scaloppine (or thinly sliced) chicken. Most recipes require you to purchase chicken breast and do the pounding yourself. It's much easier and much cheaper to buy it already pounded out into thin slices. It is also very inexpensive if you can find it this way as meat is often sold by weight.  In this instance I was able to get nearly six pieces of scaloppine chicken pieces for $2.50! That amazing and means we feed at least four people with this dish or have it again tomorrow! Not to mention you save time pounding down the chicken!

First I take the chicken pieces and season them with a mixture of:

* 2 tbs of parmesan cheese

* 1 tsp of salt

* 1 tsp of onion powder

* 1 tsp of garlic powder

* 2 tbs of Italian seasoning (you can find "Italian seasonings" at many dollar store for 50 cents to a dollar)

Sprinkle seasonings on the chicken pieces.

Next make an egg wash in a small bowl with two beaten eggs. Place some flour  in a small shallow dish. In another shallow dish I combined some crushed bread crumbs ( I had panko crumbs in my cupboard) along with:

2 tbs of Parmesan cheese

2 tbs of Italian seasoning

Heat two inches of oil in a frying pan. Dip each season piece of chicken into the flour, then the egg wash, and then into the breadcrumbs. Press to ensure fully covered. Once all pieces have completed this dipping, fry each side for two minutes. It's important to note, the chicken does not have to be cooked fully at this point as it will continue cooking later in the oven. The important factor is too make sure each side is a nice crispy brown color. You want each side to be fully crisped so it won't lose texture later in the recipie. They should look something like this when completed:

Now for the easy part! Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Use a glass dish big enough to hold the sauce and the chicken. Layer the bottom of the glass dish with sauce. Place breaded chicken on top of sauce and then layer with remaining sauce. Top off with some shredded mozzarella (I found a super cheap cheese "nub" that was only $2 dollars but contained 2 types of cheeses.)

 Place in oven on middle rack and bake for 20 minutes. Cheese should be melted and a golden brown. 

Now we just need to assemble! Place pasta on a plate! Too with breaded chicken cooked in sauce, add some more sauce for good measure and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese! 

Time to eat! I know this is one of the more complicated recipes, but it is also incredibly tasty. On the bright side, we also made four servings for less then $6 dollars! Which is incredibly impressive, and I'm sure you couldnt find a better deal on chicken parmesan than that in your city! 

Broiled Honey Salmon Salad

First nights dinner, something simple yet really tasty. Just because I am eating healthy and cheaply doesn't mean it has to be boring. Even on a budget, you can indulge as long as you plan it and only buy what you need. In this case I only ordered 1/2lb of salmon which is a perfect amount for two salads and one nights dinner. It cost around 4 dollars which means I just have to budget the rest of the week for some dishes with less expensive ingredients.

The first part of the salad is to choose some ingredients. Remember your ingredients have to last all week so just choose a couple of key ingredients. And remember, you don't have to use a whole part of a vegetable. Often with some veggies like squash or cucumber I only use half of a vegetable at a time. This saves the vegetable for later use! Here is the what I used for this salad: red bell pepper, chopped romaine lettuce, tomatoe, and a cucumber.

Perfect! Easy enough, I put the chopped salad in a bowl and put it in the fridge to chill as I prepare the rest of the salad.

Next I set the oven to a high broil. I take the salmon out and cut it into two equal parts. When broiling salmon, I like creating a "boat" made of foil. You can definitely use a glass dish if you prefer but I find using foil makes for easy clean up and allows the juices to marinate closer to the fish when cooking. I take a tablespoon of olive oil and rub it over the salmon. 

Next I make a glaze for the salmon. In this case I used:

*2 tbs of honey

*1 tspn of paprika 

*1 tspn of onion powder 

*1 tspn of garlic powder

I mixed the glaze with a fork. The honey was a little thick from the chilly weather so I added 2 tbs of warm water until it was a nice even glaze. Spoon over salmon. If you are using a foil boat, pull the boat closer together so that the salmon is surrounded by the glaze.

Place on the middle/upper rack and broil for exactly ten minutes. This should work with most 1-inch thick pieces. DO NOT overcook, no one likes overcooked fish!

After ten minutes, pull salmon out and let sit for several minutes while arranging the salad. Use a flat spatula to seperate the skin from the salmon as you place the salmon on top of the salad. Add your dressing of choice (I had balsamic/parmesan dressing) 

All done! 

     

 

New Week 2014 - Bring on the health food!

Had a doctors visit yesterday and he said to be sure I eat healthy this year and cut out any unnecessary sugars, etc. Not the best thing you want to hear from a doctor, but the perfect opportunity to revisit making some great homemade food! So this new year, I want to see how long I can go making healthy food and stay on a budget. Same rules as last year, although I think I will aim for $25-$30 per week. The only reason for the increase is to take into account things like oil, butter and random condiments I may need from time to time. Otherwise I will still try to keep food costs around 25$ per week. This weeks total was only 22$ but I might have to stop at the store later for grated Parmesan so that should put me $25 for the week. Here's what I get this week...