I made some really tasty chicken fingers yesterday for lunch. Nannie and Paw-Paw fed us while Geddy was out of town Tuesday night, so my menu plan got bumped back a day, and man, these things were good! First, I made the LLL Baking Mix from my Whole Foods for the Whole Family cookbook, and I used that in place of Bisquick in the Ultimate Chicken Fingers recipe. (I also substituted 1/4 cup sesame seeds for 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese.) I was afraid I'd have to double the recipe to feed my hungry crowd, but there were three pieces of chicken left over and that would have been just about right if Geddy had been home.
The waffle maker Larry gave me for Christmas has been excellent. We've made waffles from baking mix, from scratch with white flour and from scratch with wheat flour and they have all been good. From baking mix, the waffles tend to stick a little but we actually prefer the ones from scratch anyway. I might use my homemade mix and see how that works.
In my "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" mode, I've been trying to pull together tasty recipes out of odds and ends from the fridge and cabinet. I found a recipe in my breadmaker booklet for feta and peppercorn bread, so I used up the last of some aging feta to make up a batch. It was very good but way too spicy to eat as regular bread, so I plan on cutting it into cubes for homemade croutons. If I make the bread again, I'm going to cut the pepper by 3/4.
Though I've been planning to try it for months, I finally got around to making hummus. I had to tweak the recipe because I didn't have as many canned garbanzo beans as the recipe called for, but I must have gotten something right because it was very, very good. Curly Sue and Moe didn't care for it because it was extremely garlicky and spicy, but Geddy, Larry and I all liked it.
Fridays around here are reserved for light schoolwork (math, games, reading, creating writing) and visiting with friends, so tomorrow my friend Kelly and her girls are coming over for lunch and playtime. Usually, I make sandwiches or buy frozen fish sticks or chicken nuggets, but tomorrow I am making a cheeseburger casserole (macaroni, ground beef, tomato sauce, cheese) and brownies. Last night after church dinner there were piles of leftover French bread slices, so I brought some home and plan to serve garlic toast as well.
The things I've mentioned in this entry may not be extraordinary under normal circumstances, but what makes them unusual enough to make the blog is this: I have not bought a single ingredient for any of these recipes. I made each one from what I already had on hand. We challenged ourselves to live out of our pantry/fridge/freezer this month after using a chunk of the month's grocery cash to pay for some unexpected medical expenses. We have emergency money in the savings account but wanted to see just how long we'd make it. We may finish out this month with a few dollars still left in checking, but even if we have to dip into the emergency fund, it's good to flex those frugal muscles every once in awhile!
