Grilled Chicken Strips, Smashed Potatoes, Zucchini, and Coconut Cream Pie

Tonight was my turn for dinner, so I thought I would go simple. First of all I will break down what I spent. The chicken strips were $6.99 for a 2 lb bag at Grocery Outlet, one bag last Jake and I through a few meals. The potatoes were a great deal, I got a 10 lb bag at the 99 cent store, for 99 cents, one bag of potatoes last us a while. The veggies again were brought to me from a friend. The pie was probably the biggest expense. It was made as an early birthday pie for Henry's bday on Tuesday. The crust was $2.29, the pudding was 2 boxes $2.60, I already had the coconut, the container of whip cream was $1.69, and the chocolate ready whip was $1.49.

First of all for the pie, it's simple! You need 1 graham cracker crust, I used 1 box of coconut cream pudding, and 1 box of cheesecake flavored pudding, 2 cups of milk, 1 container of whipped cream (I like the extra creamy, if you are having something like this go for the fat!) 1 cup of shredded coconut. Mix the 2 boxes of pudding with 2 cups of milk, stir until well blended, then add 1/2 container of whipped cream, and 3/4 cup coconut, mix well, place in the crust, refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours. Before serving top with the rest of the whip cream, and toasted coconut.

  For dinner I marinaded the chicken in 1/4 cup olive oil, ancho chili powder, smoked paprika, and garlic seasoning. I let it set for 30 minutes. I cut the potatoes into cubes, rinsed, then placed them in cold water, along with 4 cloves of garlic. I heated the George Foreman grill, then started the potatoes to boil. The chicken only takes about 4 minutes to cook on the grill, and this time I over cooked the chicken, It was dry, but Henry and Jake seemed to like it. For the potatoes I added butter, milk, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. After the chicken was done, I put the zucchini and star burst squash on the grill.

Shrimp Skewers, Tomato, Basil, 3 Cheese, Ravioli, and Squash

Since today was Jake's day off, he made dinner. We haven't been cooking as much lately as normal. With the heat and Jake's work schedule it just isn't worth it.

We had bought the pasta at Grocery Outlet for $1.99, the shrimp was $3.99, and a good friend Robyn brought the veggies over today.

First of all he, marinated the shrimp in olive oil for 30 minutes, then he placed them on wooden skewers. Greek seasoning, basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. then he got a large pot of water boiling for the pasta, He also preheated the George Foreman grill.

He heated a deep skillet, added 1 tbs olive oil about 10 cherry tomatoes, and salt, then covered it until the tomatoes burst then added 1 chopped red onion, 3 mini carrots grated, 4 mini sweet peppers chopped. Next he added 1/2 cup white wine (wine was bought at Grocery Outlet for $1.99). He let the wine cook off then added the juice of 1 lemon, 2 cups of chicken broth, 2 tbs butter, 4 cloves minced garlic, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, Greek seasoning, and 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg. He let that simmer until reduced by 1/2.

Meanwhile, he placed the Ravioli in the boiling water, then placed the shrimp skewers on the grill. For him dinner is done, but just for me he placed some zucchini and sunburst squash on the grill. For the squash he put it in some olive oil, oregano, basil, and Greek seasonings.

Cheese Steak Stuffed Bell Peppers

I was scrolling through fb today and say a recipe for the stuffed peppers, and thought I would give it a try for dinner tonight. Of course I made a few changes.

First of all was the prep, I sliced about 1 cup of mushrooms (1 container was $1.88), 6 mini orange and yellow sweet peppers sliced thin (I get a bag of them for $2.99 at Grocery Outlet), it didn't call for the sweet peppers, 1 medium red onion (30 cents), I cut 4 bell peppers in half, and seeded them ($2.00 for the 4), and I sliced a package of thin steak (purchased at Grocery Outlet for $2.50), the recipe called for 1 lb of thinly sliced roast beef. A good tip for slicing steak thin is to place it in the freezer to stiffen it up and it makes it easier to slice. I also minced 3 cloves of garlic.

To cook, I placed 1 tbs of olive oil and 1 tbs butter in a skillet, place the onions, sweet peppers, and mushrooms in the skillet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, I also added some Greek seasoning, cook until they are tender. When they are almost done add the garlic. Remove to a bowl. Next add 1 tbs of olive oil to the hot pan, cook the steak, do it in batches if the skillet is crowded. After the steak is cooked add the veggies back in, heat through. In the bottom of the bell peppers place a slice of pepper jack cheese (it was $2.99), then a good helping of the steak onion mixture, top with more cheese, I did a mixture of colby jack cheese. Place in a 400 degree oven until the bell peppers are tender, and the cheese is bubbly and brown.

                                                   The pictures are not that great sorry.