Kate's Cuisine

I came up with this recipe one night when I happened to have a lot of frozen cherries on hand and a little bit of wine, too. I have to say, it’s definitely not the cheapest recipe but it is pretty good and a great way to use up round steak, which can be a little tough if it’s not marinated or cooked slowly. Instead of marinating, you could also cook the steak right in the sauce over low heat for an hour to an hour and a half. Or, you could do both and get steak that’s super tender and moist!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced $4.98
1 tablespoon butter $0.06
1 tablespoon vegetable oil $0.07
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar $0.42
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard $0.12
1 tablespoon honey $0.11
Salt and pepper $0.01

Total Cost   $5.77

1.) In a skillet, heat butter and vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add chicken and season with salt and pepper. Saute for about 15 minutes, until chicken is nicely browned, stirring regularly.

2.) Meanwhile in a small bowl, whisk together: balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, and just a pinch of salt and pepper. After chicken has cooked in skillet for 15 minutes, pour contents of bowl over chicken in skillet. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring to make sure that chicken is thoroughly coated in vinegar sauce.

3.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the review here

I came up with this one night when I was very low on ingredients, time, and motivation. I figured by slicing the chicken, it would cook all that much more quickly and I tried to add just a bit of sweet and sour to the sauce to round out the flavour. Using both butter and oil in this recipe does a couple of things. The first is that it adds a nice buttery flavour to the chicken, without smoking too much like butter tends to; and the second is that just a little bit of butter gives this sauce a nice glaze to it, which also works nicely with the flavours.

The combination turned out very well and it was much tastier than I expected it to be. And hey, who doesn’t love a chicken dish that costs about 5 dollars and takes about 20 minutes to make?

1 pound ground beef $4.11
2 eggs, lightly beaten $0.34
1/2 cup bread crumbs $0.21
1 teaspoon garlic powder $0.13
1 teaspoon ground mustard $0.03
1 teaspoon dried thyme $1.20
1 teaspoon paprika $0.16
1 tablespoon dried parsley $0.67
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce $0.24
Salt and pepper $0.01
1 tablespoon vegetable oil $0.07
2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced in half $3.40
1 small onion, cut into wedges $0.47
2 cups beef broth $1.00
1/2 cup all-purpose flour $0.11

Total Cost   $12.15

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.) In a large bowl mix together: ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs, garlic powder, ground mustard, thyme, paprika, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.

3.) Form large tennis-ball sized meatballs and place in a greased casserole dish. Brush tops with oil and place in oven. Cook for 15-20 minutes until nicely browned.

4.) Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, add mushrooms and onion wedges and saute until both begin to carmalize.

5.) Pour 1 cup beef broth into the skillet. Make a slurry by placing 1/2 cup flour and 1 cup beef broth in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously. Pour slurry into mushroom and onion mixture and stir while mixture thickens.

6.) After meatballs have been removed from oven, place them in the skillet and cover with gravy. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until cooked through.

7.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the review here

There isn’t really anything super special about this recipe, and it probably won’t blow away any dinner party guests either. But, it does make for a meal that’s super filling and that will warm you from the inside out. And, it makes a great weekday recipe too. Because it comes together fairly quickly (the meatballs can even be made ahead of time,) has very common ingredients, and is cheap, this is the kind of meal that always makes it as one of my go-tos. And, it gives me one more thing to do with ground beef, which I always appreciate!

2 cups split peas, rinsed $0.66
6 cups cold water Free
5 cups chicken broth $2.50
1 carrot, finely chopped $0.17
1 celery stalk with leaves, finely chopped $0.11
1 onion, finely chopped $0.47
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped $0.03
1 teaspoon sugar $0.01
2 teaspoons lemon juice $0.04
1 bay leaf $0.16
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley $0.33
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme $0.60
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram $0.37
Pinch of cayenne pepper $0.01
Salt and black pepper $0.01

Total Cost   $5.47

1.) In a large pot add split peas with 6 cups cold water. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until the split peas are tender.

2.) Add chicken broth, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, sugar, lemon juice, bay leaf, and all the spices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for another 1/2 hour or until carrots are soft.

3.) Remove the bay leaf. Cool slightly. Puree in blender or with handheld blender for a smooth soup, or leave as it is.

4.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the review here

I ate a lot of pea soup growing up. My grandma made it often and we’d have it for Sunday dinner. And then we’d take home leftovers for our mom to put in our school lunches. Then we’d wait until two weeks later or so, when we’d have pea soup again and the cycle would start all over. We ate a lot of pea soup – and I never liked a bowl I ate. It’s one of the only things my grandma ever cooked that I look back on now and can actually remember dreading supper being served. I didn’t like it, and I didn’t think I ever would.

I probably hadn’t had pea soup in at least fifteen years when I decided to make this recipe. I figured that my grandma’s recipe was really the only one I had ever tried, and I had grown up a little bit, my tastes have matured some – maybe I really do like pea soup now! So I made this recipe with an open mind, and trying to push bad pea soup memories out of it. I sat down with my girls and took one big bite. Turns out, I still hate it. And my girls aren’t really big fans either.

So nope, I don’t like pea soup and nope, I probably never will. But, that doesn’t mean that this recipe is a complete failure. It did taste an awful lot like I remembered pea soup tasting, so I guess you could say it’s a lot like grandma used to make. And those who actually like the soup probably will like this one a lot.

I even added some cooked bacon bits to mine, as my grandma used to put ham in hers (and I didn’t have any), and it didn’t seem to help. It might taste better with ham, but I’m very doubtful at this point. Cooking Nook, where I retrieved the recipe from, also suggests adding cooked barley to it after the soup is pureed. I am a big, big barley fan, and I do still have some of this stuff in my freezer (can’t waste it just because we don’t like it.) So I think I’m going to give it one more try with barley. If I don’t like it after that, though, that’s it for me and pea soup.