Making Dinner on the Cheap...Baked Salmon with Feta and Tomatoes

I was going to write a post on how to make a really cheap dinner for four (based in part on recently spending all my money on a new AC) when my mom called me and asked if I wanted some extra salmon that she had.  Well what is cheaper than free food from your mom?  Nothing.

She even prepped it for me.  She put tomatoes and feta and olive oil on it and some seasonings too I think.  Her instructions were to cook it at 500 degree F on the bottom rack of the oven for a bit then switch it to the top rack for a bit until it was sizzling and looked cooked.  Uh that seemed hard.  But I did it.  Switching back from top to bottom a few time for about 18 minutes.  It was good.

So in the future I am going to do a series on cheap dinners.  What would you consider a cheap price for dinner for four?  Less than $10?  Less than $5?  And I'm not talking ramen noodles here.   Something with meat or a least a significant vegetarian meal.  I watch Money Saving Meals sometimes with Sandra Lee on the Food Network and it has inspired me.

Do you live close to your mom?
Does she ever offer you free food?
What's your favorite cheap meal?

Making Stuff is Fun....Old School Edition

And by Old School, I mean the tenth grade.  The other day when I went to visit L-Fab after her toe surgery at my parent's house, something dreadful happened.  My mom forced me to take a bunch of stuff from my old bedroom to my house.  I have been avoiding this for years.  But she wouldn't let me leave without taking several boxes of stuff and my two guitars.  (That's right, I have 2 guitars and know approximately 2 chords on the guitar.  I really tried to learn multiple times in college, it just didn't take.)  However, I found some wonderful stuff in these boxes...photo collages, books and of course the best find....my tenth grade art work.

So here we have two wonderful pieces from Art 2, aka tenth grade art circa 1996...

Ok so this is a picture of my parent's house.  Why is it blue and purple?  My parent's house is not blue and purple.  I guess we were supposed to use some weird color scheme and I picked the one that involved blue, green and purple (cool colors??? IDK).  I mean I do love purple but this is just a little strange looking.  But look up there above the garage...that's my old bedroom. 

This next picture is a real winner.  It is my version of a butterfly........

...featuring an actual stick of butter with butterfly wings.  Deep right?  Yeah I'm not so sure.  But I do remember thinking this picture was super cool.  I like the wings and the amazing background that gets darker and darker as you go up.

So those were pretty much  my two masterpieces of the year.  I didn't take any formal art classes after that in school.  There was no time with yearbook, typing and calculus and stuff.

So what do you think of my wonderful tenth grade art work?

Should I have gone on to Art 3 instead of being on the yearbook staff?

Does anyone think my mom should want to keep these precious gems at her house?

Is it really that hard to learn the guitar?

My Favorite Chicken Casserole

As a kid I would always say that my favorite food was broccoli. Weird right? Anywho I still like broccoli and I love this Chicken Broccoli Casserole that my mom makes. I don't know if my mom invented it or what but she taught me how to make it and I've been making it for years. It's probably the first meal I made for other people when I was in college. And people always seem to like it. So here is my go-to Chicken Broccoli Casserole with photo instructions. Ok and I don't really usually measure out the ingredients but I tried to this time. But really it depends on the size pan you are using. You can see the size of my pan below. It made about 5 servings or maybe B and I just eat large servings.

Ingredients-
Cooked Chicken Breast (about 2.5 to 3 breasts)
Broccoli (I used one crown from the Grocery store. You can also use maybe 1-2 cups of frozen broccoli depending on how much you like broccoli)

Cream of Chicken Soup (I used 1 and a half cans this time of the healthier kind)

Mayonnaise (I used 3/4 cup this time and I used the light kind)

Lemon

Peppridge Farm Stuffing

Butter or Butter Spray

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook your chicken and shred or chop it up in to small pieces. You can add salt and pepper to this for flavor. You could also use a cooked rotisserie chicken for this and my mom has even used leftover turkey I think. Lay this on the bottom of a pan.

Next cook your broccoli. I just cooked mine in boiling water for about 3 minutes because I don't like it really soft. If you are using frozen broccoli just follow the instructions to cook it. Lay that on top of the chicken.

Squeeze some lemon juice on this but save most of the lemon. Now mix the chicken soup and mayo together and add more lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Then layer this on top of the broccoli and chicken.

Now mix some of the Stuffing with a tablespoon or so of melted butter in a bowl. Then layer that on top of the soup mixture. You can either dot some butter on the top of the casserole or spray it with butter spray which is what I did.

Now cook this for about 30 minutes or until the center is hot and the top is brown. Enjoy!

My mom adds curry powder to the soup/mayo mixture but I usually never have curry powder so I skip that. Sometimes I eat it with cranberry sauce on the side. That might seem weird but I like it.

So do you like broccoli?

Do you have a go to dish that people usually enjoy?

Did my pictures really help you understand exactly how to make this casserole?