Make It Yourself Monday: Restaurant Style

Make It Yourself Monday is about just that: making food and such from scratch in your home instead of running to a fast-food place or buying expensive, usually tasteless prepackaged foods. Please join us and share your versions of good food made with love in your home.

Today I'm focusing on copying my favorite meal from Red Lobster. I enjoy going out to eat way too much and when you have 4 kids in tow it is not frugal at all. And with gas prices the way they are I'm trying to stay home more. Not to mention that the nearest Red Lobster is over 35 miles away.

So here's my version of Scrimp Scampi, loaded baked potato, Caesar Salad, and yummy Cheddar Bay Biscuits. One serving of this meal for dinner is about $15.00. If my husband, myself, and my oldest child ate this from the menu is would be $45 without drinks or kids' meals for the other two. Last year when we were on vacation our bill for Red Lobster came to about $75. Thankfully, I had free giftcards that I had earned through Mypoints.com.

Scrimp Scampi

2 Bags of Frozen, Easy Peel Shrimp (I buy these when they are BOGO at Winn-Dixie) $9.99
onion powder, minced garlic, paprika $.50
1 stick of butter $.50
chicken broth (or white wine) $.50

This is what I do: peel the shrimp, put them into a container sprinkled with a little onion powder and paprika and place in fridge for at least an hour or so. When ready to cook, I melt the butter in a skillet, add some minced garlic, and just enough broth to make a good sauce, depending on how many shrimp I'm cooking. I then take the shrimp out of the fridge, place in a shallow baking dish, pour the sauce on them and bake until done.

Additions to the meal:

4 baked potatoes

(I can get large ones for $.50 each. The kids then split 1 large one) $2.00
add in butter, sour cream, bacon bits, cheddar cheese or whatever we feel like $1.00

Caesar Salad made from a head of romaine $1.39, homemade croutons, and dressing

Cheddar Bay Biscuits made from the recipe on the Bisquick Box :)

INGREDIENTS
2 cups biscuit/baking mix
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

DIRECTIONS
In a bowl, combine the biscuit mix, cheese and onion. Stir in milk until a soft dough forms; stir 30 seconds longer. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto nongreased baking sheets. Bake at 450 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Combine butter and garlic powder; brush over biscuits. Serve warm.

All total this "Fancy" meal normally costs us around $20 and provides plenty of leftovers for my husband and I to eat for lunch the next day.

The minimum this would cost at Red Lobster would be $60 (probably more). I cut the bill by at least 2/3rds and still yet a nice meal with family.

Do you have a favorite restaurant-inspired meal or recipe to share? Post yours in Mr. Linky below or in the comments. Thanks for being part of Make It Yourself Monday!

Please share a favorite tip, trick, or recipe that helps you save money by "Making It Yourself".

Make It Yourself Mondays takes Memorial Day Off

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day with your family and friends. I am so grateful for the brave men and women who have given their lives for my freedom and grateful to those serving now for the peace and security they are providing to my family through their sacrifices.

We will resume Make It Yourself Mondays next week. (My last week of school!) I want to challenge you to think of your favorite restaurant meal and then recreate it at home and post how much it would have cost at the restaurant and how much you can save by making it at home. I can't wait to see what you creative, frugal people can come up with for that!

Make It Yourself Monday

Sorry this is so late in the day. I was having computer issues last night and this morning but the bugs seem to have worked themselves out.

Make It Yourself Monday is a chance for all of us to share our favorite ways of Making things Ourselves instead of eating from the drive-thru or prepackaged, expensive foods.

My "Make It Yourself" recipe is for a quick, thrifty salad that can be a salad, a super cool summer sidedish, or as a main meal if you add in some grilled chicken.

I had a version of this at a ladies' luncheon recently and found that this combination works best for me:

1 Package Oriental Ramen Noodles
1 bag of Broccoli Slaw or 1 Head of Napa Cabbage
1 bunch of green onions chopped
1/2 cup sunflower seed kernels
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup vinegar (any variety you like)
1/4 cup sugar
seasoning packet from ramen noodles
2 TBS. butter

Directions: Chop or toss the cabbage/slaw with the chopped onions. In a frying pan on the stove, melt the butter, add the package of Ramen noodles (crushed), and the sunflower seed kernels. Stir until golden and toasty.
Mix up the oil, vinegar, sugar, and seasoning packet to form a dressing.
Toss everything together and enjoy.
You can add grilled chicken to make it heartier.
Don't let this sit too long as the crunchies will get soggy. If taking this somewhere, I transport everything in separate container and toss together before serving.

Total cost: $5.00 or less depending on sale items.

Please share a favorite tip, trick, or recipe that helps you save money by "Making It Yourself".

Make It Yourself Monday

Make it Yourself Monday is a chance to share your favorite recipe, tip, or strategy for eating more at home from scratch and skipping the fast food lanes and convenience food aisles. Post a link to your blog showing us how you "Make it Yourself". If you are just learning the ropes of Making It Yourself then post a question about how to make something you always have a hard time saying no to. The experienced frugalites are sure to respond with a great solution.

This week I made homemade croutons and bread crumbs.

Every time we get down to the end of the bread bag, I throw it in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. When I have acquired many bags of frozen heels and ends, I take them out and make croutons and bread crumbs.

Here's how to make bread crumbs:

1. Lay the bread ends on a baking sheet and put into a 350 degree oven until the ends turn nice and golden brown.

2. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

3. At this point I put the toasted ends into my food processor and give it a whirl. After just a few minutes all of the toast is turned into fine bread crumbs.

4. I store them in my "Great Value" bread crumb container that I saved years ago when I actually bought bread crumbs in Walmart.

I use bread crumbs to bread items that I fry, like pork chops. I also use them on the tops of my casseroles. Yum!

Here's how to make croutons:

Store bought croutons pale in comparison to homemade! Trust me, once you make them yourself you won't be buying them anymore.

1. Take your end pieces of bread and cut them into crouton size squares with kitchen scissors.

2. Toss the bread squares into a bowl and douse them with olive oil (or spray them with Olive Oil Pam).

3. Sprinkle in a variety of spices. I like rosemary, parsley, and sometimes basil. Be generous with the spices.

4. Toss the oiled bread and spices around until the squares are covered pretty good in spicy goodness.

5. Spread the bread onto a baking sheet and bake until lightly golden brown.

6. Allow to cool and then package into either a Tupperware like container or a large Ziplock bag.

7. I keep mine in the refrigerator so that when I'm making a salad I see my glorious croutons and remember to use them.

Now, I know that bread crumbs and croutons aren't that expensive to buy but why buy them when the ends of the bread are already paid for. Most people just throw them away. I use them up and turn them into something I like to have on hand. I do this about once every 3 months. So for a little time in the kitchen, I have yummy, preservative-free food. And they taste so much better than the store-bought kind.

What are you making yourself? or What would you love to make yourself?

Make It Yourself Mondays

Welcome to Make It Yourself Monday!

With the economy tight and my budget seemingly smaller, I thought it would be nice for all of us to share our recipes and tips for making food from home. Fast food and packaged foods can be a budget busters and they are full of ingredients that takes a dictionary to pronounce. By making more foods at home we can save money and know what we are eating. There's no carageum or hydrogenated whey in my list of ingredients!

When deciding to cut my grocery budget, I have to listen to my family's needs (read: wants). They like their easy to prepare, pop it into the microwave and pop it into the mouth foods, especially my husband. So, in order to keep them all happy and not begging for fast food or packaged food, I like to keep a supply of my own creations on hand to satisfy their wants.

My kids love Hot Pockets. Did you just hear that familiar "Hot Pockets" commercial in your head?! I did. Weird! There it is again, la la la la "Hot Pockets"! Here are two ways to start making your own Hot Pockets. The first way involves buying some pre-made stuff and the second is entirely from scratch. The normal cost of a package of Hot Pockets is $2.50 around here. That gets you 2 stuffed-crust sandwiches. Both of these recipes gives you the same product for a lot less.

First Way:

1. You need some pre-made bread. I buy either pre-made pizza crusts or packages of crescent rolls, whichever is cheaper at the time.

2. You need some meat and cheese fillings. Some combos include sliced ham/cheddar, pepperoni/mozzarella, cooked chicken/cheddar, etc. I buy combos that are on sale.

3. You can add in some cooked veggies like broccoli, chopped onions, peppers, etc.

Just roll the crusts out and cut into a bread pocket size. Put your meat and fillings in the middle and bring the sides of the dough up and pinch closed. Place seam side down on a baking sheet and bake at 350 until lightly brown. Cool and place into Ziplock freezer bags.

If I use 2 pizza crusts, 1 bag of cheese, and 1 type of meat I usually spend about $8 and get a total of 15-20 sandwiches depending on size. This equals about $.50 for each sandwich instead of $1.25.

Second Way:

Make your own bread dough by either making a yeast roll mix or homemade pizza dough. Add to this leftover bits of cheese, meats, and veggies that you have stored up or found on sale at a low, low price. (I currently have a ton of cheese!). Cost of this method equal about $.10 per sandwich.

Either way I'm saving money and my kids and husband are happy. Another great idea is to getyour kids involved in making these so they can create their own combos of flavor. Then you have a cooking lesson, convenience food, and happy family all in one. Your turn! Add a link or post a comment on a way you "Make It Yourself" and save money.

Make it Yourself- May's frugal challenge and a new meme

I've been reading many people's posts around the blogosphere about their budget busters and grocery spending habits. It seems that fast food habits and the rising cost of groceries is hurting most of us right now. My usual $40-$50 grocery trips have recently become $60-$70 grocery trips. I've read that with every 1 cent that diesel fuel increases, 10,000 self-employed truckers come off the road. The bottom line is that we all are feeling the pinch in the pocket when it comes to food. How can we combat this? Make more stuff ourselves and skip the fast food and higher-priced convenience foods.

My suggestion is to start slowly. Think of 1 or 2 items that you find yourself buying either in a fast food drive-thru or from a box in your own kitchen. Then find a way to make it yourself or find a cheaper alternative.

If you are addicted to fast food fries or take-out pizza, then buy those things in the frozen food section of the grocery store. Buy store brand if the name-brand isn't on sale. It is much better to buy a huge bag of frozen french fries to cook yourself than a few high-priced trips thru McDonald's drive-thru.

Don't feel guilty for having frozen chicken nuggets or corn dogs in your freezer. We all need those quick, easy meals for hectic days or days when we just don't feel like we can prepare an entire meal for our family. If you are like me, in the past, I would totally avoid buying those items thinking they weren't frugal and not healthy enough for my family. Then I would find myself eating Burger King Whoppers and KFC chicken. Those items are worse health wise and hard on the wallet. I learned that a few easy items in the freezer are much better than the guilt I felt after eating fast food.

If you already have kicked the fast food habit (I'm bowing to you now) then move to making more items from scratch instead of buying pre-packaged food. Not too long ago, I made an afternoon of peeling, slicing, and freezing potatoes to make my own pre-packaged french fries. My family loves homemade fries but I don't always have time on weekdays to make them after a long day at school. With these packages, I just toss them in either the frying pan with oil or the oven and we have fries for dinner. Throw some hamburger patties in a pan that you patted out and froze in individual pieces of plastic wrap and you have quick hamburger and fries for supper without having spent money on fast food. You also know all of the ingredients in this meal- potatoes, beef, and seasonings. Nothing artificial and no preservatives. Now doesn't that feel good!

You can do the same thing for nicer style restaurant meals. I love the "smashed" potatoes from our local steakhouse but I can easily recreate them in my own home for a fraction of the price. Same thing for "Alice Springs Chicken" from Outback. Search for "copycat" recipes and you will probably find versions of your favorite restaurant foods that you can well, copy.

I'm going to make a list of the fast food items I eat the most and the pre-packaged foods that I rely on from week to week. Then I will search the Internet for homemade versions that I can try. This will be my new challenge for May. Won't you join me?

Each Monday I will host "Make it Yourself Monday" with a Mr. Linky. (My first Mr. Linky project! Yeah!) You can post either a specific food you make yourself instead of buying prepared or a recipe for making something from scratch that some people might buy prepackaged. Maybe you have a great copycat recipe that you can share. Together we can stare down the higher food prices and win the war on rising food costs!

Check back Monday for our first "Make it Yourself Monday". I'm looking forward to the great links.