Mar 142016
 

This shop and my date night homemade General Tso Chicken recipe have been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #DataAndAMovie #CollectiveBias

With Ashley living in Indianapolis and Austin having been away for his Army training our babysitting pool has been fairly tiny the last few months. Which means that date night is mostly celebrated at home after Bubbles has gone to bed.

Homemade General Tso Chicken recipe

I’ve been making homemade Sweet & Sour Chicken pretty regularly at my husband’s request.  So for our most recent date night I decided to go a similar route and make homemade General Tso’s Chicken.  This recipe comes together so fast and so easily that you’ll be making it for all your date nights. Continue reading »

Oct 292014
 

This BBQ Chicken Mac and Cheese recipe is part of the Sverve #SmokehouseBBQ campaign. Recipe and thoughts are my own.

We just found out that the weather on Halloween is supposed to be pretty rotten.  And by rotten, I mean it’s going to be in the 40s with a 70% chance of rain.  There may be a very soggy Elsa by the end of the night.

Smokey BBQ Chicken Mac and Cheese with Bacon

So before we head out to trick or treat, I’ll be making sure that everyone eats a hot, filling dinner. One of my go-to meals is homemade mac & cheese. It’s Bubbles-approved, and everyone else that has tried it, loves it. I have a few different variations, like my Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese, and this one for my Smokey BBQ Chicken Mac and Cheese with Bacon.  Because everything’s better with bacon, right? Continue reading »

Jan 242013
 

Quick and Healthy Chicken Recipes With Tyson Grilled & Ready Chicken

Quick & Healthy Chicken Recipes - White Cheddar Chicken Broccoli Mac & Cheese

Bubbles is a lot of things: sweet, loving, kind-hearted.  (The list goes on but I won’t; I’m pretty sure you didn’t stop by today to read 300 words on why I love my sweet pea.)  Two things she is not, however, is a very good sleeper or a very good eater.  She does pretty well at breakfast (yogurt and a fruit pouch or yogurt and toast, usually) but lunch and dinner are a different story.  When you ask her what she would like to eat her response mashed potatoes, pizza, or mac and cheese.  These foods can be very healthy but I wish they had more protein.

I was trying to think of ways I could dress up her favorites to be even more healthy and protein-packed.  I make her homemade white cheddar mac and cheese about once per week and I decided that I could mix in broccoli (a veggie she likes) and cooked chicken.  Honestly if it’s covered in cheese she’s probably going to eat it (let’s not lie: if it’s covered in cheese I’m probably going to eat it, too). Continue reading »

Mar 282012
 

Tasty Tuesday – Chicken Piccata Recipe

I’m always looking for new ways to dress up chicken (isn’t everyone?), and so when I saw Chicken Piccata pop up on Pinterest the other day, I thought “Ooh.  Maybe?”.  Her post referenced a recipe from The Pioneer Woman, whom I adore, so (after reading the comments suggesting this particular modification was not exactly a win) I popped over to check out Ree’s original recipe.

As usual, I was not disappointed.  I did make a couple of swaps, myself, but that was mainly due to the ingredients I had on hand and not wanting to have to make a special trip to the grocery.  I also marinated my chicken for most of the day before cooking, just to impart some extra flavor.  Here’s my version of her recipe.

Chicken Piccata Recipe

Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata

Ingredients:

Continue reading »
Nov 052011
 

How to Save Money Buying Chicken In Bulk

How to Save Money on Proteins Buying in Bulk

I’m pretty sure that we all have noticed the increase in prices as the grocery store over the last few months.  One area I’ve noticed a huge difference in is fresh proteins.  In the past I could sometimes find boneless, skinless chicken on sale for under $2/lb; now it is regularly $3.30/lb and sales are few and far between.  While there are coupons for many products those coupons rarely include fresh meat, so you might be wondering how to save money in this area.

One way to save is when you buy in bulk.  Normally I make my bulk purchases at warehouse stores.  But I recently discovered a new option: Zaycon Foods where I can buy fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts for under $1.50/lb!

Zaycon Foods was founded in 2009 and is based in Washington state.  The goal of their company is to bring fresh meats and other products direct to consumers at wholesale prices.  They combine the buying power of multiple families in each community which allows them to negotiate huge savings.  Then they look for farms or processors in each community and bring you the foods directly from them; your meats are as fresh as if you owned a farm yourself (without all the mess and work!).  And they sell the meat by the case; this allows them to further keep the costs down by skipping handling charges.

I had the opportunity to participate in a Zaycon Foods event this week and I honestly, I wish all my shopping was that easy.  A couple of weeks before they came to town I went online to reserve my case.  (Chicken cases each contain 40 lbs. of chicken.)  I choose the event closest to me (they generally have multiple events in each state), ordered my case of chicken – each case of chicken costs $60-65 – and printed out my confirmation.  Then this week on my assigned day and time I drove to the delivery location and waited.  The driver was a few minutes late, but once he did arrive, I was in and out in less than 2 minutes.  I didn’t even have to get out of my car!  Just drove up next to the truck, told the guy where I wanted my chicken stowed, told him my name and off we drove.

The chicken is fresh and comes packaged in a big box (designed for refrigeration).  When I got it home and we opened the box, there were four plastic bags of about 10 lbs. each, and they were all sealed inside a larger plastic bag.  The breasts were huge with very little fat on them.  We portioned them out to roughly two double-breasts to each gallon-sized ziptop plastic bag. That way we can pull out only what we need for each meal.

What to do with all that chicken?  Well, to start check out this recipe I prepared using my Zaycon chicken.  You can also check out my Pinterest recipe boards for additional ideas.  And be sure to like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter as in addition to updates about deliveries in your area and new additions to their offerings I have also found that they share recipes.

Giveaway is now closed.

I received the above stated product(s) in order to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received and all opinions are 100% that of myself and my family.