Archive for the ‘* Fair Value $1.01 to $1.50 per Serving’ Category
Homemade Manicotti Shells
This is a basic recipe and you are free to fill with what ever filling you desire; cheese, cheese and spinach, beef and cheese, chicken and cheese, etc). This is an expensive dish based on the cheese used, but there is a shortcut to use as well. I will be trying this! This would be a great as a once in a while dish when friends or family is visiting. I am going to go with 6 manicotti for this recipe based on photos, after I make this I will revise the recipe. The sauce part is based on several recipes. The photos for making the shells is credited in at the end. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
Shells
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Filling
- 3 eggs
- 3 cups Cottage cheese, OR make from a shortcut
- 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 2-3 cups tomato pasta sauce, OR make from a shortcut
Instructions
Filling
- Mix the eggs, cottage cheese, half the Mozzarella cheese, all the Parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, and parsley, refrigerate while you make the shells.
Shells
- Mix ingredients until blended, it will be watery looking, no problem!
- Lightly oil a frying pan and then heat the pan for about a minute over medium high heat. Spoon in the batter or use a dry measuring cup to pour the batter into the middle of the pan.
- Quickly and carefully tilt the pan in a circular motion until the batter forms a round, thin layer in the pan, about 6-8 inches across. (Similar to a crepe). Cook about 1 to 2 minutes until the shell surface appears dry. Carefully turn the manicotti shell over using a spatula and cook for an additional 20-30 seconds. Stack cooked shells on a plate between waxed paper for later use.
Assembly
- Now it's time to assembly the Manicotti. Preheat your oven to 180 C. Take one of your shells and add a bit of Mozzarella cheese in the center.
- Spoon a generous helping of the ricotta cheese onto the shell.
- Now fold like a burrito and place in baking pan, seam side down. Repeat steps until your baking dish is full of manicotti shells filled with cheese mix.
- Pour pasta sauce over the top and sprinkle the remaining Mozzarella cheese over the top. Bake for 35 minutes.
Notes
Pricing when I make this. For now I will say this will come out to a fair price.
Shortcuts: Cottage Cheese, Pasta Sauce.
A big thank you goes out to Jamie & Jen Dish for their recipe for the shell recipe and photos.
3-Ingredient Chicken Cacciatore
Simple and tasty sounding recipe. I made this yesterday and it is very good and simple, read my comment below. Photos are mine from preparation to plating. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 6-8 chicken thighs
- 1 large jar spaghetti/tomato sauce, OR make yourself from tomato paste and herbs, OR 2 cans of sauce
- 500 grams spiral pasta, OR any pasta of your choosing
Instructions
- Add chicken to the slow cooker pot, pour sauce over chicken, stir to coat all the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on Low for 4-5 hours until chicken is cooked through. Do not open the lid until 4 hours have passed, then check chicken. I added a diced green bell pepper as well.
- About 30 minutes before the chicken is done, cook your pasta, drain, place back in the pot you cooked them in and drizzle with some olive oil to prevent sticking. Photo shows cooked after 4 1/2 hours.
- To serve, plate up pasta, add a chicken thigh, and spoon some sauce over the chicken and pasta, feel free to sprinkle grated Parmesan on the top, I know I will. Serve with a vegetable for a complete meal.
Notes
For chicken, use thighs bone in and with skin (this adds flavor) or you can use boneless and skinless, totally up to you. You can also use a combination of legs and thighs cut from quarters (most cost effective way, do yourself a favor, buy quarters, use the thighs, save the legs for another recipe like a BBQ or for other family members). For 8 quarters, you may spend about 150 Baht, sauce in a can is about 40 Baht, but if you use paste and make yourself, considerably lower cost. About 230 Baht or about $1.30 per person if serving 6, or 90 cents per serving is serving 8. Make the sauce yourself and you can reduce the cost of the sauce by well over half.
Variants: Add any or all of chopped mushrooms, chopped onions, chopped bell peppers, herbs when you add the sauce to the slow cooker.
Shortcut: Tomato Sauce.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Creamy Swiss Chicken Casserole
This sounds good. This is slightly modified from what I read. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded, if you like cheese, you know what to do
- 1 cup fresh mushrooms, slightly chopped, lightly fried in olive oil
- 1 package egg noodles
- salt and pepper, to taste
- onion powder, to taste
- garlic powder, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190 degrees C. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 inch casserole dish. Add chicken pieces to the casserole dish. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder, to taste.
- In a bowl, mix the soup and milk. Sprinkle cheese over the chicken. Pour soup and milk over the chicken. Sprinkle with mushrooms.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until juices from chicken run clear and sauce is bubbly. Cook your noodles while baking. Serve over noodles with a green vegetable for a complete meal.
Notes
The chicken and cheese is the most expensive part of this meal. 4 chicken breasts will be about 100 Baht, cheese will run about 100 Baht for the 1 cup (buy a 250 gram block and shred yourself, that will be about 1/2 block for 1 cup of shredded). Make the soup yourself, dead easy and is half the cost of a canned soup and you know what is in it. Basically 200 Baht or about $1.50 per serving for 4 people.
Alternative would be to use chicken thighs (think skin on and bone in, as thighs are a bit more flavorful), or just quarters that are cut apart.
Shortcut: Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken I
This has potential and is on my list of must tries. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless, cut into bite size pieces
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1/3 cup orange marmalade
- 1/3 cup barbecue sauce, OR make from a shortcut listed on this site
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
Instructions
- Add chicken to the slow cooker pot and sprikle with the flour, mix to coat the chicken.
- Add all other ingredients and light stir to combine. Cover.
- Cook on Low setting for 6-8 hours or High for 3-4 hours. Serve over rice with some green beans on the side for a complete meal.
Notes
You can get chicken thighs or quarters at almost every market, about 60-65 Baht/Kilo, the thighs on quarters are larger, so get those and cut your self and debone and remove skin, takes a mater of seconds. Chicken cost would be about 120-150 Baht (with quarters, you have legs left over to put on a grill and BBQ for another meal). Make the BBQ sauce your self for greater savings. At 150 Baht, this is about $1.10 per serving for 4 people, and for 6 people it is about 75 cents per serving. All other ingredients are minimal.
Shortcut: BBQ Sauce.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Big Mac Burgers
This is the home made version of the famous burger served all over the world. With this, you know what is in it, not the assembly line product that has an ingredient list longer than your arm. This a a double decker burger with a Big Mac sauce. I made these on 16 Feb 2017, very very good! I made the classic double decker for myself and just a jr Big Mac for my wife with just one burger. Highly recommended to make these with just one burger, much easier to handle. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
Sauce
- 2/3 cup mayo
- 1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
- 2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
- 3/4 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Burgers
- 500 grams ground beef, OR make from a shortcut
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 sesame seed buns, sliced into 3 pieces
Toppings
- 4 teaspoons onion, finely chopped
- 2 cups lettuce, shredded
- Cheddar cheese, use real cheese, not processed
- 8 slices dill pickles, OR make from a shortcut on this site
Instructions
- Mix together the sauce ingredients and set aside. Refrigerate for a while is even better.
- Mix the salt and pepper into the beef, split the mixture into 4 parts and roll into balls. Flatten each ball and shape into a patty.
- Place patties into a non stick pan with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and cook the patties for 3 minutes each side. Meanwhile, slice the burger buns into 3 parts and slightly toast them. (I do not mess around with burgers, I make thick large burgers.)
- To assemble, spread the sauce over the base and middle bun. Add onion and lettuce on both buns. On the bottom bun add cheese and one of the burger patties, on the middle bun add 4 pickle slices and burger patty. Lift the middle bun onto the top of the base and finally add the top of bun.
- To make a Jr. Big Mac, use only 1 burger and no middle bun. On the bottom bun add sauce, lettuce, onion, and cheese, and one of the burger patties, top that with 4-5 pickle slices, add sauce to the top bun and cover the top with that.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
- And the Jr. Big Mac.
Notes
Ground beef runs about 100 Baht/500 grams. For 2 servings, this is about $1.47 per serving. If you went the route with just 1 burger patty and made 4 Jr. Big Macs, you could stretch this to 4 servings at a cost of 74 cents per serving.
Shortcut: Dill Pickles, Best Hamburger Meat.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Bangers & Mash Rolls
I do love a good plate of Bangers & Mash with a side peas and a bowl of onion gravy. Here is a twist on the common sausage roll to include mash as well. Bangers being thick pork sausages and mash being mashed potatoes. This is a must do for me, and I will take photos as well.
Ingredients
- 4 thick pork sausages, aka Bangers
- 1 package puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
- mashed potatoes, cold, can even be leftovers
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190 C. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
- Brown the Sausages on all sides in a large skillet - until mostly cooked through. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Unroll a sheet of puff pastry and cut into 4 pieces. Spread mash down the center of each pastry, top with cooked sausage and add additional mash to the top and sides. Roll up each sheet - pinch together to seal and trim off any excess. Place on the baking sheet - seam side down - and brush each roll with beaten egg.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes - until the pastry is golden and crispy on all sides and the meat has cooked through. Serve with a side of Onion Gravy as a dipping sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Thick pork sausages, Bangers, run about 200-250 Baht for 10 sausages in Makro. 4 sausages (figured at 250 Baht) would be about 100 Baht, for 2 servings this is about $1.50 per person, more than reasonable.
Variants to this would be to add shredded Cheddar cheese to the top before rolling.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Stuffed Pizza Crust
This is really good, this can be made with cheese or sausage (I chose sausage this time). This recipe is my modified thin crust pizza dough recipe and my sauce recipe as well. I had to modify the recipe since you need a bit larger crust rolled out to start the process. My report in the comments section.
Equipment
- Pizza Pans (two 12 inch)
- Oven
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon instant yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1â…› cup water
- 1½ teaspoon Italian seasoning, optional, or herbs of your choice
- 1 package Mozzarella Cheese sticks, About 6 to 10 sticks, or cooked sausage links
- melted butter
Sauce
- 1 can tomato paste, (170 g / 6 oz can)
- â…” cup water
- ¼ cup olive oil
- salt, to taste
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250° C (480° F).
- Measure out the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and dried Italian seasoning/herbs of your choice (if using) and yeast, use your hand or a whisk to combine.
- Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the water. Use your fingers or a wooden spoon to combine everything together. When it comes together into a cohesive ball, turn it out onto the counter along with any extra flour in the bowl that hasn’t yet gotten worked in.
- Knead the dough until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth/elastic to the touch, about five minutes. The dough should still feel moist and just slightly tacky. If it’s sticking to your hands and counter top like bubble gum, work in more flour one tablespoon at a time until it’s smooth and silky. Then divide the dough into two parts.
- Sprinkle some corn meal around on each pan, the place one ball of dough in the center. Use the heels of your hands and working from the middle gently press the dough outward until it’s about ¼ of an inch thick or less, while rotating the pan, keep doing this until the dough is actually overlapped the edge of the pan by 1½ to 2 inches. You can also use a rolling pin for this on a floured surface, then roll up on the pin and lay over the pizza pan.
- Take the cheese sticks and tear in half lengthwise (If you want a lot of cheese, leave the sticks whole). Take each piece of cheese, or sausage link, and press into the dough at the edge of the pan, and do this all the way around the pan. Take the excess dough and fold over the cheese and using a fork, just lightly crimp down the folded over part to the dough on the bottom of the pan.
- Spoon ONLY the sauce into the center of each pizza and use the back of a spoon to spread it out to the edges. Brush melted butter over the crust area where the cheese or sausage is. Put into the preheated over for 5 minutes, then rotate it 180 degrees so it is evenly cooked for another 3 minutes. Remove from oven.
- Now add the toppings of your choice, return to oven for another 3-5 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and crispy. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack, repeat with second pizza. Each pizza should cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
- Note, if using sausage, pick a thin pork sausage link or thin Italian sausage link, you need to cook these first before placing on the dough. Just pan fry them and drain on a paper towel to remove extra oil.
- Note, if using bulk Italian sausage, sliced sausage, bacon, prawn, onions, peppers, you need to cook any meat products first, and cook onions and peppers just to soften them, prior to using as a topping.
Notes
The basic pizza is a fair value, the cheese or the sausage will determine that, then when you start adding toppings, then the price goes up, and can go up a lot, but is so good, and is a good treat for Thai relatives and neighbors.
Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings I
This is a tailored version from a internet recipe sent to me by a good friend. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- handful fresh mushrooms, lightly chopped
- 1 cup peas
Dumplings
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, OR make this with a shortcut on the site
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
Instructions
- Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.
- Cover and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High setting. About 20 minutes before serving, drop the biscuit mix into the pot in 8 large spoonfuls. Cover the pot and continue cooking for 12 to 15 minutes.
Dumplings
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk in the butter, buttermilk, and parsley. Drop the mixture into the pot in 8 large spoonfuls and continue to cook covered for 12 to 15 minutes or until the dumplings are firm.
Notes
Chicken breast run about 88 Baht/kilo, the chicken and the soup will run about 200 Baht max, for 4 people, this is about $1.45 per person, if you make the soup and buttermilk from scratch as listed on shortcuts here on the site, the price will be $1 or less per person.
Shortcuts: Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup, Buttermilk.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
South Africa.
Slow Cooker Dump and Go Cheesy Chicken
I am looking forward to making this, this is a good starter recipe and I may adjust it after I make it, as listed first. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 6 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, OR 3-4 quarters, cut
- 2 cans condensed Cheddar cheese soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Coat the inside of your slow cooker with some butter. Dump the chicken inside.
- Mix the soup and milk in a bowl and pour over the chicken, season with the garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook on Low setting for 6 hours and do not lift the lid while cooking!
- Serve over rice, pasta, or mashed/boiled potatoes.
Notes
Chicken breasts will be about 88 Baht/kilo, 6 would run about 110 Baht. Quarters run about 64 Baht/kilo, 3-4 would run about 80 Baht.
The canned soup is about 60 Baht/can, if you make from the shortcut, very easy, the cost would be 20 Baht/can.
For breasts and canned soup, the cost per person for 6 people is about $1.15. For quarters and homemade soup from the shortcut, the cost for 6 people, per person would be 60 cents.
Making the shortcut will save you money and it is so easy!
Shortcut: Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff I
Cubed chicken breast cooked in your slow cooker with a easy creamy sauce. I am going to have to try this, this sounds good! Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, cubed
- 1/8 cup butter
- 1 packet dry Italian salad dressing mix, OR use the shortcut listed on this site
- 1 package Cream cheese, 250 gram package, standard size
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, OR make from a shortcut
Instructions
- Put chicken, butter and dressing mix in your slow cooker, mix together and cook on Low setting for 5 to 6 hours.
- When chicken is tender and browned, add cream cheese and soup, mix together and cook on high for another 1/2 hour or until heated through and hot. Server over rice or egg noodles.
Notes
Chicken breast would be about 87 Baht/kilo, get 4 breasts and work with that, the cost will be close to 80-90 Baht. Caroline brand cream cheese is about 110 Baht/package. Cost per person would be around $1.50, not bad for a good meal.
Shortcuts: Italian Dressing, Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
