Frugal Friday: Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

Sometimes you need an easy, inexpensive recipe that everyone will enjoy- like Santa Fe Chicken! The great thing about this chicken recipe is it tastes like you slaved over a hot oven all day- but really the crock pot did all the work. Another bonus is, this is a budget friendly meal your wallet and family will love.

Santa Fe Chicken
Recipe courtesy of http://thefrugalgirls.com/2014/10/crockpot-santa-fe-whole-chicken-recipe.html

1 whole chicken (4 - 5 lbs)
2 packets fajita seasoning
1 medium whole onion


1. Rinse the chicken under cool water and pat dry. Remember to remove the organs from inside the chicken.
2, Slice the onion into thick slices.
3. Sprinkle the Fajita seasoning over the chicken, make sure to get inside the chicken cavity as well. 

4. Place half the chopped onion inside the chicken .
5. Put the chicken in a large resealable bag or Tupperware container and allow to marinate overnight
6. The next morning, place the remainder of the onion slices on the bottom of the crock pot, and place the chicken on top of the onion.
7. Cook the chicken on low heat for 6 - 8 hours until an instant read meat thermometer reads at least 160.0

8. Serve with the onions and the juice from the bottom of the crock pot.

Notes from the Test Kitchen:
* We discussed adding a bell pepper with the the onion to add a little additional taste.

*This recipe would be delicious served in tortillas with the peppers and onions- fajita style.

Here's the breakdown on how much this budget meal costs:
Chicken $5.00
Season Packets 2 / $1.00
Onion $1.00
Total: $7.00

We had 4 meals from this chicken, which means $1.75 per serving. It doesn't get much more budget friendly (or delicious) than that! 

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Meatless Monday: Chickpea Chicken Salad

Since becoming vegetarian, finding lunches for Rebecca in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen has been challenging. She burned out on peanut butter sandwiches and hummus wraps pretty quickly. The idea of more hummus made her gag a little. So, when she found a recipe for Curried Chickpea "Chicken" Salad, she was pretty stoked. And even more stoked when she found out how delicious it was! 

Curried Chickpea Salad
Recipe adapted from: http://www.simple-veganista.com/?s=curried+chickpea

2 cans (15 oz.) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 – 3 carrots (about 1 cup), diced
4 – 5 scallions/green onions (about 1 cup), sliced
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/2 cup raw or toasted cashews
1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon curry powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt & cracked pepper to taste

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, curry & garlic powder and a generous pinch of salt. Blend until combined. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, add chickpeas and roughly mash about 1/2 of the beans with the back of a sturdy fork or potato masher. Add in the carrots, scallions, raisins, cashews and mayonnaise mixture, mix well to combine. Taste for flavor adding salt and cracked pepper to taste.

This salad would be delicious served in a wrap or with sliced red peppers or celery, but was also delicious just plain, in a bowl with a spoon. 

If you're a vegan, you can use vegan mayo, or mix the salad with hummus thinned with tahini sauce. This is a great recipe for those hot, dog days of summer when you don't want to do any actual cooking. It's become Rebecca's new go-to lunch recipe. Heaven help us when she gets sick of this one... 

Stay Cool,

The Cool Dads Crew

Meatless Monday: Balsamic Mushroom Pasta

Since one of the members of the Wisconsin Test Kitchen has gone vegetarian, we've seen a 200% increase in the amount of mushrooms purchased every two weeks. Mushrooms are really versatile when it comes to swapping out meat. We use them in place of hamburger, corned beef, and are even trying a recipe to make bacon out of portobello mushroom caps.

What was that noise? Yep, that was Doug in the Arkansas Test Kitchen's head exploding at the very idea of making bacon out of mushrooms. But we digress. 

Yes, we've been swapping meat for mushrooms, but sometimes mushrooms taste really good all on their own. Since it hasn't been really warm or sunny here in Wisconsin this summer, we were looking for a hearty pasta dish for Sunday night dinner. We decided to try this yummy balsamic mushroom fettuccine dish. It's really indulgent and pairs perfectly with a glass of spicy red wine.

Balsamic Mushroom Pasta
Recipe courtesy of: http://www.girlgonegourmet.com/2015/01/balsamic-mushroom-pasta.html

INGREDIENTS
4 ounces fettuccine pasta
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup shallot, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces baby portabello mushrooms, sliced (We used a bag of assorted mushrooms- oyster, shiitake and portabello)
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup cream
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese, plus a few tablespoons for garnish
salt & pepper

INSTRUCTIONS
Cook the fettuccine according to the directions on the package. While the pasta is cooking prepare the mushroom sauce.
In a large pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Once melted, add in the shallots and garlic and cook for a few minutes or so, just until softened.

Add in the sliced mushrooms and toss them around to get them coated in the butter and olive oil. If needed, add an additional tablespoon of olive oil if the mushrooms get too dry. Let them cook and brown for about 8 minutes.

Pour in the balsamic vinegar and stir everything together making sure to scrape up all of the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add in the other tablespoon of butter. Cook everything together for a couple of minutes and then turn off the heat and move the pan off the burner.

Pour in the cream and parmesan cheese and stir to combine.

Add the cooked fettuccine to the sauce and toss to combine. Add in the fresh parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper (about a ½ teaspoon of each).
Serve with additional parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.

Kevin was the first one to point out that it wasn't the prettiest dish we've ever prepared, but it sure did taste good. And it was easy enough to prepare, that it was the perfect weeknight supper. 

Stay Cool,

The Cool Dads Crew

Kids in the Kitchen Wednesday: Life on the Farm

Ok, you're right: we don't actually live on a farm. But recently the Arkansas Test kitchen took a trip to a local blackberry farm. Lil' Dude has never tried or picked blackberries before, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to take care of both!

On the way to the farm, Lil' Dude and I heard a fantastic kids song: Japanese Bananas by Alvin and the Chipmunks. 

 This was the song that we sang while we picked blackberries. Even though it was crazy hot, we had a great time on the farm, and it felt good to support our local farmers. 

After picking a gallon of blackberries, we tried making blackberry cobbler for the first time! 

Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients
2 Cups blackberries
3/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla


1. Place blackberries and 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
3. In a mixing bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and mix thoroughly.
4. Mix the milk, melted butter, and vanilla in a seperate bowl, and add to the dry ingredients, stirring until there are only a few lumps
5. Grease an 8"x8" baking dish
6. Spoon mixture into the greased dish, and pour the blackberries on top.
7. Place cobbler in the oven and bake for 45 minutes
8. Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Since we titled this post Life on the Farm, we thought we'd give you an update on our container garden. To date, we have 5 tomato plants, 1 mini eggplant, 1 crook neck squash plant, 6 sweet banana pepper plants, 2 bell pepper plants, 1 mini bell pepper plant, 2 lunchbox sweet snacking pepper plants, and 1 cucumber plant planted. 

So far, we have harvested a handful of cherry tomatoes, 8 banana peppers, 2 mini eggplants, and a squash. The one thing we've learned is to stagger the planting of the vegetables, and not plant everything all at once. This way, our harvest will last all summer and into the fall. We hope to have enough produce soon to start trying out some new recipes!

We hope you're enjoying summers bounty as much as we are!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew