Aldi Meal List {Set 1-1}

Meal #1
Salmon ala Dishwasher

Ingredients

4 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
Juice from one lemon
Salt & pepper

Tear off four sheets of aluminum foil, large enough to wrap each piece of salmon in. Grease one side of each piece of foil. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over each of the salmon fillets and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Wrap each piece of salmon carefully, sealing it well. To make sure that no air escapes, press down on the packet- if the air does escape it will need to be rewrapped. Put the packets on the top rack of the dishwasher and run for a full cycle, with heated drying. Salmon will be done when the dishwasher runs the full cycle.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes (peeled & cut into one inch cubes)
¾ cup evaporated milk
½ stick of butter
1 cup shredded cheese (preferably cheddar)
Salt & pepper to taste

Place potatoes in large saucepan. Cover with water; bring to a boil. Cook over medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender; drain.

Return potatoes to saucepan; add evaporated milk and butter. Beat with hand-held mixer until smooth. Stir in cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Broccoli

Ingredients

1 head of broccoli
Salt to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Trim and wash broccoli. When water has been brought to a boil, then add broccoli to the pot. Cook for three minutes. Drain broccoli. Place broccoli back in the hot pot and put the lid on. By the time the rest of your dinner is ready you will have the perfect broccoli- perfect color and texture.

Money Saving Tips for this Meal
While the freshly made mashed potatoes actually cost less per serving, if you end up being short on time, the Butter & Herb Instant Mashed Potatoes are wonderful and ready in less than five minutes.

Using your dishwasher is a wonderful way to keep your kitchen cool in the summer without sacrificing any of that flavorful taste. Salmon is the perfect meat for the dishwasher and I guarantee that the fish is perfectly done every single time. Make sure that you have plenty of dishes to do while you are “steaming” your fish so that you can really maximize the energy ran from your dishwasher.

Meal #2
Slow Cooker Day: Taco Soup

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey
1 can chili beans, with liquid
1 can kidney beans, with liquid
1 can whole kernel corn, with liquid
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 package of taco seasoning mix

In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef until browned over medium heat. Drain & set aside. Place the ground beef, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, & taco seasoning mix in a slow cooker. Mix to blend and cook on Low setting for eight hours.

Serve alone or can be topped with shredded cheese & sour cream.

Meal #3 – Brunch Day
Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

1# sliced ham (lunch meat)
2 teaspoons mustard
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
6 slices white bread, toasted & cut into cubes
8 ounces mild cheddar cheese

In a medium bowl, mix together mustard, salt, eggs, and milk. Add the ham (cut into cubes), bread cubes, and cheese, and stir to cat evenly. Pour into a greased 9×13″ baking dish. Cover & chill in the refrigerator for eight hours, or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover and bake 45-60 minutes. Uncover and reduce temperature to 325 and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until set.

Jewish Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1 package yellow cake mix
1 package vanilla instant pudding
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
1 cup orange juice

Mix these ingredients together and then swirl the following through the cake batter: 1/3 c. sugar, 4 t. cinnamon, 4 t. sesame seeds (optional). Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees in a well-greased and floured bundt pan. Allow cake to cool for 45-60 minutes in pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Serve meal with the rest of the orange juice to drink.

Money-Saving Tips for This Meal:
Substitute the Lunchmates meat with a less expensive prepackaged lunch meat

Cut the ham into smaller pieces and buy half the size listed

Substitute the fresh orange juice with the frozen concentrate variety. The taste may not be as good, but the cost is much less.

Save this meal for the perfect Birthday, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, New Baby, or Christmas Brunch. It is simple to put together, all the prep work can be done the day before, and it is a delicious brunch for any special occasion.

Meal #4 – Slow Cooker Day
Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

2# ground turkey
½ cup chopped green bell pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard
1 ½ cups ketchup
6 teaspoons brown sugar
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste

In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef and green pepper; drain off fat. Stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, & brown sugar; mix thoroughly. Pour into crock pot and simmer for (at least) two hours. Season with salt & pepper.

Serve on toasty rolls with tortilla chips and baby carrots.

Healthy Tip for This Meal:
If your children (or husband) have an aversion to chunks of green pepper, zap the green pepper in the food processor until it is finely chopped. Feel free to add other veggies (carrots, celery, red bell pepper) and you can sneak in a few good servings of vegetables without your kids even knowing it!

Meal #5
Balsamic Vinegar Chicken

Ingredients

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic-minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Season the flour with salt and pepper and dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture. An easy method to use for coating is to put flour, salt & pepper mixture into a Ziploc bag; then add chicken, shake and remove. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium/high heat and sauté the chicken until it is nicely browned on each side (about 2-3 minutes per side). Reduce heat to low. Add the garlic to skillet and sauté for 1 minute. Add the vinegar and chicken broth. Cover tightly and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes, turning occasionally. Transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter and cover with foil. Set aside. Continue simmering the sauce, uncovered, over medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Pour sauce over the chicken and serve.

Balsamic Glazed Vegetables

Ingredients

Baby packaged fresh carrots
1 package broccoli heads
½ cup water
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon butter

Place veggies in a pan with water and vinegar. Bring to a boil and cover. Reduce heat to medium and cook ten minutes. Remove lid and increase heat, to allow water and vinegar to reduce and glaze the veggies, about five to seven minutes. When glazed to a sweet rich brown color, add butter to coat veggies lightly. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Money Saving Tips for this Meal
Aldi’s frozen chicken breasts are very large cuts of the breast. You can easily feed two people from one of the chicken breasts. Cut the breasts in half and see if that serving suffices before serving the entire breast (especially for children)

If a different type of vegetable is on sale, that your family prefers, try making the balsamic vegetables with the sale-priced veggie. Some other great options are cauliflower, squash, or zucchini. Be creative in your veggie choices and mix & match.

The veggie side dish can be a great way to use up some of those leftover vegetables, that are taking up space in your refrigerator, and the recipe can easily be doubled (or tripled) if you have a lot of veggies to use up.

Meal #6
Creamy Chicken Burritos

Ingredients

3 chicken breast halves cooked and cubed
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
1 Cup Salsa
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 15 oz can pinto beans drained
1 ½ Cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Add cream cheese and salsa to large sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until cheese is melted and blended with salsa. Add garlic, beans and chicken. Mix well. Fill tortillas, roll up and place in baking dish. Mixture will be a bit runny so be careful not to burn yourself filling tortillas. Sprinkle burritos with cheese, cover with foil and bake 20 minutes.
Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with the rest of the salsa & tortilla chips

Fun Ideas for This Meal:
Make a Mexican topping bar with all of your favorite toppings (sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, & salsa). Each family member can dress their burrito in their own special way. Yet another great way to get some veggies on their plates!

A yummy chip dip can be made by simply blending one brick of softened cream cheese with a jar of salsa. Blend with your hand mixer and serve with the tortilla chips. If you are in a time crunch, simply pour the salsa over the brick of cream cheese and serve with a spoon.

Meal #7
Spaghetti & Meatballs

Ingredients

1 pound spaghetti
1 jar prepared spaghetti sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste (minus 2 tablespoons for the meatballs)
½ cup beef broth
1 pound ground turkey
¼ cup breadcrumbs (directions for preparation to follow)
2 tablespoons paste
1 egg
3 tablespoons of beef broth
Handful of parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and the spaghetti and cook as directed or until al dente. The spaghetti will continue to cook in sauce, later. To a large skillet add prepared spaghetti sauce, tomato paste (minus 2 tablespoons), and diced tomatoes, and allow to cook together. Add beef broth and allow the sauce to simmer while you make the meatballs. In a large bowl mix together turkey, bread crumbs, tomato paste, egg, beef broth, handful of cheese, and salt and pepper. Shape into meatballs (any size, just make sure they are all the same size for even cooking) and bake the meatballs for fifteen to twenty minutes or until cooked thoroughly. Carefully remove meatballs from the baking sheet and add them to the sauce. Drain and add cooked pasta to the pan and mix together with the red sauce.

Serve meal with a tossed garden salad.

Breadcrumbs Recipe

Making your own breadcrumbs can be easy and inexpensive. The flavor of fresh breadcrumbs versus the store bought variety is not even comparable. Store your breadcrumbs in your freezer and you will always have fresh breadcrumbs on hand. I keep mine in a freezer-safe container and when I get low, I simply make another batch. Breadcrumbs can be made out of loaf ends, stale bread, hot dog rolls, & hamburger buns- whatever you have on hand! Keep a bread bag with all of your bread in it and store it in the freezer. Once the bag is filled, it is time to make some breadcrumbs!

Set your oven to broil and then lay all of the bread out on cookie sheets. You only need to broil the bread a couple of minutes (keep one eye on it because it can burn quickly). This helps just to dry the bread out and make it easier to handle. Once the bread is toasted, put this bread into my food processor. You can just have only the bread in there, or if you like the Italian seasonings type of breadcrumbs add your own seasonings (I add garlic salt, and an Italian seasonings dry blend of herbs to mine for that variety). Run the food processor until the bread crumbs are of a fine consistency. Then put these crumbs into a freezer-safe container.

If you do not have a food processor (like me) then just put them in a ziplock bag and roll them until they are finely crushed!

Money-Saving Tips for This Meal:
Omit the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, & beef broth and just use the jarred sauce, if you are looking to save even more money. The prepared sauce is delicious by itself.

This is a great meal to take to a new mom, a welcome to the neighborhood meal, or a sick friend/relative. The cost is just right and the dish has wonderful stage presence. Not only that, but it is an easy meal to reheat.

Save yourself from ordering a pizza and make a double batch of the meatballs. Store half of them in your freezer for a night off of cooking. These can be used in another batch of spaghetti & meatballs or put them on a hoagie roll and have a yummy meatball sub.

Meal #8 – Mom’s Night Off: Pasta Night
Stuffed Rigatoni in Marinara Sauce

Ingredients
1 package frozen spinach or Portobello stuffed rigatoni
1 jar of prepared spaghetti sauce

Cook frozen ravioli as directed on package. In a separate saucepan, heat the spaghetti sauce through. Toss the pasta and sauce together and serve.

Serve with a Caesar salad & garlic toast.