A Week of (Healthy) Bare-Bones Meals: Day 4

Welcome, Tuesday Tag-Along friends and welcome to all of my wonderful readers. :)

Today's day 4 in my week of meals that cost very little but provide lots of taste and nutrition. On today's menu: a sandwich that uses up the leftover chicken from the past two days' menus.


Day 4

Breakfast: scrambled eggs & biscuits with jam
Lunch: Leftover Fried Rice or Soup
Dinner: Chicken Burgers on Soft Rolls with Lettuce, Tomato, and Onion

Chicken Burgers on Soft Rolls
Makes 6 chicken burgers and 16 rolls

What You Need:

• 1 lb cooked, boneless, skinless chicken
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 to 3/4 cups bread crumbs (just toss the heels of your homemade bread into the food processor for this)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tsp minced garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder, if that's cheaper or easier to get)
• 1/2 an onion
• 1 Tbsp oil plus more for cooking
• rolls for serving (recipe follows)

How it's Done:

1. Combine chicken, eggs, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and 1 Tbsp oil in your food processor or blender. Process until smooth, adding tiny bits of water if needed.
2. Form the mixture into 6 patties.
3. Fry in oil over medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes per side. They're already almost completely cooked -- you just need to heat them up completely and brown both sides.
4. Serve on rolls with your choice of toppings.

Yummy, Cheap, and Easy SOFT Rolls for Sandwiches

What You Need:

• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup sugar (I used honey, but for cost purposes, I'm listing sugar. Use honey if you have it.)
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp honey or sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 tsp sea salt

How it's Done:

1. Heat milk on stove or in microwave until steaming (about 4 minutes in microwave for me). Add oil and 1/4 cup sugar or honey. Let this cool down.
2. Meanwhile, combine yeast with 1 tsp honey or sugar AND 1/4 cup warm water in a large mixing bowl. I used my KitchenAid stand mixer. Let sit for 10 minutes.
3. After 10 minutes, pour the milk mixture into the large mixing bowl. Turn beater on or stir by hand. Add 2 cups of flour and 1 tsp salt. Stir briskly 2 minutes. Then, let this sponge sit undisturbed for 10 minutes.
4. Now, add in 3 cups of flour, slowly, beating all the time. You want to form a soft, smooth dough. Add additional flour as needed.
5. Knead for five to eight minutes on a lightly floured surface.
6. Move the dough to a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
7. Punch the dough down and divide into 16 roughly equal bits. Roll out into ropes, then spiral them around themselves like snail shells, pinching the ends securely. Cover and let rise 30 minutes.
8. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, or until the tops are golden in color.
9. Brush with melted butter if desired.

Frugal Tip #4: Use your time and energy wisely. Why make only 6 buns for one meal, when you can make 16 and use the rest over the next few days? Baking in large batches saves time, effort, and energy cost.

Who says livin' cheap has to mean eatin' junk?

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