Oprah & Chef Cora’s 7-day Menu Challenge: Day 1
July 7, 2009 by Texasholly
Filed under Best Of, reality check
Last week I watched the Oprah episode with three chefs from TV showing American families how to cut down on food costs. Each chef boasted that his/her recipes were easy and could be done at home. Each chef declared that following the recipes would save money. Each chef posted the recipes on Oprah.com.
I was a bit skeptical.
OK, I was a LOT skeptical.
There is good reason for my skepticism – I am not a very good cook.
I decided that we were going to try and see if it worked.
I looked online and chose Chef Cat Cora’s recipe list. It has 21 meals which include breakfast, lunch and dinner for 7 days. She states that it will feed a family of 4 and that the whole week would cost less than $150. Her list of recipes also included a shopping list which I printed so I would be ready for the grocery store trip.
I enlisted the help of Bianca. Making one meal a day would be a shock to my system, let alone 21 in one week so I figured I could use the help. And since we decided this could not go undocumented…here is our story.
Chef Cat Cora’s 21 meal menu
Chef Cat Cora’s shopping list for 21 meal menu
We started by taking our printed shopping list to Wal-Mart. It was easy to use because it was organized by areas within the store. When a choice was needed we chose the store brand or the cheapest product that would work.
There were three things that Wal-Mart either didn’t carry or was out of stock: Butter leaf Lettuce, Orzo, and fresh mint.
We found the missing items at a different store substituting for the Butter leaf Lettuce which wasn’t at either grocery shop.
Being very eager cooks we chose a recipe that sounded good and prepared our first meal from the list for dinner:
Spicy Chicken and Mango Stir Fry
This was one of the recipes that Chef Cora demonstrated on the Oprah episode in a real family’s kitchen. She suggested using it for a lunch but once we looked at all the recipes we realized we had another problem…
*insert haunting music here*
A problem that we will discuss tomorrow.
*insert foreshadowing music here*
Is it called foreshadowing if I just come out and announce that we will be discussing it tomorrow?
Anyway, that is what we chose and we started to chop an onion.
and another onion.
How many onions?
The picture tells the story of a heaping pile o’ onions with a side of post-chopping weeping.
We thought that two onions seemed like a lot for this recipe, but since we don’t have our own TV show or even regularly cook we decided to follow the recipe EXACTLY.
Then there is the issue of the chicken.
Cluck. Cluck.
The recipe calls for “3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken , sliced into 1/2-inch thick strips”.
What?
We just bought three WHOLE chickens.
Cluck. Cluck.
Let the skinning and de-boning begin.
We will be the first to admit that it wasn’t pretty…
*insert foreshadowing music here*
Finally we have chicken!
Whoo hoo!
Finally we have dinner!
Whoo hoo!
This is the entire dinner.
This is the final product that will be split into four portions.
For our purposes we are going to chart the results for 2 adults and 3 small children. Especially since the small children are super picky and will probably not eat much of anything because they are my small children.
The verdict?
4/5 LOVED the recipe.
1/5 refused to try it.
Triumph at dinner…
The post cooking reality check report:
I will make this recipe again. Next time I will start with skinless, boneless chicken. It would also be a huge help to have all the vegetables pre-chopped. Because we are not super handy with a knife the chopping took a very long time. I am pleased to announce that both Bianca and myself still are the proud owners of 10 fingers each.
I think it is a bit labor intensive for a lunch, but appropriate for dinner. I would add a side of rice. With a side of rice I think that this could be stretched to feed four small adults. We didn’t have any left-overs and we only fed two adults and two willing children.
Tune in tomorrow when we tackle THREE WHOLE MEALS in one day and dance to the foreshadowing music.
To see how this whole idea of following advice to see if it really works – check out our new Burbmom topic – Advice Reality Check.
Oprah & Chef Cora’s 7-Day Menu Challenge: Day 4
March 20, 2009 by Texasholly
Filed under eat, feature, reality check
Today is another day on our quest for cheap meals with the help of Oprah and Chef Cat Cora! Holly squeals with excitement hoping to over come her kitchen fatigue.
Today is day four of the Chef Cat Cora 21 meal menu as seen on the Oprah show.
Let’s make breakfast!
These pancakes took only a few minutes from batter to plate. They were easy. THEY WERE GOOD.
We are talking fine dining good.
They tasted absolutely yummy with real maple syrup and mixed berries.
The Verdict?
4/5 LOVED THIS RECIPE.
1/5 won’t eat anything with nuts in it and really missed out.
The post cooking reality report:
I will definitely make this recipe again. Maybe tomorrow?
The portion size was good. We had two or three pancakes left over which are no longer in the fridge due to snackage.
I am still dreaming about the lemon-pecan pancakes, but it is time for lunch…
Fuji Apple, Walnut and Herb Salad with Roasted Chicken
Alrighty, as you seen in the picture this is the amount of the entire recipe.
Nothing else.
We ended up putting it on lettuce and I ate it with a full grilled cheese sandwich because unless the salad is HEAVY on the meat and nuts it won’t fill me up.
Speaking of nuts…the shopping list that we took to the store said we needed “one small bag of nuts – walnuts, pecans or mixed”. We used the majority of the bag for the pancakes this morning (totally worth it) so there wasn’t enough. And we bought pecans – so the recipe title really doesn’t apply to what we made!
I was also glad that we had enough of the Cinnamon Roasted Chicken we made the other night to shred for this salad. If I had to roast a small amount of chicken specifically for this recipe I would have gotten very grumpy.
The Verdict?
2/5 liked this recipe.
3/5 are really tiring of trying new things…
The post cooking reality report:
I will make this salad again for a side dish or to take to a ladies’ luncheon. The taste is good, but it is very light food. My children took one look and begged for grilled cheese. Me too...
It took a reasonable amount of time to prepare for a lunch if pre-roasted chicken is available.
The portion size is small. This amount might work if you put it on lettuce and use it as a side dish.
So, let’s find out what is for dinner!
Creamy Pasta with Chicken, Kalamata Olives and Broccoli
Creamy?
I swear we followed the recipe and no creamy appeared…
This might have been magnified by the fact that we just felt like there was too much pasta in relation to chicken, olives and broccoli. After the meal we had this big bowl of pasta left over with all the chicken, olives and broccoli picked out of it:
The Verdict?
3/5 really liked this recipe.
2/5 really liked portions of this recipe which they picked out of the whole.
The post cooking reality report:
I will make this again with some modifications. I will double the chicken, broccoli and olives. We really liked the fresh taste of this meal. It is not heavy, but filling. It can be easily separated for picky eaters. It took a reasonable amount of time to prepare for a dinner.
The portions are good. I think there would even be some decent left-overs when I double the chicken, broccoli and olives.
Overall, today was a good success.
One of the benefits of forcing my family onto the 21 meal menu is it forces my children to try new things because it forces me to serve new things whether I think they will like it or not.
Get caught up with our under $150 for 21 meal madness -
And soon there will be tomorrow…
Oprah & Chef Cora’s 7-Day Menu Challenge: Day 3
March 19, 2009 by Texasholly
Filed under eat, feature, reality check
We made it through day one and flew through day two of our quest to attempt the 21 meal plan of Chef Cat Cora as seen on Oprah…so what does today hold?
For breakfast we made:
Let me start by saying this tasted good, BUT I just don’t get it.
We started by making mashed potatoes from scratch…from scratch at 6:30 am. And after adding a full stick of butter to the mashed potatoes we then FRIED them. Is this why we couldn’t have yolks yesterday – we were saving up for this?
The recipe called for 2 cups of milk, but we found that it was extremely soupy after only one cup so we omitted the second cup. Most of the “pancakes” turned out more like scrambled eggs. We took the above picture of the best formed one.
The Verdict?
2/5 thought the pancakes tasted OK.
The post cooking reality check:
I will not be making this recipe again unless I have a ton of left-over mashed potatoes that I need to magically transform into something slightly different. This recipe took WAY TOO much time if you are starting from scratch for a family breakfast. My three boys wake early and hungry. They were not impressed with waiting for this or the way it tasted.
The portion size of this recipe was adequate if it was served WITH something. I ate what would have been considered two portions of this and needed something else as well. I usually eat some sort of protein for breakfast and this just felt like I was eating a 1/2 of meal. I think this would make a better side dish for a lunch or dinner.
Let’s see if we have better luck with lunch!
For lunch we made:
Chickpea and Roasted Pepper Soup with Blanched Greens
The blanched greens recipe had been paired with the Cinnamon Chicken and Orzo we ate last night, but we were a little overwhelmed with the amount of cooking required to make all three items. We thought it would be good with the soup for lunch.
I made one modification to the soup. Instead of just pureeing just the peppers, I pureed the whole soup.
The Verdict?
4/5 liked the soup plus my husband who is not participating in this 21 meal trial ate a full portion as well declaring it yummy.
The post cooking reality report:
I will make both these recipes again. The greens were very good and similar to a spinach and mushroom recipe I make for special occasions (minus the mushrooms). The soup was filling and tasted good. I will caution that the younger children were not wild about this, but they don’t regularly eat soup. Next time I might pull out some of the beans for them before pureeing.
The portion size was good.
SNACK TIME!
We ate the left over Leftover Frozen Yogurt Banana Pops
- yum!
Let’s make Dinner:
The only thing we modified with this recipe was we doubled the lettuce.
The Verdict?
5/5 loved ‘em!
The post cooking reality report:
I will make this again. It was quick (if you already had the rice cooked like I did) and easy and tasted good. Everyone ate it.
The portion size was good if the tortillas are large.
We made it through the day! The lunch and dinner recipes were easy enough that we didn’t feel like we were in the kitchen all day. Using left over rice and the left over banana pops for a snack made it go smoothly (after the breakfast thing…).
See you tomorrow…
Oprah & Chef Cora’s 7-day Menu Challenge: Day 2
March 18, 2009 by Texasholly
Filed under eat, feature, reality check
Whew. We felt pretty good making it through day one of the Chef Cat Cora 21 meal menu as seen on Oprah.
And then we realized that day two would mean three homemade meals.
Three homemade meals.
I think I can…I think I can…I think I can.
Let’s make breakfast!
We decided to try:
Egg Whites, Turkey Bacon and Low Fat Cheddar Tortilla Wraps
This was also one of the recipes that Chef Cora demonstrated on the Oprah show in the home of an ordinary family. Bianca tackled this breakfast and when I saw it I was surprised because I could have sworn that on the TV show it looked yellow – like the whole egg was used. I checked the website and they mention use of only egg whites…
And I just have to ask WHY?
First of all, separating the 6 yolks from the 6 whites seemed cruel…they seemed so happy together.
Then disposing of the 6 yolks since none of the recipes in the 21 meal menu uses them seems very wasteful.
And third, by only using the egg whites the total recipe size seemed small.
And fourth, I LIKE the taste of the yolks.
And fifth, the yolks contain a bunch of nutrients that the whites do not.
And finally, none of my family members have high cholesterol or have special dietary needs and let’s be frank…eating a few egg yolks is MUCH better for them then what they might have been eating on any other given morning for breakfast.
Sorry, I got a little caught up in my pro-yolk agenda.
The Verdict?
3/5 liked the breakfast tortillas.
1/5 refused to try the breakfast tortillas.
1/5 threw a giant tantrum and cried all over the breakfast tortillas.
The post cooking reality check report:
I will make a modified version of this recipe in the future. It took a reasonable amount of time to prepare. I will use the WHOLE egg and add something to make them less bland. I ended up dipping my portion in salsa which was good. I think chopped jalapenos or a fresh pico de gallo mixed in with the eggs would be really yummy. The amount of cheese used was so minimal I didn’t taste it, but I hate to suggest adding more cheese after making such a big deal about the eggs…but more would taste better.
The portion size was VERY SMALL. I think that if only the whites are used then at least 3 more eggs need to be added for four full servings. Maybe I just eat a lot, but I had 2/4 portions (as described by the recipe) and needed a snack by 10 am. I suspect if the whole egg is used then the portion size will be about right.
Whew! Breakfast is over and we have a few hours before lunch.
What should we do?
Let’s go back to the grocery store!
For lunch we made:
Veggie Stuffed Twice Baked Potato Boats
Right after breakfast we popped the potatoes in the oven and set the oven for an hour. Since our potatoes were small we decided to make 5. When I checked on the oven an hour and 1/2 later the potatoes were still a little firm to the touch so I reset the oven for another 30 minutes.
Bianca assembled the recipe:
And the children ATE this recipe.
Hallelujah!
The Verdict?
5/5 LOVED the Veggie Stuffed Twice Baked Potato Boats
The post cooking reality check:
I will definitely, without question make this recipe again. It is full of vegetables and everyone ate them! It is a pretty easy recipe that doesn’t take much time if you use the timer on your oven for baking the potatoes.
The portion size was good. We ended up with quite a bit of the stuffing left over because our potatoes were so small. The stuffing is yummy so I don’t think it will be in the fridge long…
SNACKS! SNACKS! WE NEED SNACKS!
The 21 meal menu did not include snacks and we are attempting to limit what we eat (within reason) to what is on the menu. Well, the boys are not THRILLED with this plan so we took a closer look at some of the recipes to see if we could use them for snacks instead of meals. We decided that the small portion size of the Frozen Yogurt Banana Pops (each portion is 1/2 a banana) would be difficult to pass off as a FULL breakfast so we are using it as a snack instead.
Let’s make them now!
Actually, we made them earlier since they need to freeze for at least a few hours.
The Verdict?
5/5 are WILD about Frozen Yogurt Banana Pops
The post cooking reality report:
The family freezer will always have these available for snacks. The only complaint we had was that they were messy to make. The yogurt seemed to stick to the bananas, but the granola didn’t stick to the yogurt. BUT who cares…they taste great.
The portion size of these are great for a snack. This would be WAY too small for a breakfast for me. Maybe as a side to a whole bowl of oatmeal? I am beginning to get a complex about how hungry I am in the morning.
All right people, we are nearing the end of the day. Let’s make dinner!
Every one on Oprah was licking their fingers over this recipe. I just had to taste it for myself.
Crap…the chicken factor.
Cluck. Cluck.
Chicken, Schmicken.
After 4 recipes we are KITCHEN WARRIORS!
The chickens don’t have a chance…
The recipe was pretty easy to follow, but the liquid reduced too quickly and Bianca added more water. There was a side of Orzo suggested with this recipe.
The Verdict?
5/5 liked the chicken.
2/5 liked the Orzo which is really surprising since the Orzo was very neutral in flavor.
The post cooking reality report:
I will probably make this again. It is a bit labor intensive, but would be easier the second time around. Since the Orzo was not a hit at my house next time I will substitute mashed potatoes.
The portion size was good – even generous. We have tons of Orzo left over and several pieces of chicken that can be used in other recipes later this week.
Overall this was a good food day. We are spending a majority of our day in the kitchen, but for the most part making food that the kids will eat.
Tomorrow is another day…
