Frugal Sunday Dinner, 3/6/11

It was a smaller crowd than usual yesterday. First, The Bear chose the menu . . . and then forgot and went home with friends, but not before giving me strict instructions that we were to save some leftovers for him! Second, Princess and her little family had a better offer. But the rest - all 7 of us  - feasted accordingly.

These were the things on yesterday's menu:

• Mexican Chicken casserole
• Mexican rice
• Refried beans
• Mock Mexican fried ice cream

One version of "Mock Fried Ice Cream" recipe can be found here. I was inspired by this recipe but then modified it to fit our tastes by using some frugal items we had on hand. Here is my version (pictured above):

Vanilla ice cream

Honey nut Cheerios (they were on sale this week) - about 2 1/2 cups crushed

Pecans - about 1/2 cup chopped

Coconut - about 1 cup shredded

Butter - 1/2 cup melted

Light corn syrup

Honey

Whipped cream

Cinnamon

Form ice cream into balls. Crush the cereal. Mix cereal with nuts, coconut, and melted butter. Roll ice cream balls into cereal mixture.  Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and freeze until hard.

Meanwhile, mix about 1/4 of light corn syrup with 1/4 cup of honey.  When ready to serve, place one ice cream ball into serving dish.  Drizzle with honey mixture. Add a dollop of whipped cream and finish with a shake of cinnamon.   Serves about 15.

The Bear rated this an A+ (obviously we had leftovers.)


Here is the Mexican Chicken casserole that I fixed because The Bear requested it:

Cube about 1.5 lbs. of baked chicken breasts.  Place in 8 x 8 inch baking dish.  Mix 1 can of cream of chicken soup with 1 small can of red enchilada sauce.  Pour soup mixture over chicken cubes and mix well.  Crush by hand enough original flavor Dorito chips to make a crust for the top.  Place shredded cheese over the chip crust.  (The fact that I am not exact on my measurements proves that I quit measuring many years ago!)  Bake in 350 degree oven until cheese melts on top.

(I doubled this recipe for yesterday's meal.  Yes, there were leftovers enough to feed The Bear.)

This picture of the spring robin doesn't have anything to do with yesterday's meal.  It just goes to show you that I feed all my visitors well, including the birds!