Super Easy Cheap Dinner

Who doesn't want a super easy inexpensive meal??

I know I am all about easy and inexpensive as long as it's tasty too!  Maybe I should add that in the title, too ;o). 

The Recipe:   ETHEL'S CHICKEN

Who is Ethel?  Well, my Grandma had a friend named Ethel who sold me a solid wood bed set for only $70, but she didn't give me this recipe.  I believe this recipe came from my mother-in-law, who gave it to my husband, who gave it to me.  Where she got the recipe; I don't know? But it's easy and tasty.

Here it is...

1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
4-5 potatoes
5-6 chicken thighs
1/2 cup milk (I don't measure I just pour to the consistency that looks right)
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder

Wash and slice potatoes 1/2 in. thick(no need to peel).  Place in the bottom of a baking dish.  (Use a 9x13x2.  Tonight, I used my one 9x13x2 pan for brownies so I used two smaller dishes.)  Salt and Pepper potatoes.  Place chicken thighs on top.  Mix two condensed soups together with a bit of garlic and milk.  Then pour over the chicken and potatoes.  I like to make sure all the potatoes have some of the soupy goodness on them, so I pour some over the potatoes before adding the chicken.  Top with some more pepper and then bake for 1 hour at 375*.  Voila!  Easy Ethel's Chicken.  I serve this dish with steamed broccoli.

Enjoy...

Homemade Corn Totillas

Recently, we dined at a Mexican restaurant and were terribly disappointed.  It seems as though Grand Cayman is in need of authentic Mexican food.  I was absolutely astonished when the fish tacos I ordered were served with those hard corn tortilla chip-like tacos.  Not that I don't like those super cheap ground beef tacos from Taco Bell or Dell Taco, but when I am going "out" to dinner those taco shells simply won't do.  This experience inspired me to make homemade tortillas.

I simply used Maseca Corn Masa Mix and followed the recipe on the back.  After my first batch I doubled the salt it called for making them even more delicious.  Now, I don't have a tortilla press so I had to get crafty with my cutting board, a smooth glass lid for pressing, and a wine bottle.  I covered all surfaces with plastic wrap.  Then flattened the ball of dough as much as I could between the cutting board and the lid.  It wasn't flat enough so I used my handy dandy wine bottle rolling pin to finish the job.  It was more simple than I thought.  It did require more time than buying ready made corn tortillas from the market, but definitely worth it.

Today we enjoyed corn tortilla quesadillas for lunch.  Joie enjoyed them so much that she exclaimed,"I love homemade quesadillas!"  There is no need to convince her that homemade is better; she already knows.