J's Strong Finish to the Chopped Challenge

Tonight was the last evening of our family Chopped-style cooking challenge, with J cooking a great spread with his$16 budget.

Here's the basic guidelines of our competition:

1. We must make three courses for four people. 
2. There can only be 60 minutes between courses. Pre-prep is allowed. 
3. We can only spend $16 at Grocery Outlet for all of our main ingredients (tax not included).
4. Cannot use coffee/caffeinated items (including chocolate) for dietary restriction reasons. 
5. We must include mom's sabotage item - course and item chosen sight unseen. 
6. The following pantry staples are allowed free of charge:

• Up to 2 c. flour
• Sugars/honey
• "Basic"spices - not things like zatar or Chinese five spice
• Onions
• Up to 4 eggs
• Milk
• Oils/butter
• "Basic" condiments - ketchup, mayo, mustard

I cooked Saturday and Dad played chef last night. 

And I'm not saying it because he's my husband and the light of my life, but J really got screwed with the sabotage ingredient - root beer-flavored Magic Shell. He'd bought an interesting set of groceries to begin with (with which I wouldn't have known what to make), but this ingredient was downright gross, even in the dessert round. Mom and I are the only ones who even enjoy root beer and certainly not outside of a glass or a float, but J was very creative! 

Here's the lowdown on J's menu:

Appetizer: Vegetarian taquitos made with flour tortillas, homemade refried beans (from a can of baked beans), Queso Suave canned "cheese," Zatarain's rice and onions, and topped with a crumble of spicy Cheez-It snack mix. I loved this! You all know I'm a sucker for Mexican-style dishes and this was no exception. Using the baked beans lent the taquito a very smoky flavor, almost like barbeque, which made it feel more hearty. The only thing that could've made it better would be guacamole, but we're guac snobs and only eat Wholly Guacamole's Organic guac anymore. 

Entree: A pork chop filled with an apricot preserve and onion stuffing, J's signature sweet carrots and steamed broccoli with "cheese." This was a great meal and is something we would easily cook, and eat, any day of the week. And I think that gets to the heart of this challenge. It's a lot of fun to goof off and cook with crazy ingredients, but it shows us how resourceful we can be to make $16 go a long way. Feeding your family can be made easier with creativity and making wise choices. (Note: this is not to say that there isn't still food insecurity, food deserts and hunger issues nationwide; or that it can be solved with a trip to GO). 

Dessert: J used hamburger buns and canned strawberries to make bread pudding dressed with a homemade caramel made from the Magic Shell and a berry meal replacement shake. It was a beautiful caramel, with perfect consistency and a terrific coloring, but it tasted like licorice, or maybe Nyquil. I liked the bread pudding itself, it was warm and gooey and the strawberries added great flavor. But that Shell -- one hell of a blow. 

This has been so much fun for all of us - the cooking and the eating! And it's so do-able for any family. Consider doing one round a month, a Chopped progressive dinner or making your own creative twists; we've already thought of other sneaky games like doing our own shopping, then flipping a coin to see if we switch carts. I encourage you and your families or friends to give it a go; you may just surprise yourself with your own ingenuity and skill!

And yes, I did apologize to the boys for whipping them so badly. And no, I don't think it was beginner's luck.