Meal plan for January 2013, Week 1

A new year means new goals, which of course include getting organized.  Organization with meals is something I'm always working toward, especially since everyone wants to eat!  Every day!  

Since I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll have to cook dinner every night, I've got the first couple weeks of menus made up, and even did some cooking for the freezer.  I also found this month's worth of menu and tips  on Smithlive.blogspot.com that has some recipes I may try later in the month.  

Crock Pot Northern Beans and Ham

A cheap and tasty meal to warm the tummies on these cold winter nights.

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos
A new recipe I found on pinterest! 

Homemade Tamales with Beans and Rice
My kids, niece and I made homemade tamales the Saturday before Christmas and I took some to a Christmas party.  They were our first try, and they were really good!  They took some prep time and some tips from an authentic tamale maker, and I used this recipe for the masa.  We cooked a pork roast in the oven, diced it finely, and added a sauce I made with some of the chilies from our garden.  I made up another batch of the meat filling so we can eat these on New Year's Eve and freeze the rest for another meal.

Homemade Pizza

Scroll down that post to the recipe on Friday's menu for pizza dough.

Beans, Cilantro Lime Rice, Homemade Tortillas and Salad

These really are the best tortillas.  Easy to make; I use my electric griddle and cook two at a time.

Mexican Tortilla Roll-ups, Chips and Salsa
Another pinterest find!  I'm going to use

Buffalo Chicken in the Crock Pot

Sounds so good!  

Simple Turkey One Pot

Serving this with rice or potatoes.

Ooey Gooey Rocky Road Cookies
The name says it all!  A good way to use up one of the several open bags of marshmallows.


I'm linking up here:

Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunki.com

Menu Planning Monday at SusieQTPies

Mealtime Monday at Couping and Cooking

Day 5 - 6 Tips on Keeping the Pantry Stocked and Buying in Bulk

One thing I love to do is to keep my pantry loaded with the staples I need to keep the family fed, and to be able to do that without HAVING to go to the store.  That is when having a well-stocked pantry is essential.  We live out in the country 15 minutes from the grocery store.  That's not too terribly far, but factor in the $4.19/gallon gas and a trip to the store to grab a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk adds $7-$8 to the price!

We try to keep on hand a lot of the staples and a variety of other foods so if we can't make it to the store for a week or two it's not the end of the world.

1.  Keep track of prices:  Buying in bulk is one way we try to keep the cost down and our shelves well-stocked.  One of the best things grocery stores have done in the last decade is to put a "per unit" price on the shelf labels of foods.  On this label for peanut butter you see a per ounce price in the orange box.  If you multiply it by the number of ounces it should come out to the total price.  If you keep an eye on the per unit price you can compare brands and sizes of the products.  My kids have gotten good at this, too, and usually remember to compare the prices.  And when it comes to groceries, bigger is not always better. 

Source

2. Make bigger batches:  When it comes to things like beans, grains, and anything dried I try to buy the largest amount I can fit in the budget.  That way I can keep enough on hand and cook ahead if I want.  Making large batches of beans or bread frees up time later on that can be spent blogging, eating chocolate, or reading a book.  Just sayin'.

3. Eat in season:  If that means buying pears for 29 cents a pound and eating the heck out of them, then freezing and/or canning the rest, you will have nutritious and tasty food now and later.

 4. Plan ahead: When I have leftovers from one meal that are not enough for a second meal (we have 6 people in our family) I will try to plan a meal to use up the leftovers, and if I have time I will package it all together.  Which brings me to my next tip.

5. Don't let anything go to waste!  If you think that your family will not finish that 20 pound bag of carrots before they start growing hair then prep and freeze a few quart sized bags.  See the chicken stock below?  Every time I roast a chicken I make homemade LOW-FAT chicken stock with the bones.  I just put it in a big stock pot and cover with water, then I might add some celery, onion, and carrots.  Don't chop up any good ones, just use the scraps because you'll strain them out later and you just want the flavor.  When you're done boiling for an hour or so, drain through a colander in a large bowl  to get all of the bones, meat that is left on the bones, and veggies out.  Refrigerate overnight and remove the fat that settles on the top.  Then freeze in bags or containers.

6. Organize your shelves so you know what you have: Put like items together.  Pretty self-explanatory, but when you're looking for something that you just KNOW you have but can't find it because it got put away in the wrong cupboard it's frustration CITY!

Well, there are still some more things to cover, so I'll make this To Be Continued.  Tune in tomorrow for the second part of buying in bulk and stocking the pantry.  I'm thinking there might be a giveaway involved!

Want to see the rest of the posts in my 31 Days of Preparing Properly series?  Click here.

I'm Sharing Here, too:  

Brown Rice and Barley Pilaf

I'm always experimenting with my cooking, trying new recipes, and especially trying to make meals inexpensive and healthy at the same time.  I also like to make things that use our food storage.  That way, when we need/have to use these shelf-stable foods I know how to use them, and the family will be more likely to eat them without complaining.

Roasted chicken was on our menu this week, and I wanted to make rice to go with it.  I buy brown rice in a 25 pound bag and work my through it, usually having rice once a week for dinner and breakfast.  This time I wanted to make a pilaf, and I wanted more than just the rice texture, so I decided to add some pearl barley to it to mix it up a bit.  We were happy with the mixture, and as you can see it made a large batch of pilaf, probably 10-12 servings, so to the leftovers I added a can of diced tomatoes, some corn sauteed with chili powder, green chilis and some salsa to make Spanish rice that we ate with the chicken enchiladas.  That was good, too!  And still "shelf-stable" since I added canned ingredients.  ;)

Food storage cooking:

Brown Rice and Barley Pilaf

6 cups water or chicken stock
2 cups brown rice
3/4 cup pearl barley
2 T. dried carrots
1 T. dried celery
1 T. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried onions
1/2 tsp. dried garlic
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Cracked pepper to taste
1/2 T. dried chives

Bring the water/stock (or mixture of the two) to a boil in a large saucepan.  Add the other ingredients except for the cracked pepper and dried chives.  Bring back up to a boil, turn to a low simmer, cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes.  Fluff with a for and garnish with the pepper and dried chives

Note:  I didn't add any fat in the form of oil or butter because I wanted this to be made from just the dried ingredients and it turned out just fine.  I also used plain water and added a teaspoon of dried, no-msg chicken soup base.  You can also "brown" the dry rice in some butter or olive in a pan before adding the liquid and other ingredients, but I kept it simple and skipped that step.

I love the Thrive dehydrated veggies from Shelf Reliance.  A little goes a long way!  I linked to my sister's website here, but I am NOT compensated for it at all, I just really love the products.

I'm Linking Here:  Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

What's for Dinner, March Week 1

Monday:
Roasted Chicken, brown rice pilaf, green beans, salad
* I'm roasting two chickens and will assemble the enchiladas for Wednesday when making dinner tonight.
Busy night, softball meeting and Jr. Class parent meeting, but prepping ahead of time really saves time in the long run!

Tuesday:  
Homemade Pizza, maybe taco or BBQ chicken pizza.
* I'm making the crust ahead of time on Monday because Tuesday is extra busy.

Wednesday:
Chicken Echiladas, corn, refried beans

Thursday:
Hamburgers and macaroni salad, green salad

Friday:
Taco Soup in the Crock Pot:  Here's a basic recipe

Saturday:
BLT's with turkey bacon, chips, and fruit

Sunday:
Salmon in the Crock Pot: I made this for last week's menu, but wanted to try it out before I posted how I made it.  Don't want to steer anyone wrong.  The salmon came out moist and flaky.

Salmon has been very inexpensive lately.  It's $3.99/lb for farm raised, and although I'd rather eat wild caught salmon, I figure a small amount of farm raised is better than nothing.


Salmon Packets in the Crock Pot
Prep a sheet of foil for each fillet by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

Place salmon in middle of foil and drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Fold the foil around the salmon making a packet and stack them in the crock pot.

Cook on low for 4 hours.

Variations:  Sprinkle with any seasoning that sounds good; I'm going to try my favorite, Creole seasoning on this and serve with homemade spanish style rice and corn and black beans.

I'm linking up here:  Menu Plan Monday ,  Tasty Tuesdays

What's for Dinner, February Weeks 4

Monday:  Salmon, Risotto, Roasted Asparagus-Orange Salad
*The trick to frugally feeding a large family some fish is to make the portions small, keeping the cost low, and serve with something filling, in this case the risotto.

Tuesday:  Bean and Cheese Burritos made from homemade whole wheat tortillas and these pinto beans in the crockpot from the beginning of the month.  I froze them in 3 1/2 cup containers and labeled with masking tape.  I spooned out some regular pinto beans before mashing and cooking the remaining beans into "refried".
This recipe actually made 5 of these containers (I used one up for chili last week) which was over 15 cups of pinto beans for CHEAP!

Wednesday:  Fried rice made with leftover brown rice/wild rice/shiitake mushroom and carrot medley from last week that I froze with some leftover peas.  Eggs are an inexpensive protein, so making a large batch of fried rice and adding some egg rolls is something a little different than our usual dinners.

Thursday:  Gone All Day Stew, made like this Hamburger Stew, but using some roast instead of hamburger, and bread from the bread machine.  We have basketball and meetings tonight, so having something to eat that is ready when we are lessens the stress.

Friday:  Pizza.  Keeping it easy.  Might try these Mini Pizzas if there's time.

Saturday:  Apple Pie Pork Chops, salad and potatoes.   We do love our pork chops with apples.

And for a treat -- Chocolate Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting.  Instead of the chocolate ganache that is used in the recipe, I made a peanut butter frosting using two ingredients:

1 cup of Peanut Butter and 1 cup of Marshmallow Cream
Beat together until combined and spread on the cake.

Now the cake can officially be called a Monkey cake.  This recipe was quick to put together and made a moist, chocolatey and not too banana-y cake.  Thumbs up from all of the tasters.

I'm linking here:  Menu Plan Monday,  Tasty Tuesdays

What's for Dinner, February Week 1

This week I decided to try some pinto beans in the crock pot based on this video by The Greenbacks Gal.  (If you're not following me on pinterest, you can find me here.) 

Here is the recipe.  I found that they needed quite a bit of salt after they were cooked.  Don't add salt while cooking or the beans will stay hard.


Pinto Beans in the Crock Pot
2 pounds dried pinto beans
2 onions
1 large green pepper
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

Soak picked through and rinsed beans overnight in bowl with enough water to cover by several inches.  The next morning drain them and put into a large crockpot.  Put peeled and quartered onions in the food processor with a blade attachment and dump in with beans.  Do the same with the green pepper.  Then add the diced tomatoes and stir it all together.  Cover with water and cook for 12 hours on low.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

*I tried cooking just for the 8 hours, but my beans needed a full 12 hours to cook.  These were tasty, but the beans that I made just using water and chopped onion and some cumin and garlic were tasty, too. So the jury is out...if I want the extra step of the food processor, these will be fine, but if I just want to toss everything in the crockpot and walk away without the extra dishes, I'll make my usual beans.

Monday:
Leftovers Buffet- We have hot wings, homemade pizza, homemade pinto beans with tortillas, and Thai beef cabbage rolls in the fridge, and I'll make some veggies to go with.

Tuesday:
Apple Pie Pork Chops, roasted red potatoes and carrots

Wednesday:
Pasta with pesto, bread sticks, salad, veggies

Thursday:
Chicken and dumplings to use up extra veggies and the chicken from last week that's in the freezer

Friday:
Pizza?  Middle school dance and basketball game, so maybe even hot dogs at the game for the boys.

Saturday:
I'm thinking about going scrapbooking.  :)  Something easy, like eggs and toast is called for.

Our compute spontaneously combusted yesterday, so if no one hears from me from a while don't send out the search party.  Hopefully I'm being very productive instead of sitting on pinterest all day.  :)

Linking here: 

Menu Plan Monday

Tasty Tuesday

What's for dinner, January Week 5

Monday:

Vegetarian Divan~Just made this recipe pictured above, without the chicken, used just broccoli (filled the pan) spooned the sauce over and topped with cheese.  It was still yummy!

Tuesday:

Chicken Cordon Bleu Florentine Casserole
I'm going to trade out ham with turkey bacon and leave out the Gorgonzola cheese, since it's not something I keep in the fridge. :)

Wednesday:

Brian's Birthday!  He wants Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas, we'll have chips and salsa and salad, too.

Thursday:

Crock Pot night, trying out a new recipe~Mexican Lasagna using Morningstar crumbles instead of the chicken

Friday:  

Thai Beef Cabbage Rolls and Brown Rice

Saturday:

Birthday dinner for Brian and Mario

Sunday:

Super Bowl Sunday, so we'll have some Hot Wings, Layered Dip (maybe these individual cups?) and some fruit and veggies.

I couldn't find a BAKED recipe for the Hot Wings, so here is the loose-y goose-y way I make them.

Dump the wings into a 9x13 pan or two and bake in a 400 degree oven until halfway done.  Coat with 1 cup or so of hot wing sauce, like Franks, and bake until done.  We like ours more on the chewy side, less on the gooey side, so we bake for an hour or so total for fresh wings, longer if you're using frozen drumettes.

I'm linking here:  Menu Plan Monday

What's for Dinner, January Week 4

I know I usually do a dinner menu, and this is titled "What's for Dinner", but I thought I would throw in a breakfast that we've had lately.

Last Saturday we were at home for breakfast, and the older 2 kids were gone.  Joe requested crepes, which sounded fine to me once I realized I wouldn't be standing over the pan all morning since 2 out of the 6 of us were missing.  I love crepes (which Monkey calls "craps") and they are simple to mix up and really don't take long to cook, but with only one small pan they can only be made one at a time.

Quick and Easy Crepes

3 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
2 Tablespoons oil or melted butter

Put all ingredients into a blender pitcher and blend for 30 seconds, scrape sides, and blend again.  This will make a nice smooth batter.

Heat and lightly grease (or spray) a 6-inch skillet on medium heat.  Pour in 1/4 cup of batter and lift and tilt the skillet to spread the batter.  Brown only on one side.  Crepe will usually slide right out of the pan when done.   Repeat with all remaining batter, re-greasing the pan as needed.  Will make 20-24 crepes.

Serve with whipped cream and strawberries, or even with plain maple syrup, or apple pie filling, or almost anything you please.

Dinner Menu:
 
Monday:
Creamy White Chili made with the turkey meat from last week's menu
Homemade bread in the bread machine

Tuesday:
Leftover Creamy White Chili and Cornbread, or clean out the fridge night!

Wednesday:
Pork chops baked with apples, red potatoes and sweet potatoes

Thursday:  This is a night filled with basketball, meetings and singing practice.  I'm leaving it open to sandwiches or picking up something on the go.

Friday:
Taco bar

Saturday:

Mario's birthday dinner, and he's requested homemade pizza.

Sunday:
Leftover Soup in the crockpot


Linking to:  Menu Plan Monday @ orgjunkie.com

What's for Dinner, December Week 2

So, I called this "week 2", but technically I didn't post a "week 1".  This week is full of comfort foods, just perfect for the cooler weather we are now getting.  I'm trying to double cook a couple of the meals like the lasagna and polenta with stew so I have some meals on hand for next week.  I've already frozen some leftover spaghetti with sauce from lunch yesterday.

Monday:  BBQ chicken in the crockpot, Broccoli salad, roasted veggies.

Tuesday:  Almost Payday Lasagna, green salad, leftover broccoli salad

Wednesday: Slow Cooker Sweet Potato and Chicken Curry, brown rice

Source

Thursday:  Church Christmas Party...Yay, no cooking!  Just making toffee for dessert table.

Friday:  Homemade Pizza

Saturday:  Polenta with chicken stew, mozzarella cheese, green salad, french bread


Linking up here:  Menu Plan Monday  Check out the link, she has FREE Holiday Menu Planning and Baking printables.

Cherry Cream Pie

One more pie recipe.  This is easy, and rich, and scrumptious.  It's been a staple at Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations for years. It is lighter than cheesecake, which, though I enjoy, I can only eat a bite of.  Cherry Cream Pie, on the other hand, I can devour piece by piece.  I know this piece of pie looks a little bit, well, droopy, but that's because we couldn't wait for it to finish setting up before cutting into it!

Cherry Cream Pie

Stir Together until thick:

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup lemon juice

Whip:

1 cup whipping cream

Fold into milk and juice mixture.  Pile into baked pie shell.  

Top with:

1 can cherry pie filling mixed with

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Chill until set and serve with extra whipped cream if wanted.

 

*Note:  I've added a "Print" button at the bottom of each post.  If you want to print a recipe, or any part of a post, just click the button and you will have the option of printing from there or generating a PDF file.  You can check a box on the top right to remove the pictures.  If you only want part of a post, just float over what you want removed, it will turn yellow and say "click to delete".  Then you can print when you've got what you like.  It only takes a few seconds.  Love it!


Come join Love the Pie with TidyMom  sponsored by Cherokee USA, Le Creuset, Wilton, Bags by Bloom,  Harvard Common Press and Pillsbury