Ok, what have I made since last time? One pot spaghetti. I made it on Sunday and dear Lord, who do these people think they're feeding? I've had 7 meals out of this (breakfast sometimes and lunches, and 2 dinners) and there is still another 2 meals left over. It was easy to make. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222645310/
I also made crock pot cube steak. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222646376/ This will NOT be repeated in our house. The steaks all fell apart, so it made a chinky soup, basically. I made some elbow mac and dumped it in. That soaked up a lot of the liquid, and it tasted good enough to eat, but not something we'd eat again. In fact, Pat ate a plate of it and then opted for a bowl of cereal. He didn't like it. I didn't like it enough to eat it again, so we dumped it. I hate dumping food,. It is such a waste of time, money and resources, but if no one was going to eat it, then why keep it. Still, seeing that money thrown out was tough.
And speaking of things that didn't quite go as planned, I screwed up. I had taken my monthly calendar of meals to school with me, and left it there. I had no idea what I should be pulling out of the freezer for dinner tonight. But, since I had everything I need to cook anything on that menu, I grabbed the bag for oven fajitas. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222660713/
I had the foresight to chop the veggies and cut the chicken into strips before I froze it, so I just pulled the bag and put it in the fridge last night. This morning, I mixed the spices in a small container, so everything was ready to go. They turned out pretty good, and Nathaniel even ate some (without peppers or onions, of course). Veronica had her first firsthand experience with Mexican food because she tried a bit of the chicken. She kept grabbing for my plate after that first bite! The veggies were not as crisp as they are when you use a skillet or grill, but it had some good flavors.
Because I screwed up and took things out of order, tomorrow will be a regular pork stir fry with rice and Friday is Spaghetti and garlic bread. I think I have some more pinterest recipes coming up, and I will see how those turn out too. I did have to spend a little bit of money today, because I wanted some cheese for my fajitas, but other than that, we are still well below $200 for the month.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
The experiment continues
Tonight was beef and broccoli. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222620123/ I made this because it's what Pat gets every time we have Chinese food. Every. Time. I don't like it because often the meat doesn't taste done. So I thought, "Hmm. crock pot means long cooking time. Meat's got to be cooked enough even for me." I was right. It was good.
The first few bites tasted just like a pot roast. I was disappointed. But, the more I mixed it up with the rice, the better it tasted. I couldn't get it to finish in the crock pot though, so I have another dirty pot, but that's ok. My broccoli also turned out mushy, but let's be honest, broccoli doesn't taste all that great anyway.
I used to love broccoli, so don't start the hate just yet. But I've had a hard time eating it since I was about 8 weeks pregnant with Nathaniel. It was my one true food aversion. Before then, Pat and I were eating broccli three nights a week. (Keep your stinky fart smell jokes to yourself!) Being pregnant with that kid ruined broccoli for me to the point where I still have a hard time eating it (except for broccoli cheese soup, but really, how much is in there?) Now that Nathaniel is getting close to 4, I have just begun to be able to eat it again. I've had it roasted in the oven (which is awesome if you've never tried it- olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper at 400 for 30 minutes or so) and I've had it tonight. As I said, it was mushy, but still discernible as brocoli.
The recipe I used called for beef consumme, but that stuff's expensive so after reading the comments on the original recipe, I just used beef broth and a package of onion soup mix. I also added an onion to the crock pot, because the CHinese place has them in their beef and broccoli. I also cooked the rice in beef broth, instead of water, to give it added flavor. (If you don't do this, you really should. It's great and you've already got it in the house if you made the B&B this way. I use chicken stock when I make rice for stir fry.)
Anyway, as I said, it turned out good. I will definitely be making it again. Tomorrow is just tomato soup and grilled cheese, since half our house is Catholic- no meat on Fridays.
One thing I remembered that I wanted to add- I spent another $12 on groceries, since I didn't have enough cheddar cheese, and wanted to make cake cookies- http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222533220/ - for school. I also picked up some snacks for Nathaniel, since we really had none in the house. He loves swiss cake rolls. He calls them "cakey things." How can you resist that? My total is still under $170 for the month though, not including milk. Not too shabby.
PS- I ate bubble up pizza for breakfast and lunch today, and still have enough for lunch tomorrow. That would be 6 servings for about $8.00 worth of ingredients.
The first few bites tasted just like a pot roast. I was disappointed. But, the more I mixed it up with the rice, the better it tasted. I couldn't get it to finish in the crock pot though, so I have another dirty pot, but that's ok. My broccoli also turned out mushy, but let's be honest, broccoli doesn't taste all that great anyway.
I used to love broccoli, so don't start the hate just yet. But I've had a hard time eating it since I was about 8 weeks pregnant with Nathaniel. It was my one true food aversion. Before then, Pat and I were eating broccli three nights a week. (Keep your stinky fart smell jokes to yourself!) Being pregnant with that kid ruined broccoli for me to the point where I still have a hard time eating it (except for broccoli cheese soup, but really, how much is in there?) Now that Nathaniel is getting close to 4, I have just begun to be able to eat it again. I've had it roasted in the oven (which is awesome if you've never tried it- olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper at 400 for 30 minutes or so) and I've had it tonight. As I said, it was mushy, but still discernible as brocoli.
The recipe I used called for beef consumme, but that stuff's expensive so after reading the comments on the original recipe, I just used beef broth and a package of onion soup mix. I also added an onion to the crock pot, because the CHinese place has them in their beef and broccoli. I also cooked the rice in beef broth, instead of water, to give it added flavor. (If you don't do this, you really should. It's great and you've already got it in the house if you made the B&B this way. I use chicken stock when I make rice for stir fry.)
Anyway, as I said, it turned out good. I will definitely be making it again. Tomorrow is just tomato soup and grilled cheese, since half our house is Catholic- no meat on Fridays.
One thing I remembered that I wanted to add- I spent another $12 on groceries, since I didn't have enough cheddar cheese, and wanted to make cake cookies- http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222533220/ - for school. I also picked up some snacks for Nathaniel, since we really had none in the house. He loves swiss cake rolls. He calls them "cakey things." How can you resist that? My total is still under $170 for the month though, not including milk. Not too shabby.
PS- I ate bubble up pizza for breakfast and lunch today, and still have enough for lunch tomorrow. That would be 6 servings for about $8.00 worth of ingredients.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Bubble up pizza and more
So yesterday, I had planned to make brown sugar chicken. When I got home, the chicken wasn't fully defrosted, so I had to go with someting else. Since i had everything I need for the month, I pulled out stuff that didn't need to be defrosted. I went with the bubble up pizza.
I love this recipe for several reasons. One, it's cheap. Two, it's super easy. Three, I have an awesome soux chef who loves to help with the prep work. Before I forget, here's the recipe. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222520352/
It takes like 5 minutes to put together. Cutting the biscuits takes the longest, except when I have Nathaniel cut up the pepperoni. We tried a knife, a pair of scissors, and finally settled on him tearing it into pieces. (He needs help wit his fine motor skills, so I figured we practice while cooking together.) He doesn't like it as much as regualr pizza and told me he didn't want to eat it.
For once, I was fine with that. I made him some pasta and made the pizza for Pat and I. I put in minced garlic, pepperoni and onion. I also used a shit ton of cheese. No really. On the side of the package it said "shit ton."
ANyway, I baked it up and Pat and I had it for dinner and I had some for lunch and still have half a pan left. Lunch tomorrow is served! Especially since we were really hungry tonight and have no leftovers. Brown sugar chicken and cheesy corn casserole.
Speaking of the corn casserole, It tasted pretty good reheated after being frozen. Nathaniel liked it when we had it the other day (when I made it) but he didn't like it tonight. That's ok though. He ate all his carrots. ;) Tomorrow is another new recipe... crock pot beef and broccoli. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
I love this recipe for several reasons. One, it's cheap. Two, it's super easy. Three, I have an awesome soux chef who loves to help with the prep work. Before I forget, here's the recipe. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222520352/
It takes like 5 minutes to put together. Cutting the biscuits takes the longest, except when I have Nathaniel cut up the pepperoni. We tried a knife, a pair of scissors, and finally settled on him tearing it into pieces. (He needs help wit his fine motor skills, so I figured we practice while cooking together.) He doesn't like it as much as regualr pizza and told me he didn't want to eat it.
For once, I was fine with that. I made him some pasta and made the pizza for Pat and I. I put in minced garlic, pepperoni and onion. I also used a shit ton of cheese. No really. On the side of the package it said "shit ton."
ANyway, I baked it up and Pat and I had it for dinner and I had some for lunch and still have half a pan left. Lunch tomorrow is served! Especially since we were really hungry tonight and have no leftovers. Brown sugar chicken and cheesy corn casserole.
Speaking of the corn casserole, It tasted pretty good reheated after being frozen. Nathaniel liked it when we had it the other day (when I made it) but he didn't like it tonight. That's ok though. He ate all his carrots. ;) Tomorrow is another new recipe... crock pot beef and broccoli. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
Head Vs, Heart
**I started to type this yesterday, March 12, 2013, but I couldn't get through it all. Here is what I remember of what I had planned to say. This is also why I couldn't put the recipes in my previous post.**
Ugh. I just can't stop crying today. My head is battling with my heart and that always makes things difficult. Two years ago today, I had my second miscarriage. And my heart is breaking.
My heart misses what will never be. My heart longs for the baby I lost. My heart is full of pain today.
But my head, oh my head! My head knows that if I'd had that baby, I wouldn't have my sweet wonderful Veronica. I sit watching her and she is next to me laughing. She waves at me and gives me a smile, as if to say "Mommy, I was meant to be here with you, not the other one."
So while my heart breaks, my head rejoices in the new things my daughter discovers every day. My heart aches with pain but also with the joy she brings.
When your head and heart are battling, there will be no actual casualties, but it's a hard fought battle.
Ugh. I just can't stop crying today. My head is battling with my heart and that always makes things difficult. Two years ago today, I had my second miscarriage. And my heart is breaking.
My heart misses what will never be. My heart longs for the baby I lost. My heart is full of pain today.
But my head, oh my head! My head knows that if I'd had that baby, I wouldn't have my sweet wonderful Veronica. I sit watching her and she is next to me laughing. She waves at me and gives me a smile, as if to say "Mommy, I was meant to be here with you, not the other one."
So while my heart breaks, my head rejoices in the new things my daughter discovers every day. My heart aches with pain but also with the joy she brings.
When your head and heart are battling, there will be no actual casualties, but it's a hard fought battle.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Recipes
I will try to remember to include links to recipes when I post about some new food that I've made. Or type out the recipe, if I can't link it. So here goes:
Shredded buffalo chicken. This is really one of our favorites. It's so easy, makes a ton, and tastes great as sandqiches, nachoes or on salads. We make it twice a month. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723221653656/
The Italian pork chops that I made tonight. They were good, by the way. I just would have like a crispier coating. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222598977/
The crack potatoes that we had tonight. (Technically the third pan of a previous batch.) http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222479328/
This is the brown sugar chicken we're having tomorrow. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222497742/
We're having this cheesy corn casserole with the chicken. (One pan out of the four it made) http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222584836/
Ok, so that's all I've got right now. I'm getting pretty darn tired and the baby is ready for bed too, I hope. But don't worry, I'll get more up here as I continue the experiment.
Shredded buffalo chicken. This is really one of our favorites. It's so easy, makes a ton, and tastes great as sandqiches, nachoes or on salads. We make it twice a month. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723221653656/
The Italian pork chops that I made tonight. They were good, by the way. I just would have like a crispier coating. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222598977/
The crack potatoes that we had tonight. (Technically the third pan of a previous batch.) http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222479328/
This is the brown sugar chicken we're having tomorrow. http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222497742/
We're having this cheesy corn casserole with the chicken. (One pan out of the four it made) http://pinterest.com/pin/96686723222584836/
Ok, so that's all I've got right now. I'm getting pretty darn tired and the baby is ready for bed too, I hope. But don't worry, I'll get more up here as I continue the experiment.
Pork chops, crack potatoes and green beans
So I was planning on making pork chops, crack potatoes and green beans for dinner tonight, but I think that might change a little. I have the green beans and a leftover pan on the potatoes (I found the recipe on pinterest and it made 3 pans from one recipe). But I might change the pork chops.
I was scouting out my pinterest this morning or last night, I'm not sure now which it was. ANyway, I found a recipe for parmesan gralic chicken. It had just 4 ingredients- parm cheese, garlic powder and a packet of Italian dressing mix and chicken. Well, I have all of those in the house, but I will try it out on the pork chops.
The chops I bought last week, the day before the sell by date and got $3.00 off the package. They cost $2.64. Yeah, they're bone in, which I don't like, but I can cut the bone out to save that much (on pork chops anyway. Not on chicken. Yuck!) The parm cheese will cost about 35 cents worth and the rest of the stuff for dinner I already had on hand. So sinner tonight will cost $3.00.
I know, right? 3 bucks! To feed three people! Even if I added the price for the other stuff, it would come up to about $6.00 for the potatoes, beans and chops. I am thrilled with how this is going. I will write tomorrow and review the chops, but if you read this and follow me on Pinterest, the review will be up tonight, on my "Pin there, done that" board. (Cute name, isn't it? IT's the things I've done or made. Tee hee.)
I was scouting out my pinterest this morning or last night, I'm not sure now which it was. ANyway, I found a recipe for parmesan gralic chicken. It had just 4 ingredients- parm cheese, garlic powder and a packet of Italian dressing mix and chicken. Well, I have all of those in the house, but I will try it out on the pork chops.
The chops I bought last week, the day before the sell by date and got $3.00 off the package. They cost $2.64. Yeah, they're bone in, which I don't like, but I can cut the bone out to save that much (on pork chops anyway. Not on chicken. Yuck!) The parm cheese will cost about 35 cents worth and the rest of the stuff for dinner I already had on hand. So sinner tonight will cost $3.00.
I know, right? 3 bucks! To feed three people! Even if I added the price for the other stuff, it would come up to about $6.00 for the potatoes, beans and chops. I am thrilled with how this is going. I will write tomorrow and review the chops, but if you read this and follow me on Pinterest, the review will be up tonight, on my "Pin there, done that" board. (Cute name, isn't it? IT's the things I've done or made. Tee hee.)
Sunday, March 10, 2013
My New Experiement
Where to start? Pat and I are pretty much broke. Like to the point that all my credit cards are maxed out, and we can afford to pay the mortgage and daycare and at the end of the month we have about $3.00 left. Yes, 3 measly dollars.
SO at work last week, I wrote down what our bills are and how much our income is. We made enough to pay for everything, so what's going on? After spending weeks looking at our spending habits, I found we are hemmorraging money on food. Take out lunches, breakfasts on the go, and "I don't feel like cooking" dinners out. Ridiculous amounts. Hundreds of dollars a month. Hundreds!!!
I decided it was time to stop that. I'm tired of scraping by, or scraping up money to buy clothes for the kids and diapers and formula for Veronica. I had recently started cooking big batches of side dishes, and planning out what meals to eat them with, so I figured that maybe I could do that for two weeks at a time. I knew that I would have about $160 for groceries, but I really wanted to find how far I could stretch that. SO I planned for the month.
Then I made my grocery list. I needed 17 chicken breasts, 7 pounds of ground beef, a pound of chuck roast, and 2 1/2 pounds of cube steak. Then there were all the little things I needed, like garlic, tomato paste, enchilada sauce, cheese, biscuits and a million other little things. I went to Aldi first, to get whatever I could that they carry. I used to turn my nose down at their products, but I can't afford to do that now. And I'll never go back.
The first time I shopped at Aldi, I took my reciept to Jewel and compared prices. It was ridiculous. I had spend $35 dollars at Aldi. The same items at the cheapest price Jewel offered totalled around $65. A few dollars is one things, but 30? Crazy. But I digress.
I am still very picky about my meat, but the chicken is pretty good, so I got all the chicken there as well as the chuck roast, although they didn't have any one pounders. I had to get two, which for me just means two meals from it. The price differences just get me though. I spent 65 cents on a packet of ranch dressing mix. At Target, it would cost a dollar more. It's the exact same stuff!
But I'm getting off track again. It happens a lot. So armed with my grocery list and $160, I hit the stores. I spent $127.43 at Aldi, got all the meat I listed above, plus 80 other items. Then I went to Jewel. I got wing sauce, 2 cans of enchilada sauce, and 2 bags of stir fry veggies, 2 cans of broccoli cheese soup and the cube steak and spent almost $25. Ridiculous I say! Now, if you add those together, I spent just over $152.
HOLY SHIT I had done it!!!!
We are not just eating crap, either. I have a ton of yummy things planned for the month. I made a batch of twice baked potato casserole yesterday. I was able to split it into three different meal portions, so there's three sides there. (All in the freezer.) I made a cheesy corn casserole that I was able to make 4 pans out of one batch. We ate one, and I froze the other three. There's 7 different sides taken care of. I have lots of frozen veggies, and I will add those to the meals too.
I also did a lot of the prep work. One night we are having fajitas, so I already cut the chicken into strips, and did the same with the onions and peppers. All of that went into one bag (chicken in a bag in the bag) so I can just take it out the night before so it defrosts. Same with the chicken stir fry. The chicken is all cut up into bite size pieces. (No more I don't have time excuses!) The ground beef is separated into bags and labeled with what it's supposed to be used for.
I know how ridiculous this sounds, but I am very excited. Yesterday was March 9th. I don't need to go back to the grocery store for anything other than baby food and milk until April 5th. I have plenty of leftovers for lunch, and Nathaniel eats both breakfast and lunch at shcool, which is going to help me cut down. I also am really working on portions, so this will help.
Tonight I made shredded buffalo chicken (one of our favorites!!!) and as usual, it was delicious. Three chicken breasts, a bottle of wing sauce and a packet of dry ranch mix. Chicken was $4.68, wing sauce was 1.77 and ranch dressing was .65. Add in a buck for the hamburger buns and dinner for both Pat and I plus lunch for the next two days cost $8.10. Four servings is just about 2 bucks per serving. How can you beat that? PLus it tasts so damn good!
Sp my new experiment is seeing if I can actually make this work. I am really hopeful that I can. Wish me luck!
SO at work last week, I wrote down what our bills are and how much our income is. We made enough to pay for everything, so what's going on? After spending weeks looking at our spending habits, I found we are hemmorraging money on food. Take out lunches, breakfasts on the go, and "I don't feel like cooking" dinners out. Ridiculous amounts. Hundreds of dollars a month. Hundreds!!!
I decided it was time to stop that. I'm tired of scraping by, or scraping up money to buy clothes for the kids and diapers and formula for Veronica. I had recently started cooking big batches of side dishes, and planning out what meals to eat them with, so I figured that maybe I could do that for two weeks at a time. I knew that I would have about $160 for groceries, but I really wanted to find how far I could stretch that. SO I planned for the month.
Then I made my grocery list. I needed 17 chicken breasts, 7 pounds of ground beef, a pound of chuck roast, and 2 1/2 pounds of cube steak. Then there were all the little things I needed, like garlic, tomato paste, enchilada sauce, cheese, biscuits and a million other little things. I went to Aldi first, to get whatever I could that they carry. I used to turn my nose down at their products, but I can't afford to do that now. And I'll never go back.
The first time I shopped at Aldi, I took my reciept to Jewel and compared prices. It was ridiculous. I had spend $35 dollars at Aldi. The same items at the cheapest price Jewel offered totalled around $65. A few dollars is one things, but 30? Crazy. But I digress.
I am still very picky about my meat, but the chicken is pretty good, so I got all the chicken there as well as the chuck roast, although they didn't have any one pounders. I had to get two, which for me just means two meals from it. The price differences just get me though. I spent 65 cents on a packet of ranch dressing mix. At Target, it would cost a dollar more. It's the exact same stuff!
But I'm getting off track again. It happens a lot. So armed with my grocery list and $160, I hit the stores. I spent $127.43 at Aldi, got all the meat I listed above, plus 80 other items. Then I went to Jewel. I got wing sauce, 2 cans of enchilada sauce, and 2 bags of stir fry veggies, 2 cans of broccoli cheese soup and the cube steak and spent almost $25. Ridiculous I say! Now, if you add those together, I spent just over $152.
HOLY SHIT I had done it!!!!
We are not just eating crap, either. I have a ton of yummy things planned for the month. I made a batch of twice baked potato casserole yesterday. I was able to split it into three different meal portions, so there's three sides there. (All in the freezer.) I made a cheesy corn casserole that I was able to make 4 pans out of one batch. We ate one, and I froze the other three. There's 7 different sides taken care of. I have lots of frozen veggies, and I will add those to the meals too.
I also did a lot of the prep work. One night we are having fajitas, so I already cut the chicken into strips, and did the same with the onions and peppers. All of that went into one bag (chicken in a bag in the bag) so I can just take it out the night before so it defrosts. Same with the chicken stir fry. The chicken is all cut up into bite size pieces. (No more I don't have time excuses!) The ground beef is separated into bags and labeled with what it's supposed to be used for.
I know how ridiculous this sounds, but I am very excited. Yesterday was March 9th. I don't need to go back to the grocery store for anything other than baby food and milk until April 5th. I have plenty of leftovers for lunch, and Nathaniel eats both breakfast and lunch at shcool, which is going to help me cut down. I also am really working on portions, so this will help.
Tonight I made shredded buffalo chicken (one of our favorites!!!) and as usual, it was delicious. Three chicken breasts, a bottle of wing sauce and a packet of dry ranch mix. Chicken was $4.68, wing sauce was 1.77 and ranch dressing was .65. Add in a buck for the hamburger buns and dinner for both Pat and I plus lunch for the next two days cost $8.10. Four servings is just about 2 bucks per serving. How can you beat that? PLus it tasts so damn good!
Sp my new experiment is seeing if I can actually make this work. I am really hopeful that I can. Wish me luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)