This Week's Menu 5/17: The Will I Ever Get My Life In Order Edition!

 ( My half of this week's basket)

For Pete sake, when it rains it pours!!! Our Internet has been down, due to a cable issue for the last five days; and the repair man has just left! It seems that when our Internet dish was installed five years ago, the installation person installed indoor only cable from the outside dish to our router. Needless to say, five years worth of weather has wrecked havoc on said cable. When the repairman showed me the cable he had just replaced it looked like a family of hungry beavers had chewed it up!  I am happy to report that we are now up and running with super, state of the art, outdoor approved ethernet cable. It is amazing how much better (and faster) the Internet works when it's not trying to "move" along frayed and broken wiring. I have to tell you it felt a little bit like being on a deserted island with out Internet. I feel like I'm behind, and I have missed reading all your fun comments and blogs.....................it's good to be BACK!

Anyway, this week menu is pretty basic. Chicken still plays a major role (as I am still trying to use up the stash of whole chicken in the freezer).

Sunday

Chicken Fricasee (bumped from last week)

Steamed Rice

Watermelon

Green Peas

Apple Pie (had some sketchy looking apple that needed eaten)

Monday

Cowboy Hash ( I'll post the recipe later this week)

Watermelon

Blueberry Muffins

Leftover Pie

Tuesday

Grilled Hot Dogs

Potato Salad

Pineapple cubes

Wednesday

Leftovers for the kids (Dear Daughter's Debate Banquet tonight)

Thursday

Dad's Special (a.k.a. $5.00 pizza from Little Caesar's)

I have a meeting tonight

Friday

Chicken Enchiladas

Refried Beans

Green Salad

Saturday

Chicken Fried Rice

Cantaloupe 

Green Salad (or veggies that need used up)

Do any of my Dear Bloggy Friends have some ideas to use up Chicken?

Craperole.... Oh, I Mean Casserole!

 ( I didn't take a picture of this week's casserole, and besides it never looks the same twice. So here's a picture of my pretty blue dutch oven. After all, leftovers always look more appetizing in a pretty pot. It's all about presentation, baby!)

Dear Readers, I must apologize! Wednesday, while I was preparing my menu post, I tried to link Craperole to a previous post in the blog. No such post exists! In the seventeen months that this blog has been up and running, I have never posted the recipe for one of my most used resources.  First of all, casserole was lovingly named craperole at our house a long time ago. I don't know who actually named it, but the sentiment was very clear.....and the name has stuck! Secondly, Casserole is my preferred method for using up odds and ends out of the refrigerator, and it is always a great way to stretch more expensive food items with cheaper filler foods.  This recipe calls for cheese. This is, of course, optional; because it does add cost and calories to the finished project. However, I live in a household of cheese lovers. Odds are if there is cheese on top, it will be consumed with much less moaning and groaning! So, without further ado, the much "coveted" recipe for Craperole!

Catch All Casserole (a.k.a. Craperole) 

2 - 3 cups  starchy food; such as sliced or shredded cooked potatoes. cooked rice, or cooked pasta
1 - 2 cups leftover cooked meat; I use chicken and pork roast most often or 1 pound browned hamburger
1 - 2 cups  cooked leftover vegetables (or frozen vegetables)
1/2 cup each minced onion and celery (if you have some to use up)
2 cans Cream of  Something soup ( usually chicken, mushroom, or celery) or a combination of 1 can Cream f Something soup and 1 cup sour cream, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, or 1 ( 8oz) brick of cream cheese (softened) or 2 cups white sauce 
1 cup shredded cheese (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute chopped onion and celery (if using) in 1 tablespoon of oil or butter until soft. In a large bowl place the  starchy food, cooked meat,  vegetables, and sauteed onion and celery (if using). Add in soups (or combinations), salt and pepper. Stir together and pour into a greased casserole dish. Bake covered at 375 for 40 - 45 minutes. Optional: uncover the casserole, sprinkle cheese on top and bake uncovered for another 5 minutes until the cheese melts.

Bon Appetite!!!!!

This Week's Menu 5/11: The Extremely Late Edition!

 (This week's Bountiful Basket, plus tortillas, and apparently my dirty laundry!)

Well, this week has turned out to be another crazy week. I don't know exactly how this happens. I suppose the quote, " Life is what happens while you are making other plans." is true. I have spent quite a lot of time with the girl's from church (who I am co directing Girl's Camp for) preparing for our week of fun in June. It is funny how a three day camping for the Boy Scouts (12 - 17) requires a pocket knife, sleeping bag, a change of socks (maybe), and 15 minutes of prep time. A three day camping trip for girl's (12 - 17) requires camp decorations, skits, songs, crafts, games, spiritual thoughts, accessorizing, and 12 weeks of planning. Oh, and glitter and glitter glue, are very necessary embellishments for a successful camp experience! We must have our bling! I am starting to suspect we are not going camping, but rather GLAMPING!!!

I have finally found a spare minute to transfer my weekly menu from the ratty piece of notebook paper hanging on the fridge to the blog (which is it's proper place, of course)! Chicken plays prominently in this week's menu, because I still have numerous whole chickens in the freezer that  probably should be used up.
It's also clean out the veggie bin week, too. This week we will be having (or have had):

Sunday

Lasagna

Garlic Bread (made from leftover hamburger buns)

Watermelon

Carrot Cake

Monday

Beans, Bacon, and Red Potatoes (Mixed together. It's a favorite Dear Hubby's mom made growing up)

Cornbread

Pineapple Cubes

Leftover Carrot Cake

Tuesday

Chicken, Broccoli, Rice  Casserole ( a.k.a Craperole. I cleaned out the fridge and threw them together)

Watermelon

Pineapple Cubes

Wednesday

Chicken Soft Tacos

Refried Beans

Spinach Salad

Strawberries and Whipped Cream

Thursday

Chicken Fricasee

Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower (mashed together to disguise the cauliflower from the dislikers)

Peas 

Home Canned Applesauce

Friday

Grilled Spare Ribs (Woo Hoo! It's suppose to be sunny and 73 degrees)

Macaroni Salad

Orange Slices

Saturday

Leftover Night or Grilled Hot Dogs

So, Dear Readers, are any of you having something fabulicious for dinner at your house this week?

Errand Day

I just finished organizing my game plan for today. Mostly, it consists of running errands (and laundry). Due to  the fact, that if gas prices go any higher, I may have to sell a child (or a kidney) to afford to purchase it; I have been trying to drastically reduce our consumption. Among other things, now I cram all my errands for the week into one day, if possible. This is doable if  I get myself organized before I set out.

• First, I have assembled all the necessary tools on the computer desk (that I spent a half hour yesterday cleaning off, so that I could have a spot to mess up, again).

•  I have perused all the grocery ads (paper and virtual) for loss leader deals.

•  I have assembled all the pertinent coupons. Matching coupons to sales prices is one of the most lucrative ways to use coupons.

•  Of course, I had the help of a friend! This little bad boy is in the top five of my favorite frugal tools. It's name is the i slice, you can find your very own at a Harbor Freight near you, or HERE. I use it for cutting out coupons, cutting recipes out of magazines (and the newspaper), cutting gift wrap, trimming scrapbook paper, and opening packaging. In fact, I am so in love with it, that when  I lost it last year,  I ripped the house apart trying to find it, and was so depressed, that I went around in a funk for weeks. All my family members ended up buying  me several for my birthday (probably so I would stop moping around). P.S. You'll be happy to know I found the original in the gift wrap box this Christmas (Oops! My bad!)

• Now the plan of action has been committed to paper. I do much better staying on track (and not FORGETTING something), if my list is itemized.  Every store I need to stop at has a separate list of the items I am going to buy there. The asterisks next to some of the items means I have a coupon for it. My to do list is in order, from starting to stopping point. When I have finished I will have driven a circle of the entire town. That way I don't have to back track and waste fuel. 

 

•  Naturally, I have had my morning beverage to fortify my before the big trip!

Well, I guess, I had better hurry and get started on my quest. My list will take me several hours, and my little boys get home from school at 2:30pm.  My great adventure, awaits....................!

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

 Lately, I have been experimenting with baking whole wheat, high fiber bread. This has proved to be a tricky challenge. The more fiber you add into the bread the denser it becomes. My family has issues with dense bread. They have only been eating  whole wheat bread, if it is mainly made from white flour with a little whole wheat sprinkled in (the big babies). I came across a recipe for Honey Wheat Bread in this month's issue of Taste Of Homes Healthy Cooking magazine. It looked promising! I baked up a batch, yesterday, and it was fabulous! The family ate it without complaint (Woo Hoo)!  I did tweak it a little bit to add more fiber ( I calculated it at 5 grams of fiber per slice).  Here is the recipe that I used (of course, you can find the original recipe HERE):

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

(makes two loaves - 16 slices each)

4 1/2 teaspoons yeast

3 cups warm water; divided

1/2 powdered milk

1/2 cup honey (you could substitute brown sugar)

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon wheat bran

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed ( I like Bob's Red Mill Ground Flax Meal)

2 tablespoons butter or canola oil

2 teaspoons salt

4 cups whole wheat flour

4 tablespoon wheat gluten

3 - 3 1/2 cups bread (or all purpose flour)

1. Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water (add 1 teaspoon of sugar to feed the yeast). Let yeast sit for 5 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups very warm water, powdered milk, honey (or brown sugar), oil (or butter), and salt.
3. Add whole wheat flour, wheat bran, ground flax seed, wheat gluten, and one cup of bread flour to the liquid mixture.
4. Pour dissolved yeast on top of flours.
5. Beat together until smooth batter forms (about 3 minutes)
6. Stir in the remaining flour until a soft dough forms (it will be sticky)
7. Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead (about 6 - 8 minutes) until a dough is smooth and elastic; adding white flour as necessary to keep it from sticking.
8. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a dishtowel, and let rise until double (about 1 hour).
9. Punch down dough, divide in half, and shape into two loaves.
10. Place loaves in two greased 9x5 bread pans 
11. Cover loaf pans and let rise until dough has risen 1 inch above the rim of the bread pan (about 30 minutes).
12. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes or until golden brown
13. Remove baked bread from pans (lay loaves on their sides) and cool completely.

This Week's Menu 5/1

(This week's Bountiful Basket,and assorted family member's limbs)

This week I actually took the time to plan my menu, and I am posting  it BEFORE the middle of the week! Yeah me! This week I have to watch the grocery budget closely, so I have been digging through the freezer, refrigerator, and pantry to find odds and ends to use up. Besides a freezer clean out every so often is a good thing. This week we will be having:

Sunday

Hamburgers (from yesterday)

Dutch Oven Potatoes

Sliced Honeydew and Watermelon

Monday

Shrimp Alfredo with Penne Pasta

Asparagus (from last week's basket that needs to be used ASAP)

Sliced Honeydew and Watermelon

Tuesday

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy (using up the leftover patties from Sunday)

Mashed Potatoes (and Cauliflower)

Corn on the Cob

Strawberries with Whipped Cream

Wednesday

Clam Chowder

Spinach Salad

Applesauce Muffins

Thursday 

Leftover Night

Friday

Berry Filled Puff Pancake (new recipe I'm trying)

Scrambled Eggs

Fried Potatoes

Nothing too glamorous. Mainly, just old standbys. My big goal this week is to use up all the veggies in my refrigerator bins. I am happy to report that the new fridge is keeping all of my produce fresh much, much longer than the old one!

Retail Therapy....Frugal Style

I am constantly trying to find ways to live a Champagne (okay, Evian) lifestyle on a tap water budget. Keeping a family of six in clothing, shoes, and necessary frivolities can be a pricey venture.  To get the most bang for my buck , I have become quite a fan of  frugally creative shopping.  There are several places I like to frequent to purchase necessary items, and stay within our budget.

Thrift Stores:  You can find just about anything under the Sun at thrift stores. They are great for clothing, dressier shoes, household items, backpacks, canning jars, and sometimes furniture (usually furniture will require some TLC). This week's trip to Goodwill produced a messenger bag ($4.99), tote bag ($3.99), Pyrex serving dish ($1.99), two new glass storage container (to replace plastic ones out of my pantry $3.50 for both), Corelle luncheon plates (to replace the ones we've broken. 7 for $1.50), and a pair of khaki capri pants for me ($3.99).

  
Salvage Stores: We have a couple in my area. The ambiance in salvage stores may be a little rustic. Usually, organization is not always top priority, either. If you are willing to spend some time sorting through the mish mash; you can usually find treasures. Like an 18 piece set of glass Pyrex storage containers (to replace some sadly peeling plastic containers) for $20.00 ( I've already put them to good use). Salvage stores are a great place to find some non perishable food, non grocery and hygiene items, wrapping paper, party supplies, office/ school supplies, household items, clothing, and sometimes small furniture.

 The prices are really hard to beat!

Yard/ Garage Sales: Even though they are seasonal, they are a great place to find ANYTHING. They are especially fabulous for finding furniture, baby items, children's clothing, canning supplies, small household appliance, athletic equipment, tools, yard equipment.

Consignment Stores: Even though the clothing items are more expensive that thrift stores, they are a great place for finding higher end brands. Consignment stores are a great place to find jewelry, hand bags, business attire, dress clothing, bridal gowns, and party dresses. Some shop also sell furniture, luggage, household items, antiques, and books. I have found lots of decorating items CHEAP at consignment stores.

Clearance Bins and Racks: I have found everything from dollar t shirts, to $3.00 stock pots in the clearance sections of almost every store in my area. I make it a point to peruse them every time I am in the store. Clearance items are great for stocking up on gifts, clothing, bedding, decorating accessories, and cook/ bake ware.

To make "shopping" trips as efficient as possible (and not cave in to "frivolous" purchases), I keep a small notebook in my purse with an every changing list of items that we are in need of.  My list usually includes clothing items (and sizes) that the kid's need (or will need, such as school and dress clothes), household items to replace (a.k.a. plates, glasses.), sizes of canning jars, fabric needed  for projects, baskets for gifts, and holiday items.

As a side note: I am also a HUGE FAN of swapping and bartering with the neighbors (and family). Lots of times if you let it out that you are in need of something, someone has what you need and is willing to swap. I recently traded some outgrown kids clothing with the neighbor for some cleaning supplies that she had an abundance of. Lots of areas have Freecycle. It works basically the same way. I have not participated, but I know people who are huge fans.

What are your favorite frugal shopping tactics?