Success!!

I started creating my menu in February to, hopefully, save some money. In January I spent $775.59 on groceries for the month. (WOW, right?) Well my venture has been successful. For the month of March I have spent $391.23!!! A savings of nearly $400 dollars!!

To all who do the grocery shopping in the family I would suggest planning your meals. This has been a huge time and money saver for our family. Feel free to take from my menu each week. I will be better about posting our meals.

Happy Saturday!

*side note: We do not go out to eat, so the money we were spending on food was strictly from the grocery store.

Partial Menu for the week

Does your house suddenly become uninhabitable when you learn the previous renter committed suicide? Just food for thought.

I have been incredibly sick this week so all regular routine items have been disregarded. Today is Friday. I know. I am behind. I usually write my menu Tuesday, then shop, then blog. To top it off, Edward is sick and getting his sixth tooth. Yeah!

Friday
Wild Wedges
2 eight inch flour tortillas
cooking spray
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup chopped and cooked chicken (or turkey)
1 green onion chopped
Salsa

Spray one side of tortilla place down on skillet. Top with cheese, chicken, green onions, and salsa. Place other tortilla on top. Spray with cooking spray. Cook both sides. Cut into 8 triangles. If you don't want the meat use beans instead.

Saturday
Bean and Pasta Soup (because we are sick)
1 cup uncooked pasta
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic cove, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes
1-1/4 vegetable broth
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 can (15 ounces) white kidney or cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups shredded fresh spinach
1/4 Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package. In large skillet saute celery, carrots, onion, and garlic in oil for 5 minutes. Stir in water, tomatoes, broth, basil, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain Pasta; stir in vegetables mixture. Add beans. Heat through. Stir in spinach; cook until spinach is wilted. Sprinkle with cheese.

Sunday
Chicken and Shrimp Stir Fry

Chicken cooked and cut into strips
Shrimp cooked
Stir fry Vegetables in a bag
Stir fry sauce

Add together and saute. Yum!

Desert in your crock pot
Decadent Chocolate Delight
1 package chocolate cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup water
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix

GREASE inside of crock pot!!! Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Cook on high for 3-4 hours.

Monday
Pizza and movie night

Tuesday
Southwest stuffed peppers
4 green bell peppers
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup shredded pepper-jack cheese
3/4 cup salsa
1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup uncooked long grain converted rice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Sour cream

Cut thin slice off top of each pepper. Remove seeds. Combine beans, cheese, salsa, corn, onions, rice, chili powder and cumin in medium bowl. Spoon filling evenly into each pepper. Place peppers in crock-pot.
Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve with Sour cream!!

Happy Cooking!

This week in Food...

Tuesday
Ribeye with salt and pepper. For a side add lemon peppered steamed veggies.
*We buy Ribeye from costco one a month and it is totally worth every bite.

Wednesday
Cheesy Chicken Potpie
1 pound boneless skinless chk breasts
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 Jar (16 ounces) Ragu Cheese Creation double cheddar cheese sauce
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
1 prepared pastry for single crust pie

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss Chicken with Flour stir in Ragu sauce and veggies. Cover Casserole with pie crust. Cover with Aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until chk is done.

Thursday
Crispy Oven Bake Chk
4 Boneless Skinless breasts
3/4 cup roasted red pepper salsa
1 cup crushed tortilla chips (good to use from the bottom of the bag)

Marinate chicken in salsa over night. Heat oven to 350 degrees and coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Discard salsa. Roll Chicken over tortilla chips. Bake for 45 minutes

Friday
Jalapeno Grilled Chicken
4 boneless skinless chk breasts
1/4 cup jalapeno jelly (or smashed jalapenos)
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

Combine jalapeno jelly and lime juice in small saucepan. Stir constantly until melted and smooth. Grill chicken breasts for 20 minutes on each side. Add sauce for the last 10 minutes.

Saturday
Brawts
*see Menu Here.

Sunday
Fiesta Chk and Rice
1 can Campbell's condensed tomato soup
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup rice
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 boneless skinless chk breasts
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Stir the soup, water, rice and chili powder in baking dish. Add chicken. Bake for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese upon removal.

Monday
New and improved Pizza and Movie night (also known as Family home evening).

More food than...

We could handle!

Wow! What a great week of yummy food! All in all, we did NOT save any money. I ended up running out of cereal and milk and, and, and... However, I am going to try harder this week.

So, to recap: We need to add in a day or two for left overs. We had so much food; I mean SO much food left over. My favorite dish by far was pizza. You must try it! The crust was amazing. It needs to cook a bit longer (or our oven needs a tune up).

We also tried a great dessert. Fat free chocolate pudding, fat free whip topping, peanut butter, and some milk. Mix the two tablespoons of peanut butter and milk together. Then add as much whip topping as you like. Stir them up. Make the chocolate pudding, but the mixture on top and YUM!

We didn't get to the Chicken with Mushrooms because we had so much food, so we are going to give it a try this week.



Monday

Brats and Potatoes

Four juicy brats, Four small potatoes chopped, 2 cups beef broth, a dash of sugar, and half an onion chopped. Throw all this in a frying pan and cook it up.

This is Stephen's recipe so if like it... yeah!



Tuesday
Chicken with Mushrooms. See the Recipe from last weeks menu



Wednesday
Left overs
I had to add this night because we had so much food from last week.


Thursday
Pizza and Movie night
I am going to suggest the veggie pizza from last week with different toppings. The crust was amazing!

Friday
Hawaiian Pork Chops
Pork chops
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/3 cup thinly sliced onion rings
1 can beef broth (14 ounces)
1 can unsweetened pineapple chunks
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cold water
Cooked rice

Cook pork chops in nonstick skillet with salt and pepper. Remove. In same skillet saute green pepper and onion. Stir in broth, pineapple, ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Return pork chops. Cook for 10 minutes. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth stir into skillet. Bring to a boil. Serve over rice.
(We tried this recipe a few weeks ago. It was AMAZING!)

Saturday
Chipotle Chicken Casserole
Boneless Skinless chicken breast cubed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
1 onion diced
1 can navy beans (15 ounces)
1 can black beans
1 can crushed tomatoes (14 ounces)
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
Combine chicken, salt, cumin, bay leaf, chipotle pepper, onion, beans, tomatoes with juice, stock and orange juice in your crock pot. Cook on low for 7 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove bay leaf and serve.
Sunday
Cashew Chicken
6 Chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sliced celery
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/1/2 cup cashews
Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

Who Knew?

You can make pancakes from scratch! We had exactly one cup of milk (so not enough for two bowls of cereal), 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla, and an egg. Just add a cup of flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder along with 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. Voila!! Yummy and Edward ate TWO!
Happy Thursday!

Enough!

Over the last few months I have been searching for a website that provided a menu for a week. Well, they exist, but they are NOT free. You have to pay well over $10 dollars a month. For some, that may not be much, and may be worth it; however, my whole plan was to have a menu and shopping list so I could SAVE money. So, I am going to give it a try myself.
Oh, and this is just dinner because we usually have the same things for breakfast and lunch.
Breakfast: Cereal or Oatmeal with fruit
Lunch: Turkey Sandwich with veggies or PB and J
I am also trying to make my own bread for the week to save $10 dollars. So far so good.
Monday
Beef Tacos
Ground beef
Hard or Soft Taco shells
Lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and salsa
Black beans for a side
Tuesday
Chicken with Mushroom Sauce
Two chicken breasts
2 Teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup fat free milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
Fresh mushrooms sliced
1/2 medium onion sliced into rings
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Combine cornstarch and milk, set aside. Cook chicken in oil for 5-6 minutes or until cooked, remove. Saute mushrooms and onion in butter. Stir in broth, salt and pepper, bring to a boil. Stir in cornstarch mixture. Cook for 2 minutes. Serve wit Chicken.

1 Chk breast with 1/3 cup sauce equals 212 calories and 8 grams of fat.

(this is not my own recipe. I looked it up in the Taste of Home special issue)

Wednesday
Hamburgers with Oven fries
Hamburger patty
Buns
Lettuce, tomato, ketch-up, mustard, and pickles
Potatoes cut into wedges smothered with oil, paprika, garlic powder, and salt. Cook for 45 minutes.

Thursday (We call this night, "Pizza and movie night". We have it every week)
Veggie Pizza with herbed tomato crust
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 all-purpose flour

Toppings
1 can pizza sauce
1 medium green pepper
1 cup mushrooms
1 red onion
1 tomato
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Combine whole wheat flour, parsley, rosemary, yeast, sugar, salt, and pepper. In a saucepan heat water, tomato juice, and oil to 130 degrees. Add dry ingredients; beat until smooth. Stir in all-purpose flour. Hand Knead dough. Put in bowl and cover with light flour. Let rise for 45 minutes.
Roll dough into 12 inch circle. Put on pizza pan coated with cooking spray. Spread sauce and add toppings.
Bake 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes

1 Slice equals 240 calories and 4 grams of fat
(Recipe from Taste of Home special issue)

Friday
Stuffed Ranch Chicken
1 bacon strip cut in half length wise
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons fat free ranch
3 tablespoons finely chopped mushrooms
3 tablespoons finely chopped sweet red pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
2 teaspoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons fat free evaporated milk

Cook bacon. Spread chicken with ranch dressing. Top with mushrooms, red pepper, green onions. Roll up and wrap with piece of bacon. Hold with toothpick. Place in baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. In a small saucepan combine cornstarch and milk until smooth. Stir in pan juices. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Serve with chicken.
(taste of home special issue)

Saturday
Beef Kabobs
Steak cut into small squares
Use all left over veggies from the week
bell peppers, green and red peppers

Use a long kabob stick and cook on the grill

Sunday
Pulled pork Sandwiches
1 pork shoulder (about two pounds)
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 onion, chopped
Hamburger buns

Place pork in crock-pot. Cook on high for 5-6 hours
Remove pork, shred with fork. Discard liquid in slow cooker. Return pork to slow cooker; add BBQ sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and onion. Cook on high for 1 hour.
Serve on Hamburger buns.



I did have most of the small ingredients like cornstarch and cooking oil along with flour. I went to the farmers market to buy the veggies and to Smith's to buy the meat. Total cost for this week (including breakfast and lunch) $100.00!! We are on track for our $400 a month grocery bill.

Happy Cooking this week!!