Little Finds

Crystal at Money Saving Mom has been posting these great Busy Bag Ideas for toddlers. I want to put together a few of these for my daughter to play with.

These snickerdoodle cupcakes from Stephanie's Kitchen look so delicious. I have cream cheese frosting in the freezer, but I'm going to wait until I make a fresh batch of frosting with cinnamon!

JessieLeigh at Parenting Miracles shares great wisdom for communicating with her husband in this post "Tell Him About It."

I'm looking forward to trying this Traditional Chicken Divan recipe made with out mayo or cream of soup. I'll omit the broccoli for my husband's preference, so it won't be completely traditional, but it still looks tasty! (Hat tip, Grocery Cart Challenge)

Menu Plan Monday, August 29, 2011

Last week, it really helped to resume posting my menus. I felt some strange sense of accountability to what was written on the screen. This doesn't mean I stuck to the plan. I moved everything around. But, every night, when I just wanted to go to bed, I took the extra three minutes to stick something in the fridge to thaw!

Here's the menu for this week!

Monday: Chicken Sandwich. Ben loves this one!
Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie. (I wasn't going to buy more ground beef, but last week, it was on clearance at Safeway for under 2.00/lb. Couldn't pass it up!)
Wednesday: Grocery Shopping Trip day so I'm going to have chilli, from a can (although, someday I want to try this chilli) with our favorite cornbread recipe. I make it with extra corn.
Thursday: Taco Night! I'll make homemade tortillas and use crockpot refried beans.
Friday: Chicken Tetrazzini
Saturday: ? I'm going to check the sales.

For more great ideas, visit I'm An Organizing Junkie, Menu Plan Monday!

Menu Plan Monday, August 22, 2011

Haven't blogged in a while. I could say that I've still been menu planning, but I haven't been too consistent about it. I'm still doing okay pulling meals together so we're eating at home instead of eating out, but I've found that when I have a weekly menu plan (even if I move the meals around to different days), it is easier to look forward to making dinner. I'm even more motivated to prep more the night before and during the day. This week, it looks like we'll get to enjoy warm summer weather! Unlike the rest of the country, we've had a cooler overcast summer. I want to take advantage of the warmer days and use the grill for a couple of meals too.

Here's my menu for the week.

Monday: A few showers forecasted, so we're having Pizza Pretzel Surprise. (My husband's request). I'm running low on AP flour, so I'm going to try this with bread flour.

Tuesday: Grilled chicken with a new marinade. Last week, I found this marinade and we really enjoyed it. I'm going to find a new one this week.

Wednesday: Hashbrowns, eggs and bacon (I haven't bought bacon in a while because the prices have gone up so much. However, there is a sale at Freddys on our favorite Farmland bacon for 3.50/lb. It is an okay enough price that I am going to pick it up.

Thursday: Leftover Pizza Pretzel.

Friday: Chicken Souvlaki on the grill with grilled pita bread.

Saturday: Creamy Pasta with Peas from Everyday Food. (I'll add some ham.)

For more menus, visit Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday, April 11. 2011

As you noticed from yesterday's post, last week's big adventure/success was when I cut up and cooked my first whole chicken :-)

I also attempted to make a lemon meringue pie. I used the recipe from The Mixer Bible. I was very worried about getting the meringue right, so I read all about it. It never occurred to me that the filling wouldn't set and we'd get lemon meringue soup pudding pie :( Apparently, I didn't cook the filling long enough or I cooked it too long. I'm not quite sure. The meringue was excellent and the soupy pudding filling tasted pretty good although the lemon was stronger than we'd like, but Ben and I made the brave choice to just toss it out. I'll try it again someday, but maybe I'll use this recipe from food.com or this recipe from BHG.com instead. Both use less eggs and less lemon flavor. The only keeper was the crust. I used this pat in the pan crust from Sandy at Reluctant Entertainer. It was easy to make and very tasty. I may reduce the salt a bit next time, but that is it.

Last week, the weather was warm enough that Ben agreed to break out the grill and we had burgers for dinner. Delicious!

Here are my ideas for this week's menu:

Sunday: We've coined this one Pizza Pretzel Surprise. The surprise? Whether I can get it to look like a pretzel or not. I got the recipe from SnoWhite, but I use my pizza crust from my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook.

Monday: Baked Lemon Spaghetti with green salad and french bread. (Didn't get to this last week. I think I'll stir some leftover chicken into it).

Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner....pancakes maybe?

Wednesday: Chicken Quesadillas. I also need to bring dinner to a new mama. I made Shepherd's Pie for that.

Thursday: Lasagna roll ups...don't have a recipe yet.

Friday: Pizza Pretzel (the dough makes two batches, so we always have leftovers).

Saturday: Either Enchiladas, if we are having company for dinner or maybe burgers? It depends if ground beef goes on sale this week. I'm trying to make do with the meat in our freezer.

Baby Food Update: My daughter loved mango. On to acorn squash!

Check out more menus at I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Because the Chicken Was on Sale

I feel like this story is akin to Giving a Mouse a Cookie, but it all started when our local QFC had whole Draper Valley chicken on sale for 69 cents/lb. Previously, my aunt gave me a great recipe from Uwajimaya for steaming a whole chicken. I purchased two with the intent to do just that, but then I found some recipes for cooking a cut up chicken and I thought it was time to cut up my first whole chicken. Prior to this, I didn't like touching raw whole chickens. I used tongs to get the neck out and a spoon to scoop out the gizzard. I rinsed it off and stuck it in the pot as fast as I could. But as I watched this how to video from Gourmet Magazine, and this one from Chow.com, and these other two I realized this was a very hands on procedure.

So, if you give a frugal minded homemaker the idea that it is cheaper to cut up a whole chicken instead of buying chicken parts, she's going to start thinking about it. Then, if you put chicken on sale, she won't be able to resist. With the idea of tackling a new project in her head and feeding her family for less, she'll roll up her sleeves and overcome her aversion to touching raw meat and cut up said chicken to feed her family.


I used the chicken to make this meal: Classic Baked Chicken by Simply Recipes. It was tasty. I'm going to shred the leftover meat and use it in casseroles and for chicken salad sandwiches.

After cutting up my first chicken, realized it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but it looks a lot easier online. I don't think I got all the thigh meat and I had a tricky time getting the back out and cutting the breasts in half. I also realized I need sharper knives. But, when whole chickens go on sale again, I'll pick some up. If I don't feel like cutting one up, I can still steam and shred it.

Menu Plan Monday, April 4, 2011

Last week I didn't really have a menu. I got sick the prior Thursday, and was out of commission
for four days, and then taking it easy so I didn't relapse. My husband was able to get meals for himself, and I ate tasty chicken noodle soup that my neighbor brought me while I recovered. (It had tofu and seaweed! Yummy and nutritious.) Thankfully, I am doing much better and my menu planning is back on track.

We did have a great menu success: Batter Dipped Chicken Breasts from Jessie Leigh at Parenting the Tiniest of Miracles. We both really enjoyed this, but my husband absolutely loved it! It is really easy. I used one chicken breast pounded thin and cut in half. He asks for it all the time now and we actually had it again last Saturday.

I also made an apple pie. I hadn't made one in years. I tried when we first married, but either the crust was too tough, or the filling sunk but crust didn't, or something else went wrong and I decided the pies at the store were quite tasty, especially when they went on sale for 2.99. :-) Recently, I got the desire to try again. I was inspired when I made these Apple Cinnamon Fruit Bars from Eating Well. I didn't care for the crust, but loved the filling. So, I set out to find a tasty crust to go with the filling.


The result was pretty good. We both really liked the pie, but I will work on it some more to make it even better. I used a crumb topping from this Apple Pizza recipe and the Land O'Lakes Pie Crust. I need to find a better crust. It was tasty, but too thin. I liked the filling, but I used a combination of granny smith and braeburn and Ben felt it was too tart. I will try sweeter apples next time. I would love any tips on improving my pie making skills :-)

This week's menu is a bit tricky as I need to go grocery shopping, but I want to wait until the ads come out on Tuesday. I will also make our big grocery run, but I cannot get out until Thursday. So, we are using what is in the house.

Sunday: Spaghetti dinner
Monday: Lawnmower Tacos with leftover brown bag burritos
Tuesday: Leftovers: Spaghetti
Wednesday: Honey Pecan Chicken Breasts with mashed potatoes (out of potatoes so I'll use my stash of instant)
Thursday: Leftovers: Taco Stuff or Breakfast for dinner.
Friday: Chicken Souvlaki with Homemade Pita Bread. (Last time I made pita bread, it didn't really puff, plus the dough was rather wet and I had to keep adding flour. I'm going to try a different recipe this time.)
Saturday: ? Depends what I purchase at the store. I'd love to make a nicer meal such as this Baked Lemon Pasta with a green salad and homemade french bread.

This week, I'm also working on increasing our baby food storage for my daughter. Depending on the prices, I'm going to pick up some acorn squash, cauliflower, mango, maybe zucchini, whole milk yogurt, cottage cheese and cantaloupe. That should keep me busy!

For more menu's, visit Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday, March 21, 2011

I'm trying to stick to our grocery budget, but I made a couple purchases this weekend and later realized we went over by a couple of dollars. So, for the rest of the month I'm staying out of the stores and getting creative with the stock in our pantry and freezer!

Monday: Leftover Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and homemade applesauce. (I used to make my applesauce on the stove, but then I found this recipe from Jessica at Good Cheap Eats for the crockpot. It is to not have to babysit the pot on the stove. I add brown sugar and cinnamon to taste after cooking).

Tuesday: Ham and Garden Veggie Shells. We have diced ham in the freezer. I started brainstorming a spring pasta dish to use with it when I came across this recipe at Finding Joy in My Kitchen. It looks really tasty. I'll have to adapt it though as we don't have broccoli or mushrooms, or shells. :-) But, I do have corn, peas, and carrots and cheddar cheese. I'll probably use penne or egg noodles.

Wednesday: Battered Dipped Chicken Breasts. This is new recipe, but I'm very excited to try it.

Thursday: Brown Bagged Burritos. I made a bunch of these before our daughter was born, but we haven't had them since. I'm looking forward a tasty alternative to taco night.

Friday: Korean Roast Chicken Thighs. This is also a new recipe. I'll use chicken breasts and not cook it as long. I borrowed some sesame oil from my awesome neighbor! I'll serve it with rice.

Saturday: Leftovers or Burgers on the Foreman.

I'm also going to try my hand at apple pie. I tried making a couple when I was first married, but they never turned out. I think I'll use a crumb topping as it sounds a bit easier. I'll let you know if it turns out :-)

For more menus, visit Menu Plan Monday with Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie.