Menu Planning for January 5th-11th...

Okay, this week we are starting the New Year and with that comes a new budget! We are trying to follow Dave Ramsey's methods so we are definitely NOT overspending, there will be NO eating out because we simply do not have the money for it. :)

So, I am going to list my menu and then break it down into what I have to buy and how I did on my $35 a week budget!

Here's what's cookin' this week:

Breakfasts:

Amish Baked Oatmeal

Pumpkin Muffins

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Breakfast Burritos(make extra for freezer)(Cheese free from WIC)

Cereal, milk & bananas (get cereal & milk free from WIC)

Peanut butter toast, bananas (peanut butter free from WIC)

Biscuits & sausage gravy

Lunch:

pb&J's

cheese & crackers

leftovers

grilled cheese

corndog muffins

(basically, this is how our lunches go with stuff from the freezer thrown in every now and then. Sometimes I might make fried rice or heat up some leftover muffins or something like that to go with lunch. Sometimes we have breakfast burritos or homemade hot pockets)

Suppers:

Fried Rice, salad

Autumn Chowder, sweet onion muffins

Baked Mac & cheese, carrots, brussel sprouts

Spaghetti, Salad

Broccoli Quiche, salad

Red Beans & Rice

Burrito Supreme Casserole(recipe below, courtesy of Darcy), with these refried beans, Salad

* I have most of this in my pantry so I only have to buy:

tortillas (maybe I will make these)

Broccoli

salad stuff(lettuce, tomato, we have vinegar/oil mixed up already)

pumpkin (large can)

hot dogs

bread

sausage

bananas

The "real work" will begin next week when we must start from scratch with a pretty much empty pantry! :)

Burrito Supreme Casserole

8 (8-in.) flour tortillas
1 1/2 c. tomato juice
1 env. taco seasoning mix
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 - 1 lb. ground beef
1 (16 oz) can refried beans
3 c. shredded cheddar cheese
shredded lettuce
chopped tomato

Combine tomato juice, oil and taco seasoning mix. Stir well and set aside. Cook ground beef and drain if needed. Stir in beans and 1/2 c. tomato juice mix. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes until heated through. Remove from heat. Place 1/4 cup beef mixture and a couple tablespoons of cheese down center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas and place seam side down in lightly greased 9x13-in. baking dish. Pour remaining tomato juice mix over casserole. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese, bake 5 additional minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle lettuce and tomato over casserole.

Chocolate Gravy....

I have thought of sharing this before and I guess that I just never did. It's cheap and we have it a lot with hot buttered biscuits. My mama and my granny fixed this growing up but the person I remember fixing it the most and the best (sorry, Mom) was Wilma(my Mom's best friend). I am missing & thinking of our Wilma(she died 4 years ago this week) so to honor her, I am posting her recipe (with some modifications made to fit the way my family likes it; but it's still basically her recipe).

4 heaping T. cocoa

4 heaping T. flour

1 c. sugar

Dash of salt

2 c. milk

1/2 stick butter (sliced into small slices)

1 t. vanilla


In medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, salt. Whisk in milk until smooth. Pour into skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture begins to thicken slightly. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Serve over hot buttered biscuits. Yum! Yum!!

weekly menu

Monday- tacos, beans, tea

Tuesday- Spaghetti, Mozerella garlic bread, salad, tea

Wednesday- eat out or at church

Thursday- Crockpot BBQ chicken, Corn on the cob, salad, tea

Friday- Pinto Beans, Fried potatoes w/onion, buttermilk cornbread, sweet tea

*Desserts:

Pumpkin Drop Cookies
Pumpkin Bread (trying new recipe)

Menu Plan Monday

This week, I am borrowing a lot of ideas from this great blog that I found! She has so many great ideas on cutting your grocery bill and I am going to try and see if I can make it work for us!

So, here is this week's menu:

Breakfast:

Doughnuts
German Pancake & Fruit
Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Cinnamon Toast & Fruit
Amish Baked Oatmeal & Scrambled Eggs
Baked Creme Brulee Oatmeal & Fruit
Eggs, Sausage, Baked French Toast

Lunch:

Leftovers
PB&J
Grilled Cheese
Breakfast Burritos
Bean & Cheese Burritos
Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Dinner or Supper:

Broccoli Rice Quiche, Salad

Loaded Baked Potatoes, Salad

Grilled Smoked Sausages on buns, Kraut, Relish, the works, Salad, Cherry Fluff (recipe below)

Rosemary Grilled Chicken (Rachael Ray 30 minute meals), New Potatoes, Squash (fresh from the garden, yum!)

Chicken Fried Rice, Salad

Oven Fried Chimichangas, Salad

Ribeyes, Salad, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dessert (Charlie's dessert of choice; Father's Day!)

Sounds yummy & pretty cheap, too! The chicken meals will be made with 1 jumbo package of chicken thighs cooked and shredded. The salad & veggies are all from the garden (except the broccoli). So, that is going to help a lot. Well, there you go, our Menu Plan this week! I will let you know how well it goes over with our family.

Head over to Laura's for more menu plan ideas!

Cherry Fluff:

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (16 oz) container Cool Whip, thawed
1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 (20 0z) can cherry pie filling
1/2 c. chopped pecans(optional)
3 drops red food coloring (optional)

Fold milk into Cool whip in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and Stir gently but mix well. Chill at least 1 hr. before serving.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday- Red Beans & Rice, Peaches

Tuesday- Chicken Fajitas, Beans, Rice

Wednesday- Pizza (taking girls out for pizza; Claire has 30 stickers)

Thursday- Chef Salads, Strawberries & whipped cream

Friday- Baked Nachos, Salad, Strawberries & Cream

Saturday- Burgers on the grill, pasta salad, fruit salad(sliced strawberries, cherries,crushed pineapple, cool-whip, splenda; chilled)

Sunday- Lasagna (recipe below), Salad, Chocolate Chip Pudding Pie(recipe below)

*Quick Lasagna (makes 2 so you can freeze one)

2 lbs. ground beef

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 pkg. lasagna dinner mix (like Hamburger Helper)

2 & 1/4 c. hot water

2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry

1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms

1 c. 4 % cottage cheese

1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

1 & 1/2 c. shredded mozerella cheese

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over med. heat for 10-12 min. or until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Stir in pasta from the dinner mix, contents of seasoning pkg. , water, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms & onions. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-13 minutes or until pasta is tender. Stir in cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese.

Transfer to 2 greased 8 in. square baking dishes. Sprinkle with mozerella cheese.

Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the other at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

To use frozen casserole: Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before baking (do not thaw). Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Uncover; bake 15-20 minutes longer or until heated through.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Pie

1 tube chocolate chip cookie dough

1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 c. powdered sugar(confectioner's sugar)

1 carton (12 oz) cool whip, thawed and divided

3 c. cold milk

1 pkg. (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix

1 pkg. (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix

chopped nuts, optional

Let cookie dough stand at room temp. for 5-10 minutes to soften. Press into an ungreased 13X9 X2 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire rack.

In large mixing bowl, mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Fol in 1 & 3/4 c. cool whip. Spread over crust.

In large bowl, whisk milk and pudding for 2 minutes ; let stand 2 minutes or until soft-set. Spread over cream cheese layer. Top with remaining cool whip and chopped nuts. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight until firm. Serves 15.

Have a wonderful week!

Menu Plan

Menu for this week: (I am not linking up this week; I will try to next week)

Just using up what is in the freezer and trying to be more frugal!

Monday- Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast, Sauteed Squash, Onions & Mushrooms, MeMe Fogg's Green Beans, Coconut Cream Pie, Sweet tea

Tuesday- Burritos, leftover Coconut Cream Pie, sweet tea

Wednesday- Shrimp Pasta Salad, Frozen Strawberry Salad, tea

Thursday- Chicken Stir Fry, Brown Rice, Strawberries & Whipped Cream

Friday- Praline French Toast Casserole, Omelets, Strawberries & whipped cream

Saturday- Chinese Chicken Fried Rice, Broccoli & Cauliflower, sweet tea

Sunday- To Be Decided

A Yummy, Filling, Cheap Meal!!!

To go with my post on saving money, I want to share one of our favorite meals with you! Homemade Baked Mac & Cheese (click for the recipe). It's one of the cheapest things I can make, even cheaper if you get WIC for your cheese and milk. We add a side or two of vegetables, usually steamed broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, or peas. Very soon we will be having veggie stir frys out of our garden with the mac & cheese! Yummy!

It makes enough for tonights meal plus lunch tomorrow for us & Charlie to take with him. This is really good comfort food!!! *The only change I make is I use plain yellow mustard (out of the bottle) instead of dried mustard. So good and gives it a good color, too! Also, you can use rotini or shell or any kind of firm pasta. Tonight, we are using rotini that I got for 62 cents a box. Also, add a little more milk if it is too dry for you. And, I put crushed saltines on top and pour a little melted butter over them before baking (instead of using bread crumbs). Hope this helps!

I hope you can use this recipe to stretch your food budget a little farther! Enjoy!

*Also, check out Crystal's tips on money saving and this link, as well! Very helpful information!

Make it yourself...

I have been trying to save us money and cut corners in a lot of areas. Trying to be the best wife and mother I can be. I found this link and I wanted to share it with all of you! It has so many recipes and substitutions for many things that we buy that we consider essentials! A lot of ways to substitute or just make it yourself and save SO much money!!! :o) Check it out when you have the time. You can subscribe to their weekly newsletter, as well. Very helpful!

Have a great week!!!!

Crescent Roll Chicken

*Update: It was VERY good! I only had 1 can of crescent rolls so I made the entire recipe and had enough chicken mixture left to freeze for another half a batch! Plus, these are so filling, I could only eat about 1/2 of one and Claire & Lily shared a half. Plenty of leftovers to put in Charlie's lunch so it's economical, too! lol. I made it with cream of mushroom & white rice (all I had on hand) I probably would not use cream of chicken because cream of chicken just makes me nauseous. You can also eat these without the white rice and gravy. They are yummy with just the crescent rolls and filling! Anyway, all in all, a good and easy meal! Claire helped roll out the dough and spread the filling and roll them back up. I love any recipe that gets kids in the kitchen so I would give it 5 stars! Try it! :o)

Making this today for lunch for me & the girls! Sounds good,although really starchy but I am giving it a try anyway! I will let you know how it turns out! :o)

Crescent Roll Chicken

4-6 Chicken Breasts, boiled, cooled, chopped

8oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 c milk
4 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
little bit of garlic salt.

Mix all together, set aside.

2 Crescent roll cans (I use the butter and flaky ones)Roll out dough so 2 triangles form one rectangle, stretch and push seam together. Place a spoon full of the chicken mixture in the middle and bring four corners up around it and twist top to secure. If you want you can add some butter on top . Gravy is one can of cream of chicken or mushroom and I add milk and salt and pepper. Put Crescent roll chicken on top of a plate of rice and cover in gravy!


Just thought that I would share! Serving it with some broccoli & cauliflower! Yummy! :o)

Love,
Julie