Bad weather, absent DH and recipe reviews

We have more snow. We're not supposed to get much snow but it's blowing so visibility is about 100 feet, according to one of our firefighters who just reported in on his way out to check on his horses.

Larry has class tonight so he might be stuck in Trinidad until tomorrow. I haven't slept in bed completely alone in, umm, years. Literally years. At least not all night. I've spent some partial nights when Larry was on a call, before I was a dispatcher, but not a full night since Larry first started at the post office and had to go up to Colorado Springs for training. That was before Aria was born.

So, last night we tried the Island Sausage. We didn't really like it. Not that it was bad. It had an interesting blend of flavors, and the meat itself was good, but the sauce was overwhelmingly sweet. Maybe doing something like that as an appetizer, where you put the meat on toothpicks, would be OK, or adding something to the sauce (green and red peppers and onions come to mind). It was the kind of dish I'd order at a restaurant to try it out, but I wouldn't order it again.

Tonight I kind of concocted a recipe. I had on the menu "beef casserole." So I went through my beef casserole recipes and started with a recipe, that I won't post because I have no idea where I got it, called "jail food." I varied it right from the start, using a pound of ground beef, a sliced onion, a family sized can of cream of mushroom soup, a regular sized can of cream of celery soup, 2 packets of au jus mix, 3ish pounds of potatoes, and about a pound of carrots. I browned the meat with salt and pepper, the onion, a pinch of basil, a generous pinch of italian seasoning, and about a tablespoon of fresh minced garlic. Drained it, then mixed with the soups and the au jus mix and the small soup can of water. Poured half of that mixture into into a 9x13 casserole, put the potatoes on top of that, then salted and peppered those, then put the carrots on, then poured the rest of the soup mixture on. Baked at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. It wasn't bad, but I would omit the italian seasoning and basil next time.

So, tomorrow, we're going to have something tried and true. Maybe chicken and dumplings, since we've had such cold weather. I had chicken and rice planned, but with all of my menu rearranging, I ended up doing that on Monday. But dumplings sounds good-and I'd have to work really hard to mess that up!!

Change in Menu Plans for Tuesday

Since my menu plans for the past week were messed up by weather and other "stuff", I'm changing Tuesday's plan to this recipe, originally found on The New Frugal Mom blog. Works really well with the polish sausage I scored on rollback and with coupons over the weekend.

I won't have to buy anything additional except ketchup, which I needed anyway.

Using your resources well

Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win one of four envelopes filled with fifty coupons each!

Being frugal means using your resources in the most effective way possible. In other words, waste as little as possible. We had some leftover hamburger buns, so today for breakfast I made hamburger bun French toast. We served them with powdered sugar since we’re running low on syrup, and bananas. I had to cook them on a lower heat because the bread is thicker, but they worked very well.

Quarterly Dinner Menu

OK, here it is, the quarterly dinner menu.

We have a few more convenience foods than I would like in here, but sometimes you have to do that when you work. I hate that. I'm hoping to move away from that as I get more in the habit of double cooking and processing things the night I make them.

Quick meals that are purchased on the March budget
Brisket for sandwiches, served with fries
Chicken sandwiches and tater tots
Lasagna
Chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese

Quick meals on April budget
Chili Mac
Spaghetti x2
Cook 5 lbs hamburger meat
Hamburger Helper x2 (3 boxes per)
Taco Salad x2

Quick meals on May Budget
Chili Cheese Dogs and Fries
Grill 5 lbs hamburgers
Brisket for Fajitas x2
Chicken Sandwiches, tater tots
Hamburger Helper

Quick meals on June Budget
Cook 5 lbs hamburger meat
Hamburger Helper x2
Grill 5 lbs hamburgers x2
Goulash Mix x2 (everything but the pasta)
Sloppy Joes

The more of the scratch quick meals I get in the freezer, the less convenience foods I will have to rely on when we get a call at dinner time.

Mar 16 Goulash, corn, bread
Mar 17 Breakfast
Mar 18 Chicken and Rice
Mar 19 Chuckwagon Stew
Mar 20 Leftover Night
Mar 21 Chicken Casserole
Mar 22 Beef Roast
Mar 23 Beans
Mar 24 Chicken Pot Pie
Mar 25 Beef Stroganoff
Mar 26 Annual pizza night (tax refund)
Mar 27 Chili Mac
Mar 28 Corned beef sandwiches
Mar 29 Lasagna
Mar 30 Rotisserie Chicken (have to go to Pueblo for the day)
Mar 31 Hamburger Helper
Apr 1 Beef Casserole
Apr 2 Chicken and Rice
Apr 3 Tuna Gravy
Apr 4 Pork Chops
Apr 5 Sour Cream Chicken
Apr 6 Beef Pot Pie
Apr 7 BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Apr 8 Chicken Casserole
Apr 9 Brisket
Apr 10 BLT's
Apr 11 Anonymous Chicken Meal (That means I didn't get anything planned)
Apr 12 Ham
Apr 13 Beef Casserole
Apr 14 Roast Chicken
Apr 15 Mexican Lasagna
Apr 16 Ham and Fried Potatoes
Apr 17 Hot Dogs
Apr 18 Pork Roast Sandwiches
Apr 19 Salisbury Steak
Apr 20 Chicken and Rice
Apr 21 Beef Pot Pie
Apr 22 Beans
Apr 23 Fried Chicken
Apr 24 Hamburgers on Grill
Apr 25 Spam Sandwiches (Hush, I have a houseful of rednecks!)
Apr 26 Turkey
Apr 27 Beef Casserole
Apr 28 Ham Steak
Apr 29 Turkey Sandwiches
Apr 30 Beef Casserole
May 1 Polish Sausage and Potatoes
May 2 Chicken on Grill
May 3 Smothered Steak
May 4 Ham Casserole
May 5 Chicken and Gravy over Biscuits
May 6 Steak and Eggs
May 7 Ribs
May 8 Turkey and Stuffing Casserole
May 9 Cheeseburgers on Grill
May 10 Ham
May 11 Stuffed Baked Potatoes (Ham, broccoli and cheese)
May 12 Roast Chicken
May 13 Groulash
May 14 Beans
May 15 Marinated Chicken Breasts on Grill
May 16 Pork Roast
May 17 Swiss Steak
May 18 Chicken Pot Pie
May 19 Spaghetti
May 20 Hot ham and swiss sandwiches
May 21 Chicken and Rice
May 22 Steaks on Grill (Probably just round steak, but still)
May 23 Sausage and Cheese Biscuits
May 24 Teriyaki Chicken
May 25 Taco Salad
May 26 Pork Chops
May 27 Chicken Sandwiches and Tater Tots
May 28 Brisket
May 29 Breakfast
May 30 BBQ Chicken on Grill
May 31 Pork Roast
June 1 Chuckwagon Stew
June 2 Roast Chicken
June 3 Pork Stroganoff
June 4 Beef Casserole
June 5 Chicken Sandwiches, Tater Tots
June 6 Brats on Grill
June 7 Meatloaf
June 8 Chicken Alfredo
June 9 BBQ Beef Sandwiches
June 10 BLT's
June 11 Roast Chicken
June 12 Cheeseburgers on Grill
June 13 Beans
June 14 Sour Cream Chicken
June 15 Chicken Fried Steak
June 16 Polish Sausage and potatoes
June 17 Chicken and Rice
June 18 Beef Casserole
June 19 Italian BMT's (or as close as we can come to what Subway has)
June 20 BBQ Chicken on Grill
June 21 Salisbury Steak
June 22 Chicken and Gravy over Biscuits
June 23 Calzones
June 24 Beef Pot Pie
June 25 Pork Chops
June 26 Chicken Fajitas
June 27 Beef Casserole
June 28 Teriyaki Chicken
June 29 Goulash
June 30 Pork Roast

Each dinner is served with two veggies (often the combined veggie portions are larger than the entree portion), not counting potatoes. We also supplement protein servings with beans or deviled eggs, and add bread often. This way we can reduce the amount of meat we serve, both for the purposes of being frugal, but to help keep our cholesterol lower. Since we are on such a tight budget, we often aren't able to buy the leanest cuts of meat, but we do what we can to trim the fat and reduce cholesterol intake. My DH is not a happy camper if we don't have meat with dinner, but it doesn't seem to matter how much meat. So I can take a cup of chicken and put it in a casserole, and he's happy. I just supplement the protein and we're good.

To make sure that we use frozen food before it gets icky, at the end of each quarter I go through my freezer and plan first from what is left in there, so that I am assured it is getting used (I just have to make sure I rotate). Then as I buy on sale I replace what's been used, but nothing, in theory, ends up getting lost in the bottom of the freezer.

Recipe: Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread

My recipe for whole wheat apple raisin bread

1/4 c Apple sauce
1 1/8 c Whole wheat flour
½ c. raisins
1 1/8 c Bread flour
1/2 ts Cinnamon
1 tb Dry milk
2/3 c Water
1 ts Salt
1 ts Dry yeast
1 tb Butter

Put ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by manufacturer. Select whole wheat.

I set the timer on this so that it’s ready about 15 minutes before I want to serve it. I then remove it from the pan and let cool for a few minutes, then slice and butter.

Recipe: Stuffed Hot Dogs

My recipe for Stuffed Hot Dogs

2 packages hot dogs
Sandwich Cheese
Preheat oven to 350. Slice hot dogs almost all the way through, length wise. Fold cheese lengthwise, twice, so that you have four thin strips of cheese. Place two strips into each hot dog. Put on cookie sheet, bake until cheese is melted.

Recipe: Sour Cream Chicken

My recipe for Sour Cream Chicken

4-5 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Seasoned Salt
16 oz container sour cream
Bread Crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the chicken breasts in half, place in pan. Sprinkle with seasoned salt. Spoon sour cream over each half breast. Cover sour cream completely with bread crumbs. Bake in 350 degree oven 30-40 minutes, until breasts are done.

Recipe: Pumpkin Bread

My recipe for pumpkin bread

3 1/2 c Unbleached flour; sifted
1 1/2 c Light brown sugar; packed
1 1/2 c Sugar; granulated
2 ts Baking soda
1 1/2 ts Salt
1 ts Cinnamon; ground
1/2 ts Nutmeg; ground
4 Eggs; lg
1 c Vegetable oil
2/3 c Water
2 c Pumpkin; mashed, canned
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and grease 3 medium (8 1/2 X 4 1/2) loaf pans, sprinkling a little brown sugar in each. Combine all the dry
ingredients in a large bowl and fashion a well in the center.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, then add the vegetable oil, water, and pumpkin. Pour into well in center of dry ingredients. Beat thoroughly until well mixed. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pans before turning onto wire racks to cool.

Freezes very well wrapped in aluminum foil. To serve from frozen, thaw overnight, and heat in 350 degree oven until warm.

Recipe: Mexican Lasagna

My recipe for Mexican Lasagna

2 lbs hamburger meat
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 green chile, minced
1 red pepper, minced
½ green pepper, minced
1 tbsp chili powder
2 c. water
4 c. refried beans (home made or canned)
Tortillas
Cheese
Brown hamburger meat with salt and pepper to taste, drain and return to pan. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno, green chile, red and green peppers, chili powder and water, and simmer until almost all the water has evaporated.
In crockpot, layer meat, tortillas, beans and cheese until crockpot is full. Cook on low for two hours.

Macaroni and Tomato Sauce

My recipe for macaroni and tomato sauce

16 oz macaroni
32 oz tomato sauce
2 TBSP butter
Salt and pepper
Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain. Return to pan, add butter, salt and pepper to taste, and stir through until butter is melted. Add tomato sauce.

Recipe: Goulash

My recipe for goulash

1 lb hamburger meat
½ of an onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
16 oz elbow macaroni
32 oz tomato sauce
2 cans ranch style beans
2 cans whole kernel corn.
Put water on to boil to cook macaroni. As that is heating, brown hamburger meat, seasoning with onion, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain hamburger meat, return to pan. Add tomato sauce, corn and ranch beans, heat through. When macaroni is done, drain, then mix into hamburger mixture.

Recipe: English Muffin Bread

My recipe for English Muffin Bread

1 c. milk
¼ c. water
3 c. flour
1 package active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda

Put ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by manufacturer. Select light crust.

Recipe: Cinnamon Breakfast Bread

My recipe for Cinnamon Breakfast Bread

1 c. water
1/3 c sugar
¾ TBSP active dry yeast
¾ tsp salt
1/8 c. vegetable oil
3 c. flour
2 TBSP cinnamon

Put ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by manufacturer. Select light crust.

I set the timer on this so that it’s ready about 15 minutes before I want to serve it. I then remove it from the pan and let cool for a few minutes, then slice and butter.

Recipe: Chuckwagon Stew

My recipe for Chuckwagon Stew

1 lb hamburger
3 lbs potatoes, diced
½ c. pearl barley or other whole grain that simmers well
½ chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups water
Milk
Cornstarch
Brown hamburger with salt and pepper to taste, onion and garlic, drain. In large pot, combine hamburger, potatoes and water. Bring to a boil, add barley, simmer until potatoes are fork tender. Mix milk and cornstarch, add to thicken.
You can add seasonal veggies to this as you wish. This is the basic recipe, and I put different veggies in, depending on what’s on sale, or what I have in the freezer.

Recipe: Chicken Pot Pie

My recipe for Chicken Pot Pie

4 pie crusts (I buy mine, due to lack of cabinet space to roll out on)
2 c. chicken, cooked and shredded
4 c. chicken broth, thickened to a gravy like consistency, with milk and cornstarch
2 lbs potatoes, diced and parboiled in salt water
4 c. veggies of your choice, parboiled

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 9 inch pie plates with one pie crust each. Combine chicken, broth, potatoes and veggies, and ladle into pie crust (If you have leftover, bake in separate container, and serve over noodles for lunch). Cover with remaining pie crusts. Make several cuts in top crust to vent steam. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
I usually serve this with baked beans or ranch style beans, another veggie (creamed corn casserole) and a salad, if I can get the salad makings on sale.

Recipe: Chicken and Rice

My recipe for chicken and rice

3 packages rice a roni cheddar broccoli, plus ingredients listed on box to prepare
1 c. frozen broccoli crowns, thawed and cut into bite sized pieces
1 c. cooked chicken, chopped (turkey works, too)
4 cups chicken broth
Cornstarch
Milk
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare rice a roni as directed. Meanwhile, bring chicken broth to a boil, mix cornstarch and milk, add to broth, stir until thickened (can use cream of chicken soup if you’re in a hurry). Turn off the thickened broth, add broccoli and chicken. When rice is done, mix with broth mixture, turn into 9x13 casserole dish, top with grated cheese, bake until heated through.
You can omit the broth gravy for less fat, but it will be a bit dry. Serve with baked beans or deviled eggs to increase the protein content. I usually serve this with carrots.

Recipe: Cheerios Breakfast Bars

My recipe for Cheerios Breakfast Bars (or any other whole grain, kid friendly cereal)

Cheerios Breakfast Bars

1/4 cup butter
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup dry milk
1/4 cup orange-flavored instant breakfast drink
1 cup raisins
3 cups whole grain kid friendly cereal

Butter a 9x9x2" pan. Melt butter & marshmallows over low heat, stirring
constantly. Stir in milk, breakfast drink, and peanut butter. Fold in raisins and
cereal, stirring until coated. With buttered hands, pat evenly in pan. Cool
and cut into squares.

Recipe: Beef Stroganoff

My Recipe for Beef Stroganoff

½ c. dried mushrooms (can use fresh, but I’m not sure how much)
2 c. water
½ Onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 c. beef broth
1 c. cooked beef (I usually use leftover roast, but hamburger works, too, just use 1 lb.)
16 oz sour cream
Milk
Cornstarch
16 oz Egg Noodles
Combine dried mushrooms, water, onion, and garlic (you can also add parsley, thyme, rosemary and/or leeks, if you wish), bring to a boil, turn down and simmer, covered, for an hour. If your kids won’t eat mushrooms (mine won’t), strain them out once the mushroom broth is done cooking. Combine mushroom broth, beef broth, and beef, let simmer while you heat the water for the noodles. Once the noodles are done, drain them, then use milk and cornstarch to thicken the beef/mushroom broth. Stir in the sour cream, then add the egg noodles.
I usually serve this with some type of bean, a veggie, and bread.

Recipe: Beef Pot Pie

My recipe for beef pot pie

1 lb hamburger (Can use any leftover beef)
½ chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp dried dill
Salt and Pepper
4 c. beef broth, thickened with milk and cornstarch
3 lbs potatoes, diced and parboiled
4 c. veggies of your choice, parboiled
4 pie crusts (I buy mine, due to lack of cabinet space to roll them out on)
Preheat oven to 350. Line 2, 9 inch pie plates with 1 crust each. Cook hamburger with onion, garlic, dill and salt and pepper to taste, drain. Combine broth, hamburger, potatoes and veggies, and spoon into prepared crust (if you have leftovers, bake in separate container, then serve over noodles for a lunch). Top with remaining crusts. Slit top crusts to allow for venting of heat. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Recipe: Banana Bread

My Recipe for Banana Bread

1/2 c Shortening
1 c Sugar
2 Eggs; beaten
3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp Baking soda
2 c Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
4 tsp Sour milk (add a splash of vinegar to milk to make sour milk)
Cream shortening, add sugar and beat well. In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Add mashed bananas to eggs, then add to shortening mixture. Mix flour, salt and baking soda, and add to shortening mixture alternately with sour milk and beat until smooth. Baked in a greased pan at 350 for about an hour. Cool well before slicing.

This freezes well wrapped with aluminum foil. To serve from frozen, thaw overnight, then heat at 350 until warm.