Menu Plan

Two weeks in a row of menu plans.  That must be a record for me.  I am going with a more laid back plan this week and will list meals but not days.  Some meals are carryovers from last week since the chicken was stretched into three meals and we also had other leftovers.

From Last Week
Beef Stew & French Bread
Cubed steak, Mashed Potatoes, & Peas
Pizza & Salad
Chimichangas

Workday Meals
Chicken Sandwiches
French Bread Pizza (homemade)
Tuna or Deli Meat Sandwiches

New This Week
Hamburgers & French Fries:  I have homemade buns in the freezer.  I have frozen french fries to serve with them.  I should be able to harvest some lettuce from the greenhouse and one of the tomatoes from the garden might last until then.

Brunswick Stew:  Each winter I make a big pot of Brunswick stew and freeze in meal size portions.  I am a bit behind schedule in getting it made, but this is the week I plan to get it done.  It is an all day process so this will be our meal at the end of cooking day.

Ham, Brown Rice & Tomato Gravy, & Peas:  I have cooked rice in the freezer.  I will use home canned tomatoes  and peas from the freezer to round out the meal.  My only purchase for this meal will be a ham steak.  I will freeze half to use for a later meal.

Waffles & Turkey Bacon with Fresh Fruit:  I have plenty of waffle mix on hand and turkey bacon in the freezer.  I will make a small fruit salad with whatever fruit is in the fridge.

Use it Up: Orange Marmalade

One of my goals this year is to be less wasteful.  I had some oranges that were getting closer and closer to the compost pile.  Five were already shriveled and past being useful.  I did find six that were still in fairly good shape.  I decided to try making orange marmalade.  I pulled out my copy of Put 'Em Up  and found a recipe.  The steps were divided over three days.  The first step was to wash and slice the oranges.

 Then the oranges went into a pot to sit overnight.

On the second day water is added and the oranges are boiled until the rinds are tender.  On day three the oranges are measured and an equal amount of sugar is added.  This mixture is boiled until it gels.  The jars are filled and then placed in a water bath.    I was rewarded with jars of beautiful orange marmalade. 

For just a few minutes of time over three days and some sugar I saved six oranges from the compost pile.  I also have yummy marmalade for my toast and a bit more confidence in my canning abilities. 

My New Favorite Gadget

I love fresh pineapple.  While I am not fortunate to find the great prices that I see others reporting, I still gladly pay $3 for a fresh pineapple.  The one downside was cutting it up.  I admit that I have let one or two go bad because I kept putting it off. 

For Christmas one of my gifts was this little gadget.  I bought it for myself from Amazon.  This Stainless Pineapple Slicer with Wedger is my new favorite tool.  Normally I am not a fan of items that have only one use.  This is completely different.

I spent maybe five minutes to get from fresh pineapple to yummy pineapple in a dish.  I wasted less and had a much smaller mess.  I can foresee many more pineapple purchases in my future.  If you love fresh pineapple this is definitely worth the purchase price. 

Grocery Spending

As promised here are my grocery totals from yesterday's shopping.  I was within my normal weekly budget so I have a bit extra again for next week.  I did stock up on a few items which will help out next week too.

Save-A-Lot : $20.21
sausage patties
carrots
milk - 3 gallons
salsa
spinach

Dollar Tree: $2.14 *Not technically groceries but the money came from the grocery budget
file folders (for coupons)
packing tape

Harvey's: $25.69
peanut butter
instant grits
cereal - 4 boxes
mushrooms
sour cream
whipping cream
pineapple
cheese
rotisserie chicken

I apologize for the lack of pictures.  It was 2pm and past time for lunch when I returned home.  We were ready to get the groceries put away and lunch on the table. 

Menu Plan

I do better when I run my menu plan from Wednesday to Tuesday as I do my shopping on Wednesday or Thursday. I spent no grocery money last week so I have $93 to shop with today. I hope to stay well below that amount however. I will share my totals tomorrow. Today here are my planned meals.

Wednesday - Rotisserie chicken, potato salad, & green beans/Chili & cornbread
I have several errands to run and like to have a quick lunch planned. The chicken is on sale. I made potato salad yesterday using ingredients on hand. The green beans will come from the freezer. Warren, my husband, requested the chili. I had no canned beans but I did have dried beans. Since I am trying to use what I have on hand I cooked those yesterday. The cornbread will be from a mix on hand.

Thursday - Leftovers/Beef stew & French bread
The rotisserie chicken always yields a minimum of two meals. I will serve chicken quesadillas or chicken salad. The beef stew will be cooked in the crock pot as a mixture of meat, potatoes, carrots, and onions. I will make two small loaves of French bread to serve along with the stew.

Friday - cubed steak, mashed potatoes, & garden peas/pizza & salad
I have a large amount of potatoes that need to be used up so we will be eating those several times this week. The pizza for supper will be easy as I have crust dough in the freezer.

Saturday to Monday - Last minute items
Warren works a weekend shift, and I never know until he arrives home if he will be hungry. I have frozen chicken fillets, frozen mini pizzas, and deli meat on hand. If he wants something to eat, I have quick meal options. Most of these are purchased frozen foods. I want to make some frozen homemade items for future use.

Tuesday - pork tenderloin, scalloped potatoes, & peas/chimichangas
The scalloped potatoes are an easy but delicious side item. I thinly slice potatoes with a mandoline. Those are layered in a buttered baking dish. I sprinkle with salt and pepper and pour cream over the top. Not exactly healthy but yummy nevertheless. The chimichangas are a meatless meal. I mix black beans, salsa and cheese together and roll up in wheat tortillas tucking in the sides. These are sprayed lightly with olive oil and baked. It get the crunch of being fried without the frying.

Coconut Cake

My husband's co-workers requested a coconut cake before Christmas. I finally took time last week to bake one. It is rather simple - a cake mix, seven-minute frosting, and coconut.

I think it turned out quite well and his co-workers enjoyed it. I was neater with it this time. The first time I made one I ended up with coconut from one end of the kitchen to the other.

New Year and a Big Goal

Remember Me? It has been a long time since my last post. I thought I should start off the new year with a post. My goal should probably be to post more this year. Instead I have a bigger goal with big plans for the future.

My dear husband and I have been saving to building a house without a mortgage. I will pause here as thoughts of how impossible that is go through your head. We are determined to do it though. Anyway...we have a savings goal for step one. We are $8,000 shy of that amount. My goal this year is to save $8,000. This year I will focus on cutting spending and finding little ways to add to our savings and reach our step one goal.

I will post my progress and share the little things I am doing to save. I know it will mean making some sacrifices. I think it is important to look at the long term goal rather than focusing only on the moment.