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Saturday, January 23, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Menus 1/18/10 - 1/24/10
See tons more menu plans at www.orgjunkie.com!
Third week of the Pantry Challenge; things are going okay! I don't have time to do a full report, but we spent about $60 this week on cheese (shredded, from CostCo as well as Swiss slices), produce, eggs, orange juice, sack lunch makings, and a couple of "pantry items" that were necessities.
1/18 Mon: Turkey dinner! Mr. Mamie's mom gave us a frozen turkey a couple of months ago, and it's been hanging out, taking up room in our chest freezer ever since. We're going to prepare and roast it using this method. We'll also be having make-ahead mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls (from the freezer) and green salad. Dessert is still debatable - depends on time available. Mrs. Igor and the Igor Kids will be here, and possibly GolfDad, too.
1/19 Tues: I teach university class - Chicken Chowder (CrockPot), green salad.
1/20 Wed: Mr. Mamie has class; I monitor an online class - Meatloaf Cups (from the freezer), scalloped potatoes or something similar from a box (trying to use that stuff up in our pantry, and won't be replacing it!), green salad.
1/21 Thurs: Mr. Mamie has class - Hearty Ham Casserole, green salad.
1/22 Fri: Shredded pork tacos (in lightly-fried fresh corn tortillas) made from the frozen leftovers of our CrockPot Italian Beef (that we made with pork loin).
1/23 Sat: Kids here - Marie Calendar Chicken Pot Pies (there are exactly five left in the freezer), green salad.
1/24 Sun: Kids here - Thai Turkey, Never-Mushy Homemade Rice (the kids LOVE this rice!), green salad.
EVERYTHING we're cooking this week comes from our pantry/freezer, in keeping with the eat From the Pantry Challenge hosted by Life as Mom and Money Saving Mom.
Some notes about last week's menu:
The CostCo Meatball Bakes we had on Monday (inherited from Mom's freezer) were so-so but FREE, so we're good with that. The Lemon Parmesan Penne was very lemony and very yummy! Nephew ate the leftovers topped with feta and reported that it was a good combo.
Tuesday's Chicken Enchilada Soup was delicious! This will make it into our regular soup rotation. We all had leftovers of this throughout the week, with Niece having the last little bit for lunch on Saturday - she loved it too!
We didn't end up having the Beef and Bean Cornbread Casserole. Instead, I made our "comfort food" of layered enchilada sauce, flour tortillas, shredded cheese and seasoned/cooked ground beef. YUM!
Honey Hoisin Chicken also did not happen. This (Thursday) was the day of GolfDad's elbow surgery. I fixed frozen lasagna and salad for the two of us at his house, while GrandmaT and Mr. Mamie had leftovers at home.
The Ginger Beef was tasty, but - not too healthy and kind of a pain to make, due to the frying involved. Also, I made it TOO HOT N' SPICY for some people, though I loved it that way. We always like these Sesame Noodles, which GrandmaT had for lunch the next day as well. I ate the remaining Ginger Beef for lunch on Saturday with some Never-Mushy Homemade Rice,
Saturday's dinner got switched up, and we had CostCo ground sirloin burgers with Ooey Gooey Macaroni and Cheese and green salad. The mac-and-cheese was very good - a simple recipe that baked nicely. It would be even yummier made with sharp cheddar cheese (all I had available was a cheddar/jack mix). The recipe made plenty for the five of us to have with our burgers for dinner, and gave leftovers to add to lunch the next day.
The Breaded Chicken Patties (inherited from Mom's freezer - served as sandwiches on buns) became lunch on Sunday, along with the leftover Never-Mushy Rice and Ooey-Gooey Macaroni and Cheese
Since I already made the Enchilada Casserole, for dinner on Sunday I switched to spaghetti (whole wheat, as always) with CrockPot Bolognese Sauce. This is a new sauce recipe for us, and so far its aroma is great! I used one pound of ground beef + one pound of ground mild Italian sausage. We'll also have the perennial favorite Italian Cheese Bread, of course!
Baking:
One day this week I sent Mr. Mamie off with a ham-and-Swiss sandwich on CINNAMON bread in his lunchbox - OOOOPS! He said it was "interesting." Good thing he's so flexible about food! Apparently it was time to take a look at the bread stockpile in the freezer. We have plenty of muffins, rolls, and specialty breads, but were lacking in the basic white and wheat department. Mr. Mamie said he wanted a "soft, white" bread for sandwiches, so today I made a loaf of Amish White, which makes wonderful sandwiches and white toast. Tomorrow I will make a loaf of the basic wheat bread we like, as that's what I prefer for toast.
With the few scroungy-lookin' pieces of regular bread that I turned up in the freezer, I made homemade croutons - DEEEELISH! It was hard not to just snack them all up! They're waiting for tonight's salad, and I hope there will be some left for tomorrow. This will definitely become a regular "baking" activity - they really are so simple and quick that they could be made while the rest of the dinner is being prepped. Ohhhhhhh noooooooo - I just went to put in the link for these, and it's NOT on my recipe! :( I will do my best to track it down, becasue these are wonderful.
Breakfasts:
One of my "pantry challenge" goals was to eat up some of the pancakes and waffles that are lurking in our freezers. Also, as a sort-of New Year's resolution, I want to be eating better week-day breakfasts. This week we had some pumpkin pancakes from our freezer supplies on one day, and cinnamon toast with peanut butter and/or Nutella on another day. On GolfDad's surgery day it was granola bars in the hospital waiting room. One day was cheese and crackers (my downfall), and another was cold cereal. There are still plenty of whole-grain blueberry pancakes, a few pumpkin pancakes, and a few buttermilk-blueberry waffles to be eaten in the coming weeks, along with a couple of random bagels and lots of muffins.
Today we had our favorite blueberry-oatmeal pancakes, following the recipe on the back of the Coach's Oats bag - mmmmmmmm! Even the kids now prefer their pancakes to have oatmeal in them. :)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Happy Birthday, Brother Igor!
Today is my brother's 37th birthday. It's a little tough - he's not at home, due to his new job with Werner Trucking, and of course, it's his first birthday without the Squatty Wombat. The tradition in our family (as it is in many others) is that the birthday person gets to choose his/her dinner and dessert. We'll do that when he get's home. In the meantime, here's a little photo tribute and a few words about my awesome brother....
Happy Birthday, Igor!
He was a cute little kid! This is him with Grammie, about age 3.
He played baseball (pitcher!), swam, and played water polo in his youth...
...and now he coaches his son's football team.
He's a Chargers SuperFan, and has loved LT from the beginning!
If NAPPING is his favorite hobby...
...AUTO REPAIR would have to be his least!
His favorite hang-out spot is his backyard patio, complete with two TVs and a beer fridge.
He found a wonderful partner to share his life...
...and now he's a great dad who loves his kids more than anything.
Love, Mamie
Menus 1/11/10 - 1/17/10
See tons more menu plans at www.orgjunkie.com!
Second week of the Pantry Challenge; things are going okay! Read about our progress here.
1/11 Mon: CostCo Meatball Bakes (inherited from Mom's freezer), Lemon Parmesan Penne, green salad.
1/12 Tues: I teach university class - Chicken Enchilada Soup (CrockPot), green salad.
1/13 Wed: Mr. Mamie has class; I monitor an online class - Beef and Bean Cornbread Casserole, green salad. I am missing the link on the casserole recipe - I posted the recipe here, and if anyone knows what the origin is, I would love to have the information!
1/14 Thurs: Mr. Mamie has class - Honey Hoisin Chicken (CrockPot), Never-Mushy Homemade Rice, green salad.
1/15 Fri: Ginger Beef, Sesame Noodles, green salad.
1/16 Sat: Kids here - Breaded Chicken Patties (inherited from Mom's freezer - served as sandwiches on buns), macaroni and cheese (homemade or from a box will depend on time and energy), jello.
1/17 Sun: Kids here - Enchilada Casserole (just layers of flour tortillas, ground beef, enchilada sauce, and shredded cheese baked to gooey perfection!), corn bread, green salad.
EVERYTHING we're cooking this week comes from our pantry/freezer, in keeping with the eat From the Pantry Challenge hosted by Life as Mom and Money Saving Mom.
Some notes about last week's menu:
We spent WAY too much money eating out while out of town on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We DID have some yummy dinners, and tried two new-to-us places in the the Salt Lake Valley (Tres Hombres Mexican Grill and Cantina in Salt Lake City, and Fratelli Ristorante in Sandy), as well as enjoying our Fratelli dinner in the company of Mr. Mamie's cousin and the cousin's fiancee. BUT - those dinners plus lunch at Winger's cut into the budget for the month! We definitely be relying on our well-stocked pantries and freezers for the next couple of weeks.
The Bacon Cheeseburger Soup was a TOTAL HIT! We absolutely loved it, and gobbled up the leftovers before they ever made it to the freezer. This soup will definitely become a regular on our menu!
We happened to have three pounds of ground turkey in the freezer, so the BBQ Turkey Meatloaf is probably the first of several similar recipes that we'll have this month. We liked this - I think I was more of a fan than GrandmaT or Mr. Mamie, but we all concluded that we'd have it again. I used the organic carrot/green bean/corn mix from CostCo, and twice the amount of cheese. Yummy and serviceable.
Green Chili Chicken and Noodle Bake was a recipe I found in my mom's computer files. It sounded easy, used ingredients I already had, and made plenty for three adults and two kids. Click on the link for the recipe and more notes. We'll be having left-overs for lunch today!
Baking and other stuff:
On Saturday Niece and I made another batch of The Best Birthday Cupcakes that we had on Christmas Eve. This is a very yummy recipe, and again, we had everything we needed (ingredient-wise) on-hand.
We also made, per GrandmaT's request, a batch of Fiber One Blueberry Muffins from the boxed mix. They're not bad; not as good as homemade multi-grain muffins, but not terrible. It's a better snack to have around when the kids are here this weekend than chips or whatever.
For breakfast this morning we had buttermilk-blueberry waffles. They were quite yummy, though we all (even the kids!) decided that we now prefer our waffles and pancakes to have oatmeal in them - especially Coach's Oats (thanks to GolfDad for giving us a big ol' bag of the Coach's!).
Have a great week, and happy munching!
Pantry Challenge Week 1 (1/10/10)
We did FINALLY get around to inventorying the freezers yesterday, and I discovered that I had MORE chicken than I thought, but less shredded cheese. There were a few other surprises as well, and I'm glad we did it, as there's lots of stuff that really does need to get used up. I've got a plethora of breads and muffins, so I'm really trying to hold back on the baking until we eat our way through some of the back-log. There are lots of homemade waffles and pancakes in the kitchen freezer, so my goal is to have some of these for weekday breakfasts at least 2 - 3 times weekly. The upright freezer in the garage is STUFFED with containers of leftovers, to the point where there's not much room to add more. Given that a couple of my New Year's "resolutions" (such as they are) are to eat better breakfasts and take lunch to work FOUR DAYS per week, I ought to be able to make a good dent in the stockpile.
We went to the grocery store on December 31st, purchasing a few items for upcoming dinners and and for the picnic lunch we took with us on our Snow Fun Trip on New Year's day. In 2010, the only store trip we've made was yesterday. We purchased:
- 1 gallon milk ($1.88)
- 5 pound bag of apples and oranges ($5.77)
- Box of saltines - we were totally out ($2.00)
- 1.63 pounds of carrots ($1.04)
- 1 lb of shredded cheese ($1.96)
- 3.57 pounds of bananas ($1.75)
- 2 boxes of everyone's favorite almond-yogurt granola bars ($4.00)
The biggest need I see coming up is shredded cheese - we use a fair amount, and while there's mozzarella in the freezer, we're now out (again) of our staple cheddar/jack mix. We're on the last 1/2 gallon of OJ, and there's only a little apple juice left. Along with milk and produce, these items will hopefully be our only purchases for the rest of the month.
Next report will come on Sunday, 1/17/10. Good luck in your own pantry challenges!
Blueberry-Buttermilk Waffles
This will make LOTS of batter! We had plenty for three adults and two kids to eat their fill, and made four additional waffles to freeze. (You can easily halve this recipe if you need less batter.)
Blueberry-Buttermilk Waffles
- 2 cups all-purpose white flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 Tbs. baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 6 eggs
- 3 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- Combine the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat eggs until light.
- Add buttermilk to eggs and mix well.
- Add dry ingredients to wet and a beat until the batter is smooth.
- Stir in the melted butter.
- Fold in blueberries.
- Grease a heated waffle iron and pour 1/2 - 3/4 cup batter into the iron (use an amount appropriate to the size of your waffle iron).
- Bake according to the waffle iron's instructions.
- Serve with butter and and syrup; enjoy!
Green Chili Chicken and Noodle Bake
I found this recipe in my mom's computer files. It uses ingredients that I typically have on hand, so that made it a good candidate for the Pantry Challenge. The kids were here on the night we had it, and they liked it, as did the adults. The recipe amounts made enough to fill BOTH a 13"x9" pan AND an 8"x8" pan (I froze the smaller pan for a future meal). The larger pan was plenty for three adults and two kids to have for both dinner and lunch the following day.
Green Chili Chicken and Noodle Bake
- 2-3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, diced (I used three fairly large ones)
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (I always use the jar stuff from CostCo)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped green chilies (that's three 4-ounce cans, which is how they're usually sold)
- 1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1 10 oz can cream of mushroom soup (you could certainly substitute cream of chicken or celery)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 16 oz shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (I used cheddar/jack mix), divided
- 16 oz package of egg noodles, prepared and drained
- red pepper flakes (optional)
- Saute the chicken, onions, and garlic (season with salt and pepper) until chicken is done - 6-7 minutes or so.
- Add the green chilies, tomatoes, soup, and chicken broth - stir and heat until just bubbly.
- Place prepared noodles in casserole dish (sprayed with non-stick stuff), add 1/2 to 3/4 of the cheese, and stir together.
- Add chicken mixture to casserole and stir into noodles. Top with remaining cheese.
- Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until well-heated throughout. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Mystery Recipe Beef and Bean Cornbread Casserole
I'm making this Beef and Bean Cornbread Casserole this week - it sounds yummy and uses ingredients I have in my pantry/freezer, so that keeps me on track for the Pantry Challenge. However, my computer file of the recipe is lacking attribution - I don't know where I got it! If anybody recognizes it and knows the source, I would love to have that information.
For the beef and bean combination:
1 can pinto or kidney beans, drained
lb. ground beef
1 onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 c. barbecue sauce (homemade or from a bottle)
For the homemade barbecue sauce:
1 1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. honey
2 t. salt
1 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. allspice
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 t. pepper
Combine all BBQ sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Brown ground beef with onions, and salt and pepper to taste. Drain.
Combine beans and beef. Add BBQ sauce and stir to coat all.
Pour into a 13×9 casserole dish.
For the cornbread:
3/4 c. corn meal
1 1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk 1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. vegetable oil or melted butter
1. Combine all dry ingredients. Stir in remaining ingredients until moist.
2. Spoon over beef and bean filling. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Casserole freezes well once cooked.
Beef and Bean Cornbread Casserole
For the beef and bean combination:
1 can pinto or kidney beans, drained
lb. ground beef
1 onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
2 c. barbecue sauce (homemade or from a bottle)
For the homemade barbecue sauce:
1 1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. honey
2 t. salt
1 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. allspice
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 t. pepper
Combine all BBQ sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Brown ground beef with onions, and salt and pepper to taste. Drain.
Combine beans and beef. Add BBQ sauce and stir to coat all.
Pour into a 13×9 casserole dish.
For the cornbread:
3/4 c. corn meal
1 1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk 1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. vegetable oil or melted butter
1. Combine all dry ingredients. Stir in remaining ingredients until moist.
2. Spoon over beef and bean filling. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Casserole freezes well once cooked.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Menus 1/4/10 - 1/10/10
See tons more menu plans at www.orgjunkie.com!
Vacation's over, back to routine... too soon! On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I will be out of town on a work trip. Mr. Mamie is accompanying me, so GrandmaT and the kids (whenever they are over) will eat from the fridge and freezer - which is good, as we need to free up some space!
1/4 Mon: Out of town - CORN/YOYO (Clean Out the Refrigerator/You're On Your Own) for Grandma and any children who are present.Mr. Mamie and I plan to eat at Paradise Bakery in Salt Lake City.
1/5 Tues: Out of town - CORN/YOYO for Grandma and any children who are present. Mr. Mamie and I will probably be meeting up with his cousin and the cousin's fiancee; I'm hoping for Wasatch Pizza Co.
1/6 Wed: Out of town - CORN/YOYO (Clean Out the Refrigerator/You're On Your Own) for Grandma and any children who are present. The Mr. and I will eat somewhere on the road.
I'm not sure which of the following nights Niece and Nephew will be here for dinner, but I have planned to accommodate them on any night they're over.
1/7 Thurs: Mr. Mamie has class - Bacon Cheeseburger Soup, Costco dinner rolls (from the freezer), green salad.
1/8 Fri: BBQ Turkey Meatloaf, Easy Cheesy Rolls, green salad.
1/9 Sat: Green Chili Chicken and Noodle Bake (this is a recipe I found in my mom's computer recipe file; I'll post it after we try it), Savory Cheese Muffins, green salad.
1/10 Sun: Brother Igor's birthday, though I think he'll still be on the road. We'll eat what he probably would have chosen if he were home! Steaks on the grill, baked potatoes, French bread (from the freezer), green salad.
EVERYTHING we're cooking this week comes from our pantry/freezer, in keeping with the eat From the Pantry Challenge hosted by Life as Mom and Money Saving Mom.
Some notes about last week's menu:
Layered Chicken and Black Bean Casserole was good, though I used a too-large casserole dish I think. The Jalapeno Corn Muffins were an appropriate side, but if you make them, be careful - they really rose and somewhat over-flowed the muffin tin cups.
Parmesan Italian Pork Chops were tasty if not spectacular; I forgot to put the Swiss Cheese Potatoes into the CrockPot in a timely fashion, so I improvised and did them in the oven. Tasted good (Mr. Mamie LOVES Swiss cheese), but the Swiss was not as melty as I would have liked.
I did end up making the Italian Beef Sandwiches with a good-sized pork loin roast, and it was DELICIOUS! We had the meat mixture on crusty sandwich rolls broiled in the oven with cheese. I have a FULL Ziploc (gallon) in the freezer, and I think we'll get two more meals out of it. For one meal we'll serve the meat in lightly-fried corn tortillas with a little cheese, mmmmmmm. This recipe is a KEEPER!
CrockPot Honey Mustard Chicken didn't happen, as we had plenty of left-overs to eat. This will definitely reappear in the plan soon, though, as Mrs. Igor has made it and say's it's deelish.
The Beef and Bean Chimichangas were fantastic! Niece especially like them. I made them using Lynn's homemade taco sauce, which is incredible - we liked it so much that from now on we're making our own, and not buying bottled sauce.This was a hot, yummy, and easy dinner to fix after returning from a day up in the mountains playing in the snow.
GrandmaT's birthday Ham, Pasta, and Broccoli Casserole was yummy and enjoyed by all. I still intend to post the recipe with our modifications. For her birthday cake, Grandma chose these banana cupcakes with honey frosting, which were superb - the honey frosting is to die for! We'll be using the frosting on many more baked goods (GolfDad is already plotting how good it will be on HIS birthday carrot cake - in August!).
It's Sunday afternoon as I write this, and the Crockpot BBQ Beans and Polish Sausage are simmering away and smelling delicious.
Last week I made Health Nut Blueberry Muffins , Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Muffins, and Pumpkin-Butterscotch Chip Muffins, so we have a well-supplied freezer as we head back to work/school this month. Mr. Mamie especially loved the pumpkin-butterscotch muffins, which are very aromatic and decadent-tasting.
Have a great week, and happy munching!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
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