I tried a new recipe yet again. I decided how hard is it to make homemade croutons? Since the cheapest bag of croutons at Wal-Mart is 98 cents.I figured for a $1.00 or less I can get 2 bags of croutons. Minus the additives and MSG.
Well after surfing the net I found this quick recipe from
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/croutons.htm I had purchased a day old bag of Bruschetta style bread cut them up placed in to a bowl with a lid dropped in the spice & oil and shaked well spread onto Parchment lined cookie sheet baked 20 mins and They turned out great even my picky daughter is eating them. She eats bags of croutons like people eat potato chips.
Well as life goes I got off track but was able to find a way to keep the concept working in a smaller idea for us since my budget got tighter.
I purchase meat on clearance and freeze it then plain meals around that but I will also purchase 2 lbs of Italian Ground turkey on clearance and then come home and quickly drop the items I keep on hand for making Spaghetti Sauce and will drop in the crockpot at noon with the browned me and freeze for later use or for dinner that night.
I freeze the leftovers (for next week or 2 weeks from now) That way we don't get over whelmed with Spaghetti back to back. I also will add extra stuff to the 2nd time for example I may add to plain Spaghetti noodles green onions and cheese and bake in the oven.
Recently I made 3lbs of Sloppy Joes had them with Mac & Cheese to allow for freezing the leftover Sloppy Joes for later use I have 4 cups for another quick dinner later in the month.
Sun Dinner- Cranberry Pork Roast w/ Mac & Cheese and leftovers for me
Mon Lunch- Work issues so had 2 Ritz Cheese Crackers
Mon- Leftovers
Tue Lunch-Shredded Green Chili Mini Burritos with Sour Cream & Salsa
Tue Dinner-Brown sugar meatloaf/Mac & Cheese/Garlic Toast
Wed-Leftovers
Thu- Fix it yourself
Fri-Turkey Burgers and Mac and Cheese
Sat-Eggplant Au Gratin and Sausage Spaghetti
I hit an estate sale to day and look what I got I have been needing Small Mason Style jars as well as Small Jelly Jars for mixing my homemade spice recipe in for cooking as well as for sunflowers seeds I use on my salads. Got the whole box for $2.00.
I also picked up a few Corning-ware items as well for $3.00 ( 4 small rectangle chafing plates, 4 glass bowls about 1 cup size perfect for pudding, 2 white 2 cup size square bowls to go with the one I have already for my family of 3 it is perfect.)
I surfed the net to see if anyone had tried to make lentils and rice in a rice cooker with out soaking everything. I was not able to find anyone who had. So tonight I got out my Rice cooker and whipped up this complete meal for lunches for the next 2 days. It quick easy and made under 30 mins from start to finish.
I took my Mexican rice recipe that I have posted about before dropped in with the lentils in the pot turned out and look what I got nice fluffy Rice and lentils.
Sun- Sloppy Joe's with Mac & Cheese froze 1/2 for later meal
Mon- Taco Salad Italian style ( long story)
Tue- Leftovers
Wed- Baked Chicken w/ Rice
Thu-Chicken Salad
Fri- French Bread Pizza
Sat- Shredded Chicken Enchiladas with Mexican Rice and Refried Beans
Due to lack of space and I use alot of spices. I was able to get more organized by doing this plus it is out of the way and when it is time to make out my grocery list all I need to do is open the door and check the pocket. Plus this will seriously STOP me from OVER purchasing stuff. I also was able to take all my packets of mixes and place them into a long box ( like a shoe box but longer which will allow me to stop buying this as well. You see every thing in my mobile home was in a zillion different places stuck in this little cabinet/ this shelf over the sink etc now ever this is Finding it's HOME.
Sun- Leftover BBQ Chicken Sandwiches/baked potato/ baked beans
Mon-Fix it yourself
Tue- Sausage Mexican Rice bowl
Wed- Leftover Sausage Mexican Rice bowl & Tuna Noodle Casserole
Thur- Baked Sesame Teriyaki Ginger Chicken & Rice Bowl
Fri- Leftovers
Sat- Baked Ziti with Bread stickes
We also were able to put up to open face shelves above the washer/dryer. Someday I get around to removing the wall paper Sunflowers are not my thing but the house came with some color issues :O)
Do to my mobile home having a few major storage issues.
I was able to take an unused clothes closet in the entrance and put shelves it to be able to have ALOT more space for Rices/Beans/Costco Size Cans/Spices will be moved here as well soon/ Sandwich Bags etc) and get rid of a small book shelf I was using for this plus I can now close the Door and not have too see it.
Walmart $ 20.26Fry's $ 13.15Fry's $ 83.91TOTAL $ 117.32
Weekly Menu I forgot to post!!!
Wed- Homemade Baked Ziti
Thu- Take-out Mexican dinner my mom stopped over w/ it
Fri- Cooked 12 chicken breast in Crock-pot and shredded for 3 meals
Meal 1 Homemade Enchiladas/ homemade mexican rice/ homemade refried beans from the freezer
Sat- Meal 2 BBQ chicken sandwiches w/ Ranch Style beans
This was a very quick dinner for a couple reasons I can double the mix and freeze for later use. I would only need to pour it from gallon bag into the pan and top with cheese and bake.Noon started the sauce in crockpot on low heat245 Fried up the Turkey Sausage links after removing the casings300 Boiled the Noodles315 Mixed all together in large pot 320 Pouring into sprayed greased ( 9 X 13 pan ) topped with Cheese330 Baked for 35 mins-45 mins for nice golden brown crunchy top
