Menu Plan Monday (8/30/09)

Well I survived my business trip last week - not a single one of the potential problems I was stressing out over ocurred, and it was actually pretty pleasant. I returned home to over 100 degree heat and a few dead plants (Ninja Hubz forgot to water) and a somewhat messy house, but nothing catastrophic.

Since its been so unbearably hot I made a last minute change to our menu last week - instead of stuffed green peppers (requiring the use of the oven), we did a big BBQ on Saturday and will be enjoying leftovers for a couple of nights. We made steak, teriyaki chicken kebabs (used the bell peppers on those), spicy sausages, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and salad. We don't have air conditioning, so when it gets this hot the best course of action is to crank up the fans, and lie as still as possible :) I think its going to start cooling off a bit mid-week.

• Sunday: Leftover BBQ, Jell-O & Cool-Whip for dessert!
• Monday: Leftover BBQ
• Tuesday: Chicken Quesadillas, Mexican Rice
• Wednesday: Spaghetti (from freezer), salad
• Thursday: Crockpot Pork Ribs, cheesy potatoes, salad
• Friday: Leftover Ribs, cheesy potatoes, salad
• Saturday: Dinner at family's

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Weekly Grocery Shopping (8/26 - 9/1)

This week I had a bunch of catalinas that needed to get used, so use them I did! I got a ton of stuff, including gallons of soda. Ninja Hubz drinks Coke constantly so its always a challenge to maintain an adequate supply. And apparently I felt my cheddar cheese stockpile was getting low, because I kept buying more :) I think I have enough for a while now.

Albertsons

Normally I would not pay for the luxury of pre-sliced apples, but I had $6 in catalinas set to expire and there weren't any fantastic deals to spend them on, so I splurged. I have to admit, they're really very tasty and handy to have around. At 1/2 off they're not horrifically overpriced and since its been over 100 degrees at my house, I'm ok with spending a bit extra to have a healthy snack that requires no effort to prepare.

3x Hunt's Ketchup @ $1 ea - 3x .40/1 MFC = 2.40
2x Crunch Pak Sliced Apples B1G1 = 3.49
Fresh Express Salad = .99
-6.00 catalinas

Total: .88

Walgreens
Ninja Pup says there's always room for Jell-O!

4x Jell-O 2/$1 - 2x $.50/2 = 1.00
2x Deerfield Farms Cheese 2/$3 = 3.00
Carefree Pantyliners 1.99 - $1 MFC = .99 (Gave $2 RR)
Reach Dental Floss 2.99 - $1 MFC = 1.99 (Gave $2 RR)
Colgate Toothbrush 2.99 = 2.99 (Gave $3 RR)
-4.00 RR from previous trip

Total: 6.67 (Received $7 in RR for next trip)

Vons

Betty Crocker Warm Delights 1.69
-.50 cellfire e-coupon
-.50 x2 shortcuts e-coupons
-.50 MFC (doubled to 1.00)
= -.81

5x Multigrain Cheerios @2.50
- 5.00 buy 5 get $5 deal
- 2x $1/2 MFC
- .55 cellfire e-coupon
= 4.95

6x Coke 2-liters B3G3 = 5.97
2x Coke 24 pack = 9.98
Barilla Whole Wheat pasta 1.34 - .50 MFC (doubled to 1.00) = .34
Milk = 1.79
Land O lakes butter 2.29 - .50 MFC (doubled to 1.00) = 1.29
2x Sargento Shredded Cheese = 2.98
Yoplait Yo-Plus 2.50 - 1.00 shortcuts e-coupon - 1.00 MFC = .50
Hamburger Buns = .59
Hot Dog Buns = .59
Bread = .99
2x Smithfield Bacon @ 4.99 - 2x 3.00 MFC = 3.98
Top Round Roast = 6.40 (1.99/lb)
Pork Ribs = 4.05 (.99/lb)
Bananas = 1.05
Nectarines = 1.17
- $5 catalinas from last trip

Total: 47.16

Ralph's

1 lb cheddar cheese = 2.99
Tortilla chips 2.50 - 1.00 MFC = 1.50
3x top sirloin steak = 4.97 (1.99/lb)
3x lunch meat (1 lb each) = 5.97

Total: 15.43

Weekly Total: 70.14

That's $20 over my weekly $50 budget, but since I was waaay under last week (only 16.92), I'm still under budget for the month!

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Menu Plan Monday (8/23/09)

Well this week I will be out of town on work for a couple of days. Good thing I made a whole roast turkey this weekend - Ninja Hubz has assured me he can survive on leftover turkey and pizza hoagies from the freezer... I bought him a bag of baby carrots so maybe he'll eat some of those too :) I get home Thursday evening, and will be happily relying on a previously made freezer meal! It sure is nice to have those meals to fall back on. And I think the bell peppers in my garden will finally be big enough to harvest, so I'm excited to try a new recipe with them on Saturday.

• Sunday: Leftover Turkey Dinner
• Monday: Turkey Noodle Casserole
• Tuesday: Out of Town
• Wednesday: Out of Town
• Thursday: Meatloaf (from freezer)
• Friday: Leftover meatloaf
• Saturday: Stuffed Green Peppers 

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Weekly Grocery Shopping (8/19 - 8/25)

This was a very light shopping week for several reasons. First of all, we have tons and tons of food already. I like having a good stockpile, but sometimes enough is enough! Second, I am going to be out of town traveling for work for a few days next week. Ninja Hubz will be on his own, but there's plenty of leftover turkey in the fridge and frozen pizzas.

The impending trip has me kind of stressed out - traveling for work is a big hassle. I feel torn between going shopping (because getting deals will take my mind off work and probably make me feel better), and skipping it (so I can use that time to prepare for the trip and then trying to do something fun). Shopping for emotional reasons is never a good idea, and I know that we just don't need any of the stuff I would buy. So, I think I'm better off staying home.

I did pick up a few things this week, unfortunately there's no pictures since my camera battery chose to die at the exact moment I got home.

Foodland IGA
This place is a little independent grocery store just up the street. Their prices on packaged goods are usually horrible (think convenience store), but sometimes they have great produce and meat prices, so I always look through the ads.

5 lb bag potatoes = .79
1.49 lbs onions = .88
1.28 lbs sweet potatoes = .88
1 lb baby carrots = .99
10 lbs chicken leg quarters = 5.80
4.96 lbs pork shoulder roast = 4.66

Total: 14.00

Henry's
2 lbs carrots = .99
.07 lb bulk ground cumin = .42
2.19 lb bulk brown rice = 1.51

Total: 2.92

Weekly Total: 16.92

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Super Savings Saturday

Chicken Salsa Casserole

I like this recipe because I can make it a day ahead of time. Its always nice to come home after a long day and have something all ready to throw in the oven! This goes great with Mexican Rice.

Chicken Salsa Casserole

• 4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
• 1 dozen corn tortillas
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup milk
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 oz can diced green chiles
• 1 lb grated cheddar cheese

1. Grease a 9x13 dish
   
2. Cut tortillas into 1 inch strips
   
3. In bowl, combine soups, milk, onion, and chiles
   
4. Lay half the tortilla strips evenly in bottom of greased 9x13 dish
5. Put half of chicken in dish, cover with half the soup mixture
6. Repeat layer
7. Top with cheese
8. Cover with foil, let stand in refrigerator for 24 hours
9. Bake covered at 300 for 1.5 hours

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Taco Cornbread Casserole - Take 1

A couple people have expressed interest in the Taco Cornbread Casserole I made this past week. As I mentioned previously, I think it still needs a little work, but I figured I'd go ahead and share what I did and some of my ideas for next time.

This started because I had a zillion pouches of cornbread mix in my cupboard that have been there since the dawn of time or so (that's when cornbread was invented, right?), and since I am on a quest to use up all such strange things from my cupboards, I had to figure out something to do with it. And if I really liked eating plain old cornbread, well it wouldn't have been sitting in my cupboard for so long, now would it? :)

So here's what I did:

The weekend before last I had prepared some taco meat and froze it in 1 lb packages. So I took 1 lb of prepared taco meat (thawed), diced up a small green bell pepper and medium tomato from my garden, about 1/3 cup of mixed cheddar and monterey jack cheese, and mixed all that up in a 13x9 dish. Then I prepared 2 of the cornbread pouch mixes (they are small pouches that make 6 muffins each) as directed on the package, and then poured the cornbread mix on top of the meat mixture. I cooked it at 350 for about 25-30 minutes (until the cornbread was done).

It was pretty tasty, but I think there was too much cornbread. What I will probably do next time is use the same amount of meat, put it in an 8x8 pan, and use only one package of cornbread mix on top. I also think it needs more veggies - more bell pepper and tomato, and possibly some onion. I may even mix some salsa in - some extra moisture would probably be an improvement. I will also add more cheese next time, I wasn't quite sure how the cheese would fare baking for so long, but it was pretty well protected by the cornbread topping.

I would love to hear any ideas or suggestions you might have!

Menu Plan Monday 8/16/09

I've had a rather hectic weekend, before I knew it, here it is Sunday and time to plan some more meals! Luckily the Taco Cornbread Casserole I made last night was plenty big so we have some leftovers and I didn't have to cook tonight. I was planning on posting the recipe for that, but I think it still needs some work before I share it. It tasted good, but I think the cornbread to filling ratio was a bit high, so I will make it again in a week or two with some adjustments, and share it with you all when I get it just right :) (Edit: OK, you talked me into it... here's an outline of what I made).

I am still on a quest to clear out some of the old weird stuff in my cupboards, so a couple meals this week will involve boxed items. And since I have NO commitments for next weekend, I'm planning on staying home, relaxing, and roasting one of the turkeys still hiding in the bottom of my freezer. I really need to clear out some space in there!

• Sunday: Leftover Taco Cornbread Casserole
• Monday: Southwestern Chicken Skillet (Campbell's boxed dinner kit)
• Tuesday: Au Gratin Potatoes with ham and veggies (Betty Crocker boxed potatoes)
• Wednesday: Leftovers/Fend for Yourself
• Thursday: Spaghetti (sauce from freezer)
• Friday: Homemade Pizza
• Saturday: Roast Turkey

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