Pantry Meal #4

Quiche with cottage cheese and strawberries

As you can see we did a good job clearing out our frig this week. We even changed out our water filter and I wiped the frig down since it is pretty empty.

Tomorrow night is date night with hubby.....yay! And grocery shopping this weekend, we are out of everything! Pantry week saved us about $80.00 since I did not go out and find deals this week. I took a week off from shopping except for totally free items.

Pantry Meal #3

Chili and Cornbread


Since I had school today and church tonight I put it in the slow cooker at 10am and it was ready for us at 5pm. I used a mix for the cornbread and added corn to the mixture.

Pantry Meal #2

Tuna Casserole


Yeap, I made a casserole. The only casserole my husband will eat is tuna casserole and I won't touch it with a 10 foot pole. I had school last night so I made this for the famly. Little man ate a couple of bites and said he did not like the cheese (as of yesterday he told me he does not like cheddar cheese). Little missie did not eat it. I had an apple and cereal for dinner and he kids ate fruit and carrots for the most part.

This morning we had smoothies, yummy!

Pantry Meal #1

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Turkey Bacon

Meal Plan Saturday

I am going to try to save some money this week by using up what is in my frig. If we have hot dogs and pancakes, that is what we are going to have. I do have a bunch of chicken in the freezer and ground beef. Maybe I will make a small batch of chili for chili dogs and or frito boats. This gives me an excuse to take it easy this week. The one thing that I do want to make is homemade chocolate chip cinnamon rolls. I will post if I actually make them. I think I will make them Saturday night and stick them in the frig and bake them on Sunday morning.

Have a good week cooking and eating, my 2 favorite things to do!

Today's Makes and Bakes

Zucchini Snack Cake
My friend made this for me and the kids once and I asked her for the recipe. It is really good!

Zucchini Snack Cake
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar (I used 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white sugar)
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
2 T cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves (I'm not a big clove fan so I omit)
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter & sugar. Beat in oil, eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk. Stir in zucchini. Pour into greased 9x13" baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

Recipe:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/4 cup canola oil or applesauce
1 egg
1/4 cup buttermilk

In a mixing bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, slat and baking powder. In another bowl combine sugars, zucchini, oil and egg until well combined. Stir in buttermilk and use only what I need to make the batter moist.
Pour batter into a loaf pan and bake 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Homemade Strawberry Fruit Snacks

I made 4 jars of no sugar added strawberry preserves last month and have been meaning to make these. If you have homemade jam or fruit preserves all you do is lightly grease parchment paper and add 1 tsp of cornstarch for 1/3 cup of jam. Spread evenly onto the parchment paper and set the oven at 225 degrees for 45 minutes. If you make more, like I did, it will take longer. I just kept an eye on it and when it started to look sticky and not mushy I knew it was close to being done. I had a piece in the center and placed it bake in the oven for about 10 minutes longer and came out perfectly.

Cut up the parchment paper and roll and keep in a ziploc bag for low-sugar fruit snacks.

I am seeing more butternut squashes out lately!

Yay, it's just about squash season. I do have a love for butternut squash. I recently discovered this a few years past and I have lots of recipes to try. I just wish my family loved it as much as I do. I am going to perfect my butternut squash, bacon and rosemary stuffing for Thanksgiving this year. I made it last year, but it little a little something. If you never have tried it here is a simple side dish:

Cut the butternut squash into cubes and roast it for 40 minutes or so until it is golden and soft. In a skillet cut up 4 slices of bacon and brown and drain. Add the butternut squash to the pan with the bacon and some fresh rosemary, season with salt and pepper. I love it so much I turned it into a stuffing. You can also add cream and cheese and fold into pasta and bake...mouth drooling!

Oven-Fried Fish Dippers

If you have not noticed I have been trying to incorporate more fish into our weekly menu. It is better for us and I do love fish. Little man and hubby loves it too and we are working on little missie, though she loves clam chowder and will pick that over a corn dog. These fish dippers are easy, pretty quick to put together and fun to eat.

I made herb-cheese bread to go along with it. I posted the recipe for this bread last month.

This is what they look like before going into the oven.

You just set up your station so you can coat the pieces of tilapia quickly.

Recipe:
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp cayene pepper
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups cornflakes, crushed
1 1/2 lb tilapia fillets

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Combine flour, pepper and salt in a shallow dish. Place crushed cereal in a second shallow dish. Cut each tilapia filler into five or six pieces. Coat pieces with flour, shaking off excess, dip into eggs and gently place in cereal, gently coating.
2. Arrange tilapia evenly on a lightly greased cookie sheet and spray the fish lightly with Pam cooking spray. Bake 18-20 minutes or until coating is golden brown. Remove from oven and serve with homemade tartar sauce.

Tartar Sauce:

I make my tartar sauce differently each time, it just depends what I have in the frig. Tonight I made it with these ingredients and it tasted really good.

2 tbsp light sour cream
2 tbsp mayo
2 tbsp yellow onion that I grated with a cheese grater
1 tbsp dill relish (I have used sweet relish too, whatever you have)
1 tsp hot sauce (you can replace with lemon juice)
1/4 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and put in the frig and let sit at least 30 minutes before serving.

Meal Plan Saturday

We have another busy week coming up. I can't wait until my Tuesday night class is over, 2 more weeks!

Saturday- Picnic at the park

Sunday- Carnitas with all the fixings

Monday- Baked Tilapia with homemade tartar sauce, homemade bread and corn on the cob

Tuesday- Baked Chimichangas with left over carnitas meat

Wednesday- Eat at church before Awana's

Thursday- My husband said "yuck" to Sausage-Cauliflower Spaghetti, so I guess I will make blackened salmon with fettucine in a garclic wine sauce.

Friday- Out to dinner

Meal Plan Monday

It's going to be a simple week.

Sunday- Cheeseburgers, veggie sticks and fruit

Monday- Marinated NY Steaks, grillin beans, baked potatoes and salad

Tuesday- Daddy night, mac n'cheese and chicken nuggets (the kids love it)

Wednesday- Chicken raviolis, salad and french bread

Thursday- Orange chicken and green bean stir fry that I never got to from last week

Friday- Out to dinner

CVS Deals

Yesterday I scanned my CVS card at their coupon machine and it printed a $3.00 off $10.00 grocery purchase. If you are a CVS shopper you may have received a $3.00 extra bucks reward in the mail and a 20% off coupon for this weekend. Since I won't have time to shop this weekend I used my coupon and extra bucks from the mail. I purchased:

2 bags Tostitos chips 2/$5.00
2 jars Smuckers Jelly 2/$4.00
1 can olives 1/$1.00
1 birthday card $3.49

I got all of this for $5.00 after coupons and extra bucks. You may want to go this weekend and scan your card to see what coupons you will get!

Wednesday Madness

This morning at church the children's director asked hubby and I to be leaders for Awana's. They really need help and have kids on waiting lists until more leaders volunteer and she asked us to pray about it. We decided that we would both be leaders. That means this is what my Wednesdays will look like:

5:00am wake up
5:30am cycle class
7:00am get kids up, fed and dressed
8:15am back to the gym for a bosu class
9:30am home to get ready and put dinner in the slow-cooker
11:15am take little man to school
12:30pm-4:30pm school
5:00pm home for quick dinner
6:00pm leave for church
8:30pm put kids to bed
9:30pm crash so I can be up again at 5am the next morning.

All I ask is for God to give me the energy that I need, because I will need a boost of energy and a good attitude to get me through Wednesdays(and maybe S'bucks too). Maybe I should of not written my schedule down, it is making me a little anxious to be that busy and on such a tight schedule.

Already thinking about next weeks meal planning...

With Labor Day and us having a BBQ with some of our friends on Monday, I am already thinking about next week. I have to go to the Meat Market tomorrow since I do not want to go and wait in lines on Saturday. This is what I am thinking for next week:

Monday- BBQ Tri-tip, corn on the cob, watermelon, pilaf, salad and appetizers that friends are bringing.

Tuesday- Turkey meatball calzones. I have the meatballs in the freezer and it will be easy to make and I can take it with me to school.

Wednesday- Slow Cooker Chipotle-Lime Chicken with Jamaican rice. Since I have school at 1pm, this will be ready when I get home and there is enough that my parents can take some for their dinner too.

Thursday- Orange chicken with green bean stir fry. Can't wait to try this on, looks great. I saw it on Sunny Anderson's show, Cooking For Real.

Friday- Dinner at the in-laws

Makes and Bakes:
Dessert for Monday? Can't make a dessert with dairy since our friends daughter is allergic to anything with dairy, so still thinking on this one?

How to make the perfect french toast

When I was working for Chili's, my boss used to make us french toast when we had meetings and it was the BEST french toast I had ever had. He used to be a cook at a breakfast place a long time ago and he told me the secret is to add vanilla ice cream to the egg mixture. I was also reading that after you brown both sides of the french toast in a skillet, place it in a oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes to firm up the center so you do not have a mushy center.

Tonight I made french toast and I went to Great Harvest Bread Co. and bought apple cinnamon crunch bread, delicious! I cut the bread into 1/2" slices and placed the pieces of bread into my egg mixture. I used 4 eggs, 1 to 1 1/2 cups half and half and 1/2 cup of melted vanilla ice cream. I used a pinch of salt and whisked it all together. I used my electric skillet on 350 degrees and toasted both sides of the bread. I sprayed a cookie sheet with Pam and placed the french toast in the oven for about 5 minutes. I turned the oven off and kept what I did not plate up until the troops were ready for more. I have to say it was yummy! It was rich, so you only needed 1 large piece, but oh so good.