Weekly Menu Plan for April 17-23

Last week went really well. We ate by our plan almost every day which is amazing for us. We usually stray a bit, but it was so busy last week that we had to stick to it. I didn't have time to think about eating anything different.

This week we had to buy a couple of meats and I did bite the bullet and buy onions. We had a coupon for $2 off of $5 of produce. So here's what we have planned:

Saturday: BBQ pepper jack chicken, pasta salad

Sunday lunch: Chicken/rice, raw carrots, pickles (homemade), crackers

Sunday pm: Leftover hamburgers/hot dogs, leftover chicken and rice, raw carrots

Monday: eat out - Mexican

Tuesday: Pork chops, macaroni and tomatoes, macaroni and chees, butter beans

Wednesday: Crockpot fajitas (recipe found in last weeks MPM)

Thursday: Grilled cheese and nearly homemade tomato soup

Friday: Crockpot chicken and onions, mashed potatoes, collard greens

Saturday: Lasagna, green beans, garlic toast

For meal plans, visit Organized Junkie this week.

Weekly Menu Plan for April 11-17

My husband and I went through our freezer and cabinets and came up with this meal plan which meant that we wouldn't have to spend too much at the grocery store. By the way, does anyone know what is going on with the price of onions? A 3# bag of onions is $5 here. It was $1.50 just two weeks ago. Needless to say, we are doing without onions.

Sunday (lunch):
Cubed pork chops
Mashed potatoes
Collard greens
Pea and okra

Sunday (evening):
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Rice
Okra and tomatoes

Monday:
Chili with hot dogs and baked potatoes

Tuesday:
Hamburgers
Baked beans
California vegetables

Wednesday:
Pork stir fry with peppers
Fried rice with mixed vegetables
Cabbage
--cook peas or beans for Thursday

Thursday:
Roast chicken
Peas or beans
Pasta salad

Friday:
Hamburger ghoulash

Saturday (lunch):
Soup (with leftovers)

Saturday (evening):
??

For more ideas, visit Organized Junkie for Meal Plan Monday.

Changes in Meals to Save Money?

This week our weekly meal plan is going to include one meatless meal and one breakfast meal. I saw this idea in an Everyday Cheapskate newsletter that I received this week. I know that I'll be able to get away with the breakfast meal, but the meatless meal is going to be much harder as my husband will surely notice that there is no meat.

I'm looking for something that I might be able to "sneak" past him. Any ideas?

Yes, It Has Been Awhile

Once we started school and got busy with that (I teach), I just haven't made time for the blog. We've most definitely been trying to work on ways to save on our grocery budget. Everything else has gone up so much that it has become a necessity. So know even if I'm not posting about it much, I'm still working on ways to save.

I haven't been doing much couponing. We have enough toothpaste to last for the next 5 years (and I don't think I'm joking). I'm glad that I got all of the things that I did over the summer when time and money were available for it. I'm not having to purchase those things now which has meant more money for gas, electricity and of course, groceries.

Good luck with your grocery savings, and I hope to be posting more soon.

Weekly Menu Plan July 26 - August 1

We are back from our summer vacation (which was almost a complete flop but that's another story). This week will include more summer training for teachers and another vacation bible school for our little one. So we have to plan things that don't require much time or effort. Here's what we're thinking:

Sunday - leftovers from vacation grilling

Monday - taco salad

Tuesday - sausage with peppers and onions over rice

Wednesday - Cornish hens with potatoes and carrots (crockpot)

Thursday - Hamburger Helper

Friday - mini ravioli with meat sauce

Saturday - BBQ ribs

Lunches will consist of sandwich leftovers from vacation and dinner leftovers.
Breakfasts will consist of frozen waffles, cereal, sausage biscuits, french toast and eggs, grits and toast.

For more meal plan ideas, visit Organized Junkie this week.

Busy, Busy, Busy with Cucumbers

Right now as I type, I am preparing cucumbers for canning - pickles actually. My little one loves lime pickles and we have been paying nearly $5 a pint jar for these pickles. I decided to try my hand at making some pickles myself. Tonight makes my second batch. The first batch was awesome!

Here's the recipe that I used - lime pickles.

I didn't have a crock or enamel pot so I put these in a plastic trash can. Of course I washed it extremely well - LOL! I went by the recipe almost exactly for the first batch. I added a 1/2 stick of cinnamon to each jar, because that's what Mama used to do.

Tonight I changed things just a bit by adding a tablespoon of pickling spice and a tablespoon of cloves plus the cinnamon stick. This recipe is very easy to follow and proved to be successful.

I did do a better job of dissolving the lime in the second batch by stirring it more before I added the cucumbers.

As a precaution, I not only heat the jars but I also put a metal spoon into each jar as I am filling them with the hot pickles and syrup. My grandmother told me once that a metal spoon would absorb some of the heat and keep the jar from breaking. I don't know how much truth there is to that or if it is even necessary with canning jars, but I can say that I have never had a jar break with that metal spoon it it.

I wish I could share a taste of these pickles with you to encourage you to try it. They are so much better than those bread and butter pickles you buy from the store.

Enough for now. It's time to get up and get those pickles in the jars. I hope that some of my canning and freezing posts will inspire you to put up some food this summer.

Busy, Busy, Busy with Green Beans

Green Beans

My husband planted green beans at my mother-in-law's during the spring. They have now come and gone and we have put up about 7 quarts in the freezer and eaten several meals of them, too. These were Italian green beans (the flat ones).



Here's what I do to put these in the freezer:

1. Wash beans well and snap or cut into one inch pieces.


2. We snip away both ends as well.


3. Cover with water and bring to boil.


4. Boil for 10 minutes (until they change colors - darker green).


5. Let cool.


6. Drain and place in freezer bags. (My mother-in-law adds the juice but I don't.)


7. Continue to cool until they can go into the freezer.

I don't put green beans in jars because I don't have a canner and was not very successful one earlier time that I tried it. Time is required for the beans to cool, but they are always good out of the freezer and so much better than those in the grocery store. Plus since we grew them, we know what chemicals weren't put on them.

When I cook these, I place them in a pot straight from the freezer and cover with water. I add onion, garlic, salt and a little piece of smoked meat (bacon or sausage) and cook until desired doneness.