Monday, May 17, 2010

Menu and Grocery Shopping week of 5/16



This is another one of those "lean" weeks money wise. No worries! Shopping the bargains of the week and using whats on hand we have a good menu planned.

I don't have a picture of this weeks groceries so I thought I would share a picture of a foggy morning on the farm from last week!

Dinner:
Sunday- grilled steak, french fries and corn
Monday- tuna casserole, garlic cheese bread and peas
Tuesday- tilapia, rice and salad
Wednesday- tacos
Thursday- Pineapple pork stir fry, rice
Friday- grilled burgers, baked potato wedges

This weeks shopping:
Total spent $27.16
To see how others did this week check out the Grocery Cart Challenge

french bread $1.69
hot dog buns .49
hamburger buns .49
marinade mix $1.24
salad $1.79
2 bags potato chips $2.00
2 gallons milk $4.78
3 tuna helper $2.97
cream cheese $1.49
5# baking potatoes $1.39
tortilla chips $1.50
green onions .99
fish food $1.34 (we ended up with 3 free gold fish as prizes at the soccer BBQ)
lemon .89
4 boxes of cereal $4 (this was a GREAT deal this week)

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Recipe Recap

So a quick recap of last weeks recipes. The potato salad and penne recipes were a HIT! The potato salad is served at room temperature and is not very good the next day so definitely make it if you are going to use it up that day. The penne recipe makes ALOT and is great reheated for lunches! I didn't get a chance to make the Pork Stir fry so we will try that this week!

The chicken sandwiches I ended up modifying but they were delicious and the slaw is definitely a keeper!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Recipes Week of 5/9

As I mentioned earlier, I am trying several new recipes this week. Time to change up our same old menu ideas. Here are the recipes I am going to try. I will post a review of each after we have tried them!

Shrimp Penne with Garlic Sauce
from: Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Magazine May 2010

2 c uncooked pasta
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c butter cubed
1/4 c all purpose flour
1 can (14.5oz) chicken broth
1 can (5oz) evaporated milk
1 # cooked medium shrimp peeled/deveined
2/3 c shredded Parmesan cheese
2 T. minced fresh parsley
1-1/2tsp. seafood seasoning

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute garlic in butter. Stir in flour until blended; gradually add broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in shrimp, cheese, parsley, and seafood seasoning. Heat through. Drain pasta; place in a large bowl. Add shrimp mixture and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Pineapple Pork Stir Fry
from: Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Magazine May 2010

1 can (8oz) unsweetened pineapple chunks, undrained
3 T. cornstarch
1 T. plus 1/2 cup cold water divided
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 pork tenderloin cut into thin strips 1# (I bought pork stir fry meat to save time and $$)
1/2 c soy sauce
3 T. brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 T. canola oil divided
4 c fresh broccoli florets
1 c fresh baby carrots cut in half lengthwise
1 small onion cut in wedges
Hot cooked rice

Drain pineapple, reserving 1/4 c juice; set aside. In a small bowl, combine 2 T. cornstarch, 1T. water, garlic powder and 1 T. reserved pineapple juice. Pour into a large resealable bag; add pork, seal bag and turn to coat.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, cayenne and remaining water, cornstarch and reserved pineapple juice until smooth. Set aside.

In a large skillet, stir fry pork in 1 T. oil until no longer pink, remove and keep warm.

Stir fry broccoli, carrots and onion in remaining oil until tender. Stir cornstarch mix and add to the pan. Bring to a boil and cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick. Add the pork and pineapple, heat thru. Serve with rice.

Bacon-Chicken Sandwiches
from: Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Magazine May 2010

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp canola oil
4 tomato slices
4 slices Swiss cheese
1/4 c mango chutney
3 T. mayo
4 kaiser rolls split and toasted
1 c fresh baby spinach
8 slices bacon

Flatten chicken to 1/2" thick and sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken in oil for 4-5 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Top each chicken breast half with a tomato and cheese slice. Cover and cook 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Combine chutney and mayo; spread over roll bottoms. Layer with spinach, chicken and bacon, add tops.

Easy Sweet Slaw
from: Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Magazine May 2010

4 c coleslaw mix
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1/4 c finely chopped celery
1/4 c finely chopped green pepper

Dressing:
1/2 c mayo
1/4 c canned unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained
2 T. pineapple juice
2 T. cider vinegar
2-4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

In a serving bowl combine the veggies. Combine the dressing ingredients pour over cabbage mix and toss to coat. Chill until serving.

Primavera Potato Salad
From: Cooking Club April/May 2010

SALAD:
1 1/2 lb. small new potatoes unpeeled
5 oz green beans cut into 1" slices (about 1 c)
1/2 c diagonally thin sliced carrots
2 c baby spinach
1/2 c thin sliced radishes
1/2 c thin sliced green onions

Vinaigrette:
1/3 c olive oil
3 T. red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp coarse salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling/salted water for 10 minutes. Add green beans and carrots and cook 5 min or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Drain, cool under running water.

Whisk all vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl until blended.

When potatoes are cool enough to handle, quarter larger ones and halve small ones. Place in a large bowl along with beans, carrots, spinach, radishes and green onions. Toss with vinaigrette to coat. Serve at room temperature.

Grocery Shopping Week of 5/9

I didn't get a picture of the "goods" before I put them away this week. I have been wanting to try some new recipes so I have several thrown into this weeks menu.

I shopped one store this week, Cost Cutter and my total was $85.74
To see how others did this week check out the Grocery Cart Challenge

Flour tortillas $1.78
Mango Chutney $3.04
Shredded cheese $1.99
split bone in chicken breasts $5.91
prawns $3.64
stiry fry pork $4.13
bacon $3.00
cube steak $11.10
half & half $4.99
baby spinach $1.79
sliced swiss cheese $1.26
shredded cheese $2.99
cabbage $1.79
green onion $.99
Salad $2.50
green beans $1.10
baby carrots $1.99
2 cans pineapple $2.58
bottle of wine for mothers day $8.99
apple cider vinegar $2.39
broccoli $3.00
chicken broth $1.25
pasta .99
bananas 1.38
evaporated milk $1.39
apples $2.87
red potatoes $1.18
yukon gold potatoes $1.92
butter $2.50
string cheese .55

I cannot wait for our garden to get going so that we can save some $$ on veggies!

Monday, May 10, 2010

May 9-15th

Wow time flies. Hard to believe its already the 2nd week of May! Yesterday was Mothers Day, Happy Mothers day to all of you moms and single dads filling both rolls!
My mothers day was spent at the beach, one of our favorite places. The day was perfect. I honestly couldn't have asked for anything better. Great friends, great weather, my amazing children and some of Gods most breathtaking scenery!

This week like all others is going to be a busy one. Thankfully the weather is supposed to be very nice! I am excited that we are going to get to plant our garden this week! I am also able to start using the clothesline again. This makes a HUGE difference in the electric bill, especially when you have 4 kids!

I did menu plan last week and grocery shop, however, I didn't have time to blog. This week I did menu plan and grocery shop as well, however, didn't get a picture of the groceries before we put them away. I waited until the end of the day to shop, and was surprised when I found the meat department almost bare! I had to do a couple of last minute changes to the menu based on what they had left but that is ok!

The Menu for the week of May 9-15th

Sunday- we roasted hodogs/marshmallows at the beach with friends
Monday- chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans
Tuesday- Shrimp Penne with Garlic sauce, salad and homemade french rolls
Wednesday- Roasted chicken, Primavera potato salad, mac & cheese (for the kids), carrots with ranch
Thursday- Pork/Pineapple stir fry, rice
Friday- Bacon/chicken sandwiches, easy sweet slaw, baked fries
Saturday- at an end of season Soccer BBQ