Deals

I just love being in the right place at the right time when it comes to clearance racks! (Grocery stores that are in the middle of remodeling often have fantastic clearance deals)

Today's score: $147 worth of health/beauty products for only $22! Now, I normally would NOT have bought name brand on most of these items, but even buying the store brand of these items would have cost me over $100, so it's still a fantastic deal!

So now my teen can fight her pimples with name brand goodness, LOL! My son and hubby will be "Oxy" clean and pimple free, and I can fight my wrinkles and metabolism (never have used pills for weight loss, but these Green Tea caplets were only $1 so I'll give them a try).

Menu Monday 2-27

Breakfast options

cold cereal
oatmeal/malt-o-meal
eggs, sausage
toast
fruit

Lunch

hot dogs, deviled eggs, cheese sticks, chips, grapes

lunch meat sandwiches, grapes
grilled cheese, apple slices
leftovers
salads
PB&J's

Dinner (subject to change, as nice weather makes me want to grill things!)
M - Goulash, (modified)

Tu - Sweet 'N Sour Pineapple Chicken, steamed broccoli
We - Rempel Family Meatloaf, frozen corn
Th - Crunchy Onion Chicken, green beans, potatoes
Fr - Toasted Cheese Ravioli and marinara dipping sauce, veggies
Sa - Sloppy Joe's, Homemade whole wheat buns, Scalloped potatoes, green beans (postponed from last week)
Su - Maple Apple Pork tenderloin, long grain & wild rice, veggies (postponed from last week)

Freezer Cooking
Breakfast burritos (still not made! everything on hand to be made today!)

Fresh Air!

What to do on a 70 degree day in February of all months? Nature walk at the park!Don't for get to bring some bread to feed the geese (or ducks if you can find them!)

We tried to find some squirrels for the peanuts we brought, but apparently they all go into hiding in the afternoon (they are out in full force in the mornings though)

And as a bonus, mommy got her exercise in for the day... 2.5 miles of walking, pulling 75lbs of children in a wagon :)

Menu Monday 2-20

Breakfast options

cold cereal
oatmeal/malt-o-meal
eggs, sausage
toast
fruit

Lunch

hot dogs, apple & orange slices, mac n cheese

mom's lunch out - kids ham roll ups, deviled eggs, grapes
grilled cheese
leftovers
PB&J's

Dinner
M - Chicken/Rice/Cheese Chimichangas, Texas Hash, Green Beans

Tu - Sausage Gravy & Biscuits, frozen corn
We - Cheese Pizza
Th - Mock Chicken Fried Steak, garlic mashed potatoes, white gravy, steamed broccoli
Fr - Corn & Black Bean Enchiladas, chips & homemade salsa
Sa - Sloppy Joe's, Homemade whole wheat buns, Scalloped potatoes, green beans
Su - Maple Apple Pork tenderloin, long grain & wild rice, veggies

Freezer Cooking
Breakfast burritos (every time I went to make these last week, the kids had either eaten up too many of the eggs, or tortillas and I never had enough on hand to make a big batch!)

New bakeware!

I may have just found the best bake ware on the planet! Oh my goodness, this stuff is fabulous!

Thanks to a generous Christmas gift from my parents, I was perusing the aisles of Bed, Bath, & Beyond this week, hoping to replace my cheap rusted loaf pan and muffin tin. While looking over all of the styles/brands available, a store manager walked by and asked me if I had tried the brand I was currently looking at. He said "That stuff is AMAZING.. you will love it!" If you know me, you know how much I cringed at the sticker price of $13.99 and $22.99 per pan, when I could have walked over to Wally World and picked up some cheap stuff for $4.99. I hopped on my phone, quickly Google'd "USA PAN" and was surprised at the number of excellent reviews.

Last night we made Banana Banana Bread, which fell right on out of the loaf pan. And today I made White Chocolate Cranberry Muffins which also fell right out of the muffin tin. You can practically wipe these pans clean with a paper towel after baking in them!

I'm sold! Sometimes it pays to buy the expensive stuff :)
I may just have to update my cookie sheet collection soon (I love my cookie sheets, although something non-stick would sure be nice!)

Oh, did I mention they are MADE IN THE USA?

Don't forget your 20% off coupons when you shop at BB&B!

Cola-BBQ Baked Chicken

I found this recipe in the St. Jude Altar Society cook book, and we've had it in the regular rotation ever since.

(I give up... the image is not sideways on my computer, but when I upload it, blogger turns it sideways... how frustrating!)

Cola-Barbecue Baked Chicken
4 chicken breast halves (about 2 lbs)
2 T. all purpose flour
2 T. oil
1/2 c thinly sliced scallions
1 c ketchup
1 c cola soft drink
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper

Heat over to 375. Dust chicken lightly with flour, shaking off excess. Heal oil in skillet over high heat. Add chicken and brown about 3 minutes on each side. Place chicken, skin side up (we always use boneless skinless so this doesn't pertain), in shallow 2 quart baking dish (I just use a 9x13). Sprinkle with scallions. Mix remaining ingredients and spoon half over chicken. Bake 20 minutes. Pour remaining sauce over chicken and bake 15 minutes longer until chicken is tender and sauce is bubbling.

Served with long grain/wild rice and a steamed veggie.

**pics to come, once it comes out of the oven :)

update: just pulled THIS out of the oven for dessert :) YUM!

Menu Plan 2/13

For the most part, we stuck to the menu last week. A few items switched days, and one meal was postponed...
Here's our menu for this week (which I foresee changing frequently, as we have at least one, if not two items on our calendar for each evening this week):

Breakfast options
cold cereal
oatmeal/malt-o-meal
eggs, sausage
toast

Lunch
hot dogs, apple slices w/peanut butter or yogurt
left overs
lunch meat sandwiches
salads
PB&J's

Dinner
M - Ham & Potato Soup (with modifications)
Tu - Manicotti
We - Wash Day Casserol
Th - Cola Baked BBQ Chicken
Fr - possible dinner out (need to celebrate!)
Sa - ?? (up in the air due to a basketball tournament)
Su - ?? (up in the air due to a basketball tourny & b-day parties)

Freezer cooking
Breakfast burritos
Jambalaya (for the hubby's lunches)

Mmmmmm... Bierocks

Uh oh... she's baking something again!


Tonight's menu.... Bierocks.... a big family favorite!

I just love my bread machine... I rarely make "bread" in it, however I use it at least once a week for the "dough" function.

Bierock Dough
2 pkgs. yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 c. warm milk
4 c. flour (2 c. all purpose + 2 cups whole wheat) (I sneak in whole wheat whenever I can)
1 1/4 c. sugar (we find this too sweet, and prefer just 3/4 c.)
1/2 c. warm water
1/4 c. butter, softened



Toss everything in the bread machine and walk away... my dough cycle takes 90 minutes. Plenty of time to do something else, and prep the filling.

The Filling:



Lean ground beef, onions, and sauerkraut (true bierock recipes call for cabbage to be cooked down... save yourself the trouble, and the STINK, and use a can/jar of sauerkraut).

Interesting thing about cooking down cabbage... it attracts houseflies like you wouldn't believe! You could always tell when mom had cooked down cabbage for bierocks during the day, there would be flies all over the window screens trying to get into the house!



Brown the ground beef and onion until beef no longer pink.



Toss in the sauerkraut and stir. We prefer 1 can of sauerkraut to 2 lbs of ground beef. If you are a huge sauerkraut fan, use a 1:1 ratio (I really cannot stand the stuff, unless it's in a bierock).

Back to the dough... Place your dough onto a floured surface, and roll out. I prefer to cut small chunks off and roll them out one at a time. Fill according to size, usually 1/4 to 1/2 cup of filling per bierock.



Fold up and pinch edges underneath and place on cookie sheet for baking.
350 degrees for about 15 minutes (until tops are browned).



Something just doesn't look quite pretty enough here...
Oh, I know... everything is better with a little butter, right?



Brush the tops with just a little bit of melted butter (I've wondered about trying an egg wash before baking...maybe next time)



Not the most attractive looking plate, but sure was delicious!

Late night baking....

Kids are in bed, James is downstairs playing poker with the guys... and I'm in my favorite place (short of a beach on Kauai!), my kitchen, sippin' a latte, and baking these heavenly sounding muffins for breakfast :)

Gotta steal away those uninterrupted moments when you can get them!

White Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

Also on my list of new recipes this week: Black Bean Brownies ... shhhhh, don't tell the kids!

Menu Plan 2/5/12

Yipee for menu planning!



I have been totally slacking in the menu planning department, however after looking at 2011 in review and clicking on that "Restaurants/fast food/dining out" category in Mint, I was ASTONISHED at how much we wasted on fast food last year! We've done well so far in 2012 reducing those "oops, mom got busy with x and didn't get dinner prepped... what can dad pick up on the way home?" nights. Here's to the first of many "Menu Planning Monday's" posts! What's on your menu this week?

Breakfast options
cold cereal
oatmeal/malt-o-meal
eggs, sausage

Lunch
left overs
sandwiches
salads
PB&J's

Dinner
M - Ham & Bean soup w/gnebels (family recipe for dumplings), green beans
Tu - Chili Frito Pie (made with leftover chili from Superbowl party), steamed broccoli
We - Bierocks (if all goes well and I can get them made in the afternoon!), frozen corn
Th - Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken, flour tortillas, chips, salsa, veggies
Fr - Wash Day Casserole (recipe coming soon)
Sa - ??
Su - Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce, Italian Breadsticks, veggies

With all the ball games/practices, 4H and other assorted activies this week, I'm sure the menu will get flipped around somewhat, but everything is on hand

Freezer Cooking plans for this week include another batch of breakfast burritos since there are only 2 left in the freezer!

January fun

Some January fun...
Ella & AJ had fun making spaghetti and sauce with their new play-dough (nothing better than fresh play-dough from Santa!)

Nick had a blast making his "wood" (aka foam) airplane and car. It was a great little primer for his 4h Woodworking activities this year.

Nick and AJ trying out their remote control monster truck and jeep from Santa

as you can see, they haven't had a problem getting outside to play with their new toys this year as this is the extent of our snow fall

pretty pathetic! Come on mother nature, dump some snow on us!


My second double batch of apple cinnamon jelly. Since we gave away the majority of the first batches with our Christmas goodies, we were down to just two small jars for ourselves. This stuff is amazing and the kids want to eat it on everything! So glad my friend Amy over at Making Time taught us how to make it!

And the best part about this batch? The old canning jars from my grandmother! She recently sent me her canning supplies and I was thrilled to get to use some of them on this batch!

Comforts Baby Wipes Review

As a BzzAgent, I was sent a package of Comforts for Baby products to review... The first item we used, in a non-baby sort of way was the package of "baby wipes" they sent us. Having no children in diapers you might be surprised that I still keep baby wipes on hand at home and on the go. If you have young children, you probably do too!

This past weekend we had our annual "Project Fair" day with our 4h club. I manned the painting tables and the package of baby wipes sure came in handy! They removed acrylic paint from fingers, arms, tables, even clothing!

The Comforts baby wipes also work well as "make up removal" wipes :) At a fraction of the cost of those expensive ones in the cosmetics department!

Burritos!

After just 30 minutes in the kitchen we've got 20 heat and go breakfasts in the freezer

Brown up some sausage (or bacon) with some green peppers (red also if you've got them), and onions. Add in about 18 large eggs that have been beaten with 1/4-1/2 cup of milk. After the eggs are partially setup, add in some marble cheddar cheese.

place the egg filling onto a tortilla and roll up

place all of the foil wrapped breakfast burritos back into the tortilla bags, and toss into the freezer.
When we are in a hurry in the morning (always!) we can just pull one of these out, remove the foil and wrap in a paper towel, and toss in the microwave for about 1:30 on 50% power... no drive-thru lines and thanks to my garden & coupons, only $.24 each!

My favorite restaurant pizza... at home!

As a BzzAgent, I get to try out all sorts of new products, and recently we were able to try out the new Private Selection frozen foods line.

James and I are big fans of the Barbecue Chicken Flatbread Pizza at Granite City. When I received my coupons to try out the new flatbread pizzas from Private Selection (available at Dillons - Kroger chains) we were excited to see they had a Barbecue Chicken.

(excuse the sideways pictures, I'm too lazy to edit them on my phone today!)
I also bought the Pepperoni and Roasted Garlic pizza, which was fine, but we much preferred the Barbecue Chicken!

Comparing it to Granite City, I would say the Private selection version is heavier on the BBQ sauce and toppings, but is missing something, which I think was the cilantro that I enjoy on Granite City's. All in all a super quick (9 minutes in the oven) and yummy dinner!

For our appetizer, we chose the Southwestern Style Chicken Trumpets.

Although at first glance I was disappointed in the small quantity in the box (I don't normally buy frozen appetizers - maybe this is normal).

They were a little on the spicy side for the little kids, but the rest of us enjoyed the flavor. What I did NOT enjoy was the cleanup:

On the bright side, maybe I burned off all the calories I consumed eating the trumpets getting an upper body workout scrubbing the cookie sheet!

And the Belgian Chocolate Lava Cakes? They were very yummy, although I'm not sure they were worth the calories! Holy Moly the calories :) I failed to get a picture of them, as they were not consumed with the meal, but as a late night snack. Overall, not bad for a microwave cake.

All in all, I will probably continue to purchase the Barbecue Chicken Flatbread Pizza (runs about $5.99 without a coupon), however without a coupon I just cannot justify the cost of the appetizers and desserts ($5.99-$7.99 without coupon).