While I haven't vetoed all processed food, over the past several months I've been taking steps to lessen the amount of majorly processed food that passes through our pantry. One of the things I've done is to stop buying creamed soups for cooking, and start making my own. This is not a new concept. If you google "cream of something" soup, you'll get loads of search results. One of the most popular recipes is for a powdered version that you mix in bulk and then use as needed, simply by adding water. The ingredients are dried milk, cornstarch, instant chicken [...]
In the Kitchen
Welcome to Simple Menu Monday! I hope my menus help you plan your own by giving you new and frugal meal ideas. Monday - Beef Stroganoff Tuesday - Pork Loin, Roasted Poatoes, Carrots & Brussel Sprouts Wednesday - Ham & Beans, Cornbread Thursday - Crock Pot BBQ Pork Friday - Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas Saturday - Ham & Potato Bake Sunday - Tator Tot Casserole Check out other menu plans HERE! What are you making for dinner this week?
Do your New Year's goals (notice I didn't say resolutions) involve better nutrition? If so, here's a sale you don't want to miss. Through January 18, when you buy three ebooks from Kitchen Stewardship, you get 50% off your ENTIRE order. All you have to do is use code 2014 at checkout. Maybe you're wanting to help your family start the day with a healthier breakfast (click the image above) ? Or maybe you're wanted to cut out processed foods and cook more from scratch? "The Everything Beans Book" will help you stretch your budget by showing you how to [...]
I cannot begin to recount all the times my crock pot has been a life saver. Saved me just a bit more time so that I can run one more kid to one more activity. Saved us from spending extra money to eat a meal out on one of those “I’m going crazy and I’m taking you all with me” kind of days. Saved the kids from hearing, “for the last time, get OUT of the kitchen. I am trying to cook dinner!”. So in honor of crock pots, here’s a super quick, super easy recipe for Crock Pot Ranch [...]
Oh how my family loves Beef Stroganoff! The white wine in this recipe is what gives it a little extra pizzazz, but it is optional so you can leave it out if you like. Also, I add my mushrooms in at the end because we like them not to cook down so much. If you’d like a more traditional stroganoff, then you can add them to the skillet at the same time as the onions and garlic. Also, if you’re in a hurry, you can just use cream of mushroom sauce in the can and skip the flour and beef [...]
Our family loves cornbread. Honey cornbread that is. I used to buy store bought mixes but over the last year or so I've been trying to cook more from scratch. Plus the kids weren't too crazy over the mixes adn by the time I add my own eggs and milk, it doesn't cost much more to just use all my own ingredients. I tried a few different recipes, but they just didn't taste very good. Most of the time they were either not sweet enough or too mealy. In other words, the kids didn't like them. Then I stumbled upon [...]
Pita chips are one of my favorite snacks. "Back in the day", we used to see quite a few sales and coupons for Stacy's Pita Chips. Not so much anymore. And I just can't justify spending almost three dollars for a bag of chips when half the bag turns out to be crumbs and a package of pita bread only costs a dollar fifty. So now when the craving hits, I make my own. Here's how: Stack two pieces of pita bread and use large, sharp knife to cut into triangle shaped sections. Right now I use store bought pita [...]
Welcome to Simple Menu Monday! I hope my menus help you plan your own by giving you new and frugal meal ideas. I haven't been very consistent with these Simple Menu Monday posts. Rest assured though, I have been menu planning. I couldn't stay within my grocery budget or keep my sanity if I didn't. I've been trying and re-creating a few new recipes. Be sure to check out my Healthier Sweet & Sour Chicken if you haven't already. Yum! Here's what we're having this week: Monday - Turkey Loaf Tuesday - Smoked Sausage Marinara All I'm doing is blackening [...]
Hubs likes Sweet & Sour Chicken. Hubs also likes to eat healthy. Hubs loves my Healthier Sweet & Sour Chicken recipe and your family will too! When we first married, I tried making Sweet & Sour Chicken by using bottled sauce. He didn't like it. I tried pulling some recipes off the internet for sweet & sour sauce. He didn't like those either. So I started pulling ingredients together and tweeking until I got it right. Now this is one of my family's favorite meals. They beg for it. I like to plan for it on a not so [...]
