Tips and Tricks that make things GREAT!!!

For Ham Steaks..................Fry them in Coke in a skillet until the soda cooks down to a syrupy sauce.

For Stuffed Pork Chops..... Butterfly 1 inch chops and stuff with cooked 5 min cornbread stuffing.
                                             Broil in oven until cooked through. Prepare package of Brown Gravy.
                                             Pour Brown Gravy over top of Broiled Stuffed Chop.

For Greek Chicken..............Fully Coat Split Fryer Chicken Breasts with Cavender's all purpose Greek
                                             seasoning and nothing more.  Bake at 385 for about 45-55 min.  YUM!

For Salad and Potato...........Add egg and crushed almonds to your salad.  It provides protein to fill
                                             you up AND tastes great.  For the Baked Potato my family likes to
                                             occasionally add some chili and cheese as a topper. 

For Cornflake nuggets........KID FAVE!!!  Simply Chicken tenders cut up, dipped in egg (I add a
                                            dash of Worcestershire sauce), toss in crushed cornflakes, and bake at
                                            350 til golden brown. About 20 min.

Aldi Pizzas......................... These are take and bake pizzas at $4.99 each.  They are very large and
                                             it usually just takes 2 to feed my crew.  We add our own toppings and
                                             additional cheese for personal preference.

Baked Tacos

Baked Tacos

2# Ground Chuck
1 1/2 packet taco seasoning
1  can Rotel

1	(16 ounce) can refried beans
2	cups shredded  Jack and/or Cheddar cheese
18-20	hard taco shells
	Optional Condiments-
	lettuce (shredded)
	tomato (diced)
	Salsa

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl combine dried minced onion, chili powder, cornstarch, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Mix well and set aside. In a large skillet brown ground beef over medium-high heat. Drain off any excess liquid. Add refried beans, tomato sauce, and prepared taco seasoning. Mix well. Spoon the taco meat mixture into the taco shells and place into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish, standing up. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the taco meat in each shell. Place into the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the tacos are heated through. Remove from the oven and top with any optional condiments for serving.  

Impossible Taco Pie

Impossible Taco Pie  (Serves 6-8)
1 lb ground beef
1/2 C chopped onion 
1 pkg (1.25 oz) taco seasoning mix
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies, drained
1 1/4 C milk
3/4 C biscuit mix 
3 eggs
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 C Cheddar cheese 


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 10 inch quiche dish or a 10 x 1 1/2 inch pie plate. then cook and stir beef and onion over medium heat until beef is brown; drain. Stir in seasoning mix. Spread in plate; sprinkle with chilies. Beat milk, biscuit mix and eggs until smooth, 15 sec. in blender on high or 1 min. with hand beater. Pour over ground beef mixture. Bake 25 min. Remove from oven and top with tomatoes; sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven and bake another 8 min. or until knife inserted into center of pie comes out clean. Cool 5 min. Serve with sour cream, chopped tomatoes and shredded lettuce if desired. Really good.

You're Too Crafty: The Best Pot Roast....EVER!

This is the recipe for Crock-Pot Roast I have used for years!!  I will say, I have NEVER paid $13 for a roast.  I always get them on sale and pay about $7 for them.  I make this almost every Monday.

                    Click the following red highlighted post in red to get this amazing recipe!!

                                                                    ENJOY

You're Too Crafty: The Best Pot Roast....EVER!: I live in a small town.  Like really small.   But I LOVE it! There are so many reasons why I love it... I could list them all for you, but I...

Shopping

Grocery shopping is more like a marathon than a sprint.  You really have to prep and get ready.  So let's see, you have your lists ready, they are labeled for the appropriate store, you have your shopping buddy my teen aged daughter) close at hand and you are OFF!  Now, if I say it once I say it 100 times...DONT BUY IT IF IT'S NOT ON THE LIST!  Now, I totally mean that...unless. :)  Unless you have REALLY forgotten to write a necessity down.  I am not talking about those new Pillsbury Halloween Cookies that cut out in the shape of little ghosts.  I mean you forgot you put on your last smear of deodorant this morning and it is NOT on your list.  That kind of necessity!  You start by hitting the store to purchase the cold things  (frozen and meats) and run home to do a drop. After you drop your cold/ meat items, go for the rest and go BIG!  This part usually takes me around 4 hours to finish.  It is long.  It is hard.  It is good to get it over with because when it's done, it's done.  I always go home with all my goods to a team of helpers who KNOW where everything goes.  We work together to sort and carry all our goods to their destinations.  I will also point out that grocery night is either eat out night (if our budget allows) or Aldi take and bake pizza night. 

Oh, one thing I cannot forget.  COUPONS!  I hardly use them.  Here is why.  I use many generic brands.  I find that we like them just as much (some better) and that most coupons still cannot beat the generic prices.  On brands that the generic just will not do, I look for mail coupons and I print coupons off sites like couponsuzy.com.  I DO NOT use coupons for things I would not normally be buying to begin with.  If I did that, I would be SPENDING money just to save a dime and that doesn't make any sense to me.  This month my total bill with 4 stores, food, toiletries, diapers and ALL was $820. During the month, I will have to get additional bread and milk each week but that is all.  It will add approximately $100 to my overall monthly bill.  That makes a grand total of $920 for our family of 10 for 1 month.  I'm not sure what everyone else in America spends but I think that is pretty stinkin' good!

 Whew....are ya'll tired?  I AM TIRED!!!  I think I'm gonna go see what's for dinner!

Making a Menu and Prepping a List

After you make a list of ALL the foods you and your family like to eat (as I did in the previous post) then pick out as many of those meals as you would like to eat this month.  Here is an example of a few days of mine.


                                        September/October Menu
1. Baked Tacos
2. Baked Spaghetti
3. Crock-Pot Roast
4. Grilled Steaks
5. Asian Chicken
6. Club Sandwiches
7. Hotdog Night
8. Quesadillas
9. Crock-Pot Chicken Enchiladas
10. Potato Soup


 
 
My menu will continue on for 31 days.  Each morning when I wake up, I will lay meat out to thaw or prepare the Crock-Pot for the day.  Either way, I look at the list everyday with something in mind for the family to eat for supper.

Now, I shop at 4 different stores and have pretty much memorized where everything in each store is. Knowing this, I made a shopping list on my computer of what I normally buy when I go to the store.  Now, when I make my menu I look at what I have chosen to prepare and look at my list and check off what I need.  For instance, if I am making baked tacos, I will need ground chuck,  hard taco shells, taco seasoning and all the extras.  I pull out my shopping list and check off all the items I need for that trip as well as number of that item needed.  By only getting the items I need for my menu, it cuts my grocery bill by huge margins. I also include breakfast, lunch, snacks, toiletry and entertainment items.  Even still, the practice of menu planning and eating what is on hand has decreased our eating out  and spontaneous spending which saves us enormous amounts of money each month.

What's for Dinner Mom?????

I get asked a ba-zillion times a day "What's for dinner?".  I really used to hate that question because I would often forget to lay something out or look up and it's 6:30pm and we have NOTHING in the house to eat.  What would be even worse is my wallet would also be emp-tay.  Now THAT is a predicament!  I soon found that with some family input and a little good planning, I could establish a routine that would have us eating delicious meals, in a timely manner, on a small budget.  Here is how it begins.

Make a list of all the foods your family LIKES to eat.  It is important it is food you LIKE!  If it is not food the majority likes, you have wasted money.  Get your family's input. Sit down during dinner one night and let everyone have a say in meal planning. You will be surprised at the dinners they like that you have forgotten about.  Here is what mine looks like.


                                                           What's For Dinner Ma?
                         all dinners served with fruit and/or vegetables and bread as sides
tacos hard or soft shell
taco pizzas
quesadillas
taco pie
baked tacos
taco roll-ups
hamburgers
hotdog dinner
meatloaf
hamburger helper cheeseburgermac
hamburger helper stroganoff
pattymelts
baked spaghetti
my famous lasagna
chili
chili con carne
full house
greek chicken
special honey chicken
baked chicken
asian chicken
grilled chicken
BBQ chicken
chicken tender sandwiches
chicken stuff
whole chicken baked
cornflake chicken nuggets
bacon wrapped chicken breast
grilled steaks
asian steaks
asian pork steaks
BBQ pork steaks
pork chops scrambled eggs and biscuits
stuffed pork chops
roast in baking bag
crock pot roast
club sandwiches
aldi pizzas
french bread pizzas
meatball subs
crock pot chicken enchiladas
potato soup
beef stew
chicken and dumplings
hamburger patties with gravy
swai fillets
bacon and eggs
waffles and bacon
pancakes and sausage links
gravy and biscuits
salad and baked potato
sloppy joes
beans and cornbread
ham steaks, mac and cheese baked beans
ham, beans, cornbread
frozen food night (buy frozen novelty foods and make variety for fun)
ANY venison when in season