Adding work to my already crazy days is gonna be tough. So I am gonna have to extra extra preplan!
I found this super cool website that has some freezer/crock pot meals that are things that we would actually eat! I took some time today while clipping some coupons and tried to organize my meal plan for next week, and using Six-Cents I have five meals that I will prep on Sunday, and pull out of the freezer each morning after I take Korbin to school and pop into the crock pot. And since she suggests doubling the recipes, I will have 5 other meals that will be in the meal for another time!
Here is my list for this week:
Savory Pepper Steak
½ cup flour
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp pepper
1 large onion chopped
a few garlic cloves—Ilike to put 4-5 crushed into each bag
1 green pepperssliced
1 red peper sliced
2 16oz cans of tomatoes—I prefer Italian style
2 tbsp beef bouillon
4 tsp ofWorcestershire sauce
2 tbsp of steakseasoning
2 tbsp of steak sauce
2 cans of cream of your choice—I used potato
2 cans of water
2 ham steaks, cubed--we used turkey ham
8 oz cheddar cheese
4 cups of broccoli
salt and pepper
*EDIT* People have mentioned the potatoes turning black if frozen. Mine didn't do that, but just to be safe, either use frozen potatoes or add potatoes the day of cooking.
Salsa Chicken
6-8 chicken breasts
2 15 oz. cans of black beans
1 family size frozenbag of corn
2 cans of dicedtomatoes and green chilies
1 jar of salsa
1 packet of tacoseasoning
2 cups of cheddarcheese
Chicken Taco Soup
2 onions diced
2 cans of chili beans
2 cans of black beans
2 cans corn, drained
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans chicken broth
4 cans of Rotel undrained
2 taco seasoning packets
6 chicken breasts
cheddar cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips
Mediterranean Pork Chops
2 cups chick broth
4 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp poultry seasoning
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
6-8 thick cut pork chops
In addition to dinners, with Korbin being back in school I now have to also have a breakfast plan too.
Saturday mornings are muffin days, because my guys like them fresh outta the oven hot. They carry over into a hectic Sunday morning when the kids grab them on their way out the door and gobble them down in the car on the way to church. I usually toss a few in the freezer..shhhh do not tell them..and make them reappear Monday morning. Test days, Korb gets a hot breakfast which is usually eggs and toast. Two days a week, are smoothie days and then there are my "random days" Here are a couple quick recipes and that help with those days, especially if your kids are like mine and will not eat cold cereal.
Gluten-Free Baked Oatmeal Casserole
Total Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 6
Ingredients
2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnut pieces
1 cup raspberries {any berries work}
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
2 cups milk
1 large egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ripe banana, peeled, 1/2-inch slices
I omit nuts for obvious reasons, and also use regular rolled oats when I can!
Preheat oven to 375°F and generously spray the inside of a 10-1/2 by 7 inch baking dish with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, baking
power, cinnamon, salt, half the walnuts, half the strawberries and half the
chocolate. (Save the other half of strawberries, walnuts and chocolate for the
top of the oatmeal).
In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg,
butter and vanilla extract.
Add the oat mixture to prepared baking dish. Arrange the
remaining strawberries, walnuts and chocolate on top. Add the banana slices to
the top then pour the milk mixture over everything. Gently shake the baking dish
to help the milk mixture go throughout the oats.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is nicely golden
brown and the milk mixture has set. For an extra tasty top, sprinkle a
tablespoon or so of extra brown sugar.
Breakfast muffins.
Pour egg into a greased cupcake pan, then add toppings like - mushrooms, veggies, and meat, turkey. Bake them in the oven at 375-degrees for 30 minutes and let them cool. Pop them into plastic bags so that you can grab them easily in the morning
Pancake Bites
Put in mini muffin pan, pop in oven on 350 and cook 10-12 minutes until golden brown. They freeze nicely too!!
Shopping day in my house is Thursday. The reason I choose Thursday is because the day before is Trash day, so I can clean out the fridge and the pantry and the there is room for the groceries. In addition, if there is left overs, Wednesday is church night for us, and in the late spring/early fall a sports day which means its a great left over day. In our house, unless it is frozen, left overs have a shelf life of two days. I mark things with masking tape & sharpies on my bowls or if I am covering something with foil, I will write the date right on the foil. The last thing anyone ever wants is food poisoning! If on Saturday or Sunday if there is meat left over, I will put the pieces in individual sandwich bags & toss them in the freezer. That way they can be reheated for leftover day without the threat of bacteria.
The first thing I do when making my menu, is check out what coupons match with what I wanna make for dinner. These are my two favorites:Bargains to bounty and Penny pinchin mom. They do the store match ups, and also have other tips and tricks on their sites that I find extremely helpful. They also have facebook links if your interested in having their feeds come right to you!!
I typically buy two newspapers a week, and clip them with a binder clip writing the date with a sharpie in the upper right hand corner of each packet of coupons. I store them in a three ring binder. I also have some baseball card sheets in the binder for loose coupons and/or coupons I print from the Internet. The sites I have listed for you tell you which packet to look in by date,(ex:RP 9/9/12 = Red Plum on the Sunday;s date of purchase of Sept 9,2012) so I have stopped cutting all the coupons out at one time and only take about 30 minutes or so clipping coupons the day before I shop. It usually takes me an hour from menu planning to clipping coupons, start to finish.
Doing this saves me about 35-50% on my grocery bill and increases my sanity by volumes!! I also get to stock up on certain things like cookie making supplies, also holiday ideas like Halloween and Christmas. It makes blessing people with dinners, breads or treats a little easier too. I try to keep stuff on hand for a lasagna, a soup of some sort and my friend Keith's favorite, Mexican stuffed pasta shells. So if I can be a blessing through a dinner to someone, I am not breaking the bank to do it.
Wowzers! My head it swimming! I am so thankful for websites that help me to be a mom a little easier but sometimes it is information overload! I think I need a cup of coffee and a cuddle with my little guy!!
Happy Reading!!
~Kristy~
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