Baby Steps Challenge- Baby Step 2

If you've been following along here and here, I've been discussing how you can make major long term adjustments in your food expenses and the way you shop by taking very small steps that are not difficult to do.

I asked you back in November to just start making a list of the items that you use regularly in your household.

Now, I'd like you to look at that list. I'm sure it's not a definitive list. Especially if you're like me and got caught up with other stuff :) But you should have some solid basics that you use regularly in your meals, regardless of the week's meals, based on your family's tastes. Here's what a list of basics looks like for us:

• whole wheat pasta
• refried beans
• black beans
• chicken
• bacon
• eggs
• skim milk
• flour tortillas
• tortilla chips
• sugar
  
• flour
• ground beef
• frozen corn
• frozen broccoli
• canned green beans
• boxed stuffing
• canned turkey chili
• crackers
• breakfast cereal
• coffee

This is not a definitive list for us, but certainly a good starter list of things we use regularly and always like to have on hand.

Your next baby step is to get a spiral notebook and write each item on a page. Yes. One per page. Take that book to the store with you every time. Every time. Seriously. When you buy one of those items, write down the price, the store, and whether it was a sale price or regular price. What you will have after a while is a natural list of high and low prices for the items you use. That will get you ready for your next baby step.

Happy note-taking!!

Easy Make Ahead Meals- Sirloin and Mushrooms in Gravy

As we head into the last few weeks before the holiday, it seems it is especially crazed around here. I have a TON of deadlines at work, along with client parties and other things that will have me away from home more often. So as I gear up for the next couple of weeks of shopping, baking, and all of the aforementioned work stuff, I want to have dinners ready to go as much as possible.

I will be sharing some of the recipes along with my menu plans as I go. I like to use fresh unprocessed ingredients as much as possible, but in times like this you will see me use a few convenience items to help cut the prep time down. This is one of those recipes. It uses a jar of beef gravy. I'm the first person to tell you to make your own gravy, but in this case, it helps me put this recipe together much faster, and right now, I'll take the time!

I made this dish in about 20 minutes this morning. It will go into the freezer, and then later this week, all I have to do is thaw, heat, and serve over egg noodles. Mashed potatoes work too.

Sirloin and Mushrooms in Gravy

3/4lb. sirloin, cut into small bite size pieces ($2.50)
10 oz. container white button mushrooms, sliced ($1.00)
1/2 onion, chopped (.15)
2T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (.10)
salt and pepper
1T worcestershire sauce
1T sherry
1 jar beef gravy (.50 after coupons and holiday sales- I stocked up)
3T chopped fresh parsley (optional but adds a lot) (.15)

In large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, mushroom and garlic, and saute, about 4 minutes, until onions are translucent. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper here. Add sirloin, and continue cooking until beef is no longer pink. Add gravy, worcestershire, sherry and parsley, and heat through. Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

With egg noodles, this dish comes in right around $5.00 for me. Easy and economical for a beef dinner!

****This post is linked to Simple Saturday

Have I showed you my early Christmas Present?

Isn't she pretty?!?!?!?! I have been seriously drooling over these for years. In fact, I generally have strayed away from recipes calling for a mixer because I disliked mine so much. So hubby surprised me early, figuring (correctly) that this could get a LOT of use over the holidays!!

He did his homework, and got me the 600, at a better price than I've seen anywhere, and I got a ton of attachements: can opener, food grinder, shredder/grater, pasta plates, plus the pasta roller and cutters.

I've used the mixer several times for cookies/cakes/mashed potatoes, etc...and I've started using the attachments. I feel a little silly about the can opener. I love the convenience of an electric can opener, but I never liked having one on the counter, so I've always used a hand opener. This gives me the best of both worlds, because it stores in the drawer when I'm not using it. The graters are GREAT for cheese, and I've been able to do large amounts in just a short period of time.

This weekend I start playing with the pasta roller. I've been told it's best to just have a few trial runs that you don't plan to eat so you can figure it out, so I'll be doing that this weekend.

I'm also going to make my first attempt at pizza dough this weekend. Wish me luck :)

I am on record in this blog as saying I'll probably never be someone that makes all my own bread. I still think that might be the case, but the mixer has me thinking about making some bread at least a little more often.

I am amazed at how one appliance can radically impact your time in the kitchen. If you've been like me and been thinking about this, I can tell you I have no regrets...only that I didn't get it sooner!

The tree

I took this yesterday morning at 4am when I came down the stairs and discovered hubby left the lcd's on overnight. It was pretty breathtaking in the dark quiet house at such an early hour.

Menu Plan Monday Week of 11/30

Going to be working ahead on this week's meals as I did last week, as I'll be out of town Wednesday and Thursday, and want to make life as easy for hubby as possible. Boys are already begging for McDonalds while I'm gone, so I've just written off Thursday night, knowing that while Mom's away, the boys will play :) Besides, better they eat it when gone than to be tempted by French Fries.

No price breakouts this week (gasp). I'll get back on that wagon next week :)

Monday 11/30
Cheeseburgers
Potato salad
Sliced apples

Tuesday 12/1
Slow Cooker chicken tacos
Corn

Wednesday 12/2
Spaghetti and meatballs
Wheat rolls
Green beans

Thursday 12/3
Boys eat out

Friday 12/4
Homemade Pizza Night
salad

Saturday 12/5
Smoked sausage
Sauerkraut and potatoes
Salad
Applesauce

Sunday 12/6
Slow cooker chili
Salad
cornbread

Getting the house decorated

This is my favorite part of Christmas...getting the house decorated! We've done quite a bit this weekend, with more to come. I will share pictures as we go, including the tree, which is almost done. Here's the mantel-

Mexican beef and rice

Last night we had originally planned to have leftovers from the week's "non Thanksgiving" meals. I apparently underestimated the impact my inlaws would have, though, because we ended up with just a few odds and ends, and really not much to speak of. Still plenty of Thanksgiving stuff, but I knew hubby would balk if he had to eat stuffing again.

I did have half a can of black beans leftover from a nacho lunch we enjoyed Tuesday, along with half a bag of leftover steamed corn, so I kicked into action and started pulling things together that I could make a skillet dish out of. I used sliced sirloin steak that I had already prepped in the freezer. You could use ground beef or even chicken, I think. This would be very flexible for what you have on hand. If my family liked olives I think I would have put sliced black olives on top. Heaven.

• 3/4lb. sirloin steak, or whatever meat you have, chopped into small bite size

• 1 cup rice ( I used white basmati, normally we would use brown)

• 1 can diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen's new petite diced adobo tomatoes and that was perfect. You could use Rotel or any other tomatoes you have)
• 2 cups chicken broth (I used the turkey stock I just made)
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2T olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2t salt
• 1 cup black beans
• 1 cup corn
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

In small saucepan, bring rice, broth, tomatoes and salt to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer according to the cooking time on your directions.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in skillet on medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent. Add steak and continue to cook until beef is browned. Add corn and beans. Once rice is completed, add to skillet, and stir to combine. Add 1/2 cup of sour cream and stir in thouroughly. Turn off heat, sprinkle cheese, cover, and let sit 5 minutes until cheese is melted. Eat. Then eat seconds (I did, anyway!)

Using up cranberry sauce

We ended up with a TON of cranberry sauce this year! My step MIL wanted to make cranberry orange relish, which was fine, but I wasn't sure if the boys would eat that, so I made a batch of cooked cranberry blueberry sauce as a fall back. Which means we've had lots of leftovers. I find the easiest way to use up cranberry sauce is in baked goods. The leftover cranberry blueberry sauce is now baked into a batch of yummy muffins for the boys' breakfasts. Just use your favorite muffin recipe or baking mix.
That relish is going to be combined with a box of orange cake mix I've been wanting to use up. I'll probably bake it in loaf pans.

Our Christmas Tree

We got our tree yesterday. Today we will trim, decorate and add the tree skirt. I'm especially excited as we have not had a tree for the past 2 years. After Big K showed his ability to eat glass ornaments (!), I was more than a little reticent. (Although we did learn you can eat a piece of glass the size of a quarter and it won't hurt you. Info I wish I didn't have)

This year we're confident he's old enough, and the dog is more mature as well, so I think we're safe. (I hope!)

Time to start freezing up the leftovers

We feasted yesterday! Wonderful turkey and all of the fixins. Today, we start the process of freezing and using up all the leftovers.

Tonight we'll have a repeat of yesterday's dinner. The rest of the turkey is already in the freezer, and the frame is in the stockpot with veggies and herbs making a nice broth that I will freeze. Leftover mashed potatoes will be made into mashed potato rolls that I can bag and freeze for multiple meals. I'm pondering using the stuffing in eggrolls, and turning the leftover cranberry sauce into a dipping sauce for the eggrolls.

This is always the time I start experimenting, so I will certainly share the results as I go!