Monday Meal Planning

Meal plan for the week:

Monday: Tater fried chicken and butternut fries

Tuesday: Skillet Lasagna

Wednesday: Crock pot country ribs w/ seasonal veggie

Thursday: Chicken Pot Pie

Friday: Pepperoni Pizza

Saturday: Burgers and new potatoes

Sunday: Taco Spaghetti

'Tater Fried Chicken and Butternut Fries

This was a very tasty, very easy meal that I was able to use a seasonal veggie for. I'm always looking for new ways to use vegetables because my husband is not a huge veggie fan, so anything I can do to them to spruce them up and make them appealing to him is welcome! He ate these puppies up, too. You're going to want a little bit of extra prep time for the fries because butternut squash is a pretty tough one to cut open. It took me about 25 minutes to get the fries ready, so just be prepared.

Ingredients:

4 chicken legs (2.40)

1 Butternut Squash (1.13)

1 pack of instant mashed potatoes (.54)

4 tbs butter (.20)

2 tbs olive oil (.10)

1 tbs seasoned salt (.05)

Step 1: Cut up your butternut squash into preferred fry shape (peel the outside, first). The easiest shape to cut a butternut squash into circles but I'm a little crazy and like to have a good shoestring shape.

Step 2: Put the fries into a bag, add your olive oil and some seasoning and shake it up. Put them onto a cookie sheet and into the oven at 375 degrees for an hour.
Step 3: Melt your butter, dip each leg into the butter and then run them through the instant potato mix. (I know, my pictures are backwards)

Step 4: Stick them in a baking dish and put them in the oven at 375 degrees for an hour.
And you're ready to serve! Ours got packed up and taken to work so that my husband could enjoy dinner with us. It was very yummy!

Total cost of meal: $4.42

Beef Goulash

Ingredients:

1lb of ground beef (.95--this was one of those buy it in bulk and split it up deals)

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (.98)

1/2 cup of water (free)

1 tsp paprika (.10)

1 tsp brown sugar (.05)

2 tbsp flour (.05)

1/4 cup of water--to be used separately from the one above (free)

1/4 cup of sour cream (.25)

1/2 box of pasta (.39)

1 tbsp of minced garlic (.50)

Step 1: Brown beef, drain and set aside.

Step 2: Add tomatoes (plus juices), beef, water, paprika, s/p to taste, garlic and brown sugar.

Step 2: Mix water (1/4 cup mentioned second) with the flour to form a paste.
Step 4: Throw in your paste with the sour cream and mix it together well. Cook pasta according to box directions. Let mixture simmer for about 15 minutes while pasta cooks.

Serve over pasta and enjoy!

Total cost of meal: $3.27

BBQ Chicken Bake

I have to admit, this is not my favorite recipe. I'm not a huge bbq sauce in large quantities fan, however, having said that--this meal kept my husband coming back to the fridge for leftovers for days and that is HUGE, so I had to include it!

Ingredients:

2 Chicken breasts cubed (1.20)

1 small sweet potato peeled and cut (.45)

1 small bag of frozen corn (.90)

1 jar of bbq sauce (1.18)

2 boxes of jiffy corn bread mix (.20 on sale! +.10 for the eggs used)

Step 1: Throw all of your ingredients minus the bbq sauce and corn bread mix into the slow cooker.

Step 2: Mix in BBQ sauce.
Step 3: Prepare corn bread mix as directed and lay it on top of your mixture. Cook for 8 hours on low. That's it!
Serve and enjoy (ours was in a to go container so we could take it to daddy while he worked the closing shift).
Total cost of meal: $4.13

Sweet and Sour Pork

Ingredients:

1 lb of cubed pork --I bought the cheapest boneless chops @ 2lbs, cut up the pork, split it into two baggies and still have an extra bag in the freezer now if I want to make the meal again. (.90)

2 tbs of olive oil (.10)

1/4 cup of brown sugar (.25)

1 tbs of Worcester sauce (.03)

1 tbs of cornstarch (barely .01)

1 8 oz can of pineapple w/ juices (.65)

1/3 cup of white wine vinegar (.10)

1/4 green pepper (.20)

1 cup of rice (.30)

1 broccoli head (.40)

Step 1: Cook pork cubes in olive oil in frying pan on the stove.

Step 2: Have 1 cup of rice cooking. I use a rice cooker but you can do it on the stove, also. Put the one cup of rice in a saucepan, cover it with 2 cups of water and cook on med. heat until water is completely gone.

Step 3: Steam broccoli head (steam without a steamer)

Step 4: Mix corn starch and brown sugar in saucepan. Add about 1/4 cup of water and pineapple juice. Add vinegar and Worcester sauce and continue to stir over medium heat.

Step 5: Add pineapple chunks and green pepper chunks to the mix.
Step 6: Add the pork and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
Step 7: Serve over warm bed of rice with steamed broccoli. Yummo!
Total cost of meal: $2.94

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

First, I need to apologize for the huge blog hiatus. I am not normally this much of a procrastinator...BUT...my semi-mobile almost 8 month old has been keeping me so busy when she's not napping that when she is I'm using those little moments to do all kinds of other things. I THINK I've got her new schedule down and should be able to post my recipes more frequently. I'll also make sure to get the Frugal Fridays back up and running starting tomorrow!

This meal was SO YUMMY! I look forward to making it on cooler days because I think it'll be received even better (though, it's hard to have it received much better than it was). I'll definitely use it as a "company" dish because it made WAY too much for just hubby and I, definitely could have fed 4 more people with it easily.

Ingredients:

3 potatoes boiled and cubed (on sale 1.30)

4 oz of cream cheese (.45)

8 oz sour cream (1.00)

3/4 cup of all purpose flour (.10)

3 strips of bacon cooked and cut up (.30)

6 cups of milk (1.00)

1/2 cup of cheddar cheese to top (.55)

1/3 large white onion (.10)

Step 1: Cube your potatoes before boiling. Place them in a pot of boiling water and let them be for about an hour. Pull them out once soft. Mash potatoes when done (add just a bit of milk to them to get them to mash a little better).

Step 2: Combine milk, sour cream, cream cheese and mashed potatoes together in a bowl and then place them in a pot on medium heat.
Step 3: Brown onions and also cook up the bacon (set aside for use later).

Step 4: Add the onion to soup and let soup simmer for about 30 minutes.
To serve add a bit of bacon and cheese on top. Enjoy!

Total cost of meal: $4.80

Monday Meal Planning

Ok, I took a week off to gather my bearings and get my house in order, but here's our meal plan for the week (excluding today because we had a special dinner out tonight):

Tuesday: Chicken Teriyaki/Stir Fry over noodles

Wednesday: Spaghetti w/ garlic bread and broccoli

Thursday: Marinaded Pork Chops w/ squash

Friday: Homemade mac n cheese pizza

Saturday: Hamburgers w/ new potatoes

Sunday: Southwest Chicken Salad

Sounds like a yummy week, doesn't it?

Sweet Marinated Pork Chops

Ok, so my favorite way to have a pork chop is when it's been marinating for hours upon hours in some sort of heavenly marinade and then is cooked just right. That is, not too tough, not too much marinade but not too little...and these pork chops, folks, were perfect.

Ingredients:

2 large pork chops (2.00)

1 tbs soy sauce (.05)

2 tbs ketchup (.05)

2 tbs brown sugar (.05)

1 tbs Worcester sauce (.10)

2 tbs vegetable oil (.03)

1 tbs lemon juice (.02)

1 large yellow squash (.92)

*This recipe involves a marinade that needs to sit for at least 2 hours to give meat the flavoring that it needs.

Step 1: Make your marinade. Mix soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, worcester sauce, vegetable oil and lemon juice in a bow. Pour them over your chops and let them marinade for AT LEAST 2 hours. Meat tastes best if marinated for over 6 hours.

Step 2: Preheat oven to 350 and then throw in the pork chops for about 30-40 minutes. While pork chops are baking, steam your squash. Don't have a steamer? Fill a large saucepan with about an inch of water, stick a colander on top, put your veggies in there and cover it with the sauce pan lid and let it steam for about 10 minutes.

Step 3: Pull the pork out, cut into one to make sure it's cooked and then plate the meal! Enjoy!!
Total cost of meal: $3.22