Menu February 20-26

There are always those months when money is tight. An unexpected car repair, a medical bill, or whatever the expense might be, there are times where I have to cut the grocery budget and use up what we have. So, at times like these, I go to the cupboard and freezer and make a list of what we have. Here is what I found:
pasta sauce, alfredo sauce, spanish rice, chicken rice, Velvetta skillet meal, refried beans, white corn tortillas, macaroni elbows, cream of chicken soup, tomato sauce, creasant rolls, cheese, frozen bread dough, frozen veggies, frozen egg noodles, Canadian bacon, creamy mashed potatoes, hash browns, frozen diced chicken, ground beef
It's time to get creative!
Monday: Spaghetti noodles with Alfredo sauce and frozen diced chicken, salad, bread, apples
Tuesday: Beef/bean burritos topped with lettuce, Spanish rice
Wednesday: Velvetta boxed meal (add hamburger), California blend with cheese, leftover bread, apples
Thursday: Chicken creasant rollups, green beans, banana slices
Friday: leftovers
Saturday: Lunch-Pizza, salad  Supper-Out
Sunday: Lunch -Roast, baked beans, bread, baked potato
              Supper-Soup and sandwiches
You would be surprised what you have on hand to make some meals. A great website to go to and create meals from ingredients you have is: www.allrecipes.com. Type in the ingredients you have on hand and they will give you a choice of recipes to choose from.

Simple Tip #4

Two items that I use a lot in my cooking is ground beef and chicken breasts. When I find these two items on sale, I like to stock up on them. At least once a month, frozen chicken breasts can be found on sale from $3.99 to $4.99 which is a great deal considering how much meat and meals you can get out of a bag. I can usually get at least four meals out of it. I like to thaw about four breasts and then bake them. I dice the meat as soon as it comes out of the oven. Then, I put about two cups of the chicken in a couple of freezer bags. It is so much easier to pull them out of the freezer and warm them up when needed. It is much healthier and tastes better than the precooked chicken you buy in the store, not to mention much CHEAPER. I also like to do this with ground beef.  Brown a couple of pounds of beef and freeze in bags by the pound. The meat can quickly be combined with a pasta and sauce, a soup, tacos, or any recipe that calls for chicken or beef. A real time-saver!! 
Chicken breasts also can make a great main dish. They are great on the grill, but are good baked too. Some easy things I do with chicken breasts are seasoning with lemon pepper, covering in barbeque sauce, or even doing something a little more like coating in bread crumbs.  Cover some potatoes in foil and put in the oven while the chicken is baking.  Bake some frozen bread, and add another fruit or vegie and you have yourself a hearty meal that really is not much work at all.

Money Tip #3

Setting a monthly budget is a great way to track how much money you spend each month. Some people have budgets, but by keeping tabs on every penny you spend makes even more of a difference. I separate our expenses into categories: House (mortgage, utilities, phone); Car (payment, gas, insurance); Misc. (cell phone, preschool, dance, etc); and Loans (school, credit cards, medical bills, etc.). These payments rarely change, so there isn't much room to improve upon them unless you drop your cable or refinance, for example.  Next are the expenses you can change: groceries, eating out, personal stuff, entertainment, etc. Try and decide what you think you spend a month or a week on each. If you know you are overspending on these things, this is a great time to discipline yourself and bring that spending down.  These are the things that I like to use cash for. I like to use a coupon binder and label each category. I then put the amount of cash I think we will use each month or week for each. When the money is gone, do not spend any more or you will go way over budget. This can take months to master, but will be well worth it in the end. I also leave another miscellaneous category for things like birthdays, Christmas, clothing, etc. I created my own spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel to track our expenses. Next you need to add up all of your expenses. Then add up your monthly income. Subtract the expenses for the income. Hopefully you have a positive. If you don't, you need to reevaluate your spending and make some cuts.

Weekly Menu: February 13-19

Monday: Spaghetti, garden salad, garlic bread
Tuesday: Pork chops, baked potato, bread, baked beans
Wednesday: Crock pot chicken, mixed vegies, bread
Thursday: Tacos, apple slices
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: lunch- Sub sandwiches, pasta salad, carrots and dip
                dinner- Pizza
Sunday: lunch-out
              dinner- Chicken Chili

Simple Tip #3

I like to reserve my weekends for getting out of the house and spending quality time with my family. I do not want to be cleaning or doing laundry on a Saturday.  To break up the chores and laundry, I created a weekly household schedule.  I do laundry on Mondays because it is after the weekend and it is nice to have fresh laundry at the beginning of the week and on Thursdays so I don't have to do laundry on the weekend.  I wash bedding on Tuesdays, along with cleaning the bedrooms.  Here is how I break up my week:
Monday: Laundry, Clean bathrooms, Do bills, Meals for the week (I look at my menu for the week to figure out if and when I need to thaw anything or bake anything ahead of time)
Tuesday: Clean bedrooms (wash bedding), Cut coupons, Balance checkbook
Wednesday: Clean kitchen, Clean dining room, Make next week's menu
Thursday: Laundry, Grocery list, Clean living room
Friday: Clean staircase, Do anything that didn't get done during week
Grocery shopping gets done either on Friday nights or during the weekend

If there is spare time, I like to tackle a bigger project by breaking it up through the week and add it to my to do list for the week. A recent example is our master bedroom. It got bombarded with junk while we are finishing our basement. I took a little time each day to get it decluttered and also took time to straighten up dresser drawers and the closet.

Money Tip #2

You may think I am crazy on my next money tip, but believe me it works! Use cash only...gasp! I'm not talking about cash to pay your bills.  I'm talking groceries, eating out, clothing, etc. You would be surprised how much closer you pay attention to what you are buying. Think about it...you have the cash in hand and when you have to hand over actual cash to the cashier, it makes the transaction more real. You don't think about it as much if you are putting it on the credit or debit card.  When you look in your wallet and see you've spent all of your cash, it really makes you think. Maybe try it on a weekly basis at first. Plan how much you can spend on groceries, if you are going to eat out, or if you are going to the mall. I'm guessing you won't be as tempted to throw in that extra bag of chips or DVD that you don't really need. A great book to read is "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. This book is very eye-opening. It has changed the way we spend our money and has helped us pay off our cars and credit cards.  It is not your typical "financial advice" book. It is an easy read and there are many examples of how people got out of debt and more.  Cash only....really!

Weekly Menu: February 6-12

I find it very helpful to have my "weekly menu" displayed on my kitchen counter. It is a reminder to me if I need to defrost something for the next day or if there is something I can prepare ahead of time. I use a printable from the website http://organizedhome.com. I clip it to a clipboard, along with my recipes that I will be using. I have a cookbook holder that I display the clipboard on. As I write out my menu, I have a shopping list right on the page which makes it easy to look at my menu and add to the shopping list.

 Menu:
Monday: Pepperoni string cheese rollups (new recipe I am trying)
  *Roll a half piece of string cheese up with pepperoni in a crescent roll
                Garden Salad, Carrots
Tuesday: Creamy Chicken Crescent Casserole
  *Warm a cup of diced chicken breasts and can of cream of chicken soup. Roll out a can of crescent rolls on bottom of 8x8 pan. Dump mixture on top of rolls. Add shredded cheese of your choice. Top with can of crescent rolls.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
                 Mixed vegies with cheese, banana slices
Wednesday: Ham and cheese melts
  *Place a few slices of Canadian bacon and cheese in bun. Melt butter and add sesame seeds. Spread on top of bun. Wrap sandwiches in tin foil and bake for 15-20 minutes at 325 degrees.
                   Cheesy potatoes, apples
Thursday: Lasagna, garlic bread, garden salad 
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Lunch: pizza, apples
                Dinner: Out
Sunday: Homemade Frozen Meal 
               Dinner: Baked Potato Soup, Carrots  *** I will probably tweak the soup recipe by buying real bacon bits and using only red potatoes since it's what I have on hand.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup via Disney Parks
Serves 6
1 pound bacon, roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
3/4 cup diced celery
4 large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 medium red potatoes, diced
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Coarse salt, freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 cups heavy whipping cream
Optional garnishes: chopped chives, bacon bits, sour cream, shredded cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese

1. In a 6- to 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, fry bacon until crisp.
2. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels, reserving half for garnish. In bacon fat, cook onions, carrots, and celery until the onions are translucent. Add potatoes and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Whisk in flour and stir constantly over low heat until the flour is cooked and the mixture has thickened slightly, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add chicken stock and half of the bacon. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Over medium-high heat, bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Mash some of the potatoes for thicker, creamier texture. Add whipping cream and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Adjust thickness by adding water or stock. Soup should have a creamy consistency.
6. Season to taste, and garnish with toppings.

Cooks’ notes: Soak diced potatoes in cold water until ready to use to keep them from turning brown. To make bacon easier to chop, lightly freeze.