Organic Produce Box and CSA shares last week

Every Friday a box like this arrives on my doorstep. It's full of seasonal organic produce that is locally grown. I love it!!! When I started cooking out of my pantry more and thought about ways to cut back on spending money for food I thought very hard about stopping my weekly produce delivery but I decided I couldn't do better at the regular grocery store or even the farmers market. If anything I want to eat more fruits and vegetables not less and pay more for them.

This boxes vegetables were:
1 Butternut Squash
1 bunch broccoli
2 bunches kale
1 head savoy cabbage
2 turnips
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch collard greens
2 red bell peppers
1 head of lettuce
2 lbs baby potatoes
1 onion

This boxes fruit was:
2lbs apples
4 oranges
8 tangelos
2lbs. lemons


My CSA share for the same week:

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods:
High of 68 degrees today, much cooler than it has been

Things that make me happy:
Not being sick anymore

Book I'm reading:
none


What's on my TV today:
nothing

On the menu for dinner:
Crab Rangoon, Vegetable Fried Rice and Egg Drop Soup

On my To Do List:

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
I have not posted any recipes...will need to fix that soon
Homeschool

In the craft basket:
same scarf

Looking forward to this week:
fully recovering from being sick

I don't have anything else today since I have not been feeling well at all.

To join in Happy Homemaker Monday visit Sandra

Chicken and Nacho Chip Casserole and Zucchini

Breakfast

I had some Canadian Bacon left over from the pizza and it needed to be used up before it went bad. I wanted to make homemade Egg McMuffins but I didn't have any English Muffins. I need to learn to make those or buy some at the 99 cent store and stick them in the freezer for breakfast.

Breakfast Sandwiches
1 fried egg- from fridge
Canadian Bacon- from fridge
1 slice Cheddar Cheese-from fridge
Bread- from pantry

Hash Brown Patties
from the freezer, I had bought them on sale months ago but never used them

Oranges
It's orange season, we'll be eating a lot of these. These were from the CSA (community supported agriculture) group I belong too.

I'll be writing about how I get my produce soon. I really love my CSA and I also have organic vegetables delivered. The amount of produce we go through in a week is just amazing.

Lunch

Santa Fe Beef and Rice
This was in one of the Angel Food Ministries Boxes I had ordered....I didn't know what to do with it so I shoved it in the freezer and left it there. My daughter had actually never seen me microwave something and serve it out of a bag. She wasn't quite sure what to expect but she ate it anyway.

Dinner

This casserole is just pure junk food but it's so good! I only make it about once a year because it's so naughty to eat....my husband loves it. The taste kind of reminds me of a Tamale Casserole...not sure why.

Chicken and Nacho Chip Casserole

1 lb. chicken, cooked and chopped

1 lg. onion, diced

1 (10 oz) cream of mushroom soup

2 C. cheddar cheese, divided

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk

Large bag nacho flavored chips, like Doritos, crushed

In a saucepan sauté onions until tender. Add soup and evaporated milk, heat until almost boiling. Add 1 cup cheese and heat until cheese is melted and sauce is mixed well. In a casserole dish layer some chips, ½ of chicken, ½ of the sauce, more chips, the last of the chicken, and the last of the sauce. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Zucchini
This was from my weekly produce box. I just sliced them and sauteed them in butter in skillet on the stove. Easy.

Homemade Pizza and Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I started something a little different yesterday. I can't promise I'll do it everyday but I will when I can. I took
photos of all our meals for the day. I have been thinking a lot about what is in my house already to eat and using it so I am more organized  and there is less waste. That's so important to me right now.

Breakfast

I made a scramble using:

1 package of Polish Sausage from the freezer
1 bag of frozen fajita style vegetables from Angel Food Ministries
Eggs from the fridge
Cheese from the fridge

This was all stuff I needed to use and had on hand. I kind of got the idea from the scrambles that are sold at restaurants.

Lunch

Homemade Pizza

I already had everything for this because I was going to make it for dinner and I wound up bringing home frozen pizza from my grocery shopping trip. I didn't want anything to spoil or go to waste so I decided to make it for lunch.

For pizza you need:

a crust
a sauce
cheese
toppings

For more wonderful recipes check out Grocery Cart Recipe Swap

Pizza Dough for 2 Pizzas (12-14 inch)

1 pkg yeast

2 Tbsp oil

1 C warm water

1 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. sugar

3 C flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water for 5 minutes. Add sugar and mix. Add flour, salt, and oil to yeast mix. Combine well then knead until smooth and elastic about 5 minutes. Divide dough in half and spread out in greased pans, forming a rim around the edges. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes before adding sauce and toppings.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Italian seasoning to taste

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce

Fresh minced garlic to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, simmer for about 5 minutes and then use to top pizza

Toppings and Cheese Ideas

For the pizzas I made I did one all Pepperoni and the other with Pineapple Rings and Canadian Bacon.

Some other toppings we like are:

Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

cooked crumbled Italian Sausage

Cheddar Cheese, shredded

thinly sliced red onion

green peppers, sliced thin

Parmesan cheese, shredded\

mushrooms, sliced

sliced tomatoes

olives, sliced

bacon, cooked and crumbled

Dinner

I had planned on making a chicken casserole for dinner but it was a hard day homeschooling. My daughter is having such a hard time learning how to do expressions in math, we worked on it from lunchtime to about 6:30pm. I am not complaining at all that's why I home school so I am there to help her. However I did need to improvise on dinner a little bit. I already had cooked chicken for my casserole so I thought the easiest thing to do would be to make Chicken Salad Sandwiches. I discovered something I wished I had thought of before while making tuna salad for lunch this week. I have to "hide" the veggies so I used a food processor to make them tiny....then I had the idea of just making the whole thing in the food processor. It turned out wonderful and it was done in seconds! Why did I not think of this before??

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

1 lb. cooked chicken

salad dressing or mayonnaise to taste

1 large shallot

3 stalks celery

Cajun seasoning to taste

Add vegetables to food processor, pulse until small. Add remaining ingredients and process to desired consistency.

Italian Pot Roast

This is a meal from the past. We just love this Italian Pot Roast. It can be served over mashed potatoes or noodles and the meat always falls apart when it's done cooking.

Italian Pot Roast

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 (3 lb) beef roast

Italian seasoning to taste

1 jar or can (26 oz) pasta sauce

Place vegetables in the bottom of a crockpot, place meat on top and season to taste. Pour pasta sauce over the top. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or until done

For more wonderful recipes join Sandra for Cooking Thursday

Chili

Chili was the last thing I wanted to cook yesterday but I made a menu and I am trying to stick to it. I need to remember to check the weather forecast in the future. Yesterday in was 85 degrees in the house. I even turned on the air conditioner because I couldn't take it anymore. It just seems wrong to have to run the ac in January. I am worried what the weather will be like in June...it can reach 110-120 degrees where I live. I think I better start stocking up on picnic and salad recipes, it could be a long summer.

Chili

1 lb. ground beef

1 med. Onion, chopped

1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, drained

1 (15 oz.) can chili beans with spices, do not drain

1 (28 oz.) can whole tomatoes with juice, cut up slightly with a knife

1 ( 8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 Tbsp. Chili powder

1 lb. shredded cheddar cheese

In large pot brown meat and onion. When cooked stir in remaining ingredients except cheese. Cover and simmer 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. I like mine thick so I cook it closer to 60 minutes. Top each serving with a generous helping of cheese

For more wonderful recipes check out Frugal Food Thurday 

Crustless Quiche and Apple Raisin Salad

A light meal for a very hot day...it was 85 degrees today. I refuse to turn the air conditioner on in January!



Crustless Quiche

8 eggs, beaten

1 (10 oz.) pkg frozen chopped broccoli, cooked, drained and chopped OR 1 (10 oz) pkg. frozen spinach, defrosted, water squeezed out

1 C. cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

1 C. milk

Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Stir in broccoli/spinach and cheese. Pour into a greased 8 inch pie pan that has 2 inch sides. Bake at 350 degrees about 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean

Apple Raisin Salad

5 apples, cored and chopped into bite sized pieces

1 C. raisins

½ C. salad dressing, like Miracle Whip

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

¼ C sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Soak raisins in hot water to cover to soften for about 5 minutes, drain and dry on a paper towel. Combine apples, raisins and  celery in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine salad dressing, lemon juice and sugar. Pour the dressing over the fruit mixture and stir. Refrigerate for about an hour to chill then serve.

For more great recipes check out $5 Dollar Dinner Mom , Tuesdays at the Table and Tasty Tuesday

Hamburger Patties, Pasta with Oil and Italian Noodles, and Creamed Corn

This is another pantry meal. I need easy right now because my husband and I are sick...somehow my daughter hardly ever gets sick. A nice chicken noodle soup would be so nice right now...I just don't have the energy to make it. I was laying here thinking that it sure would be nice to have some in the freezer. That thinking lead me to make a list for things I would like to do after I recover.

1. Clean out and organize my pantry
2. Clean out and organize my freezers (I have 3)
3. Make some freezer meals for busy days or sick days
4. Start using coupons and make a folder to organize them

Hamburger Patties

These were from the freezer. They came from Angel Food Ministries. I used to buy their food boxes all the time but my freezers are so bad right now I don't have anywhere to put anything else.

Pasta with Oil and Italian Noodles
From a mix in the pantry

Creamed Corn
From the pantry

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods:
It's 55 degrees right now. Today's high will be 84 degrees. I'm sorry that's just weird for January.

Things that make me happy:
My new Apple TV. I stayed up until 1 am playing with it.

Book I'm reading:
none right now, I need to organize my bookshelf and get back to reading

What's on my TV today:
Documentary about the Brooklyn Bridge
Whatever I find interesting on the Apple TV

On the menu for dinner:
Crustless Quiche

On my To Do List:

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
The best thing I made this week was Biscuits and Gravy

In the craft basket:
My blue and white scarf I've been working on
A purple hat I need to take apart and redo
I tried my hand at crochet this week....it did not go well. I need lessons because I have no idea what I am doing.

Looking forward to this week:
Not being sick

On my mind:
I have nothing on my mind....I have a killer headache and some sort of sickness. I really just want to go back to bed now.

Join Sandra for Happy Homemaker Monday
Recover from this nasty sickness we have in the house right now

Menu Plan Monday

All dinner recipes will be posted as the week goes on. Breakfast and lunch recipes are from The $5 Dinner Mom Breakfast and Lunch Cookbook.

Monday-
BApple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Fruit
L
Fruity Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Green Salad
D
Crustless Quiche
Apple Raisin Salad

Tuesday-
B
Bacon and Egg Quesadillas
Fruit
L
Baked Parmesan Chicken Fingers with Marinara
Veggie from the fridge
D
Chili
Cornbread

Wednesday-
B
Banana Nut Waffles
Fruit
L
Tuna Macaroni Salad
Fruit
D
Chicken and Nacho Chip Casserole
Veggie from the Fridge
Fruit

Thursday-
B
Sausage, Egg and Cheese Burritos
Fruit
L
Tuna Sandwiches
Fruit Salad with Yogurt Dressing
D
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Veggie from the Fridge

Friday-
B
Tropical Granola
Fruit
L
Honey Mustard Ham and Cheese Melts
Tomato Soup
D
Ham and Bean Soup
Green Salad
Cornbread

Saturday-
B
Egg Tortilla Casserole
Fruit
L
Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
Fruit
D
Beef Stroganoff
Broccoli with Cheese Sauce

Sunday-
B
Scrambled Eggs
Cheesy Drop Biscuits
Fruit
L
Chicken and Asparagus Pasta Salad
D
Salmon Patties
Mashed Potatoes
Pea Salad

For more wonderful menu ideas check out Menu Plan Monday

Shake and Bake Pork Chops, Au Gratin Potatoes and Mixed Vegetables

I just did my grocery shopping on Friday night but this was a pantry meal. I've been reading Frugal Follies a lot and she is doing a Clean Out the Cupboards Challenge . I haven't offically joined her but I am thinking I need to. I don't even know what is in my cupboards or freezer. I could be using the stuff I already have instead of spending money at the grocery store. My freezer has gotten so bad it actually scares me...I need to deal with that.

Shake and Bake Pork Chops
Shake and Bake from the pantry
Pork Chops from the freezer

Au Gratin Potatoes
from the pantry

Mixed Vegetables
from the freezer

Pizza and Hot Wings

I cheated last night and used frozen food. I did my grocery shopping and by the time I was done it was almost 7pm. The store is 30 minutes from the house and I figured I needed something quick. I saw that pizza was $2.98 for a nice sized one. I bought 3 pizzas and a bag of frozen hot wings for $4.95. Total for dinner = $13.89, cheaper than take out but I can do better. I need to plan so that we eat before grocery shopping like we did last week. The only thing that did work out well is that everything took 20 minutes to cook so we brought everything in and put it away by the time we got that done dinner was ready.

Vegetable Soup

I am so tired from homeschooling over the past few days I can't even form a single thought tonight. I really just want to go spend time with my family and watch a movie or play a board game with them.

Vegetable Soup

2 quarts water

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

3 carrots, sliced

2 zucchini, sliced

2 celery stalks, sliced

½ C. cilantro, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

3 oz fresh spinach, torn

2 C. corn, frozen

Salt and pepper to taste

Place everything into a large pot. Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer for 1 hour.

For more wonderful recipes check out the Grocery Cart Recipe Challenge

Biscuits and Gravy with Scrambled Eggs

I had errands to run after homeschooling yesterday so I needed a quick and easy dinner to make when we got back home. I used to make breakfast for dinner all the time but since I've been married I have stuck to more traditional dinners. I was really worried about how my family would feel about having breakfast for dinner. I shouldn't have worried at all because my husband was overjoyed when he got over the shock. It's something I will be doing again in the future because it was SO easy not to mention frugal. I'm thinking pancakes in a couple of weeks.

Biscuits and Gravy

Biscuits

2 C. flour

4 tsp. baking powder

3 tsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt

½ C. shortening

1 egg, beaten

2/3 C. milk

Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in shortening until mix looks like crumbs. Add egg and milk, stir until combined but do not over stir it will make your biscuits tough. Turn mix out onto a floured surface and knead 20 times. Roll out to ¾ inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or a glass. Place biscuits on a baking sheet that has been lightly greased. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown at 450 degrees

Sausage Gravy

1 lb. pork sausage

8 Tbsp. margarine

8 Tbsp. flour

Pepper to taste

3 C. milk – 4 C. milk

Cook sausage in a skillet until done. Add margarine and cook until melted. Add flour and pepper, stir until well blended. Gradually add the milk; using only as much as you need to make a nice gravy, stirring constantly. Bring to a slight boil and cook and stir until thickened to your preference. Serve over biscuits.

Scrambled Eggs

My husband made these while I did the biscuits and gravy. I love it when he helps out in the kitchen.

For more wonderful recipes check out Frugal Food Thursday and Cooking Thursday

Chicken and Rice Soup

This was another simple meal. My daughter had dance and my husband had bowling so time was short to get dinner on the table.

Chicken and Rice Soup

4 chicken leg quarters or 8 chicken thighs, skin removed

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium onions, diced

4 stalks celery, sliced

3 carrots, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Cilantro to taste

2 C. rice, cooked

In a large pot cover the chicken and all the vegetables with water to cover (do not add rice yet), season to taste. Cook over medium high heat for about 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Remove the chicken, set aside and let cool, remove meat and return to the pot, add rice and heat through.

For some more great ideas on how to use chicken thighs check out $5 Dinner Mom

Marinated Steak, Peas and Carrots, Rice Mix

Last night was so busy. My daughter had dance class for 2 hours and afterwards we had to go sign her up for softball. They held the sign ups at a local pizza parlor.....it was torture smelling all the pizzas being made but we made it through it. This dinner only about took 20 minutes to cook. It was more about getting food on the table because it was getting late.

I don't have any recipes.....sorry.

Marinated Steak
 I hate tough meat. I made a marinade and it wasn't very good....it didn't "stick" to the meat. We were going to grill but it seemed like too much of a bother so I broiled them...I over did them. Thank heavens for steak sauce or I wouldn't have been able to choke mine down. I also had a discussion with my husband about maybe spending a little bit more money on steaks next time because although I want to save money I want to be able to enjoy my food. The next time we go shopping he is going to pick out the steaks. I have noticed that when we shop we look at different things. For me it is all about the money sometimes. How much is it? Is there a better deal? My husband on the other hand will look at quality a little bit more. How will this meat grill? How much fat does it have on it?

Peas and Carrots
from the freezer

Rice Mix
from the pantry

Twice Baked Double Stuffed Potatoes and Cheesy Vegetable Medley

This is another meal from the past. I love these potatoes, sometime I make them as the main dish and sometimes I make them as a side dish.

Twice Baked Double Stuffed Potatoes

6 potatoes

½ lb. bacon, fried and divided

½ C milk

Salt and pepper to taste

½ stick butter

½ tsp dry mustard

1 C cheddar cheese, shredded

1 C sour cream

Bake potatoes wrapped in foil at 300 degrees for 90 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and slice a top off of each of them. Carefully scoop out the centers into a bowl, leaving a shell. Mash the potatoes and add milk, salt, pepper, butter, dry mustard, and some of the bacon, reserving some for the top. Combine well and place mixture back into potato shells. Top with cheese and remaining bacon. Place on a baking sheet and heat in the oven at 350 degrees about 20 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Cheesy Vegetable Medley
1 (16 oz) bag California Blend frozen vegetables
1 (10 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
2 C cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
1/3 C sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 small can french fried onions

Combine vegetables with soup, sour cream, 1/2 the cheese, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour into a casserole dish. Top with french fried onions and remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until cheese is melted and dish is heated through. 

For more recipes using bacon and potatoes check out Ingredient Spotlight 

Polish Sausage and Kraut with Seasoned Green Beans

I made this dinner all the way back in November for my husband and he loved it. Hubby is a big sauerkraut lover, I am not really that big of a fan. I will serve it and eat it because I know he LOVES it. The things we do for love.

Polish Sausage and Kraut
2 lbs. polish sausage links, cut into slices
1 (16 oz) jar sauerkraut, do not drain
2 tsp. caraway seeds
1 Tbsp brown sugar
8 potatoes, peeled and chopped
water as needed

Place sauerkraut in a large pot. Add caraway seeds and brown sugar,stir to mix. Add potatoes and sausage. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 25 minutes.

Seasoned Green Beans
2 (15 oz) cans green beans
2 tsp dry minced onion

Pour green beans and liquid into a saucepan and add minced onions. Bring to a boil and serve when heated through and minced onion has rehydrated.

For more frugal dinners check out $5 Dinner Mom

Coffee Stew and Cornbread

This was a perfect dinner for a cold night.

Coffee Stew
2 lbs beef, cut into bite size pieces
2 tsp meat tenderizer
1 tsp dry basil
3 C water, divided
2 C cold brewed coffee
1 lg. onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
6 carrots, chopped
6 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 (10 oz) pkg, frozen peas
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
2 C vegetable juice cocktail, divided
2 tsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp dry parsley

In a saucepan combine 1 C water, meat tenderizer and meat, bring to a boil then cover and let simmer for 40 minutes. In a soup pot combine 2 C water, onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, peas, corn, 1 C coffee, 1 C vegetable juice, basil and parsley. Bring to a boil and let simmer while meat is cooking. Add meat and cooking liquid to soup pot once it is done cooking. Dissolve cornstarch in vegetable juice and add to soup pot along with remaining coffee. If needed add water or more vegetable juice to cover pot contents. Cook over medium heat until everything is tender about 30 more minutes.

Corn Bread
1 C yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 C flour
3/4 C sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 C milk
2 eggs
1/4 C oil

Combine everything and mix well, pour into greased muffin tins or a greased loaf pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

For more great recipes check out Tuesdays at the Table and Tasty Tuesday

Menu Plan Monday

I did really well on following my menu last week. I only made a few changes:

I switched days on one dinner

I changed the Chicken Wraps/Pasta Salad to Southwestern Corn Chowder because it was cold and we needed a hot dinner.

They did not have any plain frozen broccoli at the grocery store so I switched a Broccoli Casserole into Broccoli with Cheese....they had that frozen at the store.

All dinner recipes will be posted as the week goes on. Breakfast and lunch recipes are from The $5 Dinner Mom Breakfast and Lunch Cookbook.

Monday-
Marinated Steak
Rice Pilaf
Veggie from fridge

Tuesday-
B
Maple Pecan Oatmeal
L
Tuna Parmesan Sandwiches
Green Salad
D
Chicken and Rice Soup
Green Salad
Sourdough Bread

Wednesday-
B
Huevos Rancheros
Fruit
L
Thyme Chicken Noodle Soup
D
Biscuits and Gravy
Scrambled Eggs
Fruit

Thursday-
B
Buttermilk Waffles
Fruit
L
Minestrone Pasta Salad
D
Vegetable Soup
Cornbread

Friday-
B
Potato, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Tacos
Fruit
L
Grilled Cheese
Tomato Soup
D
Homemade Pizza
Green Salad

Saturday-
B
Banana Nut Oatmeal
Hard Boiled Eggs
L
Twice Baked Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Fruit
D
Shake n Bake Pork Chops
Fried Potatoes
Vegetable from the Fridge

Sunday-
B
Dutch Baby with Blueberry Sauce
L
Cincinnati Style Chili
D
Hamburger Patties
Homemade Potato Wedges
Vegetable from the Fridge

For more wonderful menus join Laura at OrgJunkie for Menu Plan Monday

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods:
It's a bright beautiful morning. 43 degrees right now, high of 65 today.

Things that make me happy:
My daughter

Book I'm reading:
Learn Crochet

What's on my TV today:
America: The Story of us


On the menu for dinner:
Marinated Steak
Rice Pilaf
Collard Greens

On my To Do List:
Work

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
I think the best recipe I made this week was Beef Scaloppini

In the craft basket:

Blue and White Scarf

Looking forward to this week:
Watching my dance tonight

No words needed (favorite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

 

On my mind:
Getting a lot of homeschooling done this week

Join Sandra at Happy Homemaker Monday
Homeschooling
Laundry

Ham Steaks, Baked Potatoes, and Broccoli with Cheese Sauce

Tonight's dinner was so simple there are basically no recipes....just wanted to get it on the table and go to bed.

Ham Steaks
I just heated these up in a skillet in a little bit of butter.

Baked Potatoes
I make my potatoes by baking them at 300 degrees for 90 minutes.

Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
from the freezer

Southwestern Corn Chowder

This was one of the easiest dinners I have made in a long time. I think it took all of 10 minutes from start to finish. It helped having cooked frozen chicken in the freezer I could just pull out to defrost and use.

Southwestern Corn Chowder

2 (10 oz) cans cheddar cheese soup

Milk as needed

1 ½ C diced cooked chicken

1 (15 oz) can corn

1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies

¼ C salsa

Prepare soup in a pot according to directions using milk. Add chicken, chilies and salsa. Heat and serve.

French Onion Soup and Grilled Cheese

This was a quick and easy dinner. We homeschooled rather late; until 4 and then we went to the 99 cent store to pick up some pantry items. By the time we got home we were all tired and starving. I wanted to stop for take out so bad on the way home...I tried not to look out the car window at all the restaurants we were passing and I kept telling myself I am just not going to give in and eat out.

This soup is loosely based on "real" French Onion Soup. I should really call it I have a lot of onions I need to use before they go bad soup but that just does not sound as good.

French Onion Soup
1 (32 oz) box beef broth
4 lg yellow onions, sliced thin
1/4 C butter
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 C cold water
Parmesan Cheese for garnish

In a large skillet melt butter over medium heat and cook onions until golden and soft. Transfer to a soup pot, add beef broth. Heat over medium heat until broth begins to boil. Dissolve cornstarch in cold water and add to boiling soup. Stir constantly until soup thickens to your preference. Serve.

Grilled Cheese

Just like mashed potatoes and BBQ, my husband is in charge of the grilled cheese in our house. He makes them perfect and it gives me a bit of a rest to have him help. I have no idea how he makes them but I love his grilled cheese.

For more wonderful recipes check out GCC Recipe Swap

Continental Chicken, Buttered Parsely Egg Noodles and Carrots

This chicken recipe is one I have wanted to try for some time. I've seen it in a number of old cookbooks and I have it on a few handwritten recipe cards. I was never quite sure about it because of the combination of meats just how it would turn out. I did get a little scared when I pulled it out of the oven because even though it smelled really good it looked a little weird. I hoped that I wouldn't have to order a pizza already because I didn't have any good backup dinners planned. I realized last night I need a plan in case things go wrong in the kitchen. When I served this I was holding my breath because as much as I want to save money and cook dinner every night I am not mean enough to make my family eat something just awful. They loved it and said the sauce was outstanding. I am glad I was worried for nothing but now I know I need to have a back up plan because my old plan used to be ordering a pizza when things went wrong. I am trying to change that and I don't want to fall back into old habits. What do you do in the kitchen when things go wrong? What do you serve your family when you burn something or forget to take out the meat?

Continental Chicken

1 (2 1/4 oz) pkg. dried beef
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb bacon
1 (10 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1/2 C sour cream
1/4 C flour
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
nonstick cooking spray

Spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and line the bottom with the dried beef.  Cut each piece of chicken into fourths and wrap each piece with a slice of bacon. Place wrapped chicken on top of dried beef. In a bowl combine soups, sour cream, and flour. Mix well and pour over chicken/beef. Top with onion and celery. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 2 hours or until cooked through.

I used to buy packaged noodles all the time until I figured out it was just as easy to make my own and less expensive.

Buttered Parsley Egg Noodles

1 (8 oz) bag dried egg noodles

¼ C butter

2 tsp dried parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook egg noodles according to package directions. Drain when cooked and while still hot add butter, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well and serve.

Carrots

I just steamed these because I didn't have anything else to do with them. I am trying to be better at using what I have and when I looked in the fridge last night I had a ton of carrots...so I used them. Imagine that!
Now if only I could figure out something to do with all the leeks I have in there.

For more wonderful recipes check out Cooking Thursday and Frugal Food Thursday

Cantonese Dinner

While I was making this I kept thinking about the1960's  housewife who made this before me thinking it was Chinese food.  I am not knocking her or the recipe at all, it was wonderful. I was thinking about how much has changed in the kitchen and in life as general as far as how much more we know now about other cultures.

 My husband loved the sauce- said it tasted like sweet and sour which he loves. I loved the long cooking time, I had time to watch a movie while this was cooking. I was in some serious need of some down time.

Cantonese Dinner
2 lbs pork, cut into bite sized pieces
2 Tbsp. oil
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced into rings
1 C mushrooms, sliced
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/4 C brown sugar
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
cooked rice

Brown pork in a skillet in hot oil. In a large casserole dish combine meat with all remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2- 2 hours or until done. serve over rice.

Beef Scaloppini

On Mondays from now on I am probably going to need to make a crockpot dinner because my daughter has dance for 2 hours and getting dinner on the table was a bit of a challenge last night.

Beef Scaloppini

My husband said this was good, good even if he couldn't pronounce what it was.

6 small steaks or 2 lbs. round steak, cut into serving size pieces

1/2 C flour

1 Tbsp meat tenderizer

pepper to tatse

1/4 C oil

1/2 C beef broth

3 large tomatoes, chopped

4 C mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 (12 oz) package egg noodles, cooked and kept warm

Parmesan cheese for garnish

3 Tbsp butter

Pound meat with a meat mallet until about 1/4 inch thick. Combine flour, meat tenderizer, and pepper on a plate. Coat meat with flour and brown in hot oil for about 5 minutes per side until browned. Add beef broth and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat. In another skillet, melt butter and then saute mushrooms, onion, green pepper, and garlic until all vegetables are tender. Add vegetables to meat. Cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes more. Serve over cooked egg noodles. Garnish with Parmesan cheese if desired.

For more recipes check out Ingredient Spotlight

Crunchy Baked Fish, Homemade Potato Wedges and California Style Vegetables

Today was a hard adjustment back to reality---back to homeschooling, dance classes and all the regular

- day to day- life stuff. I want more vacation.

Crunchy Baked Fish

6 fish fillets- I used catfish

2/3 C flour

seasoning salt to taste

1 1/2 C crushed corn flakes

1/4 C Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

1/2 C water

nonstick cooking spray

Combine flour, seasoning salt and cheese on a plate. Beat eggs and water in a shallow bowl. Place corn flakes on a plate. Line all the dishes up on the counter for an easy dipping assembly line. Dip fish in the flour mix then dip in the egg mix and finally coat with corn flakes. Place fish on a baking tray that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until it flakes easily.



Potato Wedges

6 medium potatoes, scrubbed with skins intact

3 Tbsp. oil

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. paprika

Parsley to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place oil in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and swirl around to coat the bottom. Cut potatoes into wedges. Place in a resealable plastic bag with the spices and shake to coat. Arrange potatoes skin side down in dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through



Menu Plan Monday

Short and Sweet this week....

All recipes will be posted as the week goes by.

Monday-
Beef Scaloppini
Green Salad

Tuesday-
Cantonese Dinner
Rice
Stir Fry Vegetables

Wednesday-
Chicken Wraps
Pasta Salad

Thursday-
Continental Chicken
Buttered Parsley Egg Noodles
Veggie-one that needs to be used from the fridge

Friday-
French Onion Soup
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Saturday-
Sweet and Tangy Ham Steaks
Twice Baked Double Stuffed Potatoes
Corn Broccoli Bake
Breadsticks

Sunday-
Coffee Stew
Cornbread

For more menu plans join Laura at Org Junkie

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods:
45 degrees and rainy

Things that make me happy:
Routine

Book I'm reading:
none right now

What's on my TV today:
soap operas

On the menu for dinner:
Beef Scaloppini over Egg Noodles and a Vegetable from the fridge

On my To Do List:
homeschool

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:

Cabbage Roll Casserole

In the craft basket:
a scarf

Looking forward to this week:

My daughter's first dance class tonight.

No words needed (favorite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

On my mind:

For Happy Homemaker Monday join Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom