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.