Menu Plan Monday

I am only including dinners this week for Menu Plan Monday. Our breakfasts and lunches are usually grab and go and don't change much from week to week, so I will spare you the boring details. I will, however, include recipes, for the non- obvious items, like Spaghetti. Feel free to copy and paste any you like to your own word document.


Monday- Chicken and Broccoli Casserole, Salad, Garlic Bread
Recipe:
Broccoli and Chicken Casserole
4 oz. dried med. egg noodles
2 c. chopped cooked chicken
1 10 oz package chopped broccoli, thawed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. Swiss cheese, shredded
1 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp. pepper
Paprika

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain well.
2. In a 2-qt. casserole stir together noodles, chicken, and broccoli.
3. In a medium mixing bowl stir together soup, milk, cheese, basil, and pepper. Stir into noodle mixture.
4. Bake, covered, in a 350 oven for 40-45 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with paprika.

This recipe also freezes well, so make a double batch!

Tuesday- Crockpot Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Rolls
Recipe:
Crockpot Chicken
3-4 frozen chicken breasts
Paprika
No salt chicken seasoning, like Mrs. Dash
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 can Campbell's Turkey gravy, or the like

Sprikle seasonings over chicken breasts. Add soy sauce and gravy.
Cook in crockpot for 4 hours on high, or 7-8 hours on low.

Wednesday- Chicken Enchiladas, mexican rice, black beans
Recipe: (from Lisa, gypsygirl, on Here Comes The Stork)
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into pieces
16oz sour cream
16oz shredded cheese, divided in half
1 can cream of chicken soup
10" flour tortillas

Warm soup and sour cream on stove. Keep a little bit aside to top enchiladas before baking. Add chicken to mixture, add 1/2 cheese to mix. Spoon into flour tortillas and roll up into enchiladas, place in baking dish. Cover with rest of sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Thursday- Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread

Friday- Sandwiches (hubby works late)

Saturday- BBQ Pork Sandwiches, Baked Beans, Corn on the Cob
Recipe:
BBQ Pork Sandwiches
4 lb. Pork Roast, or tenderloin
1 can Beef broth
1 small bottle of BBQ sauce. I use Sweet Baby Ray's.

Put roast in crockpot and cover with beef broth. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
Reove roast and trasfer to a 11x13 casserole dish. With two forks, shred the meat. Cover with BBQ sauce and cook for 30 minutes in a 350 oven. Serve on hamburger buns.

Sunday- grilled burgers, leftover baked beans, and salad

Menu Planning

Since tomorrow is "Menu Plan Monday" I thought I would post a link to the printable menu planner I use, every week. I had a hard time finding a plan that worked for me so I hope this helps a few of you.

Of course when I plan my menu for the week, I always check to see what I have on hand. For example, this week I have 2 packages of ground beef, but only 1 chicken breast, which is all cooked, and in my freezer. I know I only need 1 cooked chicken breast for things like pizza or a casserole. I also have a block of swiss cheese in the freezer and egg noodles in the pantry. So, one night I will make chicken and broccoli casserole. All I have to buy for dinner that night is a package of frozen broccoli. I also have an extra lasagna and chicken enchilada casserole in the freezer that I made the last time I made those 2 dishes. Suddenly, my reduced grocery budget for the week doesn't seem so daunting.

Check under 'Sites I Love' for the link to the 'Printable Menu Planner'.

I'm baaaack.....

I know I said I would be checking in but we had a terrible internet connection while we were gone. And we were super busy. And I actually slept past 9am. WooHoo! We had such a great time. We did go out to eat one time but it was after we had to leave the theme park b/c of rain. Every ride was shut down, not to mention it was cold and wet. So we saved the ticket money, and went to lunch and to ride go-carts and play mini-golf.

My vacation tips for anyone planning a frugal vacation
1. Go somewhere close enough to drive in one day. Duh.

2. Stay somewhere with a full kitchen. I know, it costs more. But not that much more. And trust me, it is worth having enough space for everyone to spread out and you can COOK!
3. Prepare your meal plan before you leave home. Prepare and freeze meals, like lasagna. You can pack it in an ice chest. If you have a good ice chest, it will still be frozen, even 8 hours later. Make sure you plan breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. If you don't bring enough food you may as well not bring any at all.
4. If you must eat out, go get ice cream! This saved us every night. Most tourists towns have a mom and pop ice cream shop. The nostalgia of an old time soda fountain is not lost on children. We went to a different one each night and only spent around $10 each time. MUCH cheaper than feeding a family of four, 3 meals a day.
5. Look and ASK for coupons. I incorporated our back to school shopping into this trip since the town had an outlet mall. We had gotten a travel guide at the gas station, free. Inside there was a coupon for a free coupon book, regularly $5, to the outlet mall. When I got Peyton's clothes, I asked the cashier if they had any coupons in the book. They didn't. So I asked if she had any coupons laying around. She said "Well, I have a 15% off. Would that be okay?" OKAY? That would be so awesome!! Just by asking, I saved over $20. With the coupon book I saved $10 off $50 when I bought Madison's clothes, 10% off hubby's clothes. Just by paying attention to the free travel guide I saved almost $50 on stuff I was going to buy anyway.
Then when we went to play mini-golf, in small type at the bottom of the score card was a coupon for free ice cream to the winner of the round. Savings: $4.75!

That's all the tips I have for now. I hope it helps some of you. I know it is late in the season for summer vacations but these are good tips for any season of travel. What tips do you have for a frugal vacation?

Menu Plan Monday- Vacation Edition

We are living for vacation tomorrow! Hooray! Hubby won the trip from work so that means we got a free-ish vacation. The condo we are staying in has a full kitchen so I am cooking as if we were at home, to save money. Second, there is a theme park nearby that has a 2-day special. If you go the first day after 3pm, you get the second day free. And kids under 4 are free. Hopefully we will create some good family memories and not break the bank. I cooked like a crazy woman today and tried to prepare as much here as possible, so I don't have to take a lot with me. And then I filled the freezer. Wheeee! I think I may start cooking meals and freezing them once a month. I feel so accomplished! I'm starting with Tuesday b/c it's after midnight on Monday.

Tuesday
Breakfast- cereal
Lunch- Picnic lunch (we're hoping we can find a nice rest stop so the kids can run around)
Dinner- Lasagna, salad, garlic bread

Wednesday
Breakfast- poptarts (CVS freebie)
Lunch- Turkey sandwiches and Spaghetti O's
Dinner- Lemon Garlic Chicken, rice, green beans, garlic bread

Thursday
Breakfast- granola bars
Lunch- Tuna salad sandwiches, lunchables for the girls
Dinner- Chicken enchiladas, rice, black beans, corn

Friday
Breakfast- yogurt
Lunch- (on the road)
Dinner- Homemade pizza, salad

Lots of snacks for vacation! I would love to not spend ANYTHING on food.
moo tubes, granola bars, bagels,
nutty bars, homemade cookies, strawberrys,
grapes, carrot sticks, mini donuts,
mandarin oranges, cucumbers,
chips, krispy treats,
popsicles, & crackers

I will try to check in while we're gone. Have a good week!

FREE Professional Haircare

One thing that I really have a love/hate relationship is the price of hair care. I love to go to the salon for a cut and color, and grown up conversation. Then I have to pay.......EEK! Dave Ramsey would be so ashamed. To make matters worse, they want me to come back in 6 weeks. Well my friends, I may have discovered the greatest thing since hair color in a box, which I can NOT do. Hubby and I and the girls were at the mall today (I went to pick up a book that I had ordered with the Borders $5 off code) when I walked past Regis and noticed a sign. It said something about hair models, blah blah, inquire inside. The nice lady told me that they use 'hair models' to teach new techniques to their staff. This time they are doing foiling highlights, any color you choose, free of charge. Since I was the first to sign up, the instructor will be doing my hair. I don't know how often they do this but I'm hoping to get on some sort of list so they can call me when they need a model. I will let you all know how it turns out and if I get any more info the day of the services. Wish me luck and call your local salon!

Popsicles for breakfast?

In my quest to be the coolest Mom ever I let the girls help me make these today. Actually, I was reading FishMama's blog and felt guilty for being so grumpy the past few days. My girls LOVE to help me cook. I think it's because I'm usually OCD when it comes to cooking. Anyway, we went to Target, got the ingredients and made the pops. Peyton wants a pudding pop at least 2 or 3 times a day. I was watching Martha Stewart this morning and she made these popsicles. With the ingredients, I would let Peyton have these for breakfast or snack time. They are in the freezer now. Hopefully they turn out.

1 1/2 c. organic yogurt (I used vanilla, Martha used plain)
3 tbsp sugar
2-3 ripe bananas
1 c. fresh blueberries
1/2 lemon's juice

Puree the peeled bananas in food processor. Add yogurt, sugar, lemon juice. Puree again. Add blueberries and quickly puree. (You want the blueberries to stay a bit in tact, like in muffins.) Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze for 8 hours.

They are basically just frozen smoothies. My kids don't like bananas so I used some frozen strawberries and peaches. We buy the gigantic bag of Dole frozen diced fruit at Sam's. It doesn't have any sugar added so it's great for smoothies and such.

Fun with Friends-on the cheap!

Whenever we are feeling the pinch of our budget, I sometimes feel like "Whoa is me, I get to have no fun". Then I have a game night. I've only done this a couple of times but it really is a lot of fun. There are a few of us that get together at one house (we try to alternate) and eat dinner and play games. This would be perfect for couples but we usually just have ladies. It's great to sit around with friends and relax and chat. It's also great because we don't have to hire a sitter (the kids come and play together or stay home with Daddy), we don't have an expensive food tab (the host cooks dinner, something cheap and easy), and it is lots of fun!
I read over at www.moneysavingmom.com about a cooking club. I think this is a great idea! Basically, a group a friends get together once a month and trade frozen dishes. You would make enough dishes for everyone to take one (i.e. 8 friends, 8 dishes). This would really fun if you incorporated themes, like Mexican food in May, pie in November, cookies in December, etc. I will definitely be working on my friends to start a cooking club.
What ways do you have "grown-up" fun on the cheap? We are always talking about how to entertain our kids for less but us parents need some fun too! Post your comments so we can all learn from your ideas!