If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Cooking rut to a plan

I read Countrified Hicks  very thought out and organized one month menu she posted.  Our meals have been hit and miss during this busy and hot summer.  We have eaten tacos from the freezer, chef salads, homemade pizza, sandwiches- those easy last minute meals- too often this summer.  I am ready for more cooking and more interesting food.
So I took the hint from Countrified Hicks and then looked on my cooking board on Pinterest and picked out enough recipes to keep us fed, I think through most of September.  I don't have to cook every night, because when I do cook a recipe for just husband and me,  there are usually leftovers for at least one more meal and sometimes more.  We are happy with leftovers too.

Here is my plan - in no particular order- except we are having the Shrimp Creole tonight.
I picked recipes and meals that we have most of the ingredients for, either in the pantry or the freezer.

1. chicken and vegetable hand pies with gravy from a mix and a green salad
2. Cheesy bowtie pasta with added veggies like broccoli, mushrooms, bell peppers and pepperocini, green salad and French bread
3. Hamburger helper night
4. Copy Cat ranch beans with corn bread and cole slaw
5. Korean Been Lettuce Wraps with rice and a green salad
6. Baked Chicken Tenders with baked onion rings and brussel sprouts
7. Farmers Pork Chops, oven roasted carrots and green salad
8. Salsa Verde Chicken, green salad, chips and salsa
9. Smoked pork loin with baked potatoes and roasted cabbage wedges
10. Chicken Almond, green beans and green salad
11. Chicken Lightly Seasoned with fried okra and green salad
12. Beef barley soup- the recipe makes a lot, I make cut it half this first time
13. Crock pot chicken enchilada soup
14. Crumb coated cod-or whatever fish I buy at Aldis- filets with cole slaw and corn
15. Shrimp Creole with rice and a green salad
16.  Beef tips in the crockpot with rice or noodles, green peas and green salad
17. Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings, more green salad and broccoli

Yes- we eat a lot of salad.  Husband loves a big salad to start every meal, or at least 5 times a week.

I also want to try baking some new things
1. Custard Slices - from the Great British Bake Off television show (I love watching British shows on Roku)
2. Almond Tarts
3. Cherry Almond pound cake

sorry, no direct links to these recipes,  but all of them are on my Pinterest cooking board if you want to see them.  I hope to blog and review them as I cook them too

Have you got some Pins you want to try out?  

23 comments:

  1. We do a weekly menu and a weekly shopping list. It *really* helps keep food costs down. We post the menu on the fridge door so everyone can see what's coming up.

    Good luck with your plan. The recipes sound great!



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  2. What a great idea!! I am going to try to follow your board, not sure how the heck to do it. Ha

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  3. I'm with Marica. We have done the monthly menu plan and monthly shopping. For us, it really was much more expensive. So, we are back to weekly shopping and planning. I use the leftovers up much more now, instead of them getting tossed out.

    I also do not spend all that time on couponing and CVS'ing' and such. I understand that works for a lot of folks, but driving everyday just to use up those points, or whatever they are called just does not make sense. Maybe because here in CA. we pay close to $4.00 a gallon (regular) and have for ages. One station in Yucaipa had an ongoing price of $4.79 for regular...ouch. We are excited right now as gas for us is $3.79 a gallon (regular). Nothing is free if one has to pay for gas to get there to purchase said free item. Our local grocery is only 1.5 miles away with the local farm stand along the way, so trying to shop there mostly, as we can not walk to shopping like we could in Yucaipa.

    No pinning here. Blogging takes up alot of my time, not to mention the news....yes, I enjoy reading the news.
    blessings, jill
    ps. glad to see you all eat alot of chicken, Nature Dude is always asking me, 'where's the beef?'

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    1. Nature Dude should of been here for the crockpot beef, it was very beefy, we like beef but we eat chicken and fish and no meat meals often too.
      The new Aldi is just a 5 minute drive from my home. I am saving so much money and time with it so close and so cheap.
      About coupons, I go to Cvs maybe 2-3 times a month and also to Walmart about that many. My town is small and our gas is about $3.45 I think. I clocked my miles when I did multiple errands last week at Walmart, Aldis, post office, a thrift store and the bank, my round trip was only 7.9 miles.
      Finding the best way to shop all depends on where you live and what stores are available to you.

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  4. That's great that you all like to eat so much salad! I usually eat more salad and veggies than meat since it's healthier for me. I have to get back to meal planning. I do so much better with my budget and time management when I have my meals planned out.

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    1. Manuela, I like salad but husband loves salad. I sometimes think we eat it too often, but salad is easy and quick to make.
      Meal planing does help with time management as well, you don't have to spend all that time everyday wondering what you are going to cook

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  5. That sounds great! I think we all get into ruts once in a while! You have some great choices there! We usually have leftovers, too, and we love them. And of course, the cook especially loves leftover night!

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  6. I just planned a monthly dinner menu for September and did almost the whole month's shopping yesterday. (Still will get fresh eggs through the month and am waiting on a good sale for chicken which should be coming around again in a week or two.)

    Your menu looks great! I got a huge bag of romaine at Sam's so we'll be eating a lot of salad and lettuce wraps too!

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    1. I like those big bags Sams romaine!
      We get our chicken from a small processor that delivers it to out town about once a month or so, it is really good chicken and raised on a smaller scale.

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  7. Great idea! I try to make a weekly meal plan but I usually always change my mind. I like your idea of just a list of meals you could make. i love using pinterest. i will check out your boards!

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  8. You are great with planning out all these meals. I'm usually a more fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants gal when it comes to dinners. It depends on my mood (what I have a taste for AND if I feel like doing a simple of more complicated dinner)and what items we have in the house. I have so many recipes pinned to Pinterest...and yes, I've tried quite a few of them! :-)

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  9. Love your blog name. Great ideas on the menus too. New follower from Let's Get social Sunday. Have a great week

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  10. Can I come over for dinner? All of these sound so great. Hope you have a great day.

    Heidi’s Wanderings

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    Replies
    1. You sure can, we usually eat kind of early, about 5 p.m. :)

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  11. My husband and I eat a huge salad most everyday for lunch. It's definitely a meal in a bowl :)

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  12. Good morning, I love the picture of you and your mom.

    I am a new follower from teh Let's Get Social Sunday Bloghop, following via GFC

    I would love it if you would following me back at http://butterflyintheattic.blogspot.com/2013/09/inspirational-sunday-party-laughter-is.html

    I also have a cute little web shop at www.PostcardsInTheAttic.com and would appreciate it if you could stop by and give it some TLC.

    Blessings
    Colleen

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  13. Hi! Love the picture of you and your mom. Great post, too! Love your blog. Stopping by and following from Let's Get Social! Have a wonderful week. :)

    Kathy
    www.lifeonlakeshoredrive.com

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  14. Great picture!! You have a wonderful blog!! I'm your newest GFC follower from the “Let’s Get Social Sunday“ blog hop - this is my blog if you wanted to follow back: godsgrowinggarden.com
    Thanks
    Angie
    PS – I would also like to invite you to a blog hop called: “The Great Blog Train” currently live on my blog –we are also having a Giveaway this month! Thank you! Great Blog Train

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  15. Hi I love your blog and I love nostalgic picture. It adds such a personal touch to a blog. I found you on let's get social. Thanks for co hosting

    nikki
    www.thefitfoot.blogspot.com

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  16. Hi there, Rhonda! I'm your newest follower from Let's Get Social Sunday. I get stuck in a rut with dinners a lot too. Sounds like you have a good plan going for the rest of this month ;-) I'd love for you to come visit me at Posed Perfection sometime. I co-host a link party on Thursdays call All Things Thursday Blog Hop with 3 other blogs and would love for you to link up some of your projects/recipes. Hope to see you there!
    Blessings,
    Nici

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  17. Thanks for linking back to me. Your menu sounds great!

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  18. Love your blog! Great photo of you and your Mom!
    Stopping by from "Lets Get Social Sunday"! =)

    Melissa

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