Cooking like my Grandma

Caution - if typos bother you, then just pass on this post.  I'm doing it on an iPad and the app has a mind of its own but I can't go to our desktop right now and I'd rather just post, flaws and all, instead of wait until I have the opportunity to do it differently.

below is my version of a meal that I enjoyed so many times in the past, cooked by both my Grandma and my mom.  It's round steak, lightly floured and pan fried with mashed potatoes and gravy and homemade buns.  My grandma served fried steak for breakfast with biscuits and gravy most every morning.  I am well aware nutritionist would be aghast at this but Grandma lived to 99 and Grandpa lived to 89.  They also ate homemade pie everyday 😄

No pie for us,  And that plate of steak fed my husband and I as well as my parents 3 meals.  

It was so good too! 

We've also had bkackeyed peas cooked in the crockpot and banana muffinins baked in a stoneware muffin pan.

I baked double batches of sandwich buns twice 

And a double recipe of raisin bread once.  

I used my grandparents recipe and let my Zojirushi bread machine do all the mixing- it's not much work this way, and just requires some tending to and shaping, then I bake the buns in a regular oven. 

They all get sliced and stored in bags in the freezer until we need them.  

I share some with my parents and whoever is eating with us.  

CVS shopping for this week and last week- I'm sorry I don't have breakdowns and the receipt photos but I can tell you I spent very little and got back plenty in CVS extracarebucks for the next shopping trip. 

We had the pleasure of spending lots of time with our grandchildren over the last week. 

Below is a professional photo of almost 5 year old Andie and her 6 month old brother, RJ.  They have a 1 year old sister, Charlie, but she didn't want to be in this picture.  

And here are all 8 of our precious grands- and it is obviously not a professional photo,  but we love it too.  

I am doing this post on my iPad and the text keeps jumping around so I apologize if it is formatted in a weird way.
But it's just a blog post -


This afternoon. I had some time to myself and spent 3 hours shopping.  I hardly ever shop this long but the weather was beautiful and I really enjoyed it.
I hope to post tomorrow and show you all my purchases.  It's quite an assortment.  

Free magazines, for real!

I do a short survey 1 or 2 times a week for RewardSurvey

The surveys take maybe 5 minutes, I've never been disqualified for one, and they are worth $20 in magazine money. 

Different magazines are available at different times.  

Sometimes I cash in right after a survey if there is a magazine I want and sometimes I just leave the rewards in my account, 

I think I've been doing them about 3 months and I now have free year long subscriptions to all these magazines shown above as well as Forbes, New Yorker, Garden & Gun and Real Simple.  

Reward Survey sends me an email about once a week and that's when I do a survey. 

And. No, I don't read all of these but I share them with my family.  

If you like magazines,  try Reward Survey.  

The magazines really do come and they have no charge.  

Real life meals this week and CVS shopping

Some of you asked about how the meal plan is going.  

So far, it's been so easy.  I just look at the list of possible meals and pick one each morning.  

Monday night was a casserole made with chicken and stovetop stuffing and green beans. 

Tuesday night we had grilled chicken,  a big salad and crescent rolls.  

Wednesday , my husband again grilled and below are the steaks.  They were bought at Aldi when all the steaks were half price.  They were a long way from their sell by date so we gave them a try and they were very good.  My husband seasoned them with Mrs Dash.  

I cooked a pan of baked carrots and salted cabbage with onions.  

Wednesday's  meal in the raw

Thursday  we had leftover grilled chicken and steak, with crockpot baked potatoes, canned pinto beans and leftover carrots
.
Baked potatoes are so easy in the crockpot.  I put a small piece of aluminum foil in the bottom, add washed potatoes and then cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 3-ish.  you can wrap each potato if you like, but I don't as I think it is not necessary. 

I also did a little baking on Thursday - a pan of sandwich buns baked with my grandparents recipe

and a  coffeecake for breakfast. 

My dad and grandson really enjoyed coffeecake for a mid morning snack.  

isn't that a sweet photo?  My dad is 85 and Jackson is 21 months. 

Our breakfasts are usually a lot lighter than coffee cake.
One of our favorites is hashbrowned potatoes with Cajun seasoning and fried eggs.

I just peel and grate leftover baked potatoes and sauté them in a nonstick skillet with a little butter and Cajun spice.  Served with an egg and orange juice, it is a really delicious and satisfying breakfast.

this was my plate for Thursday night supper

Friday night, 2 grandsons are here.  Also,  the Inauguration parade was on TV and we really enjoyed watching all the military marching and full dress uniforms.  The college and high school bands were so good too. 

Anyway,  this was a real life meal,  tater tots with melted cheese and pigs in blankets (hot dogs wrapped in dough and baked)   We used Hebrew 97% fat free hot dog wieners and they tasted very good. 

That's a week of meals at our home.  We don't eat fancy and I am obviously not a professional food stylist or photographer. 
We've had reasonably balanced meals and I have not stressed for 1 minute about what to serve. 
I highly recommend using some sort of meal plan, whatever works for your home. 

CVS shopping. 

I started with $18 Extracarebucks from 2016 and a $25 CVS giftcard earned on Swagbucks. 

the total was $69 before deductions. I used newspaper coupons, CVS coupons,  and the extracarebucks and giftcard.  The 2 candies were on 75% clearance. 
I paid .91 cash and got back $16 in Extracarebucks,