This Week's Menu:

Monday: take the youngest clothes shopping, buy groceries for week, clean bathrooms (yea, right, I'll get all of those things done in one day)

Pasta! Night!

This should be interesting...pasta with fried bologna (gotta use it up - leftover from camping), peas, alfredo sauce.

salad with iceberg lettuce that's been sitting in fridge for 3 weeks, cucumber from garden, celery, and garden tomatoes

Tuesday: take the daughter and friend's daughters to the mall day (includes driving all over the state and getting exhausted and spending mega bucks on lunch out for everyone), clean kitchen (bwahaahaa).

Parents choice: chicken & millet burritos (Family Circle), frozen veggies that are good for you from BJ's.

Kids: help yourself to popcorn chicken, pizza bites, whatever, ItookyoutothemallandI'mnotdoinganythingmoreforyoutonight.

Wednesday: youth night, therefore do I really think I will make this fantabulous meal and put it in the oven to keep warm? We'll see...

grilled marinated pork chops

mashed potatoes

zucchini

maybesomecarrotstickssothekidswilleatavegetable

Thursday: piano until 5 pm, therefore something I can pick up at the store and make relatively quickly:

hamburgers (use rolls that are in the freezer) with sauteed onions & mushrooms (adults - what-do-you-think-my-kids-will-eat-that?)

corn on the cob

green beans

Friday: move the oldest into the dorm day!!! Pizza?

Saturday: go to nephews birthday party. sister in law better feed us. (she will)

Sunday: church and court of honor

crock pot chicken soup (made with chicken in the freezer)

rolls, if I take them out in time to thaw/rise

Another week done. Phew.

This Week's Menu:

Friday: Chili Beans with Rice

green beans

salad

Saturday: spaghetti

salad

garlic bread

Sunday: crock pot chicken

peas

zucchini

egg noodles

Monday: hamburgers

macaroni salad

corn on the cob

Tuesday: grilled sausage

potatoes

cole slaw

green beans

Wednesday: refrigerator/freezer potluck (whatever we can find!)

Thursday - Saturday: camping! (no menu yet)

Cleaning Schedule

Wow, this blog has certainly been neglected...a cleaning schedule, never had one. Actually, I have had the following schedule for what is going on 2 years but never actually followed it. Now that I am trying to take control of my life, I thought I would give it a try, and time how long it takes me to do each task, because, as I have suspected, so far it doesn't take nearly as long as I think it does. (I will be updating as I do it.)

Daily (sans Sunday)
Vacuum downstairs (35 minutes)
Sweep & wipe bathrooms
Wipe down kitchen counters
Clean kitchen sink

Monday
Laundry load
Plan meals for week
Make grocery list
Quick dust downstairs (main floor)
Wash kitchen floor (20 minutes)

Tuesday
Laundry load
Clean out/wipe down fridge (before garbage man comes)
Grocery shop
Prep food

Wednesday
Quick dust downstairs
Dust & Vacuum bedrooms
Wash/change sheets

Thursday
Clean all bathrooms
Laundry load

Friday
Polish furniture
Wipe windows/glass surfaces

Saturday
Laundry load

Sunday
Enjoy my clean house

Learn From My Mis-steaks

Sorry, I couldn't help it...

If anyone from my neck of the woods wants to blame me for the rain we had yesterday, go right ahead.

You see, I bought steaks to cook on the grill (filet mignon, no less).

That just about guarantees rain.

So, I broiled them in my oven.

The Uh Oh:

I sprayed Pam on my broiler pan, and as the steaks broiled, the Pam proceeded to smoke and burn.

The steaks were great, but the smoke was not necessary (nor was the cleanup - I had more important things to do: play Sorry with my son and eat ice cream).

The Ah Ha

From now on, I will spray the meat instead of the broiler.

Problem solved.

I finally made it to the Connecticut Natural Food Mart

and here is what I got for $46.26

Not included in this picture but included in the total spent was

2 bottles of Nesquick chocolate milk (helper rewards)

One large tomato

One large green pepper

It doesn't seem like a lot of food for $46 does it.

Food is so expensive.

But this is a great deal for this area.

For example, the cucumbers were $0.33 each.

The tomatoes were $0.89 per pound.

Was the savings enough to warrant the gas a used to get there and back?

Here's the thing.

This stuff is FRESH.

Do you see all of those green beans?

They are GREEN. And spotless.

The green beans in my local grocery store were faded and "banged up".

From one head of romaine and one head of red leaf lettuce, I got a huge bowl of greens (and I tore them in small pieces).

For lunch I had a sandwich with one slice of turkey on whole wheat bread with some mayo (can't give up the mayo) and sliced green pepper and tomato.

The pepper was so crispy. The veggies were so yummy.

I cut up part of a cucumber tonight. It was so crispy and fresh. Much better than what I am getting in the grocery stores around here.

I say it was worth the trip.

Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit

I bought a new pressure cooker yesterday. I already have one but this one is narrower so it fits on my stove's burner, is heavier, and has more safety features. It also cost less than half of what I paid for the first one. I paid $30 at BJ's for this one:




I justified my purchase by deciding that since we do not want to eat as much meat, and my husband went to all of the trouble to fix our freezer, and my mother in-law gave me a Foodsaver, I would cook dried beans and freeze them for future use. Canned beans have sodium and do cost more, even if they are much cheaper than filet mignon.

So it is on its maiden voyage now. And I'm not sure if I am using it right. Fortunately, if it doesn't turn out right, I have wasted less than a dollar's worth of chick peas, as opposed to $15 worth of filet mignon.

The steam is barely escaping the pressure release valve. The burner is on low (or nearly low). But that's what the instructions were. So we will see. I am checking after an hour of cooking because when it got going the pressure was really high and I am hoping I don't run out of water. If it looks okay it has to go another 20 minutes. This is without prior soaking.

I know I can also use a crockpot and then I don't need to babysit it, but who wants a crock pot on all day in the summer? Besides, this is less electricity.

My hour is up and I am letting the pressure decrease on its own. I don't like running cold water over the pot, it just goes against my grain.

I love chick peas. Of course I love canned chick peas with the sodium, but I'm hoping I learn to adjust. I've been making a salad out of my dinners lately. I used to do this when I was on Weight Watchers. I'm not losing weight because I am not doing the other things I need to do, such as not eat junk food, but it's a start!

Anyway, for example, yesterday I baked chicken breasts and made rice, peas, and a salad. So, I filled my plate with a layer of salad, sprinkled on some rice, peas, and cut up chicken. Topped with two tablespoons of dressing.

Once the salad warmed up just slightly and the cooked food cooled down to lukewarm, it was absolutely delicious.

I have leftovers for dinner tonight.

Guess what else I discovered?

This is good stuff. Full of chocolaty flavor, but not full of fat. (Still has calories though...)

It was on sale this week, will have to buy more before next week!


Checked my chick peas. They still need more time to cook, but there was plenty of water, so I am starting up the pressure cooker again for another 20 minutes. I think that's all it will need because they were edible (and not bad considering there is no salt).

Tomorrow my goal is to finally make it to the natural food store. I also want to make black beans in the pressure cooker and make a salad with the black beans and leftover chicken for dinner. I will have to buy the black beans though. That's one thing I do not have in storage.

One thing I want to try this summer but haven't yet: smoothies. I have some (over)ripe bananas in the freezer just waiting for their moment in the spotlight.

I also want to grind up some of my white wheat at my mother's house (she has an electric grinder, I just have a hand held one that I have never used) and bake some cookies etc.

Some day I will try baking bread, but right now I am not that motivated because it is summer. My mother in-law offered me her bread maker and I turned her down. I am kicking myself now.

Enough rambling for one day.

Afterthought

Next time I will soak my beans first, which should cut the cooking time by about 1/3. Why use all that electricity?

Week of July 20th 2009

Monday

S pent: BJ's $71.88, Olivers $73.35

B reakfast: chocolate chip pancakes
L unch: sandwiches, frozen pizza (everyone gets their own)
D inner: sea scallops, marinated, skewered, & grilled (something different)
rice & orzo
grilled carrots & zucchini
green salad

C ost cutting: used romaine hearts in salad instead of bagged, pre-washed. grated own carrots instead of buying grated carrot. Bought sea scallops and Newman's dressing on sale.

Tuesday

S pent: $0 Weekly Total: $145.23

B reakfast: chocolate donuts (healthy, I know. It was a summertime treat)
L unch: sandwiches (everyone gets their own)
D inner: baked chicken breasts with Parmesan cheese
basmati rice
peas
green salad

C ost cutting: used up greens, chicken breasts bought in bulk, rice on hand. Donuts purchased at warehouse store instead of Dunkin Donuts

Wednesday

S pent: $9.92 Weekly Total: $155.15

B reakfast: cereal, leftover donuts
L unch: sandwiches, spaghettios (everyone gets their own)
D inner: leftovers for some of us, Taco Bell for others. Oh, well.

C ost cutting: leftovers!

Thursday

Spent: $46.26 at the Natural Food Store and $14.63 at my local grocery store Weekly Total: $216.04

Breakfast: bagel, cereal, leftover pancakes (everyone fended for themselves)

Lunch: sandwiches, spaghettios

Dinner: frozen pizzas, hot dogs, black bean & chicken salad, corn on the cob

Cost Cutting: used leftover chicken from Tuesday for the salad

Friday

Spent: $0 Weekly Total: $216.04

Breakfast: leftover pancakes, cereal, cooked granola

Lunch: sandwiches, spaghettios (got to get Patrick to eat more variety)

Dinner: leftover pork tenderloin from the freezer, green beans, egg noodles w/ gravy, green salad

Cost Cutting: using leftovers

Saturday

Spent: $8.46 at Dunkin Donuts (an emotional reaction) Weekly Total: $224.50

Breakfast: donuts etc

Lunch: sandwiches, spaghettios

Dinner: