Thursday 3/25 "Frozen pizza"

Two frozen pizzas. Total cost: $7.00. I am feeling the effects today! My family can put that stuff away! And NOT good for us!

Wednesday 3/24 "Lenten series at Church"

We had Soup and Salad at the church. I really appreciate the delicious soups and salads that are made and brought each week!

Tuesday 3/23 "I got nothing"

A shameful free for all at my house.

Monday 3/22 "Birthday Dinner"

We were invited to a dear friends house for dinner. I must get the recipe from her! We had BBQ meatballs and tons of delicious vegetables!

Sunday 3/21 Chili Bowls

This is a Rachael Ray recipe. Hungarian-style Chili with Polenta.

• 1 lb ground meat ($2.98)
• 1 red pepper (chopped) ($1.68)
• 1 onion (chopped) ($1.00)
• 4 cloves garlic (minced) ($0.33)
• 1 tblsp each of chili powder and paprika (already stocked)
• 1 tsp oregano (already stocked)
• 1/8 c. tomato paste ($0.98)
• 1 quart beef stock ($2.99)
• 1 c. chicken stock ($2.99)
• 1 c. milk (already stocked)
• 1 c. quick-cooking polenta ($2.99)
• 1 tblsp butter (already stocked)
• 1 c. shredded gouda ($5.98)

Brown meat. Add chopped pepper, onion, and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add spices, tomato paste, and salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Add beef stock. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. In separate pot, heat chicken stock and milk together. When boiling, add polenta and turn off heat. When polenta sets up, add cheese and butter. Serve with polenta in the bottom of the bowl and pour chili over the top.

Total cost for this meal: $22.00. The kids didn't like it, but my hubby, brother and his wife did. The polenta added a nice texture and taste to the chili. It was snowing, so it was a perfect dish. The gouda was a splurge, but totally worth it! so delish!

Saturday 3/20 "Good 'Ole Sandwiches"

I was tired and we had sandwiches. Turkey and cheese. Sorry not more exciting.

"This is WHY I need this blog" Friday 3/19

So, if I feel tired at all, it is soooo easy to cave in and eat out. I can't afford it, but I do it anyway! My brother and sister-in-law came into town last night and I totally planned on cooking! It was 8 before we got in and I was just tired. We rented movies so I decided to get "snacky" food. Frozen taquitos, cheesesticks, queso, chips, and chex mix, and oreos. There is no way to excuse that. It was expensive and bad for you. But we had fun!

Article I found on saving money when shopping for groceries:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_fourteen-ways-to-trim-the-fat-from-your-food-bill_1497525.bc?showAll=true

Thursday 3/18 "It's a weird week"

It is our spring break, so there have been some anomalies this week. We went to Allen last night to visit with friends. We had dinner at "Uncle Julios" and it was pretty good. They got the kids' orders out immediately--I was very happy with that. However, this was a major splurge for us. $41.08 without tip for 2 adult dinners and 2 child dinners. It was good, but I need to get back on the healthy track! My brother and his wife are coming into town Friday, so I will be cooking 3 good meals for us this weekend. Stay tuned!

Wednesday 3/17 "The Luck of the Irish"

We are not really Irish (maybe somewhere in there!) but we have a meeting at our church on Wednesday nights during Lent and they serve supper. I will say, we did get a soup and salad so that is good for us! However, I did decide on key lime pie (it's green!) and a brownie for dessert, so I guess it's a wash! The girls got sandwiches made from home (they eat earlier than supper is served).

Tuesday 3/16 "Mom still in town"

My mom is still in town so she ordered us pizzas from Papa Murphy's. Quite delicious, not really nutritious! :) This is not the natural order of things but I will take a freebie when I can get it!

Monday 3/15 Meatball Subs

Meatball Sub Sandwiches
This recipe is based loosely on a recipe in Parenting magazine.

• 1 pkg frozen meatballs ($5.28)
• 1 jar marinara sauce ($1.86)
• Sandwich baguettes ($1.50--Manager's special :))
• Shredded mozzarella cheese (previously purchased and used in Rigatoni)

Throw meatballs and marinara in a pan and heat through on stove. Cut open bread and fill with meatballs and sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese and heat under broiler until cheese in bubbly. We liked this and it created plenty of leftovers. Because the meatballs are frozen, they don't all need to be prepared at once. We had guests and I needed to make it all at once. Total cost for this dinner: $8.64. One caveat: Not really healthy in the slighest. At least I didn't butter the bread!

Sunday 3/14 Rigatoni

Rigatoni
This recipe is loosely based on a recipe I found in Parenting magazine.

• 1 lb Rigatoni pasta ($1.00)
• 1 lb Ground meat ($2.98)
• 1-26 oz container of Marinara sauce (Ragu--$1.86)
• 1 small container of chopped black olives ($1.16)
• 1 1/2 c. part-skim ricotta cheese (2c. approx. $2.34)
• 1/2c. shredded mozzarella cheese (2c. bag--$1.96)

Boil pasta. Cook ground meat in a little olive oil if you have it. I also added a little minced garlic and oregano and basil that I already had in the fridge/pantry. The recipe originally called for spicy italian sausage, but I made it this way (easier and cheaper for me). Add olives and marinara. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Add ricotta and stir to combine. Transfer to baking dish and top with mozzarella. Place under broiler until cheese bubbles.

The verdict: Once again, my kids and husband loved it! I told them it was spaghetti. They didn't even notice the olives! Total cost to make was approx. $11.00. I served this with some buttered toast under the broiler. This recipe left about 1/3 in leftovers. My son is completely on table foods, so we eat A LOT. A smaller family would have at least 1/2 left over, if not more. FYI: Sunday night is usually sandwiches, muffins and eggs and cereal, or leftovers. I only cook ONE meal a day!

Saturday 3/13 "Get out of jail free" card

Okay. So, my mom is in town visiting my grandparents. We went to their house for dinner. We had hot dogs. I didn't pay a dime. :)

Friday 3/12 Chicken Cobb Salad

Grocery store day. We go once a week either Friday or Saturday. I plan 7 meals each week. Here we go:

Chicken Cobb Salad
This recipe is loosely based on a recipe from Parenting magazine.

• 1 head of leaf lettuce ($1.88)
• 1/2 pkg precooked, cubed chicken (approx. $3.50--splurge!)
• half a can of corn (approx.$0.89 per can)
• 1 medium sized tomato (approx. $1.00)
• 6 strips of turkey bacon (1 pkg is $2.24)
• 1 ripe avocado ($0.64)
• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar (2 c. bag is $2.12)
• dressing of your choice ($1.50)

Place bacon on a napkin on a plate. Microwave for 5 minutes or until crisp. Break into small pieces. Chop lettuce, tomato, and avocado. Place chicken and corn in a bowl and heat for 1 minute. Mix all ingredients in bowl with cheese. Serve with favorite dressing.

The verdict: Total cost to make was approx. $14.00. I listed cost based on total product, not percentage of what I used. When I use the rest of these ingredient in future recipes this week (corn, chicken, cheese) I will not count the cost since it has already been purchased and total cost listed in this first recipe. This was super easy to make and quite delicious. I felt it was healthy because of the tomato and avocado and lettuce. Plus, I bought low-fat dressing and used turkey bacon with very little fat. I will make it again. FYI, my kids and husband did eat this and liked it. I served it to my kids with Mandarin orange slices on the side. We ate every last bit of it--even my 10 month old liked it!