Easy, Healthy Lunch

This was my lunch today:
Organic baby spring mix topped with grilled pork tenderloin medallions. Drizzled with new homemade salad dressing. Very fresh and tasty.

The pork tenderloin was grilled last week. I had wrapped it up, freezed it, then thawed, sliced, and warmed it before putting some on my salad greens. It was great.

Afterwards I ate a Reese's peanut butter egg and two peeps that my mom gave me. Hmm.

Anyways...
I was very pleased with my first attempt ever at homemade salad dressing last night. I found this recipe on Passionate Homemaking.

Lindsay calls it Italian Dressing, Kimi calls it Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing, I don't know what I call it, but I like it! It is quite tangy.

1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 t. onion powder I was out so used 1 t. dried minced onion.
2 T. whole grain mustard or dijon type mustard I used regular yellow mustard because that's what we had.
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced I used 3/8 t. garlic powder.
1/2 t. thyme
1/2 t. basil
1 t. salt.
1 pinch Stevia, or 2-4 t. of sugar or natural sweetener I used 2 t. sugar.

Combine all ingredients and mix well before serving.

Menu Plan 3/30/09

I am going to try to cook a roast this week (for the sandwiches) using a recipe from a friend. The last roast I made bombed and I hate wasting meat, so hopefully this time it will turn out better!

Breakfasts:
Oatmeal or Cold Cereal with Milk
Bananas

Lunches:
Roast Beef Sandwiches with Cheese, Lettuce, & Tomato
Carrots
Pears or Tangerines

Dinners:
Monday - Chicken Pot Pie (from the freezer)
Tuesday - Homemade Pizza
Wednesday - Sandwiches or Out to Eat
Thursday - Cheese Ravioli with Sauce, Peas
Friday - ??
Saturday - ??
Sunday - ??

As you can see, I need to go shopping for the second half of the week!

Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie to see more of Menu Plan Monday!

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

...with peas!

I changed my mind about what to make for dinner tonight. I'm feeling like something hot and cheesy but don't have much around. I've decided on this. I have never made this kind of casserole before because they usually don't appeal to me much.

I'm using white rice, made my own condensed cream of chicken soup to use (I didn't have mushrooms), and am using peas instead of broccoli. I am freezing half of the soup mixture since it only calls for 1 cup.

We'll see if we like it!

Ok, we ate more than half of it tonight. It is not as cheesy as I thought, but we liked it and my husband said I could make it again if that means anything!

Grocery Shopping: Our Tips

Here's a quick list of ways that we try to keep our grocery budget in check while simultaneously trying to eat healthy.

1. Use your most abundant resource as well as possible. (We already covered that here.)
2. Be organized at home: menu plan.
3. Know your food budget.
4. Stick to simple recipes.
5. Be organized at the stores: take a list.
6. Know your food prices backwards and forwards!
7. When shopping, purchase ingredients or whole foods.
8. If you are busy (who isn’t?), hold condensed cooking sessions.
9. Be creative, no wasting.
10. Think environmentally friendly.
11. Try going vegetarian.
12. Clip coupons???
13. Always, keep learning!

My husband and I discussed these points in detail in our class. We elaborated on them and gave examples of how these changes add up to big savings!

Another related note... for inspiraton:
My favorite book on money is The Shrewd Christian by Neil Atkinson. I think I like his writing even better than Dave Ramsey's (gasp!) It has great perspective, advice, humor, and is very motivating. I highly recommend it!

Favorite Apple Crisp

I made this twice last week using some flavorful frozen apples from last fall. It is super easy and we love it. Makes 4 servings (or 6 small servings).

4 cups peeled and sliced apples

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 t. cinnamon

Place apples in ungreased 8x8 baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients and crumble over top of apples. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

Visit Tammy for more kitchen tips!

Wal-Mart & Your Resources

Ok, not that I hate Wal-Mart. I just don't enjoy going there. And after watching The Story of Stuff and understanding that someone somewhere is being taken advantage of and paying the true cost for my good deals, I just don't feel as good about those good deals anymore. And knowing that the company is on the list of the "Most Wanted" for human rights violations... well, that makes sense.

But I am not perfect. I do succumb to good deals that are surely just as bad at Target, Old Navy, etc. My vanity wins out and I want something cute for cheap (to me). Those things I buy at those stores are probably from the same foreign sweatshops as Wal-Mart's. So please know that I do still buy stuff like that - I wish I didn't, but I have to confess that or else I am being very hypocritical.

Honestly, when we are talking about food, cleaning supplies, and toiletries, I realize that the foreign sweatshop issue does not apply. Heinz ketchup is made in the same place whether you purchase it at Wal-Mart or another grocery store.

Ok, so what was my point? Oh, I just don't like to support Wal-Mart more than my hometown stores or other stores whose business model I like better. I am kind of idealistic like that. If I have my choice (which I do) I am going to choose my preferred alternatives. If I am choosing where our money is spent, I am going to choose a place that I like.

What are my preferred alternatives? Two local grocery stores, plus Aldi and Costco. That's pretty much where I shop.

What about toiletries? I shop the sales at the grocery stores, which are pretty decent. Last week, I got Colgate for $.99 a tube, Colgate toothbrushes for $1 each, and my husbands name brand antiperspirant for $1.99. I doubt it would have been any cheaper at Wally World. For shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, lotion, and facewash, I buy it at Whole Foods because I am picky about the ingredients. The price has gone up on those, but it is still manageable.

How do I know that shopping around (as I do) is worthwhile? Well, I wrote down everything I purchased for 3 weeks. I made a spreadsheet. I put down the price I paid in one column (sale), and then the full price (non-sale) in another column. If I paid full price, I then compared it to the Wal-Mart price. (Yes, I went to Wal-Mart and wrote down the prices for all those items in order to compare them.)

I had purchased 66 items over that 3 week time period. 22 of those 66 items were on sale. The rest were full price at their respective stores. I had 5 shopping trips, my husband had 1, and I had 1 online purchase for laundry detergent. But all of those trips, save for one, were on my way home from work. So I spent no extra time or money in traveling.

I totaled up the "what I paid" column. I totaled up the "full prices/Wal-Mart prices"column. I calculated the difference between the two columns. I had saved $119.87 by shopping around. That's on 3 weeks of groceries, using 1 coupon. For zero extra time or money spent traveling to these stores, that is totally worth it to me!

Know and utilize your best resource to the max.

Ok, I've discovered that a great asset/resource to me is that I drive by a bunch of good stores and can easily stop in. Obviously, it pays off!

NOW, I know that it is not the same for every family, especially if you are a stay at home mom and your grocery stores are far away. But that is okay. You might have a different resource to utilize.

So think about it: abundant time to plan, creativity in cooking, couponing, having others shop for you, etc.....

What is your best asset or resource that you are taking advantage of, or should be taking advantage of, when it comes to purchasing your family's groceries?

(On a sidenote, if you have to one-stop-shop, and Wal-Mart is the best place for you to do that, make sure you are doing the price-match thing. Take the sale ads from the other grocery stores and let the cashier know you have a price-match for those items.)

Grocery Shopping, Intro.

Over the next week, I will share bits and pieces from the class my husband and I gave last weekend. As nerdy as it may be, it was titled "Frugal Grocery Shopping (Without Sacrificing Your Health)". Here is the introduction...

Stuff you should know about us:

• We eat a lot of food. We are a family of 3 (with another on the way) and we for sure eat at least like a family of 4.
• We don’t eat perfectly, but we try to stay healthy.
• We could probably eat for cheaper if we didn’t care about health.
• We are pleased with our budget and find it is less than what most comparable families that we know spend. (It is $300/month, including cleaning supplies and toiletries.)
• We try to keep things simple and rarely coupon unless it is convenient.
• I'm not an expert on anything other than what works for our family.
• That is what I will share with you. Hopefully you may be inspired and find some ideas to try.
• Our grocery shopping history…

Menu Plan 3/23/09

This past week we ended up travelling over part of the weekend. We ate with family on Saturday and then came home and grilled with friends on Sunday evening. So, the pizza is on the menu again for later this week. I am trying a new recipe on the chicken breasts Monday night - a sauce originally intended for chicken wings - so we'll see how it turns out. I also have made two yummy apple crisps lately (that weren't on the menu) with apples I froze last fall. I'll share that recipe this week. (It is my all-time favorite apple crisp recipe.)

Another quick note: This week I will post some info from the little class my husband and I gave on Saturday regarding how we try to frugally grocery shop without doing a ton of couponing and without going to my not-so-favorite big box supercenter store...

But for right now, here's the menu and then I am going to bed!

Breakfasts:
Oatmeal or Organic Raisin Bran with Milk
Bananas

Lunches:
PB&J Sandwiches or leftovers
Chips
Carrots
Pears or Tangerines

Dinners:
Monday – Chicken Breasts with Honey BBQ Sauce, Salad
Tuesday – leftovers
Wednesday – Sloppy Joes on Homemade Buns, Baked Potato Wedges
Thursday - Homemade Pizza, Salad
Friday - Pork Fried Rice with Veggies
Saturday – leftovers

Sunday - Waffles with Homemade Syrup

Head over to the Organizing Junkie to see others' menu plans for the week!

Research

Today I've been doing research and organzing data. Do you know what I've discovered? (It is better than I've thought all along! Abbe, you'll be glad to hear this...)

We are doing dang well with our grocery budget while never stepping foot into Wal-Mart!

And this is including toiletries, people! And, no, I don't do the CVS or Walgreen's deals on a regular basis.

Part of what I've been doing to prepare for the class I'm giving Saturday (regarding cutting your grocery bills without sacrificing your health) is cost comparisons.

I can't give away anymore details until after Saturday, but let's just say this... if I had bought everything that I've bought, grocerywise (including cleaning supplies and toiletries), over the past 3 weeks of March, exclusively at Wal-Mart, we would have spent OVER $100 MORE than what we've currently spent!

That's all I can divulge for now, there will be more to come in a few days...

Latin-Style Pork and Potatoes

This recipe was in the final edition of our local paper in an article titled "For meat and potato lovers".

Makes 4 servings.

2 t. olive oil
1 pound boneless pork chops, trimmed of visible fat
1 sweet yellow onion, thinly sliced I used red onion.
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/3 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced I used russet.
1/2 c. white wine I used Marsala.
1 c. chicken broth
1/3 t. dried oregano leaves
Minced fresh parsley, optional, for garnish.

Heat oil in 10 inch cast iron or oven proof skillet over medium high heat. Cut chops in half or as needed to make 4 equal servings. Swirl pan to coat evenly with oil. Cook pork about 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove pork and set aside.

Add onion and cook over medium low heat 3 minutes or until just beginning to lightly brown; stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Place pork on top of onion. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and baby leaf. Arrange potato slices around the outside edge of the skillet. Pour wine and broth over all. Sprinkle with oregano. Cover tightly and bake at 375 degrees 20 to 30 minutes or until pork reaches 160 degrees on a meat thermometer and is just slightly pink inside and potatoes are tender.

I wasn't sure if my skillets were oven-safe so I transferred everything to a glass baking dish and covered with foil before baking it. The meat was done before the potatoes, so I removed the meat and foil and then finished the potatoes, onion, and broth in the microwave for about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with minced parsley just before serving. Serve pork with vegetables with broth spooned over each serving.

This recipe has some kick and was a nice change from any other way I've ever had pork chops.

Find more kitchen tips here!

Banana Bread

This is the banana bread I made last week. I will be sticking with this recipe. I like that it has more bananas and less sugar than most other banana bread recipes. (I just need to remember it might need to bake a little longer in my oven.) Thanks, Katie!

Menu Plan 3/16/09

It's Spring Break Week!

Breakfasts:

Oatmeal or Cereal with Milk

Multi-Grain English Muffins with Peanut Butter & Honey

Pears

Lunches:

PB&J or Tuna Sandwiches

Yogurt

Carrots

Apples

Dinners:

Monday - Latin-style Pork and Potatoes (recipe to come), Corn

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Shepherd's Pie

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - Chicken/Pepper/Cheese Quesadillas, Mexican Rice

Saturday - leftovers

Sunday - Homemade Pizza

Snacks:

Lemon Bars

Strawberry Smoothies

Popcorn

Menu Plan Monday is being hosted this week by Erin at $5 Dinners!

Beans & Rice

I made a new recipe last week. It is Beans & Rice. I bet no one's ever done that before, huh? :)

Well, really, I hadn't. And so I experimented. I have always shied away from making beans and rice from scratch before because I thought it was some long, drawn-out process that involved a ham hock or ham bone or something like it that I never have.

Last week, I had unseasoned, previously cooked pinto beans frozen in the freezer (they had been remarkably easy to cook). I had cold, cooked rice in the fridge. I mixed them. Seasoned liberally with taco seasoning. Added some good salsa. Splashed some water in, too. Stirred them up. Microwaved them until piping hot. Ate them with cornbread. Liked them surprisingly well.

Liked them so much, actually, that I made some more this week and stuck the mixture in tortillas with some cheddar cheese and baked them at 350 for 10 minutes. Those were the easy, frugal, bean, rice, and cheese burritos that we ate for dinner two nights this week.

And there are four more burritos frozen in the freezer for a quick lunch or dinner another day!

Maybe not very authentic, but I was pretty pleased with myself.

Food Additives - Ugh

I appreciated this summary by Katie titled 12 Food Additives to Avoid. Read it. It will reinforce why you already try to eat more naturally, or it may encourage you to make even more of an effort to do so. I thought we were doing well, but I want to go check some more food labels right now!

For a more extensive explanation, check out msn health's article (also linked to at the bottom of Katie's post).

My advice? To keep your food budget under control while avoiding these icky substances, cook from scratch as much as possible.

Visit the Green Baby Guide for Thrifty Green Thursday!

Spring Break To-Do List

Spring Break starts tonight! It lasts for the next week and a half. I am excited. (The only bummer is since I won't be working, I won't be getting paid!) Here's what I have planned:

• Make 2 loaves of this banana bread for Sunday.
• Buy new, not soft soled, shoes for my daughter.
• Shop for fun! Even if it is just window shopping. Except that will make me want to shop for real :)
• Haircuts for my daughter and me.
• Be caught up on the usual laundry & cleaning.
• Still babysit a few days.
• Catch up with friends.
• Do at least one creative project.

Sounds pretty lame, huh?
I hope to actually take it easy and enjoy the "break".

The big thing I'll be working on is preparing for a class my husband and I are supposed to teach at our church the following week. In light of the recession, our church is doing a series of things to meet people's needs as they have requested. We will be teaching a 1 hour class on saving money on groceries. I have many ideas to share - some which I use myself, some which I don't. However, I am certainly not The Expert on this, so I want to know, what do you think? What are average people out there NOT doing that you think they should or could be doing to cut their grocery budget? I want to know what you think are most important/helpful tips to share with them!

By the way, I am thinking of calling the class "Frugal Grocery Shopping (Without Sacrificing Your Health)"... There have got to be some better ideas out there for that, too, so please brainstorm with me! :)

Thanks all!

Dilemma

I made the Creamy Potato Soup this evening. Potatoes were on sale this week, and Tammy insisted that this recipe was worth a try. I wasn't sure if I would like potato soup without cheese, but I really did. I even made some Homemade Croutons, too, out of bread ends from the freezer. Here's a picture of the bread drying out overnight.

The only problem is that we ate all of the soup tonight. No leftovers. So now I have to figure out something else for tomorrow's dinner!

Menu Plan 3/9/09

Breakfasts:

Oatmeal or Cereal with Milk (Oats/granola have not sat well with me lately, so I am resorting to the boxes of cereal...Cold milk over something crunchy usually sounds good in the morning.)

Bananas or Grapefruit

Multigrain English Muffins with Peanut Butter

Lunches:

PB&J, Grilled Cheese, or Fish Sticks

Carrots

Yogurt

Strawberries or Cantelope

Dinners:

Monday - Creamy Potato Soup, Salad

Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Bean, Cheese, & Rice Burritos, Salad

Thursday - Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Salad, Bread

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - Leftovers

Sunday - Pineapple-Pepperjack Chicken, Corn (This seems like it has been on our menu several times lately, but we haven't always gotten to it.)

Snacks:

Lemonade!

Orange Juliuses

or Popcorn

Visit the Organizing Junkie to see more menus!

Cheap & Easy Produce Wash

When I read this tip in my inbox yesterday, I couldn't help but think "That is perfect for Thrifty Green Thursday!"

It says the best way to wash your fruits and veggies is with a 3:1 solution of water and white vinegar. Mix in a spray bottle, spray the produce, and rinse. How easy!

Maybe I've been living underground because I didn't know this. I've just used water before, but this is super cheap, so I'll have to try it. I want to get rid of any pesticides or nasty bacteria!

If you would like to receive the Ideal Bite daily tips via email, please go here to sign-up.

And go visit The Green Baby Guide for Thrifty Green Thursday!

(Nearly) Fresh Green Beans

Do you like to cook and eat fresh green beans for dinner? Do you shop at Costco?

If you answer yes to both, you have to try Lisa's Organics Whole Green Beans from the frozen section. At Costco they come in a 5 lb. bag. We have eaten that entire bag in less than 2 weeks. They are incredibly good. I like to steam them until just barely tender, and toss with butter, garlic powder, and some of Jane's Krazy Salt. The seriously look and taste like they are summertime fresh. But they are easier because you don't have to trim them! And I think they are a steal at just over $1/lb. All 3 of us gobble them up!

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake

I've had this recipe from a family friend for awhile, but never had made it until last Saturday. I just happened to have everything on hand (even the mini-marshmallows which I had picked up at Aldi one day when I was wanting to mix up my own Rocky Road ice cream but never did). I made it in my stoneware jelly roll pan. It was a little gooey-er than I prefer, so I probably should have baked it for 25 rather than 20 minutes. It is especially great served warm with a cold drink of milk.

2 c. flour
1 t. soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. oil
3/4 c. butter
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 c. water
2 eggs, beaten
2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. buttermilk (I used plain yogurt.)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together four, soda, sugar, and salt in a 2 quart mixing bowl and set aside. In a saucepan, bring oil, butter, peanut butter, and water to a boil. Pour over flour mixture and mix well. Add beaten eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk, blending well. Pour into a greased sheet cake (jelly roll) pan and bake 20-25 minutes. Ice while cake is still warm.

Icing:

1/2 c. evaporated milk (I reconstituted from powdered milk.)
1 T. butter
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. extra crunchy peanut butter (I used creamy.)
1/2 c. miniature marshmallows
1 t. vanilla

While cake is still baking, combine evaporated milk, butter, and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and marshmallows. Stir until melted and add vanilla, mixing well. Pour over warm cake and spread to cover.

Visit Tammy's Recipes for more kitchen tips!

Menu Plan 3/2/09

Wow, what a weekend. I administered a 10 hour test yesterday. Well, it was really only for 8 hours, but being there that long made it a long day. It went well, though. I like the people I work with, and it was a good group of "students"... they were polite and hard-working, so there really is no reason to complain!

On to the menu plan...

Last week, we kind of shuffled the meals around a little bit due to what we felt like eating. We still got to most of them. One new recipe we tried that wasn't originally on the menu was Tammy's Easy Beef Stroganoff. I made it with ground beef and added some extra of the spices for more flavor. It was indeed easy and we liked it. I also made a Peanut Butter Sheet Cake - I'll share the recipe soon.

This week, we are trying to wait until the end of the week to go to the store for anything but milk and produce... Let's see how we do!

Breakfasts:

Oatmeal or Cereal with Milk

Waffles with Homemade Syrup (maybe I'll get around to making these... we love them)

Bananas

Orange Juice

Lunches:

PB&J Sandwiches or Fish Sticks

Almonds

Cheese

Fruit

Dinners:

Monday - Biscuits & Gravy, Eggs

Tuesday - Beans and Rice

Wednesday - Grilled Chicken & Vegetables

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - Homemade Pizza

Saturday - Out to Eat

Sunday - Beef Hot Dogs

Hopefully we'll have some more exciting meals next week! :)

Visit the Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday for more menus and recipes!