Simplify

For my birthday I received some wonderful new kitchen tools. My family truly loves me and spoils me. One of the wonderful gifts was a new Kitchen Aid stand mixer I have wanted given to me by my fabulous boyfriend. I immediately took the old mixer to the garage to get it ready to donate. The only problem is that the new mixer is larger and does not fit in its place. My mother-in-law suggested adjusting my cabinets but I think a simpler process is in order.

It always feels good to clean out my kitchen. Hope to have some before pictures soon.

Weekly Menu February 28 - March 6

This is the first week of our monthly menu. We went through it in February and like it so far. There will definitely be a few changes down the road but for now it works.

Monday - Slow Cooker Mac 'n Cheese, Strawberry Salad
Tuesday - Meatloaf Muffin Cups, mashed potatoes
Wednesday - Brown Sugar Pork Chops, roasted vegetable
Thursday - Baked Tilapia, brown rice
Friday -
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Oven Fried Chicken, glazed carrots

Lunches
Muffin Tin Monday
Turkey & Cheese
Nut Butter & Jam
Bagel & Cream Cheese
Muffins & fruit

Breakfasts
Sweet Couscous
Cold Cereal
Yogurt, Granola, & Fruit
Fluffy Eggs
Muffins
Rainbow Pancakes

Weekly Menu February 21 - 27

Dinner:
Monday - Tomato Soup and Waffle Iron Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, fresh fruit
Tuesday - Homemade Hawaiian Pizza, salad
Wednesday - Easy Pork Roast, Baked Acorn Squash
Thursday - Tuna Hot Dish, frozen peas
Friday - Little Lasagna Cups, fresh fruit
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Oven Fried Chicken

For Breakfast we will have:
Pink Pancakes
Ham and Cheese Popovers
Green Monsters
Baked Oatmeal
Cold Cereal
Homemade Yogurt and fruit

Lunches are usually:
Muffin Tin Monday
What's For Lunch Wednesday

We linked up this menu with Super Jenn.

What's in Your Freezer?

We have a chest style deep freeze. After a while of picking up deals when I saw them and not really remembering what I had on hand, the freezer got a little full. My friend Jenn is trying to help me save more money on groceries and her first step is always to see what you have on hand. That was hard for me because the deep freeze is in a little nook under the stairs with very little light. I always thought if I knew what was in the freezer then I could plan my meals easier. Then when I needed an item I would know it was there because I had a list. Now I just needed time to take the inventory...

Enter one Friday evening with the girls in bed, Joshua in Wichita, and me in the basement. I watched a movie but was still not tired. After looking over a pile of coupons waiting to be cut out I remembered Jenn saying that it was better to meal plan at first. So that is what I shall do.

• 5 small bags chicken
• whole chicken
• split chicken breast
• leg quarters
• breakfast sausage
• 3 packages hot dogs
• 1/2 bag scallops
• 4 1/2 bags chicken broth cubes
• 4 bags shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 bags shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 bag shredded Mexican cheese
• 1/2 bag pierogies
• 2 small containers tortilla soup
• 1 large container chicken soup
• 4 bananas
• almond flour
• sugar
• 2 loaves bread
• 2 loaves sourdough bread
• French loaf bread
• pita pockets
• whip cream
• heavy cream
• 2 small containers strawberry jam
• okra
• California vegetables
• 4 bags broccoli
• cauliflower broccoli
• 2 bags spinach
• 2 bags corn
• carrots
• 4 bags peas
• green peppers
• 3 bags stir fry vegetables
• green beans
• 2 containers juice
• 2 mystery containers

It looks like we are having a lot of chicken. Share your favorite chicken recipe with me, would you?

May 3-7

Meal Planning is slowly getting easier. I have learned that if I serve my basics most of the week and throw in a new recipe one or two days the family eats better. So recently it looks like we have been eating the same meal plan every week. Close but not quite! We added another favorite to the rotation: roasted vegetables and chicken. So easy, this one was made by Audrey. This week will be the last that Joshua will be with us for a while so we will be able to add in a few meals he is not as fond of. Our week will be a little short as we are going to Tulsa for a visit and so I can run in the Full Moon 5K.

May 3-7	Breakfast	Lunch	Snack	Dinner
Monday	Cereal	Muffin Tin Monday	Granola bars	Boxed mac-n-cheese
Tuesday	Yogurt	Quesadillas	Carrots & peanut butter	Pizza Wraps
Wednesday	Pink Pancakes	Turkey wraps	Cottage cheese & fruit	Rainy-Day BBQ Chicken
Thursday	Fluffy Eggs	TBD	Carrot Cake cookies	Tuna Hot Dish
Friday	Cereal	PB&J	Grapes & cheese	TBD (Tulsa)

Need to start my meal plan, really

The pantry is slowly clearing out. I still have a number of cans of tuna and tomatoes along with quite a bit of brown rice. Joshua leaves next week for several months so I will have one less mouth to feed. That means I can cook more items that he does not like but also that we will probably be eating more leftovers. I may just need to plan to freeze a portion from every meal and stock it away for all of those times I am about at breakdown while Joshua is gone. The freezer has a lot more room for meals now. I am also planning a freezer meal prep with my mommy friends. Things should go fine while Joshua is away. We will be gone ourselves for a few weeks. Still I need to plan meals for this week and next. I am ope to ideas for what to do with the tomatoes, tuna, and rice.

April 26- May 2

My menu this week has been so hard to put together. For some reason my heart was not in it this week. Regardless, here it is:
Monday

• Breakfast - Tiny Grape Upside-Down Cakes
• Lunch - Play date - cheese, fruit, crackers
• Dinner - Frozen meal (mom has to work)
• Snack - Peanut Butter bread

Tuesday

• Breakfast - Oatmeal with raisins
• Lunch - Quesadillas
• Dinner - Dinner Out (Joshua's birthday)
• Snack - Fruit

Wednesday

• Breakfast - fruit parfait
• Lunch - PB&J
• Dinner - Hilltop Farms Chicken, spinach and strawberry salad
• Snack - carrots and peanut butter

Thursday

• Breakfast - Pink Pancakes
• Lunch - Left overs
• Dinner - Quesadilla Casserole (Everyday with Rachel Ray)
• Snack - yogurt and granola

Friday

• Breakfast - cereal
• Lunch - crudite with cream cheese/yogurt, dill dip
• Dinner - Chicken Baked Samm (never made it last week), Brussels sprouts!?!
• Snack - cinnamon tortilla chips

Saturday

• Breakfast - Muffins and bananas
• Lunch - PB&J
• Dinner - Tuna Hot Dish (we have a lot of tuna), peas
• Snack - Zucchini muffins

Sunday

• Breakfast - Mini quiche
• Lunch - Chicken wraps
• Dinner - Crock Pot Lasagna, salad
• Snack - fruit

I need:

1. Cheese
2. Zucchini
3. Assorted fresh fruit (on sale only, I have a lot of canned)
4. Cream of Mushroom soup
5. Egg noodles
6. Potato chips
7. Assorted fresh veggies for crudite (anything I think the family will eat!)
8. Bananas

I have already spent a little of my food budget this week on Joshua's birthday present so I am going to have to stretch what I have left. Think I can do this with $40? I thought so. I am going to wait until Tuesday to do my shopping at Checkers this week. They have a good deal on bananas that day and maybe I can find other produce sales as well. Making a big dent in the pantry. Not as much in the freezer. I did find another almost full flat of diced tomatoes in the garage. We may need to have goulash again before Joshua leaves. I may even need to learn how to cook it. That is if I am allowed to stay in the kitchen this time.