I've been thinking about dinner lately. I go through phases in my life, but especially when it comes to cooking! Lately I've been on a try new recipes phase, but now I am sick of being over-budget on groceries every month! I'm looking for what works. Tonight we had poached eggs, and a puffy apple oven pancake and milk. Everyone's plates were licked clean! Completely satifsying. And it cost next to nothing. I want more meals like that. I'm putting this out there and hoping that people still read, and will let me know what you do! I want to know what you actually eat. What do your weekly meals consist of? I love being in someones home at dinner-time. Not when they plan it out and make the best of the best for company, just a regular meal. I've been able to eat at my sister's home many times, and I love their dinner-time routines. Things you wouldn't think to tell someone, they're just the things you do/eat. For instance, my sister will always ALWAYS have milk with dinner, and I love it. And sometimes she'll do things I would have never thought to do, like have barbeque chicken with a side of alfredo noodles. For whatever reason I would turn that into two separate meals, but together it's amazing and appeals to everyone.!Or make a boring green salad yummy with croutons and sunflower seeds. Sometimes we make a giant subway sandwich out of a loaf of french bread with meat and cheese and slice it up for everyone to add mayo/tomatoes/lettuce/whatever they want. Or we have a tradition of friday night being pizza/movie night. We spread out a blanket on the living room floor and move the furniture and drink root-beer with homemade pizza and breadsticks or cinna-sticks, or little caesars. We all look forward to it.
If you have any habits you've gotten into with dinner please share! Cuz if it's something you do often, it works!
Lately I've been getting creative with ways to use my abundance of tomatoes from the garden. I've made marinara sauce, tomato paste, and sun-dried tomatoes. Yumm! That chest freezer was the best thing I've ever bought. It is full of yummy corn from the garden, the above mentioned, peas from the garden, and plenty of peaches! I've also gotten the organizing bug in me going. I feel like I'm in
"nesting phase" but I'm not pregnant! :) I've organized under the kitchen sink (really i can't believe I thought of myself as a good housekeeper, that thing was nasty, who knew I had 3 things of toilet bowl cleaner under there and used dish-soap cuz I was too cheap to go buy some?!) I've also organized my laundry room and under the bathroom sink along with all the drawers. Ahhh... :)
Nia had been trying out diff. halloween costumes.We will reveal the real one soon! Mike has been putting up some things in the girls room for me that I've had awhile, like the valence and these flower wall hooks. Yay!
8 comments:
Well my dear sister, I would tell ya, but you kinda already stole all my best secrets already! Haha! J/K! One of my favorite go-to fast meals is homemade burritos. I use the cannery refried beans, which Katie introduced me to!, and get my kettle on to bowl, put just over a cup of dry beans in a glass bowl, pour in a cup of boiling water, cover the bowl with a small plate and let it sit for 5 min, while my oven is preheating. When all of the beans are reconstituted to the right consistency, you may need to add some more water or beans, I add some salt and pepper and garlic and onion powder. Then I place a scoop in a burrito size flour tortilla, with a handful of shredded coldy cheese on top, wrap it up and stick it in a 9X13 pan and sprinkle with more cheese. Then I bake anywhere from 20 min to 30 minutes and serve with choice of sourcream and salsa. Lily like ranch with hers. Everyone loves those and I seriously start making these at 4:50 and we eat at 5:30!
Okay, that was a super long comment, and I meant "put my kettle on to boil" not bowl. Anyway.....on to more important things. I love that first picture of Nia. It takes a lot of concentration to sit all inside a paper bag. HA! Mae Mae's beautiful eyes, ahh! And seriously Emmy, 3 bottles of toilet bowl cleaner and you were using dish soap? I've never stooped so low and I live in the country. Haha!
well...to be totally fair those bottles were prob. all from renters we've had through the years when we go out in the summers. But still!!
And to think that's not even all of your games!! ha ha ha!! My hubby's mom's rule was always 3 things at dinner. (I think that means there's always something that the kids will eat. :) I.e. veggies, main dish, bread or 2 veggies and main dish. 3 side dishes? I seriously just want that salad!
Oh, the board game dilemma...where to put them?! Yea, all too familiar with that... :) As to meals, I definitely go in new recipe spurts, but lately I've been trying to stick with simplicity. We eat a lot of meat as the main dish with some sort of veggie, usually a side salad with tomatoes. I'm into eating protein and low carbs, so that makes meal making super simple. Chicken with some yummy spices, or beef made into a yummy burger or meatloaf. My favorite recipe for awhile has been stroganoff. I cook sirloin strips, fresh mushrooms and onions, and then add a couple cans of cream of mushroom soup (the heart healthy version without MSG), and then a cup of sour cream right before we eat it over rice or noodles. So yummy! Then there's always taco soup, so easy. Or french bread pizza. Or breakfast for dinner. But no matter what we're eating, I always spend way less if I do a 2 week menu. Anywho! I love the pictures of the girls, especially Nia in the tub! Haha!
Yes, I'm just getting into the 2-week menu, and it helps so much!
For cheap meals that everyone eats, one that works for us is potato bar. Just bake some potatoes and top them with any number of toppings, such as: chili, brown gravy, cheese sauce, sour cream, etc.
Another favorite is biscuits and gravy. I homemake the biscuits, use cheap country gravy from a foil packet, and usually serve with bacon or sausage, or with some form of eggs.
Homemade chicken noodle soup is usually super-cheap and delicious at this time of year!
Heather
We do breakfast for dinner every Wednesday night. It is really easy on the budget and almost all breakfast items are easy to make. I always have an idea of what we are going to have and so its easy too. Lately we have had french toast, scrambled eggs, omlets, breakfast burritos (my favorite with tortillas you cook at home from Costco), one eyed jacks (like french toast but cut a hole out of the middle of the break and cook an egg in the middle of the bread) and when I feel adventurous enough I will get the courage to make a souffle. There are a million ideas online of fun new breakfast things to satisfy your need for new recipes without breaking the bank.
I woul dlove to know what meals to make too. I can't seem to stay within our grocery/household budget either and I feel like I"m being careful and shopping sales!! Where did you do your garden at? I'm so impressed! I really want to do a garden this next year, but I'm nervous about all the "work", plus we'll have a new baby, but I haven't given up hope. Did you feel like it was a lot of work??
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