I made new recipes today.

[Stella]

today was a success.

I changed shoes 4 times, my feet do not hurt too bad....yet lol

i only dumped one thing on the counter, a can of coke. i needed it for a recipe. oh well.

this month i made these fun looking sweet potato balls with a large marshmellow in the middle. they were a *B* to stuff, but I did learn the secret, they are HUGE, they are flash freezing right now. canot wait to try these, i am wondering if the marshmellow will ooze out or not? i dunno. we'll find out.

I made these turkey meatballs, that have apples and cranberries in them. i did try these before I froze them. they were different, good but different, they are a very UGLY looking meatball. but very yummy. second bite and it reminds you of thanksgiving. not too sure what to serve with them? but they are lots of things rolled into one. Ugly, yummy, festive, fun, and a good conversation topic at dinner. a " ohh what are in these?" sorta thing lol

and if you picked up that little freezer cookbook that Nu originally mentioned. I did make the mini shephard's pie's that are in there. lol recipe calls for a 12 oz can of refrigerator biscuits... i found 7 and 16. i went with the grands.
they are huge, and really pretty.
i took a picture of these, will share tomorrow. they will be really good. i ended up wtih 24 of them. HEY grand biscuits are on sale for a dollar a can right now at kroger's

and we made a spaghetti pie. made much like a lasagna only with spaghetti noodles.
I should have put this into two pans, but i didn't make this one.
Julie made it, so it will be a left over two nighter on that one.

over all we made 34 dinners today. (for a fam of five)
and tomorrow I will make 25 pounds of chicken nuggets. (made with boneless chicken breasts) this all cost me 247.00

[mommyx2]

Re: I made new recipes today.

WOW!!! Someone will sleep good tonight!!

[Stella]

Re: I made new recipes today.

oh shoot, there was another one..
the pepperoni casserole.

spiral noodles, pepperoni, italian sausage, mushrooms, spaghetti sauce, parmasean cheese, and mozz cheese... Dh is ready to eat this one.

[Ginger]

Re: I made new recipes today.

Stella, please correct me if I am wrong--your chicken nuggets cost yout $10 a pound???

[Stella]

Re: I made new recipes today.

oh my no.

boneless breasts are on sale for $1.67 a pound at krogers.
everything i cooked today cost that.

[CrabbyMcClaw]

Re: I made new recipes today.

Ginger, I think she meant for the whole shebang - dinner for the month for a family of 5 for $247 - You Go, Stella!! Plus she's done cooking for the month!! *insert cartwheel smilie*

[Stella]

Re: I made new recipes today.

no doubt.

DONE for a month.
my aching bones hurt, but it is so worth it. I have food in the fridge tonight, inside the little freezer as well. tomorrow I will load it all in the big freezer, and the things I have freezing flat in there i will stack up like books organized in a row.

[Ginger]

Re: I made new recipes today.

'Wiping brow'.....thanks for the clarification. I was totally confus-ed. That is great budgeting. What do you spend for milk, bread, fresh fruit, veggies, and, of course, junk food, per month?

How often do you shop for the above-mentioned items?? Do you find that you tend to run out for other food if you are having unexpected company or do you feed them from your freezer stash?

[Stella]

Re: I made new recipes today.

dragun, this was posted here earlier, I copied and posted my other post...

fiesta soup serves 12

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
15 ounce diced tomatoes
12 ounce Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 taco seasoning packet
1 ranch dressing envelope
1 cup water
15 ounce pinto beans
15 ounce kidney beans
15 ounce hominy


Brown ground meat in skillet with the onion. in a large pot mix the tomatoes, ro-tel taco seasoning ranch seasoning water pinto beans kidney beans and hominy. do not drain any of the canned items before adding them. when the beed if cooked drain and add to the pot. stir, heat through.

***********
We don't like hominy, we used regular corn.
I used cooked chunky chopped chicken instead of beef.
and I added black olives to mine and Dh's bowl. kids didn't care for it in the soup.
I also added shredded cheddar and a dab of sour cream on top.


This is a freezer dish. the one in the photo was frozen reheated and served.
you can serve with cornbread, or fritos and crackers on the side.

this is also one of those dump and go soups that I like so much.
i think there are several different variations of this soup. this one I got from the 30 day gourmet web site


Ginger, girl I am exhausted, i'll be back here tomorrow.
i can tell ya this is my freezer budget, i am bugeted for 200-225 a month, i went over this month on the chicken. 1.67 a pound is a steal these days.

this month with this in the freezer i will be at the store from timeto time for milk, fresh fruit and fresh vegs, bread eggs, the essentials i will run out of.
but i won't be there every day.
I also have things on hand, some of what i need and cook is on hand, so i don't have to buy it, and i had to stock up some from ike, i lost the fridge in that.
i will fill you in more tomorrow lol

[TexAnn]

Re: I made new recipes today.

Way to go Stella!
Just curious...
what did you do for your containers this time?
I am so proud of you Stella!

[Stella]

Re: I made new recipes today.

bought some glad ware, neighbor came over to watch and she had one ice cream bucket.
and we bought some rubbermaid containers.
which i can use again, but i like the bucket. lol weird i know.

[EMail Queen]

Re: I made new recipes today.

As I said before - you are absolutely amazing!

My hat is off to you for sure!

And I have trouble planning meals through the end of the week! Much less for a month!

Geez!

I don't know how you do it!

[Stella]

Re: I made new recipes today.

there is a spead sheet.

it's simple.
fill in the blanks and go.

you would write what you are making, decide how many you wanted to make,
and fill in the blanks on how much you need.

move to the next recipe, do the same thing.

once all are filled in, you tally it up.
it'll show you you need 14 pounds of ground meat.
you need 7 cups of chopped onions,
and you need 42 ounces of spaghetti sauce. you'll have a spot to add what you already have on hand. ( you may already have a block of cheddar cheese, you will subtract those two cups and buy what ever else you need)

and you buy exactly that. you will use everything you purchased.
no left overs, no money wasted.
some things you will need on hand like pasta noodles. cheddar cheese.
sour cream. when you come home, to the prepped kitchen, you put the cold stuff away and leave the rest out, you aren't digging in the cabinets. everything is already out.

some things are cooked and then frozen other things are prepared and frozen like lasagna, you don't cook it then freeze it, you prepare it and freeze it.
stuffed taco shells, you cook the noodles al dente, stuff and flash freeze. take out however many you need. yesterday I made 30 i think...
it isn't difficult.
lol

[EMail Queen]

Re: I made new recipes today.

You make it sound easy!

I think I'll get all the info you recommended, utilize the tips provided - and start with baby steps............like a few meals at a time and go from there.........would be great to also give some frozen meals to my DD - who works long hours and doesn't always have time to cook.

Thank you again!

I wanna be like you when I grow up!!!

[Stella]

Re: I made new recipes today.

oh hell EMQ i ain't a gorwn up yet haha

i recommend doing two weeks at first. see what fits yoru schedule.

tomorrow I am making hot pockets. roll out grand biscuits, (can biscuits) fill fold over and seal. sprinkle cookie sheet with bread crumbs and bake til just about done. flash freeze.
micro when ready to eat.

you can fill with breakfast burrito stuff,
(eggs sausage cheese)

or pizza stuff
(pepperoni bell pepper onion pizza sauce meat of some sort, be care ful not to roll too thin)

or chicken stuff
(diced chicken brocoili cheddar cheese and a little bit of cream of mushroom soup to make moist)

or philly steak
( thin beef strips, mozz cheese and bell pepper and onion)

these are great for a quick lunch. easy for the kids.
and great for DD to take to work for lunch.