Menu Plan 11/2

Welcome to November!  I can’t believe how far into the fall we are already. My oh my-the holiday chaos is ready to start soon.

I’m feel quite in a recipe rut.  Honestly.  I feel as though I cook many of the same dishes over, and over, and over. . . so I am going to add another goal into my weekly menu goals.  As it is I try to work in a vegetarian recipe and a seafood recipe each week. On top of that I want to add in at least one NEW recipe each week.

NOTE:  Do you have a tried & true recipe you think my family would like? Feel free to send it to me!  You can use my contact form. . . if I try  the recipe I’ll publish it (or link to it if you have a blog and have published it) along with full credit and a review of what the Frugal Upstate family thought! So send me those recipes . . .

Monday:  Kid’s Choice.

Our kids only have a half day of school today due to parent teacher conferences.  When the kiddos get home from school I’m going to let them pick what they want to have for dinner, then they can help me make it.  If we don’t have the ingredients on hand then they will have to head to the store with me to go shopping. We’ll use it as an exercise on how much things cost and how to cook. Should be fun!

Tuesday:  Manicotti, Beets & Tossed Salad

Last time I went shopping at Aldi’s they actually had Manicotti shells. It has been a really long time since I’ve made manicotti-so I went ahead and bought them.  I will use a stuffing made with a combination of Mozzarella and cottage cheese (I know it’s heresy to use it in place of ricotta, but it’s what I have on hand).  The beets are still out in the garden.

Wednesday:  Broiled Mahi Mahi, Sauteed Chard & Rice

Mahi Mahi (forzen & prepackaged) was pretty cheap at Aldi’s last week. It is such a nice mild white fish that I couldn’t resist picking up two packages.  I’m serving it with just plain rice and some more chard from the garden.  I can’t believe that stuff hasn’t succumbed to the frost yet!  This is my seafood meal for the week.

Thursday: Split Pea Soup & Homemade Bread

We are still calling this “Shrek Swamp Slime Soup” at the Frugal Upstate house to help get Buddy, who “hates peas”, to eat it.  Funny-he loves the taste as long as we don’t actually call it “Split Pea Soup”. This will be my vegetarian meal for the week.

Friday:  Homemade Calzones & Roasted Broccoli

Using the Pizza Hut Crust Clone recipe of course.

Saturday: Leftovers or Breakfast for Dinner

Gotta use up all those bits and pieces!  If somehow we don’t have enough leftovers to make a meal out of then I’ll whip up some scrambled eggs, bacon & toast.

Sunday:  Shepard’s pie & Beets

Well-actually it will more correctly be “cottage pie” or maybe “woodland pie”. . . I’ll be using a mix of ground beef/turkey and ground venison for the meat.  I’ll add more beets from the garden as a side dish.

For more great menu plan ideas head on over to Menu Plan Monday at The Organizing Junkie.

Recipe: Crockpot Salsa Chicken

The crockpot is one of the best frugal cooking devices I know!  This quick, easy and cheap 4 ingredient recipe for Salsa Chicken will have the house smelling fantastic by suppertime with barely any effort at all.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

4 Chicken Breasts
2 Jars of Salsa
1C Corn
1C Black Beans

Layer ingredients in Crockpot & cook on low 6-8 hrs.
Remove meat, shred and return to the sauce.
Serve on tortillas with fixings (lettuce, tomato, cheese, salsa etc)

Variations:

Bake in the oven at 350 for about 1 hr instead of using the crockpot.
Don’t shred & serve on tortillas, but serve as chicken breasts.
Serve over noodles or rice.
Use other parts of the chicken. Remember that leaving skin on increases the ending fat content.
Use “Rotel” style tomatoes in place of the salsa, or use 1 jar salsa and 1 jar crushed tomatoes.
Spice it up with Spicy Salsa, a dash (or 2 or 3) of Tabasco or a package of Taco Seasoning.
Use “mexican” style corn-or leave it out all together
Use any type of cooked bean.
Add 8 oz of Cream Cheese or 1C sour cream to the sauce right before serving for a “creamy” version.

Recipe: Big Dog Kahlua

In the last few weeks I have posted my recipe for Homemade Amaretto and Homemade Bailey’s Irish Cream.  Just to round it out I figured I better also put up my recipe for Homemade Kahlua.

This recipe came from our good friend from Army days-Randy.  He would have all our friends save their dark glass bottles from beer and wine and then make big batches of this to give to friends.

This would make a great frugal  gift for the holidays.  You could keep a couple of small bottles on hand for hostess gifts or last minute presents.   I think they are especially attractive if you dip the head in melted wax. . . very classy.

Big Dog Kahlua

2 C Sugar

2 C Water

3 TBS Instant Coffee (pick something that tastes decent!)

1 Vanilla Bean or 1 TBS Vanilla Extract (preferably real)

2 C Vodka

-Mix water, sugar and instant coffee.

-Simmer until sugar is dissolved.

-Cool completely.

-Stir in in Vanilla and Vodka and pour into a dark bottle to age.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmitchell/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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