As I made out the June Menu -- I know, I'm a bit late this month. I wasn't thinking. June sort of started up and creeped in on me!
Anyway, I went to a couple of my favorite sites and came up with a great list with some new things to try out. One of my favorite sites is Mennonite Girls Can Cook.
Just try to get away from that site without taking a notebook full of notes!
Some goodies on my June menu include a Seven Layer Casserole, Mexican Potato Casserole, Chicken Cheese and Broccoli Quiche, and Meat Pinwheels.
I took down a TON more recipes, for snacks, desserts, brunch goodies. But these are on my to try list immediately.
The rest of my menu is same ol' same ol' for us --
Poor Man's Parmesean
Meatloaf standard, and later in the month, meatloaf mini's.
Sticky Chicken -- we do up at least 6 at a time and then plan other meals for the leftovers, like
the Chicken pot pie on this month's list
Rigatoni with ground turkey
sausage and potatoes
plain old grilled cheese and tomato soup
Mexican Stuffed Rice (no, I haven't found a way to "stuff rice"....this is really just the rice mixture you would make to do stuffed bell peppers. We add some taco seasoning to it)
bake a turkey ham, 2 of them -- leftovers will go for ham and corn chowder later this month
Beef and Gravy -- really just Stroganoff, over rice or pasta -- haven't decided which yet
Beef Roast -- a really big one -- leftovers going for a beef pot pie later this month.
All in all I have 3 weeks played out on paper and will shop for the few missing items to put them together. If we have to repeat later, we're good with that. All we really need is 3 weeks of favorites and no one minds repeating them.
I'd like to make up some calzones and meat sandwiches as well, for lunches and maybe even for a light dinner, with a tossed salad and some fruit.
I don't typically plan out lunches here. My main plan only involves dinners, and the once-a-month fellowship meal for church. Breakfasts are the same -- oatmeal, pancakes, granola or scrambled egg burritos. Lunches tend to flow about the same -- someone will grab some sausage patties to heat up for a pancake sandwich, or it's just good old American PB&J. We aren't fancy gourmets here :o)
Well -- off to put the final touches on the list and hit the store. It's bill paying day, which means shopping is in the plan. This is my light week for bills as I have them adjusted, so I can do my monthly stock up on things. I need to put some more flour in the pantry store, and oats too. And I've somehow let my stock of butter in the freezer dwindle down to just 4 packages.
Might even get lucky and find some more eggs on sale. Our Wal-Mart is terribly at ordering eggs. They have far too many 'varieties' with their free range, their organic, their brown in various sizes, the white in various sizes...they always end up with several coming close to date which drop in price drastically. I stocked up not long ago on about 14 doz organic, free range brown eggs that normaly sold for $2.85 doz (which I'd never pay!) on sale for a mere .50 doz. I like .50 a doz eggs :o) We bought them up, whisked into 3 egg packs and put in the freezer. They take a couple days to thaw properly in the fridge, and bake up fine. Seems to be a bit of a texture difference for just scrambling, but if you have used dried eggs for scrambling before, you won't mind the frozen ones. I do mine in sandwhich baggies, but be warned -- these do have a tendency to leak as they thaw. If you have some of the small tupperware containers, say for salad dressing in a lunch box, or something small like that, use them instead. I'm sure it's much nicer when thawing. We just toss our bags in a bowl to thaw, but yes, they are messy in the baggies.
Get over to Mennoninte Girls Can Cook and have a fresh new notebook and a good ink pen handy!
Showing posts with label menu planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label menu planning. Show all posts
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Menu Budgeting
I love menus. I love reading what is being planned in others' homes for meals, how they save pennies here and there, how they stretch this or that. It's a quirk of my nature, I guess.
We try to eat healthy. We don't always hit that nail square on the head, but no one is sickly and poor here, so we can't be doing that bad. Organic is one thing I avoid, though. At least from the standpoint of labeling. I don't believe most of what I see labeled as organic is that at all, not from mainstream sources, anyway.
We buy meat from various sources....often Sam's Club, as we buy case loads at a time; but we also buy from a butcher friend and a couple of small Mom & Pop shops who purchase locally. I do like knowing who grew my meat, but sometimes we don't (as in the case loads from Sam's Club). To be truly healthy, we should be dropping the amounts of meats we eat, that's for sure. Red meats are not exactly top on the list of healthy you know. But, Dewey is one of those meat and potatoes kind of guys. Must be a throw-back to his caveman days
Vegetables....we eat lots of them. There are most often 2 or more with each dinner (do I have this right...supper is really lunch and dinner is really that evening meal???? I'm so lacking in the Southern graces of phrasing!!!). Our main meal is dinner...that evening meal...and the next largest would be breakfast. Lunch is usually not much worth noting around here. I know, with so many youngers, perhaps it should be, but it's not, so that's that.
We buy farm market vegetables, and grow what we can, but still, that part of the pantry gets supplemented all too often. I have not produced a decent garden since moving South. There is a trick to it and I simply have not chanced upon it yet
My garden up north was another story. We were truly blessed with an abundance of fresh eating and more than ample remains for putting by for winter. I'm learning how to do it here with our clay-based soil, but so far, there's been nothing worth writing home about. Our goal is, though, to grow everything we need for eating. We think of it as pioneer living...if they didn't grow it themselves, they often did without.
We bake our breads and dessert needs from scratch. Truthfully, just about everything we produce for meals here is from scratch. I don't like pre-packaged. It just isn't economical for us at this size family most times. Now for a treat, we do grab a couple of those fresh pizza's at Sam's Club maybe once a month. It's not the best pizza I've ever eaten, but from looking around our area here, I don't think true Italian cooking is known here. We asked about a good Italian restaurant once....everyone sent us to Olive Garden. I have nothing against Olive Garden...love their unending soup, salad and breadsticks...but it's not exactly what we think of as true Italian. It's Americanized Italian.
But I digress (as usual...) My baking revolves around grinding my wheat berries for my flour or buying from a local seller. I make several of our pasta's and am working on getting better at the others (ravioli is still a big time-consumer for me, yet I have friends who can whip them out in no time!). We buy in bulk. We buy nearly everything in bulk....50# of oats, 50# of wheat berries, 45# fructose and natural sugar...even my spices are often in bulk (we go through about 1# of cinnamon every other month). To buy this, even if I could find it, at a local chain store, would be ridiculous in price. I have a hard tine finding anything in bulk at most stores these days simply because my vision of bulk has changed. Once upon a time, a 10# bag of flour was more than bulk enough! LOL....I use about that for a batch of bread nowadays!
Cleaning supplies are another area we do bulk. Vinegar is bought by the case, I have a dozen bars of Fels and at least that many of Kirk's at any given time. My dishsoap is in bulk. Of course, in a family this size, our TP is by the case
I also purchase peppermint oil, tea tree, and lavender oil in the largest bottles I can order through our Mennonite friends just north of us. These are just essentials for us. We are not big on doctor visits here and most often we treat on our own. I'm not saying we don't go, just that many folks run for everything and we avoid that. The last one to have a doctor visit was Miss KatiAnne back when she swallowed that beaded chain....now that was an interesting visit! Well, Miss Emily goes every 3 months, but that is a rather special case there. The others have not had to visit for anything since moving down here. We did have a couple of dentist visits here, but that's a whole 'nuther blog post there....and it won't be repeated again. We will head back north to our dentist there once a year at tax time. Yahoos and Quacks. 'Nuf said.
All in all, we average about $350 I'd say, for a month....and this doesn't include milk. Wow, have those prices kept rising! What on earth is going on there?? Those dairy farmers aren't raking in the big bucks, so what's the deal?? This amount also does not include our homestead feed needs...which right now runs about $100 for milk needs for the pony, then grains for him and the other animals making a home here. I haven't really tallied it all up, but I'd say we probably run around another $200 for feed, maybe $300 with the milk for the pony. No more than that, and that includes breaking down the hay for the year, all grains and whole corn, dog food, and those milk pellets and powder.
You know...that's rather a lot for no more than what we have here. Hmmm....I'll have to look into that more and see what's going on.
Just a note, we are getting better at what we spend on food needs here. I still have a long way to go, I think, but we are getting there. I'm around $250 right now, not including buying bulk meats to can up.
We aren't spending this amount on animal feed currently, either. The animals currently on the homestead include 15 hens (a duck and a rooster in the mix), 2 goats and 8 dogs...yes, we are covered up in dogs here.
We bake from scratch, with maybe 1 loaf of store-bought bread every month (when Dewey's home...he prefers it for sandwiches).
Emily and Jacob's medical visits are over now, so our medical costs are nil.
We try to eat healthy. We don't always hit that nail square on the head, but no one is sickly and poor here, so we can't be doing that bad. Organic is one thing I avoid, though. At least from the standpoint of labeling. I don't believe most of what I see labeled as organic is that at all, not from mainstream sources, anyway.
We buy meat from various sources....often Sam's Club, as we buy case loads at a time; but we also buy from a butcher friend and a couple of small Mom & Pop shops who purchase locally. I do like knowing who grew my meat, but sometimes we don't (as in the case loads from Sam's Club). To be truly healthy, we should be dropping the amounts of meats we eat, that's for sure. Red meats are not exactly top on the list of healthy you know. But, Dewey is one of those meat and potatoes kind of guys. Must be a throw-back to his caveman days
Vegetables....we eat lots of them. There are most often 2 or more with each dinner (do I have this right...supper is really lunch and dinner is really that evening meal???? I'm so lacking in the Southern graces of phrasing!!!). Our main meal is dinner...that evening meal...and the next largest would be breakfast. Lunch is usually not much worth noting around here. I know, with so many youngers, perhaps it should be, but it's not, so that's that.
We buy farm market vegetables, and grow what we can, but still, that part of the pantry gets supplemented all too often. I have not produced a decent garden since moving South. There is a trick to it and I simply have not chanced upon it yet
My garden up north was another story. We were truly blessed with an abundance of fresh eating and more than ample remains for putting by for winter. I'm learning how to do it here with our clay-based soil, but so far, there's been nothing worth writing home about. Our goal is, though, to grow everything we need for eating. We think of it as pioneer living...if they didn't grow it themselves, they often did without. We bake our breads and dessert needs from scratch. Truthfully, just about everything we produce for meals here is from scratch. I don't like pre-packaged. It just isn't economical for us at this size family most times. Now for a treat, we do grab a couple of those fresh pizza's at Sam's Club maybe once a month. It's not the best pizza I've ever eaten, but from looking around our area here, I don't think true Italian cooking is known here. We asked about a good Italian restaurant once....everyone sent us to Olive Garden. I have nothing against Olive Garden...love their unending soup, salad and breadsticks...but it's not exactly what we think of as true Italian. It's Americanized Italian.
But I digress (as usual...) My baking revolves around grinding my wheat berries for my flour or buying from a local seller. I make several of our pasta's and am working on getting better at the others (ravioli is still a big time-consumer for me, yet I have friends who can whip them out in no time!). We buy in bulk. We buy nearly everything in bulk....50# of oats, 50# of wheat berries, 45# fructose and natural sugar...even my spices are often in bulk (we go through about 1# of cinnamon every other month). To buy this, even if I could find it, at a local chain store, would be ridiculous in price. I have a hard tine finding anything in bulk at most stores these days simply because my vision of bulk has changed. Once upon a time, a 10# bag of flour was more than bulk enough! LOL....I use about that for a batch of bread nowadays!
Cleaning supplies are another area we do bulk. Vinegar is bought by the case, I have a dozen bars of Fels and at least that many of Kirk's at any given time. My dishsoap is in bulk. Of course, in a family this size, our TP is by the case
I also purchase peppermint oil, tea tree, and lavender oil in the largest bottles I can order through our Mennonite friends just north of us. These are just essentials for us. We are not big on doctor visits here and most often we treat on our own. I'm not saying we don't go, just that many folks run for everything and we avoid that. The last one to have a doctor visit was Miss KatiAnne back when she swallowed that beaded chain....now that was an interesting visit! Well, Miss Emily goes every 3 months, but that is a rather special case there. The others have not had to visit for anything since moving down here. We did have a couple of dentist visits here, but that's a whole 'nuther blog post there....and it won't be repeated again. We will head back north to our dentist there once a year at tax time. Yahoos and Quacks. 'Nuf said.All in all, we average about $350 I'd say, for a month....and this doesn't include milk. Wow, have those prices kept rising! What on earth is going on there?? Those dairy farmers aren't raking in the big bucks, so what's the deal?? This amount also does not include our homestead feed needs...which right now runs about $100 for milk needs for the pony, then grains for him and the other animals making a home here. I haven't really tallied it all up, but I'd say we probably run around another $200 for feed, maybe $300 with the milk for the pony. No more than that, and that includes breaking down the hay for the year, all grains and whole corn, dog food, and those milk pellets and powder.
You know...that's rather a lot for no more than what we have here. Hmmm....I'll have to look into that more and see what's going on.
Just a note, we are getting better at what we spend on food needs here. I still have a long way to go, I think, but we are getting there. I'm around $250 right now, not including buying bulk meats to can up.
We aren't spending this amount on animal feed currently, either. The animals currently on the homestead include 15 hens (a duck and a rooster in the mix), 2 goats and 8 dogs...yes, we are covered up in dogs here.
We bake from scratch, with maybe 1 loaf of store-bought bread every month (when Dewey's home...he prefers it for sandwiches).
Emily and Jacob's medical visits are over now, so our medical costs are nil.
Putting the Menu Together
Ok...I have it laid out in weeks, but nothing is ever that set in stone around here. We use our menu plan as a guide. I know what I have on stock for what meals, so we jumble things around depending on mood and such. I just cross off what we have so I know those items are used in the pantry.
Really, most months will look pretty much like this one. We are creatures of habit...we eat plain and simple foods. If I find a god buy on say, pork loin, we'll add that in, but generally, we are hamburger and chicken folks it seems. Sometimes our hamburger is beef, sometimes venison, sometimes ground turkey. Chicken is usually thigh/leg quarters or breasts. I'd love to hear any variations on the ideas I have here for hamburger and chicken, so do share!!!
Several of these recipes are tucked away here and there in my blog pages -- there is a Google bar on my Homestead Blog. I'm still moving recipes over here. If something isn't listed and you'd like it, drop me a line 
The menu plan listed with ** are our Sunday meals. We tend to like those 'several hour' type of recipes that cook while we are at church.
Spaghetti and Meatballs, garlic bread, corn
Chicken & Dumplings, potatoes, rolls (starch overload, I think!)
**Sticky Chicken, sweet potatoes, green beans
Chicken Pot Pie (using leftover sticky chicken -- we do at least 6 at a time)
Meatloaf, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, potatoes
Chili Soup, cornbread/crackers
a turkey ham, corn sweet potatoes
Lasagna, garlic bread, green beans
Tater Tot Casserole, steamed broccoli
**Beef Stew (probably venison actually), cornbread
Homemade Pizza's
Tuna Casserole, sweet potatoes
Chicken Parmesean, corn, green beans
Hamburgers and fries, homemade buns
Stroganoff with potatoes, corn and peas
Chicken & Broccoli Pasta, mixed veggies
**Roast (venison), carrots, potatoes/sweet potatoes mix
Ham & Corn Chowder, rolls
Wet Burritos, Mexican/Spanish rice (as soon as someone shares a great recipe with me!! hint hint)
Rigatoni, garlic bread, green beans
THANKSGIVING DINNER
take-it easy left-over day....I hope!
Turkey-etti
Shortcut Vegetable Soup
Taco Soup, tortilla chips (homemade?? recipe anyone, without a tortilla press?)
Beef Pot Pie
Chicken & Rice Casserole
Sausage, Potatoes and Peppers, rolls
Breakfasts will vary between:
pancakes and sausage
pancake rolls (we wrap those pancakes around sausage links and freeze for quick reheating later)
homemade biscuit or muffin sandwiches
scrambled eggs and cheese
oatmeal (I have all those oat groats here and that flaker and I've never used either! shame on me!)
omelets
Granola
Odds & Ends:
5 gallon cookies -- some raisin, some chocolate chip
oatmeal cookies
quick sugar cookies
pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
peanutbutter cookies
pumpkin raisin bread
applesauce bread
apple gingerbread
pancakes and sausage
pancake rolls (we wrap those pancakes around sausage links and freeze for quick reheating later)
homemade biscuit or muffin sandwiches
scrambled eggs and cheese
oatmeal (I have all those oat groats here and that flaker and I've never used either! shame on me!)
omelets
Granola
Odds & Ends:
5 gallon cookies -- some raisin, some chocolate chip
oatmeal cookies
quick sugar cookies
pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
peanutbutter cookies
pumpkin raisin bread
applesauce bread
apple gingerbread
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