Sunday, May 29, 2011

Sunday night

Well, tonight was a bit of a home made dinner...at least half.

2 packages of tortellini (Oliviari, which I got marked down at $1.99 per package) $3.98
1-650g package of homemade spaghetti sauce (I cool my spaghetti sauce down then freeze it in washed out yogurt or cottage cheese containers) not fully sure of price, but approx $5.00

This is usually how I make my spaghetti sauce, but not always...lol...sometimes one must make due with what they have, even tomatoe soup!  ;)
6lb beef $13.00
2 large containers of Prego*pasta sauce $12.00
A couple of tablespoons of each to taste: garlic powder, oregano, basil, onion powder $1.00
2 medium cans tomato sauce $3.00
2 cans tomato paste $1.00
Costs about $30.00 to make this batch of sauce! I am approximating cost, as I have not made a batch in about two months, and have not purchased the ingredients to make it lately either, so I might be off on the big batch by maybe $2.00, which means that I might be wrong on the singles by maybe $0.40.

Simmer for at least an hour for the flavour to merry. Makes 6-650g plastic containers worth for freezing, which works for my family of four with occasionally leftovers(depending on my kids' growth spurts). I either take the sauce out the night before the meal to thaw in the fridge, or I take it out of the freezer and use a bit of hot water to get it out of the container and into a sauce pan.

I know, I'm slackin'!

I have the flu, so food is the last thing on my mind. Saturday hubby made 8 hamburger paaites, and thawed out more hamburger buns...his idea of a complete dinner, at least he's doing more about it than me!  ;)

Saturday was a vegeterian lasaugna that I had purchase for emergencies for me! My family is way more into meat than I am, so I tend to get something like that, and once I cook the whole thing, I cut it up and freeze the extra peices in single portions. Alas, as I said before, I have the flu, so my "save me from the meat!" meal became a family meal. My eldest stayed at a friend's house for the night, so the there were just three of us to feed. MY youngest and hubby said it was alright...for vegetarian...  *rolls eyes* ...I guess I'm making a snails pace progress at getting them to eat less meat....but I doubt it..lol!

Well, back to the food and cost of the food.
Friday night:

1 dozen hamburger buns (whole wheat) $0.99 (got them onslae and froze until needed)
8 burger patties (these were from M&M meats, and it was 16 in the box for $9.99) $4.99
8 cheese slices (from a package of 48 thin slices for $6.99 equalling $0.15/slice) $1.20
So the grand total of our dinner in was $7.18 approximately, and not including taxes

Saturday night:

1 Vegetarian Lasaugna (bought at Walmart, not even on sale, was $12.00, cut into 4 pieces, $4.00 per person) $12.00
So the grand total was $12.00 plua taxes.
Yes, it was an expensive meal, but most prepackaged meals cost more than making them yourselves. With me not being well, dinner has to be easy, and it was a choice between this, or plain Kraft Dinner*...and I ate, so I was happy with the choice!  ;)

Due to my be tarty on some posts, I'm going to give you all another of my favorite recipes!

Vaughn Nuggets
By Deb Vaughn

Why go to the Arches when you can make your own??? This kid-tested and approved recipe is adapted from one that appeared in Better Homes and Gardens several years ago.

1 lb chicken -- deboned and skinned
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 egg beaten OR 1/4 cup egg substitute
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup bread crumbs

Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Cut the pieces in 1 inch pieces OR pound flat and cut with cookie cutters into fun shapes. Combine the flour, parsley, seasonings thoroughly and put in a small plastic bag.

Add chicken pieces, a few at a time to flour mixture. Close bag and shake pieces to coat them.

Combine milk and egg in a small bowl. Put bread crumbs in another bowl. Dip the flour coated pieces, 1/4 at a time, in the egg/milk mixture and then roll them in the crumbs.

Place coated chicken pieces in a single layer on a large ungreased baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes until pieces are no longer pink and the juice runs clear.

VARIATIONS: add cayenne pepper, oregano, curry or chinese 5 spice to the flour mixture instead of tarragon and sage. These are really tasty and make a crowd-pleasing appetizer.

FREEZE: on clean baking sheet. Remove to a freezer bag.

SERVING: Remove what is needed and nuke for 30 seconds or bake at 400 for 5 minutes. SERVES: 8 (more if served as an appetizer)
I had to search for where I had originally gotten this from, it is a OAMC recipe (Once A Month Cooking), from http://mysite.verizon.net/vaughnharsh/OAMC/OAMC.shtml . I used to do this kind of cooking alot, but found it to bee too much work, so now I just make a recipe frome them, or double something I know can be frozen and double it. I put the remainder of the meal into the freezer for another night. Alot of people do something similar to that, but don't think about it, like making a big batch of spaghetti sauce, and freeze the rest in meal amounts in the freezer.

Hope you enjoyed this "tasty tidbit" of a recipe!   ;)

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Thursday night

Sadly, I did not make dinner tonight, ok...not so sadly for me!  ;)
It is my youngest sons' Birthday today, so we went to Boston Pizza , to which my Mom and Dad-in-law were so kind to pay for! My son had a wonderful evening, and got to enjoy being sang to by the staff (how sweet is that?) when they brought the cake out.
Sorry that it isn't a dinner breakdown or anything, but I will share my FAVORITE recipe!

Easy Chocolate Fudge

I got this from the Eagle Brand* website years ago, and everyone loves it (I usually break down bits of candy cane at Christmas, or Smarties*, instead of nuts (in case someone's allergic to them).

3 cups chocolate chips
1 can Eagle Brand* sweetened condensed milk
dash salt
1/2-1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla extract.

In a sauce pan, melt chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and salt on low heat. Once it is malted and thoroughly mixed, remove from heat, stir in nuts and vanilla. Spread evenly in an eight or nine inch square baking pan that is lined with wax paper. Chill two hours, or until firm. Turn fudge over onto a cutting board, peel off waxed paper, and cut into squares. Store in refridgerator covered.

This stuff is so deliciously rich and chocolatey that I, a confirmed chocoholic, can only have a small amount at a time! Not to mention, that for fudge, this recipe is easy, and a batch can be made for under ten dollars! Hope this will tide you over until tomorrow!  ;)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Wednesday night dinner

Well, tonight we had shakie bakie chicken thighs, with potatoes and a fruit smoothie. I know, not your normal dinner, and not always cheap, but enjoyable!  ;)

So the break down is this:
10 chicken thighs (bought a family pack that I divided into three bags of ten on sale and froze for about $15.00) approximately $5.00
6 red potatoes approximately $0.99
Frozen fruit (I buy BIG bags of mixed berries onsale for $16.99) about 2 cups worth approx. $4.00
Vanilla ice cream (bought a 4L container onsale for $3.99) about 3 cups approx. $0.60
orange juice (buy in frozen concentrate for $1.25, makes about 8 cups) about 1 cup approx $0.16
Milk (I buy the 4L jugs for $4.50) about 2 cups approx $0.60
The grand total for the meal is $11.35!

I know, not the healthiest beverage in the world, and I probably should have made another vegetable to go with the meal, but honestly, I didn't feel like it for once. I also didn't make the drink, my eldset son did it for us! I figure that technically we had all four food groups, but I do admit that the sugar and fat content were REALLY high because of the drink. I also have to say that it was WELL worth it!  ;)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tuesday Night dinner

Well...I didn't make anything from scratch today, as I wound up with a really hectic day, so we wound up with hamburgers, with cheese slices. This is the breakdown:
1 dozen hamburger buns (whole wheat) $0.99 (got them onslae and froze until needed)
8 burger patties (these were from M&M meats, and it was 16 in the box for $9.99) $4.99
8 cheese slices (from a package of 48 thin slices for $6.99 equalling $0.15/slice) $1.20
So the grand total of our dinner in was $7.18 approximately, and not including taxes.

Just think, there were 5 leftover buns from dinner, and tomorrow I makin' bacon (back bacon onsale in reduced meats section for $1.99, which I naturally froze until needed), and we'll be making bacon and eggers at home for breakfast in the morning! Fairly cheap, and healthy breakfast! Not to mention that if you cook the bacon ahead of time, it's super fast in the microwave(just remember to break the yolk, or it explodes into bits), just 60 on a 1200w microwave on high(for the egg). Don't forget to toast and butter the bun! MMMM, tasty!  :)

Monday, May 23, 2011

Monday night dinner

Well...I went all out tonight, let me tell you...
I got my eldest son to make some mac'n'cheese, then I added the leftover chicken from last night and a can of peas, phew! It was hard, but I manages..lol!  ;)
The price breakdown:
two boxes of Kraft Dinner*  $2.00 (Walmart had them for $1.oo each)
one leftover chicken leg  FREE (it was counted in last nights meal)
one can of peas $0.88 (got it on sale!)
So that makes the grand total of tonights dinner at...wait for it  *Drum Roll*
$2.88! For the four of us, although, quite honestly, I didn't eat much, as I wasn't hungry. Next time I might add another box of KD* because the boys' really like it, it wasn't a big deal, as they got to have leftover B-Day cake (which is why I been slacking on posting meals, one night my in-laws bought pizza, another night we got take-out...using a coupon for the chicken dinner at A&W).

Any-who...that was dinner tonight! Tomorrow I might get a little fancier and actually make something from scratch! I guess you'll have to "toon in tomorrow for another episode of 'What's For Dinner TONIGHT?'!"  ;)

Din Din

For tonights dinner we had chicken legs, with boiled potatoes and steamed broccoli. My youngest made the chicken, no idea all the spices he used, but garlic and oregano were definately two of them! My eldest son made the rest.
Price break down:
5 Chicken legs $6.63
6 red potatoes $0.99 (approx)
1 trunk of broccoli $0.75 (approx)
so the approximate total for the dinner was $8.37 for the four of us, and one leg left over to make sandwiches for lunch tomorrow!  :)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Biking time is here again! :)

I know, it's hard to believe it, but biking time is here again! Just in time, what with the high prices in gas, and I hear they're just going to continue to rise over the summer! I think what excites me most is the bike I had to store almost three years ago is with me again! She may be old, she may be rusty, but she is TOTALY me! I have to take her to a bike shop to get her back to ship shape order, since she's a three wheel bike (yes...and adult trike, and I'm cool enough to own her!). Normally I take care of her by greasing the chain, checking the tires, tightening/loosening the brakes, but her shifting gears are unusual (hence the trip to some bike doctors). Apparently she got a little rusty while she was away too (I'm so sorry baby! ~yes...I talk about my bike like some guys talk about their cars...I never said I was normal!). So my goal is to get her into pedalling condition, then I'll work on getting the rust out of her fenders, making the fenders into a nice chrome look again if I can. After that, I'm hoping to get the rust off her body and paint her to look like new again.
What can I say, I like going down to the grocery store on my back, and being able to bring the groceries home in the basket. You'd be surprised how much I can get in that one basket!
But seriously, if you have a bike, and are blanching at the gas prices as I am, get out a big SRTONG packsack, bike on down, and pick those groceries up! If you're not keen on carrying all your groceries on your back, and can't really afford a bike trailer, check out http://www.instructables.com/pages/search/search.jsp?cx=partner-pub-1783560022203827%3Anpr2q7v5m6t&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=bike+trailer , they might have one that you can make for almost nothing but hard work!  :)
Happy biking all!  :)

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Dinner from a dollar store...

Well...tonight we ate, and everone enjoyed it! A simple recipe that anyone can do...it's SO easy! I feed a family of four, and we all have adult appetite.

3 Packages of a noodle side dish (we had the Alfredo)
2 cans of cooked chicken
1 stump of broccoli

Simply follow the directions of the side dish recipe, but also add the broccoli and chicken (I included the water from the chicken can). So our dinner tonight came to a GRAND total of $6 plus tax. I know that broccoli isn't sold at the dollar store, but I did pay a dollar for it. I also include the "trunk" of the broccoli, I like them and why waste?

Tomorrow I won't be making dinner, as I am going to a spaghetti and ribs dinner/fundraiser for my youngest son's end-of-the-year school trip (when I heard it was ribs...I said "I'm SOOO there!").
But I think I will make an attempt at posting my recipes from our dinners, and trying to cut them down to cost. Naturally they won't all be as inexpensive as this one, but I'll put them on anyways...after all, if you can't spend money on what you'd love to eat occassionally, then what's the point in living?  :)

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Who says chivalry is dead?!

I went to Quesnel, to drop off The Stew Magazine at it's pick-up spots, only to lock my keys in the car! I was mortified! I was far from home, hubby wouldn't even get home from work for several hours (let alone the time to get my spare key to me), and I definately didn't have $50 to get a professional to open it for me. I was up a creek without a paddle, until two wonderful gentlemen came to my rescue!


They tried to open it with what was on hand, but in the end, one went all the way home to get a wire coat hanger! After the hanger arrived, they were able to wrangle my keys from off the seat, and out through the slightly open window!


If you two gents are reading, you guys were my heroes for the day, and thank you so VERY much again! :)