If I had to choose one dish that I whip up more than any other, this would be it.

I always have a ready made stash of frozen cooked turkey or chicken pieces in the freezer and who doesn’t have half eaten bags of various veggies or nearly expired ones in the crisper of your fridge.  With these two items, some chicken broth and the important Magic Mix you can have a warm hearty meal in minutes.

Whenever I cook homemade broth I freeze some in 2 cup portions for receips such as this.  Simply thaw and add it to the magic mix, thicken and add some veggies and frozen chicken.  Normally I spoon this over some whole grain rice I had frozen or you could simply boil whole whole grain pasta for a base. 

Not only is this dish easy and quick it’s frugal and makes good use of leftovers and lone stragglers left in your fridge.  Great way to clean it out.

Now that I am starting to settle into a routine with 3 kids, I am hoping to get back into a routine of eating more wholesome food.  I used to cook with alternative grains, beans and legumes but in the past months found myself neglecting to include them in our menus.  Granted it does take a little more prep work than simply opening a can but with a little pre-planning beans will be making a welcome come back in our meal repetoire.

I recently made a trip to my favorite bulk food store armed with my mom and two $3 off coupons.  I divided my order in two and got $6 off a total of $25.  I stocked up on my ol’ stand by pinto beans, spelt flour, whole grain flour but went out of my comfort zone and purchased black beans.  I m anxious to try a few new mexican recipes of which I plan to use my homemade yogurt or strained keift in place of commercial sour cream.

If you are a bean newbie and would like some ideas on this protein packed gem check some of these out.

Stephanie’s baby steps series on beans (Still working on her Say No! to Kraft Dinner, I confess I am guilty of dishing out this one now and then)

Black Bean quessidillas

refried beans

You may want to space out your bean meals until one gets accustomed to their effects….can’t say I didn’t warn you.

We spent the better part of our weekend nailing, cutting and gluing boards to our ceiling.  Although we only have a quarter complete we have worked the kinks out and it should be smooth sailing from here on in. 

Amazingly I managed to pull off a big meal for the extended family amidst the chaos of construction.  We did have a little mishap of hubby turning on the dusty mitre saw as I was mixing cornbread for the casserole which may have resulted in a little extra crunch.  Oh well! nobody complained and their all still standing.

Now on to the rest of the week.

Sunday – Wings and corned bread veggie bake

Monday – veggie soup and grilled cheese.  A few weeks ago I made two large batches of soup, chicken fricot and vegetable.  Although my hubby is not a soup kind of guy when accompanied by warm rolls or crusty bread it is a nice light alternative on a cold night.

Tuesday – Sticky chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans

Wednesday – Chicken parmesan, carrot sticks and dip

Thursday – leftovers

Friday – meatballs, tex mex rice and broccoli

Saturday – cabbage sloppy joes

If you are stuck on ideas for dinner check out Laura’s site for plenty of them.

After searching the net I found this recipe for homemade Easter cream eggs. I envisioned a fun filled afternoon bonding over balls of sugar and more sugar coupled with mountains of melted chocolate being coated on our beautifully shaped Easter Eggs. Well other than the bonding, the process was more tedious than anticipated. The dough stuck to literally everything including my sons (hopefully clean) hands….funny how that happens. After experimenting a bit I discovered that freezing them in between handling and coating made this a little less nerve raking. Tasty they were, egg shaped they were most certainly not. Tell me how I could make that happen? Afterwards my DH suggested placing them in one of those plastic egg shaped moulds….keyword here, AFTER.
All in all they tasted great, definitely not like the original. I have decided to freeze a good portion of these (the ones my sons did not manhandle) and use them for other special occasions like Christmas. They could rival the famous peanut butter ball on the dessert platter at the next Christmas shindig.

Like anyone reading this will actually try these but if you are feeling adventurous here you go…

1 cup sweet unsalted butter (softened)
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 can sweetened condensed milk
10 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon yellow food colouring
1 pound semi-sweet chocolate ( I used the whole body and a head of a 100g Santa that I had stored in the freezer
Instructions:
1. Beat softened butter, salt and vanilla until smooth.
2. Add milk and sugar and blend until stiff. ( I had to use a little more than called for)
3. Form the mixture into a ball.
5. Divide the ball into two pieces. (one small and one large)
6. Put two of the pieces together and set on the side.
7. Add yellow food colouring to the small piece and blend in well until it looks like the colour of egg yolks.
8. Divide the yellow mixture into 24 balls.
9. Divide the white mixture that you have set aside into 24 pieces.
10. Shape the white mixture pieces around the yellow balls to form an egg shape???? (fails to tell you how this happens) with a yellow yolk in the middle.
11. Stick back in freezer until set.
12. Melt chocolate in microwave on medium heat. Dip eggs in chocolate to cover the entire egg and cool at room temperature.
13. Refrigerate until serving.

Good luck and I would love any hints from people who have mastered the art of egg making.

For all of you who ever thought about trying to cook with sourdough but are a little reluctant, check this out.

I recently wrote an intro’s guide to sourdough and several recipes other than bread you can make with this wonderful stuff.  So don’t be shy, dive right in and enjoy the health and frugal benefits of this wonderful ingredient.

(jeeze, after taking a good look at this picture, I have come to realize it doesn’t look that appealing, please don’t hold that against it)

So much for spring.  Several days ago I spent the afternoon perusing the aisles of Home Depot admiring all the patio furniture (nicer than my living room set I might add) and now I cannot find the deck if I tried.  We got a whopping 20+ cm of snow.  Instead of being depressed I decided to make a day of it and jack the kids full of sugar.  Nothing like being cooped up in the house with a tummy full of Rice Krispie treats to drive a momma crazy.  The nice part about this snow is it’s light and fluffy, so when the kids start climbing the sides of the TV armoire they dressed in their one piece snowsuits and booted outside to burn off some energy.  I got a chance to sit by by the patio window sipping my three times reheated coffee picking paint chips for the new house.  Ahhhh! a snow day at its finest.

I have to tell you about our weird ritual when making Rice Krispie squares.  Most people cook them up and ever so neatly place them in a buttered pan, wait until they cool before cutting them into neat little squares.  Hence the name.  As you probably guessed by now, we do nothing normal.

Growing up Rice Krispie treats became an event.  Normally this was made on a storm day or late at night while watching a movie.  My Dad, who exclusively made these treats, would whip up a large batch with added peanut butter and pile it on a buttered plate complete with 4 spoons stuck in the middle.   We would each take a utensil and ferociously dig out a portion and pick it off with our fingers and gobble it up still warm and gooey.  If there happened to be some left it would be stashed away in the cupboard for the following morning’s breakfast.  I have yet to see this happen since the arrival of our little porker Dane. 

With the horrible weather conditions outside, I knew this would be a perfect day to break out the clearance box of Holiday Rice Krispie and whip up a large plate of ooey gooey goodness complete with tall glasses of milk.  I hope my children will remember these moments as much as my brother and I did growing up. A  single bite of this treat brings back so many wonderful childhood memories and how we spent it as a family.  Amazing how a simple dessert prepared in an unusual way can bring you back to a simpler and safer time.

Funny thing is I don’t remember the belly ache that accompanied this.

What a difference a week can make.  This time last week I was feeling very overwhelmed, frustrated and desperately needed a break in the meal preparation department.  Since I felt somewhat obligated to actually feed my family despite wanting to go on strike and do nothing but toss frozen spuds on a plate smothered in ketchup…wait….. that was actually last night’s dinner.

Anyhoo, I have my mojo back and I plan to get back to my regularly scheduled program of cooking and maybe even cleaning…maybe.

Instead of scheduling specific meals on specific days I am going to list off what I am hoping to whip up for the family.  For some reason if I don’t feel like eating chicken, I can easily switch it up to pancakes and beans, no pressure.  On to the grub:

• Spaghetti and cheese bread.  I bought one of those large bags of multi grain rolls from Costco and stuck them in the freezer. Cut in two and smothered in garlic butter and cheese they are a quick and frugal alternative to homemade buns and purchased garlic bread
• BBQ meatballs, baked potatoes with sour cream and frozen skillet corn
• Potato soup and easy breadsticks
• homemade pizza and garlic fingers with donair sauce using the not so fattening version
• baked oatmeal and turkey bacon
• crock pot roast, mashed potatoes with green and yellow waxed beans.  I know there is a frozen apple crisp stashed somewhere in the depths of my freezer, hopefully I can unearth it for a quick and delicious dessert
• pancakes

I am planning to take it easy this month, preparing easy, quick and frugal meals that can be whipped up on a dime.  I am going to make it a point to use my often neglected crock pot.  If anyone has some favourite crock pot meals, I would love to hear about them.   I have a select few that I love and need to expand on this form of cooking.

For more meal ideas visit I’m and Organizing Junkie

Normally I take Sunday afternoon to post my meal plan for the upcoming week.  Not so this week.

You see, this weekend was a write off, from start to finish.  Some days, it seems, I am failing miserably at motherhood.  Some days far worst than others.  Sunday evenings are usually reserved for a nice sit down dinner (as nice as a dinner with two rambunctious toddlers can be) but this Sunday was cancelled due to mommy having a mini breakdown.  I did manage to literally throw in a frozen lasagna made several weeks back, thank goodness for that or it would have been bowls of Rice Krispies all around.

I am not immune to the pressures of trying to be a supermom, it seems I can never do enough, cook enough, clean enough, enjoy my children enough or be the perfect wife enough.  With the upcoming move and pending adoption I am tired…really tired and meal planning and scratch cooking has been taking a backseat.

Since I won’t be giving you any ideas for meals based on my families suppers, I thought I would show you what our kitchen looked like over a year ago.  I often go back to some old posts of mine to give myself new inspiration or ideas.  Over time my meals have evolved and in some ways have become for complicated.  Why can’t I just use a bottle of Kraft *gasp* BBQ sauce for my meatballs instead of succumbing to the pressures of making my own sauce?

I need to stop.  I may even resort to take out pizza or better yet a bucket of fried chicken.  I can see my husband jumping for joy now.

Since you were probably looking for some meal ideas and not the ramblings of an overworked stressed out mom.  Here are some ideas you can hopefully work with.

Post originally written in January 2008

Well here we are again…Monday ughhhh. The good news is the sales are out and I have a few ideas for recipes that will keep some of your hard earned dollars in your pocket.

The one item that I took note of was the extra lean ground beef on for $2lb at Sobeys. (believe it or not that is a good price here in Canada if you are reading from the US). I just got back from buying 10 lbs for several recipes I have lined up.

The first thing I do is make up a large batch of meatballs. They are easy to whip out of the freezer for a quick meal and can be used in many ways. To make up the basic meatballs I add the following

4lbs of beef

4 env. of onion soup mix

4 eggs

bread crumbs to desired consistency

salt and pepper

I mix this all together and roll into balls and bake in an oven at 350 for 30 min. From there I can assemble the following recipes

The first one I rely on is meatball subs. In a ziplock container I add enough of the meatballs I feel will feed my family, add a jar of spaghetti sauce (Healthy choice is on sale at co-op bogo) and they are ready for the freezer. To prepare I simply thaw in the microwave and pile on top of toasted buns with cheese grilled in the oven until hot and bubbly. It takes all of 5 minutes to whip up this yummy hot meal. If you need a change from subs you could simply add this to pasta or spaghetti for a simple traditional meal.

I then take another portion of plain meatballs and simply add the following:

1 can mushrooms

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 tablespoons of Worcester sauce

salt and pepper

Freeze in tinfoil container

To prepare simply cook from frozen in 350 oven until hot and bubbly. This meal would be perfect with any side and a veggie.

And if you STILL have meatballs left (I normally do) place them in a dish, add a jar of sweet and sour sauce, can of pineapple chunks and a sliced green pepper. From frozen they can be prepared the same way as the above recipe.

As you can see for $20 in beef I have created quite a few meals.

Warning ahead: Rolling these meatballs are a little time consuming and a touch annoying but stay the course and I guarantee you will be rewarded with a hot, quick and you bet frugal meal.

Now get rolling…..

For more ideas and menu planning visit I’m an Organizing Junkie

I posted about my deceptive little trick for hiding veggies in sloppy joes nearly a year ago and after a long hiatus, I decided to place them on the menu this week.

Who doesn’t love sloppy joe’s (actually I don’t) but most people do.  Here is a little trick to sneak in a little more nutritional value into this beef filled mixture.  Sloppy joes are perfect for those busy nights when all you can muster up the energy for is pressing the buttons on the microwave. This meal is frugal, simple and most of all quick to prepare and when placed on top of a whole grain bun can even be somewhat healthy.  Previously prepared and frozen family sized meat mixture can be thawed and fried in no time making this dish even more appealing.  Into this, I typically add a small bag of ground cabbage that I normally pick up for 1/2 price on the reduced cart as well as with the pre-mixed salad bags of coleslaw mix.  This addition not only adds a little crunch and tang to the meat mixture but more importantly adds a veggie that you would otherwise not be eating.  The best part is the coleslaw has the same shape and colour as ground beef once it has been fried in the sauce and makes it near impossible for your certain picky child (or certain picky father) from detecting and ultimately complaining. I normally place a little olive oil in the pan and add the fresh cabbage with the partly thawed meat and by the time the hamburger is heated through the cabbage is ready.

I have even gone as far as adding this in some of my meat loaves and other ground beef hashes without too many complaints.  Just make sure you destroy the evidence (bag) before they see it.

For more kitchen tips visit Tammy’s recipes

Several weeks back we were visiting with our good friends, Stef and Brad and somehow got on the topic of being frugal. I candidly explained what I do with all of those leftover heels from the loaves of bread. Brad quickly explained that because Stef and the boys will not eat crusts, he ends up consuming them to avoid being wasteful. I had to chuckle because I do the very same thing.  Actually they have become my favourite part of toast and I would rather eat a plate of crusts than the innards any day.  But a gal can only eat so many bread ends so I simply stash them in the freezer for homemade crumbs.

We decided last spring that we needed to admit defeat and purchase a chest freezer. Between the freezer burnt chicken and broken toes from frozen minute maid juice rolling out of any minuscule spot left available, we knew it was time. With our family expanding and my inability to pass up a great deal on meat and produce our little freezer space was quickly diminishing.

With the new freezer in place our fridge freezer was left to hold items used on a regular basis such as coffee and fries (we practically use equal amounts of these) Amongst those items are numerous amounts of bread bags with nothing in them but the ends. This is my system:
When we finish a loaf and all that remains are the two ends, I simply toss the bag and remnants into a corner of the freezer. Quite the conversation piece should anyone open our freezer. When I can no longer fit my can of coffee amongst the baggies I know it is time to clean it out.
I toss all of the slices on a large cookie sheet and place in a low oven for approx 6 hours. Ensure that they have dried out completely before setting aside to cool. Once complete, I simply toss them into a food processor to pulverize. Now I have an abundance of crumbs to use in recipes such as topping for my tuna casserole or any other dish that calls for a crumb topping. I also use these to make my own shake n bake and homemade stuffing.(below is the stuffing on top of my turkey casserole)

By setting up a spot to toss the bread in you can easily make your own crumbs. These are not only healthy but most of all frugal. I have see small containers at the grocery store for appox $2.50 and packages of Shake N’ Bake for more.

So Brad you shall never HAVE to eat a heel again!

PS don’t forget to swing by Tammy’s site for some great recipes. I use her site all the time. Also check out her recipe for homemade shake n bake in addition to the above tips.

(originally posted in Feb 08)