Menu Masterlist: Beef

Welcome back!  I hope by now you have started creating your own masterlists and begun meal planning.  Once you get started, I promise it is really not that hard!  In a few weeks we will talk about some tricks of the trade to make planning easy and pain free.


Last week I shared our family's masterlist for chicken meals, so this week we will move on to beef.

You will notice it is considerably shorter.  We like red meat, but honestly just do not eat as much of it.

Once again, save the list on your computer and print it out as an easy reference  You can add any of your old favorites or simply mark off what you would not eat.

If you need a menu planning sheet you can use the one I posted last week which also includes a column for you to make a grocery list off your menu plan.  Trust me, it will make your life simpler!

Get cooking, friends!

Blessings,

Monday Menu with a Turkey

Welcome to a holiday week!  Thanksgiving is upon us and we are taking the week off of school to relax and reboot our family.  Sometimes parents and kids all need a break.  We will be minus Riley this year again, but she is joyfully flying to her grandparents' house this week to also enjoy some down time.  We are looking forward to having her home in December, right before her birthday!  She will be 20, oh my!  That is a separate post altogether!

So on to our menu for the week- notice there will be turkey!  Gobble gobble.  You will see its reappearance in a few meals next week as well, since I buy large and freeze in handy 2 cup portions to use for other meals.  Saves time and money!

Monday- Orange honey Glazed chicken  (yes, I know this was from last week, but we ended up going out and it never got cooked so I am trying again this week.  If you are looking for something different, pop some chicken breasts in the crock pot and add your favorite sauce.  Serve over rice!

Tuesday- Salisbury Steak with wine sauce

Wednesday- Egg Roll in a bowl

Thursday- Thanksgiving Meal- Just for fun here is what we eat:

• turkey
• mashed potato casserole (recipe below)
• green bean casserole
• cranberry sauce
• rolls
• gravy
• stuffing
• and of course, pies!  Can't forget the pies!

It is simple but we love it!  Family time needs to be more about the family and less about the food!  Do what your family loves and don't worry about the rest.

Friday- Thanksgiving leftovers

Saturday- Sloppy Joes

Sunday- Turkey and rice soup

So funny story- I LOVE mashed potatoes.  Like REALLY love them.  As in often ate them for a meal in college.  Just them.  (hey, it's what poor starving college students do, right? Except I was never starving!) Anyway,  I always loved to use Thanksgiving as an excuse to make them in large amounts.  One year we needed to make for a crowd so my mom and I made them quite ahead of time and set them aside.  By the time we got around to serving them, they had turned into a bowl of starchy mess.  Absolutely horrible, though it did provide a good laugh later.  Since that time, because sometimes we feed larger crowds and I prefer to be in the kitchen before people come, not while they are with us, I started making the mashed potato casserole, recipe below.  I make it (or two or three) the day before and pop it in the oven an hour before we eat. Saves time, and is just as yummy!

I pray your family has a beautiful Thanksgiving!  I am grateful for many things, including YOU!

Blessings,

Author: Michele Pleasants

Mashed Potato Casserole

ingredients:

• 5 lbs. potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1- 8 oz block cream cheese
• 1 C sour cream
• 1-2 tsp garlic salt
• butter

instructions:

1. Peel and cook potatoes until done
2. Beat potatoes, adding the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth
3. Add garlic salt and mix well
4. Pour into a 9x13 pan and dot with butter.  You can sprinkle with paprika if desired
5. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

notes

This can be made a day ahead and refrigerated until ready to cook.  You may need to add 15 minutes of baking time.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Monday Menu is Back!

Well, obviously I am friends with a lot of people who like food!  Or maybe just need some inspiration.  But either way our first Monday Menu was such a hit, that we have decided to keep it up for a while!

Remember, my goal is simple meals that most people (my kids!) will eat.  I am not including sides because we buy veggies and such around sales, so I just typically grab what I have around and add a salad.  Yes, we eat a lot of salads!

Oh, and yes, the Butter Chicken recipe was quite good!  You can find it at Keto Connect.  My family approved and they are pretty picky Indian food kids.  We would never have said we liked Indian food until our friends bought an Indian food restaurant and grocery store in Brookings, SD.  If you are ever driving through there, look up Flavor!  You will be glad you did.  Tell them I sent you and have an extra bite for me!




This week-

Monday- Chicken Noodle Casserole  (I will put a whole chicken in the crockpot and use half for this meal and half for Thursday's meal!)

Tuesday- B-B-Q Meatballs

Wednesday- Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

Thursday- Chicken Tetrazzini

Friday- Pork Roast

Saturday- Pulled Pork Sandwiches (using left over pork from Friday)

Sunday- Broccoli-Cheese Soup


A few notes- Yes, I used a whole chicken to do two meals and a pork roast to make 2 others.  It's all about saving money folks!

Yes, I tend to do a lot of soups on Sunday.  We often go out to eat with friends after church, so it is easy to pop soup in the crock pot for later and it is a lighter meal after a bigger lunch.  

And because I love you - a recipe for you!  It is one of our favorites and is on the menu for next week so I thought I would give you a heads up on the ingredients if you want to join us.  My mom made this all through my childhood and it makes me smile every time I make it.

Beef Stroganoff

2 TBSP Butter
2 TBSP Flour
2 C Water
3 Beef Bouillon cubes
2 TBSP Tomato Paste
Sprinkle of garlic powder
4 C of diced cooked beef tips
1 C Mushrooms
1/4 C Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper

Melt butter, stir in flour and cook over low for 3 minutes.  
Stir in water and add bouillon cubes.  
Cook, stirring, until thickened.  
Add tomato paste, garlic powder, beef, mushrooms, salt and pepper.  
Mix well.  
Stir in sour cream, heat well.
Serve over noodles.


That's it!  I usually pop the beef in the crockpot in the morning so it is ready to use when I start dinner to save time!

Happy planning and eating, my friends!

See ya back next week!
Blessings,

Dinner's In the Freezer

It's almost that time of year again.  Can you feel it?  The temperatures are dropping a bit, school supplies are taking over the stores, and calendars are starting to fill up with events.  Yes, fall is coming and so is what I call "The Crazy Season."

A time when mom is pulled in a hundred, maybe a thousand, different directions and many evenings I just long for a quiet place to land and read good book.

But hold on, those people of mine want to E-A-T!  Can you even believe it?

Thankfully, during the busy seasons of life my slow cooker and my freezer have become my best friends.  With very little planning and even less effort, I can grab a baggie out of the freezer, pop it in my slow cooker in the morning right after breakfast, and there is a hot meal ready for dinner.  This is especially good for days that are crazy, days that we have "after school" events, or days that mom has reached her stopping point.  Yes, that about covers all days, right?!

There are countless ways to freezer cook and you can find many articles and recipes relating to that process.  What I want to share with you is not the process as much as just a few of our fast, easy, and no-frills meals.  We are not fancy around here.  I have four kids who have many distinct likes and dislikes.  I gave up trying to keep up with the Joneses and their menus years ago.  Simple is the name of the game here!

But blessings is the other name!  Freezing simple meals ahead of time that can be popped in a slow cooker, providing hours of yummy smells and at least ten minutes of yummy dinner time (does anyone have a fast eater???) has indeed blessed me.  It frequently takes the stress out of my day, saves me time in the kitchen, allows us to save money by avoiding those last minute "let's just order something in" panics, and provides a more nutritional choice for a meal.

Interested?
Here we go!

Chicken Meals

• Italian chicken- Just pop chicken breasts in a baggie, pour half of a bottle of Italian dressing in with a tablespoon of garlic salt.  Seal, shake and lay flat to freeze.  Pop it in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours and you are ready to go!

• Chicken and Rice- Pop chicken breasts in a baggie with a can of cream of mushroom soup (or your own homemade) and a half cup of water. Lay flat to freeze! Cook on low for 8 hours, adding uncooked instant rice the last 20 minutes.

• Shredded chicken- Spend a free day cooking chicken and then freeze in two cup portions for the following meals- Quesadillas, stuffed baked potatoes, tacos, enchiladas, and soups (add noodles or rice last 20-30 minutes)

Red Meat Ideas

• Shape meatballs and freeze with your favorite sauce (b-b-q, teriyaki). Cook on low 8 hours.

• Shape meatloaves and freeze.  Simply put in slow cooker and cook on low 8 hours.

• Freeze spaghetti sauce and cook on low 8 hours!

• Cook hamburger meat and freeze in two cup servings for the following meals- (you can add spices when you freeze or as you put your meat in the slow cooker) tacos, chili, taco salad or Sloppy Joes.

Pork Ideas

• A large pork loin found at our local large food club can easily make three or four meals for us depending on how we use it.  Cut it into how ever many pieces is right for your size family and freeze with a marinade.  (We love Italian dressing, b-b-q, and teriyaki the best!)

• You can then cook the pieces in the slow cooker for 8 hours and use the following ways- As the main meal, over rice, on baked potatoes, as sandwiches!

See?  I told you the ideas are endless!  For the most part, there are not many foods that do not freeze well, and even less that you cannot cook in a slow cooker.  No need to make it complicated, just make it and freeze it and watch your meal time stress melt away as you go about your busy day!

Blessings,

Fun Friday- Saving Money in the Kitchen Finale and Giveaway!

Well friends, welcome back to the last installment of Saving Money in the Kitchen.  Here we go...

Dinner time!  What's on your menu?  Fast food, you say?  Honestly, we do not usually eat out just for the fun of it.  Usually the service isn't that great, the food is just OK, and for a family of six it is just plain expensive.  Nope, we usually are only tempted to eat out when mom does not know what is for dinner.  It is irritating, it is unhealthy and it is costly. 

But I struggle with menu planning.  Can anyone relate?  The planning part is not so bad really but the coming up with things to actually put on the plan, well, that is another story.  I waffle between feeling like I am boring my family to death to trying out long, fancy recipes that take a lot of time and they all turn their nose up in the end anyway.  So. Done. With. That!

I have a new solution!  You are going to love it!
I have just finished up my second round of cooking what someone else tells me to cook for a 13 week stretch.  I love it.  I just open the book and follow someone else's plans and recipes.  Easy!

My worn, well loved copy!

I have mentioned Rachel Master's cookbook, Supper's on the Table, Come Home before.  In this 253 page, spiral bound gem, Rachel gives you 13 weeks of 5 meals each with sides along with their recipes. To sweeten the deal she also adds a complete shopping list for each week- staples included!  AND to make it even better, a special dessert and one snack idea are included for each week with all the recipes AND ingredients list.  What else could you need?

It was written by a mom with kids for a mom with kids.  'Ya know what I mean?  None of that creame de 'la something, or fancy-smanshy, I cannot pronounce nor will my family ever eat recipes.  Just real life stuff, with real life ingredients.

These are good solid meal plans- a main dish, a veggie recommendation and often a bread of some sort or a fruit.  Did I already mention kid friendly?  I admit to having 3 out of 4 picky eaters.  I do not know how it happened, but yes, my kids are somewhat picky and opinionated about food.  Out of the 80 meals listed I only replaced about 5.  And they were pretty easy fixes.  Where split pea soup was listed, for example, I just changed it to pork loin. (sorry Rachel)  I simply marked out the ingredients for that meal on the shopping list and added my own.  Now when I shop, I copy the week's ingredients list, mark out all the things I already have on hand and go get the rest of what Rachel tells me I will need.

A no brainer.
And a life saver.

Could it get any better?
Well, actually it can!  Because at the end of the book are bonus recipes for everything from homemade mixes (we use the biscuit mix recipe all of the time) to holiday meal ideas and a even section on food allergies.

Why reinvent the wheel?
Actually, I did reinvent the wheel a little.  I admit the organizational side of me loves this concept, so I got out a notebook and the recipes I have that my family loves and made my own 13 week schedule, complete with shopping lists.  It is not nearly as well done as Rachel's, but it will do.  Now I do not have to menu plan for 26 weeks.  Yea me!

This cookbook makes a great gift for young people just starting out with cooking.  Because most recipes are not too labor intensive, it is an opportunity to learn how to ease into cooking.  Rachel gives start times for each portion of the meal, helping to get it all on the table at the same time.

Want one?  You can order a copy of Rachel's book, Supper's on the Table, Come Home from her website ~ for $15.00.

Or...

Rachel is going to bless one of my readers with their own copy for free!   Enter the rafflecopter below to win.  I know you will love it.  Thank you Rachel!

Looking for ways to save money?  Menu planning can be a great tool to keep you out of the grocery store too often, and keep you from those impulse items that end up costing us way too much.  Give it a try and see if it doesn't help!

Blessings,

This post is being linked up with Amy, At Raising Arrows!

This post in being link to Caroline at The Modest Mom!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer- Opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way by the publisher.  I did not receive compensation in any form for this review.  The cookbook offered is from the generous offer of Rachel!