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

What Are We Doing with the Turkey?

Every year at Thanksgiving I buy a BIG turkey!  A big one.  Regardless of how many we are feeding.  Some years our house has been full and other times it is just a quiet celebration with our family.  But regardless of the numbers, I still get a BIG turkey!


Why, you ask?

Because I love using the left overs for other meals.  Actually, sometimes those meals are better  than the actual Thanksgiving Day meal, in my opinion!

So what do we make with all that turkey?

• Meal 1- Sliced turkey leftovers.  You need to have the Thanksgiving meal at least twice, right?!

• Meal 2- Turkey Sandwiches on rolls (at the boys request, not just sandwich bread)

• Meal 3- Turkey Rice Soup (you knew there was a soup coming, right?)  We found a great recipe for this soup in a little soup cookbook on the book clearance aisle years ago and it is still a favorite.

• Meal 4- Turkey Enchiladas  This is a good one to freeze for later!

• Meal 5- Turkey Divan  An old standby, but good way to get broccoli into your kids!

• Meal 6- Turkey Alfredo

So yes, be looking for these meals on the menu plan after Thanksgiving, and don't worry, I do not have them all in a row!

Usually the Saturday after Thanksgiving I take all the meat off the bone and freeze it in 2 cup portions for easy grab and go use in recipes later!

I would challenge you to see how many meals you can get out of one turkey- you might be pleasantly surprised!

What do YOU do with leftover turkey?

Blessings,

Fun Fridays- Saving Money in the Kitchen

Welcome to the first week of

Saving Money in the Kitchen.

  I am so excited to get started on this series.  It has been brewing in my mind for a while now, but several of your questions and emails prompted me to get it out of my head and onto the paper.  Thank you!

Yes, my monthly budget for groceries really is between $400-$450 for our family of six.  I aim for $400, but depending on what our month looks like- company, parties, holidays etc. - it can be a little more.

I will try to take each week to concentrate on a different aspect of how I save money in this particular area of our budget.  None of this is rocket science.  Most of it is probably not even new to you.  But sometimes we just need a reminder or a gentle nudge to get started.

Consider this your NUDGE!

Here we go!

Let's start with meat, as that is often one of the most expensive items in your cart at any given time.   I do get most of my meat from the commissary, but you can use these same ideas anywhere.  Let me preface this by saying, this is not organic meat.  I know, I know.  Trust me, it concerns me too, but that is one place I just have not changed over yet.  It is our goal after our summer move to buy local organic meat in bulk, but that is simply not where we are at right now.  Hopefully soon.  Until then...

Buy whole chickens in large quantities whenever you find them on sale.  Be on the lookout for .99 and even .79 sales!    Stick it in the crockpot with some water, onions and spices and you are on your way.  After it is cooked and de-boned I freeze Mr. Chicken into 2 cup portions to be used later.  Think soups, casseroles, burritos, enchiladas, and chicken salad.  Depending on the size of your chicken you can usually get 3-5 meals out of one chicken.  If said chicken cost you $5-$6 you have stretched your money by a ton.  $1.50 per serving is a bargain!  Don't forget to freeze the broth as well.  I have not bought cans of chicken broth in forever!!!

Split your chicken breasts in half!  Usually the breasts you buy are NOT a standard healthy portion. Trust me on this one.  In a world of super sizing we kid ourselves in what a portion really is. Get out a kitchen scale if you don't believe me.  By slicing the breasts in half we double what we have and are eating healthier.

Buy large cuts of meat when they are sale.  Turkeys are cheaper at Thanksgiving.  Hams are cheaper at Easter.  Buy several to stock up!  Once cooked they can be used for multiple meals.  Case in point...I got our Eater Ham for $14.00 on sale.  We ate ham for three meals, froze one 2 cup portion and two 1 cup portions of diced ham for homemade pizzas or casseroles, and three packages of ham slices to use later. That is nine meals... at a fraction of the cost!

 

Let's chat ground beef for a second.  We do not eat a lot of red meat, but we do like a good hamburger occasionally, tacos and meatballs even.  But ground beef is expensive.  Ground turkey, not so much.  So for about half our meals that call for ground beef, I substitute ground turkey. Sometime I will use half and half.  Easy!

Go meatless once a week!  Here is one that I do not do as well as others because I have picky eaters who do not care for beans.   (except CJ, of course!)  But, by buying beans in bulk rather than cans and cooking them yourself you WILL save!  Another way to do this is to cook soups.  There are plenty of recipes out there for meatless soups that when paired with rolls or some homemade bread make a hearty meal.

Eat breakfast for dinner once a week.  I started this at our house because the kids thought it was fun.  Since then, I have realized it is also cheaper.  From everyday staples like waffles or pancakes to french toast and even breakfast casseroles, you can save money with breakfast food.

Buy pork chops.  I realize pork is an off limit food for some, but if it is for you consider buying it more often.  Pork chops are less expensive than chicken and I think sometimes we just forget they are an option.

OK, I know this one is not meat, but I am going to slip it in since I have mentioned bulk buying...

Buy side dishes in bulk.  We do this in our house primarily with potatoes.  A 10 pound bag is cheap when on sale.  When we were growing them ourselves, it was even cheaper...and made me oh so happy!  (You can grow potatoes in large buckets, bales of straw and even large trash cans.  Do not let space alone be your excuse for not growing them.  It is easy and your kids will love it!) We can get a lot of side dishes out of one 10 pound bag of potatoes!  Homemade french fries, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, hash browns!   I figured out the savings once of that one bag of potatoes compared to what it would have cost me to buy bags of the frozen equivalents and the difference was about $14.00.  Never mind the health benefits.  We also buy brown rice on bulk!

So there you have it.  Told you it wasn't rocket science.  And no coupon cutting was even involved. This month we spent right at $100.00 on meat.

Come back next week and I will break down the $400.00 even more for you and focus on the dreaded snack foods!

Questions?  Ask away!  More money saving ideas?  Please share!

Until then, Happy Shopping!



Linking up with Caroline at The Modest Mom today!

How We Spent Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving a few days late!  I pray it was a blessed one.  The posts you have seen the past few days have been scheduled because we have been in Washington DC since Tuesday.  Yep, flew our oldest into Reagan National Airport and then hid away with her in a hotel until we put her back on a plane this morning and then came home ourselves.  We are exhausted, but had a FABULOUS time! 


I had told myself prior that dropping her off at the airport would be so much easier this time since we will see her in three SHORT weeks, but who was I fooling... it was still HARD!  The good news is she is doing well, has not decided while she was gone that she does not like us, and, did I mention, comes home in THREE SHORT WEEKS!

The other good news is you CAN do Thanksgiving in a hotel room!  Really!  I did cook the turkey before we left as well as the rolls and two pies, but everything else I took.  Pretty sure the people at the hotel thought we were moving in to stay!







See this small space...that was all there was, friends!  It was tight but it worked out fine.

Here's our makeshift table for six! With the fabulous husband setting the table.

SCP even said it was one of the best Thanksgiving meals we had ever had. ;)

Just goes to prove it IS about the people you are with, not the food.









 I will bore you with a few more pictures; some of us and some of the sights.  CP and I had not to been to DC in years and the kids have never been there except when passing through so we decided before the military sends us somewhere else next summer we better do the tourist thing while we are semi close.  We had relaxing mornings in the hotel, then visited a few places leisurely.  Fun, but low key.  Even managed to squeeze in a visit with some dear friends one day.  I could not have asked for a more perfect holiday and I am thankful for the time we had together.

Praying yours was blessed as well!