16 Fabulous, Reader-Generated, Quick and Easy Suppers

Here are 16 of your fellow readers' tried and true quick and easy supper ideas (from the survey two weeks ago):

photo: By Adonis Chen from Keelung, Taiwan (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons, retrieved, 1 May 2017, from  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFried_rice_by_Adonis_Chen_in_Keelung%2C_Taiwan.jpg
Fried Rice

The key to quick and easy fried rice is to use leftover cooked rice, leftover meat (if any), and pre-chopped veggies, such as frozen,or previously chopped, by you or commercially.

photo: By jeffreyw (Mmm... cherry tomatoes on pasta) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved, 1 May 2017, from 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACherry_tomatoes_on_pasta_(14530170849).jpg
Spaghetti (any pasta) w/ tomato-based sauce
 (sausage, veggie, or ground meat)
Dried pasta is a quick cooking grain food. The key to a quick and easy pasta dish is to have ready-made (by yourself or commercial) marinara, adding pre-cooked meat or sausage if desired. Alternatively, make a simple tomato sauce from canned tomato paste or whole or chopped tomatoes, with additional seasonings, often just as good as a long-simmered sauce.

photo: By Dllu (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved
1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AChicken_fettuccine_alfredo.JPG
Pasta with Alfredo, or a Simple Butter and Cheese
Alfredo sauce is butter, cream, Parmesan, garlic and parsley. Black pepper, salt, nutmeg optional. You can sub milk and cream cheese for the cream and part of the Parmesan. Add cooked chicken chunks for extra protein, and cooked broccoli to turn this into a one-dish supper. Simpler still -- cooked pasta, topped with olive oil/butter and grated Parmesan -- no cream needed.

photo: By jeffreyw [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMmm..._Tacos.jpg
Tacos
Soft-shelled (in flour tortillas) or in crispy corn tortillas. The key to quick and easy tacos is to have pre-cooked, pre-prepared fillings, such as pre-cooked meat kept in the freezer, pre-shredded cheese, pre-cooked rice/lentils or beans. Add some raw veggies and salsa, and you're done!

photo: By Bonbon from Brooklyn [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AQuiche_with_carmelized_onions.jpg
Quiche, Crustless Quiche or Baked Frittata
Eggs, milk/cream, veggies, cooked meat, cheese, all stirred together and baked with or without a crust makes a simple dinner, that doesn't require standing at the stove. Go put your feet up while dinner bakes. The key to a quick and easy traditional, in-crust quiche is to keep ready-to-bake pie shells in the freezer (commercial or your own home-made).

photo: By Peteravivangel (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AShawarmafood.jpg
Burritos -- Traditional, Breakfast, or Anything Goes
The key to quick and easy burritos is to have pre-cooked beans on hand (canned or your own frozen), pre-cooked rice, and pre-shredded cheese. Add any veggies that need using up, top with salsa and roll up. For breakfast burritos, wrap cooked eggs, veggies, rice, salsa and cheese in a flour tortilla. A lot of leftovers can be rolled in tortillas for "anything goes" burritos.

photo: By Tomwsulcer (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADinner_at_Friendlys_restaurant_quesedillas.jpg
Quesadillas
Quesadillas are simply flour tortillas, grilled or fried with cheese, cooked meat, veggie fillings. Use traditional fillings like cooked chicken/beef and cheese, tuck in lettuce, tomato, avocado after grilling, or, use up leftover veggies, along with cheese and chili powder or other seasonings and grill. 

photo: By jeffreyw [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved, 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGrilled_cheese_sandwich_with_roasted_tomato_soup.jpg
Grilled Cheese Sandwich and a Bowl of Soup
Always a classic, grilled cheese and tomato soup, but any soup will suffice. The key to the simple soup and sandwich meal is to use a canned or homemade soup (big batch and freeze in meal portions). Grilled cheese sandwiches can be made with American, Cheddar, Swiss, or Mozzarella cheese, then either have them "plain" or tuck in cooked bacon, ham or sliced turkey or chicken.

photo: By Janine from Mililani, Hawaii, United States (breakfast!  Uploaded by Fæ) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABreakfast!.jpg
Breakfast for Dinner
Breakfast for dinner can be as simple as a fried egg and toast, or stack of pancakes or waffles, or the full-on eggs, cottage cheese, potatoes, sausage, bacon, toast, waffles, and fruit. Add leftover cooked veggies to scrambled eggs for added nutrients. If you start with fried or scrambled eggs, then add whatever leftovers need using, and you'll have a quick, hearty and easy supper in a jiffy.

photo: By Gesalbte (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AChef_Salad.JPG
Main-Dish Salad
This can be in the form of a Chef's Salad (greens and raw veggies with boiled egg, cheese, cooked meat, cooked beans such as garbanzos, and/or nuts) or a Taco Salad (greens, raw veggies, taco meat and/or beans, cheese, and tortilla chips). A good, easy dressing for a taco salad is homemade 1000 Island, ketchup, pickle relish and mayo. For something spicier, sub salsa for the ketchup. 

photo: By Michael J. Bennett (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARoasted_Chicken%2C_Butterflied%2C_on_Potatoes%2C_Baking_Pan_01.jpg
Roasted/Baked Chicken or Fish with Veggies and Potatoes on a Single Baking Sheet
Pop it all into the oven on one baking sheet and you are free to take a break while dinner cooks. Pair quick to cook chicken or fish, like chicken tenders, boneless, skinless thighs or breasts, with chunks of potatoes, thick slices of carrots, and whole green beans, for even cooking. For bone-in chicken pieces, use larger chunks of potatoes or veggies. 

photo: By FotoosVanRobin from Netherlands [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHachee_1.jpeg
Cooked Meat (Ground or Chunks) with or without Gravy, Over Mashed Potatoes
This could also be served over cooked pasta or leftover rice. For speedy potatoes, use dehydrated potato flakes. Add a vegetable side dish and salad and supper is ready.

photo: By Legendre17 (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACosta_Rican_Gallo_Pinto.jpg
Rice and Beans Latino-Style
Mexican, Cuban, South American -- rice and beans can be quick and easy. The key to speed is to either use pre-cooked (by you or commercially) beans and rice, or use an instant pot/pressure cooker. Season with garlic, chopped onions, chili powder, cumin and salt. Add a salad and you have a complete meal.

photo: By User:MECU (self) (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AOval_Crock_Pot2.jpg
Crockpot Chicken Thighs in Honey/Soy Sauce
Reader suggestion -- "add hot rice and a veggie and I'm done." Sounds super easy and hearty.

photo: By Evan-Amos (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACast-Iron-Pan.jpg
Cast-Iron Skillet Chicken Dinner
Reader suggestion -- "turn heat on cast iron skillet, throw a chicken thigh in (about one per person depending on how big they are), as it cooks cut it into small pieces, toss in a sliced onion or two, add salt and pepper, deglaze with white wine. serve with quinoa or pasta and steamed (frozen) veggies (which have been cooking while the rest of this is going on)."

photo:By phototram (http://flickr.com/photos/phototram/1386097707/) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) or CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 1 May 2017, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFishcake_on_salad.jpg
Crumbed Fish, Salad, and Kumara
I had to do a little research to uncover what this dish might be. I am guessing that "crumbed" fish is a fish fillet, breaded (hence the crumbs), and kumara I think is sweet potato. Kumara is a type of sweet potato sold in New Zealand and Australia. I hope I got this one correct. It sounds good, balanced, and filling.

I hope something in the list was inspiring to you, for your own quick and easy suppers. thank you all for participating!

April 2017 Grocery Budget Journal

Going into April, I have $383.99 to spend, which includes the carry forward surplus plus allotted amount of $190. I thought about lowering the budget this month, but chose to save that for next month, instead.

March 31. As I mentioned at the end of March, I would consider any purchases on the 30th or 31st of March as part of April's spending. I stopped at Cash & Carry on the way home from an appointment, mostly for eggs, but also wanted cheese and fruit. I bought a 15 dozen case of large eggs for $14.07 (not quite 94 cents/dozen). these are sold as loose pack, which means they aren't in cartons, but are on sectioned trays which are stacked in a box. I also bought a 5-lb loaf of sharp cheddar cheese for $12.47. The sharp cheddar is 50 cents more per pound that mild cheddar, but I enjoy sharp so much more that I can use less in cooking, making this choice affordable, as well as lightening the impact on my digestive system. I also bought a 5-lb bag of shredded mozzarella, for pizzas, for $10.98. Shredded cheese whether cheddar or mozzarella, is less expensive for me. But loaf cheese is nicer for having as slices or cubes in snacking, or alongside a piece of toast and fruit for breakfast or lunch. I bought a 40-lb case of navel oranges for $15.98 (that's about 39 cents per pound), 17 bananas at 47 cents/lb, and a 5-lb bag of Pink Lady apples for $3.48 (just over 69 cents/lb). Pink Lady apples are a late fall apple, so they keep well into the early spring weeks. I spent $59.68, which always feels like a lot to me, when I'm not buying any meat. But I remind myself that I did buy 60 pounds of fruit and enough eggs for 2+ months and cheese for at least 1 month.

I know this sounds redundant but I really tried to buy foods in the most economical way possible this shopping trip. For example, I did buy a 40-lb case of oranges. As they were under 40 cents per pound, this is a very economical fruit for us. In contrast, the apples were 69 cents per pound; so I view them as the "luxury" fruit for us this week, and only bought 5 pounds. The case of eggs sounds like an unbelievably excessive amount. But in actuality, we will go through this case in 2 months. And in the meantime, I will have saved at least 5 cents per dozen in comparison to eggs on sale during Easter week.

April 4. Senior Shopping day at Fred Meyer, 10% off of house brand groceries, beauty, and hygiene, plus kitchen and household stuff and gardening supplies. I bought the lightbulbs which we desperately needed, and bath tissue, fem supplies and vitamins, as I'd planned. In the food depts, I bought 1 gallon of milk (not on sale, but I got a discount of 10%), cost $2.33, 2 15-oz jars of natural peanut butter, on sale, had coupon and got discount, $1.20/jar, 1 loaf of day old whole grain bread, 69 cents, flour tortillas, 10-ct, 89 cents, I bought 3, hot dogs, 8 ct, 80 cents, I bought 2, two 1/2 gallons of soy milk, sale, coupon, and discount, $1.75 each, 7 dozen eggs, 89 cents/dozen,  jar of salsa, freebie, Lara bar, freebie, 1 Lindt chocolate bunny, after coupon $2.50, and a bunch of vegetable gardening supplies, spending $23.14. When I checked out, I was given a $1 off coupon for any purchase, so as soon as I put my groceries in the car, I went back into the store and used that coupon for one more Lindt bunny, $2.50 after coupon. I now have enough chocolate bunnies for all four kids (if you remember, last summer I bought 2 large gold foil Lindt chocolate bunnies at Kohl's with a coupon, for 9 cents each. I've had those tucked away since then, and they'll go to two of the kids and the new ones to the other two. Total spent on food and gardening supplies, $50.57.

In the gardening supplies, I bought vegetable starts for some cool weather veggies for which I haven't gotten to starting seeds, lettuce, kale, chard, plus some new rosemary plants. I'll plant out these veggie starts, and plant seeds in the next patch over. We'll have salads and greens in a few weeks, instead of a couple of months from now.

Spent so far this month, $110.25

April 7. I was at the bank which happens to be next to a QFC. QFC has some of the better markdown prices on milk. I just don't get here very often to check the dairy dept. However, needing to go in person to the bank, I stopped into QFC. I found 1 gallon of skim milk for $1.49, 1 gallon of 1% milk for $1.49, and 1 gallon of 2% milk for $2.29. The 2% has a pull date further out -- explaining the higher price. I buy all 3, as we can use these to get through the next 2 weeks. Total spent, $5.27.

Spent month to date -- $115.52

It's near mid-month and we haven't had a lot of freebies, in the way of leftovers from events or free meals at events, this month. So our spending so far really does represent what has come into the house. I continue to use supplies from the pantry and freezer. So far, this is working, with no complaints. I will hopefully pick up some asparagus and potatoes, but otherwise, if I don't find any great deals for the rest of the month we will be fine. And we have two birthdays this month, so to be able to do birthday dinners and cake on what we have, means that we are in a pretty good place with our supplies.

April 13. Needed envelopes, so I went to Dollar Tree. While there I bought 2 boxes of crackers. Spent $2.

April 13. Stopped in to Fred Meyer to get the last of the Easter basket items. While there I bought a 10-lb bag of potatoes, $2.49 (yikes!), 5-lb bag of carrots, $2.99, 18-oz packages of coating chocolate, 2-milk chocolate, 1-white chocolate, marked down to $1.89 each, 2 loaves of marked down bread, total of 69 cents (the cashier could not get the second loaf to scan correctly, tried numerous times, eventually she said I could have that loaf for free), 1 box of marked down gingerbread tea, $1.89, 3 red sweet peppers for $1, 4 marked down bananas for 39 cents/lb, 1 package of pudding mix, freebie. Total spent,  $15.31.

So far, I've spent $132.83 for the month.

April 22. I gave my son and his fiancee $20 to go out to lunch, while they visit the nearby islands. I took that money out of the grocery budget. spent, month to date -- $152.83

April 30. Totally out of milk, stopped at QFC to load a bus pass for a daughter for May, and found 1 gallon of skim milk for $2.29, and 2 1/2 gallons of soy milk, at $1.69 each. Total spent $5.67.

Later in same afternoon, same daughter and I took some time together to talk and run errands together. While out, went by Fred Meyer, and bought some Easter candy that was marked down 75%, for next year (really, no one ever eats it in our house, once I've hidden it), and also got 3 Friday freebie items, a bag of some sort of popcorn snack, 2 boxes of Sour Patch candies (they subbed this for the bags offered), and a box of Annie's Mac and Cheese. Total spent, $4.32

Spent for the month --$162.82

What I bought:

Dairy
22 dozen eggs
10 pound of cheese
5 gallons milk
2 gallons soy milk

Meat
24 hot dogs

Produce
40 pounds of oranges
21 bananas
5 pounds of apples
10 lbs potatoes
3 red peppers
5 lbs carrots
vegetable gardening supplies, including seedlings for lettuce, chard, kale, rosemary, snow peas,

Pantry
30 ounces peanut butter
3 loaves of bread
30 flour tortillas
jar of salsa (freebie)
lara bar (freebie)
2 Lindt chocolate bunnies
just over 3 lbs of dipping/coating chocolate for making choc-covered strawberries and other yummy things later
1 box of tea
1 package of pudding mix (freebie)
2 boxes crackers
2 movie boxes candy (freebie)
1 box mac and cheese (freebie)
1 bag popcorn snack (freebie)

This is such a short list for an entire month. Even I can see that. Next month I will have a much larger list. We ran out of a lot of items this month. I will be restocking many of those items tomorrow. I also noticed that I received a lot of freebie items this month. I was under budget by $27.18. We  more than made up for that in the mega car repair bill, though. Oh well.

How did your month end up?

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers For the End of April

Friday

• pancakes and syrup
• last of the milk divided between daughters 

Saturday (quasi-birthday celebration for husband, we let him off the hook for dinner and daughters and I made it)

• lentil-ham soup
• drop biscuits
• carrot sticks
• orange wedges
• birthday cake -- scratch, my daughters made it and it was delicious

Sunday (husband cooks)

• homemade flour tortillas
• beans and tomatoes
• canned pineapple chunks
• birthday cake

Monday

• baked chicken breast
• baked potatoes, topped with chives and cream cheese
• sauteed kale
• stewed prunes
• birthday cake

Tuesday

• hot dogs in bargain buns, from the freezer
• oven fries
• cole slaw
• stewed prunes

Wednesday (only 3 tonight)

• spinach frittata, topped with canned tomatoes, seasonings, mozzarella
• brown rice
• 1 orange, split 3 ways

Thursday

• pumpkin, spinach, chicken, potato, black bean, cream cheese (and anything else I could find) soup
• drop biscuits
• stewed prunes

And we got through another week! You know, I've been feeling like it has been a very rainy and chilly year, since the first of the year. I was thinking maybe it was all in my head. Then I saw a report that said this has been the rainiest October-April stretch on record.  My cabin fever has escalated! I have no idea what this means for summer. The year that we had the longest stretch of snow on the ground in winter (3 weeks in front of our house, really unusual for us), we hit an all-time high temp in the summer of 103. Who knows what will happen this year. 

So, my last project is a video. I'm working on that this weekend, and will get it all done, I hope. We really need me to do some cooking and shopping again. Our meals have been on the slim side. What's been cooking at your house this week?

I Haven't Grocery Shopped in Two Weeks and It Feels Like an Eternity

I just have not had time. I miss time. The interesting thing, though, is how much food we actually have in the house. That last shopping that I did two weeks ago wasn't even a big shop. It was just a couple of items that I thought would get through the next day or two. And then the ignition on my car broke.

I ran out of liquid milk on Saturday. I've been mixing up powdered milk as we've needed it. I am all out of any commercial milk that I can have.  So I made a quick batch of coconut milk yesterday, for my own consumption. We are all out of fresh fruit and are now relying on frozen berries, prunes, and canned pineapple. The fresh veggie supply is limited to 2 carrots, 1/4 head of cabbage, several onions, 3 or 4 lbs of potatoes, and whatever I can scrounge from the garden. I do have canned yams, pumpkin, tomatoes, and corn, still, plus a couple of meals of frozen spinach. It is slim pickins around these parts. Oddly, the kitchen freezer continues to look very full. I keep digging around in there to find goodies. Yesterday, I found another container of pineapple liquid (saved from draining canned pineapple). I've been sick since Saturday, so that tasted good, and helped rehydrate me.

I am wondering just how long I can stretch this limited shopping. Tuesday is Senior Discount day, so I will be adding a milk supply, as well as some fresh produce, tortillas, hot dogs, and cheese.

How about you? Are your grocery supplies dwindling for the month? Just a few more days as the month draws to a close. Be back tomorrow morning!

The Quick Supper Survey Results (with the staples list for items to keep on hand)

That quick meals survey . . .
(By the way, my favorite part of that survey was the image at the top of each page. I don't know if you caught this, but stuff moved in the image, such as the salad was tossed, the wine in the glasses swirled around. I thought that was amusing.)

There were 41 respondents. Here's the breakdown of how the results ended up.

From the moment that you walk into the kitchen until dinner must be served, can you estimate how much time you usually have?

22.2%  20-30 minutes
36.1%  30-45 minutes
41.7%  45 minutes or more

Are you and your family. . . ?

97.2% omnivores (we eat a variety of foods, including animal products)
2.8%  vegan (strictly no animal products)

What are some of the tricks that you employ to keep dinner prep-time to a minimum, when you are busy? (this was a check all that apply question)

44.4%    I prepare make-ahead meals for the freezer, to heat and eat on busy nights     
41,7%    I cook extras on the weekend, we eat leftovers throughout the week      
61.1%    I cook extra on night one, we eat leftovers on night two   
5.6%      We eat a lot of commercial/convenience products, or get take-out often   
72.2%    I prepare simple meals, using minimal, but fresh ingredients   
16.7%    Someone in the family gets dinner started before I return home, then I help as I am able 
47.2%    I use a crock-pot or Sabbath mode on my oven, to start dinner prep before I leave in the morning  
19.4%    We eat non-traditional dinner foods, or peanut butter sandwiches 
13.9%    Other   (take a day to chop fresh vegetables for the week; we usually eat what is in the garden at the time, and we usually eat vegetarian or fish; I batch cook grains, beans, potatoes on the weekends; I use my electric pressure cooker)

What staples do you think would be most handy to have on hand for quick meals?
Listed in descending order:

19 dried pasta,

18 eggs

17 frozen veg (one specified like veggie blends)

15 beans, canned or dry, or frozen, refried or plain and 1 lentils (I listed separately because they’re quick cooking, which makes them good for fast meals)

11 rice

10 cheese

9  pre prepped cleaned fruit/ veg/ salad items, salad mix

8  pre-portioned cook frozen beef, ham, poultry

8  fresh vegetables:including broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, onions

7  ground beef or ground turkey

6  canned tomatoes, tomato paste, rotel, puree

5  potatoes

4  frozen rice portions, orzo

4  canned or frozen soup,

4  convenient fruit/veg sides (applesauce, canned, frozen or whole fresh fruit, etc.)

4  baking supplies such as flour, sugar etc.

4  tortillas, pitas, wraps, taco shells, tortilla chips

4  frozen fish (defrost ahead of time), or frozen shrimp,

3  homemade or jarred of marinara

3  milk 

3  frozen chicken breasts, or boneless skinless chicken thighs

3  canned tuna or salmon

3  bread

3  frozen chicken breasts, or boneless skinless chicken thighs

3  butter

3  sausage,turkey smoked sausage or kielbasa, chicken Italian sausage

2  quinoa, polenta, couscous

2  frozen pesto and other sauces

2  pre-made homemade chicken or vegetable  stock,

2  frozen meat,
2  frozen chicken

2  sour cream,

2  frozen pizza dough/bread,or garlic bread

1  frozen lemon juice in ice cubes

1  unsweetened nut milk

1  saved bacon/ham fat
1  dehydrated potatoes
1  whole turkey breasts and chicken,(for crockpot)
1  proteins
1  cooked fruit and vegetables

1  grilled cheese fixings/panini

1  quick cooking grains

1  cream of mushroom soup (hangs head in shame

1  precooked onions

1  variety of spices and herbs

1  homemade frozen soffrito

That's some list! Look it over and see what jumps out to you. Just because something was only listed once doesn't mean that it's not valuable. It could be one of those ah-ha moments when you think, yes, that would really benefit me. And notice those items that you do probably already keep on hand, but that you never think to use for quick suppers. I listed things in groups where I felt they belonged together. Some things which are vey similar, I listed separately, because I felt they could be used in different ways, or offer more convenience, pre-seasoned, etc.

I will get to the other question in the survey tomorrow or the next day. These compilations take some time, as we all use different words for similar items. Have a great day!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Easter Week (that means a ham featured heavily in meals)

Friday

• scrambled eggs
• brown rice
• oranges
• carrot sticks

Saturday (husband cooks)

• rice and lentils, sort of curry
• carrots

Sunday (husband cooks, we had our ham meal at lunch)

• tomato-lentil-carrot soup
• fried corn tortillas

Monday

• leftovers from Sunday, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole

Tuesday

• leftover ham, mashed potatoes and gravy
• sauteed spinach and onions

Wednesday

• leftover ham
• sweet potato chunks
• French bread

Thursday

• ham and lentil soup, with red and yellow sweet peppers, onions, ham stock and seasonings
• drop biscuits
• orange wedges

Hi, there! I'm sorry I wasn't around yesterday. I am in a huge time-crunch this week, and through the weekend and early next week. I lost a day and a half of work-time in the past week, due to waiting half a day in a parking lot to be towed to a car repair, and then Easter with the family. I'm not sure I've ever felt this busy. Maybe when my twins were infants and I had a 7 year old in the house, too. I just barely managed to get meals on the table. But I'm managing. What did you manage for meals this past week? Anyone not have ham? If you didn't do ham for Easter, what did you choose?

I hope you all had a great week, and wishing you a lovely weekend!

Survey on Quick and Easy Suppers

Humor me one more time, please. So, in my class, I have to execute one more survey, to familiarize myself with another web product. However, this time I can choose my topic, and there were no limitations. Since I really do not like asking someone to do something from which they will not receive any benefit, I tailored this survey to one of our collective interests: saving money while preparing inexpensive, home-cooked meals.

As far as survey products go, this one has a more attractive appearance than the last one. It feels easy to navigate on the respondents end, too. Both of those are important features, I think. Let me know in the comments, on my blog, what you think, or if you have trouble with the form. I don't know how well this will work, embedded on this blog; and I won't know until this becomes active.

And if you don't have time right now, or your mobile device doesn't support this survey, no worries. I only need a handful of guinea pigs participants.  Some time next week, I'll post a compilation of the results. Maybe we can all take something away from this, in the form of idea exchange.
Have a lovely Wednesday!

So, How Was Your Easter?

I hope you had a wonderful day with family and friends on Easter. My day was busy (surprise, surprise). I packed a lot into 24 hours. We decided on an Easter lunch following church, as I had a project to work on in the evening.

So, our menu. I had mentioned that I had a ham in the freezer, and several other ingredients with which I could pull together an Easter dinner. I had planned on going out Friday and picking up some asparagus and maybe strawberries. Best laid plans . . . Thursday afternoon I had to run out and get envelopes for taxes (3 sets of taxes). While our running those errands, my car decided to quit. I was stranded in a parking lot for several hours, waiting for a tow truck for the car, and family to come get me. My car needs some major work, including a part which won't be in until Wednesday. I have been without a car since Thursday afternoon. So, back to Easter dinner, no asparagus or strawberries. However, I did put together a menu with what I had.  And here's what I had in my kitchen to work with:

• a frozen ham
• bag of potatoes
• cans of sweet potatoes
• pecans
• canned green beans
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• onions
• bread
• frozen plum halves
• frozen pie pastry
• frozen mounds of whipped cream
• pickles and olives
• cream cheese
• chives in the garden
• boxed crackers
• sparkling apple cider

When I look at it, that's a pretty amazing list of delicious foods to draw from. Here's what was on our Easter table:

• baked ham, sliced
• mashed potatoes
• green bean casserole, using this substitute for the canned, fried onions
• sweet potato souffle, topped with pecans, brown sugar and butter
• chive and cream cheese spread for crackers
• olives and pickles
• open-faced plum pie, topped with whipped cream
• sparkling cider and hot tea

That's a pretty decent meal for a holiday, considering I couldn't get out to buy special ingredients. The bonus was that I made enough of everything except the pie, to have leftovers for dinner on Monday!

I Haven't Really Looked Around Much Lately

I've had my head in projects, taxes, and problems so much so that lately, I just haven't noticed all of the beautiful stuff happening in the garden. I was outside for an hour yesterday afternoon, and this is just a sampling of what I saw.

The tulips look fabulous. I counted 50 blooms on this patch!

Not only is the cherry tree full of blossoms, but there were so many bees in it yesterday.

Springtime flowers looking amazing after so much gloom of winter, here.

A year ago, I bought a bunch of primrose plants that were way past their prime, on clearance. A Year later, they look terrific!

The violets are everywhere.  I'll be adding some to the top of a cake that I'm making this week. They're edible, but this variety has no flavor.

I have so much rhubarb. I need to get busy with the pies and crisps, again!

I hope you had a lovely Easter. It's late and I need sleep. I'll give you the details of our Easter, tomorrow. Have a great day!

I've run into a kinda busy streak . . .

. . . so I'm taking a few days off. When I mentioned I had been kinda busy to my son last night, he said that was a bit of an understatement. I'll spend this week catching up on some things that I've let slip (like getting the taxes done, yikes!), and be back next week.

Wishing you a lovely Easter!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the Week

Spinach Frittata

Friday

• leftover Cabbage Patch soup
• orange wedges
• toast

Saturday

husband cooks

• egg, rice and cheese casserole
• cooked carrots
• cooked pumpkin

Sunday

husband cooks

• black bean tacos in home-fried shells, with
• cheddar cheese, canned tomatoes, and chopped cabbage
• carrot sticks

Monday

• spinach frittata topped with canned tomatoes and mozzarella
• brown rice
• orange wedges

Tuesday

• French toast, using some sourdough French that was given to us, and I've kept in the freezer
• topped with cream cheese, pineapple chunks, banana slices, orange segments, vanilla-rhubarb jam -- really yummy! 

Wednesday

• beef and black bean burritos (I had a cooked hamburger patty in the freezer, so I crumbled it up into the beans, onions, and canned tomatoes)
• orange segments

Thursday

• spinach frittata
• pasta with canned tomatoes
• jam thumbprint cookies, using some frozen dough, these baked while I assembled the frittata

What a week. Time is going by so quickly I can barely keep up. I am sure that you know the kind of week that I am talking about, right? But we always manage to get through everything.

So, thank you again for participating in my survey/poll. Do you want to know what your fellow readers, here, think? Here are the results. Over 50 people responded. The program only allowed me to see answers to the first 25 on Wednesday, and for the 18-20 who responded on Thursday. On Wednesday I received notification that my poll was full, and an additional 20 had responded or attempted to respond, without recording their votes. The message also said that I could pay a fee to get the results that went above 25. No thanks. My instructor said she'd accept as few as 12 participants. I archived the total from Wednesday, so I could allow those who wanted to participate a chance on Thursday.

Late last night, I tallied both days of polling, and he's the percentage breakdown.

What age do you think is too old to begin a new career?

• 0% said 40-50 years old
• 15% said 50-60 years old
• 85% said you're never too old to embark on a new career

What is more important in choosing a career?

• 16.5% said earning potential
• 65% said personal fulfillment
• 18.5% said service to others

How many different career paths have you taken?

• 25% said one
• 55% said two or three
• 20% said four or more

I thought the results were pretty interesting, myself. Not one of us thought that 40-50 is too old to change direction in a career. Obviously, at 45 years old it would be considerably more difficult to suddenly chose to become a surgeon. But many people have made significant career swings in their later years.

A few of us have just had one career path. That surprises me, as I have always been all over the place. Someone mentioned in the comments that perhaps career path needed definition. For instance, I worked in several fast food places between the age of 16 and 19. Does that mean that fast food was a career path of mine? I wouldn't consider it one, as I wasn't supporting myself at the time. However, in my early 20s, I was a restaurant manager for a year and a half. While I never set out for a career in restaurant management, this was a direction my employment took, to pay the bills and support myself. And I consider that time to be very valuable in learning how to manage businesses and employees. A couple of years after that job, I found myself in a management role again, this time in a department store. I managed the home division of a So. Cal. department store. My prior work in the restaurant was very beneficial in this new job. 

I was most happy to see that an overwhelming amount of us feel that no age is too old to start a new career. And I hope this goes for many of life's major pursuits, that we're never too old (with a couple of exceptions, like having kids, eventually we age out of that one).

Some of us feel that service to others is most important in choosing a career. That's a wonderful thing to know about this group. Many of us think personal fulfillment is most important. And a few of us think earning potential is most important. 

What I feel about these numbers is they are a snapshot of how each of felt when we clicked the buttons. In addition, they reflect our stages in life, our current living situations, and the struggles we've each endured. We're all on a journey, and likely some of our answers will change in a few years. Some of our answers would have been vastly different if we had been asked 20 years ago. My 30 year old self might have thought 45 years old would be too old to change direction and start a new career. My 25 year old self might have thought earning potential was most important.

Anyway, a lot of thoughts in my head about this. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for providing me with your thoughts. I am in the process of crystallizing my ideas of what my next step will be. I am getting an ever closer mental picture.

Have a great weekend!

When is Spending $3 on Lettuce Seedlings Actually a Good Deal?

When it means that we will have garden salads 6 weeks earlier than if I started from seeds right now.

This is supposed to be a six-pack, but I counted 15 seedlings
 in here. If I'm careful, i can tease each out separately,
and have 15 heads of lettuce for $3.

For various reasons, I didn't get lettuce seeds started indoors this winter to plant out this month. If I were to start seeds this week, I wouldn't have lettuce to harvest for another 8-10 weeks. With the seedlings, I should be able to harvest lettuce in about 3-4 weeks. In between those 3-4 weeks and the 8-10 weeks, I would still be needing leafy greens for my family; which means I would be buying lettuce or other greens in that time period. By buying the seedlings, I will save about a month of purchased greens, which could cost about $8, given two heads of lettuce or other greens per week, multiplied by 4 weeks, priced at about 99 cents/head. So, I come out $5 ahead after the cost of the seedlings.

There are times when buying the seedlings makes financial sense. Another example is in buying tomato seedlings. If those don't get started indoors early enough, there simply isn't time for them to produce very much, in short growing seasons.

I will be starting lettuce seeds in the same bed with the seedlings, so there won't be need to buy more lettuce seedlings.

P.S. if you couldn't access the poll yesterday, I've archived the results from yesterday and have opened the poll up for another day. There's a limit to how many people can access the poll, so this one may fill up too. Anyway, today I figured out how to embed it into my blog, to make things easier for you.

A Poll Today About Entering the Workforce Later in Life

You know that I've been taking classes off and on for the last 5 years or so. Sometimes the class is just because I want to learn to do something or learn about something. And other classes are geared toward me finding a new career path (aside from my Queen of the Palace job). I have no idea how hard this is going to be. But I am preparing myself to do this.

I'm at that point in my life when I'm looking around and thinking "you know, I think I still have something to offer this world." I've done a lot of volunteer work over the years, but I want more than even that. I want to be doing something that engages my mind and my spirit. Do you think it's too late for me? Am I too old to enter a new career?

I'm fortunate that I can choose to do whatever I can find myself qualified for. I mean, I am at a point where I can somewhat choose a field in which I want to work. My field has always been art appreciation/history and design. That's what I have always been drawn to. I also enjoy writing. My class in January and February highlighted where my writing still needs improvement. I've also been beefing up my knowledge of art, particularly everything that happened in the art world since the 1940s. (I don't know why, but when I was in school in the 80s, the art history classes ended when we hit the 1940s.)

I don't now how this will all work out, but I am having faith as I take each step, that I am moving toward a goal. I am taking another class toward this goal right now. It's a technology in the work place sort of class. I've put together a couple of presentations, and this week we've been asked to put together a poll, using web resources. As my focus right now is getting back into a career, at my advancing age, I put together a 3-question poll concerning that subject.

This quick poll is for anyone interested. It's through a polling website. All answers are anonymous (even I won't know what you think). You can answer the questions by going to:

PollEv.com/elizabethmou558

The survey will load and you just click on your answers. Not much to it. You can also do the poll through text. But you know me, if the web is free, and texting might cost money (if you have a pay as you go plan, or in another way pay per text), go for the free way. These are the questions. Don't answer here, but click the boxes at the website. If anyone is interested, I'll post the results in percentages on Monday or so. The poll/survey closes at midnight, Thursday.

What age is too old to embark upon a new career?

1) 40 to 50 years old
2) 50 to 60 years old
3) It's never too late to begin a new career


What is more important in choosing a career path?

1) earning potential
2) personal fulfillment
3) service to others


How many different career paths have you taken?

1) one
2) two to three
3) four or more



by web:   PollEv/elizabethmou558

you can text to enter the poll, but not necessary:    ELIZABETHMOU558 to 22333


And really, do you think that I am too old to make this change?

April's Shopping Plans

Today is Senior Shopping Day at Fred Meyer, so I'll be heading over there in a bit. I'm making out my list of needs for the month. At the top of the list is lightbulbs. The strangest thing happened last month; four bulbs in the kitchen all went out within 2 weeks of each other. We have a fixture above the kitchen table that uses 5 bulbs. Well, 3 of them went out. I need to bring our kitchen back up to brightness, so I'll be picking up replacement bulbs, using the 10% discount today. Other items on my list for the month:

• milk, regular and soy/almond
• feminine hygiene supplies
• bathroom tissue
• more eggs (they are on sale, and with discount will cost about 89 cents/dozen)
• bulk almonds (on sale, and I have a coupon to use in that department)
• a Lindt Easter treat (again, I have a coupon) and maybe one other treat
• carrots, celery, potatoes, frozen peas, and a little asparagus
• additional fruit (beyond what I bought last Friday)
• vitamins and supplements
• gardening supplies
• some inexpensive Easter gifts, from Daiso, likely
• raisins
• cocoa powder
• butter

In addition, last Friday, I stopped at Cash & Carry after an appointment. Everything that I bought there was put into April's grocery spending. I bought:

• 5-lb loaf of sharp cheddar
• 5-lb bag of shredded mozzarella
• 15 dozen case of large eggs
• 5-lb bag of Pink Lady apples
• 40-lb case of navel oranges
• 17 bananas

It's not a super big list, but then we still have a lot to use, at home. With eggs in abundance, we will once again be eating a lot of egg dishes for dinner. We had a spinach frittata last night, and it was delicious.

April and All of the Great Opportunities for Frugal Entertainment

April is the month of fruit tree blossoms in my garden. The month begins with the pears and cherries, and finishes with the plum and apple trees. From a frugal living standpoint, what I love about spring and summer is the opportunity for cheap or free entertainment. Some of my favorite frugal fun this time of year:

• weekend picnics at the park
• donut breakfasts at the beach
• visits to the botanical gardens
• croquet on the lawn
• cutting flowers from my garden
• planting the summer vegetable garden
• soaking up the sunshine on the deck
• Saturday night hot dog cook-outs around the fire ring
• a cup of coffee with a friend, sitting on the patio at the coffee shop, which overlooks the beach
• gallery strolling in the nearby, old town artsy area
• going to the "expensive" garden center to look and get ideas, then Home Depot to buy 

What would you add to a springtime frugal entertainment list?

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the End of March

Friday

• leftovers, using up the soup, fried rice, daughters's free lunch leftovers. There was enough to feed us all.

Saturday

husband cooks

• make your own burritos, with tortillas, cooked black beans, canned tomatoes, olives, cheese and a seasoned nut filling
• celery sticks

Sunday

husband cooks

• brown rice and black beans
• canned green beans

Monday

• lentil-vegetable soup
• glazed pumpkin muffins

Tuesday

• leftover soup
• toast
• orange wedges and bananas
• cucumber in Ranch dressing

Wednesday

• homemade hamburgers, on
• discount buns (59 cents/ package of 8)
• cole slaw
• steamed carrots
• oven fries

Thursday

• Cabbage Patch Soup, using a cooked hamburger patty and some lentils for the protein, and then added barley, canned tomatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, celery, and cabbage. It's quite tasty; and I made enough for two nights.
• toast

Some meals were better than others, this week. I guess that's the way it goes. We are at the end of the month, and my fridge and freezers are still annoyingly full. Who would ever think that having too much would be such a bad thing?! I continue to work at using up all of our surpluses. 

Can you believe that April begins tomorrow? April is my birth month. I have lovely memories of my birthdays as a child. My mother went above and beyond for all of our parties. I still very fondly remember my birthday cake from my 11th birthday. It was frosted in hot pinks, brilliant oranges and yellows, lime green and vibrant purple. I may never remove that image from my mind. That year, I was allowed my first slumber party. I invited all of the girls from my class for the night. For entertainment, we played a scavenger hunt in the neighborhood, going from door to door, asking for small, insignificant items on our lists, from each house. The lists had items like paper clips, an empty can, an envelope, etc. We split up into groups, and the first group to collect all of the things on their list and return home, won. I don't know if kids do these scavenger hunts any longer. Neighbors don't know each as well as they once did. I can't imagine sending my young kids out in the neighborhood to knock on doors for a game. When we returned from our hunt, we ate cake, drank soda pop, listened to music, and unrolled our sleeping bags on the family room floor. My mother slept on the couch, to ensure that we actually did sleep. Such a wonderful memory; if I could choose any time to return to, from my childhood, it would be that day. This year, I have promised myself that I will celebrate in small ways, all month long.

Just a walk down memory lane -- speaking of soda pop, do you remember when cans had pull tabs that peeled off of the tops, instead of poking inside the can? And how about cans of pop that had to be opened with a triangular punch-type can opener? And the cans were tin and not aluminum?

This is what I remember cans looking like from my early girlhood. take a look at the tops of the cans, if you can. The triangular holes have been punch with a can opener. You needed to punch two holes into the top, so liquid would pour out evenly. Just a walk down memory lane.

Have a lovely weekend!

March 2017 Grocery Budget Journal

I am posting this one day early as I will have another post tomorrow morning. Anything that I spend on groceries today or tomorrow will fall into April's budget.

Going into March, I have $343.65 for the month (this includes last month's surplus, plus my allotted $190 budget).

March 3. Stopped at WinCo after an appointment in that town. I remembered cash, this time, but forgot my bags. I could have saved 18 cents with my own bags! Oh well, next time. I bought a lot of fruit this time. I am hoping that this will be enough fresh fruit for 3 weeks. It may be. I bought an 8-lb bag of oranges for $5.78 (72 cents/lb), a 5-b bag of fuji apples, and a 5-lb bag of gala apples, each at $3.48 (69 cents/lb), 13 bananas at 48 cents/lb, a 5.25 lb bag of tangerines for $5.98 ($1.13/lb), and 1.72 lbs of red grapes, at $1.47/lb. The tangerines and grapes were not on my list, but I really wanted some variety in our fruit. The benefit with the tangerines is that they are so small that 1 bag has a lot of servings, in comparison to navel oranges. I also bought 1 bundle of celery for 78 cents. In the bulk section, I bought .41 lb of baking cocoa, at $3.08/lb, .86 lb of raw sunflower seeds, at $1.70/lb, 1.49 lbs of raisins, at $1.79/lb. WinCo's white vinegar is cheaper than Cash & Carry, so I bought 1 gallon of vinegar, at $2.38, plus a 72 ct package of corn tortillas (also cheaper than Cash & Carry), and a 5-dozen pack of medium eggs, at $4.48. I could have done better on the eggs, by about 20 cents, and for a larger size, at Cash & Carry, but I didn't have time to stop at C&C and I was low on eggs. Even at 89 cents/dozen for mediums, eggs are a cheap protein source, and easy for other family members to prepare for themselves. When I go to Cash & Carry, later this month, I'll pick up the other 5 dozen eggs that I need to get through a month. For all of the above, I spent $39.10. It sounds like a lot of money, to me, compared to many of my other shopping trips, but I did get a lot for that money. I filled 3 paper sacks, and didn't bother bagging the vinegar, oranges or eggs. If I had also bagged those items, I would have had about 5 bags of groceries.

March 7. Senior Discount Day at Fred Meyer, 10% off all house brand groceries, plus health and beauty and housewares. Milk was on sale, and we were very low, so I bought 7 half-gallons of 2% milk at 89 cents each, and 2 gallons of 2% for $1.80 each. I also bought 4 half-gallons of orange juice for 89 cents each. Right next to the dairy coolers are the markdown bins. Today, there was a lot of bread on markdown. I bought 2 packages of hotdog buns, 1 package of hamburger buns, and 6 loaves of a variety of bread, all at 59 cents per package. In addition, they had raisin English muffins for 49 cents per package. I bought 2 packs. I don't normally buy bread, but these were close to my price for baking from scratch. I froze almost all of it to use during a busy week coming up. Also in my cart today, 3 10-ct packages of flour tortillas (89 cents/package), 2 7-oz bags of pistachios (marked down to $2.49/bag, saving these for Easter baskets), a jar of powdered pectin (marked down from $4.99 to $2.99, good for another 2 years), 2 8-oz containers of sliced mushrooms (marked down to $1.29), a 3-pack of green bell peppers (marked down to $1), Chips Ahoy cookies (freebie), Lindt Easter egg (freebie), almost 18 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, at $1.47/lb, 2 half-gallons of soy milk (on sale, plus used 2 coupons, plus got my discount, so $1.79 each).  Total spent on edible groceries -- $63.63.

So far, for the month of March, I've spent $102.73

March 8. I was looking at my packages of chicken breasts that I bought yesterday, and I discovered that they overcharged me. I dug out my flyer and double-checked. I did the math, and it was nearly $7.00. I knew that I would be driving right past Fred Meyer later in the day, so I tore the labels off of the packages (3), and brought those, plus my receipt and the flyer to the customer service desk. The lady was happy to refund me, not the exact amount, but a rounded up amount, of $7.00 in cash. So, that brings my spending for the month down to $95.73. I love the customer service at Fred Meyer.

March 10. We really need a few items from Cash & Carry (laundry detergent, paper baking cups, plastic cling wrap, plus some food items). I bought 50-lbs of brown rice ($19.67), 28 bananas (42 cents/lb), 10 lbs of carrots ($4.08), 10 lbs of potatoes ($1.47), 1 head of Romaine lettuce ($1.47), 3 large heads of cabbage, around 3 lbs each ($1.28/head), two 3-lb boxes of frozen spinach ($3.08 each). I spent $41.26 on food items.

So far, this month I have spent $136.99 My refrigerator and freezer is very full. I might be able to get through the end of the month with only buying eggs and maybe cheese!

March 22. No shopping, but as I was thinking about what is still on my want-to-buy list for the month, I realized that we were gifted cheese last weekend, so I can do without buying that item. I will be buying eggs on Friday, though, and maybe more fresh produce.

March 24. Stopped by WinCo (and I remembered cash, and I had put two bags into the car after the last trip there). I bought 24 bananas, at 48 cents/lb, 6.57 lbs of gala apples, at 88 cents/lb, 1 large bundle of celery, 98 cents, a little over a pound of raisins, at $1.79/lb. I received a bag refund of 12 cents. Total spent, $12.67. Eggs were $4.98 for 5 dozen medium, which was more than I wanted to spend on eggs, so I skipped them, and will get eggs at Cash and Carry, another time. I've been reading some of your egg prices, and $1 a dozen for medium seems high to me. We still have eggs, here, so I'll just wait for a lower price. At the worst, eggs should be on sale for 99 cents/ dozen, large size beginning on April 9. I may even find more frozen eggs, as I rummage through the freezers.

While shopping at WinCo, I kept in mind that my produce stand would be opening in a week, so there was no need to buy too much produce. WinCo had asparagus for $1.88/lb. I'll wait to see what the produce stand has for asparagus before buying at WinCo. Broccoli was $1.99/lb at WinCo. I'm pretty certain that I can buy it for less at the produce stand. We still have carrots, celery, cabbage, onions, garlic and potatoes, in the fresh veg dept at home. Plus canned tomatoes, frozen spinach, canned yams and pumpkin. Lots to work with still.

Month to date spending is now $149.66

I've been thinking about this budget, for when my son and his fiancee get married. I will be lowering this budget to $160, I think.  I know he doesn't eat from home as much as the rest of us, as he is often with Angie; she cooks for the two of them and they eat out occasionally. Even so, I'm pretty certain that we can manage with $160 per month, for four of us.

This is where the spending ends for the month. Woo hoo! $149.66. That's under $5 per day, or 97 cents per person, per day. I'm $40.34 under budget. I'll roll that forward in the surplus; this gives us a surplus of $193.99. I'll add that amount to next month's budget.

What I Bought

Produce
8 lbs of oranges
16.57 lbs of apples
5.25 lbs of tangerines
65 bananas
1.72 lbs red grapes
2 bundles of celery
3 green peppers
2.60 lbs of raisins
4 half-gallons of orange juice
1 lb of mushrooms
10 lbs carrots
10 lbs potatoes
1 head of Romaine lettuce
3 heads of cabbage
6 lbs of frozen spinach

Meat
18 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Dairy
5 dozen eggs
7 half-gallons milk
2 gallons milk
2 half-gallons of soy milk

Pantry
.41 lb of baking cocoa
.86 lb of raw sunflower seeds
1 gallon white vinegar
72 corn tortillas
30 flour tortillas
6 loaves of bread
2 packages of hot dog buns
1 package hamburger buns
2 packages of English muffins
14 oz of pistachios
1 canister of pectin
1 package of Chips Ahoy cookies (Friday freebie)
1 Lindt Easter egg (Friday freebie)
50 lbs of brown rice

Are You Planning for Easter, Yet?

I am. In part because I will have a lot going on near Easter; so I need to plan ahead. Also, it's been such a dreary winter and now spring, that I really want a lovely Easter.  Even if I don't find any deals or sales, I know that I can pull something together. This is what I currently have that is being saved, or that will be growing well enough by mid-April for harvesting:

• ham from freezer 
• canned sweet potatoes 
• canned green beans and cream of mushroom soup for a casserole
• rhubarb from the garden for a pie
• Easter candy 

That covers most of the basics for easter dinner. I will be hoping for a good price on asparagus and potatoes. 

Some of this menu plan an be made ahead and frozen; and some can be made a day or two before, and heated at the last minute. The sweet potato casserole actually freezes quite well, as do the baked pies. Green bean casserole can be assembled a day or two ahead. That leaves the ham and anything extra for Easter Sunday.

For Easter breakfast, I think I will keep it simple, some canned pineapple juice from the freezer, and an overnight crockpot casserole, using potatoes, eggs and turkey bacon (freezer, again). 

E.O.T.M.

or, end of the month.

Can you relate? End of the month's grocery budget.  I've been trying to dream up yummy things, using what we have on hand. Last night, my plan was to make pumpkin muffins to go with lentil vegetable soup. But I didn't want just any pumpkin muffins. So I made a maple glaze for the muffins. Oh wow, yummy!

I am also running low on favorite flavored teas for my own consumption. I added a drop of maple extract to a cup of plain tea, and topped off with vanilla soy milk. That was a delicious maple tea latte which used only items from my pantry.

I got creative with the frozen sugar cookie dough the other evening. I cut it into squares (I'm too lazy to do shapes, ha ha), baked, then topped with milk chocolate chips. Once the chocolate chips were melty, I spread them with a knife, to make chocolate-topped sugar cookies.

No salsa in the house; so for some burritos at lunch yesterday, I mushed up canned tomatoes with some chili powder. It was a decent-enough salsa substitute.

Last of the eggs, too (when we run out of items, we run out of everything!). I made a large batch of the pumpkin muffins with just one medium egg, instead of two large eggs. They turned out just fine.

What are you running out of, and how are you improvising?

The Weekend's Freebies or Near Freebies

So, maybe I've mentioned my philosophy concerning using coupons to department stores, like Kohl's, or specialty stores like Bath & Body Works. If I haven't, this is how I feel: While I want to find something that I would really enjoy, that aspect doesn't matter too much, if I can pay nothing or next to nothing, and someone in my broad circle might enjoy it. I can always give it away, to friends, family, or the thrift store, if I decide it's not what I want to keep. With that in mind, I feel pretty confident that I can quickly find something for which to use a high-value coupon.

This weekend, I had a $10 off coupon for Kohl's, a free item coupon for Bath & Body Works, and two free bagel coupons for Panera (one coupon was actually my daughters, but she and I were together). It wasn't that I was needing anything from Kohl's; but I took my coupon there, anyways, while running errands, and I bee-lined for the home decor clearance section. I picked up the three hand towels, which were regularly priced at $19.99 each, but now on clearance. After coupon and taxes, I spent $4.34 for all three. that's $60 worth of towels, for under $5. One towel will likely be a gift, the other two are saved for a future bathroom redo, coming up soon.

I also wasn't needing anything at Bath & Body Works; however, as my daughters wanted to go to the mall on Saturday, to pick up a cheap umbrella at Daiso, I offered to drive. While the daughters were mall-ing, I dodged into B & BW, and chose my one free item. I chose something that will be a gift item for someone on my list. It had a $5 value, and was completely free, with coupon.

After we met up again, the day felt too lovely to go back home to dig into work again, so we decided to use our two coupons for free bagels at Panera. No, I wasn't in the mood for a bagel, not a whole one at least; but free is a mighty fine price. The daughter without a coupon said she's enjoy splitting one with me, so that's what we did. Two bagels, three ladies. I chose a chocolate chip bagel, got free butter and honey, and glasses of free water. We sat outside at the tables in the sun and had a smashing afternoon with no expense, except the purchase of a $3 umbrella (for which my daughter used a gift card from an auntie at Christmas).

One very swell day, with freebies for gifting, for redecorating, and for snacking. Now that's my kind of day at the mall!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the Birthday Week

Friday
a birthday celebration

• takeout from a Chinese restaurant
• a salad that I made with cabbage, tangerines, and a dressing of soy sauce, oil, ginger and vinegar
• homemade birthday cake, and ice cream (which was hidden in the back of the freezer for a couple of months)

Saturday

husband cooks

• lentils and rice
• carrot sticks and ranch dressing
• leftover cake

Sunday
husband cooks

• lentils in a peanut butter sauce, over
• rice
• canned peas
• olives
• leftover cake

Monday

• ham slices from the freezer
• baked potatoes with butter and cream cheese
• vegetable medley of frozen spinach, onions, garlic and canned tomatoes
• cucumber, lettuce and parsley salad (cucumber gifted to us)

Tuesday

• baked chicken breasts (baked with the potatoes on Monday, then sliced and heated today), made into Inside-out Chicken Cordon Bleu
• leftover baked potatoes
• sauteed cabbage, onions and garlic (made Monday in same pan as veg medley, then saved to reheat)

Wednesday

• vegetarian chili from the freezer
• carrot sticks
• blackberry bread pudding

Thursday

• ham and egg fried rice, from the freezer
• canned pineapple

With the kids' birthdays we alternate going out to dinner with having a dinner served at home, from year to year. This was a year to have a restaurant meal for my daughters. We chose Chinese takeout, as it was a Friday night; with everyone coming home at a later hour than weekends, bringing takeout in saved us all from a very late night, and it allowed my daughters to work on school-related projects at an earlier hour. The expense for the restaurant meal comes out of a different budget than groceries. We have a budget specifically for holidays and celebrations.

When we have a birthday meal out, we try to keep the spending to about $45, which is incredibly hard to do for a family of six, if eating at a table service restaurant. My son's and his fiancee's birthday celebration was in November (also a joint celebration as they have birthdays 3 days apart). For that celebration, we chose a lunch meal, going to a local Greek restaurant which is part table service, part order at the counter, bringing the total bill down somewhat. I think we spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $65 for that meal.

Restaurant dining for our family is very expensive in the Seattle area, even when we're trying to keep the bill low. So, for my daughters, I knew we had to come in under budget, to help offset the overage from our fall celebration. I spent just under $35 for the Chinese takeout, which means we are only $10 over from the overall celebration budget. I made up that money with a cheap, at home Valentine's dinner this year. And most importantly, my daughters had a wonderful birthday, and were super duper excited that I got Chinese takeout for dinner that night! I love it when relatively small things make a big splash with my family.

The rest of the week was filled with simple, humble meals. I tried to cook extra whenever I had a chance. As well, I continue to use up items from the freezer. There is always something there to use up.

I've been feeling very blah about the foods that I've been cooking, lately. I'm eating simply because it's there. Oh well. Maybe soon I'll get back to cooking more interesting dishes.

How has the week been at your place? Anything particularly interesting on the menu? Anything seasonal yet? Have a great weekend!

Surplus of Bread, Surplus of Milk, Surplus of Frozen Blackberries

We were gifted 3 loaves of bread over the weekend. That combined with my family suddenly drinking far less milk than anticipated, and I needed to do something quick with ingredients. I froze part of the milk and bread, which will come in handy in another week. But the rest I needed to begin using.

Last night, I made a blackberry bread pudding to go with a dinner of semi-vegetarian chili (there's chicken cooking liquid in the chili, just no meat). It was very delicious, and made good use of these items that I have in abundance.

One of the aspects of making bread pudding that I appreciate is how un-hands-on this dessert is. Cube up some bread, and combine with egg, milk, sugar and salt. Maybe add some fruit. And bake. It takes about five minutes to get the whole thing into the oven. That's a time-bargain for me.

When You Have Just a Little Bit of Ham Leftover . . .

I've made this before, and it is always a hit. Last night was no different. I had two slices of ham leftover from the previous night, some baked chicken breasts, and some really awesome Irish cheese (which was gifted to us over the weekend).

I call this inside-out Chicken Cordon Bleu. It is so good, and so easy. Real stuffed chicken is a pain to make. You have to pound out the chicken breasts, place cheese and ham on the pounded-thin chicken, roll it all up, then secure with toothpicks or string, and bake. A real pain. This way is easy.

Take some baked chicken breasts, then slice, cube or chunk it onto a plate. Top with some shreds, cubes or slices of ham (I use thin shreds of the sliced ham, to make it stretch to feed a family). Lastly, top each pile of chicken and ham with a white cheese, Swiss being ideal, but a white cheddar is also very tasty. Heat until the cheese is melty. That's it.

I had baked the chicken breasts the night before, while baking potatoes, as a way to have something quick and easy to make the next night, as well as a way to use the oven's baking capacity (potatoes don't take very much room in the oven).  Just before serving, I sliced the chicken directly onto the plates, then topped with shreds of ham, and slices of cheese. I microwaved each plate, to heat through, and served. This is truly one of those dishes that my family thinks is fabulous. It's better than just ham, or just chicken. The combination of the two meats together, along with the cheese is amazing. Really good, really easy. Inside-out Chicken Cordon Bleu.