Christmas Cookies, Done!

Six hours later, cookies are done. Peanut butter, chocolate chip, chocolate & walnut, oatmeal chocolate chip and sugar cookies galore. Plus we did pretzel snowflakes! So much fun, so many hands helping.

We had a total of 120 cookies, which was divided between two houses, well what was left after all that eating, anyways!

Smart Cookies

So after hearing all of your wonderful ideas on what kinds of cookies to bake, Candi (my bff) and I decided that with four girls in the kitchen with us, ranging in ages from 5-15, the best idea was cookie mix.

Of course, I had a good supply of it in the pantry from earlier sales. So, there will be no "homemade" cookies, but they will all be made with love!

Don't forget that everyone will be joining in on the Monday, Funday fun starting on Monday, January 6th!

So many cookies, so little time....

Baking cookies is on the agenda for Sunday.

I have no idea which ones to make.

Any suggestions?

Monday, Funday: Cooking with the Kiddos

With 7 teacher gifts to give, I decided to make them, and have fun at the same time. We put together these pretty wreaths in a couple of hours. Not only did we do enough for teachers, we also made enough for me to give one to each person in my office at work. What fun!

What you will need:

1 bag small pretzels

1 package white almond bark

1 pack Twizzler Pull 'n Peel

Green sugar

Decorating bobbles (stars, balls, M&Ms)

First draw circles about 4 1/2 inches in diameter on paper. I used a bowl, putting two per page. Next, layer cling wrap over the paper. It is easier to lay out your paper and do one big strip of cling wrap over several, versus one by one.

Next, chop the almond bark into small pieces and put into a big zip bag (or bowl). Melt a couple of handfuls at a time in a small bowl in the microwave for about 1 minute. (Watch carefully.) Once it begins to melt, stir with a fork. Drop the pretzels into the chocolate and drain them a bit with a fork before putting on the circles.

Put them in the circle, with the outer edges inside the circle. It takes 7-8 pretzels to make the circle. If you get it too big it will break easily. If you want a double layer, wait for the first one to dry, then add on another layer. A single layer can be decorated immediately. Lots of sugar and stars and such make it so very pretty. We made bows by pinching the Twizzler into a bow shape, then stuck them on with chocolate.

Once finished, we wrapped them up in more cling wrap. We made 15 wreaths out of one block of almond bark, and had leftovers of everything else.

Next week? Snowflakes!

Five Meals for Under $3

Monday -- Baked Potatoes

Pototoes -- 75 cents (4 meals @ $2.99/bag)

Country ham -- 50 cents (8 meals @ $4/bag -- we use end cuts, which is bought in a 5/$19.99 deal)
Cheese -- 12 cents (1/4 bag bought with coupons for 50 cents a bag)
Margarine -- 8 cents (1/2 stick @ 4 sticks for 58 cents)

Sour Cream -- 25 cents (4 meals @ 99 cents/tub)

Meal Total -- $1.70

Tuesday -- Soft Tacos/Loaded Nachos (Depending on what the person wants)

Tortillas -- 50 cents (2 meals @ 99 cents/bag)

Ground Beef -- $1 (4 meals @ $4 a pack, bought in same 5/$19.99 deal as ham)

Cheese -- 25 cents (1/2 bag @ 50 cents/bag, bought with coupons)

Sour Cream -- 25 cents (4 meals @ 99 cents/tub)

Tomatoes -- 50 cents (4 pack/$1)

Salsa -- 25 cents (4 meals @ 99 cents/jar)

Meal Total -- $2.75

Wednesday -- Loaded Potato Chowder

Potatoes (already cooked on Monday) -- 75 cents (4 meals @ $2.99/bag)

Cheese -- 25 cents (2 meals @ 50 cents a bag, bought with coupons)

Sour Cream -- 25 cents (4 meals @ 99 cents/tub)

Margarine -- 15 cents (whole stick at 58 cents/box of four)

Milk -- 25 cents (1 cup @ $1.99 half gallon)

Meal Total -- $1.60

Thursday -- Country Fried Steak

Minute Steaks -- Free (gift from friend)

Flour & Spices -- Maybe 10 cents (this is completely a guess -- but it can't be more than that)

Sweet Peas -- 33 cents (1 can from Aldi's)

Potatoes -- 10 cents (instant package, bought with coupon)

Meal Total -- 53 cents (this would be much higher if not for the free steaks, but you can still stay under $3 even with buying them.)

Friday -- BBQ Wraps

2 cups shredded chicken -- 50 cents ($3.90/10 lb bag, cooked and shredded)

BBQ Sauce -- 10 cents (only tax, bought with coupon)

Tortillas -- 50 cents (2 meals @ 99 cents/bag)

Baked Beans -- 25 cents (1 big can, bought with coupon)

Meal Total -- $1.35

Potatoes are a cheap way for us to get a couple of dinner & lunch meals for a couple of dollars each. A 5 lb. bag of potatoes will give us two meals, with left overs for lunches. The first night we always have baked potatoes, which Lala always starts baking when she gets home so they are finished when I get off work. I figure that four meals for $3 is a good deal.

For more menu planning ideas, go on over to Organizing Junkie.

For other frugal ideas, go on over to Biblical Womanhood.

This Week's Grub

This is an easy week for us, since on Wednesday we are going to my sister's house to spend a couple of days. After that, we will be shuttling back and forth to other family, so I am really only cooking at home 2 days this week.

Monday -- Steak Sandwiches on Yeast Rolls

Tuesday -- Cheater's Beef Stroganoff

Wednesday -- Take Out

Cheater's Beef Stroganoff
12 left over beef (could be from steak, or a roast) cut up in small pieces
1 package egg noodles
1/2 cup sour cream
2 packs dry onion soup mix
1 cup water
1 package fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tbs olive oil
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Boil egg noodles while putting mix together. For the mix, in a separate pan, put the olive oil into a pan, then saute the mushrooms. Then add the water, beef and onion mix. Once it is warm through, whisk in the sour cream. Once egg noodles are done, drain and add to beef mixture.
This is so good, you will never know that it was done in about 15 minutes!

For more menu planning ideas, scoot on over to Organizing Junkie.

As Requested

Creamy Chicken and Noodles
1 cup "Pickin' Chicken" (or shedded chicken)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 bag egg noodles
1 1/2 cups frozen peas & carrots
In a pot of water, boil the noodles as directed on the package. While noodles are cooking, in a separate saucepan warm the soup with one can of water, stirring to combine. Add in the chicken and peas, stirring occassionally until warm. Once the noodles are done, drain well. Add the chickn mixture to the noodles.

Voila! Dinner in about 10 minutes. Warm, fast, comforting -- what more could a girl want???

This Week's Grub

Monday -- Baked Potato Night (Lala puts them in before I get home, so we just break out the toppings and it is faster than fast food, yay!)

Tuesday -- Grilled Chicken Salads (Another easy meal, just chop up a few veggies while I am cooking the chicken tenders on the griddle.)

Wednesday -- Taco Stack-Ups (This meal uses up the rest of the salad fixings, just like tacos with chips instead of taco shells. Since I have the hamburger meat precooked, all I have to do it warm it up and add in the taco seasonings.)

Thursday -- Loaded Potato Soup (Uses the left over potatoes from Monday. Since they will already be cooked, I am essentially just warming them through with some milk and other ingredients for a good, warm meal.)

Friday -- Cheesy Chicken Casserole (Since I have more time on Friday nights, this one got moved to here. Still an easy meal, I will have a little longer to get the rice cooked, etc.)

Saturday -- Creamy Chicken and Noodles (I will be Christmas shopping all day, and I KNEW I wanted something warm, easy and comforting when I get home.)

Although this is not my first shot at menu planning, I am not usually a big poster of it. I laid it all out yesterday, went shopping for what I had to have that was not in my pantry/freezer. For 3 meals each plus snacks for 7 days, I spent $32 this week.

For more menu ideas visit Menu Planning Monday at Organizing Junkie.

Cheap Corn Chowder

We needed something warm to fill our bellies. I looked at a few recipes online, and all of them had potatoes. Since I had none, I decided to improvise.

Cheap Corn Chowder
5 slices bacon, diced (1/2 cup or so)
1 medium red onion, diced
1 stick butter or margarine
3 cans whole kernel corn
2 cups milk
1 Tbs. flour
1/4 cup water
salt to taste
shredded cheese for garnish
In a stock pot on medium high, start the bacon. After about 5 mins, add in the onion. Cook until onion is soft, then add in the butter and corn. Once butter is melted, add in the milk. Simmer for 10 mins. Mix the flour and water in a little bowl. Add flour mixture to chowder. Cook until thickened. (Potatoes generally are the thickening agent in chowder, so the flour replaces it.)
Add a loaf of french bread, which I break off and add to the bowl. Use cheese for garnish. Here I used parmesean. Cheddar would be yummy, too.

Ham Made Simple

After breakfast yesterday, I started getting out the slow cooker so I could put the ham in it for supper. I thought this was the normal way to cook a ham, until DH started questioning me. His mother, grandmother and sisters all cook their hams in the oven, so he had no idea it could be done in the crock pot.

Once we sit down to eat, he readily agreed it was the best ham he had ever eaten.

Crockpot Ham

1 picnic shoulder (that will fit in your slow cooker)

1 can pineapple (crushed, sliced or chunks all work)

3 tablespoons brown sugar (we used Splenda brown sugar and it worked wonderfully)

Put the ham in the crockpot, pour over the pineapple, juice and all. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top. Put the lid on and cook on high for six hours.

Although this is not the most frugal meal in my recipe box, it is great when you want an easy, wonderful meal. Even at $10 for a good ham, the cost of the entire meal is what you would pay for 1 person to have the same meal in a nice restaurant. It may not be the most thrifty meal, but sometimes you just have to let loose and live a little. And this is definitely a taste of the good life.

WFMW: One Pot Wonder

Five ingredients? Seriously??? This is a toughie! Almost all of my meals start by cooking an onion in olive oil, so that is two off the bat. What about salt and pepper??? Ugh! OK, I can do this, I can seriously do this........I think.......

One Pot Chili
1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, diced
2 cans chili beans
1 can rotel "chili fixin's" (this variety is the best, nothing else needed)
**Brown the ground beef in a soup pot (I do it in my stock pot). Once it is done, add in the onions -- leave the grease in for the cooking fat, as well as the flavor. Next, add in the beans and rotel, along with one can of water. Let simmer for 20 mins. That's it!

Sure -- it's hot now, but pretty soon it will cool off and you can pull out this recipe. My family thinks I cook it forever, but it's our little secret, K?

For more easy recipes, scoot on over to Rocks In My Dryer to see the rest of the gang at Works For Me Wednesday.

Quick Corn Salad

Today we had crock pot BBQ chicken. To go along with it, we had baked beans and this quick corn salad.

2 cans whole kernel corn (or you could use freshly cooked corn that has been cooled)
1 medium tomato, diced small
1/2 onion, diced small
1 pack taco seasoning
2 Tbs olive oil

Mix together the corn, tomatoes and onion. Drizzle over the olive oil, then mix in the taco seasoning. Put in the fridge and chill for a couple of hours before serving.

You could also add in black olives, cucumber, black or cilantro. Since I didn't have any of these on hand today, we had the pared down version.
beans

Frugal Fridays: $2 Dinner

Dinner for $1 went so well, I thought I would give it another whirl. Let's double the budget -- whew! Yes, we are still using prepackaged foods, canned veggies, but adding a little meat this time. I am assuming you have chili powder, so I won't be counting that in the price of our meal.

So, with another trip to Save A Lot, you can put this together. Brown 1/2 lb. ground beef -- let's say you got it on sale for $1.49 (or less?). While you are cooking that, boil some water for a box of mac 'n cheese (made according to directions), which is .33. Mix in the ground beef. Add in a can of tomatoes (with or without peppers), adding in another .49. You will also need to add in a can of niblet corn, .39 in my store. Add in chili powder to taste, and Voila! You have chili mac 'n cheese.

Adding it all up:
.75 ground beef
.33 mac 'n cheese
.49 tomatoes
.39 corn
---------
Grand Total $1.96

We love this meal, and since it is an all-in-one dish, it is a wonderful way to whip up dinner in a pinch with little effort.

For more Frugal Fridays tips, scurry on over to see Crystal at Biblical Womanhood.

Sweet Deal

I found a great deal on Sweet Sue Chicken Breast (in a can!) yesterday at Save-A-Lot. It is .99 everyday and I had a bunch of .75/1 coupons. So that worked out to .24 a can for chicken. Not too bad! So I wondered what do you do with chicken in a can.......chicken salad, chicken casseroles, chicken soup. Hmmmm.....

Chicken w/Dressing Pie

• 1 box Stovetop Stuffing
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can chicken breast, drained
• 1/2 bag (more or less) frozen peas & carrots

In an oven proof pan, prepare your stuffing mix as directed on the box. Once it is done, put into a bowl. In the same pan, mix together soup and chicken breast. Heat until warm. Slowly add in peas and carrots, until they are all incorporated. Take off the eye. Carefully layer the stuffing on top of the cream mixture, forming a "crust" on top. Put under broiler in your oven until the stuffing is slightly browned, creating the crunch to the crust. (Just barely browned.) Rest for 5 minutes after removing from oven. Serve in bowls.

This is SOOO satisfying on a chilly day. It is almost instant comfort food, since the whole thing takes less than 15 mins.

Calling All Cooks

Casseroles are the mainstay of the cheap cook's arsenal. You take a little bit of meat and stretch it out to feed an army. Luckily, my family loves them. However, I feel like we are in a slump.

I want some new recipes. Sure, there are hundreds of thousands out there on the internet, but I want some that are tried and true. I'd much rather have ideas from actual kitchens (like yours) than that of a search engine.

Sure....I could just find recipes, but who knows how they will turn out? I don't want to subject my kiddos to endless auditions until I find one that works.

We currently have chicken, ground beef, tuna, crab meat and tuna in my pantry/freezer. I am pretty well equipped with rice, bread crumbs, and all other "basics" of casserole making.

So, if you would be so kind, leave me some recipes/ideas in the comments. Thanks in advance for all of your wonderful help!

Home again......

Well, I went to work today, truly I did. And then storms came. So now I sit at home, sharing my day with my lovely daughters. Although I have projects at work that I need to be doing, at the same time I am glad I got the blessing of spending time with the chickadees.

First we will have some lunch, then clean a little, maybe play a board game or two, and then prepare dinner -- including desert -- for DH when he gets home.

Our dinner menu:

Meatloaf

Mashed Potatoes

English Peas

Gravy

Cheddar Biscuits

Coconut Fluff Pie for desert

Ok, so you wanna know how to make my "cheat pie"?

Coconut Fluff Pie

1 cup cold milk

1 box instant coconut pudding

1 tub cool whip

1 graham cracker crust (premade or do it yourself)

Mix the milk and pudding together, then fold in the coolwhip. Put it in the pie shell. DONE! I fix it before I do anything else, pop it in the fridge and then it is all ready to when we we are. Ohhh sooo good! You can use fat free cool whip and sugar free pudding with skim milk for a pie that is every bit as delicious, with only a fraction of the calories (and you can't even tell it's diet!)

Since I am being careful with the food budget, I'm gonna breakdown the cost of the pie

Milk (I use evaporated I got for free with coupons) = $0

Cool Whip (on clearance for .50) = .50

Pudding (free with coupons) = $0

Pie crust (made with free cookies) = $0

Pie total = .50 -- and worth every single penny!

Groovy Granola

I always try to come up with some easy, cheap recipes to fill baskets for friends for holiday gifts. These are people who I just want to stop by and say hello and give them all of my love. This year, with dozens of boxes of free oatmeal in my pantry, I decided granola would be one of the things I would include.

However, I have never made granola before, so I searched on several of my fave sites for a good, easy recipe. Not a single one had the ingredients I did, so I looked around and decided to learn the method and make my own recipe.

Groovy Granola

1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup margarine
1 small (18 oz) box oatmeal
1-2 cups raisins
1-2 cups coconut
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. First warm the honey in a small sauce pan and wisk the margarine into it. Once you have it all mixed together, add in the coconut and let it cook for about 1 minute. While this is cooking, pour the box of oatmeal onto a cookie sheet. Pour all of the honey mixture over the oatmeal and stir it around (after a minute or so it will cool off and you can work it together with your hands.) Put the raisins in and mix in well. Cook in the oven for 45 mins to an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Put in jars and give in gifts, or put into a airtight container and keep it for yourself. Eat like cereal or by the handful.


Most of the recipes I saw added raisins in after cooking, but I wanted mine to have the honey flavor, too. It turned out so good that I am going to make a batch to keep! YUMMY!

My fave quick meal

Since we are quickly approaching the holidays -- I thought I would share a meal that is extravagant for me -- but I love it soooo much! It is a very quick meal -- that is soooo yummy.
With only 7 minutes (except boiling water) and 7 ingredients -- it is my favorite way to treat myself.

Shrimp Scampi Pasta
Angel Hair Pasta
3 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. Olive Oil
1/2 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp
1 clove garlic
1 fresh lemon
salt

Bring a pot of water to a boil (while you peel and devein the shrimp if you need to). Salt water liberally. Put the pasta in the water -- cook 5-7 minutes until al dente.
For the sauce, melt the butter into the olive oil over medium high heat. Mince the garlic and put into the oil, add in shrimp and salt to taste. When shrimp is done, squeeze the jusce of the lemon over and mix well. When pasta is done, drain and toss with shrimp and butter sauce.
The whole sauce only takes about 5 minutes -- so even with boiling the water you can do the whole thing in about 15 minutes!
This meal will easily feed two, but you can double the recipe very easily.
Quick, yummy and soooooo much better than a restaurant, because you could eat this meal every day for a week for what one meal out would cost!

Pick Your Chicken

Earlier this week I gave you my crazy pickin chicken method. Here are some of the ways I use this chicken:

Chicken Pot Pie
Handful of chicken (as big or small as you want)
1 can cream of whatever soup
1 can mixed veggies (or frozen peas and carrots are good, too)
dough (canned biscuits - canned cresent rolls - homemade biscuits - frozen biscuits, whatever)
Warm up can of soup, add 1/4 cup water to get it moving, add in frozen chicken and veggies. once warm, put into a casserole dish (I use a round one). Put dough on top and bake in 350 degree oven until done.
I love, love, love this, because it is a one dish meal. Great for cool nights! I would guess that this is less than $2 a meal, depending on how much chicken you use. If you use cream of chicken soup, you get a little more chicken flavor.

Chicken-Chili Casserole
Handful of pickin chicken
2 cups rice, cooked
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
can of whole kernel corn
2 Tbs. chili powder
(you can add black olives, too)
Mix together soup, chicken, rice, corn, (black olives) and chili powder. Put in casserole dish, cook at 350 degrees for 30 mins. Remove and scatter cheese on top. Put back into oven until cheese is melted.
**for another variation, take chili powder, corn and black olives out and replace with mixed veggies or peas and carrots -- add a handful of bread crumbs with cheese. This makes it more like a chicken pot pie casserole -- very good!

Chicken Fried Rice
2 cups already cooked and cooled rice
Olive Oil
Soy Sauce
1 cup frozen peas and carrots (frozen is best)
1 handful of chicken
1 small onion chopped
2 eggs - mixed with 1 Tbs. water
Cook eggs in a thin sheet, it may take more than one batch. Chop them into ribbons and set aside. Put a good, heavy drizzle of olive oil in a pan, and let it get hot (over medium high heat). This will go quick, so do not try it if you are wrangling kids, dogs, frisky hubbies or what have you. Put in the onion cook for a couple of minutes, then the peas and carrots, then the chicken. Cook it all for a few minutes until hot. Add in the eggs, and rice, stir well. Add in soy sauce, it will take quite a bit, maybe up to 1/3 of a cup at the beginning, just do it to your taste.
**This may not be the cheapest recipe, but it is just as good and cheaper than take out for sure!

Buffalo Chicken wraps
Tortillas
Chicken
Hot Sauce
Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing
Add 1 tbs water to a non stick skillet. Add in 2 cups chicken, cook until soft and almost all of the water is cooked off. Add in hot sauce, it will make a thick sauce on the meat, it will take about 1/4 cup. Warm your tortillas. Put a drizzle of dressing (as much or little as you want) down the middle. Put your chicken in and roll up. These are a wonderful quick dinner!

Chicken Taco Soup
1 good handful of chicken
1 can whole kernel corn - drained
1 small can sliced black olives - drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 can rotel or tomatoes
1 chicken bouillion cube (I use the ones in the spanish foods aisle)
1 pack taco seasoning
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips
In your soup pot, sautee the onions until done. Add in 2 cups water and dissolve bouillion cube. Add in chiken, corn, olives, rotel and taco seasoning. Bring to a slow boil for about 10 minutes until all the flavors have combined. Ladle into dishes, garnish with cheese, sour cream and chips.

Chicken and noodles
1 cup chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 bag egg noodles
Cook egg noodles. While they are cooking, warm up the can of soup with 1/2 cup of water and add in chicken, cook until all is hot. Use it for the sauce on the hot noodles. You could add in frozen peas and carrots into the sauce for more of a one pot meal.

However you use the chicken, just remember, it is already thoroughly cooked, so you are basically reheating it. These are just a few of my recipes. Maybe I will get some more posted at some point. Enjoy!