Menu Planning

  • On the Farm: Recipe for Acorn Cookies

    Fresh Acorn Cookies

    Now I am going to share with you a couple of recipes that you can make using fresh acorns.  To learn more about acorns check out On the Farm: Acorns Are For Squirrels and how process fresh acorns so you can use it in recipes here is a post On the Farm: How to Prep Acorns for Cooking.

    Once you are ready to use your fresh acorn meal or flour here is one of the recipes you can try:

    Acorn Cookies:

    • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
    • 1 teaspoon Salt
    • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
    • 1 cup Brown Sugar
    • 1/2 cup Shortening
    • 1 large Egg
    • 1 cup Acorn Flour
    • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a larger bowl cream the shortening, egg, and sugar together.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the cream mixture.  Blend in the acorn flour.  Add the vanilla extract until blended well.  Take a medium size ice cream scoop and place onto a greased cookie sheet.   Use a fork to slightly flatten the balls.   Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

    Freshly scooped cookie dough.

    Cookie sheet full of cookies ready to go into the oven!

    The cookies are not as moist as a Chocolate Chip Cookie but not as dry as Shortbread Cookies.  They are a little dryer then I expected but they turned out pretty well.  We shared this recipe with our Community Group and people at Jake’s work.  It was a fun recipe do make and share with others.  I would make sure that those eating do not have a nut allergy.  It provides an interesting conversation started and you are sure to be the only one at the event with Acorn Cookies!  Now if I can just find an acorn cookie cutter.  Stay tuned for some more of our acorn recipes in upcoming posts!

    Recipe adapted from Grandpappy

  • Recipe: Easy Crockpot Chicken Tacos

    When it is a busy day I love it when I can stick something in the crockpot and come home to a house that smells amazing and dinner nearly ready to put on the table.  I really don’t know where I got this recipe from but I have been making it for years and love it because it is easy and tastes great too.

    Easy Crockpot Chicken Tacos:

    1 to 2 lbs Skinless Chicken Breasts (you could use thighs but our family prefers the white meat)

    1 cup Salsa (add more if you like salsa)

    1 package Taco Seasoning (optional)

    1 can Black Beans (optional)

    1 can Corn (optional)

    Chips or Tortillas

    Place the chicken in the crockpot and add the salsa on top.  Cook on low for 6 hours.  About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat drain any extra liquid, break up the chicken into smaller pieces (I use a fork and pull the pieces apart).  If you want, stir in  the package of Taco Seasoning, Black Beans, and Corn (sometimes I will add fresh tomatoes as well).

    We usually have chips and make a Chicken Taco Salad or tortillas.  Add the meat and toppings (shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream) and enjoy!

  • On the Farm: How to Prep Acorns for Cooking

    Fun Fall Experiment - Processing our acorns so we can cook with them.

    I recently decided to experiment with cooking acorns and the adventure turned out pretty well.  There are some things I will do differently the next time around but overall the whole experience was educational and enjoyable for the whole family. To learn how I decided to go on this unique venture you can read about what got me started in my post  “On the Farm: Acorns Are For Squirrels”.

    I am always looking for ways to teach my children and since the Fall season is here after a few comments, questions, and some researching about acorns it was decided that our next activity was to go through the complete process of gathering, sorting, opening, processing and cooking with acorns (now that we know that acorns are not just of squirrels).  Here are the Five Steps to gather, sort, crack, and process the acorns in a day instead of doing it the traditional way of putting them in a stream or burying them in mud and waiting weeks before you can eat them.

    Bucket full of acorns

    Step 1 – Gathering Acorns:

    • Each family member took a bucket or bag and headed outside to start collecting acorns.  We found a couple trees that had acorns under them and started filling our buckets. Please see “On the Farm: Acorns Are For Squirrels” to find out which trees to collect acorns from.
    • Inspect each acorn as you pick it up for holes or cracks.  Some good ones will have the caps on others will no longer have the caps attached.  (I discovered later that we were not good at detecting microscopic cracks or holes in the acorns, so later we just gathered the acorns and used the sorting step to eliminate the bad acorns, see below).
    • Fill up your bucket or bag and pour all the acorns into a large sink
    Filling up the sink with acorns and water.
    • Tips to help with gathering (I discovered some ways to make this process easier for the future acorn gatherings):
    • You don’t need to look at each individual acorn, the sorting process is much better at isolating the bad acorns and making sure only the good ones remain.
    • Observe what the wildlife is doing prior to picking up acorns.  For example if the squirrels prefer certain trees then head for those trees first because the acorns will most likely contain less tannins and have less of a problem with bugs.  Trust the animals instinct, they go for the good ones first.

     

    Filling up the sink with water to see which ones will float.

    Step 2 – Sorting Acorns:

    • Put all the acorns in a large sink, plug the sink and run cool water over the acorns.
    • The water level should be several inches above the acorns on the bottom to help with the sorting process.
    • The acorns that are crack, have holes, or that are bad will float to the top of the water.
    • The good acorns will sink and remain on the bottom.
    • Remove all the acorns that are floating and leave the good ones on the bottom.
    • Stir the acorns with your hands (or a paint mixer) to shuffle around the acorns, if any more float to the top of the water remove them.
    Stirring them with the paint mixer to see if there are any more floaters.

    Tips to help with sorting:

    • We used a large utility sink to sort the acorns.
    • Don’t worry about inspecting every acorn (see the Gathering Acorns step above) before putting it into the sink.
    • This sorting step will eliminates 99% or more of the bad acorns in your batch so you can speed up the gathering step by not looking at each individual acorn.
    • You may be surprised at how many acorns are floating
    • You may need to go back out in the yard and pick up some more acorns.
    • In some batches we had as many as half of the acorns floating to the top.
    • Throw away any floating ones because they are not good so you don’t want to waste your time cracking them if you cannot use them.
    • We used the paint mixer to stir up the acorns which help make sure if any bad ones were trapped under the good ones they came to the top so we could remove them.

     

    Rinse the acorns for a few minutes to get any remaining dirt off of them. We used this stick to help disperse the water over the batch of acorns. Then let them soak to soften the shells so you can crack them open easier.

    Step 3 – Cracking Open the Acorns:

    • Once you have sorted the acorns and only have the good acorns remaining (the ones that did not float) drain all the water out of the sink.
    • After all the water is drained, rinse the acorns with the drain open for several minutes.  You do this by running the water through the acorns and stirring occasionally.  This step helps get out any of the extra dirt and cleans the acorns.
    • Plug the drain, refill the sink with water and let the acorns soak under water for approximately hour to soften the shell.
    • Once the acorns shells have softened take out an acorn, tap it lightly with a hammer until it cracks slightly, peel back the shell and remove the nutmeat.
    • Put the nutmeat in a pot that you can cook it in and put the shell in another bowl that will be taken back outside to compost or throw away.
    Cracking open the acorn with a hammer.
    • Tips to help cracking open acorns:
    • You can use a flat screwdriver to help pry open the shells.  Usually your fingers will work but sometimes having a screw driver helps.
    • You can start cracking open the acorns right away instead of soaking for an hour, however, you will notice that the longer a acorn has been soaking the easier the shell is to remove.  I just took out a handful at a time so the remaining ones could continue soaking.

     

    What a whole acorn nutmeat looks like.

    Step 4 – Processing the Acorns (AKA “Leaching” the tannins out of the acorns):

    • This step is very important with acorns.  You will need to leach the acorns to remove any tannins that are in them.
    • Bring two large pots to a boil.
    • Pour the acorns into one pot and let it boil for 15 minutes.  The water will turn a dark brown / black color which is the tannins coming out of the acorns.
    • After 15 minutes strain the water off the nuts and transfer them to the second pot of boiling water.  Boil them for another 15 minutes.
    • While the second pot of water is boiling with the acorns refill the first pot and bring it back to a boil.
    • Continue transferring back and forth from one pot of boiling water to the next for 15 minutes at a time until the water stays clear.
    • The nutmeat will not have a bitter taste to it once the tannins have been removed through leaching.
    Our full pot of acorn nutmeats in the boiling water as we start the leaching process.
    • Tips to help with processing / leaching:
    • If you can use a large pot with a strainer inside it for transferring the nutmeats between the boiling pots of water it will be much easier.
    • Make sure to never rinse the nutmeats in cool water during the leaching (boiling) phase of the processing because it could actually cause the tannins to seal in the nutmeats making it impossible to remove enough of it so you can safely eat them.
    • It usually takes several boiling times before the water comes back clear.
    Tannins coming out of our acorns. (See how the water is a dark brown color)

     

    A dehydrator full of dried acorns! They will dry to a dark brown color.

    Step 5 – Drying the Acorns:

    • Once the water is clear after boiling the acorn nutmeat you can drain them completely and transfer them to a jelly roll pan, spread out into a single layer and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  OR you could put the acorn nutmeat into a food dehydrator until the nutmeats is completely dry (approximately 8 to 12 hours).
    • The nutmeats will turn a dark brown color when they are completely dry.  You are now ready to try out your acorn recipes!
    • Tips to help with drying:
    • The dehydrator works really well for drying out the nutmeats.  It works a lot like drying fruit or beef jerky.  Plus it can run through the night and uses less power than your oven.
    • You can dry the acorns for several days in the sun but you take the risk of bugs and squirrels taking the acorns or they could go moldy.  It is pretty easy drying them in the oven or dehydrator so I think that would be the best option.
    • You can store the dried acorns for several months in the refrigerator or freezer, they will last several week at room temperature.

    Information regarding processing Acorns was found at Wikipedia, Grandpappy, and LiveStrong

    I will be sharing soon a couple acorn recipes that we have tried with the acorns we have processed from our yard.

     

  • On the Farm: Acorns Are For Squirrels

    Rinsed acorn with its cap still on.

    “Acorns are for squirrels to gather and eat during the cool winter months” was my response when the kids asked me about the purpose of acorns.  It has been a pretty mild Fall in our area but our yard has been full of acorns, squirrels, birds, rabbits, turkeys, and all kinds of animals gathering for the cooler months.  Our family has been blessed to have property with a lot of trees, a small creek, and plenty of wildlife.  Even though we live in the “suburbs” on our little 4 plus acres it feels like we are out in the country.  One of the Fall activities we have as a family is raking leaves and acorns.  Now that the acorns and leaves are steadily dropping the discussion regarding Fall, leaves, acorns, and activities around the season have been in full swing on the farm.

    There are several oak trees on our property but the one in our front yard has produced an abundance of acorns this year (the ground was covered and continues to be covered with acorns even after raking and collecting).  After thinking about it for a little bit we concluded that the reason that tree was so full of acorns had to do with the extra “water” that is has enjoyed from our garden.  Jake and I were talking about the tree and the amount of acorns and jokingly mentioned that we could live off the acorns if we wanted to this winter.  The girls were already collecting acorns for their “acorn pies” they were making in the sandbox and asked us a couple times why we couldn’t eat acorns.  I honestly didn’t have a great answer other than my normal because “Acorns are for squirrels.”

    After a couple weeks of thinking about our conversation and talking with the girls about how people in the past lived off the land through gardens, nuts, animals, and crops I decided to research acorns a little more.   I figured that if the squirrels are eating the acorns there has to be some benefits to them, right!?  They are a nut.   I read what articles I could find about how to cook acorns and decided it may be fun experiment for the family to try making something with the acorns.  There is not a huge amount of acorn recipes out there but I was able to get enough to feel confident to try it.  I figured it would be an interesting educational activity for the kids as well.

    Here’s some fun facts about acorns that you may or may not know about:

    • The first people that we can find in history who have ate acorns were the Greeks over 2,000 years ago
    • The acorn has been a source of nutrition for many people during past food famines.
    • Native American Indian tribes use acorns.  The Cherokee, Pima, and Apache Indians considered the acorn a staple food that they used in a variety of recipes.
    • The majority of acorns cannot be eaten raw from the trees or ground.  They have a bitter taste which is the tannin that is used to make leather.  If you taste a raw acorn and it is very bitter it is best not to eat it until it has been processed.
    • There are a variety of ways people have used to remove the tannins from the acorns.  Some records show that they have buried the acorns in mud for weeks then will dig them up and use the sun to dry them naturally.  Others place the acorns in a basket or cloth (the basket or cloth needs to be strong enough to hold the nuts but allow water to run through it) with heavy stones, place the basket in a quick flowing stream for several days or weeks then they would sun dry them.  Now with stove tops the process of removing the tannins is quicker by boiling the tannins out of the acorns (I will go through the entire leaching of the tannins process in a later post).
    • It is said that a fully grown Oak Tree can produce as much as 1,000 pounds of acorns in one season.
    • Acorns are low in sugar and have a sweet nutty taste.
    • Acorn flour or meal can be used in bread, cookies, grits, pancakes, brownies, stews, cakes, tortillas, muffins, and many other recipes.  You can eat an acorn plain or with a glaze once it’s been processed.
    • Acorns have carbohydrates, protein and fats, 6 vitamins, 8 minerals (including calcium, phosphorus, potassium), and 18 amino acids.  They have a lower fat content than the majority of other nuts and compare very well with other wild foods you find in nature.
    • Eating 1 handful of acorns is like eating a pound of fresh hamburger (nutritionally equivalent)
    • Much like the squirrels storing acorns for later we can store acorns for a long time as well.  Acorns do not spoil quickly so they can be eaten and/or processed at a later time.

    There are two main types of trees acorns come from:

    • The White Oak Trees can live over 650 years, be more than 4 feet in diameter and up to 100 feet tall.  The White Oak is the most common and has a dark green glossy leaf with light green on the bottom and the leaf edges are rounded.  White Trees have a smooth shell and the nutmeat is a shade of white.  The White Oak Trees are the best for acorns that you want to eat and use in recipes because they have a low tannic acid, but are still sweet and can be eaten after a little processing.
    • The Red Oak Trees are not as common and their leaves have a glossy green top side (much like the white oak) but there bottom side is fuzzy and the leaf edges are pointed.  The Red Oak acorns can take up to two years to mature and the nutmeat is more of a yellow color.  Red Oaks require processing before to eating and generally are not harvested for human consumption unless there is a famine.   Red Oak Trees have a higher tanic acid level which is why they need more processing and are typically eaten when necessary such as starvation or famine because if you eat too much tannin it can be bad for your kidneys.

    Why do Acorns need to be processed before eating them?

    • Acorns contain tanic acid (if you try a raw acorn and it is bitter that is the tannin you are tasting) which is used to make leather and has several other great qualities, however, if you eat an excessive amount of tannin it could lead to kidney failure.  If you want to try processing and using acorns for recipes try to pick the acorns from a White Oak Tree since they are much lower in tannins; if you decide to consume ones from a Red Oak make sure to process them very well.  I will walk you through the steps to remove the tannic acid (tannins) from the acorns, the process is called leaching.

    Information regarding Acorns was found at Wikipedia, Absolute Astronomy, Grandpappy, and Nutrition Data

    I will be sharing soon how to pick the perfect acorn, sort them, prep the acorns for cooking, how to process the acorns to remove all the tannins, and a couple acorn recipes that we have tried.

  • Save A Lot: Deals for the week of October 19 – 25, 2011

    The Save A Lot weekly ad deals are listed below for your convenience.   Save-A-Lot is continuing their 10 for $10 sale so if you haven’t already go ahead and stock up on these products.  You can mix and match any number of the 10 for $10 items and you are not required to buy 10 items in order to get the products for $1.  Sign up for the Smart Shopper Club, by doing so you will get a $5.00 off of $25.00 coupon!

    Meats and Seafood

    Chicken Drums or Thighs – $0.88 per lb

    Fresh Chicken Wings – $1.49 per lb

    Pork Chops – $2.79 per lb

    Ground Chuck  – $2.49 per lb

    Primo Brats & Italian Sausage (19 oz) – $2.99

    Sugardale Sausage Links, Smoked & Polish (3 pounds) – $3.99

    Eckrich Franks (16 oz) – $1.00

    Butterball Turkey Bacon (6 oz) – $1.00

    Ocean Market Fish Fillets (4 oz) – $1.00

    Gwaltney Rolled Sausage (12 oz) – $1.00

    Pick 5 for $19.99 promo on going: Pick any 5 specially marked packages of your favorite cuts of fresh, frozen or smoked meats and pay just $19.99 (about $2 per pound).

    Fridge and Freezer

    Take & Bake Pepperoni or Supreme Pizza (33 to 36 oz) – $5.99

    Take & Bake Cheese Pizza (33 oz) – $5.49

    Shaner’s Chicken Wings, Spicy or Honey BBQ (16 oz) – $2.99

    Dairy Fresh Aerosol Whipped Topping (7 oz) – $1.00

    Parkway Quarters Margarine (16 oz) – $1.00

    Eckrich Bologna (16 oz) – $1.00

    Budding Deli Cut Lunch Meat (3 to 4 oz) – $1.00

    Fisher Boy Fish Sticks (6 oz) – $1.00
    Use $0.75/1 printable coupon from Fisher Boy
    $0.25 each after coupon

    Oscar Mayer Lunchables – $1.00
    Use $0.55/1 coupon from tearpad found in stores
    $0.45 each after coupon

    Hormel Sandwich Sliced Pepperoni (3.5 oz) – $1.00
    Use $0.55/2 printable coupon from Hormel
    $0.73 each after coupon

    Schooner Imitation Crab (8 oz) – $1.00

    Tony’s Crispy Crust Pizza (Pepperoni or Supreme) – $1.00

    Pillsbury Grands Flakey or Buttermilk Biscuits (16.3 oz) – $1.00
    Use $1.00/3 coupon from insert 8/7 General Mills (Expires 10/29/11)
    Use $0.30/1 coupon from insert 9/11 General Mills (Expires 12/3/11)
    Use $0.50/2 coupon from insert 8/7 General Mills (Expires 10/29/11)
    Use $0.40/2 coupon from insert 10/2 Smart Source (Expires 12/24/11)
    Use $0.30/2 coupon from insert 8/7 General Mills (Expires 10/29/11)
    Use $0.30/2 coupon from insert 9/11 General Mills (Expires 12/3/11)
    Use $0.40/3 coupon from insert 10/2 Smart Source (Expires 12/24/11)
    As low as $0.67 each after coupon

    Banquet Brown & Serve Sausage (6.4 oz) – $1.00

    Tropicana Fruit or Berry Punch (64 oz) – $1.00

    Mr. P’s Pepperoni Pizza Bites (9 oz) – $1.00

    Banquet Dinners (4 to 10 oz) – $1.00

    Produce

    Avocados – $1.00

    3 Pack Peppers – $1.00

    Dole Salad Mix (12 oz) – $1.00
    Use $1.50/2 coupon from Blinkie found in stores (Expires 10/31/11)
    $0.25 each after coupon

    Green Cabbage – $0.39 per lb

    Red or Green Grapes – $1.29 per lb

    Gala or Fuji Apples (3 pounds) – $1.99

    Caramel and Candy Apples – $1.00

    Household

    Pert Bath Tissue (24 rolls) – $4.99

    Save A Lot Today Paper Towels (8 count) – $3.99

    Triumph Quilted Paper Towels (1 count) – $1.29

    Save A Lot Today Paper Towels (1 count) – $0.50

    Ultra Soft Bath Tissue (4 rolls) – $1.99

    Puffs Facial Tissue (100 count) – $1.00
    Use $0.25/3 coupon from insert 10/2 Proctor & Gamble (Expires 10/31/11)
    $0.92 each after coupon

    Angel Soft Bath Tissue (4 count) – $1.00
    Use $0.50/1 coupon from insert 8/14 Red Plum (Expires 11/14/11)
    $0.50 each after coupon

    Luster Facial Tissues (160 count) – $0.99

    Angel Soft Bath Tissue (12 rolls) – $3.39
    Use $0.50/1 coupon from insert 8/14 Red Plum (Expires 11/14/11)
    Use $1.00/2 coupon from insert 8/14 Red Plum (Expires 11/14/11)
    $2.89 each after coupon

    Save A Lot Today Bath Tissue (4 rolls) – $0.89

    Grocery

    Malt O’ Meal Cereal, Berry Colossal Crunch and Golden Puffs (10 to 12 oz) – $1.00
    Use $1.00/3 printable coupon from Malt O’ Meal
    Use $0.50/1 coupon from tearpad found in some stores (Expires 1/31/12)
    As low as $0.50 each after coupon

    Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna (5 oz) – $0.69
    Use $1.00/2 printable coupon from Recycle Bank
    Use $1.00/5 coupon from peelie found in some stores (Expires 12/31/11)
    As low as $0.19 each after coupon

    Cheez It Baked Snack Crackers (7 to 9 oz) – $1.69
    Use $1.00/2 coupon from insert 9/18 Red Plum (Expires 11/13/11)
    Use $1.00/2 coupon from “Score Big Savings” Booklet (Expires 10/31/11)
    Use $1.00/2 coupon from tearpad found in some stores (Expires 11/30/11)
    $1.19 each after coupon

    Mountain Holler Avalanche Soda (2 liter) – $0.75

    Bay Mist Berry Splash (64 oz) – $1.89

    Save A Lot Today Chocolate Chip Pancakes (5.5 oz) – $0.59

    Save A Lot Today Homestyle Mashed Potatoes (4 oz) – $0.79

    Hampton Farms Roasted and Salted Peanuts (10 oz) – $1.00

    Sundia Fruit Cups (8 oz) – $1.00

    Kaskey’s Family Size Condensed Chicken or Tomato Soup (26 oz) – $1.00

    Chef Boyardee Canned Pasta (14.5 to 15 oz) – $1.00
    Use $0.50/2 coupon found in package (Expires 5/31/12)
    Use $0.50/2 coupon from September 2011 All You Magazine (Expires 11/15/11)
    $0.75 each after coupon

    Toast Em’s Toaster Pastries (14.7 oz) – $1.00

    Mrs. Freshley’s Sugar Mini Donuts or Brownies (6 to 16 count) – $1.00

    Very Fine Juice Drinks (Fruit Punch or Pineapple Orange) (32 oz) – $1.00

    Chex Mix (8 oz) – $1.00
    Use $0.50/2 coupon from peelie found in some store (Expires 1/30/12)
    $0.75 each after coupon

    M&M and Mars Candy (3 oz) – $1.00
    Use $1.50/2 coupon from September 2011 All You Magazine (10/31/11)
    Use $1.00/2 coupon from 8/28 Red Plum (Expires 10/31/11)
    As low as $0.25 each after coupon

    Pasta Roni (Assorted Varieties) (4 to 6 oz) – $1.00

    Rice A Roni (Assorted Varieties) (6 to 7 oz) – $1.00

    Betty Crocker Seasoned Mashed Potatoes (4 to 6 oz) – $1.00
    Use $1.00/3 printable coupon from Betty Crocker
    Use $0.50/2 coupon from insert 9/11 General Mill (Expires 11/5/11)
    Use $0.50/3 coupon peelie found on package (Expires 3/1/12)
    As Low As $0.67 each after coupon

    Heinz Gravy (Beef or Turkey) (12 oz) – $1.00

    Red Gold Ketchup (32 oz) – $1.00
    Use $1.00/4 printable coupon from Red Gold
    $0.75 each after coupon

    Kraft Marshmallow Creme (7 oz) – $1.00

    Remember you can use the $5/$25 printable coupon to sweeten these deals!  Plus you can earn up to 5 additional $5 off $25 coupons for sharing the coupon with your friends.

    For more information about Save A Lot’s coupon policies go here.  If you find additional deals or savings please let me know and I will add them to the list.

  • What’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan

    I am not sure what happened to this menu?  Sorry it is going live a little later than usual.  I posted it earlier today….so I thought……but it has completely disappeared into cyber space.  My computer did crash so maybe it was lost in the shuffle of computer life.  It is another busy week with some traveling so we are keeping the dinner menu simple and easy.  Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:

    Our Weekly Menu Plan

    • Monday (Beef Entree):  Grilled Hamburgers, Fresh Lettuce Salad
    • Tuesday (Seafood or Pork Entree):  Hotdogs, Baked Beans
    • Wednesday (Chicken Entree):  Chicken Noodle Soup, Fresh Fruit
    • Thursday (Pasta or Vegetarian Entree): Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup
    • Friday, Saturday, & Sunday:  Leftovers, Family Preference, and Hosting

    I have a general pattern I try to follow for my weekly Menu Plan (for example Monday we have a beef entree, Tuesday a seafood or pork entree and so forth).  It is my goal, at least in the beginning, to have at least the main dish and one side planned.  I will put together the remaining side dishes (veggies / fruits) based on the food items that need to be used up first and compliment the main entree.

    Setting a weekly menu plan helps me utilize my time better, thus freeing up extra time to spend with my family.  On the days that I am working longer hours I can prep the meal in advance so it will be easier to pull together once I am home.  As I go through the menu planning process I will try to share some of our favorite family recipes.  If there is a specific recipe you would like please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate (some recipes are a toss together meal and I do not use any set measurements).

    As a family of four our life can get busy.  What’s for Dinner is our weekly menu planning series and one of the ways to help keep us organized, on schedule, and within budget.  Our family typically eats 6 to 7  dinner meals at home a week.  We do try to go out to eat at least once a month as a special treat.  Breakfasts are eaten at home before work and school, lunches are eaten at work, school, or home, so dinner is our main meal together as a family.  Dinner is our time to reconnect, share, and enjoy being together after a busy day.  Our weekly menu plan covers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only because the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) is our time to spend with family and friends.  The weekends tend to be more spontaneous and my husband (who is the better cook) likes pitching in therefore we keep the menu open for variety.  We use up the leftovers throughout the week for our lunches and on the nights that we are busy or can’t cook.

    Photo by Liz

  • Fresh & Healthy: Fall Harvest – Community Supported Agriculture (Week 2)

    We are enjoying our Fall Harvest with our Local Farm with Community Supported Agriculture program.  The Fall harvest is 10 weeks long through our farm.  We were thrilled to get the produce and fresh eggs.  In our recent batch of eggs we had several that were huge with double yolks which the girls thought was really neat.  Our family is doing a half share for this harvest.

    Fall Harvest Week 2 of Fresh Goodies from our CSA!

    Fresh goodies from our Local Farm!

    Items in our Basket this Week:

    • 1 bundle White Radishes (with edible greens)
    • 1 bundle Pink Radishes (with edible greens)
    • 2 Butternut Squash
    • 3 Green Peppers
    • 1 Red Pepper
    • 3 Eggplants
    • 3 large Beets
    • 1 Half Dozen Fresh Eggs

    I am looking forward to eating these goodies this week!  Anyone have a great recipes for Radishes or Beets?  Thanks everyone for the delicious Recipes!  To find out how you can be a part of a local CSA check out this post – Fresh & Healthy:  Community Supported Farms

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    It was a blast having the girls shop with me and to have extra time together last week, but I must say I am glad to have Jake back.  I did manage to keep myself very busy while he was awhile so the week flew by quickly.   I am back to my “normal” schedule this week.    Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries Ingles and Save A Lot | RiteAid

     

    Ingles Groceries:
    • $16.10 at Ingles for 4 gallons of Pet Milk (marked down to $1 each), 2 Peach Tea, 1 Nectarine Juice, 1 bag Bananas, 1 container Tomatoes, 1 container Oranges / Grapefruits, 1 loaf Bread, 1 bag Snow peas, and 1 container Pork Filets,  (I was excited when the “milk” man marked down the already marked down milk to $1.00 each, I got 4 gallons and froze three of them when I got home.  Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down or on clearance including the produce, meat and milk!)
    Save-A-Lot |RiteAid Groceries:
    • $11.59 at Save-A-Lot | RiteAid for 24 pack Bottle Water, 1 pack Brown and Serve Rolls (12 count), 1 Cheddar Chex Mix, 1 box Toast Em Strawberry, 1 package Deli Ham, 1 package Roast Beef, 1 package Chicken Breast, 1 package Carrots (2 pounds), and 2 cans Pillsbury Biscuits.  (All the items purchased were on sale this week, for more information and coupon match-ups go to our  weeklySave-A-Lot page)
    Groceries from BiLo

     

    BiLo Groceries:
    • $5.51 at BiLo for 1 bag Southern Home Wavy Potato Chips and 1 gallon Milk (BiLo still has the best prices on milk on this side of town.  I picked up the chips for a snack for our Community Group.  Plus save $0.05 per bag for bringing my reusable bags.)

     

    Groceries from CVS
    CVS Groceries:
    • $0.75 at CVS for 4 bags Flava Puff Nacho, 1 bag Flava Puff Hot Party Mix, and 6 canisters Doritos Nacho Cheese Chips (I was able to get ALL of these items marked down on clearance for 75% to 90% off plus I used a $2.00 ECB coupon!  I should be good on chips for lunches the next couple weeks.)

    This week I spent $33.95 on groceries.  Even though I was a little under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on several items.  Thankfully I had extra wiggle room this week to help on future grocery purchases.  I hope that next week is an even better week and we can come under budget.  I was THRILLED to get milk for $1.00 a gallon (milk averages between $3 to $4 and this brand is close to $6 per gallon normally.  Thankful for an opportunity to stock up on several other items!

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

  • Recipes: Easy Steak Marinade

    Steaks ready to go on the grill!

    Every once in awhile we get a good deal on steak or as I am going through the freezer I run across a steak that begs to be eaten.  One of the best ways to get a great price on steak is buy a roast that has been marked down and slice it into steaks.  You can choose to make the steaks as thick or thin as you want.  Life with twins, work, and all the other activities have a way of keeping us busy so we have discovered the easiest steak marinade that tastes amazing.  No mixing, stirring, measuring or anything other than pouring to make your steak marinade.  It’s easy and delicious.  Several guests have asked for our recipe and they are surprised when we show them what we use because it really is that simple.

    Easy Steak Marinade:

    • 1/2 to 1 cup Italian Salad Dressing
    • Steak

    Unwrap the steaks, poke holes into the meat with a fork on both sides.  Take the bottle of  Italian Salad Dressing from the fridge and pour approximately 1/2 cup to 1 cup on the steaks.  The longer you allow it to marinade the more the flavor soaks in but you can even do it just for a few minutes on either side while you chop of veggies to go on the grill with it. Put the steak on the grill and cook it how you like it!

    Sometimes I will pull the steak out and put the marinade on first thing the morning other days I am putting it on moments before it hits the grill.  Either way is delicious and super easy.    We often use Italian Salad Dressing mixed with Chicken or Fresh Vegetables as well.  Thankfully South Carolina is still warm this time of year so we are enjoying a few more weeks of grilling season!  Once Winter hits we add a little of the Italian Dressing to the crockpot chicken or beef  and it tastes great!  We usually pick up our Italian Salad Dressing at the Sav-Mor Sidewalk Box Sale for $0.05 to $0.15 per bottle or use coupons when we can get it for a great price.

  • Life’s Little Hiccups: Mint Chocolate S’mores Brownies

    My Mint Chocolate Smores Brownies….burnt to a crispy black color!

    Life doesn’t always go exactly as we plan.  Even though I try to make sure the schedule allows for plenty of time with my family, friends, church, work, household duties, and the many other activities in life that doesn’t mean everything will go smoothly.  The reason I call it Life’s Little Hiccups is because after the “stress” of the moment I can look back at the event and usually laugh.  Yes, it was frustrating to ruin something or that life didn’t go as planned but in light of all the other problems in life this is pretty small.  I have discovered that some of these crazy times make the BEST memories for the family.  How I react and recover from Life’s Little Hiccups speaks volumes into the hearts of my children.  Getting mad or frustrated will not solve the problem and often times there is a creative or easy solution if I just relax, think, and try again.

    It was a Sunday and I had been up since 4 am to take Jake to the airport for a work conference.  The girls and I went to the early service at church then came home and did some activities around the house, ate lunch, and worked on cleaning the garage (as a surprise for Daddy).  I think we had a little bit more fun cleaning the garage than is normal for most people because we had a blast cleaning, talking, laughing, giggling, and telling stories.  Before I knew it the afternoon had flown by and it was time for us to get ready for Community Group and Awana.

    I was in charge of making the desert for Community Group so the girls and I decided to make Mint Chocolate Smore’s Brownies to share (Jake is not a big “mint” person so it was something special that just us girls enjoy).  I put together the brownies, popped them into the oven, and began working with the girls on their verses for Awana.  After wrapping up several sections in their books I decided I should probably get ready.  As I was brushing my teeth Brina comes into the bedroom and says “Mom, it smells good in the kitchen but it looks a little cloudy.”  Oh no!  The BROWNIES!  Well as you can see from the picture above they didn’t turn out as I had hoped.  On the way to Community Group after dropping off the girls at Awana I ran by the grocery store and picked up a cake to share.

    When we got home from the events that evening as we were getting out of the van and Brina says “Mom, it smells good…..like when we burn marshmallows around the fire.”  Even with several windows open the smell had made it to the garage.  The good news though is burnt marshmallows really do have a great smell to them!  One of the many lessons I learned with this “little hiccup” was that stuff will happen (despite my best efforts), it’s not ideal but my reaction and how I handle the situation sets an example for my girls.  After everything we did together that day do you know what their FAVORITE story to tell everyone was?  Yes, the story about how we burnt the Mint Chocolate Smore’s Brownies.

    After removing the layer of burnt marshmallows off the top we were able to eat most of the middle pieces of the brownies (see picture below).  The girls took the brownies to school and told their friends about the brownie adventure they had with Mom over the weekend.  Now we laugh about how silly the whole situation was and that we all managed to not hear the timer go off.  I am thankful that we can look at the hiccups and count our blessings for the teachable moments that became funny memories we can share together.

    The Mint Chocolate Smore’s Brownies after the burnt marshmallows were removed.  The marshmallows made almost a glaze over the brownies and somehow were partially salvageable.  The girls thought it was hilarious taking a piece to school in their lunch.