Quick and Easy

Let me begin by saying no not my dating style. LOL. Tuesday nights are hectic for me. It is my bowling league night and last year I ate at the bowling alley every week. Not good for my wallet, my waistline, or my cholesterol. This year I have been making a simple meal at home. Generally the kids are all gone at dinner time either working or at the significant other's homes on Tuesday night. For the most part I've been eating on the fly, leftovers just reheated or sandwiches or even on a couple of occasions oatmeal. Last night I didn't want the two pieces of leftover fried chicken nor did I feel like cereal or a sandwich. Instead I pulled a salmon fillet out of the freezer, defrosted it, and seasoned it simply with Penzey's Greek Seasoning.  I set it aside and steamed a single helping of basmati rice  from the 15 pound bag I purchased at BJ's wholesale club months ago (this bag of rice will last a year). I put together a simple salad of romaine lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes with an oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. I dabbed the rice with a bit of Smart Balance and freshly ground sea salt and pepper. I ran the salmon under the broiler and dinner was ready and on the table in 20 minutes.
And the best part was I wasn't even tempted by the plate of nachos the team we bowled next to was enjoying!

An Old Favorite: Spicy Oven Fried Chicken

After a fairly full day at work and a stop at the GF's house to do dog duty I came home and reviewed what I had in the freezer as well as my dinner menu list. All of the kids were home for dinner which doesn't happen often these days so I needed to choose something that would feed us all. I still had a five pound bag of quarter chicken legs in the freezer so I grabbed that. My original plan of pairing this with coleslaw and escalloped corn got set by the wayside (no cabbage for slaw, kids vetoed corn idea) and I settled on butter crumb egg noodles and peas.
My very favorite recipe for "fried" chicken comes from a cookbook that has sat on my shelves for a long time, New Recipes from Quilt Country by Marcia Adams . I have over the years tweaked the seasonings called for to more suit our idea of what fried chicken should taste like and finally settled on a blend of McCormack's Rotisserie Chicken blend and a touch of red pepper flakes.

Spicy Oven Fried Chicken:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cracker meal (I subbed Panko bread crumbs)
1/2 cup corn meal
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1 /2 tsp sage
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper  (I used 4 1/2 tsp of the McCormack's blend in place of the above spices)
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
4-5 lbs. chicken (we all prefer quarter legs so that is what was used)
Combine oil and butter on a jelly roll pan and place in a preheated 375 degree oven to melt butter. Set aside.
Combine flour, cracker meal, cornmeal, and spices in a large bag. Roll chicken in oil/butter mixture then shake in bag to coat. Set aside on a paper towel or plate until all pieces of chicken are well coated.
Place coated chicken pieces on the pan skin side down. Bake for 45 minutes. Using a spatula turn chicken pieces over and bake an additional 5-10 minutes longer. Serve hot or cold (but texture is better if you do not refrigerate).

Financial week in review: 4/14-4/20

  It is that time of the week to do my reporting of financial activity. This was a pretty inexpensive week all in all. I still had one bill (Cell phone) that needed to be paid for April and I took care of that. I worked my cleaning job on Saturday and used that money to pay that phone bill. I am extremely unhappy that my cell phone provider has upped my basic fees by $12 which when taxes are figured in is a $14 increase in the bill. I still have several months on this contract and plan on dropping this provider (AT&T) and joining a family plan with my kids who live at home with another provider. My water bill also arrived in the mail. I was shocked at the amount, especially when I realized that 52% of the bill was for sewer charges. Yes we have 4 people living here but we are all gone for most of the day and really don't frequent the bathroom that often. I am tempted to encourage the kids to walk down to the library and use the rest rooms on the city's dime. :-) I'm at a loss for how to reduce our water consumption. We only run the dishwasher when it is totally full. We all take 5 minute or less showers and shower every other day. The washing machine runs four times a week. I don't water our grass (this isn't the season for that anyway) and I wash my car at GF's house (he has all the special equipment for this job) or go to the car wash. Suggestions?
Anyhow this is how the expenses broke down this week:

 Sunday 4/14: $0 (GF filled up the SUV in exchange for some housecleaning I did for him)

Monday:  4/15: $53 for new shoes for the teen son

Tuesday 4/16: $ 36 for two weeks of bowling

Wednesday 4/17: $0

Thursday 4/18: $0

Friday 4/19: $0

Saturday 4/20: $116 cell phone bill paid with money earned cleaning that day.

Another New Recipe!

I was shocked and saddened to hear about the viscious bomb attacks in Boston at the Marathon. My thoughts turned to my BIL D who recently passed away. He ran the Boston twice and my sister was an enthusiastic supporter who in another day and time would've been one of the thousands who lined the route to watch their loved one go by. My heart is heavy with sorrow that more lives have been lost to senseless anger and hatred. Yesterday was a monster of a day. Extremely busy at work with large numbers of lunches to prepare and serve and the planning and paperwork for May to get underway; then I had a baking session with a group of kids from the aftercare which is always so much fun. After finally leaving work I had to run the 17 yr. old to get a new pair of shoes.
All in all it meant a late start to dinner and nothing pulled out of the freezer to work with. I reviewed my menu plans for the month and teen son chose the Roasted Asparagus with balsamic butter penne recipe. We had no asparagus but remembered that the recipe, from Food and Wine magazine, had a variation using broccoli. We had broccoli in the freezer, I grabbed a bag tossed some still frozen and went with that.
I had a Lucy moment while preparing this recipe, caught up in the news coverage from Boston I forgot about the balsamic vinegar reducing on the stove. You do not want to burn balsamic vinegar. Trust me. The smell is truly nasty. I had to fill that saucepan and let it sit in the sink for an hour before using my handy plastic scrapper to get the burnt on mess off of it.
I started over with the balsamic vinegar and managed to make a success of it the second time around.
This recipe got RAVE reviews from teen son and I quite enjoyed it myself. It is a keeper.

Penne with Roasted Asparagus (or Broccoli) and Balsamic butter
Food and Wine Magazine

1 pound penne pasta, cooked according to package directions
1/2 cup +2 tbl balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1 pound asparagus or broccoli
1 tbl. olive oil
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 lb. butter, cut into cubes
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Toss asparagus or broccoli with olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and spread on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes until veggies are tender (this takes a bit longer with frozen veg).
Put balsamic vinegar into a saucepan and reduce to 3 tbl. Watch carefully since this burns easily. Add 1/2 tsp of brown sugar and 1/4 tsp. pepper.
Drain cooked pasta, toss with butter, reduced vinegar, remaining salt, asparagus or broccoli, and parmesan cheese. Serve.

Sunday Supper: Roast Beef

After having a really nice and de-stressing Sunday in which I did a bit of laundry, blogged, caught up on the blogs I read, and spent some time reading my favorite kind of book:a murder mystery, it was time to make a dinner that fit in with the theme of the day: Comforting.

The GF and I had stocked up his freezer with meat and poultry so I pulled out a small eye of round and seasoned it up with McCormack's Montreal Steak blend and parsley.

Along with the roast I did some garlic-parsley roasted potatoes using up the last of a bag of russet potatoes we'd purchased for Easter Sunday.

 

GF chose Beets as the veggie so I pulled out two cans of beets purchased at Aldi quite a while ago.

And made my favorite Beet recipe: Harvard Beets.

 

Dinner was oh so comforting.

 

 

 

 

The financial week in review: 4/7-4/13

  It is time for my weekly review of expenditures. This week wasn't too bad. I did my major shopping, paid my bills (mortgage, car, insurances, utilities), gassed up the SUV, and even took some family out to dinner.

Sunday 4/7:$0

Monday 4/8: $35.41 gas for SUV;  Groceries & household items: $308.54 total combined

Tuesday 4/9 $0 (did not make it to bowling this week)

Wednesday 4/10: $ 51 dinner out for myself, my sister, my son & daughter in law

Thursday 4/11: $0

Friday 4/12: $0

Saturday 4/13: $25 at Penzey's

New Recipe: Skillet Lasagna

  Yesterday the GF and I did some errands which included my trip to Penzey's as well as a stop at a local Farmer's Market to pick up Beeler bacon and to BJ's Wholesale Club to stock up his freezer with meat. While at the market we talked about what to have for dinner and I suggested I try this recipe for skillet lasagna that has been on my menu list for the month. They had a nice small package of loose mild Italian sausage that would work as well as lasagna noodles, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese. GF purchased the items and after we finished our shopping we headed back to his place where I made this recipe from Pampered Chef's 29 Minutes to Dinner cookbook and paired it up with a salad of romaine lettuce, raddichio, Campari tomatoes, and mini English cucumbers topped with a Balsamic-Tomato vinaigrette. The recipe was a big hit, both of us highly enjoyed it.

Skillet Lasagna
Pampered Chef's 29 Minutes to Dinner.

1 26 oz. jar marinara sauce ( I used two 15 oz. cans tomato sauce doctored with Italian seasoning)
3 cups water
8 oz. lasagna noodles
1 lb. bulk hot Italian sausage (we prefer mild)
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 oz. parmesan cheese
2 tbl. fresh parsley, divided in half
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper

Combine sauce and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Break lasagna noodles into quarters and add to boiling sauce/water combo. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 16-18 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Place sausage into a skillet and cook over medium heat 6-8 minutes until browned. Add garlic, remove from heat and stir in sauce and noodles.
Combine grated parmesan, half the parsley, ricotta and mozzarella cheese together. Drop on top of noodle-sausage combination. Cover skillet and simmer 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted and heated through. Sprinkle top with remaining parsley and additional grated parmesan if desired and serve.

Penzey's Spice Shop

One of my very favorite places to visit is the Penzey's Spice shop located not too far from where I work. Just walking in the door is soothing; the smell in there is always wonderful.

I only go there however with a purpose in mind (Self: "today I am grabbing just the jar of chili powder I have to replace and then leaving") and yet can never pass up a chance to browse around the store (Self: "Well it can't hurt to spend five minutes looking") and perhaps acquire something new for my kitchen spice cabinet (Self: "I really must try this Greek seasoning blend"). And yes I have an entire cabinet dedicated to nothing but herbs, spices, and extracts. I am a seasoning junky.

This trip my goal was to get a jar of garam masala blend seasoning for a salmon recipe I am going to be trying this month. After spending about 20 minutes wandering around looking at everything I checked out with the small jar of garam masala plus a few extras. :-)

April Grocery shopping

It was back to work today. Afterwards I decided that today would be the perfect opportunity to get out and get that grocery shopping completed. The weather was beautiful, sunny and low 70s, so I went directly shopping from work.

My monthly budget for food is $350. Nonfood household items is $100.

I am going to be well under the household items budget. Even though I now have to replace my kitchen mop. It snapped in half while my teen dd L was mopping the hardwood floors today. I love when L gets in these cleaning moods. Even if it costs me a mop or two.
I spent at total of $62.87 on household items between BJ's and Aldi. I picked up laundry detergent, fabric softener, and a large box of Swiffer dusters at BJ's. Toothpaste, kitchen trash bags, and large freezer bags were the Aldi purchases. We have plenty of soap, shampoo, conditioner, OTC meds, and cleaning supplies already on hand.

Foodwise I spent a total of $ 245.67. My first stop was GFS where for $32.93 I brought home 5 lbs. of egg noodles, 5 lbs. of penne pasta, 2 lbs. frozen peas, 2 lbs. frozen broccoli florets, 2 lbs. frozen cut green beans, and 2 lbs. frozen stir fry vegetables.
Next up was BJ's Wholesale club. I spent $ 87.69 on food. I brought home a whole pork loin

 

 

 which I cut up into a large roast, 8 pork chops and a small bag of pork cubes for stir fry.

I also brought home an eye round which became 6 steaks and a nice sized roast

 A double package of London broil which I repackaged into 2 dinner sized packs:

I also brought home a two pack of Sun Dried tomato and mozzarella chicken sausage, a gallon of organic milk, a bag of Smart Pop cheddar popcorn, a bag of salt & vinegar chips, and a large box of Cheezits.

 

My final stop was Aldi where for $125.05 I came home with 3 bags of tortilla chips, a large jar of salsa, a dozen eggs, 8 Greek fruit flavored yogurts, 4 regular fruit yogurts, a pint of lowfat cottage cheese, a pint of light sour cream, two packs of cheddar brats, a 2 lb. bag of BLSL chicken breast, a small boneless leg of lamb roast ( a special item I snatched up before it is gone), a small turkey ham, a box of lasagna noodles, 3 small bags of cheese tortellini, 3 lbs of bananas, 3 cans mandarin oranges, 1 can crushed pineapple, a whole pineapple, 4 cans Arizona green tea, 2 cans diced tomatoes, 1 bottle red grapefruit juice, 1 bottle grape juice, 1 bottle cranberry juice, 1 bottle apple juice, 1 jar red cabbage w/ apples, 3 lbs. red apples, 3 lbs. green apples, 1 jar sweet gherkins, 1 bottle cherry juice, 1 can black olives, 1 jar spanish olives, 1/2 gallon cookie dough ice cream, 1/2 gallon vanilla bean ice cream, 1/2 gallon strawberry ice cream, 1 bottle brown mustard, 2 bottles steak sauce, 1 bottle ranch dressing, 1 pint strawberries, 1 lb. baby carrots, 1 bunch celery, 1 bag of 3 romaine lettuce, 1 bag Prince Edward medley vegetables, 1 bag shredded Mexican cheese, 1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese, 1 quart mushrooms, 1 bag string cheese, 1 pack mini cucumbers, 1 loaf bread, and 1 pack Hawaiian rolls.

 

My darling teen L put away all the groceries while I took care of dividing up the large cuts of meat. We had steaks on the grill, buttered egg noodles, and peas for dinner. Not on the menu plans but quick, filling, and easy to prepare after a long day.

April Menus

 It was a struggle but I have finally finished my menu planning for April. I took a look at what I already have on hand food-wise and was pleased to discover that we are doing ok and that grocery expenditures should be in line with the budgeted amount if not under.This is one of those months when I am happy for my well stocked pantry. I have a menu or two from March that I never made that I plan to carry over. The GF and I have a couple of social out to dinner occasions on the calendar so I don't have to plan on those days.  Tonight is one of those. All in all I put together 24 dinner menus. I decided to choose one cookbook out of the many I have to try new recipes from this month, that cookbook is Pampered Chef's 29 Minutes to Dinner. I have made a few recipes from this and all of them were big hits. I'm expanding into trying others that I have bookmarked. I also have a couple of recipes I pinned on Pinterest that I am trying as well.  New recipes are in italics, recipes using planned overs are in bold, recipes using items already on hand have an *! Lunches and breakfasts will be the standards. Grocery shopping lists will be based on these menus, standard lunch and breakfast items, some snacks and a few items I need to restock in the pantry. These menus are in no particular order.

Roast eye of round, mashed potatoes*, candied carrots

Beef Stroganoff, egg noodles, salad

Skillet Lasagna, salad

Spicy Oven fried chicken*, escalloped corn*, coleslaw

Grilled tilapia* with pineapple salsa, coconut rice*, broccoli with herbs

Roast Chicken*, white and wild rice*, capri blend veggies

Berry-Pine Nut chicken salad, homemade Hawaiian rolls

Korean Beef bowls, cucumber salad

Garam Masala salmon*, basmati rice*, salad

Pork Tenderloin*tacos, yellow rice*

Salmon cakes with Chipotle Tartar sauce*, hash browned potatoes, peas

Gremolata steaks, mascarpone mashed cauliflower, carrot salad

Cheddar brats on bun, baked beans

Sun dried tomato chicken sausages with carmelized onions and peppers, pasta salad

Grilled chicken Provencal, baked potatoes*, peas

Ham steak and apples skillet, German potato salad*, green beans

Browned butter tortellini with spinach and ham, salad

Coffee braised short ribs*, egg noodles, Brussels sprouts*

Philly cheese steak stuffed peppers, parmesan potatoes

Grilled Asparagus and brown butter penne, garlic toast

BBQ chicken pizza, salad

Spaghetti and Meatballs*,  salad

Pork Adobo*, basmati rice*, broccoli

Val's broiled pork chops, baked potatoes*, corn

What has been for dinner

Even with everything else going on I managed to cook dinner three times this last week. And I also took a break and went to my bowling league on Tuesday night.

On Tuesday I made the bag of Parmesan Crusted chicken tenders I had picked up at Aldi. While they were perfectly acceptable they were not the homemade version of this idea that I do myself. The boys and I did eat them although they are not something I will buy again. I paired them up with buttered egg noodles and broccoli. 

On Wednesday night I did mesquite seasoned Pork chops on the grill that I finished off with Pampered Chef's Spicy Pineapple Rum sauce. I have several bottles of this in my pantry since it is one of GF's favorite things and he stocked us up at the last PC party I attended. I paired these up with Au gratin potatoes and green beans.

And finally last night I made GF's favorite dinner since it was his birthday!! I did Chicken Marsala, cavatelli with homemade marinara sauce, and a salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. I also baked him a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  Since I wasn't even supposed to be in town for this it was nice to be able to do this for him.

Financial Review: The last two weeks 3/25-4/6

With everything going on I have fallen behind in my financial accountability postings. I am going to  catch up here. It has been an expensive couple of weeks but some of these things mean more than what my bottom line is.

3/25: Gas for SUV $40

3/26: Bowling $18

3/27: $0

3/28: Aldi: $69.75  This trip included Easter candy for the teens baskets (yes they still want baskets) and assorted food items that the teens & my 25 year old were going to be making for themselves while I was gone on my expected trip. We purchased two frozen self rising pizzas, 4 bean & cheese burritos, a bag of chicken strips, a bag of parmesan crusted chicken tenders,  two cans of ravioli, 4 cans of soup, a bag of apples, a bag of oranges, a bunch of bananas, a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, a package of cheddar cheese slices, a package of Colby-jack cheese, and a box of elbow macaroni. As well as 20 pounds of potatoes for my contribution to Easter dinner. In retrospect I am still glad they had all these items on hand since I really haven't been able to make a decent dinner in the last week even while remaining in town.

3/29: $ 28.79 on a new cream colored purse, a cheetah patterned scarf, and a luggage tag
         $ 76.86 on two new blouses for my trip at Dress Barn
         $ 64.00 on a jean skirt at Lane Bryant to travel in
         $ 8.62 on lunch for myself and DD M who went with me shopping

3/30: $30 on new brake pads as a birthday gift for DD M  who celebrated her birthday on Easter Sunday.

3/31: $0

4/1:  gas $51.41

4/2: Funeral expense (my BIL who passed had no life insurance but they did have cemetery plots, vaults, and headstone paid for; my son, my GF, and I picked up the cost at the cemetery for opening/closing and this is my portion of that) $300

4/3: BJ's $84.60 for paper goods and food for BIL's funeral luncheon

4/4: $175 for bag piper for BIL's funeral   $100 to my sister to help out with funeral home expense

4/5:$43.75 groceries for GF's special birthday dinner and cake that I made for him. Yesterday was his birthday.

Today I expect to not spend a single dime. I also paid several bills this week: Mortgage, Car payment, Car and home insurance, Direct TV, and Gas bill.

I took the money for the cemetery out of my savings account. Because I spent an extra $20 on travel insurance I will be getting fully reimbursed for the $371 plane ticket that I did not use and will replace this amount in my savings after filing my claim and getting the check.
I spent quite a bit of money on clothing but won't be spending any on that for the forseeable future. I have a wedding coming up in June (my DD J) but I have a dress I wore only once that I plan on wearing for this.

Sudden Loss and Heartache.

Matthew 5:4  Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.

I had big plans for my spring break. An Easter holiday spent with my family here and then a trip out to Kansas for my granddaughter's First Communion. God had other plans for me. The Easter holiday was everything I'd hoped it would be, a wonderful day with family, good food and happy times spent together. And then the other shoe dropped, a couple of hours after leaving our celebration my brother in law Dave died suddenly. On the day that Jesus rose from the dead and gave us all eternal life Dave went home to his reward. Never having had children my sister needed all the support she could get. I cancelled my trip and did everything possible to help and console her. It still feels as if I did not do enough and I still wish I could take away that sadness and loss I see in her eyes.
Yesterday we said our goodbyes and I can still hear the fading notes of the taps on the trumpet and the beautiful sounds of Amazing Grace on the bagpipes. Farewell my brother until we meet again at the feet of the throne.