So far so good this week. It’s Thursday and we are almost done with this challenge. The corned beef, cabbage and potatoes were gobbled up without a photo, as were the chicken strips. I did manage to grab a photo of the enchiladas though.
I’m currently cooking my second batch of oatmeal for the week. I do need to make a run to the store for some more milk, but I think I’m still within budget. I will try to get final numbers for you soon.
Have a great day everyone!
~Megan
To get ready for the week, I went shopping, and brought home all of my goodies I will need for the week. I took advantage of some good sales, and visited 2 stores. Now I need to prep to save me time during the week. I imagine this will take me an hour or two.
My QUICK TIP notes will help you do things faster. Sometimes it’s more expensive though.
Here is my to-do list:
Peel and Cut Carrots, place sticks into a ziplock bag. QUICK TIP: Buy baby carrots.
Make Chicken Strips: Toast 3 slices bread, cool and crumble well (I use the magic bullet to process into crumbs). Add 2 T flour and 2T parmesan cheese, stir. Slice 1 lb raw chicken into strips, dip in 1/4 c. milk. Dip in crumb mix and coat all sides. Pan fry in about 1 T. olive oil 1-3 minutes each side, depending on how thick they are. You don’t need to cook them 100%, as you will be baking them again. QUICK TIP: These are easy to make, you can easily double or quadruple the recipe for a month’s worth- this is good to do when you can get the chicken on sale. You can make these into “nuggets” instead of strips, or even skip the breading. Switch up the spices too. I’ve use cajun, italian, and ranch seasoning combos. This is a great way to use up stale bread!
Make Enchiladas ( Cook 1 lb chicken breast. Shred it. You could just use this recipe, and replace the ground beef with shredded chicken.) Grease a 9×9 baking dish. Place a tortilla on a plate or clean work surface, add 2-3T of shredded seasoned chicken, 1 T shredded cheese, and roll up. Place the enchilada seam side down in the dish. Repeat until you have 10 enchiladas. Puree 1 can of tomatoes with some chili powder and mexican spices. Dump on top. Sprinkle with 3/4 c. cheese. Place in fridge. QUICK TIP: Only make 8 enchiladas, and then you have leftover meat, cheese, and tortillas for quesadillas. QUICK TIP: Pre-bake the enchiladas, let cool, and then place in fridge so you can re-heat in the microwave.
Prep Corned Beef (I think I will just put it in the crock pot, and slip it in the fridge- but I may wait) QUICK TIP: Buy pre-seasoned (I think you can even get it pre-cooked!) corned beef. I wouldn’t recommend this most of the time, but it’s a St. Patrick’s Day sale item right now.
Cook oatmeal (I like steel-cut oats) (8 servings), portion out. QUICK TIP: It may seem like the individual packets may be easier, but wouldn’t you love to grab a pre-made breakfast, nuke it for 45 seconds and be on your way? It’s so much cheaper, and so much healthier. Plus, the oatmeal can simmer while you are doing other things- so it really doesn’t take long.
Wash and cut strawberries, portion out.
Chop Cabbage, place in ziplock. QUICK TIP: Buy a coleslaw or shredded cabbage mix.
Soak Beans. QUICK TIP: Use a can of refried beans.
While reviewing my stats, I noticed that a lot of you were interested in my SNAP food menu. So I decided to do it again. I’m working on a menu for you right now. The average participant in Iowa receives about $120 in benefits/month, so that is what my goal is going to be. I have a family of 4, so to make it easy I’m going to assume there is an even 4 weeks in the month, and just use $120 as my # for the week.
Obviously cooking from scratch is the cheapest route. I’m home most of the day, so I can very easily prep during my downtime. Working people- not so much. But, I do encourage you to get in the habit of prepping yourself for the week (menu, shopping, snacks, and anything that you can do beforehand). An hour or two will save you a lot in the long run. Make it a family affair. My son loves to help me in the kitchen, so it is special time for us. This menu doesn’t have to be prepped ahead- except for the shopping. I am taking advantage of the specials this week. I even included some convenience foods- but will be letting you know how you can trim costs on that with a little prep work.
Here’s my menu plan
Breakfast (Mix and Match)
Scrambled or Fried Eggs
Hot Oatmeal
Homemade Corned Beef Hash
Yogurt
Pear
Toast (with butter and Jam, Peanut Butter, or Cinnamon Sugar)
Cold Cereal
Lunch (Mix and Match)
Quesadillas
Soup
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Sandwich
Fried Rice
Leftovers
Macaroni and Cheese
Supper:
Corned Beef, Cabbage and Potatoes
Beef Soup with Cheese Sandwiches
Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce, Garlic Toast, and Green Beans
Crispy Baked Chicken Strips, Mixed Veggies, Pears
Chicken Enchiladas, Re-fried Beans, Mexi-Rice
Stir Fried Vegetables (possibly leftover pork or chicken too), brown Rice
Pork Steaks, Mashed Potatoes, Carrot Sticks
Snacks:
Carrot Sticks
Pears
Strawberries
String Cheese
Yogurt
Cold Cereal
Pretzels
Currently I am making my shopping list, and am not topping $75. I am sure that will change ( I very likely made an error in my spreadsheet, or forgot to enter something), but for now, I’m doing very well! I don’t like all the repetition, usually I freeze a few sets of leftovers for variety the next week, but another problem I am finding is that families on limited income don’t have the freezer space, or the funds to space out between weeks. I’m not sure how $ is distributed for SNAP, weekly or monthly. I think that would affect my planning a bit. I am assuming weekly for this challenge.
Share your thoughts with me. Participate with me. Ask me questions- I’d love to be able to help you manage your food budge better. (Not to say you aren’t doing a good job, but like I tell my son, there is Always room for improvement!)
~Megan
Hi- Today I am sharing my layouts from an awesome birthday collab called Birthday Blitz. Down This Road Designs, along with Crossbone Cuts, Memory Clips, and Meagan’s Creations contributed to this great kit.
You can find this great kit at ScrapMatters.com
Here are my pages done with this kit. 
In this second Layout, I also used a template from Down This Road Designs- it’s from her Road Maps Collection and it’s Vol. 18, it can be found at Brownie Scraps.
Happy Scrapping!
Today I am sharing a family favorite recipe. It sounds kind of silly, but honestly, it’s the ONLY way to eat raw celery. And it’s SO easy!
First mix 1/2 t. garlic powder, 1/4 t. salt, and 1 package softened cream cheese. You can adjust this to your taste- I tend to use more garlic powder. You can also use fat free or low fat cream cheese too.
Clean celery and cut to 3-4 inch sections.
Use a butter knife to stuff the filling into the celery sticks.
Sprinkle with a bit of paprika, and serve immediately. The filling will keep for a week or so in the fridge, but don’t stuff the celery too early or it tends to get soggy.
Enjoy!
~Megan
I was so excited when I got the preview for this kit. It’s so hard to find fun kits for boys! This one is chock full of dirt, wheels, trucks and other boy stuff! Check it out!
Here are a few LO’s that I’ve created with the kit.
Happy Scrapping!
~Megan
Oh the snow days….
Thank goodness for pinterest and all my crafty friends on facebook. We have a nearly endless source of crafts and activities. Today we created a bouquet of flowers from some leftover paint, pipe cleaners, and an egg carton. I’ve seen this various places around the web, and adapted the idea.
The technique was pretty simple. Cut egg carton into 12 pieces, shape each flower (some look like lillies, some like poppies, some are just unique), paint and then insert a pipe cleaner for a stem. I did find it much less messy to paint the inside, let it dry, then paint the outside of the flower.
The only tricky part was inserting the pipe cleaner. I poked a hole with a knife (probably not the safest, but it’s what I did), then inserted a pipe cleaner. I twisted it so the flower appeared to have lovely stamens. I would probably use glue to attach the pipe cleaner to the egg carton if I was displaying them individually, but mine fit pretty snug into the vase, so I didn’t worry about it.
The best thing about this craft is I could keep extending the time by handing my son another flower. You can make this last as long as you want! Oh, it’s cheap too. Obviously the egg carton was recycled, the paint was leftover from a project he got for Christmas, and I scrounged up the pipe cleaners from somewhere.
Happy Snow Day!
~Megan
