Category Archives: 2020 Recipes

Recipe Challenge Winner

Posted on by
1

I admit that I was becoming quite discouraged with my recipe challenge. I have been really diligent over the past several weeks to not only locate but make sure we cooked and tried new recipes. Everything has been eaten, but disappointing as no-one wanted to have it a second time.

I am so glad to say that we found a winner this week. Burrito Bowl Soup . This is from one of my favorite recipe site! Another giant plus was that it actually called for two cans of refried beans which we had been gifted at Christmas but I rarely eat beans so this was an item that I was afraid would go bad before it got used.

I was reluctant to try this recipe for a couple of reason, first the beans and second it only cooks for 4 hours and that included adding in rice the last 20-30 minutes. I actually stared this at lunch on Monday between the girls doctor’s appointments. The crockpot switched over to warm and I simply turned on high before adding the rice. I had some left-over rice in the refrigerator so I am sure it was not the called for two cups. But even with all these things stacked against it, everyone agreed this is a repeat!

I did run out to the store to grab a couple of bag of chips to add to the soup as it was very liquid with less rice. The other change I made was to add a teaspoon of taco seasoning instead of cumin. This helped decreased the allergic reaction for Lily as well! Chips, cheese, sour cream and burrito soup for the win.

I remember to freeze a second and third dinner as I am trying to cut down on the amount of left-overs we have and reduce food waste as well.

Recipe Challenge

Posted on by
Reply

I was super excited to try the new recipe this week. It is one that I found on Facebook and thought this sounds good.  I actually planned to try this recipe for over a week now.    The recipe Taco Tator Tots in the Slow Cooker..

 Everyone was excited to try it. What is not to like about taco meat,cheese and tater tots? Unfortunately, that is exactly what it tasted like. taco meat on potato.  This was a unanimous vote for not again.  

On a brighter note, I found a casserole type meal in my freezer. I thought I had labelled everything properly but this had a torn bag on top of it. I am 100% positive it was not the label on the bag. So we played freezer lotto and just heated up the dish. It turned out to be a combination of turkey, cauliflower and broccoli topped with cheese and bread crumbs. We all ate it and even enjoyed it. Unfortunately this will not be a repeat for two reasons, first I still have not a clue what it is called nor where I would have placed the recipe. Second although the casserole was good it was not good enough for me to search the internet to find out what exactly was in it.

So far we are 0 for 2 with the new recipes.  Do you have one that we should try?

2020 Recipe Challenge

Posted on by
1

One of the goals, I wrote was to try 52 new recipes this year. I promptly forgot about it when menu planning of the week. But as I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday morning , I found “17 instapot chicken recipes.” I decided to check this post out and found the recipe, I used for lunch today. The reason I chose this recipe was that it would encourage us to completely use up the remaining Christmas left-overs. We don’t like to wait for lunch after church so I made a couple of changes to the original recipe.

Here is what I actually did for Cranberry Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breast
Can of pineapple chucks
Cranberry Sauce- I used the remaining amount from our Christmas meal, the original recipe called for a can of whole cranberry sauce.
1Tablespoon of Brown Sugar.

Dumped in the crockpot with chicken on the bottom and cooked on high for 4 hours.

The results: 3+/5. Zach was not a fan and did not finish his, Kendall statement “it is on the verge of being good.” Lily LOVED it and requested again. Both Matt and I enjoyed the meal. Matt summed it up best, “Not something I would buy the cranberry sauce for, but it was good.” The four breast were plenty, I actually have enough to use on two of my salads this week.

2020 Goals

Posted on by
Reply
  1. Grocery Budget of $550- This includes all household supplies and will include any and all meat that we need. This goal is probably more difficult than in the past due to need to purchase a cow this year and the increase in the price of all groceries. I am beginning with a pretty well stocked pantry and some meat so that should keep us on track for at least January.
  2. Record and keep up with gas/ auto purchase- I am not setting a goal but need to determine the amount to budget. Currently we budget $500 but this may not be enough.
  3. Use a cash envelope system for everything possible. I have set up separate accounts for gifts and clothing that I can easily on the spot transfer money to and from a debit card. Gas will be placed on our Sheetz credit card to help with tracking.
  4. Blogging- 15 post per month.
  5. Fitness- Goal is to walk 3 times a week. I also want to increase the distance to 3 miles at a time.
  6. Bible study- Goal- I am thinking 3x a week to start with but increasing to 5 times before the year ends.
  7. Attempt at least 52 new recipes this year. In order to stay accountable, I will have to report on each with a blog post.