Recipe Challenge #57

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Hummm No I am not going to set a new goal just keep trying things as I can and see where I end up.

Easy Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe - Family Fresh Meals

I actually saw this recipe on Facebook but tracked it down to the original site and here it is.

Easy Chicken Tetrazzini

I did forget that Matt does not like mushrooms and it really surprised me that the cream of mushroom soup was the first thing he tasted.  So it goes without saying that he did not like this meal. Kendall on the other hand LOVED it.  Lily and Zach and I all agree it was not bad actually pretty good.  Kendall suggested we put it on the list of things to eat when Dad is not home. So that is the final maybe verdict.

The official count is
Repeating 30
Maybe 9
No 18

Saving By Buying Chicken

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Last week something very strange and odd happened. We ran out of frozen chicken broth.  I actually used some turkey broth in the chicken and dumplings I was making. The easiest solution would have been to just add chicken broth to the grocery list. Instead I added a rotisserie chicken to the Costco list.  The total cost of the chicken was $4.99.  We ate it for dinner on Saturday night, I had left-overs on Sunday and I think at least one other person did as well.  Today (Wednesday) I pulled the rest of the meat off the bone  which was almost exactly a pound and used in our new recipe, Chicken Tetrazzini. The bones and skins went into the crockpot with 24 cups of water to make broth out of.  So instead of spending $5.00 on chicken broth, I spent $5.00 on three meals and made the chicken broth for free!

 

Monday Menu

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This week is not a normal week. We have a holiday in the middle, Zach is in a baseball tournament and the kids are all going to Durham for the weekend while I attend a wedding.  I know that things may change and shuffle around but starting out with a plan will help.

Breakfast– Saturday-Biscuit King Sunday- Bagels with lots of options.   Monday, Tuesday,  , Thursday, Friday-choice of breakfast muffins, eggs, sausage, oatmeal, cereal or grits, breakfast burritos, bagels or omelets, French toast. Wednesday- bacon and biscuits.

Lunch-  Saturday– Sushi buffet  Sunday-lunch with friends. Wednesday- Taco Bell( if Zach earns it)

Dinner-  Saturday- rotisserie chicken, scallop potatoes and broccoli  Sunday-Sandwich and chips Monday- Pepper Steak in the crockpot  Tuesday-Gregg’s between piano and ball game?. Wednesday- new recipe.  Thursday-Chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries. .  Friday- left-overs?

Monday Menu Planning

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Yeap it has been TWO months since I have posted a menu plan. We have been continue to meal plan but really just have not had the time to post. I have been slammed with working in Guam and with ball games. Life has gotten busy. We have been very fortunate that lunches are no longer an issue as the kids are provided free lunches through the end of the school year. We were also given extra food two weeks in a row. I am currently attempting to keep our food bill at under $200 for trips outside of Costco and under $500 with a Costco trip.

Breakfast– Saturday-Sausage patties and eggs Sunday- Breakfast bowls with grave  Monday, Tuesday,  Wednesday, Thursday, Friday-choice of breakfast muffins, eggs, sausage, oatmeal, cereal or grits, breakfast burritos, bagels or omelets, French toast

Lunch-  Saturday– Find your own from the fridge or freezer  Sunday-Lunch Soup (new recipe)

Dinner-  Saturday- Kielbasa and potato soup Sunday-Sandwich and chips Monday- Steak and baked potato  Tuesday-Gregg’s between piano and ball game. Wednesday- Spaghetti and meatballs   Thursday-Sloppy joes and french fries .  Friday- Chicken and dumplings.

Recipe Challenge #56

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Image may contain: pizza and food, text that says 'CREAM CHEESE CRACK CHICKEN CHILI SLOW COOKER'

This is a recipe that a friend posted on Facebook. She said it was awesome so we decided to try it this week for our Soup Sunday. It was a hit. We only had one problem. There were no left-overs. Amanda and Braxton joined us but even still absolutely no left-overs.  So when I make it again, I am going to double all the ingredients except the rotel. Warm goodness in a bowl!

 

Put 2 chicken breasts in crock pot
🌶Add 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
🌶1 can corn, undrained
🌶1 10-oz. can Rotel tomatoes w/green Chilis, undrained
🌶1 package ranch dressing mix
🌶1 tsp. cumin
🌶1 Tbsp. chili powder
🌶1 tsp. onion powder
🌶1/2 cup water

Mix it up

🌶On top add 1 8-oz package light cream cheese

Cook on low for 6-8 hours then stir and shred chicken! ( I cooked on high for 4 hours and it was perfect!)

The official count is
Repeating 30
Maybe 8
No 18
Guess we can continue with the trying of recipes until they start becoming alot of No repeats!

October in Review

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October has turned out to be a very busy month.  I ended up taking on more students in Guam.  The upside is that I have met my goal of purchasing our tickets to Disney.  I am also planning to pay our entire December trip from Guam money as well!   Another change in October is that we started our “smart home” with the purchase of an electronic door lock and several “alexa” devices. So far, I am enjoying the convivence.  Another HUGE milestone is that we managed to reduce our overall debit by $500. It may sound like a small step but it is a step in the right direction.

Gardening-  We are expecting our first frost today (October 31st). So we decided to go ahead and pull out the rest of the summer garden. I managed to freeze two cups of green peepers and roasted over a dozen pimentos.  We also hung up basil to dry, started a small basil plant inside and found a few tomatoes.

Goal #1 Grocery Budget of $550- The total for the month is $552.  This did include the huge ($450) Costco trip that I made the end of September. I am very impressed with this budget and plan to stay around $200 for the month of November.

Goal #2 – Record and keep up with gas/ auto purchase- $248.66 . This is actually less than I had anticipate. Currently any extra in the budget is going to reduce debit. I am very hopeful to totally pay off our gas credit card by the end of the year.

Goal #3-Use a cash envelope system for everything possible!. Becoming easier!  I am currently trying to save the additional money needed for the Memory Maker for our Disney Trip. I think that this will become easier once we finish baseball games.

Goal #4- Blogging- 15 post per month. This is post number 10 for the month! Between working and baseball I am still struggling to make time for everything.

Goal # 5- Fitness- Goal is to walk 3 times a week. ummm no comment

Goal #6 – Bible study- Goal- 3x a week –Yikes!

Goal #7-Attempt at least 52 new recipes this year.-  We have met this goal in September. I did manage to try 3 new recipes this month so I am very happy.

Earnings_ $30. Swagbucks are really really limiting our earning so I don’t anticipate this to improve significantly before the end of the year. Because of some internet issues this is becoming more of a time waster than anything else. I am going to stick with it to the end of the year but this is something that I may have to re-evaluate and stop until summer.

November appears to be another very different from the ordinary month. I do know that for the first time in a long time, we will be having Thanksgiving at my house and will not be joining my brother.  Change is hard and the unknown is very hard for me, I am hoping by the end of November the world will have returned to a more normal place.

Thursday Thoughts

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  • Today is a remote learning day for both myself, Zach and Kendall. We are expecting serve weather from tropical storm Zeta to move through this afternoon. Zach is already enjoying watching the wind and rain bands move through. It is very different based on the fact that we are all working on school related task but at home. I will admit it takes the fun out of missing school but should make the schedule much easier to manage.
  • Following the storm today, it is suppose to turn much cooler.  With freezing temperatures on Sunday night and Monday night. We still have not turned on heat or air so I am hopefully to make it to at least Monday or Tuesday before needing to turn the heat on.  We are also going to have to harvest the remaining peppers and tomato from the garden. This is actually the longest that I can remember having items still growing.
  • November is a very expensive month for us. We have car insurance ($408.27), Microsoft renewal ($100), my web site renewal ($30) and the rest of Christmas presents.   Thankfully I have a ton of hours in Guam this month. I am hoping to cover most of our December Disney trip. A sad realization is that I receive a paycheck this Friday but will not receive another check until after Thanksgiving.
  • We survived our busiest week so far this year!!  I even have a list on the board of task to complete on Saturday.
  • Budget wise October has been a great month. We are at $250 for gas and $550 for groceries.  I am planning to hit my goal of paying of one credit card by the end of December.  We also should not use most of the grocery budget for November and December as our freezers are full. I am now looking a small holes such as soups for lunch and other convenient items. I have also restocked the paper supplies as well.

Saving on Saturday

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The front of our house needed some work. We have not changed anything since we built the living room addition prior to Lily’s birth so 15 to 16 years ago. Here is where we started.

Last weekend, when the kids were in Durham we decided to purchase a new light, replace the hardware for both the storm door and paint.  We spent around $300  total for everything, in comparison it would be around $2000 to replace the door and the side lights.   I am really LOVING the difference!