New Recipe Monday — Taco Seasoning

I don’t usually like to buy pre-packaged seasonings. I came across this recipe several years ago and haven’t purchased taco seasoning since. I really like it because it doesn’t have salt.  I’ve also made it and given it as a homemade gift.

Ingredients (I usually double this recipe)

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Mix together in a small bowl and store in air-tight container. If I’m making tacos for our family, I’ll use about 3 Tablespoons per pound of hamburger. You can add more or less depending on your personal taste.
 

New recipe Monday — Snickerdoodles

These are a family favorite. I will usually double the recipe as they are gone quickly. I’ll often bake these for Christmas or birthday goodies.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Combine 1 1/2 cups white sugar, butter or margarine, vanilla and eggs. Mix well.
Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Blend well. Shape dough into 1 inch balls.
Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Roll dough in sugar/cinnamon mixture and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets (I flatten just a bit with a juice glass). I use my small cookie scoop and roll these in my hands then in the cinnamon sugar mixture. The dough is sticky, wet your hands slightly before rolling.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.

2 Week Menu rotation 2

I plan our meals 2 weeks at a time. I shared our rotation 1 here.
I forgot to say in my initial post that often times, I won’t make a couple of the meals on the list because we have more left overs than I had planned or because we have an unexpected “family date night” and I don’t have to cook dinner that night. Since I’ve already purchased the ingredients for the meal, depending on how perishable it is, I’ll either save it for the following time the meal is used or I’ll switch it out for another one later. In other words, I’m not legalistic about my menu. Just cause it’s listed doesn’t mean we have to eat it.
I’ll paste the menu below, but I’ll also share a link in case you can’t see the whole thing.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Cubed steak, potatoes and gravy Crockpot scalloped potatoes and ham Crockpot tortellini Church (we alternate bringing meals with another family from our church on Wednesday night) Left overs (every family has to have a left over night). J Breakfast casserole (I often use hamburger) Verenika or bierock casserole
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Pizza and salad Leftovers Tacos, corn Church Easy beef stroganoff Grilled chicken, green beans and salad Chicken fajitas or grilled chicken salad

 
 
See the menu here

New Recipe Monday — Famous Cheese Dip

My Kansas peeps might appreciate this recipe more than most. When I was growing up, there was this Mexican restaurant that was fantastic near our home town, and then closed during my sophomore year of high school. They served this cheese dip that I have yet to find any where else. It’s not salsa and it’s not entirely cheese either. They’d serve it at the beginning of the meal with chips, but would also smother everything else with it too. When I was first pregnant with Gabe, I craved it like nobody’s business. I was fortunate enough that Kerry worked with the guys son who used to own the place. We bought cheese dip by the gallon. Someone, I’ll never say who, blessed me with the recipe when I was pregnant with my second son. I’ve made some modifications for our family, but it still has the same flavor it always did growing up. Enjoy!
1 big can of tomato sauce
1 big jug of tomato juice
1 onion chopped
green chilies (optional). I use roasted Pueblo Chilies, but you could use 2 small cans as well.
Shredded cheddar cheese (I use several handfuls)
In large sauce pan, saute onion in oil until translucent and slightly browned. It’s important not to skip the slightly browned part, it adds a lot of flavor later.
Dump tomato juice and sauce in with onions. If you’re using green chilies add them now too. Warm until heated through. Add a couple handfuls of cheddar cheese and stir until melted, heating thoroughly. We like ours fairly cheesy, so I add about 3. 🙂 I will usually simmer the dip for 20-30 minutes on low stirring often so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Serve over burritos, with chips or tortillas. Sprinkle with a bit of cheese just prior to serving. I meant to take pictures this week, but we were too busy eating it that I completely forgot. The only picture I grabbed was the dip in the pan before I served it. Enjoy!

2 week menu rotation 1

Around here I do a 2 week menu rotation and buy groceries every 2 weeks or so. I have been able to limit my trips to the grocery store, which saves us money in the long run and also helps me stay of the “I can’t think of anything for dinner so let’s go out” trap. I can only fit 4 gallons of milk on our fridge at a time without it freezing everything, so we do have to make weekly trips to the store for milk. We have 2 deep freezers, one for our meat and one for everything else.
For our family of 6, I have a food budget of about $500-550 per month. Our family does buy a cow each summer, well, this year we bought 3/4 of a cow. Most of my recipes use “usual” ingredients and nothing terribly exotic. We do try to buy organic or local produce when possible. Gardening here poses some challenges that we didn’t have when we lived in Kansas, although we do grow some things. I try to use a little processed stuff as possible, but occasionally I do. I have a busy schedule the first week of May, so I have a lot of crock pot meals or “easy” stuff for my husband to fix on the nights I’m not here. So here it is for the next two weeks.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Ribs, corn, biscuits French Dip sandwiches (made with roast from freezer), peas Black bean and salsa soup, tortillas and corn Church (we alternate bringing meals with another family from our church on Wednesday night) Left overs (every family has to have a left over night). 🙂 Pancakes, eggs or pork side (bacon that we got from my in-laws pig, it doesn’t have the salt or preservatives that store bought bacon does) Grill steak, baked potatoes, salad
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Left overs or Steak Caesar salad, steak quesadillas Roast, potatoes and carrots Spaghetti, Corn and garlic bread Church Roast chicken, broccoli (I will usually roast 2 or 3 chickens at a time and then debone them and freeze for later use) Meat loaf, corn or mashed potatoes Chicken enchiladas (made with left over chicken from Thursday)

I bought groceries this morning. I had many of the veggies on hand, because we either froze them this summer or bought them on sale a few weeks ago. My grocery bill this morning was $110. I had to stock up on eggs (we go through about 5 dozen every 2-3 weeks), milk (again 4 gallons a week here), bread and fruit.
I don’t usually make anything fancy for lunch around here. We either have left overs, sandwiches, or mac and cheese with tuna and peas. Breakfast usually consists of cereal, toast, oatmeal or eggs. Supper is definitely our “big” meal of the day. We do eat quite a bit of fruit during the week for morning and afternoon snacks. I share some of our favorite recipes on Mondays with my “new recipe Monday” posts.

New Recipe Monday — Breakfast Casserole

We often have breakfast casserole for supper. It’s easy to make and filling for everyone. Here is a recipe I’ve used recently and we all really enjoyed.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound sliced bacon, diced (I didn’t use bacon this last time, instead I used left over Easter ham)
  • 1 medium sweet onion, chopped (I usually use half because the kids don’t care for onion much)
  • 6 eggs, lightly beaten (I used 8 eggs)
  • 4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
  • 1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese (I omitted the swiss cheese and just used a little extra cheddar).
  • I’ve also added a green onion for some extra flavor.

Directions

  1. In a large skillet, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp; drain. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir in bacon mixture. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.
  2. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until set and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

8 Make-Ahead Breakfast Ideas :: Money Saving Mom®

It’s been a crazy week at our house so I haven’t had much time to write. I wanted to share this site with you though. I came across this site this week and thought these ideas were “doable” at our house for breakfast. I’ve done breakfast burritos before, but I think we’ll try the oatmeal packets and baked oatmeal. Enjoy!!
 
8 Make-Ahead Breakfast Ideas :: Money Saving Mom®.

New Recipe Monday — Lemon bars

It’s lemon season! My source for fresh lemons has dried up, but I made these anyway with store bought lemons.
2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/2 powdered sugar
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice (I usually use the juice of a couple lemons)
1 tsp lemon rind (I usually use the rind of one lemon grated)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar (for dusting the top)
In mixing bowl, combine flour, butter and powdered sugar. Press into bottom of a greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
While base is baking, beat eggs and combine with sugar, lemon juice and rind. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt. When base is removed from the oven, pour lemon mixture over base and return to the oven. Continue baking for another 25 minutes.
Dust with powdered sugar while still warm.
These are a family favorite that everyone enjoys! They certainly don’t last long around here.

New Recipe Monday — Wild Rice Salad

I got this recipe from a friend of mine. It is a “raw” salad so it does take some prep time, but it is really good and my children like it. It makes a large amount and can be stored in the refrigerator. I did make some modifications to mine (I noted them at the bottom of this post).

TODD’S NUTTY WILD RICE PILAFBy Chef Rawboy 
(Makes approximately 3 pounds)
(All amounts are dry measure)
2 cups wild rice, soaked for 2 days, then drained, changing soak water every 12 hours
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 12 hours, then drained
1/2 cup almonds, soaked 12 hours, then drained
1/2 cup pine nuts, soaked 4 hours, then drained
2 med. carrots, pulse-chopped small in food processor
1/2 large red pepper, pulse-chopped small in food processor
1/2 large bunch parsley, finely chopped in food processor
4 medium cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup Nama Shoyu [raw soy sauce found in health food stores], or equivalent.
~ Thoroughly mix all ingredients in a large bowl
~ Let marinate for one hour, mixing occasionally, to let flavors blend
~ For variations, substitute other herbs, veggies, nuts, or seeds.
***When I made mine, I used barley (about 1 cup) as well and soaked it for 24 hours (We couldn’t afford the pine nuts they’re like $10).
I used green pepper in addition to the red pepper, but could just use that alone and I used grapeseed oil instead of olive oil.
I also used about 1/4 cup vinegar to give it a little more “bite” as it tasted just a little bland with the soy sauce (and I didn’t use the fancy stuff they have listed here, just the regular store bought stuff).
I think when I make it next time I might add more peppers and maybe a little cilantro.

 

New Recipe Monday — Strawberry Bread

Since strawberries are coming into season, I’m excited to make strawberry bread again. I found this recipe when I was expecting our last child and was looking for something I could make when our midwife came for the homebirth. Unfortunately we ate it all before the baby was born so she had to settle for zucchini bread. 🙂

Strawberry Bread

3-4 cup strawberries, diced
1 cup oil
2 cup sugar
4 eggs
3 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Sift together flour, soda and salt (as a side note, I rarely sift anything). Beat eggs until fluffy. Add oil & sugar. Mix well. Add flour mixture, cinnamon and strawberries. Mix until well blended. Pour into 2 greased and floured pans.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until loaves test done.
Our family likes cinnamon, if you don’t care for it as much, you could cut down a bit.