Help me menu plan!

[JeepMom]

I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow, give me ideas to put on my menu. I plan for 2 weeks at a time.

[NASCAR20FAN]

Do you like pasta? I could live offf the stuff.. LOL Or anything breakfast, I could eat French Toast and Pancakes all day long... yummy!

[JeepMom]

We have a spagehtti night, the kids eat it good. We do breakfast on the weekends so to make it for dinner would be over kill I think.

[SinkingFast]

Spaghetti with meat sauce. Spaghetti, a jar of sauce, 1 pound ground beef. A bag of salad greens. A loaf of italian/french/sourdough bread. Personally, I like Paul Newman's Sockarooni spaghetti sauce. Saw on America's Home Test Kitchen on PBS that Paul Newman's spaghetti sauce was prefered in a blind taste test. Costs a few cents more than Prego or Ragu but definitely worth it, IMHO.

I always swing by the bakery clearance rack at Wal-Mart and see what artisan breads or breakfast goodies they have on sale.

Fish sticks, mac and cheese, and green beans. Make homemade tartar sauce using Mayo or Salad Dressing and sweet pickle relish. We have a SAM's club membership. I pay the same price for a big bag of Gorton's fish sticks there as the 44 count size most other places. And, we get 3 meals out of that one bag.

Campbell's Bean and Bacon soup, condensed. Or cook your own soup beans. Corn bread. Fry some hashbrown cakes/patties. Brussel Sprouts. Cook the Brussel Sprouts per package directions. Drain. Then melt some butter in the bottom of the pan and toss in some red pepper flakes. Salt and pepper to taste. Saute just a bit. Then throw in the cooked Brussel Sprouts and toss.

I do a thing the kids call "Chicken Surprise". Take left over chicken, or buy some chunk chicken in a can or pouch. Add that to Campbell's Broccoli, Chicken, Cheese soup. It's creamy and yummy. Has potatoes in it too. Serve over rice with tossed salad on the side. White rice is perfectly fine if that's what you like. We prefer Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice with some toasted, slivered almonds tossed in for crunch.

Since everybody's on the run in the mornings and nobody is much for a big breakfast, every now and then, we do Breakfast for supper. Eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, sliced tomatoes, biscuits and gravy. The works!

I try to work off the sale ads each week and go from there.

[JeepMom]

Yea, I didn't get the sale ads this week for some reason. They come in the mail here and they never made it?

[brokemommy]

Another great post, you go girl!! maybe this would be better answered by your family members.

If you unblock me, I can post all the things on sale at Aldi's for you on this thread. Would that help you out?

[13inOR]

Something my family likes if you have a Costco, is they have a very large rotisserie chicken for 4.99. That is very good with salad, and I keep cranberry sauce on hand and serve that with it as well. Very economical and tasty, and there is a lot of meat on their chickens.

[SinkingFast]

Yea, I didn't get the sale ads this week for some reason. They come in the mail here and they never made it?

I hate when that happens, JM.

Once in a while, the Postman doesn't leave the ads, or the stores don't send them one week, or something.

I know how you feel. You can't plan before you leave for the grocery store.

You get inside the door of the store, and you gotta look at the ads on the fly while you shop. With little kids, shopping is hard enough, even when you've planned in advance.

[debtisbad]

Jeep mom.

Go to the Kraft website to get good recipes. They seem easy and you probably already have the ingredients on hand. I gotta really watch the grocery bills these days with gas being so high. I even have to watch how many trips I make to the grocery store as it is about 10 miles away!

[JeepMom]

Jeep mom.

Go to the Kraft website to get good recipes. They seem easy and you probably already have the ingredients on hand. I gotta really watch the grocery bills these days with gas being so high. I even have to watch how many trips I make to the grocery store as it is about 10 miles away!

Thanks, I always forget to check out places like that. I have menu planning sites bookmarked but they rarely change what's on them.

Luckily I have a great "guinea pig" family when it comes to cooking. They will try anything once.

[tictacsir]

this stuff is AWESOME! http://chicken.allrecipes.com/az/PartyChicken.asp it's a simple recipe with few ingredients and cheap. you can also cook it for 2 hours at 275 (if you have time) and the chicken practically falls apart on its own. serve it with saffron rice. i'm telling you, you won't be sorry, a very tasty meal. i also have a recipe for something called lemon chicken soup that a cajun lady gave me years ago, it's not complicated and it never disappoints. once again, inexpensive ingredients and the recipe makes alot which means leftovers, but i actually think the leftovers are even better! let me know if you're interested in that and i'll post it.

[debtisbad]

please post tic, we have hungry kiddos to feed!!!!!!

Thanks!

[tictacsir]

sure thing.

go to the store and get one of those already baked rotisserie chickens that they usually have in the deli. i think they're like $3 at walmart. most grocery stores have them. they also have different marinade flavors like lemon/pepper and so on...they're all good, take your pick. anywho, you'll also need the following ingredients:

chicken broth 32 oz (i usually get the swanson, comes in a blue box)
lemon juice (in a container, you don't have to use real lemon)
white rice
minced garlic (in a container)
white onion
butter
eggs
>>if you can find tony chachere's at your local grocers it gives the soup some extra creole flavoring, but not necessary...we usually eat the soup w/o, and then when i reheat a bowl of leftovers i put the spice in, just for a different flavor, it's your choice.

okay, preparation.
-first, debone the rotisserie chicken. get all the usuable meat you can. dark, white, salvage it all, remember the more you eat along the way, the less to go in the soup (but don't deprive yourself, that stuff is good right off the bone!) next, dice up the white onion (we like onion, so we use alot, try about half an onion at first, it's easier to add than take away).
-now, take a dutch oven and put in like a tablespoon or so of butter on the bottom along w/a spoonful of the minced garlic and the onions. sautee on the burner for a few minutes.
-pour in the broth and turn the burner up until the broth boils.
-while you wait for the broth to boil you can start making your white rice...we use two boil-in-bags. use your discretion depending on how much you and your family eat. the soup is served over the rice and the soup is enough to serve 5 w/second helpings.
-after the broth boils comes the tricky part. you're going to add two eggs to the boiling broth but go ahead and turn the burner down first. while your adding the eggs you need to be whisking the broth, using a whisk, to prevent the eggs from cooking quickly. add one egg, whisk, then add the other. you'll know you've done it right if the egg has disolved into the broth. you'll still see some remnants of scrambled egg whites, but that's how it's supposed to look. if you don't whisk fast enough you may get something that looks like egg drop soup.
-now you can add the chicken and let the soup simmer til it gets to a nice hot temp. while it's simmering pour in some lemon juice, it's season to taste as far as how much you add. when i add i use the lemon juice that comes in the little plastic lemon and usually use about 3/4 of the container. you can also add some pepper to the soup if you don't use any other spices (which honestly, it doesn't need other spices).

like i said in the preparations, the soup is served over white rice. with the ingredient amounts i listed we are able to serve five adults and still have leftovers. you can always double the recipe, but it may not be necessary to buy another rotisserie. we like our soup w/alot of meat, but it's not necessary to put the whole chicken in. the leftovers won't be throwaways, you'll see...have fun and enjoy! ;)

[JeepMom]

While sharing easy recipies here:
Crock Pot Tacos
3-4 Chicken Breast
1 Jar salsa (about a medium size jar)
1 Packet Taco seasoning
Tortillas/Taco Shells
Cheese
Sour Cream
Olives

Add the chicken, 3/4 of the jar, and packet of taco seasoning to the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred Chicken with fork.

Use remaning items to make the actual tacos.

[SinkingFast]

Y,......... Keep up the posts. I'm more than happy to report them all to the Mods.