Sunday, April 26, 2009

Happy Sunday Everyone!!!! Time for Menus!!!

How's everyone doing today? well, this week my focus was on FINDING A JOB!!!! We decided on monday that I MUST find a job- at least full time, but if I can find a full and part time that would be great too- even hubby is looking for a pt job.....we are really trying to do the Dave Ramsey thing and get some bills paid OFF! we are tired of this money crunch...I don't mind saving money and getting bargins don't get me wrong.... but doing it because I MUST not because I WANT to is a different thing all together! LOL So, we are working hard this month to pay off some bills, and we are REALLY tightening the belt! Including the grocery budget!

We sat down this morning (me and hubby) and brainstormed our food choices that we remember from when we were kids and our parents were in our situation! what follows is what we came up with, I will categorize by meat :

Chicken:

leg/thigh quarters are cheap, so buy those in bulk if possible
chicken salad- sandwiches or over lettuce
baked chicken or grilled chicken
Chicken veggie soup
broccoli cheese soup with chicken added
pulled chicken over a regular salad
chicken sandwiches (not chicken salad)

Ground Turkey:
Beans and turkey (dried beans)
Bean soup and turkey (dried soup mix)
Spaghetti sauce with ground turkey (our family prefers not aldi spaghetti sauce)
tacos
chili
"beef" stew
"beef" stroganoff
ground turkey patties done on the "george foreman" or in a fry pan

Hot dogs/baloney (not my fav choice due to all the additives, but for a small span of time, it is cheap):
hot dogs and mac and cheese
ramen noodles and hot dogs
baloney sandwiches (fried or not)(grilled like cheese sandwiches or not)

tuna:
Tuna bumsteads (will post recipe later0
tuna casserole (not a fav in our house, but maybe someone elses?)
tuna salad sandwiches with a dash of curry
tuna salad on lettuce

Eggs:
Fried egg sandwiches
toad in the holes
egg salad sandwiches
egg salad on lettuce

Pork, cheese
pulled pork sandwiches
pulled pork over fries with bbq sauce and cheese or over nachos
grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
cream cheese and saltines - for lunch
quesadillas (with pulled pork, chicken, etc as well!)

extras:
1.Put rice in soup to make it go farther, add more substance
2.don't forget soup is a good main course, just add a salad or veggies/dip on side
3.get creative with soups- hubby said why did no one ever think of broccoli cheese soup with chicken added?
4.look for reduced meats- aged meat usually has a better flavor, just make sure to use it w/in 2 days or put it in the freezer.
5.If you get beef, then use it for chili, beef stew or beef stroganoff because those cuts will probably be tougher and that use will make the meat tender (especially if you use it in the crockpot)
6.Getting the large (10 lb) bags of chicken leg/thigh quarters can be daunting, but when you get home, either cut up right away the thighs from the legs, or just sort them out into freezer bags, that way they are in manageable sizes and family portions.

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