Weekly Dinner Menu:September 6-10, 2010
It’s been awhile since I’ve put together a weekly dinner menu online, we were a little laid back on the menus during the summer but now that school is back in session, it’s time to start focusing on routines, homework, menus and more.
Over the weekend, we enjoyed a huge treasure outing. First, we started off with the 30th Annual Labor Day Weekend Yard Sale at the Sierra Presbyterian Church. Throughout the day, we stopped in to check out the small thrift shops. Usually the first weekend of the month, items are 50% off or more. You can usually find me somewhere in the housewares, kitchen or cookbook section. I found some kitchen treasures along the way and some new throw pillow for our couches. Here are a few of my frugal finds:
Sears Roebuck CO. Chef Quality Aluminum Maid of Honor Canisters-$3.00
They are in perfect condition, not sure exactly what year they are from. Can anyone date these?
Pampered Chef Ice Shaver/Sno Cone Maker-$2.50
It’s an older model dated in 1995 before my time as a Pampered Chef Consultant. The only thing missing is the ice maker cups with the lids. I have enough small freezer containers with lids that would work to use as a substitute. I enjoy finding and collecting older Pampered Chef products.
The Pampered Chef Favorites II and Amy Sutherland’s COOKOFF-$0.50
Two more great books to add to my collection. The Pampered Chef Favorites II is from 1994. More great recipes from appetizers to desserts. I love the recipes-Taco Lasagna, Cinnamon Swirl Loaf, Banana Split Brownie Pizza-YUM! Amy Sutherland’s COOKOFF is about her experience as a journalist taking readers on a guided tour of the vast competitive cooking competitions and the people she meets along the way. I can’t wait to read it!
And lastly, I found a Belgium Waffle Maker in perfect condition. Outside is a little faded in color but inside is in great shape. I’ve been wanting a waffle maker for some time now. This is perfect for making waffles ahead of time and freezing them. Kids can pull out of the freezer for a quick breakfast.
Belgium Waffle Maker-$4.00
Okay, enough frugal thrift talking, let’s plan the week’s menu:
Monday: BBQ Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Slow-Cooker Baked Beans, a juicy watermelon and for dessert, a French Vanilla Blueberry cake.
Tuesday: Apple Pork Chops, covered with sliced baking apples.( marinated in refrigerator the night before. This recipe does take an extra 15 minutes to cook, but it’s so worth it. )
Wednesday: Southwestern Sausage Gumbo served over rice.
Thursday: Cooked Pinto Beans with Mozzerella cheese
Friday: Pizza, fresh veggies and fruit platter
Saturday: Breakfast for Dinner–Belgium waffles, scrambled eggs, sausage and apple sauce.
Hope you had a great weekend and have a safe Labor Day!
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my A Busy Mom’s Kitchen Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
Curried Pumpkin Soup
September, I start thinking about what wonderful recipes I can create and take advantage of the abundance of fruit, vegetables and meats that are just beginning to come into season. Our apples are falling from the tree, the weather is starting to change, and we say this every year, “I can’t believe the stores are already displaying items for Thanksgiving.”
Around here on the farm, there is lots to be done this time of year and what better way to keep our energy going than with a delicious bowl of soup.
Wonderful flavors are joined together to make a healthy, creamy and savory soup!
Curried Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
6 cups pumpkin puree (can use canned or fresh roasted pumpkin)
1 cup coconut milk
8 cups chicken broth
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 Tablespoon Thai Red Curry Rub
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
Directions:
In a 5-quart Dutch oven or stockpot, heat the oil and butter. Once butter has melted, add onion, carrots, celery and apples. Sauté all ingredients until tender. Add the pumpkin and coconut milk. Stir with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula until all ingredients are combined.
In a small bowl, add seasonings. Stir the seasonings together and add to pumpkin mixture. Next, slowly add the chicken broth, and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and use a hand blender. Puree until ingredients are smooth. (This can also be done in a food processor, but be sure to do 2 cups or smaller portions at a time to avoid spillage or burning yourself.)
Garnish with some sour cream or flat leaf parsley.
Enjoy!
Need more Pumpkin Recipe Ideas? Give some of these a try!
Harvest Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup
What are some of your favorite pumpkin recipes?
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my A Busy Mom’s Kitchen Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
A Working Mom’s Easy Weeknight Dinner
If you’re a subscriber to my weekly e-newsletter, A Busy Mom’s Kitchen, you read that this week I’m sharing how mom’s or dad’s can create inexpensive meals for their families that are not only quick and easy but cost less than $100.
Normally, when I’m at the grocery store I can spend just a tad bit over the $200 mark for almost a month’s worth of groceries. Yes, it can be done. You just have to pay attention to what’s on sale and from trial and error know what a good deal is at the supermarket. I see more and more people shopping with lists and coupons these days. It’s good to see people are looking for that extra savings.
My last trip to the grocery store, I picked up some cubed steak. You can pick up a decent package of cubed steak for less than $1.50 for 2 pieces. Serve with a salad and a vegetable and you have yourself a wonderful meal.
I’ve learned how to create a week’s worth of salad with lettuce, carrots and celery to make it last all week and still taste fresh. This I will share with you in a later post.
Vegetables are inexpensive when purchased frozen and still have the required nutrients. Of course you can buy canned vegetables if they are on sale. I’m able to get more side dish meals from the frozen vegetables.
In this easy weeknight dinner, I’ve created a main dish using just 6 simple ingredients.
Cubed Steak with Gravy
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
4-6 pieces of cubed steak
1 large onion, diced
3/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper
1 cup water
Directions:
Place flour on a baking dish, plate or plastic bag. Salt and pepper both sides of cubed steak. Coat the cubed steak with flour on both sides. Save the flour for later, you will be using it for the gravy.
Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Brown cubed steak on both sides, roughly 3 minutes. Once cooked, remove from saucepan. Keep drippings in pan, add onion. Cook onion, for 2 minutes, then add flour, about an 1/8 cup or a little more. Stir while flour browns.
As you are continuously stirring, slowly add water and reduce heat to low. Simmer the gravy until it is the right consistency. at this point you could add the cubed steak back in and simmer for about 5 minutes more or you could plate it and serve the gravy on top as I did.
I served the cubed steak with corn and a salad. You could also serve with rice or mashed potatoes.
Do you have any tips that work for you on shopping and creating inexpensive meals? I’d love to hear them!
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my new Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
Desserts For Less:Easy Baked Apple Crisp
An easy inexpensive dessert recipe with sliced apples and a crunchy topping. Serve alone or with old fashioned vanilla ice cream.
Desserts For Less
If you’re looking for a fast, inexpensive dessert recipe, this is a really yummy one!
Easy Baked Apple Crisp
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon butter or may use cooking spray to lightly coat baking dish
8 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 lemon, plus juice
1 Tablespoon molasses
3/4 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1 stick of butter (8 Tablespoons), cut into chuncks
Caramel ice cream topping (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place apples in a 9×12 lightly greased baking dish. Add the zest of one lemon and juice, and molasses. Toss apples until coated. Spread apples evenly in baking dish.
In a small bowl add flour, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon and butter. Using fingers mix ingredients together until butter is incorporated into ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over the top of apples.
Bakes in oven for 25 minutes or until top is lightly brown. Serve alone or on top of vanilla ice cream.
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my new Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
Finally A New Theme Kitchen!
So I’ve been debating over the past few months on a new kitchen theme. I wanted to freshen up the kitchen and give my readers a fresh new insight on all of my kitchen ideas, recipes, family life, add some cooking videos and more. This theme was designed after a recent blog critic so my designer and I shared some ideas and she did an amazing job. Thank you Christa! Need a blog lift, visit Christa at Jensen Designs. She’s affordable, communicates very well with her customers, (I dislike when I have to wait for days or don’t hear back from a designer.) and she does an amazing job!
Feel free to leave a comment on what you think of the new design. I’d love to hear from you!
I have more fun ideas coming up and a lot more frugal and easy recipes for busy families coming up a little later so come back and visit the kitchen soon. Can you imagine making a week’s worth of meals for just $100 grocery shopping trip? Stay tuned…..
In the meantime, don’t forget to get your Friday Freebie at Raley’s. This Friday, Saturday or Sunday, spend $10 at Raley’s and get a 3 lb. bag of Raley’s Fresh Apples! Available with online coupons only. Limit 1 per customer.
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my new Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
Kitchen Gadgets That Make Wonderful Meals
Simple Tuesday Weeknight Menu: Grilled Chicken and Broccoli Greens, with Brown Rice Couscous served on a bed of lettuce with a drizzle of your favorite dressing
Tender Grilled Chicken Breasts make this a delicious meal for your family
Kitchen Gadgets That Make Wonderful Meals
Yesterday while I was out and about, I stopped in at one of our local thrift shops. I’m a sucker for a bargain and I love searching for new kitchen items old and new. While I was there, one of the items I came across was a Stove Top Grill. You place it directly on one of your stove burners and cook directly on it. One of the simplest and most effective cooking gadgets.
I had grilled chicken planned for dinner, but I wasn’t looking forward to grilling outdoors while it was 101 degrees. The grill cost me a $1. I thought to myself, if the results are good, what a bargain! So I decided to experiment and ended up with wonderful results. The chicken and broccoli tasted just like I had grilled them outdoors. Here’s a wonderful and delicious recipe you can create with a stove top grill.
Grilled Chicken Breasts
Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 head of lettuce of your choice
2 cups broccoli
Your favorite dressing
Directions:
Marinate chicken breasts in refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight. Remove chicken breasts from refrigerator 15 minutes prior to cooking, bringing them to room temperature. This allows the chicken to cook evenly.
Preheat your stove top grill for 8 minutes on high heat or per user manual. Reduce heat to medium and place chicken breasts flatly on grill. Grill on each side for 12-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from grill and place on cutting board to rest for 5 minutes. Slice lengthwise and place on lettuce greens on a platter.
I served the grilled chicken with grilled broccoli and a brown rice couscous. We drizzled a little bit of our favorite dressing on top.
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my new Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
Homecooked Meals Don’t Have To Be Expensive
Homecooked Meals Don’t Have To Be Expensive
Family dinners, don’t have to be complicated or expensive. With simple ingredients you can make wonderful hearty soups for your family and stock your freezer. Today, I’d like to share a few of those recipes I created over the weekend. But first, let me take a few minutes to share why I love making soups that have simple ingredients.
Make-Ahead Freezer Meals
Soups can be prepared days or even weeks ahead of time and at your convenience. Some soups actually improve the longer they simmer, as all the different flavors blend and mingle with each other. Most of all, they freeze well! I make large batches, then freeze them in ready-to eat meal size containers or one gallon freezer bags. Every time I serve the soup, I may add different things just to vary the tastes.
Some great classic soups are Split Pea Soup and Harvest Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup. Both of these freeze well.
Here’s a brothy vegetable soup that is hearty and delicious! It’s one of those soups that tastes best when given the chance to sit overnight. The flavors really blend together.
Minestrone Soup
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup onions, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 28 ounce can organic diced tomatoes with juice
1 15 ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup fresh zucchini or yellow squash
1 cup french green beans
1 cup Mostaccioli noodles
6 cups chicken stock
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
In a stock pot, over medium heat, saute onion, garlic, celery and carrots in olive oil until lightly brown. Add tomatoes with juice, zucchini or squash, kidney beans and green beans. Stir until ingredients are combined. Slowly add chicken stock and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil and add noodles. Reduce heat to a simmer andcook for 2 hours. Rember, the longer the soup simmers, the more flavorful it becomes.
When ready to serve, grated fresh Parmesan cheese over the top or add some croutons.
Recipe Note: When soup is fully cooled, transfer to a freezable container or ziploc freezer bags. Freezes well up to one month.
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my new Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
Harvest Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup
This weekend has been a cook-a-thon for me in the kitchen. Rummaging around the pantry to cook up some last minute recipes and stocking our freezer. I started off with a simple Homemade Split Pea Soup than moved onto making crepes, pinto beans and a chicken and mushroom filling for a croissant recipe I have in mind. Looking in my pantry, I had one can of black beans left and a couple cans of pumpkin puree. I’ve been craving the idea of another pumpkin soup recipe and I found this one rather tasty. It’s amazing what delicious recipes you can create with just a few simple ingredients. It’s also another quick and budget friendly meal for the family. The combination of flavors is fantastic. Very healthy too.
Harvest Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 30 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Spanish paprika
4 cups beef broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions:
In a stockpot, saute onions and garlic in butter until translucent. Add black beans, pumpkin and tomatoes, stirring until combined. Add sugar, cumin, chili powder, pepper, paprika, beef broth and cream. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.
Recipe Note: This soup can be pureed in a blender or serve as is, garnished with chives, celery leaves or croutons.
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my new Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
Split Pea Soup
This past grocery shopping trip, I decided to pick up a few new pantry items to make some new recipes and stock our freezer. Split Pea Soup is one of my Make-Ahead Meal Planning recipes. It’s delicious, easy to make and great on the food budget.
Split Pea Soup
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin oilve oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 bag (2 cups) split peas, rinsed, drained and sorted
1 Tablespoon Spanish paprika, plus a pinch
1/4 teaspoon pepper
5 cups water
1 Ham hock
Salt to taste (if needed, I omitted)
Directions:
In a medium stock pot, saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Add split peas, paprika, pepper, water and ham hock. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20-25 minutes. Remove ham hock and set aside. Using a hand blender, puree soup until it becomes a creamy consistency. Ladel into serving bowls. Garish with a pinch of paprika.
Recipe Note: Carrots and celery would make a great addition to this soup.
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my new Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
First Day Of School:A Fresh New Start
Today is an exciting new day! I’m not sure who’s more excited us or the kids. Both our kids start school today-our son, is now a fourth grader and our seven year old daughter is now a second grader. Our two older kids have started a whole new world of adulthood and another year of teen age years in high school. Our oldest son, just turned 18 yesterday. He has become a very talented young man. He will be attending junior college while working part time and practicing with his band. Awesome talented group of young musicians. Their name…The Dehlingers. You can find them on Facebook, My Space and YouTube. They have another concert this weekened at Unity Music in Santa Rosa, CA. Concert tickets are $8.00, so if you’re in the area go check them out. Our oldest daughter, a sophmore juinior( my heart wishes she was still younger) in high school, is transitioning into more rigorous classes, has become a very talented young girl exploring music and has the love for drawing. How times flies!
Our two younger ones getting ready to leave for school:
Now that the kids will be away from the house and at school for the day, I want to be sure they have nutritious snacks and a healthy lunch. Their lunch today consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich, apple slices with a peanut butter dip, a frozen yogurt tube, pretzels and a juice.
If you’re looking for lunch ideas, try a tasty twist to that grilled cheese sandwich. This Grilled Cheese, Ham and Apple sandwich is something your kids are sure to love!
Grilled Cheese, Ham and Apple Sandwich
Ingredients:
8 slices of bread (we enjoy whole wheat)
8 slices of Cheddar or American cheese
8 slices of ham (deli-sliced works perfectly)
1 Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
Honey mustard
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
Directions:
Melt butter in the microwave. Preheat skillet over medium heat.
Using a basting brush, lightly brush outer slice of bread. On inner pieces of bread, spread honey mustard. Place buttered side down in skillet and add cheese, ham and apple slices. Top with another slice of bread and lightly brush butter on top.
Grill until lightly brown and flip sandwich. Repeat with remaining slices of bread, cheese, ham and apple.
Definitely a classic sandwich. How could kids not give this sandwich 5 stars?
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my new Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
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