No Bake Cheesecake

1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz. package cream cheese
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can of pie filling (cherry, blueberry...)
1 graham cracker crumb pie crust

Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk. Stir in lemon juice. Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate until firm and then add pie filling on top if desired. Can use fresh fruit(strawberries, blueberries are best) for garnish as well.

Lunch Ideas

Got in a rut of the same ol' sandwich or the same ol' dish for lunch?? Here is a list of options that might inspire you to do something different today for lunch! If I don't do leftover dinners than I serve chips or pretzels, raw veggies and fruit with each item.

Hot Dogs

Leftover Dinners

Bagel Bites/Pizza rolls

Deli Meat Sandwiches

Lunchables (homemade)

PB&J Sandwiches

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Nuggets/Tenders

Fried egg sandwiches

Mini homemade pizzas

Egg salad sandwiches

Chicken/Tuna salad sandwiches

Homemade pita bread stuffed with any number of things

Salad with grilled chicken

Chili beans, toss some cheese, salsa and tortilla chips and you got nachos

Make up a bunch of meatballs and freeze. Get some hoagie rolls and spaghetti sauce and make meatball subs.

Make up a bunch of spaghetti and let them have at it.

Egg burritos

Salad with a bit of chicken chunks and boiled eggs

Homemade tortillas throw in some chili

Leftover pasta with whatever. I've thrown leftover pasta and chicken together. Add chopped veggies or have them on the side, drizzle with a vinagriette.

French toast and fruit

Veggie Chicken noodle soup(leftover chicken and veggies with pasta and broth)

Bean and cheese burritos

Chicken quesadillas(cut up leftover chicken, add salsa or taco sauce to it, put on one side of a tortilla shell top with cheese, fold over tortilla shell, melt some butter or use olive oil in a hot skillet then put quesadilla in the skillet and lightly brown both sides)

Cheese quesadillas

Baked potatoes with leftover chili or taco meat

Pumpkin Oat Streusel Muffins

**found this recipe over on Quaker Oats website and it looked like a yummy recipe to try to use all my pumpkin up**

STREUSEL
1/4 cup Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon margarine or butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

MUFFINS
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat oven to 400°F. Line twelve medium muffin cups with paper baking cups or spray bottoms only with cooking spray. For streusel, combine all ingredients in small bowl; mix well. Set aside. For muffins, combine flour, oats, sugar, nuts, if desired, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl; mix well. In medium bowl, combine pumpkin, milk, oil and egg; blend well. Add to dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. (Do not overmix.)

Fill muffin cups almost full. Sprinkle with reserved streusel, patting gently. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool muffins in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Serve warm. Makes 1 dozen


NUTRITION INFORMATION: 1 muffin Calories 230, Calories From Fat 80, Total Fat 9g, Saturated Fat 1g, Cholesterol 20mg, Sodium 170mg, Total Carbohydrates 35g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Protein 4g.

Italian Sauce

6 medium carrots, shredded
3 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup cooking oil
6 28-oz cans tomatoes
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. dried basil, crushed
2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 bay leaves

In a 8-10 quart Dutch oven, cook carrots, onion, and garlic in hot cooking oil til onion is tender and not brown. Add undrained tomatoes, sugar, salt, basil, oregano, pepper and bay leaves. Boil gently, uncovered for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Cool Italian Sauce. Remove bay leaves and disgard. Place about 1/4 of the mixture at a time in blender container and blend til smooth. Freezes or cans well.

My notes: I have used a combination of stewed tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, crushed tomatoes. I let this simmer all day on low in the crockpot. I use the blender due to my family not liking chunky spaghetti sauce. When I cook it all day I don't cook the carrots, onions, and garlic first! I let them get tender in the tomatoes. I add the browned ground meat after I have blended the sauce in the blender.Enjoy! This is my mom's spaghetti sauce recipe that I grew up with! It is a tried and true recipe! It is even good as pizza sauce!

Monthly Snack Options

• Brownie Bites(done in mini muffin pan)

• Granola Bars
  
• Pudding

• Apple or Pear Slices
  
• Cake (like Chocolate Chip Cake or Surprise Cupcakes or Jello Cake)
  
• Popcorn
  
• Toast with PB
  
• Cinnamon Toast(toast a slice of bread, butter it, sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture on it)
  
• Homemade Trail Mix(usually sunflower seeds, cheerios, peanuts, M&Ms, goldfish, pretzels)
  
• Sandwiches(PB, tuna, cheese, chicken) sometimes I make dinner rolls or get some brown and serve rolls from the store and then slice them for them to grab to make a quick snack sandwich.
  
• Homemade "Almost Nutri-Grain" Bars
  
• Bananas
  
• Popsicles
  
• Peanuts
  
• Yogurt
  
• Homemade Soft Pretzels
  
• Cheese and Crackers(use a variety of crackers and cheese)
  
• Graham Crackers(variety of flavors)
  
• Homemade Donuts
  
• Cheese Crackers(like goldfish or cheez its)
  
• Crackers with PB(either using Ritz or Saltines)
  
• Cookies(PB, Oatmeal, Choc. chip, Monster, Snickerdoodles, Sugar, Chocolate Crinkles, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Scotchies, M&M)
  
• Fruit Salad
  
• Coffee cakes (Jewish Coffee Cake)
  
• Cinnamon rolls
  
• Pizza Sticks(homemade pizza cut into strips)
  
• Muffins(banana, pumpkin, pumpkin-oat, cinnamon,chocolate, zucchini, apple cider, orange juice, choc. chip, bran) instead of always doing loaves of quick bread I take my quick bread recipe and put it into muffins sometimes regular muffins, sometimes mini muffins
  
• Cheese sticks(I usually slice a chunk of cheese approx. 1/2" thick and then cut into strips)
  
• Grapes
  
• Carrot sticks with ranch dressing
  
• Nilla Wafers (plain, or with frosting for homemade sandwich cookies)
  
• Fruit snacks
  
• Ice cream
  
• Meat/cheese rolls(deli meat with a cheese stick rolled inside)
  
• "In Season" fruit (like strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupes, watermelon, raspberries)

• Homemade Icecream Shake

Side Dish Rotation

**here is a list of the side dishes that I choose from each week to make up my menus. I really need to find some new ones!

Potato/Rice Based:

Baked Potato

Boiled Potato

Mashed Potato

Potato Pockets

Hash Browns

Cheddar Browns

Seasoned Pan Fries(with seasoned salt, garlic and onion powder)

French Fries

Rice


Noodle Based:

Buttered Noodles

Mac & Cheese

Parmasen Noodles

Ramen Noodles


Veggie Based:

Salad

Green Beans

Corn

Peas

Carrots (cooked or raw)

Monthly Main Dish Meal Rotation

**To help in my menu planning, I took the time to write down all the main dishes that I fix for my family in a month's time. Sometimes the meals(like cube steak) are not every month because of cost or sales. I thought I would take the time to share it and hopefully someone will get inspired. As of this writing/posting I do not have all the recipes copied over here but check back or let me know if you would like a certain recipe.**

Chicken/Turkey:

Creamy Chicken

Saucy Chicken

Chicken N’ Gravy

Chicken Club Sandwiches

Chicken Veggie Stew/Casserole

Chicken Potpie (pan or individual pockets with biscuits)

Chicken Quesadillas

Baked Chicken(sandwiches, lemon pepper, southwestern, BQ)

Homemade Chicken Nuggets using Bakin' Miracle

Oven Fried Chicken

Chicken Tenders/Nuggets --good ol' Tyson or Banquet brand!

Cordon Bleu--(frozen premade)

Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Rice Casserole

Grilled Chicken (sandwiches, lemon pepper, southwestern, BQ)

Chicken (or Turkey) Tetrazzini

Roasted (Crockpot) Chicken (whole or bone-in breasts)

Chicken Stew Sandwiches

Turkey Breast


Pork:

Saucy Pork Chops (see Saucy Chicken recipe)

Baked Pork Chops

Grilled Pork Chops (B-Q or plain)

Pork Chop Casserole

Roasted(Crockpot) Pork Loin

BLT Sandwiches

Ham

BQ Pork Sandwiches


Beef:

Tacos

Sloppy Joes

Goulash

Spaghetti

Chili

Burgers

Meatloaf

Hamburger Gravy over Rice

Beef Tips & Gravy

Cubed Steak

Steak--grilled

Roast

Shredded BQ Beef Sandwiches

Salisbury Steak


Misc:

Pizza

Fish (fresh or sandwiches) quick frozen fillets or Gordon's or Van de Kamp


Soups:
Chicken Rice

Veggie Beef Stew

Potato

Chicken Noodle

Menu Plan Monday

**This is just a plan and plans have the ability to change at the cook's discretion! Last week's menus seemed to go off without too much changing around! This week is planned with what I have on hand! No going to the grocery store this week other than for milk, I don't even need fruit as I have grapes, bananas, apples(from our orchard trip two weeks ago) and then canned fruit(if needed). With all the talk about cost for food subsequently for meals, I decided this week to figure out the cost for the whole meal that I feed my family of 7! The amount is posted after the meal. Lunches listed below are for the kids and I, dh's lunches are not included as he normally will just take what leftovers are available. A special thanks to Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday!**

Sunday(10-21):
Breakfast: eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, muffins (cost $4.57)
Lunch: pizza rolls
Dinner: Cordon bleu/Chicken Nuggets, fries, corn ($6.88)
Snack: yogurt, cookies, and milk

Monday(10-22):
Breakfast: cereal and toast
Lunch: sandwich and chips
Dinner: leftover spaghetti & meatballs, breadsticks (dh had potluck at work and I made this dish for him to take and he brought home leftovers that I can add to for making a meal for us!)
Snack: snack basket

Tuesday(10-23):
Breakfast: french toast and sausage ($2.79)
Lunch: leftover BQ pork or sloppy joe, potatoes
Dinner:Homemade Chicken Nuggets/Tenders, mashed taters, corn ($5.32)
Snack: popsicles

Wednesday(10-24):
Breakfast: cereal and muffins
Lunch: grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup
Dinner: Homemade pizza
Snack: snack basket

Thursday(10-25):
Breakfast: bagels, fruit or yogurt
Lunch: sandwich and chips
Dinner: Creamy Chicken, egg noodles, green beans($5.27) (Christmas musical practice so something quick and easy!)
Snack: snack basket

Friday(10-26):
Breakfast: waffles, sausage, fruit
Lunch: leftover pizza
Dinner: Chicken Club Sandwiches, fries, corn ($8.96)
Snack: homemade shakes

Saturday: (10-27):
Breakfast: "Cook's Choice" (basically fend for yourself!)
Lunch: probably leftovers
Dinner: Saucy Pork Chops,(this can be done with chicken too!) rice, peas, biscuits
Snack: popcorn

Singing Sunday

The Wonderful Cross
by Chris Tomlin

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride

See from his head, his hands, his feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ever such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near and bless
Your name

Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all