Monday, November 3, 2008

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday--Chicken Veggie Stew


This is my second week participating in this meme over at Blessed with Grace and I must say there is some great looking recipes over there!! This week, Lisa shares her "quick meal" so I thought I would share one of mine! This meal is really quick when you have leftovers in the fridge that need to be used up but you don't want to eat them all separate! I love making this "leftover makeover"!


Chicken Veggie Soup/Stew

1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup milk
1 can of chicken broth
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
2-3 cups diced cooked chicken
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups frozen cut green beans, thawed
2 cups sliced or diced cooked potatoes
1 can green peas
1-2 cups carrots, diced and cooked

In a large bowl, combine soup, milk, broth, thyme, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir in chicken, corn, peas, beans and potatoes. Pour into a greased 1 1/2 qt. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 15 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 6 servings

Sonshine's notes: This recipe can be doubled and even tripled! This recipe works well in the crockpot on low for 4-6 hours! When I put it in the crockpot I don't grease it. I even have decreased the liquid(didn't use the chicken broth) and used as the filling to potpie!

For other tempting tummy recipes and more; head over to Blessed with Grace!

Kitchen Tip Tuesdays

I love buying in bulk because it saves me money and time. But I don't like dealing with those big packages on a daily basis. So when I do my Sam's run or my grocery shopping and come home with those huge containers of items, I take the time to do what I call "divide and freeze" or "divide and store".

Here is a 5lb bag of pepperoni. It is the only topping other than cheese and sauce that goes on our homemade pizzas!
I took the time to divide it into five-1# bags for the freezer. By doing the dividing, I can just pull out the one bag and not worry about defrosting more than I will need for one meal(which is 3 or 4 pizzas). The 5# bag costs $12.57 so that is $2.51 per lb. In the grocery stores, I usually can't find pepperoni for under $4 per lb.


I have talked before about my version of once a month cooking but I wanted to show you one of the ways I handle dividing up my packages of ground beef! This is 4.32lbs ground beef from round that I got on markdown last week! I was able to make 13 decent size hamburgers from that meat!

I took the 13 burgers and put them into one gallon size freezer bag. I put them into two different "stacks" one at the bottom of the bag and one at the top. Then I labeled the bag with the number that was in each "stack". This way, I can pull the bag out of the freezer and get out just one "stack" for a meal and cross off the number that I used. I used the gallon size bag rather than a quart size bag so I wasn't using LOTS of bags. Doing up the burgers this way saves me lots of time especially on those nights when I need to do something quick and have no meat thawed! I can pull out a "stack" of burgers and pull them apart and put them on my "indoor grill"(similar to a George Foreman grill) and have dinner done in a 1/2 hour!

These are just a couple of ways that I save time with my meal preparations. Looking for other "shortcuts" to meal prep, check out Fishmama's post here! She gives some great tips!

For other kitchen tips, head over to Tammy's Recipes!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Singing Sunday

Your Grace is Enough
by Chris Tomlin

Great is Your faithfulness oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice God
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me [x2]

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaching down to us
Your grace is enough for me
God I see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough for me
For me

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Menu Plan Monday 11/2-11/8



**Another week is upon us so that means it is time for another menu plan! This is just a plan and it could change on the cook’s whim!

Last week's menu plan went off without too much trouble. I made all my “favorite” dishes and made sure to alternate the type of meat each night so things went smoothly! I got some baking done this past week too! For my birthday, hubby arranged for the kids to spend the night at Grandma’s so we were able to go out on date to Red Robin and have some time to ourselves (something that is a rarity with 5 kids).

The roses are my birthday gift from my hubby! Aren’t they beautiful!?!?

This week's shopping trip was a major shopping trip! I should not need to get anything the next two weeks other than milk, fruit, and WIC!

I am throwing in a new recipe into the mix along with other family favorites. Also this week, we have another birthday in the family! My youngest son, P, turns 2!!

Lunches listed are for the kids and me. Usually with our lunches I serve carrot sticks, and some kind of in-season fruit along with juice or water to drink. Hubby usually takes dinner leftovers each day along with several items for snacks.

If you are looking for some inspiration you can find links to my menu suggestion lists over in my right side bar down by Organizing Junkie's button.

A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus; go check other delicious meal plans that have been linked at Laura-Organizing Junkie's site! **

Sunday (11-2)
Breakfast: eggs, sausage links, hash browns, and cinnamon rolls
Lunch: sandwiches & chips
Dinner: chicken nuggets, mac & cheese and peas
Snack: snack basket

Monday (11-3)
Breakfast: cereal and toast or muffins
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: roast, carrots, & potatoes served with homemade rolls
Snack: snack basket

Tuesday (11-4) Remember to vote!!
Breakfast: waffles & sausage
Lunch: pizza treats
Dinner: king ranch chicken(new recipe), rice & corn
Snack: snack basket

Wednesday (11-5)
Breakfast: bagels, cereal, & yogurt
Lunch: sandwich & chips
Dinner: roasted pork loin, cheesy potatoes, and green beans
Snack: cookies & milk

Thursday (11-6) Happy 2nd Birthday to P!
Breakfast: french toast and sausage
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: Burgers/hotdogs, fries, and corn
Snack: snack basket

Friday (11-7)
Breakfast: cereal and toaster strudel
Lunch: sandwiches & chips
Dinner: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, and peas
Snack: ice cream night

Saturday (11-8)
Breakfast: “Cook’s Choice”
Lunch: ??? probably leftovers!
Dinner: chili, rice, and cornbread muffins
Snack: snack basket or popcorn

November Sam's Run

Yesterday along with going to regular grocery stores, I made my monthly Sam's run! I spent a little more than I usually do in a month's time there, because with seasonal baking season approaching I grabbed some things that I would normally buy in small quantities and I was out of stock on a few things(pepperoni, baby wipes, fries to name a few) that I get every 3 months!

Here is what I got for the month of November...
  • 25lbs brown sugar $13.99
  • 30lbs french fries $17.28
  • 720 ct Huggies Natural Care wipes $14.86
  • 12 ct individual size Red Baron pizza $10.76
  • 60ct Eggo waffles $8.02
  • 32 ct. Go-Gurt $7.64
  • 2pk Nilla Wafers $5.22
  • 4lbs. Goldfish crackers $7.44
  • 140 ct. Pizza Rolls $9.27
  • 5qt vanilla ice cream $5.02
  • 12pk chicken broth $5.88
  • 3pk-44oz Heinz Ketchup $6.34
  • 15oz Minced Onions $4.64
  • 5lbs Honey $9.58
  • 5lbs mild cheddar cheese $13.28
  • 2 pk-40 oz Jif Peanut Butter $7.13
  • 5 lbs Country Crock $4.42
  • 90 oz Mini asst. candy $9.28 (trick or treating candy)
  • 36 ct. Pillsbury biscuits $5.46
  • 6lbs Ore Ida Hash browns $4.88
  • 2lbs Canadian bacon $7.62
  • 5lbs frozen corn $4.76
  • 48 ct. string cheese $7.79
  • 20 oz real bacon bits $6.88
  • 3 1/2 lbs beef hot dogs $7.86
  • 5lbs pepperoni $12.57
  • 960 ct paper napkins $7.87
  • 25lbs all purpose flour $10.08

Total with tax: $237.42