Fried vs Baked Bacon

The last time I went to fix bacon I decided that I was going to try baking it rather than frying it.  I heard and read of many people baking their bacon and the reviews were making me start to think twice about frying it.  However, I am have been a die hard bacon frying person only so making the change seemed so hard to do! I have picky eaters to worry about and just the thought of "change" seemed to haunt me. But I pressed on and made the effort to trying to bake some bacon!

In order to make the change over to baking the bacon,  I decided that I would fry half of a pound of bacon in my skillet.

I baked the rest of the pound of bacon in the oven at 400°on my Pampered Chef large baking pan(jelly roll style pan with edges to catch the grease).

(fried on the left, baked on the right)

Here is the results:

Fried:

• more greasy
• more crispy
• cooked to smaller pieces
• more wavy--not really flat for putting on a sandwich!
• had grease to clean up all over my stove!

Baked:

• thicker pieces
• flatter pieces that fit better on a sandwich
• crispy yet chewy
• less greasy
• less mess
• took less time and less watchful eye

Overall Results: The baked bacon got rave reviews from my family! My "picky eater" hubby raved about the baked bacon!!  He told me that he would appreciate it if I baked the bacon from now on because he enjoyed it so much.  He said that it tasted more like how the restaurants cook their bacon. My kids even could tell a difference between the cooking styles. They enjoyed it as well.

So this Momma is making a change in her kitchen!!  I am switching to baking the bacon!

This post is linked to: 

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
  
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
• Tuesdays at the Table over at All the Small Stuff!

Menu Plan Monday 11/22-11/28

Last week’s menu plans went well!  I was able to do my grocery shopping on Wednesday last week so I could finish my menu planning. It feels good to have a stocked freezer and pantry again so that meals are not so hard to plan.  

This week’s meals are simple meals aside from turkey dinner on Thursday.  As it stands right now it will be just my immediate family (hubby & my 5 kids) here for Thanksgiving.  Since it is just the seven of us, I will not be going to great lengths for a big spread of food but just what we would normally do for a big dinner.  I will also do a special dessert/treat on that day that I normally wouldn’t do if it was just our simple weekly dinner.   Things could change though as we talked to one of our pastors at church who is in charge of the college ministry.  We told him if there was any college adults that needed a place to go for Thanksgiving, our home was open for them to come and enjoy a home cooked meal!  If we have anyone come it will be just a matter of changing the amount of potatoes I mash and the amount of veggies I do because I have a 12 lb turkey that I am cooking!

For this week’s lunches that are for the kids and me except for Thursday and Friday! Unless we are having leftovers, our lunches are served with apple slices or carrot sticks along with fruit juice or water.  Hubby usually takes a dinner leftover along with various snacks for his work lunch so I don’t take the time to plan his lunches.  Hubby only has to work through Wednesday so lunches at the end of the week will be a little different from the usual fare.

I went shopping at the grocery stores and Sam’s Club on Wednesday!  I have enough food now in the house that I will make it through the next two weeks without too much trouble. I am really beginning to love this shopping every two weeks rather than the weekly trips.  Doing these every two week trips will be beneficial through the winter months because of the not knowing when I might not be able to make it during a week.

A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus; go check the over 300 other delicious meal plans that have been linked at Laura-Organizing Junkie's site or look down in my right sidebar for my menu suggestion lists!

Sunday (11-22)

Breakfast: eggs, sausage, hash browns, and donuts

Lunch: pizza  

Dinner: Wendy’s (after church)

Snack: snack basket

Monday (11-23)

Breakfast: cereal and donuts or banana bread

Lunch: homemade lunchables or sandwich and chips

Dinner: beef gravy served over egg noodles and peas for veggie

Snack: snack basket

Tuesday (11-24)

Breakfast:  waffles and sausage

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner:  chicken clubs served with fries and corn

Snack: snack basket

Wednesday (11-25)

Breakfast:  bagels and cereal

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner:  saucy chicken served with rice and green beans

Snack: snack basket

Thursday (11-26) HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Breakfast:  Pancakes and sausage

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: roasted turkey, mashed taters & gravy, sweet potatoes, corn, homemade bread and easy pudding pie

Snack: snack basket

Friday (11-27)

Breakfast:  cereal and toast

Lunch: sandwich & chips

Dinner: pizza & fries

Snack: ice cream night

Saturday (11-28)

Breakfast:  Your Choice

Lunch: turkey leftovers

Dinner:  oven fried chicken, fries and corn

Snack: popcorn

Monthly Sam's Run--November

This month's shopping at Sam's Club was a bit of a bummer because I didn't prepare my list as well as I should have and ended up getting to the store and realizing that there was about 5 items that I missed on the list so my in the head total was different from the actual total! Also my total was not helped any by finding boneless/skinless chicken breasts for $1.77/lb!!  That is the cheapest I have seen it for awhile in my area so I got 19 lbs!! They were also out of a couple of things that I needed so I will probably have my hubby swing by there in a couple of weeks to pick them up.

Here is the breakdown of what I spent at Sam's this month:

• 720 ct. Huggies baby wipes $14.93
• 6.10 lbs boneless/skinless chicken tenders $13.24
• 19.09 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breasts $33.79
• 5 quarts vanilla ice cream $5.12
• 2 bags chips $5.98
• 2-60oz Country Crock $6.44
• 300 ct. Loratadine(Claritin) $11.72
• 5lbs mild cheddar cheese $9.75
• 4.65 lbs beef round roast $13.30
• 5 lbs frozen cut corn $4.98
• 6lbs Ore Ida Hashbrowns $5.38
• 5lbs wide egg noodles $5.88
• 72 ct Kraft american cheese $6.67
• 12 ct. Red Baron mini pizzas $9.98
• 1 gallon Mrs. Butterworth syrup $5.84
• 3.75 lbs Argo baking powder $5.47
• 3 liters Members Mark Olive Oil $14.46
• 72 ct. Totinos pizza rolls $8.98
• 1.25 gallons Mazola Canola Oil $8.12
• 3-44oz Heinz Ketchup $6.23
• 2-40oz Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce $5.42
• 2-32oz Hydrogen Peroxide $1.98
• 36 ct. Kelloggs Poptarts $6.28
• 7 lbs light brown sugar $4.58
• 12 cans low sodium chicken noodle soup $7.88
• 150 loads Downy $9.77

Total with 6% sales tax: $234.47

Weekly Shopping Trip---Savings $218.25

I haven't done any major grocery shopping since the beginning of November so shopping was a necessity this week! I still had several items to work with in my pantry and freezer but things were getting a bit lean.  I did head into the stores last week just long enough to buy some milk!  It felt a little weird not shopping the deals but it felt good to take a break and save the money to pay off debt instead.

After shopping this week at the grocery stores and doing my monthly Sam's run, I am not planning on any major grocery shopping until the first week in December!  I still need to plan out the menus for next couple of weeks but just on the rough figuring I think it will be doable.

The day before grocery shopping, I stopped into Walgreens to grab a gallon of milk at $1.89 for breakfast the next day! I took the last gallon of 2% milk that they had on the shelf. I didn't think to ask if they had any more because that is way cheaper per gallon than what the grocery stores have been lately.

I also had to make a trip to one of the bakery outlets due to only having one loaf of bread in the house!  My family is just picky enough that they don't like my homemade bread for sandwiches so I get bread at the outlets and save the homemade bread for a side with dinner meals!

Here is what I purchased at the Aunt Millie's bakery outlet:

• 2 loaves Early American bread $1.18 (reg. $3.59 each)
• 2 loaves Butter Top sandwich bread $1.78 (reg. $3.19 each )
• 2 loaves Kopplinger's sandwich bread $1.78 (reg. $2.39 each)
• 2 pkgs Aunt Millie's bagels $1.98 (reg. $3.59 each)
• 1 pkg Aunt Millie's deli sub buns 79¢ (reg. $2.99 each)
• 1 pkg Aunt Millie's dinner rolls 79¢ (reg. $3.49 each)
• 5 Texas size cinnamon rolls $1.99 (reg. 99¢ each)
• 3 pkg 8ct Hamburger buns $2.07 (reg. $1.99 each)
• 1 loaf Texas Toast bread $2.09 (reg. 2.99 each)
• 2 pkgs Brown N Serve rolls $1.38 (reg. 1.99 each)

Total OOP: $15.83
Total Savings:  $32.07
Total without outlet prices: $47.90

After looking over my receipt and knowing what bread products that I purchased I am convinced that I was overcharged at the outlet this time around!  The brown N serve rolls were to be free with a $5 purchase and I am sure that the Texas Toast was only to be $1.49!  Hummm...is it worth it to go back for the extra savings??  Probably not, as it would be a hassle and the cost of gas to go back would outweigh the savings of the bread.  The lesson is learned though to take my calculator into the store with me and figure out the total to compare to what they ring up at the register.

Here is what I purchased at the grocery stores this week:

Family Fare:

• 3 family bags breaded chicken tenders $13.77
• 4 bags Freshlike frozen corn $2.17
• 2 pks Danimals smoothies $2.00
• 2 lbs stick margarine $1.58
• 2 lbs I can't believe its not butter $2.34
• 4 bottles Juicy Juice $8.00
• 4 cans Carnation evap. milk $3.00
• 1 box corn starch 89¢
• 4 tubes Pillsbury biscuits $3.10
• 4 tubes Pillsbury cinnamon rolls $4.10
• 4 tubes Pillsbury crescent rolls $4.50
• 2 boxes Post Raisin Bran $3.67
• 1 box Fruit Stickers $1.50
• 2 boxes Cocoa Puffs $2.00
• 1 box Cinnamon Toast Crunch $1.50
• 1 Keebler ready pie graham crust $1.11
• 2 boxes Jiffy Muffin mix $1.50
• 1 box Bakin' Miracle mix $1.79
• 2 containers Breyers Icecream $4.74
• 4 bags Nestle chocolate chips $7.52 
• 2 boxes Nestle hot cocoa $3.00
• 3 boxes 12 ct Poptarts $7.37
• 7.32 lbs ground chuck $14.56
• 1.86 lbs beef stew meat $4.63
• .92lbs beef stir fry meat $3.21
• 2 gallons milk $4.00
• 32 lbs russet potatoes $3.96
• 2 lbs bacon $3.76
• 2-18ct eggs $2.96
• 12.58 lb hen turkey $4.78
• 4-12 pks Dr. Pepper $14.68(with MI 10¢ bottle deposit)

Total OOP: $137.98

Total Savings: $104.66

Total without sales & coupons: $242.64

Meijer: 

• 2.86lbs bananas $1.12
• 2 pkgs smoky links $5.98
• 1.16lbs deli turkey $4.62
• 10.47lbs Butterball turkey $7.69
• 4 cans Swanson beef broth $2.11
• 2 containers sour cream $1.98
• 1 pk. Aunt Millies dinner rolls 74¢
• 4 jars Ragu sauce $1.96 (49¢ each!!!)
• 2-6pk Motts Applesauce $2.34
• 2 jars Motts Applesauce $2.34
• 4 bottles Motts Apple Juice $4.68
• 2 lbs I can't believe its not butter 88¢
• 1 box Pillsbury brownie mix $1.39
• 1 Sara Lee pound cake 84¢
• 1 Sara Lee cheesecake $2.64
• 3 pkgs Pillsbury ready to bake cookies $4.42
• 1 pkg Jimmy Dean sausage patties 99¢
• 1 bag Doritos $2.00
• 3 boxes Kelloggs cereal $5.00
• 2 boxes Keebler graham crackers $4.98
• 2 lbs Tilapia fish $5.98
• 1 bag Nature Valley Nut Clusters $2.14
• 1 McCormick's cream of tarter $2.14
• 1 bag 50/55 shrimp $3.99
• 5 boxes Banquet brown n serve sausage $5.00
• 3-12pks sierra mist $11.91(with MI 10¢ bottle deposit)
• 2-2 liter Pepsi $1.95(with MI 10¢ bottle deposit)

Total OOP: $91.86

Total Savings: $80.04(Meijer promotions $15.00, Non-coupon savings $49.94, Coupon savings $15.10)

Total without sales & coupons: $171.90

Grand Total OOP: $247.56
Grand Total Savings: $218.25
Grand Total without sales & coupons: $464.43


This post is linked to: 

• Super Savings Saturday at MoneySavingMom!
• Grocery Shopping Round Up at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

Menu Plan 11/15-11/21

Last week’s menu plans went well!  I actually was able to do everything I planned to do!  We are also still dealing with sickness/flu in the house so it was good having a plan to work with this past week.  Hopefully, everyone(including me!) will be fully recovered soon so that I can start on getting some holiday baking/cooking done!

This week’s meals are clean out the freezer and pantry meals.  We are working at getting a loan in place for us to get a new furnace and air conditioner due to our broken furnace hence no heat! So I am working at seeing how far the items that we have left in the freezer and pantry can stretch this week. Hubby would be pleased if I could make it to at least Wednesday preferably Thursday before I did any kind of grocery shopping just so if we need to put a down payment on the work we can do it.  If meals start looking like a mix and match that is because we are using up the odds and ends.

For this week’s lunches that are for the kids and me!  Unless we are having leftovers, our lunches are served with apple slices or carrot sticks along with fruit juice or water.  Hubby usually takes a dinner leftover along with various snacks for his work lunch so I don’t take the time to plan his lunches.

There was no shopping trip this past week!  I have only been in the store long enough to pick up milk and some hash browns for Sunday morning breakfast.  Since this is actually payday week, hopefully I will make it to the store by the end of the week!  I need to do a big shop, including my monthly Sam’s Club run!

A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus; go check the over 300 other delicious meal plans that have been linked at Laura-Organizing Junkie’s site or look down in my right sidebar for my menu suggestion lists!

Sunday (11-15)

Breakfast: eggs, sausage, hash browns, and cinnamon rolls

Lunch: leftover pizza subs

Dinner: McDonald’s (after church)

Snack: snack basket

Monday (11-16)

Breakfast: cereal and coffee cake

Lunch: leftover burgers and chips

Dinner: chicken stew sandwiches(used leftover chicken), pan fries, and green beans

Snack: snack basket

Tuesday (11-17)

Breakfast:  waffles and sausage

Lunch: sandwich & chips

Dinner:  spaghetti and garlic toast

Snack: snack basket

Wednesday (11-18)

Breakfast:  bagels and cereal

Lunch: sandwich & chips

Dinner:  chicken cordon bleu & sloppy joes, fries and carrot sticks

Snack: snack basket

Thursday (11-19)

Breakfast:  French Toast and sausage

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: ??? if I make it to the store it will be: smothered chicken, boiled potatoes, and corn

Snack: snack basket

Friday (11-20)

Breakfast:  cereal and toast

Lunch: sandwich & chips

Dinner:  ?????

Snack: ice cream night

Saturday (11-21)

Breakfast:  Your Choice

Lunch: ????

Dinner:  ?????

Snack: popcorn