Family Guide To Groceries on a Budget

I found this guide on pinterest and thought I'd give it a shot.  It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it did have some good tips and some good recipes for budget friendly meals, spices, snacks, baked goods, etc.. It was worth my $3.49 to download on my Kindle and took me about 20 minutes to read the whole thing.  I will be incorporating some of the tips and trying some of the recipes to see if I can at least downsize my grocery budget from about $75-$100 a week to anything smaller!  This guide says on average the American family of 4 spends over $700 a month just on groceries!  I'm willing to try just about anything to save a few dollars and some of these tips will be quite helpful.

Sausage Lasagna Roll-Ups

This recipe was really yummy, both my boys and my hubby loved it and I was surprised at how filling it was!  The hubby and I both took leftovers to work the next day!

8-10 whole wheat Lasagna noodles (I used 9 for our family of 4)
1 lb ground Italian Sausage
1 jar alfredo sauce
8 oz cream cheese
salt & pepper

--Boil Noodles according to package directions.  Meanwhile brown sausage.
--In a small bowl combine Alfredo sauce, cream cheese and a dash of salt and pepper.  I warmed my cream cheese in the microwave for about a minute (stirring half way through) just to soften it up a little.
--When the noodles are cooked rinse them in cool water until they are cool enough to handle.
--Add the cooked sausage to the Alfredo/Cream cheese mixture.
--Spoon a few tablespoons of the sausage mixture onto the lasagna noodles and roll them up jelly roll style and place them seam side down in a 9x13 inch baking dish. (I put some alfredo sauce in the bottom of the pan to prevent the noodles from sticking)
--I sprinkled the top of mine with some mozzerella cheese, a little parmesan cheese, and some parsley flakes
--Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until it's heated through and the cheese on top is melted.

I think next time I will add some diced tomatoes and maybe some sliced olives for color, but other than that this dish was delicious!  I'll definitely be making it again!

Orange Chicken

This recipe was fairly simple.  I think next time I'll try it without the breading though for the sake of time.  Here's the recipe I used, the only thing I would change is not breading it or pan frying it before it goes in the crock pot.

3-4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into small chunks (I used 3)
1/3 cup flour
olive oil
1/2 TBS salt
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
3 TBS ketchup
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
4 TBS brown sugar

In a bowl, mix the vinegar, ketchup, orange juice, salt, and brown sugar.  Pour the flour in a small bowl (I used a zip lock bag) and coat the chicken with the flour

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the flour covered chicken.  (It doesn't need to be fully cooked since it's going in the crock pot)

After you've browned the chicken, put it in the crock pot and pour the sauce over top.  Give it a stir to coat the chicken and let it cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours.

Serve over rice.

I added some minced garlic and red peppers to mine to bulk it up a little.  I think next time I'll add even a few more veggies than I did this time. 

Love Day Fun Foods

I know I should have posted this BEFORE Valentines day, but you can use them next year!

Use a cookie cutter to cut out bread and make sandwiches!

Make heart shaped pancakes!  Pour the batter onto the griddle in a V shape and the batter melts together into a heart shape.  Lots of fun, my 5 year old loved it!

Pretzel Buttons.  See recipe below :)

Pretzel Buttons:

6 dozen square pretzels

1 bag of Hershey's Hugs

1 bag of plain M&M's

--Spread pretzels on baking sheet.  Top with hershey hugs and bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 5 minutes.  Then press an M&M into the middle of each.  Chill in the fridge until set :)  Super yummy and really fun treat!  

*You could do this for any holiday :)  This Christmas I'll be doing this instead of dipping pretzel rods.  So much easier!  And a little bit tastier!  

Ham Steak

I don't know about you, but I could never figure out what to do with a ham steak.  And since we bought a whole pig a few months ago, it's about time I figured it out!  Thanks to google and a few recipe sites, here's my favorite way to cook a ham steak!

2 bone in ham steaks
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 small can pineapple chunks, undrained

--Put the ham steaks on a baking sheet.  Drain pineapple juice into the baking sheet and put the pineapple on top of the ham.  Sprinkle the brown sugar on top and bake at 375 degrees for about 20-30 minutes.  Tonight I served these with cheesy potatoes and steamed carrots!  Yum!  And perfect for Valentines!  My hubby's fave :)

Quick & Easy Pizza

I had never made home made pizza until tonight, and this recipe was super easy and very yummy!  I've been looking for an easy pizza crust recipe and this one did not disappoint!  I think the only thing I'd do differently next time is, brush some olive oil and seasonings over the edge of the crust so it browns a little nicer and has a little more flavor, but really this was a good basic recipe!

1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
2 1/2 cups bread flour (I used all purpose)
2 TBS olive oil
1 tsp salt

--Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In a medium bow, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water.  Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

--Stir in flour, salt and oil.  Beat until smooth.  Let rest for 5 minutes

--Turn dough out into a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan.  Spread with desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.  Let baked pizza cool for 5 minutes before serving.

For my toppings tonight I did basic cheddar and mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and a jar of Ragu pizza sauce.  My 5 year old loved it, he said "I love this pizza, it's so good" my one year old scarfed it down and we were all giggling as we kept hearing little snorts and snuffs from him while he was eating it.  The hubby loved it and is taking left overs to work tomorrow.  This is definitely a keeper and we'll be making it again!  This is a great one for the little ones to help with, putting on the toppings is fun for them!

Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Pork

This dish was super easy and super delicious!  Both my boys and the hubby loved it!  It's always a keeper if everyone likes it.  I love hearing "Mmm...this is really good" and "Yum, Thanks mom" when attempting a new or different recipe :)

3-4 pork chops
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 purple onion-chopped
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 small can pineapple tidbits-undrained

--Mix together ketchup and brown sugar.  Put pork chops in bottom of crock pot, spread ketchup mixture over chops, and add chopped onions on top.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
--30 minutes before serving add peppers and pineapple.  Serve over rice.  ENJOY!  Yum!

**I added some dried cranberries in the beginning just because I needed to use them up, and thought they'd add a little more sweetness to the pork.** 

Fruited Turkey (or chicken) Salad Pitas

This recipe came from a Taste of Home magazine.  It turned out so super yummy, my two boys and my hubby gobbled it up and LOVED it!

1/2 cup reduced fat plain yogurt
1/2 cup reduced fat mayonnaise
2 TBS lemon juice (I used lime because that's what I had on hand and forgot to get lemon at the store)
1/2 tsp pepper
4 cups cubed, cooked turkey breast (I used 2 chicken breasts, cubed and cooked them in a frying pan with salt, pepper, and a little olive oil)
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
1 medium apple, peeled and chopped (I left the peel on mine)
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped pecans
8 pita breads (6 inches), halved (I used whole wheat tortillas)
16 romaine leaves
8 slices red onion, separated into rings (I chopped mine up and added to the mixture)

--In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice and pepper.  In a large bowl, combine the turkey, celery, apple, spinach, cranberries, and pecans.  Add yogurt mixture and stir to coat.  Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

--Line pita halves with lettuce and onion; fill each with 1/2 cup turkey mixture

This seriously is going to be a "go to" meal for me when I need something simple and delicious!  It will be great for lunches too!  One of the tips in the recipe book said that using pretzels instead of nuts (due to allergies) was a good substitute.  To use pretzels it says to crumble a handful of pretzels onto a microwave safe plate and toast them in the microwave for 2-3 minutes (be sure to watch carefully to prevent burning).

Gingerbread Cookies! (no molasses required!)

This recipe was super easy, and the cookies turned out delicious!  I did learn however, that you must follow the recipe exact or they will not turn out!  I tried using shortening instead of butter and the dough just crumbled, even after adding a few tablespoons of water! So trust me, USE BUTTER!

1 (3.5 oz) pkg butterscotch pudding mix (I used vanilla)
1/2 cup BUTTER
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon

I add a pinch of nutmeg :)

-In a medium bowl, cream together the dry pudding mix, butter and brown sugar until smooth.  Stir in the egg.  Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; stir into the pudding mixture.  Cover, and chill dough until firm, about 1 hour

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease baking sheets.  On a floured board, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness (I did about 1/4 inch thickness and they came out nice and soft), and cut into man shapes using a cookie cutter.  Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

-Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are golden at the edges. (I baked them for 8.  I checked them at 8 and the edges were already browning, the came out perfectly)  Cool on wire racks

*This recipe only resulted in about 18 cookies.

Beef Stew

1 lb stew meat
2-3 carrots-peeled & chopped
1 celery stalk-chopped
4-5 medium russet potatoes-peeled and cubed
1 package beef stew seasoning (follow instructions on back) OR 2 cups beef broth, 1 cup water, garlic powder, thyme, salt & pepper

Brown stew meat on all sides
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, cover, and cook on low 6-8 hours
Serve with rolls
Enjoy!!!