It’s not going to be a huge cooking week around here. The house we live in is for sell and we get a lot of viewing during the dinner hour as people are getting off work. Can you imagine being in the middle of making lasagna and have people show up and see your messy kitchen? Two more weeks of swim class for the kids and then we will be on a new schedule to fit in with school activities. This year we will have swim, sports, choir and Girl Scouts. And that’s only the schedule for one of the kids!
Monday- Pot Roast with Potatoes, Carrots & Onions and Wheat Rolls. I’ll brown the roast in the morning and add the roast with a pack of Lipton Onion Soup Mix to the crock pot and leave it on low all day. Before leaving for swim class I will toss in the veggies and will put the ready to bake rolls to the oven when we return.
Tuesday- Baked Potatoes with Cheesy Broccoli, Chicken & Carrots and Salad and prep for Veggie Chowder. I bought a few bags of ready made diced chicken and want to use up that big bag of fresh broccoli I have. You can also try this with Morningstar Farms chick’n strips and Green Giant cheesy mixed vegetables. When the potatoes are semi-cooked, scoop out a little from the insides and stuff with vegetables, chicken and shredded cheese. Return to oven and bake 15 minutes longer to heat filling and melt cheese. Add bacon bits and chives if desired.
To prep for Veggie Chowder take scooped out potato filling plus any of the following: chopped potatoes, carrots, onion (save some from last nights pot roast), broccoli, corn, red peppers and/or bagged mixed vegetables. Collect all in large freezer bag. When it is time to make the soup dump bag into crock pot with chicken broth, milk and flour and cook on low until vegetables are tender. Use in crock pot on low if you want it to cook all day or defrost mix the night before and boil on stove to be ready in a half an hour. Add cheese just before serving. There is a recipe that I found for it if you need more specifics allrecipes.com.
Wednesday-Swim Class Night- Pinwheel Sandwiches, Mandarin Orange Cups, cheese and carrot sticks- I will prep everything ahead of time and leave in a cooler so we can eat dinner at the park after swim class. For pinwheels I am using the cheap Kraft cheese slices from Kroger and the free ham lunch meats I have in the freezer from Target. The tortillas were $1.79 at Safeway and I had $1 off plus a $.55 ecoupon. Add sun dried tomatoes, shredded lettuce or cabbage, honey mustard-whatever you have that needs to be eaten. Roll the ingredients up in the tortilla, secure with toothpick and slice into pinwheels or eat whole. Kids might like to dip these into ranch or honey mustard dressing. We’ll add some fruit cups, crackers, raisins and mozzerella sticks to the picnic box and be on our way to a fun and easy dinner.
Thursday -Frugal Dinner Night -Ziti Pasta with Sausage and Tomatoes, green beans, store bought french bread
Saute sausage with onions and bell peppers while ziti pasta is boiling. Add 1 can of diced tomatoes and jar of ready made spaghetti sauce and simmer on low. This simple dinner can be on table in 20 minutes and is great to make during the week. Here is my cost breakdown for this meal:
Ronzoni zita pasta from King Soopers FREE
Muir Glen diced tomatoes $1.25 each at Sprouts, used $1 off coupon $.25 each
Jar Classico Sauce from Safeway about $1
Italian Sausage bought at Target for $.64 each package, this is plenty for two nights
Add any left over peppers and onions you have leftover from other meals
Green Giant Steamers (FREE -if you have any left) or bagged frozen green beans from warehouse store for about $1 for 4 servings
Store bread about $2 a loaf
When I make this I usually double the sauce recipe so I can freeze it in a glass bowl for another dinner. I use glass because I have heard of freezer bags exploding and the red sauce stains plastic ware. I just take the sauce from the freezer the night before to defrost and cook the pasta for a very quick, frugal meal. Pack leftovers in single serving sized dishes as an alternative to frozen lunches/dinners.
My cost on this will be about $6.14 for two dinners and leftovers for lunch or even without leftovers this works out to be about $.76 a person for a family of four.
Friday-Family Meeting Night. Grilled Quesadillas with diced chicken, cheese and salsa, Crock- Pot Applesauce. Add peeled, diced apples to crock pot with apple juice and cinnamon and cook on low all day. Add any other ingredients that you like, such as raisins, frozen mango, anything goes. Allow to cool and mash with potato masher. Grill quesadillas on stove and serve with peppers and bite sized veggies.
Saturday- Chicken on the grill with Pineapple, rice and corn on the cob. I place the chicken breasts in a Ziploc bag when I buy them with the marinade and place in freezer until night before needed. My husband usually makes a large pot of basmati rice and then we use it for dishes throughout the week. Boil the corn and you are ready for dinner.
Sunday-Catch Up on Leftovers and Fridge Clean Out-I do like to make a nice meal on Sunday’s but I think we will be busy with finishing back to school prep so it will probably be a causal evening. Next week we will have family over to celebrate back to school so we will have something nice then.
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