Two-week Menu Plan

Steve and I have been making menu plans for over a year now. There are many reasons we do this:

1. to save money
2. we always have ingredients on hand
3. we don't have to think about what we're having for supper

Before we started making our menus, we realized that we were eating out a lot at the beginning of our marriage. This may not sound bad to some people but we had a very limited budget. I was working full-time. Steve was working part-time while looking for full-time work. We realized we couldn't continue to eat out. We were eating out for a variety of reasons:

1. We were too tired to think of what to cook for supper.
2. If we did think of something, we didn't have the ingredients on hand to make the dish and didn't want to go to the grocery store.

I had read online about making a menu plan and decided to give it a shot. We made a menu plan for one week. I didn't pay attention to the Fareway ad and just wrote down what we wanted to eat and made our grocery list from that. After spending $80 a week on groceries for awhile, I decided that was ridiculous. I think that's when I started the two-week menu plan. I would glance at the Fareway ad but not base my meals around it. It was still cheaper than our weekly grocery list and I started incorporating left-overs and using all (ok, most) of the produce I was buying. Sometime during my menu-planning adventures, I decided to make a menu plan for a month. We would write down 36 meals and then write our grocery list. We would buy all non-perishables and the first two weeks' perishables. The third week we would buy the last two weeks' perishables. This sounds great in theory and as I'm writing this, I'm thinking We should do that again. But I remember why we stopped doing it. It is very hard to sit down and decide what we're going to eat for the next month. It takes a good hour to make the menu plan and then it takes about an hour (more or less) to make the grocery list. It did save time in the long run but we decided to switch back to our two-week menu plan. I've finished writing our menu plan for the next two weeks. I'm pretty excited because it re-uses a lot of ingredients and I'm using my crock-pot at least 5 times. Without further ado, here is my menu plan:

Sunday Dec. 26th

gone

Monday Dec. 27th

grilled cheese, tomato soup

Tuesday Dec 28th Crockpot Day

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, fruit and veggies

Wednesday Dec. 29th

boneless beef ribs, fruit and veggies

Thursday Dec. 30th Crockpot Day

Ham, Knorr rice side, veggies and fruit

Friday Dec. 31st

Shredded meat sandwiches, veggies and fruit

Saturday Jan. 1st Crockpot Day

Ham and Lentil Soup, veggies and fruit

Sunday Jan. 2nd

Orange Chicken, rice

Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, veggies, fruit

Monday Jan. 3rd Crockpot Day

Three Bean Vegetarian Chili, Texas toast

Tuesday Jan. 4th

left-overs

Wednesday Jan. 5th

ground beef with rice and Rotel tomatoes

Thursday Jan. 6th Crockpot Day

Hodgepodge Sloppy Joes, veggies, fruit

Friday Jan. 7th

Chicken Noodle Soup

Saturday Jan. 8th

left-overs/catch-up meal

I have a plan!

Yesterday we were in the midst of a snow storm. We didn't get a lot of snow but it was very windy and snow was blowing everywhere. I decided to not go anywhere except the grocery store. I really wouldn't have even gone there but our fridge was empty. Literally empty. I sat down with Steve to make our menu for the next two weeks and make our grocery list. Yesterday was also a good day to decide what I wanted to bake next weekend. (I'm all about planning ahead... anybody know what they're giving their mom and grandma next year for Christmas? I do!) I brought out my personal cookbook and flipped through it. I considered some family favorites and some new recipes. Here's the list:

Cranberry bread

Chocolate chip-Butterscotch chip cookies

Oreo balls

Peanut butter cookies

Peanut brittle

Mt. Dew cake

Marble cake

Most of this will be going to my grandma's for Christmas. I already have some cookies in the freezer from my cookie swap in October. I also plan to make a goodie tray and the Mt. Dew cake for the bake sale at work. I've never made cranberry bread. I bought two bags of cranberries for Thanksgiving. I only used one bag and saw the recipe on the back. The recipe sounds good so I decided to try it. The chocolate chip-butterscotch chip cookies are my classic recipe. I figured I should throw something easy into the mix! Peanut butter cookies are my brother's favorite and I just couldn't resist making them for him. I've never made the oreo balls but the recipe only has 3 ingredients... how easy is that?! I plan to make the marble cake because, well, I need the practice! May is not that far away and I need to get it just right for Darcy's graduation. And last but not least is the peanut brittle. I found this recipe online. I don't really care for peanut brittle but my dad loves it. I plan to make it as part of his Christmas gift. He is still getting his traditional box of chocolate covered cherries. For the goodie tray for work, I plan to take a few cookies from each batch and some peanut brittle. I think that will make a nice arrangement.

If anybody wants to help, come over!

In search of marble cake

My little sister is one of the coolest people I know. And no, that's not sarcasm. I adore Darcy. I would do anything for her. In fact, I am. I told our mom that I would make her graduation cakes. I was thinking something simple like chocolate, white or yellow or even cupcakes. I asked Darcy what kind of cake she wanted the last time I was home. She thought about it for awhile and said "You know, I've always liked marble cake." Oh, boy. You see, I had never made a marble cake before. I didn't even have a recipe for marble cake. I told her that I would find a recipe for marble cake and give it a shot. My mom had two recipes which I made copies of. My grandma threw a curve ball into the mix by saying that my Great Grandma used to make a marble cake that was a mix of yellow, chocolate and spice cake. She couldn't find the recipe but I took Great Grandma's spice cake recipe. We'll see what happens. I also subscribe to Penzey's spice catalog (I've never ordered from them but I do like looking at the recipes... I told you that I have a problem!). The latest catalog had a recipe for marble cake. I made a marble cake from one of Mom's recipes for a pot luck at work. It was a tad dry. Tonight I made the marble cake from Penzey's. It wasn't dry but I still think it needs some work. Practice makes perfect and I really hope that my coworkers and Steve's like marble cake because they're going to be eating a lot of it in the next 5 months!

Cran-Apple Butter

I made the cranberry apple butter yesterday. I peeled and sliced 11 apples. The original recipe calls for 14. I know it sounds like a lot but you get a lot of apple butter. I had a cup and a half of cranberry sauce left over from Thanksgiving. My little sister would be shocked. She loves cranberry sauce. I added the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. I did cut down on the amount of ground cloves going in. The original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon but I changed it to 1/4 teaspoon. I wasn't sure how cloves and cranberries would taste together. The cranberry-apple butter turned out great but I can't really taste the cranberries in it. The apple butter has a slight tang to it but not a lot. I do like it though. I put some in the freezer containers and the rest in a left over glass jar. The glass jar went into the fridge because I did not want to clean apple butter out of my freezer after the jar exploded! I plan to give my grandma some of the first batch of apple butter and I think I'll give her some cran-apple butter too. My mom might like some too. I think I'm addicted to making it!

Thanksgiving and Left-overs

This past Thursday I hosted Thanksgiving for Steve's parents and his twin brother. I popped the turkey in the oven at 10 AM. Most of the side dishes were made in advance. The only things that weren't made in advance were the corn, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Steve cut his finger on our new peeler trying to peel the potatoes. After getting him bandaged up, I took over peeling potatoes. Linda, David and Nathan arrived while I was peeling potatoes. They brought cookies, a cheese ball and crackers. Nathan forgot to bring the rolls. I gave him a hard time about it and then told him we had some Grand's biscuits in the fridge he could make. Linda helped make the potatoes and helped me transfer the turkey to the serving dish. In all, the meal went very well. The turkey turned out great which I was the most nervous about. I also made homemade gravy for the first time using the turkey drippings. The seven layer jell-o salad did not turn out that well. A couple of the layers with carnation milk didn't completely set. I was disappointed but didn't let it ruin my day. I had a great time talking with Linda. The boys and David were at the table talking so Linda and I took control of the TV. I switched it to ABC family and we watched a little of Snow White. Steve and I had watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade before everyone arrived.

We had a lot of left-overs, mainly turkey. I did send some food home with Nathan. Linda turned down taking left-overs because they had more traveling to do during the weekend and no way to store the food properly. For this week's menu plan, I put turkey noodle soup and turkey pot pie. I'm hoping we can use all of the turkey left-overs that way. If not, we'll have BBQ turkey sandwiches. I made the turkey noodle soup today and it tasted great. Chicken noodle soup is one of my favorites. I used that recipe and subbed turkey for the chicken. I also decided to make cranberry apple butter using the left-over cranberry sauce. My sister Kat had sent me a recipe for apple butter that I've tried and liked. I'm adding the cranberry sauce to it and hoping that it turns out well. The cranberry apple butter is made using the crock pot so I will turn it on tomorrow before I leave for work. I'm so anxious to smell it! I love coming home to a yummy smelling apartment.

Let's Get Ready To...

This year I'm hosting Thanksgiving for my in-laws. This was a random decision that Steve and I made when we learned he had to work Thanksgiving evening. I love the holidays and decided that there was no reason we couldn't have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We decided to invite his parents and twin brother to celebrate with us. We've been planning this for a month. I've asked my grandma for advice on turkeys, cranberry sauce and jell-o layer salad. I've even called her from the grocery store. She has been very patient with me and given me all of her secrets. Most of the secrets are "follow the directions" and "keep it simple". Today I premade what I could. I assembled the green bean casserole. I made both pumpkin and apple pies. Steve made squash and I made the cranberry sauce. I also made the jell-o salad. There's only one layer to go and it will be done. The table is set and a card table is out in anticipation of how much food we're going to have. I did spread a white tablecloth on the card table to make it look a little better. Grandma's decorative pilgrims have been given a place of honor next to my other grandparents' wedding picture... have to keep my family in the dinner somehow! The cranberries made a fun popping sound as I was making the cranberry sauce. Oh the little things. Lol! The pie crust almost killed me but me being my mother's daughter, I refuse to give in and buy pie crust. Gross. I think the pies turned out alright. The green bean casserole needs the French-fried onions sprinkled on it tomorrow and it can be popped into the oven with the turkey. Oh the turkey... I've never made a turkey before. But there is a first time for everything. I keep telling myself that even if it doesn't go according to plan, it'll make a great story. And I love a good story. I'm also doing something most of my family members have not done... cooking Thanksgiving dinner! My grandma has cooked it every year since before I was born. It makes me a little happy to think that I'm taking on a challenge that most of my family (including my mom!) hasn't done. Wish me luck!

Cookie Swap and Family Recipes

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a cookie swap. My cookie swap was by no means a traditional cookie swap. With a traditional cookie swap, the participants bake their cookies at home and bring them to the swap. I decided it was more fun to bake all of the cookies together at my apartment... and I was right! My sister-in-law and niece came from Sioux Falls. A couple of my college friends, who I don't see enough, came as well as a couple of friends that I see fairly often. My kitchen was armed with 2 Kitchenaid mixers (the holy grail of kitchens), measuring cups, cooling racks and any other baking necessity we thought necessary. I bought new spatulas and wooden spoons for the event. I needed them and had put off buying them... the swap finally gave me a reason to get them. A great time was had by all as we measured, mixed, scooped batter, talked and laughed. I was very happy and relieved to see that the group mixed well. Each participant knew one other person other than me but not everyone. My college friends stayed long after everyone else had gone home. We reminisced about college days and laughed at the fun we had. We also talked about life after college and the many surprises (some pleasant, others not) that had occurred. It was great fun and I look forward to seeing them again.

This past weekend I went home for my little sister's play. Side note: the play was fantastic and I was extremely proud of her. I stayed at my grandma's house and was able to talk turkey with her... literally. I'm hosting Thanksgiving for my in-laws this year and needed advice. I've never made a turkey before and wanted my grandma's secrets. Her big secret: get the Reynold's cooking bags and follow the directions. I also needed her secret for the cranberry sauce. My little sister loves it and even though, she's not going to be at my Thanksgiving, I wanted my family traditions to be there. Grandma looked at me and said "Buy the Ocean Spray cranberries and follow the directions." All these years, I thought these were secret family recipes and I could have easily gone to the grocery store and gotten them! When I arrived at Grandma's, she had made some cookies for her church's annual bazaar and let me have some. The cookies were delicious and when I asked for the recipe, she said it was in the family cookbook. This posed a little problem for me. I had the family cookbook years ago but between moving to college and then to my own apartment and having some momentos at my parents' house, I can't find my copy. When I told Grandma, she promptly went to the cupboard and got my great-grandma's copy. Great Grandma was such a treasure to our family and still is. Great Grandma and I shared a special bond and I miss her tremedously. Great Grandma had written notes in her family cookbook so I have her recipe notes written in her beautiful hand-writing. I will treasure this cookbook forever and never lose it.