Rock bottom prices on chicken and grapes this week. Doesn't look like a grand sale week but apples, oranges, eggs and some other things that my morning brain is not remembering right now were really an execeptional price. I finished the first draft of the menus at $63.0-something and went back and added another cheese, some more apples and oranges for good measure and the lasagne noodles that I had forgotten. That hardly ever happens. Usually I am crossing items off like crazy to get to a price that you and I can live with. You may want to buy less of some of the fruit, depending on what your family needs, and buy some kiwi for 4/$1 and carrots at 2 one lb. bags for $1 at Albertsons. Or some Hass avocados at Sprouts at 4 for $1. I've been told that the avocados freeze up nicely and that you can halve them, scoop out the flesh from the peels with a spoon, leave the pit in, put them in a ziplock bag with other guacamole fixins and freeze. When you take out, thaw and then mash the bag in you hand, squeeze the guac out of the bag and viola!---chip ready guacamole. And kiwis are full of vitamins, I was also told, this week as a matter of fact, that we are the only nation that peels our kiwis before we eat them. The peel is full of good stuff. A little fuzzy for me though. I have to be told to buy kiwis, I just never think to do it on my own.
Here is the final menu, at $70.85
Breakfast
1-Oatmeal
2-French toast
3-Oatmeal
4-Cold cereal, apple wedges with peanut butter
5-Cold cereal
6-Eggs, bacon(save some bacon for the chicken wraps, lunch idea #4)
7-Oatmeal
Lunch
1-PB&J sandwich, orange, Capri Sun drink
2-Chicken salad sandwich, grapes
3-PB&J sandwich, snack crackers, apple, Capri Sun drink
4-Chicken wrap(chicken pieces or slices, a strip or two of cooked bacon, lettuce, tomato and dressing of choice wrapped in a flour tortilla, wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper), grapes
5-PB&J sandwich, apple, if any are left. Or oranges. Whatever is left.
6-Hot dogs, snack crackers
7-Grilled cheese sandwich
Dinner
1-Chicken enchiladas or chicken enchilada casserole, green salad/dressing. Cook one of the chickens and use the meat for the casserole and then for chicken salad sandwiches on lunch idea #2 and chicken wraps on lunch idea #4. Enchilada casserole and enchilada recipe below.
2-Crockpot/slowcooker lasagne or regular oven baked lasagne, green salad/dressing. Pudding for dessert. You will be using the ground beef for Lasagne and sloppy joes. Freeze the remainder to use next week for something. Or form into burgers for a weekend lunch. Lasagne recipes below.
3-Oven-fried chicken, steamed or sauteed zucchini, canned corn. Cook the second chicken here. see http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cutupchicken.htm for info on cutting a whole chicken into pieces for fried chicken. See side bar for the Oven-fried chicken recipe. If the thought of cutting a whole chickie is too much for you, or if you're dangerous with sharp knives, like I am, then you have my permission to not do oven fried chicken and bake it whole instead cutting it up for eating once it's cooked.
4-Leftovers
5-Grilled cheese sandwiches. Ice cream for dessert.
6-Deli baked pizza(call Bashas deli first so that it is ready when you pick it up, it says on the ad that it takes 30 minutes.), jello, ice cream for dessert. This would be a great dinner for a softball or soccer or football practice or swim meet night. Just swing by Bashas on the way to the field or pool and you can eat once you get there. Eat your jello and ice cream when you get home.
7-Sloppy joes, canned vegetable. (Note: if you don't want to buy the sloppy joe sauce, use some ketchup, mustard and brown sugar to taste, maybe some worcestershire sauce if you have it to taste.) Use leftover buns for garlic toast or cheese toast or for hamburgers with the leftover ground beef.
Slowcooker Lasagne (MaryAnn D.)
Can I just say before you read this recipe that this is the recipe that changed my life?
I haven't met anyone who has tried this who did not think it was the best thing since
sliced bread. I know it sounds weird, but it absolutely works.
12 uncooked lasagne noodles
1 jar (28 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1/2 diced onion or 1 diced shallot, cooked in the microwave in a little olive oil for 30 secs.
1/2 to 1 lb. of browned ground beef
1 pint cottage cheese
2 C. shredded mozzarella
1/4 C. of water
some dried oregano and powdered garlic if desired
Nonstick cooking spray
Spray your crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Break noodles in half or smaller and place half of the noodles int he bottom of a 4 quart slow cooker. Spread half of the meat over the noodles. Over the beef, layer half the sauce and water, half the cottage cheese and half the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layer. Cover and cook on low heat 4 to 5 hours. Do not cook more than 5 hours.
Note: With my crockpot/slowcooker, sometimes I will cook this 4 hours on low, then the last hour or two, if I am home and preparing the rest of the meal, on high. I think that the noodles are more tender that way.
Lasagne-oven baked
9-12 cooked lasagne noodles, depending on the size of your pan
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 C. cottage cheese (or more, depending on your likes)
1-2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 lb. browned ground beef
1/2 diced onion or 1 diced shallot, cooked in a little olive oil in the microwave for 30 secs. or more(don't leave too long, it will burn)
some dried oregano and powdered garlic if desired
Drain the cooked noodles on some paper toweling, then you have to work quickly. Put a small amount of sauce on the bottom, layer 3 or four noodles into a 9x13 pan, add some cooked gr. beef, cooked onion, you may want to add a pinch of oregano and garlic powder to the meat, some sauce, some dollops of cottage cheese. Then repeat the layers starting out with more noodles. If you want lots of mozzarella, then add it to each layer. If not, then end with the mozzarella. I sometimes will add the mozzarella at the end of the cooking time so that it is not rubbery when we go to eat it. Bake at 350 until hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and let stand for 20-30 minutes. I think that this is better the next day, so make it ahead of time if you want to.
NOTE: the last time I made this I added a small can of tomato sauce to it to make it saucier.
Chicken Enchilada casserole (Dottie's Kitchen Store)
I have adapted Dottie's recipe to the way that I cook. I don't get out sauce pans and heat stuff that I am going to bake anyway. And I usually do a half of her recipe, so this is the quantity that you will have ingredients for if you shop from the grocery list that I made for you.
1/2 chopped onion, softened in the microwave in a bowl with a little olive oil, 30 secs.
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 soup can of milk
1/2 can (4 oz., so 2 oz.) chopped green chilis
1/4 to 1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 C. green chile sauce (oops, guess that I never read the recipe good before, I never add this, so do what you want)
taco size corn tortillas, you can use flour, since I have you buying flour tortillas
shredded or diced chicken meat
shredded cheddar or mexican blend cheese
Mix together onions, milk, soup, chilis, sour cream and green sauce. Then I take a 8x8 pan and spray nonstick cooking spray on it. I tear up(Dottie's recipe says to layer the tortillas, I tear them up) around 3 or 4 and put on the bottom of the pan. I then spread some chicken on top of that, some sauce, some cheese, then repeat layers ending with cheese. Bake at 350 for around 30 minutes until cheese melts and it's hot and bubbly.
When I do a full recipe, or enough for a 9x13 pan, to take to a party, I follow the recipe more closely and this is what I do:
Sauce:
1 onion, chopped and sauteed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can full of milk
1 (4 oz.) can of diced green chilis
1/2 C. (I probably add more) sour cream
1 C. green chili sauce (I have never added this before and my kids gobble it up)
Other ingred.:
Corn or flour tortillas
chicken
shredded cheese
Mix up sauce ingredients. Layer the corn tortillas(you have flour tortillas) in a 9x13 pan treated with nonstick cooking spray or oil, or tear up like I did in the smaller version. Layer with chicken, sauce, cheese, repeat layers until the casserole is full or you run out of ingredients. Bake at 350. I usually garnish if I'm taking to a potluck with chopped tomato, green onion slices and sliced black olives.
NOTE:you will have all but the can of cream of mushroom soup to make the larger version.
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
This version is a rolled enchilada. For 8x8 pan follow this recipe. For 9x13, double.
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 C. sour cream or more
some diced green chilis
diced or shredded chicken
shredded cheese
flour tortillas
Mix the soup and the sour cream together. Spray the bottom of an 8x8 pan with Pam or nonstick cooking spray. Take a flour tortilla and add meat to it, a small amount of sauce if you want and roll it up. Place in the pan. Continue until you have 4 or 5 enchiladas rolled. I then like to cut the enchiladas in half. Spread the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with cheese. Or wait until the last minutes of baking to spread the cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Double this recipe if you want to have enough for a 9x13 pan.
Here's the grocery list for this week:
Bashas'
Fresh whole chicken, .49 lb. Buy two chickens at aprox. 4 lbs. each, total, $3.92
Fresh ground beef with four lbs. or more, $1.77 lb. buy 4 lbs., at $7.08
Iceberg lettuce, .69 ea., buy 2
Gala apples, .49 lb., buy 4 lbs.
Large cheese pizza from the hot deli, $4.99. Allow 30 minutes for it to cook, call ahead
Farmland bacon, $1.99
Food Club cheese singles, .99
Food Club peanut butter, .99
Del Monte vegetables, .58, buy 2
Bashas sour cream, .99
Bashas cottage cheese, .99
Mission flour tortillas, $1.99
MP diced green chilis, 2/$1, buy 1
Food Club instant oatmeal or oats, 2/$1, buy 2
Cream of chicken soup, allowed for $1.99
onion, allowed for .50, buy 1
Food Club lasagne noodles, allowed for $1.39
Del Monte sloppy joe sauce, $1.00
Fry's
Mega 10 event
1-Kraft shredded cheese, $1.39
2-Kraft shredded cheese
3-Kraft shredded cheese
4-Nabisco snack crackers, $1.49
5-Jello instant pudding, .89
6-Jello gelatin, .89
7-Kraft salad dressing, .99
8-Oscar mayer weiners, $1.49
9-Dreyer's ice cream, $2.49
10-Capri Sun drinks, $1.39
Fry's large eggs, .77, buy 1
Fry's milk, .77 half gal., buy 4
Green seedless grapes, .67 lb., buy 2 lbs.
Zucchini, or yellow squash, $1 lb.
Kroger Value cereal, .99, buy 2
Kroger Value bread, .88, buy 4(there are 20 slices in each loaf)
Hamburger buns, allowed for $1.50, buy 1
Hot dog buns, allowed for $1.50, buy 1
Kroger Value Spaghetti sauce, $1.15
Sprouts
Navel oranges, .88 lb., buy 3 lbs. at $2.64
Vine ripe tomatoes, .88 lb., buy 2 lbs. at $1.76
Other great buys this week:
Hass avocados, 4/$1-sprouts
Lg. green pepper, 3/$1-sprouts
Breyers Ice cream, $1.99-Albertsons
Carrots, 2/$1-Albertsons
Kiwi, 4/$1-Albertsons
Fresh ground beef, .99 lb, 5 lb. chub-Fry's(if chub meat doesn't gross you out)
Kroger boneless, skinless chicken breasts, $1.57 lb., 3 lb. bag-Fry's
Bashas sandwich bread, .99-Bashas
chuck Roast value pack, $1.37 lb.-Bashas
Items not on the grocery list:
butter
jelly
mayonnaise
Pam or nonstick cooking spray
Parmesan cheese
green salsa or chili sauce
Here is the final menu, at $70.85
Breakfast
1-Oatmeal
2-French toast
3-Oatmeal
4-Cold cereal, apple wedges with peanut butter
5-Cold cereal
6-Eggs, bacon(save some bacon for the chicken wraps, lunch idea #4)
7-Oatmeal
Lunch
1-PB&J sandwich, orange, Capri Sun drink
2-Chicken salad sandwich, grapes
3-PB&J sandwich, snack crackers, apple, Capri Sun drink
4-Chicken wrap(chicken pieces or slices, a strip or two of cooked bacon, lettuce, tomato and dressing of choice wrapped in a flour tortilla, wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper), grapes
5-PB&J sandwich, apple, if any are left. Or oranges. Whatever is left.
6-Hot dogs, snack crackers
7-Grilled cheese sandwich
Dinner
1-Chicken enchiladas or chicken enchilada casserole, green salad/dressing. Cook one of the chickens and use the meat for the casserole and then for chicken salad sandwiches on lunch idea #2 and chicken wraps on lunch idea #4. Enchilada casserole and enchilada recipe below.
2-Crockpot/slowcooker lasagne or regular oven baked lasagne, green salad/dressing. Pudding for dessert. You will be using the ground beef for Lasagne and sloppy joes. Freeze the remainder to use next week for something. Or form into burgers for a weekend lunch. Lasagne recipes below.
3-Oven-fried chicken, steamed or sauteed zucchini, canned corn. Cook the second chicken here. see http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cutupchicken.htm for info on cutting a whole chicken into pieces for fried chicken. See side bar for the Oven-fried chicken recipe. If the thought of cutting a whole chickie is too much for you, or if you're dangerous with sharp knives, like I am, then you have my permission to not do oven fried chicken and bake it whole instead cutting it up for eating once it's cooked.
4-Leftovers
5-Grilled cheese sandwiches. Ice cream for dessert.
6-Deli baked pizza(call Bashas deli first so that it is ready when you pick it up, it says on the ad that it takes 30 minutes.), jello, ice cream for dessert. This would be a great dinner for a softball or soccer or football practice or swim meet night. Just swing by Bashas on the way to the field or pool and you can eat once you get there. Eat your jello and ice cream when you get home.
7-Sloppy joes, canned vegetable. (Note: if you don't want to buy the sloppy joe sauce, use some ketchup, mustard and brown sugar to taste, maybe some worcestershire sauce if you have it to taste.) Use leftover buns for garlic toast or cheese toast or for hamburgers with the leftover ground beef.
Slowcooker Lasagne (MaryAnn D.)
Can I just say before you read this recipe that this is the recipe that changed my life?
I haven't met anyone who has tried this who did not think it was the best thing since
sliced bread. I know it sounds weird, but it absolutely works.
12 uncooked lasagne noodles
1 jar (28 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1/2 diced onion or 1 diced shallot, cooked in the microwave in a little olive oil for 30 secs.
1/2 to 1 lb. of browned ground beef
1 pint cottage cheese
2 C. shredded mozzarella
1/4 C. of water
some dried oregano and powdered garlic if desired
Nonstick cooking spray
Spray your crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Break noodles in half or smaller and place half of the noodles int he bottom of a 4 quart slow cooker. Spread half of the meat over the noodles. Over the beef, layer half the sauce and water, half the cottage cheese and half the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layer. Cover and cook on low heat 4 to 5 hours. Do not cook more than 5 hours.
Note: With my crockpot/slowcooker, sometimes I will cook this 4 hours on low, then the last hour or two, if I am home and preparing the rest of the meal, on high. I think that the noodles are more tender that way.
Lasagne-oven baked
9-12 cooked lasagne noodles, depending on the size of your pan
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 C. cottage cheese (or more, depending on your likes)
1-2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 lb. browned ground beef
1/2 diced onion or 1 diced shallot, cooked in a little olive oil in the microwave for 30 secs. or more(don't leave too long, it will burn)
some dried oregano and powdered garlic if desired
Drain the cooked noodles on some paper toweling, then you have to work quickly. Put a small amount of sauce on the bottom, layer 3 or four noodles into a 9x13 pan, add some cooked gr. beef, cooked onion, you may want to add a pinch of oregano and garlic powder to the meat, some sauce, some dollops of cottage cheese. Then repeat the layers starting out with more noodles. If you want lots of mozzarella, then add it to each layer. If not, then end with the mozzarella. I sometimes will add the mozzarella at the end of the cooking time so that it is not rubbery when we go to eat it. Bake at 350 until hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and let stand for 20-30 minutes. I think that this is better the next day, so make it ahead of time if you want to.
NOTE: the last time I made this I added a small can of tomato sauce to it to make it saucier.
Chicken Enchilada casserole (Dottie's Kitchen Store)
I have adapted Dottie's recipe to the way that I cook. I don't get out sauce pans and heat stuff that I am going to bake anyway. And I usually do a half of her recipe, so this is the quantity that you will have ingredients for if you shop from the grocery list that I made for you.
1/2 chopped onion, softened in the microwave in a bowl with a little olive oil, 30 secs.
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 soup can of milk
1/2 can (4 oz., so 2 oz.) chopped green chilis
1/4 to 1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 C. green chile sauce (oops, guess that I never read the recipe good before, I never add this, so do what you want)
taco size corn tortillas, you can use flour, since I have you buying flour tortillas
shredded or diced chicken meat
shredded cheddar or mexican blend cheese
Mix together onions, milk, soup, chilis, sour cream and green sauce. Then I take a 8x8 pan and spray nonstick cooking spray on it. I tear up(Dottie's recipe says to layer the tortillas, I tear them up) around 3 or 4 and put on the bottom of the pan. I then spread some chicken on top of that, some sauce, some cheese, then repeat layers ending with cheese. Bake at 350 for around 30 minutes until cheese melts and it's hot and bubbly.
When I do a full recipe, or enough for a 9x13 pan, to take to a party, I follow the recipe more closely and this is what I do:
Sauce:
1 onion, chopped and sauteed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can full of milk
1 (4 oz.) can of diced green chilis
1/2 C. (I probably add more) sour cream
1 C. green chili sauce (I have never added this before and my kids gobble it up)
Other ingred.:
Corn or flour tortillas
chicken
shredded cheese
Mix up sauce ingredients. Layer the corn tortillas(you have flour tortillas) in a 9x13 pan treated with nonstick cooking spray or oil, or tear up like I did in the smaller version. Layer with chicken, sauce, cheese, repeat layers until the casserole is full or you run out of ingredients. Bake at 350. I usually garnish if I'm taking to a potluck with chopped tomato, green onion slices and sliced black olives.
NOTE:you will have all but the can of cream of mushroom soup to make the larger version.
Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
This version is a rolled enchilada. For 8x8 pan follow this recipe. For 9x13, double.
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 C. sour cream or more
some diced green chilis
diced or shredded chicken
shredded cheese
flour tortillas
Mix the soup and the sour cream together. Spray the bottom of an 8x8 pan with Pam or nonstick cooking spray. Take a flour tortilla and add meat to it, a small amount of sauce if you want and roll it up. Place in the pan. Continue until you have 4 or 5 enchiladas rolled. I then like to cut the enchiladas in half. Spread the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with cheese. Or wait until the last minutes of baking to spread the cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Double this recipe if you want to have enough for a 9x13 pan.
Here's the grocery list for this week:
Bashas'
Fresh whole chicken, .49 lb. Buy two chickens at aprox. 4 lbs. each, total, $3.92
Fresh ground beef with four lbs. or more, $1.77 lb. buy 4 lbs., at $7.08
Iceberg lettuce, .69 ea., buy 2
Gala apples, .49 lb., buy 4 lbs.
Large cheese pizza from the hot deli, $4.99. Allow 30 minutes for it to cook, call ahead
Farmland bacon, $1.99
Food Club cheese singles, .99
Food Club peanut butter, .99
Del Monte vegetables, .58, buy 2
Bashas sour cream, .99
Bashas cottage cheese, .99
Mission flour tortillas, $1.99
MP diced green chilis, 2/$1, buy 1
Food Club instant oatmeal or oats, 2/$1, buy 2
Cream of chicken soup, allowed for $1.99
onion, allowed for .50, buy 1
Food Club lasagne noodles, allowed for $1.39
Del Monte sloppy joe sauce, $1.00
Fry's
Mega 10 event
1-Kraft shredded cheese, $1.39
2-Kraft shredded cheese
3-Kraft shredded cheese
4-Nabisco snack crackers, $1.49
5-Jello instant pudding, .89
6-Jello gelatin, .89
7-Kraft salad dressing, .99
8-Oscar mayer weiners, $1.49
9-Dreyer's ice cream, $2.49
10-Capri Sun drinks, $1.39
Fry's large eggs, .77, buy 1
Fry's milk, .77 half gal., buy 4
Green seedless grapes, .67 lb., buy 2 lbs.
Zucchini, or yellow squash, $1 lb.
Kroger Value cereal, .99, buy 2
Kroger Value bread, .88, buy 4(there are 20 slices in each loaf)
Hamburger buns, allowed for $1.50, buy 1
Hot dog buns, allowed for $1.50, buy 1
Kroger Value Spaghetti sauce, $1.15
Sprouts
Navel oranges, .88 lb., buy 3 lbs. at $2.64
Vine ripe tomatoes, .88 lb., buy 2 lbs. at $1.76
Other great buys this week:
Hass avocados, 4/$1-sprouts
Lg. green pepper, 3/$1-sprouts
Breyers Ice cream, $1.99-Albertsons
Carrots, 2/$1-Albertsons
Kiwi, 4/$1-Albertsons
Fresh ground beef, .99 lb, 5 lb. chub-Fry's(if chub meat doesn't gross you out)
Kroger boneless, skinless chicken breasts, $1.57 lb., 3 lb. bag-Fry's
Bashas sandwich bread, .99-Bashas
chuck Roast value pack, $1.37 lb.-Bashas
Items not on the grocery list:
butter
jelly
mayonnaise
Pam or nonstick cooking spray
Parmesan cheese
green salsa or chili sauce
great idea with the avocados! Gonna try that one.
ReplyDeleteI agree, great idea. But I don't understand about leaving the pit in. You mean when you freeze it? Don't you have to remove all the pits then when you thaw it?
ReplyDeleteHi , are you going to be posting a menu for week of Sept 23rd. I am excited to use this blog and can't wait to go shopping .
ReplyDelete