Pantry Challenge

Unlike so many others that took part of the eat from your pantry and freezer challenge, I did NOT like it!. It was fun the first week and a half but then I started thinking about the sales I was missing and I started fretting about how things would look in our pantry and freezer by mid February.

My husband is a contract worker so like this week so far he has been home every day but last week he worked 50.5 hours. We never know when the work will come so I try to keep the pantry and freezer full knowing we may really need it. As the challenge went on I kept feeling like I was being irresponsible because I was not taking advantage of sales and coupons.

As far as sticking to it we did pretty good; I did have to buy crackers the first week because Scott was taking soup several days to work for lunch and he wanted some and then on week two I bought coffee. I really thought about trying to go without it but the alternative was not a pretty thought. Then on Tuesday I was done with this! We had run out of tea bags, sugar and were almost out of bread flour, Scott and I went to Sam's and got what we needed and found some meat on clearance! I am finishing out the menu and not using the meat until February but if I see a good sale I am heading to the store!

I did learn several things though: 1. I like planning but enjoy flexibility 2. I need to stock up on more full meal things not just bits and pieces 3. I need to keep a better inventory and rotate the freezer more 4. I can make do if I have to 5. I like having my menu two weeks put but a month is too much for me! I can make some pretty yummy pasta sauce from scratch!

Meal Plan Monday: Last Week of Challange!

This is the last week of eating from our pantry and freezer and I am glad!

Monday- Chicken enchiladas for me, beef for the guys, black beans, and Spanish rice

Tuesday- Beef Burgundy over noodles, salad and rolls Recipe below

Wednesday- Chicken and rice, green beans and maybe a salad

Thursday- Waffles, hash browns and eggs- did not make last week

Friday- Quick Lemon Pasta and French bread

Saturday- Pizza and movies

Sunday- Pork roast, roasted taters and corn


Beef Burgundy Simplified From The Urban Homemaker
This freezes very well!

2 T. oil
18 small white onions, peeled (or frozen)
3-5 pounds beef chuck, cut in 1 1/2 inch cubes
2 T flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1-2 C. Burgundy or other dry red cooking wine
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 Cup beef stock or canned beef bouillon)
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 T. chopped parsley
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. thyme
3/4 pound fresh mushrooms
2 T. butter

Lightly brown the onions in the oil and remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Pat meat dry between paper towels and brown it on all sides in the same pot without crowding. You may have to do it in batches. Sprinkle browned meat with flour, salt, and pepper. Add wine, garlic, stock, tomato sauce and herbs. Over heat bring the mixture to a simmer and then cook it,m tightly covered for two or more hours or until the meat is fork tender. Add the onions after one hour.

Meanwhile, wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth and trim off stem ends. Quarter mushrooms if large, leave small ones whole. Heat the butter and remaining % of oil in a large skillet and lightly saute the mushrooms for about 4 minutes and set aside.

When done, skim off any fat and add the mushrooms. Voila! Beef burgundy! After cooling, it can be refrigerated or frozen at this point. If the sauce is too thin, combine 2 TB flour with 1/2 Cup water and whisk the mixture into boiling beef burgundy. We like to serve this over egg noodles.



Chicken and Rice
Ingredients:
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or 25% Less Sodium)
1 cup water *
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Directions:
Mix soup, water, rice, paprika and black pepper in 2-qt. shallow baking dish. Top with chicken. Season with additional paprika and pepper. Cover.
Bake at 375°F. 45 min. or until done.

*For creamier rice, increase water to 1 1/3 cups. After cooking cover with foil and place in a 2 gallon freezer bag

Be sure to visit The host of Menu Plan Monday for more meal ideas and recipes.

Abundance

Well for those of you who have found your way here and have checked back you have probably noticed very little activity and I am sorry. I really wanted to start the year off right and try to post daily or at least every other day but life has not worked out that way. We have had an abundance of many things lately but not an abundance of simplicity!

So whom should I blame for a rather hectic and busy month? Myself of course! I was so firm with myself at the end of the year as I set goals for myself in many areas and the biggest one was to work on keeping things low key and simple. That is SOOOOO easier said than done.

I thought I was doing it but then when home, school, work, church, pleasure and life in generals calendars merged it was anything but simple. Most of it was because of oral commitments I made without looking at my calendar and without thinking about the fact that sewing orders would also come in that would need done.

I often times think life would be so much easier if I found a job outside of the house again in the nursing field but I know that is just more of that life is greener junk that I all too often fall for!

So... I have put some things on hold and made some changes. Last Wednesday was my last night to teach at church for six weeks, this week-end I have been putting inventory limits on almost all my clothing items in our store, on e-bay and on etsy plus I have limited myself to 4 custom orders a month. Our menu is getting a little simpler and I am going to cut back on trips out of the house, especially the post office. Right now I go daily to try to keep my rating high on e-bay but it is wearing me out and unnecessary. I think every other day will work out much better and save a little gas. I will also be shutting my computer down more during the day to lessen the distraction it can be.

I am also working on setting some real workable "work hours" and include a day off. I am also scheduling a day out every week with the boys, we have done this most of their lives but somehow over the last year or so it has gotten sporadic at most. They are always asking to go downtown and I usually have to say no we are too busy. I know all to well after our daughter leaving home that those memories we make with them daily are so precious for us and for them.

Well this has gotten lengthy and I am going to go play cards with my boys! I will try to post our menu later tonight.

Menu Plan Monday

So far we have done pretty good on eating from our pantry and sticking to the menu. This week is a little busy during the day and evenings so I tried to keep the meals quick and simple! I will give you an update on the pantry challenge Monday afternoon.

Monday- Vegetable Soup and salad

Tuesday- Sub sandwiches and fruit

Wednesday- Chicken pot pie and rolls

Thursday- Stir fry and fried rice

Friday- Taco soup served with tortillas

Saturday- Waffles, hash browns and fruit

Sunday- Raviolis, salad and french bread


Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 (16 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (16 oz.) can kidney beans – no need to rinse I used home made
1 (16 oz.) can corn – don’t drain
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies)
1 pkg. taco seasoning I use the homemade recipe below


Brown the ground beef and onion. Mix together with all other ingredients. Simmer at least 1 hour, or all day in the crock pot!


Taco Seasoning makes 1 cup
Ingredients:
12 teaspoons chili powder
10 teaspoons paprika
9 teaspoons ground cumin
6 teaspoons onion powder
5 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:
In storage container with tight-fitting lid, combine all ingredients; mix well. Seal tightly. Store in cool, dry place for up to 6 months.

Looking for more ideas, be sure to visit I'm an organizing junkie

Courage

I teach the 3-6 yr olds on Wednesday night at church and the last few weeks we have been talking about Gideon and having courage so when I saw this quote it really stuck with me and I wanted to share it.

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others."
Robert Lewis Stevenson

Can you imagine how things could have gone for Gideon and his 300 men if he had not shown courage and been a strong leader? How 'bout you, do you whine and throw your fears about to others or do you gather up courage in the Lord to get through your day?

Menu Plan Monday

Well it is 9:00 pm but better late than never.

Monday- Spaghetti and French bread

Tuesday- Burritos and Spanish rice. The beef is already cooked and seasoned in the freezer and I canned the beans last week.

Wednesday- Sticky Chicken, taters and corn

Thursday- Sausage and rice in a Spanish seasoned tomato sauce

Friday- Homemade chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, and green beans

Saturday- Minestrone soup

Sunday- Savory beef over noodles, salad, and rolls

Be sure to visit the host of Menu Plan Monday for more recipes and inspration.

Out For A Few Days

I am so sorry to do this, especially since I just started this blog, but I will probably be away for a few days.

This last week has been busy trying to get the new bedroom and sewing studio in order and then this morning our heater broke down and the part will not be in until Monday. My computer is located in the coldest room of our house so I will probably not be on until Monday afternoon.

Never fear though I am getting ready to go sit by the fireplace with our laptop and work on some post however it does not have wifi and we took the connection port out of the front room last week because I said it was not needed. Alas I will type and dream of being online.

Have a great rest of your week-end!

Menu Plan Monday

This will be our first full week to eat from our pantry and freezer. Other than fresh veggies, milk and ketchup I will not be buying any groceries.

Monday Lunch Grilled Cheese sandwiches and baked fries
Dinner Baked Potatoes, salad and rolls

Tuesday Lunch Soup
Dinner Chicken Marsala and French bread

Wednesday Lunch Qusadillas
Dinner Black Bean Tostadas and Spanish rice

Thursday Lunch Sandwiches
Dinner Waffles, hash brown and eggs

Friday Lunch Pitas and fresh fruit
Dinner Pizza

Saturday Lunch left overs
Dinner French Stew recipe below and french bread

Sunday Lunch Sandwiches
Dinner Savory Beef, rolls and salad Savory Beef recipe from Once-a-Month Cooking

French Stew Recipe
This recipe is so easy because for the most part you chop it all up, put in the pan and forget about it!

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup white wine you can substitute it for water or broth
2 cups chopped carrot
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
16 ounces of peas canned or frozen
8.5 ounces of green beans canned or frozen
1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes (we left those out last night)
1 bay leaf

Preparation
Preheat oven to 300°.
Heat oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic; cook 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef to pan; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2-3 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve with fresh French bread.

Note: To make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours.

For more of this week’s meal planning ideas and recipes visit I’m an Organizing Junkie.