I found this recipe on Pinterest from http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/poor-mans-lasagna-recipe/#_a5y_p=1531113
This meal was super delicious! Not only that but you get TWO meals out of this recipe! One for dinner and one to freeze for another night.
I adapted the recipe to our family's liking but you can click on the link ^ for the original recipe. Below, is how I made the recipe.
Ingredients:
• 8-12 oz penne pasta
• 2lb ground meat
• 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 2 c shredded cheese
• 16 oz cottage cheese
• 1 can of pasta sauce
Directions:
• Boil the pasta according to what the package says.
• While the pasta is boiling, brown the ground meat.
• Drain meat. Set aside. Drain pasta. Return the pasta to original pot. (my pot was too small so I had to use a larger bowl).
• While pasta I still warm add the cottage cheese and cream cheese. Gently stir together until well combined.
• Heat up pasta sauce with the ground meat until warm.
• Layer two 8x8 pans with pasta mixture, meat and pasta sauce mixture, and shredded cheese. Repeat.
• Bake one pan at 300 degrees for 20-30 min.
To Freeze:
• Instead of baking cover pan with a few layers of plastic wrap then with some foil. Freeze.
To Cook Frozen Meal:
• Thaw for 24 hours, unwrap, and bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Friday, September 5, 2014
Whats On The Menu: Week of September 5-11
I went grocery shopping yesterday. I made sure to try my best to stick to buying only what we needed for meals/snacks. I did buy some things that weren't on my list (books, yogurt) but over all I only bought what we needed. I spent $49.39.
Want to know what I bought?
- store brand crackers (we like to eat these with salads)
- store brand pancake mix (for breakfasts)
- Doritos (my hubby takes these for his lunch)
- 6 small apples (for snacks and on sale 2/.88c)
- 2 Powerade (my stomach was a little queasy yesterday and drinking this helps)
- not pictured, a 20oz Diet Cola, store brand
- store brand eye drops (for the hubby)
- green leaf lettuce
- 1 potato
- Bananas (for snacks)
- 2 pouches of pizza crust mix
- 2 ground turkey
- bread
- 1 cake mix (hubby's bday is coming up!)
- 2 books (not on the list but the kids love books)
- mayo
- 4 yogurts (for my snacks)
- turkey sandwich meat (hubby takes sandwiches for lunch)
- spaghetti pasta
- spaghetti sauce
- tuna
- organic macaroni (the kids love this, for lunch)
- ranch dressing
- mozzarella cheese (for pizza)
What's On The Menu
Friday (tonight): Chicken salad
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Hamburger helper
Monday: Fideo (made with Mexican noodles, meat, potatos)
Tuesday: Spaghetti and Texas toast
Wednesday: Tuna salad sandwiches
Thursday: Turkey salad
Monday, September 1, 2014
Long post: Starting school, weekly menu, and green smothie recipe!
Hey all!
Once again, I've been neglecting this blog! So sorry.
So, my daughter, who is 4, started PreK last week! She loves going but I think she is a little bored. When I ask her what she did in school she'll reply, "We ate, we played, we read, we watched a movie (?), we read again, we used the computer." All in monotone. Or, she'll sigh and say, "We JUST read." She loves reading, though! I don't know. I'm sure they haven't done much because they JUST (lol) started school and I'm sure they'll end up doing more later in the year. I don't know what she is expecting, though. I know she is disappointed because they haven't gone to the playground. I don't even know if they will at all. She only goes half day from 7:30am to 11:30am. She's making friends! Which is always good. Today she said, "My friends had lunchboxes today!" She said that because she wants to take her lunch box even though she doesn't eat lunch at school.
Switching subjects here. :-)
I've been wanting to try juicing. Mostly, because I'm curious. But, also because I think it would be a great way for me to incorporate enough fruits and vegetables in my diet. While googling juicing recipes I came across this blog post:
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/06/20/why-i-dont-juice/
I thought it totally made sense!
Juice is not whole food: "Did you know that when you drink juiced vegetables and fruits you are not eating the whole food? The first time I saw a juicer in action I was actually a little surprised when I saw all this stuff being spit out the side. It turns out that stuff is the pulp (basically the fiber) and not included in the juice you are about to drink!"
*Our family does not eat perfectly at all. But, I try my hardest to eat as close to "real food" as I can. I really like the 100 Days Of Real Food blog.
Juice is expensive: "If you aren’t careful, juicing could seriously blow the roof off your budget. The first day I shopped for juicing ingredients I spent $13 – on just 2 servings of organic juice!"
*I try to save as much money as I can when I'm buying groceries so this was a big deal breaker to me.
It takes time: "When you drink a daily green juice in addition to eating your regular meals it ends up taking extra time out of your day."
*Apparently, a juicer has a lot of parts. So, this was also a deal breaker for me. I don't want to have extra dishes to wash.
Then, the blogger writes why she likes smoothies instead and I totally agree!
With that, I googled some green smoothie recipes. I found some I might like but not ones I knew I would like so I decided to put together my own recipe.
In case you are interested here it is:
- 2cups kale greens
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 banana
- about 5 (small/medium) strawberries
-- Blend everything together and enjoy!
*If you want your smoothie cold, make sure to freeze the fruit beforehand.
Best part is that the kids all liked the green smoothie as well!
And before I forget. Here is this weeks menu:
Sunday (last night): Breakfast for dinner. Eggs and pancakes.
Monday: Pigs in a blanket, sweet potato fries
Tuesday: Chicken alfredo pasta, texas toast
Wednesday: Sandwiches, because we have church.
Thursday: Pesto chicken (again, because we loved it), mashed potatoes, green beans
I went grocery shopping yesterday and only spent $61.53! That is including snacks my daughter is taking for church and household items! I didn't need to get too much because we already had a lot of ingredients at home. :-)
Once again, I've been neglecting this blog! So sorry.
So, my daughter, who is 4, started PreK last week! She loves going but I think she is a little bored. When I ask her what she did in school she'll reply, "We ate, we played, we read, we watched a movie (?), we read again, we used the computer." All in monotone. Or, she'll sigh and say, "We JUST read." She loves reading, though! I don't know. I'm sure they haven't done much because they JUST (lol) started school and I'm sure they'll end up doing more later in the year. I don't know what she is expecting, though. I know she is disappointed because they haven't gone to the playground. I don't even know if they will at all. She only goes half day from 7:30am to 11:30am. She's making friends! Which is always good. Today she said, "My friends had lunchboxes today!" She said that because she wants to take her lunch box even though she doesn't eat lunch at school.
Switching subjects here. :-)
I've been wanting to try juicing. Mostly, because I'm curious. But, also because I think it would be a great way for me to incorporate enough fruits and vegetables in my diet. While googling juicing recipes I came across this blog post:
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/06/20/why-i-dont-juice/
I thought it totally made sense!
Juice is not whole food: "Did you know that when you drink juiced vegetables and fruits you are not eating the whole food? The first time I saw a juicer in action I was actually a little surprised when I saw all this stuff being spit out the side. It turns out that stuff is the pulp (basically the fiber) and not included in the juice you are about to drink!"
*Our family does not eat perfectly at all. But, I try my hardest to eat as close to "real food" as I can. I really like the 100 Days Of Real Food blog.
Juice is expensive: "If you aren’t careful, juicing could seriously blow the roof off your budget. The first day I shopped for juicing ingredients I spent $13 – on just 2 servings of organic juice!"
*I try to save as much money as I can when I'm buying groceries so this was a big deal breaker to me.
It takes time: "When you drink a daily green juice in addition to eating your regular meals it ends up taking extra time out of your day."
*Apparently, a juicer has a lot of parts. So, this was also a deal breaker for me. I don't want to have extra dishes to wash.
Then, the blogger writes why she likes smoothies instead and I totally agree!
"
- No special expensive equipment needed – any old blender will do!
- When you blend fruits and vegetables together to make a smoothie you are consuming the whole food.
- As a result, I find smoothies to be much more filling than juice.
- My kids like smoothies (they gave the green juice a fair chance, but were not fans).
- A little bit of veggies can go a long way in a smoothie – when I juiced a bunch of kale it seemed that only a couple tablespoons of juice came out."
With that, I googled some green smoothie recipes. I found some I might like but not ones I knew I would like so I decided to put together my own recipe.
In case you are interested here it is:
- 2cups kale greens
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 banana
- about 5 (small/medium) strawberries
-- Blend everything together and enjoy!
*If you want your smoothie cold, make sure to freeze the fruit beforehand.
Best part is that the kids all liked the green smoothie as well!
And before I forget. Here is this weeks menu:
Sunday (last night): Breakfast for dinner. Eggs and pancakes.
Monday: Pigs in a blanket, sweet potato fries
Tuesday: Chicken alfredo pasta, texas toast
Wednesday: Sandwiches, because we have church.
Thursday: Pesto chicken (again, because we loved it), mashed potatoes, green beans
I went grocery shopping yesterday and only spent $61.53! That is including snacks my daughter is taking for church and household items! I didn't need to get too much because we already had a lot of ingredients at home. :-)
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Weekly Menu, deals, and clearance finds!
Okay, so I am posting my weekly menu today instead of tomorrow. Tomorrow evening is "Meet The Teacher" night at my daughter's school (she's starting PreK on Monday!!) and I'm going to be too busy to grocery shop. There were some pretty good deals at HEB this week! So, I'm excited about that!
As I've mentioned before, I budget $100 weekly for groceries and household items. The total cost of groceries ,plus a few household items, this week was $111.**. After coupons and a $10 gift card I paid $76.**!
So, we strayed away from our menu plan last week so some of the meals that we had planned for last week will be used for this week.
Here is what's planned:
Breakfast:
Cereal, eggs, pancakes, toast...
Lunch:
Sandwiches, leftovers...
Dinner:
-(Tonight) Baked Basil/Pesto Chicken w/veggies, mashed potatoes, and Texas Toast
-Burgers
-Spaghetti and meatballs
-Homemade pizza
-Chalupas
-Pigs In a Blanket
-Pizza bites
-Shrimp Alfredo Pasta
And some good deals I found at HEB are:
-Buy HEB fully cooked burgers ($11.97) and get free
Kettle chips
2lr Soda
Pickles
ice cream
cheese slices
-Buy Parmesan cheese ($1.98?) and get free
Meatballs
-.50c off Betty Crocker mashed potatoes ($1.25) making it .75c per box
-Buy HEB Galore cookies (I think they are 2/$4) and get free
HEB teddy grahams cookies
Plus, I went to Walmart to get my daughter her school supplies and I also scored some shoes for her and my 2yo son on clearance! I got my daughter some pink sparkly shoes for $3 and for my son I got him some shoes that looked like fire trucks ($3!) and some tennis shoes ($5!). He is in love with his fire truck shoes!
As I've mentioned before, I budget $100 weekly for groceries and household items. The total cost of groceries ,plus a few household items, this week was $111.**. After coupons and a $10 gift card I paid $76.**!
So, we strayed away from our menu plan last week so some of the meals that we had planned for last week will be used for this week.
Here is what's planned:
Breakfast:
Cereal, eggs, pancakes, toast...
Lunch:
Sandwiches, leftovers...
Dinner:
-(Tonight) Baked Basil/Pesto Chicken w/veggies, mashed potatoes, and Texas Toast
-Burgers
-Spaghetti and meatballs
-Homemade pizza
-Chalupas
-Pigs In a Blanket
-Pizza bites
-Shrimp Alfredo Pasta
And some good deals I found at HEB are:
-Buy HEB fully cooked burgers ($11.97) and get free
Kettle chips
2lr Soda
Pickles
ice cream
cheese slices
-Buy Parmesan cheese ($1.98?) and get free
Meatballs
-.50c off Betty Crocker mashed potatoes ($1.25) making it .75c per box
-Buy HEB Galore cookies (I think they are 2/$4) and get free
HEB teddy grahams cookies
Plus, I went to Walmart to get my daughter her school supplies and I also scored some shoes for her and my 2yo son on clearance! I got my daughter some pink sparkly shoes for $3 and for my son I got him some shoes that looked like fire trucks ($3!) and some tennis shoes ($5!). He is in love with his fire truck shoes!
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Menu Plan Thursday!!
I know a lot of people do "Menu Plan Monday" but mine will be on Thursday's because that is payday and I go grocery shopping on Thursday's. :-)
So, I went grocery shopping earlier and I went waaaay over budget. I bought more snack-y stuff, than usual, for the hubby to take for his work lunches. Total was about $150. I budget $100 weekly. That budget includes groceries, household items, and eating out. I went over but some items I bought (like frozen chicken) we will use this week AND next week. So, next weeks groceries should be less.
I also bought some makeup (for cheap!) and I found band-aids on clearance! I will be vlogging about that tonight which I will post a link to once its done!
Ok, so here is this weeks menu:
Breakfast- is usually fruit, cereal, or toast.
Lunch- is usually peanut butter sandwiches with fruit.
Snacks- fruit
Dinner-
Thursday: Pasta spirals with ground turkey and cheese (we ate this with corn tortillas)
Friday: Homemade Pizza (pepperoni for the hubby and cheese and mushrooms for the kids and I)
Saturday: Chicken Salad with homemade Cucumber dressing
Sunday: Shrimp and feta salad with homemade Cucumber dressing
Monday: Spaghetti with Texas Toast
Tuesday: Baked Chicken Pesto with a side of green beans
Wednesday: Tostadas (hard corn tortilla shells, refried beans, cheese, avocado, and tomatoes)
:-)
Link to first vlog (I hope it works):
http://youtu.be/hEeX4qwV_RU
So, I went grocery shopping earlier and I went waaaay over budget. I bought more snack-y stuff, than usual, for the hubby to take for his work lunches. Total was about $150. I budget $100 weekly. That budget includes groceries, household items, and eating out. I went over but some items I bought (like frozen chicken) we will use this week AND next week. So, next weeks groceries should be less.
I also bought some makeup (for cheap!) and I found band-aids on clearance! I will be vlogging about that tonight which I will post a link to once its done!
Ok, so here is this weeks menu:
Breakfast- is usually fruit, cereal, or toast.
Lunch- is usually peanut butter sandwiches with fruit.
Snacks- fruit
Dinner-
Thursday: Pasta spirals with ground turkey and cheese (we ate this with corn tortillas)
Friday: Homemade Pizza (pepperoni for the hubby and cheese and mushrooms for the kids and I)
Saturday: Chicken Salad with homemade Cucumber dressing
Sunday: Shrimp and feta salad with homemade Cucumber dressing
Monday: Spaghetti with Texas Toast
Tuesday: Baked Chicken Pesto with a side of green beans
Wednesday: Tostadas (hard corn tortilla shells, refried beans, cheese, avocado, and tomatoes)
:-)
Link to first vlog (I hope it works):
http://youtu.be/hEeX4qwV_RU
Revamping the blog
Oh my!
It seems I have neglected this blog! Everyday I wake up and think to myself, "I WILL blog today!" and then life happens.
Well, I decided to make it a goal to blog every week. If I blog more than once a week then great! I really do love blogging and writing and sharing recipes, ideas, and my life as a mommy to 3 kiddos.
I am hoping to revamp this blog and share themed posts. I'm thinking of starting a vlog (video blog) on YouTube to compliment this blog.
Hopefully, I'll post/vlog my weekly grocery hauls, weekly menus, yummy recipes, fitness ideas and workouts, and "day in the life" type posts/vlogs.
I'm excited!
I'll be back later to share my weekly grocery haul and weekly menu!
Oh, I'd love to see comments of your favorite recipes and ideas for what I should blog or vlog about! ;-D
It seems I have neglected this blog! Everyday I wake up and think to myself, "I WILL blog today!" and then life happens.
Well, I decided to make it a goal to blog every week. If I blog more than once a week then great! I really do love blogging and writing and sharing recipes, ideas, and my life as a mommy to 3 kiddos.
I am hoping to revamp this blog and share themed posts. I'm thinking of starting a vlog (video blog) on YouTube to compliment this blog.
Hopefully, I'll post/vlog my weekly grocery hauls, weekly menus, yummy recipes, fitness ideas and workouts, and "day in the life" type posts/vlogs.
I'm excited!
I'll be back later to share my weekly grocery haul and weekly menu!
Oh, I'd love to see comments of your favorite recipes and ideas for what I should blog or vlog about! ;-D
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Dairy/Gluten Free Chocolate
This recipe is super simple to make! All it is is 3 ingredients! Three! You wouldn't think to say that this chocolate is healthy but, actually, it is! Feel free to indulge ;-)
Ingredients:
• 1 tbsp. Honey
• 2 tbsp. Cocoa
• 2 tbsp. Coconut Oil
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients well. Pour into cupcake liners or into a mold. Freeze to solidify. Then, enjoy!
Easy peasy and delicious!
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