Shopping again

I ran to Aldi and got a few things, spent around $21.00 and can't find my receipt to itemize it for you.
broccoli
cauliflower
mushrooms
yogurt
almond milk
dry pinto beans (going to try to make refried beans from scratch-share your recipe if you have one)
several loaves of high fiber bread for my guys (they were cheap)
Stolen (clearance & impulse buy!)
fancy cookies (clearance & impulse buy!)

Food sure does add up even when you are at Aldi!! $72.09 for the month so far on groceries for a family of 3, with me being gluten free/dairy free and now on low sodium. YES!! Saving money can be done even on a special diet.

I start my wonderful upper/lower scope prep today, drinking that wonderful drink that sends you to the bathroom time and again (I know TMI). I drink 1/2 of it today and 1/2 of it tomorrow. I would appreciate prayers for my scopes tomorrow, that all goes well and that the doctor sees what he needs to see so that he can fix the issues.

Hebrews 13:5b
"and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

Moe


What we have been eating.

We have found some goodies in the freezer.
Beef roast in crockpot with Italian seasoning (beef sandwiches)
Pastrami lunch meat (frozen)
Beef soup for lunch (frozen)
Pork chops with seasonings on them (freezer)
Chocolate chip pancakes (freezer)
GF/CF cupcakes (freezer)
Lentil soup for lunch (canned) added a can of corn and sprinkled a bit of cheese on top for color
Corn (pantry)
Greenbeans (pantry)
Fruit cocktail (pantry)
Homemade cocoa mix (top of the fridge)
More partial bags of cold cereal (top of fridge)

Pork Chops & Oven Roasted Veggies
I made pork chops again this week. I cooked them in a skillet with olive oil and some seasonings on med/high for about 20 min or until brown on each side, then I add about 1/2 cup of water and then cover (you could use broth or creamed soup if you are not doing low sodium/gluten free/dairy free like me) and cook for about 45-60 min until they are the desired tenderness, I like them falling apart) add more liquid if they are not done, so you don't burn them.

Then in the oven I made cut up roasted veggies with skins left on, I had a yam, white potatoes, celery, mushrooms, zucchinis, onions and I tossed all those in a bag with lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Baked first 3 items for around 30 min at 450, then added the rest in and baked another 30 min at 375 until done. I did stir them a few times and check potatoes for doneness. Our 11yr old asked why the potatoes turned orange in the oven, he had never had a sweet potato before. He loved them and so did DH. I actually liked them myself, in years past I had had baked ones that were stringy and nasty, so I just assumed that they were all like that. Well I have a new veggie that I like!! Yams or sweet potatoes (same thing right? correct me if I am wrong please).

What have you been eating?
Moe

Beef & Noodles from the pantry challenge

I found a packet of Italian Beef seasoning hidden in the cabinet. Got a beef roast out of the freezer and put it in the crockpot with about 6 cups of water. Left it on for 10 hours on low (1st hour on high), then I used up some noodles from the cabinet, cooked them part way on the stove, drained and then added them to the beef in the crockpot. I stirred it up and left if on for another 5 hours on low. YUM!! Ate that with some leftover veggies and tonight we are having it over baguettes (found those on the day old bread rack for $1.29.)

What are you feasting on from the pantry?

Moe

What have we been eating?

Well let me see, we have had some very warm weather here so we did campfire school (homeschooling around the campfire), I found 2 packages of hotdogs in the freezer and some hard marshmallows in the back of the pantry that someone had failed to close up with a twist tie.
Note to self: marshmallows burn very easily when they are dried out. We did not have any hotdog buns or chocolate to make smores, but that was OK! We had fun anyway and saved some carbs :O)

I almost fired up the grill, but I thought, ya know we are going to be out here doing school for the day, so why not just roast 2 hotdogs at a time until both packages are cooked. So we had grilled hotdogs for a few lunches last week.

We had some extra eggs to use up, it's amazing how the chickens can lay a GAZILLION eggs one week and then almost nothing the next week! Or the week that we really need eggs, the dear child forgets to collect them (I refuse to use eggs that have been sitting in the nesting boxes too long, I know they are suppose to be fine, but I am sort of a freak about these things.) So anyway we had a gazillion eggs this week, so I made up a large batch of french toast and we had that for several breakfasts, and guess what? When you don't have hotdog buns, a hotdog on french toast bread is pretty good (minus the syrup!). Guess you would call it A Pig In A French Toast (or maybe A Pig In A French Afgan? lol) Anyway it was good.

I found some BLSL chicken breast in the freezer and made this yummy recipe (same recipe that I used at Christmas time with a turkey, but made it with chicken this time.)

Heat oven to 350
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 c light mayo (not Miracle Whip)
2 tsp (or more) thyme
2 tsp (or more) rosemary
2 tsp (or more) pepper
2 tsp (or more) oregano
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine (I used unsalted)
mix all the ingredients together and spoon over chicken. Cover with foil and bake 45 min or until chicken is done.

I found the recipe for the mayonnaise roasted turkey at the blog SheWearsManyHats.com, click on the link and it will take you to the recipe for the turkey.

I served the chicken with Jasmine rice from the pantry, I used my rice cooker (you use whatever type of rice you have in the pantry & can make this recipe on the stove top too)
While the rice was cooking I added
2 T olive oil
1/2 T chili powder
1/2T curry powder
I would have added some cumin, but I was out and it was too pricey for my pantry challenge ;-) I had some carrots to use up so I tossed those through my Salad Shooter on 'shred' and it added some fiber and color to the dish. You might want to add a dash of salt (remember the doctor put me on a low sodium diet last week, so I am learning to taste my food and not taste salt BAH HUMBUG!!

Dessert Scotcharoos


Had some peanut butter in the pantry so I made peanut butter rice crispy treats.
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter (we like creamy)
1 cup white sugar (wonder what brown sugar would taste like?)
2 tsp vanilla (GF)
5-6 cups rice crisp cereal (GF)
put everything in the saucepan except cereal, melt and stir together. Then add cereal and mix, pour into 9x13 pan and start eating.......lol.
then if you need it even sweeter add the topping (sometimes we just eat it!)
1 cup chocolate chips (GF/CF)
1 cup butterscotch chips (GF/CF)
melt in a pan very carefully so they don't burn or microwave until melted. Stir well and pour over Scotcharoos, let harden and eat. YUMMM!!

We have also been eating cereal from the top of the fridge, lots of partial boxes up there and one morning I made a suprise breakfast of rice crispy treats........LOL. Oh, well they would have put sugar on the rice cereal anyway, so why not serve them up a nice hot breakfast of melted marshmellows in cereal??

The guys found a few Hot Pockets in the bottom of the freezer and I found some Rice Dream Ice Cream, had a slight layer of ice on the top, but still good....lol.

What have you been eating this week?

Enjoy the saving that you are getting out of eating from the pantry.
Moe

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