Rotating Menus

It's been a year and a half since I first set up Rotating Menus.  I have tweaked it a bit, now using 4 weeks of menus instead of 3.  I still love having a menu plan I can build meals off of.  Here's a sample week:


I used this Meal Chart Generator to make these charts.

In the sample, you can see how my meals are planned, sort of.  For example, on Tuesday, I've planned cereal for morning snack.  I will serve whatever cereal I have on-hand, sometimes it's Life or sometimes it's Cheerios.  All snacks are served with water.

For Lunch on Tuesday, I have "Meal Muffin", this can be any one of the muffins I make and keep in the freezer:  pizza muffin, cheeseburger muffins, taco cups, etc.  It will depend on what I served last time, the children who are present, what I have most of, and my mood.  After I choose the muffin for the day, I will choose a vegetable and fruit to go with it, and add milk.

For the afternoon snack (it's labeled "Dinner", but I put a "Snack" label over it on my paper copy) I have round crackers.  Generally, these are generic "wheat Ritz" or any other round cracker I have on-hand and I serve with water.

Every Friday, I have "Pamm's Choice".  This gives me flexibility to use up leftovers or plan a picnic style meal.  So there's a plan, but not really--I wing it on Fridays.

One of the things I noticed from the first set of menus I made, it seemed like I had like items on the same day of the week.  Example:  every Monday I had some sort of hot dog meal and every Thursday I had some sort of breakfast meal.  In the meantime, I noticed the little ones who were part-time ended up having the same two meal-items every week.  So, when I planned the new meals, I mixed up the types of meals, having breakfast-type meals on different days of each week.

I really like having a start-off point for each meal and snack everyday.


Pamm



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Ten Pounds Of Ground Turkey

As I explained last week in my Saving Money post, prices have gone up.  When our store had ground turkey on sale, they didn't have any in the store.  It took some doing (phone calls and finding out when the truck would be in), but I was able to get 10 pounds of ground turkey at a decent price.

With my long, holiday weekend, I spent one morning cooking it all up.

3 pounds

Turkey Taco Meatballs

3 pounds

Dog Food

4 pounds, turkey burgers

Cheddar Ranch

Asian Spiced

I'm on the look-out for the next great deal!


Pamm



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Low Sugar Egg Hunt

This year for our annual Easter Egg Hunt, I requested Cheerios for plastic egg fillers.

I put a small handful of cereal in each egg.  This was the only food item in the eggs.  I had a few small cars I put in some larger eggs.

Did the kids like it?

They LOVED it!  I spoke to parents the day after and they commented on how much their child loved opening up the Cherrio eggs and how much fun they had at our little party.  The parents liked it, too.  They didn't mind their child eating a few extra Cheerios (unlike candy we had in previous years).

I will definitely request Cheerios every year.

Happy Easter!

Pamm



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Spaghetti Eggs

With the great sale on eggs this week, I am going to stock up and make Spaghetti Eggs.

Melt a tablespoon or two of butter in a frying pan over medium heat.  Add a handful of leftover, cooked spaghetti. In the photo below, I was serving it to young toddlers, so I cut up the spaghetti into small pieces. But for me, I like to leave it long.

Crack 2 to 4 eggs, depending on how many you are feeding and how much spaghetti you have in the pan, over the spaghetti, and add a splash of milk. I was feeding 4 toddlers, so I decided to use 4 eggs.

Stir with a spatula to scramble the eggs. Cook until eggs are done.

Easy add ins would be sliced bell peppers, diced onions, or other veggies you like.

This is one of my favorite ways to use up leftover spaghetti. I cooked the above the night before I served them to the toddlers, and put them in the fridge. The next day, about 90 minutes before lunch, I put them in the mini crock pot, and they were heated through by lunch time. The toddlers ate it all as usual!

Pamm



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Saving Money

I had severe sticker shock when I went to the store last weekend.  I have heard prices were going up and I got to see first hand at my last store trip.

So, now with the new high prices, I will have to shop even smarter.

Did you watch the TV show Extreme Couponing?  I don't think I'll go that crazy, but I might seek out coupons for items I use or need.  I will also pay more attention to the sales and get Rain Checks when they don't have the items in the store.

I have been collecting links to coupon sites and have put them here.

I'm so glad that I already have a freezer full of meals and will work hard at looking for sales to keep it full.


Pamm




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Polenta

I've been hearing a lot about polenta lately.  I know I can make it from scratch, but when browsing through the grocery store, I decided to pick up this premade roll.

The last time I had polenta and loved it was when my husband fried it and introduced it to me.  I loved it!

I sliced it in one-inch rounds, then fried it in a little oil.  I learned quickly that you need to cook it over medium-low heat and take your time.

They didn't get very brown, but they were crispy.

It's very delicious!  I ate some, then put the rest in the fridge.  I will heat in the microwave or toaster oven.


Pamm




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Pizza Pinwheels

I had some pizza sauce and cheese leftover from making the English muffin and pita pizzas.  The Pinwheel recipe came to my mind.

Pizza Pinwheels

1 recipe basic biscuit dough

pizza sauce

shredded cheese

herbs and seasonings

Make the biscuit dough and roll out into a rectangle.  Spread with pizza sauce, sprinkle with cheese and any herbs and seasonings you like (I used minced garlic and oregano.  Start at one end and roll up like cinnamon rolls.

Cut into one-inch slices.  Place on sprayed cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Done when dough begins to brown.

I ate two for lunch and then bagged them, two in a bag, and put in the freezer for lunches for later.

Pamm



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Easy Taco Meat

I haven't made this in a long time.

 1 can beef broth
1 packet taco seasoning
2 pounds round steak

I used my smaller slow cooker so I cut the steak into pieces that would fit.  I then poured the broth over the steak.

Next I dumped the seasoning packet on top, mixed it a bit, then turn the slow cooker on high for four hours.

I shredded the meat with forks and returned it back to the broth.

I put it into four portions and a little broth in each container.  I labeled it and put it into the freezer.

When I want to have it for dinner, I will pull one out of the freezer and dump straight into my mini crockpot.  When it's defrosted and heated through, I will spoon into a tortilla and add taco fixings.  Yum!

Pamm



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Busy Cooking Weekend!

Big cooking this weekend!

Pizza Pinwheels -- recipe coming soon!

Pizza Muffins

Sausage Cheese Balls

Sausage & Cheese Biscuits

Pita Pizzas

English Muffin Pizzas

Crock Pot Pork Chops

Cranberry Chicken

Pull-Apart Chicken

Taco Meat -- Recipe Coming Soon!

My freezer is stocked and I'm blessed!

Pamm



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Summer Salad

With the warmer weather, I'm getting in the mood to make this salad.  This post is from August 2009.



Recently I've discovered this cool salad:


1 cup pineapple chunks
1 cup mandarin oranges
1 cup unsweeteened coconut
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 cup lite Cool Whip


Mix and chill.


It's low on Weight Watcher's points with 3 points per cup. I have it as a desert most of the time.



Since I made this salad, I've seen it in a few cookbooks and online here and there. It has many different names. I must have never paid attention before. I even saw this same recipe except substituting lite sour cream for the lite Cool Whip. I tried it and it tasted like a whole other salad.

Pamm

A Day In The Life . . .

. . .of my crock pots :)

8:00am -- I pull lunch out of the freezer and put in the crock pots for lunchtime.

Today in the blue one, is my lunch, Turkey Meatloaf Muffins.  Next is the toddler lunch of frozen broccoli and then Tuna and Orzo.  I put the lids on them and they sit until lunch time.

11:00am--I start plating the toddler's lunches.  I added banana to complete the meal.

11:45am-- The toddlers have eaten and are down for their nap.  It's my turn for lunch.  I am having a broccoli slaw salad with my meatloaf muffins.

2pm--Time to put something on for my dinner.  In a 4th crock pot, I put applesauce brats on for dinner, turned it on high for an hour, then turned it down to low.

6pm--Toddlers home with their families, and time for my dinner.  I sit and eat and rest a minute.

6:30pm--Time for dishes.  I load my dishwasher with the day's crock pots and other dishes.  I set it to run as I sleep later tonight.

It will start all over again tomorrow........



Pamm




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