Week of January 10th

We have a goal this year of REALLY sticking to our budget better.  (Potentially costly vehicle repairs will do that to you)  So, I'm going to try to use food storage more and shop the grocery sales using more coupons.  What this means is probably less variety and more vegetarian meals.  When the meat-eating man of the house is working we will probably have a lot of soup:)  So my question is where do you find the best coupons and what is your goal this year?

Monday:  Potato Soup

Tuesday:  BBQ Beef Sandwiches (made from leftover roast from Sunday), Homemade buns, baked beans

Wednesday:  Chicken Parmesan and Pasta (from food storage)

Thursday:  Red Enchiladas (leftover beef or canned deer meat)

Friday:  Stuffed Peppers

Saturday:  Clean Out the Fridge Night

Sunday:  Baked Chicken, Roasted Red Potatoes and Green Beans

Week of January 3rd

New Year and New Menus.  I am ready for some new ideas.  Bring them on PLEASE!

Monday:  Oriental Chicken Salad

Tuesday:  Leftovers

Wednesday:  Sub Sandwiches

Thursday:  Out to Eat

Friday:  Fajitas

Saturday:  Cowboy Macaroni

Sunday:  Roast, Potatoes, Carrots

Week of December 27th

It is the LAST week of the year.  Didn't we just do this?  The only thing that keeps me from getting depressed that time is flying so fast is the ANNUAL FAMILY NEW YEAR'S PARTY!  Always so fun.

Monday:  Chicken wings

Tuesday:  Hamburger Patties, Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday:  Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Thursday:  Flat Enchiladas

Friday:  New Year's Eve Spread - Finger Foods, Tortilla Soup and Goodies til your gut hurts

Saturday:  Lasagna, Garlic Bread and Salad

Sunday:  Hearty Mac and Cheese

Week of December 20th

Monday:  Chili Dogs

Tuesday:  Spaghetti

Wednesday:  Beef Taquitos

Thursday:  Out to Eat

Friday: Chicken Wings

Saturday:  Christmas Dinner - YUM!

Sunday:  Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

Week of December 13th

Monday:  Leftovers

Tuesday:  Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Wednesday:  Sloppy Joes

Thursday:  Biscuits and Gravy

Friday:  Pizza

Saturday:  Tamales

Sunday:  Mongolian Beef

Week of December 6th

'Tis the Season...
What would be your DREAM Christmas gift, okay maybe not your dream gift.  But wouldn't it be nice for someone that was a good cook to show up on your doorstep with dinner?  Especially while you run through the month.  So instead of that plate of fattening goodies,  maybe dinner is a better gift.  If you cook one that freezes easily then you don't have to worry about picking the right night or time.
A gift for yourself is also a great idea.  Cook once and eat twice.  Make twice as much and freeze for a night in a week or two when your family has forgotten how yummy it was the first time.

Monday:  Macaroni and Cheese

Tuesday:  Chicken Enchiladas

Wednesday:  Beef Stirfry

Thursday:  Chicken and Rice (crock-pot)

Friday:  Spaghetti

Saturday:  Leftovers

Sunday:  Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes

Under Pressure...

But who isn't.  As if December isn't busy enough, I decided to get some much needed canning done.  I have never used a pressure canner before, so my WONDERFUL, AMAZING, PATIENT mother came to help me.  I took a whole 2 1/2 days off (minus conference calls) to play with this contraption.

Green Beans:  Fairly easy and took only 20 minutes to process.

Pinto Beans:  Easy to seperate and season but took 90 minutes per batch. AND I had a whole batch that didn't seal.  Kinda frustrating but neighbors and family were good sports to take them off my hands.  They were yummy and I did some as BBQ baked beans.  By far the favorite!

Deer Meat:  Again 90 minutes to process, and I was a bit nervous.  I'm not a huge fan of deer, elk, any game meat really, but I'll try anything once!  So I canned it with beef broth and YUM!  It tastes exactly like shredded beef.  The best part is that I put it in the freezer after the Man cut it up and was able to can it when I decided.

I decided to make a whole meal from my latest adventure.  So here it is: 

BBQ Meat

Baked Beans

Green Beans

Rolls (store-bought, I ran out of time)