Meals For The Next 2 Weeks

M.O.M. ~ Mom On a Mission – One mom’s mission to feed healthy foods to a family of four for under $400 a month. Can it be done? Let’s find out!

 

   Payday time again. That means it’s time to plan out dinners and write up the grocery list again.

   When making up the menus, I was trying to keep in mind what I already had in my pantry and freezer to keep costs low. Here’s what I came up with:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
				Homemade Pizza	CrockPot Chicken Noodle Soup*	Out at Superbowl party
Fish Sticks with rice	Breakfast	Grandmaman’s Pumpkin Soup**	Mexican – Tortillas	Homemade Pizza	Out at my Dad’s	Crockpot Beef Stew
Frozen Pasta Bake with salad	Breakfast	Fish Sticks with a veggie	Tortellini, gnocchi, and broccoli	Homemade Pizza	Leftovers	Crockpot Lasagna

* I plan on using some of the frozen chopped up chicken in the freezer, the carrots and onion I already have in the fridge. I also have a bag of whole wheat wide egg noodles already in the pantry I’m going to use.

** Instead of buying canned pumpkin, I’m going to use some of the pumpkin in my freezer that I pureed tons of this past October.

   I ended up spending $113 and some change, and that includes other stuff needed around the house like paper towels, tin foil, etc. That total also includes stuff for Nate’s lunches like Greek yogurts, fiber bars, apples and carrots. Then I also splurged and got Nate some beer…it’s been awhile since he’s had any and his work has been rough lately. So all in all I didn’t do too bad. And that leaves money for the stuff I will inevitably need more of between now and next payday like milk and eggs and probably flour. J

Recipes

Quick Homemade Pizza Dough – As many times as I make this, it’s probably past time to share the recipe. J
3 c. all-purpose flour 1 packet active dry yeast OR        2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast 1 tsp sea salt	1 Tbsp white sugar
1)      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2)      Grease a pizza pan and set aside. 3)      Using a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. 4)      Add the water and oil to the boil and stir to combine. I recommend using a spoon and not a whisk because as you mix the ingredients together, it will come together to form the dough in a ball. A whisk does not work well in this situation, seriously, I tried it. J 5)      Turn the ball of dough out onto a floured surface and knead. 6)      When the dough is no longer sticky to the touch, plop it on your greased pizza pan and roll it out to the desired size. 7)      Once the dough is rolled out, poke it with a fork all over. 8)      Pop the pan into the preheated oven for 2 to 3 minutes. 9)      Pull it out of the oven and add your toppings. 10)   Put the pizza back into the oven and bake for 12 to 18 minutes, depending on the size of the pizza and the amount of toppings. 11)   Wait for the pizza to cool a bit, cut it up and enjoy!

 

CrockPot Chicken Noodle Soup
1 c. cooked chicken, chopped or shredded 1 onion, peeled 3 carrots, sliced 3 stalks of celery, sliced	Chicken broth or stock (approx. 8-10 cups) 6 whole cloves ½ bag of egg noodles
1)      Place the cooked chicken, sliced carrots and sliced celery in the CrockPot. 2)      Fill the CrockPot with the chicken broth; it will be approximately 8 to 10 cups depending on the size of your slow cooker. 3)      Cut off the very top and the very bottom of the onion. 4)      Using a small knife, make 3 ‘x’s on the top and 3 on the bottom. 5)      Carefully, insert the 6 cloves into the 6 holes in the onion. Place the onion in the CrockPot. 6)      Cover and turn set the CrockPot to low. You want this to cook for at least 6 hours, but I find the longer it cooks, the better it is. 7)      About 20 minutes before you are ready to eat, cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain the noodles and add to the soup. Enjoy!

 

CrockPot Lasagna found on Creating Through Life blog (http://www.creatingthroughlife.com/2011/10/crock-pot-lasagna.html)
1 lb ground beef 1 onion, chopped 4 cloves of garlic, minced 29 oz can tomato sauce 8 oz package lasagna noodles, uncooked	½ tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper 1 ½ c. ricotta cheese 4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1)      Spray the inside of the CrockPot with nonstick cooking spray. 2)      In a skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef. When the beef is about halfway done, add in the onions and garlic. 3)      When the onions, garlic and beef are done cooking remove from heat and stir in the tomato sauce. 4)      Spread one fourth of the meat sauce in the bottom of the CrockPot. 5)      Use a third of the noodles to form a layer on top of the sauce – you may need to break them up to get them to fit better. 6)      In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta, salt and pepper. Then stir in the mozzarella. 7)      Spoon a third of the cheese mixture over the noodles. 8)      Repeat the layers twice. 9)      Top with the remaining meat sauce. 10)   Cover the CrockPot and cook on low for 4 hours. 11)   Let the lasagna sit in the CrockPot for about 10 minutes with the lid off. 12)   Enjoy!