Food for Friday! 5/21-6/3

Once again Price Chopper is offering triple coupons…I just wish that the stuff they had on sale were things that I normally purchase…It’s mostly prepackaged crap.  At least they do have a couple produce and meat coupons this week and I’m thankful I’ve been finding 75 cent off any milk coupons that PC has been accepting.  That helps with the fact that we go through about 3 gallons of milk in a little over a week!  I’ve been drinking more 1% milk thanks to the fact that I found a European formula Ovaltine that is soy free.  Tastes a little different from the chocolate milk I had been drinking, but adding a little sugar makes it good.

Here’s this editions menu.  I’ve had a hard time  this time around.  Nothing that we need or normally buy is on sale this week and it made it hard to plan for meals.  The thing that bugs me is that my grocery list is huge.  It’s mostly fresh fruits, veggies and meats, which means lots of $$.

Monday – Turkey burgers on homemade buns, oven roasted potatoes and veggies
Tuesday – BLT’s on homemade bread, chips and pickles
Wednesday – Homemade pepperoni pizza
Thursday – Cottage Cheese Chicken Enchiladas with spanish rice
Friday – Tacos with homemade seasoning
Saturday – BBQ Spare Ribs
Sunday - Baked Fried Chicken

Monday – Baked ziti
Tuesday – Homemade Buffalo Wings
Wednesday – Leftovers
Thursday – (Game Night) Skinny Chicken Parm
Friday – Steak, potatoes and veggies
Saturday – Fish
Sunday - Leftovers/FFY

White Bread – Bread Machine and Oven

I love having a bread machine since it does all the kneading and rises for you, but I just hate that once it bakes it has a giant hole in the bottom from the kneading paddle.   I looked through a cookbook I have and found a method that I could combine with my bread machine to make my dough and bake it in loaf pans to prevent that hole in the middle.  As my 2 year old would say, “Score!”

This recipe makes 2 1lb loves (or if you just want to use your machine, one 2lb loaf).

• 1 1/4 cups water (80*F)
• 3 Tbsp oil (you can olive oil or even apple sauce to make this soy free!)
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 cups bread flour (you can use AP, but bread flour works best)
• 2 tsp yeast, warmed to room temp.   I use Fleishman’s bread machine yeast that’s in the refrigerated section.

Warm you yeast to room temperature.  Place all the ingredients into the machine in the order suggested by your bread machine’s manufacturer.  Use the dough setting.  When the machine is finished, punch down the dough and divide it into equal portions.  I use my kitchen scale to weigh them out.

Grease your loaf pans.  I use olive oil rubbed around with a paper towel to keep this soy free, but you can use spray oil.  Using a rolling pin and a floured surface, roll each ball into a rectangle no wider than your loaf pan.  Rolling out the dough squeezes out all the air bubbles that can create holes in your loaf.   Roll the dough up jelly roll style starting with the short side and place seam side down in your greased pan.  Repeat for 2nd loaf.

You want to let your bread rise in a warm place until it’s the size you want it to be (I usually go to just above the edge of the pan.)  Since we keep our house cooler in the winter and spring I end up warming my oven slightly (to about 80*) and putting my towel covered loaf pans in to warm.  It takes about 1 1/2 – 2 hours to rise completely.  I check my ovens temp every half hour or so just to make sure it’s still warm.

When the rise is complete, remove loaves from oven, if using it, and preheat to 375*F.  Bake for 30 mins and let cool in pans on wire racks.  Remove from the pans by sliding a knife around the edges and cool completely before storing.

Loaves freeze well.  I end up making 2 loaves and freezing 1.  I just use a gallon size freezer bag.  It comes out just as fresh as when it was made.  I store all bread in the refrigerator in a gallon freezer bag and cut slices as needed.

Enjoy!

Food for Friday! 5/7 – 5/20

Coupons and sales aren’t great again this week…Might have be decent if I remembered to print out the Price Chopper triple coupons before I deleted the email…

Monday – Rotisserie chicken with couscous and corn on the cob
Tuesday – Pancakes or waffles with fresh whipped cream and strawberries
Wednesday – Chicken Quesedillas
Thursday -Steak with sweet potato fries and veggies
Friday -  Tacos
Saturday – Crescent Chicken – still haven’t gotten to make this yet
Sunday - Happy Mother’s Day!  Chicken cordon bleu, rice and veggies

Monday – Cheesy Shepherds pie (modified from this recipe)
Tuesday – Spaghetti and homemade sauce
Wednesday -  Homemade pizza
Thursday – Game Night -  Mini meatloaves, mashed potatoes and veggies
Friday – pork chops, rice or couscous and veggies
Saturday – Fish, picked up fresh
Sunday - Sausages and fries

Food for Friday! 4/23 – 5/6

Coupons and sales this week kinda suck, so I’m sure I’m going to spend a zillion dollars this time.  At least I have most of the meats for meals on hand in the freezer.  I’ll just have to hope for good sales so I can stock back up at some point.

Monday – Monty Cristo Sandwiches
Tuesday – Baked Ziti
Wednesday – Homemade pepperoni pizza
Thursday -Crescent Chicken – still haven’t gotten to make this yet.
Friday -  Steak with sweet potato fries and veggies
Saturday – Spaghetti with homemade sauce
Sunday - Pork Chops

Monday – Rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies
Tuesday -Chili
Wednesday – Pancakes and sausages
Thursday – Game Night – Chicken Curry with broccoli and rice
Friday – Turkey Burgers
Saturday – Fish, picked up fresh
Sunday - Italian Sausages

Early Edition! Food for Friday! 3/26 – 4/8

I got a super early start on my grocery list/menu this week.  Mostly because I listened to the Coupon Lady on WGNA this morning on my way home from dropping Bug off at school.  I’m still looking for the .75 cents off any gallon of milk coupon she mentioned, though.  She pointed out that Price Chopper is now accepting competitors coupons (like from Target and Walmart) and I went on a search to find coupons for items that I could use this week.  I’m not sure if Price Chopper will allow one competitor’s store coupon and a manufacture’s coupon like they do with their own store coupons, but I’m trying to find out.  According to the Coupon Lady, they do accept both, but the policy written on their website indicated they do not.  I’ll update when I find out.  Update: They do not accept both.    I was really hoping they did cause I’ve got some Target coupons and manufactures coupons for things I’d like to use together!  I’m really trying to stay well under budget this week.  I think so far I’ve got about $20 in coupons and e-coupons, plus whatever advantage savings I get from sale items.

I’m still continuing to make dinners without soy, which, I’m sure I’ve said before, makes my grocery bill higher.  It’s been nearly 2 months that I’ve been off soy and I haven’t had even the slightest twinge of my usual stomach pain and I’ve even found that I wake up in the morning without that queasy feeling I so often had.  There are still the occasional things that I’ll make for the boys or for Darling Hubby that contain soy, but I just avoid them.  I mostly do this since we still have the things in the pantry or the freezer and I want to use them up.

I’m trying some new recipes this time.  A few weeks ago, I made the Skinny Chicken Parm and it was delish!  Definitely a keeper recipe!  The Italian Chicken Bake, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired in my book.  It took longer than necessary to cook and just wasn’t what I was expecting…well, they can’t all be keepers.

This time around I’m trying (and modifying) a Cheesy Pot Pie recipe to be soy free and making it into a shepherd’s pie.  I’m going to make the Velveeta filling with the ground beef and instead of using the canned crescent rolls, I’m going to use mashed potatoes instead.

I’m also trying out a Pinterest recipe called Crescent Chicken which is chunks of chicken and cheese rolled up in a crescent roll.  I’m going to make my own crescent rolls (hopefully I’ll have the recipe down as I’m making several dozen to bring to Easter Dinner this weekend so I know I’ll be able to eat one thing at the family gathering.  lol) and I’ve found an organic cream of chicken soup that is soy free.  And, speaking of making my own bread, I’ve still got to make the homemade hamburger buns.  Fingers crossed they come out well!

Monday – Rotisserie Chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies
Tuesday – Chicken Ceasar Wraps
Wednesday – Spaghetti with homemade sauce
Thursday – Homemade hamburgers with homemade buns, tater tots (for the boys) and sweet potato fries for me and Darling Hubby.
Friday -  Crescent Roll Chicken (made with homemade crescent rolls)
Saturday – Homemade pancakes
Sunday - Steak and potatoes

Monday – Ham, mashed potatoes and veggies
Tuesday – Cheesy Shepherd’s Pie (modified from Cheesy Pot Pie)
Wednesday – Homemade macaroni and cheese with ham
Thursday – Game Night – Bacon and eggs
Friday – Chicken Curry, rice and veggie
Saturday – Fresh Fish (I’ll pick up some fresh when I go shopping this day)
Sunday - Cheeseburger Roll-up

Food for Friday! 3/26 – 4/8

Welcome to the late Saturday edition of Food for Friday.  lol  Trying to come up with a grocery list was kinda tough this week since there was really nothing that we buy on sale.  I hate when that happens…cause I usually end up spending a lot more than normal.  I ended up spending almost $270 when my budget is between $200 and $250.  Before coupons and sale discounts I was up over $300!  Course I did end up buying things that we normally don’t like $33 in flea drops for the dogs and cat, $18 for a huge container of olive oil and $16 for a big container of real maple syrup.

It’s even tougher now that I’m still avoiding soy…I have to make changes to recipes or buy more expensive items.  I’m making due, though.  I’ve been soy free and low fat for over a month now and I haven’t had any stomach pain, which is nice.  I have been branching out and trying a few things with soy lecithin in it and so far that hasn’t bothered me.  I’m convinced it’s an oil thing as some people can handle lecithin and not the oil.  Either way, I’m feeling a lot healthier now that I’m eating more homemade things without preservatives and giving up the junk food.

Monday – Homemade pancakes with fresh strawberries
Tuesday – Cheeseburger Roll-up
Wednesday – Chili
Thursday – Chicken Curry (either mango or korma – depends on my mood) with broccoli and basimati rice
Friday -  Spaghetti with fresh homemade sauce
Saturday – Sausages
Sunday - Leftovers/FFY

Monday – Rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies
Tuesday – Homemade pepperoni pizza
Wednesday – Chicken and dumplings
Thursday – Game Night – Steak and potatoes
Friday – Tacos with homemade taco seasoning
Saturday – Easter dinner with my parents
Sunday - Easter dinner with Darling Hubby’s family

Food for Friday! 3/12 – 3/25

Monday – BLT’s on homemade bread and homemade sweet potato fries (or bacon and eggs for the kids)
Tuesday – Craft Night -Leana’s Turn to cook – Hamburger Helper for the boys
Wednesday – Homemade pepperoni pizza
Thursday – Italian Chicken Bake with roasted potatoes, carrots and green beans and side salad
Friday -  Spaghetti with homemade sauce and homemade meatballs
Saturday -  Skinny Chicken Parm over Angel Hair pasta
Sunday - Leftovers/FFY

Monday – Homemade chicken cordon bleu with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob
Tuesday – Craft Night – Rose’s turn to cook – Mini Meatloaves for the boys
Wednesday – Turkey Burgers, homemade fries, and veggies
Thursday – Game Night – Coconut curry with rice and broccoli
Friday – Pork Chops, rice and mixed veggies
Saturday – Leftovers/FFY
Sunday - Leftovers/FFY

Food for Friday! 2/27 – 3/11

So, this is a couple days late…I was having some issues with my computer and wordpress not working well together on Friday when I was attempting to write this.  I figured I’d bang this out quick while waiting for my yeast to warm up so I can make the bread for tonight’s Craft Night meal.  lol

I’ve been on a homemade, from scratch kick lately since I’ve been cutting out the soy and artificial and natural flavors and trying to avoid most preservatives/additives if I can.  I’ve been making homemade bagels (it’s not as hard as it sounds!), fresh baked white bread, and I even made homemade meatballs and froze them for later meals!  I also discovered (for those of you who don’t want to or don’t have time to make your own breads at home) that our grocery store offers a brand of bread from The Heidelburg Baking Company that is soy free and free of all those additives and preservatives! (It says right on the package it should be refrigerated.)  They offer flax seed, multigrain, oat, cracked wheat and even a French Peasant bread!  At my Price Chopper, they run about $4.50 a loaf (roughly 2.99/lb).  I haven’t tried them, but it is available, which is nice!

Oh, I did find, in my grocery store travels, that there is a brand of brownie mix called No Pudge!  I tried the Original flavor, which is fat free (bonus) and contains nothing but good stuff..no additives or preservatives!  There are other flavors, but check the ingredients!  You just add 2/3 of cup of yogurt (I used 1/2 of a cup of Stonyfield’s No Fat French Vanilla (6oz container) and an egg white since I didn’t have enough yogurt – this is an alternate direction on the box.)  I’m sure you could probably use some strawberry yogurt and a little vanilla to make different flavors.

And, since I’m a chocolate lover and avoiding the soy lecithin in chocolate has been tough, I’ve been searching high and low for something chocolate without all the extra crap.  I stumbled over a brand of chocolate bars in the organic section from a  co-op company called Equal Exchange.  I’ve only tried their dark chocolate with a hint of hazelnuts and OMG!  It’s so good and doesn’t bother my tummy!  <3  Love!  Plus, I get to eat 8 squares at a time for a serving and that gives me 3 servings per bar!  It is expensive, but I’m finding that the safe foods and the additive free ones are.  I just have to suck up the cost if I want to be happy!  lol

Monday – Rotisserie Chicken, oven roasted potatoes and fresh broccoli
Tuesday – Craft Night – My turn to cook – BLT’s on homemade white bread
Wednesday – Tacos – with homemade seasoning
Thursday – Chicken pot pie with leftover chicken
Friday – Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and veggies
Saturday -  FFY/Leftovers
Sunday - Baked Ziti

Monday – Double batch of Chili
Tuesday – Craft Night – Rose’s turn to cook – Hamburger Helper for the boys at home
Wednesday – Frito pie made with leftover chili
Thursday – Homemade vegetable soup
Friday – Spaghetti with homemade sauce and homemade meatballs
Saturday -  FFY/Leftovers
Sunday - FFY/Leftovers

Strawberry Cake From Scratch

Bug’s birthday party was scheduled for February 4th and if I wanted to share in the festivities and eat cake, I had to find one that was ok for me to eat.  All the boxed mixes contain soy.  Bug loves strawberries and asked for a strawberry cake (chocolate was easy, but not strawberry) and that left me to find a homemade strawberry cake…there are some out there, but they all use strawberry gelatin and not having a box in front of me I didn’t know if there would be soy or natural flavors included…plus I didn’t want the added food coloring, especially since I was already planning on dying the frosting red, green, blue and yellow.

Then I stumbled upon this little gem or a recipe.  Rather than strawberry gelatin it used real strawberry puree!  Score!

Here’s the recipe copied from the above link.

• 2 ¼ cups cake flour (sifted)  (I used All Purpose flour, sifted)
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup butter , room temp (2 sticks)
• 1 ¼ cupssugar
• 2 teaspoons strawberry extract (you can use vanilla if you can’t find strawberry)
• 1 cup whole milk , room temp
• 3 eggs , room temp
• ¾ cup pureed fresh strawberries(or frozen, thawed)
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest(I left this out)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

  My ingredients

Directions:

Thaw (if necessary) strawberries and puree.  Bring butter, eggs, and milk to room temperature.

Combine sifted flour and baking powder in a bowl and set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time; mix well after each addition. Next add pureed strawberries and extract and combine well. Gradually add the flour (and baking powder) and the milk alternating between them until completely mixed. Then add lemon zest and juice and mix well.

Lightly grease and flour a 13 X 9 pan or (2) 8″ round pans. Pour batter into pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 min or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Oven times may vary.  (Mine was done in 30 minutes, the recipes author did two 8″ pans that were done in 25.)

The cake just out of the oven.  It smelled delish, really just like a boxed strawberry cake, only better!

So the verdict…Darling Hubby asked me to make it again, leaving the frosting off.  My complaint was that it didn’t bake up fluffy like a traditional cake, though that might have been because I used AP flour rather than cake flour.  It was dense, more like a fudge brownie than cake.  It had good flavor, though.  Most of the kids ate it, but by the time we had cake they’d filled up on fruits and veggies.  lol  Despite the cake being soy free, it appears that butter is going to be another issue, but we knew that was a possibility.  Hopefully when my gut heals from all the soy damage I’ll be able to introduce milk and butter again (cheese seems to be ok for now).

Oh, and if you want to see the finished decorated cake, here ya go.

I followed the recipe for Wilton’s Fluffy Boiled frosting from the can of meringue powder and dyed it red, blue, yellow and green (the primary lego brick colors).  The red was a hit…I just hope it washed off the faces of our guests!  lol  Hopefully I’ll find time to write about the party tomorrow.  The day has gotten away from me and I have things to do before Darling Hubby gets home. 

Peanut Butter Cup Pie

My husband loves Reeses Peanut Butter cups and this pie comes close to recreating that in a pudding pie.  It’s so delicious and easy to throw together. I’m not sure of where I found the original recipe for this (it’s possible it was on a cream cheese or cool whip package.)  I apologize in advance for the less than stellar photographs of a quarter of a pie…it’s seriously so good that it disappears so fast!

Ingredients
8oz package of cream cheese
1/2 cup peanut butter + 1 Tbsp, divided
1 package (3.4 oz) of vanilla pudding mix
1 cup cold milk
2.5 cups (8oz) cool whip, thawed & divided
3 squares semis-sweet bakers chocolate
1 Oreo, chocolate or graham cracker crust

Directions
Mix the cream cheese and 1/2 cup peanut butter together until smooth.  Add the pudding mix and the cold milk and blend until well mixed.  Whisk in 1 cup of the cool whip.  Pour filling mix into the crust and refrigerate until ready to use.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the remaining 1.5 cups of cool whip and the bakers chocolate.  Microwave on high 1.5-2 mins, stirring after each minute, until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Cool completely (placing in the freezer for a few minutes speeds up this process.)

When the chocolate mixture is cool, spread over the pudding mixture in the pie crust.  In a small microwaveable container, warm the last Tbsp of peanut butter for approximately 30 seconds and drizzle over the chocolate topping.

Recommended chill time is 4 hours…it usually doesn’t sit that long in our house!  Enjoy!