Progress

Well, I had decided there's something to this mix n match approach of other bloggers - it's MUCH easier. No separating subjects (much like life). So I was going to blog about something that caught my interest lately (a TED Talk), but when I looked at the blog, I realized that I have left it in a very sorry state indeed. Blogger's default template "Simple" is a good starting point, but in no way is the representation I want presented to the world. So while the brain-feed of TED inspires and moves me, and that's what I want to write about, I am reminded that there are some other things that need to get done too. My days the last several months are hogged up by working 9 hour shifts, and while the commute is short (15 min), everything else is crammed into the 5 or 6 hours I give myself for husband, kids, cleaning, and the whole of my life. It's not nearly enough, and while I'm maybe more fortunate than most (between me and part-time DH we're doing ok), I am not used to the demanding schedule. It's all a balancing act, and frankly designing has fallen much further down the priority list. It's disappointing, but necessary for now. How many others out there face the same or worse challenges, but now I can definitely Appreciate it. So TTFN, maybe next time we visit there'll be something nicer to look at...

Honey Molasses Oatmeal Bread

Supper

Be jealous of my mad photography skillz. :/ Okay, not. It turned out rather dark, which worried me at first - I thought I had burnt it (the bread, not the photo). But this stuff was pretty good. It was deemed less good than the original which came straight out of my breadmaker's manufacturer's manual. The original also turned out half size, which is why I was trying to tweak it. And I ran out of honey. So though it got down-voted compared to the orig, I don't know what made it slightly less than heavenly. It could have been the egg that I added (**BREADMAKER TIP** Add one egg and subtract 1/4 cup liquid to make your AP flour rise higher). I was working on the theory that the orig smaller loaf could have a higher rise with no flavor impact, so I used the egg tip. Even though I was using bread flour both times. It could have been that I only managed to scrape out a scant 1 Tablespoon of honey, and that only after I nuked the container to get a few more drops into the spoon. I thought molasses sounded good, and I knew I had an unopened bottle in my cupboard, so I made up for the honey with it. I figured molasses isn't as sweet as honey so I added another half Tablespoon plain granulated sugar. And though it mentions in the manual that salt inhibits the yeast growth, it's still recommended to add as the last two ingredients. So I put in the oatmeal, then the salt, covered with flour and ended with yeast. Inventive? Check. Creative? Sure! Mad Scientist? Surely not, there's no science here, just theories! Go ahead, make it your own!

Honey Molasses Oatmeal Bread (for 1.5 loaf breadmaker)

1/2 Cup + 3 Tbs. Milk (75-85° F)
1 Large Egg
1 Tbs. Honey
2 Tbs. Molasses
2 Tbs. Butter
1/2 Tbs. Sugar
1 Cup Oatmeal
2 Tbs. Dry Milk
1 1/4 tsp. Salt
1 Cup Bread Flour (AP probably works fine)
2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
  OR 1 1/2 tsp. Fast Rise/Bread Machine Yeast

Add to breadmaker in the order listed. Push the buttons for light or normal crust, the molasses has tendancy to carmalize the loaf. Start your motor! Wait. Wait some more. Probably there's a really load beep when it's done. Don't burn your fingers when you again thumb your nose at the manual by eating it before it cools!

This week in groceries

All that is left in my wallet is receipts. I can only hope that this means it was money well spent. Still. Being broke is depressing. Well I know for sure I spent more than I wanted to on apples and oranges at Aldi because I read the ad for the previous week. Oops! Also, there were some specialty items that made it onto my list for the boy's birthday. Happy birthday sweetie! Without further ado, here is this week's tally.

ALDI
Olives $0.99/can x 6 = $5.94
Black Beans $0.59/15oz. can x 3 = $1.77
Tangelos $2.49/4 Lbs.
Apples (Red Delicious) $3.49/3 Lbs.
Whipped Topping $0.89/8oz. x 3 = $2.67
Instant Chocolate Pudding $0.55/4oz x 2 = $1.10
TOTAL (no tax) $17.46

HYVEE
Unsalted Butter $1.99/Lb.
Yoplait Greek Yogurt $2.99/4 (6oz)
Heath Bits $2.99/12oz.
Dark Red Kidney Beans $1.00/2 (15oz) cans
Light Red Kidney Beans $1.00/2 (15oz) cans
Purex Free & Clear Laundry Detergent $2.50/50oz.
Hamburger (80%) $7.47/3 Lbs. x 2 = $14.94
Shredded Cheese (various) $4.00/3 (8oz.)
TOTAL (no tax) $31.41

Obviously I wasn't as prepared as I'd like to have been: I ended up running out of cocoa in the middle of making from scratch brownies, and when it came time to make the pudding for the boy's birthday cake, the kids had drunk the last half gallon of milk in a single afternoon. Grr! The boy also requested hamburgers for supper (his favorite!) and I didn't know if my breadmaker would make enough dough to turn out buns for supper, so I just bought some. Add another $7.58 to this weeks grocery bill for those.

I scored big time at Goodwill finally. I have been scouting the store every couple weeks for another breadmaker to give to my sister. $12.38 (plus tax) for a Black & Decker B1560 1.5 loaf. I could NOT find a manual anywhere for it, but a close model is pretty much the same (B1561). I hope she likes it, I made one loaf with it to test out how it works in case it needed to be returned. The loaf was okay, but fell a little. What I didn't really like was how long it took before it started cooking. It does a preheat kind of thing before it does all it's proofing/baking, it said in the book only an extra 15 minutes, but it was much closer to an extra hour I think. My West Bend machine takes exactly as long as it says on the timer with no waiting. Hopefully that is not a huge problem for her. Maybe I'll keep scouting to see if a better one comes along. Wish me luck!

Black Bean Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Beef Enchiladas and Enchilada Sauce

Not a fan of casseroles that feature "cream of..." Many recipes call for two cans of the stuff, and it is so salty and unhealthy. Plus DH is lactose intolerant so he doesn't really appreciate that type of casserole very much. Well we can't always cater to him (and more often don't want to skip the dairy) - anyway, that is what those pills are for. Still, besides not being good to him, there's alot he just doesn't like. It's never fun to make something only to have him whine "I don't like this!" We are SO not going there with this casserole. I have made it often enough that I almost have it memorized. Almost. My recipe cards are looking very worn - the way I wish all of them were. That makes them keepers. I never kept canned enchilada sauce on hand before I found this recipe. So the first time I made it I cannibalized the sauce out of another recipe. The sauce recipe makes a ton, so I usually make a double batch of casserole (no fun to in-half the sauce - plus we love it). DH cannot gracefully eat it with the sour cream cooked in, so I wait until after the whole thing is cooked and add it to individual portions. The beef enchiladas are excellent as well. Once I didn't read my card very well and made it like the chicken casserole version - layered everything instead of making individual enchiladas in a row in the pan. That turned out great too, so probably you could do it either way with either recipe. Options! Love having options!
I have also done it make-ahead with excellent success. An entire casserole takes a long time to thaw, and though I'm sure that would work perfectly, I make the recipe up to the point of having a seasoned chicken-bean-green chili mixture and throw that in the freezer. I also make the sauce (or make sure I have canned sauce). The sauce keeps for a long time in the refrigerator - more than a week at least. So then when I want to make the casserole I whip the filling out of the freezer, thaw it in the microwave, grab my sauce, assemble and bake. That's one of those 15 minute meals (plus baking time which doesn't count since you don't even need to check it) - providing you did the prep work beforehand. So there you have it, enchilada sauce that can be used for chicken or beef enchiladas. Plus freezer meals for next time, or at least supper will be happy tonight!

From a Pinterest Pin, as best I can guess the original came from here.

Black Bean Chicken Enchilada Casserole

2 Cups Chicken, Cubed
1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp. Ground Coriander
1/2 tsp. Minced Garlic
1 (4 oz.) Can Green Chilis, Drained
2 Tbs. Cilantro
1 (15 oz.) Can Black Beans, Rinsed
1 (10 oz.) Can Red Enchilada Sauce  OR half recipe Enchilada Sauce
8 oz. Sour Cream
8 (6 inch) Corn Tortillas
2 Cups Mexicheese or Colby Jack or Cheddar or a combo of these

Preheat oven to 375. Saute chicken with garlic, cumin, and coriander, till no longer pink. Add cilantro, beans, and peppers. Heat through. Spread half the enchilada sauce in a greased 9x13 pan. Place 4 tortillas over top. Spread half the chicken mixture over tortillas, then half the cheese and half the sour cream. Repeat layers: enchilada sauce, tortillas, chicken mix, but reserve the remaining cheese and sour cream. Cover the casserole, bake 30 minutes. Remove the cover, and the cheese and sour cream, bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.


I have no idea where this came from any more. It was written out by me a long time ago from some internet search or other and I didn't write down the source. This is a nice pic, and the recipe is pretty much the same except for the sauce.

Beef Enchiladas

Enchiladas:
1 Lb. Hamburger
1 Medium Onion
2 Tbs. Flour
1 Tbs. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Minced Garlic
1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1/4 tsp. Ground Sage
1 (14.5 oz.) Can Stewed Tomatoes
Tortillas
Cheese

Red Enchilada Sauce:
6 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1/3 Cup Butter Or Margarine
1/2 Cup Flour
1 (14.5 oz.) Can Beef Broth
1 (15 oz.) Can Tomato Sauce
2 Tbs. Chili Powder
2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Ground Sage
1/2 tsp. Salt

Brown beef and onion together. Add flour and seasonings. Stir in tomatoes, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. To make sauce: sauté garlic in butter. Stir in flour, then broth. Bring to boil, cooking 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Add tomato sauce and seasonings. Heat through. Pour 1 & 1/2 cups sauce in a 9x13. Spread 1/4 cup beef mixture down the center of a tortilla. Top with cheese. Roll up tight, place seam side down in prepared pan. Repeat until pan is full. If desired, may pour additional sauce over enchiladas. Cover with foil, bake 350 for 30 to 35 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, bake another 5-10 minutes till cheese is melted.

OAMC - Once A Month Cooking

Someday I will remember to take a photo of my fantabulous spread, and you will all be duly impressed. (No heckling please!) Part of the belt tightening around here is that I have to cook more. While we've pretty well curtailed restaurant eating, we tend to have a problem with eating chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas, and other assorted "food" out of boxes. Not glamorous, but definitely less of a burden to me. Except it isn't very healthy. Or cheap. I mean green! No, frugal! Yes, that's the one. So. To make it easier on myself, I have got on the OAMC bandwagon. That's Once A Month Cooking for the uninitiated. I only have so much energy in me though, so usually it's more like cooking enough for 2 weeks or so. My littles are growing up, and they are eating a lot! Well, one of them anyway. It is becoming more and more food for less and less time. Le sigh. Anywho. This week the right sales came along (more on that here) so I was able to stock up on some things and make them on my cooking day. I won't burden you with the gory details (for once). Except it took most of the daytime, my feet were throbbing, and I pretty much vegged out in a couch potato funk for the rest of the evening. Here is the outline of the finished products, hold your applause till the end:


I started the session with homemade white bread. Recipe straight out of the owner's manual for my bread machine. Yum!

Indian Chicken Drums - 10 drums, yogurt, spices, all marinating together. A mild dish that even my mom will eat. Not dissing my momma, just saying one tablespoon of chili powder in the whole thing, and she thought it was 'HOT'. And it was the cheap not-good-quality chili powder to boot! These are sposed to be deep fried, but baking works just as well, plus its faster and healthier.

Sausage Is The New Hamburger - I used to make "hamburger mix" which is simply cooked burger with or without basic seasoning. This is much faster and easier than thawing out and browning the raw stuff, mainly because I pack them flat in gallon size zipper bags when done cooking. I'm being cheap frugal this week, so I packed them in quart size zip bags. Our required amount for one meal has expanded, so it was 2 Lbs. in there. They are fat, but it all fit. I cooked 9 Lbs. Yes you heard it right. 9 Lbs. Be impressed people! So I had an odd number, but this was okay since I had two 'flavors' of sausage. One had bacon in it, oooooohhh. (sarcasm - DH LOVES his bacon) Two of the bags are only 1.5 Lbs, but I think I can make it work. At least one of these packages is destined to become Stuffed Shells at some point. The rest will be good no matter what I do to it.

3 Bean Chicken Chili x2 - I don't know where I got this recipe anymore. All I know is that I made it the first time and it got gobbled up. I made it slightly more spicy this time, which may be why kids turned up noses and didn't eat much. Win some, lose some. Very good with a dollop of sour cream, sprinkle of shredded cheese, and a side of homemade bread. DH and I had full bellies, and since I made a double batch, there will be another round of chili goodness in the near future. I did have trouble containing it after cooking. It overflowed a 5 Gal ice cream bucket. So I had to find something else to put the surplus in.

Lasagna - 10 noodles, 5 brats, 1 Lb. bulk sausage, cheese, and sauce. Skip the cottage cheese or DH will not even look at it. Grr! The brats would have been enough I think, but DH didn't agree. They were leftover from the summer grilling season, pineapple in them. Excellent on the grill, I thought they were a little too sweet for this recipe. They were already thawed the hard way (in the fridge), and I couldn't find any more in the freezer (I'm sure there in there somewhere). Still, good stuff. There were even leftovers the next day, though I didn't get any of them.

And that was it for this time. So now, when dinner rolls around, I got options! I am very proud of myself. And wish I had a bigger budget to make it get farther down the calendar. Oh well. Next time!

This week in groceries

I suck at taking pics. Once again, I've got nothing to show. BUT, I got a ton done this week. Hyvee is having $1 sales this week. I have been waiting for MONTHS for some of these things to get to my price range. In another fit of blatant single mindedness I threw the receipts right in the recycle bin. But I can tell you I spent about $52 and change at 2 different Hyvee's (the closest one was out of some things already). I remember the highlights as follows:

Farmland bulk sausage $1/Lb. I decided as soon as my eyes landed on the ad that sausage is the new hamburg in our house. If I had more of a budget to work with I would totally have bought more. The $52 was stretching it already, and I put one thing back to get to that total anyway. Le sigh. Next time!
Next item. French bread $1 each. They were small. I have a bread maker (and I'm using it regularly so far). Passed that one up.
Eggs $1/doz. I have 3 dozen in my fridge so that one also got a pass.
Jumbo hot dogs $1/Lb. I gave that a pass too because they aren't very healthy and we have some in the freezer already.
Carrots (the whole kind without the leafy bits) $1/2Lbs. I snatched up 2 of these bad boys. Carrots keep almost forever and my produce bin was mighty bare.
Green onions $1/2 bunches. This pin explains it all. I only got one but I used it all up right away.
Bell peppers - green ones $1/2, colored ones ... I've forgotten but they were on sale too. More expensive though. My tip: spend a tad extra for Roasted Bell Pepper Strips in a jar. There is no waste and if you get the strips (as opposed to the ones that are cut into chunks) there is no cutting involved either. Most stores around here carry Mezzetta brand (16 oz), but Aldi has a smaller jar (12 oz) that they carry as a regular item. This is a good trade off IMO, as long as colored peppers remain high enough (you be the judge).
Spaghetti sauce $1/24oz. Hyvee actually had a better price than Aldi ($1.19/24oz). I was shocked! It doesn't happen often, particularly on pantry staples. I stocked up on these bad boys - 8 bottles. They had five or six of different flavors too. I am too used to only choosing between Aldi's 3 flavors.
Chicken parts $1/Lb - sometimes this is a good price, but mostly not. I bit on the drums anyway, and also a manager's special package of wings $6.xx/3ish Lbs.
Aspirin $1/100 count - when I got to the store it was marked at 88 cents. Bonus!
Boneless pork shoulder roast $1.77/Lb. I am hard pressed to find any kind of meat under $3/Lb - even hamburger (80% or leaner only). So this was a pretty good deal. Apparently this is the same thing as a "butt roast". Change the name for marketing I guess, it was marked on the package "Hormel Butt Roast". Anyhow, it is in the crock pot as I am writing (typing?) along with some potatoes and carrots also from this sale run.
Lasagna noodles $1.89/Lb - I haven't been keeping track. It seemed like a good deal at the time because DH requested it for supper and it was less than the name brands. A little.

There were some other good deals, and some deals on junk. (It's still junk even if it's cheap.) I don't know how it all adds up, this is just what I remember. Most of it got cooked up the next day. I'll be posting shortly about that. Until then, hasta la vista grocery budget! :D

This week in groceries

Keeping track of how much I spent, and on what. Would your grocery bill be higher? Do you buy things that are only for you? Do you end up eating healthier? What was I thinking when I bought that? You be the judge. Here is a pic of the booty.

From Aldi:
Milk (Skim) $2.70/Gal.
Iceburg Lettuce $0.89/head
Shred CoJack Cheese $2.99/12oz.
Bananas ($0.44/Lb?) $0.96
Turkey Lunchmeat $3.49/16oz.
Apple Juice $1.69/64oz.
Russet Potatoes $1.99/10Lbs.
Pineapple Chunks (Canned) $0.89/?oz.
TOTAL
$15.60