Menu Plan Monday, ok so Friday but whatever

It's that time again - Menu Plan Monday!

Everywhere you turn people are tightening their belts, and like the rest we are too. I posted earlier about my attempts to get a better handle on our finances and what I've been doing to help. While some things are a fixed cost like rent and our car payments, others can easily be changed. One of the easiest ways to cut costs is in the food bill. Granted we hadn't been eating out alot there are still ways to cut back even for us.

We're lucky that the hubby hunts and fishes for practically nothing and then can process and fillet the fruits of his labor so that we have a freezer full of meat. This enables us to cut our grocery bill in half I'd estimate. For any meal that uses hamburger, roast, stew or even steaks we can use venison and save the raising cost of beef. The only thing that I buy true hamburger meat for is meatloaf or hamburgers. So this leaves just pork and chicken for us to purchase out of pocket. Even so those pockets are running emptier lately and I needed to find a way to cut our costs even more.

The answer is AngelFood Ministries. I stumbled upon this by accident really and I believe this will really help our family cut costs. I compared prices and decided that purchasing 1 or 2 boxes (designed for 1 week's use) could help get us through a month of groceries. Granted I'll still have to make a trip or two to the grocery store but I believe we could come in under $150.00 for a month's worth of meals.

For the month of January I purchased the Regular box and the January Special #5. Items used from the box can be found in blue and like before you'll find the supplemental grocery list at the end.

Saturday, January 24th
Breakfast: Pancakes
Lunch: Tomato Soup and Grilled Tomato, Smoked Turkey and Muenster Cheese Sandwiches
Dinner: Steakhouse Night - Grilled Ribeye Steaks, Loaded Baked Potatoes, and Steamed Broccoli

Sunday, January 25th
Breakfast: Everything but the kitchen sink Omelets (eggs) and Toast
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Cheese Filled Manicotti with Homemade Marinara Sauce, Cesar Salad and Breadsticks

Monday, January 26th
Dinner: Pinto Beans, Honey Cornbread Muffins and Collard Greens

Tuesday, January 27th
Dinner: Chicken Fajitas with Bell Peppers and Spanish Rice

Wednesday, January 28th
Dinner: Slow Cooker Venison Stew and cheddar biscuits

Thursday, January 29th
Dinner: LaBamba Casserole (ground turkey)

Friday, January 30th
Dinner: Pork Ribs (recipe tbd), Scalloped Poatoes and green beans

Saturday, January 31st
Breakfast: Pigs'N Blankets, Blueberry Muffins and Oranges
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Lady & Sons Lasagna, salad and garlic bread

Sunday, February 1st
Breakfast: French Toast, Bacon and Scrambled Eggs
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Super Bowl Sunday dinner at my parents' house

Monday, February 2nd
Dinner: Pastor Ryan's Mexican Lasagna and a southwest salad

Tuesday, February 3rd
Dinner: Grilled Chicken, Chicken Flavored Rice and Brussel Sprouts

Wednesday, February 4th
Dinner: Fend For Yourself, Mommy's tired

Thursday, February 5th
Dinner: Fried Chicken with Red Beans & Rice

Friday, February 6th
Dinner: Take 'n Bake Pizza and salad

Saturday, February 7th
Dinner: Hamburgers and Potato Salad

Sunday, February 8th
Dinner: Fried Fish, Coleslaw and French Fries

Monday, February 9th
Dinner: Maple Glazed Salmon, Baked Sweet Potato and Broccoli

Tuesday, February 10th
Dinner: Venison Stroganoff

Wednesday, February 11th
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie (carrots, peas and potatoes) and Spinach Salad (tangerines if left over)

Thursday, February 12th
Dinner: Spaghetti and breadsticks

Friday, February 13th
Dinner: Chicken Enchiladas and black beans

Saturday, February 14th
Breakfast: Waffles and fruit
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Out to Eat for Valentine's Day!

Here's this month's supplemental grocery list, and as always there may be items that I have in my pantry that I didn't include in the list so double check the recipes so that you don't miss an ingredient.

Grocery List

And as always be sure to check out the rest of the group's menus at the Organized Junkie.

Orange-Pecan French Toast Casserole

This breakfast is a classic at our house. We absolutely love it. It's served for special ocassions and a few regular days. It is so sweet and saucy that it feels like you're eating dessert instead of breakfast. I gurantee your family will beg for more and making this casserole saves you the trouble of standing over a griddle flipping individual slices of French toast. Assemble the dish the night before your gathering, and pop it in the oven the next morning. Be sure to serve each slice bottom-side up so the pecan mixture is on top.


Menu: Orange-Pecan French Toast Casserole and a big glass of milk 'cause your gonna need it.

Orange-Pecan French Toast Casserole

Ingredients:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons light-colored corn syrup
Cooking spray
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large egg whites
2 large eggs
12 (1-inch-thick) slices French bread (about 1 pound)

1. Combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup; pour into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle chopped pecans evenly over sugar mixture.

2. Combine rind and next 7 ingredients (rind through eggs); stir with a whisk. Arrange bread slices over pecans in dish; pour egg mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or up to overnight.
   

3. Preheat oven to 350°.

4. Carefully turn bread slices over to absorb excess egg mixture. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until lightly browned.

Recipe and photo courtesy of CookingLight

Breakfast Pizza

It PIZZA night at our house. Friday nights I like to have pizza, either frozen or if I'm feeling spunky we'll make pizza. And since we've got a leftover Boboli crust I think we'll make the pizza this week.
I've always loved breakfast foods, and when Red Baron came out with their quick fix biscuit style breakfast scrambles I fell in love. They're so yummy and fill you up. The only problem is they're a bit expensive. So I'm going to solve that problem by making my own!

This is a meal in itself so no menu for the night.

Not "Barren" Breakfast Pizza

Ingredients:
1 Boboli pizza crust
1 lb ground breakfast sausage
6 eggs
1 pkg of mixed cheese
milk
flour
butter
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 450'

1. Heat large skillet to medium high. Add the ground sausage and cook until fully cooked.
2. Remove sausage from skillet with a slotted spoon, allowing the grease to remain in skillet.
3. If you need more grease/butter add a few tbsp of butter. We're making a roux so that we can make our gravy. Gradually add a tbsp of flour and mix. Your flour-grease mixture should look like peanut butter, so gradually keep working to get that consistency.
4. After you've achieved your "peanut butter" slowly add 1 cup of milk to the skillet, using a whisk, stir the milk in. Keep adding milk 1 cup at a time until you've gotten a smooth gravy consistency. You might want to make it thicker than you usually prefer since it will be the sauce on your pizza.
   
5. Salt & pepper your gravy to taste.
6. Add the sausage back into the skillet.
7. Place the pizza crust on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes, this will harden the crust up so you don't end up with soggy pizza.
8. After crust has harden remove from oven and set aside.
9. Scramble your eggs, adding salt & pepper to taste. Add a splash of milk and a handful of cheese.
10. With a fresh skillet, cook your scrambled eggs.
    
11. When done remove them from heat and drop handfuls of egg on the pizza crust, leaving at least a 1 inch border.
12. Next spoon your sausage and gravy on top of the eggs and crust, leaving the same 1 inch border.
13. Finally generously layer cheese on top of the gravy and eggs. You want the cheese to form a nice top layer barrier.
14. Place in oven and back for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cheese has melted and the gravy is bubbly.
15. Remove from oven and allow plenty of time to cool!

Photo courtesy of CookingLight.com