My husband and I are definitely foodies. We spend quite a bit for a family our size on groceries each month. So, I’m going to try to scale it back by 1/3. Yikes. But, this cut in budget isn’t so we can do more – but so that we can get out of down quicker so that we can GIVE more. So, I’ll be looking for yummy, foodie, but cheap recipes. I need to also use my coupons and use up what is in our pantry, too.
So, here we go.
Monday: since I’ll be making potato soup for a crowd this coming weekend, I’m trying another recipe – this time one of Tidy Mom’s to see if I want to use this one. Poor husband, we are going to be eating potato soup for a while! This soup will be being made for our leftovers and lunches this week. Because on Monday night we are going the soft grand opening of the Main Cheese here in West Little Rock. This is another opportunity through the Arksansas Women Bloggers – excited. How wonderful can great grilled cheese be on a cold night!
Tuesday: Salad with leftover Lemon Chicken by Shutterbean.
Wednesday: Sausage Ragu with Spaghetti Squash
Thursday: Cheap, Mexican breakfast food – brinner we call it in America. I have most of the ingredients of this already!
Friday: Missions dinner at church
Saturday: I will have just spent all day in the kitchen, so I’m hoping for eating out with a coupon!
Sunday: these pancakes and scrambled eggs. I’m really not an earl gray fan, but I figure there is no harm in trying these – and there isn’t much that syrup and butter can’t fix!
Breakfast will be oats because I have them already.
Love having women over to live life with me, eat girly food, and be creative. This was the scene at our dining room table the weekend of Thanksgiving. I had some sweet girlfriends over to celebrate creativity and enjoy getting to know one another.
With any girls’ brunch, I think some egg dish is customary, right? Well, as I am cooking through Jenna’s blog, I came across this one. My learned lesson from this: read the instructions. I figured eggs cook fast, so it can only take about 30 minutes, right? Wrong. The quiche didn’t get done for an hour and I would have known that had I read the directions. But, during the waiting time, we stood around in the kitchen and talked. So, it was worth the wait – when we all dug in and enjoyed the savory goodness for breakfast.
Broccoli, Cheddar & Bacon Quiche
Recipe Type: Brunch
Cuisine: Eggs
Author: kd316
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
Delicious easy egg quiche perfect for a weekend brunch.
Ingredients
1 Pillsbury pie crust
6 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 large head broccoli, use the florets
3 eggs, I used Great Day Farm eggs
1 cup whole milk
4 slices bacon, cooked, drained, and chopped
salt
pepper
garlic
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Press your pie crust into a pie pan. Set aside.
Cook broccoli just until done – about 4 minutes.
In a pourable dish, mix your milk, cheese, eggs, bacon, and seasonings.
Place cooked, cooled and drained broccoli in the bottom of your pie.
Pour your egg liquid over the top.
Bake until set, about an hour.
Take a pretty picture.
Eat.
3.2.1275
Note: You can really use any cheese you want to in this, I suppose. I used Monterey Jack. Sharp Cheddar would also be delicious!
Its been a busy weekend and a busy Monday out of town visiting some friends, so I’m a day late in posting the menu and in grocery shopping. I’m going to try to fit it in tonight before some friends come over when our littles go down for the night. Does your life ever seem like a run on of days – but never a break. That’s been ours recently. I love being busy but I also crave down time too! Vacation please!!!
Well, here you go:
Monday: it was leftovers – nothing exciting.
Tuesday: I’ll probably have a salad but I am defrosting some of Jenna’s Spinach Stuffed Shells for the men tonight. Perfect freezer meal – just pop leftovers in the freezer from the first time you make it and they are perfect for busy nights like this.
Wednesday: Potato Soup. I’m testing this one in order to use it for missions conference women’s lunch next weekend.
Thursday: I’m making dark chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream and sea salted caramel drizzle for a ladies meeting I’m attending. For dinner I’ll throw together a simple curried soup recipe. Maybe pick up some naan or try making it if I have time (baby appts that day).
Friday: If we are at home with nothing to do I try to make Fridays pizza day. This week we are doing a whole wheat crust with zucchini! I know, the green will remind me of spring which should be just around the corner with the beautiful weather we’ve been having this week.
Saturday: I’m breaking away from Jenna for Saturday and heading with Tracy at Shutterbean. Lemon Chicken – brown rice – vegetables. And it will serve as perfect leftovers!
Sunday: Leftovers and two separate receptions at church that day.
The most important meal of the day is breakfast right? And one of the best holidays is Valentine’s Day, right? Then why not combine the two and serve a delicious themed breakfast on Valentine’s Day. I’m glad that it falls on a Friday this year, my Mister’s day off. That way we can all linger over the breakfast table a little while longer. Here are three recipes that you can whip up in no time flat for your Valentine. Enjoy every moment of the day!
Strawberry Pancakes (I actually served these for dinner tonight). I used Rachael Ray’s Strawberry Pancakes recipe from her magazine. Things I would change: chop your strawberries more fine. Use less of them. Or puree them and lower the milk amount. They were TOO moist. But, they had great flavor!
Heart in the Hole. I made this yesterday for my little Valentine for lunch. So quick and easy. I used Great Day Farms’ organic eggs because they taste amazing and I know are healthy for my family. Just put some butter in a heated skillet, cut out a heart shape (with a cookie cutter) of the bread, and drop the egg in. Let it cook until your liking. How runny do you like your egg?
Strawberry Nutella PopTarts. I made the smores version of these last week at a friend’s house and we gobbled them up. Tomorrow morning I’m taking some fresh strawberries, mashing them with a fork, already made pie crust, a cookie cutter, egg wash, and delicious creamy nutella. Amazing pop tarts await me! Yay!
See…three easy breakfast ideas. And thanks to my friend Liz for the picture of her cute thrifted coffee mug. Perfect morning to use that!
I had my concerns with how eating grain-free for even 4 days would go, and you know what…it was doable. What it takes is planning and preparation (grocery shopping, recipes, etc), and a willing family and self-discipline.
1. I lost 6.4 lbs in those 4 days. I know that is not real weight, but it is better than nothing. I’m now the lowest I’ve been since either of my two sons were born.
2. I did not feel bloated once during those 4 days. I had unsweet tea once, the rest of the time it was water, oj or homemade juice, or whole milk. That was a different thing too for me. Lately I had been drinking more carbonated beverages – which also do some bloating to me.
3. A sweet friend who is losing baby weight with me asked me what I was going to do once I finished each of these detoxes each month. Here is how I’m going to change life from this one. These are significant changes and will be in how we mostly cook. If we are eating with other people in their home of course we will eat with them, but we can change how we cook!
CHANGES:
1. Limit carbonated beverages – diet or regular.
2. Drink more homemade juices. I typically make a simple carrot and apple juice for us in the morning which is delicious and inexpensive and quick.
3. Take away white flour in our home (except in baking). Here’s what I mean: eat more brown rice, sweet potatoes, whole grain bread, whole wheat pastas when we do eat grains, but try not to eat them much. But in baking, even though I sometimes substitute whole wheat flour, I purely like baking with regular flour if that’s what the recipe calls for. I have Baking with Whole Grains by King Arthur – but I just like normal recipes when I do bake them. I’ll just give them away and limit them. Today – coming off detox: I had 2 bites of a white blueberry bakery-style muffin and 1 pita (in chip form) at lunch because of this restaurant’s spectacular spinach dip. I felt bloated all day. Ended with 2 bites of strawberry pancakes and a diet coke. Ugh. So, that’s how I know there is a difference.
4. For sandwiches, whole grain tortillas will do the trick. Less carbs, I think. And I can eat a half of a sandwich when I want to – like a good BLT – you need good sourdough for that.
5. I think the toughest area for me in this will be: breakfast. Meals that are easy and quick are foods made with grain. But, I’ll have to be prepared with hard-boiled eggs, cheese, milk, yogurt with granola, etc.
But, the end result: I feel better with white flour and I lost weight. Those are great things!
A new month brings a new detox. These, in 2014, are going to be monthly challenges. When you’ve been cooking and baking as long as I have, you get in ruts. You need challenges in your kitchen. And when you are trying to lose weight (two babies back to back will do that to you), you also need something to spruce up those rice cakes (I’m really kidding – no rice cakes here).
So, what began yesterday, my husband and I will begin on a 4-day journey to experiment with new recipes and old ones – just nothing containing grains. Here are the reasons/challenges for this detox for me:
1. Grains have been my go-to the last few weeks. Since my raw detox back in the middle of January, I’ve indulged in muffins, cookies, pastas, sandwiches. This detox will get me out of the habit of instinctively reaching for bread.
2. I eat a lot of soups or salads in the winter – my main side for those is bread. I want to get out of that rut or realize I don’t have to have bread with soups and salads.
3. Breads really do create bloating in me. I can tell. Jeans fit tighter, they don’t like to zip the whole way. But, mostly a diet full of breads and carbs bloat my tummy more than anywhere else on my body. I want my jeans to fit better!
4. When you do a detox you practice self-control. I just can’t sneak a bite of my son’s granola bar or muffin at breakfast. I can’t eat a small handful of goldfish as I dish him some. I definitely won’t reach for those cookies at ministry events. Self-control, weight loss, less bloating, more vegetables and proteins. This is going to be a good detox. So what meals do we have planned? Broccoli Stir-fry Pork Sirloin with apples and sweet potatoes Pan sauteed fish with sugar snap peas Carrot-Ginger-Apple Juice for breakfast with some scrambled eggs. Spring Minestrone soup Tyson Chicken Tenderloins on salad. What else should we try?
