Hamburger Vegetable Soup

Adapted from Money Saving Mom's recipe

1 lb. ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1 cups sliced carrots
2 cups of any frozen veggies (green beans, peas, lima beans, etc)
2 (14.5oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 (8oz) can of tomato sauce
1/4 cup brown rice, uncooked
6 cups water
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 bay leaves

Brown ground beef and onion together until meat is lightly browned. Drain off excess fat. Add all remaining ingredients and bring mixture to a boil.

Cover and simmer for two to four hours.

Prior to serving, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Once it's completely melted, add 2 tablespoons of flour. Incorporate butter and flour using a whisk. Once it's a paste, add to soup in order to thicken.

Remove bay leaves.

Low-fat, egg-free cookies

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 3/4 cup applesauce
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 cup rolled oats
* 1/2 cup raisins (or chocolate chips)
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C ). Grease a cookie sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the brown sugar, white sugar, and applesauce. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the applesauce mixture. Add the rolled oats, raisins and chopped nuts (if desired); stir until combined.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool slightly before removing from the baking sheet.

Awesome Stir Fry Sauce

Stir fry your favorite veggies and meat. Once meat is cooked through add sauce:

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup honey
garlic powder
red pepper flakes

So, so, so good.

Stuffed Peppers

3 large peppers
1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 cups water/chicken stock
1# ground meat (sausage, beef, turkey)
1/2 diced onion
1 can of tomato soup
1 cup of water
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic
several shakes of salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
2 cups shredded cheese (divided)

Simmer rice in water/chicken stock, covered for 30-45 minutes until rice is tender. Brown meat and onions. Once browned, add soup, 1 cup water, and spices. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and add 1 and 3/4 cup cheese. Simmer for an hour. Add cooked rice and simmer for another half hour. While simmering for the final half hour, preheat oven to 350, prepare peppers by washing, cutting off tops, removing seeds and cleaning out the inside. Boil in a big stock pot of water for 10 minutes.

Place peppers in a casserole/baking dish. Fill with stuffing. Bake for half hour. Top with remaining cheese and brown under broiler.

Pantry Recipe

Chicken Tacos:

2 Chicken breasts
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen pre-cooked black beans
1 can Rotel
2 tsp cumin (or more, to taste)
1 tsp chili powder
Several shakes of garlic salt
Several shakes of red pepper flakes
Several shakes of dehydrated minced onion flakes

Throw in crockpot for 6-8 hours on low.

Serve wrapped in tortillas and topped with cheese, sour cream and taco sauce. Mexican rice on the side.

Delicious Broccoli & Cheddar Soup

My husband loves my soups :) This recipe is SO easy and SO cheap.

1 Bag of Green Giant Valley Fresh Broccoli Steams - Free after coupon
1 Can of Cream of Mushroom soup - $0.34 after coupon
3 Cubes of Chicken Boullion (or 3 cups of Chicken Stock) - $0.40
3 Cups of Water (omit if using Chicken Stock instead of Boullion) - Free
1 Can of Milk - $0.10
3/4 a pound of Cheddar Cheese - $1.25
Salt and Pepper to taste

In large pot boil water and add chicken boullion cubes. Meanwhile, microwave broccoli according to package directions. Once boullion cubes are dissolved, reduce heat to low and add steamed broccoli, can of soup, and one can's worth of milk. Heat everything through and add cheese. Leave soup on heat until the cheese melts and the soup has reached desired consistency. Add salt and pepper. Eat. Yum.

Total Cost = $2.09

I'm making a second batch later to freeze in individual serving sizes.

Meal Plan Monday - The Late Edition

Meal planning is difficult at my house. My husband works nights depending on what we have going on during the day, as well as when his shift starts, sometimes we have time for dinner and sometimes we don't. It's often tough to gauge how many nights I should plan for us to eat together. I just try and stick to the basics

Breakfasts - Cereal, muffins, baked oatmeal, cinnamon toast, yogurt and fruit

Lunch - Deli meat sandwiches, mac 'n cheese, homemade pepperoni pizza, grilled cheese, tuna sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, chicken nuggets, leftovers

Dinner - Sugar Chicken in the crockpot, sloppy joes, spaghetti, oven fried chicken, egg salad sandwiches

Side dishes - Strawberries, oranges, bananas, applesauce, fingerling potatoes from farmer's market, green beans from farmer's market, rice

Grocery list - Yogurt, strawberries, applesauce, bananas, bread crumbs (out of stale bread), hamburger buns, cereal, lemonade, salami, turkey (for sandwiches). I will also add in anything I can get free or really cheap after coupons (Skippy PB).

Things like organic strawberries and bananas I get every single week regardless of price because I know my 2-year-old will eat them, which is important to me.

Our Silly Sunday!

Being that my husband and I are in the restaurant business, we don't often get weekends off, like most 9-5ers. Infact, we consider it a treat if Mike gets two days off in a row! So, whenever we have either a Saturday or Sunday off together, we like to look for some fun, family-friendly events, that are free or on the cheap.

This year, Lansing is celebrating it's 150th birthday and celebrating in various ways throughout the year. Today we took part in the fun with free children's events down by the Capitol building. For exactly $0.00, Alex enjoyed bouncing in a bounce house, riding a merry-go-round, playing with bubbles, and listening to stories and live music. We also got free balloons (including a monkey animal balloon), free cake and ice cream, and a free re-usable bag containing a coloring book, crayons and bubbles!

It was such a great time and definitely surpassed my expectations! I love free family events around town :)

Check out your town or city's website and learn all about the free activities you and your family can take part in. I would also suggest checking your local library for fun activities, as well as any local community centers.

Frugal Friday - Starting Back Up Again

So, I had taken a long break from couponing and deal-hunting. I just couldn't keep up with clipping all those coupons and feeling the need to score every deal I read about.

But, I've become frustrated with the amount I'm spending at the grocery store. And our stockpile has dwindled considerably. It's time to build it back up again!

I think this is a good week to get back in the swing of things. First off, it's the beginning of a new month. And secondly, there are a lot of great coupons coming out this Sunday! I'm actually quite excited to give it another try. I just have to remind myself not to feel overwhelmed with catching every deal under the sun.

Wish me luck!

Frugal Vacation

So, this summer we decided we deserve a vacation. It's amazing how booking a vacation can raise your spirits and boost moral when you're feeling drained or sick of working. My husband and I are so excited to get away next week.

We live in Michigan, so we have lots of options when it comes to finding something to do within driving distance. We are surrounded by beautiful water and great vacation towns. This year we decided to venture to Mackinac Island in Northern Michigan. It's a great little island, with unique hotels and inns, beautiful parks and beaches, and lots of things for us to do with our little one. Now, I'll admit that the hotels on the Island aren't exactly frugal. You can't find a Holiday Inn or Super 8. All the hotels have great character that are special to the island. But, we are going to do our best to save in as many other ways as possible.

Today I'm going focus on how we plan to save money while driving. A few things on my list of ideas:

1) No need to buy a fancy portable DVD player. We recently looked into purchasing one and were shocked to find that they run you about $130. Yikes. We'll have our laptop to play any sort of DVD Alex might be interested in watching while driving up to the island

2) I have been saving the little toys that I find hidden under the bed or have lost the rest of their set. Although we don't tend to buy kid's meals at the fast food restaurants, Grandma does, so I have been stashing those toys in a box as well. When Alex starts to get bored while we're driving I'll pull out the toy box and let him have fun with all the little toys he's forgotten about.

3) Packing snacks to eat instead of going through the drive-thru will be the biggest challenge. My husband is very accustomed to getting fast food during our long drives. Infact, I think he looks forward to it. I plan to pack bagels, fresh fruit, chips and water to get us through the drive without having to pay for expensive fast food meals.

4) I plan on borrowing some books from the library as opposed to buying magazines to read. Magazines seem like such a waste of money. I usually read through one of them in about a half hour. Six dollars (or so) seems like too much for a half hour's worth of entertainment. I also plan to check out some books for Alex. He loves reading new books.

5) Our new car has cruise control that actually works! So that should help on gas milleage.

6) We will be sure to fill up on gas at a station close to our house, as opposed to near the exit of the highway. We all know gas stations near the highway can easily charge more for gas. Our drive home might pose more of problem when trying to find cheaper gas. But, we'll assess that situation when the time comes.

Have any ideas or suggestions? I could always use more input1

Menu Plan Monday

Breakfasts - Homemade banana bread, baked oatmeal, hashbrown patties, cinnamon toast, graham crackers, bananas, oranges, strawberries

Lunches - Homemade chili, homemade potato soup, tuna salad sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, deli meat sandwiches, homemade pizza, mac n cheese, leftovers, carrot sticks, bananas, oranges, strawberries

Dinners -
Monday: Oven-fried chicken, rice, glazed carrots
Tuesday: Shepherds pie from freezer, mashed potatoes, oranges
Wednesday: Brown sugar chicken, steamed broccoli, oranges
Thursday: Spaghetti, strawberries
Friday: Husband works at 5pm, dinner with parents?
Saturday: Breakfast for dinner

Re-purposing leftovers

Such a good dinner tonight!

We made oven-fried chicken. Rice. And glazed carrots. Even Alex gobbled up the oven-fried chicken, which shocked me! What's even better is I washed a few of the leftover carrots to get the glaze off, diced it up along with the one left over piece of chicken and then added it to leftover rice. I have lunch for Alex tomorrow - chicken "fried" rice.

I'm going to do a slight pantry challenge this week, as we have some pre-packaged food I want to get rid of. I've been avoiding purchasing a lot of pre-packaged food (like rice-a-roni and pasta-roni) because I'm trying to incorporate healthier, whole foods. I figure we'll just eat the remaining packages and then be done with them.

Oh. And meal planning didn't work out all that well for me this week. But, we'll give it another shot.

3-Week Challenge Update

Well, we're on our way. I picked up 2 extra hours last Saturday and 4 extra hours yesterday. Plus $15 in returnables (bottles and cans)

Goal Amount = $540
Amount Remaining to Reach Our Goal = $210.83
(-) $17 in tips made last Saturday
(-) $80 in tips made yesterday
(-) $15 in returned deposits
Amount Needed to Reach Our Goal = $98.83

So, despite the fact that we are still shy of almost $100 to pay the bill, I will be sending the check today. My goal was to find unconventional ways to pay this bill (picking up extra hours at work, using rebate checks, cashing in our coins, recycling our cans & bottles) and I think I did a pretty good job. But, I'm pretty sure we are close to our 3-Week time limit and I would like to get the bill paid. Work has been VERY busy for my husband and he has been making enough extra money during his normally scheduled shifts so that we can afford to use that money to get the bill paid.

I'm glad we didn't have to turn to our savings account to pay it.

Tipster Tuesday - Don't Throw That Trash Out!

So, most of what filled Alex's Easter Basket this year, will be saved and re-used for next year. Including the grass.

No, we won't be re-gifting the books and flash cards over again. But, I am saving the plastic eggs that I filled with Junior Mints, as well as the cheapo toys that came filled with jelly beans and sour candies. We have lots of grass being that both Mike and I, as well as my parents gave Alex a basket. I imagine that some of the grass will get used throughout the year to stuff gift boxes, too.

But, rest assured... I will be hitting up the drug stores for their clearance items. Because yes, I am addicted to Holiday clearance sections.

Meal Plan Monday

Breakfasts - Any combination of the following: homemade banana bread, cinnamon toast, hashbrowns, graham crackers and fruit

Lunches - Anycombination of the following: tuna salad sandwiches, bbq pulled pork sandwiches, salami sandwiches, mac n cheese, homemade pepperoni pizza, bean soup, potato soup, carrot sticks, fruit

Dinner -
Monday: Pork Tenderloin, asparagus, potatoes
Tuesday: Bbq pulled pork sandwiches, glazed carrots, oranges
Wednesday: Crockpot brown sugar chicken, rice, broccoli
Thursday: Mushroom white pasta, oranges
Friday: Mini meatloaves from freezer, rice
Saturday: Chicken enchilada casserole, oranges
Sunday: Shepherds pie

3-Week Challenge Update

My husband typically works 5 days a week, but will often pick up a 6th day if someone asks him to work for them. So, yesterday would have put him at the 6 day mark and as a result I am going to be counting that as additional income... although I would usually just add that money into our "regular" mix.

So, I will be adding $120 into our 3-Week Challenge (he makes cash tips) and probably around an additional $40 that will be added to his pay check (although I will be waiting to add that exact amount because I can't remember how much he makes hourly and how much will be taken out for taxes, etc)

So as it stands...

3-Week Goal = $540
Amount that remains to reach our goal = $330.83
(-) $120 in additional tips my husband made yesterday
New Amount = $210.83

As soon as we get our paychecks I will figure out how much to add for his hourly pay. Plus, I will be picking up 2 additional hours at work on Saturday. Not a ton, but every little bit counts. So, as soon as I figure out how much I make I will be adding that in as well.

Getting there!

Organic on a budget?

So, one of my goals is to start incorporating more whole foods and organic foods. And less processed and pre-packaged foods. My dad recently had a very mild stroke and he has started eating and living a lot healthier. It has inspired me to do the same. It was definitely a wake-up call for the whole family.

As we all know, it's difficult to eat organically on a budget. Really difficult. Fortunately, the Kroger I shop at frequently often has organic markdowns. And I have also decided that it's worth it to me to add a little bit more to our grocery budget in order to get some organic food. Not all organic. But, some.

I came across this really helpful list. It gives a rundown of the fruits and vegetables that have the highest and lowest pesticide load. So, when I'm at the grocery store thinking about which fruits and veggies to buy organic, I refer to this list... knowing that it's ok to buy non-organic produce that has the lowest pesticide load.

Pesticide Load

Toddler Tip Thursday - When Wasting Water is Good!

So, I recently discovered this... have I been in the dark? Is this something all mothers know about? Where have I been?

Today I was able to clean the kitchen from top to bottom, all while my toddler hung out with me and played. The. Entire. Time. I put the sink on a low trickle, plugged it up and added a little dish soap. Throw in some plastic cups and a spoon, and you've got an hours worth of toddler fun!

I even got to scrub down the appliances and cupboards!

Now, normally I don't condone wasting water. Especially since I just posted about how I have been able to reduce our water bill by $50. But, I promised myself I would work even harder (is that possible?) to save more water to make up for what we went through today while Alex played.

It was great. My only problem is not having a sink in every room! Well, thats probably actually a good thing or we would be wasting tons of water. But, as you know you should never leave a small child unattended when playing in the sink. So, while my kitchen is sparkling, the rest of my house is still a mess.

You win some. You lose some.

Tipster Tuesday

So, one thing I have been trying really hard to do, is re-purpose leftovers... as in, not just eating the same 'ol meal twice. But, instead taking the leftovers and turning them into something new and delicious :)

On Sunday I made this delicious roast. I used a 1.75# roast, so we had a big hunk leftover... and I turned it into a super easy Beef Stroganoff for dinner tonight.

Here's what used:
Leftover roast, diced into small pieces (less than 1#)
Can of cream of mushroom soup
Milk
1/2 cup of diced onion
2 cloves of minced garlic
Salt
Pepper
Pinch of thyme (mainly because my husband likes to add a pinch of thyme to EVERYTHING)
Olive oil

I sauteed up the onions in some olive oil. Then I added the garlic and the diced beef. I let it saute for a minute or so to heat the beef through then I added the can of soup and milk. I eyed the amount of milk to get it to the consistency I wanted for the sauce. Then I added a bunch of pepper (we like pepper), salt and thyme. Voila! If you let it simmer for a bit, it will thicken up (if you prefer i that way) or you can add more milk to thin it out before serving.

It was SOOO good. I am always proud of myself when I try to make something new and my husband likes it, because he can be quite the critic (he likes everything to be prepared the way his mom made it growing up). This dish was certainly a hit!

Anyways, my tip for today is to re-purpose your leftovers whenever possible. I took a roast that cost less than $4 and stretched it into two frugal meals. In addition to that, it makes meal planning easier! Next time we make a roast, I know that I can always use the leftovers to make stroganoff... it'll make another dinner a no-brainer.

Meal Plan Monday

Breakfasts, any combination of the following: homemade buttermilk banana bread, hashbrown patties, cinnamon toast, bagels, fruit

Lunches, any combination of the following: homemade pepperoni pizza, tuna salad, egg salad, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, pasta salad, deli meat sandwiches, fruit, leftovers

Dinners:

Monday - mini meatloaves from the freezer, mother-in-law's brown rice, strawberries
Tuesday - beef stroganoff (from Sunday's leftover roast), oranges
Wednesday - shepherd's pie, oranges
Thursday - something my husband will cook that is yet to be decided, asparagus
Friday - potato soup from freezer, rye bread, oranges
Saturday - brown sugar chicken in crockpot, green beans,
Sunday - easter dinner with grandparents