Meal Plan W/E 04/1

I haven't been sticking to the meal planning, consequently we've been eating out a lot and the number on the scale is going up and the number in my bank account is going down.  So with a fun weekend planned at the end of this week as well as many nights out  this week between work commitments and hockey we made a big commitment to get back on track!

We did Beef Stew in the crockpot on Sunday because it would make 8 servings and with an unseasonable winter I was looking forward to a rainy Sunday on the couch.  We also made this amazing Asian Chicken Noodle Soup (thanks Pinterest!)

We had to buy chicken at BJs because I had a chicken shortage again and I haven't really grocery shopped in the last couple weeks and I missed the chicken sale (seriously, I missed it, can you believe it!)

Printable Meal Plan & Ingredient List

Sunday:
Breakfast: Turkey Bacon & Eggs
Lunch: Asian Chicken Noodle Soup
Dinner: Beef Stew

Monday: (Hubs alone)

Breakfast: Cereal & Coffee

Lunch: Beef Stew

Dinner: Tilapia & Vegetables

Tuesday: (Hubs alone)

Breakfast: Vitamin C Smoothie

Lunch: Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Dinner: Chili (leftover freezer meal)

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Cereal & Coffee

Lunch: Beef Stew

Dinner: Thai Green Curry over Basmati Rice

Thursday: Hockey Date

Breakfast: Tropical Fruit Smoothie

Lunch: Thai Green Curry over Basmati Rice

Dinner: Out

Friday: 

Breakfast: Cereal & Coffee

Lunch: Beef Stew

Dinner: Chicken Sausage Pizza

Saturday: Out

Breakfast: Out

Lunch: Out

Dinner: Out

Coupon Match Ups 3.25.11

I've been under the weather the last couple of weeks, generally feeling run down so my apologies for not posting.


We're coming up on a couple weeks till Easter - so the coupons have savings on baking and things related to bigger meals.  In addition there was a toy coupon insert this week. I always say grab up the toys now for early birthday gifts, donations, holidays or maybe if you don't have kids so you have something when they come to visit!


This weeks inserts: Smartsource & Red Plum


As usual, my match ups are Stop & Shop, Shaws (or Stahhh Mahket), Roche Bros, CVS &Walgreens


Red Plum:


I Can't Believe it's not Butter - $1.00 off 2 - Stop & Shop sale 2/$5.00 matchup 2/$4.00
Hellmann's Products - $1.00 off 3 - Shaws sale $2.49/each matchup 3/$6.47
Hillshire Farms Rope Smoked Sausage - $1.00 off 2 - Stop & Shop  3/$10.00 -matchup 2/$5.67*




Smartsource:


Yoplait Greek Yogurt - $1.50 off 5- Shaws sale 10/$7.00 matchup 5/$2.00
Dulce de Leche Cheerios - $1.00 off Stop & Shop sale 2/$6.00 match up 1/$2.00**
Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes - $1.00 off 2 Stop & Shop sale 2/$5.00 matchup 2/$4.00
Betty Crocker Cake Mix & Frosting $1.00 off when you buy both Stop & Shop Sale 4/$5.00 Cake mix & 3/$5.00 frosting - matchup both for $2.92
Healthy Choice Meals - $1.00 off 2 Stop & Shop sale 4/$10.00 matchup 2/$4.00
Nestle Toll House Refrigerated Cookie Dough $1.00 off Stop & Shop sale 2/$5.00 matchup 1/$1.50
Kraft Miracle Whip - $1.00 off 2 Stop & Shop sale $2.99/each matchup 2/$4.98
Stove Top Stuffing Mix - $1.00 off 3 Stop & Shop sale 3/$5.00 matchup 3/$4.00
Cool Whip - $1.00 off 4 Shaws sale 2/$5.00 matchup 4/$9.00
Johnsonville Chicken Sausage $1.00 off  Stop & Shop sale BOGO ($4.99) matchup 2/$3.99***
Johnsonville Chicken or Pork Sausage $1.00 off Stop & Shop sale (chicken only)matchup 2/$3.99**
Pepperidge Farm Frozen Bread $1.00 off 2 Stop & Shop sale 2/$4.00 matchup 2/$3.00


* Hillshire Farms Rope Smoked Sausage - you can do better, typically this is priced $4.69 and goes on sale as BOGO, so you can use this coupon (frequently printed) and get 2/$3.69.  
**Please note the Cheerios sale is on selected varieties only, so this deal might not work out if this new items isn't offered as part of the sale
***Stack both coupons, they are both valid for chicken sausage and you can use 2 coupons on a BOGO.

Meal Prep Day 2.26.12

Every good meal prep day starts with a breakfast.  Today it was buttermilk pancakes and turkey bacon.  I always try to make a bigger batch of pancakes and cook off the entire package of bacon when possible.  The reason I do that is because I typically portion out the uneaten pancakes and throw them in the refrigerator or freezer depending on the schedule.  That way some sleepy Saturday we can just reheat the pancakes and just like that it's hot breakfast time.  The bacon I will reheat during the week if I need a little something more than my coffee, cereal and smoothies.

Some for next weekend and some for the freezer

Then it's sitting down with the meal plan and making a plan and any adjustments.  For example, my chicken breasts that I had planned to make last night would have to be made today.  They didn't defrost enough and we just made a pork tenderloin for dinner.  This put us in the spot of having a couple days of lunches and chicken that would have to be cooked up today.

The first thing on the prep plan was to get our Apple Cider Braised Pork in the slow cooker, it had been sitting in an Apple Cider brine for nearly 12 hours when we got it going.  

During the prep, Hubs (my sous chef) was cutting up celery so I had him break down the rest of the celery in the package into celery sticks for snacks. 

I portioned out some peanut butter to go along with these snacks.  This way we don't have celery sitting around in the fridge most likely going bad and getting wasted.

After that we cleaned up the dishes and started on lunch.  I had some frozen pork buns from our trip the the HMart awhile back and we steamed those up and made a delicious asian inspired rice with snow peas for a delightful lunch, which gave me an opportunity to use my Chimp Sticks, which are monkey chopsticks.  I gave my sister some for christmas and I got them as a return gift within a week.  They are fantastic for folks that don't take themselves too seriously.  Which I don't.

If only Meg was here to help me eat this meal

After that Hubs helped me trim down some split chicken breasts and I roasted them with some garlic dijon thyme compound butter I'd made the night before.  

We took a break so I could get my ass kicked at Monopoly and then pulled out the chicken, which was smelling up the whole house with delightfulness.  It was packaged up and put away for Wednesday nights dinner.

After this I broke down a boneless pork butt that I plan to use for a pork filling similar to the Shredded Chicken Filling that was made a couple months ago.  Since we hit Chipotle yesterday for lunch I could tell the urge for burritos was kicking back in.

Then I whipped up a pizza sauce that will make enough for three pizzas, we try to make Friday nights as easy meal that either of us can throw together based on who has better luck with traffic coming from work.  Pizza shells & shredded cheese are always in stock in our kitchen.  I always put pizza sauce on the prep list when I run out.  I will post the recipe later in the week as we're planning to make a Chicken Chorizo Pizza for Friday night.

After the pizza sauce was portioned for three pizzas, it was running a little later than I had hoped, so instead of making Ginger Carrot Soup for Monday, I reviewed the recipe as being pretty straightforward and easy and decided to just chop the carrots up and asked Hubs to peel the yukon gold potatoes for dinner tonight

After the carrots were broken down I cut up the rest of the carrots into carrot sticks for snacks for the week.  Again not wanting the carrots to go bad, makes more sense to utilize all of the produce in some way to avoid waste.

I also put together some cookie dough for my new cooke recipe for Red Velvet Cookies. That went into the fridge so we could make dinner.

Dinner was great and then we packaged it up for lunches and Hubs did the dishes so I could come blog it all out.

Have a great week folks!

Cider Braised Pork Roast

Cider Braised Pork Roast Ingredients

So a few weeks back I got a great deal on Bone in Pork Shoulder and had a bunch of apple cider leftover from holiday cooking and baking.  Cider Braised Pork Shoulder sounded like it would be delightful.  I was excited to try it.  It went all day in the crockpot giving off great aroma, but it didn't really measure up.  I can't lie, I didn't love carving it and anything with bones and skin is not so much for me.

So this time I took advantage of a boneless pork loin roast on sale when we were at the Hilltop and tried again.  Let's see how this attempt came out.


Cider Braised Pork Roast

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 1/2- 4 lb boneless pork loin roast
• 3 1/2 cups apple cider (divided)
• 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground sage (divided)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder (divided)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne (divided)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1/2 apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 peeled garlic cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 Tablespoon cold butter
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix 1 1/2 cups apple cider, water, 1 teaspoon each of ground sage & garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne.  Place pork in brine overnight and refrigerate .  This will fit in a gallon freezer bag.

Briney Goodness 

Remove pork from brine and discard brining liquid.  Pat pork roast dry and tie with kitchen twine at one inch intervals.  Season pork with salt & pepper.  

I need to work on my tying skills

Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in saute pan till shimmering.  Sear pork on all sides to create dark crust. 

Mmm Crusty

Place pork roast in slow cooker.

Into the slow cooker

Heat remaining oil in saute pan and add shallots and celery to saute pan.  Cook for about two minutes.  Add remaining ground sage, garlic powder, cayenne, ground cinnamon and ground cloves.  Deglaze pan with apple cider vinegar and cook until vinegar has evaporated.  

Developing Flavors

Transfer mixture to slow cooker.  Pour remaining apple cider into crock pot. Place bay leaf, peeled garlic clove & cinnamon stick into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.  Halfway through cooking, give the roast a turn as the braising liquid is only about halfway up the pork.

Apple Cider Braise

Remove pork roast from slow cooker to a carving board and tent with foil.

Almost Finished Pork

 Strain braising liquid into sauce pan over high heat (skim excess fat as possible)  and reduce to about 25%and remove from heat.  Off heat whisk in Dijon mustard until combined and whisk in cold butter to finish the sauce.

This sauce is very flavorful and concentrated - a lot goes along way

Slice pork and serve with sauce.  

Pork Deliciousness

Happy Hubs/Sous Chef

Pack up four lunches for later in the week

The results are in, this was fantastic.  Really very delicious.  The brine really made the difference in this attempt.  I am in sweet love with this recipe and next time boneless pork loin roasts are at my buy price (2.99/lb) I will be making this again and likely for company!   I do recommend doing something easier for a side.  I did the buttermilk mashed potatoes which I highly recommend and will have to share in the future.  Just finishing the sauce, taking care of potatoes and sautéing green beans proved to be a little too much right before serving.  But then again, I'm not a professional chef.

Coupon Match Ups 2/26/12

The last couple weeks have been somewhat lame for sales & coupons (in my opinion) but this week's we have two inserts one from Smartsource and one that is put out by Pepsi which is full of snacks and drinks.   So let's see how it matches up with this week's sales!

As usual, my match ups are Stop & Shop, Shaws (or Stahhh Mahket), Roche Bros, CVS &Walgreens

Pepsi Insert:

Ruffles $1.00 off 2 - Stop & Shop has these 2/$6.00 - So it would be 2/$5.00
Pepsi  (18,20 or 24 cans) $2.00 off 2 - Shaw's has these on sale $4.99/each - 2/$7.98*
Doritos .75 off 2 - Shaw's has these on sale 2/$6.00 - Shaw's doubles coupons under up to .99 cents, so it would be 2/4.50, which would be the same as CVS's price of 2/$5.25 with a non doubling coupon.
Fritos/Cheetos $1.50 off 3 - Shaw's has these on sale 2/$6.00 - so it would be 3/$7.50
Starbucks Frappuccino or Double Shot 4 packs $2.00 off 2 - Shop & Shop has these on sale for 4.99/each - $2/$7.98
Rold Gold Pretzels .75 off 2 - Stop & Shop, Shaw's & Walgreens all have the same 2/$6.00 pricing - Shaw's & Shop & Shop would be 2/$4.50 because they double coupons.  Not sure of Walgreens coupon policy
Quaker  Cereal - $1.00 off 3 - Stop & Shop & Roche Bros both have the same 2/$5.00 pricing - so it would be 3/$6.50
Tropicana Pure Premium (59oz) - $1.00 off 2 - Shaw's has these on sale 2/$6.00 - so it would be 2/$5.00


Smartsource:
Fiber One Bars - $1.00 off 2 - Stop & Shop has these 2/$5.00 - so it would be 2/$4.00
Progresso Soup - $1.00 off 4 - Roche Bros has these for $1.79/each - so it would be 4/$6.16
Kraft Fresh Take (cheese & breadcrumb mix) - $1.00 off -Shaw's has this on sale for $2.99 - so it would be $1.99
Philadelphia Cooking Creme - $1.00 off 2 - Shaw's has this on sale 2/$5.00 - so it would be 2/$4.00
Phildelphia Indulgence $1.00 off -Shaw's has this on sale $2.99 - So it would be $1.99
Kraft Milk Bite Bars - $1.00 off - Shaw's has this on sale  $2.99 - So it would be $1.99
Mio $1.00 off - Stop & Shop has this for 3.99 with a $2.00 savings with purchase 24 ct Poland spring water - So it would be .99 cents + Poland Springs water (3.99 on sale)
Gevalia Coffee $2.00 off - Shaw's & Stop & Shop both has this on sale for $6.99 -so it would be $4.99
Splenda $1.00 off - Stop and Stop has the larger bags (9.70 oz) on sale for $5.99 - so it would be $4.99
Barber Foods $1.00 off - Shaw's has these on sale for $2.99 - so it would be $1.99
Planters Peanut Butter - $1.00 off 2 - Stop & Shop has these on sale for 2/$5.00 - so it would be 2/$4.00


Clip them anyway -
pick one of these games up next time you hit Target/Walmart - easy birthday gift or donate to Toys for Tots at the holidays or donate it to a local youth center.

$5.00 off Monopoly Electronic Banking )
$5.00 off Scrabble Flash, Simon Flash or Yahtzee Flash

Off Track..

We got off track with meal planning between the Super Bowl (I don't want to walk about it) and travel to see my in laws for my nephews second birthday (seriously, so sweet and cute) and then home hockey games and a super fun knife skills course at a local culinary school! In between all that I have had a number of recipes that I tried and was disappointed in. So all quite lame excuses I know, but yesterday while doing the work chatter about the weekend it occurred to me: I have NOTHING planned.

Hubs woke up early and we put the finishing touches on the meal plan and we went out shopping. We stopped at Hilltop Steak House Butcher Shop to pick up some chicken for $1.39/lb. Can you believe I have no boneless skinless chicken? I don't. It's not something I am proud of, I pride myself on having a variety of meat in the freezer. That way if I am hankering for something I don't have to pay full price for it. So we picked up some Chicken and some Pork Butt (you'll see what I'm doing with that next week) and a Pork Roast. I wasnt thrilled with that Apple Cider Braised Pork Shoulder I made a few weeks back so I am working on that recipe as my Sunday Crockpot meal this week. Also not planning to freeze any of it as it didn't really freeze well.

Since this weeks scan of the flyers caught my eye at all three of my local grocery stores, we stopped at all three for a few items. Now all items are in my kitchen and I'm relaxing on the couch watching the Bruins game writing up my prep plan for a full day in the kitchen tomorrow.

My freezer has some reminant ingredients from a trip to the HMart in December so I'll be utitlizing some of that stuff this week. I am pretty excited about this weeks plan. Apple Cider Braised Pork, Ginger Carrot Soup, Asian Chicken Noodle Soup are all new recipes to the meal plan, so let's hope it goes well!

Coupon Match Ups 2/5

Sorry for not posting these last week - I had a VERY lazy Sunday last week.  Happy Super Bowl Sunday folks!  Today is a pretty busy day as we have a Super Bowl get together at a friends house and the all important hockey match up in our house: Bruins vs Caps.  Our goal is to make a meal plan out of what we have on hand as the grocery store will likely be a little crazy today.

Three Inserts this week Smartsource, Red Plum & General Mills

As usual, my match ups are Stop & Shop, Shaws (or Stahhh Mahket), Roche Bros, CVS & Walgreens

General Mills

General Mills Cereal $1.00 off 3 - Shaws has this on sale 2/$4.00 - So it would 3/$6.00

Betty Crocker Fruit Roll Ups Asst Fruit Snack - $1.00 off 3 - Shaws has these on sale 2/$4.00 - So it would be 3/$5.00

Pillsbury Toaster Strudel $1.00 off 3 - Stop & Shop has these on sale 2/$4.00 - so it would be 3/$5.00

Fiber One Bars $1.00 off 2 - Stop & Shop has these on sale $2.69 - 2/$4.38

Progresso Soup $1.00 off 4 - Stop & Shop has these on sale 3/$4.00 - so it would be 4/$4.34

Campbell's Select Harvest Soups $1.00 off 4 - Stop & Shop has these on sale 4/$5.00 - so it would be 4/$4.00

YoCrunch Multipacks $1.00 off  - Roche Bros has these on sale 2/$5.00 - so it would be $1.50 each

YoCrunch Multipacks $1.00 off 2 - Roche Bros has these on sale 2/$5.00 - so it would be 2/$4.00 (I'll hold this one for a 2/$4.00 sale if you can wait)

Quaker Chewy Granola Bars $1.00 off 2 - Stop & Shop has these on sale 2/$5.00 - so it would be 2/$4.00

Folgers $1.00 off 2 - Roche Bros has this on sale $3.69 - so it would be 2/$6.38


Not a ton of great coupons today (in my opinion)  but hopefully in the last couple weeks you were able to take advantage of the flyers and get some good coupons to use for your Super Bowl Snacks.

Meal Prep Day 1/22/2012

We got up pretty early and decided to go grocery shopping without the coupons.  It's typically against my system and beliefs but the idea was that the grocery store would be crazy with a 3PM Pats game and we had the Caps on at 12:30 and I would be keeping an eye on my Bruins playing at the same time as the Pats.

We did pretty well with some coupons but we did need to buy a decent amount of fresh items that weren't on sale for this week's meals.  I did get $120.46 worth of groceries for $88.73.  I used 12.15 in coupons this week too.  I realized when I got home I missed $3.00 worth too!

First thing on the prep list was to get that Cider Braised Pork into the crock-pot.

You can't appreciate how delightful a smell this was all day

While putting the pork together, I had to chop up some celery for the recipe.  I just broke down the entire package and put together some snack sized containers of celery sticks that will be eaten this week, since the are already cut up

Try to break down as many ingredients for future use when opening a package of anything

I put together an awesome ginger rice, which I need to tweak and share the recipe!  

I packed up some cereal for the week so we can grab and go in the mornings we have cereal.

2 of 3 days cereal packed, so there's no confusing pouring while sleepy

I had to make a Marinara sauce for the lasagna, turned out really delightful

Mixed up a great marinara sauce with mostly on hand items 

For my last trick I assembled the Butternut Squash Lasagna so that it can just go straight into the oven Monday night.

Butternut Squash Lasagna - I can't wait to put this in the oven!

I was in the kitchen longer than usual today, but I didn't have Hubs on KP duty for most of the day, so I had to do my own dishes!  He's really good at keeping ahead of them so I can just move on with the prep.

All in all, a good day - Pats are headed to the Super Bowl, we had a wonderful dinner and Hubs is finishing the rest of the dishes now.

Coupon Match Ups 1/22/2011

A little time, a little clipping saves some serious money!

I'm going to try to do this every week - but it just depends on travel and time allowed.

This is a great week to start looking for food for the Super Bowl.  A lot of soda deals, snacks & apps are on sale now and there will be more next week for sure.  Same thing with coupons too.  So keep in mind that you can get some great deals now and it's never too early to get a bargain on shelf stable items and frozen items!

There were were 2 inserts in the local paper this week - Smart Source & Red Plum.  Also I'll do my matches for Stop & Shop, Shaws (or as I like to call it Stahh Mahket), Roche Bros, CVS &; Walgreens.

Again - this is something you can do ahead of time.  The coupons are posted online on Sunday Coupon Preview and you can do some matching by using grocery flyer sites.  I use My Grocery Deals and it works great.  Again you can do this fairly quick and easy - I try to do it on my lunch break at work.

Red Plum:

Uncle Ben's Rice $1.00 off 4 - Stop & Shop has this on sale 3/$5.00 - Sale + Coupon 4/$5.67

Special K Cereal Bars, Fruit Crisps and/or Granola Bars $1.00 off 2 - Stop & Shop has these on sale 2/$6.00 - which would bring them to 2/$5.00
Newman's Own Salsas $1.00 off 2 - Shaws has this on sale 2/$4.00 - Sale + Coupon 2/$3.00
Newman's Own Salad Dressing $1.00 off 2 - Shaws has this on sale 2/$4.00 - Sale + Coupon 2/$3.00

Clips these for later:

Super Pretzel $.50 off 1
M&M's, Snickers Minis, Twix Minis, or Dove Promises $1.50 off 2

Smart Source:

Cheerios $1.00 off 2 - Shaws has this on sale for $1.88/each - Sale + Coupon 2/$3.76
Yoplait Greek Yogurt $1.50  off 5  - Shaws has these on sale 10/$10.00 - Sale + Coupon 5/$3.50
Hunt's Canned Tomatoes $1.00 off 4 - Roche Bros has these on sale $1.00 each - Sale + Coupon 4/$3.00
Oscar Mayer Lunchables $1.00 off 2 - Stop & Shop has these on sale 4/$5.00 - Sale + Coupon 2/$2.25
Hershey's Drops $1.00 off 2 - Stop & Shop has these on sale 3/$10.00 - Sale + Coupon 2/$5.66
Pepsi $2.00 off 2 multipack bottles or 8pk mini cans - Stop & Shop has the bottles 4/$11.00 - Sale + Coupon 2/$3.50
Cain's Mayonaise $1.00 off 1 - Stop & Shop has this on sale $2.99 - Sale + Coupon $1.99
Mt Olive Pickles or Relish  $1.00 off 1 - Stop & Shop has these on sale 2/$4.00 - Sale + Coupon $1.00


Clip these for later
Pace Salsa $1.00 off 2 - you might need Salsa for the Super Bowl - though the Newmans own is a great price
Swanson Chicken $1.00 off 2 - Make some Buffalo Chicken dip for the Super Bowl
Sargento Shredded Cheese $1.00 off 2 - Again Buffalo Chicken dip and this often goes on sale 2/$5.00 or 2/$6.00
Tyson Any'tizers snacks $1.00 off 1 - Again easy apps for the Super Bowl
Tazo $1.00 off - if you like Tazo tea, then you know it's a bit pricy
Lays $1.00 off Lays Dip when you buy Lays Chips - Again Super Bowl
Johnsonville - $1.00 of 2 packages of any Johnsonville Sausage - Again Superbowl
Heluva Good! - $1.00 of 2 Sour Cream Dips
Franks Red Hot Sauce -$1.00 of 2  -Again Buffalo Chicken Dip

On side note:
There are coupons for:
$5.00 off Electronic Catch Phrase or Taboo
$5.00 off Pictionary
$3.00 off Jenga

It's NEVER too early to start Christmas/Birthday shopping I picked up a couple of games early in the year and was able to supplement a gift for my friends son and make a donation for Toys for Tots

Meal Plan W/E 1/28

We had a small casualty of food waste this week . A bit of buttermilk (half a cup maybe) that just didn't make it's way into a pancake, a smoothie or a waffle.  Sorry buttermilk, I feel bad that you made your way down the drain instead of into a breakfast of mine.  But I would say three weeks into the new year - that's way better than what I've run into in the past.

This is another week of no weekday hockey games, I know February will be similar but March will be something else.  So it's great that I'm making all these bigger items on Sundays so we can freeze portions of them for later - like March when the Bruins have 5 weeknight home games!  A weeknight home game prevents me from cooking a dinner and having leftovers for lunches, so stocking the freezer now will pay off in March.

Anyway  - this week the hubs has a night out with a friend to pony up the cash for his Sox tickets and I am getting my hair did one night.  Also I have a lovely day of shopping, lunch & a movie on Saturday with one of my gal pals. We also have the Caps, the Pats & the Bruins playing on Sunday so we are planning an early trip to the grocery store and getting some food prepped and parking our butts on the couch for some hockey and the AFC Championship game.  Also Tuesday night is the first Caps vs Bruins match up of the season - they are away so it's separate ends of the couch for a couple hours and we'll need a quick meal suitable for the coffee table.



Printable Meal Plan & Ingredient List

Sunday:
Breakfast: Turkey Bacon & Eggs
Lunch: Chicken Spring Rolls & Ginger Rice
Dinner: Cider Braised Pork Shoulder, Yukon Mashed Potatoes & Green Beans

Monday:
Breakfast: Cereal & Coffee
Lunch: Cider Braised Pork Shoulder, Yukon Mashed Potatoes & Green Beans
Dinner: Butternut Squash Lasagna

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Raspberry Lime Rickey Smoothie
Lunch: Butternut Squash Lasagna
Dinner: Chicken Burritos (the last of my Shredded Chicken Filling from the freezer)

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Cereal & Coffee
Lunch: Spinach Turkey Meatballs over Egg Noodles
Dinner: Turkey Burgers & Fries (on my own)

Thursday:
Breakfast: Pom Breakfast Smoothie
Lunch: Butternut Squash Lasagna
Dinner: Turkey Burgers and Fries (Hubs on his own)

Friday:
Breakfast: Cereal & Coffee
Lunch: Cider Braised Pork Shoulder, Yukon Mashed & Green Beans
Dinner: Steamed Pork Rolls & Cold Sesame Noodles

Saturday:
Breakfast: Turkey Bacon & Eggs
Lunch: Cold Sesame Noodles (Hubs on his own)
Dinner: Chicken Sausage Pizza & Salad

Spicy Sausage Ragu with Red Peppers

In this week's episode of Crock-Pot Sunday...we go with a sauce instead of a large piece of meat.  I still need to share the recipe for the Sunday Italian Meat Gravy, and I hope this weekend's snow will keep me in home so I can share some more recipes.  But that recipe is so delightful that when the multiple meat items for it are on sale I stock up and freeze them in the portions for this sauce.  This is why I had 2 pounds of Hot Italian Sausage in my freezer.  So this meal choice was great because I had most of the items on hand (sausage and a variety of canned tomato products)  I always stock up on these items when various grocery stores have sales or I buy them at BJ's as well.  Of course this recipe is from my Crock-Pot bible Slow Cooker Revolution

All items on hand with the exception of the fresh peppers

Spicy Sausage Ragu with Red Peppers


Printable Recipe

Makes 12 cups

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds hot Italian sausage, removed from its casing
• 2 onions, minced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano or 2 teaspoon dried
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (28 oz) can tomato sauce
• 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1/2 pieces
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsely
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and brown well, breaking up large pieces with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes; transfer to slow cooker

Add onions, garlic, tomato paste, oregano, and red pepper flakes to fat in skillet and cook over medium-high heat until onions are softened and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Stir in wine, scraping up brown bits and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes

Stir crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce into the slow cooker. Cover and cook until the sauce is deeply flavored. 9 to 11 hours on low; 5 to 7 hours on high.

Let sauce settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using a large spoon. Microwave bell peppers with remaining tablespoon of oil in bowl, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir softened bell peppers into sauce and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. Before serving, stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

We had this for dinner one night and then packed up 4 portions for 2 lunches later in the week and the rest has been frozen 4 portions at a time - my guess is you'll see this in a meal plan in the near future since it was a huge hit with Hubs.

Meal Plan W/E 1/21

We made it through another week without any food being thrown away.  There are very few leftovers in my house either. Just some pancakes from Saturday!  This week we have no home games except for Saturday afternoon, and since Hubs office is closed Monday for MLK day, I decided to take the day off and get some cleaning & relaxing done for the long weekend.  Last week we spent $12 at the grocery store for ingredients as it related to the meal plan and then did a stock up run for sale & coupon items for about $31.  This week we'll have to pick up a few things for the plan, but we have all our meats in the well stock freezer and there really aren't any meat sales that are blowing me away.  Roche Bros is having a 5/$25.00 sale, but I typically don't find anything there, but I'll have to take another look.

So again the strategy this week is a meal from the slow cooker Sunday, allowing for a bit of prep on Sunday or Monday depending on how I feel.  But I really have no at risk ingredients in my fridge that I think will go bad if I don't use them, so I just planned this week's plan with some consideration of my on hand items

Printable Meal Plan & Ingredient List

Sunday:
Breakfast: Buttermilk Pancakes & Turkey Bacon (Buttermilk pancakes are leftover)
Lunch: Chicken Burritos (took down some Shredded Chicken Filling from freezer)
Dinner: Spicy Sausage Ragu with Red Peppers over Spaghetti

Monday:
Breakfast: Buttermilk Waffles
Lunch: Spicy Sausage Ragu with Red Peppers over Spaghetti
Dinner: Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Antioxidant Smoothies
Lunch: Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce
Dinner: Sesame Honey Chicken & Quinoa

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Sesame Honey Chicken & Quinoa
Dinner: Chicken Burritos

Thursday:
Breakfast:  Banana Crunch Breakfast Smoothie
Lunch: Spicy Sausage Rague with Red Peppers over Spaghetti
Dinner: Garlic Shallot Rosemary Steak, Rice & Salad

Friday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Garlic Shallot Rosemary Steak, Rice & Salad
Dinner: Pizza & Salad

Saturday:
Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs & Turkey Bacon
Lunch: Out
Dinner: Out

Weekday Breakfast Strategy

There is a definite pattern to our breakfasts.  We typically just try to get right out the door Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Monday sucks so it's best to just dive on in.  Wednesday and Fridays are typically post hockey mornings.  So I have no desire to do anything but sleep in a couple minutes and throw my cereal in my lunch bag and grab my travel mug of coffee.  In an effort to get in a little more fruit and dairy we are trying to mix up the smoothie recipes.  Some have been good, some have been just "eh" So I figure I'll try to share one a week with you folks, two if I have two new good ones.

When we are off track it's Dunkin Donuts for us in the morning.  Which isn't the healthiest option and tends to add up with both of us hitting the drive through every morning at least $4.00 each.  So we are making an effort to make coffee every morning and have some together while we watch the morning news and take some with us for our commutes.  Sometimes we don't get to have the coffee together, but we always bring it with us.

2.5 Lbs of Coffee, stored in pantry - kept in kitchen canister

Coffee is tough, the price just keeps rising.  I like my Dunkin Donuts coffee, so I typically pick it up when Dunks is having sales at the holidays (4/$19.99) or if I have a coupon for the smaller bags - I'll match it up with sales at the local grocery stores (Stop and Shop, Shaws or Roche Bros)  I don't have a Market Basket near me, but I do have one near my work so one of my buddies will give me the heads up on good sale prices for dry goods, because I will definitely use my lunch to swing by and save money on coffee!  And you know where else has good prices on Dunkin Donuts coffee - Target.  No really, its true.  Again, I typically only buy the 12-16 oz bags when I have a coupon to match with a sale - and they usually match up within a week or two of the coupon being published.  But if that all fails, I buy my coffee in 2.5 lb bags at BJ's - it's been around $19.99, so it's a bit of a savings from the typical regular price of $7.99/lb.  You can't put a price on the sanity coffee brings you, but you can put a price on coffee.

$2.50 a box is the maximum to pay for a box of cereal

Cereal is something I'm always trying to keep on the shelf.  I typically will not buy cereal for more that $2.50 a box.  There are always sales in the grocery flyer and it typically coincidences with the coupons for the week.

For Example:
This past week at Stop and Shop there was a General Mills sale.  I wasn't able to make the grocery store this week but I sent Hubs for a few items because I couldn't miss out on this sale.

Buy 4 General Mills Cereals, get $4.00 off at register AND a coupon for up to $4.50 off a gallon of milk at a future visit.  I told Hubs not to pay more than average $3.50 a box regular price.

So we got:

Cheerios $3.49
Honey Nut Cheerios $3.29
Honey Nut Chex $3.69
Cinnamon Burst Cheerios $3.29
Less $4.00 savings
Less $4.50 off Milk
Total: $5.26
Average of $1.32 a box - plus I'll have free milk!

About milk, this is one of the items I typically buy at BJ's.  If we are running low I'll just ask Hubs to pick some up on the way home from work as he passes BJ's on the way home.  I can't be trusted in BJ's - if I go in for milk, I'll get that and a small fridge or something. Milk is under $2.50 a gallon at BJs and most milk at the grocery store is $3.50 or more a gallon.  I don't even stop to look it's way in the grocery store anymore.

There's always deals to be had on cereal my friends, just keep your eye out and stock up when you can!
When we do our meal prep, I do try to pour out the six servings of cereal out in containers, so it's just one last thing to do in the morning.  Pouring out the six servings takes less than 2 minutes, but doing it at 6 AM just gives us an excuse not to do it.

Frozen Fruit - wait for sales and stock up! Great for smoothies

32 oz tubs of yogurt - six cents an ounce better than individual cups from 8-10 cents an ounce!

I typically buy frozen fruit when it's 3/$5.00 a bag at the grocery store, sometimes there's coupons, but what I find a lot of times for my in store scanner is that it's included in those instant coupons too.  So I wind up with a decent variety. We try to keep fat free yogurt on hand as well.  I typically will by a 32 oz container of the store brand for $1.99.  It's about six cents an oz!  When individual cups are on sale you might get them at 50-60 cent a piece for 6oz portions.  Plain and Vanilla are great to have on hand for smoothies or on their own with some granola or whatever might tickle your fancy.

So when you start thinking about meal planning - start with breakfast - it's the most important meal of the day!

Old Fashioned Meatloaf

Old Fashioned Meatloaf

I'm not a meatloaf fan.  Everyone does it their own way and sometimes it's good, but most times I feel like I would rather go with something else. I remember a LONG time ago my grandmother (l call her Hazel) had found some fancy recipe for meatloaf in a cookbook, which required many ingredients. Hazel was on mission to assemble and try this meatloaf.  She drove my mother crazy trying to hunt down the ingredients.  I think my mom and I called it the most expensive meatloaf in the world.  I don't even think I ever got to try it.  I have a lot of her cookbooks now and it makes me smile to find her notes in the margins.  I'm hoping as I go through more of these cookbooks, I find the expensive meatloaf just so I can give it a whirl.

  Hubs enjoys meatloaf and this seemed like a good way to go and worked well for prep day.  I was hoping for the mashed potatoes to be the star, but I can't lie this meatloaf stole the show.  I found a recipe in The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook

I made some tweaks and went on my way!  This was a really nice and moist meatloaf, flavorful and not swimming in grease.  Reheated great for lunch and we are freezing the rest in meatloaf sandwich portions!

Old Fashioned Meatloaf

Printable Recipe

Glaze:

• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Meatloaf:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

Mix glaze and set to the side

Line 13x9 baking pan with foil; set aside.  Heat oven to 350 degrees

Heat oil in medium skillet.  Add onion and garlic until softened (about five minutes) Set aside to cool

Onions and Garlic - Always a good start!

Mix eggs with the milk, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, thyme and hot sauce.  Add egg mixture to meat in a large bowl along with the panko breadcrumbs and cooked onion mixture.  Mix until evenly blended and the meat mixture does not stick to bowl.  Add milk if necessary.

Panko is a girls best friend

Place meat mixture onto work surface and shape into 9x5 inch loaf.  Place in prepared baking pan.  Brush with half of the glaze.

Pre - Oven

Place loaf in oven and pull it out in about 45 minutes and reglaze.  Place back in oven until loaf register 160 degrees on instant read thermometer, about another 15 minutes.

Post-Oven!

Allow loaf to cool for 20 minutes. If desired simmer any remaining glaze on stovetop and serve with meatloaf