January 2011 Home Cooking Challenge - Page 2

[Alyantavid]

Ok I got my January meal plan all ready and shouldn't need to go to the store for at least a week and only for perishables.

[neetling]

subbing.  I love to eat out but it just isn't in the budget frequently.  I need some new recipes and tips.

[MamitaM]

Last night I made a really yummy "quesadilla pie" I guess you can call it. I sauted an onion, a green pepper, a few cherry tomatoes and mushrooms in a little oil and added a tiny bit of paprika and ground cumin (I didn't have any chili spice or expensive taco/fajita seasoning) and then layered this veggie mix in between tortillas and cheese and baked it for about 20 minutes or so on 350. Pretty tasty! You can add salsa in the layers if you have it or whatever other veggies you think will taste good and you can add beans, but  didn't have ones I thought would taste good in it.  I'm about to have leftovers for my lunch. I have no idea what dinner will be tonight, but it will not be something I order.

[jimblejamble]

Yesterday: White bean & corn soup with bread
Tonight: Whole wheat spinach pizza

Edit - Changed my mind; went with white bean & corn soup with homemade whole wheat bread and a couple strips of bacon on the side, and green smoothies.
Edited by jimblejamble - 1/1/11 at 8:25pm

[onthemove]

we are definately in again...we lost a fair amount of money investing in a fraudulent company (dh's cousins husband)turned out not to be who he said he was) and my van died right before Christmas and I only just went back to work so I am in need of a very tight budget.

we have alot of moose meat and salmon in the freezer as well as our garden haul.  We were very successful in our mushroom and berry picking as well.  We will be eating alot of our freezer and pantry food in order to save money.  There will be no eating out for a long time in this house!  I look forward to meal planning and challenging myself to get by on as little as possible.

12-1  junk food cleanout- wings, fries, with a salad

12-2

[MamitaM]

Today is the 1st and I'm off to a great start! My goals are to learn to cook new things, add more veggies to each meal and NOT order out b/c I'm to lazy to cook.

Jan. 1.   I made baked perogies and spinach. It's frozen perogies with spinach, onions, cheese and mushroom soup baked until it's cooked through and all melty! I made it once about 8 years ago and really liked it.

[starbuckmom]

I would like to join!  I am pretty good about cooking at home Mon-Frid but the weekends mess me up.  Sundays are the worst for me.  We have church in the morning and when we come home, it's time for lunch and I have 3 very hungry kids to feed that have a very hard time waiting.  I always forget to put something in the crockpot in the morning so we actually have supper.

My goal is to make more crockpot suppers on certain days and make sure I have meals in the freezer for the days I am not sure what to make.  My other goal is to stop shopping at Walmart and start shopping at Shop n save.  I tend to save at least $15-20 at Shop n Save over Walmart.  I would also love to find more recipes for fresh veggies.  I am tired of steaming them and I want to make sure the veggies taste good so my kids eat them.  If anyone has some yummy, tried and true veggie recipes, let me know!!

ETA:  I wanted to add, either quite using recipes that have cream of soups in them (not too bad right now) or make my own from scratch.

[ltlmrs]

January 1

Today we cheated, but it was free so I'm counting it as home cooking :)

There were so many left overs from my parent's New Year's party (well, it was a family "party") that I didn't have to cook breakfast, lunch or supper!  There's still some left overs for lunch tomorrow, but breakfast will be oatmeal (I'm putting it to soak) and supper will be a steak salad, probably.

I must get a meal plan together for at least next week.

[IngaAnne]

We have to tighten up the budget even more this year, so my goal is to eat out a maximum of 1 meal per week. I'd like to work up to once every two weeks. I'm also trying to eat more balanced meals. I always provide great meals for my toddler and end up eating chips myself. Not good!

My son has several food allergies, so sometimes he has a different version of the "adult" meal. Tonight we had ...

Adults - Extra lean ground turkey w/ rice noodles and Ragu sauce, plus a salad w/ a garlicy dressing.

Senorcito (aka - my 19m old son) - Extra lean ground turkey w/ rice noodles and acorn squash, plus spinach sauteed in olive oil.

[sinsaratea]

Totally want to join! I, too, am a single mom and I work about an hour away [not my choice, school system reassigned me] so I always resort to eating out. Money and calorie waster.

I love my crock pot and my turkey chili is my old standby. But I love it so I'm going to make some more. I also make bread from my machine. I need to send some lunches with my kindergartner a few days this month too!

Looking forward to learning some good ideas from you all.

[Turquesa]

ME!

January 1: Leftover pizza (homemade the night before)

January 2: Lentil Loaf with steamed peas

[lapoli]

January 1:  Kale and Rice Casserole with Pinto Beans

January 2:  Tamale Pie with Green Salad and Homemade Dressing

[seraf]

I'm in.  WOHM with 2 young kids half of each week and DP.  I'm joining because I would like to focus on healthier options (oh, and this month I'm going (refined) sugar, wheat and dairy free in hopes that I can get pregnant more easily).

We do 3 meals and 1-2 snacks a day.

Last night I made soymilk for the week and thai coconut soup (I have been sick and food has been low on my list of priorities, but soup sounded just right).  Oats, pecans and grapefruit for breakfast.  Making spagetti squash with a red lentil sauce and okara balls for dinner and lunch at work tonight.  Will also make rice for tomorrow's breakfast and a snack tonight.  The kids won't be home until tuesday, so this is just for me.  I'm not vegetarian, we have just been out of town and haven't gone shopping yet so I'm just eating what's in the house.

[justmama]

Jan 1: kids at dad's house.  I worked all day and had pasta with sauteed veggies, some olive oil, and spices courtesy of my mom.

Jan 2: work again, leftover pasta for lunch.  kids are home tonight so we'll have homemade vegetarian nachos with some beans and shredded cheese and leftover chips from Christmas with homemade canned salsa and some tvp and taco seasoning.

Jan 3: breakfast is oatmeal with brown sugar for 3 and homemade granola and milk for 1.

[Alyantavid]

1-1.  No breakfast, lunch was soup at my Grandma's, dinner was steak, pasta with garlic, olive oil and spinach.

1-2.  Breakfast was a poptart, lunch was hot dogs, dinner will be quesadillas.

[annethcz]

I went grocery shopping today, so I have lots of goodies, but I still need to put together a menu for the week...

Jan 1: leftovers for lunch; Burgers & salad for dinner

Jan 2: Tilapia/fish sticks/salmon & salad for lunch, omlettes for dinner

[ltlmrs]

January 1 Leftovers

January 2 B: Oatmeal L: Leftovers S: @ my mom's

[Motivated Mama]

I'm going to join too. My goal is to save money and make meals that my extremely picky toddlers will enjoy. Sometimes homecooked just doesn't work and I'll have to accept DH and I eating all the leftovers

We get WIC so I will be using the beans/peanut butter/milk/cheese/bread/etc provided through them and developing my recipes through that. I'd love to make my own bread/pasta/etc, but can't afford to not use what we are given, ya know? This week I have a couple of bean meals planned and I've really been craving chili...and stuffed peppers

[micah_mae_]

Hi all! We are a family of 4 big appetites. DH is a bottomless pit, I am tandem nursing, my toddler can eat as much as I do and a 2 month old who is on the boob constantly. ;)

So far..

Jan 1: Eggs and bacon, grilled sammies and soup, leftovers

Jan 2: Oatmeal, mac and cheese, tater tot casserole

[bootsvalentine]

Joining. We're new to menu planning and trying to stay in at least 5 nights a week. We're recovering eat-out addicts.

1-1: We ate breakfast out and had leftover tamales for dinner, frozen wings for a late snack

1-2: Ate poached egg sandwiches for lunch; eating grilled steaks and veg for dinner

On the menu this week: fish tacos from frozen filets, spaghetti, lavash bread pizzas w/ salad, chicken w/ indian simmer sauce & rice, barbecue rub on chicken w/ broccolini