Menu Plan Monday

Last week's MPM post was...how should I put it?...absent. I made up my menu and fully intended to type it up for all the world to see. Monday came and went, but no MPM for me. It seemed silly to post it on Tuesday, so I skipped it altogether.

Today's weather felt like fall, but the summer crops haven't gotten the message yet. Between my garden and the CSA veggies we get every Thursday, we are overloaded with vegetables. One day I may have them under control and then the next I can't find a spot for another zucchini in the fridge. A family of three can only eat so many veggies a week, so the freezer, dehydrator and canner are my friends this time of year.

This week's menu only covers the main dish so that I can feel free to use up whatever veggies are overflowing that day:

Monday - Spaghetti Pie

Tuesday - Pepperoncini Beef

Wednesday - Cajun Buffalo Wings

Thursday - Turkey Enchilada Casserole

Friday - pizza night - redeem coupon for a free cheese pizza from Papa Murphy's and top it with frozen homemade meatballs. If only I had some feta...mmm.

Saturday - grill night - burgers stuffed with pepperjack cheese and hot dogs wrapped in bacon

Sunday - CSA potluck/hog roast - I always enjoy potlucks at the farm, but Joe isn't crazy about them with all the funky vegetables dishes that the vegans bring. Something tells me that the vegans will be staying home, so that they don't have to witness the mass consumption of animal flesh by all the meat eaters. Ah, pork is so yummy.

Do you know what you're eating this week? If you would like some menu plan inspiration, be sure to check out Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie to see what others are having!

August CVS $10 Challenge: Week 4

I had a great time shopping at CVS today. I used the $5/$25 coupon that I got for the ReadyFill quiz. I didn't even have to try very hard to make it work. Just got lucky with my coupons.

Over two transactions, I bought:
(2) Reese's peanut butter cups
(1) Glade candle holder for the scented oil candles
(1) Glade scented oil candles
(1) Glade Sense and Spray starter kit
(2) Glade soy candles
(2) composition books
(4) Carefree ultra pantiliners

Retail price including tax was $50.86.

I had an instore savings of $14.25.

I saved $15.08 using manufacturer coupons:
(2) $0.55 Reese's (they were on sale at 2/$1, so the coupons were capped at 50 cents each)
(1) $1.00 Carefree that I got in the mail from a sample
(1) Buy Glade candle holder Get candles Free (they were on sale for $2.50)
(2) FREE Glade soy candles (they were $3.29 each)
(1) $4.00 Glade Sense and Spray starter kit

I used $19.57 in CVS coupons:

- $5.00 coupon for doing the ReadyFill Survey and purchasing at least $25 in merchandise
- $6.99 ECB that I earned 8/16
- $7.58 ECB earned today from 2 Carefree

Today's OOP was $1.96. I started the day with $4.57, so that leaves a balance of $2.61 for the rest of August.

In addition to a $1.89 ECB from last week that I didn't use today, I walked out the door with $12.56 in new ECB's for next time:
1X $1.98 from the composition books
1X $3.00 from the Glade Sense and Spray, candle holder and scented oil candles
1X $7.58 from 2 Carefree

For $7.39 OOP, I have purchased month to date:

(2) book covers
(2) one-subject notebooks
(2) 5" scissors
(1) 3-pack glue sticks
(1) compass
(1) protractor
(2) 20-ct pens
(2) 10-ct pens
(2) rulers
(1) sticky note pad
(2) recycled plastic pencil boxes
(2) 1" vinyl binders
(2) mini composition books
(2) composition books
(1) 36-ct aspirin
(1) 10-ct box of store brand tampons
(4) Carefree ultra pantiliners
(1) set of earhook headphones
(2) Reese's peanut butter cups
(1) Glade candle holder for the scented oil candles
(1) Glade scented oil candles
(1) Glade Sense and Spray starter kit
(2) Glade soy candles

Stay tuned for next week to see the final results of my August CVS $10 Challenge. What will I be able to bring home with just $2.61 cash and $14.45 ECB's?

August CVS $10 Challenge: Week 3

This week's sale at CVS was better than last week. The freebie school supplies were back. Unfortunately I was unable to use the $5/$25 coupon that I received in my email last week that expired today. I couldn't find enough to meet the $25 purchase requirement yet still stay under my Challenge budget regarding the OOP.

I broke up my order into 4 transactions. I bought:
(2) 10-ct pens
(2) recycled plastic pencil boxes
(2) 1" vinyl binders (I redeemed a raincheck to get these free after ECB's)
(2) mini composition books
(1) 10-ct box of store brand tampons
(1) set of earhook headphones

Retail price including tax was $35.13.

I had an instore savings of $9.08.

I used $21.88 in ECB's:
- 4X $0.99 ECB from 8/2
- 1X $1.98 ECB from 8/2
- 1X $1.98 ECB earned today
- 2X $3.98 ECB earned today
- 2X $3.00 ECB earned today from the binder raincheck

Today's OOP was $4.17. I started the day with $8.74, so that leaves a balance of $4.57 for the rest of August.

I walked out the door with $8.88 in ECB's for next time:
1X $6.99
1X $1.89

My store was out of the free filler paper, so I got a raincheck.

For $5.43 OOP, I have purchased month to date:
(2) book covers
(2) one-subject notebooks
(2) 5" scissors
(1) 3-pack glue sticks
(1) compass
(1) protractor
(1) 36-ct aspirin
(2) 20-ct pens
(2) rulers
(1) sticky note pad
(2) 10-ct pens
(2) recycled plastic pencil boxes
(2) 1" vinyl binders
(2) mini composition books
(1) 10-ct box of store brand tampons
(1) set of earhook headphones

Twin Birthday Cakes

Joe's nieces Erica and Elizabeth turned 10 this week. Joe's sister decided not to have a birthday party. Instead, she said I could make a cake for them and take it to the family reunion, which was today. I volunteered to make the cake because I haven't had a reason to make one all summer long. I wanted to play around with my cake decorating supplies again.

Every person has a birthday and I know that the twins were born August 12, but I didn't know for sure whether Dawn wanted me to make their birthday cake until two days ago. For some reason I put the design on a mental hold until I received the word that it was a go. I feel a little bad because the twins' cake did not have as many hours of thought put into it as their brother Zach's tractor cake. Not much I can do about it now.

My starting point in the design was two 8" petal pans that I picked up at a yard sale in May. I've been wanting to use them ever since. Girls and flowers go well together.

Dawn said that the flower design was fine and that the girls like pink and purple.

I like two-layer cakes better than single-layer ones. Can anybody say filling? However, family reunions lend themselves towards single-layer cakes. That worked well because I was able to make each girl her own cake from one cake mix.

The next design consideration was how to put their names on the cakes. I wanted to outline the flower petals in icing on the top of the cake and give it a daisy-ish center. That wouldn't work with writing the name on top. However, I still had some fondant left from my Wilton class back in April (double bag the fondant in freezer bags and it keeps a long, long time at room temperature). I decided to cover a 12" cake circle with fondant and write their names on the fondant instead of the cake itself. As far as the fondant colors used, well, those were colors I had made up already that I knew I had enough to cover the 12" circle AND would match the main colors of pink and purple.


I tried to make both cakes as identical as I could, but just like the identical twins Erica and Elizabeth, their cakes have their own distinct personalities.

August CVS $10 Challenge: Week 2

Sunday I received my CVS weekly circular in my newspaper. After finishing my OAMC cooking, I read my paper. I don't actually "read" the paper. I just clip my coupons and read the store ads. When I got to the CVS ad, there wasn't a single thing that I wanted. N O T H I N G.

I could have posted on Sunday that I wasn't going to stop by my local CVS this week, but I waited. Why? Some weeks CVS will send an email on Thursday that has a printable coupon which is good through Sunday. Often they will be "save $5 off your $25 purchase", but sometimes I get "save $3 off your $15 purchase." I was hoping for the $3/$15, so I waited. I guess I thought a miracle would take place and suddenly the ad would have something that I wanted. The great thing about these is that the $15 or $25 or whatever purchase is BEFORE coupons.

Today is Thursday. Yes, I received an email from CVS. It had the $5/$25 as I expected it to which is good through Sunday. Please, please, please let there be an awesome sale on Sunday that I can use the $5/$25 on without blowing my $10 challenge.

The CVS email did have an added bonus coupon. CVS has this new ReadyFill prescription program. If you go here and take the quiz, then they'll give you a coupon for $5 off your in-store purchase of $25. Okay, so it sounds like the same deal as above, but the bonus is that it doesn't expire right away. I took the quiz today and the coupon doesn't expire until August 27. That allows me a couple weeks to plan an awesome shopping trip.

CVS will only allow a customer to use one of these purchase based coupons per transaction. I cringe when I hear bloggers use two of them at one time. There are "boyfriend" coupons (some stores have a price scanner/coupon printer) and there are email coupons and there are CRT coupons (cash register tape ones that come out after your receipt). Please only one of these. I would have to buy $25 of stuff twice in order to use both the regular email and the ReadyFill coupons.

So to recap:

This week's OOP: $0.00.

I still have $5.94 in ECB's for next time:
- 4X $0.99
- 1X $1.98

I have spent $1.26 cash out-of-pocket (OOP) this month, which leaves $8.74 left for the rest of August.

I have purchased:
(2) book covers
(2) one-subject notebooks
(2) 5" scissors
(1) 3-pack glue sticks
(1) compass
(1) protractor
(1) 36-ct aspirin
(2) 20-ct pens
(2) rulers
(1) sticky note pad

Pizza Casserole

Back in college I had a roommate named Danette who had a boyfriend named Robby. Pizza Casserole was a staple in his house. Danette really liked it so she introduced us to it. Just five simple ingredients that didn't put a huge dent on our college student budget. Needless to say, we ate it quite frequently.

Pizza Casserole

12 oz package egg noodles, cooked
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 lb ground beef, crumbled, browned and drained
28 oz jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. In a 9x13x2 baking dish, layer HALF of the noodles, soup, ground beef, spaghetti sauce and cheese. Repeat. Cover with foil and bake for 30-45 minutes until hot and cheese is bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Note: if you want to spice this up a bit, feel free to add fresh garlic and red pepper flakes or perhaps some Italian seasoning to the meat.

OAMC: Prepare this in two deep 8x8 baking pans instead of the 9x13. Freeze. Thaw completely and bake as directed.

Microwave Barbecued Round Steak

My parents bought their first microwave from Monkey Wards when my sister was a baby. I have fond memories of watching the time count down and trying to stop it at "0" (zero, not oh) by pressing the button to open the door. Here's a great recipe from back then with some of my own twists:


Barbecued Round Steak

Yields 8 servings

1/2 c minced celery OR 1 t celery seed
10.5 oz can tomato soup, undiluted
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 t prepared mustard
1/2 c minced onion OR 2 T dried onion flakes
2 t garlic powder
2 T brown sugar
2 T lemon juice
1 t Tabasco sauce
2 lb round steak, cut into bite-sized pieces

In a 3-quart microwavable bowl, mix everything except the meat until combined. Stir in the meat. Cover and refrigerate several hours.

Microwave, covered, on 50% powder for 20 minutes. Stir and recover. Continue cooking at 50% for another 20 minutes or so until meat is tender, stirring every 5 minutes. If edges start to dry up, stir in a little bit of water.

Note: the fresh celery and onion usually provide enough moisture for a 2-lb batch. If you use the dried versions, you'll definitely need the water. Also, if you're feeding a smaller family and cut the recipe in half, then you'll also need some water.

OAMC: I am trying this out for the first time, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Put 2 lb meat in a gallon bag (or 1 lb meat and 1 cup sauce in each of two quart baggies) and pour sauce over and freeze. Thaw in fridge. Pour into bowl and microwave as directed.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week's menu didn't go exactly as planned. I felt like cooking Friday instead of stopping by Papa Murphy's, so Samantha's free pizza coupon will probably get used next week. Saturday and Sunday were spent doing a lot of OAMC cooking. I'll have to post about that later when I pull the photos off the camera.

My favorite meal of the past week was from my OAMC session. Generally I will reserve two dishes and stick them in the fridge rather than freezing them. This time was no different. Last night we had Ground Beef Casserole II that I found on OAMM's July Menu. I thought it was quite tasty. Joe said it reminded him of Hamburger Helper. Eek! I wouldn't touch HH with a 10 foot pole, but this stuff was good. Samantha liked it, but picked out the meat.

I think the menu-planning gods are shining down on me. Ordinarily I like to pull a freezer meal out 36 hours in advance and set it in the fridge to thaw. For some reason, I had not yet done that with tomorrow's meal which was supposed to be Turkey Enchilada Casserole. Just now, as I was typing up this post, my neighbor John stopped by with a bag of banana and jalapeno peppers. Hot dog! I know what's for dinner tomorrow -- Chorizo-stuffed banana peppers. If I make it to the grocery store for bacon and cream cheese, then I might also have poppers, but that's up in the air right now.

Monday - Mexican Noodle Bake from the book Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough

Tuesday - Chorizo-stuffed banana peppers and maybe jalapeno poppers

Wednesday - Carolina BBQ

Thursday - Pizza Casserole - a recipe from my college roommate Danette

Friday - Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs

Saturday - lunch: family reunion potluck; supper: ravioli

Sunday - BBQ Round Steak with rice - a microwave recipe that Mom made often when I was little

Do you know what you're eating this week? If you would like some menu plan inspiration, be sure to check out Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie to see what others are having!

Italian Beef Sandwiches

I have been eating Italian Beef Sandwiches all my life. I think I heard someone say that the recipe entered our family through my dad's Aunt Jane (please correct me if I'm wrong.) While the recipe is essentially the same, I have tweaked it to make it suitable for the crockpot.

First, I gather all the ingredients. You'll notice the Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning. Ordinarily I'd use Lawry's Seasoned Salt, but I'm out, so I've been using Tony Chachere's instead lately because it's also a seasoned salt just with different spices.

Put the roast in the crockpot and sprinkle on the seasonings. Add 1 cup of water to help cook the roast, but not more since this is a crockpot and the moisture can't escape like in the oven.
Let it cook on low all day. When it's tender, remove the meat and thinly slice or shred.

Put the meat back in the crockpot with the juices. Add only enough water to not quite cover the meat and let it cook some more.

When you're tired of waiting, serve the meat on some good buns, being sure to add some juice to each sandwich.
Tonight I tried these 40-Minute Hamburger Buns that I heard about on Love to Pinch Pennies. Casey's were prettier than mine, but that's no surprise considering I screwed them up. I am out of active dry yeast, so I used rapid rise, but mixed the dry ingredients first rather than proofing the yeast in the water like you do with active dry. That shouldn't be a huge deal, but I added more than I needed to. I dumped in 3 packets without thinking and each one has 2.25 teaspoons for a total of 6.75 teaspoons, but the recipe called for 2 tablespoons or 6 teaspoons. Then I forgot the salt. They were good, but definitely needed salt. They were fast because they only require one short rise instead of two rises which made them great for a weeknight. I will hold onto this recipe.

Italian Beef Sandwiches (100% Crockpot method)

3 lb boneless beef roast such as rump
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1/2 t seasoned salt
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t rosemary
1 t Italian seasoning
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 cup water for roasting plus more later

Place meat in a crockpot. Add seasonings and 1 cup of water. Cook on LOW all day.

Remove meat from crockpot. Slice thinly or shred and return to crockpot with juices. Add a little bit more water, but not quite enough to cover the meat. Continue cooking a couple more hours to let the flavors mingle.

Serve meat and juices on a good bun that won't get soggy and fall apart from the juices.

50% crockpot/50% stove option:

To speed up dinner, after the meat has cooked in the crockpot until tender, you can simmer the sliced/shredded meat and juices in a covered skillet on the stovetop for 45 minutes. Just don't add any more water than you need to!

If you know you'll be exercising the stove option and you don't have the time/energy to measure out a bunch of spices in the morning, then don't worry. Just put the meat in the crockpot and season it with the salt and pepper and add the water. You can add the remaining seasonings to the skillet in the evening.

Menu Plan Monday - Staycation

Joe is taking a golf staycation this week. He has a membership to a local golf course, so in the mornings he will be golfing. In the afternoons he will be putting down gravel underneath the deck for weed and erosion prevention. Yesterday he laid down the fabric. Today he went with his dad to get about 3 tons of pea gravel at a local quarry. He spread out some of the gravel, but the rest should be done by tomorrow. I have no idea what he'll do the rest of the week. Must come up with a honey-do list.

With the staycation in mind, I planned out this week's menu to be pretty simple.

Monday - red BBQ sandwiches, Betty Crocker Creamy Italian pasta salad with some salami, swiss cheese and black olives

Tuesday - crockpot Italian beef sandwiches, frozen french fries, Velveeta Shells and Cheese (I know that there are 2 starches, but the box expired last week, so we need to use it soon and fries just "go" with sandwiches.)

Wednesday - Southwestern Turkey Casserole

Thursday - jar o' Ragu, box o' pasta, frozen garlic bread, and salad

Friday - redeem another coupon for free Papa Murphy's pizza

Saturday - grill night - maple honey pork chops

Sunday - OAMC Day, so one of those meals

If you would like some menu plan inspiration, be sure to check out this week's Menu Plan Monday guest hosted by The Happy Housewife to see what others are having!

August CVS $10 Challenge: Week 1

Last month I happened upon a blog where a woman had challenged herself to spend no more than $10 at CVS for the whole month. She got tons of stuff.

I thought it sounded like fun to see what I could get for just ten bucks in the month of August at CVS. There are 5 Sundays in August which means $2 per week, so this could get tricky if I spend too much cash in any one week.

I started the month of August with $3.87 in Extra Bucks (ECB's) in my pocket:
-- 1X $1.89
-- 2X $1.98

This week CVS is again running another three-day sale with free school supplies after ECB's. Woo-hoo. Too bad Samantha is only 2 years old. So this morning I went to CVS and bought over the course of 4 transactions:
That's:
(2) book covers
(2) one-subject notebooks
(2) 5" scissors
(1) 3-pack glue sticks
(1) compass
(1) protractor
(1) 36-ct aspirin
(2) 20-ct pens
(2) rulers
(1) sticky note pad

If nothing were on sale, I would have spent $33.47. Ha! I only buy things on sale.

I had an instore savings of $11.48.

I then used:
- 1.89 ECB carried over from last month
- 2X 1.98 ECB carried over from last month
- 4X 0.99 ECB earned today
- 2.94 ECB earned today
- 2.99 ECB earned today
- 3.00 ECB earned today
- 1.99 August Free Gift (mine was the aspirin)

I spent $1.26 cash out-of-pocket (OOP) today, which leaves $8.74 left for the rest of August.

I walked out the door with $5.94 in ECB's for next time:
- 4X $0.99
- 1X $1.98

My store didn't receive their shipment of folders, so I got a raincheck. Rainchecks are great, but it won't do me any good if my store never gets the item in stock. I will keep looking for the folders as well as the 24-ct pencils and 1" binders that I have rainchecks for. I really want the binders to help organize all my OAMC recipes!