My Frugal Week
I kept all of my March grocery store receipts in an an envelope and totaled them up and we spent $260.90 on groceries in March. Of course, we have food in our pantry that I also used to feed us throughout the month as well.
I worked on freezer management this week. I took out everything from the freezer and using a few baskets, put like items together.
I had three giant bags of blueberries in there, so I put two of them in a freezer container and still have one gallon bag also. I made a fruit smoothie every morning for breakfast this week and included frozen strawberries or blueberries along with whatever greens I had on hand.
All the cheese is in one basket now, and all the ground beef in another basket, which makes it very easy to inventory and keep organized.
I've been in use it up mode this week and have used a couple of cans of tomato sauce, both cheddar and mozzarella cheese from the freezer along with several other items to rotate them out of our pantry while making meals.
No eating out this week and I brought a snack of cheese, almonds and water with me when I did have to get out of the house.
Recipe of the Week
We have an abundance of cans of green chilies, so in my efforts to use those up, I made this casserole dish.
Green Chili Chicken Casserole
Ingredients:
1 pound chicken, cooked ( I used two 8 ounce bags of frozen chicken fajitas)
1 can cream of chicken soup (I made mine from scratch using recipe below)
1 - 8 ounce bag cheese of your choice
2 - 4 ounce cans green chilies
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon onion powder
Directions:
I took all the ingredients and mixed well and then placed in a greased casserole pan and baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. You can also add tortillas to this, but I wanted to save on the calories.
Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
Ingredients:
6 Tbsp butter
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions:
Melt butter in saucepan.
Add flour and mix into a paste.
Whisk in milk and chicken broth.
Add onion & garlic powder, salt & pepper.
Continue to whisk until smooth and creamy.
Use 1 & 1/3 cup to replace one 10 & 1/2 ounce can of cream of chicken soup in recipes. This recipe makes the equivalent of two cans.
Photo of the Week
We seasoned our baked fish with this Louisiana Cajun Fish Fry Seasoning the other day and it was really good. It's a little spicy, but very flavorful.
What’s for Dinner
Monday ~ Chicken Fajitas for Bailey while I had baked fish along with a baked sweet potato and brussel sprouts.
Taco Tuesday ~ Bailey had a book club meeting, so she had leftover chicken fajitas and I had baked fish, a baked sweet potato, and brussel sprouts.
Wednesday ~ Salisbury Steak, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, and Carrots.
Thursday ~ Cajun Sausage for Bailey, I also make a batch of Hurst Cowboy Beans and had them along with a cabbage and onion stir fry, and corn. It was so good and I didn't miss having any meat with my dinner.
Friday ~ Cleaning day, so a dirty and tiring day. I made Little Cheese Smokies, Cabbage & Onions, Corn & Beans, some of those were leftovers, so an easy dinner and always good to use up those foods we already have cooked in the refrigerator.
Saturday ~ Green Chili Chicken Casserole ~ Recipe above. I served this with homemade coleslaw using the last cabbage I had using this recipe, and some sugar snap peas.
Sunday ~ I took some Johnsonville Green Hatch Sausages out of the freezer for dinner. I've read some things about Green Hatch chilies, but hadn't ever tried them before. They were very flavorful! I also made some hot potato salad and we had more coleslaw and sugar snap peas with it as well.
What’s on the Menu for This Coming Week
I have everything on hand to make a stock pot filled with chili, and that will s-t-r-e-t-c-h my ground beef out for more meals than if I just make tacos with it. Then, we can also have chili tacos later in the week as well.
I also have plenty of fish on hand as well as ground beef, chicken, and pork. I hope you'll come back next week to see what sides we serve with these.
What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?
Belinda
Homemaker at Heart
Mortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27
The food sounds so good. Sounds like a good week.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cheryl. I hope you have a good week!
DeleteI think it is funny that you have an excess of green chili peppers. I thought I was the only one who ever did that!
ReplyDeleteYour menu sounds very good. I am using our freezer and pantry as my grocery store this week. I think other than picking up some lettuce and cucumbers I am set for the week.
Oh, that's great, Anne. I love being set for the week. Yes, we have a lot of green chilies. LOL I need to look up moer recipes for them. LOL
DeleteEverything looks great! How do you make your hot potato salad? (Hawaii Planner)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I make regular potato salad and we eat it while it is still warm. It's so good, and then you can chill it and have it cold the next day. :)
DeleteGreat job on the grocery spending, and your meals sound so good!
ReplyDeleteChili sounds good; I think it is supposed to get cold again. We may have some bad weather the next few days. Stay safe, and I hope you have a good week.
Thank you, Kathy. I heard the same thing here about bad weather, so stay safe and I also hope you have a good week.
DeleteWe always have a stack of cans of chilies in our pantry too. It's like money in the bank! We have quite a bit of leftover ham and a few odds and ends of sides from Easter dinner. First I am going to make a quiche and that will be a few meals this week. I also have leftover French toast casserole so some heat and eat breakfasts are on the menu as well.
ReplyDeleteYes! It is like money in the bank! Oh, leftover ham sounds terrific, you can make all sorts of things with that. Quiche sounds wonderful and some ham and scalloped potatoes, yum!
DeleteIt all looks very good Belinda. I am going to give your Cream of Chicken Soup a try.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Thank you, Jackie. If it's thicker than you like you can always thin it with a little milk or broth. :)
DeleteI have no green chilies because I cannot eat them and Tommy does not like them. I have baskets in refrigerator, one for cheese and aother for something Tommy put in the refrigerator. I have larger bins ready for the freezer when we can get someone to empty it. We have lots of frozen cheese in there. It will be good to get it all in one bin. I like to eat the potato salad hot, too. Of course, if I make it beforehand, I do like it cold. Tommy ate potato salad before MW and eggs and celery. So, he had hot potatoes with onions.
ReplyDeleteHot potatoes with onions sounds good too. I like to put onions and potatoes in green beans and cook them that way too.
DeleteThose larger freezer bins will be so nice when you can get someone to help you with your freezer. It will help you know what you have on hand and be so organized, I love that!