What We Eat.

I had some friends ask me for my go-to list of meal ideas. And since I finally typed it up instead of just trying to read my old, folded up, food covered handwritten menu list I thought I would seize the opportunity to get it out into the blogosphere for referring back to if I can't find the original. So with no further adieu:

Menu Ideas

Soups and Stews:

Beef Stew

Lentil Stew

Taco Soup

Potato Cheese Soup

Corn Chowder

Tomato Basil Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Breakfast for Dinner:

Buttermilk Pancakes

Frittata

Coffee Cake

Sweet Rolls

Ebelskivers

French Toast

            Captain Crunch French Toast

            Cinnamon Bread French Toast

Biscuits and Gravy

Breakfast Quesadillas

Waffles

            Pumpkin Waffles

Other:

Baked BBQ Chicken

Mexican Chicken Casserole with Corn Tortillas

Fettuccini Alfredo

Vegetable and Cheese Fettuccini

French Dip Sandwiches

Grilled Cheese

Chicken Quesadillas

Stir Fry

Funeral Potatoes

Green Chile and Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Pot Pie

Vegetable Lasagna

Pizza

Cream Dried Beef on Toast

Classic Fajitas

Crock Pot Chicken and Black Bean Fajitas

Homemade Mac-n-cheese

Pasta with Sautéed Vegetables

7 Layer Dip

Chicken Pasta Salad

Broccoli Cheese Quinoa Casserole

Crock Pot Brown Sugar Chicken on Rice

Hawaiian Haystacks

Tacos

Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes

Tuna Melts

Grill (Weather permitting)

            Hot Dogs

            Hamburgers

            Chicken

            Turkey Burgers

            Veggies

Cheese Tortellini (Costco)

Notes:

I put myself on a grocery budget of $100 a week plus $100 a month for Costco (including diapers/toiletries/cleaning supplies). Most of these items get made only when ingredients are in season or on sale. I also have staple items that I only buy at Costco. And most of these items are made from scratch. So let me know if you need or want recipes.

-Waffles/Pancakes are usually accompanied by homemade coconut or cinnamon buttermilk syrup

-We make smoothies about every other day as a side dish for our meals. I throw in spinach/kale/avocado and my kids/hubby are none the wiser ;)

-Another go-to side dish is green beans. I buy the big bag of organic ones at Costco and sauté them with garlic, salt and pepper.

-On “pizza” days. It usually is one from Costco as well, the Kirkland Signature brand. I add dried basil and other toppings if we have them on hand.

-In cold weather I try to make our own honey whole wheat bread to accompany soups/pasta since it is way cheaper…and my little sister gave me her recipe that is surprisingly easy.

Costco Staples:

Frozen Chicken

Green Beans

Milk

Carnation Instant Breakfast

Frozen Fruit

Seasonal Fruits

            Berries

            Watermelon

            Cuties

Tortilla Chips

Seasonings

Canned Chicken

I'm sure there are items I am forgetting. But this is the current list. I usually ask my hubs and kids what they want that week and fill in the rest with what I feel like cooking. We also have one eat-out meal a week. We either pick up Dad for lunch or go out one night for dinner. (It usually ends up being Chick-fil-a per the kiddos request)

Lefse.

The festivites overflowed into today and the girlies and I spent the morning with my mom and little sis baking up some holiday goodness.  In a few short hours we completed gingerbread men, sugar cookies, homemade caramels, peanut butter kiss cookies and lefse...mmmmm....lefse. I think I would be safe to wager that few, if any, of you readers have ever heard of/eaten lefse before. It is a thin Norwegian flatbread and it is delicious! We usually buy it but this year I decided to whip out my weird looking rolling pin and make it from scratch. So cheap. So easy. So worth it. I will be making this often. I prefer it cold and plain. But its good warm with butter, cinnamon and sugar or with jam or other spreads. Here are pics of my completed lefse and my Tootsie; minutes before she decided to take her shirt of for the rest of the baking process?!?

Dinner Made Easy.

I thought I would post a link to one of my favorite dinners as of late. This is pretty much as easy as dinner can get and just as delicious. A big thanks to Pinterest for leading me to a meal that even Nora will eat second helpings of. See recipe here. Note: My family prefers this on tortillas rather than rice, but whatever floats your boat.

The 50's Housewife.

Here is a bit of truth about me; please don't let your jaw drop too far. I quite enjoy cooking/cleaning/laundry/the whole shebang. I'm pretty sure I would make a damn good 50's housewife if I would have been born in that decade; minus the fact that I have an extreme dislike for wearing dresses.  But I especially love to cook.  Me and food are BFF's. Friendship necklace caliber. Our love runs deep. So I thought I would share with you all what we eat over here at the duplex. I recently went through all my cook books and made two lists. List A. consists of all the recipes we make regularly and List B. is a list of all the new recipes I would like to try that are out of my cookbooks. Not to mention all the ones I have pinned on Pinterest. Has any one else noticed that you can't really go wrong with a Pinterest recipe?!? So here is my List A. Warning: Go eat something before you read this or you might start getting hunger pains.

Main Entrees: Beef Stew - BBQ Chicken - Mexican Chicken Casserole - Classic Fettucini - Lentil Stew - French Dip Sandwiches - Stir Fry - Cheesy Potatoes - Enchiladas - Chicken Pot Pie - Vegetable Lasagna - Pizza - Cream Dried Beef - Chicken Fajitas - Homemade Macaroni & Cheese - Pasta With Sauteed Zucchini & Mushrooms - 7 Layer Dip - Taco Soup - Chicken Pasta Salad - Broccoli Cheese Fettucini - Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

Soup: Potato Cheese - Corn Chowder - Broccoli Cheese - Tomato Basil

Breakfast For Dinner: Biscuits & Gravy - Frittata - Coffee Cake - Ebelskivers - Captain Cruch French Toast - Breakfast Quesadillas - Pancakes

Side Dishes: Usually consist of whatever vegetable I can sautee in a bit of olive oil and garlic salt, fruit salad, Jell-O or homemade bread. If my hubs is lucky he gets mashed potatoes or green bean casserole, but usually we try and keep it low key.

And that's what we eat. Hungry yet?