Cucumber Salsa! What what

I have to share this with you. Make it. Delicious. Pour it over everything, or you could eat it with chips. I don't care what you do with it...JUST MAKE THE DARN SALSA.

1 cucumber
1 tomato
1 small onion
cilantro
1 lime

Chop up the veggies (make the onion pieces super small). Throw a cup of cuke and a cup of tomato into a bowl. Now, add as much onion as you like. The original recipe called for two tablespoons. I really like onion, so I added more.

Ok, now the fun part. Cut the lime in half. Juice both halves over the veggie mix (cut side up so you keep the seeds from falling into your salsa). Sprinkle some cilantro over the top (you can use fresh, but I don't have space to keep a ton of fresh spices on hand, so I use McCormick's). Cover the salsa and let it mellow in the fridge for thirty minutes or more.

So friggin' simple and yet the best tasting thing EVER. In fact, I might make it again tonight. Yum freakin' oh.

Meal Planning for the Week

Last week my meal planning was thrown off a little due to a visit from my brother and his family. We cooked out with family one day and then the next day my sister ordered pizza for dinner. This gave us a surplus of food because I never made it through the end of my roasted chicken as I had anticipated. Here is what is on the menu for this week:

Monday (today): We ate hot dogs, french fries, and the giant zucchini I showed you from the farmer's market
Tuesday: Potato soup. Yes, I know it is 90 degrees outside, but I have been craving potato soup
Wed: Left over potato soup and grilled cheese
Thurs: Chicken quesadillas and spicy brown rice (onion, red pepper mmm mmm)
Fri: Spaghetti with tomato sauce
Sat: Chicken Stir fry (zucchini, squash, chicken, red pepper, onion, and rice. Pretty basic.)

I have exactly $66 left in the food envelope to get me through the remainder of the month (or eleven days). Eating on such a small budget will require some creativity, but I think I can do it. Here are some of my ideas for budget friendly meals:

• Omelets (or eggs ranchero depending on my ability to get the omelet to stay together! ha!) (1 day)
• Pasta primavera (2 days)
• Baja Pie (I love it so much. I'm sure I'll be ready to eat it again in five days.) (2 days)
• Chicken Tortilla Soup (2 days)
• Chicken Stir Fry (2 days)

That should get me to the end of the month. Now, I know you're adding up my numbers and thinking "crazy, that does not add up to 11 days." You are so right, but I am going to my brother's house this weekend, so we will be eating out a couple of days. (When we eat out, the money comes from our blow envelope and not our grocery envelope.)

You are more than welcome to eat with me this week! (Maybe not in my kitchen, but you could buy all the ingredients and cook too. Just use any old omelet recipe, make Pioneer Woman's Pasta Primavera, make Betty Crocker's Baja Pie, B C's Chicken Tortilla Soup, and throw together chicken with rice and whatever veggies you have on hand.) But even if you don't make the same meals as I do, I wish you happy eating!

Trip to the Farmer's Market: A Frugal Success!

Do you see that? Yeah, that's my forearm, and that my friend is a zucchini, just one of the amazing purchases I found at the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. I spent a frugal $3 and bought enough veggies to last me for two weeks including three jumbo zucchinis, three squash, and a bag of potatoes. I also spent a dollar on some yummy chex mix

I will definitely be shopping at the market again, no questions asked. I couldn't believe the bargains! I think between cooking a whole chicken for four dollars and then three dollars in veggies, I could conceivably cut my grocery budget in half.

In other food related news, I made Baja Pie last night (or as Mr. Wookie and I like to call it "Badger Pie"). I think this is my new favorite recipe. The hubs really likes tacos, but I am not a fan. Tacos don't fill me up. They give me the allusion of being full, and then twenty minutes later I'm scrounging around for a second dinner. Badger Pie is a compromise piece. It has all the flavor of a delicious taco, but it leaves me feeling full like after I eat a Sonic cheeseburger (mmm Sonic).

I found the recipe from Betty Crocker Online, but here it is for you in a simple version:

Heat your oven to 325. In a glass dish, layer four or five tortillas (I used the ones by Mi Casa) and brush with a little melted butter. In a large bowl, mix two cups of cooked chicken (I got mine from the chicken I cooked last week), a can of black beans, a cup of salsa, two tablespoons of taco seasoning, and 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese. Spread the mixture over the tortillas and bake for 25ish minutes or until hot. Then sprinkle some more cheddar on top (about a cup, but I don't really measure...I just sprinkle until my heart is content) and then bake another minute or two until the cheese is melty and delicious. Serve on a plate with a wedge or two of tomato and avocado.

The recipe says it makes six servings, but I must be a heifer because I only got four servings.

Until next time, happy eating!

Budget Meals for the Week

This week I am finally going to try a new Pioneer Woman recipe. I love to cook, but lately I've been kind of lazy. We've been eating a lot of hot dogs and chicken nuggets. I mean, you'd think we had kids. Here is my (slightly more adult) menu for this week:

Sun: Pasta Alla Betsy (Pioneer Woman's sister's recipe. Looks delicious! Shrimp, penne, butter. Mmm. Butter.)
Mon: Leftover pasta
Tues: Chef salad with ham
Wed: Leftover chef salad
Thurs: Steak, rice, and veggies
Fri: Leftover steak and veggies
Sat: $1.25 pizza

When I make my chef salad, I usually just cut up a head of iceberg lettuce, a cuke, an onion, a tomato, a package of thin sliced deli meat, and then I sprinkle some cheese on top. If I'm feeling frisky, I'll cut up some broccoli and/or a green pepper. I do another variation of this salad with steak or chicken (or heck, both!).

For my steak, I marinate it in Lawry's Steak and Chop sauce and then grill it on the Forman for five minutes. I typically marinate zucchini, squash, and onion in butter and garlic salt and than cook it on a grill or in a skillet. This is one of my favorite meals because it's super quick to make and it is still delicious.

This week I spent $42 on groceries. I think $42 is reasonable given that I bought some pricier meat. The shrimp was $5 and the steak was $7 for five portions. I'll let you know how the Pioneer Woman recipe turns out.

Creative Dining/Clean Out The Pantry

Let me just start off by saying that my grocery budget has been shot for the month. Unfortunately, I had to buy laundry detergent and paper towels last week. If you are the primary shopper for your family, you know that these two things can easily total $20 by themselves. Now, I know that I only have to buy these items once every five or six months, but I still cringe when I get to the last paper towel because I know that I'm going to have to pinch pennies some other way.

I've been getting by on $100/two weeks at the grocery store for the past five months. Sadly, this will not be the case for the first two weeks in May. I spent $83 last week at the grocery store leaving me with $17. I anticipated this purchase and put back a little extra for this week's grocery trip, so I have $40 for groceries. Now, I know that I've posted on here that I've been able to buy groceries for $30, but that was when I had meat in the freezer. My freezer is currently pretty bare. I've got a little hamburger and three pieces of chicken, but I'm determined to make this work!

Here's my menu for next week:
Sat: Chef Salad. (I have half a head of lettuce, onions, and some sandwich meat. I'm going to buy a cuke, a tomato, and a bag of shredded cheese)
Sun: Quesadilla with chicken (I have the tortillas and the chicken, so I'm going to use the remainder of the shredded salad cheese for my quesadillas. I'm also going to buy some rice and a can of corn.)
Mon: Grilled cheese and soup (I've got the cheese, the soup, and the bread)
Tues: Burgers (I have the hamburger. I need buns. I also have some broccoli left over and some french fries in the freezer.)
Wed: Burger leftovers
Thurs: Pizza (which I'm going to buy for $2.)

I will also need to buy some fruit and snack cakes (for our brown bag lunches) and some microwavable pancakes for breakfast.

and then of course Friday is pay day, so I can go shopping again before dinner Friday night.

Now, I know that grocery shopping may seem boring, but I enjoy competition. Did you know that I ran track back in the day? Yup. I'm into beating my personal bests, and folks, I've got to tell you, I think I can beat my personal best at the grocery store this week. I mean, we may not be eating fancy food, but it'll eat.

I did it again!

I broke last week's grocery record. New record: $32.82. Here's what I got:

Bagels
Bread
Debbie Cakes
Bag of Green Giant Broc. and cheese
Bertolli Lemon Shrimp Frozen Skillet dinner
Salad (I have carrots at home already)
Bag of apples
Cuke
Milk
Whippin' cream
OJ
Fettuccine
Shredded Parmesan
Yogurt
Butter
English Muffins
Body wash

I saved $2.65 with coupons. I didn't need to buy any laundry detergent or toilet paper. I also didn't need to buy any meat because I still have some in the freezer. Here is dinner for the week:

Tonight and Monday: Fettuccine Alfredo with a side salad and rolls (meat free meal of the week)
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken Salad and Rolls
Wednesday: Hamburgers, broccoli, and green beans
Thursday: Bertolli Dinner
Friday: Breaded chicken cutlets, cheesy potatoes, green beans

You may be curious about my breakfast and lunch habits. For breakfast, I eat something quick. Either poptarts, cereal, toaster strudels...something like that. I'm trying to eat healthier, so I'm doing English Muffins, peanut butter, and apple + juice for breakfast this week. Mr. Wookie always eats a blueberry bagel. For lunch, I eat a turkey and cheese sandwich, yogurt, piece of fruit, and a bag of chips or a pudding pack. I try to have a glass of milk with at least one of my meals in an effort to get my calcium. The yogurt also helps me meet my calcium goals. (The Dr. told me last week that women should be getting a lot more calcium than they think, so I've been trying to get more calcium into my diet.)

I'll be able to send an extra $30 to my debt at the end of the month because I only spent half of my grocery budget this week. Hip hip hurray! April's grocery budget will be difficult because I will need to buy toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, and laundry detergent. I do have some coupons to assist with these purchases, but they always make my bill go over $60. I'm going to try my darndest to stop it from happening!