Creamy Black Bean Quesadillas

Makes 4 quesadillas (serves 3-4)

4 oz. cream cheese (half a block)
1 c. cooked black beans
1/4 c. salsa (I used salsa verde, but tomato salsa would work too)
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
dash chili powder
1 c. shredded cheese
4 flour tortillas
tomato slices

Combine cream cheese, black beans, salsa, and seasonings in a medium saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring often, until cheese melts and ingredients are combined.  Cool slightly.

Heat a skillet over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.  While it's heating up, divide the cream cheese mixture evenly among the tortillas.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese over each tortilla, then fold the tortilla in half.

Cook the quesadillas on the skillet for 1-2 minutes, or until cheese starts to melt and quesadilla starts to brown. Flip and continue cooking another 1-2 minutes.

Is it just me, or does that bottom quesadilla look like Virginia?
Just ever so slightly.
I might be a little homesick for the South.
Just ever so slightly.

Cool slightly before serving; cut into wedges and serve with sliced tomato.

Another recipe that uses beans!  I told you we ate a lot of beans.  They're just so stinkin' versatile, folks.  And to think that I used to hate beans just on the basis of their bean-ness.  Now, I like all beans but black eyed peas.  I've come a long way.

Guacamole and Black Bean Tacos

Makes 6 tacos (serves 2-3)

recipe adapted from Whole Living

guacamole and black bean tacos

6 corn tortillas, warmed

1 avocado

juice of 1/2 lime

1 Tbsp. chopped onion

1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

dash chili powder

1/2 - 3/4 c. black beans

Garnishes: shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream

To make the guacamole, cut avocado in half and remove pit.  Mash the avocado in a small bowl with the lime juice, onion, cilantro, cumin, salt, and chili powder.  Adjust seasonings to taste.

Divide the guacamole evenly between the 6 tortillas.  Top each with about 2 tablespoons of black beans.  Sprinkle on cheese, and top with greens and a dollop of sour cream.

Meal preparation in the summer time means a few things to me: first, I do not want to spend lots of time inside preparing food, when I could be outside.  Second, I prefer short cooking methods that don't overheat my kitchen (or me).  This is where black beans and standard fridge staples really come through for us - many times for lunch or dinner we just stir together some quick ingredients and enjoy our simple meal!  I first saw this recipe on Pinterest and adjusted it slightly based on what I had on hand.  It was so good that I had to share it!  (oh, and given the fact that I just wrote a post about how to cook dried beans, I figured it'd be nice to share a few things to do with them).

DIY Artisan Bread - Without a Dutch Oven

Man, oh, man.  

I tried this recipe, then I made five loaves of bread in four days.  

I couldn't stop!  It's so delicious, and a lot easier than the final product would make you think.

Artisan Loaf, adapted from here and here (this is the original dutch-oven loaf, I believe)

3 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 c. water

In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt, and yeast.  Pour in water and stir until combined.  Dough will be "shaggy" (I love that description.  Once you do it, you'll see what I mean).  Cover with an inverted plate or plastic wrap and set it aside in a warm place to rise for 12-18 hours.  This is so important to get the best flavor.  Longer rise time = more sourdough-y taste.

I preheat the oven, then turn it off before putting in the dough.
Perfect place to stay undisturbed!

The dough gets bubbly!  This is exactly what you want.

And now, an aside.  Pretend that we're talking and I just remembered something I wanted to tell you in the middle of an otherwise normal stream of thought.  I've had my eye on loaves of bread like this for a while.  I also thought that I would have to purchase an enamel-coated cast iron dutch oven in order to do it.  I'm all about nice kitchenware, but hadn't quite figured out how I could really justify spending $250 for the dutch oven I wanted.  I knew that baking this bread in a pot with a lid is the key to the crusty crust and chewy crumb, but I thought I had limited options.  

But then I got to discuss the art of artisanbreadmaking with Jessica over at Fifteen Evergreen.  She said it could be baked in anything ovenproof, as long as it has a lid!  I made two loaves the very next day.

I have a 2.5 quart round Corningware dish with a lid - that's my first choice for baking this bread until I find a Le Creuset at Goodwill for $10.00.  (By the way, if YOU find one at Goodwill before I do, please think of me.  I'll pay you back!)

I said I made two loaves at once.  I used the Corningware dish for one loaf ... and this for the other:

Yes!  A loaf pan inverted onto an identical one.  

Now you know that you can make awesome, delicious, artisan bread without a dutch oven.  You just need something ovenproof with an also-ovenproof lid.  Or, you can always borrow Jessica's dutch oven ... 

Now, I'm going to go back to the recipe.  Remember, dough rises for 12-18 hours, etc.  

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 450.  Put your baking dish (dutch oven or otherwise) in the oven with the lid for 30 minutes.  

Meanwhile, scrape your dough out of the bowl onto a heavily floured surface.  Fold it over on itself a few times.  Cover and let rest until the 30 minutes of dish-heating is done.

After 30 minutes, remove the dish and lid from the oven.  Dump in the bread dough (I prefer seam-side down, but you can do whatever) and replace the lid.  Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 15-30 minutes or until loaf is brown and done.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.See, I told you it was easy!

homemade artisan loaf of bread!  

My last set of posts were about making dough ... seems only fitting to follow up with making this kind of dough!

Frugal Homemade Meals

We all get there ... those few days at the end of a month before the paycheck comes in, when there are still a few dinners or breakfasts that need to be made based on slim pantry or freezer staples.  You never have that problem?  Just me?  Well.  Alright then.  Just me.
For my own benefit then, I've compiled a list of a few budget-friendly, easy, homemade meals that make appearances in the last few days of every month.
You'll see there are a lot of bean dishes.  If you don't like beans, you're outta luck.  I have nothing for you.

Breakfasts:
Whole wheat muffins
Baked Oatmeal
Scones with dried fruit
Dutch Baby Pancakes

Light Dinners and sides:
Falafel
Spanish Tortilla (Potato Omelet)
Favorite Nachos
Spicy Sweet Potatoes
Front Porch Salad

Soups:
Tortilla Soup
Black Bean Chili
Easy Tomato Soup
Curried Squash Soup

What are your end-of-the-month frugal meals?

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Makes 2 pizza crusts

1 1/2 c. lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbsp butter, melted
3 1/2 c. plus 1 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. active dry yeast

Pour the water into the bread pan of a standard bread machine.  Add the melted butter.  Sprinkle the flour over the liquid to cover.  Place the salt and sugar in 2 corners of the pan.  Indent the flour in the middle without exposing the liquid and add the yeast.  Set the bread maker to the pizza dough or dough setting and press start.

Remove the finished dough from the pan.  Knock back gently on a lightly floured counter and divide in half.  Roll out each piece of dough into a 16-inch circle and place on greased pizza pans or baking sheets.  Push up the edges slightly.  Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 15 minutes.

For the toppings, spread desired sauce over each circle, then sprinkle cheeses and add toppings.  Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until sizzling.

Our bread machine is one of those kitchen things that we got as a wedding gift and I thought I'd never be able to justify keeping it around.  It's big, and heavy, and takes up valuable shelf space.  Turns out, it's one of four kitchen appliances that I'd replace in a heartbeat if it stopped working (first one to correctly guess the other three gets a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies sent to you).

This is my go-to pizza dough recipe these days.  I have tweaked it a bit from the original source (a handy book called "Bread," by Parragon Publishing), but I've used it over and over with really good results.  It's a soft dough with a chewy crumb.  As the picture reveals, I don't usually get it into a good circle.  Our pizzas are pretty wonky around here, but that's all the better for me because the crust is my favorite part anyway.

If you wanted to make this dough but don't have a bread machine, you can still do it!  Look up a recipe for homemade pizza dough, and follow the conventional directions but use the ingredients and proportions of this recipe.

WHOOOO can make an Owl baby mobile? You can!

Guess what? It's a guest blog about a sewing project! This comes from my dear friend Andrea over at The Strategic Homemaker. Andrea and I met very soon after both of us moved to southwest Virginia - we moved from across the state line, whereas she and her husband moved from across the world after a year of teaching English in Asia! Our friendship has grown over such things as picking cherries and berries, cookbooks, being handy and thrifty around the house, becoming next door neighbors, and especially sewing! I'm excited that she's sharing her expertise here.
PS. She very politely refers to folks who are frightened of applique. That was me ... until she taught me how! Thanks, Strategic and Helpful Homemaker!

Several years ago, Mrs. Rhymes with Smile taught me how to sew. I have advanced beyond that first t-shirt quilt, so I am very excited to be guest posting here about a recent sewing project.

I had talked about making a sailboat baby mobile on my own blog here, but here is another idea, and, really, your options for baby mobiles are limited to your imagination.  

This sweet girl’s mama had planned her nursery and displayed this mood board on her family blog. 

Seeing the little owl pillow on the board, I was like, “Hey, an owl mobile would fit right in.” Owls may seem a bit on the creepy side, especially if you watch Youtube videos of owls spinning their heads more than 360 degrees, but this little girl’s room had a lot of Dr. Seuss books, so the owls fit right in with the various characters, and I think they turned out pretty cute.

I designed them to match the pillow. I drew a boxy rectangle pattern with a hint of ears on a piece of paper, and used this pattern to cut out ten fabric pieces to the same shape. Then I decorated five of these pieces with applique to look like owls. 

Some people I know are intimidated by applique. DO NOT BE! You just iron this stuff called Wonder under onto the wrong side of your fabric, and then you cut it into whatever shape you want, basically making your own iron-on stickers for fabric. I usually blanket stitch in a matching colored thread around the ironed-on fabric to give it a finished look, but some of the pieces I used for these owls were small, so I just used a straight stitch a couple of millimeters inside the edge of the fabric.  This ended up looking really good too.

Another reason I like applique is that is uses really small pieces of fabric, so I get to use my scraps, and I hardly ever need to buy any fabric.

Anyway, once you finish decorating the owl fronts, you place your two sides right sides together and sew around the edge, leaving a gap of a couple inches on the bottom. Turn the owls right side out through the gap. Stuff them, and hand stitch the gap closed. Then you knot some thin ribbon and hand stitch the knot to the top of your owl.  Now you can hang your mobile on whatever you want. I used an upside-down plant basket.

Here is the finished product!

I was hoping to have a picture of it hanging up in the baby’s room, but  alas, the family is moving to a new state in a month, and will save it to hang there. 

Let me know if you make one of these, or if you design your own baby mobile to make!

She's Here! (New Baby Pancakes)

Multigrain Medallion Pancakes
From Runner's World, October 2012 *do not be fooled - I have not taken up running.  It should tell you something that the one piece of information that I gleaned from a running magazine is a pancake recipe.*
Makes 16 four-inch pancakes

1 c. white flour
1/3 c. each: cornmeal, whole wheat flour, and old-fashioned rolled oats
4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. milk or water
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, plus extra for brushing the griddle
1 tsp. vanilla

Heat a large skillet or griddle over low heat.  Mix flour, whole grains, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl.  Microwave buttermilk and milk for 30 seconds in a 2-cup measuring cup.  Whisk in eggs, oil, and vanilla.  Pour wet ingredients into dry; whisk until just mixed.  Return batter to measuring cup.  Increase heat to medium and brush skillet with oil.  When oil starts to spider, pour batter 1/4 cup at a time.  When pancake bottoms are golden brown and tops start to bubble, after about 2-3 minutes, flip pancakes; cook until golden brown on other side.  Repeat, brushing skillet or griddle with oil.  Serve hot.

Newest family member - welcome, sweet girl!

You may remember how passionate I am about pancakes - so much so that I announced being pregnant with Baby #2 at the end of a post about my favorite pancake recipe.  So, it only seems appropriate to share about the arrival of Baby #2 with another pancake recipe - coming full circle, if you will.  Just to get this out there - these are great pancakes.  Hearty, a little "meaty" with the whole grains, and nicely filling.  We ate them for dinner the night before Baby was born, so maybe - just maybe - this is what triggered her arrival!  She was born nine days past her due date - which started to wear on me a bit (ok, a lot) - but she knew when she needed to come and we're just so thankful that she's healthy and wonderful!
Welcome, sweet Mary Gatliff!

Exactly one day old - 12:31 PM

Getting some love from Diddie!

We're healthy, adjusting to each other, and working towards our "new normal" together.
Check back later for the birth story details, if you're interested at all.

Freezer-Crockpot Meals: The Recipes

Here are the recipes for the freezer-crockpot meals I've already prepped and frozen.  I've got plans to try a bunch more, but freezer space is getting slim.

I got started with inspiration from Aimee over at Six Cents, and followed her link to Ring Around The Rosies.  Then I searched out other crockpot favorites in cookbooks and websites I love (like The Pioneer Woman and Southern Living).

I've also just found Six Sisters' Stuff, a blog with a fantastic array of freezer-to-slow cooker meals - including a shopping list, step-by-step instructions, and side dish ideas.  Boo-yah.  None of the recipes I've prepped came from there directly, but there is some overlap.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to pick up the ingredients for the Hearty Beef Stew and Chicken Broccoli Alfredo on my next shopping trip.

A few "tweaks" that I made across the board ... 

1. We prefer dark meat to light, so I bought two giant packages of chicken thighs for these recipes in place of chicken breasts.

2.  I make my own "cream of [whatever] soup" ... I assume one commercial can is about 1 cup of homemade soup, give or take.

3. I chose these recipes because of what was on sale, and what ingredients overlapped.  Onions, tomatoes, and chicken were predominant in the first three, and Italian seasoning shows up in the first and last recipe.  That helped me cut down on having a bunch of leftovers I didn't know what to do with.

4. Since these are "future meals" and not "eat right away meals," I had to decide how to fit the bill into my regular food budget.  I decided that we'd eat a little more modestly this shopping cycle (aka, less meat, more beans) and would not spend any extra on these meals.  It worked!  We've eaten a lot of quesadillas, nachos, soups, sandwiches, and pizza in the last couple of weeks, but I am so pleased that I didn't have to spend money outside of my normal food budget.

Sausage and Peppers (from Ring Around the Rosies)

6 Italian Sausage or chicken sausage

2 green peppers, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 large red onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans Italian diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Split between 2 bags, seal, mix, lay flat, and freeze.

Add drizzle of olive oil, cook on low 8 hours, serve over hot noodles or or fresh French bread with mozzarella cheese.

Chicken Curry (from Six Cents) 

6-8 chicken breasts

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 cup of dry cooking sherry

½ cup of butter

8 green onions chopped

4 tsp of curry powder

salt and pepper

Directions: Divide everything except butter into two bags evenly.  Add butter to crockpot when ready to cook.  Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve over rice with a side salad.

Chipotle Lime Chicken (from Six Cents)

2 cups diced onion

2 cups chopped celery

2 cups chopped carrots

8 skinless chicken thighs

salt and pepper to taste

2 cans tomato sauce

1/2 cup lime juice

2 tbsp miced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

4 garlic cloves

1/2 cup cilantro

2 sliced avocodos

Directions:  Split all ingredients into two bags except avocado.  Cook on low 8 hours.  Serve with avocodo on top.  Serve on top of rice or noodles.

Italian Drip Beef (from The Pioneer Woman)

1 whole beef chuck roast, 2.5 To 4 pounds

1 can beef consomme or beef broth

3 Tablespoons (heaping) Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup water

1/2 jar (16 Oz) pepperoncini peppers, with juice

Buttered, toasted deli rolls

*PW's instructions were not specifically for the crockpot, but I made it work ... as with most recipes adapted for a slow cooker, you may require a little more or less seasoning or liquid than the original recipe calls for*

Directions: Place all ingredients in a bag except for the deli rolls.  Cook on low 6-8 hours or until meat is fork-tender and falling apart (if it's not falling apart, keep cooking!)  With two forks, completely shred all meat, leaving no large chunks behind. Serve immediately, or keep warm.

Serve on buttered, toasted rolls. Top with cheese and melt under the broiler if desired. Serve with juices from the pot.

Freezer-Crockpot Meals: The Idea

The Freezer-Crockpot Meal is one of Pinterest's most amazing gifts to me.  It's revolutionary enough to take over the world (or at least a good portion of my available freezer space).  I can't believe that I've never heard of this process before - I don't know whether that's because I'm in a technology vacuum with a 5-year-old computer and no smartphone, or whether the idea is really something new.  Either way, I am excited to have stumbled on such an easy way to prep a bajillion a handful of easy meals with about as little preparation time as a girl can hope for.

Here's the gist of what a "freezer-crockpot meal" is: dump all ingredients for favorite slow cooker meals into a gallon-sized plastic bag and freeze it.  (This includes meat - with the exception of ground beef which should always be pre-cooked before adding to a slow cooker, the meats for the recipes can be raw!)  When you need it, run the bag under warm water for a bit to loosen the bag, and place the frozen contents into the crock.  Turn it on, leave it all day, come home to an amazing main dish, and throw together some quick side like garlic bread, rice, pasta, a salad, or sauteed vegetables.

So simple, right?

I'll post some of the recipes I've prepared tomorrow.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. whole oats
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 c. milk plus 1 tsp. white vinegar or lemon juice (to make sour milk)
1 egg
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1-2 mashed bananas, optional

Stir together dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients, then pour into dry mixture.  Mix by hand combining all ingredients.  Pour in greased muffin pan.

Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes.

This is one of my favorite muffin recipes for oh-so-many reasons!  First, they really do take only 10 or 12 minutes to bake.  That alone is worth it!  Hot from the oven muffins in like, 20 minutes!  Yowza.

Second, they are so versatile.  You can substitute other kinds of flour, add extra spices (I added a hefty teaspoon of cinnamon this morning), use yogurt instead of sour milk, replace the oil with applesauce or (dare I divulge a secret?) a jar of baby food, and/or throw in whatever fruit or nuts you have around.  I have even stirred in leftover oatmeal a time or two.  Sometimes tweaking the recipe results in a different bake time (like an extra minute or two), but it's worth it.

Third, these have been termed "nursing survival muffins" by my friend Amber, who originally shared the recipe.  They're filling, delicious hot or cold, healthy, a little sweet (because of course that's a necessity in my book), easy to freeze, and good for any meal of the day or night.

What's not to love?

Tips from You

Hey friends!  I've gotten some really great ideas from folks who have read my recent posts and shared ideas with me regarding budgets, meal planning, and menu ideas.  It's been helpful to me to see how others have managed the same process in different ways, so I thought I'd pass along a few to you ...

- Buy gift cards - "I decide my food budget for the month and then on the first put the money on the cards. That way I cannot go over. I made a rule...no using my debit card to buy groceries! This is the 3rd month and it has worked really well."

- Use that calculator - "This plan came right after I'd officially switched to cash for groceries ... and was feeling a little overwhelmed. Not sure WHY I'd never thought to carry a calculator - now I do it every week!"

- Plan meals for the month, and supplement as needed - "[This list] actually might last most the month except for buying the staples and veggies we need weekly."

-Plan ahead - "Cook once, eat twice (or more!) meals. A whole chicken is always cheaper than parts. So for example, the first night, roast the whole chicken. After dinner pick the carcass and save the leftover meat and throw the bones in a crockpot or stockpot overnight to make chicken stock. The second day you can have chicken sandwiches, or enchiladas, or stir fry etc. And maybe even a third day of chicken noodle soup or chili. With chicken the possibilities are endless. I freeze my chicken stock in approx 2 cup portions to pull out as needed."

- Use the savings - "Don't just shop the sales for your current menu plan. If you have leftover money in your budget pick up one or two extra items that are at their rock bottom prices to have on hand for when you need it. This saves you from ever having to pay full price for an item, and over time this savings adds up specifically."

- Know when to buy -"To know when an item is at its rock bottom price, you need to also know its regular price, and how often you can expect it to go on sale etc. Also there are sales and then there are good sales. I suggest figuring out the top 15 grocery items you purchase and figuring out your buy price and stock up price for each. The buy price is the price it has to be before you will buy it and the stock up price is the price it needs to hit when you'll buy more than one (for most things 75% regular retail, but not all)."

- Use coupons - "Typically I save over 50% every week just by matching coupons with sale items and stocking up. It could be higher, but the bulk of my grocery budget goes to produce, and its hard to get that at 75% off. You don't have to do these matchups yourself, there are tons of blogs that do it for your local stores."

- Break it down - "I've had the most success planning meals by prices. Like, I think of the total price of the meal, then I think of how many times it will feed us. So a $7 meal sounds cheap for our big family but if it leaves no leftovers it's actually pretty expensive. And a $15 meal that gives us dinner Monday night and lunch the rest of the week is totally worth it."

- Some meal ideas:

Chicken Florentine Pasta (Pioneer Woman)Meaty Spinach Manicotti (Taste of Home) ChiliCalzonesAutumn Chowder (Taste of Home) & drop biscuitsQuicheCrock Pot Sesame Chicken (Pinterest)StewTortilla SoupChicken and SaladSpaghetti with MeatballsItalian Chicken Soup (PW)Taco SaladSalmon PocketsSushi & eggrolls

Thanks to KR, MW, GT, and JP for the insights!  Ya'll are awesome.

Meal Plans (and then something even better)

10 more days of meal plans:

10/1 - Breakfast for dinner: pancakes, bacon, hash browns, scrambled eggs
10/2 - crock-pot chili (not completely decided on the recipe yet, but probably one similar to this) with grilled cheese sandwiches
10/3 - tortellini pasta with spinach, chicken, and alfredo sauce
10/4 - leftovers
10/5 - pepperoni pizza or calzone with french fries and lettuce salad
10/6 - kebabs on the grill
10/7 - snacks (this is the night we get together with folks from church)
10/8 - crock-pot pork roast with oven-roasted vegetables and lettuce salad
10/9 - Mexican enchiladas (tweaking this recipe)
10/10 - sausage and wild rice casserole

One tiny thing I've added in is a "leftovers" night.  If I'm making casseroles and soups that serve 6-8, there's always plenty for at least an extra dinner.

Since a lot of my recipes tend to have the same kind of ingredients in them, I try to save myself some time by prepping large quantities at once so I can pull them out of the fridge later.  For example, this week I will cook up a pound of dry beans to use in chili and then in the enchiladas (also, the kiddo loves beans for snacks).  I'll make a couple loaves of bread (in the bread machine, of course) for grilled cheese and breakfast toast, and when I chop up veggies for kebabs I'll chop a little extra to roast a couple of days later.

Both the chili (on 10/2) and the casserole (on 10/10) have sausage, so I may try to prepare the casserole a few days early and stick it in the freezer.

And now, for something even better than a ten-day meal plan: this sweet girl!  She's 21 months old today, and is into hairbows (she calls them "he-bows"), books ("Mommy read" and "Daddy read" rarely gets a "no" around here), and playing games involving giggles.  She's practicing the stink-eye when she doesn't get her way (which makes standing firm on discipline rather difficult) and loves giving the dog his treat after a walk.  What a fun kid!

We can't get enough of this face.

10 Days of Meal Plans

So, I'm pretty excited about planning meals these days.  Dorky?  Yes.  But whatever.  I thought I'd share the menu plan I came up with for these next 10 days ... I made it based on my recent New Way To Plan Food System.  I went grocery shopping yesterday and spent just under 1/3 of my monthly food budget (by just under, I mean ... $2 under!  Thank you, Calculator).

Now, the meals (I know it's kinda cheesy, but most of the links are to recipes I've posted before ... once I really get the hang of this new system of planning meals, I'll start branching out to recipes other people post!):

9/21 - quiche, salad, bread (a la bread machine)
9/22 - bratwurst on the grill, coleslaw, french fries
9/23 - fruit and cheese with crackers (we get off a little easy on Sundays, because we meet for evening church fellowship, and snacks are typically involved)
9/24 - nachos
9/25 - pork roast with oven-fried potatoes, green beans, and salad
9/26 - cheese tortellini, salad, toast
9/27 - rice/chicken/broccoli casserole, toast
9/28 - homemade pepperoni pizza, french fries
9/29 - chicken on the grill, rosemary potatoes on the grill
9/30 - Mexican dip with chips (Sunday snacks)

A few notes:
- Lunches will be leftovers from the night(s) before
- Because we now have this Sunday night group going on, there are a few meal options I didn't use in this 10-day block.  So I have some variety to mix in the next set of meal plans ... breakfast for dinner, soup, and a vegetarian dinner.
- Since I'm in "Countdown To Baby" mode (approximately 8 weeks to go!), I'm also trying to make extra food when possible so I can freeze it.  In this block I'm probably looking at making a 9"x13" dish's worth of casserole,  but splitting it into two smaller dishes so I can freeze one.  Also, I will most likely throw what I can into the crock pot at some point for a big batch of soup to freeze.

My New Way to Plan Food (Part 3)

10 Days of Meals,
or
"How I'm Revising my Food Budget by Planning Meals" (see previous two posts if you want some background information)

- Come up with ten generic main-dish ideas that you like, know how to make (or have go-to recipes for), and have the time to make with regularity.  Here are my ten:
1. Casserole
2. Mexican
3. Soup
4. Pasta
5. Pizza
6. Something on the grill
7. Vegetarian
8. Roast/Chicken
9. Picnic foods
10. Breakfast foods

- Think of generic side-dish ideas that follow the same rules, and pair them with the main-dish ideas.  Again, here's my list:

1. Casserole with vegetable

2. Mexican with rice/beans

3. Soup with bread

4. Pasta with salad

5. Pizza with french fries or salad

6. Something on the grill with vegetable

7. Vegetarian with egg

8. Roast/Chicken with potato

9. Picnic foods with chips

10. Breakfast foods with breakfasty side (I did say generic!)

-Now, within each generic main/side dish combo, think of just three things that would fit in that category.  It's OK if they're similar ... just try to think of things you'd normally cook up.  I'll give you a couple of examples based on my list, but obviously it's not comprehensive.

1. Casserole with vegetable - 

I could do a broccoli/chicken/rice casserole, a chicken pot pie, or a quiche ("casserole" is a loose term, obviously).  For a vegetable side, there's green beans, squash, or roasted vegetables.

2. Mexican with rice/beans - 

Quesadillas, burritos, or enchiladas.  Seasoned rice or plain rice, rice and beans together, or just refried beans with some cheese.

3. Soup with bread -

Chili, vegetable soup, or "look what leftovers I threw in the crockpot" soup (this last one is particularly good towards the end of the 10 days, when the leftovers don't necessarily go together well).  Bread can be grilled cheese, crackers, or cornbread.

You get the idea.  

Finish the list, and all of a sudden you've got an entire month's worth of meals.

And, it informs the 10-day shopping list.  If you make your list while looking at the meals AND looking at the grocery store sale circular, it's possible to coordinate the two so that you're planning to eat what's on sale ...

On top of that, it's easier to estimate what you'll be needing for those 10 days ... like two loaves of bread, three pounds of meat, one bag of chips, etc.  

But what about breakfast and lunch, you ask?  Because, we all know that I would be the last one to cut out a meal for any reason.

Breakfasts around here are typically oatmeal with fruit, yogurt with fruit, bread and jam, or cereal.  

Lunches tend to be leftovers from dinner the night before.  So really, the only real cooking is dinner.

This may not work for everyone, but so far it's worked for us.  It helps to just have an idea of what to expect for the next 10 days when going to the store.  And I've been able to keep food in the fridge, pantry, and even sock some away in the freezer for later with the plan so far.  

I'll try to post an update in the coming months about whether or not this seems to be working long term.  Until then, I'd LOVE to know what grocery-budget trimming tips you have!