Carcass Soup!

Disclaimer: no carcasses are used in the making of this soup!

I save all my little bits of leftover veggies that aren't enough to eat as leftovers or for dh to pack in his lunch. I put them in a quart yogurt container in the fridge. When it is full, it is time for carcass soup. I usually go ahead and start with some onion, garlic and maybe carrots and saute them in some olive oil or butter. Then I dump in the frozen veggies, and some chicken stock (which I guess I do technically make with a carcass). Maybe a can of tomatoes and some beans go in. Or lentils or barley or both. Maybe a few noodles at the very end or that fresh spinach that just isn't quite fresh enough for salad anymore. If we have some leftover chicken or turkey, or ground meat (without a BUNCH of seasoning-like no taco meat). And then I just let it simmer. All the flavors blend together and come out great usually. Sometimes it needs salt or another seasoning but you just gotta taste and see. It is a GREAT way to use up leftovers!

My House Menu!

So I said I was going to change up how I plan my monthly menu so I don't have to do it every month...that just seemed silly since we eat the same things over and over again. So I divided them into the categories and print it out and slid it in a page protector so I can check things off during them month with a dry erase marker. Now I can work from the same list each month. This is what is on my list.

CASSEROLES
tuna casserole
chicken n biscuits
shepherds pie
little lasagnas

DEER/BEEF
meatloaf
tenderloin
roast

BREAKFAST FOR SUPPER
french toast
pancakes
eggs your way
Biscuits n gravy

CHICKEN & FISH
Chicken n noodles
fried fish
tuna burgers
baked fish

FAST & FINGER FOODS
corn dogs
noah's ark meal (cheese, crackers, fresh fruit, veggies_
Sausage Supper -Noah's Ark meal + summer sausage
Movie Night/Toothpick meal (popcorn, cheese cubes, grapes, -anything that can be eaten with a toothpick)

IN THE CROCKPOT
Chicken Lickin
Beef Stew

ON THE GRILL
hot dogs
black bean burgers
burgers (pork or deer)
Rotisserie Chicken
Grilled pizza
Pork chops

ETHNIC MEALS
tacos
Swedish Meatballs
Cornish Pasties
Pizza
Egg rolls

SOUPS
carcass soup (explanation later)
chili
ham n beans
salsa black bean soup
potato soup
corn chowder
minestrone
Pasta e fagioli
Lentil soup

That is my standard for a months worth of meals...of course, right now I have a turkey in the freezer so I'll be cooking that up soon. And my weekly meals don't have to be limited to this but I have a jumping off point. :) And I won't have to create that jumping off point over and over and over and over and over again.

Working the monthly menu!

So I've been working on making this less work in coming months. I'm hoping I've devised a good plan. I put all of our favorite meals (and some not so favorites but that are good for us anyway) on a menu...think like at a restaurant. They are divided into categories so when I sit down to plan a weekly meal, I can choose from different categories and have a variety. Also, I can choose from the crock pot section when I know that I will be gone all day but need a meal ready for the evening, etc.

These are my categories: Casseroles/one dish meals, Deer/Beef, Breakfast for Supper, Chicken & Fish, Fast & Finger Foods, In the Crockpot, Ethnic Meals, Soups. I also have a category for Sides, Breakfast, and Lunch. Of course, there are meals that "cross over" from one category to another. I list them in the category that I associate them with in my mind. For example, although beef stew is made with deer (at my house), I always make it in the crock pot and it is one of those meals I like to use when I am too busy to cook in the evening...therefore, it goes in the crockpot category. The only things I doubled up and listed in more than one category is the "supper" meals I also make for breakfast or lunch...

Gonna make my grocery list now.

I will list my meals by category tomorrow. Still working on filling it out.

Monthly menu

I am tired of making a monthly menu each month. I spend a lot of time putting it all on a calendar and getting it all figured out...then I don't stick to it and instead just pull meals from the calendar "willy nilly" and make usable weekly calendars. This is stupid and a waste of time. So I am trying a new method. Last week I made a cute and usable weekly meal plan. My kitchen is decorated as a diner so I made a "Daily Specials" menu page and put breakfast lunch and dinner on it. It hangs on my fridge and is cute and I'm using it. Breakfast has been the hardest to stick to what is on the daily special...but beyond that it is working quite well.

So I ask myself WHY do I need to put a monthly menu on a calendar? What purpose does it serve? At this point my answer is none. So I am doing it differently...I am making a list of the meals we eat each month. Then I will pull from that list and put them in my weekly plans. I am going to "laminate" the list in some way so I can check the meals off with a dry erase so that I know what I've made each month and can try to keep some variety in our family meals. Now since my kitchen is a diner and I like things to be cute, I think I am going to make it like a restaurant menu...then I can stick it up in my kitchen where it is easily in sight so I will USE it! Of course, that is simply because I like to do things that way. It would be easier and faster to use a pencil and paper and make a list of things we all like to eat...but why do it that way? HA!

We'll see how this works.

LIttle Lasagnas

I made this recipe yesterday for lunch out of my own little head. It isn't very creative but it was good and the kids liked it so I thought I would share....

1/2 packed egg roll wrappers
1 jar pizza sauce
1 lb ground beef
onion and garlic powder
mozzarella cheese


Heat oven to 350. Brown ground beef in skillet. Add about 1/2-1 teaspoon onion powder and 1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder to almost done meat (I just dumped some in). Pour pizza sauce over meat and stir and heat through.

Grease a muffin tin and cut egg roll wrappers into quarters. Layer wrapper, scoop of meat mixture, and some cheese, repeating 3 times and ending with cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until heat through and cheese is melted.

It was a hit at our house!

Apple Pancake

I got this recipe from www.homeschoolshare.com in their "maple syrup" lapbook. We are doing the lapbook this week and I thought I would go ahead and try the recipe. It is a keeper!

2 large cooking apples, sliced as for pie (I used 3)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup sugar
pancake batter

Heat oven to 450 degrees, In a 9-10 inch skillet, saute apples in butter over medium heat until tender. Remove skillet from hear and sprinkle with nuts. Pour pancake batter over apples and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake 15 minutes or until pancake is puffed and sugar is melted. If oven proof skillet is not available, bake in a 9-10 inch pie plate.

** I left out the pecans because we didn't have any. I used Jiffy baking mix and made 1 batch of pancakes-next time I will use my own homemade pancakes because they are so much better. I also used my square 9 inch baking pan and it worked just great! Yummy!

CLEAN COFFEE MAKER!

My coffee maker has been running slow and the little valve that lets you pour a cup before it is done running is not working properly either (as in it runs coffee everywhere when you take the carafe out). So I decided it was time for a cleaning...this is how I do that.

I pour a pot of half vinegar/half water into the maker and run it through twice. Now I am running a half pot of straight vinegar through twice. Then I will run straight water through twice (so tomorrow's coffee doesn't taste like vinegar). I will, of course, wipe it all down and make it not dusty too.

Viola! Clean, and hopefully working better, coffee maker.