Step 2

Copy and past the ingredient list from the database.

Chicken Enchiladas **New Mexican red**	Chicken breast Corn tortillas Cheddar cheese Onions Flank steak (for NM red) Beef stock (freezer)
Texas Chili **red gravy, NM chili powder**	Kidney beans (dry) Onion Beef tips
Garlic Chicken and Pasta **parm, white wine**	Chicken breast 2 heads garlic Angel hair Panko Parsley Chicken stock (from freezer)
Asian Pork Tenderloin	Pork tenderloin Garlic Teriyaki sauce
Fried Rice	Rice Eggs Scallions Soy sauce Frozen peas
Tomato soup **red gravy**	Heavy cream Chicken stock (from freezer) Basil
Prosciutto and Provolone Panini	½ lb prosciutto (parma) ½ lb provolone Ciabatta
Steakhouse Stew **red wine**	Beef tips Potatoes Onions Garlic A1 Beef stock (freezer)

The process

Here is what it looks like from menu to list... step 1... the menu...

Monday

Chicken enchilada, w/ pintos

Tuesday

Texas chili w/ crusty bread
(freeze leftover for Friday)

Wednesday

Garlic chicken and pasta

Thursday

Asian pork tenderloin, fried rice & roasted veg

Friday

Chili cheese baked potatoes

Saturday

Tomato soup w/ prosciutto & provolone panini

Sunday

Steak house stew (crock pot)

Menu Planning

WARNING: RANT AHEAD!

Do you know there are websites where you pay a monthly fee for someone else to give you a menu and list??? Years ago I joined one because I was lost in the sea of confusion every night when it came time for dinner I had gone to the store, bought what looked good and when it came time for dinner I was lost. Oh I had food in the pantry, fridge and freezer but nothing to make!! I had taco seasoning and shells but no lettuce, tomato ect... because when I reached for the pack of seasoning I told myself I would go back to the other end of the store to get these things but I had forgotten or we had used them the night before because the only thing I cold think to make was baked chicken and salad. So I signed up for one of these thinking it would solve all of the problems in my life! LOL I ended up with a weeks worth of recipes where half of the things my family didn't like and the ones that were a hit there was never enough made because I had followed the plan. I did get something out of it though, I walked away with the "you big sucker" feeling that made me start my recipe databases. In the coming weeks I will post a few others so you can see what works for me. It may not be exactly what will work for you, but any ideas you get from me come without the monthly fee! :o) And that has to be a good thing!

Since seeing the light, I have been a big fan of my own menu planning, being a one income family with some boys that eat us out of house and home this is a necessity for our budget. Going to the store without a list in hand can mean an extra 200 bucks a month on groceries. I don't know about your wallet but mine can't handle that kind of bump.

As the price of food keeps going up I have had to get a little more creative. I have started a database grouping the meals my family enjoys, the ingredient list and the approx cost and then dividing them into price categories. Depending on where you shop your cost may be greater or less than mine. I do not add things that I always have on hand so that I can just copy and paste when I go to make my shopping list for the week. I do add some things under the recipe name that I usually have on hand but I need to double check.

Another little saving tip... things that you use a lot, make a lot and freeze. In our house we use a lot of red gravy, red sauce, marinara sauce what ever you want to call it, So I make HUGE batches and divide it up and freeze it. Same with roasted garlic paste, chicken or beef stock. This saves me time and money. If I have the red gravy in my freezer I have made the whole batch, usually 10-12 meals worth of use for about 7 bucks (thanks to Sams). Now, if I don't have that pre made in the freezer, I have to spend anywhere from 2-5 dollars every time I need a pasta sauce, or a base for chili, pizza sauce ect... That little bit of time and money has saved me. And because I made it I know it is going to be what my family likes (no sugary sweet sauce in this house... eeeek lol).

So here is an example of what my food budget planning looks like. I like that I can copy and paste the ingredient side into another document print and I am off to the store without a lot of fuss and muss. It is amazing how easy things start to work when you find a system that works for you! Forgive any spelling errors I cut and copied this straight from my file and I don't spell check cause I know what I meant when I typed it out! Plus they always highlight any foreign/shortened words :o)

COWBOY DINNER (CROCK POT BEEF TIPS, PINTOS AND ROASTED POTATOES)	($6-8) Beef tips 1 onion Dry beans Beef stock (from freezer) Onion 4 potatoes
RIGATONI W/RED GRAVY **need parm on hand**	($8-10) 2 boxes rigatoni Onion Garlic 2 large cans tomato sauce (or from freezer) Crusty loaf
PAELLA **need saffron on hand**	($8-10) **2 meals** Rice Chicken thighs Choizo Frozen peas Onion Garlic Green pepper Chicken stock (from freezer)
FRIED RICE WITH CHICKEN THIGHS	($5-7) **meal plus left over** Rice Onion 3 eggs Scallions Frozen peas Chicken thighs
MINESTRONE W/ PANINIS	($10-12) **lunch meat left over** Penne Cannellini beans (dry) Carrots Onions Peppers Chicken stock (from freezer) Baguette Ham Provolone
CHILI **Left over options** chili dogs, loaded baked potatoes, nachos.	($10-12) **2 meals** Roast Kidney beans (dry) 3 large cans tomato sauce Onion Crusty bread or crackers
BEEF VEGGIE STEW **have red wine and french onion mix (homemade) on hand**	($10-12) **meal plus left over** Roast Frozen carrots, corn, green beans Onion Garlic 6 large potatoes Beef stock from freezer
WHITE BEAN SOUP W/ CROSTINI	($6-8) Cannellini beans (dry) Beef stock (from freezer) Frozen spinach (2) Onion Garlic Baguette (2)
GARLIC CHICKEN AND PASTA **parm on hand**	($8-10) Fettuccine Chicken thighs Garlic (3 heads) Chicken stock (from freezer) Heavy cream
RED BEANS AND RICE	($6-8) **meal plus left over** Kidney beans Beef stock (from freezer) Onions Bratwurst Rice
GREEN CHILI PORK CHIMICHONGAS	($12-15) *pork could be used for 2 meals* Pork roast 2 cans green chilies Tortillas Cheese Oil for frying
HOME MADE PIZZA	($10-12) ** left over flour/dough** Flour Yeast Marinara (from freezer) Salami Spinach Onion Cheese

Home made pizza!!

My family loves Pizza! But far too often I find myself buying fast food pizza or frozen pizza, for sake of convenience. But they are so full of grease and have so many calories and junk in them that you feel guilty eating more that one slice but one slice is never enough. Yes a salad on the side is nice... I don't know about your family, but with mine, the intentions are there but the salad is rarely made and never eaten on pizza night. This is one of my family's favorite meals and this pizza crust is so easy to make. It is a Wolfgang Puck recipe that I make in the food processor and it really couldn't be easier. So here is how I did it... the crust... oh wait first things first turn your oven on the lowest it will go for about 10 min then turn it off and leave the door opened just a little.. I will explain later, go on I will wait right here for you... ok now on to the dough

• 1 package active dry or fresh yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 cup warm water, 105 to 115 degrees
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for brushing

When ever you are working with yeast you need to make sure it is alive otherwise you end up doing all the work to get a flat dough that cooks up like a brick. So, how do you see if it is alive you ask??? You need to "proof" it... in a bowl put the warm water, yeast, and honey let it set for a few minutes while you get everything else measured out (measure it out into the food processor bowl it is one less step later) after a few minutes the top will turn all foamy this means it's alive and you are good to go... once your yeast has proofed add this mixture to the food processor and pulse until it is combined then turn that sucker on and let it go until your dough turns into a ball. One that is done you will kneed it a few times and roll it around it in an well oiled large bowl (this will triple in size so please make sure your bowl is large otherwise you will have a mess) and cover it with a little plastic wrap and a towel on top of that. Now you are going to check and make sure your oven is not still hot you should be able to touch the racks and it be warm but not hot when your oven gets to that stage put your bowl in there and walk away. It will need to sit in there about 2 hours or so until it at least doubles in size you can see here how it has worked its way up to the plastic wrap
Then find your cutest sous chef to help you punch the dough down.


Roll it out on a floured surface sprinkle a little corn meal on the bottom of your pan (or pizza peel if you are cooking it on a stone)
Top as you like. Today we used a little fresh mozzarella and salami, once it came out we topped it with fresh basil.

Roasted Garlic!

OH I love this stuff... I feel like the green eggs and ham guy that follows the other guy trying to get him to eat green eggs and ham.. Yes I would eat this here or there... on a boat or in the air.. I do like roasted garlic it is Divine!! Thank you for introducing it to me friend of mine! :o) Thank you Thank you I will be here all week!

OK now for the golden delight. I use roasted garlic in soups stews sauces dips.... I use it for just about everything and it is GOOD!!

The cast
Garlic
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

This my dear friends is a head of garlic. When you are shopping for garlic you want tight, closed bulbs (heads). Make sure there is no sign of mold or green sprouts growing out of them. Sometimes the paper is loose from them being transported and that is ok just make sure it is tightly closed.

You want to cut the tops off of them, if you have big heads (the garlic not you! :) you can cut them in half but you need to look at how we get the meat out, you can't really cut the little ones in half so just make sure you cut the tops off and expose the cloves inside. Like this... then drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper them. Cover tightly.



Roast at 400 for about an hour or so keep an eye on them ... you don't want them to burn. You want them to turn a beautiful carmel color and you will see some of the cloves trying to get out of the paper, like this.

OK so they are beautiful and golden what now?? Let them cool most of the way, not too cold, they come out easier if they are warm. Then squeeze the meat out (this is why the small ones wouldn't work if you cut them in half... they would fall apart here),

I mash it up with a fork and from here I put a few spoons in little snack size bags and freeze it.

You can use this for so many things. I use it in my tomato sauce, or just toss some noodles with a little butter, roasted garlic, and parm... YUM. A little soft butter and this makes KILLER garlic bread! There are so many other uses I don't have time to list them all... I will try to put some on here later.

What?!? No roasted garlic post?!!??

I came on here thinking I had posted roasted garlic but I don't see it on here... (I was going to pass it along to a friend for reference.) So today I have 2 lbs of garlic I need to roast anyway so I will post it later today... I am just in shock... I use roasted garlic just about 3-4 times a week... just a shame I haven't put it on here yet. But it is coming.................................................

New Mexican Roasted Pork

This is one of my favorite ways to make pork... who am I kidding... pretty much any way is my favorite way to make pork. :o) But here is the way we made it the other night.

In this bowl our spice rub

New Mexico green chili powder (you may not be able to find it if not that is ok it is still good without although it won't be New Mexican Pork!)

paprika
garlic powder
salt
pepper

sage

I have no idea how much just a hand full here and a pinch there.

You add a little oil to this bowl until you get a paste. Then you rub it all over that beautiful piece of pork.

Sear it on all sides... look at that color!!! YUM! Then de-glaze the pan with a little chicken stock. This is where I would put it in the crock pot and let it cook but tonight I started it too late and I had to finish it in the oven. Either way is delish.


For our side tonight I ran a few zucchini threw the mandolin and tossed them in a little egg whites and panko bread crumbs. And baked them at 400 until they are golden. Basically it was a baked, healthier version of tempura. (battered and fried veggies )

There you have it a quick delish week day meal.