6.30.2011

mental viagra

we are in defcon 5 in our family budget this month. so that means no eating out at all (barring vacation which comes from a special savings account we contribute to all year) and making the most out of what we already have or can get on the mega cheap.

that means cooking. frig buckets.

i have successfully and frugally meal planned only once before. during frugal february. it's time to dust that off and get back at it again for the sake of our wallets and my sanity.

when you have 2 littles, a fulltime job, a running habit, an etsy shop, a sleep addiction and a husband you very much love hanging out with, there just isn't a lot of time leftover for much anything. so our meals usually get planned when all of a sudden i am so hungry that a repeat episode of curious george on TiVo makes me cry. out of this MUST EAT NOW OR EVERYONE WILL PAY situation comes a bevy of a frozen stouffer's meals, fast food, or last night's choice: a crag of colby jack and a bag of organic teddy grahams intended for judah. #winning.

in an attempt to get myself pumped for this upcoming month of cooking, and forever memorialize my efforts, i am posting the most involved meal i have ever cooked (seriously...dont laugh). i made this 3 course stunna for jesse for father's day and it was off the chizzle. warning: i am NOT a foodtographer.

grilled stuffed jalepenos from cooking light. mine dont look as good as theirs, but DANG they were good. i was afraid there'd be too much pepper taste (because the filling was woefully short on being able to fully stuff them), but they were just humble little tasty-trays serving up the goodness within.

-mediterranean ribeye from publix apron's meals. possibly our favorite homemade meal EVER.
-sesame green beans from cooking light .
-secret corn from keight and jesse. also known as magic corn.

blanched and peeled peaches ready to be harvested for dessert. i ended up only using 4 for the cobbler, so the extra went into some layla food.

raspberry peach cobbler from scratch using my favorite go-to recipe from MADE. i make this ALL summer long. i went ahead and got a party pail of vanilla ice cream to accompany all these that we will eat this season. AND i was feeling extra over-achieveristic so i measured out 5 batches of the the dry ingredients for the topping and put them in individual ziploc bags so future cobbling will be mega easy.

okay! i am suitably empowered now. i can do this. however, ribeye wont be on the menu this month. i'm off to find gourmet recipes combining cheerios, pasta, and pancake mix.

3 comments:

  1. Here's a good one that is a must have at our house and is super easy and quick!
    Ranch Chicken
    boneless chicken breasts.. (however many you want)
    2 cups crunched wheaties or bran flakes
    1 packet ranch seasoning
    1 stick butter
    3/4 cup parmasean
    (Honestly, I never measure this... I usually just go by eye. I like a little more cheese on mine.)
    Melt butter
    mix ranch packet, wheaties and parm cheese together.
    Dip chicken in butter and then coat with crumb mixture.
    Bake @ 350 for 30 minutes or until done and top of chicken is brown and crispy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. yum, emily! we will be trying this fa sho!

    ReplyDelete