20 Minute Roasted Chicken and Veggies and Dec. 30-Jan. 6 meal plan

Who doesn't love a delicious, healthy dinner that only takes 20 minutes to make!? All plates were empty in this house after this meal that will remain in our meal rotation from now on. It was so simple and so flavorful! Before we get to the meal, I will give a run-down of our meal plan for the next week and our grocery trip today.

Our family is a family of 6; the hubby, me, three constantly hungry boys, and our little princess. When I sat down to plan our menu, I planned all meals and snacks for the next week, along with 3 freezer meals.

Breakfasts (in no particular order)
Sausage Balls (making a double batch to freeze for another morning's breakfast later this month)
Eggs, yogurt, and fruit (Repeat meal) (Will need to buy all ingredients)
Pancakes and fruit (I already have our favorite Birch Benders pancake mix on hand)
Homemade Blueberry Muffins (I already have all baking needs on hand, I only need the blueberries)
Breakfast "hash" (Will use leftover hash to make breakfast burritos to freeze for another breakfast)
Homemade Brown Sugar Oatmeal with fruit (Already have the oats on hand)

Lunches
Sandwiches most days but rotating turkey and ham with pb&j along with raw carrots and broccoli and some fruit (will need to purchase all ingredients but PB and J)
Leftovers some days

Dinners
Roasted Chicken and Veggies (Will need to buy meat and all veggies, I have rice on hand)
Tacos (Will need to buy meat, tortillas, and all 'fixings')
Taco Salads (Will use leftover taco meat, will need to purchase salad ingredients)
Chicken Fried Rice (Will need to purchase eggs, frozen peas and carrots, and onions, everything else on hand)
Chili Petros (Will need to purchase meat, bell peppers, onions, and corn chips, everything else on hand)
Homemade Lasagna (Make in two pans, freeze one for a meal later in the month) (need to purchase all ingredients)(Serve with salad)
Leftover night

Snacks (all are options and they can choose what they would like)
Apples with Peanut Butter (need to purchase apples)
Granola Bars (purchase this time)
Organic Fruit snacks (need to purchase)
Almonds (already have)

*Also need to purchase milk, oregano, ended up purchasing a bag of organic cheetos and daddy's favorite cereal as treats

I was really shocked at the outcome of our shopping trip, especially since we were buying multiple rolls of natural sausage, 3 lbs of beef, 3 lbs of chicken breast, and sweet Italian Sausage... I thought for sure we would be at $200 or so... I was wrong and pleasantly surprised when my total was only $131.80! That's with mostly organic products with fresh fruits, veggies, and other items to make "whole food" meals. And don't forget the freezer meals!


So now for delicious meal from tonight! This meal came up on my Pinterest feed from GimmeDelicious but I added garlic which I think enhanced the flavor even more and next time we will omit the cherry tomatoes and add a little more broccoli.

20 Minute Roasted Chicken and Veggies

2 Chicken Breasts
1 cup chopped Bell Pepper (I used green)
1/2 of a chopped onion
1 zucchini chopped
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes ( I will omit this next time, we're not a fan of the texture)
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder or fresh minced garlic
1 tsp Italian Seasoning 
Paprika sprinkled lightly on top

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Chop all veggies into chunks and put in a glass pyrex dish. Next, cube the chicken and combine raw chicken with raw veggies by stirring into the pyrex dish.

2. Stir in olive oil making sure it gets to all ingredients in the dish. In a separate small bowl, mix together all spices then sprinkle over the chicken and veggie mixture, stirring to combine. Sprinkle lightly with paprika.

3. Roast in a 500 degree oven for 15 mins. ENJOY!!!

We served ours with a side of wild rice and it was a hit!

Chicken Fried Rice

Looking for a meal that's easy to pull together and satisfies the craving for Asian food? Chicken Fried Rice is an easy dish to throw together and in reality is very cheap to make, especially for a large amount of people!

This recipe satisfied everyone's hunger and there were leftovers even after we had seconds! Since we are doing a budget challenge I decided to work this one in. I had some carrots I bought from SAM's, chicken thighs I bought on sale from Food City, rice I bought from TJ's, and eggs and onions we already had. Total, based on the ratios of everything used (we still have a lot left of each ingredient), this meal cost less than $6 for six people to have for dinner. 

Chicken Fried Rice:

1 pound of chicken, cooked and shredded (chicken thighs were so tender and worked great!)

3 cups of cooked brown jasmine rice (or whatever rice you have on hand)

1/2 an onion, chopped

1 cup of fresh diced carrots (I boiled mine just until they started to soften just a little)

1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas

2-3 T Soy sauce or alternative such as Liquid Aminos 

2 eggs

(optional) add chopped green onions on top at the end

1. Cook and shred or dice chicken. (I cooked mine in a baking dish in the oven with a soy sauce and honey mixture on top. While I cooked my chicken I was cooking my rice, my particular type of rice takes 35 minutes to cook)

2. Preheat a large skillet or wok on medium heat. Pour a bit of olive oil in the bottom to begin heating. Once oil is heated add onion, peas, and carrots, frying until tender. 

3. Push vegetable mixture to one side of the pan. On the other side scramble 2 eggs. Once you have finished cooking, mix with vegetables. 

4. Next, add rice and chicken and pour soy sauce on top. Stir and continue frying until heated thoroughly and well combined. 

5. Add chopped green onions if you like and enjoy!

July- Week 2 Meal Plan and Why I don't Coupon Anymore

Today we are kicking off the second week of our July budget challenge. This past week was full of store visits and mainly contained purchases of household staple items such as toilet paper, toothpaste, etc. This ate up $96.97 of our $175 grocery budget for the month. Looking at those numbers and the fact that I spent another $19.34 at Food City day before yesterday, I'm getting kind of nervous about what is left in our grocery budget for the month. Right now I have $58.69 left for the rest of the month. I'm still determined to find a way to make this work. Before when I used to coupon I could have easily done it, however, having four very young children now, I honestly don't have the time to devote to it. This leads me to why I don't coupon anymore...

In the past few years we have also made many changes to how we eat. We eat mainly fresh fruits and veggies, very little processed foods, as organic and non-gmo as possible, plant based and green cleaners, and safer toothpastes, shampoos, and soaps. I cook most things from scratch so that I know what my family is eating. Most of the things we purchase don't have coupons, so that, plus the time issue is why I don't coupon anymore. I do access and use Target's Cartwheel app for some items, but otherwise, I'm couponless.

Now, onto this week's meal plan:

Saturday, July 9:

Breakfast- Egg Sandwiches
Lunch- Annie's Mac and Cheese and Applesauce
Dinner- Chicken Fried Rice (recipe to follow)

Sunday, July 10:

Breakfast- (church)
Lunch- After Church dinner
Dinner- Beef Cabbage Soup

Monday, July 11:

Breakfast- Oatmeal and fruit (blackberries growing in the woods beside the house)
Lunch- Peanut Butter wraps, carrot sticks and cucumbers out of the garden
Dinner- Leftover Beef Cabbage Soup

Tuesday, July 12:

Breakfast- eggs and toast
Lunch- Tortilla pizzas
Dinner- Black Bean and Chicken Quesadillas 

Wednesday, July 13:

Breakfast- Quick Potato Hash (Recipe to follow)
Lunch- Chicken salads
Dinner- Deer Burgers

Thursday, July 14:

Breakfast- Pancakes from fresh ground wheat
Lunch- Leftover burgers
Dinner- Pinto beans, potatoes, and green beans from the garden

Friday, July 15:

Breakfast- Oatmeal and fruit
Lunch- PB&J
Dinner- Leftovers

Saturday, July 16:

Breakfast- eggs and toast
Lunch- Any leftovers or PB&J
Dinner- Spaghetti (using frozen sauce from last week, recipe to follow)

Hope you guys have a fabulous week!

Blessings

Megan

Budget Challenge- Recap of Week 1

This week has gone pretty well. We actually got to save a couple of meals when we participated in community events that offered free snacks or food for July 4th. 

Many meals on our plan for this week used ingredients that had been sitting in the pantry or freezer for quite some time. However, we started the month by running out of many things such as; toothpaste, pull-ups, storage bags, and dishwasher tabs. There have been many store runs but hopefully the rest of the month require that. Here is the rundown of how much was spent;

Trader Joes: $39.36

Local veggie/fruit market: $10.38

My TJ's and market run

Sam's: $10.67

Starbuck's: about $4 (I can't remember the total)

Target: $20.75

Cookout restaurant: $11.81 (This one killed me.... one of my little ones had a doctor's appointment today and it                                 ended up taking 2 hours!)

Total: $96.97!!! Yikes! I still think we can do it, and we will! 

I will be posting my Week 2 meal plan tomorrow! 

July-Week 1 Meal Plan

Today kicked off the budget challenge! I spent some time thinking about how to utilize what we have for our upcoming meals. Clearly, I need to make a run to the store for fruits, veggies, and a few other items. Thankfully we have wild blackberries that grow next to the house so the kids and I picked some last night and used them to make our first meal this morning (be sure to check out the link for the recipe, it was delicious!).

Friday, July 1:
Breakfast- Streusel Berry Muffins (I made them exactly as written except without nuts)
Lunch- (pool day) Hard boiled eggs, chips and salsa, cherries
Snack- raspberries
Dinner- Deer Chili

Saturday, July 2:
Breakfast- Breakfast burritos
Lunch- Tuna melts
Dinner- Grilled Chicken

Sunday, July 3:
Breakfast- Banana (breakfast at church)
Lunch- Grilled Chicken salads
Dinner- Pork Tenderloin

Monday, July 4:
Breakfast- Sausage Biscuits
Lunch- Sandwiches
Dinner- Cookout with Jon's parents

Tuesday, July 5:
Breakfast- Oatmeal and Fruit
Lunch- Sandwiches
Dinner- Spaghetti and Salad

Wednesday, July 6:
Breakfast- Eggs and Fruit
Lunch- Quesadillas
Dinner- Leftovers

Thursday, July 7:
Breakfast- Sausage Biscuits
Lunch- sandwiches
Dinner- Spicy Chicken Lo Mein 

Friday, July 8:
Breakfast- Pancakes with Strawberry sauce
Lunch- Hard boiled eggs, cheese, fruit, and carrot sticks
Dinner- Pizza night (gf for Asher)

Full Pantry Inventory and Asian Inspired Baked Chicken

The whole purpose of this challenge is to use what is already sitting in our pantry/freezer/fridge in order to save as much as possible on groceries and reset my whole budgeting mindset. As I made my inventory list I realized just how ridiculous it was that we have so much and yet I feel like we have nothing to eat!

Before we go any further I want to explain why I made this list and why I encourage you to do the same. Number one, it is absolutely eye opening. I'm assuming most Americans are like me and have several things that sit and don't get eaten. And the same reaction I have, "there's nothing to eat." Number two, it is going to be a great way to see what you have so you can build meals off of your existing supply. I could probably list more reasons but let's get started! 

Be sure and hang on till the bottom of the post so you don't miss out on a new dinner we had this evening.

Pantry Inventory List:

Freezer items:

Deer meat: 11 pounds of ground, 1 back strap, 2 chops, 2 steaks

Sausage: frozen sausage patties, 1 lb cooked ground sausage

1 pork tenderloin

Fridge:

1/2 jar of pizza sauce

peach preserves

2 dozen eggs

1/2 gallon of milk

Cheese: 1 bag sharp cheddar, 1 bag mozzarella, 6 slices of cheddar, 1/4 container parmesan cheese, pepper jack 

1/2 jar of strawberry jam

1/2 carton of chicken broth

various condiments

2 sticks of butter

1 quart buttermilk

creamer

1 jar organic applesauce

bbq sauce

2 peppers

1/2 purple onion

celery

4 lemons

bag of cherries

1 lime

1 small container of raspberries

Cabinets:

Old fashioned oats

Pasta- udon noodles, 2 boxes spaghetti noodles, 1/2 bag of brown rice pasta

4 boxes of Annie's Organic Mac and Cheese

3 jars of Strawberry Sauce

3 jars of Strawberry Jam

4 jars of salsa

1 jar of peanut butter

1 can of enchilada sauce

2 cans of tuna

1 can organic coconut milk

Beans: 1 bag of pintos, 2 cans garbanzo beans, 3 cans kidney beans, 1 can black beans, 2 cans great northern beans

1/2 bag tortilla chips

2 large cans whole tomatoes

3 cans tomato paste

1 small can tomato sauce

2 cans diced tomatoes 

1 small can whole tomatoes

3 cans beef broth

1 jar organic applesauce

1 jar apple butter

1 jar pickles

4 jars pizza sauce

1/2 box cereal
small bag of russet potatoes

We also have a backyard garden with produce coming in at times.

I also have various baking goods, herbs, spices, and wheat which can be ground for flour.

Household goods are running low, I will need pull-ups, toilet paper, paper towels, toothpaste, etc soon. 

There is the complete pantry inventory. My next step will be tonight to plan meals. I will be posting my meal plan tomorrow. If you are joining us on the challenge try to plan at least a week of meals with what you have already.

Now for the meal we had tonight... This meal was less than $4 to feed our whole family of 6 and the kids were practically licking their plates when they finished! 

I had gotten a 2 lb pack of chicken legs that were marked down for $1.99. These were the brand that our store sells that is antibiotic free and humanely raised so it was a great deal! Here is what I did with them and it will definitely be a keeper of a meal! 

Asian Inspired Baked Chicken

preheat oven to 350

ingredients: 

2 lbs chicken legs (this would be great on other cuts as well)

1 1/2 T olive oil

1/2 C soy sauce or alternative

1 1/2 T ketchup

3/4 C honey

2 cloves minced cloves of garlic

Lay chicken in a pyrex style baking dish. Mix all ingredients well, whisking with a fork and pour it over the chicken. 

Bake for 45mins to an hour or until sauce is coating well. 

Enjoy! :) 

Our sides with this were green beans out of our garden and carrots that were boiled for 5mins, drained, then cooked for 5-10 mins until tender in some of the sauce poured over the chicken (they were so delicious!). 

Getting Ready for the July 2016 Budget Challenge

Two more days folks and we kick off the "Grocery Budget Challenge!" It's not too late to join! Make sure to read the rules in my previous post.

After careful consideration, I have chosen what my family's budget will be for July, remember, you decide what fits your own family. In the first challenge, four years ago, I chose $100. At the time we were a family of 4 (2 adults, 1 toddler, 1 baby) and I knew it would stretch us. Fast forward 4 years and we are now a family of 6 (2 adults, 3 kids, and 1 toddler). We are definitely going to need a bit more than $100 for all food and household/personal goods. I still want to really challenge myself so I am putting us at $175. 

I already know there are several things we will have to purchase including; toilet paper, diapers, sleep pull-ups, and toothpaste so $175 will definitely be a challenge. 

Here are some things you can do to get ready;

*Be brainstorming on some cheap meals you already know and have on hand. 

*Make sure you've talked to your family and gotten them on board! 

*Tonight or tomorrow, try to do a pantry inventory... You can look at my post from 4 years ago as an example here. I will post mine for the July 2016 challenge tomorrow! 

I'm excited, and can't wait to share with you guys and see what you guys can share with me! Who knows, there may even be a guest post or two! (wink, wink)

Have a great night! 

Blessings! 

A New Budget Challenge

Okay, so it's been four years since I did the $100 grocery challenge. It was a challenge to force me to budget closely and wisely. Not only did the challenge include food, but also any household type items we may need. (You can read about it here)

I don't know about you, but I'm in need of a budget reset. I have things in my cabinets that need to be used and are never in my meal plan. So, I challenge you to join me! Let's get talking on social media about how your budget is going each day. Let's offer ideas for meals and savings that we use on the journey. It's so important to be good stewards of the money we have no matter how much or how little that may be. The Lord is so good to provide for us, let's use this challenge as a way to really focus in on using it wisely so that we can use the "extra" to bless others.

Here are the rules of the game....

1. The challenge will start on July 1, 2016 and will end
2. You may use anything from your pantry or freezer that was already bought. (I will do a blog post about ideas on how to do a pantry/cabinet inventory)
3. Use nothing but CASH (yep, you read that right... there is a specific purpose for this).
4. Your budget must include food, household goods, toiletries, diapers/wipes, etc.
And last but not least.....
5. SET YOUR BUDGET AND STICK TO IT!!!

I'm not going to tell you what to set your budget at. That all depends on your family, your income, your dynamic. I am currently going back and forth on two different numbers for myself and will decide this week what my budget will be. I will try to do several posts leading up to the challenge's beginning. Whatever your budget is, I challenge you to really choose a number that won't be easy for you. This is meant to really test you and teach you of what you are capable of by being good stewards and being intentional with life's blessings.

I hope you will join me! :)

Blessings!

Eggplant Parmesan

It's summertime and that means we have access to delicious, fresh grown produce. Whether we grow it ourselves in our backyard garden, or we visit a farm or community market, we LOVE to take advantage of the fresh goodies that God provides for us!

On our visit to the Mennonite Farm Market this past weekend I couldn't pass up their delicious eggplant. Eggplant parmesan is something I love but have never personally made for our family. I gathered several recipes through friends and pinterest, took a little from each, and bam, a delicious dinner! And, while eggplant parmesan is traditionally a vegetarian dish, I have also included our family's delicious meat sauce recipe. I already had some made and frozen in the freezer, it was the perfect complement!

After dinner, the results are in, 5 out of 6 loved it! The 6th one liked the noodles and sauce, but he still ate all the eggplant even though he didn't care for it. Here is the recipe, enjoy and let me know how you like it!


Eggplant Parmesan

1 large eggplant (I used two small/medium sized)
1-1 1/2 Cups of Italian Bread Crumbs
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
olive oil, you will use minimal amounts to lightly pan-fry your eggplant
Sauce, can be marinara, spaghetti style, or meat sauce (I used my sauce recipe also posted below)
2 cups Mozzarella 
1 cup shredded parmesan
Italian seasoning to sprinkle on top, or fresh basil chopped and sprinkled on top

Preheat your oven to 375

When beginning the recipe, slice your eggplant across (not lengthwise) to make 1/2 round pieces. Dry the moisture off with a paper towel if they have excess moisture to them. 

Beat together your eggs and your milk until combined in a bowl and pour your italian breadcrumbs onto a plate. Completely submerge each piece of eggplant into the wet mixture then roll around and completely coat them in the breadcrumbs. 

(After coating)

After all pieces have been coated, heat a skillet over medium high heat with enough olive oil to lightly coat the pan so that you are able to lightly fry a few pieces at a time. While the pan is heating, quickly take a 13x9 baking dish and fill the bottom with about a cup of sauce. 

Fry each piece of eggplant until both sides are a golden brown. After frying, place half of the pieces in a layer in the baking dish. Spread another thin layer of sauce over the top. Sprinkle half of the parmesan and half of your mozzarella. Then repeat with another layer following the same method. Then top with a sprinkling of herbs, I used italian seasoning this time. 

Place uncovered in the oven to bake about 20mins (I turned the broiler on for the last minute or two in order to get a little browning to the cheese). 

(fresh out of the oven)

Meat Sauce:

1 lb ground sausage (sweet italian is best)
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 (28oz can) crushed tomatoes
2 (6oz cans) tomato paste
2 (6.5oz cans) tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 T sugar
2 tsps Italian Seasoning
1 T salt

In a large pot or dutch oven, brown sausage and beef, throw in garlic and onions halfway through browning. When meats are browned, add in all other ingredients and simmer for 1 1/2 hrs, covered. Make sure to stir throughout cooking process.