Chi Chi Chi Chili

 

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.  ~Voltaire

What a true quote! 

I started the "Cooking from the Pantry" adventure challenge. Since today was a snow day and I forgot to lay anything out for dinner and I have not done my meal planning for the next 2 weeks, (I know...I know) I looked in my freezer to see what we had. I really didn't want to cook a big meal or spend a lot of time in the kitchen tonight. So, I was thrilled to find a freezer bag of Chili that I had made back in December and froze the rest! I ran it under hot water for about 2-3 minutes, enough to get it out of the bag, and warmed it up on the stove....And there ya go!! It was just as delicious as it was the day I made it!! 

~Remember to put God first, and everything else will follow~

MmmmMmmm Good!!

This weekend I wanted to get a lot accomplished! Its Sunday morning and I have yet to do the first meal planning, coupon filing, house cleaning and such. I did get a little, and I mean little, freezer cooking done! Last night I made up a batch of pizza dough and cut into 4. We ate 1 and I froze the other 3 for later uses in the month. I found a recipe on one of the blogs that I read, Life as MOM. Here is her site http://lifeasmom.com/ .

They are calling anywhere from 3-7 inches of snow where I live, in Tennessee. People usually freak out and rush to the grocery store and clean off the shelves. Not me, I am stocked up, however, yesterday I wanted to pick up another gallon of milk and some toilet paper. Hubby and I loaded up the 2 kids and went to town, 12 miles away, and bought Dog Food at our local TSC store. We then went to our local Kroger store and all I wanted to get was milk and toilet paper! Once we were there, I decided that I wanted to check out the meat prices and good thing I did. They had some Pork Sirloin chops on sale. I purchased over 4 lbs of Pork Sirloin chops for 1.99 lbs regularly 4.99lb. Good deal if you ask me. In the packet was 12 chops. That is 3 different main dishes and their leftovers. Today I had planned on making loaded potato soup for lunch.

Didn't Have Potatoes...main ingredient....

But, I did have the Pork Chops in my fridge waiting to be divided up. So, I used 4 today! Before church I put 4 chops seasoned with black pepper, onion and garlic powder, in a 9x9 casserole dish. I mixed together 1 can of Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup, refilled that can with milk and poured in bowl, 1 T Worcestershire Sauce, and the secret ingredient, 1 T Dijon Mustard! Add some shakes of garlic powder, onion powder and pepper too! Mix together and pour over chops. Cover with foil and cook on 400 degrees for 45 minutes! Serve over brown rice and a side of veggies!


IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! I hope you enjoy!!!




~Remember to put God first, and everything else will follow~

Chicken Pot Pie

About 2 weeks ago, our Associate Pastor and his wife had their second child. I am over the Helps Ministry which provides dinner for a week for those who have had surgery, a baby, or a death in the family. I was the first one to cook their dinner and decided I wanted to make them Chicken Pot Pie, not knowing it was one of her favorite meals. I didn't have a recipe to follow but I had made it several times before and it turned out good. I cooked it in 4 individual ramekins. They loved it!


My husband also loves chicken pot pie. I think he got kinda of jealous when I fixed it for them and didn't leave any for us. It was the day after Christmas as we were heading to my parents once I dropped off the food. So I told him I would make him one next time I had leftover chicken. As promised, I did! Tonight! We ate bone-in Roasted Chicken quarters Tuesday night and I fixed 2 extra so I could fix him Chicken Pot Pie. It turned out just a delicious as before! Here is the recipe:


Chicken Pot Pie


In a pot, melt 3/4 stick of butter, I use unsalted.
Add 1 small onion diced, and 2 cloves garlic, diced and saute 2 minutes.
Add 3 cups Frozen Veggies, I used Green beans, Lima beans, brown Lima beans, and Carrots.
Mix around for about a minute and then add 1 1/2 T flour. Stir until mixed well and add 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup. I use the healthy heart lower sodium can. Stir well and add 1 can evaporated milk. Mix well and lower heat to simmer. It will thicken fast. Turn off heat after about 4-5 minutes. You really don't want to cook this very long on the stove. You want you veggies to still have a bite to them when you eat it. Place in individual ramekins or you can place in a casserole dish. Unroll 1 Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust and if you are using ramekins, cut into 4 even pieces. Place over ramekin and press down on sides to seal. Beat 1 egg with a teaspoon of water and brush over crust. Cut 2 small slices into each ramekin to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle salt and pepper over crust and place in a 400 degree oven until crust is brown, usually about 30 minutes.


This picture is a little foggy due to the homemade chicken stock letting off steam beside it.

If you want to make this into a freezer meal, it easily doubles. I would stop at the point of putting the filling in the ramekins or casserole dish. Thaw completely in the fridge over night and add the pie crust before baking.

ENJOY!!!

~Remember to put God first, and everything else will follow~

Let's get started!!

I am one who loves, loves, LOVES to make list....but not one who likes to follow them all the time! I love having a routine...but I don't like to follow it all the time. I LOVE having a menu plan...but I don't like to follow it all the time...getting my drift?? This year, one of my personal goals is to stick with whatever I am doing! If I make a list for the grocery store...stick with it. So on and on...

Over the weekend, I am planning on tackling my freezer planning meals, grocery list, cutting coupons and organizing them, meal planning for the rest of the month, chore planning, and catching up on house work! In with that, I am going to get hubby to help me inventory our pantry/fridge and both freezers. WHEW, come Monday I am going to be ready for another weekend! There are many, many blogs that I love to read and follow! I get ideas and learn lots from reading them. Though I have had a blog since 2009, I have only mostly been posting recipes and a few couponing adventures. This is what I am revamping my blog with this year:

* Coupons- how to, where to, organization, and using. Deals that I get and how you can get them too!

* Frugal cleaning tips

* Menu Planning

* Freezer Cooking

* Our journey to saving money

* And my life in general- very exciting, I tell ya! LOL

My husband has been blessed with a awesome job. Though he works long hours most days, we have been blessed! I have been able to stay home with our 2 children since I had our oldest, Emma, 6 years ago! I did hold a Real Estate license and plan on getting back into it part time this year. We are a 1 income family. Its works for us. Our grocery bill use to be around $800 a month for a family of 4. I have cut that down to less than $500 a month with couponing and menu planning and so on. I will share with you how I do it later on in more post! My ultimate goal is to get down to $75 a week, including all personal and toiletries items. It can be done! That doesn't mean we will be living on oatmeal, beans and rice, It just means, MENU PLANNING and FREEZER COOKING!! Some of the ways I plan on doing so is by:

* Gardening (we have had a garden the past 4 years and last year we got over 500 tomatoes which I canned)

* Freezer Cooking

* Eating less processed foods and more made from scratch.

* Getting local farm raised beef, pork and chicken

That is just a few. Late last summer we added a Chicken coup to our backyard so we get fresh eggs everyday!! I make my own Chicken stock (most of the time) and I make homemade bread and rolls (some of the time). I will be doing this a lot more than I did last year! Another one of our goals I have set for us is to see how frugal we can get. We are planning a trip to Disney World this year so we have to get frugal!!


I plan on blogging everyday if possible! I may have to switch blogging sites but I will make sure y'all know!! If you have any suggestions, please comment!! and Follow my blog....who knows what you might read! LOL!!!



~Remember to put God first, and everything else will follow~

Its a New Year, Its a New Day!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

We rang in the new year with some best friends at our house! We played a few games, ate some delicious food and dessert, and drank some sparkling grape juice and apple cider at midnight! When they left, around 1:45 am...We finally went to bed! Our kids stayed up with us, yes, they are 4 and 6 and our friends little boy is 3. Despite our efforts of trying to put them to bed early, they stayed up. Our son woke me up around 9 and our daughter and my husband didn't get up till 10:30ish! Our New Years day tradition is to go to my mom's house and eat black-eyed peas and cornbread. This year we did not do that. We stayed home, lounging around the house! It was a wonderful day! The following day, we went to church, came home, lounged some more! Once Monday came along, hubby had to go back to work...booo!!! But, I got to spend one more day with my babies before they headed back to school. Emma is in kindergarten and Dillon is in preschool 2 days a week! Tuesday came along, the kids were back in school, and I TRIED, TRIED to get back into a routine. Boy has it been hard...I have always heard it takes 21 days to create a habit. Wonder how long it takes you to get off the wagon....


My husband and I sat down and set our goals for 2011. Our list got very long! But, they are all attainable, realistic goals! Our biggest goal is to pay off our only car payment!! With God's help, we will have it payed off by April! We are planning on starting some renovations on the house! Small to begin with and then later on they will get bigger!!

Oh, and we are also planning a trip to Disney World in October!! Needless to say, I will have to stretch out grocery planning, meal planning and extra spending. We have a budget program that we use on our computer and we love it!! I have planned out our budget for Disney and how much we have to save/pay for the trip! More to come about Disney.

I have mentioned before that there are changes coming to this blog. I am planning on vamping up the blog a little! Not only blogging about recipes, but our life as trying to be frugal, couponing, freezer cooking, home maintenance, and whatever I feel like blogging about!! I love the fact that I can sit down and write!

I hope you enjoy!!


~Remember to put God first, and everything else will follow~