Meal Plan Monday is hosted by Organizing Junkie, so head over to her site to link-up your meal plan!
Yesterday, I used the green peppers and cabbage I got to slow cook stuffed green peppers and stuffed cabbage rolls. I doubled up each meal using the recipe below, making four meals in my very large crockpot. Two of which I’ll be using this week and two that I’m going to hold onto for a later date. It worked perfectly, since I simply used the same recipe to make the stuffing.
Stuffing Ingredients
- 1 Cup Cooked Brown Rice
- 1 Pound Ground Hamburger, Chicken, or Turkey
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 1/4 Cup Diced Onion
- 1/4 Cup Diced Green Peppers
- 1/4 Cup Milk
- 1 Egg
Mix ingredients in a large bowl. For cabbage rolls, boil approximately 12 leaves for 2 minutes to soften. Cool, then place stuffing in leaves and roll with 2-3 leaves each. Use toothpicks to hold close. For green peppers, cut the top off, then fill with the stuffing.
Place in a crockpot. Mix 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of water, 1 TBSP of brown sugar and 1 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce. Pour on top and heat on low for approximately 8 hours. As an alternative, you can top with pasta sauce or tomatoes sauce. For a quicker meal, bake in the oven for at 350 for approximately 20 minutes. Top with cheese before serving, if desired.
You can check out my shopping trip for this week, if you’d like to see what I bought. Keep in mind, my meal plans are made from items I purchased, as well as items I have already on hand.
Breakfast
- Diced Bananas with Yogurt and Cinnamon Toast
- Scrambled Eggs w/ Turkey Bacon & Toast
- Smoothies with Diced Apples & Oatmeal
- Whole Wheat Blueberry Waffles with (from the freezer)
- Blueberry Muffins w/ Yogurt (from the freezer)
- Cereal & Milk
- Cereal & Milk
Lunch
- Peanut Butter & Jelly w/ Cottage Cheese & Apple Slices
- Cereal-Baked Chicken Nuggets w/ Baked French Fries & Mixed Fruit (from the freezer)
- Crackers with Cheese, Raw Veggies with Dip, and Applesauce
- Chicken Sandwiches with Cheese Slices and Raw Veggies (leftover from Rotisserie Chicken)
- Leftovers
- Leftovers
- Leftovers
Dinner
Want your own meal plan? Read my tips for Making a Menu Plan, download the Meal Planner to give you a template to get you started, and check out my quick, kid-friendly recipes for inspiration.
Instead of doling out money for already cooked foods at the grocery store, making them at home can save you tons. Of course, there are times to splurge and times when coupons will get you stocked up super cheap. But, for all those other times, look online for recipes to see if it’s something you can make yourself and maybe something you can freeze for an easy snack or meal later!
- – Ingredients – -
- 1 Large Can White Chicken
- 10 Flour Tortillas
- 1 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Onion (Chopped)
- 2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
- 1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese
- 1 Cup Salsa
- Salsa or Sour Cream (for dipping)
- – Directions – -
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add onion and garlic, then toss and cook while stirring often until soft. Add salsa, chili powder, salt, and pepper.
- Turn down to low and simmer approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Microwave tortillas between paper towels for 45 seconds to soften.
- Add a scoop of the chicken mixture into each tortilla. Top with cheese, then roll and place on a cookie sheet with the seam down. Brush with oil.
- Bake until brown for approximately 12 minutes.
- Serve hot with salsa or sour cream to dip.
- – Cooking Tips & More – -
- Freezer Cooking - Cool, then flash freeze on a cookie sheet. When frozen, place in a freezer bag for long term storage. Pull out and heat in the oven at 400 to serve.
- Swap It - Use 1 pound of ground beef instead of chicken for a new taste. Or use canned turkey.
- Encore Meal Idea - This is a wonderful encore meal idea to use leftover chicken, turkey, or beef!
Want more? Brows the recipe index to check out all of my recipes!
I love jalapenos and banana peppers my pizza. Unfortunately for me, I’m the only one in my family. In fact, I’m told that that juices actually infect the rest of the pizza, if I try to put it in just a tiny part. That’s not our only problem though.
My husband, Scott, wants sausage, ham, pepperoni, mushrooms (gag!), and onions. Izy wants just plain cheese pizza. Ady wants sausage, pepperoni, and chicken. And, I want pepperoni, sun-dried tomatoes, green peppers, and those jalapenos and banana peppers. See our problem? We could compromise and make a pepperoni pizza, but where is the fun in that?
So here’s my solution
- – Ingredients – -
Crust
- 2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Warm Water
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 2 TBSP Active Dry Yeast
- 2 TBSP Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Salt
Pizza
- – Directions – -
- Depending on how long it takes for your oven to heat, you’ll want to preheat it to 425 sometime during this process.
- Combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water in a bowl until dissolved. Set aside for approximately 1o minutes until creamy.
- Add flour, salt, and oil. Beat until you have a smooth dough. Set aside to rest for approximately 5 minutes.
- Divide dough into 4-5 pieces and give them to your children to play with make their own pizza crust. Have them roll it into a ball, then flatten it into a circle. They can pick how thick and how big their pizza will be. Just make sure it’s not so thin it will fall apart easily or not be strong enough to hold the toppings. Or, you can do this yourself, but kids are more likely to eat things they make!
- Bake the pizzas for about 10 minutes on cookie sheets or baking sheets.
- Lay out all of the toppings and let them design their own pizzas.
- Bake an additional 10-12 minutes until crust is golden brown and cooked through.
- Enjoy!
- – Cooking Tips & More – -
- Save Money - Depending on sales and your tastes, make your own sauce, use spaghetti sauce, get pizza sauce, or use plain tomato sauce.
- Make It Healthier – Instead of all-purpose flour, use 1/2 wheat and 1/2 all-purpose flour to make wheat crust.
- Get Creative - Did you realize that pizzas don’t have to be circular? Or even rectangular? Oh no, they can be triangles, hearts, or even Mickey Mouse’s head with pepperoni eyes.
- Freezer Cooking - Single? Make these and freeze the extras to pop in the oven for a quick personal meal! Not single? Double up or freeze the extras. They only have to cook at 450 for about 12-15 minutes and are much cheaper than buying frozen personal pizzas.
- For Kids - Having a party? Don’t worry about food! Let them make their own pizzas. They’ll love it.
- Make It Easier - Yes, you can always buy pre-made pizza crust to make this a lot easier.
- Encore Meal - Use any left over pizza crust and toppings to make your own pizza rolls. Just flatten out small squares of dough, stuff with toppings, and then fold the dough to cover the toppings completely. Cook with the personal pizzas and freeze for a quick lunch or dinner later!
Want more? Brows the recipe index to check out all of my recipes!
Somewhere along the line, my kids found out the wonders of Butter Noodles. If you don’t know, it’s exactly what it sounds like – butter and noodles. Sounds healthy, right? Not quite, and to me, they’re a bit boring. Over the years, I’ve started adding things to their Butter Noodles to make them more exciting and healthy.
:: Ingredients ::
- 4 Cups Egg Noodles
- 6 Cups Water
- 2 TBSP Butter
- 1/2 TBSP Garlic
- 1/4 Cup Shredded Spinach
- 1/4 Cup Broccoli (diced, bite-size)
- 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
:: Directions ::
- Boil noodles, broccoli, and spinach in water until soft and cooked completely.
- Drain, but don’t rinse. We need them to be hot and have a little water left on them.
- Drop in the butter, garlic, and Parmesan cheese.
- Toss until butter is melted and noodles are covered.
- Serve warm.
:: Centsible Cooking Tips & More ::
- Be Centsible: As you see, I didn’t use egg noodles. Use what you have on hand – spaghetti or another pasta you can get cheap or FREE!
- Change It Up: Replace the Parmesan with cheddar, mozzarella, or your favorite cheese. The picture is cheddar and mozzarella. Also, mix and match spices. I actually tossed in a little sun-dried tomato spice I had on hand in the pictured meal.
- Get Creative: Add more veggies to make it healthier, feed more, and last longer. Try sliced carrots, onions, green peppers, sweet peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, or your favorite.
Get more cent saving recipes! Browse by ingredient or search.
Sorry about the photo. I took one, but we got into a battle and it won! But that’s okay, because you can peak at my recipe for Sticky Sweet Ribs, since I just altered that recipe a bit.
If you’ve been with me long enough, you know. When the weather warms up, me and my grill become best friends. Food just tastes better cooked outdoors!
:: Ingredients ::
- 4 Pork Chops (diced)
- 4 Kabob Sticks
- 1 TBSP Melted Butter
- 2 TBSP Honey-Barbecue Sauce
- 2 TBSP Honey
- 1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
- 1 TBSP Garlic
- 2 tsp Ginger
- 1 Cup Orange Juice
- 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
:: Directions ::
- Mix all ingredients, excluding pork. Place mixture and pork into a bag or container to marinade overnight.
- Skew pork onto kabob sticks and place on grill at medium-low. Cooking time will depend on how thick your chops are, but approximately 20-40 minutes.
- Take the remaining mixture from the bag and heat on the stove until boiling. Reduce and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside to thicken while kabobs cook. Add additional honey if you prefer a thicker texture before serving.
- Increase heat on grill to high and cook an additional 5 minutes to toughen the outside, since this pork should be chewy.
- Enjoy with Garlic Walnut Broccoli.
- – Centsible Cooking Tips & More – -
- Be Centsible: Add vegetables, like carrots, broccoli, or zucchini, to your kabobs to stretch out the meat and save you money!
- Change It Up: This recipe works well which chicken or beef too!
- Freezer Cooking: Place in a freezer-safe bag and store in your deep freeze up to 6 months.
- Kid-Proof It: Skip the red pepper flakes, so your kids don’t get overwhelmed.
- Simplify It: Don’t want to pull out the grill. You can bake these too!
- Spice It Up: Add more red pepper flakes to make this spicier.
- Sweeten It Up: Add more honey to thicken or make this sweeter.
- Swap It: Replace soy sauce with Worcestershire sauce or orange juice with pineapple juice for a new flavor. Replace butter with olive oil for a healthier option.
- Encore Meal Idea: Mix the remaining meat with Garlic Walnut Broccoli, vegetables, or rice to make a stirfry!
Get more cent saving recipes! Browse by ingredient or search.
For some reason, though neither my husband nor I drink beer, I always have it around. I love to cook with beer. It can really add flavor to recipes. Is this just an Hoosier thing?
The other day I was in the mood for bratwursts, but I wanted to try something different. Beer makes everything taste better right? So I grabbed out a beer and poured it in, along with some chopped vegetables. My husband came inside and gagged. The entire kitchen smelled of beer and the recipe was overwhelming in smell and taste. So, I started going to work to counteract the beer flavor. In the end, my husband devoured it and told me to “add this to the list!” It was amazingly delicious.
Now, you can whip it up too:
- – Ingredients – -
- 3 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Package Bratwursts (sliced)
- 1 Can Beer
- 1 TBSP Dry Mustard
- 1 Small Onion (chopped)
- 1 Small Pepper (green, red, or yellow or a combination, chopped)
- 2 TBSP Honey
- 1 Cup Rice
- – Directions – -
- Pour the olive oil into your skillet and heat on medium-high. Add brats and then cook until brats are cooked through.
- Next add chopped vegetables and cook until they are soft and onions are clear.
- Mix beer, mustard, and honey in a bowl, then pour into skillet.
- Add rice and stir together.
- Bring to a boil, then lower heat to low. Simmer about 15-20 minutes.
- Enjoy!
- – Centsible Cooking Tips & More – -
- Be Centsible: Stock up on Bratwurst during the summer. They usually hit the lowest price around holiday in which most people cook out, like Independence Day.
- Change It Up: Try honey flavored beer, if you have it on hand, instead of beer and honey. Or use regular mustard instead of dry mustard. You can use the same amount.
Get more cent saving recipes! Browse the entire recipe index.
At In Good Cents you can find new 