What to Eat....There's a Menu on the Fridge

I got tired of it....coming home and, not sure what to eat, ordering out. Sound familiar? Throwing something together is not near as difficult as deciding WHAT to eat.....and that's where the hubby and I get stuck. You try to eat healthy and save a few bucks there goes your best intentions, out the window as you stop at the fast food window or order pizza for supper. Last week I had enough of the last minute "I didn't make anything? How about a Chinese night?" the day after the "I didn't make anything...we're having pizza tonight" calls and made a menu. More like a plan...like D-Day. Momma is cooking this week!

I found this blank calendar from Cegeon.com. Just print it, add your dinner ideas, and put it on the fridge. I took it a step further and added where the hubby could find the ingredients in our well-stocked but not always well-organized pantry and freezer. I even left open one night for a night out. 

Voila! It worked! The first week went so well the hubby and I sat down TOGETHER and planned the next week's menu. It was nice to have his input. It became OURS instead of mine. 

The menu can be printed for use or just use a piece of paper. Do it when you are not stressed for time. Remember what you have in your pantry or consider what you have to pick up to make the menu work. Keep it flexible...there will be times that delivery IS the best choice and that's OK. Every night of it is not. I don't want to be so close with the delivery kid that he thinks he is part of the family...not that I don't like him. Nothing personal. 

Take a little stress out of dinner time and every drop less of stress is welcome. 

New Deal Cafe

On a recent trip to Gainesville, I stopped at the New Deal Cafe. It’s right next to Mildred’s Big City Food. Mildred’s has been around a while and is know to serve pretty good food but I wanted to try something new. I love vintage and the name “New Deal” made me think of FDR and the 1930’s….total nostalgia.

The place is cute and the food is today. I ordered the beet salad…..spring greens, beets, walnuts, and goat cheese. It’s served with corn bread. Very good. Here’s what it looks like:

 

Reasonably priced.

Redesigning Leftovers and Sloppy ChicKs

OK, I guess folks who know me know I am a bit of a tightwad. Oh alright, I am a lot of a tightwad. It is a challenge to me to save a few dollars every day. It is just too easy to blow a few bucks on nothing. I eat a lot of chicken, so much I should have tail feathers (I keep checking but I don't). I can make 3 meals out of one chicken and do just that most of the time. I love rotiserrie chicken and even have a rotiserrie to make my own. I strip the meat after we have supper and save the bones for soup or chicken and dumplings. With the meat I make a lunch called Sloppy Chicks. It is like Sloppy Joes without the beef and a little less greasy. Sloppy Chicks 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken 1 onion, diced 2 tb vegetable oil 1/4 cup barbecue sauce Heat the oil in a 10 inch skillet over a medium flame. Add onion and saute until the onion is clear and starting to brown. Add chicken and heat thoroughly. Mix in barbeque sauce. Cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes. Serve on buns. Serves 4

Coupons, Freebies, and Saving Money

For those who haven't figured it out yet, I like to shop. Not only do I like to shop, I like to save money while shopping, and before I forget, get freebies. I figure, I have to buy some things, so I might as well save as many little Lincolns as possible. With that in mind, I thought I would post some of my favorite links to saving those little Lincolns, and maybe a buck or two. Oh yeah, before I forget, there is usually freebies offered, too. Let's face it, there is just something special about getting something in the mail for nothing. It's like Christmas all the time! Yippee! And I am all about free. So here goes. These are some super good sites with links to save a buck. Some give coupons, others tell you what's on sale where, and, just look. You'll see what I mean. Too cool to pass up. The fabuLESS Never Pay Retail Again Daily Deal Digest Here's the link: http://neverpayretailagain.blogspot.com/ This one is my fave. Links to whatever is on sale in my neck of the woods (FL) but some all-over-the-country stuff, too. ConsumerQueen.com http://www.consumerqueen.com/ Not bad. Always new stuff to check out. Red Plum http://www.redplum.com/Default.aspx Lots of stuff. Lots of coupons. They're the folks that put the coupons in the Sunday papers. Need I say more? Here's a site I just found (I don't want to say new because it probably isn't). My Baton Rouge Mommy http://www.mybatonrougemommy.com/ Lots of coupons and links. I'm sure most folks have favorites of their own. Share them. We all need to save a buck with this economy. OK, there you go. Go forth and save money!!