One staple....three meals!

One of my favorite menu-stretching strategies is taking a staple item, and stretching it into multiple meals for the week. I'm known for planned "leftovers" transformed into other dishes. While I am Blessed with two men who both love eating up leftovers, I also want to keep things fresh, not making them eat the same meal for days in a row!

I love to start the weeek with a large ham on Sunday, traditionally baked, served with potatoes and veggie. There is something so comforting about baked ham on a cold day! Day two is scalloped potatoes and ham, or ham and noodles, an old family favorite that my mom used to make. Both dishes start with a simple white sauce, added to ham and cooked egg noodles, or poured over thinly sliced potatoes, onions, and ham. But my FAVORITE in a ham week is day three. I take the ham bone and either slow cook it on the stove all day with either mixed beans and lentils for ham and bean soup, or with dried red beans, to become red beans and rice. Three totally different meals, all based off one ham. Keep this in mind next time ham goes on sale! Always good to have a ham in the freezer, when you can stretch it into three meals!

Another one of my favorite menu stretchers is chili... Not chili soup, with noodles, which is a standard at my house, but meat and bean chili, that I cook in the crock pot all day. It's a recipe that my husband brought home from the mill YEARS ago, and is a standard in our family! It is good with beef or venison, and I love using leftover beef roast. I'll make a BIG roast on Sunday, and then make the leftovers into the chili for Monday. Another time saver is having chopped onion and green pepper in the freezer, either your own from your garden, or purchased. You can throw the chili together before going to work in the morning and dinner is ready when you get home!

Crock Pot Chili

2 - 16oz cans kidney beans, drained

2-14.5 oz cans tomatoes (petite diced, crushed, stewed, whatever your preference)

2 lbs. browned ground meat (or leftover roast)

2 med or 1 lg onion chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2-3 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp cumin

salt to taste

Put ingredients into crock pot in order listed. Cook on low 10-12 hours. 

So this chili (which could already be day TWO of the roast) is amazing - serve it with cheddar cheese, sour cream, corn chips, anything! But the beauty lies in the transformation of this chili into new meals down the road!

Chili nachos - simply put hot chili over tortilla chips, layer with additional goodies - cheese, onion, lettuce, black olives, etc. Or make it the filling in burritos - using soft taco shells!

MY FAVORITE way to use this chili? A southwest bowl. Cook up some brown rice (or white is fine). Open a can of black beans, and rinse them. Open a can of corn and drain it. Layer rice, beans, corn, and chili. Top with either ranch, or a homemade taco dressing, and VOILA. Instant yumminess in a bowl!

One dressing to try:

Southwest dressing

3/4 cup mayo

1/2 cup milk (can also thicken with a little sour cream per a friend!)

2 Tbsp taco seasoning *

* A recipe for making your own taco seasoning - http://saturdaymorningcoffeewithmissy.blogspot.com/2014/01/stocking-my-seasoning-pantryhomemade.html

The key to stretching your dollars...and making menu planning a little easier? Thinking ahead. Having some recipes in mind for those leftovers.

Cooking according to supply - my Buttermilk Blueberry Cake!

When I went to the store yesterday, I browsed all of the aisles (not many in our little mercantile!), to see what was on sale, and look for inspiration for the week's menus. I always do this - no matter what store I am shopping at. By having a well-stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer, I often have enough to cover, so all I have to buy in a given week is what is on sale!

As I entered the dairy aisle, I found buttermilk on clearance, as it was close to its date. Instantly I knew I had to have it, to treat my family to one of our favorite desserts, a buttermilk blueberry cake. I found the recipe years ago, and have made it over and over. And I knew I still had frozen blueberries from last summer, so I was set.

I don't bake a lot of cakes. Honestly, cookies are my specialty. But when I find a recipe like this, it is all worth the work!

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake
½ cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons white sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh or frozen (and thawed) blueberries
½ cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with an additional tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

I often double the recipe (which I did today) and bake it in a 10x15 pan, baking for about 43-45 minutes. I prefer baking this in glass pans, but you can experiment! Enjoy....

Stocking my seasoning pantry..homemade mixes!

I love to find ways to make things I regularly use from scratch instead of having to buy premixed. I like being able to adjust flavors for my family's taste, control sodium content, and save some money/go green in the process. Two of the seasonings I regularly use are ranch and taco, and I've come to love my homemade seasonings. When I went to make a southwest sauce this morning, I realized I was out of taco seasoning, so I took the morning to put together some of my favorites, stocking my pantry for the coming weeks.

None of these seasoning "recipes" are secrets. And honestly, mine have been transformed over the years. I started with base recipes I found - either online, or from friends - and adapted them to our tastes. These kind of mixes are always changing, as our family changes!

Today's job was refilling my ranch and taco seasoning containers. So simple.
Assemble the ingredients. Mix.

I like to use old creamer containers for the mixes in my pantry. They are a great size, and being uniform means using the entire shelf space, and it's another way to recycle and reuse, something very important to me.

Making homemade mixes isn't for everyone. But it's something I do a lot. I love being able to control the flavor more, and the convenience of making them once a month, and having them on hand, is a huge savings.

Here are my current recipes, a place to start! Then, adjust them, for your own family's use! Enjoy~

Homemade Taco Seasoning

4 Tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. paprika

6 tsp. cumin

4 tsp. salt

4 tsp. black pepper

Homemade Dry Ranch Seasoning

1 cup dry buttermilk powder

2 Tbsp. dried parsley

2 tsp. dried dill weed

2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Both of these seasonings can be used instead of packaged, pre-purchased alternatives. As far as a quantity to use, it really is to taste. In my household, I use approximately 2 Tbsp. of mix to equal one packet. But start low, you can always add more! The ranch can be made into ranch dressing - using a little mayo and milk! It's fun to use and experiment.. I'll include some recipes to use these down the road. I use them all the time!

My first Saturday morning blog!

Well, here it is, my first Saturday morning blog. Hope you have your coffee ready!

This morning has been spent prepping for the week - planning menus, and writing shopping lists. Menu planning has been my salvation - in that it allows me to provide good, real food for my family even with hectic schedules, and typically spending less money than without a plan.

The first thing I do when starting my weekly menu planning is checking the family schedule! My husband works swing shift, and my very active 16 year old has a crazy schedule which typically sends me in multiple directions for sporting events. It's important to realize what is going on in your week, and be realistic. It doesn't pay to plan big fancy meals when everyone is going to be eating at different times, or on the go!

Once I have a schedule in hand, I take stock in the freezer and pantry, to see what I have on hand. I try to keep food rotated in both. I also do freezer cooking - meals prepped and ready to go. You'll notice these on days when I will not have time to cook! When shopping, I buy what is on sale. By having a well stocked pantry, I can do that. Having to buy all of the ingredients each week for all my recipes can get expensive. Buying products when they are on sale allows me to stay ahead of the game and save money!

The next step is choosing some fun recipes! I don't do new recipes every day! I try to do some of our favorites, adding new ones in to change it up. I found that doing too many new recipes tends to stress my boys out. They need their days of pork chops, spaghetti, and meatloaf too! I often ask the guys what they are in the mood for too, and fit those in. I also try to make things that will either provide leftovers for everyone's lunches, or be used in other recipes later in the week. We have busy schedules, and I need to use my time as wisely as possible. It's all about easy!


With recipes picked, and planned leftovers in the mix, I will make up my grocery list and head to town. I will buy what is missing for the week, as well as the good deals on sale to keep that pantry and freezer stocked! I will be set once I get home from the store to be prepared for the week, ready to provide for my family!

Here is an example - my week's menus!

Sunday

Breakfast             baked oatmeal

Lunch                  spaghetti/salad/garlic breadsticks

Dinner                  leftovers from the week

Monday              

Breakfast             cereal

Dinner                  crockpot chili

Tuesday (away for sports)

Breakfast             steel cut oats (overnight crock pot)

Dinner                  Nachos with leftover chili

Wednesday

Breakfast             egg bake

Dinner                  Creamy ranch chicken over noodles/steamed veggies

Thursday (I work)

Breakfast             cereal

Dinner                  Freezer crock pot meal

Friday (home game)

Breakfast             burritos

Dinner                  Grilled chicken salads

Saturday             

Breakfast             Overnight French toast bake

Lunch                    Snowboarding – take snacks, eat lunch there!

Dinner                  Freezer crock pot meal

You notice - a lot of my breakfasts are overnight prep - egg bakes, crock pot, etc. And we don't have big breakfast every day - many are cereal! You'll see some planned leftover use. The rest of the leftovers are just used for lunches. Again, the idea here is that you do what works for YOUR family, and YOU. It's designed to relieve some stress - and help you! I hope this was helpful!

Now go get another cup of coffee! Time for us to head to the store. Happy Saturday!

Join me for a cup of coffee?

I am a blogger. Or rather I am a writer. And a talker. Thus a blogger.

I started with a blog MANY years ago to vent about my health - dieting, exercise, life changes, goals, etc.

A second blog was started as a way for my far-away friends and family to keep up to date with my life. Then, I quit my "day job". I left corporate America after 20 years to stay home, take care of my family, and be the domestic I'd always wanted to be, and that blog became a place to document my journey from a working mother to a stay at home mother. It is my main blog, where I've documented my experiments in gardening, organizing, cooking, and just being a domestic.

I have a third, smaller blog, where I review books that I've read, again, for a very specific audience of my friends that are also readers.

Before "Saturday morning" started, I included all of my food posts in my journey blog. I just didn't see the need to have so many different blogs. But now that I've got people who are wanting a place to see just my food information, I decided it's time.

So this blog will be that place.

The name is dedicated to a dear friend from college. Someone who I can turn to for advice, for that shoulder. She and I have Saturday morning coffee chats that span 500 miles, each in our own state, but each with our pot of coffee and time to commit to each other. She is always encouraging me to push forward with my dreams. And this food blog, well, it's one of those dreams. I am hoping this will become a place for me to share my love of food, and providing for my family, with you - my readers.

So welcome to my table. Brew that pot of coffee, and come spend some time with me. I'd love to have you.

Welcome to Saturday Morning Coffee with Missy!

I've decided that it's time! The signs are leading me to start a food blog, so here it is! Welcome, and enjoy! I am hoping to bring here my tips, recipes, and thoughts about food....and feeding my family...and all things in between.

As the title suggests, I think you need to grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy!

Looking forward to the journey!