Oh Oh...I'm Getting Behind

I missed out on the chicken leg dinner. I fell asleep. It looked good and the report from Mike was that it was delicious!

Last night was football night for the kids, and Dancing With The Stars for me, so we split up. The white bean chili made with ground turkey was really really good. (Who ever heard of using white beans and ground turkey to make chili?)  I was brought up on Tex Mex and that sure doesn't say "turkey" to me! I have to say, Paulette never disappoints--the chili was delicious!

Thinking of Tex Mex makes me remember back in the day, when Mom never knew how many people she might have at the table. It was a game to her to make sure she was always ready, no  matter come what may. She always had dishes of enchiladas ready for the oven, and if everybody was hankering for Mexican and she was caught short, she would send my Dad out looking for a "tamale man".

Times were tough everywhere. Some enterprising men used ice cream push carts in the winter to sell tamales on the street.. Their wives would cook all day, and a bit before dinner time these guys could be found out in the neighborhoods "whistling" their wares. Some of the whistles were quite pretty. They would blow a little tune and then call out, "Hot tamales, get your hot tamales"! Now these were hot tamales! And as we usually needed a lot of them, the tamale men would make more than one pass in front of our house. They would count the bicycles and figure they could sell out and go home early if Mr. Herbert (Dad) was looking for a tamale man. The tamales cost about 10 cents a dozen!  For two dollars and a pan of enchiladas, we could feed the football team.

Back to today, this white bean chili made with ground turkey was delicious and served with corn bread. It certainly met with my approval.

Darn! I fell sleep before Dancing With The Stars was over. Was anyone a standout?

Weekend Food Stamp Challenge

Saturday and Sunday we maintained our budget for the Food Stamp Challenge. It was a busy day, preparing SHARE's Thanksgiving Dinner to show on WTMJ4 News sunday morning.  Still there was time for a delicious dinner using chicken drumsticks from the BIG Value Package.  yum!

I baked the drumsticks in BBQ sauce and also roasted potatoes with just a drizzle of olive oil, sea salt and fresh rosemary leaves from my garden.  Tomato quarters made our salad.





 

On Sunday I was tired after the interview and didn't feel much like cooking.  Luckily, I could substitute Spaghetti and Meatballs from Tuesday's menu plan.  This was easy to prepare using fully cooked beef meatballs from the BIG Value Package and canned sauce.  Salad and garlic bread completed our meal.

Today is Saturday, Day 3 of our Living Richly With Food Stamps

Saturday is always a busy day around our house. It's windy and cold and trying to rain so Mike laid in a great fire. I did my part. I busily curled up in my chair and went about helping Jake Grafton solve the 'problems of the collapse of' the  largest bank in Hong Kong per Stephen Coonts' great book called Hong Kong. This is a firm rule in my universe. When everyone gets really busy, find a good book , curl up in your chair, and read  said book (I might add that the rule really doesn't work until you pass age  age 80).  Every one is all full of  energy around here,  because we started the day with a hot bowl of oatmeal chocked full of raisins and topped with milk and brown sugar! tonight we are having the chicken legs. Uh oh, I hear the call to dinner. It's been a great day today..

Food Stamp Challenge Day 2

Friday was a very good food day.  I got up early as I usually do and made a pan of oatmeal.  The sleepyheads could warm theirs up later!  Then I made lunches for the three of us using the deli sliced turkey breast.  Since we have such a generous amount of fresh fruit it can be added to almost every meal.  I left for work before anyone else was up.

Dinner was delicious: baked tilapia, brown rice and steamed cauliflower and carrots.  One problem: I forgot to start the rice until I already had the vegetables steaming, so that put dinner a little later than planned.   Brown rice takes about 45 minutes, so I usually put it on first.  I like to season the rice with a dollop of olive oil, a little bit of soy sauce and diced onion, which I add to the water as it's cooking.  The tilapia fillets are very good and cook quickly.  I simply drizzled a bit of olive oil on them and sprinkled with seasoning and pop them into a hot oven for about 15 minutes. I had some dried dill from my garden, but you can use whatever you like on this versatile fish.  It looked nice on the platters as you can see in the photo.  We had some rice and one piece of fish left over that my husband will probably eat for lunch.

Day 2 of the Food Stamp Challenge...Thoughts From "Mom"

Tonight our dinner is Tilapia, which is a tender white fish fillet.

It is almost a delicacy. It needs to be served on china plates and use the good silverware, if you please.

This brings up another memory from my childhood in Texas.

Sometimes on Friday night Dad would go down to the fish market and buy a bushel--yes a bushel--basket full of shrimp. This may sound icky to some folks, but how Mom served the shrimp was the best. She boiled the shrimp and let them cool and drain out on our screen porch. Then on our large mahogany dining room table, she spread out the Dallas Morning News at least an inch thick. At each place there were individual condiments: lemon slices, mayo, ketchup, and shrimp sauce. (Very fancy!) I remember I only wanted mayo; some others had all four. After the shrimp had drained, she piled it all in the middle of the table and we shelled and ate shrimp until we were stuffed to the gills.

I don't think we can serve Tilapia like that.

This Food Stamp Challenge can be fun. The menu we created from the SHARE BIG Value Package and a few dollars left over will work. The most important ingredient in any meal is how it’s presented on the plate and the smile on the face of the presenter.

Food Stamp Challenge Day One

We got off to a good start with the Food Stamp Challenge. I got home late from work and decided to switch around the menu and make the meat loaf that was planned for Saturday. This is a fully cooked item that just needs to be heated. What I like about having a menu plan is that I can switch things around if my week goes haywire (as it often does!). 

When I left the office I called home and asked my husband to put some potatoes in the oven to bake. By the time I got there it was just about time to pop the meatloaf in the oven. To jazz it up a bit I made some mushroom gravy, see the recipe below. We all agreed this was a tasty, fast, work-night dinner.


Mushroom Gravy

2 Tbsp olive oil

4 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

½ onion, small dice

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tbsp Flour

2 Cups water, divided

1 beef bouillon cube

Salt and pepper to taste

1) Heat oil over medium heat in skillet; add mushrooms, garlic and onions and sauté until soft.

2) Whisk flour into 1 cup cold water.  Slowly add to skillet and stir until smooth.

3) Add one cup water and bring to simmer.  Add the bouillon cube and continue to simmer until thick.

4) Season with salt and pepper to taste.



Let's Go Shopping!

Last night I went to the grocery store to purchase the items I needed to prepare my weekly menu for the Food Stamp Challenge.  My total budget for the week for our family of three is $94.50.  I spent $30 dollars on the SHARE Big Value Package plus $8 on an extra Deluxe Produce Assortment.  This left me $56.50 to spend.  Check out my shopping list and prices!  I still have $3.42 to spend, which I’m sure I’ll need for something I’ve forgotten before the week is over.

How do you think your family would do on $31.50 per person per week?  I really agonized over some of my purchases and it makes me uncomfortable to know I only have $3.42 left.  I sure am thankful to have the SHARE BIG Value Package to use as the center point of my weekly menu plan!

Food Stamp Budget  for 3: $94.50

I shopped with SHARE first!

SHARE BIG Value $30.00

SHARE Deluxe Produce Assortment $8.00

SHARE Total: $38.00

Remaining To Shop At The Store: $56.50

Shopping List:

leaf lettuce $0.89

3 tomatoes $1.31

cornbread mix $0.60

whole wheat bread $1.99

french bread $1.99

carrots $0.48

eggs $0.79

2 gallons milk $3.98

oatmeal $2.79

coffee $7.00

brown rice $0.99

onions $0.98

spaghetti sauce $1.19

yogurt $5.00

white beans $1.69

crackers $5.69

2 qt. cream $3.96

raisins $2.99

margarine $1.89

mushrooms $2.00

brown sugar $1.69

tea $2.19

whole wheat spaghetti $1.00

Store Total $53.08

Grand Total $91.08

Money left to spend: $3.42