Need to make menu changes.......and Tonights YUMMY meal

Ok, now I remember WHY I don't buy meat at Country Mart, the "expensive" grocery store.  It should be more of a no brainer when it's cheap on sale.  This package of pork smelled ok, and looked ok.....until I was to the last 3 pieces on the tray.  It smelled funny and when i turned it over this is what I found

yes....it's GREEN!  I had had it a few days so I know the store wouldn't be willing to refund my money, especially after I called them on trying to over charge me on my rain-check chicken (maybe a blog for another day, LOL!).  Hubby, who used to work in a meat dept right after we were married, said this was obviously done on purpose. the meat was most likely bad when it was packaged up.

I don't care HOW cheap their meat is, I will not buy meat there again.  This isn't the first time I've had problems.  I can't count all the times I've had problems with meat at this store.  The other store, which is Save-A-Lot, I can only remember one time that I have gotten bad meat.  ONE TIME compared to too many to count.

I will be working on the menu the next couple days, since I will most likely shop on Sunday, at Save-A-Lot.  I will share what I come up with on Monday.  What currently is in the freezer is listed on the column to the right.  The Kielbasa will be made from scratch, or maybe tossed in the freezer for a future cooler evening.

Ok, now for the YUMMINESS!

this was absolutely AMAZING!  It is the Crockpot Beef and Gravy.  Other than maybe serving over noodles instead of potatoes, this is perfect, and I think I have 2 of these in the freezer.  Why?  Well because I didn't buy everything from the store that I needed for the recipes I wanted to make.  *sigh*

Tomorrow I think I will put the Cilantro Lime Chicken in the cooker.

The next 2 nights are going to be busy, in fact my living room is half cleaned for tomorrow because there are people here playing games (MTG  magic the gathering).  I am happy to say that my dishes are done, and I think I still have time to go bread the rest of the cube steaks so I can put some chicken fried steaks in the freezer, before THAT meat goes bad.  It was bought at country mart as well.

TTFN  I probably won't be back until Sunday or Monday.  Both Friday and Saturday are busy nights.

Cincinnati Chili and Hamburgers

Ok I'm a bit behind, but I did fix Cincinnati chili on Monday.  It was pretty good, but unless I do some major tweaking to the recipe I won't be making it again anytime soon.  Hubby thought it was good but it gave him indigestion, which he never gets indigestion.  Son and I thought it was too spicy, and the cinnamon taste and the cocoa taste just didn't go with the dish.  It also gave me indigestion, which isn't unusual. SO.....once the leftovers are gone I'll be looking for another spaghetti red chili recipe.

Tuesday night I made the hamburgers because it was cooler and we didn't really need to run the AC.  The special thing about the hamburgers was the seasoning.  I've made it once before and didn't put enough on and the burgers didn't taste any different.  This time I cooked the burgers from frozen and waited until they were slightly unfrozen on top and then I put a layer on.  Too much this time.  On some of the burgers anyway.  Way too spicy for me, and gave me indigestion.  Son said it was too spicy, and hubby liked it.

I didn't get around to prepping meals last night, so will have to make  a point to do it tonight because it's getting ready to heat back up.  *sigh*

Tonight We will either have the Beef & Gravy or the Chicken Tacos, I haven't decided yet.

Then.....it's prep time again.  :-)

HHM 8/3/2015

The weather in my neck of the woods:

Things that make me happy:
Having meals ready to put in the crockpot to have ready to eat at 5:00

Menu for this week:
Most all my menu items are make ahead crockpot dishes

Not sure what order we will have them, but you can see what I have planned for the next 2 weeks.  I try to rotate things so we don't have the same kind of meat 2 days in a row.

Here is what is left in the freezer from last week:
Crockpot Beef and Gravy
Cincinnati Chili  (fixing Monday)
Hamburgers
Honey Garlic Chicken


Going with this week's sale ads, Pork is mostly what is on sale. *sigh* we're not big pork fans, but I'm going to make up some pork dishes for the freezer.

Slow Cooker Cube Steak with Gravy  served with mashed taters
Simple Tender Pork Chops served with rice
Simple Pork Chop Dinner potatoes on the side with green beans
Smothered Steak
Crockpot Chicken Tacos (we do like these, but going to try this version, tomatoes & green chilies are cheaper than our favorite salsa)
Kielbasa and Potatoes
Cilantro Lime Chicken
Sriracha Honey Chicken Wings (using legs since I have a rain check from last week)
Slow Cooker Green Beans

What's on my TV today:
Haven't been watching anything lately


Looking around the house:

Living room: just a few chairs to straighten up

Kitchen: few dishes soaking in and on the sink waiting for me to wash them tonight

Bathroom: needs cleaned

Bedroom: not too bad

On my To Do List:

• Print out recipes I've chosen to make
• Finish grocery shopping tonight
• make ahead some meals on this weeks list
• work on my crochet projects

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
I have been sharing them as I make them.  I think our top 2 favorites, that all 3 of us liked was the Philly Sandwiches and the Homemade Pizza

In the craft basket:
I'm still working on the afghan for my sister.   I volunteered to make a rich textures tote for a fellow yarn club member. I'm getting close to getting it done.

Looking forward to this week:
I ordered a set of Tunisian Crochet Hooks.  I should have them by Friday, if not before.

Tips and Tricks:
You can brown hamburger in the crockpot.  No need to heat up the house by using the stove.

Currently Reading

I read Ghost No More by CeeCee James in like 24 hours.  I couldn't put it down.  I could relate to some of the incidents in the book so it made it even better. *affiliate link*


No words needed (favorite photo or picture):

How about a video!  We got a sweet deal this past week.  Here is just 1 of our new party lights. We were testing them out on the ceiling.

Lesson learned the past few days:

Other local small business people deal with the same issues as we do.

On my mind:

I was given some fresh homegrown veggies over the weekend.....I think I'll dehydrate them.  

Linking up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy Homemaker Monday
and
Organized Junkie for Menu Plan Monday

Yes and NO!

So for Saturday evening I decided to put the Balsamic Glazed Chicken in the cooker.  I opted not to eat any because #1 it's pretty acidic and #2 I'm not a big chicken fan.  Hubby ate it but said he didn't really care for it.  To me it doesn't even look appetizing.  So this is a NO FIX again.

Sunday lunch was AMAZING!  Roast, taters, gravy and homegrown corn on the cob.

For supper I fixed the Pizza with homemade sauce.  I wasn't too sure about the sauce,  but the crust smelled and looked good.  Even tasting the sauce before I made the pizzas I was saying how I didn't have good feelings about it.  It turned out really good.  There is actually none left.  Next time I DO need to pre-cook the crusts a little longer though.

SO, 2 were good, 1 was bad.  Tomorrow I think I will fix Cincinnati Chili. 

Crockpot Ravioli

Friday was a whirlwind of events.  It usually is.  Since we were out late and busy Thursday night and I wasn't able to fix what I had planned, therefore we didn't have any leftovers, so we had to eat McDonalds $1 burgers for lunch.  Not my favorite, they just don't taste good anymore.  SO, I made one of my quick crockpot meals that doesn't need a lot of prep, Crockpot Ravioli 

It went in to crock at about 3:00 and was ready by 5:30/6:00

I've made this several times, in fact it used to be a weekly thing when the boys were little.  I haven't made it in probably 5 or so years, so I've forgotten all my tricks.  Time to remember them though.

This was pretty good.  I used cheese ravioli's and a meat based spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese. Next time I make it I'm using 2 jars of sauce and 2 bags of cheese.  Hubby likes it saucier and I cheesier.

It didn't last long, this is my portion. 

I had a house full of people again last night.  We shall see what happens for today's supper (Saturday).  I need to look over what I have made up and get something in the slow cooker here before too long or we will be starving.  Another night for a full house.

Out of Milk App Review

Well, there was a change in plans tonight.  We ended up going out of town to pick up a really sweet Craigslist deal.  SO, we ended up eating out.  The pizza and hamburger didn't get made.

SO that means tomorrow I will be putting the Ravioli's in the crockpot for us to eat.  Also I might not be able to blog the next few days because we will be open and have "guests" until the wee hours of the morning both nights.

So tonight instead of telling you how awesome my pizza was, I am finally going to tell you about the out of milk grocery app I use.  it is available on Android, Iphone, and Computer.  I also have it on my original Kindle Fire .  You can sync between devices, edit, share grocery lists and so much more.

Here are a couple screen shots from my android app.  This is my most recent trip to the grocery.  I love how it adds what is in your cart, and includes sales tax.  It also tells you any dollar amount you have left, if you need to go to another store.  I usually make separate lists for each store I go to so I have the exact dollar amount due at check out.  #1 for my benefit so I don't have more to buy than money in my purse, and #2 so I can have an accurate price and keep tabs on the cashier.  They aren't always right, and neither are those bar code price scanners at checkout .

Here is the list before checking things off (trust me there are more items than fit on the screen, but not too many.)  I usually manual enter the items, but I do occasionally use the bar code scanner, and it works and is product accurate most of the time.  Sometimes it's way off and I have to edit the product.

Another feature is product history.  It tells you the date and price of the product last time it was entered or updated.  The $0.00 items are when I first enter them as a "new item" then when I add a price it creates a new product with the price.  

There is also a pantry list which I am in the process of working on.  I want to use it more like a price comparison list than a pantry list.  You can create categories or just put everything in the same place.  Items are easily added to your shopping list too from your pantry.

Here is the entry screen.  Note the store and product size shows up in the list above.

 The clock near the unit price also shows price history.

I really like this app, I have also even used it for keeping track of inventory for our business.  I used the pantry feature and the amount feature so I knew when I needed to buy.  

Over all I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this app.  I don't have the paid version, just the free one, because I'm cheap, BUT if I ever DO decide to pay for an app, this would defiantly be one I would consider worth it.  If you're looking for a great easy to use grocery list alternative to the paper and pen that you often leave at home on the counter, I suggest you give this a try.

I am not being compensated nor have I been contacted by the company to write a review.  This is all mu own opinion from using this app for multiple things over the past 3 years.

You can read this same review and others I've written  on my Amazon account

Root Beer Chicken

Tonight we had the Root Beer Chicken.  You can see the original recipe HERE.

Root Beer Chicken with mashed potatoes and homemade chicken gravy.

We got off to a rough start.  I set the alarm on my phone to remind me to put the chicken in the crockpot to get it started cooking, on low for about 3 hours, which I had another alarm set to remind me to go drain the grease/broth off and add the root beer sauce.  Two hours after I started cooking hubby texted me "The crockpot isn't plugged in".  UGH!  Now what!  I asked him to plug it in and turn it on HIGH, hoping supper wouldn't be too much later than planned.  He also folded a towel up and put it on top of the lid to help hold in the heat. (I think that worked)  At this point we had about an hour before we would be home.  I had the pizza crusts pulled from the freezer, just in case, so we did have something for supper.  It ended up working out pretty good as we had customers in our store that stayed and chatted for 30 minutes after we were supposed to be closed.  They are good customers, we didn't mind.  By the time we got home, the chicken was done.  I drained the grease/broth off and added the root beer sauce, made the mashed taters in the microwave, and decided on a whim to make gravy with the chicken drippings while the chicken finished cooking.  I looked and looked for a homemade chicken gravy recipe and didn't find one, so I just went out on a limb and did my own thing.  The gravy was OK, but it needs a LOT of work.

Now for the chicken.  It wasn't bad, even for me, who doesn't really care for chicken (unless it's processed).  Hubby said he thought it would be better if the chicken was cooked in the oven and the sauce was basted over the chicken.  I wonder what it would taste like if it were marinated in the sauce.  I also wonder if it would be better if the skin were removed, hubby said leave it on.

We did like the chicken, and I do plan to make it again.  the gravy.......yah well, it may end up in the trash. ;-)

Tomorrow night we're having homemade pizza. The temps outside are supposed to be cooler, so using the oven for a bit and not having the AC on shouldn't be too bad.  I will also be cooking up the hamburger patties I premade and using THIS SEASONING on them.  I've made them before and learned I needed to add more seasoning.  Just tasting it before adding to the hamburgers it was pretty spicy, but the spice wasn't as noticeable on the hamburgers once they were cooked.  The hamburgers will be for Friday night, something we can heat and eat, since the arcade will be open.