Big meal ideas!

I have a friend who asked for some frugal meal ideas for her church lunch/supper during a training that they have coming up after Easter.  So here are some ideas I shared with her.. Just wondering if you have more to add to this list??

  

Some ideas I have to share:
(Depending what is on sale/Weather) 

• Fried rice

A family favorite in our home

• Chicken or pork in mushroom gravy with rice, and salad... 
• Stew and bread and salad...
• Ham and scalloped potatoes with or without peas and salad...  
• Spaghetti, garlic bread and salad... 
• Stroganoff (and  you guessed it.. Salad!) lol
• Chicken thighs or whole chicken i.e. Kitchen Chicken

 

• Tuna casserole 
• Pulled pork (buns or tortillas), cole slaw
• Taco salad
• Chili 
• Pasta e fagiole
• Red rice/similar to jambalaya or paella
• Frogmore stew

Some Pampered Chef recipes

• Confetti pasta salad 
• Tortellini with garden vegetables

And of course, ANYTHING in a crock pot!

Veggies for the roast

 

I look forward to hearing from you.  Enjoy!!! 

Rotisserie chicken stock, chicken soup

What you will need for the stock:
leftover chicken carcass with some skin & meat on the bones
+ yellow onion with skin
+ 2 carrots, ends trimmed off but not peeled
+ 1-2 ribs celery with the leaves (optional)
+ 1 bay leaf (my husband says he cannot stand bay leaves, but he never notices haha)

Put the carcass in a big pot. Quarter the onion, chop carrots and celery into a few large pieces and add to the pot. Cover it all with cool water. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce heat to a low/medium and let it simmer for about 90 minutes or so..

While the stock is simmering ...

Prepare the Veggies.. I used another onion, 2 carrots (this time peeled), and 2 celery stalks. 
Pour a little olive oil in stock pot (or any other) large pot, saute veggies for 2-5 minutes...
Add cut up or shredded chicken pieces (from your rotisserie) for another 1-2 minutes..

Season with pepper, parsley (fresh or dried)..
And I always throw a little extra spices that I like and have on hand.. we will call it "momma's mix"
lots of garlic, then just a dash of sage, ginger, cayenne, white pepper .. whatever I see in the cabinet! haha



Then strain your stock into the mix..  you can let it simmer here for as long as you want and then when ready to eat...

Cover and bring to a boil; boil 5 minutes.
Stir in noodles, cover and boil 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Yesterday, I used medium whole grain noodles.  I don't think I missed anything, but please let me know of any questions you may have!

Hope it easy for you and your family enjoys!!

Blessings,

Leslie

2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First off.. I don't think my coffee tastes as good with the actual serving amount "1 tablespoon" haha but I will share this..
I looked on my phone for a calorie counter from the market, downloaded it and signed up. When I got the activation email, the website is *http://www.fatsecret.com/* .. I also just did my bmi http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ and I am O (having a hard time typing this) B E S E ! UGH.. so last year (haha), I WAS doing great, people were noticing my efforts and then the holidays hit.. some deep sadness, lots of stress, and much good times in between (and lots of yummy foods)..Well, I am starting again. I started keeping track of my meals and let me just tell you about breakfast these past three days
WED 1/18 Cals (calories) 647
THU 1/19 415
FRI 1/20 251
That is just breakfast!  

Wish me luck!!  Time to get fit!!

Here are my motivation shots:

Around 10 years ago!

This past week! ACK!

 

 Now on to some GOODNESS..

 

I am very excited to particpate with this.. I try to do this anyway, everyday. But these are some neat ideas to try that we may not have thought of like Kindness Challenge #1: Saying Thank-You 

This is directly from the Toddler Approved blog (there is also a link to another favorite of ours, Teach Preschool)

This week's challenge: Make 5 "Thank You" cards and give them to people you've never thought to thank before . . .

 . . . like your mail carrier, the men and women at your local fire/police station, a soldier, your favorite story time librarian, the teller at the bank who always gives your child a lollipop, etc..

 I created this simple stippling template to make our "Thanks" notes (as seen above), and the kids had fun filling in the dots using an eraser tip/q-tip dipped in paint.

Deborah from Teach Preschool also has a great post on making Thank You cards using your child's artwork (pictured below).

Image from Teach Preschool

Who will you thank?  Do you have any fun ideas for making and writing thank you notes?