New Year's Week

Sunday
Christmas leftovers

Monday
BBQ beef roast, shredded for sandwiches
chips
Slow cook small roast in bbq sauce in crockpot on low all day. Shred with fork.

Tuesday
baked Italian herb chicken
baked sweet potatoes
peas
Simply shake Italian herbs over chicken and bake in small dish until done through.

Wednesday
beef roast (in my small crock pot I placed in this order 1lb. beef, a handfull of baby carrots, 1 chopped onion, one can of green beans with juice, and a little salt and pepper. I let it cook all day)
roasted red potatoes tossed in olive oil, rosemary, salt

Thursday
New Year's Eve!!!
Party Foods: pigs in a blanket (little smokies baked in cresent rolls), rice krispy squares, crackers with a crunchy veggie dip (mayo, cream cheese, grated cheddar cheese, grated carrots, diced celery, diced red onion, diced green pepper, salt) goldfish, pretzels, cashews, corn chips and a crockpot cheese dip (cream cheese, salsa, black beans, grated cheddar cheese), sparkling cider and non-alchoholic beer

Friday
Let the gluten free, fit and healthy year begin!!
The month of January I will belong to a group called "No Snackers Club", which means no more holiday grazing. I will stick to just the 3 meals a day w/ no snacks. I also plan on doing much better with staying away from gluten as it has been shown to make me crazy! (tired, crabby, etc.) Also, my husband got the two of us Wii fit to go with our sons' new Wii.

Lunch:
red roasted potatoes tossed with garlic, onions, olive oil, rosemary, parsley, sea salt, pepper
leftover raw veggies from our party
sparkling cider
in the small crockpot: leftover little smokies and bbq sauce for the childen
leftover cashews for the adults

Dinner:
Easy Cheap Chili
AKA "I didn't even miss the meat" Vegetarian Chili, AKA "Now That's Some Vegetarian Chili" Chili
2 cans diced tomotoes, 1 can each: kidney beans, black beans, and corn, 1 chopped onion, 1/2 cup salsa, 1 tsp minced garlic, possibly as much as a 1/4 cup cumin, 1 tsp chipotle, 1/2 tsp salt
Combine and cook in a big pot on low to medium for about a half hour, stirring every so often.
We served this with a little shedded cheddar. (the seasoning messurements are aproximate as I just throw things in w/o messuring.) This made about 6 servings.
This was easy, cheap, healthy, and my husband said we need to start eating it often.

Saturday
left overs

Christmas Week

Monday:
Crockpot and set on low- 1lb. ground beef til brown, then added chopped onion, tspoon minced garlic, a can of green beans, and 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup. Very good! All but one person liked it, but I would like to find an alternative to the cream of mushroom soup I use because it has gluten in it.

Tuesday:
Sloppy Joes- In large pot on stove, I put the 3lbs. of ground beef that I needed to use up, 2 cans of manwich, one chopped onion, a tspoon minced garlic, and ketchup. Great way to use up ground beef and we'll be eating it for a few days. I'll not repeat this, not because it wasn't good, but because I would rather make this from more natural ingredients.

Christmas Breakfast: (will prepare Christmas Eve)
Crock Pot Sausage Egg Cheese Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients: frozen hash browns, 1-2 pounds cooked sausage drained and crumbled, 1 onion diced, 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 12 eggs, 1 cup milk, salt and pepper
Directions:Layer potatoes, sausage, onions and cheese creating several layers of each in the crockpot. Start with the hash browns, then sausage, onions and last cheese. Repeat until you have several layers. Beat eggs, milk, salt & pepper and pour over layers in the slow cooker cover and turn on low. Cook for 10-12 hours overnight.
Will also serve grapefruits and OJ

sick week (Dec 6-13, 2009)

We're sick, so I missed my regular menu planning and shopping trip.

Sunday:
ordered pizza

Monday:
Fried quesadillas or maybe it was cheese tacos: corn tortillas folded and stuffed with shredded cheddar cheese then fried in coconut oil and salted.
Tangerines

Tuesday:
Broccoli Salad: Raw broccoli, cooked and chopped bacon, diced onion, mixed with mayo (will add yellow bell peppers or peas next time)
Roasted red potatoes, quartered and tossed with olive oil, rosemary, and salt
Overly doctored cream corn. (will stick with just regular creamed corn next time!)

Wednesday:
Crockpot Fake Chicken Fettuccine, sort of: 3 frozen chicken breasts, a red bell pepper and an onion sliced in strips, 1 box chicken broth, garlic cooked on high for a few hours. Added bag of frozen broccoli and kept cooking. Before serving, I shredded the chicken and stirred in butter, cream cheese, and a little mozerella cheese. I served it over pasta for the gluten eaters.
I came up with this by just trying to use what we had in our kitchen since I didn't menu plan and shop for the week. I would make this again, but I would cut the broth in half.
Peanut Brittle for dessert (store bought)

Thursday:

Vegetarian Mexican soup: 2 cans of black beans, 1 box of chicken broth, 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped yellow bell pepper, about a 1/2 cup salsa, chipotle, cumin dumped into crockpot and cook for a few hours. I served this with corn chips and shredded cheddar cheese. This was also created from what we already had on hand.

Hot chocolate for dessert!

Friday:

Crockpot ham chowder: a few medium potatoes, peeled and diced, one can of corn, 2 cans of mushroom soup and around a 1/2 cup water. Surprisingly, I didn't throw a choppped up onion in this one, but it would have been a good addition. I cooked this on high for a few hours. Then I chopped up some chipped ham and put it in and set it on low until we were ready to eat. I served it with shredded cheddar on top. My husband made sure I wrote this one down because it is good, but simple.

gluten free, crock pot breakfast idea!

http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/recipe_Spiced_Crockpot_Granola.htm

November 22-28, 2009: Frugal Week

This week, we need to use what we already have in the kitchen and make do.

Sunday:
leftovers

Monday:
Chicken Broccoli Soup
crockpot set on low all day: 1lb. chicken, 2 cans mushroom soup, 2 cups milk, salt, and then broccoli added half way through

Tuesday:
Vegetable Fried Rice with Spam
corn, carrots, peas, onion, garlic, rice, chicken broth, egg, spam (I have never cooked with Spam before!)

Wednesday:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Corn-Chowder-IV/Detail.aspx
Corn Chowder

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday:
Vegetarian Chili
variety of beans, tomato juice, diced tomato, corn, spices (red pepper, chipotle, salt), garlic, onion

Saturday:
tba

November 15-21, 2009: Crockpot Crazy Week

Sunday (dinner with church)
brought: fruit salad
chopped bananas, strawberries, grapes, mandarin oranges covered in a strawberry yogurt and cool whip mixture

Monday
SouthWest Chicken Soup (turned out more like dip and we all loved it)
combine in crockpot and cook all day:
2 frozen, skinless chicken breasts (shread towards the end)
1 can black beans, drained
1 16 oz jar/tub favorite salsa
1 bag of frozen corn
1 8 oz package cream cheese (added before serving)
We served this with corn chips.

Tuesday
Chili
combine in crockpot and cook all day: 1lb. ground beef, chopped onions, large can of tomato juice, dried red peppers, chipotle, salt, chopped garlic, 2 cans of kidney beans, 1 can of black beans, 1 can of corn
Dessert was rice crispy squares.

Wednesday (Amish drumsticks on sale!)
Bbq chicken and potatoes
I put the drumsticks, big side down, in the crockpot, cover with Montgomery Inn bbq sauce. Then I large slices of potatoes on top and sprinkled them with garlic salt and parsley. I let them cook all day.
For dessert, I put butter, peeled and chopped apples, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a sauce pan and let cook until the apples were softened. Then I mixed in some oats and spread it into a small baking pan. I sprinkled a hand full of pecans over the mixture and a little bit more brown sugar on that and baked at 350 for 15 minutes. We served this over vanilla icecream.

Thursday
Crockpot Mexican Beef and Rice (my husband loved this)
combine and slow cook: ground beef, salsa, diced tomatoes, salt, water
add rice half way through
cheddar cheese on top and serve once cheese melts

Friday
Chili Salad
leftover chili over chips and lettuce
sweet potatoes
Saturday
SouthWest Chicken Soup recipe doubled for church