Thursday, February 26, 2009

BARGAIN MEAL OF THE WEEK!

Guess what's on sale this week? CATFISH! Just in time for lenten "fish on Friday" meals! Head out to Super S to pick up the following ingredients so that you can put fish on your menu for the next 2 weeks!

These recipes don't get prepped and put in the freezer this time. You'll have to actually cook them on the day you serve them. That's okay! You'll love the results and nothing is complicated!

Some ingredients have prices that I've actually researched, and some are best-that-I-can-do estimates. (It's hard to estimate the cost of a 1/2 tsp. of pepper!)

Here's our lineup of meals: Cajun Fried Catfish PoBoys and Southwestern Fish Tacos. (kids might not go for the last recipe, so have some fish sticks on hand for them!)

For 4 servings at each meal, make sure you have the following on hand:

2 lbs. Catfish ($1.27/lb. at Super S)
2 tsp. Cajun or Creole Seasoning (.99/ea for Zatarain's 8 oz. at Super S)
2 tsp. seasoned salt (.99 at Dollar General)
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (.10)
2 tbsp. milk (.20)
Olive oil for pan frying + 1/3 cup (.50)
4 Kaiser rolls ($1.50)
Sliced pickles (.20)
Lettuce (.50)
4 tomato ($1.00)
4 tbsp. tartar sauce (.80)
1/4 c. cider vinegar (.20)
1/4 c. vegetable (canola) oil + 4 tbsp. (.20)
cooking spray
1/4 head green cabbage ($1.00) (save the rest for next set of recipes!)
5 tbsp. lime juice (.50)
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped (.10)
1 avacado, peeled and pit removed ($1.00)
1 clove garlic (.10)
3 tbsp. chopped cilantro (.50)
1/4 red onion, finely chopped (.30)
8 tortillas (1.20)

SHOPPING DAY:
When you get home from the grocery store, separate the 2 lbs. of catfish into 2 freezer bags. Seal well. Freeze. Add both meals to your MENU.

COOKING DAY #1 - Southwestern Fish Tacos:
1) Shred 1/4 head of cabbage. Put into a large bowl and mix together the cabbage, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. seasoned salt. Refrigerate.
2) Chop jalapeno. Chop 1 pound of fish into 2 x 2 cubes. Place fish in a bowl. Top with mixture of 3 tbsp. lime juice and half the chopped jalepeno, seasoned salt, and 1/3 cup olive oil.
3) In a food processor or blender, combine the avacado, 1 clove garlic, 1/2 chopped jalepeno, 1 tbsp. chopped cilantro, 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt, 2 tbsp. lime juice, 2 tbsp. canola oil, and 1/4 cup water. Put in a serving bowl and chill.
4) Chop 1-1/2 tomatoes and put in a serving bowl.
5) Drain fish. Heat a skillet over medium-high. Cook fish, stirring often, until done. Transfer to a serving bowl.
6) Heat tortillas.
7) To eat, place spoonfuls of fish down center of a tortilla. Sprinkle with onion, tomatoes, cilantro, cabbage, and avacado sauce. YUMMM!!!!

COOKING DAY #2 - Cajun Fried Catfish PoBoys:
1) Slice 1 pound catfish into 2-1/2" strips. Place pieces in a bowl. Sprinkle with 2 tbsp. milk and allow to set for 15 minutes.
2) In a flat casserole dish, mix together 1/4 cup cornmeal, 2 tsp. cajun seasoning, 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper.
3) Dredge catfish pieces in the cornmeal mix.
4) Heat a skillet over med-high. Add some olive oil (enough to pan fry). Pan fry fish until done, about 3 minutes per side.
5) Toast 4 kaiser rolls. Slice 1 tomato, a few red onion slices, and some lettuce.
6) Coat toasted sides of Kaiser rolls with tartar sauce. Sandwich fried fish, pickle slices, tomato slices, red onion slices, and lettuce between the top and bottom buns. YUMMM!!!
(Great served with potato chips, onion rings, or fries!)

Monday, February 16, 2009

MENU PLAN MONDAY

Monday: Chili with cornbread.
Tuesday: Salisbury Steak with gravy and egg noodles, boiled English peas
Wednesday: Grilled sausage, pan-fried potatoes with green beans
Thursday: Chicken-stuffed shells, salad
Friday: Mama's Mac-n-Cheese, salad
Saturday: Pizza at the local pizza joint! (Youth Group Night)
Sunday: BBQ Ribs, baked potatoes with all the fixin's, garden salad




Monday, February 9, 2009

MENU PLAN MONDAY

It was a fun and busy weekend for our family. We headed out to the San Antonio Rodeo! We enjoyed festival food (gorditas, fajita tacos, funnel cake, foot-long corndogs, pizza, and general JUNK FOOD!), riding rides at the carnival, shopping in the marketplace, checking out the steers, horses and goats, and watching the buckin' broncos and bull riders! The evening ended with a concert by Alan Jackson! What an awesome evening!

When I have time, I'll put some pics on this blog!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's the menu for the week. I'm just posting dinners this time:

Monday: Almost Famous Chicken Patties (we didn't get around to making them last week), mashed potatoes, green peas, tea, and devils food cupcakes (thanks Grandma!)

Tuesday: Smorgasborg Night! (Eat up the leftovers!)

Wednesday: Tex Mex Chalupas, fruit salad, lemonade

Thursday: Grilled Chicken Kabobs, Salad, Baked potatoes, iced tea

Friday: Grilled Hamburgers with the works, potato chips, soda

Saturday: Valentine dinner at a restaraunt!

For more menu ideas, go to Menu Plan Monday!

Monday, February 2, 2009

PAY IT FORWARD, MAMA!

I have been tagged with a gift from my good friend Deanna. This is awesome! She sent me a text the other day saying that she had a surprise for me. Seems that she had received an awesome coupon for Dave Ramsey products and decided to PAY IT FORWARD. Look what showed up today:




Whoo Hoo!!!!


Also, a huge thanks goes out to 2 people. First off there's Lisa who sent me a message saying how much money she is saving now that she is being strategic with her coupons and POWER SHOPPING! (I am so proud of you, LISA!!) She also sent this nice little coupon for Scotch Brite Nail Saver Scrubbers by the 3M company. I didn't realize that 3M is located in Del Rio, Texas. Cool! Here's the link:

Scotch Brite Ultra Nail Saver


The next person I'm so grateful to have met is Barbara. Barbara emailed me requesting information about upcoming Power Shopping workshops. She also told me her story. You see, Barbara became suddenly single, with 3 wonderful children to raise, a couple of years ago. As money got tighter and tighter, she discovered coupons. Because of the help of others and the savings she found with couponing, she was able to SAVE HER HOME! She is now an AWESOME Power Shopper and is PAYING IT FORWARD by helping her coworkers and friends. Barbara is super busy, but still found it in her heart to offer to help ME, a total stranger, with my endeavors. She's got a huge heart.


These little scraps of paper... They mean so much more than $.45/1.


They really are Fishes and Loaves!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

MAKE-A-MENU END-OF-MONTH TASKS

"Like sands through the hourglass.... Those were the days of our lives..." As I think about how fast the month flew by, this phrase comes to mind!
***********************************************
It's time to close out the month in the kitchen. Here's your end-of-month task list:

1. File your old menu away in your Make-a-Menu Binder, or at least make a couple of notes regarding what worked or didn't work before you throw it in the trash.

2. Place your new menu in the special place just for menus. Mine is on the fridge.

3. Take note of frozen meals, meats, cheeses, etc. that are in your freezer.

4. Inventory your pantry for supplies that you'll need this month. Are you running low on flour, sugar, coffee, etc? How about canned tomatoes, canned soup, etc? Do you have a surplus of any items that need to be used in recipes? Taking inventory now will save you money down the road.
5. Inventory your supply of foil, wax paper, ziplock bags, etc.

6. Don't forget to take a look at your paper products as well. How are you doing on paper towels, napkins, and toilet paper?
*****************************************************
Inventory notes:

I keep a check-off form type of grocery list on my fridge. As I inventory, I mark on the list the items that I will need.

If I find I have a good supply of any particular item in my freezer, fridge, or pantry, I make a note of it in my Make-a-Menu Binder. I'll use this list when planning my menu.
****************************************************
Have a great week!!
~Menu Maker MOm