THIS SHOULD BE THE TITLE OF A BAD POEM OR THE NAME OF A ROCK BAND, MEAL PLANNING, FRUGALITY, & COUPONS

THE MAGICAL MEAL PLANNER

I have gotten into the habit for January of frugality.  I am now spending Fridays preparing for the upcoming week by reading sale flyers of the stores and planning my Saturday shopping accordingly.  I also do coupon matchups with the sales in the stores and then label envelopes with the name of each store.  Into each envelope I put the coupons for each store along with a printed list from the stores website of what I am shopping for (if the store doesnt offer this feature just write down your shopping list on the envelope itself).  I put all of the envelopes in ready for my errands on Saturday.  Next I take stock of what I have in the freezer and pantry as well as the sales I have just geared up for and start meal planning by gathering recipes and putting them altogether on one document that I can put on the fridge so I dont have to scramble for the recipe I need and so I can make sure I have all the ingredients.  I dont assign days to my meals because at heart I am a rebel and have a problem sticking with my plans so I just make sure I have meal plans and then play it by ear which is what I do with my entire life best.

Here are the meal plans/recipes for next week -

Dinner Menus - 

Crockpot Short Ribs with mashed potatoes and peas

Greek Lemon Chicken Drumsticks with with buttered noodles and broccolli

Turkey Potpie Casserole with tossed salad

Pot Roast with carrots & baby potatoes

Scalloped Potatoes & Ham Casserole with a side of buttered spinach

Fish & Chips with coleslaw

Comet Cafe Meatloaf with baked macaroni& cheese & collard greens

Recipes - 

CROCKPOT SHORT RIBS

1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 1/2 lbs boneless beef short ribs

1/4 cup butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup beef broth

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chili sauce

2 tablespoons catsup

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon chili powder

Put flour, salt and pepper in a bag.  Add ribs and shake to coat.  Brown ribs in butter in a lg skillet.  Put in slow cooker.  In same skillet, combine remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, stirring.  Pour over ribs.

Cover and cook on low for 9 hours.

GREEK LEMON CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS

8 skinless chicken drumsticks, rinsed, and patted dry

1 medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced

2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced

1 -2 garlic clove, finely minced

2 medium lemons

1 1/2 teaspoons dry oregano leaves

3/4 teaspoon lemon pepper

paprika, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.    In a 9x13-inch baking pan, combine chicken, bell pepper, onion, and garlic; squeeze the juice of one lemon evenly over chicken and vegetables.  Mix together 1 teaspoon lemon zest, oregano, lemon pepper and paprika.  Lightly coat all with cooking spray and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes.  Turn chicken and cook 30-40 minutes longer.  or until chicken is no longer pink in center.  When chicken is done, place on serving platter; add juice of the remaining lemon to vegetables and pan drippings.  Stir to blend, scraping bottom and sides of pan; spoon mixture over chicken and serve

  

TURKEY POT PIE CASSEROLE

3 cups cubed cooked chicken or 3 cups cooked turkey

1 (10 ounce) can cream of chicken soup

1 (10 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

1 (16 ounce) can large refrigerated biscuits (use Pillsbury Grands! for this)

Set oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.  Combine all ingrediants except biscuits and cheese and pour into baking dish.  Top with cheese then with biscuits.  Bake for about 23-30 minutes, or until the biscuits are baked and the casserole is bubbly.

POT ROAST

2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

1 1/4 cups water

5 1/2 lbs pot roast

In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water.  Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.  Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

SCALLOPPED POTATOES WITH HAM

2 cups cubed cooked ham

6 -8 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/3 cup flour

2 cups milk

3 tablespoons fine dry breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon butter, melted

2 tablespoons snipped parsley

1 cup or to taste of shredded cheddar

1 drained can of corn

Mix all ingrediants into 9x13 baking dish.  Bake, covered  with foil at 350 till potatoes are nearly tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.  Uncover; bake 15 minutes longer. NOTE:  to cut cooking time microwave potatoes  for about 6 minutes and then slice.  Casserole will bake in a much shorter time – just a bit over 30 minutes or so just keep an eye on the potatoes and test them for doneness in the casserole.

COLESLAW

1 cup mayonnaise (low fat works well too)

2 tablespoons sugar (I've also used Splenda here)

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 teaspoons black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/8 teaspoon celery seed

5 cups shredded coleslaw mix (cabbage, carrot, onion, bell pepper, etc.)

Whisk together ingredients for dressing in a non-reactive (non-metal) bowl until sugar dissolves.  Toss with slaw vegetables of choice.  Refrigerate at least four hours.  Toss well before serving.

COMET CAFÉ MEATLOAF

2 pounds ground beef

¼ cup diced green bell peppers

¼ cup diced red bell peppers

¼ cup chopped white onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon freshly minced sage

3 eggs

1 ½ cups dried bread crumbs

2 tablespoons melted butter

½ cup ketchup

1 pouch packaged onion soup mix

1 pound bacon (any type)

½ cup additional ketchup for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except bacon and additional ketchup. Line a large loaf pan (at least 5½-by-9½-inch) with bacon. Lay it in the pan the short way, with the ends hanging over the sides of the pan. Pack meat mixture into pan tightly, pushing air out. Flip ends of bacon over top of meatloaf.  Bake in preheated oven 35 minutes. Remove from oven, brush top of loaf with extra ketchup and bake 15 minutes more.