Chocolate Chip Cookies from my childhood...

I haven't had much of a sweet tooth lately. In fact, sweets have been making me completely nauseous for weeks. SO not like me. However, for some reason this week, I (or maybe the baby) really wanted a chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream. I decided to break out the box of recipes my mom gave me and make the recipe she used to always make when I was a kid. I'm not sure exactly if there is a "story" behind them, but she has always called them "Aunt Janice's Chocolate Chip Cookies." I'm sure she got the recipe from my Aunt. I'll have to see if I can get some more details on that event later.


In the meantime, here is the recipe:

1 cup or margarine (I used butter.)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1.5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups of oatmeal (I used old fashioned.)
1 package of milk chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Of course, I was looking for some additional instructions, but I didn't have any. I just dumped everything in the mixer in order and mixed it as I went along! Worked out just fine, and the results were delicious!

Hy-Vee and the Cost of Commodities

I am 100% less than thrilled with my grocery purchase last night.  I had a screaming 2 year old, and I forgot my list. Oh well? What can you do?

In reference to last week's post about the price of groceries going up, did anyone else hear all the buzz about the rising price of commodoties in the news this week? Booooooooooo. The groceries items where I am really noticing an increase are butter, milk and bread so far. Pasta has been a little hard to find at my normal low too. Has anyone else noticed anything? I'm expecting to see more grain  products and also clothing made from natural fibers to follow. Gas also jumped as much as $.12/gallon here yesterday too.

Anyway, our groceries for the week included:

2 lbs of generic butter
1 Lipton sweet tea
2 big cans and 2 little cans of Campbell's cream of chicken soup
3 boxes of Creamette pasta
1 generic salsa
2 cans of generic black beans
2 bottles of generic apple juice
1 package of Nestle chocolate chips
1 loaf of  Sara Lee 100% whole wheat bread
1 bag of Tostitos
1 box of white rice
1 gallon of generic 2% milk
1 tub of Philadelphia cream cheese
1 pint of Belfonte ice cream (not pictured)
2 lbs of Bartlett pears
5 lb bag of Russet potatoes (not pictured)
1 Marzetti's apple dip
3.25 lbs of Golden Delicious Apples
1/2 of a bone in, skin on chicken

My pre-tax total was around $44.00. I should save a little bit with UPromise as well.My small balance will go to cover the garlic bread that I said I'd bring to my nephew's first birthday party tomorrow.

My daughter is having dental surgery on Monday, so we will be home a lot this week. I'm planning on making my mom's chicken and rice recipe tonight for dinner. I also promised the girls that we would make chocolate chip cookies today. Other meals on the agenda are burritos filled with our favorite black bean dip, whole wheat pancakes and homemade hashbrowns. I'm not quite sure what else will make the list! We're super low on cheese, and that is a tough one around here!

Trick or Treat!

Mexican Crockpot Chicken

I picked this recipe up from a friend on a online "mom" community that I am part of. It's sort of a no brainer, but I hadn't heard of it before! Incidentally, my family LOVED it. My half pint nearly 5 year old ate this whole burrito, and my 2 year old ate THREE bowls with tortilla chips crushed up in it. Hubby loved it as well, so that means it will be a staple around here. (Of course, I don't eat chicken, so next time I need to remember to save some beans for a bean and cheese quesadilla for myself! I was jealous they were having yummy Mexican food, and I had an apple. It's hard being the mommy!)

Here is the recipe:

4 -5 FROZEN boneless chicken breasts
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans (I used 2.)
1 (15 ounce) can corn (I omitted.)
1 (15 ounce) jar salsa, any kind (I used two 1/3 full jars from my fridge.)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (can use low fat/fat free)

Add all ingredients except cream cheese into crock pot.  High for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked. Shred the chicken and add cream cheese (just throw it on top!) and let sit for about 1/2 hour.  Mix it up and enjoy.

It can be served over rice, in a tortilla, over tortilla chips, etc. So yummy!

Stretching the Tight Budget...

Since we're on a biweekly pay period, we're still working with the other half of last week's tight grocery budget. Surprisingly, we still have a pretty good stock of stuff in our fridge. I'm not quite sure how we did it, but I'm not complaining!

Last night, we stopped at Hy-Vee. I was really happy because I had re-discovered a fundraising coupon book I had bought for Hy-Vee, and I had a $6 catalina. Since we're still in all right shape around the pantry, I knew we could squeeze a few extra things that we don't usually buy in to the mix to help make our Halloween special. Here is what we got:

1 Bic Soleil bonus pack (happy mommy)
1 16 oz Roberts cottage cheese
1 box of chopped frozen spinach
1 bag of Lays potato chips
1 box of Ritz crackers
1can of generic black beans
1 can of generic chicken broth
128 oz bottle of generic apple juice
1 box of Ritz whole wheat (I guess these weren't on sale. Oops.)
1 package of Sara Lee bagels
1 loaf of 100% whole wheat Sara Lee bread
2 pints of Belfonte ice cream
2 AE french onion dips
2 Coffeemate creamers
1 Activia yogurt
1 bottle of generic bleach
2 bricks of generic cheese
2 12 packs of Dr. Pepper
4.82 lbs of apples
1 green pepper
1 container of Marzetti's caramel dip
1.14 lbs of bananas

My pre-tax total was about $35.00. I left a little room due to going over budget last week. I also am going to have to pick up milk today or tomorrow. I'm going to try to check the regular prices at CVS and Walgreens to see what their rates are looking like. Hy-Vee is just seeming so high to me right now!

AS usual, I don't have a super elaborate meal plan for the next week. I'm going to try my new Mexican chicken recipe for dinner tonight. Tomorrow, we're having pizza and caramel apples at my mom's house before we go to our Halloween festival at church. On Monday or Tuesday night, I plan on having confetti chicken casserole with spinach and green peppers. Other than those things, we'll be eating as simply as possible like we usually do -- PB&J, cheese and crackers, frozen pizza, chili from the freezer stash, quesadillas, etc. The good news is that we won't be in a terrible situation come next pay period as my husband worked 7/8 anticipated shifts rather than the 6/8 I was planning for. Thankfully, this week should come and go quickly with plenty of food to go around. We're going to be alright after all! ; )

$50/week grocery budget project...is the cost of groceries going up???

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Things here are going great! I'm feeling pretty good for being 24 weeks pregnant. We're enjoying our girls and the beautiful fall weather, and we can't wait for our new little addition. Only one problem -- my husband has started not receiving full-time hours at work again. UGH. It's so "feast or famine" around here. It could definitely be worse, but it sure isn't fun! Anyway, I try to make our $50 budget count EVERY week, but this week I REALLY needed to make it count because there is just no flexibility in the budget for a quick $1 cheeseburger drive-thru, run to the store for milk, etc. We don't do a whole lot of that anyway, but with our busy schedule it does happen sometimes! This week, we'll probably go out to eat for a cheap lunch after church on Sunday, and that will be about it! Everything else we'll have to come from the fridge or pantry!

I made two trips to the store this week. The first was to Hy-Vee (pictured above.) It was a really good trip, but I was really unimpressed (and have been for a few weeks) with the price of staples like bread and milk. I couldn't get a decent loaf of bread for much under $3 on sale (forget about full price,) or a gallon of 2% milk for much under $4. Not such great prices, especially since I'm still trying to stomach our tax hike in KS! I typically think that Hy-Vee has the lowest full-price prices, but that was not my experience this week. Here is a list of what I got:

2 tubs of generic cottage cheese
1 Palermo's pizza
6 boxes of GM cereal (Free after coupon and catalina)
4 cans of generic tomato sauce
3 jars of unsweetened generic applesauce
1 5lb bg of generic flour
1 can of beef broth
4 boxes of Kraft mac and cheese
1 tub of Planter's cashew halves
2 boxes of Rice A Roni
1 pint of Belfonte ice cream
1 bag of Tyson frozen chicken breasts
1 package of 8 tortillas
2.14 lbs of Cortland apples
1 package of Hormel pork chops

My total at Hy-Vee was about $37.00 pre-tax.

I made a second trip to Price Chopper. I got a much better deal on "whole" foods at PC. This is definitely not the usual case, so I'm going to have to start watching for a trend. It may be that we need to do less shopping at Hy-Vee for awhile. Anyway, I went a little bit over budget, but I figured going over budget would go further at the grocery store than anywhere else, so it's not that huge of a deal. I will borrow the extra few dollars from somewhere else this week. At Price Chopper, I got:

2 dozen generic eggs ($.79/dozen)
1 gallon of hormone free 2% milk (Full price at $3.55)
1 Nature's Pantry loaf of 100% whole wheat bread ($1.99)
2 bottles of Old Orchard apple juice ($.99/bottle)
1 small package of blackberries ($2.00)
1 lb of strawberries ($1.50)
2.5 lbs of Anjou pears ($.99/lb)

I spent $15.05 pre-tax, and I saved $8.99. The milk will kill me every time. Ha!

Since I know we have to eat at home this week, I did some meal planning accordingly. I already tried a new recipe for caramel apple pork chops (not that great,)  and I have a new recipe for chicken burrito filling that you make in the crock pot. I'll also probably make a big pan of cavatini and an extra big batch of tuna noodle salad. My family has also been WAY in to Red Hot Jello lately, so I'll stock the fridge. : ) Later in the week, we will probably have breakfast for dinner, and we'll fill in the gaps with leftovers, sandwiches, cottage cheese, baby's favorite, fresh fruit, frozen veggies and cereal. I always feel a little overwhelmed at the beginning of a tight budget week, but it usually flies right on by!

Easy Calzones

(Who spilled the basil ON the calzones??? Yes, yes, that would be me!)

This is one of my favorite quick dinner recipes! It's so easy! The only thing you HAVE to have is pizza crust. I buy the Pillsbury refrigerated tubes (when they go on sale of course) and cut it in to 5 big triangles. Then, you place your filling (cheese, pepperoni, salami, sausage, black olives, whatever) on the biggest end of the triangle and fold it over. You can tuck the open corners under and roll the rest of the way. To dress them up a little, I spray PAM on top and sprinkle on garlic, oregano and basil. Bake as directed for the pizza crust. The only important part is to make sure it's well sealed so any cheese doesn't leak out in the oven. See, told you it was easy!

This post was linked to:
Tasty Tuesday Beauty and Bedlam, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace, Tuesday at the Table with All the Small Stuff,  Hearth N' Soul with the Girl Chef.