Life sometimes gets in the way. Another adult child

My baby turned 18 today.  So, now I have another adult child.  While he still lives in our house and is still in high school, it will be interesting to see what the next few months hold. 

We have gotten a little derailed from our menu plan this month.  Mostly because I haven't had time to get the things we needed to make the meals.  But now we are back on track.  I will be posting the next month's menu her in the next week or so, although it will have a slight disclaimer on it.  We won't have tried all the new recipes at that point.  I will be sure and let you know which recipes have been taste tested in our kitchen.  My goal for this weekend is to make up the remaining dishes that can be put together in advance.  I will edit the previous menu plan and let you know which casseroles I put into the freezer in advance to make my life easier.  I try to do that as often as I can, although I have to say here lately, I just haven't had the time.  I rarely do a full day in the kitchen to do this.  I usually just put an extra casserole in the freezer at the same time I put one in the oven.  (In other words, when I make something that does well in the freezer, I make two or three and put the extra one in the freezer) Some of the links I included in the original recipes were designed to put together and put in the freezer.  I love those meals because I don't have to work at them.  Keep an eye out here for more of those types of meals.  I have investigated the once a month cooking sites and use some of their ideas, but some of them are like cooking food and eating leftovers, and those recipes I don't particularly care for.  If I'm going to eat leftovers, then I mights just as well eat it when I cook it the first time and enjoy the flavor the first time.  I prefer to put casseroles that either get better by melding the flavors or items that are just prepped, but not fully cooked into the freezer. I find that pastas and rice casseroles do very well here.  I also enjoy making my own hot pockets, frozen pizzas, and breakfast foods (french toast sticks, pancakes, waffles etc.) for the freezer.  They keep really well, and save us a fortune, not to mention, they are much better for us, without preservatives.

My newest undertaking is making my own cleaners.  I have used various sites as well as friends for recipes for this.  I have been making floor cleaner, that does considerably better than anything we can buy in the store.  I have recently tried my hand at laundry detergent and fabric softener and am just getting ready to start using these new cleaners.  I'm looking forward to the savings I have as well as the fact that we are putting less chemicals out into our environment.  As I use these, I will critique them here and share the links to the recipes I used.  I'm definitely getting the spring cleaning bug feeling, so I am hoping to put these cleaners to rigorous testing here in the next several weeks.  I'll post my results. 

Shopping List for Month 1 Menu Plan

Brenda Helvie
Shopping List for Menu Plan Month 1 (Developed to feed 6)

Meats
Boneless/skinless chicken breast (2 bags)
Cube Steaks (6)
Beef Roast (1)
Hamburger (6 lbs.)
Whole Chicken (2)
Pork Cutlets (12)
Flank Steak (2 lbs.)
Hot Dogs (1 pkg)
Prosciutto Ham (1 pkg.)
Turkey (1)
Bulk sausage (2 lbs.)

Canned Goods
Canned Beef (2 cans)
Alfredo sauce (2 jars)
Cream of Mushroom soup (5 cans)
Soy Sauce (1 bottle)
Pesto Sauce (1 jar)
Tomato Paste (1 can)
Diced Tomatoes (8 cans)
Cream of Chicken soup (2 cans)
Cream of celery soup (2 can)
Navy Beans (2 cans)
Chicken broth (2 box)
Green chiles ( 1 can)
Spaghetti Sauce (2 jars)

Produce
Potatoes (20 lbs.)
Carrots (1 bag)
Zucchini (2)
Yellow Squash (2)
Cauiflower (1)
Onion (3)
Celery (1)

Pasta & Rice
Orzo pasta (1 bag)
Macaroni (2 boxes)
Tortellini (2 pkgs)
Spaghetti (1 box)
Noodles (7 pkgs.)
Lasagna Noodles (1)
Penne Pasta (2 boxes)
Brown Rice (1 lbs)
Wild Rice (1 bag)

Dairy
Cottage Cheese (1 carton)
Sour Cream (2 containers)
Cream Cheese (1 pkg)
Butter (1lb.)
Mozzarella Cheese (1 3lb. pkg)
Cheddar Cheese (1 3lb. pkg)
Heavy Cream (1 pint)
Grated parmesan (1 container)

Miscellaneous
Onion soup mix (2 pkg.)
Chow Mein Noodles (1 pkg.)
Dried Ranch Dressing Mix (1 pkg)
Velveeta (1 box)
Garlic Bread ( 6 boxes)
Frozen Corn (1 bag)
Eggs (4)
Italian Dressing Mix (1 pkg.)
Cayenne Pepper
Oregano
Garlic
Garlic Powder
Corn Starch
Bread (1 loaf)
Velveeta Blanco
Chili Seasoining Mix (2 pkg.)
Gravy Mix (1 pkg.)

Recipes to follow soon.

Month 1 Menu Plan

This is the first of the Monthly Menu Plans I have developed.  So far I have done three months (five weeks in each month) I will be posting a shopping list for this month shortly and I will put links in to recipes as well as including the recipes that I have developed myself.  My goal is to get 6 of these done and then we can just rotate them.  The shopping list will be broken down by the types of items to make shopping easier.  I make my shopping list up to feed 6 so adjustments may need to be made for you.  I feed 5 people, but preparing for 6 allows for intentional leftovers to help with the meals on Saturday. I will also be posting the items that I prep to put into the freezer for future meals.  I do a fair amount of freezer cooking, but rarely do I spend a day making freezer meals.  I tend to make casseroles and make 2 or 3 of them when we are eating that meal and put the extras into the freezer.  I also will prep meals for the crock pot and put into a ziplock bag so that it is only necessary to pour the contents into the crock pot and turn it on. I also make my baked spaghetti for example after we have spaghetti for a meal.  I use those leftovers to make up the one for the freezer.  I have tried to make items that use some of the leftovers from earlier in the week as well.  When I make Rubber chicken or a turkey I plan out what the leftovers will be used for.  I also make sure and use the poultry carcass to make up broth for future meals.  Planning out the menu helps us to use up the leftovers and saves money by not only using the leftovers, but by decreasing the number of trips necessary to the store to buy items.  When I made up the shopping lists I included everything necessary to make the meals minus salt and pepper which I always have on hand.  At some point I will post a well stocked pantry list because I rarely have to buy everything on my shopping lists.  But having the list complete allows me to take an inventory and determine exactly what on the list I need to purchase or retrieve from the meat locker. 
Month 1 Menu Plan

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Salisbury Steak Casserole Mashed Potatoes	Baked Cube Steaks Mashed potatoes Corn	Chicken Alfredo Pasta with zucchini Garlic Bread	Chow Mein Noodle Casserole	Crock Pot Roast Potatoes Carrots	Beef Fried Rice	Leftovers
Sticky Chicken Cauliflower	Baked Pork Cutlets Cheese Potatoes	Lasagna Garlic Bread	Rice Casserole	Crock Pot Pesto Ranch Chicken Noodles	Chili	Leftovers
Macaroni and Cheese Hot Dogs	Pork Chops Mashed Potatoes	Spaghetti Garlic Bread	Beef Fried Rice	Rubber Chicken Mashed Potatoes	Creamy White Chili	Leftovers
Turkey Mashed Potatoes Noodles Baked Beans	Chicken & Noodles Mashed Potatoes	Baked Tortellini Garlic Bread	Beef Manhattans	Crock Pot No Time to Cook Chicken	Turkey Noodle Casserole	Leftovers
Baked Spaghetti Garlic Bread	Pork Cutlets Mashed Potatoes Corn	Penne Pasta with Sausage	Italian Turkey Rice Pilaf	Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff with Noodles	Chili	Leftovers

Shopping list to follow.