Kitchen!

As my first cooking blog I thought I'd share a little about my process.  I try to only grocery shop twice a month.  Of course, we have some small purchases between those times, such as milk and the lettuce salad that my husband thinks he can't live without!  I shop at Walmart and Hy-Vee, but use ad-matches at Walmart from local grocery stores.  If you haven't tried ad-matches, I would recommend it...SO EASY!  I then spend a few hours in the kitchen.  It usually only takes me about 2-3 hours for the entire two weeks.  This is a huge life saver for me and saves us from eating out.

Let me back up.....my husband and I are both teachers and we commute 20 miles to work.  Because of this, we always travel together.  Sounds fine right?.....well, my husband is the Cross Country coach.  He runs with the High School students before school and the Jr. High kids after school, which means we are at school by 7:00 am (most days!) and not home until 6:00pm.  This doesn't change in the winter when I'm coaching speech or during the spring when he is back coaching track.  On top of that, we are both taking classes to achieve our Master's degree.....needless to say, cooking every night doesn't exactly top our priority list.  Cooking only once every other weekend has sure been very beneficial for us.

Many   All of the meals, I cook or buy can last the two weeks in the fridge or freezer.  I often cook 10-18 meals for the 14 days, however, anything over 10 meals, in reality, usually lasts us 3 weeks.  I've learned that leftovers are great to eat at school and a plain salad once a week is a great light and cheap meal to add to our menu.  In addition, I try to add one salad, bread or vegetable side to every week, doing more than this we learned just went into the trash.  Many of my recipes I have found on pinterest, but other personal recipes I will post as well.

September 15, 2012 through September
Ham and Cheese Bites (Similar to hot pockets, only smaller)
French Dip Sandwiches
French Bread Pizza
Calzones
Crunch Wraps
Chicken Alfredo
Pizza Burgers
Taco Pasta Bake
Chicken Tater Tot Casserole
Frito Pie
Nutella French Toast
Chicken Salad
Stroganoff
Pumpkin Fruit Dip