We took the kids back to the Tennessee Aquarium last Friday for a great family day before school started back. They had the “Jellies: Living Art” Exhibit open and it was phenomenal! I’m going to break this into 3 posts because of all the pictures.
Family Fun Day: Part 2
Family Fun Day: Part 3
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I had a “change of menu” this week. This recipe came from Stephanie at “A Year of Slow Cooking”. I think this sounds like a great change from regular pinto beans.
Ingredients:
1 pound dried pinto beans, soaked overnight
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 pound lean ground beef or turkey (optional)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (10-ounce) can Rotel, or traditional chopped tomatoes, your choice
1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
7 cups water
sliced jalapenos, optional (don’t have on hand)
| Cost for this meal: Beans $0.25 Onion $0.25 Ground Beef $1.00 Ro-Tel $0.62 Bell Pepper $0.05 garlic $0.05 All other spices – I’m guess no more than $0.05 total Total cost for this meal is $2.27 |
I added an extra cup of beans, a heaping tablespoon of preminced garlic, approximately 1 tablespoon of cumin and about 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings (Yes, I know not the healthiest, but we love pinto beans the southern way!).
Serves 8-10 as a side dish, or 5 as a main course. Sort pinto beans, and soak overnight in lots of fresh water.
(Note from Me: I don’t normally soak my beans. I just sort, rinse well, and then place them in my Crock Pot.)
In the morning, drain your beans, and pick out any that have split open, or look discolored and shriveled. Pour into a 6 quart slow cooker. Brown hamburger and onion on the stove, and drain fat. While the meat is cooking, add the rest of the ingredients into your slow cooker. Start with 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and apple cider vinegar. Add the meat, and top with 7 cups of fresh water. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for about 6. Taste the beans. If you’d like your beans to have more of a tang, add some more Worcestershire sauce and apple cider vinegar. Top with sliced jalapenos, if desired.
Don’t forget to check out Crock Pot Wednesdays for more great recipes this week!
Since school was starting back for us, I spent Saturday baking lots of goodies for the freezer for their lunches. It took me 11 hours from start to finish, but it will be well worth it in the next few weeks when they are needing something for lunches. I even went to the trouble of breaking down my costs for each recipe. But, keep in mind that I have chickens so my eggs are free to me. So, factor in the costs of your eggs. I did not break down the cost of things like salt and baking powder because the last time I did that (many, many moons ago) it came up way less than $0.01/tsp, but I don’t remember exactly how much. Also, each recipe I made (except for the bread & french bread) I made a double batch but my prices only reflect a single recipe. Remember, cook/bake once and eat 2 or more times!
Bread – makes 2 loaves
| sugar – $0.11 yeast – $0.06 oil – $0.08 flour – $1.08 Total: $1.33 or $0.665/loaf |
French Bread – makes 2 loaves
| yeast – $0.04 Hot Roll Mix (from Make-A-Mix Cookbook) $1.26 Total: $1.30 or $0.65/loaf |
| sugar – $0.05 butter – $1.13 yeast – $0.08 flour – $0.90 Total: $2.16 or $0.045/roll |
I accidently added an extra cup of water to my recipe, so this is where my pizza crusts came from. Cost came to $0.72/crust.
Ham & Cheese Crescent Roll Ups
| Crescent Rolls – $2.16 ham – $1.20 cheese – $1.20 Total: $4.56 / $0.095/roll up |
Pizza Roll Ups
| Crescent Rolls – $2.16 Salami (didn’t have any pepperoni) – $2.28 Mozzarella cheese (2 cups) – $1.38 Total: $5.82 / $0.12/roll up |
Cupcakes
| 2 box mixes (yes, I cheated with this one) – $1.76 oil – $0.43 Total: $2.19 or $0.045/cupcake |
Butterceam icing
| shortening – $0.96 butter – $1.50 vanilla $0.01 milk – $0.12 Total: $ 2.59 or $0.03/Tbs |
Chocolate Chip Cookies
| Butter – $1.50 Sugar – $0.02 Flour – $0.41 Brown Sugar – $0.60 Vanilla Pudding – $0.75 Chocolate Chips – $1.92 Total: $5.20 or $0.17/cookie |
Peanut Butter Cookies
| Peanut Butter – $ 0.36 Brown Sugar – $1.00 Flour $0.32 Shortening $0.24 Milk – $0.09 Total: $2.01 or $0.07/cookie |
Banana Crumb Muffins
| Flour – $0.29 Baking Powder – $0.01 Bananas $0.59 Sugar – $0.045 Butter – $0.50 Brown Sugar – $0.27 Cinnamon – $0.0025 Total: $ 1.71 or $0.14/muffin |
Sweet Muffins
| Oil – $0.08 Buttermilk – $0.125 Flour – $0.27 Sugar – $0.045 Baking Powder – $0.015 Fruit – $1.00 Total: $1.54 or $0.13/muffin |
Pancakes
| Flour – $0.32 Oil – $0.04 Sugar – $0.045 Baking Powder – $0.06 Buttermilk – $0.19 Total: $0.0655 or $0.003/pancake (21 pancakes) |
All of this costs me a total of $ 36.56 and 11 hours of my time to make. But I couldn’t have done it all without the help of my sweet husband.
Here’s a list of what I ended up with:
32 choc. chip cookies
32 peanut butter cookies
28 choc. chip cookie dough balls in the freezer
30 peanut butter cookie dough balls in the freezer
48 cupcakes with buttercream icing filling (instead of putting it on top, I put it inside the cupcake) I used up some leftover icing I had in the fridge – very frugal!
48 ham & cheese crescent roll ups
48 pizza roll ups
3 pizza crusts (2 for supper and 1 in the freezer)
2 loaves of Basic frugal white bread
4 shaped and 2 mini loaves of french bread, sliced into a total of 78 slices
28 banana choc. chip crumb muffins
28 mixed berry muffins
21 pancakes
This should give them a good variety for a while. Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll be sharing some of these recipes over the next few weeks. I’d love to hear how you prep for the school year. Leave me a comment and let me know. New ideas are always welcome!
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Finding Contentment In Everyday Life In Our Little Haven In The Country
Finding Contentment In Everyday Life In Our Little Haven In The Country
The "Good Life" on a quarter acre, frugal living
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Finding Contentment In Everyday Life In Our Little Haven In The Country
Money saving ideas, recipes and wisdom of living in the country.
My Country Haven 