Canning your own fruits, vegetables, jams and jellies can save a lot of money. Some people can meat, poultry and butter, also. I haven’t, yet. I do have a pressure canner now, and would like to try canning meats and soups. Oh, and spaghetti sauce.

Once you buy your jars, as long as you take good care of them, your only yearly expense is buying the canning lids. Well, not counting the food to put in the jars, if you buy fruits and veggies from local farmers.

I was so happy to find this site, Reusable Canning Lids. I haven’t ordered any yet, as I just found it. I plan on it, though.

These lids will save money over buying new lids each year.

For more homemaking ideas, visit 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven.

For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy’s Recipes.

For more frugal ideas, visit Frugal Friday

I followed last weeks menu pretty closely. Which means it was a good week. lol I’m trying a new recipe for Cabbage Casserole that I got from a friend. I don’t have a recipe for the chicken quesadillas. I just throw come chicken in with the cheese. lol

Now for this weeks menu:

Saturday – beef – Roast in the crockpot, macaroni salad, carrot sticks

Sunday – sandwich day – Pizza

Monday – chicken – Roasted chicken leg quarters, rice, salad

Tuesday – beef – Cabbage Casserole

Wednesday – super simple – breaded fish fillets, salad

Thursday – chicken – Chicken Quesadillas, salad

Friday – Friday Night Fire – hamburgers, lettuce, tomato, macaroni or potato salad

For more Menu Plan Monday ideas, visit I’m an Organizing Junkie.

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 lb italian ground turkey
onion
1/2 bottle vegetable juice
two cans tomato soup
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup uncooked rice
1-2 tblsp cider vinegar
3-4 tblsp brown sugar
1 head cabbage chopped

brown the meat and add onion – saute; add juice, soup, broth, rice vinegar and sugar (to taste) – adjust if necessary; add cabbage; bring to boil and simmer until cabbage is tender and rice is cooked.

I got this recipe from friend.

I don’t remember where I found this recipe at, I printed it online from somewhere, but it was very good. We all liked it.

Szechuan Zucchini

1/3 cup hot water
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp white wine or rice vinegar
2 scallions – chopped
1 clove garlic – minced
1 tsp splenda
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes – to taste
1 1/2 pound zucchini
1/4 cup butter

In a medium bowl, blend the water and peanut butter. Stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, all but 1 tablespoon of the scallions, garlic, splenda and hot pepper flakes. Set aside.

Use a vegetable peeler to slice the zucchini into thin ribbons. Saute the zucchini ribbons in the butter until they are al dente, or crisp tender. Discard the excess liquid and combine the sauce with the hot zucchini ribbons in a heated serving bowl. Garnish with the 1 tablespoon reserved scalllions and serve immediately.

My Notes:

I left out the red pepper flakes, and I used white vinegar. You could use sugar instead of the splenda. It would also be good with chunky peanut butter, and garnishing with chopped peanuts before serving.

For more recipes, visit The Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom