Linda's Lunacy

Faith, Home, & Family

Weekly Menu

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My menu starts on Saturday, as that is when we go shopping.

BREAKFASTS –
French toast
Hot Chocolate and toast – the kids love this on cold mornings
Eggs
Oatmeal
Fruit, fresh and home canned

LUNCHES –
Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Ham sandwiches
Mac and Cheese
Leftovers
Fruit and veggies are also served 🙂

SATURDAY – Jag using the beans I cooked and froze. That’s not the recipe I use for Jag, as mine came from my mother in law. I’ll have to type that up and share it another time.

SUNDAY – pizza from Walmarts Deli – Not as good as homemade, but LOTS better than frozen. Much cheaper than delivery, but since we live out in the hills of Kentucky, delivery isn’t an option.

MONDAY – Crockpot Chili – using cooked hamburger and beans from the freezer

TUESDAY – BBQ chicken, rice, green beans and corn

WEDNESDAY – Crockpot roast with carrots and potatos

THURSDAY – Stir fry with left over roast, and rice from the freezer

FRIDAY – Spaghetti with meat from freezer, broccoli

This is my first time participating in Menu Plan Monday over at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

Frugal House Plants

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I love to have plants in the house. They look nice, and they help clean the air. That’s especially nice in the winter, when our houses are closed up tight.

In the spring, my mother in law gave me a couple of spider plant babies. Here’s what one of them looks like now.

See the long stem taking off to the left? That’s a new baby forming.

See the light green baby is this picture? When it gets a little bigger, I will be able to stick it in a pot of its own and let it grow.

There are lots of plants that can be grown from cuttings. Check with your neighbors, friends and families. Anyone who has spider plants will always have babies to give a way. And often they are willing to give you cuttings off plants of theirs that you like. And they will most likely know if that particular plant can be grown from cuttings.

You can find planters at yard sales, or on clearance very cheap. The biggest expense is potting soil. It’s usually cheaper at dollar type stores, than at larger stores or nurserys.

I also keep an old pitcher on the kitchen counter by the sink to put water for the plants in. We drink a lot of water, and sometimes you want to start over with fresh water in your glass. All the old water from our cups and water bottles gets put in here.

While, it doesn’t seem like much, the less water you use, the lower your water bill is. In the summer, I use cooking water to water the garden and outside plants.

For more Frugal Friday Ideas, visit Life as Mom.

Kitchen Utensils

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I love having lots of kitchen utensils and gadgets. 🙂 Since I only have 4 drawers in my kitchen, storage space is a problem.

I used to collect food tins, I had quite a large collection. Since we moved into this house having a place to put them all was a problem. So I downsized my collection quite a bit.

I was very sad to see most of them go, although I did keep a few of my favorites.

I put two of my favorite Hershey tins on the counter and put my spatulas, large spoons, and the like in them.

It frees up drawer space, and I get to have a couple of my favorite tins out on the counter.

It Works for Me!

To see more Works for Me Wednesday tips visit We Are That Family

Kitchen Calendar

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I keep a calendar hanging on my fridge. A calendar is really an invaluable tool in the kitchen.

It’s easy to see at a glance when an upcoming holiday or event is. That way we can plan to do some of the prep ahead of time.

It’s easy to write the menu right on the calendar. Maybe the family will see it, and not eat any of the food you planned to use for dinner!

It’s easy to keep track of leftovers. You won’t have to think “What night did we have that? Is it too old to use?”

We have chickens, and it really is a must to have the calendar in the kitchen. I have to count the days, to write the date on the carton of eggs.

Not only is a calendar an invaluable tool, I think it is a necessity to have in the kitchen.

For More Kitchen Tips visit Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy’s Recipes

Too Cold, Too Soon

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It’s never good when your computer greets you with this:

“Special Weather Statement”

It’s going to start off as light rain, then change to a mix of rain and snow by midnight.

NO!!!

I guess I’ll be bundling up. I bet the electric company will love this early winter weather.

but not me!

Frugal Lunches

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Once the weather starts getting colder, the kids don’t like to have sandwiches for lunch anymore. Well, except for grilled cheese.

We had some leftover soup from supper last night. It wasn’t enough for lunch by itself. So I thickened it, and served it over biscuits.

There are lots of frugal lunches that can be made with leftovers.

– left over taco meat? mix with cooked pasta and diced tomatoes for taco pasta salad

– left over meatloaf? slice for sandwiches

– left over chicken? mix with barbecue sauce for sandwiches or mix with cooked pasta and Italian salad dressing.

-left over rice? make a stir fry with whatever leftover meat and veggies you have on hand. Add a splash of soy sauce.

– lots of left over cooked veggies? put them in a container in the freezer. You can add leftover veggies to the container whenever you have them. When you have enough, mix them with some leftover meat and broth, or left over gravy for a very frugal soup.

All of these frugal lunch ideas are quick and easy, and actually cheaper than buying lunchmeat. It’s also nice to have a warm meal when the weather is cold.

For more Frugal Friday ideas, visit Life as Mom

Freezer Biscuits

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We wanted biscuits for lunch today, so I made a quadruple batch of my regular recipe. I used half white and half whole wheat.

I baked 12 biscuits for lunch, and put 35 in the freezer.

I freeze them on a cookie sheet with each layer separated by waxed paper. When these are frozen, I will put them in a freezer bag. because I froze them separated, they will stay separate in the freezer bag.

It is so nice to have prepared biscuits in the freezer. They make a quick addition to supper. And it’s nice on cold winter mornings to bake them for breakfast.

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