Linda's Lunacy

Faith, Home, & Family

What’s For Dinner?

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Saturday – pizza night – Pizza, carrot sticks

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Bean soup & grilled Cheese sandwiches

Monday – chicken – Baked chicken, baked potatoes, green beans

Tuesday – beef – Beef strogonoff

Wednesday – super simple – leftovers, carrot sticks

Thursday – chicken – Chicken Al Fredo, peas

Friday – Friday Night Fire/Beef – Steak, Challah Bread, broccoli

EDIT: I just found this recipe for Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken over at Menu Plan Monday, so I’m making that tonight, Monday. I’ll be using chicken thighs, instead of chicken breast.

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

What’s For Dinner?

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Saturday – pizza night – Pizza, macaroni salad, carrot sticks,

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Grilled  cheese, potato salad

Monday – chicken – Baked chicken, baked potatoes, green beans

Tuesday – beef – Beef Stir Fry, rice

Wednesday – super simple – leftovers, carrot sticks

Thursday – chicken – Chicken Pot Pie

Friday – Friday Night Fire/Beef – Meatloaf, Challah Bread, broccoli

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

Make Your Own Breadcrumbs

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Bread crumbs are one of those things that are so easy to make, that I often as myself, “Did I really used to buy these?”

There are many different methods for making bread crumbs. From putting fresh bread into the food processor for fresh crumbs, to toasting or baking the bread for browner, drier crumbs. You can also use different kinds of breads for crumbs.

Here’s how I make my crumbs.

I start when we finish a loaf of bread, except for the heels. No one likes to eat the heels. So as we finish a loaf of bread, I put the heels in the freezer.

When I need bread crumbs, I take out the number of heels that I need, and throw them in the food processor. No need to defrost first.

If you don’t have a food processor, or don’t want to have to wash it for only a few bread crumbs, you can use a hand grater. Use frozen bread for the grating.

If  you prefer to make a lot of crumbs at once and store them, you can toast the bread in the oven, then grate. You can store your crumbs in the freezer for a longer shelf life.

For more frugal ideas, visit:
Frugal Friday at Life as Mom
Fantastic Frugal Friday
Kitchen Tip Tuesday

Chili Beef & Cabbage

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I got this recipe from Homestead Momma’s blog, but can’t access it anymore, so I can’t link to it. I hope she makes her recipes available again, she had some really great ones.

Chili Cabbage & Beef

1 lb. Ground beef
¼ head cabbage
1 can tomato sauce
Chili powder to taste (I used 1 tbsp. or so)

Brown the ground beef with the cabbage. Drain. Pour over 1 can of tomato sauce, and add 1 tbsp. chili powder. Let simmer 15-20 minutes. Serve.

I usually double the recipe as my family loves this. I always use more cabbage than the recipe calls for, too. I often use cooked ground beef from the freezer for this recipe. So I usually cook the cabbage by itself, then add the other ingredients. Cabbage can also be partially cooked, then frozen. So you could freeze the rest of the head of cabbage for another meal.

What’s For Dinner?

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Saturday – pizza night – Pizza, carrot sticks

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Bean soup, grilled cheese sandwiches

Monday – chicken – Baked chicken, baked potatoes, green beans

Tuesday – beef – stroganoff over rice, corn

Wednesday – super simple – leftovers, carrot sticks

Thursday – chicken – Chicken al fredo, peas

Friday – Friday Night Fire/Beef – Steak, Challah Bread, broccoli

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

Make Your Own Colored Sugar

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It’s that time of year to start thinking about holiday baking! Are you planning a lot of baking this year? The girls and I have quite a bit planned. Good thing they can do a lot of it!

Holiday baking can be expensive. But it can be done frugally if you do some extra work yourself.

Earlier this week, I posted my favorite Sugar Cookie recipe with a frosting that bakes right on the cookie. That makes it perfect for gifts, Some people like sugar on top of the sugar cookies, instead of frosting.

At $1. to $2. for a little bottle of colored sugar, that is definitely not a frugal choice. You can save a lot of money by making your own.


Making Colored Sugar


Place 1/2 cup of sugar in a ziploc bag. Add a few drops of food coloring. Knead to distribute the color throughout the sugar. Dry the sugar on a plate for a few minutes.

How many drops you use depends on how dark you want the sugar to be.

If your doing a lot of baking this holiday season, you can really save quite a bit of money over store bought colored sugar.

For more frugal ideas, visit:
Frugal Friday at Life as Mom
Fantastic Frugal Friday

FaveCrafts

Sugar Cookie Recipe

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I got this recipe from a little recipe book that came with a set of cookie cutters. It’s our favorite sugar cookie. They seriously are the best!

 

Sugar Cookie Recipe

In a large bowl, cream:

3/4 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond or vanilla flavoring

Add and mix:

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Sugar Cookie Recipe

 

Chill the dough for at least one hour.

When ready to roll out the cookies, preheat oven to 375*.

 

Sugar Cookie Recipe

 

On a well floured surface roll the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Dip cookie cutters in flour with each use.

 

If using sugar on the cookies, now’s the time to add it, before baking.

 

Bake the cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet until firm to the touch, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. When completely cooled, cookies can be frosted.

 

Sugar Cookie Recipe

 

Look how good that cookie is! Soft, flaky, and oh so yummy!

 

Watch the cookies carefully! You don’t want them to be any darker than this! In fact, these are getting close to too dark. Don’t wait until you can see brown around the edges of the cookies. Check them at 10 minutes, and lift one with a spatula to check for brown-ness.

 

Sugar Cookie Recipe

 

Store in an airtight container. If you have any left to store!

 

*We usually double the recipe. The raw dough and the baked cookies can be frozen.

 

Kitchen Tip – Mix 2 egg yolks with food coloring. Paint on unbaked cookies. Bake as usual. Frosting gets hard, won’t smear, etc. when carrying out or stacking in containers for gifts.

 

If you like sugar on your sugar cookies, instead of frosting, here’s how I make colored sugar.

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