The Daily Dish Recipes

With my obsession with all things food, and then the fact that I truly enjoy meal planning, I can remember discovering awhile back - that most families have meal plans that consist of about 21 “Family Favorites”.  The point is, that most families have a favorite meal - they actually have 21 meals that get made the most.

I happened to stumble upon a post on the Homesteading Housewife yesterday, regarding this very 21 meal thing.

She mentioned that if she had the ingredients to make just 21 meals in her freezer or pantry at all times, she’d never have one of those “What’s for dinner” moments.

I completely agree. Meal planning is a huge benefit and if you aren’t into freezer cooking than this is the way to go.
Since I do a lot of new recipes throughout a week, I won’t give up trying new things. But I do have 21 (actually more than that) that are back ups for a meal if I don’t feel like cooking a brand new recipe. Just for the record, a few of these 21 have two items per # so I’m sure there is more than 21 meals here.

Here are our 21 meals:

1. macaroni and cheese (usually with an add-in like chicken or hotdogs)
2. Cheesy Chicken Casserole
3. spaghetti
4. Fettucine Alfredo
5. Home-made pizzas
6. Chicken and Dumplings
7. Grilled Chicken
8. Sausage and Egg Casserole (my kids would eat this daily!)
9. Hamburgers and Hot Dogs
10.  Lasagna
11. Taco’s (soft and hard) and Quesadillas
12. Cajun Pasta
13. Homemade Hamburger Pasta (its a home-made version of Hamburger Helper)
14. Chicken and Rice Casserole
15. Beef Pasta Bake
16. Sloppy Joes
17. Sandwich Wraps
18. Breakfast for Dinner (Brinner?)
19. Chicken Nuggets or Chicken Strips
20. Beef and Rice “Stew”
21. Cheeseburger Soup and Other Soups (with Grilled Cheese and a salad)

Much like Dana, I will ask:

What about you?
What foods are in your list?
Be sure to leave a link so I can read your 21 list.

Did you know that it isn’t difficult to find tasty treats that your kids will enjoy. Sometimes its about adding a dipping sauce to something, or making it look appealing. What do I mean? Think about any holiday celebration recipes you can remember seeing. Have you ever noticed that they create little characters and other items out of food? Often, a child will eat healthier if you make it fun. A recipe like celery with cream cheese or peanut butter and raisins, is dubbed “Ants on a Log” to make it more appealing to children.

Get creative in the kitchen and make fun snacks for your children. Turn something ordinary into something fun by giving it a new name, or giving it a new ingredient and calling it something different.

Tasty treats are not hard to find and allowing them to participate in making it somethings makes it extra tasty to them. What are your families favorite tasty treats?

A well-stocked pantry is the most efficient way to maintain a kitchen. If you always have ingredients on hand to prepare something, you are going to save money and time.

Over the years I have spent time looking at others lists of must-have well-stocked pantry items. I don’t always agree with what is on one list or another. Often I need to add things, or take them away. This is a run-down of what I feel is essential to have in a well-stocked pantry. Do you have any to add on?

Also, you might not need all of these items if you don’t cook from scratch. Most of my meals are prepared from scratch for the most part. (I haven’t ventured into a pasta machine yet, but I’m definitely considering it!)

Dry BulkGoods

•Flour(white,wholewheat,and bread)
•Sugar(white,brown and powdered)
•Cornmeal
•Dried beans (kidney,black,split peas,white navy, garbanzo)
•Oatmeal
•Pasta
•Rice
•Soups (cream of chicken, cream of mushroom)
•salt
•baking soda
•baking powder
•Yeast
•Vanilla Extract
•Maple syrup
•shortening
•spices
•dry milk
•dry eggs
•cocoa
•Vinegar
•Olive oil
•Canola oil
•Canned veggies (green beans, corn, tomatoes,tomato sauce,tomato paste)
•Home canned veggies(variety)
•Canned beans
•Canned Fruit(pears, peaches,applesauce,pineapple)
•Canned Meats
•Mac and cheese
•Peanutbutter
•Jellies
•Ketchup, mustard, mayo
•Crackers
•Ramen noodles
•Pasta Noodles
•Popcorn (stick with the kernels, not the “boxed variety”) - its cheaper and healthier!
•Pretzels
•Coffee
•Tea
•Raisins
•Nuts (peanuts,walnuts, almonds)
•Grains-barley, wheat
•Cereals
and many, many more!

So these are the items you should try to stock up on as much as possible! There are many more I can add to this list but for now, this is a basic starter set. You have these, and you can whip up meals, even when you think you have nothing to cook!

Several years ago, a study was done by the Department of Agriculture to see how much food American’s waste in a year. The findings were astounding. They estimated that 96.4 billion pounds of edible food was wasted. This is the food that isn’t bad, isn’t molding, isn’t expired, etc. This is the food that was STILL edible. Wow!

Depending on who is throwing away the food, everyone seems to have a reason for it.

Grocery stores throw away food because of spoilage or cosmetic blemishes. Sad. Since I would have no problem purchasing a dented can or box and would have no problem purchasing fruit that might have a black spot or two. It doesn’t render them useless.

Restaurants throw away anything they don’t use in a day. This is a standard, and is a very sad trend to see. Throwing away good food seems unacceptable to me. I cannot even imagine.

And then is the one that we actually have control over. Consumers tend to throw away everything from fruit with black spots to restaurant leftovers. These are all items that are still edible and can and should be consumed. Why waste all that money?

Did you know that American’s are some of the most wasteful of all? We discard a whopping 27 percent of the food that is available. This is a disturbing trend, because when broken down it comes out to about a pound of food every single day per each individual American. Roughly speaking this would mean that my family alone would be wasting seven pounds of food a day. Wow!

Obviously I know this isn’t true for our family, since I spend a great deal of time trying to work leftovers into our meals, as well as to freeze foods I am not sure we will get to right away.

However, with this knowledge - it makes it a lot clearer that we need to quit wasting food, quit being so judgemental about the cosmetic appearance of our foods, and start incorporating leftovers into our weekly meal plans.

I will try to offer more suggestions and recipes that will help out with eliminating some of your families waste. I might begin implementing a daily theme for the articles, not sure yet. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please feel free to share.

I have said it before, but utilizing sales and coupons for meal planning is one of the most frugal ways you can feed your family. At the release of a sales ad (found in the newspaper as well as in your mailbox) check out what fruits, vegetables, meats and bakery goods are on sale that week.

If you can, avoid convenience foods on sale, because often these are on sale to get you to pay more for the additional ingredients needed to complete the meal.

Look and see what items your family loves to eat are on sale, and think about what meals you can prepare with those foods. Remember that purchasing these items while they are substantially discounted is a great idea if you have a freezer and can keep them for awhile. We got a great deal on ground turkey awhile back and so we stocked up and substituted the healthier meat for ground meat whenever we could.
My pickiest eater enjoys the ground turkey better than ground beef. Odd but true, and I couldn’t be more pleased. More on picky eater substitutions coming later.

Sit down with the sales ads and make a shopping list. Then check your coupons for any that would work on these items. Be sure and scour the Internet for coupons too. Often they are there for the taking, and you just have to do a little searching to find them.

Remember to avoid impulse buys. Be sure it is something you will prepare (or can freeze) before the expiration date. Millions of dollars of food is thrown away every year because we buy too much and it goes bad before we make it into a meal. So keep that in mind when shopping sales.

Do you have any shopping tips for sales?

Finding recipes can be difficult, especially when you look through a cookbook and realize that more than half the recipes in the book, will not meet your families needs. When you are faced with picky eaters, food allergies, healthy eating or dieting challenges, that can make it even harder.

The first piece of advice I have for finding recipes your family will enjoy is to ask family and friends. Often they have favorite meals that they might have been making for years. Or when you are eating at a friends home, ask if you might get the recipe for the meal that was served. (especially if your kids gobbled it up).

If you choose to search the Internet, do so with a grain of salt. I have frequented plenty of recipe sites, and found recipes I thought we would enjoy. I will make everything the way it suggests and the food turns out terrible. Often ingredients are transposed or the wrong measurements are given. It is helpful to look on well known websites, such as Kraft or other foods that you enjoy.

If you do want to build a library of cookbooks, look for cookbooks that are visually appealing. I enjoy having photographs of the finished meal. It also helps to look for cookbooks that feature foods your family enjoys. For instance, if you especially enjoy grilling outdoors, look for BBQ or Grilling Cookbooks, or if your family is particularly drawn to Italian or Mexican, these work too. Also remember to always check out the cookbooks at your local library. Our libraries database has over 3000 cookbooks listed. I’m sure with that many, you will find something your family will enjoy.

Let me know if you find a good one!

There are so many people that say they don’t have time to cook from scratch. I know this can be true in some families, with all of the activities, a full time work schedule and other commitments. But honestly cooking from scratch doesn’t have to take that long, and can seriously save you some cash monthly. Even with the cost of food on the rise, cooking from scratch is still the more frugal alternative. Also remember that not every single meal or even ever meal item needs to be cooked from scratch.

For instance, some people are comfortable making their own pasta. If you own a pasta maker, you should use it. However, I do not own a pasta maker and I do not cook my pasta from scratch. However, I usually make my sauces from scratch. They can be frozen if you make a large batch and separated for several meals. See Freezer Cooking Sauce Recipes.

I’m all about showing you results, so you can see how much money you save. If you purchase something like Hamburger Helper - Beef Noodle, you are going to pay about $2.59 a box unless you are able to use a coupon or find a sale. That one single box will probably make two main course servings, or four small side-dish sized servings. If you are feeding a family of four, you would need two boxes to make a meal which would come to $5.18 before taxes. That is one meal main course dish. No sides.

Let’s make the meal without the prepacked box.

You need: (also prices are approximate and reflect what I pay at my local grocery store)

Noodles - $1.23
Two Cans Beef Gravy - $1.04/can = $2.08
Pgk of Ground Beef (at least 2lbs to equal the hamburger helper box recipe - you should purchase a family back that has MORE to stretch this and pay less) - $2.49/lb = $4.98

Now, if you are smart, you purchased a family pack of ground beef because it is cheaper that way and you get more which again, stretches the whole meal.

The total for those items (all the items that would make up a ‘from scratch’ version of hamburger helper - Beef Noodle) comes to about $7.51. How is that a savings against the cost of the original hamburger helper? Did you purchase your meat with the boxed hamburger helper? Nope, so you need to add that on. In addition, these ingredients listed above for the ‘from scratch’ version will allow you to make up to three meals for a family of four! You are only getting ONE meal for a family of four out of your original two boxes of Hamburger Helper. Amazing isn’t it?

Cooking from scratch is not difficult if you cut corners where you can, and watch how much you are spending on ingredients. Learning to cook from scratch is easy and allows freedom and flexibility in meal preparation as well as a nice little chunk of savings in your pocket book every month!

With the warmer weather and high humidity (I’m in the midwest), using my stove top or oven is something I like to avoid at all costs. During this time of year we tend to grill a lot more, and also use the crock pot more often. A slow cooker needs less energy to run than an oven and won’t turn your kitchen hot while it cooks.

Not to mention the perk of enjoying a nice hot meal that didn’t take much to prepare.

The slow cooker also referred to as a Crock Pot is an awesome appliance to own. It can make preparing dinner, lunch or breakfast effortless. In fact, meat that is slowly cooked is far more tender than anything else you could do to it.

Depending on the size you get, storage can be an issue. We have seven family members and we own THREE slow cookers. Crazy, I know. Two are the largest we could find, and one is a smaller one (for side dishes or desserts). We have been known to have all three in use at once. I also use them when I freezer cook a lot because I can fit so much food inside and make it double time.

You can find a slow cooker that will more than likely meet your families needs at any retail store that sells kitchen items. Walmart and Target have the best deals, and the slow cookers work just as great as anywhere else. You don’t have to spend a lot to get one, and you can enjoy the ease of a crock pot all year long.

Here are three terrific slow cooker recipes for summer.

Crock Pot Shredded Beef on a Bun

1 3- to 4-pound beef brisket or roast (you can also do pork or chicken)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 medium onions, sliced
1 16-ounce jar barbecue sauce
Soft rolls or hamburger buns

Season the beef with salt and pepper to taste. You can use any seasoning you would like. Place the onions on the bottom of the crockpot and then layer the meat on top. Pour 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce over the top of the meat and stir gently to coat. Cover and cook for 9 to 10 hours on low. (you can do this overnight if you like or do it first thing in the morning). When it’s done, remove the cooked meat from the slow cooker and pour out the liquid, keeping the onions if you desire. Shred the meat with a fork. Put the meat back into the crock pot and mix the rest of the barbecue sauce in. Let it stay in the crock pot cooking for another half hour or so. Serve immediately.

Freezer Cooking: This can be frozen in portions once it has cooled and can be served at a later date. When ready to serve again, drop in a pot on the stove and allow to simmer on low until heated through. Stir often. You can also drop into a microwave safe container and heat that way.

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

4 lbs. chicken breasts boneless and skinless
3 t. oregano leaves, crushed
1 t. seasoned salt
1/2 t. pepper
4 T. butter
1/2 cup water
8 T. fresh lemon juice
8 cloves garlic minced
4 t. chicken bouillon
4 t. fresh parsley, chopped

Wash chicken thoroughly. Set out to dry on paper towels. In a bowl, combine the oregano, salt and pepper. Sprinkle on dry chicken, patting it in. In a skillet, melt the butter and fry the chicken breasts until they are browned. Remove chicken and place in crock pot.

Add the water, lemon juice, chicken bouillon, garlic and parsley to the skillet. Bring entire mixture to a boil, stirring often and scraping any browned bits of chicken off the bottom of the skillet. Pour over the chicken in the slow cooker. Cover the crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. If you wish to cook on high, you can do so for about 3 hours. When the chicken is finished, baste the chicken with the juices in the crock pot and sprinkle parsley over the chicken. Cook for at least 15-30 minutes. Serve.

Slow Cooker Ranch Potatoes

2 1/2 lbs small red potato, quartered
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (1/16 ounce) package buttermilk ranch salad dressing mix
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

Place the potatoes in the crock pot. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients and then spoon over the potatoes. Stir the entire thing to blend well. Cover and cook on the low setting for 7 hours. Stir gently before serving. If you double or triple this recipe, it can be more than just a side dish, but a nice delicious main course. Goes great with a platter of fruit or fresh veggies.

A well stocked pantry (refrigerator and freezers are good too), can mean the difference between actually maintaining a budget and going broke buying groceries all the time. Having what you need on hand for those last minute meals or other situations is key to saving time and money.

Your first grocery trip on the road to saving money is actually to spend a little more than you are used to. Items that are staples in your pantry should be purchased in large quantities if possible. These include items such as flour, sugar, pasta, dry beans, rice, oatmeal, canned goods, etc. I have a nice little “should have” pantry list I will share.

Now, I have added and pared down multiple lists to come up with this list. If you are not cooking from scratch, some of these items might not be necessary to you. In addition, some that I don’t have listed might be must have’s for your family.

Dry Items
•Flour(white,wholewheat,and bread)
•Sugar(white,brown and powdered)
•Cornmeal
•Dried beans (kidney,black,split peas,white navy, garbanzo)
•Oatmeal
•Pasta
•Rice
•Soups (cream of chicken, cream of mushroom)
•salt
•baking soda
•baking powder
•Yeast
•Vanilla Extract
•Maple syrup
•shortening
•spices
•dry milk
•dry eggs
•cocoa
•Vinegar
•Olive oil
•Canola oil
•Canned veggies (green beans, corn, tomatoes,tomato sauce,tomato paste)
•Home canned veggies(variety)
•Canned beans
•Canned Fruit(pears, peaches,applesauce,pineapple)
•Canned Meats
•Mac and cheese
•Peanut Butter
•Jellies
•Ketchup, mustard, mayo
•Crackers
•Ramen noodles
•Pasta Noodles
•Popcorn (stick with the kernels, not the “boxed variety”) - its cheaper and healthier!
•Pretzels
•Coffee
•Tea
•Raisins
•Nuts (peanuts,walnuts, almonds)
•Grains-barley, wheat
•Cereals
and many, many more!

So these are the items you should try to stock up on as much as possible! There are many more I can add to this list and will in the future, but for now this is a basic starter set. If you have these on hand, you can whip up meals even when you think you have nothing to cook!

In my recipe file I have hundreds of recipes for Freezer Cooking alone, not to mention the ones that I simply make just because I like to cook. Many of my recipes have been developed over time by yours truly and modified. While I consider myself a recipe collector of sorts, much of it resides in my own brain.
In fact, when I accepted the challenge of sharing this information with others, I worried I might have a difficult time because other than Freezer Cooking I don’t spend a lot of time measuring out ingredients.

If you had asked me how much sour cream I put into my homemade mashed potatoes, I am not sure I could have given you a measurement. However, over the past several weeks, as I am preparing meals for my family, I am also recording measurements, directions, ingredients and other things.

I will be offering a new recipe every single morning on this blog. These recipes are tried and true. They are not recipes that I have collected and never used. If we haven’t eaten it, you won’t see it. I will also provide you with an overall opinion on the meal. We aren’t the biggest Mexican food family, so we don’t make a lot of Mexican meals. Several recipes we have tried, have actually been good, but again, we don’t make Mexican too often. I will still share these recipes and give you an honest opinion on the meal, rather than just hearing that we don’t eat it.

In addition to the morning recipe, there will also be something posted every afternoon. It will be some sort of tip or idea for in the kitchen, an article about food or food preparation, or methods to save money on food or at the grocery store. Could be just about anything, but it will be designed to save time, money or to teach you how to have fun in the kitchen.

Please let me know if you would like to see anything in particular.