3 Moms, 3 Kitchens, 31 Days - Day 28

I just love when I find unexpected goodies in my freezer. If I were more organized, this probably wouldn't happen, but then I would miss out on the fun of discovering something I had forgotten was in there. This is what happened today and I took advantage of it for two of our meals.

The first thing I discovered this morning was a bag of bagels. There were 5 bagels, so exactly the right amount to have bagels and oatmeal for breakfast. Some of us had just a bagel and others had half a bagel and a bowl of oatmeal.

The other thing I found was a small package of ham slices. I defrosted the bag and diced up the ham for lunch. I fried the ham in some butter, along with some potatoes and onions. Then I scrambled some eggs and poured that right in the pan with everything else. Lunch was served! It turned out really good, although it was not the prettiest looking lunch. (That's why there are no pictures.) The kids also had a bowl of applesauce each.

I made some baked corn chips for our snack today. I found the original link on Michele's blog, Frugal Granola, a few weeks ago. I've made the chips once before and they were a huge hit.

Here is my variation of the recipe:
1 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. flax seeds
1 t. each chili powder and cumin
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 t. baking soda
2 t. garlic salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1/2 c. water
2 T. canola oil

Step 1: In a small skillet, toast cornmeal, flax seeds, chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper over medium-low heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until fragrant, stirring frequently.

Step 2: Allow cornmeal mixture to cool. Pour into a bowl and add flour, baking soda, and remaining seasonings. Mix in water and oil. Knead together with hands until dough is workable, adding a teaspoon of water at a time, as needed.

Step 3: Roll dough out thin. Cut into any sizes/shapes you want. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!


For dinner tonight I used the leftover sloppy joe meat from Monday to make a pasta sauce. This is a super easy, yet very tasty, dinner. It was an invention of necessity a few months ago. I had been planning to serve leftover sloppy joes for dinner and I didn't realize until a few hours before it was time to eat that there was not enough meat left for all of our sandwiches. So, I opened up a can of tomato sauce, combined that with the leftover meat, adjusted the seasonings accordingly, and served over pasta. Previously I have served this with elbow macaroni, but after my fiasco the other day, I had to improvise with spaghetti noodles. It turned out just fine. We also had green beans with dinner.

I am in the beginning stages of getting ready for next month's grocery trip. We will be going either next Sunday or Monday. I will decide my meals for the month and make out my grocery list on Friday night. Until then, I will be scouring the coupon websites to find what I can add to my coupon stockpile. I also have some coupon inserts from the newspaper two weeks ago that I still have to look through. I usually do not use many coupons because of the products that I buy, but I definitely always keep an eye out for any that I can use. Kroger should have next week's ad available on their website either tomorrow or Friday, so I should be all set for a thrilling Friday night! (A cup of coffee, some Starbucks chocolates, and my lists, coupons, and store ad.......now that sounds like some evening, doesn't it?)

I've just recently begun to realize why grocery shopping once a month is so important for me personally. I'm sure I could shop weekly and keep my budget the same. I'm also sure I could work out a variation of my freezer system to make it work. The thing is, I'm just too lazy to do all of the hard work that goes in to planning my grocery trip more than once a month. If I had to do this once a week, I think I would just get careless, and that would absolutely end up costing us more money. So, please don't fool yourself into thinking that I am super organized. Honestly, I just don't like to work any harder than I really have to!

Make sure you check in with Joy and Toni to see what the rest of the month has in store for them.