Kraft Foods

I just wanted to make sure you all knew that Kraft Foods does a Food and Family magazine that has some great recipes and it is FREE!! All you have to do is go to their website and ask them to send you one. They really are great and hey it is free so why not?!

Great For The Freezer

So I love all sorts of pasta! It is probably what I cook most. (you will find that most of my posts will be for food that is probably not the best for you but it sure tastes good) When I have an hour or two I like to make lasagna. It takes a few hours because I usually make four at one time. Here is what I do:

Shopping List:
3-4 boxes of Lasagne (you can use the oven ready ones but it does taste better if you cook the noodles first)
2-3 lbs of hamburger (more if you like a lot of meat)
4-5 cans of Hunts Traditional sauce
2 large cartons of cottage cheese
2 cartons of grated parmasan cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Desposible baking pans with lids (I have found the paper ones work the best but the metal ones are cheaper and still work great too)

First start cooking your noodles. Then brown the hamburger then add the sauce (I usually divide it in half since I don't have a pan or skillet big enough to do it all at once) Mix the cottage cheese and the parmasan cheese together. When everything is ready you just start layering it how ever you want. I can usually get about 4 pans out of it if I do fewer layers I can get five.

These are great to put in the feezer and pull out on a night you don't feel like cooking. They really do freeze great. I have found that making my own is a lot cheaper than buying the frozen ones; and if you can catch the cheese on sale it is really cheap since cheese is so expensive.

Happy Cooking

YUM

So, a good way to save on groceries is to go to couponmom. There is a link there to check your local store's deals. I get on there and compare prices etc. She also has links for printable coupons. Be careful with coupons because if it's something you buy generic of, the generic may be cheaper. Check it out!
I like to plan my meals around what is on sale. Ground beef was on sale last week, so we had Taco Soup.
I love is this Taco Soup. It makes a lot and it's the best Taco Soup I've ever had. Brad and I can eat it for several days. The cans of food are really cheap. I have also made it and frozen the rest for another time.
TACO SOUP
1 lb ground beef, browned
1 package Taco seasoning
3 cups beef broth (i use bouillon cubes to make broth)
1 26 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can corn
16 oz can of tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups picante sauce

Just brown the meat and drain then dump in all the cans! SUPER easy and SUPER yummy!! We eat it with cheese, fritos, sour cream and olives on top.

My Favorite Meal

I decided for the first official post I would blog about my favorite dinner. I LOVE roast and mashed potatoes. But it is expensive so here is what I do to make it last almost a whole week.

Day One
Roast Dinner
1 very large pot roast
3-4 cans of cream of chicken soup (the target brand is half the price of campbells)
2-3 cans of water
1-2 packets of beefy onion soup
salt and pepper

Put everything in a crockpot and let it cook for about 6-8 hours. When finished you will have a yummy roast and yummy gravy for mashed potatoes.

Day Two
Leftovers

Day Three
Beef Enchiladas

Take the shredded beef from the roast and add some rice, cheese, and whatever else you like.
I like to make Lime Rice to go with it; I just add some chopped up cilantro and squeeze in some fresh lime it is really good.

Day Four
Okay this one is a little ghetto
Stroganoff

I just take a hamburger helper stroganoff mix and add in some of the roast. It tastes A LOT better with the roast than with hamburger.

You can also use the mean for some sandwiches (which is Steves Favorite).

This Could Be The Start Of Something Great

Following blogs is fun but at the same time so many of you have helpful advice, recipes, etc; so I decided to start one where we can all share helpful hints, recipes, activities for our kids, etc. I hope we can find as many people as possible to contribute to this blog. If we do this could be the start of something great!