Sunday, September 27, 2009

Patience Running Low...

So lately my roomie and I have been trying hard to cook at home. In the past, we have gone out WAY too much, at least 3-4 nights a week. This summer I have noticed that we were grilling a lot at home and having leftovers for lunch, I soon noticed that we were saving money as well. My roommate recently got a new job, about a month ago. She is now home at 4:30 and has more time to cook. However I have recently noticed that between both of us we were going to the store about 4 times a week and spending about $80 each time. I am sure you are all good at math and figure that that equal $260/week.

Everytime I get home from the store and putting away the groceries I hate the fact that I bought maybe 10 items and spent at least $60 to $80.

Today I woke up with a list of dinners I wanted to cook over this next week. So when my roomie woke up we came up with a grocery list and off to Costco we went, well about 4 grocery stores, 6 hours, $160, and alot of patience later we had our groceries for the week. Now some of you might say that $160 is a lot of money for 1 week of groceries for just 2 people, but we also bought bulk toliet paper, paper towels, diced and tomato sauce (so we can make speghetti multiple times this winter) and 4# of ground turkey. I think we did really good and do have to say that I am pround of us.

So here is our Menu for this week for dinner.

Sunday
BBQ ribs and asian cole slaw

Monday
Turkey Burgers and Fries

(photo courtesy of Dishing up Delights)

Tuesday
Speghetti with Garlic bread

Wednesday
Roast Beef with carrots, onions, and potatoes

Thurdsay
Mediterranean Chicken pockets with greek salad


(photo courtesy of Martha Stewart - Everyday Food)

Friday
Left overs

Saturday
Hopefully not here ! :)

Recepie for Sunday Night dinner

This recepie is from my mom, it is great to throw in the oven before you go to work on low setting or let it cook for 3-4 hours on higher. The longer they cook the more tender they are.


BBQ Spare Ribs

Pork or Beef spare ribs
Beef Bullion
BBQ sauce of choice
Water

Place ribs in a 13x9x2 baking dish place 3-4 beef bullion cubes and about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom. Cover with tin foil. Place in oven on about 250 (low setting) for 6 hours or 350 (high setting) for 3-4 hours. About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, pour off the liquid in the bottom, cover with BBQ sauce and crank up the heat to 400 -450 degrees and cook for 30 more munutes or to desired crispiness.

The side dish to go along with this is one of the best I have tasted so far, and so easy to make. It is a new receipe for me. My roommates mother introduced us to it.

Asian Cole Slaw

2 pkg of Beef Ramen Noodles
2c. slivered almonds
1/2 c sunflower seeds
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c. vinegar
1c vegetable oil
1 pkg cole slaw

Toast ramen noodles (broken up), almonds, and sunflower seeds until lightly brown (suggestion: brown only ramen noodles until almost golden, throw in almonds and seeds for a couple minutes) tossing/stirring constantly to prevent burning.

Combine sugar, vinegar, oil and beef seasoning packets. Mix dressing, ramen noodles and slaw together right before serving.

Suggestion: Since this makes a lot, I just serve the dressing on the side and not mix the slaw and toppings. This way they stay crispy and not get soggy.

I am hoping to continue this every week. Wish us luck! Hope you all have a good week!