Crockpot Lasagna

This recipe has quickly become a family favorite. To me, it is easier to make than conventional lasagna, mostly because with the crockpot I can leave it be and not worry about it until dinnertime. I have a larger size family crockpot, so if you use a smaller one, adjustments to the amounts of the ingredients may have to be made.

Crockpot Lasagna

1 pound cooked ground beef

1-2 packages uncooked lasagna noodles

22 ounce container cottage cheese

2 - 26 ounce cans or jars of spaghetti sauce

4 cups shredded cheese

1 cup water

Place enough sauce inside of crockpot to lightly cover the bottom. Place a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles on top of that (I do have to break some of the pieces to get it to fit right). Place some sauce, ground beef, and cheese on top of the noodles. Add another layer of noodles, then add sauce and some cottage cheese. Alternate layers until ground beef and cottage cheese are used up. Then add another layer of noodles, remaining sauce, and remaining cheese on top. Pour 1 cup of water evenly around the edges of the lasagna. Cook on high setting for 1 hour, then cook on low setting for around 4-5 hours.

If I happen to have mushrooms on hand, I have added them as well. I also prefer to use the whole wheat lasagna noodles. Hodgeson Mills brand makes a really good one! This recipe also makes enough for us to have a couple of meals out of it.

Planning Meals

I have decided that I am going to try to be more organized and less wasteful by planning our meals. We are going to give it a whirl, and I am sure that this is a great way to reduce spending! I am hoping that this will help me use up things like fresh produce before it goes bad because I forgot that we had it. I am thinking it will also help me to utilize the ingredients in my cupboard as well, before I go out and get more! I have thought of doing this before, but have never gotten serious about it. I think it will also help me to plan ahead enough to avoid eating out as much as possible.

I found some awesome printable meal planning charts over at www.organizedhome.com/printable/household-notebook?page=1 . They have them for weekly or monthly menu planning. I am going to start out with the weekly meal planning form. I think doing the monthly one would be too overwhelming for me. I am also going to plan on having my family help me plan the meals by giving their input. By doing this, I think the transition to meal planning will go more smoothly and the family will be sure to have some of their favorites on the menu. I think I am also going to look around http://www.organizedhome.com/ some more, they seem to have lots of ideas and tools for being more organized, and their printables are free!

Excellent Turkey Recipe

Looking for a last minute great tasting turkey recipe? Do I have the recipe for you! This is the only recipe I have ever tried, and I will not try another one because this one is so good! The family always gives it rave reviews every time, and the meat is super moist and delicious (even the white meat).

My recipe is based on the Paula Deen turkey recipe. I find it pretty simple to do, using my roaster instead of my oven makes it even easier. I use less energy, plus it cooks faster in there, and my oven is free to use for other Thanksgiving goodies.

Super Moist Roasted Turkey

1 turkey, thawed
1 medium sized onion, quartered
1/2 cup melted butter
2 bay leaves
Italian Seasoning

Empty the turkey cavities (don't forget to check the neck cavity - this has happened to me before!). Place the quartered onion inside the main cavity, along with the bay leaves (you can always add more fresh herbs in there if you like to add flavor). Close the legs by putting them back into the turkey stirrups (I have no idea what those things are called!). Take the melted butter and baste the entire turkey. Then sprinkle the Italian seasoning over the entire bird. Cook according to directions on turkey wrapper, or according to instruction in your roaster manual (this will be different than cooking it in an oven because it does have a tendency to cook faster). When the turkey is done, discard the onion and herbs.

Free Greeting Cards

I love going to the store and looking at all the cards when I need one for a special occasion. But then I see how much some of these cards cost, it's pretty crazy! I have seen regular greeting cards cost more than $5 a piece. Granted, not all of them cost that much, and there are ways to get nice greeting cards for a much more reasonable price. However, I often find that the cards available for $.99 are pretty well picked over, and there isn't much of a selection.

If you are on a tight budget and need a card, there are ways to do it for next to nothing. There is always the dollar store, they might have them pretty cheap. If you have kids, they can make a greeting card for whatever occasion you need one for. Some occasions may not be appropriate for this, however. You could always make your own greeting card as well. If you are good at things like scrapbooking, this is an excellent way to save on greeting cards and add a nice personal touch.

Then there's always the internet. There are plenty of sites out there that are devoted to free printable greeting cards. Some of them want your personal information before they will let you print a card. I tend to steer clear of these because then it opens up my email for junk mail. We just used a site today that looks pretty good. My daughter has a birthday party to go to, and she found a card she liked at http://www.123printcards.com/ . They even have cute little envelopes to make to go along with your card. There is also http://www.printable-cards.gotfreecards.com/ or http://www.mintprintables.com/ . There are other sites that are free, such as http://www.bluemountain.com/ but you have to become a member to use those. Happy card making!

Easy Stir Fry Recipe

We just finished eating some delicious stir fry! Yum! I used to buy the little seasoning packets at the grocery store that cost $1.00 or more per packet, plus you still had to add the soy sauce and the sugar yourself. I found some recipe ideas online to adapt and make my own stir fry sauce from scratch. I like it even better than the store bought packets, and the ingredients are things that I usually have around the house. Bonus! The honey and the brown sugar are interchangeable, but I prefer making it with the honey.



Easy Stir Fry Sauce



2-3 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed, or 1/4 cup honey

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup cider vinegar or white vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cups vegetable, chicken, or beef broth



Combine ingredients in a large bowl, mix well. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or wok. Add meat and brown (if using meat). Add veggies, stir fry. Add desired amount of sauce and bring to a boil. Boil until slightly thickened. If you have leftover sauce, it will store in the fridge for up to two weeks.



We like to serve our stir fry over whole wheat or whole grain spaghetti noodles. Of course, rice goes well with it if you prefer that. We like using the noodles because it is something a little bit different, and it tastes great! I also choose to use all of the sauce at once, because we like our stir fry saucy :) I hope you like this recipe as much as we do!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

This recipe is a favorite around our house! We eat it for snacks, and sometimes for breakfast too. I adapted this recipe from another one and made it my own. We have also served it to guests in our home, who always enjoy it :)

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 beaten eggs

3 mashed bananas

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Combine ingredients in order given. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour in a greased loaf pan.

I have also used this recipe to make muffins with. Just place batter in muffin tins and reduce baking time to 30-35 minutes. This recipe will also fit well into an 8x8 baking pan in place of a loaf pan. Enjoy!

Tips For Saving At The Grocery Store

We went grocery shopping yesterday. I am always on the lookout for savings, and I was pretty happy that I got a cart load of groceries for $75. With a family of 5, I think that is doing pretty well! I just thought I would offer up a few tips that I use for saving at the grocery store :)

1. Wal-Mart is usually NOT the cheapest place to get groceries. Their prices are consistently low, but there are ways to save at the grocery store even moreso than at Wal-Mart. Although, Wal-Mart will usually match the grocery store ad prices if you bring the flyer along with you. I just prefer not to go to Wal-Mart myself, mostly because of the crowds. The local grocery store also usually offers better customer service, like drive-up service to pick up your groceries, or a bag boy/girl to help you get them to your car. I have to say that I have really appreciated that service, especially when I have some squirrely children along with me :)

2. Shop the local grocery ads. You can get some great deals doing this! Usually the front page and the back page have the best deals listed on them. The best deal I got at the store this week was to buy two Dole bagged salads (2 for $5), and get a pint of grape tomatoes, a bag of shredded carrots, a cucumber, and a bottle of salad dressing all for free. I also got fresh mangos for $.79 each, and apples for $.49 a pound.

3. Clip coupons, but use them wisely! I clip coupons, but am cautious about how I use them. If I am going to use a coupon for something, it usually has to be on sale as well, otherwise it is not worth it to me. This week, I got some Red Baron pizzas for cheap. They were on sale for something like $3.79, plus I had $1 off coupons. My husband likes my home cooking, but does appreciate the junky food every now and then!

4. Buy less pre-packaged foods. We all love convenience foods, but they can get expensive, plus they really aren't that good for you. It does take more work to cook from scratch, but if you make extra it will last for a meal or two. Heating up leftovers is just as convenient as popping a frozen pizza in the oven. I don't usually buy convenience food unless is it on sale and/or I have a really good coupon to go along with it.

5. Know where the store clearance areas are. I have gotten plenty good deals shopping this way. One of my latest deals was buying several large bottles of John Frieda hair conditioner for $1.00 each. I have also gotten ziploc baggies for $.50 a box this way too.

6. Stock up when there are really good sales. If there is a product on sale that you will consistently use, it is worth it to buy alot of it. A while back at our grocery store, they had Secret deoderant and Xtreme Sport deoderant on sale for $1.00 each. My husband and I both like those brands, and we bought around $20 worth of deoderant. Those deoderants usually cost around $4 each, so at $1 each it was definitely worth it to stock up.

7. Check your receipt after you check out. I do this consistently, and you would be surprised at how often there are mistakes that result in being overcharged. One time there was a difference of over $8.00! It has happened often enough that I make an effort to check it every time. If you are overcharged, take your receipt to the customer service counter and show them what you were overcharged for. Sometimes the stores just didn't get the sale price in the computer correctly, or an employee may have mislabeled a product. Most of the time the store will be happy to sort out the errors with you and give you the difference of what you were overcharged for.

These are some of my tips for saving money at the grocery store. If you have any more tips, feel free to share!