So I flaked out for a year, no biggie right?

What can I say. I don't do guilt, but I'm sorry I quit writing because I miss it. I find myself thinking, "ooh, I should blog that", and then I have a twinge of missing out on the creative process that it brings. So I'm going to give it a shot. Here's what I've been up to the last year by the way!

Meatless Monday, extra cheese edition

We love cheese here. It's one of those things that I never get tired of, and I've got years of evidence that my hubs doesn't either. And of course, Junior Pete is just like every other cheese loving kid, and would happily eat nothing else if given the choice. So this super easy recipe will surely be in my repertoire for like, ever.

Manicotti

• 2 cups ricotta cheese (roughly equivalent to a 15oz container, I usually buy the bulk tubs at Sam's)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
• 1 cup grated parmesan, divided (I often use Asiago, it's comparable to good parm, but cheaper)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I process leftover bread in the cuisinart and then freeze it to use here, in meatloaf, etc. Dried breadcrumbs would work just fine)
• 1 egg
• 4 tsp dried parsley (or 4 TBSP fresh chopped)
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce of your choice
• 1 box manicotti noodles

Put a big pot of water on to boil while you make the filling, and preheat the oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, 2 cups of the mozz, 3/4 cup of the parm, the bread crumbs, egg and parsley. Stir to mix well. Cook the pasta per instructions, drain well, and then lay out flat to cool a bit so they're easier to work with. Prepare a 9X13 pan by spreading about 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom. To fill each piece of pasta use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut them open so they lay flat, and then place 1/4 cup of filling in each. Roll up and place seam side down in prepared pan. Once all shells are stuffed and in the pan, pour the remaining pasta sauce over the top, and then sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

Sorry I didn't get a post-oven, melty cheese beautiful shot after it had baked, we had been smelling it for long enough that I wasn't really thinking along those lines.

Printer friendly copy

• A couple of thoughts. First of all, the filling picture isn't great, doesn't it look like crab spread? That made me think that crab manicotti would be beyond scrumptious, but that's big money talk too. Hmm.
• This freezes perfectly, and I have part of this batch tucked safely away already for the next time it shows up on my menu. I love 2 for 1 cooking.

Menu Plan, 2/6-2/12

I don't know why I didn't post this yesterday, I actually had it written on Saturday, look at me on top of things!

• Sunday; Super Bowl disappointment was accompanied by the potato skins that I brought to the party, not sure they helped my PA born hubs, I think he's in mourning today. I only stayed for an hour or so, you can get by with that when you're pregnant!
• Monday; Manicotti and Italian broccoli
• Tuesday; Fry bread tacos and corn
• Wednesday; Crock pot beef stew and homemade rolls (they're in the freezer from a huge batch I made :) )
• Thursday; Mac and cheese with ham, roasted asparagus
• Friday; Chicken tortilla soup (leftovers from the freezer, made roughly like this recipe, my verdict is not spicy enough, but then I would say that), quesadillas (my son's vocab includes the word "dunk", as in you must have something to dunk in soup!)
• Saturday; Chicken fried rice

Sweets of the week are lemon cookies, and I plan to make pbj cookies today. I have big goals to post several of these recipes over the course of the week, hold me to it! I'm listing more vegetables this week as part of the menu because I'm more focused on what I have on hand, thanks to the grocery project I have going on. I think I will have enough fruits and veggies to make it until next Monday, but I expect to have the crisper drawers empty by then. I'm hoping for good sales!

Shopping trip, 2/6

Safeway during the Super Bowl is a nice place to be. I spent $1.73 on the pictured items (I am including tax in all my transactions by the way, it's easier for me, plus you gotta pay it, so you might as well count it). The creamer was $1.69, so I figure everything else was free! A couple of tips for Safeway maximization;

• Safeway is (sometimes) generous with free items coupons that dispense from the Catalina machines. They are the machines that print separately from your receipt when you check out, and it's up to you to watch them, because they spit out some good stuff. I always scope out the machines at self checkout, because people tend to ignore them, and both the cleaning spray and the soda were free thanks to coupons that I grabbed from self checkout. I have no idea what prompts them to print for certain people and not for others, but I can tell you that I grabbed another free item coupon from the one I used tonight, which the previous person had overlooked. This is like the cheap person's lottery! I won't get rich playing, but it's fun!


• The taco shells and beans are part of an Old El Paso deal that is going on right now, and My Frugal Adventures hooked me up with some coupons that made this a great deal. The taco shells are .99/box, and the beans are $1/can, and when you buy 5, you get a $3 catalina for your next purchase. I got a slip advertising this cat a few weeks ago, and it said the $3 would be for beef or chicken, but it proved to be good for any purchase, which is more convenient for me. I paid for this transaction with a $3 cat from a few weeks ago, and that's always part of my strategy; if you pay for items that produce a catalina WITH a catalina, you reduce your out of pocket cost. I know catalina's are super confusing, so questions?

I have $22.18 left for the month, and I don't plan to do any shopping until the 14th. If you stop in Safeway in the meantime, look for a fresh supply of the Joy of Football coupon books, the $2 Rancher's Reserve coupon is awesome!

My first purchase of the month, and I didn't even have to leave the house!

My darling husband picked up some milk today for me while it was still on sale at Wags, thanks babe! I have $23.91 left to spend for the month, and I have a catalina for Safeway that expires tomorrow, so I'm going to be planning a way to use that baby up. I'll keep you posted!

This item will not be in my gift registry.

OMG, I had to share this one. Before you click on the link, what do you think that thing is??!?!

Holy lactose intolerance!

I had an urge to buy enough food to last through Armageddon, but I reined myself in, and kept things reasonable for my final normal shopping day before I head into my little challenge. I spent about $50 today, which is a little more than usual, but over $10 of that was cheese, including some Tillamook that I had a rain check for at Safeway. Cheese is important. I did want to point out a couple of good deals around town that are still going on.

Haggar's;

• Not unusual, lots of my produce came from them this week. They have grapes at $1.88/lb through tomorrow only, which saved my a trip into FTC where they are a bit cheaper at $1.49/lb, but there are pretty much no other reasons to stop there. Worth the extra .50 or so to me to skip another stop!
• I needed to load up on our favorite cheap snack, popcorn, and Haggar's had an unexpected bonus for me, the 2lb bags are only $1.50 on sale (this wasn't in the ad, so I don't know when the sale ends). I hesitate to admit this, but I have tracked popcorn before to figure out the actual cost per batch, and I can tell you that a 2lb bag yields around 11 batches of popcorn, so about .14 cents per batch at this price. What other snack is that cheap, and loaded with fiber? By the way, I don't have any special equipment, like an air popper to make popcorn. I use the enamel covered cast iron pot that I make soup in, add 2-3 TBSP oil, and 1/3 cup popcorn, and then cook it over medium-high with the lid on, shaking it periodically.

Safeway;

• Thanks for the free meat Safeway! The $2 beef coupon that I mentioned in the Joy of Football coupon book is available to load to your Safeway card if you haven't found it in the store. I actually used the loaded e-coupon, in addition to a paper coupon, and they both worked just fine on the 2 packages of beef that I bought today. I wanted cube steak, and the only pack they had in the store was $2, so free after the coupon, and then the other steak is Top Sirloin, probably for our date night this month, and it was $2.13 after coupon.
• The asparagus that is $1.88/lb through tomorrow only is beautiful, I can't wait to eat it! Asparagus means spring too, and God knows we could use some of that considering how flippin' cold it is right now.
• Bell peppers (red, orange, yellow) are $1, and the frozen bagged pepper strips are .99 with the coupon from the ad, or you can load it to your card. This one is through tomorrow only also. And apparently we really love bell peppers round here.

Walgreens;

• Milk on sale for $1.99/gallon, which is a good omen for me. I am loaded up now with about 3 gallons in the fridge, plus 3 in the freezer. I usually keep 2-3 in the freezer for those spells when I can't get a better price on it, and we go through about 2 gallons/week, so I think we can get halfway through the month on what we have. If you've never frozen milk before, don't be scared. It takes up a lot of room of course, but just pour some out so it has head room in the container, and it will freeze fine. I don't notice any change in the taste, though it may get a little bit of sediment in the bottom. One thing to know is that it takes roughly 12 lunar cycles to thaw, so you gotta plan ahead (just kidding, but easily 4 days to thaw, think of it like a turkey).
• Pudding mix is probably not an item I have purchased in the current millennium, but I was thinking how much my little guy would dig pudding pops, so the Walgreens in ad coupon to make each box .59, combined with the manufacturer's coupon here for .55 off 3 was enough to convince me. Why did they quit making pudding pops anyway?

So I'm ready to stop shopping for the next month, and I have a few projects that I'm cooking up, since I won't be spending much time at the stores! I know there will be hard moments when I have to pass a deal up, but I'm looking forward to getting my pantry overflow contained. Maybe I'll even share some pictures of the progress in that area, if I'm brave enough...