How to utilize your grill in the Summer months

In the winter, we keep our house set at 65, most of the time it's below 30 outside and it can be cool in the house, so using the oven, a lot of baking and months of meals are made to keep the house warm.  In the summer, without central air, our house can get pretty warm.  So I utilize the tool we have outside for everything to avoid the oven.

I love fresh in the summer, Squash was on sale, my husband isn't a fan, but me?  Huge fan.  I had made bacon on the grill in our pan the day before.  Once it was done I poured the majority of the bacon grease off and left about a tablespoon on, put the tray in the refrigerator, spread it all over & tossed these on top with some diced onion and garlic salt.

Again, I have a propane grill, nothing fancy, I leave both sides on, both on low of course.

They turned out delicious!

This night was mini meatloafs- from out month of meals, done in disposable mini bread pans, green beans in a bit of that leftover bacon grease and potatoes wrapped in bacon, which is a recipe from my dad.  Delish!  All again done on the grill. 

Another tool that comes in handy on the grill?  My cast iron!  I bake on the grill using this, rosemary salted rolls with chicken. 

Cory and I don't always agree on vegetables, however, these packets, allow me to be creative and give us both what we like.

The carrots were carrot sticks I had left over from lunches, and this allows you to use up whatever might be left in the fridge. 

Potatoes for my potato man, lightly drizzled with olive oil and my dump mix.

What is a dump mix you might ask?  If it doesn't make a complete tablespoon it goes into my "jar" of misc spices... and becomes my dump mix.

What do you make on your grill?  Or do you have an outdoor tool that you utilize during these hot months?

Pineapple Chicken Stir Fry

One of the foods we love in our house is Chinese. Many Chinese places, especially buffets include MSG, well, that's a no-no in this migrainer's diet.

Cory loves sweet & sour, I'm not a huge fan, so I took the pineapple and chicken he loves so much & adapted it, in 20 minutes.

Chinese Pineapple Chicken w/veggies


It was delicious, and my husband approved. (however, it is still our first year of marriage, maybe he wouldn't tell me if it was awful!) We have a rice cooker, and I don't like the taste of minute rice, you could probably chop some time off this if you are okay with minute rice. The chicken was sliced and frozen in strips the day I did my freezer meals :)

Pineapple Chicken w/veggies
Makes 4 servings

4 C Rice
1 C pineapple chunks
1/4 C water
1/3 C + 1 T soy sauce
2 T corn starch
3/4t garlic powder
1 LB chicken breasts cut into strips
2T veg oil
2 C broccoli
3/4 C red bell pepper
1 carrot
1 t minced ginger

Prepare rice
Drain pineapple, keep 1/2 C juice
Cut: Pepper & Carrot into chunks
Mix: Juice, water, 1/3 C soy sauce, 1 T cornstarch and garlic powder
Combine chicken w/1T cornstarch and remaining soy sauce
Heat oil, add chicken and stir-fry 4 - 5 minutes or until lightly browned, add broccoli, pepper, carrot and ginger; stir fry apx. 5 minutes, or until tender. Add mixed sauce, stir until sauce thickens. Stir in pineapple, warm through & serve over rice.

Enjoy! We sure did!

Using it all

One of the fun things of being frugal is waste, you try to avoid it at all costs.

I try to use left overs for lunches, etc. One of my favorite things to do though, is to use all of something expensive. Cory loves asparagus, it's close to being in season here, but still pretty costly.


What I do, is I save those pesky ends, I cut them up and include them in soups, risotto, or casseroles. If I can't use them right away, I flash boil & freeze them. I use broccoli ends, asparagus, etc.

It's using everything possible, to save money & stretch your dollars.

Happy savings!

Cheeseburger Meatloaf

This was a great recipe! I loved a revamp on the everyday meatloaf, since I'm not a huge fan, but I love cheeseburgers!

1 LB ground Turkey sausage
1 LB lean ground beef
6 strips of bacon crumbled
1 hamburger bun- toast in the oven and let sit over night, crumble it in to your mix
1 onion diced
1 tomato diced
3/4 C sharp cheddar cheese
1 Egg
1/4 C of milk
2 T tomato paste
salt & pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic

Mix everything together in a bowl.
Have 6 mini loaf pans ready.
Fill with Mix, Cover w/a mix of bbq or plain ketchup.

Now. Freezing.. I just wrap with freezer paper and yet again with with tin foil writing the instructions to bake for 30 -35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Month of Meals Menu

I start with a Monday, always, since I'm cooking Saturday or Sunday, it's not hard to use one of the meals for that. Lunches are always a left over from a meal, or I keep things like Tuna, chicken for salads, etc in the ready. I always have frozen veggies, and every couple of weeks buy stuff for salad, Romane lettuce lasts forever!

Beefy Mac
Spaghetti w/meatballs
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Shells w/chicken and cheese
Beef Stew
Pork Chops stuffed w/apples
Marinated steaks
Cheesburger meatballs
Steak Fajitas
Chicken and Potato Bake
Chicken & Rice
Chicken Pot Pie
Marinated steaks
Maple Glazed Stuffed Roast Pork
Sheppards Pie
Strognaoff Meatballs
Beef Stir Fry
Chicken Noodle Soup
Pizza
Pork Chops
Roast w/carrots & potatoes
Mini Meatloafs
Fajitas
Sheppards Pie
Chicken & Rice
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Marinated Steaks
Pork loin
Pineapple Chicken Stir Fry
Camper Hamburger Packs
Chicken Wings
Beef Stew
Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken & Rice
Chicken Alfredo
Cheeseburger Meatloaf
Chicken Wings
Marinated Steaks
Chicken Noodle Soup
Camper Hamburger Packs
Pork loin

I have rice, endless Pasta options, that is all so easy to toss with a veggie, olive oil w/fresh tomatoes and Parmesan.

Most things are self explanatory, and I do reuse stuff we like to eat a lot, if Cory had his way, we'd eat pizza every night! :) but since most nights, it's just me.. and I'm trying to avoid McDonalds, this is a start in the right direction.

I give myself some additional options on weekends, if I feel like digging in, in the kitchen, I'll do a special dinner. We do a big breakfast one morning on the weekend, I freeze extra's and use them during the week, but I did make 40 stuffed Breakfast burritos. This week I'll be posting recipes, right after I post my Pinterest results from the last 2 weeks!

Have a great week!

Freezer Cooking..

As many of you know, I commute 2 hours a day. The *last* thing I want to do when I get home is cook. That has lead to a ton of processed crap and fast food, which.. lead to me never using the scale.

So.. a while ago I bought a ton of material on cooking for a month. We have 2 freezers, but.. I keep everything in pretty good order with over flow in the second one. The one thing you have to be about freezer cooking is organized. Don't worry, I'm not... but.. here's the steps I use to start:

1. Make a list of everything in the freezer, especially frozen meats.

This month I had:

• Chicken thighs- 4 packs of 4, which I bought on clearance for $1 a piece.
• Chicken Quarters, 3 packages of 2 a piece, don't remember what I paid, sorry!
• 4 pkgs of variety steak, my husband is a sucker for those trucks that ride around? Yeah...
• 4 pkgs of sizzlers
• 4 pkgs of round steaks
• 3 pkgs of pre-made hamburgers
• 5# pork loin
• 2# beef roast
• 2 pkgs of 1 # of pork chops
• Smoked sausage
• Brats
• Meat balls
• Mixed Veggies, Broccoli, Green beans, Peas & Corn
• 3 bags of mashed potatoes (a store in town has 5# bags on sale for $1 occasionally, I buy 20# and make homemade hashbrowns, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, etc.)
• 3 loafs swirl bread (from the day old bread store, works great for french toast & only costs me $0.50.
• 6 pkg 4 pieces of garlic toast (another thing I watch for $1.00 deals on & split up and repackage & freeze)
• tater tots

Left overs from last meal plans, where we had plans that took the place of meals

• Beefy mac
• Cheesy chicken & Rice
• Chicken Shells
• Beef Stew
• Pizza dough (which is something I usually have on hand anyways- homemade of course)
• Chicken wings

2. Make a calendar- a list you can put on the fridge. I always go through & put what we already have on the list in days.

3. Research meals to use the things on hand you already have and make a list of what sounds good.
My husband always teases me about having 20+ cookbooks.. but they come in handy, I go online, pinterest is one of my favorite (fun things).

4. Plan out your month(s), I do two at a time, it saves me time in the kitchen. Tomorrow, I'll share my calendar with some meal ideas and through out the week share some of my recipes I've adapted in the last few months. Stay tuned!

Now... I'm backing away from the blog and working on my cleaning ideas I got from Pinterest! :)