Kitchen Goal for February - Reduce Takeout

Back in December I set some Kitchen Goals for 2010. We did really well on our January Goal of Eating from our Pantry. My goal for February has been to reduce takeout and delivery because I was too tired to cook or to lazy to meal plan.

So far so good! Absolutely no pizza or chinese delivery at our house this month! In fact, we have only eaten out 3 times and those had nothing to do with not planning ahead or being too tired to cook.

2/5 - my parents came to town to visit. I had Chicken Pot Pie planned, even had the chicken cooked, but they rolled into town and were craving Mexican food, so they treated us to our favorite Mexican place.

2/9 - I had planned to make PW's meatballs only to come home from work and discover my dh had made hamburgers for lunch out of my meatball meat! We had an appointment and I didn't have time for a plan B, so we ended up going through a drive thru.

2/11 - we have activites at 4:30, 5:15 and 6:45 tonight, so due to this one week crossover between basketball, gymnastics and lacrosee we will be stopping for sub sandwiches.

Not bad, considering that the pizza and chinese delivery guys not only know our regular orders by heart, but greet our dogs at the door by name.

Meal Plan Monday - Feb. 8

Monday - Baked Potato Bar with Cheese, Ham, Salsa, Sour Cream
Fruit Salad
Tuesday - PW Meatballs, Mashed Potates, Green Beans and Brownies
Wednesday - Chicken with Mushroom Sauce, Corn and Green Beans
Thursday - Not sure how this is going to work - we have activites at 4;30, 5:15 and 6:45. We might just have to resort to a drive thru tonight.
Friday - Chili, Grilled Cheese, Carrots and Celery with Ranch, Brownies
Saturday - Valentine's Dinner with friends

Spinach -Ravioli Lasagna

This was the number one hit at our Supper Club this past weekend. The bowl was just about licked clean and everyone wanted the recipe. As usual, it is a Southern Living Recipe, my favorite place to find new, wonderful recipes. I did make some adjustments and they are reflected in the recipe below. I used more pesto than called for and more sauce.

Spinach -Ravioli Lasagna

1 6 oz. pkg. fresh baby spinach, thoroughly washed
2/3 c refrigerated pesto sauce ( I used my homemade pesto from this summer's basil bounty)
1 1/2 jars (15 oz) Alfredo Sauce (used Classico brand, but I am going to make my own sauce next time.)
1/4 c chicken broth
32 oz. frozen cheese ravioli - do not thaw (I used the Costco brand - this is the BEST frozen ravioli available IMHO)
8 oz. shredded Italian six-cheese blen
Garnishes - chopped fresh basil, paprika

Preheat oven to 375*. Chop spinach nad toss with pesto in a bowl (I used my pizza cutter and it worked great)

Combine Alfredo sauce and broth. Spoon 1/3 of sauce mixture into the lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with a single layer of ravioli. Top with spinach mixture. Arrange another single layer of ravioli on top of spinach mixture. Top with remaining Alfredo sauce.

Bake at 375* fro 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake 5 minutes until hot and bubbly. Garnish if desired.

Linked to Tasty Tuesday at Beauty and Bedlam.

Pantry Challenge Wrap Up - Jan. 2010

Participating in the Eat From the Pantry Challenge was a HUGE success for us. I had so much food in this house and I just kept adding more and more, but not using enough. I can happily say that after this month I have room in my pantry, cabinets and freezer. I used things the were about to expire and be thrown out instead of adding more. This month I suffered from a bout of the flu and a sinus infection at the same time that put me down for 9 days. My pantry saved me. My dh was able to feed the family without resorting to take out (well, we did have Zaxby's once, but only because I finally wanted to eat and I was craving their house salad!).

I am most proud of the fact that I hosted Bunco for 10 ladies and our Supper Club for 12 this month with VERY LITTLE expense. I used my stockpile for both events. I only spent $15.00 for Bunco- a Baked Potato Bar and salad and $80.00 for Supper Club - a 4 course Italian meal with drinks. I have been known in the past to spend of $200 on Supper Club, so this was a huge success!

We still have a house full of food. I plan on continuing my own personal pantry challenge, only replacing items as we get low. For example, I only have one jar of spaghetti sauce left. This is just not acceptable in this house, so I will be stocking up on that item over then next few weeks as it goes on sale. I also used up all my precooked ground beef from the freezer, so that needs to be replaced as well. But, buying just to buy because it is on sale, well, not so much.

A very special thanks to Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom for hosting this challenge. It has certainly been very beneficial to my family.

Meal Plan Monday 1/25

My meal plan for this week looks remarkably like last week's menu since I didn't cook a thing last week! On Monday both kids were running a fever, so we made a trip to the pediatrcian. By the time we got to our appointment I was sicker than both kids combined! The ped sent me home to bed! I missed work all week and canceled both Bunco and Supper Club at my house due to a terrible sinus infection and the flu. I rescheduled both for this week. The good news is because my pantry and freezer were still stocked my husband did not have to resort to take out or fast food.

Monday - Zaxby's after Basketball Practice
Tuesday - Beef Tips and Gravy (crockpot) Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans and Baked Pears
Wednesday - Ginger Sesame Chicken, Rice and Fruit
Thursday - BUNCO - Crab Dip and Beer Cheese with crackers, Baked Potato Bar, Tossed Salad, Bourbon Cake with Bourbon Syrup
Friday - Surprise Birthday Party of a Friend
Saturday - Supper Club - Manicotti, Ravioli with Creamy Pesto Sauce, Tortellini with Agli e Olio, Foccacia, Caesar Salad and Italian Cream Cheese Pie
Sunday - Leftovers

Bourbon Cake

This is always a crowd pleaser. The original Southern Living Recipe is here. It calls for piercing the warm cake and drizzling with the bourbon syrup. I do not do this. In my circle, some people do not care for bourbon (crazy I know, but I aim to please!), so I just serve the syrup on the side. In my opinion, this is just as good. I also do not use dates, just a personal preference and I never seem to have any on hand. Below is my adaptation of the recipe. I plan on serving it with my Bourbon Cherries on the side.

Bourbon Cake

2 c sugar
1 1/3 c vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
3 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 1/2 t ground nutmeg
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 1/2 t ground allspice (I never have this, so I substitute 3/4 t ground ginger)
1 1/3 c buttermilk
1 1/3 c chopped pecans
Bourbon Syrup (recipe below)

Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

Combine flour and next 5 ingredients; add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in pecans. Bour into a greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean. Place on a wire rack. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert on plate. Serve with Bourbon Syrup.

Bourbon Syrup
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1/2 c bourbon

Melt butter with sugar in a small heavy saucepan; whisk in bourbon. Bring to a boil; boil, whisking constantly for 3 minutes. Yield 1 1/3 cups. Serve warm with Bourbon Cake.

Warm Vanilla Fruit

This is a great winter fruit recipe. It uses either canned fruit or fruit you have preserved in your freezer. It is very forgiving and any combination of fruits can be used. It is best if you use at least 2 cans of fruit as the sauce benefits from the canned fruit juice. Below is the combination I used last night.


Warm Vanilla Fruit

2 cans peach slices
1 can pear slices
2 c frozen pineapple chunck - slighly thawed
1 c frozen cherries - slightly thawed
Juice from fruits with water to equal 2 cups
1/2 c butter (can use less)
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla (I used my homemade vanilla)


In a saucepan, mix the juices with butter, sugar and vanilla until they boil. In a 9 x 13 pan, pour the fruit and cover with boiled sauce. Bake uncovered at 350 for one hour.


Serves 8
adaped from "Ro's Taste of Paducah" Cookbook - a staple for every Kentucky bride

Linked to
What's On Your Plate at Good Cheap Eats