Small 2011 Printable Calendars

Are you always looking for a calendar? Digging through your purse or pocket, trying to figure out what day October 3rd falls on this year? Check out the following sites for very compact printable calendars that you can carry with you anywhere.

I saw these first on Lifehacker.

Compact Calendar 2011

The Small Calendar 2011

Instant Oatmeal Muffins

It seems like we always have three or four packets of instant oatmeal left in the box. It's usually the ones that no one likes! Here's a creative recipe that will help you clean out your pantry!

I can't remember where I found this one, but it sure does sound delish.

Instant Oatmeal Muffins

• 1 cup Self Rising Flour
• 3/4 sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 3 packets instant oatmeal, any flavor will do
  
• enough boiling water to the wet ingredients and blend into a thick paste
  

1. In one bowl mix the flour, sugar and baking powder.
   
2. In another bowl gently whisk the egg and then add in the melted butter. Stir that together.
   
3. In the third bowl add enough boiling water to the 3 packets of instant oatmeal that it is a thick consistency of oatmeal.
   
4. Once the oatmeal is mixed well add it to the wet ingredients and stir them until blended. Then add the wet to the dry and mix them well. The batter will be thick.
5. Grease a muffin pan and add the batter.
   
6. Bake 15-18 minutes on 350.
   

This recipe will make 1 dozen regular sized muffins

Peach Streusel Crisp

Peach Streusel Crisp--a great way to use up those over-ripe peaches!

• 9 ripe peaches
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. vanilla
• 2 T. flour

Topping:

• 1 stick cold butter
• 1 cup flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 t. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Grease the bottom of an 8 x 8 pan or medium casserole dish. (Double recipe for a 9 x 13 pan!)
2. Peel and pit peaches, slice, and place in a bowl. Top with sugar, flour cinnamon and vanilla. Toss to coat and set aside while preparing topping.
3. Make streusel by cutting the butter into the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. This is easily done by hand, or use a pastry cutter, or by using two forks in a chopping motion until it has a course texture.
4. Put peaches in the pan, top with strusel, and bake for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and peaches are bubbling.
5. Top with vanilla ice cream!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

I made these for the first time this week and my family RAVED about them! They are great served with pork and wonderful right out of the oven with a cup of coffee! Thanks Kim!

Sweet Potato Biscuits
From the Kitchen of Kim Carper

• 4 - 5 c. self-rising flour (start with 4 cups and add as needed)
• 4 c. cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (if canned, drained)
• 1 ½ c. butter-flavored Crisco
• ½ c. granulated sugar
• ½ c. light brown sugar
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• Milk – if needed to moisten

Mix sweet potatoes, Crisco, sugars, and cinnamon.
Work in flour and knead until ingredients are blended. Add small amount of milk (1-2 tablespoons as needed) for lighter biscuits.
Pinch small amount of dough and roll into biscuits.
Roll ball of dough in flour as needed & pat flour onto hands to prevent sticking.
Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Serve hot with butter.

Makes about 35 biscuits

Quick and Easy Sloppy Joes

Talk about an easy supper. . .

Sloppy Joes

• 1 lb. hamburger
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. mustard
• 1/2 c. ketchup
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Brown hamburger with onion. Drain. Combine in skillet with remaining ingredients. Simmer about 20 minutes. Serve on toasted Hamburger Buns. Enjoy!

I just LOVE Simple Mom!

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

I get excited about great, everyday use tips that I find on the WWW.

Simple Mom had a post today that I LOVE: 18 Everyday Hacks For Cooking From Scratch.


I am going to print this one out and tape it inside the kitchen cabinet!

Top 10 Ways to Start Living the Frugal Life

This list is from the About.com site. What do you think? What would you add?

The complete article can be found by clicking here.

1. Befriend the Library.

2. Clip Coupons.

3. Eat Out Less Often.
4. Switch to Online Bill Pay.
5. Group Errands
6. Make Your Own Cleaners.

Clean with Vinegar
Clean with Baking Soda
Foaming Hand Soap Recipe

7. Seek Freebies.

8. Wash in Cold.
9. Flip a Switch.
10. Change Your Own Oil

Cookies for a Snowy Day: No Bake Cookies

Many thanks to Amy @ The Finer Things for this quick and easy treat!

No Bake Cookies

1/2 c. butter or margarine
1/2 c. milk
2 c. sugar
3 c. oatmeal (I use old fashioned)
5 Tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. peanut butter (I like chunky)

1. Mix butter, sugar, cocoa, and milk in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil.
2. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Add cocoa, oatmeal, vanilla, and peanut butter.
5. Mix well.
6. Spoon onto wax paper.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

*I like to use my cookie scoop for a more uniform shape. I squash them a little after scooping.
*If you’re in a hurry, place the wax paper on a cookie sheet pan. After scooping, let the cookies set up in the fridge.

Menu Planning And Grocery Shopping

Check out this interesting post on Domestic Cents about Planning and Shopping:

Welcome to the next part of the Almost Lost Domestic Arts Series. In an earlier segment of this series I shared my experience learning to cook from scratch. Let’s just say it wasn’t an automatic thing for me. Learning to cook was great but planning to cook is another thing entirely.

The Panini Solution

Check out this frugal tip from Mary Hunt:

In the world of really delicious food, there exists a gourmet sandwich that contains a terrific secret for every home cook. It’s called a Panino, which is a pressed and grilled sandwich filled with things like meat, vegetables and cheese. Its name alone commands respect. But when you realize you can fill it with what you happen to have on hand (especially leftovers), it becomes a culinary solution.

Click here for the rest of the article and some awesome looking recipes.

Menu Planning Resource

I love menu planning. I am not consistent with it, but when I am, it gives me a great deal of comfort to know that we won't eat out that week. Here's a great post from MommySnacks about how she does it.

I plan my menu plan each week. I find it saves me money, time, and headaches after a long day! I will be sharing my own style of menu planning in a future snack, but I wanted to share this Menu Planning Resource with you because I think it has helped me immensely as I sit down to menu plan. Click here for the rest of the post.

Super Easy Chicken Soft Taco

I got this over at Carrie's Cooking. Check out her site. She shares lots of great recipes.

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 cup salsa
1 package Taco Seasoning Mix
2 cups quick rice, uncooked
8 to 12 flour tortillas (6 to 8 inch)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in skillet.
2. Add chicken; cook until lightly browned.
3. Add 2 cups water, salsa and seasoning mix; stir.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Stir in rice; cover.
6. Cook on low heat 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
7. Spoon chicken mixture onto tortillas; top with cheese, if desired.
8. Fold up sides to enclose filling.

20 Things to Make With Leftover Turkey

From Heavenly Homemakers:

1. Turkey Sandwiches (oh please, surely I can be more creative than that)
2. Turkey and Rice*
3. Turkey and Noodles*
4. Turkey Salad* on Rolls
5. Turkey Roll Ups (Spread mayo and/or mustard on a soft flour tortilla, sprinkle on small bits of turkey, cheese, pickle, whatever…and roll it up.)
6. Turkey Chef Salad (Greens, turkey, cheddar cheese, boiled egg, carrots, tomatoes, peas…yum!)
7. Turkey and Biscuits (I’ll share this recipe later in the week.)
8. Turkey Pot Pie (follow the recipe for Chicken Pot Pie in the Free ebook For the Love of Pie)
9. Turkey Tortilla Melts (Make these just like a quesadilla, just add turkey pieces)
10. Turkey Tacos (Simmer turkey in a little water with salt and chili powder…serve on flour tortillas with taco fixings.)
11. Turkey Tortilla Soup (follow this recipe, just subsitute turkey instead of chicken)
12. Turkey Stir Fry (follow this recipe, just add turkey)
13. Turkey and Dumplings*
14. Turkey Enchiladas*
15. Turkey with Spanish Rice*
16. Turkey Alfredo*
17. Turkey Quiche*
18. Turkey-n-Veggie Scramble (add turkey to this recipe)
19. Turkey Tostadas (Make like turkey tacos above, just fry your tortillas in olive oil to make them crisp.)
20. Turkey and Rice Stew*

All about making homemade mixes and recipes

from Leanne Ely

I learned a few tricks and some great treats to make that didn't take much time. I gave myself a few rules for groceries (like I'll never pay over .10/ounce for dry cereal, for example) and I stuck with them. That helped me cut grocery store dollars way, way down and gave me the much needed boost I needed to be able to put money into something else, other than food. It was amazing how drastically I cut my costs!

One of the places you can do that is with those packaged mixes. I am particularly fond of taco seasoning mix, although less fond of the cost and the MSG that is inevitably in there. I still use it on occasion, but I've also made this mix before and it's terrific and easy to make.

Click here for the link to the following recipes:

• Taco Seasoning Mix
• Noodle Mix
• Homemade Shake and Bake
• Dry Onion Soup Mix
• Homemade Flavored Rice Mix
• Vegetables Rice Mix
• Spanish Rice Mix
• Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix
• Teacher Rice Mix
• Onion-flavored RiceMix
• Chicken-flavored Rice Mix
• Mexican Rice Mix
• Vegetarian Rice Mix

Saving Leftover Spaghetti

Thanks again to my mom for this good tip

I find it difficult to guesstimate how much spaghetti to cook. I usually ended up discarding the extra spaghetti, which I hated to do. Since I am frugal, I decided to put the excess in a sealed container and freeze it. When I need spaghetti again, I dump the frozen spaghetti into a pot of boiling water and boil it for about 3 minutes. It comes out just like fresh cooked spaghetti. My family doesn't have a clue that it had been frozen spaghetti.

Creamy Ranch Coleslaw

Toss together

• 16-ounce bag of coleslaw mix
• 1/2 cup reduced-calorie ranch salad dressing
• 1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds
• 2 teaspoons snipped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon caraway seed or celery seed

Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 24 hours.

Makes 4 cups (8, 1/2-cup servings)

BBQ Cresent Pockets

• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast-cooked and shredded
• 1/2 bottle of your favorite BBQ Sauce
• 2 cans crescent rolls
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese (Optional)

1. Place 1 can of the cresent rolls on an ungreased 9x13 pan.
2. Mix about 1/2 of a bottle (use as much as you desire) of your favorite BBQ sauce with the shredded chicken.
3. Spread the BBQ chicken over the cresents .
4. Then take the other can of cresents and spread over the top of the BBQ chicken mixture.
5. Pinch down the edges all around.
6. Bake on 350 degrees for about 10 - 15 minutes (until cresents are golden).

OPTIONAL: You can also add shredded cheese to the bbq chicken mixture, if desired.

Cheesy Chicken Rolls

All I can say is YUMMY-O!

• 1 pkg (8ct) Crescent Rolls
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2-3 chicken breasts ( cooked & cubed)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Cook chicken till tender and cube.
2. Heat soup, milk, & cheese in saucepan, stir till smooth.
3. Unroll Crescent Rolls in to 8 triangles.
4. Put 1 spoonful of chicken on each roll;.
5. Roll from large end and seal.
6. Pour soup mixture into 9x13 casserole dish.
7. Place rolls filled with chicken on top of mixture.
8. Bake at 350 for 20-30 min till brown.

Best served Hot! Serves 4.

You're Not Gonna Believe It Chocolate Cake

• 1 box Dark Chocolate Cake Mix (or any flavor will do)
• 1 very ripe banana, mashed well with a fork
  
• 3 eggs
  
• 1 1/3 cups water
  
• Cooking spray for the ramekins

In big bowl add mashed banana, eggs, and water. Combine well with fork or whisk.
Stir in cake mix. Stir mixture vigorously until well mixed.
Pour into ramekins sprayed lightly with cooking spray until filled 2/3 full.

Every microwave is different - here are some guidelines:
For 2 ramekins: microwave on MEDIUM-HIGH (power strength 8 ) for 5 minutes
For 3-4 ramekins: 6 minutes
For 5-6 ramekins: 7 minutes

Check with toothpick to see if cake is done.

Mushy cake mix stuck to toothpick? Add another 30 seconds. Cake crumbs on toothpick? Done.

Makes about 8 ramekins

P.S. In case you don’t have ramekins, just pour in a 9×11-ish glass Pyrex pan until batter reaches half way up the sides. Microwave for 11 minutes medium-high, check for doneness (see above).

Have you checked out Menu Planning Central yet? (with Bonus Chicken Nugget Recipe)

http://www.menuplanningcentral.com/articles/family-dinner.html

Baked Chicken Nuggets

1. 2 egg whites
2. 1 tablespoon water
3. 1 cup plain dry bread crumbs
4. 1 teaspoon dry mustard
5. 1 teaspoon paprika
6. 1 teaspoon tarragon or basil
7. 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8. 1 teaspoon onions flakes
9. 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken, cut into 2-inch squares

Dipping Sauce:

1. 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2. 1 tablespoon honey
3. 1 tablespoon Dijon style mustard

1. Stir ingredients together.
2. Spray large baking sheet with nonstick vegetable cooking spray or use nonstick pan.
3. Combine egg whites and water.
4. Combine crumbs, mustard, paprika, tarragon, pepper, and onion in plastic bowl with secure cover.
5. Coat each piece of chicken with egg white and then place in crumb bowl. Do a few at a time, place cover on bowl and shake to coat with crumbs.
6. Place nuggets on baking sheet, Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Take Care,
Christine Steendahl
"The Menu Mom"

Grab your ultimate menu pack
www.MenuPlanningCentral.com/main.html

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Until next time!
Christine Steendahl

www.MenuPlanningCentral.com
PO Box 37161, Rock Hill, SC 29732, USA