Maddie’s Recipes – Sister Hack

Top 3 for 2023

It’s a tradition now! Here are some of our favorite things from 2023:

Top 3 Fav Books of 2023
Maddie’s Picks:
1. Hello, Beautiful by by Ann Napolitano– I haven’t cried this much reading a book in a long time, but OMG the story and characters were epic. LOVED IT!
2. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – A cozy read with a hint of mystery in the story! My favorite parts were the narration from the octopus.
3. Hello, Molly! by Molly Shannon– Emily and I were huge Superstar fans growing up and this book made me love her even more! Molly Shannon has an incredible life story and and incredible outlook on life.

Emily’s Picks:
1. The Enchanted Sonata by Heather Dixon Wallwork. A retelling of The Nutcracker. A perfect Christmas read! Cozy atmospheric vibes and fun action.
2. The Bookwanderes by Anna James. A middle grade read with lots of fantasy elements. This is also a 5 book series. I’ve read the next 2 and each book offers something different and fun.
3. Momfluenced by Sara Petersen. A very insightful thought provoking look at motherhood, social media, and comparison. This is a book that I want to reread which is rare!

Top 3 New Recipes of 2023
Maddie’s Picks:
1. Protein Baked Oats– These have been my meal prep on repeat since having Wiggler
2. Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole– When you need something just plain tasty!
3. Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers– Low Carb and delish

Emily’s Picks:
1. Quiche – Not really a recipe to link but I’ve been getting premade pie crust, bushing with Dijon mustard (my mom’s tip!) and adding whatever we have. Delicious and great for meal prep.
2. Spicy Pork Dan Dan Noodles -My Postpartum Doula made this while I was recovery after birth. It was amazing and I think about it weekly. Hello Fresh recipes are generally all very delicious.
3. Hulk Smoothies. Again no real recipe. Chocolate protein powder, frozen banana, peanut butter, milk, and spinach (to make it Hulk green). Add yogurt if you got it. These have been the unsung hero these past few months. The boys love them. They are easy to make and easy to clean up. Also a low mess meal since it’s all in a cup.

Top 3 Purchases of 2023
Maddie’s Picks:
1. Merlin’s Magic Sleep Suit– Wiggler used this from 4-8 months and you can’t put a price on good sleep!
2. All Birds Sneakers– I’m loving wearing these in the office, cute and professional-ish looking
3. Barre3 Online Membership- I didn’t technically buy this because my work does a fitness reimbursement but I absolutely LOVE Barre3! They had an amazing postpartum series that helped me regain my strength after Wiggler and I do their regular classes whenever I can fit it in!

Emily’s Picks:
1. The Five Minute Journal. I have kept a journal since I was in the 5th grade but recently I’ve lost motivation to write. Mostly because my days look the same and I don’t want to rehash them at the end of the day. This has been the perfect solution. I quickly allows me to record key moments while also practicing mindfulness.
2. H&M 3 Pack Slim Fit T-Shirts. I got these right after I had Gal and I have been wearing them ever since. They fit perfect and wash easy. Also not see through like most women’s T-shirts. I proceeded to buy 3 more packs. So I now have 9 of these.
3. Kindle. Loves it! Isn’t so hash on my eyes (like reading an ebook on my phone) and light weight.

Top 3 Watches of 2023
Maddie’s Picks:
1. House of Villains– I’m so sad this show is over, it was the perfect reality show IMO
2. Girls5Eva– I love the premise of this show and all of the musical numbers, can’t wait for Season 3 on Netflix
3. Mrs. Davis– This was a thrilling watch that really made me think about AI!

Emily’s Picks:
1. House of Villains – Amazing show! Loved it so much I rewatched it with my husband.
2. Abbot Elementary - A rare show my husband and I could agree on.
3. Hook – I had never seen this before and don’t know what took me so long.

Freezer Meal Prep for Baby

Update: I’m 3 weeks postpartum and we have worked through our freezer stash. I have added my thoughts on each of the recipes below in italics.

Maddie here! I am 36 weeks pregnant with our first baby (hence the lack of posts from me for the past 36 weeks) and I thought it would be fun to document the freezer meal prepping that the hubz and I have completed in advance of the baby’s arrival!

The Strategy: We split the meal prep over two weekends: breakfast items the first weekend and dinners the second weekend. This meal plan was mostly inspired by a Butcher Box that we received (review coming on that service later) that had a sh*t ton of pork in it, including two pounds of ground pork and a six pound pork butt. I used that as a jumping off point for the recipes selected.

We also stocked up on pantry items such as pasta, pasta sauces, microwave rice packs, and frozen veggie mixes from the store to eat with the recipes below.

Total Spent: I’m estimating around $175 for the meat from the Butcher Box that didn’t go towards our regular meals, additional food purchased, and freezer bags/foil casseroles. I think these recipes should last us 2-3 weeks after the baby arrives, which is close to our normal weekly spend.

The Prep:
Homemade Breakfast Sausage– I definitely would not have done this if I didn’t find myself in possession of two pounds of ground pork, but I’m glad that we will have nitrate-free sausage for our breakfasts. I thought the recipe turned out well but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to make it again.

Pork Butt- We placed the pork butt in a slow cooker overnight on low with 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar and 1/2 cup of water. I seasoned the pork with salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. I shredded it in the morning and portioned some out to be used for tacos/pulled pork sandwiches for our weekly meals and the freezer meals below.

Veggies: Sautéed green peppers, onions, and potatoes. Roasted sweet potatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, onions.

Chicken Breasts: Diced up five large chicken breasts and portioned into quart sized freezer bags.

The Recipes:
Egg Sandwiches AKA Buddies– I followed this recipe but our eggs really puffed up and didn’t turn out flat like hers. If I did this again I would definitely mix up the eggs and cook them using a sheet pan instead of in the muffin tin. Made 12.
Woof these were rough to choke down. I can’t believe people meal prep these on the regular. The eggs were frozen solid and had to be microwaved separately and the english muffins were soggy. The cheese also did not melt well. 0/10 would never make again.

Breakfast Burritos– scrambled eggs, homemade breakfast sausage, sautéed potatoes, green pepper, onion, shredded cheese, on whole wheat tortilla. Made 10.
While not as bad as the buddies, these were no walk in the park either, mostly due to the eggs again being more frozen than the rest of the food inside. We had to microwave them for a really long time and then let them sit and cool down. 3/10 would not make again.

Apple Cinnamon/Banana Chocolate Oatmeal Cups- I followed this recipe but would caution anybody undertaking these that they turned out v wet so definitely use your best judgement and adjust the measurements so they are not falling apart. Made 18.
These were surprisingly yummy, easy to heat up, and easy to eat one handed with the baby in the other arm. 8/10 would make again.

Turkey Meatballs- Doubled this recipe that we love. Made 16 large meatballs.
What’s not to like here? These froze and unfroze well. We ate them with spaghetti and on hoagies. 9/10 would make again. I would probably do a double batch on a night that we are planning to make them anyway and pop half in the freezer.

Cottage Cheese Mac n’ Cheese- I baked off a pan using this recipe and am looking forward to reheating it and having it for lunches.
This is a great recipe that I have made before, but it didn’t freeze and reheat that great. It ended up being a bit dry. 6/10 would make the recipe again, but wouldn’t freeze again.

Pork Enchilada Casserole- I used this recipe as a jumping off point, but used green enchilada sauce, the shredded pork (obvi), and incorporated the roast veggies for some added nutrition. We are most excited about eating this recipe.
Wowowow this was definitely our favorite thing we meal prepped and we really enjoyed eating it. 10/10 would make again.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili- I used this recipe and added in…you guessed it….a bunch of shredded pork! I will reheat this in the crock pot and if we’re feeling ambitious bake off some cornbread (fav recipe here) to go with it because I think that would be very tasty.
By the time we got to eating this, we were really feeling the abundance of pork in this meal prep but other than that I thought it was pretty good. 7/10, not sure if I would make again.

Lemon Herb Chicken Marinade: Portioned diced chicken into two bags. Mixed together the juice of two lemons, olive oil, smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
The first time we made this I threw it frozen into the slow cooker and it pretty much disintegrated and didn’t keep a ton of flavor. The second time I made it, I let the meat thaw in the fridge and sautéd it and it was significantly better. 7/10 would make again but not freeze again.

Thai Chicken Satay Marinade: Portioned diced chicken into three bags. Mixed together coconut milk, peanut butter, lime, sriracha, honey, and spices, loosely based off of the sauce in this recipe.
This turned out well! We made it in the instant pot and had it over microwave coconut rice. 8/10 would make again.

Snacks: I made and froze these lactation bites this weekend and they turned out great! We are also planning to make these lactation cookies once I get closer to my due date. I wanted to make this peanut butter frozen yogurt bark but alas there is no room left in our freezer so that will have to wait for another time!

The lactation balls have been my postpartum JAM. I have made them twice more, tripling the recipe and adding in dates. They are really filling for a quick snack and without the the processed ingredients you would find in a protein bar. 10/10 continuing to make!

We also made the lactation cookies and they turned out well! I haven’t made a second batch because I felt like there was a LOT of butter/sugar, but I am planning to make them again substituting applesauce. 8/10 will make again modified.

Avi until!

Top 3 for 2022

Emily and Maddie here for a joint blog post. We wanted to wrap up the year with some of our fav things from 2022!

Top 3 Books of 2022

Emily’s Picks:
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. This book no joke changed my life. I couldn’t read another book for like 3 months after. I still think about it everyday. It was inspiring, eye opening and heartbreaking. I didn’t see the ending coming and those are always the best books to me.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. The book was such a cozy delightful read. Perfect for October-December. I loved all the witchy talk of potion making and in a way felt like a very modern Circe.

I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood by Jessi Klein. This was hilarious. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in like 2 days. Jessi nails so much of motherhood and made me laugh out loud and cry as well. She this book talks a bit more about the toddler phase so if you’re a mom with a baby I would say to wait until you have a toddler to really “get it”. But again so funny!

Honorable Mention: I couldn’t finish this post without mentioning Wintering By Katherine May. I read this book at the beginning of the year and I’m currently rereading it right now. (Maddie jumping in here to say SAME!)

Maddie’s Picks:
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Wow this was such an amazing and profound read! The story was epic, exploring multiple generations, and what I loved most was how the author managed to show the perspectives of so many different kinds of people, even those who were not necessarily important to the story. The family in this book and all that they experience has stuck with me long after reading it.

Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe. I listened to this on audiobook read by Anderson Cooper, which I highly recommend. The Vanderbilt history is in many ways the history of America and it was extremely eye opening to learn about the story of this iconic family. Would you believe it made me cry? This book is definitely unexpected in all the best ways.

A Court of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J. Mass. I love me a good fantasy series and have torn through 4 of the 5 books in 2022 (currently reading the 5th book as I write this in 2023). I was immediately drawn into the characters and storyline of this book about high faeries and humans and have not stopped reading it since!

Top 3 Recipes

Emily’s Picks:
Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. Okay this one feel like I’m cheating a little but I got this cookbook last Christmas and about halfway through the year started using it. Everything I have made from it turns out perfect and amazing. This is something everyone (and I mean everyone) should have in their kitchen.

Oatmeal Cookies (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Cookbook). My husband’s one and only cookbook is this adorable If You Give a Mouse A Cookie Cookbook. I started making a few cookies from it with Pal and discovered the most delicious Oatmeal Cookies recipe in it. I think the secret in the heavy cream. It’s also very easy to put together. (I assume the book is now so expensive since it’s out of print.)

Cottage Cheese Pancakes. Maddie sent me this recipe when she was going ham for cottage cheese this Christmas and this has been a hit with everyone in my family. It’s not common that I find a recipe that everyone will eat. Love that it is low in sugar and has great protein!

Maddie’s Picks:
Emily’s Pizza Recipe (Sister Hack) After visiting Emily in Oregon and getting an in person tutorial on how to make her famous dough, the hubz and I upgraded our home pizza accoutrements and have been making this almost weekly with delicious results.

Pasta Fagoli Soup (Taste of Home) Healthy, cheap, tasty: check, check, check! This is a simple but oh so yummy recipe that I found on Taste of Home in early 2022. Perfect for fall or winter nights.

Turkey Meatball Subs (Six Sister’s Stuff) This recipe is a light and perfect for game day! I also like how I can use the leftovers for spaghetti later in the week.

Top 3 Purchases

Emily’s Picks:
New Dining Table. This was the best purchase of the year. Our other dining table had fabric seats which were getting destroyed with children learning how to eat. It was also a hand-me-down which we have used for 5 years. We were ready to purchase something specific for our space and agreed that this table would be perfect. (Bonus we reused our old dining table as a play table for our children. My husband just shortened the legs.)

7 Pack of Black Leggings. I kept telling myself that I couldn’t wear black leggings everyday. Idk why I was so set on it. But once I let myself it was so freeing! I bought a pair for each day and they have really held up! I’m currently 5 months pregnant and still wearing them!

New Water Bottle. I had been using the same water bottle for many years and anytime it got knocked over it leaked no matter what (and it gets knocked over a lot). So I bought this new one and its been so nice!

Maddie’s Picks:
Hot Pop Microwave Popcorn Maker. I was influenced to buy this after seeing it in a Youtube video from See Mindy Mom. I love that it is so easy to use and we can control all of the ingredients in our popcorn. We use it weekly for movie night.

Dining Room Rug from Wayfair. We bought this to replace our old dining room rug and I got the 8×10 size on sale for $164. It’s an indoor/outdoor rug, so very durable and the subtle pattern adds a little something to the room without being distracting.

Ever Go Blazer from Maurices. I bought three of these blazers in different colors for my new job that I started in April and I wear them all the time. They are so easy to dress up or down! My favorite way to wear them is with a v-neck tee, jeans, and loafers.

Ham for Cottage Cheese: 5 Recipes

Maddie here! This holiday season I found myself with 7.5 pounds of cottage cheese. Thanks dad! Cottage cheese is a delicious, budget friendly superfood packing 11 grams of protein for a 1/2 cup serving. I wanted to maximize this abundance of nutritious free food, but eating plain cottage cheese can get old pretty fast. So I made it my challenge to use the cottage cheese as creatively as possible. Instead of going ham for ham leftovers (see parts 1 and 2), I went ham for cottage cheese.

#1: Cottage Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Toast
This one is pretty basic: instead of mixing in cheddar cheese to make my scrambled eggs cheesy, I threw in a scoop of cottage cheese and mixed until melty. I enjoyed it on toast with some everything bagel seasoning on top.

#2: Blueberry Cottage Cheese Muffins
I have made these muffins twice already and they are v delicious! The second time I made them I added an extra 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and they turned out great. They are a quick snack to grab during the day, and I even added a few handfuls of walnuts to the mix for extra nutrition.

#3: Cottage Cheese Pie
I came across this recipe on reddit and it definitely felt like the riskiest to make because of the lack of detailed instructions, but it turned out really good! Because it is a vintage recipe, it used a minimal amount of sugar. I recommend making it if you are looking to reduce sugar intake but still have something sweet. I topped mine with homemade whipped cream and it was *chef’s kiss*.

#4 Macaroni and Cottage Cheese Casserole
If you are looking for a lighter mac and cheese, this is the recipe for you. It has that creamy flavor without being too heavy and the breadcrumbs on top are so yummy. I used a high fiber macaroni noodle and added frozen peas to mine. There are lots of ways you can customize it depending on what leftovers you have around. I have been eating it for lunch every day this week and am not tired of it yet!

#5 Blintz Pancakes
I saved my favorite recipe find for last: these blintz pancakes! This recipe made pancakes that were deliciously tart and creamy using minimal (1 tablespoon) sugar. I’m definitely going to be adding it to my breakfast rotation when I want a little something special. The first time I made it was on Christmas Day and I topped them with a blueberry compote and whipped cream. The second time I poured the batter in a glass baking dish and cooked at 350 for 15 minutes. After it cooled, I topped with butter and strawberry jam.

Whether you find yourself with an abundance of cottage cheese like me, or you are looking for ways to incorporate more protein into your diet I hope you found some inspo from the exciting and overlooked world of cottage cheese recipes.

3 Plant-Based Meal Prep Ideas

I try my best to eat meat-free for lunch. Here are three of my recent favorite plant-based meal preps!

Idea #1: Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 red bell pepper
12oz can of curry sauce (I used green with bamboo shoots)
1 15.5 oz can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans
A few handfuls of spinach (I store mine in the freezer)
1 cup of rice cooked according to package directions (I used basmati in my rice cooker)

Step 1: Chop the onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Saute in some olive oil.
Step 2: Add chickpeas and curry sauce. My trick to get everything out of the jar is to add some water, shake it up, and pour everything in. Bring to a simmer.
Step 3: Remove from heat. Stir in spinach until wilted.
Step 4: Assemble your rice and curry into bowls.

Idea #2: Mediterranean Quinoa Bowls
Ingredients
1 cups uncooked quinoa
Veggies for roasting- I used broccoli, squash, and grape tomatoes
4 tablespoons of hummus
1 sliced cucumber
2 roasted red peppers
4 tablespoons of kalamata olives
1/2 cup of cheese- I used a mozzarella because I had it on-hand, but feta would be have been better.

Step 1: Cook quinoa. My favorite method is to use my rice cooker.
Step 2: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop veggies. Place in baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (optional). Season with salt and pepper.
Step 3: Assemble bowls starting with a base of quinoa, adding roasted vegetables, fresh cucumber, olives, roasted red pepper, cheese, and hummus.

Idea #3: Mexican Sweet Potato Bowls
Ingredients
1 cup of brown rice
Veggies for roasting- sweet potato, broccoli, squash, grape tomatoes, whatever you have lying around…
1 cup of queso fresco cheese (or cheddar if you prefer)

Step 1: Cook rice. Again, I use my rice cooker.
Step 2: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel/chop sweet potato. Place sweet potato in baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes.
Step 3: While the sweet potato is cooking chop the rest of your veggies. Once sweet potato has cooked, turn pieces over. Add in remaining veggies. Season everything with a blend of Mexican spices to your liking such as cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cajun seasoning, oregano. Don’t forget the salt and pepper. Add a bit more olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes.
Step 4: Drain black beans, heat in microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute.
Step 5: Assemble bowls with base of rice, adding vegetables, black beans, and queso fresco.

Twinning Thanksgiving

Emily’s Thanksgiving
Menu: Easy Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Warm Brussels Sprout Salad, Hawaiian Rolls. Dessert: Brownie Sundae.

A few notes on my Thanksgiving Dinner. In the spirit of being real my chicken was under cooked…I didn’t follow my own recipe and was trying to rush the chicken along. So in reality we ate sides for our Thanksgiving dinner while the chicken cooked in the oven.
For the warm brussels sprout salad I used goat cheese instead of parmesan, and pecans instead of hazelnuts.
We went non traditional for dessert this year. We had eaten a whole pecan pie the week before and really didn’t think we needed another one. I made brownies and put them in a muffin tin. Very delicious and would highly recommend that to anyone! I just cooked them for about 26 min.
Also I bought paper plates to be festive and so I had less dishes to do.

Maddie’s Thanksgiving
Menu: Easy Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Sauteed Brussels Sprouts, Sweet Potato Spoon Bread (recipe below). Dessert: Whole Foods’ Chocolate Pecan Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream.

This was my first time making our mom’s easy roast chicken recipe and it won’t be my last! It was so tasty and perfectly done. I obvi followed the directions that Emily did not. This was a very low key Thanksgiving for just me and the hubz and these flavors satisfied our cravings without taking all day to make. The sweet potato spoon bread recipe came from a Lidl recipe pamphlet from two years ago (#blessedbyLidl), so I thought I would include it below. It makes a lot and while that would be great for a big get together, I will probably half it next time.

Lidl’s Sweet Potato Spoon Bread
Ingredients
1 large sweet potato
2.5 cups of milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
5 tbs butter
3/4 cups corn meal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup maple syrup
4 eggs separated

Step 1: Heat oven to 375. Prick sweet potato skin with fork, place in microwave for 10 minutes or until fork tender. Let cool completely and remove the skins.
Step 2: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together milk, water, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 4 tablespoons of butter. Bring to a boil.
Step 3: Slowly whisk in corn meal, stir until fully combined and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Step 4: In a food processor (or using an immersion blender like me!) add cooked sweet potato, baking powder, salt, flour, maple syrup, and egg yolks. Blend until smooth. Add corn meal mixture and blend until fully combined.
Step 5: In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
Step 6: Gently fold the egg whites into corn meal until fully combined, being careful to not over-stir.
Step 7: Butter a 2-quart baking dish and pour batter into dish. Bake for 1 hour or until edges are lightly toasted.

Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

Gather round! Maddie here with an easy, healthy, cheap, and delicious spaghetti sauce.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1lb ground turkey or beef
1 onion
1 big zucchini or 2 small zucchinis
28oz can of diced tomatoes
28oz can of plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy!)
1 tablespoon oregano leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Set instant pot to sauté or heat up a pan. Add olive oil and ground meat. Season meat with salt and pepper.
2. While meat is cooking, dice onion and chop zucchini. If you have other veggies on-hand such as mushrooms or bell peppers chop those up as well!
3. Once the meat is cooked, add the chopped veggies. Give a good stir.
4. Add in canned tomatoes. Smash up the plum tomatoes using a potato masher.
5. Add in remaining ingredients and stir.
6. Slow cook for 4-5 hours.
7. Serve over spaghetti noodles or spaghetti squash if you are feeling healthy.

As they said on Zoom (tv show not video conferencing platform), bon appetit!

$80 for Two Weeks of Groceries

Maddie here! It has been a minute since I have done a blog post and shout out to Emily for holding it down with her first time gardener series over the summer months!

Two weeks ago I looked at my grocery budget for the month and it only gave me permission to spend $80 for the last two weeks of September. My hubz and I are going into a big savings mode prepping for a potential move so instead of upping the budget we decided to make it work! Here is what we did:

Week 1 Grocery Haul:
Baby Spring Mix…$1.92 (with coupon)
Apple Bag…$.99
Bananas…$1.63 (.42 lbs)
5 Seltzer Bottles….. $1.40 (with discount)
Pita Chips……..$1.35
Protein Bars……..$4.99
Spaghetti……..$1.15
Tortilla Chips…….$.92
Hot Dog Buns…….$.85
Sweet Kernel Corn…..$.36
Diced Tomatoes…….$.99
Cola……$.59
Wheat Bread……$.65
Dried Pinto Beans…….$2.16
Crushed Red Pepper…… $.79
Canned Corn…..$.36
Chicken Broth……$1.15
Soft Pretzel……$.49
Frozen Bone in Chicken Thighs (3lbs)…..$5.49
Beef Franks……$2.89
Eggs…….$1.77
Keifer……$2.78
Whole Milk……3.50
Pumpkin Ice Cream…..$2.89
Pizza…..$2.79
Total: $44.12

Week 1 Strategy:
This week’s meals I heavily planned around what I already had in stock which was quite a bit for this first week. We had frozen tilapia, frozen hamburgers, turkey lunchmeat, cheddar cheese, hummus, leftover vegetables, and rice. I knew that we would need a meat to stretch us for the two weeks and I decided to go with frozen chicken thighs. Breakfast was eggs and toast! For lunches I had bento boxes with pita crackers, cheese, hummus cucumbers, carrots, and apples and the hubz was v happy to eat hot dogs all week.

Week 1 Dinners:
Chicken Taco Soup with Cornbread
Curried Tilapia with Rice and Salad
Spaghetti with Hamburger Meat (literally broke up hamburgers) and Green Beans
Pizza and Salad
Game Day: Hot Dogs and Soft Pretzel

Favorite Meal: Chicken Taco Soup
I pretty much made this one up as I went! I started with making the dried beans in my instant pot. I covered the beans with a good amount of water, added some spices, and cooked on manual for 45 minutes with a natural release. I set aside the beans and cooked three chicken thighs on manual at 36 minutes with a quick release. I covered them with water and added salt and other spices. It created a very yummy chicken broth so I ended up not needing the chicken broth that I purchased. I then de-boned and shredded the chicken (keeping the skin as a treat for my dog throughout the week), added back in the beans, and added the canned corn and tomatoes. It made a ton of soup and I froze half of it for week 2! I also had enough items in my pantry to make my go-to cornbread from Budget Bytes: https://www.budgetbytes.com/everyday-cornbread/

Week 2 Grocery Haul:
Bag of Kale….$2.19
Bananas (3 lbs)…$1.25
Zucchini….$1.57
Tomatoes……$1.49
Sweet Potato…..$.60
Fehttuchini (2 boxes)…..$1
Whole Wheat Bread….$.99
Hamburger Buns…..$.59
Kraft Mac and Cheese….$.98
Chili….$.79
Energy Bars….$4.65
Tortilla Chips….$.92
Salsa….$.95
Peanut Butter….$1.25
3 Seltzers….$1.65
Cola….$.59
Turkey Lunch Meat….$2.45
Turkey Bacon….$2.36
Ice Cream….$1.89
Cheddar Block…..$1.16
Whole Milk…..$3.50
Half and Half……$1.55
Eggs….$1.18
Total (sans bleach)….$35.72
Grand Total for 2 Weeks: $79.84

Week 2 Strategy:
Going into week 2 week had used up a lot of the odds and ends vegetables that we had lying around, so I knew that I was going to need to plan around something nutritionally dense and versatile that would last the whole week. I decided on using kale which could be added into dishes and used as a side salad with homemade dressing! I planned around items that we had in stock including quinoa, rice, frozen burgers, frozen fries, and a bell pepper. I made the remainder of the chicken in the instant pot and used that throughout the week as well. Breakfast was toast and eggs with banana. For lunches I had a yummy kale, tomato, feta, and black bean salad or the leftover soup from week 1 and the hubz had turkey sandwiches with tortilla chips.

Week 2 Dinners:
Fettuccini with Cream Sauce and Kale Salad
Sweet Potato, Kale, and Black Bean Rice Bowl
Chicken, Quinoa, and Squash Topped with Egg
Burgers and Fries (not pictured)
Bfast for Dinner- Waffles, Veggie Scramble, and Turkey Bacon
Game Day: Chili Mac (not pictured)
Also pictured are the bfast tacos that the hubz made because they are a good use of using what we had at the end of the week.

Favorite Meal: Sweet Potato, Kale, and Black Bean Rice Bowl
This was something we had not done before, but we loved it! I started by making the frozen chicken thighs in the instant pot (36 mins, quick release) and canned the broth. I had a half a bag of dried black beans that have been sitting in my pantry for months so I made those in the instant pot (45 minutes, slow release) using some of the broth from the chicken thighs. I made brown rice that I had on hand in my rice maker, also using some fo the broth. I then cooked the sweet potato in the microwave (rinse with water, poke a few times with a fork, cook 5 minutes), cooked the kale with an onion I had on hand and then added in the chopped up sweet potato and some of the shredded chicken. I added feta cheese to mine and the hubz added salsa.

Overall Thoughts:
Overall, we really enjoyed scaling it back with this $80 for two week challenge. I have recently been in the habit of purchasing more than we can eat in a week and needing to throw food out that goes bad at the end of the week. It is also always a good reminder that we don’t NEED that much food! If you plan strategically you can have food that is healthy, tasty, and still good portion sizes. I also lost 2 pounds over the two weeks so no complaints there! After this challenge, we have actually decided to do $50 grocery budget for the month of October. I will do a quick check in at the end of the month to let all of our adoring blog readers know how it goes! 😉

Instant Pot Lentil Wraps

Hey folks! This is a very versatile, cheap, and delicious recipe that you can make in your instant pot.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Lentils
2 Cups Liquid to your liking. Examples: water, chicken broth, vegetable broth. The last time I made this (pictured below) I used 1.5 cups of chicken broth and .5 cups of leftover coconut milk and it was delish. I wouldn’t use coconut milk for the entire liquid portion, but it added a nice creaminess.
Spices to your liking. Examples: salt, pepper, cumin, turmeric, curry powder, garlic powder.
Wrap to your liking. Examples: pita, flatbread, tortilla.
Veggies to your liking. Examples: cucumber, lettuce, bell pepper, tomato, carrots, avocado.
Additional Items to your liking. Examples: hummus, tzatziki, garlic sauce, feta.

Steps:

Add lentils, liquid, and spices to your instant pot. Set to manual for 15 minutes and quick release when finished. Taste lentils and season more if needed.
Place lentils, veggies, and additional items on your wrap. Roll and enjoy! There should be plenty of lentils for leftovers throughout the week.

This was my last day of leftovers and it was just as good as the first! Leftovers are good cold or with the lentils warmed up.

Going Ham for Ham Leftovers

Maddie here! First I need to preface this post with the fact that I am not a big ham lover. In fact, this Thanksgiving was the first time that I had made a ham in 8 years of marriage even though my husband loves ham. But I am also not a big Thanksgiving turkey lover and with this Thanksgiving being just the two of us I thought WHY NOT and went for the ham. Much to my surprise not only did I enjoy the ham on Thanksgiving but I enjoyed each of these leftovers, maybe even more than my husband (!) so if you have ham leftovers that you are unsure how to re-purpose read on…

The OG Ham Recipe
I found this delish ham glaze recipe from Cafe Delights:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, reduce fat or full fat
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed

I did not remove the skin of the ham like the writer suggests but I followed all other instructions and it turned out perfectly:

Leftover # 1: Diced Ham and Scrambled Eggs
This is pretty self-explanatory! I diced leftover ham, sautéed it a bit, and added in eggs beaten with a touch of half and half and salt.

Leftover #2: Ham and Swiss Paninis
Again, pretty self-explanatory… I cut two slices of the leftover sourdough from Thanksgiving and paired it with ham, swiss cheese, and Dijon mustard.

Leftover #3: Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup from Five Heart Home
I love me a good crock pot recipe and I especially loved that I was able to enjoy the meat from the ham hock, without any additional meat needing to be added. My husband thought the pairing of chicken broth with the ham made for a weird taste but I thought it was fine. Next time I will do vegetable broth instead.

Leftover #4: Breakfast Casserole
I diced about 1 cup of ham, 2 potatoes, and 2 bell peppers. I added them to a greased baking dish and topped with 10 beaten eggs along with salt, pepper, and cheddar cheese. I baked at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. We ate this as breakfast throughout one week and it was very yummy!

Leftover #5: Scalloped Potatoes and Ham from The Pioneer Woman
We froze about 2 cups of ham and I pulled it out last night for this dish. It was a huge hit and something that I would serve for guests or take to a pot luck post-pandemic. I loved the simplicity of this recipe, but I did add salt to the cream sauce. My husband doesn’t eat cheese so I omitted it and added cheddar later to mine.

Bonus Mashed Potato Leftover: Shepherd’s Pie from McCormick
Emily shared this recipe with me and I am so glad she did! It was completely no fuss and totally delicious! All you need is 1 pound of ground beer, a package of brown gravy mixed, frozen peas and carrots, mashed potatoes, and garlic/onion powder.