Eating in...

J and I are Dave Ramsey fans and we're working hard to reduce expenses and pay off our van and home. One area we need to drastically reduce is eating out, thus my goal of eating home 6 nights a week. This will be my first month following our montly menu. A friend sent me the list of restaurants where kids eat free (thank you!) so I penciled in a few nights out as well.

Last night I made Noodle Salad: salad greens, cooked macaroni noodles, chopped tomatoes, chopped eggs, green peas, shredded cheese, chopped ham and shredded carrots all tossed together and topped with Ranch dressing. I served it with cheese bread.

Tonight we're having lasagna. The kids and I made 2 big pans this morning by following the recipie on the box of noodles and tweaking it a bit. One pan is in the fridge and will be cooked tonight. The other is in the freezer for next month's lasagna day.

This afternoon the Jazzy and I made Quesadillas: flour tortillas topped with shredded cheese and taco meat and folded in half. You can also fill them with black beans, refried beans, shredded beef, shredded pork, shredded chicken, fajita meat, anything you desire. It's a great way to use leftovers. Wrap them individually in foil, place in a big ziplock bag and stick in the freezer. Later, pull out the amount you want, unwrap, place on a baking pan and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes for a quick lunch or dinner.

A stocked freezer is a busy mom's best friend!