Menu Plan Monday 12/31/12

It's the last week of 2012. We have no big plans to bring in the New Year, other than the usual watching of the Times Square Ball Drop. We would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year!

Here is our menu for this week:

Monday:
Pork Chops with Mushroom Soup
Rice
Lima Beans (from Wegmans, Aldi doesn't carry them...)

Tuesday:
Crock Pot Turkey Chili
Homemade Rolls

Wednesday:
BBQ Country Style Ribs
Mashed Potatoes
Corn
Rolls (if there are any left from yesterday!)

Thursday:
Chicken
Rice
Carrots

Friday:
Homemade Pizza

As always, be sure to check Organizing Junkie for lots of great menu planning ideas!
Happy New Year!

Snowy Saturday Pizza Night

I really meant to do a post about our yummy Christmas Ham that I purchased at Aldi. But with the busy day we had, I completely forgot to take any pictures! It was a wonderful dinner though... and the Aldi Spiral Ham was delicious!

 

 

And now that the holidays are almost over, it's back to reality. And trying to save money and eating well at the same time. My husband found these pizza crusts yesterday at Aldi and wanted to try them for dinner. They come two to a pack. And there's even a bag inside to store the other one if you only eat one at at time. (Which we did.)

 

We covered with pizza sauce (not bought at Aldi, as they do not carry pizza sauce... ahem...) then we added the yummy shredded mozzarella cheese to the top.

And after a pepperoni addition, we threw it in right on the top rack the oven. It was really good! I love a nice thin crust pizza. This was perfect for a snowy Saturday night. And we figured the total cost was about $4 for the whole pizza.

Pumpkin Cookies

 

I've wanted to do this for awhile. Compare Pillsbury Pumpkin Cookies to Aldi's Baker's Corner Pumpkin Cookies. Tonight was the night. I have been using a fabulous Pumpkin Cookie recipe I found years ago, that uses Pillsbury Quick Bread as its main ingredient. They are probably one of my favorite all-time cookies, and they're super easy to make.

You take the bread mix, add a 1/2 cup softened butter and 1 egg into a bowl and mix it all up. Then you roll a ball of the cookie dough in a cinnamon sugar mixture, place them on a cookie sheet, then bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. That's it! Easy, right?

 

Well, they're also very tasty. I made 2 separate batches tonight with each bread mix. They were very similar, but noticeably different at the same time. The one on the left was the Aldi brand, the one on the right was the Pillsbury version. I'm not sure if I prefer the Pillsbury brand purely because that's what I am used to making. But I will be honest, I did prefer it. The Aldi brand was quite good though. I think it would just be personal preference on this one. You'll have to try each one and see which you prefer. I'm taking them to work tomorrow to see if anyone notices a difference... it might just be all in my head!

 

Menu Plan Monday 12/17/12

The flu has stuck our house, so I'm a little late posting the Weekly Menu plan. Hoping it goes as planned.

Here is the menu for this week:

Sunday:
Beef Stew
Corn Bread

Monday:
Chicken with Rice
Baby Carrots

Tuesday:
Potato Soup with Bacon

Wednesday:
Out

Thursday:
Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes
Zucchini

Friday:
Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
Baked Beans

As always, be sure to check Organizing Junkie for lots of great menu planning ideas!

Fit & Active Multi-Grain Flatbread

* * * Update: ShopAldi has moved to a new home! Come visit us!  * * *

This was my favorite new find of the week. I've always like the Fit & Active brand, so I love when I find new products with that brand. This Multi-Grain Flatbread is fabulous. We not only made sandwiches, but we also made Flatbread Pizza. They were both delicious!

Another favorite Fit & Active product. This turkey complimented the Flatbread nicely. Such a healthy lunch!

Hot Chocolate Brownie Mix

 

I found this brownie mix last weekend at my local Aldi and had to have it. Yes, they're a "name brand", but honestly, I didn't even notice that until I brought them home. I made them last night.

They were a hit at work today. They went wonderfully with that White Chocolate Chunk coffee I posted about yesterday.

Beaumont White Chocolate Chunk Coffee

A co-worker brought in this fabulous coffee for us to try today. Beaumont White Chocolate Chunk flavor. Up until now, I really haven't been a fan of chocolate flavored coffee. But today, that all changed.

This was really, really good coffee! I'm not just saying that either. I would be honest if I didn't like it. I liked this. I think I'm going to have to get some for myself during my next Aldi trip.

Menu Plan Monday 12/10/12

I took a short "leave of absence" with my online Menu Planning. Rest assured, I was still planning menus at home. I was just lazy about posting them on the blog.

Here is the menu for this week:

Sunday:
Pork Roast
Mashed Potatoes
Zucchini

Monday:
Fried Onion Chicken
White Rice
Baby Carrots

Tuesday:
Meat Sauce with Ziti
Garlic Bread

Wednesday:
Ground Turkey Chili

Thursday:
Cube Steak
Mashed Potatoes with Gravy
Broccoli

Friday:
BBQ Pork Chops
Baked Beans
Brussels Sprouts

As always, be sure to check Organizing Junkie for lots of great menu planning ideas!

Multigrain Style Bread Mix

 





My husband discovered this during one of our trips to Aldi. It looked kind of fun. It's a bread mix that you make right in the container that it came in. And it's "multigrain style". (Meaning it's "like" multigrain, but it's not really multigrain... )

It wasn't quite as easy as the directions and cover made it out to be. "Just add water". Yes. That is true. But when you add the water to the tiny tin bread pan that the mix came in, it's not that easy to stir without making a mess. I would recommend pouring the mix into a mixing bowl and stirring it there. Once that is done, spray the pan with a little non-stick spray, then add the mix back into the pan once it's been mixed together. I did this on the 2nd loaf, and it was much better! Plus it was easier to remove from the pan once it was cooked.

The bread itself is very hearty. But it's pretty good. It wasn't terribly cheap (I think it was over $2 for the small loaf.) But it was fresh and made the house smell wonderful. And it was kind of fun too.

Chocolate Mint Milk

Here's a great treat for the Holiday Season! Chocolate Mint Milk by Friendly Farms. It is absolutely delicious. I would like to add that it's pretty high in fat. I almost wish they had used less heavy cream and maybe some 2% milk. But for a treat, it's wonderful as is. Thick, minty and wonderful.