7.31.19: End of July 2019 - Suggestions from My LOFT and My Pantry Challenges

We've made it through another month!!

Hello, end of July!!

You went by so quickly!!

I'm a little bit behind on posting,

about a week and a half or so.

First up:

Suggestions from the LOFT

Chicken Salad with Pecans, Cranberries, and Vidalia Pickled Onion Strips

This is from two weekends ago when it was soooooo hot and humid!

I had bought already cooked chicken from the Giant Eagle deli

on purpose for this.

A way to beat the heat!!

I further diced up the chicken, added a couple of packets of dried cranberries & pecans pieces, some pickled Vidalia onion strips, Miracle Whip, and then, to clean out the Miracle Whip jar,

I used some of the pickling liquid from the onion strip jar.

Put it in tortilla boat and called it lunch!

Also had it on bread later.

It was filling and hit the spot!

In an attempt to use up stuff from my freezer, 

I came up with the above dish:

Applewood Chicken Strips and Stouffer's Four Cheese Pasta with Bacon

This was "just OK" -

meaning will I ever try that again?

Nope.

But I will say it was easy to zap and you had supper!!

But when you end up throwing most of it out, yeah, not worth it!

Lesson learned!!

Spaghetti with Meatballs and Meat Sauce

with Mixed Veggies

I've been hungry for spaghetti for a few weeks and threw this together this past weekend.

I had some Italian meatballs in the freezer to use up and came up with this.

I like to do things differently....

so in place of spaghetti sauce, I used a can of sloppy joe sauce.

I also added a bag of frozen vegetables to the sauce to get in some vegetables

(think green beans, peas, carrots, and corn).

Add some onion and celery, too!!

And I really like leftover spaghetti!!

 I like to add a few squirts of ketchup to it before microwaving the leftovers.

It works for me!! 

I also baked!!

It was too warm last week to do it!!

Here's what I made:

Milk Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts

(to celebrate National Milk Chocolate Day)

Sour Cream Rhubarb Bar Cookies

Recipe for:

Sour Cream Rhubarb (Bar) Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, if making cookies.
Otherwise, spray a 9x13 inch cooking dish with cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

3. In a large bowl, beat together with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar

4. Add and beat to combine:
1 egg

5. Beat in, making sure all the ingredients are well combined:
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until combined. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and repeat until all the ingredients are combined.

7. Stir in:
2 cups rhubarb, diced

8. For cookies: Drop rough tablespoons of batter onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the cookies start to brown and the top of the cookies get a little color. Let cool slightly, then remove to a rack to cool completely. Makes about 40 cookies.

9. For bar cookies: Pour dough into prepared 9x13 inch cake pan. Bake approximately 25- 32 minutes, keeping an eye on it. 

I did a toothpick test at 25 minutes and it was still "wet" in one spot, but looking good. 

Gave it another 5-7 minutes to bake, toothpick test showed they were done! 

I noticed that as this cooled, it does drop some. 

Came out very moist and tasty!! 

Will make again!!!

Last creation made this weekend:

Pork Chops with a French Onion Mushroom Gravy

over

Quartered Potatoes and Diced Carrots

(done in the crockpot)

This one was completely a 

"let me throw this together with this, that, and the other thing" 

kind of dish.

Turned out pretty good.

I may attempt this again on another day,

with some tweaks.

$5 Pantry Challenge:

I'm a wee bit behind on posting what I was able to find to add to my pantry for $5 each week, that wasn't part of my grocery budget.

About 3 weeks (if you count this week) behind.

So here are the "deals" I was able to find:

5 Del Monte Super Fruits - Diced Peaches in Pomegranate Juice

$1 each

These have made for tasty snacks!

Last week:

 9 Cans of Giant Eagle Condensed Soups

@ 59 cents a can

Went over a little bit, by 31 cents, but worth it - they were on sale!

I use condensed soups in cooking!

This week:

2- 8 oz  Frozen pkgs of Dole Fruit and Veggie Orange Medley

(mangos, mandarin oranges, bananas, sweet potatoes, and pineapple)

Half price!!

So, basically, two for the price of one!!

$4 total

These will be used to make fruit smoothies...

I had one for breakfast this morning....

Yummy!!!

A fun purchase I made recently were new sheets for my bed:

They're microfiber and I really like the colors.

I can't recall the last time I bought new sheets....

At least 10 plus years?

And some of my sheets are showing it!!!

Thus, a little splurge...

and I was able to find some reasonably priced new ones!

Other fun stuff the past few weeks included two trips to the dentist for a final fitting of my new partials and then, picking them up yesterday.

I have a six month check up next week....

Too bad everything couldn't have been done all at once!

Oh, well!

I had my brakes done on the car earlier in the week.

My sister and brother-in-law have a garage and I take the car there to have it worked on.

Am very happy to have the brakes taken care of.

Next on the agenda before inspection:

Repairing a hole in my rocker panel

and replacing a wheel bearing on the front passenger side.

After that, I should be set to have it inspected!

YEA!!!

I'm feeling very

Blessed Beyond Measure!

Love and prayers,

Sue