Mushroom Beeforoni ( Budget beef stroganoff)

The other night I put this together using whatever I had in the pantry. I use the idea of beef stroganoff as a guide. Feel free to add more to it. Like sour cream or milk or other spices. I loved it because I was able to feed my family for 2 nights for $6.00! You can't beat that price!
Ingredients :

• 1.5 Lbs of Ground Beef
• 3 Cans Mushroom Soup
• 1 Small can of mushroom pieces
• 1 Box of elbow macaroni
  
• 1 Clove of garlic minced
• 1 Small onion
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Put pot of water for pasta to boil. At the same time heat your pan on med. high heat.
2. When pan is hot add the ground beef. Cook until brown. When water for pasta is boiling add the pasta.
3. Once meat is brown add the onions, mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until onions are tender. When pasta is done cooking drain.
4. Add soup and milk ( I used some of the cooking water from the pasta). Add pasta. Check your seasonings.

Very simple and it feeds an army :)

Menu Plan Monday

Starting next week I will join in on Menu Plan Monday! For those of you who don't know what that is I will explain. Every Monday I will post my menu for the week. I will also post recipes as the week goes on. I would like to thank I'm An Organizing Junkie for this. Every week it is linked up to her site at http://orgjunkie.com . It's just another way to try to stay organized and spend less money every pay check.

Sausage and Potato skillet Breakfast

Once again a super cheap and easy breakfast that can feed my family of 6 soon to be 7.
Ingredients :

• 4 russet potatoes ( not super big ones )
• 1 package of Jimmy Dean breakfast sausages ( mine were frozen)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 Tbs Veg. oil
• 1 Onion chopped

1. Heat oil over medium high heat.
2. Cut up frozen sausages into a little over 1/4 inch pieces and place in hot oil.
3. Cook until brown but not fully cooked
4. While sausage is browning cut up potatoes into 3/4 inch chunks.
5. Place in the pan with sausage and add Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Chop up the onion and place in the pan.
7. Let cook until potatoes are browned and sausage is cooked through.
8. Serve with ketchup :)

This cost me about $2.00 !

Morning Person? Maybe

Picture an 18 yr old slamming the quiet button on the alarm , sluggishly dragging herself out of the bed, stumbling to the closet to find something to pull on as fast as possible, throwing her hair back in a pony tail , brushing her teeth, and then rushing out of the door to race to school in just the nick of time. That 18 yr old was me every morning of my junior and senior years in high school. I was a night person and dreaded the morning.
Unfortunately that is one thing that has not changed since I have had kids. I still stay up way too late and refuse to wake up before the kids. I usually wake up about 6 :30a.m. to pull my older 2 boys out of bed and get them dressed and out the door to the bus by 6:50a.m. I then crawl back into bed until the younger 2 kids wake up around 8a.m. When they wake up I pull on whatever clothes I find and start my day. This is the usual for me seeing as how I am not a morning person.
My husband has often suggested that I get up and start my day before the kids get up. That way I have some quiet time to myself. I won't feel so rushed from the moment I jump out of bed. I get to fully wake up without hearing " Mommy I'm hungry" " Mommy I am thirsty" " Mommy I want this or that". I often don't even get a moment to think. LOL. i have often responded to this suggestion with " Are you insane? Do you know what time I would have to wake up? I am not a morning person!".
Well, I have recently been watching a friends baby for her. Unfortunately she has to drop her precious bundle of joy off by no later than 6:30 a.m. This translates to not being able to just rush the boys of to school and me going back to bed. I also have to be up , dressed, and awake by 6:30 a.m. I can't be crawling out of the bed at that time. Sooooo, my day starts now at 5 :59 a.m. It really needs to start at 5 : 30 a.m. ( I will get there). Since I have had to start my day at this time I am finding that I enjoy the peace and quiet before the baby is dropped off. Then I get more peace and quiet after the boys leave until the younger 2 wake up. I get to spend time watching the morning news, picking up around the downstairs, blogging, twittering , and anything else that I want. I find that I am in far better of a mood when the younger ones get up and I am far more productive with my day.
I must say after years of fighting the coming of the morning I think I am slowly being converted to a morning person ( GASP! ). I do enjoy it oddly enough. So, for now I just might maybe be a morning person. LOL

Amazing Cheap Dinner

With us having such a large family that is still growing ;feeding my family on a tight budget can be hard at times. I am always on the search to find cheap and yummy dinners. Last night was one of them.
We had : Saucy Mock Steaks
Twice Smashed Baked Potatoes
Romain & Iceberg Salad Mix w/ Beets
My husband and kids absolutely loved this and it didn't take too much to make! I will post recipe now and pictures later.
For the Saucy Mock Tender Steaks I found a recipe online then adapted it because it needed it :)
You will need the following : 6 pieces of Mock Tender Steaks ( mine were thick)
2 packages Onion Soup Mix
2 cans Mushroom Soup
1 can of Mushrooms
Flour for dredging the meat
1 Cup Water
2Tbs cooking oil
Seasoned Salt ( optional)
1. Sprinkle both sides of the steaks with the Seasoned Salt and let set for 1 or more hrs. in the fringe.

2.Heat oil in pan over medium heat. While that is heating dredge the steaks in the flour and set aside. Please be sure to shake excess flour from meat.

3. When oil is hot place steaks in the pan. Brown on both sides. It only takes a few min. per side.

4. Mix mushroom soup, onion soup mix, and water. pour on top of steaks. Turn heat to simmer and cover. Let set simmering for 3 hrs. Remember to stir halfway through cooking time.

5. A few min. before the time is up add the can of mushrooms. Remember to drain them first.

These steaks literally fall apart :)

For the twice baked potato I went to www.Foodnetwork.com. It is the Neely's Twice Smashed Baked Potatoes. I did not have the Gouda cheese. I used cheddar because it was what I had on hand. It was great and super easy.

For the salad : 1 package Romain Iceberg salad mix
1 can beets( I did not use the whole can )
1/4 cup or as much as you want Blue cheese crumbles

1. Place mix in a bowl
2. Cut up as many beets as you would like and place in the salad mix
3. Sprinkle the blue cheese on top and toss the salad.
4 Top with your choice of salad dressing.

New To This :)

I just wanted to state that I am new to this so PLEASE bear with me. As I get more used to it things will change and def. look better :)

Ready ,Set, Here I Go!

I have had this blog page set up for a looooong time. I never took the time to actually do something with it. With the new year I have decided to do some of those things that I just never got around to. This blog happens to be one of those particular things.
I guess it would be good to start with some small facts about myself. I am a 28yr old stay at home military wife & mother. My husband and I currently have 4 wonderful children and are expecting our 5th child soon. My childrens ages range from 9yrs to 2 yrs. I have 3 boys and 1 girl. As you have gathered my husband is in the military( specifically the Navy ). We have moved around quite a bit over the years. I am glad to say that that particular part of our lives is coming to an end this summer.
I guess that will have to do for now. I have kids and all the resposabilities of being a stay at home mom that I must get back to now.