Cause you gotta eat

I love BBQ! I grew up on KC BBQ, specifically Jack Stack and Smoke Stack. I love that stuff, I think I could eat it every day! I like the smokey, sweet KC BBQ has. I know that there are many, my husband included, that would rather have Texas BBQ, but when I cook, it is KC all the way.

For years I would try to imitate KC BBQ using the oven, crock pot, and grill. Of course nothing would work. Then last year the hubby went out and bought a Traeger Smoker. My life was changed. If you are going to get a smoker, this is the one to get. Before I got a smoker, I thought smoking would be hard and stinky. But I just fill up the pellet hopper with my favorite Traeger pellets (apple, cheery, or pecan) and smoke the meat for a day or so. It comes out so tender and delicious. My mouth is watering right now...  So there are many ways to smoke, and many recipes, here is mine, feel free to tweek it as you want.

Smoked Pork Shoulder

Ingredients:
7-15 lb pork shoulder
Grill Mates Pork Rub
1-2 bottles of your favorite BBQ sauce

Directions:
Start your smoker, and get to temp of between 180 and 225. I like to use either apple, cherry or pecan wood for smoking pork, it gives it a mild sweet smokey flavor, which is what I really like. Generously rub pork with Grill Mates rub. Make sure you really rub it in, give the poor pork a good massage. The better you rub the better it will taste. Then put it in the smoker for 10-23 hours (1.5 hours per pound). After half the time has passed completely cover the pork with foil (this will make it extremely tender) and put back in the smoker for the rest of the time.

Now you have a couple of choices. I like to pull my pork when it is done, then throw it in the crock pot for another hour or so covered in my favorite BBQ sauce. But I have also just sliced it or pulled it and skipped the crock pot. It is up to you, and how much time you have. But let me tell you this is WONDERFUL stuff.

Crock pots are AWESOME! If you don't have one get one! You spend a few minutes in the morning throwing some stuff into the pot, turn it on low, and go about your business for the day. When you finish work and it is time for dinner, you will have an amazing meal, not to mention a house that smells like you slaved all day over a hot stove.

I am not sure when or where I got this recipe. It was a long time ago, when I was in college. I would start the pot in the morning before my classes, and when I got home after spending all day on campus, I would have a perfect and delicious meal. Much better then what most of my friends were eating.

So here it is, the 3 Envelope Crock Pot Roast Beef

Ingredients:
1 3-4 lb beef roast (your choice on cut)
1 c water
1 c salsa
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 envelope Italian dressing mix
1 envelope Au Jus mix

Directions:
Whisk together water, salasa and seasoning packets. Place roast in crock pot. Pour seasoning mixture over roast. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

I have also put in some cubed potatoes. They were delicious too!

Enjoy!

So you have your 3 months of meals planned... Run to the store right?? Wrong. Now you need to go though and pull out all those recipes (which is another reason why color coding is so useful), then you need to start a tally. If you have a 1st or 2nd grader this is really good practice for them. You see each ingredient you will need to mark a tally for, of course not all tallies mean the same. For example, ground beef I mark a tally for each pound I need, but salt I go by the tea spoon. Make since? You will need to come up with your own method for this, unless of course you are going to completely use my menu as is, then you can just skip ahead to the shopping list (which I will post soon).

From this list you can check your pantry to see what you have on hand. Obviously you don't need to buy more salt if you already have a couple pounds, on the other hand, I will over buy meat sometimes if there happens to be a deal.

Now some people make up their menus based off of sale prices, and if you want to do this, by all means do it. But I don't like to limit myself and I don't like to take the time to look though the ads and match them up with my recipes... I just don't have that kind of time.

Anyway, stay tuned to see the three months recipes, tally lists, and the BIG SHOPPING list.

Now when most think of menu planning they think of planning dinners. I have posted my menu plans for both breakfast and dinner too! I suggest that you do that as well, it really saves time, money and stress.

Dinner is the most time consuming part of my planning. This is the meal that my whole family is usually here for. I don't make extra special meals, or difficult meals. I try to make stuff that they will eat and is good for them, which is actually kind of hard sometimes.

The first thing I do when menu planning is look at a calendar (duh, right?). But remember I am planning for the next three months, so that is July, Aug, and Sept. When I look at the calendar, I need to think about what is coming up as far as holidays, birthdays, and any other special day. For us, there is the 4th of July (which we are going to a friend's house), also the boys and I will be out of town from July 20-23 (so meals won't be needed on those nights), the hubs and I are celebrating our anniversary Aug 2 (so mac and cheese that night for the little ones), and my oldest little boy has a birthday September 18, and his party will be the 13th-14th. I highlight all those days and fill in those meals first. Then I just start filling things in. There really isn't a right or wrong to this. Whatever you like, just remember to use your color coding when doing this so it is easy for you to see if you need to defrost anything (meat) a day or two ahead of time. When I am doing this, I go though and put in all the beef first, then pork, then chicken, ect. That way I am less likely to put back to back meals.

Here are the meals for the next 3 months. Look soon to see the shopping list, and learn how I accomplish that one...

Lunch is interesting... During the school year I let my kids buy their lunch 2 times a week from the school. Once is always Wednesdays, because that is Pizza Day, and the other varies. The other days are usually a sandwich. They have a choice when they eat at home, so I always have things on hand. Here are the choices...

PB&J
Ham and Cheese crackers
Grilled cheese
Chicken Nuggets
Cheese quesadilla
Left overs from dinner (which never gets chosen :(

They also have to choose at least one veggie or fruit. After they eat all of their "main dish" and fruit or veggie, if they are still hungry they can have some chips or jello or pudding.

During the summer months I will have salad for lunch, because it doesn't cost me much at all. I have a garden that produces more than I can eat of the veggies I love. And I only use a table spoon of dressing. So 1 bottle will last me all summer. YEAH!

Anyway, I ALWAYS have carrots, celery, ham, cheese, PB, jam (home made), crackers, chicken nuggets, tortillas, bread, bananas, and apples on hand. I spend about $10 a week on keeping things stocked from lunches. So that is about $120 for 3 months worth. However, the only things I buy in bulk from this list is the chicken nuggets, tortillas, crackers, American cheese, and PB.

Breakfast can be tricky. I refuse to give my kids cereal every day, although once a week I don't see the problem. This means that I cook/fix breakfast for them every other day. It really isn't a lot, because breakfast is one of the easiest and cheapest meals of the day!!  I sat down with the kids and asked them what they liked most for breakfast. And to my surprise it isn't the sugary cereal.

Anyway here is how it broke down, we do the same thing every week, but with different things to eat each day it works.

Muffin Mondays (I buy those $1 muffin mixes, so for 3 months worth it is only $12-$13!!)
Toast Tuesdays (This is either French Toast, Cinnamon Milk Toast, or Toast with a nut butter of their choice. You can make your bread and save more money, but meal usually costs me $15 for the 3 months.)
Waffle Wednesdays (I make our waffles from scratch, and do a double batch to freeze half. That way I only have to cook these every other week. This meal costs about $8 for the 3 months, pretty awesome!)
Eggs Thursday (I know, eggs doesn't with a T but, we love our eggs, and they are sooooo cheap. So another 3 months is a little over $8.)
Fruit & Yogurt Fridays (Name says it all, I typically don't buy the individual cups, because it is a much better deal to get the big tub of it then top it with what ever fruit you have. All in all I spend about $10 for the 3 months worth)
Cereal Saturdays (Cause it is fun! But it does cost a lot!! I spend about $30 for the 3 months on cereal!! So if you are giving your kids cereal every day, think about how much you are spending!!)
Smoothie Sundays (We go to Church at 9, so we need something really quick. I put a cup of yogurt in with some frozen fruit and milk.Costs about $20 for the 3 months)

If you don't already have a menu for breakfasts, I would totally recommend one. Use mine or figure out one that works for your family. Please remember that the prices given are for just me and my younger boys, so 4 of us, 3 kids and 1 adult, as my husband gets up before the rest of us and has his own smoothies that he makes. Adding all this up, looks like I spend about $104 for 3 months of breakfasts, that is $35 per month... Or just under $9 per week! Not bad.