Eestilaadas

Here is recipe for the cheapo-fast meal called Eestilaadas.(aka. I ducked up the enchiladas I wanted to make and made this, since then we love it.)

You need: 

1 lbs of ground beef 

2 cans of rotell

1/2 lbs of cheese 

10 tortillas

Oil, salt, pepper

1. Fry ground beef (add salt and pepper to your taste)

2. Add 2 cans of Rotell, mix in, turn heat to low, let simmer for a bit. 

3. Shred your cheese. (It's cheaper than buying shredded cheese)

4. Take a casserole dish, add oil to the bottom. 

5. Lay 8 tortillas in the dish like shown on the picture. 

6. Add Ground beef-Rotell mix. 

7. Sprinkle cheese on top. 

8. Wrap those babies, add 2 tortillas flat on top. 

9. Put them in the oven at 350 F for 20 min. 

10. Feel proud! Clean up! 

11. After the 20 minute mark annoying peeping, take them out. 

12. Plate your food, add sour cream on the side and enjoy. 

Cost: Ground beef $2.50

         Rotell (knock off) 2 x $0.59 = $1.18

         Cheese 1.49 / 2 = $0.745

         Tortillas 1.49 for 20. $1.49 / 2 = $0.745

Total:  $5.17

Feeds 4 people, 2 each. 

Toy chest face lift.

As I mentioned few days ago I found a great old toy chest-bench combo for $15. I bought it online and had Mister Hubby pick it up.
After I was done with Little Miss Ruby's recliner-chair I started working on the toy chest.
Few pictures of before and after.

Little Helper, as always! 

Water damage 

Mommy, is that mine??? 

I lined it with felt I had in my craft closet. 

Little bit of white paint. 

And VOILA!!! New chest for toys, much better than those ugly diaper boxes. 

I will paint the hearts pink inside and add her name to the chest. Otherwise it's ready. I am happy, but what is most important, she loves it.

Little Baby Boss Chair (First upholstery)

I am  into little baby things that look like adult stuff, so when I found this chair for sale for $15 I knew its for my Baby Boss.
It was banged up and dirty, I gave it some TLC.
It was a NO SEW upholstery!

My mom sent me the fabric few years ago, so I didn't need to buy it. I had a staple gun and staples, ribbon I bought from a dollar store few months ago. Paint was the one I bought for the china hutch. So cost of this pretty Baby Boss chair $15.

Love it!

Menu for 2 weeks

Here is the menu for 2 weeks.

MONDAY:
Coffee (oatmeal if hungry)
Tortillas with eggs and chorizo (I need to check the spelling of that, sorry)
Homemade Philly cheese steaks

TUESDAY:
Coffee (Homemade bread from day before if hungry)
Leftover from dinner
Natchos

WEDNESDAY:
Coffee
Oatmeal
Eestilaadas (Kinda like Enchiladas but not really, recipe is here)

THURSDAY:
Coffee and Homemade cinnamon rolls
Homeburgers (Pretty much a warm sammy with ham, eggs, onions and toast)
Rice, meat and brown gravy (All mixed together-yummie)

FRIDAY:
Coffee (Cereal if hungry)
Eggs with ham and cheese
Homemade pizza*

SATURDAY:
Oatmeal porridge*
Homemade breadrolls with butter*
Spaghetti*

SUNDAY:
Cereal, Coffee*
Dumplings with sour cream (Also known as Pelmeni, google it) other snacks, homemade cinnamon rolls and bread.**
Sori-Mori (Meat and potatoes)

MONDAY:
Coffee and cinnamon rolls
Sori-Mori from the day before.
Pasta Alfredo

TUESDAY:
Coffee and toast
Lunch tortillas (leftover potatoes and meat mixed with eggs and ham)
Potato-bell pepper casserole with ground beef

WEDNESDAY:
Coffee (Oatmeal if hungry)
Leftovers from day before
Chilli with beans and rice

THURSDAY:
Coffee and fresh ham bites
Tortillas with meat and Rotell, cheese.
Potato wedges with stove cooked BBQ meat

FRIDAY:
Coffee
Homeburgers
Pasta Alfredo casserole

SATURDAY:
Pancakes and coffee (Brunch, so no actual breakfast)
Fried meat mixed with potatoes and cheese and sour cream, topped with chives

SUNDAY:
Late breakfast of homemade warm bread and good coffee
Whatever is left made into a meal. Using last grocery store items so they wouldn't go bad.
Probably made into pizza, meatloaf of something else like that.

*Kids are here, cooking for 6 but feeding 4. They eat a lot.
**Cooking and making snacks for us plus few people who are coming over to watch football.

I also have few items that I have not used, these are the things you eat when you don't feel like sticking to the menu. Like from time to time I get a craving for tomato-cucumber salad, so I make it.

I think that actually our grocery bill could be lower if I would do more planning, but I write down the things we certainly need and pretty much walk in the store and buy what we need and what is on sale.
We don't eat that much veggies, we don't like them. Our baby eats plenty for both of us.

I will try to post recipes to few of the meals as soon as I have made these (to include pictures). Homemade Philly Cheese Stakes where so yummie and looked so good I forgot to take pictures.

Cheap eating yet having some goodies.

$100 for 2 weeks of food for 3 people +2 rental kids.

I thought it would be a good idea to write down my grocery list and things I buy to feed my family for 2 weeks (Including the weekend when we have 10 and 11 year old here, who eat like there is no tomorrow)
So I do my grocery shopping in Aldi, just because everything is cheaper there. I found ALDI little bit more than a year ago and I'm loving it. The savings are great, I can even say we get about double the food.

The story behind is that we eat home most of the time. There are days when my hubby picks up subs for us or an occasional Chinese food night, but that's about it. Most of the time, I make the food at home.

So here is the list:
Easy melt cheese  (Good for 2-3 meals)
Pretzels (For the kiddos when they are here, one pack lasts about 1,5 months) aka SPLURGE!
24 eggs
2 packs of sliced cheese (Baby loves it and Mister Hubby eats it)
4 pack of regular cheese (On sale for $1.49, will get shredded, good for 8 meals for sure)
1 lunch meat -Turkey ham
2 boxes of butter
2 bags of tortilla chips
1 big can of coffee (it's $5.49 and we consume a lot of coffee, about 3 pots per day if not more)
4 cans of knock off Rotell (.59 cents each)
2 cans of mushrooms
3 cans of sweet peas (Baby loves peas)
4 cans of tomato sauce (.59 cents each)
3 x 5 lbs of flour
2 x 5 lbs of sugar
Brown sugar for baking
Garlic salt, cinnamon (they are .99 cents each)
2 boxes of Penne pasta
1 (big) box of spaghetti
1 big jar of pasta sauce
2 jars of alfredo pasta sauce (Mister Hubby loves it)
5 lbs of rice
10 lbs of potatoes
6 bell peppers (On sale for .99 cents for 3)
2 boxes of meat ($4 each, good for 4 meals)
2 x 5 lbs of ground beef (good for 6 dinners)
6 tomatoes
2 cucumbers (Tomatoes and cucumbers are for me)
Kiwi fruits and pineapple (for the baby and maybe some for me)
Cottage cheese. (for me)
Bread

We also bought some things that are not considered groceries: toilet paper, paper towels, dish washing soap, vinegar, baking soda (last two for cleaning), trash bags, diapers, candy for kiddos, few reusable bags and plastic bags (We use these bigger ALDI bags for trash bags in our office trashcans.)

I calculated and we spent on food like $100.

This food is going to last us for 2 weeks for sure. There are also few items I already had in my pantry that are going to be used. Like tortillas, cereal, oatmeal, canned beans, chilli, tomato sauce and paste, yeast, oil, canned corn and other essentials everybody have. Nothing fancy.

Here is the menu for 2 weeks.

Name this little lady!

So I crochet a new doll for little Ruby.
I will post a tutorial when I have 2 hands to type.
At this point I need a name for her.