I bought a couple of packages of FREE Tofu at Whole Foods this week, of course I’ve never cooked with it but when I saw this Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Pie dessert recipe I knew I had to try it! I’ll let you know how it turns out, of course the secret ingredient will remain a secret until everyone has tasted it first.
One of my main meal-planning tips is to plan based on this week’s sale ads and what you already have in your pantry. Typically we already have the bulk of the main “dry” ingredients in our pantry from previous stockpiling trips. Stockpiling makes everyday grocery shopping so much easier in my opinion. Sure I do a few extra trips when there is a great deal and I have the coupons to pair with a great sale, but in the long run it saves me a lot of time. The bulk of my shopping each week is for fresh produce, milk, bread, eggs, etc. If you have time I’d suggest watching the Stockpiling Video of the TFF Online Coupon Class.
I took an inventory of my pantry this week and we have quite a bit of beans, rice, and pasta. So those will be the main ingredients in a few of our meals this week. Here is what’s on the menu at the Frugal house this week…
Worlds Best Lasagna, I plan to make a few substitutions to “lighten” it up a bit, the main one being ground turkey for the beef.
Chili Dogs, when we took an inventory of our freezer I discovered we have a TON of “gourmet franks” from an Omaha Steaks deal we purchased a while back. While I really don’t like hot dogs, we need to eat these. To make them a bit more palatable, I’ll serve delicious chili over the top (once again substituting the beef for ground turkey.)
Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup, do-over from last week because it never happened for some reason. (Did you know you could get this FREE with the $10 VitaCost credit?)
Homemade Pesto Pepperoni Pizza, I’ll be using my new bread maker ($12.99 from Goodwill!) to get the dough going – thanks for the idea reader Scott!
Crockpot Teryaki Chicken, Steamed Brown Rice, and Vegetable Eggrolls (Nasayo Eggroll Wraps – $1.44 at Whole Foods)
Grilled Steak, Parmesan Baked Potatoes, and Sauteed Brussels Sprouts
One night this week we’ll eat out or have left-overs.
I’d love to hear what’s on your menu plan for this week, leave links all you want! You can follow my recipes board on Pinterest and check out our past menu plans and other great Frugal “From Our Pantry” recipes!
Kris Hara Partello via Facebook February 19, 2012 at 3:19 pm
The BEST way to eat tofu… slice it up into squares and serve raw with a side of soy sauce mixed with grated fresh ginger… YUMMMMM. (Firm is best for this.)
Lynnea Kunkle-Armstrong via Facebook February 19, 2012 at 3:56 pm
if what you have is silken tofu, i swear this is the best thing ever! its BRIGHT green and yeah, its got spinach in it, but it really DOES taste like cake batter! [except its HEALTHY!]
http://peasandthankyou.com/recipage/?recipe_id=6001183
The Frugal Find via Facebook February 19, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Oooh, thanks! Lynnea Kunkle-Armstrong crazy enough I have all the ingredients except 1/2 t. xanthan gum (optional)
1/2 t. guar gum (optional). Oh and the Stevia, bummer! I’ll have to try this soon though.
Kim Dauer via Facebook February 19, 2012 at 4:21 pm
I’m going to add the chicken recipe to my recipes this week.
Lynnea Kunkle-Armstrong via Facebook February 19, 2012 at 4:26 pm
ive never used guar or xanthan gums! as for the stevia, agave or honey work just as well…or regular sugar. the stevia is just to make it zero-cal!
The Frugal Find via Facebook February 19, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Oh boy, this graham cracker crust TOTALLY made the pie. Sooooo good. http://www.dishingthedivine.com/2009/08/12/graham-cracker-crust/
The Frugal Find via Facebook February 19, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Perfect, I’ll try it with honey!
The Frugal Find via Facebook February 19, 2012 at 4:31 pm
Looks easy and delicious doesn’t it Kim Dauer
Lisa D February 19, 2012 at 9:18 pm
I just made “world’s best lasagna” last week. It was really good, but definitely doesn’t need as much salt as it calls for. I only used 1 tsp in the sauce instead of 1 tbs and none in the ricotta mixture and it was PLENTY salty. I did that after reading the reviews saying it was very salty and I’m glad I did.
Jessie Brown February 20, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Here’s what we’re eating this week: Free of the top 8 allergens for my breastfeeding babe! http://tjandjessie.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/meal-plan/
Kaylee February 20, 2012 at 2:26 pm
We are using what we have in our stockpile to make some of our favorites this week!
http://couponingncooking.blogspot.com/2012/02/meal-plan-monday-menu-link-up-220.html
Erin February 20, 2012 at 4:45 pm
I am trying to live off the stockpile for a bit, we eat a mostly vegetarian diet. Tofu is a GREAT replacement for ricotta/cottage cheese in lasagna. I am making a gorgeous meat/dairy free lasagna right now. I used Muir Glen Tomatoes, part of a jar of marinara sauce, a quart bag of shredded frozen zucchini(from my garden last summer), shredded carrots, red bell pepper, mushrooms and onions(also from my garden). Noodles from Dollar Tree, the most expensive part is Daiya cheese, which is a vegan cheese that is amazing. My son has some dairy issues and so we have to watch how much cheese we consume. Garlic bread, salad. Yum.
Tomorrow I am making vegetarian black bean tortilla soup in the crock-pot. Again all stockpiles. Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes, home-cooked black beans, tomato sauce, veggie stock, frozen corn. We’ll have that with corn bread.
Kaylee February 20, 2012 at 7:16 pm
We are going to use what we have in our stockpile/freezer to make all of our favorites this week:
http://couponingncooking.blogspot.com/2012/02/meal-plan-monday-menu-link-up-220.html
Angie Pantera via Facebook February 20, 2012 at 8:03 pm
Just watched the stock pile video. You can make jello cake with the jello. If you want to know more. Write & let me know. I don’t want to fill up your post.
Anna February 20, 2012 at 11:46 pm
For firm tofu. Koreans eat it in savory-spicy soups and pan fry with little bit of salt. But my fav is
sauce-soy sauce, minced garlic, paprika or cayenne pepper, ( we use Korean kind but those should do fine, not too much since its finer) finely chopped green onion little bit of sesame oil. (too much will kill all other flavors). (should look like
Firm tofu-cut in half inch thickness after cutting the whole pack in half
Put oil(we just use sesame oil) just few droPs on the hot Fying pan and put tofu on. Put the sauce on top, about 1/4 amount of the tofu. Fry for a minute, flip it and do the same. You can either flip once more for the sauce to stick to tofu on both sides or just one side.
I’ve been asked few times how to cook tofu, and I think this may be very different but delicious to eat as side dish for a meal. Best if served with rice
Jolene February 21, 2012 at 8:09 am
When my babies started eating ‘finger foods’, they enjoyed cubes of firm tofu. Plant-based high protein. Just served straight out of the package without any sauce. Now they’ve developed a ‘taste’ for tofu for life.