Cheap toddler friendly pasta lunch

You know its funny, when I went home after my first visit to Germany, I used to eat abend brot to remind myself of my time in Germany. However, 4 years after moving here and seeing how prevalent bread is in the German diet I might gouge my eyes out if forced to eat much more bread in my life. Now do not get me wrong, I am making an effort to come up with some creative variation, aim for more of an American style sandwich. I have been stalking the interwebs looking for dup recipes for Paradise bakery, nomnomnom, but we need som variety. If Germans may have no qualms eating bread so often, but I sure cannot. But at the same time I do not want to invest the time nor money to cook a second hot meal eat day, lazy American that I am. SO I look for frugal idea, and idseas that my picky little mr enjoys, today was a sucess.

Aldi sells some finished pasta products, one version is in boxes and another comes in pouches. For this recipe I used the pouch version the Pasta Pomodoro Mozzarella. It comes with the noodles and seasoning mixed in in a powder form. Just add water and cook 10 minutes. They also have a variety of other flavors. The package says it serves 2.

Once I boil my water and add my pasta mix, I add an additional half can of diced tomatoes, and 1 cup of frozen veggies mix  DO NOT USE BUTTERGEMÜSE NEINNEINNEIN thats bad get the plain stuff in bags lol.

The pasta mix costs .65
Half can of tomatoes .22
1 cup veggies aprox. .10

Full meal for under a buck

This could easily be made into a dinner by doubling it and adding a green salad and baugette. You still have a dinner for under 2.50 including sides.

Meal Plan Monday

One of the meme's that many of you mentioned enjoying was my participation in Meal Plan Monday. So I will jump back in with my weekly meal plans.

This weeks brings a unique obstacle, as with us moving in just a few weeks time, I need to use up as much as I can from what we already have on hand with an emphasis on frozen and refrigerated goods.

My goal is to buy as little as possible.

Meal Plan Monday- May 2nd

Alright another week, another meal plan. Here is a look at a week inside my kitchen.

Meal Plan Monday- April 25th

Alright another week, another meal plan. Here is a look at a week inside my kitchen.

Meal Plan Mon(Tues)day January 31, 2011

Hey guys, 

Here is another look into our kitchen for the week.

Breakfast will be a mix up of yogurt, oatmeal, cereal and fruit.

Lunches- Sandwiches and rice pilaf

Dinners Mon- Thursday will be abend brot.

Friday dinner: Linsen Tacos (carried over from last week)

Saturday:

Breakfast: Bacon waffles (new recipe)

Lunch: Sandwiches

Dinner: Pasta with chickpeas and broccoli with baugettes (new recipe)

Sunday: 

Breakfast: warm rolls with wursts

Lunch: Sandwiches

Dinner: Tuna Tabbouleh salad (new recipe)

Dessert: Apple taschen

So what is for dinner in your house this week?

Meal Plan Monday

Hey guys,

I hope all is going well with you. I am still working to get my groove back lol. But it is going well so far. Last week was my first week alone with baby Luca and I did not break him so we are off to a good start :)

My menus are actually gonna be a bit different for a bit, different as in a focus on vegetarian, beef, and fish, why you ask would I not use pork in the land of the schnitzel, well long story short we have a major food crises going on at the moment and as a result our poultry, eggs, and pork are tainted. Now I normally try not to go off on hysteria about food contaminants I am not a bio addict by any means, but as a nursing mom I think it is best to play it safe for a while. I am not avoiding all products with egg and those meats, I do not have the time and energy to go die hard vegan and make everything myself, but we will be avoiding the fresh products. It has been said the organic versions of these items are safe, but if the pocket book hit is not enough to deter you the fact they are sold out in most stores will. 

So here is a look at our week:

Monday- Thursday:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, yogurt, or cold cereal with fruit (DH takes rolls to work)

Lunch: Odds and ends (DH takes sandwiches and veggies to work)

Dinners: Abend brot

Friday: 

Dinner: Potatoes, spinach and wursts

Saturday:

Breakfast: Pancakes and bacon

Lunch: Soup with rolls

Dinner: Lentil Tacos with rice

Sunday:

Breakfast: Rolls

Lunch: Sandwiches

Dinner: Mini Meat loaf, potatoes, and a veggie

Tea time: Apple struedel

So that is fresh meat once in the week. Hey maybe it will make a nice dent in the food budget lol. We will still eat cold cuts on our abend brot nights. I actually want to start making my own breads and salads for those nights too. :)

So what are you eating this week?

Menu Plan Mon(Tues)day

Sorry folks I am still adjusting to baby time, so I thank you for bearing with me. I must say even having been a college girl a few years back who could master the all night cramming and 4 am papers, that is nothing to prepare you for parenthood lol. I guess it is just one of those things you really have no clue about till it up and smacks you in the face. hehe

So sadly this is the last week with my mom. You will notice that my plan is different then usual. Normally we eat abend brot or cold meals Mon-Thur and warm meals Fri-Sun and that will return next week. But I have enjoyed cooking for my mom and exposing her to (or coercing her to) try new foods. 

So here is our plan for this week, just dinners (My days are not set in stone, so I am just gonna do list format)

1. Bratwurst with green salad, brat sauce, and potato salad

2. Rinderfleish with spatzle and brat sauce

3. Bratklössen with knodel and butter veggie mix

4. Leberkase, rotkohl, and boiled potatoes

(Those were moms choices and you may note that many are dups, she wanted to have her favorites again before she left)

Now end of the week will be simple since we had hot meals all week. I do not want to do cold, because I want to cycle back into my routine next week and a week of cold meals sound icky lol.

5. Soup with rolls

6. Fishsticks, boiled potatoes, and a frozen veggie

7. Steakpfanne with rice and rolls

Now for breakfast my mom and I have been having oatmeal. Toni takes 2 brotchens with him to work with coild cuts, cheese and veggies.

Lunches mom and I have been eating left overs, odds and end and small things I pick up. T has 2 american style sandwiches with cold cuts, cheese, and veggies.

Now do not forget to stop over at Orgjunkie.com for over 300 menus weekly.

Oh and an update T started his new position this week so wish him lots of luck, he is excited but hates change, can't say I blame him :P 

Now I have a lap top with a dying battery and a sleeping baby on  my legs, and we all know to never wake a sleeping baby so I must run.

I go the births tory two thirds done so do check back. 

Hugs- Rena

Sorry for the lack of the normal graphics my mac died so I am on a different computer booooo.

Meal plan monday- Dec 13, 2010

It is that time again. Here is my meal plan for the week. You will notice more meals are planned as Hubby is on vacation and my mom is here now.  Also being 9 months pregnant I could eat a small horse so we are eating more often and it changes a bit based on what sounds or smells good lol.

 

I wanted to start out by reflecting on how last weeks meal plan worked out.

Mon- Thurs was abendbrot

Friday we did have the pasta with baguettes, but instead of salad we had Brussels sprouts. I had a small accident in the fridge and milk exploded over all my produce and I was not about to eat produce soaked in milk.

Saturday we ended up eating some Berliners for breakfast, the donuts not the people no need for concern, then we had a coffee and Mcdonalds at the airport later in the morning. Lunch got skipped. Dinner was leberkase, rotkohl and an attempt a Knödel. I ended up only need one package of leberkase so I have another one left for another meal made the dinner even cheaper. I screwed up the knödel, normally Toni makes them, and he failed to tell me to start will cold water, so we ended up with knödel smash, which at least tasted good. 

Sunday Toni made German eierkuchen (pancakes/crepe like dish) for breakfast. We were at the Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas market) at lunch time so we ate out. My mom and I shared a piece of Pizza and Toni had his own. He then had a steak brötchen and we shared a Bratwurst and kinder mulled wine (alcohol free). We had planned döner for dinner, but since we ate out we were not ready to eat again and its not a dish that sits well or reheats so we will eat that at a later time. Instead we had chicken noodles soup (canned) and warm rolls.

So the eating out was not in the budget, but at the same time we skipped Döner so it only ended up being off by a few euro and it was a special occasion so well worth it. First weinachts market in over 25 years gotta make that special :)

So here is a look at my plan for this week: (obviously subject to change if teenie makes an appearance)

Monday:

Breakfast- Maple and brown sugar oatmeal Rena + mom, Belegetes brot Toni

Lunch- Sandwiches and my mom and me had pretzels as a snack while waiting for Toni

Dinner: Curry wurst with french fries (pregnancy craving)

Tuesday: 

Breakfast: Toast and bananas Rena + mom, belegtes brot Toni

Lunch: Egg Salad

Dinner: Abendbrot

Wednesday:

Breakfast: yogurt- Rnea, oatmeal mom, belegtes brot Toni

Lunch: Baked potatoes with quark

Dinner: Abendbrot

Thursday: 

Breakfast: Cereal Rena + mom, belegtes brot Toni

Lunch:Asian noodles

Dinner: Abendbrot

Friday: 

Breakfast: Oatmeal Rena + mom, belegtes brot Toni

Lunch: Sandwiches with veggies

Diner: Eggs and potatoes with mustard sauce

Saturday: 

Breakfast: Omlettes

Lunch: Sandwiches with fruit

Dinner: Peppersteak and fried rice

Sunday: 

Breakfast: Rolls

Lunch: Sandwiches with veggies

Dinner: Fish sticks, potatoes and a veggie

Dessert: Apple Strudel

And I thought I would leave you with this pic, it was also taken by the friend who did the maternity photos. I think it is just lovely. I plan to blow it up and frame it.

Make sure you stop by Orgjunkie for over 300 weekly meal plans from real folks. And leave me a link to yours, I love new meal ideas.

Meal Plan Monday- Dec 6th

This week is a special week my mom will arrive this weekend. :)

As usual weekday breakfasts are made up of yogurt, oatmeal, cereal and fruit in a random combination.

Lunches will be random odds and ends

Dinners:
Mon- Thur: Abendbrot

Friday-
Dinner: Past, Baguette and salad

Saturday:
Breakfast: Rolls we will be leaving early to get my mom
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Leberkase, rotkohl, and knödel

Sunday-
Breakfast: Eierkuchen
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Döner with french fries

Mon- Tue will be Abendbrot (I plan to pick that up this week since next Wednesday is pay day so I do not want to shop the week before then)

Next week these will get more interesting as we will have 3 adults eating all meals at home for 3 weeks, and then 2 adults for all meals an additional 2 weeks.

:)

I am so excited.

Meal plan monday

It's that time again. I am gonna be honest with you folks, over these next few weeks its gonna be a lot of quick and easy and convenience foods.  At 8 and a half months I just do not have the energy and motivation to cook standard recipes. :)

Mon: Bratkartoffeln and spinach taschen

Tue - Thursday will be abend brot.

Friday- Baked potatoes with chili and cheese

Saturday- Breakfast: omelets
                Lunch: Sandwiches
                Dinner: Pasta with a side salad and baguette (carry over)

Sunday: Breakfast: Rolls
              Lunch: Soup and Baguette
              Dinner- Sloppy Joes with french fries and peas (carry over)
              Dessert- I am thinking those apple pockets were pretty darn good


I will add the shopping list up in a few days. And hubby has been warned not to chuck the receipt this time lol.

Already on hand:
Potatoes
Chili- I got a can at lidl left over from mexican week
Shredded cheese
Frozen rolls
Frozen cold cuts and cheese
eggs
Soup
peas
tomato paste
hamburger buns
french fries
Past and sauce
Lettuce
Bell pepper
Baugette

Meal plan monday

It is that time again. I like to post what I actually end up spending, but my prenatal class is on Monday nights and now they added the prenatal acupuncture as of today so no chance to go shopping. So that will come in a second post this week and I will link it back to this one :)

So you already know Mon- Thursday: Abendbrot (I still have a post about this in the works check back)

Friday: Spaghetti with salad and baguette

Saturday:
Breakfast -Bratkartoffeln (didn't happen last weekend)
lunch- Soup w/ Baguette
dinner- Bacon cheese burgers with Baked potatoes

Sunday:
Breakfast - Eierkuchen (again carry over last weekend we did rolls instead)
Lunch - Sandwiches
Dinner- Gulasch with noodles and veggie
Dessert- TBD

I plan to shop at Netto again this week, they have the best deals especially on meats.

I forgot to mention, I discovered our Edeka no longer carries Macaroni & Cheese, I think a small piece of my soul died in that moment of discovery. :(

Afterthought: I realize some people may wonder about the lack of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not a celebrated holiday here it is a normal work day. I had not planned to cook as it is too much work at 8 and a half months pregnant. I did however make plans with another expat who is due just 2 days after m, to get together in December and cook a Thanksgiving meal (scaled down of course) together. Of course that will depend if either teenies decide to make any early appearances :P If so we may be having a very delayed Thanksgiving lol.

And make sure you stop by www.orgjunkie.com for hundreds of other meal ideas each week.

 Update: Mr. Lost in translation left my receipt in the grocery wagon and try as I might, I cannot reconstruct all prices my apologies. Our total food costs were about 50 euro this week.  In addition we spent a little extra on household items on sale like the aluminum padding for behind the heater and a bathroom mat :)

I told him if he throws it away again hes grounded :P

Meal plan (Wednesday)

Better late then never right. I am not even going to lie, my meal plans are all over the place. My habits my systems are mad at the moment, so do not rely on consistency here lol.

Mon- Jambalaya. A friend gave me a rice mix and I added nuremburgers and a can of kidney beans. It was really good and I would like to try making it from scratch since I cannot get the mixes here.

Tue- Mcdonalds. I wanted a 1955 burger and they were sold out, I will not lie I enjoyed the Big mac equally as much.

Wensday- Abendbrot

Thursday- Abendbrot

Friday- Linsen (lentil) soup over spatzle (fresh egg noodles)with mixed veggies and a baguette

Saturday- Breakfast: Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) with onion, egg, and cubed bacon
                Lunch: Sandwiches with veggies strips
                Dinner: Asian pepper pork with rice

Sunday- Breakfast: Eierkuchen (similar to a pancake)
               Lunch: Sandwiches and fruit
               Dinner: I am using a knorr style seasoning packet for a ground beef dish with mushrooms over
                pasta, with peas and rolls
               Cake: Apple taschen (apple pockets)

My total grocery costs were 41 euro. (Some items were already on hand)
Plus 13 Mcdonalds

Total: 54 Euro. Thats an average of 2,57 per meal (But keep in mind I have many items I keep stocked on sale in the pantry that keep our food costs down). Plus a few of these will last more then 1 week.

Groceries bought at Netto:
Produce:
Bell pepper (3 colored pack on sale for .66 cents x2)
Potatoes (5 kilo on sale for 1,49)
Cucumber (.89)
Lemons (.59)
Clementine oranges (1.19)

Dairy:
Milk (.50 x2)
Eggs (1.29)
Cheese (Butterkase 1.89) ( Kase Aufschnitt 1.19)
Spatzle (.89)
Yogurt 500g (1,19)
Noodle salad (.79)
Gruetze (1.25)

Meats:
Cubed pork (2.79)
small ham chunks (1.69) This is enough for 2 meals
tee wurst (on sale for .88)
Motadella slices (.69)
Puten salami ( on sale for .97)
Knackwurst (on sale for 1.49)
Smoked salmon (2,99)
Cheese filled sausages precooked (2,79)

Frozen:
Veggie mix (.49)
Appfeltaschen (1,49)

Breads:
Garlic Baugette (.39)
Weizenmischbrot (.99)
Toast bread (.45)

Canned:
Linsen soup (.69)
kidney beans (.29)

Snacks:
Chip mix (1.99)
snack mix (.99)
cookies  (.99)
chocolates (.79 x2)

Misc items:
shaving cream (1.15)
Oatmeal (.35)
Maxi pads (noname .55) For nachsorge

Note: I had the following items on hand-
Jamabalaya mix
can of kidney beans
Package of Nuremburger Sausages
Onions
Beef Bullion
Sugar
Cornstarch
Ground ginger
Soy sauce
Rice
Some eggs
flour
Ground beef
Beef seasoning packet
Noodles
Canned peas
rolls
Normal seasonings: Salt, pepper, and commonly used spices

Meal Plan monday

Not as exciting as they once were as we are only eating hot on the weekends at this point. Which is easier on both me and the pocketbooks so hey kill 2 birds with one stone.

So Mon- Thursday is abend brot. For those of you who are not familiar with the concept I will be doing a post on that.

Friday: Eggs and Potatoes in mustard sauce (German recipie)
Saturday:  Maccaroncini noodles with tomaten-sahne- sauce and rolls
Sunday: Bratwurst in bratsauce with potato salad and rohtkohl

So what's for dinner at your house?

Help help help, prebaby meal planning

Alright ladies, I am in need of your thoughts and inputs. You know I read all these lovely blogs about the ladies who cooked a months worth of meals before the baby came and oh what a different it made. And I would love to do the same, there is just one problem....

This is what I am working with. Now do not get me wrong. I am so blessed to have that additional beer cooler sized one. I was given that by my friend Diane when she moved back to the States and it is a lifesaver. Eventually we will get a kombi and I hope someday a standing freezer but this is what I got for now. I left the food inside so you can have a visual idea of what I have.

I am trying to figure out how best to utilize this space post baby. So here was my ideas and I want your feedback and ideas please please please.

So lets start with the mini cooler. That top areas is deeper so I was thinking of pre-making 9 full meals. Now keep in mind on Mon-Thursday we eat abend brot, which is like a cold cut buffet. I do like to buy meats in advance and freeze to save money, but I am willing to take a break on that and just buy as we need for a few weeks. So 9 meals would be 3 weeks worth of hot meals. I am thinking a few casseroles and maybe some items like burritos that could be sandwiched in the sides and tertrised in. Do you think that would fit in that top section? Of course assuming the thing is empty.


Then I figure in the lower bit I will keep some frozen siode4 dishes like veggies, and you know even some cold cuts and cheeses would likely fit there as well. I am not envisioning the big bags of veggies, thjose are cheaper buit the small square ones would fit better here.

What do you think? Doable?

Ok that said, what recipies do you have that freeze easy?

Now for the second freezer that thin flat one from my fridge. Not sure what to do here. Now I could stock it with convenience foods, say fish filets, pizzas maybe a bag of french fries (though those take up quiet a bit of room and could easily be picked up at the store cheap at anytime.

Any Ideas? I do not really want to waste the space on things like raw meat that requires full preperation and items like french fries and bread seem a waste because they are so cheap here even when not on sale. So I am thinking maybe pack that full of frozen foods that just need warmed. As well as meats and cheese colödcuts as they come on sale,. which is nromally where I save money.

Is 3 weeks food reasonable. That would still require trips to the store for last minute items breads or frozen odds and ends that don't fit as well as produce and fruits, the things that do not stay fresh as long here. But I think Daddy could handle a small list, or who knows maybe I will want to get out and walk to the store.

Would this make a big difference in my post birth time?

I also failed to mention I am giving birth in the holiday season so I will have to make a Christmas dinner (not a fancy one just something special), as well as 2 hot meals when the in laws come to visit for new years. So maybe I could make something in advance and freeze it, I dunno. For so many people I think it might waste a lot of space. Maybe I will just do easy meals like spaghetti and meat sauce that I can make in a short amount of time rather then eating my freezer space.Well X mas will be just mom hubby and me so I could do like a baked penne in a dish and freeze that would make life easier I think then just make a salad and add bread.

Or maybe I shoudl make my 10 meals, then tetris it in and see what room is left. If I freeze now would it be good in January? How do I properly wrap things like a csserole to freeze and stack? Hell what shoudl I make that freezes easily??


Help my head is in circles. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Meal plan October 1- 14th

Alright next meal plan. This one is going to be a bit shorter as we plan to travel one weekend, so there will be 3 less dinners and 4 less breakfasts and lunches.

Dinners:

1. Mexican Lasagna served with mex rice and corn

2. Bourbon chicken served with fried rice and pan fried potatoes

3. Cold Sandwiches served with fruit and veggie strips

4. Chinese pepper pork served with rice **** post recipe and link back

5. Philly cheesesteak served with fruit and veggie strips

6. Currywursts served with rolls and steamed veggie

7. Garlic Parmesan egg noodles served with salad and Baguette

8. Meatloaf served with potatoes and Asparagus

9. Southwest chicken casserole 

10. Cold sandwiches served with fruit and veggie strips

11. Tortellini served with baguette. 

Lunches: (all served with fruit and veggie strips)

2x asian noodles

4x sandwich

2x rice

1x soup

Breakfast: (served with toast or fruit)

3x oatmeal with toppings

3x yogurt

2x cereal

1x hot rolls

1x eggs Benedict

So what's for dinner at your house?

Meal Plan Monday- September 15th through 30th

Alright here it is the plan for the first half of the month for us, I know funny right, but our month runs 15th-14th. Don't ask. :)

Dinners:

1. Chili Cheese Potato Casserole served with corn and dinner rolls

2. Spaghetti with Chicken Parmesan served with dinner rolls and salad

3. Cold Sandwiches served with fruit and veggie stripes

4. Honey Glazed Pork chops served with rice and steamed Broccoli

5. Panini Sandwiches served with fruit and veggie stripes

6. Home made Canadian Bacon and Pineapple pizza served with salad

7. Refried bean tortillas with homemade refried beans served with mexican rice

8. Stroganoff meatballs served with mashed potatoes and steamed veggie mix **Recipe in upcoming post

9. Paprika chicken served with rice and a Baguette 

10. Cold Sandwiches served with fruit and veggies stripes

11. Chinese sweet and sour pork served with rice

12. BLT served with fruit and veggie stripes

13. Steakpfanne served with rice

14. Black bean burgers served with cole slaw

15. Fish filets, potatoes with quark and carrots

Lunches: (all served with fruit and veggie stripes)

2x Asian noodle soup ** recipe in an upcoming post

6x Sandwiches

2x salad

2x rice mix

2x soup

1x left overs

Breakfasts: (served with toast or fruit)

4x oatmeal with topping

4x yogurt

3x cereal

2x hot rolls

1x cowboy hash

1x pancake, bacon, and eggs.

What's for dinner at your house?

Check out more meal plans over at orgjunkie