Won Tons

So I got wonton wrappers for super cheap at a really cool grocery store I had never been to before Saturday. It is called Blue Goose Market in Saint Charles. The rest of the day Saturday I spent looking up ways to fill the wonton wrappers.  I was making pork chops for dinner so  I decided while the pork chops were baking, I would cut up the 3 extra pork chops into a tiny dice and marinate them in a sort of teriyaki sauce.
So i chopped up some garlic and fresh ginger. added it to some soy sauce, honey and rice vinegar. I threw in a chopped green onion and tasted it... totally missing something. BROWN SUGAR! so added a few spoonfuls of brown sugar and it was perfect. I put the marinade and pork in ziplock baggy and put it in the fridge for Sunday.  Sunday I just filled the wontons (which by the way I made 25 of the pork ones...) and fried them up - It was DELICIOUS! I fried up 2 wonton wrappers in the shape of a bow cause fried wontons are delicious all on their own. And i made a taste test for us... 3 wontons filled with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese. when those came out of the oil i sprinkled some romano cheese on them - YUM-O!
Now I have 30 wonton wrappers left and I'm trying to come up with some other ideas... I think i will try to baked up some dessert type ones... banana and cream cheese? mmm Maybe an apple and caramel? Any ideas? These wrappers were so inexpensive I'm thinking it will be a monthly staple!
Til later...

November

I haven't done a whole lot of grocery shopping in a while... but this month I decided it would be silly to pass up all the great deals I was seeing and so now we have a stocked freezer and I'm slowly nipping away at my list of things I need to prepare a "Thanksgiving" meal. I've officially run out of room in my freezer. Its packed. Probably more than is recommended! unless we eat a substantial amount of food in the next week or two, I will be buying a turkey last minute and letting it hang in the fridge to defrost... maybe that is the way to go anyway... I mean is there really a possibility of running into the problem of not being able to get a turkey? More likely they'll be cheaper the closer we get to the day right?? right?!

so my shopping this week for the month included:
Cermak's=
5lb bag of potatoes $0.99, 3lb bag of onions $0.59, 2-25ft aluminum foil $0.99ea, 2 -whole chickens (approx 7lbs total) $3.29, approx 8lbs of chicken breasts ($1.39/lb) $10.67, approx 3lbs pork chops ($0.99/lb) $3.13, 2 racks of spare ribs approx 3lbs each ($0.99/lb) $5.58, top sirloin steaks approx 2lbs ($1.99/lb) $4.12 = TOTAL $31.01

ALDI=
chicken nuggets (32oz) $3.99, 3 biscuits $1.14, 2 5lb bags of flour $2.78, 1 5lb bag of sugar $2.22, 2 silicone baking mats $11.98, 2 Red sugar sprinkles $1.58, 3 baking spices (nutmeg, pumkpin pie spice, allspice) $2.97 = TOTAL $27.84

Caputo's=
pizza bread $1.99, 5 frozen banquet meals ($0.99ea) $4.95, 2 Frozen French cut green beans $2, 3 Frozen Corn $3, 1 gal milk $1.99, 1 OJ $2.79, 32 oz chicken stock $1.99, 3lb boneless pork roast $4.26, 4 new york strip steaks ($2.99/lb) $9.54, 1 white onion $0.36, 1 sweet potato $0.39, 1 green onion $0.40, 3 heads of garlic $0.74, 1 red onion $0.48, 3 tomatoes $0.74, 2 bunches of broccoli $0.70, 2 orange peppers $0.62, 2 red peppers $0.48, 3 large artichokes $1, 1 eggplant $1.50, 3 bananas $0.44, 1 red cabbage $2.02, 1 loaf of wonder white bread $0.99, 1 pkg potato gnocchi $0.99 = TOTAL $45.14

I also hit up Meijer, and of course I'm missing my receipt. But I spent $65 there on pop, dog food, baby food, fabric softener and a bunch of miscellaneous crap i didnt NEED, jello, cake mix, oreos and nutter butters for truffles I'm making,  etc. (I saved $21 does that count for anything?)
Overall I feel good about spending $169... this is enough food for a month plus some, and a lot of things I needed for Thanksgiving. I don't think I'll be doing any major grocery shopping until January so that isn't bad at all!

Last night, I made myself red cabbage, after long battles with myself on which recipe to go with I made a decision:
1/2 stick butter
1 med onion sliced
1 head cabbage (a lil less really), shredded
1 unpeeled apple sliced
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
salt and pepper

Personally I think it could have used a lil more vinegar, but it turned out delicious and it is sooo much! I'm gonna be eating it all week! I may just turn into a red cabbage!
We also had the NY strip steaks (well 2 of them) for dinner, mostly because they weren't frozen, and well, uh, they would not fit in the freezer in the package! I cooked them, uhhhhh, welllllll - you see I haven't cooked steak in a very long time, and i had no idea how long to cook them, and I looked it up online and of course I was impatient at not finding any help at all, i wasn't going to break out the stupid meat thermometer for a steak- so i went with 5 min on each side because there is nothing worse than a over cooked steak! Mine was a lil thinner and was cooked PERFECTLY! Mike's was a lil thicker and was still mooing a little in the center... don't get me wrong that is how i prefer to eat my meat so in reality it was probably cooked perfectly but i felt bad since I never thought of that to be Mike's favorite temp of meat, I offered to trade OF COURSE, but he really seemed to enjoy the meat still mooing... at least it was warmed through!
Ok I'm done rambling for now, but I may actually post more this month since I have real food to make real recipes!

a month...

It has been a month since I posted anything. I haven't really shopped or planned in a couple months. I haven't really even tried any new recipes. I've been very lazy, but I'm starting to get back into planning, etc. Last night I made burgers, but not just any burgers. Stuffed hamburgers.
Ground Beef, seasoned with salt and pepper made into 8 equal patties. patty + a slice of mozzarella, a slice of tomato, a slice of mozzarella again, and top it off with another patty. seal it up really good and season the outside of the burger with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. cook approximately 5 min on each side (makes 4). it was a quick cheap and yummy meal. we had some store bought onion rings with it.

I ordered a box of food from angel food ministries this month - a trial if you will. I pick it up on Saturday. For us, one of their boxes will probably stretch about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks. for $30 that isn't bad. after we decide if we like it, we'll see about ordering it again in November... possibly two boxes. The pick up date for the month is so late i should be calling it December, 'cause that is when we will be eating it, but for now I will try not to confuse myself or anyone else.

Two weeks ago I made a "fake" chocolate pie. chocolate pudding in a jiffy pie shell with cookies n cream... uh well cream, on top. Last week I made cinnamon rolls. They didn't turn out great, but still good. (of course I made some sans cinnamon for you know who...) This week I made a box chocolate cake with homemade raspberry syrup on it/in it (I had to do something with the raspberries we picked!). Its good but sticky, but good. It will be breakfast for me for the week.
Yesterday I also made homemade applesauce, mostly to give to Keira, but I will definitely be enjoying it too. I still have a ton of apples and need to find something to do with them before they go bad. I would try my hand at an apple pie, but i would be the only one eating it, and a.) i don't want to more of a cow than I already am, and b.) it would end up going bad before I could consume it all, that is of course, assuming I don't eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dessert with dinner. (Don't put me past it... I've done crazier things)

That's all for now as Keira is trying to help me type!