Guess #whatsfordinner tonight 7/25/2016 #food

When the temps start getting as high as they have been we will do anything possible to keep the heat out of the house.

Recently we discovered grilled foil packets because they don’t heat up the house. As it turns out the whole family loves them, and there is NO MESS (that is the best part, really).

There really isn’t much to them– they are so easy to do! You just throw all the food in, fold it up and put it over a grill, a campfire, or even in the oven

Tonight we tried a

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A week in review – #recipes in our #menu

It was hot this week, really hot. I am so glad we have been focusing on our “Summer Electric Plan.” We had one oven baked dish this week. All the other dishes fell within the cooking methods the meet our “Summer Electric Plan” methods. (No Cook, Grilled, Slow Cooker, Microwave, Quick Stove Top)

Unfortunately, we had a really crazy weekend and had to skip grilling. The good news is, the meat we were going to use is in the freezer. So no worries. We can grill this week or next.

Menu for Week Starting 7/25/2016

Normally, the weekends are ‘fluid’ and we don’t really have menus planned this past week though we did. Well that backfired a little. This past week we ended up with a really busy weekend. We have friends who are moving (sadness) and helped them pack up. As a result a couple of our menu items have been shifted around from what was originally planned for.

We had planned to ‘bulk’ grill Friday night and carry several of those items forward during the week. We will instead be doing the grilling Monday evening. As a result we shifted the meal we had planned for last Friday to Monday. That is why you won’t see any items for those dishes in the shopping list below.

Here is what we have to look forward too:

Guess #whatsfordinner tonight 7/21/2016 #food

Well it looks like summer is in full swing here. Again today we were hit with another critical alert from our electric company. Another 42 cent/kwh rate day.

That is exactly why we started really looking hard for good crock pot meals. Tonight’s has moved into the realm of a family favorite. In fact, Jaque said that when our son came into the kitchen and smelled it cooking he said something like “oh good, I love that chili”. Well we don’t call it that but it is just as good as a bowl of chili. What we had was 

Guess #whatsfordinner tonight 7/20/2016 its #food

Last night we mentioned we got a ‘critical alert’ from our ‘Smart Hours’ thermostat. Between the hours of 2 and 7 p.m. we were told the electric rate for this evening would be 42 cents per kwh.

That is why we adjusted our menu so that we could prep a delicious meal using a crock pot. The great thing about cooking in a slow cooker or crock pot is that most of the cooking is done well before the higher rates start. Once they do start, a crock pot only used a tiny bit of electricity and generates very little heat, at least when compared to an oven.

Guess #whatsfordinner tonight 7/19/2016 its #food

 

That doesn’t look much like Black Bean Soup with Rice. Your right.

We’ve mentioned before that we participate in our electric companies ‘Smart Hours’ program. Between the hours of 2 and 7 p.m. the adjust their rates based on demand. This evening that rate was  18 cents per kwh. If they predict what they call a ‘critical’ rate they notify us in advance. Tonight they predicted the rate for tomorrow to be 42 cents per kwh 

Guess #whatsfordinner tonight 7/18/2016 its #food

Tonight we had probably one of the easiest recipes ever.

If you like Taco Bell you will really like these.

Tonight we had a copycat version of a Taco Bell classic Mexican Pizza.

It really turned out great.

Could be a new family favorite.

Guess #whatsfordinner tonight 7/17/2016 its #food

So this evening we tried a couple of new recipes.

Unfortunately, we thought the servings would be a little bigger than they turned out to be. In reality they both made great side dishes.

Originally we thought we would make sandwiches to put with them but instead we stopped and picked up some chicken tenders. They were a better match for the 

Menu for Week Starting 7/17/2016

This week we have a full week of dinner menus. Normally, the weekends are ‘fluid’ and we don’t really have anything planned. That means we usually end up eating out at least one meal. Usually Sunday.

Well this week summer is forecast to be hitting hard and that means the A/C will be running full tilt. So we need to start planning now for that huge electric bill that will be coming shortly.

So this week we have several new crock pot (or slow cooker) meals at the beginning of the week and we will end the week by grilling, in fact we will be ‘batch’ grilling the meat for several meals for the weekend and next week come Friday.

Here is what we have to look forward too:

A week in review – #recipes in our #menu

This week we again deviated just a little from our “Summer Electric Plan.” We found a great deal on a ham this week. Even though it does require using the oven to prep it the first day we were able to use it for several dishes later in the week. Some things are just worth it. Ham is one of those things

Besides that we were able to make up for it with several ‘no cook’, microwave, and  crock pot dishes during the week.

What is nice is that we are finding that even though we are using these alternate cooking methods we aren’t really having to sacrifice flavor. All of the dishes we had this week were delicious.