Linus Project - April, May and June contributions

I can scarce believe I have let months go by without blogging about my Linus Project contributions.  Lots of personal issues have kept me fairly busy, but I have managed to keep up with completing each month's blanket on time....just not the blogging portion.

So, here are April, May and June's contributions.

April's is completely recycled.  The fabric is left-over from other projects.  The top is a lime green floral pattern with large flowers and squiggly vines in pink, orange and yellow.  The back is a soft yellow thin fleece.

Total Cost:  $0
Total Hours:  3

May's contribution is another completely recycled blanket.  the top piece is a thin plaid fleece that I salvaged from being thrown out..  I cut off the frayed and dirty edges and was able to save a piece large enough for a kid sized blanket.  The back piece is a black cotton left over from another project.

Total Cost:  $0
Total Hours:  3

June's contribution took a while to complete.  My mom is always on the lookout for crafting materials for me, and somewhere, she had found a small collection of blues / greys / greens that I have had for a while and not sure what to do with them.  The other colors were left-overs from a Shabby Chic project a couple years ago.  I started making granny squares that eventually morphed into June's crocheted contribution.  The only thing I had to purchase were two skeins of black yarn to tie this blanket together.  This ended up being the largest blanket in my donations because I just kept adding squares.  My daughters keep trying to steal it.  At Whitney's insistence, I kept the decorative yellow
lacey edging.


Total Cost:  $6
Total Hours:  30

Leftover Lunch - Taco Soup

Today's Leftover Lunch is one of my favorite and a standard in our home.  Living in Texas means lots of Mexican or Tex-Mex food.  Chili is big.

There are several ways to make "leftover lunch" really work for your family.

What I have done for years is to use a 3 cup plastic container and just add the leftover ingredients until the bowl is full.  Keep in the freezer.  Because food in a plastic bowl in the freezer will not come out easily, I normally rinse off the bowl and then invert into whatever pan or crockpot I'm using and pour 1 cup very hot water of it.  The water will become part of the stock.  Keep sandwich size zip bags of corn chips in the freezer, too.

In my pot today are the leftover parts of:

chili
black beans
corn
hamburger patty
ground sausage
pinto beans
chopped onion, bell pepper and tomato

My bowl of ingredients were not frozen, so this is how I started.  If you start with frozen ingredients, skip the sautee part.

In a 3 qt saucepan, sautee 1/2 chopped onion / bell pepper in 2 Tab oil.

Lower heat and add the leftover ingredients and 2 to 3 cups water.  If you do not have tomato, you can add pico, salsa or even 1/2 cup ketchup.  Simmer on medium for 30 minutes.  If cooking in a crockpot, turn on low for about 3 hours.

When the mixture has cooked together, reduce heat and add 1 cup crushed corn chips (the ones at the bottom of the bag).  Allow the mixture to simmer until the corn chips dissolve and become part of the broth.

Leftover Lunch - Creamy Chicken Casserole

Creamy Chicken Casserole

1/2 - 1 cup cooked and deboned chicken, chopped
1/2 can stewed, diced tomatoes
2 cups shredded vegetables (I use broccoli slaw)
1/4 cup chopped onion or 2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup mango sauce (I bought mine from HEB)
Salt, pepper to taste
Enough water to cover

If you have enough ingredients on hand to double this recipe, you can double and then divide for 2 different recipes.

Combine all ingredients in a 3qt saucepan.  Add enough water to cover.  On low heat, simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add additional water if needed.  The mixture should be moist, but not watery when cooked down.

At this point, add either 1 cup dry pasta or 1 cup instant rice to the mixture.  Add 1 can tomato paste, 1 cup water and 1/4 cup half/half.  Stir well.  Simmer on low, covered until rice/pasta are cooked.  You can also put in a crockpot if desired.

The idea behind leftover lunch is to use as many leftover items in your fridge as possible.  Food prices continue to rise, so what I actually get to bring home gets smaller and smaller. I think often to the Great Depression and Relief Gardens which became known also as Victory Gardens at the onset of WW2.  Many smaller communities are seeing a rise in community gardens in the last few years.  Living in an apartment in a part of town without a community garden, I have to be creative to stretch my food budget.

Extreme coupon-ing and shopping sales may work for many families.  Even joining a wholesale club could be beneficial.  I've looked into all these options.  Utilizing part coupons and part sales, I also had to develop techniques and recipes to use every bit of food purchased to keep my costs in line.

When I can purchase chicken for $1 a pound, for instance, I buy quite a bit of it and portion it in zip bags.  Each portioned bag contains enough chicken for 2 -3 meals.  When I cook, I prep as many meals at the same time to cut down on the time I am actually in the kitchen.

Recently, I created menu lists for my oldest daughter who was leaving the nest.  When I asked her how I could help her with recipes, etc, she asked for directions on my cooking many things at the same time.  This recipe was on the chicken page.