Cheesy Baked Penne

This recipe is super quick to put together and have on the table in less than an hour.  It would also be a good recipe to take half and freeze for another night!

Ingredients
1 box of Penne noodles (16 oz)
1 jar of Alfredo sauce (10 oz)
1 container of Ricotta cheese (15 oz)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup freshly cut parsley (you can sub dried parsley)
1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
1.  Cook Penne according to package directions and drain.
2.  Combine Penne and Alfredo sauce.
3.  In a separate bowl, combine Ricotta, eggs, Parmesan, and parsley.
4.  Spray a 9x13 dish with non-stick spray.
5.  Put half of the Penne in the dish then top with Ricotta mixture, put remaining Penne on top.
6.  Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
7.  Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

Note - if you are going to freeze, before baking cover with foil and freeze.  To cook, thaw completely and then bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Eat From The Pantry - Week 4 THE END!

Overall I consider my family's experiment a great success! We had a nasty stomach bug in the house earlier this week which helped tremendously with us having to eat at home. Here is what we ate this week:

Sunday 1/24 - 4 points

Meatloaf (turkey, beef from freezer, seasoning from pantry)

Mashed potatoes from pantry

Monday - 0 points

Ham

Leftover potatoes

Tuesday - 0 points

Ate out for my 4 Year Old's Birthday

Wednesday - 0 points

Leftovers

Thursday - 1 point

Canitas Burritos (meat from freezer)

Friday - 3 points

Pancakes from pantry

Sausage from freezer

Bacon from freezer

Saturday - 0 points

Dinner @ my sister's house

So this week we only ate out once! This makes up for the 3 times last week.

Groceries for the Week - $3.34

Aldi's - $3.34 for Milk!

Groceries for the Month - $154.06!!

Week 1 - $17.28

Week 2 - $106.38

Week 3 - $27.06

Week 4 - $3.34

My nomal budget is $65 per week, so for these 4 weeks I am $105.95 UNDER!!!!

I am so excited. I plan to keep my rules up of only eating out 2 times per week and trying to keep my groceries under $65 a week, since I know I can do it!

Eat From the Pantry - Week 3 Results

Ok - so this week was good until early this morning. We were suppose to have my son's 4th birthday party today in which I was making Lasagna, but a stomach bug struck the house in the wee hours of the morning, first me, then the baby and now my 4 year old. Needless to say we had to get takeout tonight!!

Sunday 1/17:

Dinner @ In-laws

Monday 1/18:

Dinner out

Tuesday 1/19: - 2 points

Breaded pork chops - 1 point for breading from pantry

Mac & Cheese - 1 point from pantry

Wednesday 1/20: - 2 points

Homemade pizza from pantry - 2 points for dough & sauce

Thursday 1/21: - 1 point

Jumbalaya - 1 point mix from pantry

Friday 1/22:

Dinner Out

Saturday 1/23:

Take out!

Groceries for the Week - $27.06 (goal is $20)

1/18 Aldi's - $5.07

1/20 Marc's - $21.99

Groceries for the Month - $150.72

Week 1 - $17.28

Week 2 - $106.38 (Big Meat Sale-could not pass up!)

Week 3 - $27.06

Normally I alot $65 per week for groceries so thus far we are still $44.28 UNDER Budget!! One week to go.....

Eat From The Pantry - Week 2 Results

OKay - so this week we did GREAT eating at home, but not so great at the grocery store. There was an awesome BOGO meat sale at Giant Eagle that I could not pass up since we were in desperate need of meat. I got BOGO roasts, pork roasts, pork chops, ground turkey, and more... I think we have enough meat for about 3 months!

Sunday 1/10:

Breakfast - pancakes

Lunch - leftovers

Dinner - Ate Out

Monday 1/11:

Breakfast - cereal

Lunch - leftovers

Dinner - 1 point

-Chicken & Rice Soup from Freezer - 1 point

-Crescent Rolls

Tuesday 1/12:

Breakfast - cereal

Lunch - leftovers

Dinner - 2 points

-Stuffed Pork Roast with stuffing from pantry - 1 point

-Mashed Potatoes

-Gravy packet from pantry - 1 point

Wednesday 1/13:

Breakfast - pancakes
Lunch - pb&J
Dinner - 2 points
- Roast
- Freezer Mashed Potatoes - 1 point
-Gravey Packet from pantry - 1 point


Thursday 1/14:
Breakfast - cereal & bananas
Lunch - leftovers
Dinner - 0 points
-Steak fajitas

Friday 1/15:
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - leftovers
Dinner - Brought Panera Home

Saturday 1/16:
Breakfast - waffles
Lunch - turkey sandwhiches
Dinner - I ate at a baby Shower, the boys ate leftovers.


Only 5 total points for dinner, sad but we only ate out twice which is our goal!



Money Spent on Groceries - $106.38 (goal is $20)


1/10 Aldi's - $3.38
1/12 Giant Eagle - $103

Groceries for the month = $123.66
Week 1 - $17.28
Week 2 - $106.38

Eat From The Pantry - Week 1 Results

So every week, I will be reporting my results of my 4 week challenge. I also am awarding points for my dinners. For each item I use out of my freezer or pantry for dinner I get one point. Each dinner will have a total number of points and a total amount of points earned for the week. My guidelines that I am following are posted here. Please keep in mind that my husband and I both work full-time and we have 2 children ages 4 & 1, our life is a bit hectic!

On the upside, I am really proud of my family this week. We exceeded our goals by only eating out once and staying under the $20 grocery budget. I am amazed and my pantry and freezer are already looking more barren. Now I am a bit low on meat and I know Giant Eagle is having a BOGO meat sale, so we will see how I do on the grocery budget next week. All in all Week One was a SUCCESS!!!

Sunday 11/3:

Breakfast - Cereal

Lunch - Leftovers

Dinner - 3 points

-Turkey Roast from Freezer - 1 point

-Mashed Potatoes

-Gravy packet from pantry - 1 point

-Corn from pantry - 1 point

Monday 11/4:

Breakfast - Cereal & bananas

Lunch - Salads from home

Dinner - 3 points

Beef Stew:

-meat & carrots from freezer - 2 points

-seasoning packet from pantry - 1 point

Biscuits

Tuesday 11/5:

Breakfast - cereal & bananas
Lunch - salad from home
Dinner - 3 points
Sloppy Joes:
-Meat from freezer - 1 point
-Seasoning packet from pantry - 1 point
-Scallopped potatoes from pantry - 1 point

Wednesday 11/6:
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - leftovers
Dinner - 2 points
-Pancakes from mix in pantry - 1 point
-Sausage links from freezer - 1 point

Thursday 11/7:
Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - lunch out
Dinner - 2 points
-Spaghetti from the pantry - 1 point
-Sauce from the pantry - 1 point


Friday 11/8:
Breakfast - Waffles
Lunch - leftover spaghetti
Dinner - 3 points
Homemade pizzas!
-Crust from pantry - 1 point
-Sauce from pantry - 1 point
-Breadsticks from freezer - 1 point


Saturday 11/9:
Breakfast - pancakes
Lunch - PB & J sandwhiches
Dinner - dinner out


So total points for the week - 16!!


Total Spent on Grocery Shopping Trips - $17.28 (goal $20):
1/3 Marc's - $5.05
1/7 Aldi's - $$12.23


YEAH!!!! I feel like we conquered the world especially when I think of ALL the $$$ we saved!!

On to Week 2!

Eat From The Pantry - The Pantry!

So our challenge began on Sunday, January 3rd! I decided to take stock in my pantry and here is how is looked before we began...

Pretty full huh? Well I started digging and look what I found...

Yep - 9 BOXES OF BETTY CROCKER POTATOES!!! I did not realize I had some in the back of my pantry and I went a little crazy when Target had them on sale for $0.79 plus I had $0.35 coupons. I mean what kind of bargain hunter would pass up a side dish for $0.44?? Not me!! We'll see if we can eat at least a box a week.

Stay tuned, I will update our progress at week end but thus far we have had a successful week!

Eat From the Pantry Challenge - My Goals and Guidelines

So I told my husband about this challenge about eating from the pantry the month of January, and as usual he rolled his eyes and laughed. But instead of laughing with him, I am moving forward with this challenge. I am looking for new and challenging ways to save money in 2010 since I have some pretty adventurous goals (I'll be sharing those soon), so lets start the year off with a bang!!

My pantry is very abundant since I have snagged a lot of great deals lately. So to complete this challenge, my guidelines are posted below:

1. Spend no more than $20 per week on fresh items that are needed, such as milk, eggs, yogurt, fruits, veggies, and meat!

2. Eat at home at least 5 nights per week and use at least 1 item from the pantry at every dinner!

3. Pack my lunch for work at least 4 out of the 5 days (hopefully with leftovers)!

4. I cuurently have a grocery budget of $65 per week, so the extra $180+ dollars will go directly to the principal on my car (one of my goals of 2010 is to pay it off)!

5. My weeks run from Sun - Sat, so my challenge will start on 1/3/10 and end on 1/30/10!

Hubby, I hope you are ready because on January 3 we are starting!!!