$10 Maggianos Coupon

Sign up for the Maggiano's email list, and get a coupon for $10 off your next visit! Be thrifty about your dinner selections, and this could make for a moderately-priced date night!

Late night freezer cooking

So this is 2 days late, thanks to parent-teacher conferences yesterday and doing my freezer-bake at 10 PM the night before. **Disclaimer: I do NOT recommending 10 PM freezer-bake sessions! You'll see why in the rest of my post.

Last week, I stopped by Meijer after my grad class since it's close, and they clearance their produce that day. I picked up a bag of 12 Cubanelle peppers for $2, and my Mom (and my cooking muse) sent me my Aunt Marcia's recipe for stuffed peppers.

So, in looking at the recipe, it calls for 12 peppers. So, awesome! I have everything I need to double the recipe, so we'll go ahead and double the recipe and freeze the rest, right?.... Needless to say, I failed to notice that the recipe was for stuffing green peppers, and that my Cubanelle peppers were MUCH smaller than a regular green pepper.

So I went ahead and stuffed the 12 peppers I had:

You sprinkle cheese on them towards the end of the baking process...mmm, cheese! These were absolutely delicious! We had them last night, and the leftovers were packed in my lunch today by my wonderful hubby!

And yet, I still wound up with twice as much stuffing as I needed! So, decided to be creative, and had some frozen bell pepper strips from a previous clearanced produce purchase. I diced up a couple of peppers-worth, mixed it in, and decided to make...

"Stuffed Pepper" Casserole! (Are we noticing a cheese affinity in my cooking?)

Just as a note, freezing casseroles has really helped in making drastic strides in reducing our grocery budget. I've gotten a lot better about cooking from our pantry as much as possible. Once every week or two, I take an hour (or two) to destroy my kitchen. For just the two of us, being able to take a regular recipe and split it into smaller casserole dishes, or to double a recipe and freeze several pans takes away that excuse of not wanting to cook when I get home after my hour-long drive home from school.

Since the hubby gets home before me, I write baking instructions on the foil, and he can put the casserole in the oven timed to be ready when I get home! And honestly, ladies, isn't it wonderful to have dinner waiting for us when we get home? :-D

Heads up for all you "Canners"!

The Meijer stores in our area have clearanced out a lot of their canning supplies, and if you plan to have a garden or will be visiting a u-pick farm this summer, this would be a great time to snag some supplies!

Our store had the Original and Sugar-Free Pectin for $0.75 each (half off!), and all of their pickle mixes and spices were marked to half off as well ($1.29 each for the pickle mix). We made bread n' butter pickles last summer with some cucumbers we were given, and I hope to plant cucumbers in my own garden this summer. Nothing tops off an awesome sandwich like a dill pickle spear on the side. I remember growing up, and splitting one of those HUGE dill pickles (the ones in the big jar) with my Dad.

Hopefully your Meijer is doing the same!

Giveaway at Just 1 Step- The Daniadown Sherpini Throw

My friend Kara over at Just 1 Step is giving away a Daniadown Sherpini Throw! She's giving away multiple entries for sharing her link!

Head over and check out her blog and giveaway!

Mmm...Ribs!

So I misread the label on what I thought was a pork loin. I wound up with Ribs! Needless to say, no objection to the mishap from the hubby, who I think was more excited at the prospect of ribs than to the pork loin!

Pork Ribs with Molasses-Mustard Sauce Had to do a little searching, but Pillsbury.com had the perfect recipe, and I had the rest of the ingredients in the pantry!

I would have taken a picture, but I couldn't find the camera, and they didn't last long enough to find it! Verdict: This recipe is a keeper!

Snow day shopping trip!

Hubby was in need of a prescription refill, and since a lot of the markdowns happen around here on Tuesday, I went ahead and took care of the grocery shopping! Lots of really good deals this week!


Made a stop at Meijer first, hoping to catch the markdowns:

Pork loin: marked down to $6.00
10 green peppers discounted to $3.73
24-packs of Coke Zero and Diet Mountain Dew (not in the picture): 2 for $10
Bob Evans sausage: marked down to @$2.23, plus a .50 coupon (doubled to $1) = $1.23
Blueberry doughnut holes: marked down to $1.97 (hoping for another snow day so I can have a spiffy breakfast with the Hubby!)
Green giant frozen veggies: $1.00 each, plus 4 $.50-off coupons = free!

Non-coupon savings: $11.23
Coupon savings: $5.00
Total savings: $16.23
Total spent: $23.58



Kroger was the big score of the evening!
Stuff in the Mega-event:
2 Tidy cats litter: 1.99, plus 2 $1-off coupons = .99 (.49 each with ME)
All laundry detergent: 3.49, plus $1 coupon = $2.49 (1.99 with ME)
2 bottles of Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo: $3.00 plus 2 $1 coupons = $2 each (1.50 with ME)
4 bags of Chex Mix: 1.99 each, plus 2 .50/2 (doubled) coupons = $1.49 each (.99 with ME)
2 Finish dish packs: $3.49, plus a $2.25 off and a $1 off coupon = $1.86 each (1.36 with ME)
Advil congestion: $4.49, plus $2 coupon = $2.49 (1.99 with ME)
3 Kraft Cheese singles: $1.99, plus 3 $1 coupons = .99 (.49 with ME)
4 Philly Cream Cheese: $1.48 plus 2 $1/2 coupons = .99 (.49 with ME)
Uncle Ben's Brown Rice: $1.49 plus .75 (doubled to $1) coupon = .49 (free with ME)
Beggin Strips: $2.99 plus $1 coupon = $1.99 (1.49 with ME)
ICBINB tub: $1.79 plus .60 (doubled to $1) coupon = .79 (.29 with ME)
Non-event deals:
5 boxes of Kelloggs Special K: $3.24 each, stacked with 4 B1G1 coupons = .64 each
8 pork chops: marked down to $7.23
3 packages of Perdue ground chicken: marked down to $1.09 each
2 jars of Ragu: $1.93 each, with .50/2 coupon (doubled) plus a $1/2 e-coupon = .93 each
2 Activia 4-packs: 1.88 each plus 2 $1 coupons = .88 each
Gallon of milk: $2.55, plus coupon for free gallon with $100 purchase = free!
Frigo string cheese: $5.49 plus $.55 (doubled to $1) coupon = $4.49
Ham: $3.99 plus .55 (doubled to $1) = $2.99
Loofa: $1 (ours is falling apart!)
4 Butterfinger candies: 2/$1, plus $1/2 coupons = free!
Yoplait yogurt cup: .60 plus FREE coupon = free!


Coupon savings: $45.76
Store coupon & Kroger plus savings: 41.93
Total savings: $87.69
Total spent: $66.80 (57% savings)

And as I was writing the blog post, I got the email cancellation of school tomorrow! Looks like I'll get to make that pork loin into something tasty!

Thrifty game-day snack

I'm a little disappointed today that the Cincinnati Bengals will be blacked out in my area today, but I'm having a game-day lunch anyway! Here is my recipe for Bagel or English Muffin pizzas! In my house, we usually wind up with 2-3 halves per person, so my recipe equivalents will be a little vague.


English muffins or bagels (plain or cheese work best), halved
Tomato sauce
Shredded cheese (your choice!)
Assorted toppings (pepperoni, cooked sausage, mushrooms, etc)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Lay english muffin or bagel halves on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Spread 1-2 spoonfuls of sauce on bagel/muffin halves (my note: if using bagels, it works to lay a pepperoni over the hole in the bagel to keep your toppings from falling through. Put the pepperoni down before the sauce to prevent messes!)
4. Top with your favorite pizza toppings!
5. Sprinkle your favorite shredded cheese on top!
6. Bake in oven until cheese is good and melted.
7. Enjoy!

I had a free bag of bagels, and an 88-cent bag of Kraft cheese from an earlier grocery stock-up. Pepperoni was probably the most expensive item in the recipe, but it doesn't take much.

I love this recipe for quick game-day cooking when we're trying to fit lunch in between church and the football game. It also works well for movie nights, or when you don't want to spend an extraordinary amount of time on dinner.

Enjoy!

First trip on cash, and LOTS of tomatoes!

Today was my first shopping trip under the new budget rules, and I think I did pretty well. First stop was to the farmers market for a LOT of tomatoes for salsa. Our own tomatoes got fried in this heat, but our hot peppers are thriving. Also picked up 3 green pepper, 2 red peppers, and 3 pints of cherry tomatoes. Total for the farm market run: $25.75

Also made a stop at the feed supply store. I had a coupon for a free 5-lb bag of dog food!

Picked up some mozzarella at Kroger to go with the cherry tomatoes. Also scored on B1G1 bologna, $1 each for the salsa and the lettuce and the Chex Mix was $0.50 after coupons. Total for the Kroger run: $30.18!

It felt really good to get so much, and get under my $60 budget!

Moving to cash-only

Our budget, after almost a week of tweaking, digging through piles to find past copies of bills, and discovering those couple of credit cards that somehow failed to make the "list", our budget is complete. And to be honest, it's very scary to see how much we were relying on our credit cards to do so much of our purchasing. Now that incomes aren't quite what they used to be, it's caught up with us.

So we're going "cold turkey", as my husband calls it. Cash only! Now, that doesn't mean that the whole paycheck gets cashed (because most of it would go right back into checking to write checks for bills), but the debit card will be our primary purchasing unit. Allowance (for eating out and "fun money") is still in place as cash, and now the grocery purchasing is becoming strictly cash as well. For me, that's a little bit scary (okay, a LOT scary). But it's inspiring me to be much more creative! Our new budget is now set up on www.mint.com, allowing us to track EXACTLY where those funds are going!

It's also requiring me to be a better steward, to be more responsible for my finances. The Bible mentions finances over and over, and it's taken until now to realize that I'm not just doing this for myself, but to improve my finances in the eyes of God. He calls us to be without debt, and that's my goal someday. In order to get from point A to point B, I have to determine what is really necessary in my life, and what has become material or "idolistic".

So I sit here tonight, doing my electronic coupon print for the week! Not needing much of a grocery shop this week, so I may spend a little of my funds at the Wilmington Farmers Market. The heat is killing our tomatoes, but the cayenne peppers are thriving. Thinking I'll invest in the local economy, and purchase somebody else's tomatoes for another batch of salsa!

Becoming more financially frugal

Nate and I have made quite the financial adjustment over the last year. I lost my job, he changed his, and now we're rethinking our financial future even more.

Years ago, my parents introduced me to Crown Financial Ministries and learning to budget. Granted, I've made my own mistakes, and sometimes I've learned the hard way, but we've worked hard to make ends meet. In order to make sure we can begin to dig out from under our debt, we're reconstructing our budget.

Crown Financial ministries has a free 30-day trial of their budgeting software. Pair this with www.mint.com for tracking your newly-created budget, and you have 2 free tools for becoming more responsible for your finances.

We spent some of our Spiritual Study time last night working on our budget last night, and I'm working today to finish it. I'll keep you updated!

Everybody loves Shrimp Scampi!

Sometimes I just can't resist it when Kroger has shrimp at buy one-get one free. It's one of the few culinary splurges I make, especially for my husband. This is from Pillsbury's "Cooking for 2" collection. If it's just you, or you-plus-one, their recipes are perfect for those who want to cook, but don't want to eat the leftovers for a week.

Here's the link to the recipe:

Shrimp Scampi

Happy cooking!

Homegrown...and Thrifty!

Rain put a damper on our "surf & turf", so dinner was a little improvised...and the whole dinner was not only inexpensive, but homegrown!

We kept the "turf", sirloin steaks of the Grandpa variety. If you have never experienced the wonders of homegrown, grain-fed beef, you have never lived! I have the advantage of having farmers in the family, but what you get from my grandfather is far more tender and lean than anything I could buy at the grocery. We purchased a half-side of beef (enough to stock the freezer), and the initial investment was a bit of a hit, but the cost was FAR less than what it would have cost at the grocery.

Roasted red potatoes! Mmm... This recipe was originally intended for cauliflower, but I gave it a try with potatoes, and instantly became a family hit! I picked up these potatoes at the farmers market last weekend, and not only were they inexpensive, but we were doing our part to stimulate the local economy (especially in an area that is already hard-hit for employment).

Cantaloupe! Can never go wrong with this as a side! Also purchased this at the farm market. And as a side note, this was a REALLY good melon.

All in all, our steak dinner with the trimmings cost about $2 per person!

Hmm...now to come up with dessert. I think I still have a jar of baked apples from the fruit trees in my yard. I think hot apples and ice cream (sorry, the ice cream isn't homemade) would hit the spot!

Here are the recipes I used tonight:

Dry rub put on the steak:
All-American Barbeque Rub (courtesy of Weight Watchers)
2 tablespoons mild paprika
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Roasted red potatoes:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dice red potatoes (eyeball the serving size) into bite-sized pieces and place in a bowl. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Add 1 clove of finely chopped fresh garlic or sprinkle (we prefer generously) with minced garlic. Empty content onto a cookie sheet. Roast in oven for 30 minutes or until potatoes are done and turning a golden brown.

Thanksgiving leftovers #2- Turkey Pasta Salad

Here's another easy fix using things you can keep around the kitchen. Tonight I wanted a quick and easy meal (preferably using some of my leftover turkey, so I decided to experiment. I tend to keep a box or two of "Suddenly Salad" mix in the cabinet for a quick side-dish for a dinner, but I decided to make it the main course.

Make the Suddenly Salad (or your favorite pasta side mix) according to the directions on the box, but add in shredded or chunked turkey. I mixed my turkey in with the boiling pasta (to make sure it was as warm as the rest), but you can add chilled (not frozen...yuck...) chunks if you want to serve it as a cold dish. This was a big hit tonight, and I think I may keep this as a dinner stand-by!

Turkey Leftovers #1- Turkey Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a big favorite in my house. I always keep a stash of tortillas in the fridge for these (or for wraps). Tortillas are inexpensive and keep well, so they're a good budget buy.

This meal makes a good "crappy work day dinner" (for those days when you come home and really don't feel like cooking!), a Saturday lunch, or a game-day snack (easy to whip together between church and football).

We make ours on a Panini Grill (very similar to a George Foreman grill). Note: I tried making these with tortillas that were larger than the grill, and I made a mess of the counters. I think the small ones work better for this, but if you happen to have a quesadilla maker at home, the large ones will work.

Pretty fail-proof recipe:

Lay a tortilla on the counter/plate. If desired, spread a spoonful or two of your favorite BBQ sauce (a favorite of my husband!), but keep a small margin from the edge clear so you won't wind up with a mess. Lay out some shreds/pieces of turkey and top with shredded cheese. If you're feeling up for some veggies, sprinkle in some corn (if using frozen, thaw first) or a spoon or two of salsa. Top with another tortilla.

Place "tortilla sandwich" in Panini grill or George Foreman, and cook until cheese is melty. There's not an exact science to it...but quesadillas are best when the cheese is gooey. You can eat whole, or cut into wedges. Have a little salsa on the side for dipping, if desired.

This recipe also works well with chicken, pulled pork, or shredded beef, or you can make it with plain cheese!


How are you thrifty?: Using leftovers! I keep all of these ingredients around my kitchen at all times, so it's easy to whip together with whatever leftover meat I have from a previous meal

Thanksgiving leftovers ideas

If you're like me, you have leftover turkey in abundance! I'm hoping that I can give you some creative ideas for putting the leftover turkey to use...without making you sick of turkey by weeks-end.

First of all, if you haven't already done so, break your leftover turkey into SMALL tupperware/plastic containers. If you don't want to spend money on plastic tubs, save the plastic butter tubs or Cool Whip containers! Having the turkey split into small containers saves the hassle of trying to defrost a giant container of turkey when all you need is a few pieces (I learned this the hard way last year), and you can just thaw as you need.

The same idea works with other larger meat portion (pulled pork, chicken, etc), and you can take some of your family favorites and mix in leftovers...cleverly disguised as a whole new dish!

I'll be posting my favorites, my experiments, and new recipe tests as I begin working through my own leftovers. Enjoy!

Tasty Sage and Rosemary Pork Chops

I can't always get my husband (I love you, sweetie!) to cook. It's not that he doesn't enjoy cooking...but the process of "chopping" quickly frustrates him. If I want his help with cooking, it's in my best interest not to ask him to spend 20 minutes dicing vegetables. He had suggested cooking pork chops for the company that I had last night, and this was a quick and easy recipe. I had most these spices in my cabinet already, and the results were very tasty!

Note: This recipe is courtesy of www.Pillsbury.com

Sage and Rosemary Pork Chops


INGREDIENTS
2 boneless pork loin chops (3/4 inch thick)
2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon garlic-pepper blend
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat closed contact grill 5 minutes. Brush both sides of pork chops with oil; sprinkle with sage, garlic-pepper blend, rosemary and salt.
2. Place pork chops on bottom grill surface. Close grill; cook 5 to 7 minutes or until pork is no longer pink and meat thermometer inserted in center reads 160°F.

Our variations:
1. I didn't have a "garlic-pepper blend", so we used a little bit of garlic powder and ground pepper instead.
2. Since we had company, it was just as easy to put these in the oven on a broiler pan. Set the broiler to "high", and cook for just as long.

Cook up a package of boxed rice, some frozen veggies, and maybe a couple of Pillsbury frozen biscuits (we had the Cheddar Cheese ones, and they taste a lot like the ones they serve at Red Lobster!), and you have a really awesome meal!

How did I save money?
I almost never buy meat at full price. Look in your meat section for things that are on "Manager Special". It's not that the meat is "no good", but that it is too close to the sell-by date for them to keep on the shelf much longer. I buy the really big multi-packs, even though it's just the two of us. As soon as I get home from the grocery, I take quart or sandwich bags, put two chops (or a "family portion") in each bag, and use a permanent marker to label the outside of the bag with the number of chops and the date they were purchased. If you want to pre-marinate things, go ahead and put a little marinade in the bags before you put them in the freezer.

On a personal note, I love the Pillsbury website! I signed up for their mailing list, and I get recipe ideas, contest notifications, and coupons for Pillsbury products! Their website is really easy to navigate, and they have a lot of "Cooking for Two" recipes. I pulled off several of their recipes to try this month, so I'll post the ones I've tried once the cooking is complete!

Happy cooking!

Starting from Scratch

I honestly never thought that the recession would affect my household. Nothing like a job loss to put things solidly into perspective. Recently, I've been considering how grateful I am for my parents and the guidance they gave as they raised me. They worked hard to teach me how to manage money, balancing a checkbook...and how to cook from scratch.

Honestly, how many out there are like me, and in their mid-20's, and know how to make a casserole? I remember being in college, and being the big hit at campus gatherings because the food that I brought wasn't still encased in a grocery store labeled package. So many of the people I know spend far too much money eating out, and wouldn't know what to do with a Crock Pot. A cookbook can be intimidating. Staring down 20 aisles of groceries can give you a sinking feeling.

I'm hoping I can use this blog to help others, like myself, who are finding themselves in situations where the budget has to be cut, but we don't want out the recession on Ramen noodles and microwave burritos. This is for the young cooks, experienced cooks, novice cooks, and the wise and clueless alike. I'll share my recipes, my techniques, and my strategies for saving money. Likewise, I encourage you to share. I am by no means an "expert" or a "specialist"! I want to hear your ideas and strategies, your ideas for home-cooking survival when the budget is tight.

Here's to many nights of good cooking and sinks full of dirty dishes!