Happy Veterans Day!

If you're looking for a fun activity for the kids, try making cards. What kid doesn't love to draw? You can find pre-cut and folded cards at most craft stores. Or, if you're up to it they are pretty easy to make yourself. I pulled out a stack of white cardstock, cut them in half with my paper cutter (to make two 5 1/2"x 8 1/2" rectangles. Then I scored them "in half" making a light pass with my sliding paper cutter, or you could also lightly use an xacto blade. There you go- cards ready for decorating.

Now through Friday, Nov 19, cards with positive greetings for our troops are being collected for the Hoosier Cheer for Heroes campaign. So, let your little ones draw pictures, your big ones write notes of thanks, and jot down your own letter to let our troops know we appreciate their sacrafice for our freedom.

OUAC Grab bag sale

I don't shop on Black Friday. I do not like malls or fairs. I avoid crowded areas like the plague. But, I look forward to this grab bag sale that only comes twice each year. I'll see if it's still worth it when the kids are older, but for now, I can fit enough baby/toddler items in one bag to make each item $.50-$1.00. Garage sale prices at a resale shop. If you go, prepare yourself. In the past, I've faced a line of women waiting for the doors to open and a wild dash to the racks.

At the following Once Upon A Child locations

86th and Ditch 846-7011

71st & Binford 842-0533

Speedway Supercenter : 273-8622

7409 South US 31 : 888-7013
East Washington Street : 897-9009

Learn more and see a picture of the deals I scored at the last grab bag event here.

Salmon Patties

Tonight we had salmon patties for supper. I'd not had these growing up and wasn't sure I'd like them- they were not appealing, but I was branching out and tried them. I tried several recipes and ended up with my own adaptation. Now they are a family favorite.

This meal for 3-4 cost approx $4.76. I served the salmon patties with frozen veggies (purchased on sale with coupon for approx .70/box) and salads made primarily from garden produce. Seeds are inexpensive and the free onion starts, etc we received from family are even better!



Mix in a bowl:
1 14.75oz can salmon (drained) ($2.50-$3.49)
1 egg ($.08-$.13)
2 green onions, diced(free- $.15)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (free- $.05)
1/3 bread crumbs ($.05-$.10)
salt, pepper

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Coat the bottom with:
1 T olive oil ($.05-$.10)

Form salmon mixture into patties and cook in skillet until brown on each side. Makes 8-10 patties. Serve with:
lemon juice or fresh squeezed lemon ($.05-$.75)

Managers Specials

Another key to savings, is being flexible. We skipped one of our planned meals this week for baked tilapia with cucumber radish relish. Tilapia was marked down half price when I was at the store. Look for the orange tags of marked down produce, meat/fish, diary, and baked goods. Most items still have a couple days to a week before they expire, so watch to make sure you can use it before it's date is up.

Who says you can't find healthy savings?

Meijer $65.24- $29.70 savings = $34.97 (45% savings)
Kroger $11.22- $7.32 savings= $3.90 (65% savings)

I am hopeful the Greenworks free and clear will not cause us any problems (sensitive allergy prone skin), but decided to give it a try for $3.73. I am also very excited about the Kashi cereal which was on sale 2/$5. I received the sample box in the mail after signing up on Facebook which had $1/1 coupon enclosed. GoLean Crisp is so good I bought a box instead of using the coupon on one of my stand-by favorites. I scored another 2 coupons from a mailer from www.mambosprouts.com. I highly recommend signing up. They have high value $1+ coupons on healthy foods. That's also where I got a $1/1 Almond Breeze which was on sale for $2.50 (AND I got a FREE Silk Almond catalina)! While picking up the almond milk, we happened upon a quart of organic, plain whole milk yogurt for DS marked down from $7.92 to $1.99. Oh, those chocolate covered raisins? NOT on sale- that's what I grabbed from DD's hand before she could stuff them in her mouth as we passed the bulk bins.

Happy Birthday Buddy!

I decided to make a car cake for Buddy's first birthday. I wish I could share it step-by-step with you, but I finished this 15 minutes after guests arrived.

Basically, I baked a standard 2 layer round cake. I frosted one simply to serve guests. I sliced the other in half and stood them up on the flat cut side with a thin layer of frosting holding them together. I frosted patches of white for windows before covering the rest with blue. Oreo Cakesters made wheels, M&Ms made headlights and tail lights, and a bit of piped frosting finished up the details.

He certainly enjoyed it!

Happy Easter

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, if you are a ham eater, this is the time of year to buy ham. You can pick them up at Marsh right now for as low as $.77/lb. Slice it, cube it, and freeze it in meal sized portions. Then, when you want a ham omelet or quiche, scalloped potatoes, or spaghetti carbonara, you will have cubed ham without paying the premium for pre-diced ham at the grocery. You might also take advantage of tossing any unusually shaped scraps in the food processor and making up some ham salad to change up lunch this week. If you buy ham with a bone, let it simmer and pull off any remaining tid bits and make ham and beans with the broth. Hurry, before it's too hot to bake cornbread 'cause you can't have ham and beans without cornbread!

Not interested in Ham? Other Marsh deal this week are:

- boneless rump roast $1.98/lb (I try to keep most of my meat purchases under $2/lb)
- boneless center cut pork loin $1.77/lb (This usually comes in a large 8-10 lb loin. Slice it into chops; cube it for stir-fry, casseroles, or stew; or cut it into 1-2 lb roasts. Package it up and freeze it. It only takes a few minutes and is well worth the savings.)
- Green Giant veggies 5/$5 (Coupons for these are pretty common both in the paper and online.)
- Dole canned fruit 5/$5 (There were coupons in the paper a couple weekends ago making these about $.66 each)
- sweet potatoes $.88/lb

Creamy Italian Chicken Spaghetti

I put extra chicken breasts in the slow cooker for supper Tuesday night. They were marinated in Italian salad dressing- yum! I loved watching Robin Miller on Food Network when we had cable and still love to check her out on their website. Seriously, check her out. One of my favorite things, learned from her, is to cook extra and use it later. So, if you are gilling steak, grill extra, slice it up, and make it into fajitas later in the week. If you are roasting BBQ chicken breasts in the oven, make extra and chop them up for empanadas. It takes only a few extra seconds and will save you so much time later in the week!

So, I made Creamy Italian Chicken Spaghetti. It was wonderful. Bear loved it too. Then we went for a walk around the neighborhood for about an hour- we still had calories to burn, but it was getting too dark. I had such a good feeling about this meal, that I measured things as I put them in! I rarely do that, but wanted to be able to accurately share. If you try it, you'll thank me.

You can cook up several chicken breasts, marinated in Italian salad dressing, or you can take my advice and use some leftovers. I had four chicken breasts. I used three in the recipe. Daddy ate the other one, microwaved with marinara sauce and cheese (he wanted no part in my experiment- his loss).
Shred her up! But not too small. It will continue to break up in the sauce, so leave it pretty chunky. (Meanwhile, boil up some spaghetti. I didn't take pictures, so I hope you know how to cook spaghetti. If not, look for directions on the box. I used whole wheat and recommend you do too, but if you haven't gone to the dark side of grains yet, the recipe will still work.)
Heat 2 T butter and 2 T olive oil in a large skillet. You are welcome to mix and match, but that's the combo I chose. Add 1 T crushed garlic.
Stir in 2 T flour. This is called a rue, now don't you feel fancy?
Let it bubble away for about a minute to cook the flour, so you don't have a raw taste in your sauce.
Next add 3/4 c dry white wine, 1/2 c Italian salad dressing, and 3/4 c heavy cream (or half and half, etc). Any dry white wine will work, but my preference is Gewurtzraminer- love it. I used 2% milk because that's all we had- and this was an experiment, but I'm telling you, at least use half and half!
Add the shredded chicken and 1/2 tsp dry rosemary. Let it bubble away for 3-5 min and get thick.
It's not rich enough- add 1 cup parmesan cheese. Stir in well.
I served this over spaghetti with a blend of veggies from the freezer. Fabulous, and it didn't take long to throw together when I got home from work.

Spring/Summer Meals

The sun is out, the tulips are sprouting, and a cardinal was at our window feeder this morning. Spring is on the way. There are dozens of reasons I like about Spring. Along with the fresh new life sprouting up around us, it is a good time to freshen things up in the kitchen. Clean out those cabinets/pantries/freezers and look for things that are about to expire- then find ways to use 'em before they do. Late spring brings the start of a bounty of summer produce. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Eat in season!

Check out what's in season for you:
http://www.nrdc.org/health/foodmiles/default.asp
or here:
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/seasonalcooking/farmtotable/seasonalingredientmap

I typically rotate meals by season. While we're freshening everything else up, find a few extra minutes to freshen up your meal plans. I find a great start to menu planning is a listing of what you make. Some great summer changes are to add meals that require no cooking, or ones that have slow cooker/grilling out options.


pizza pasta salad
tuna macaroni salad
chef salad
taco salad

fajitas (grill out)
tacos
quesadillas
taco skillet

spaghetti
spaghetti carbonara
chili mac
cheese burger macaroni
macaroni and cheese
pasta primavera
Italian chicken (slow cooker) (grill out)

low mein
fried rice
stir-fry
terryaki chicken (grill out)
terryaki salmon (grill out)
Thai pork stew (slow cooker)
beef and broccoli (slow cooker)
orange chicken (slow cooker)

apricot pork (slow cooker)
Coq Au Vin (slow cooker)
mini meatloaf
meatloaf patties
smoked sausage (grill out)
ham
BBQ meatballs (slow cooker)
tuna and rice
creamy beef and rice
jambalaya
red beans and rice
salmon patties

steaks (grill out)
hamburgers (grill out)
chicken or beef kabobs (grill out)
BBQ ribs (slow cooker) (grill out)
BBQ pork chops (slow cooker) (grill out)
Italian pork chops (slow cooker) (grill out)
BBQ chicken (slow cooker) (grill out)
lemon pepper salmon (grill out)

sloppy joes (slow cooker)
meatball subs
BLTs
monte cristos
club sandwhiches
black bean burgers
shredded BBQ beef (slow cooker)
BBQ pork (slow cooker)
BBQ chicken (slow cooker)

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Grab Bag Sale

The $15 grab bag sale at OUAC only comes 2x/yr and is usually worth your time, if you are willing to put in the effort.

I made it to OUAC at 10 til and was far from the first one there, but everyone was sitting in their cars to wait because of the cold. Last winter, I was 6 mo pregnant and waiting outside the doors in a big crowd, freezing because I didn't want to wear my coat inside.

I had my game plan laid out ahead of time. I started with the boys 12-18 mo, hoping for pajamas and sweatpants. I found neither But, I did manage to stuff two bags full of clothes for the kids. My tip is to pick up a basket and throw everything you think you want in it. Then, find yourself a quiet corner somewhere and sort "yes" and "maybe items. Take all the "yes" items off hangers, fold and roll them into tight little tubes which you stick down into the bags. If you have any room left, decide which "maybe"s to add.

36 items for $32.10


Buddy:
1 one-piece summer outfit
1 long-sleeve collared shit
2 short-sleeve collared shirts
2 long-sleeve tees
5 short-sleeve tees
2 casual shorts
2 denim shorts
2 jeans
2 cords
1 sweatpants
2 fleece pullovers
1 dressy sweater
1 lined denim jacket
1 windbreaker

Bear:
1 sundress
2 skirts
1 jeans
1 tee
1 tank

T:
2 skirts
1 windbreaker pants
1 bermuda shorts
1 tee

All day long! Put as many clearance items as possible in one bag for just $15. Yes - Only $15!!! Saturday, January 30th 10:00am to 8:00pm Selection may vary by store. *Product and prices may vary by store. Not valid with any other coupon or discount Offer not valid on previous purchases. Offer valid only at the store(s) listed below.

86th & Ditch 846-7011 71st and Binford 842-0533 U.S. 31 South 888-7013

Chicken Nuggets

Yesterday while picking up 3 value packs of chicken for $1.58/lb before my raincheck expire, I found a 21 oz box of Kellogg's cornflake crumbs in the marked down bin for $1.99. Score!

So, for dinner tonight, we had chicken nuggets, tator tots ($1.88/bag on sale) and broccoli and cheese ($.66/box).

No pics because, quite frankly, this can get messy.

2.5-3 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2-3 c cornflake crumbs (unless you find a great deal on the crumbs, get regular cereal and toss it in the food processor until it has the texture of bread crumbs)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp grill seasoning (I personally like McCormick's salt-free chicken grill seasoning)

Beat eggs, garlic powder, and grill seasoning in a large bowl. Cube chicken breasts (approx 3/4 in cubes) and add to bowl. Stir to coat chicken well with egg. In a ziplock bag or on a plate, coat small batches of chicken with cornflake crumbs. Place each chicken nugget on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 min or until the inside of your largest/thickest nugget is white. You can also freeze them. Lay them on a baking sheet and place in freezer for 2-3 hours. Once they are frozen, place them into your freezer bag or storage container and promptly return to the freezer. This will help prevent them from sticking when you pull them out of the freezer to bake. To bake them from freezing, you will want a 375 degree oven for 20-25 min.

My batch of chicken nuggets cost me about $5.25. For almost 3 lbs of chicken nuggets!

So, supper for 3 was approx $3.45

Brought to You By the Number 3

Happy Birthday Bear, I can't believe you are THREE!


Bear decided she wanted an Elmo cake. She's been talking about it for weeks. So, I let her help make it. I didn't manage to snap a picture of her crushing the egg in her fist over the bowl because it caught me by surprise. This cake should be crunch-free.

I started with mixing up one box of cake mix per package directions. Bear chose the funfetti kind. I filled one muffin cup and 2 cake rounds. Remember to bake the cupcake for the recommended time on the box and then leave in the cake pans for the additional time needed.

I used cream cheese frosting because I don't like any other kind. When the kids are old enough, I'll let them choose, but for now we use what I want. I only put a small amount on the bottom layer because I am always afraid to run out on the top.
I used food coloring gel (cool stuff) to dye about a tablespoon of frosting yellow. I cut the top off the cupcake and frosted it. If you like cake, feel free to indulge in the bottom half.

It took me a good teaspoon maybe 1 1/2 red food coloring to get an acceptable red. So, instead of enjoying hand cramps, go ahead an really dump it in instead of going a squirt at a time. You'll want the bottom half to be smooth, but don't waste your time for the rest.

Place the cupcake on top of your frosted 2-layer cake. Approximately mid cake.

I used black gel frosting to draw the mouth. Then LIGHTLY use a fork to fluff up the frosting to create "fur". Be careful around the nose and mouth not to disturb the frosting.
The easy part! Place two large marshmallows end up, above the nose. Push them down in the frosting so they stick.

Use a couple dots of the leftover black frosting to stick brown M&Ms on top of the marshmallows. Then hide it until you're ready so no one steals his eyes!

Bakery Outlets

If you haven't yet, I encourage you to check out your local bakery outlet store.

I've been going to and Entenmann's store, although I am a big fan of the Aunt Millie's outlets too. Sometimes I can find good quality bread on sale for $.50/loaf. In November, I picked up a hug bag of individually portioned pretzels for $1.

Today, I stopped in to pick up some bread. I purchased 3 loaves of good whole wheat bread, 4 bags of croutons, and 1 crumb topped cheese coffeecake. Total: $4.75.

Pretzels

Today we tried our hand at pretzels. They are a fabulous and cheap snack, though they do take a bit of time. So, if you have a couple hours and some patience, go for it! Besides, by the time you get to the mall and make it through the crowds, you could be eating a whole dozen on your couch instead.

First, heat 1 1/2 c water to 110 F. Then, dissolve 2 1/2 tsp yeast (or 1 packet) and 1 T brown sugar. Let this sit 5 min until it's nice and frothy.
Meanwhile, measure 4 1/4 c unbleached flour and 1 tsp salt to a bowl. Pour your yeast mixture over it, and mix just until it will form a ball.
Turn the dough onto a well floured surface and need until smooth, approx 7-8 min. If you're not accustomed to kneading dough, enlist some help. Place ball of dough into a greased bowl. Turn dough/grease top. Cover and place in a warm location for approx 1 hr.

(I can't find this photo. I have cute retro yellow/lime checkered and striped retro towels, oh well.)


Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 12 equal amounts. I divide it in 1/2, then 1/3, then 1/2 again. They're almost equal.
Next, roll these little balls into long ropes.

Feel free to enlist help for this as well. The little folk will think you are the greatest.

Then twist/tie the ropes into pretzel shapes. Don't worry what they look like. We clearly didn't!
Some of them ended up more like the little balls we started with than pretzels.

Now boil a pot with 6 c water and 1/2 c baking soda. Place each pretzel in the water for approx 10 seconds. Look at that beautiful steam.

Drain as much water as you can, and place each pretzel on a greased baking sheet.
Bake in a 425 F oven for approx 7-8 min, until a beautiful golden brown color.
Paint them with a little melted butter.

Then salt them. Hurry! Before the butter dries. But please use Kosher salt. If you don't you'll regret it. Unless you don't have any and you really want to make pretzels anyway.


Wow, look at my hands. Yes, it is a cold Indiana winter, but I do put on lotion at least a dozen times a day. Anyway, you could sprinkle your pretzel with cinnamon sugar instead. I personally am a traditionalist and like some salt and a good quality mustard.


Bear urges you to go the sugar route.