Asparagus Salad

So I picked up two bundles of asparagus with the help of coupons earlier in the week but only just got around to using them last night.  To make an asparagus salad.

I found a recipe on Pinterest (my obsession, second only to Diet Coke).  But I forgot to pick up a few key ingredients.  So I just sort of did my own thing.  And ooooh hot diggity dog was it a success!  This will be a new summer favorite for sure.

Again, please note that I made this on a whim.  With ingredients I happened to have around the house.  You can certainly add and subtract ingredients as you see fit.  If you don't like something, just leave it out.  

Asparagus Salad:

Ingredients:
* 2 bundles of fresh asparagus
* 1 tsp salt
* 2 tbls Greek yogurt or sour cream or mayo
* 1 tbls orange juice
* 2 tbls lemon juice
* a few cranks of the pepper mill
* 1 tsp. minced garlic
* 1 tsp. brown mustard
* 1 tbls soy sauce
* 1 pinch brown sugar
* 4 oz feta cheese (plain or herbed)

Directions:

* Fill a large pot with water and bring to a simmer. 
* Snap ends off asparagus.  They snap naturally at the spot between tender and not tender.  So snapping is better than randomly cutting. 

* Once all ends are snapped, cut asparagus into bite size pieces (1-2" long).

* Blanch asparagus in simmering water.  So drop them all in and let them be for no more than about 2 minutes.  Then either immerse them into ice cold water or drain them and run the cold tap over them to stop the cooking process.

* In a mason jar, add all of the ingredients except for the asparagus and the cheese.  Twist on lid and shake, shake, shake. 

* In a bowl, toss together cold asparagus, dressing mix and crumbled feta (plain or herbed are both tasty) together well.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I seriously had to stop myself from eating the entire bowl by myself.  Crazy fast and easy but a totally fun take on a side salad.

Lovely, Light Summer Salad Dressing

This is such a skimpy post but I randomly threw together this "recipe" (in quotes because I use the word recipe lightly) the other night and it was so delish!  Nice and light on a screaming hot summer's night.  I used up the ice berg lettuce and some of the berries I picked up on sale this week at Price Chopper.

Citrus Summer Salad Dressing

Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
* 1/2 cup orange juice
* pinch of salt

Directions:
* Put yogurt (any flavor- I used coconut but plain or a fruit flavor or vanilla would all be delish), orange juice and salt in a mason jar.  Twist on lid.  Shake shake shake.
* Pour over salad and enjoy!
* You can adjust the thickness of the dressing by playing with the amount of juice you add.  If you use fat free yogurt...well duh...the dressing will be fat free too. 

My Awesome Price Chopper Week In Review

This has been a BIG shopping week for many of us.  Price Chopper did not disappoint!  Summer sales are on and I'm loving it.  I picked up ice cream, cleaning products, meats, veggies and more.  And there is still time.  I started my week with a goal to not only shop wisely for items I needed but to also elaborate practical ways to use the best Price Chopper deals in your every day life.  So let's talk first about my favorite items on sale this week.

Details Listed Here

* (1) Seedless Watermelon  reg. $4.99, sale $2.99
- (1) $2/1 Watermelon Hannaford coupon
= OOP $0.99
~ Saved 80%

* (1) Strawberries  reg. $2.99
- (1) $1/1 lb Hannaford coupon (thru 5/24)
 = OOP $1.99

* Iceberg or Romain Lettuce  sale $1

* Bananas  sale $0.49/lb

* (1) Vidallia Onions 5lb.  sale $4.99
- (1) $0.50/1 Vidallia Onions print coupon
= OOP $3.99

* (1) Wholly Salsa  sale $2
- (1) $1.50/1 Wholly Salsa
= OOP $0.50

* (2) Boneless Center Cut Pork Chops  B1G1 Free
~ Saved 50%

* (2) Boneless Pork Country Style Ribs B1G1 Free
~ Saved 50%

* Boneless, skinless chicken breast  sale $1.99/lb
- (1) $2/$10 any fresh meat purchase

* Crab Classic Flake Style Crab meat  sale $2.50
- $0.50/1 Crab Classic
= OOP $1.50

* (5) Oscar Mayer Deli Meat 2oz pack  sale $1
= OOP $5
+ Earn $4 OYNO Catalina

* (1) Swiss Premium Iced Tea or Lemonade  sale $1.50
- (1) $0.55/1 Swiss Premium SS 5/20 (R)
= OOP $0.40

* (1) Slimfast Shakes 4-pack  reg. $6.49, sale $5
- (1) $1.50/1 Slimfast Shakes RP 5/20
- (1) $0.75/1 Slimfast Target coupon (should not double, mine did)
= OOP $2.75 without double, $2 with double
~ Saved 58% without double, 69% with double

* (4) Suave Lotion  sale $2.50/ea
- (2) BOGO Free RP 5/20
- (1) $2/$5.99 iSave machine coupon
= OOP $3/4 bottles of lotion or just $0.75/ea

* (1) Suave Body Wash  sale $1.88
- (1) $0.50/1 Suave Body Wash
= OOP $0.88/ea

* (1) Clorox Wipes  reg. $2.99, sale $2
- (1) $0.50/1 Clorox Wipes Dollar General Coupon (should not double, mine did)
= OOP $1.50 without double, $1 with double
~ Saved 50% without double, 67% with double

* (1) Glad Force Flex Trash Bags 25-80 ct.  sale $7.49
- (1) $1.85 Glad Force Flex
= OOP $5.64 ($0.07/bag if you purchase 80 ct.)

* (2) Ocean Spray Juice Drinks  reg. $3.29, sale $2.50
- (1) Buy any Ocean Spray Cranberry juice, get Ocean Spray Cherry juice FREE
- (1) $1/$4 or more juice purchase Catalina
= OOP $1.50/2 or just $0.75/ea (without Cat it is still an awesome deal)
~ Saved 77% with Cat, 62% without Cat

* (4) Coke 2L  sale 4/$4 with in ad coupon
- (4) $0.99/1 Coke coupon
= OOP Free!

* (5) Polar Seltzer 12-pack  sale 5/$12 with in ad coupon
- (1) in ad coupon
- (2) $1/2 Polar Seltzer 12-packs RP 5/20
= OOP $10/5 packs or just $2/each

* (3) Lays Potato Chips  reg. $4.29, sale $3.29
- (1) in ad coupon 3/$6
= OOP $6/3 bags or just $2/ea
~ Saved 53%

* (1) Hellman's Real Mayo 22-30 oz  reg. $2.99, sale $2
- (1) in ad coupon (must spend min $15 and limit 1)
- (1) $1/1 Hellman's RP 5/20
= Out Of Pocket $1
~ Saved 66%

* (2) Kikoman marinade  reg. $3.48, sale $2.61
- (2) $2/1 Kikoman marinade
= OOP $0.61/ea
~ Saved 82%
+ Earned $1 OYNO Catalina from purchase of two

* (1) Jello Temptations or Mousse  sale $2.50
- (1) $0.90/1 print coupon (nla)
= OOP $0.70

* (1) Luigi's Italian Ice  sale $2
- (1) $0.75/1 Luigi's Italian Ice RP 5/13
= OOP $0.50

* (2) Breyer's Ice Cream  reg.$4.29, sale $2 (limit 2)
- (2) $0.75/1 Breyer's Blasts
= OOP $0.50/each
~ Saved 88%

* (2) Milky Way candy bars  reg. $0.99, sale $0.79
- (1) $0.75/2 Milky Way candy bars
= OOP $0.08/2 or just $0.04/ea

* (2) Dove Chocolate Singles Bar  reg. $0.99, sale $0.79
- (1) $0.50/2 Dove Chocolate Singles
= OOP $0.58/2 or just $0.29/ea
~ Saved 71%

With these awesome sales, plus a few from last week and some staples from the pantry, I was able to make SIX yummy dinners in five nights this week, too.  Several are even freezer meals- to enjoy later when you are too busy to cook.

On Monday, I cooked up a big package of chicken breasts to make a very yummy dinner of Chicken Mojo as dinner #1.  A BIG crowd pleaser!!  This was step one in a week of dinners, as I pre-cooked a week's worth of chicken at one time.  Better yet, I used the crockpot as to not add any extra heat into the house!

On Tuesday, I use some of the leftover Chicken Mojo and great produce sales such as $1 lettuce from Price Chopper to make my version of PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps as dinner #2.  Ooooh they are so tasty.

On Wednesday I used the two packs of BOGO free boneless pork ribs (one of my very favorite meat sales that PChop does from time to time) to make BBQ Pork Ribs for dinner #3.  A classic any time of year.  A simple potato "baked" in the microwave and a yummy salad make this a "stick to your ribs" meal.  Very satisfying!   

On Thursday I made my first of three freezer meals for the week, Sweet and Sour Chicken as dinner #4.  Once again using some of the Chicken Mojo cooked on Monday.  The gift (or bird) that keeps on giving.  This is the perfect meal for a busy night when you want to eat something tasty, healthy and easy peasy lemon squeezy.  The prep for this meal took less than five minutes! 

And on Friday, I made my third and fourth freezer meals of the week, Cheesy Chicken and Rice as dinners #5 and #6 for the week.  They were the same meal but I made one to eat that night and one to freeze.  Or two to freeze.  This used up the very last of the Chicken Mojo from Monday night.  Not one skinny bit went to waste, but every nibble was incredibly tasty.

And today, Saturday, I am going to offer you one more meal prep tip for the week.  You know those yummy freezer meals that I made this week?  Those make awesome gifts!  Great to give to a sick relative or friend or someone who just had a baby.  Great to give to a friend who is under a lot of life stress, too. It is so easy for you to make them ahead of time and gift as needed.  Because while a scented candle is lovely, nothing says I love you like a home cooked meal!

How much fun to prepare once (chicken, onions, rice) and use many times over the week!  The key is to have a PLAN.

I pay close attention to Price Chopper sales ads, manufacturer coupons, Price Chopper coupons, Catalina deals (this is my weak spot but I am learning to be better at them) and what I already have in my pantry to make the most of my grocery budget each week.  Planning ahead to stockpile the best deals is another budget saver.  For example, this week I will pick up a few of the chicken packs, Polar Springs 12-packs, Clorox wipes, Suave lotion, Breyer's ice cream, pork ribs, mayo and Kikoman marinades for my stockpile.  I clearly do not need everything this very week, but these are all items I love to use throughout the summer months. 

I also took the time on Sunday to plan out my dinners for the week, based on the protein and veggie sales.  Not only does this save your budget, but it also saves you time and most important with summer approaching...calories.  Look again at all of the meals I just made this week.  Click on the links to see each ingredient.  Those are really healthy meals, y'all!  Not just a bunch of junk to fill you up.  I made six healthy, gluten free meals, to feed 4-6 people, using one package of chicken and two packages of pork ribs.

It is so worth the extra time it takes to plan on Sunday knowing it will save me time, money, energy and calories throughout the remainder of the week.

So tell me, what was your favorite purchase from Price Chopper this week?

Dinner #5 and #6: Cheesy Chicken And Rice Freezer Meal...Times Two

Yes...I said times two.  I made two meals at the same time.  One to eat tonight actually and one to freeze for later use.  I used the rest of the mojo chicken from Monday's dinner.  And the rest of the sliced onions too.  Yup...it's still creating yummy dinners.  Can you believe it?  I told you it is super awesome to cook once and use it for many different meals.  Just makes sense, no?!

If you don't have leftover chicken, you can absolutely cut up one chicken breast per meal.  That's all you need if you are using the big chicken breasts that Price Chopper has on sale this week.

So first, let me again note that I cook rice a bag or two at a time.  I don't see any point in cooking rice in small batches.  It takes but a few minutes more to just cook an entire bag and it's not like it requires any extra work.  Once you get the water simmering, you just cover and walk away.  So I cook big batches of rice.  Use what I need that night and once cooled, I portion out the rest of the pot into small zip top baggies.  Press flat and freeze.  These are SO HANDY to have ready to use.  Simply defrost in the fridge or even straight into the microwave.  As you can see, they take up very little space when pressed flat in the baggies.  The first time you use a convenient, ready-cooked bag you will realize you can never go back.  This is my #1 quick dinner tip!

The following recipe makes TWO meals.  If you just want to make one meal, cut everything in half.  Each meal serves 4 people.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Freezer Meal (makes two meals)

Ingredients:
* 2-3 cups cooked chicken (or 2 raw breasts cut small)
* 4 cups cooked rice
* 2 onions, sliced
* 1 tbls butter
* EVOO
* 2 bags frozen veggies (I used mixed but plain broccoli is great too)
* 2 cups shredded cheese
* 1/4 cup milk
* 3 tbls cornstarch
* 2 tsp salt

Directions:
* In a pan, saute onion in butter and EVOO until translucent.
* In another small pan, whisk together milk and cornstarch as temperature comes up to medium.  Add cheese and whisk together until smooth.  Remove from heat.  As it cools it will get very thick.
* On the outside of two zip top freezer bags, label the name of the meal and cooking instructions.  Very important to do this before you fill up the bag.
* Open bags and flip down top to keep clean.  Place bags in bowls to keep upright.
* In each bag, place half of each ingredient.  So each bag gets 1-1.5 cups cooked chicken (or one breast cubed), 2 cups cooked rice, 1 sauteed onion, 1 bag frozen veggies of choice, 1/2 of the cheese mixture and 1 tsp salt.
* Remove as much air as possible when zipping bag closed.  Press flat.  Freeze for later use.
* When ready to use, defrost in fridge over night.  Dump bag into baking dish and mix up a bit more with a spoon.
* Bake at 350 for 30-45 mins (on the shorter end if using pre-cooked chicken- longer if using raw chicken).
* Serve with a salad and enjoy!


So there you have it!  We just completed a series of SIX meals over the course of five days.  Did anyone try these recipes?  Do you also prepare once and use multiple times like we did with the chicken and onions this week?

Dinner #4: Sweet And Sour Chicken Freezer Meal

Freezer meals are the hottest blog topic these days.  And I am all about it!  They are just so smart.  Make meals when you have time.  And they are ready to go when you need them.

Today we are making sweet and sour chicken.  I used more of the shredded chicken that I made on Monday but you can certainly just cut up raw chicken.  You will just need to cook it longer.  I also used more of the onions from Tuesday.  So this meal came together in just a few minutes. If you are making it to eat the same night, there is no need to place it in a zip top baggie of course. 

Be sure to write on the bag what you have inside and any instructions BEFORE you fill up the bag.  I plan to serve this over rice but it would also be yummy over egg or rice noodles.  By now y'all know that I keep portions of cooked brown rice in my freezer at all times.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Freezer Meal

Ingredients:
* 2 cups shredded cooked chicken or chopped raw chicken
* 1 large green pepper, chopped
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 1 cup salsa
* 1 can chunk pineapple with juice
* pinch of salt

Directions:
* Chop veggies and if necessary, chicken.
* Dump all ingredients into a zip top freezer bag.  Freeze flat.
* Thaw the night before using.
* Dump thawed bag into crockpot.  If using cooked chicken, cook in crockpot for 2-4 hours on low.  If using raw chicken, cook in crockpot 4 hour on high or 8 hours on low.
* Serve over rice or noodles.

Dinner #3: Crockpot BBQ Pork Ribs

This is yet another easy peasy meal.  Sooo filling and yummy and just a great summer staple.  Be sure to pick up the BOGO boneless pork ribs at Price Chopper this week so can you make this too.  I actually plan to pick up two more packs to keep in the freezer for later use.  This is the season for BBQ sauces to go on sale so be sure to stock up when they hit rock bottom prices.  Notice we are again using the onions we chopped the other day.  I love love love to use my time efficiently like that!    This meal easily feeds 4-6 people. 

Crockpot BBQ Pork Ribs

Ingredients:
* 2 packs of pork ribs (I used boneless)
* 1 small onion, sliced
* 1/2 bottle BBQ sauce (purchased on sale a while ago)
* 1 tbls grainy mustard (optional)
* 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
* Dump everything into the crockpot.  Cook high for four hours or low for 6-8 hours.
* Serve with baked potato (clean, prick with fork and microwave covered for 5-8 mins depending on size) and salad (I love the Dole salad kits).

Seriously...it cannot get any easier than this.  And the best part is that when you use a crockpot in the summer, it doesn't heat up your whole house like an oven.  Use any leftovers to make pulled pork sandwiches (pull apart the meat and add the rest of the BBQ sauce in the bottle- serve hot or cold).

Dinner #2: Lettuce Wraps

As we continue on the road to happy tummies, our next stop is lettuce wraps.  Ala PF Chang's.  This was another quick, easy and yummy meal.  And so flexible because you can add in a variety of ingredients based on what you have around the house.  For example, next time I will add rice.  But I completely forgot this time- ha.  You could also add extra veggies.  I added a few extra tablespoons of broccoli and black beans (jumping an ocean, I know!) from last night because I needed to use them up.  You can add peanuts or   So flexible!  This is another gluten and dairy free dish than can easily be vegan too.

Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
* 1 cup cooked rice
* 1 small onion + 3 small onions (4 total)
* 1 can bamboo shoots, drained
* 2 tbls soy sauce, plus more for dipping
* 1 tsp ground ginger
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* leftover veggies if you have them, chopped
* EVOO
* a few tbls water
* 1 head Ice Berg lettuce

Directions: 
* Finely chop 1 onion.  Slice other three onions and store in tight closing container (to make sure your fridge doesn't stink) for use later this week.  Tip number two in the game of do something once and benefit many times over game.
* Saute the finely chopped onion in a little EVOO until translucent.  
* Once onion is cooked, add bamboo shoots, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, any extra veggies, and chicken from last night.
* Add rice and if needed, a few tbls water (or more soy- to taste).
* Peel outer layer or two of ice berg lettuce (note this was my very first time ever to buy ice berg- not a personal favorite outside of lettuce wraps).  Cut out core and slice in half.  Give each person several large lettuce pieces to use as wraps.
* Serve with a little soy sauce (add hot sauce or ginger if so desired) and enjoy!

Dinner #1: Chicken Mojo

As I mentioned yesterday, I am doing a bit of a personal challenge this week to show some practical applications to grocery deals this week.  And dinner #1 was a big success in my book.  Healthy, inexpensive, filling and delicious!

Chicken Mojo

Ingredients:
* 2 chicken breasts + 3 chicken breasts (5 total)
* 2 cups Mojo (found with Hispanic foods in Price Chopper)
* 2 cups cooked rice
* 1 bag frozen veggie of choice
* 1 can Price Chopper black beans
* 1 cup guacamole (free last week)
* 1 tsp butter

Directions:
* Place all five chicken breasts in a crockpot and top with the Mojo liquid.  Cover and cook on high 4 hours or low all day.
* Once cooked, shred two breasts for Chicken Mojo. 
* Shred three extra breasts and place in storage container for use later this week.  This is my first tip this week to streamline your time.  Cook once and enjoy many times!

* Steam veggies to your liking.  I made broccoli and just steamed them with a tsp of butter in the microwave for about five minutes. 
* Microwave black beans for about one minute.
* On a place, place 1/2 cup cooked rice (I prefer brown rice) on bottom.  Add black beans, chicken, veggies, a splash of the Mojo sauce from the crockpot and guacamole (or sour cream).
* Enjoy!  This is very filling, crazy yummy and completely gluten free.  I was laughing because I was complimented over and over and over again with this meal.  And yet...it's so easy peasy! 

Don't forget that we now have a head start on our meals for the rest of the week.  What shall we cook up next? 

What's For Dinner? Chicken Un-Fried Rice

I make this very simple little dinner fairly frequently.  Probably at least once a month.  It's one of the many dishes I refer to as "not for company" because as Ina would say, it looks like a dog's breakfast.  But I promise, there's nothing but yum about this dish.  So tasty, so fast to throw together, so flexible to use up leftovers, so inexpensive, and so good the next day if you make enough for leftovers which of course I always do.  So that was a long sentence!
 
Anyhoo...this dish is even better if you are like me and do things like freeze cooked rice and cooked chicken and always have frozen veggies on hand.  For kicks, I thought I might do something different.  Show you the price breakdown of the dish.  I don't like to admit that I rarely think about the total cost of anything I make.  Which is good because I tend to use a lot of wicked expensive ingredients (like all of my GF flours).  But sometimes it's good to figure these things out.  It reminds me that not only is it often faster to cook at home, but it is nearly always less expensive. 

You should note that I have a ton of frozen veggies in my freezer that were free with coupons.  But if you are not a couponer, you should certainly be able to get a big bag for $1.  I buy eggs for $0.99/dozen or less.  I probably over-estimate the cost of chicken but tried to keep it average for not couponers.  I use the grocery store rotisserie chickens, shred several and keep portions in the freezer.  I would say this serves two to four.

Ingredients:
* EVOO
* 4 cups cooked rice
* 4 eggs
* a few splashes of milk
* 1-2 bags frozen veggies or a combo of leftovers
* 1/4 chicken shredded or a combo of leftovers
* seasoning (salt, pepper, soy sauce)

Directions:
* In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and any seasoning you like. 
* In a non-stick pan, scramble eggs.
* In a large pan, add EVOO, frozen veggies (still frozen) and chicken.  Once all is hot, add rice and season to taste using soy sauce (great time to use up the little packs that come from take-out orders), pepper and salt (sparingly- soy is salty).  Add eggs and mix.
* Serve hot!

Price break down:

Rice          $0.32

Eggs          $0.33

Veggies     $0.00

Chicken     $1.50

EVOO      $0.10

Milk          $0.10

Seasoning  $0.10

Total          $2.45

What Do You Do With Over Ripe Bananas?

Oh sure, everyone loves banana bread.  But how many loaves can one really make and eat? 

When my bananas start to turn a little too ripe for my liking, I pop them in the freezer.  I don't peel them or anything.  I mean, bananas come divinely pre-packaged so why mess with perfection?  Sometimes I use them to make banana bread or smoothies.  But I recently saw this little recipe on Pinterest and have been making it regularly ever since.

Sort of a mock chocolate ice cream.

Ingredients:
* 1 rock hard frozen banana
* 2 tbls chocolate powder

Directions:
* Pop your frozen banana in the microwave for 40 seconds.
* Snip the top of the banana with kitchen scissors.  Either peel the skin or just sort of squeeze out the banana into a bowl.
* Add a few tablespoons of chocolate powder.  I've used both Nesquik and hot chocolate mix.  It's truly a whateversonhand sort of thing.
* Mix up and enjoy.

So you want your banana to still be frozen but you want to be able to mix the chocolate in.  40 seconds is the perfect time for my microwave.  This is so yummy!  Cold and creamy and sweet and just delightful!  A total waste not, want not treat.  A great way to make sure that last banana and last bit of cocoa don't go to waste! 

What's For Dinner? Sausage And Peppers

This is my version of sausage and peppers.  But you should note that I am not even one drop Italian.  And of all the foods I crave, generally speaking, Italian is at the VERY bottom of the list.  Of course I have individual dishes I love.  Pasta though, is my "I am starving and too lazy to cook" meal. 

However, about five years ago I discovered the deliciousness of sausage and peppers at local festivals.  Um...yum!  Where has that tasty morsel been my whole life?!

So last night I created a slightly healthier, don't-give-a-hoot-if-it's-even-remotely-authentic version.  And oh it was so good!  And simple!  And very inexpensive!

Ingredients:
* Sausage of your choice (free last week from Price Chopper)
* Peppers, sliced
* Large onion, sliced
* Cooked rice
* EVOO
* Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
* Slice onion and stick in microwave safe bowl.  Cover and microwave for about five minutes.  (A tip long ago from Bestie to seriously cut down the time it takes to cook onions)

* Add a few tablespoons of EVOO to pan and turn to med-high.

* Slice peppers. 

* Add onions to screaming hot pan.  Saute.  Once translucent, add peppers.  Cover and stir every once in a while to make sure nothing burns.

* Cut sausage into chunks.  Add to nearly cooked onions and peppers.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

* Eat over a big bowl of brown (or whatever you have on hand) rice.  Enjoy!

When Block Cheese Is On Sale...

I bought a LOT of block cheese on sale at Price Chopper this week.  However, I rarely use chunks or slices of cheese.  Especially this sort of more processed cheese.  (That's not me being snotty- or maybe it is but not on purpose- just keeping it honest.)  I really only use it shredded.  In casseroles, pizzas, Mexican, etc.

And while this might be stating the obvious for some, I don't doubt it will be a mini ah-ha for others.  So I am sharing.

You can just shred your own cheese in about 30 seconds with a food processor.

Even if you don't have a food processor but instead have a grater, you're not going to spend more than a few minutes per block of cheese.  It's really so fast and simple.

My only advice is that if using softer cheese (these are softer), pop them in the freezer for 20 minutes first.  It's not an absolute but they tend to gunk up (y'all are loving my technical terms, right?) on the blade of the processor.  But that's certainly not the end of the world.  Just roll with it.  I mean, it's cheese.  That you are likely going to melt into something eventually.  Who cares?!

Stick the grater blade in your processor and you are 30 seconds away from your goal.

Oh I do have another tip.  Measure out your cheese and mark your baggies.  As you can see, after the cheese I needed to use that night, I had enough to put two cups in one baggie and one and a half cups in a second baggie.  I tossed them both in the freezer for future use.

Easy peasy orange cheesy!

What To Make For Dinner

Did everyone pick up the yummy sausage and inexpensive green peppers at Price Chopper too?  If you are looking for a way to use those up, you can give this recipe for stuffed peppers a try.  I made this last night (without the red sauce because I forgot all about it) and it's a total no fail.  Even without the tomato sauce, it's such a delicious winner of a recipe.  Even easier if you keep rice in your freezer too!

Oink Oink!

Head's up...

Both boneless pork ribs and pork loins are on sale BOGO Free this week at Price Chopper.  I just picked up two packs of the ribs and tossed them in the crockpot with some BBQ sauce, salt and a splash of wine.  I stuck the two loins in the freezer.

This is exactly how I save big bucks on great meats.  My pork loins were in the range of $11.80/each.  Meaning I saved $11.80 by buying two!  They are in the vacuum sealed packages so they freeze especially well.

So go get your piggy on at the P Chop, my thrifty pals!

Spa Water Recipes

Spring is here!  Time to think about fresh fruits and summer parties and baby showers and lunch on the back deck with best girlfriends. 

Want a fancy pants drink to serve on a super duper budget?  Something that is delicious and refreshing and beautiful but nearly free?

Spa Water!

I make these all the time.  For parties or just for myself.  Hey, I'm worth it!  Ha.  I did a whole post HERE on a variety of fun recipes.  Flavors such as Creamsicle, Lavender Berry and Tropical.  Every single one of them is crazy inexpensive and stunningly beautiful.

Drink up, girls!  Cheers! 

Cheap And Easy Dinner Idea : Chicken Fried Rice

This is what I call a "not for company meal."  Meaning, it's delicious but not exactly pretty.  Keep it for your family meals.  Not the boss and her family.  But this is a cheap and easy and GLUTEN FREE meal that is completely yummy.

But beauty challenged aside, this meal is so yummy and really healthy.  And like everything else coming out of my kitchen, you can use what you have on hand.  For example, I titled this chicken but I actually used leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.  You could also use ham or go meatless and add a can of chickpeas.  I use brown rice in just about everything.  I love it.  But feel free to use whatever you prefer.

This recipe is really all about prep work.  I keep cooked rice and cooked chicken/turkey in bags in my freezer at all times.  I always have a variety of frozen veggies in the freezer too.  If you don't have/want to use the preserves, just add a little oil or water.

Ingredients:
* Cooked rice
* Cooked chicken
* Large bag of frozen veggies
* 1/3 c. Soy sauce
* 1-2 tbls Apricot preserves (optional)
* 2-3 eggs, soft scrambled

Directions:
* Scramble a few eggs.  Don't overcook them as they will be added again to a cooking pan later.  Set aside.

* In large pan (I use the one that I scrambled eggs in to keep this a one pot meal), add a bit of soy sauce and preserves.  If not using preserves, feel free to instead add some brown sugar, EVOO or even just water.  You are making the sauce.  So make something saucy.

* Once you have a sauce going (about 1/4-1/2 cup is all- just to coat), add bag of frozen veggies.  Once defrosted, add chicken.  Once brought to temp, add rice and scrambled eggs.  Toss together to bring to the same temperature and coat in sauce.  Taste.  Add more soy sauce if needed.

* Serve warm.

This meal is full of protein in the brown rice, eggs and meat.  Lots of yummy veggies if you use a big bag.  It's cheap and super simple.  Oh and completely comforting on a chilly night!

Price Chopper Coupons

Click the images to print out this week's Price Chopper website coupons.  With these three coupons, you can easily make either an appy if you make bruschetta or a meal if you make French bread pizzas.  Mmmm!

FREE Turkey Stock

So first, when I had a down hour, I ran over to my favorite CVS (read: not the one closest to me) to pick up as many free deals as I could.  They didn't have everything (out of Finish, Benefiber and Theraflu) but it was still a great haul.  I'll get photos up by tomorrow morning. 

But while there, I met the BEST cashier ever.  So I am forever ranting that this CVS is the best of all drug stores.  But today took the cake.  Not only was my cashier super nice and super sweet about me using coupons, but she also uses coupons!  We could have stood there talking coupons for an hour if I didn't need to get back to my turkey.  How fun!  I really hope we can chat again because I think we each have very different insight regarding sales and such.

OK but back to the turkey.  Or specifically turkey stock.  Don't throw those bones away after you have picked it clean of meat.  Set them aside alone with any uncooked veggies you have too.  I only had a big bag of celery (from Price Chopper's BOGO free sale) so that's exactly what went in my pot.  All of the bones from the turkey, giblets if you didn't accidentally throw them away like I did, all of the celery- including leaves (which have the most flavor by the way- never ever throw those out!) cut in large chunks (or onion and carrots too), salt, pepper and as much water as you can fit.  I used a GIANT pot.  The pot I use for water bath canning.  Having stock on hand makes such a difference in quick meal prep, not to mention the great flavor.

Then just bring the water to a low simmer and let it go for as long as you have.  An hour or two if you have the time.  Don't boil- just a low simmer.  Low and slow, baby.  To get ever bit of yummy, rich flavor out of those turkey (or chicken) bones.  When you make it yourself, it's gluten free, dairy free and possibly even organic.  For next to nothing out of pocket.

Then strain the liquid to remove all the bits of bone, fat, veg, etc.  Portion into plastic containers and freeze until needed.  Practically free and incredibly yummy turkey broth.  To use instead of water when making rice, in soups and stews and chowders, to baste meats, drink from a mug when sick, and any other way you can think of to use stock.

What To Do With Cheap Carrots

A few weeks ago I scored a great deal on carrots at Price Chopper and then sort of forgot to do something with them.  Typical.  So this past weekend I decided they needed to be used and made a little slaw-ish salad out of them that is sooo yummy. 

CARROT SALAD

Ingredients:
* Carrots
* Raisins
* Apple cider vinegar
* Maple syrup (real and only real) or honey
* EVOO
* Salt and pepper

Directions:
* Shred carrots in food processor. 
* In a bowl, mix vinegar, oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper.  I'm not giving measurements because it depends on how many carrots you're using.  This is essentially a salad dressing though so you really can't go wrong.  Just eyeball it. 
* Add in carrots and raisins.  Mix to incorporate.  Taste to be sure you have enough seasoning and dressing.  It does not need to be wet as the carrots will give off some moisture as they sit too.  Just enough to coat everything.
* It's yummy right away but best if you let it sit in the fridge at least an hour. 

Optional additions:
* Garlic or onion powder
* Chopped scallions
* Dried cranberries
* Raspberry vinegar (I actually used a few splashes of this too)

A Recipe : Turkey Bean Chili

I meant to post this on Monday when I made it but I have barely checked my email in the last 50 hours.  My fur baby, the dog that is the love of my life and possibly the only child I will have, has been very very ill.  The good news is that she is on the mend.  Ish.  Mend-ish.  She is improving but v e r y slowly.  So I've been all-consumed with her and not blogging.

But I did enjoy a fabulous pot of chili this week, thanks to some great coupons at Price Chopper this week.  Now this is not a food a grew up eating so I am not sure if this is authentic or anything.  But it's darn good and really, that's all that matters!

Turkey Bean Chili

Ingredients:
* 2 tablespoons EVOO
* ground meat (I used ground turkey but any meat will do or omit if you want meatless)
* 1 teaspoon dried onion
* 1 pack chili or taco seasoning or 3-5 tablespoons homemade
* chili powder to taste
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (optional)
* 2 cans kidney beans, in their liquid
* 2 large cans diced tomatoes
* 1 tiny can tomato paste

Directions:
* In a heavy bottom pot, heat up EVOO to high heat.  Add meat and all seasonings.  Brown until cooked through.
* Add beans, tomatoes and tomato paste.  Go ahead and add the liquid in the bean cans.  It's free, already right there and helps thicken the chili.  Mix well.
* Turn down to low/simmer and cook for @30 minutes to let all the flavors incorporate.  Add a can or two of water if too thick. 
* Serve with a sharp cheese, sour cream, chips, onions or anything else floating around your pantry.

The salad is one of those Price Chopper salad kits on sale for $2.99 (I think) this week.  I LOVE them- this one has cranberries, golden rasins, feta cheese and a supper yummy dressing.

Now there is a Price Chopper coupon for their store brand of Diced Tomatoes, but I discovered that Tuttorossa brand is actually on sale for a lower price this week.  That's without a coupon.  A lesson to always double check prices as the coupon is not always the very best deal every week.

The chili powder is a steal at just $0.50 after the PC coupon!  It's not a hot chili powder so it can be used in all sorts of yummy fall and winter recipes.

Of course the kidney beans are a rockin' deal this week with the PC coupon!  I plan to go buy a few more cans.  I use beans all the time as a great, filling source or protein when I don't feel like eating meat.  If you make this without meat, you might want to add a few extra cans of beans in there too.

This makes a huge pot of chili and it freezes great if you don't feel like eating it all this week.  On a cold, snowy winter day, it's sort of awesome to heat up a dish of your homemade chili for lunch or dinner.

I know the cinnamon and nutmeg seem a little out of left field but trust me on this one.  Seriously, trust me.  You can't taste them specifically but they really add so much to the recipe.  I actually add a few zips of freshly ground nutmeg to nearly everything savory that comes out of my kitchen.  They are optional but just do me a favor and add them even if you think I am crazy.  I'm not (or not today anyway) and you will love the extra subtle flavors.  In advance...you're welcome!

And a final note...
If you want to make this in your crockpot, do the first step of browning off your meat in a pan and then transfer it and everything else to your crockpot.  Cook low all day or high for a few hours.  Is anyone else a total crockpot-aholic too?  Love love that thing!