Kroger and affiliate stores is offering a new game on their website to help you save even more on your groceries!!! Play the Summer of Savings Instant Win Game and see what kind of savings you’ll find.
You can enter to win every day from now until September 11, 2010!!!
Thanks to Heather at Freebies4Mom!
So tonight I’m out on the town…I’m hanging out at the Ultimate Mom’s Night Out and will then catch the last showing of Ramona and Beezus with some girlfriends. (I know…I’m totally getting wilder as I age!) I really just want to see Ramona and Beezus so I can feel 12 again.
(I might have had a little thing for those Beverly Cleary books when I was a kid. The kind of thing where you read them one after the next, after the next. And you stand in line at the bookstore the day a new one gets released. There you have it, a self-professed Ramona nerd.)
Last night I browned a large package of ground beef…and used most of it for this chili, but saved enough for spaghetti sauce for the guys to have tonight. Over on Facebook, I asked what you guys do for dinner when you head out for a girls night…and I am super impressed with all those Spam and Ramen cooking husbands!
(While I know Steve is perfectly capable of making dinner for the little people, it’s much easier for him if I get dinner ready for them. Or at least pull pancakes out of the freezer!)
I was a little bit nervous about how the “taco” flavor of the chili would work with the potatoes…but for no reason! It totally “worked”!
Ingredients
4 large baking potatoes ($.80)
About 1 lb. ground beef ($1.79)
2 15 oz. cans “chili ready” diced tomatoes, drained ($.16 each) Substitute2 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes and add some chili powder and 1 cup chopped onions
3 cups cooked red kidney beans ($.60) Substitute 2 15 oz. cans drained red kidney beans
1 1/2 Tbsp homemade taco seasoning ($.10)
2 garlic cloves, crushed or minced ($.05)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Butter for the potatoes, if you like ($.20)
1 package steamable mixed veggies ($.99) Manager’s Special
Directions
1. Bake the potatoes in the oven. 400 for an hour or so. Time will depend on how fat the potatoes are. 
2. Brown the ground beef and drain. Return to the skillet and add the diced tomatoes, red kidney beans, taco seasoning, crushed garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. When potatoes are finished baking, remove them from the oven and let cool before handling. Break open, mash down, add a little butter if you like, then top with the chili.
4. Steam the veggies as directed on the package.
5. Serve Mexican Chili Topped Potatoes with Steamed Broccoli, Carrots and Snap Peas.
Cost $4.85
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Saturday is the last day of July. (How did that happen?!)
That means that many of the coupons you see available now on the popular printable coupons site might disappear. So get thee to printing, if you haven’t yet!
- $1/1 Nature Valley Nut Clusters
Be sure to check out all the printable coupons available at Red Plum, Smart Source and Coupons.com!
Looking for a coupon for an item on your shopping list? Or a coupon for your favorite product? Be sure to check for it in my coupon database!
A guest post from Eat at Home’s Tiffany King…
Salad is my go-to way of getting more veggies in my family’s diet. I love homemade salad dressings but looking up the recipe, checking and rechecking for amounts and measuring seemed to take too much time for an ordinary week night.
But, there’s an easier way!
If you can remember a couple of quick ratios, the rest can be done by estimation and taste.
The Easiest Method
The absolute quickest way to dress a salad, and one of the tastiest is to sprinkle the greens with red or white wine vinegar, drizzle with olive oil and toss with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. No need to remember ratios or measure anything.
Vinaigrette Ratios
To make a simple vinaigrette use 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. Another way to think of this is 1 Tablespoon of oil to 1 teaspoon of vinegar. Simple, right?
You can use olive oil or vegetable oil. I like either red wine or white wine vinegar, but balsamic is also good. Also try flavored vinegars.
To the oil and vinegar add:
- Fresh or dried herbs, such as basil, tarragon, rosemary, oregano, chives
- Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh garlic or garlic powder
Use your imagination and let your taste buds enjoy your creations. You’ll come up with all kinds of interesting combinations to complement your main course.
For an Asian inspired dressing try:
- Rice wine vinegar
- Olive oil
- A drop of sesame seed oil or Hoisin sauce
- Salt and pepper
Ranch Ratios
Stir together equal parts of sour cream and mayonnaise. You can use low-fat versions to make it healthier. Some people like it a little heavier on the mayo than sour cream. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Thin this with milk if you are using it as a dressing instead of dip. To the sour cream/mayo mixture add:
- Fresh garlic or garlic powder – fresh garlic can be minced or crushed or you can use a fork to mash a clove of garlic with some kosher salt.
- Chopped fresh herbs or dried herbs, such as dill, chives, basil, oregano
- Seasoned salt
- Salt and pepper
Play around with it, tasting and adding. As you experiment with making homemade dressing, you’ll find your perfect flavor combos and you’ll be able to fix it in a flash!
Tiffany King shares recipes, menus and complete grocery lists on her site Eat at Home, Everyday Food for Busy People. She’s married with 4 children who range in age from 18-7 years old, a couple of which are willing salad eaters. The others have to be encouraged.
So I hit up a few stores this week. Kroger twice.
First time on Monday for our “regular shopping”…we were all out of juice, bananas, milk…you know, the essentials!
Second time to rock the toothpaste and $4 P&G sale. And rock it, I did!
I also bopped into Whole Foods while we were in the neighborhood in Cincinnati for an appointment. I wanted to get some more quinoa, and also got some sucanat from the bulk bins as well. While I REALLY wanted to go ballistic and blow my grocery budget out of the water, I restrained myself, mustered up some self-control and walked out of there only spending $5.76!
No farmer’s market trip for me this week. The fridge is full of all sorts of fabulous produce, peppers, tomatoes, squash…from last week’s trip and from our own garden.
(I’m thinking BLT sandwiches for lunch everyday for the next 2 months. I really don’t think I’d get sick of them.)
(I love them like I love chocolate, rosemary and garlic.)
Kroger Trip #1
My “regular” trip…included some great manager’s special deals on pork chops, sliced mushrooms, a bag of stir fry veggies, and organic apple slices. Also, grabbed some $.50/can tuna, $1.99/lb chicken breasts and $1.69/lb ground beef.
Kroger Trip #2
20 tubes of Crest, 1 100 oz Tide Free and Clear, 1 box Bounce Free, big old pack of Charmin, and an air freshener. (It’s summer and my boys are stinky!)
- Used 20 $.50/1 Crest coupons – FREE!!!
- $3/1 Charmin from P & G E-Saver – Total of $2.99 after sale, promotion and e-coupon
- $2/1 Tide from P & G E-Saver – Total of $7.99 after sale, promotion and e-coupon
Should have paid over $86 for all that…but instead only paid $18.72!!!
Total spent at Kroger: $66.60 and $18.72
Total for the week: $103.58 for all trips plus farmer’s market
Total for the month: $255.62
Just $15 over my $60/week budget for July~ More details on the August budget next week!
My grocery store’s ad scan
Thanks to Andrea at Mommy Snacks and Marcy at Stretching a Buck for posting the best deals and coupon matchups at my stores each week!
Find the coupon match-ups for your grocery store at The Frugal Map!
Kristine needs help!!!!!!!
I am a full-time working (and pumping) mom to a 3 month old and a 4 year old. We are the typical “kool-aid family”. We eat LOTS of prepackaged, high sugar foods. The problem is…I’M the picky eater and the organic/produce section of the grocery store intimidate me! I can walk through the produce section and not know what half of the items are. I barely glance at the organic section because it looks Greek to me!
If it comes in a box or if it is frozen, then I’m all over it! The only veggies we eat are potatoes, corn, and broccoli.
- Can you suggest some small steps to take to start adding better foods to our diets?
- What sort of snacks, etc would be good to try in the organic section for picky eaters who are used to lots of sugary foods?
I don’t have a super tight budget that I must stick to, but still want to be good stewards of our money. I plan to try a few recipes from your garden series to get started, but can you give me a few more sugggestions?
What steps can you think of that Kristine needs to make in order to start incorporating healthier foods into their diet?!?
(P.S. LOVING all your suggestions and ideas!!!)
Thought I’d replace the traditional beef in Stuffed Green Peppers with some black and red kidney beans instead. And I’m glad I did! The “filling” is so delicious and fresh…and it be great rolled up in a tortilla for lunch.
(That’s what I’ll be having for lunch tomorrow.)
Ingredients
1 cup brown rice ($.40)
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped ($.30)
2 large tomatoes, diced ($1.20)
1 4 oz. can diced green chilies ($.59) Substitute the fresh tomatoes and green chilies with 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
2 cups cooked black beans ($.40)
2 cups cooked red kidney beans ($.40)
1 tsp ground cumin ($.05)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 green peppers ($1.20)
Few pinchfuls of Shredded cheddar cheese ($.50)
1 bag frozen corn ($.88)
Directions
1. Cook the brown rice as directed on the package. (Takes about 45 minutes.) Substitute white rice if desired.
2. To the cooked brown rice, add the chopped onions, diced tomatoes, green chilies, cooked black beans, cooked red kidney beans, ground cumin and salt and pepper (to taste).
3. Slice the stem out of the top of the green pepper and place in a pot with boiling salt water for 5 minutes. Remove from water, then stuffed with the filling. Top with a pinchful of shredded cheese.
4. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is bubbly.
5. Cook the corn as directed on package.
6. Serve Double Bean Stuffed Green Peppers with Corn.
(Note: I had a few extra smaller green peppers in the fridge…so I made Stuffed Bite Size Peppers for Steve to take to work for lunch!)
Top with some shredded cheese, then freeze. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat in the oven long enough to melt the cheese before taking to work.
Cost $5.92 – With lots of leftovers for lunch!!!
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