It's Taco Time!

I made tacos for dinner on Sunday in order to use up the half can of diced tomatoes we had leftover from our meal on Friday.  We actually got two meals out of the tacos - we had them again tonight!

Taco Night

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (or chicken or turkey)
• 1 pkg taco seasoning (I used Meijer brand or whatever is on sale)
• taco shells/tortillas/tortilla chips
• diced tomatoes (or salsa)
• shredded cheese (I used Meijer brand Mexican mix)
• shredded lettuce
• sour cream (Neither of us like sour cream, but I imagine someone out there does!)

Directions:

1. Brown meat and drain the fat.  Follow directions on the taco seasoning package to prepare taco meat.
2. Serve with all the trimmings!

I like to eat my tacos with soft tortilla shells, and Ryan likes to make a sort of taco salad with tortilla chips. 

It would be an understatement to say that this was a super simple meal.  The most time consuming part was probably browning the meat and shredding the lettuce. 

I won't be blogging as much in the upcoming days.  We are having pizza tomorrow, and I'm going out to dinner with some friends on Friday.  I may cook on Thursday, but it'll probably be something I've already blogged about like chicken alfredo or even something easier like grilled cheese.  I do plan on making mostacholi in the near future, so stay tuned for that!

This Weekend's Shopping Trip

I didn't really feel like there were awesome sales this week.  Maybe when I get paid again in two weeks they'll be better!

This week I managed to only spend $1.28!  I saved $5.36 or 80%.  I was pretty excited.  :)

Dawn dish soap 10.3 oz. - $0.99 each Walgreens coupon
- $1/1 coupon
Bought two for $0.50 each!

Musketeer Trifle bars
- $0.39 each Walgreens coupon
- B2G1 coupon
Ended up getting three for $0.26 each!

This week at CVS, I spent $12.65 and saved $18.58 or 59%.  I seem to be doing fairly well with savings at the drugstores.  I still need to do a little better at the grocery stores.  More on that in a bit...  Right now, here are the highlights from my CVS trip:

Dark Reese's PB Cups - on sale $2/1
- $0.55/1 coupon
- $0.55/1 coupon
I made $0.10!

Nestle Crunch Bar - on sale $2/1
- B1G1 coupon
- B1G1 coupon
Bought four and scored them for $0.25 each!

Country Fresh Milk 2% - on sale for $1.99
- $0.45/1 coupon
Paid $1.54 which is cheaper than the grocery stores!

Dawn Dish Soap 9.5 oz - on sale for $0.96
- $1/1 coupon
- $1/2 coupon
- $1/2 coupon
I made $0.12!

Organix Shampoo/Conditioner - on sale for $4.99
- B1G1 hang tag
I'll get one for free once I send in my receipt and the hang tag!

Between two different trips to two different Meijers and two different weekly sales, I spent $116.35 and saved $49.41 - 30%.

Pepperidge Farm Rasin Bread - on sale for $2.50

- $0.55/1 coupon
$1.95 for a loaf!

Febreze Candles - on sale for $4.99
- $1/1 coupon
- $1/1 coupon
$3.99 a candle!

Meijer Yogurt - on sale for 3/$10

Ball Park All Beef Franks - on sale 2/$5
- $0.75/2 coupon
- $0/75/1 coupon
Scored three for $2 a package!

10/$10 get 11th free promotion:
Coke/Pepsi 2Ls (13)
$12 + deposit

Minute Maid Lemonade (2)

Meijer Naturals Salsa (2)
- $2/1 Meijer Catalina coupon
Free after coupon!

Meijer Pretzels (2)

Snack Pack Pudding and Jell-o (4)

1lb Strawberries

I ended up with 24 items for $20 in the 10/$10 deal.


This week I spent $130.28 in groceries and saved $73.35 for a total savings of 36%. Not bad, but not as good as the last grocery shopping week.  I definitely got some great deals, but overall, I think I could have done better.  We'll try again next time!

It Just Felt Like a Shish Kabob Kind of Day

Lately, I've been trying to be more diligent about not wasting food.  It's just the two of us usually, so we generally end up with leftovers that never get eaten.  I attempted to use an entire package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for two meals this weekend - and I succeeded!  Friday we had Bruschetta Chicken Bake (I halfed the recipe), and Saturday night we had Chicken Kabobs. 

In keeping with the whole "not wasting food" thing, I'm saving the half can of diced tomatoes from Friday night for the tacos we're having tonight and the other half of the stuffing package for the next time we have the chicken bake.  I just wrote on the pouch what it is and put it in a Ziploc baggie.

I hadn't made shish kabobs in a loooooong time and didn't have any skewers on-hand.  When we went grocery shopping Friday night, I picked up a package of bamboo skewers and almost put them in our basket.  At the last second (yes it was literally the last second - my husband pushes the cart and doesn't like to dilly-dally at the grocery store), I spoted some beautiful metal skewers with wooden handles.  In the basket they went!

We normally just marinade our chicken in Italian dressing, but I wanted to try something different this time.  My sister-in-law used a McCormick Montreal Seasoning marinade on steak one time, and I loved it!  So when I saw Montreal Chicken Seasoning, I knew we'd have to try it. 

I just used the marinade recipe on the bottle of seasoning.  I did have to make a run to Kroger to pick up the white wine vinegar it calls for, but other than that, I had everything on hand to make the marinade.

  

Italian Herb Marinade

Coutesy of McCormick

• MIX 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon Seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Italian Seasoning.
• ADD 1 pound chicken; marinate 1 to 2 hours.
• GRILL.

That's basically it!  I added cut up green and yellow peppers and some onion.  Next time we are going to grab a red pepper (we missed it somehow) and some mushrooms.  They were pretty tasty, but I think we might go back to the Italian dressing marinade next time for the kabobs and just use the McCormick marinade when we grill chicken by itself.

Stay tuned for Taco Night!

"Make Yourself a Dang Quesadilla!"

Bonus ponits if you know what movie the title is from.  :)

Tonight I made quesadillas for the second time in about a week.  The first time, my photo didn't turn out so well, so I waited to post until I had a better one.  Ryan and I really like these and have decided to put them into regular dinner rotation.  I also think they'll be a great quick meal when/if we ever have children or have our nephews over when they're older.

Quick and Easy Chicken Quesadillas

Ingredients:

• 3-5 oz. can of chicken
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 4 8-inch flour tortillas
• 1 cup finely shredded cheese (I used a Mexican mix)
• Sour cream and extra salsa for serving (if desired)

Directions:

1. Mix chicken and salsa in a small bowl.
2. Layer two of the tortillas with 1/2 of the chicken mixture and 1/2 of the cheese.  Top each with the remaining two tortillas.
3. Cook each quesadilla uncovered over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
4. Cut quesadillas into wedges and serve with sour cream and salsa.

 

That's it!  I told you it was super simple!

Ryan actually prefers his with only chicken and cheese, so I made his and then mixed my portion of the chicken with the salsa.  I also found that I prefer to use less salsa than the recipe calls for.

Sometimes You Have To Think Inside the Box…

Today I am making desserts for our Easter celebrations tomorrow.  I am taking the easy route and making boxed cakes and brownies.  Sometimes you just need to graciously accept the help of others, and I’m accepting help from Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines!

For my side of the family’s get together, I’m making a simple Duncan Hines White Cake Mix with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.  For Ryan’s family get together, I’m making Betty Crocker Hershey’s Supreme Brownie Mix (per Ryan’s request) and a Duncan Hines’ recipe for Old Fashion Applesauce Spice Cake with a box of Betty Crocker Spice Cake Mix.  I’m only going to include the recipe for the applesauce cake because it doesn’t follow the box directions exactly.

Old Fashion Applesauce Spice Cake
http://www.duncanhines.com/recipes/cakes/dh/old-fashioned-applesauce-spice-cake

Ingredients:

Cake

• 1 pkg Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice Cake Mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups applesauce
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped nuts 

Frosting

• 1 container vanilla frosting
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Glaze

• 1 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 Tbls milk or cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.  Grease and flour 13x9 inch pan.
2. Combine cake mix, eggs, applesauce, and oil in large bowl.  Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes.  Stir in nuts.  Pour into pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 15 minutes.  Invert onto cooling rack.  Turn right-side up.  Cool completely.
4. For frosting, combine vanilla frosting and cinnamon.  Stir until blended.  Spread over cooled cake.
5. For glaze, whisk together confectioner's sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and milk or cream.  Add only enough cream to make a spreadable glaze.  Top cooled cake with cinnamon glaze before cutting.

This time I made the cake in a Bundt pan and used the glaze.  I have made this before with the vanilla-cinnamon frosting, and it’s also wonderful!

I'm Baaaaaaack!

I have been a bad blogger.

My good friend and fellow blogger, Jess, slapped my wrist a few weeks back for not posting more.  Then this week, she put me in the corner with a dunce cap when she posted this.  I guess it's finally time for another post!

The last time I wrote, I spoke about my new found obsession with coupons.  I still have the obsession even if I'm not obsessed about blogging it.

So here is my first attempt at breaking down my grocery shopping visits to Target, Meijer, and Kroger for the week ending March 27, 2010:

I spent $56.24 and, according to my receipt, saved $32.33.  That's a savings of 36.5%!  Not too shabby!

Some highlites from this trip were:
Woolite - on sale for $8.99
- $1/1
- $1/1
- $1.50/1
Ended up getting two for $7.99 ea and one for $7.49 ea.

Arm & Hammer Clean Shower Spray - $1.97 reg
- $0.75/1
Snagged it for $1.22 - this stuff is awesome!

Post Honey Bunches of Oats (my fav!) Value Size - on sale for $3.29
- $1.50/2
I ended up buying these for $2.54 ea which is close to the $2.50 sale price for the smaller family sized box.  (I have close to ten boxes of cereal in our pantry right now.  I thought my husband was going to have a stroke when I grabbed two more boxes, but he knows how much I love my Honey Bunches of Oats!)

McCormick - on sale for $2.51
- $1/1
- $0.75/1
- $0.75/1
Ended up getting one for $1.51 and two for $1.76 ea.

Arm & Hammer toothpaste - on sale for $2.79
- $2.50/1
- $2.50/1
Ended up getting two for $0.29 ea.

Biore Pore Strips - $8.99 reg
Biore Face Wash - $5.94 reg
- Buy one pore stips, get one face wash free
I ended up getting the pore strips for free.  I told the cashier that she highlighted the wrong item, but she said the computer took it, so she wasn't going to change it.  Fine with me!  I ended up getting the pore strips and face wash for $5.94 or $2.97 ea.  Would anyone like the face wash?  I use prescription stuff.

So that was my Target shopping trip in a nutshell.  I think we did pretty well!

I spent $27.09 at Kroger this week and saved $32.16 according to my receipt, which turns out to be 54% in savings.  Also, printed on my receipt is how many items I purchased.  Well, I purchased 28 items and only spent $27.09 - that's under $1 for each item!!

Here's the breakdown of the best deals:
Coca-Cola 2L bottles - on sale for $0.79 (when you bought eight participating products)
I got eight for $6.32 + deposit

Snickers candy bars - on sale 2/$1
- $0.50/1
Kroger doubles coupons up to $0.50, so I snagged two for free!

King Size Reese's PB Cup - price unknown
- Free King Size Reese's for playing the March Madness game on Kroger.com
Got it for free!

Ken's Salad Dressing - on sale for $1.99 (when you buy eight participating products)
- $1/2
I picked up two for $1.49 ea.

I also received $5.00 off for playing the March Madness game.  It was loaded directly onto my Kroger card and applied to my purchases.  Free money is great!

I spent $31.53 at Meijer, but only saved $9.10 overall. 22% savings - it could have been better, but I bought some produce that wasn't on sale and picked up some things for my parents.

Here are the highlights:
Meijer Canned Tomatoes on sale for 2/$1 x 4
$0.50 per can!

Ziploc Freezer Bags - on sale for $1.89
- $0.40/1
- $0.40/1
My Meijer doubles coupons up to $0.50, so I saved $0.80 off can box. I paid $1.09 ea.

Stouffer's French Bread Pizza - on sale for $2 ea
We love these pizzas.  I think we bought two.  There's like five more in our freezer.  :)

Overall, I spent $114.86 on groceries this week, but saved $73.59.  That's a total savings of 39%.  Not too bad.  I look forward to doing even better.  I know it can be done because I had a taste of it the other day.  I was able to purchase three bags of Reese's Miniature PB Cups for $2 at RiteAid and four cans of Pringles for $1 at CVS.  You just have to keep your eyes pealed and your coupons organized!

Stay tuned for my CVS, RiteAid, and Walgreens deals for this week.  I just made out my shopping list today. 

Also, stay tuned for a new recipe!  Tonight we are trying Chicken Quesadillas.  :)

Maybe tomorrow?

So being more diligent about watching what I eat did not start today.  We went to Antonio's for 1/2 off pizza tonight.  That's never good.  Well, actually it always tastes amazing, but it's never good for the diet.  Their garlic bread is to die for.  Seriously.  Between the two of us, we finished off two baskets.  Oops.  Now I don't exactly feel like working out.  My stomach is protesting a three mile walk, so I'll start tomorrow.  :)  Famous last words...

Tomorrow we will be having leftover pizza (sans bread, thankfully!), so food blogging will have to wait until later in the week.  However, I don't believe we're trying anything new this week.  I do hope to have my grocery shopping breakdown ready to post soon!