Stuffed Peppers

I love these stuffed peppers, but my children are still reluctant to even taste them.

6 medium/large bell peppers, seeded

1 lb ground turkey/venison/beef

1 C chopped mushrooms (optional)

1/2 onion, chopped

8 oz tomato sauce

1 TBSP minced garlic

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 TBSP worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

2-3 C cooked rice

mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F

Cut tops off the peppers and remove cores. Trim the stems from the tops and discard. Chop the remaining tops; set aside. Arrange pepper shells in a steamer over boiling water, cover, and steam 5-10 minutes, until tender. Drain shells and set aside.

In large skillet, combine turkey, mushrooms, onion, and reserved chopped pepper. Cook over medium heat until turkey is cooked- approximately 7-8 minutes. Drain off any excess grease. Add the tomato sauce, garlic, basil, oregano, worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes. Mix in the rice (use less rice for smaller peppers and more rice for bigger peppers or leftover filling).

Spoon mixture into the pepper shells; then place the peppers upright in a baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and peppers are thoroughly heated. Serve.

Making it healthier:

Omit the cheese. If desired, top with an additional 8 oz can of tomato sauce.

How I use my $50 grocery budget: week 5/28/12

I had such a hard time coming up with a meal plan this week!! I've been in a bit of a rut lately and am highly tempted to go back to our old ways of eating- I won't be, but it's tempting to grab convenience foods or just cook up some meat from the freezer and pair it with mashed potatoes and canned veggies.
The real problem is that I really need to go to Trader Joe's and Raisin Rack or just bite the bullet and pay more around here. I was hoping to sneak a trip in to Trader Joe's over the weekend (mainly for nuts and raisins), but we just weren't close enough at convenient times. And I'm waiting until my next doctor's appointment to go to Raisin Rack; I pass right by it on my way to and from my OB's which is 40ish minutes from our house, so I'm not making a special trip just for tofu.

I could've price matched this week, but because of the holiday being on my normal shopping day, I was not about to step foot in Walmart. My husband and I actually did a divide and conquer Monday morning, because he had other errands to run too and we needed to be at a cookout by 11:30 so he could help cook. Even though the list is really long, it didn't take long or much driving to do all of this shopping.

I went shopping with just a basic idea of what we'd have this week and hoped for the best in finding produce and was fortunate enough to actually luck out with a lot of my shopping, I have a ton of produce to prepare and put in the freezer, which will help in weeks to come, though I do feel a little sorry for David, because he's not a big fan on sweet peppers

I still had my $19.94 carry-over from last week, so add in my $50 from this week and I had a lot to work with.

Here's what I bought:

I hit the jackpot on the reduced produce cart! $10.88 for all that

Meijer:
1 lb strawberries $1.50
reduced price produce totaling: $10.88
8 orange peppers
9 red peppers
4 mangoes
2 jalepeno peppers
9 golden delicious apples
10 apricots
cherry tomatoes
2 zucchini
total: $12.38

Farmers market:
red potatoes $.75/lb
bananas $.45/lb
local homegrown strawberries $3.48
cucumber (it's huge!) $.75
garlic $.50
3 green peppers -no charge 
total: $6.12

Carnival:
30 ears of corn $5 total (they were $.10 each for the first several and then the rest were more expensive and my husband didn't give me a receipt, so hopefully that's the right price and he wasn't just rounding)

Target:
10 pack Dial bar soap
total after tax and redcard discount: $3.81

Kroger (last week's sales ads, i forgot they don't switch on Monday holidays, oh well it gave me an extra pack of chicken to prep and stick in the freezer):
1/2 gallon chocolate soy milk $2.69
3 bags tortilla chips $1 each
2 6oz packs blackberries $1 each
Tyson B/S chicken breast $1.77/lb = $3.40
total: $11.09

Aldi (wasn't open on Monday):
gala apples $2.99
bag red onions $.59
celery $.69
1/2 gallon almond milk $2.49
1 gal whole milk $2.29
baby carrots $.49
mushrooms $.59
bananas $.44/lb = $1.15
total: $11.28

total: $49.68
carry-over $20.26


And for this week's meals:
Breakfasts:

• cereal
• oatmeal
• pancakes
• waffles

Lunches/ Dinners:

• Memorial day cookout at church (bring a side: corn on the cob)
• end of the year picnic at the park for my preschooler
• PB&J sandwiches
• stuffed peppers
• fajita burritos
• kabobs, corn on the cob, salad
• ham and potato casserole (from freezer)
• minestrone
• pasta
• leftovers

Extra: an apple based dessert, not sure what yet

garden update: 5/28/12

I'm getting some varying results in my gardens. I'm getting lots of sprouts (and weeds) but several seeds haven't sprouted, so I'm trying again in smaller containers and then I'll transfer them after they've sprouted. My back garden isn't doing so well- unless you count all the maple trees that are trying to grow (my toughest weed problem). A lot of the peas have sprouted, but none of the leafy greens and green beans did, plus the cauliflower and broccoli aren't very happy- they're being eaten by something and not growing a lot- sigh.

I have corn sprouts though!

 Plus my front steps are filling up with pots of various veggies!

 

And take a look at how awesome my tomatoes are doing! My cherry tomatoes are the tallest and starting to produce tomatoes, but all the plants are getting bigger and flowering!

Now that pretty much everything is planted here's the list:
watermelon
strawberries*
raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry bushes*
red and purple grape vines*
picklebush cucumbers
spinach
eggplant
lettuce blend
corn
pumpkin
butternut squash
salad cucumber
acorn squash
spaghetti squash
zucchini
golden zucchini
onion
red, orange, and banana peppers
better boy, Roma, and cherry tomatoes
broccoli
cauliflower
giant caesar lettuce
peas
green beans
brussel sprouts
*indicates that I don't expect much, if any yield this year

On an unrelated note: due to the holiday, this week's grocery trip(s) and menu will be delayed.

1 hour whole wheat buns

These buns are great! They are light, just like a hamburger/hotdog bun should be! The best part is they only take about an hour start to finish (give or take a few minutes).

Makes: 12-16 buns

2 TBSP active dry yeast
1 C + 2T water (105-115 F)
1/4 C sugar (divided)
3 1/2- 4 C whole wheat flour
1 TBSP vital wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1/3 C oil

Proof the yeast in the water with teaspoon of the sugar until foamy.
Stir the rest of the sugar, flour, wheat gluten, and salt together.
Mix in egg, oil, and yeast mixture.
Knead 5 minutes.
Shape into round flat (3/4-1 inch thick) discs and place on greased baking sheet.
Cover and allow to rise until nearly doubled (about 20-30 minutes).
Bake at 425 F 8-10 minutes until tops are golden brown.
Remove to cooling rack and allow to cool at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

How I use my $50 grocery budget: week 5/21/12

What a great week for price matching! Thanks to all the price matching I did, plus the abnormal circumstances of having my birthday this week and making a wedding cake, I was able to get everything I need/wanted for  very little. I'll be at my parents for a day and a half, so I didn't have as many meals to buy for. You'll notice in the meal plan, I have one TBD (to be determined). I haven't planned Sunday's meals yet, because we may have leftovers that need eaten and if not I'll come up with something Saturday evening.

I did all of my planned shopping at Wal-mart this week:
carry-over from last week: $3.84

4 lbs strawberries $.99 each (price match Aldi)
7 ears corn $.14 each (price mach Meijer)
1 pint blueberries $2 (price match Meijer)
bananas $.54/lb
bell pepper $.68
organic spinach $3.34 (I wasn't paying attention and was charged the wrong amount-ugh)
avocado $1.38 (again wasn't paying attention- double ugh)
Watermelon $2.77 (price match Carnival)
3 doz XL eggs $1 each (price match Carnival)
tomatoes $.77/lb (price match Kroger)
3lbs Tyson B/S chicken breast $1.77/lb (price match Kroger)
1/2 gal Almond Breeze milk $2.88
1 gal whole milk $2.39
Subtotal: 30.90
Not pictured: gfs: large bag corn chips $3
Grand total: $33.90
carry-over: $19.94

meal plans:
breakfasts: oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, eggs, etc.
lunches: sandwiches, leftovers, etc.
dinners:

• linguine w/ butternut squash
• black bean burgers, corn on cob, watermelon
• chicken, pineapple,onion, pepper kabobs w/ rice
• parmesan chicken from freezer w/ spaghetti and salad
• dinner w/ parents x2
• TBD

extra: angel food cake w/ strawberries

Easy Taco Salad

This is a super easy and yummy salad, great for a potluck or a basic dinner at home. If you're not a big garbanzo bean fan, have no fear, I'm not normally a fan either, but they fit so well in this salad that I always forget my usual aversion and chow down.

Makes 5-6 dinner sized portions

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 TBSP taco seasoning
1/2 can crisp sweet corn, drained and rinsed
1/4  C dried cranberries or raisins
2 heads romaine lettuce chopped (or lettuce/leafy green of choice)
2-3 big handfuls tortilla chips, crushed or in strips
ranch dressing (or preferred dressing)

Potluck version: Mix the beans together with the taco seasoning in a large bowl. Layer corn, cranberries, lettuce, and top with chips. Mix together just before serving and set ranch dressing next to bowl.

At home: Mix the beans, taco seasoning, corn, and cranberries together in a bowl. Plate the lettuce, top with chips, bean mixture, and ranch.

Enjoy!

Extras ideas:
Add in a cup of Mexican style or cheddar cheese.
Substitute tortilla chips for nacho cheese chips.

How I use my $50 grocery budget: week 5/14/12

I've only made a feeble attempt at a menu plan for the week, because plans keep shifting and quite frankly Monday was an off day for me. I was really hoping for some inspiration from items on the reduced price produce shelf, but was disappointed.

Here's what I bought:

Aldi:
1 gallon whole milk $2.29 (they didn't have the almond milk today, I hope it's just a temporary thing)
1 doz eggs $1.09
3 lbs gala apples $2.99
angus beef hotdogs (w/o nitrites) $2.99
Total: $9.36

Meijer:
2 (16+oz) boxes multigrain cheerios $3.33each
1 big box reese's puff cereal $3.34 (the husband has been missing his sugary cereal)
3.75lb reduced price bananas $.44/lb = $1.65
reduced price butternut squash $.93 (I had to ask for it to be reduced)
Silk almond milk $3.28- $.75 catalina coupon= $2.53
Land O Lakes unsalted butter quarters $3.28- $.75 coupon (found on shelf) doubled= $1.78
1 lb tomatoes $.77/lb = $.77
Extra Virgin Olive Oil $3.74
blackberries $1
10 for 10 get the 11th free:
6 pasta sauce
5 salsa
Total: $32.40

Grand Total: $41.76
I had to leave some space in the budget to buy 12 ears of corn for the father/son camp out my boys are going on this weekend (seriously? couldn't they have picked something in season for them to bring? I haven't even planted my corn yet! Fresh corn is expensive right now) At least we still have some lettuce, plenty of spinach, and some assorted other veggies from previous weeks.

edit: grocery purchases Thursday while running other errands: 17 ears of corn $3.40, strawberries $1
carry-over: $3.84

Here's my possible list of dinners this week:

• Dinner with friends (see what happens when your husband offers to help people move?)
• pot pie (make an extra one for the freezer)
• butternut squash ravioli (from scratch, make extra to freeze if possible)
• burgers on the grill x2 (one turkey burger night, one vegan burger night- wonder if I can make ahead and freeze for later) with green salad and some sort of potato.
• peanut noodles w/ veggies
• leftovers

(the boys will miss out on something while at their camp out)

Time to plant a garden: best mother's day ever!

Call me weird or crazy, but for mother's day I prefer to get gifts that have to do with things I do for/with my family. So, this year I was given some accessories to make gardening a little easier (and prettier) and picked out berry plants. The berry plants were 50% off, so I was able to get more than we originally planned! We're not expecting many berries this year, but should have plenty in years to come. Since we don't shop on Sundays (unless its an unexpected medical issue or something) my mother's day gifts came early. We went shopping Friday night and worked most of the day Saturday, but look how pretty the front garden is (especially with the fresh paint job on the house).

(sorry for the separate pics, the big overall pic didn't turn out well since the plants are still so small)
Here's what's new this week:
1 blackberry bush4 grape vines
3 raspberry bushes
3 blueberry bushes
21 bare root strawberry plants (they're in front and still blend in with the dirt)
Oh and my first ever mother's day present put together by a child at school: a marigold. Perfect to hang out with the tomatoes.

Check out how big the Roma and Cherry tomatoes are getting!!

On Sunday, to top it all off, my mother (aka the best mom in the world) gave me a giftcard to go get more stuff for my garden! I'm about out of space in the garden beds, so I'm thinking planters!

Do you wanna see what my front porch looks like after a couple days of playing outside?

Your eyes are not deceiving you, my children really did turn the front porch into a mini beach, we just need to put a pool in there and it will be official. At least they had fun and helped put the toys back in the box when they were done.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. And so have my a few of my plans.

Please bear with me this week as regularly scheduled posts are temporarily shuffled to different days.
See you tomorrow morning!

Creole Chicken

This recipe actually comes from my mom. It's one of her go-to recipes and I love it! Unfortunately, David isn't too fond of peppers or cooked tomato chunks, so I rarely make this dish at my house. This is a great recipe for stretching your budget, it uses things I usually have on hand. However, I realize not everyone always has creole seasoning.
Warning: Creole seasoning is spicy, so don't use too much. If if it's too spicy add a little sugar to the dish.

Serves: 4-6

1 1/2 C boneless/skinless chicken, cooked and chopped   
2 stalks celery, chopped  
2 C sweet pepper, chopped   
1/2 onion, chopped
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes 
1 ½ tsp Creole seasoning (or to taste)   
1 TBSP lemon juice   
3 C rice prepared   

Sauté chicken, celery, pepper, and onion in a large skillet over medium heat 5 minutes or until heated through. Add tomatoes, seasoning, and lemon juice. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

Stretching your dollar:
Canned tomatoes can get pretty expensive at most grocery stores, so when I need more and can't find a sale, I go to Aldi where they are usually cheap enough. They used to be $.55, but are now $.59.
Use leftover meat from another meal, or buy bone-in chicken and de-bone it yourself.
The pepper and celery can be purchased in frozen bags for $1 (or you can freeze them yourself when you find a great deal).

How I spend my $50 grocery budget: week of 5/7/12

I had 2 expensive non-food items to buy on sale this week. It usually irritates me when toilet paper and dishwasher tabs are on sale (and I want to utilize the sale) at the same time, but since this week includes mother's day, I didn't mind so much. My family is taking me out to dinner on Saturday night and then Sunday night we are going to my mother's for a cook-out and I'm not in charge of the burgers, so I got off easy this week.
Apparently I'm taking a whole mother's week, because other than making sure we have food to make the usual things for breakfast and lunch, I didn't bother planning out the individual meals. We all need a break every now and then, right?

Last week's carry-over $1.30
Aldi:
bananas $.44/lb
2 packs peppers $.99 each
Chocolate Almond Milk $1.99
gallon whole milk $2.29
Large Eggs $1.19
2 cans diced tomatoes $.59 each
Total: $9.90

Meijer:
6 pk romaine hearts $3.49
5 lb oranges $3
3 lbs strawberries $1 each
1 pint blueberries $3
24 oz bag spinach $2.99
raspberries $1.50
1 box mini wheats $2.50
Finish 60ct dishwasher tabs $9.99 + 7% tax
Charmin Basic toilet paper (24 db rolls) $10.49 + 7% tax
Total: $41.39

grand total: $51.29

My dinner menu this week has an extra item, because I just couldn't make up my mind. The one I don't end up making by the end of the week will either be a meal next week or something I make and stick in the freezer for later:

• Leftovers
• Hawaiin Haystacks
• Creole Chicken 
• Taco salad
• pot pie
• stuffed peppers
• dinner out
• cookout at mom's (take salads)

Breakfasts this week will be our usual oatmeal, pancakes, and cereal type stuff.
Lunches will be a combination of leftovers and salads and maybe pasta.

Depending on what next week looks like, I may do some shopping for next week on Saturday, because Meijer had some other good deals that I just didn't need quite yet, and since more than 40% of the budget went to non food items this week, I just couldn't squeeze them in.

Time to plant a garden: surprise!

It's amazing how things work out sometimes. Starting my own tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants from seeds was a major bust, but I learned a few things and next year will be using a special heating pad underneath that apparently my mom offered awhile back and I forgot. I also will not set them on my porch railing on a breezy day.
Despite my early problems, I think I'll still do quite well with my garden this year. It's largely thanks to some good family friends that had a few to many starters for their space. I received a call early last week asking if I would be able to use some cherry and roma tomato plants. Naturally, I could! They dropped them off almost right away and boy were these plants big and ready to go in the ground. Not only did they bring tomatoes, but they had some cauliflower for me too. I planted the tomatoes the next day, but had to wait on the cauliflower.

On Thursday I received another call saying that they had some more plants to bring over, this time some squash and broccoli. They happened to stop by while I was taking my son to preschool, so I was quite surprised to find my front patio table filled with plants all ready to be transferred.
I spent a good portion of my weekend planting my garden, which meant a few runs to the store to buy the seeds/transfers for the the things I was still missing. This weekend also happened to be house painting weekend, so the beds surrounding the walls of the house were off limits for planting. Thankfully, I was able to plant in my bigger garden area, but it's shaded and only gets 3-6 hours of sun, so only some plants (according to my online research) will do well.

Here's the breakdown of what I have planted:
2 cherry tomato
4 Roma tomato
4 tomato (purchased)
marigolds (seeds) around the tomatoes to keep bugs away
6 cauliflower
1 broccoli
1 row giant Caesar lettuce (seeds)
1 row lettuce blend (seeds)
1 row peas (seeds)
2 rows green beans (seeds)
3 brussel sprouts

Transfers I still need to plant around the house:
3 spaghetti squash
1 acorn squash
3 strawberries (purchased)
3 pepper plants (purchased)

Making recipes healthier: a new feature

Since switching diets, I've been debating on what to do with some of my older recipes on here. While the recipes are still yummy, a lot of them aren't very healthy. I don't want to get rid of them, so instead I'll be adding a "making it healthier" feature for each recipe. You'll find modifications or suggestions (in addition to the original recipe) to make them healthier and still tasty. Since I'll be trying each modification before it's published, this process will take awhile. I'll periodically post links to the modifications so you don't have to guess which ones have been done (though looking at my meal plans will certainly give you an idea of what's coming).

Making it healthier will provide measurement adjustments to get a higher ratio of plant based products without compromising taste. When possible, you'll find lower amounts of sugar or natural sugar alternatives and healthier but still budget friendly ingredients. I will also try to include any cost adjustments.

I'd like to hear from you: what foods would you like to see a healthier version of?

Nuts About Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins are nutty and completely delicious. The first time I made these, we devoured the entire dozen before dinner!

Yield: 12 muffins
Time: 10 minutes prep time + 25 minutes cook time
Cost:

Ingredients:
3 C rolled oats
1/2 brown sugar (loose, not-packed)
1/3 C powdered milk
1/2 T baking powder
1/2 C applesauce
1/2 C peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C water
1/3 C walnuts, chopped (feel free to substitute a different nut)
1/3 C cashews, chopped (feel free to substitute a different nut)
1/3 C dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins with paper liners (or spray).
Stir together oats, sugar, powdered milk, and baking powder in a large bowl, set aside.
Beat together applesauce, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl (I used my stand mixer).
Mix in oat mixture and water until thoroughly incorporated.
Fold in nuts and chocolate.
Spoon into prepared muffin tins (the batter won't rise much, so fill the tins all the way)
Bake in 350 F oven for 25 minutes.
Enjoy!

How I use my $50 grocery budget: week of 4/30/12

We had a major tragedy at our house Sunday evening! I have been thawing a turkey in the fridge for this week and forgot to stick a pan under it. That turkey had the nerve to leak all over my leftover fruit from last week! It was sad. I still had a weeks worth of oranges and almost a week's worth of apples, not to mention 2 kiwis and 1 pepper. It was so sad. Nearly $7 in produce wasted!
On a lighter note, this week marks the first in many to come of my attempts to make the recipes found on this blog healthier. Some are only needing minor tweaks, but others basically need an overhaul. I'll be picking at least 2 recipes to work on every week for the next while and even modifying some of our other family favorites that aren't on here yet, so in a way my menu planning is easier than usual. However, you'll notice a couple ?s on the menu, because I'm trying to give my pregnant self (that craves various random stuff sometimes) a little wiggle room. I have a plan, but if that plan doesn't sound good or something else sounds better, I may switch that item. The catch being that I'll have to use food I already have on hand.
Last week I had $.72 leftover, so add that to my $50 for this week and here's what I bought:

Aldi:
Bananas $.44/lb x 9+lbs
2- 3 lb bags gala apples $1.49 each (price reduction at local store)
4lb bag navel oranges $2.99
celery $.99
California frozen veg medley $1.09
cucumber $.49
strawberries $.99
jarred mushrooms $.99
1/2 gal almond milk $2.49 (fyi: they also had the same price on chocolate almond milk as a limited time thing)
1 gal whole milk $2.29
Total: $19.52

Walmart:
blueberries 12 oz $3.98 (I overpaid, the 6 oz is on sale at aldi for $1.49 but I didn't have an ad to price match and I was thinking that wasn't much of a sale price- oh well)
6pk kiwi $1.98
grapes- $2.46
fruit crisps $2.98 (freeze dried fruit- all natural, great for out and about)
2 grapefruit $.62 each
spaghetti squash $.88/lb
yellow cornmeal $2.42
Smuckers all natural creamy peanut butter $4.98
cooking spray $2.18
spreadable butter $3.54
Total: $27.90

Not pictured: 2 loaves of 100% whole wheat bread from the bread outlet on Saturday- $1 each
Grand Total: $49.42
carryover-$1.30

Menu:
Dinners:

• Spaghetti squash
• cucumber and avocado spring rolls + rice
• green beans, potatoes, turkey
• turkey pillows (revamped)
• turkey pasta primavera (tweaked)
• fried rice?
• spaghetti and salad

Lunches:

• PB&J
• quinoa/veggie bites
• leftovers x3
• turkey salad sandwiches
• soup?

Breakfasts:

• toast
• blueberry muffins
• baked oatmeal/oatmeal muffins x2
• pancakes
• banana bread/muffins
• waffles

Extras:

• fruit
• banana "ice cream"
• cereal (this baby really likes cereal before bed)