What We Ate This Week

As part of the Eat From the Pantry Challenge, I tried to cook more this week and be a little more inventive.  Here are a few of the things I made:

 

OK, first, I used some ground turkey to make a taco casserole.  This was totally by the seat of my pants but ended up being pretty good!

I browned the ground turkey and then added in some of my homemade taco seasoning and 1/4 cup water and simmered with black beans and some corn (both canned)

I took some scraps from the back of tortilla chips and layered the meat mixture, chips, cheese and some sour cream mixed with canned diced jalapeno.  I then topped it with sliced tortilla sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkled with chili powder. 

I was able to use up some meat and cheese from my freezer, the scraps of some chips, a few cans from my pantry and some bagged salad.

 

 

Next I used some Quaker Oatmeal pancake mix I got for FREE a while back to make some pancakes for my girls one morning. 

 

They wanted apples in them so I peeled and diced an apple and then microwaved it for about 2 minutes, stirring in between, with some cinnamon and splenda tossed in.     I then made the recipe with about 1/4 cup of flax seed added and then apples.           

     They loved them!  They were super yummy and they both ate more than me!  Next, I wanted to use up some chicken I had in the freezer.  I love cooking chicken ahead!  It makes meal prep so much easier.  I cubed up most of it for casseroles or to add to noodles or rice dishes.  

Then I used my kitchen sheers to cut come of it into very thin strips to use for fajitas next week.  I let it all cool and then put it in portions in freezer bags so they are ready to go.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, yesterday, I made some homemade bread knowing we were running low.  I used a white bread recipe that called for about 6 cups of white flour but I used 2 cups of whole wheat flour and it turned out great.  I made enough dough for two loaves and then put one loaf into a freezer bag after the first rising time to use later. 

I baked the other one and it was so yummy.  I love the smell of fresh baked bread.We used it this morning to make amazing french toast for breakfast!.  I cut it into strips for my girls and let them dunk them in syrup for an easy to eat meal.

 

 

How did your week go eating from your pantry?  Did you come up with any good meals?

Eating From The Pantry Challenge Begins Today!

 

Just a quick reminder that our Eating from the Pantry Challenge begins today!  I got some produce, milk and a few more things this weekend so I am ready to go.  I can’t wait to save a little money over the next few weeks and use up some of the stock in my pantry and freezer.  I will be sharing my meal plan for this week and some recipes later on but wanted to get a reminder posted. 

 

If you are just hearing about this, go HERE to read my original post.

Get Save At Home Mommy’s deals delivered to you HERE through email or RSS feeds!  New to couponing?  Get Started HERE.

Inexpensive Spices

I am sure you all know how expensive spices can be.  I got a great tip from a reader yesterday who said she found low prices on the spices in bulk at WinCo allowing her to just refill her jars that were running low or empty.  I have found spices very inexpensively at the 99 Cent Store as well.  I have also grown rosemary and a few others and then dried them to keep in ziploc bags in my cupboard.  Do you have any good ideas on how to save on spices?

**Update- I was just at Walgreens and they had several different spice jars on the end cap of one of the aisles that were 3/$3.00.  I got 3 things of cinnamon for all my holiday shopping!

Get Save At Home Mommy’s deals delivered to you HERE through email or RSS feeds!  New to couponing?  Get Started  HERE.

My Cheap Sugar Cookie Mix From Vons

I have done a ton of cooking over the past few days and I forgot to take pictures of it all!  I will share some of the recipes later but this was the funnest project.  I took a meal to a family tonight and we had company for dinner at our house so I decided to do something easy and fun with the Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix I got at Vons last week for .89.  As you can see, I had a little help from my 4 1/2  year old who loves to cook with me.  She is quite good at it already and it is a great thing for us to do together.  I try to explain fractions and have her read the directions as much as she can.  I whipped up some royal icing and made some colors and we were on our way!  Several years ago I got a huge box of cookie cutters at a yard sale for a few bucks and we have used them over and over again.  My oldest loved making them and my youngest loved eating her “cookie”.  It was a great use of my $.89.

If I hadn’t eaten 2 already, I would be eating one with my delicious cup of coffee right now:)

Food Lion Deals 8/19-8/25

Our Food Lion deals for the week are brought to us by Kathy at the $30 Weekly Grocery Challenge!

Make sure and see the full list HERE.

Here are some of my favorites as always:

Nature’s Place Organic Canned Vegetables, select varieties, $1.15
Use $1/1 Nature’s Place Organic FLIP
Final Cost: $0.15

Healthy Accents Toothbrushes, $1
Use $1/1 Healthy Accents FLIP
Final Cost: Free

Food Lion Brand Cereal, select varieties, $1.89
Use $1/1 FL Cereal FLIP
Final Cost: $0.89

Food Lion Apple Juice, 64 oz, $1.50
Use $1/1 Guiding Star FLIP
Final Cost: $0.50

Food Lion Chicken Breast or Tenders, 2.5 lb-3 lb bag, BOGO $12.99 ($6.49 per bag)

Peaches, yellow or white, .99 lb
Buy just over a lb
Use $1/1 Guiding Star FLIP
Final Cost: $0.24 if you buy 1 1/4 lb

Make sure and see the full list HERE.

“One Chicken, Two Meals” Less Than $3.00 for the Protein in 2 Meals!

As part of my new focus for this site, I promised to share recipes and cooking tips that will help stretch your budget even further.  Today I am sharing a post with you from Make and Takes called “One Chicken, Two Meals”.  I thought this would be good to go along with the whole chicken sale at Albertson’s this week for.59 cents a pound.  I bought one last night and I might go back and get another.  For less than $3.00 for the protein in 2 meals, that is a great deal!  These recipes look great!  Let me know if you try them and how they work for you.