Pears are on sale this week at Foods Co. and hopefully you all just got FREE POM Pomegranate juice last week from Vons, so take advantage of the savings and make an inexpensive and different Valentine’s Day dessert!

Foods Co.

Bosc Pears- $.33/lb

*stock-up price

Vons

POM Pomegranate Juice- FREE from last weeks sale

*stock-up price

Ingredients:

3 firm bosc pears

2 cups all natural pomegranate (POM) juice

1 tablespoon sugar

A couple drops red food coloring for a deeper color (optional)

Pinch ground clove

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Peel pears, leaving stems intact. Peel about half a med-sized beet and cut into a few pieces (about 1 inch in size each). Bring pot of POM juice to light simmer. Add beet slices, sugar and spices.

Gently lower each pear into juice. Reduce heat to med-low and let pears cook until soft (about 10-15 mins), turning with spoon every so often so they cook and take on color evenly. You can also spoon liquid over exposed fruit during cooking.

Once done, transfer to a large bowl, pour juice overtop and let cool completely before transferring to fridge. Slice up or serve whole accompanied by nuts, ice cream, whipped cream or just as is!

Thanks, honestfare.com for a great recipe!

Mama and Baby Love is a fabulous blog filled with freezer meal recipes. I have made this freezer meal before and it’s very tasty! With all these produce and chicken deals this week we should all be making this meal for our freezers! To get the recipe for Healthy BBQ Chicken go HERE.

Thanks, Mama and Baby Love for this GREAT recipe!

I was flipping through my Clean Eating Magazine and I found this meatless recipe that just looks fabulous! With broccoli being on sale this week, this is sure to be an inexpensive dish that you can serve your family with ease. It’s nutritious, low in fat, and it looks oh so good!

Foods Co.

Broccoli- $.78/lb

WinCo

Broccoli- $.88/lb

Albertsons

Broccoli- $.99/lb

Save Mart

Broccoli- $.99/lb

Yields: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup skim milk, divided

3 Tbsp. whole-wheat paster flour

3/4 cup nonfat evaporated milk

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

4 oz. low-fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)

5 Tbsp. finely grated or powdered Romano cheese, divided

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

4 oz. whole-wheat elbow macaroni (about 1 cup)

3 cups chopped 1-inch broccoli florets

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 cup canned white beans, drained and rinsed (Cannellini Beans work well)

1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk 1/4 cup skim milk and flour; set aside. In a large saucepan, combine remaining 1/4 cup skim milk and evaporated milk. Place saucepan on high heat and stir in garlic and nutmeg. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium and whisk in flour mixture until no lumps remain. Reduce heat to low and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar and 3 Tbsp. Romano until well blended. Season with salt and pepper, cover and keep warm on lowest heat setting until needed.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add macaroni and broccoli and cook for 6 minutes; pasta will be slightly undercooked at this point. Stir in bell pepper. Drain and return to pot. Stir in beans and milk mixture and heat on low. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, until heated through. Spoon onto serving dishes and top with remaining 2 Tbsp. Romano and paprika, dividing evenly.

Thanks, Clean Eating

So yesterday I made some freezer meals, but the preparation going into it all really did take me almost all day! I made homemade marinara sauce for my pizza casseroles, and I made homemade chicken stock and cream of chicken soup for my chicken pot pies. All together I got 2 chicken pot pies, 3 pizza casseroles, 19 freezer burritos, 4 bags of shredded chicken (3 cup portions each), cream of chicken soup, and lots of homemade chicken stock! Here are the recipes I created:

Pizza Casserole (makes 3 9in round casseroles)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 packages of spaghetti noodles cooked

marinara sauce (I cooked 2/lbs of ground turkey with shredded carrots, onions, and garlic. I added 2 jars of Ragu pasta sauce and 1 8oz can of tomato sauce. Adjust your seasonings to taste.)

4oz cream cheese cubed

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 package pepperoni

sliced olives

Directions:

In your 9in casserole dishes start layering your dish as follows. Marinara sauce, pasta, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, olives, pepperoni, marinara sauce, pasta, and pepperoni. Cover and freeze. The night before cooking day pull casserole out of freezer and place in refrigerator. When you are ready to cook sprinkle the top with some mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Yum!

Chicken Pot Pie (makes 2 9in round casseroles)

Ingredients:

3 cups shredded cooked chicken

3 cups frozen mixed veggies (I did carrots, corn, and green beans)

1 cup sour cream

3 1/2 cups homemade cream of chicken soup (recipe HERE)

1 package premade Pillsbury pie crust

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and pour into 2 9in round dishes and top with Pillsbury pie crust. Cover and freeze. The night before cooking day pull casserole out of freezer and place in refrigerator. When you are ready to cook brush pie crust with some melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Freezer Burritos recipe HERE

Shredded Chicken

I couldn’t resist the sale at Smart & Final on bone-in chicken breast, plus I’m out of chicken stock. If you aren’t certain how to boil chicken to make homemade stock use this post HERE.

A quick tip: Once chicken is done cooking let the chicken rest in the stock until the pot is cooled and you can handle the chicken. This will keep the chicken extra moist and it won’t dry out. Also, once shredded, place in freezer bags and add about 1/4 cup stock to the bag, this will also help keep the chicken from drying out.

Today I wanted to show you how I use flax seeds as an egg substitute. I know Tip Tuesday this week was on this very topic, but I didn’t have pictures to prove it. Now I do! This is what the flax seeds look like once you’ve ground them up in your blender and added the warm water. The consistency is thick like a beaten egg. See Flax Seed Is A Great Substitute For Eggs original post for recipe.

Here is the cornbread that I made using the ground flax seed mixture in place of the egg and as you can tell my cornbread came out fluffy and it was super moist! You can see the flex of the flax seed in the bread, but you can’t taste it at all. I hope you try this trick, you won’t be disappointed!

This weekend we had Cuban Black Beans & Spanish Rice for dinner with homemade flour chips and it’s was amazing! I loved the flavors the beans had, and it was SO cheap and easy to make! Here are the recipes I used, and I hope you’ll make it for your family.

Foods Co.

Dry Black Beans- $.68/lb (ends tomorrow)

*great price

Ingredients:

2 (10 ounce) cans black beans, liquid drained and reserved (I cooked my black beans from scratch in the crockpot)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (I used seasoned rice vinegar)

Directions:

Fry the onion and pepper in a little oil (I don’t cook with oil, I used chicken broth to cook my veggies in). Add the garlic and sauté a little. Introduce a little of the bean liquid until all previous ingredients are soft. Add the beans with the remaining liquid. Add spices and simmer about 30 minutes. Add the vinegar just before serving. These are quite good when served over a bed of rice seasoned with just lime (I added some salsa to the rice as well). Garnish with some sliced avocado, salsa, sour cream, or whatever you like. Enjoy!

The recipe I used for the baked flour chips is HERE.

Thanks, food.com, allrecipes.com

We have some pretty awesome sales this week on chicken and salad dressing! Why not mix the 2 together and make an easy frugal meal for your family! My husband gets tired of me constantly cooking meat in the crockpot, so it’s time to pull out the grill for this recipe!

Vons:

Ken’s Salad Dressing, 16oz- $1.50 (Friday thru Sunday sale only)

Use $1.00/1 from 01/08 SS
Final Price= $.50 each
*stock-up price

Eating Right Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, Thighs, or Combo Packs- $1.99/lb

*stock-up price

Smart & Final:

First Street Chicken Drumsticks or Thighs- $.89/lb

*stock-up price

Ingredients:

1 bottle Ranch dressing

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or any cut of chicken would probably work fine with skin removed)

2 cloves minced garlic

Directions:

Place dressing and garlic in freezer bag and mix together, then add chicken. Close bag and swish chicken in dressing to coat it well and freeze. The night before cooking place bag in refrigerator to thaw completely, then grill chicken come dinner time! Serve with some roasted potatoes and a veggie and you have a complete meal!

Right now you can get dry black beans at Foods Co. for only $.68/lb. Also, Vons is selling 80/20 ground beef for $1.97/lb, and Save Mart is selling Tomato Sauce 8oz cans for $.20 each with in ad coupon. These are all great or stock-up prices!!!!

In this recipe it calls for a can of black beans, but use dry beans instead to be more frugal! Consider tripling the recipe, so that you can have enough to make for 3 freezer meals!

For the recipe go HERE!

Thanks, Six Sisters Stuff