This is a great way to use up any frozen pumpkin you may have in the freezer. You don’t have frozen pumpkin? Am I the only one with an overabundance of frozen pumpkin? Don’t answer that, please. If you don’t have the frozen you can use canned pumpkin.
I have also added the instructions for a crumb topping which is optional. My kids love muffins, especially Cinnamon muffins, so I add this to them to keep them happy. Continue reading “Pumpkin Muffins”
This is a meal that my special needs son enjoys helping me with. He really likes to eat it as well. I try to let the kids help with certain meals and this one is ‘his’ meal. It helps them to feel a sense of accomplishment when they are able to do things independently. I do have to supervise with a lot of the oven part but other than that he really enjoys helping to put the bowls together.
You can add your favorite toppings to it and make it the way you like it. With individual bowls, each family member can customize their own bowl. Serve it with rice and beans.
Note: We do have a set of ovenproof bowls that we use to shape the tortilla bowls themselves but you can check out this link for ideas to make them without a bowl. Continue reading “Tortilla Bowl Taco Salad”
This is a great way to use up leftover chicken and it is a family favorite too! I wasn’t too sure about it when I first made it several years ago but my oldest son fell in love with it. We usually eat it over a bed of rice but you can also eat it over noodles, Cauli-Rice, or even spaghetti squash… yum!
We love to serve this with Cole Slaw and rolls or homemade bread with butter… so good!
Continue reading “Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken”
This is as close as I can get to my exact recipe. I just kinda eyeball my ingredients as I pour, dump, and taste. I like mine a little sweet but with a little tang to it also. You can adjust the sugar and vinegar to suit your own taste. Continue reading “Cole Slaw”
I wrote about the Pantry Challenge in an earlier post. This upcoming week is the next Pantry Challenge I have scheduled. I thought I would break down what my grocery list was and how much I ended up spending for the meals that I came up.
Below are the dinner meals and the ingredients that I had to buy and the costs.
Meal #1: Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken w/Rice and Cole Slaw
Cole Slaw Mix $2.00
Meal #2: Popover Pizza, Salad
Romaine Lettuce $3.29
Tomatoes BOGO $2.99
Meal #3: Tortilla Bowl Taco Salad, Rice, Beans
Will use the extra lettuce and tomatoes from Meal #2 and I had some extra pintos from last week that had I put in the freezer also.
Avocado $1.00
Sour Cream $1.75
Meal #4: Boston Baked Beans, Mac n Cheese, Fried Cabbage
Cabbage $2.05
Meal #5: Cheesy Chicken and Potatoes Casserole, Salad
Will use the extra lettuce and tomatoes from Meal #2 & 3.
Meal #6: Free Day (I will probably make some Chicken Stir Fry, Chicken Fried Rice, and maybe some fried ramen noodles. (These are links to other recipes as I can’t locate mine at the moment.)
**UPDATE: I found my recipes 🙂 Chinese Fried Rice with Veggies, Easy Fried Noodles, Japanese White Sauce. I had everything in the pantry and freezer to make all of these.
I had some stir fry veggies and chicken in the freezer. I also had some ramen noodles and rice in the pantry. I won’t be adding as many veggies to the noodles as this recipe shows either.
Sweet and Sour Sauce $1.99
Meal #7: Breakfast for Dinner
Krusteaz Pancake & Waffle Mix BOGO $2.79
(This is my favorite brand and I grab it when it is on sale.)
Aunt Jemima Syrup BOGO $3.89
So altogether I spent less than $25.00 to complete the meals from the pantry.
I also had to buy some staples that we buy every week like:
Milk x 4 $14.76
Bread x $4.00
Sliced Cheese $2.00
Margarine $1.00
Apples $3.49
Bananas $4.72
Creamer $3.00
Eggs $2.00
These came to about $35.00.
We had a few miscellaneous toiletries to buy for less than $20.00. I also found a BOGO meat sale and stocked up on some things that we will need later on in the month. I did spend around $50.00 0n the meat! Eeek… well I don’t feel too bad because I know that I am saving money in the long run and I won’t need to buy much more meat for the rest of the month.
You can see my totals below and the savings from the store card, sales, and coupons. Plus at Winn -Dixie you can also earn Fuelperks. Right now I am at $0.55/gallon which is about $11.00 off my next 20 gallons of fuel. I also did the survey at the bottom of the receipt to save $5.00 on the next trip.
If I had been tight on money or if I had decided not to spend any extra I could’ve left the store spending a little under $80.00. I could have also cut back on a few other things and stayed under $50.0. I do try my best to catch certain things, like peanut butter, on sale and grab them whenever I can.
By using what I have in the pantry and freezer I was able to save money and use it towards the sales I found for the meat. It also helps to prevent waste and helps me to set a good example for the kids about being frugal. This can be a very useful tool in any household.
Pollywog's Place Blog 