Baking/Food Projects From This Weekend

I accomplished a couple of food projects this weekend and took them to our church lunch on Saturday. Of course I was in a big rush and didn't take pictures so I will be using someone elses pictures so you can have an idea of what the finished items looked like.

Any wording that is in red are my suggestions or changes to the recipe.

Cucumber Salad

4 cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings (Once I saw how many cucumber slices there were I decided to use one large onion because I like a lot of onion.)
1 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp dill

1. Slice cucumbers and onions in a large bowl and toss.
2. Combine vinegar, sugar, & water in saucepan and heat to boiling. Remove from heat and add dill.
3. Pour vinegar mixture directly over cucumbers and onions. Toss and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before eating.

I loved this recipe but I would probably add less sugar next time as I thought it would be more sour but it was very sweet.

It looked something like:

Banana Cream Pie

3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
4 bananas, sliced (I put 2 bananas slice on the bottom and added 2 bananas sliced on top after chilling was complete. Also if you plan on serving the pie after more than 15 minutes following chilling you may want to brush the banana slices, for the top, with lemon otherwise they turn a nasty brown very quickly.)

1.In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner.
2.Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency.
3.Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture.
4.Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Chill for an hour.

It looked something like this minus the almonds and whipped cream:

Meal Plan for the Week of 10/4 - 10/9

Monday
Baked Stuffed Manicotti Shells, Salad, Garlic Bread

Tuesday
Beefy BBQ Mac, Corn

Wednesday
Slow Cooker Cheese Enchiladas

Thursday
TBA

Friday
TBA

Saturday
TBA

Cinnamon Sugar Dried Apple Rings

While I have to admit I haven't been following the meal plan very well this week, the days are repeats from before and out of order, there will be alot of other food and baking projects going on between now and Monday.

Thursday night the Hubby, his dad and another friend are going hunting for the weekend. They like to take dehydrated apple rings and jerky with them so of course I got asked to make both before they leave Thursday night. I did get the apples cut and put in our two dehydrators Monday night and they were finished on Tuesday morning after about 10 hours. The jerky however is still not started because while waiting it's turn in the dehydrators I realized we were out of jerky seasoning which I will pick up today. I will post more on the jerkey later but here is how I make the apples.

They like the apples not cored so I don't take the core out before I slice them but you can if you like. I use a food slicer and slice about six apples but it depends on what size of dehydrator you have (I have two so I need close to five pounds to fill both up.)

Once the apples are sliced i just dip them in a cinnamon sugar mixture and place them in a sigle layer on the dehydrator trays. I guestimate on the amount of cinnamon per sugar so it just depends on how strong of a cinnamon flavor you like.

Here is my first row of apples on the bottom tray. I do recommend that you leave the bottom tray empty as the juice from the apples pools in the bottom and the apples end up very sticky. It's been so long I completely forgot to do this and had to dry the bottom apples from each tray for longer.

After about 10 hours the apples are dry and crispy. If you like them a little chewy cook them for 8-9 hours instead.

The five pounds of apples usually make a little over a one gallon zip lock bag. I only bought three pounds of apples this time and got one full gallon bag full of apples. I don't like them so the boys get them all but not the jerky I LOVE that and will be stealing some before they leave with it :)

How did I get $25.94 worth of items for $13.94?!

I have kind of fallen behind on posting meals. I have recently been told by my employer that I have 2 weeks to find another position within the company and then 30 days following that to find another job if there are no other postions open. As of last night I still hadn't done my meal plan for the week and didn't really have any new recipes to try. I ended up using the week before lasts meals again but on different days, just because they are fairly cheap ingredients and money is tight. I will try and post the meal plan later on and may post some recipes that I am wanting to try to give you some new ideas while I stick with the old meals for now.

In the mean time I though I would share the deal I got today at Walgreens. Some items are food related and some are not but they are all items I needed (not wanted). Along with meal planning goes coupon shopping, deal shopping and price matching which is my second favorite thing to do to save money and get by.

Walgreen's ad is posted online and in the paper each sunday and ads may differ depending on which state you are in. I am in Arizona so this post is based on the ad for this area.

My son has a birthday party to attend this Saturday and we had used up the last Huggies Little Swimmers, that were given to us. The smallest size of these are around $9.99 a 12 pack regular priced. I looked around and found an online coupon for $1.00 one pack of Little Swimmers (you will have to complete a free registration to Huggies.com, if you don't already have one, in order to get the coupon). Walgreens regularly does Register Rewards (RR) on different items where you purchase the item and get so many dollars back. (I.E. Quaker Chewy Granola Bars $1.99 each + $1.00 in RR which gives you that item and $1.00 of it back to use on any other item of your choice on your next perchase at Walgreens.) Here is what I got today.

1st Transaction

Hylands Cold & Cough for Kids 100% Natural $4.99 + $4.99 rounded to $5.00 in RR back = $4.99 out of pocket.

Clairol Natural Instincts Hair Color $8.99 regular price, on sale for $6.99 + $2.00 in RR back - $2.00 coupon from the Sunday paper = $4.99 out of pocket.

Total = $9.98

2nd Transaction

Huggies Little Swimmers $8.99 - $1.00 online printable - $5.00 RR from 1st transaction - $2.00 RR from 1st transaction = $0.99

Hunts Tomato Sauce 8oz WAGC (Walgreen's Coupon) 3 for $1.00 = $1.00

Total = $1.99

Total for all 3 items was $11.97 plus tax which came to $13.94. All items at regular price without coupons and RR would have been $25.94 plus tax which comes to $26.90. Savings of $12.96.

I did this in 2 different transactions in order to use the register rewards on the Little Swimmers and Tomato Sauce.

I now have Little Swimmers for Saturday, hair color that I have been putting off buying because it is soo expensive, and back up Cold & Cough medicine for those times when you need it and my favorite part is it is 100% natural ingredients.

Jalapeno Poppers Put Up In The Freezer

I finally got my Jalapeno Poppers made last night. Before I go any further into the details I have to mention one very important one.....always use gloves when cutting the peppers or your hands will be on fire for a LONG time.

So first I mixed all the ingredients up to stuff them and then worked on cuting and seeding them.

Filling:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mayo

Peppers:

Be very careful when halving and seeding the peppers!! USE RUBBER GLOVES and DON'T touch your eyes while you're working with jalapenos or any hot peppers!!!!! I did not follow this warning and my hands were on fire all night and they still have the juices on them this morning. I will never do this without gloves again!!

Cut off tops and slice in half lengthwise.
Clean out seeds.

They should look somewhat like this.

Stuff each half with the cream cheese mixture and place them on a cookie sheet in a single layer.

Next you can do this either of two ways.

1. Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 20-30 mintues or until bubbly and lightly brown.

2. Place cookie sheets with peppers into the freezer. Once they are frozen place them in a plastic container in single layers. If you want to fit all of them into one container put clear food wrap in between the layers. When you are ready to eat them place them on cookie sheets and cook as directed above.

I froze them and they are now in a container for a later time. Can't wait to try these!!!

Wednesday 9/22

Last nights dinner was a breeze. I LOVE Crock Pots they are awesome and don't heat up my house. In case you don't remember last nights dinner was the Slow Cooker Cheese Enchiladas. I put all of the stuff in the crock pot in the morning before I went to work, stuck the pot in the freezer, so it wouldn't become soggy before dinner, and then had my mom pop it in the crock pot to be done just in time for dinner. 6 hourse seems to be perfect if it is frozen before but if not I would only cook it for the 5 hours on high.

Tuesday 9/21

Can you tell last nights dinner was a success? :) Even my son loved it and he doesn't even like beef and usually spits it out. And hubby even took what was left for lunch. I did cut up the tomatoes and I already had onions cut, measured, and frozen so basically the only prep was cooking the beef, layering it and throwing it in the oven.

Stocking Up On Corn For The Winter

So like I said I had a little extra time last night after dinner to work on some other stuff in the kitchen so thought I would share.

Yesterday while I was shopping at Wal-Mart for this weeks meals I also price matched a few produce items. I got 14 ears of corn at 7 for $0.99 = 14 for $1.98, 15 Jalapeno Peppers at 1 lb for $0.99 = they came to a little over 1 lb for $0.58, and 4 cucumbers for $0.99. Later on I will be making Jalapeno poppers with the peppers and cucumber salad with, of course, the cucumbers. I did get all of my corn blanched and put in the freezer last night. This method of blanching is used on most vegetables before freezing to keep the good nutrients in them.

First I shucked all of the ears and then broke them into half. You can also leave them whole if you like or if you plan to cut the corn off of the ears, see note below, before you freeze it. I just leave them in halves when they go into the freezer as I like to eat the corn off of the cob but you can do it either way is best for you.

NOTE: If you plan to cut the corn off of the cob only blanch for 4 minutes in boiling water. 

Next I boiled water on the stove and then put 7 ears/14 halves into the water. Unless you have some really skinny ears you usually boil them in the water for 10 minutes. I usually set the timer for 12 minutes to give the water time to come back up to a boil as the corn cools it down a bit. Also while the corn is boiling get a large bowl of ice water ready.

Once the timer goes off immediately place the corn directly into the ice water for the same amount of time that it was in the boiling water. I usually just bring the whole pot over next to the sink where my ice water is and use tongs to put the corn into the water. I repeted this process one more time with the same water in the pot used for the first batch and did this to the other 7 ears of corn.

Lastly I roll each half in plastic wrap and place them in Gallon Ziplock Freezer bags and remove as much air as possible. If you are planning to cut the corn off of the cob, check the note above, just place the corn into a Ziplock Freezer bag and remove as much air as possible or use a vacumm sealer if you have one. (My sealer broke :( and not enough money to replace it just yet.)

So there you have it corn put away for winter/future use. All you have to do is put it back in boiling water and boil until corn is tender and it's ready to eat! I like to do bulk buying and freezing of anything I can which is usually produce but some times other items. I will be doing more and posting them as I get to them.

Monday 9/20

Last nights dinner was so easy that I got a lot of other stuff done in the kitchen also. Here are some pictures of the finished Fettuccine Alfredo. I also added a can of chicken breast into it to make it Chicken Fettacine Alfredo and instead of making the sauce I bough a premade one in a jar from Walmart for $1.33. I also got a lot of other really good deals at to make this weeks dinners and some produce for around $15.00!

Mmmmm

It was soo good that my son cleaned his whole plate. Here he is smiling for the camera :)

20 Secret Household Cleaners You Already Own

Check out this article on 20 Secret Household Cleaners You Already Own. If your are a penny pincher like me you will LOVE this article. Can't wait to try some of them out!

Weekly Meal Plan for 9/20 - 9/25

Weekly Menu Planner I'm using this week.

Again it is from the Heavenly Homemakers website. Check their website for other planners and grocery lists.

Sunday
This is the night that we usually eat out as a family. Usually for all three of us we eat dinner for under $12.00 every Sunday, unless something comes up, of course.

Monday
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, Salad, Garlic Bread

Tuesday
Fiesta Taco Cassarole

Wednesday
Slow Cooker Cheese Enchiladas

Thursday
Hamburgers & Hotdogs, Corn
(We also will usually have Hamburgers and Hotdogs once during the week for an easy to make and easy to clean up dinner. I love this night because it's when I actually have free time to sit down before putting my son to bath and bed.)

Friday
Burritos and Tacos

Saturday
Spaghetti & Meat Balls, Garlic Bread or Salad

MomTV: The Discountess

Be sure to check out my Sister-In-Law, her blog Super Saving Sense with Sara, on The Discountess on MomTV live tonight at 6:30 PST. She will be talking about coupons and how to use them. Also if you would like to have her incorporate a question that you have on coupons post a question on The Discountess Wall on Facebook before the show starts.

Saturday 9/18

Stuffed Manicotti Shells

I decided to try and make the shells ahead of time and freeze them until saturday nights dinner. They were delicious and I didn't spend a lot of time on saturday dinner at all. My recipe for Stuffed Manicotti Shells makes about 20 shells.

Click here for instructions on how to bake shells three different ways. Fresh, Frozen in the oven, and Frozen in the crock pot. I would have liked to try the crock pot to keep the house cooler during our 109 degree heat wave but I didn't think about it enough before hand.

Here are some of the shells frozen. I just placed them in a Ziplock Gallon Freezer bag.

Here are the shells done. Of course they are all covered in pasta sauce and topped with Cheddar Cheese and Parmesan Cheese. Mmmm, they were soooo good :)