Tag Archives: Aldi’s

Recipe of the Day: Beef Burgundy

1 Feb
Beef Burgandy on a bed of rice with green beans

I like Beef Burgundy so much, I have to be careful not to make it too often or we'd be eating it every single week.

I love Beef Burgundy. I could get into a Beef Burgundy rut if I am not careful, I’d make it all the time. My family likes it and it’s relatively easy to make.

Here’s the original recipe with my modifications

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 pounds beef round steak (or in my house, a pack of stew meat)
oil to saute meat
2 or 3 Tbl. flour (I don’t measure, I sprinkle all over meat)
2 tsp salt (I don’t measure again, I sprinkle)
1/4 tsp marjoram (I’ve never used this, we never have it)
1/4 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp pepper
2 Beef Boullion cubes
12 small whole onions, or 5 medium onions sliced (I do one medium onion sliced)
1 1/4 c. Burgundy wine
3/4 c. water
1/2 pound mushrooms sliced (I do a whole package and slice them)

Kids can help with slicing mushrooms.

Mushroom slicing is an easy way to get bigger kids to help out with this recipe.

DIRECTIONS:
Thoroughly chill or partially freeze steak for easy slicing. (I freeze my meat on shopping day and thaw that day.)

Cut steak into strips 1/4″ wide and into 2 to 3 inch pieces (stew meat is cubed)

In large skillet over medium heat, brown steak in hot cooking oil.

Pour off drippings.

Sprinkle steak with flour, salt, marjoram (if you have it!) thyme and pepper.

Add boullion cubes, onions, wine and water (I measure out wine into a 2 c. measuring cup, add the water to it and throw in the boullion cubes while I’m prepping everything and then just dump the whole measuring cup in together.)

Cover and simmer 45 minutes.

Because of our issues with space, I love anything that is cooked in just one pan.

Stir in mushrooms; cover and cook 15 minutes longer or until steak and mushrooms are tender.

We serve this over white rice, with steamed broccoli or some veggie like that. It’s great with french bread baguette if you have it.

Enjoy!

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To Coupon or Not To Coupon? That was the question.

30 Jan
Coupon holder

I will not be an Extreme Couponer, I will not be an Extreme Couponer, I will not be an Extreme Couponer, I will not be....

I admit, I am a little obsessive. Definitely a Type A personality. When I want to do something I do it and I give it 110%, no matter what it is, which is good…and bad….because how many things can one person give 110% to without losing their minds?

Sometimes Don says, “Can’t you ever just do something 75%? Just once?”

Um…No.

When I started this blog, I wasn’t going to blog EVERY day, I mean, that’s a lot. Just on occasion, when the mood strikes me.

You see my problem.

Therefore, when all of this Extreme Couponing started popping up on TV, Twitter, Facebook, etc., I was so tempted.

“I could do that,” I’d think to myself.

“I would be so GOOD at that!” I’d think.

But then, I’d remind myself: I shop at two stores for all my groceries that don’t take coupons because their pricing is already so low, namely Aldi’s and Price Rite. And, I don’t want to change that and I don’t want to go all over town buying one thing here or there just because it’s free.

Yet, I also shop at Walmart and CVS (I’m addicted to Extra Bucks) where I *could* use coupons and where I was probably missing such great deals because I don’t coupon.

I was so torn.

It kept me up at night.

Finally though… it happened. I got an email from my friend Karen. “You should really coupon…” Since she’s the one who introduced me to Don, I trust her entirely, I mean, she was so right about the husband thing…

So I decided to venture into it just a little bit. I promised myself I would NOT be an Extreme Couponer, that I would NOT spend entire days couponing or hours and hours in a store, but that I would just try to be better about having coupons for the things I do buy at Walmart, CVS and omg…I forgot about Target, love it there, and try to save even more money than I already do by shopping where I do.

The first time I went to CVS with coupons AND Extra Bucks, I was so nervous! I wanted to make sure I had the best deals to spend my Extra Bucks on so that I’d make the most of them. I was mad when I got home because I realized that they didn’t count one of my dollar off coupons, so I promised myself that next time I’d do a better job like those ladies on the TV show, of watching what goes in and what comes off the bottom line BEFORE I get home. My mom was always so good at that, still is. My attention to mathematical details…not so good.

Despite the fact that I missed getting one of my dollars off, I think I did pretty well! I came home feeling pretty proud of myself!

So, there it is. I’m officialy couponing. A little. And I have to tell you, literally EVERY time I get a tissue from one of my free boxes of Kleenex brand tissues (which would normally be a splurge in our house,) I think to myself, “This tissue was free.”

Every. Single. Time.

I’m still trying to keep to my promise of not being extreme, and I can definitely tell why people who are extreme need dedicated storage spaces for their haul, because as silly as it seems, my first thought when I got home was, “okay so where do I store four deoderants,” since I usually only buy one as I need it. But, I found a place. However, those are small items, and those extreme couponers…they buy lots of stuff and lots of bigger items.

I won’t be that way.

Right?

I won’t….

Here's what I paid for....

coupon haul at CVS!

And here's what I got for free!! Yes, that's SIX boxes of Kleenex brand tissues!!

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Superbowl Week: Easy Apps

26 Jan

Apps as in appetizers, not as in for your iPhone or iPad. I thought today I’d share two easy appetizers that you can serve on Superbowl Sunday or any time you need an appetizer idea. One of them we make often when we are asked to bring an appetizer with us and the other one, Don makes all the time for dinner on Friday nights, which is usually his night to cook while I take the girls to dance and Girl Scouts. It’s a late night and they look forward to that night’s dinner as it’s more laid back than our other nights’ meals.

The first is Kielbasa Roll-Ups, something we’ve been making for years and years. Don has pretty much taken over making these as the years have gone by and he’s really, really good at them!

Kielbasa and Crescent Rolls

These only need two ingredients: the kielbasa and the crescent rolls.

You need just two ingredients: two tubes of crescent rolls and one package of kielbasa.

First, open up your package of kielbasa and cut the pieces into bite-sized pieces, about the size of your thumb. Cook them in a frying pan in a little bit of oil. Try not to eat lots of the little pieces while you cook them.

A few easy steps and this appetizer is done.

Next, open up your crescent roll dough and cut each triangle in half. Roll the cooked kielbasa right up in the crescent roll dough and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake in the oven at the temperature on the crescent roll container until they are golden brown, about 10 minutes or so, according to the container. The kielbasa is cooked all the way through so you’re just cooking the crescents around it. Serve warm or cold and with a side of mustard if desired. You may have more pieces of kielbasa then you do crescents to wrap them in, so those you can eat while you wait for the appetizers to cook!

Next up: Loaded Nachos…this is the one the kids crave on Friday nights. When we come home and they see that Don’s made them for dinner, they literally cheer. He often makes them along with another dish like a pizza or calzones, but I could eat a whole plate of just nachos alone.

Loaded nachos

The good thing about this appetizer is you can use whatever ingredients you'd like!

The only definite ingredient you need to make a Loaded Nacho appetizer is the chips. After that you can decide what else you want to add to them on top of the chips: meat (chicken or beef), veggies (lettuce, tomatoes, olives, chili peppers), cheese, guacamole, sour cream etc. You decide.

Layer your chips first, and then the cooked meat of your choice on top. Bake for a few minutes until chips are crispy and then sprinkle your cheese on top. Cook until melted. You can even broil them a little bit to crisp them up, as long as you watch them carefully so that they don’t burn.

Add cold ingredients to the top once your baking is finished.

Enjoy!

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Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Recipe of the Day: Crockpot Oatmeal

17 Jan
Overnight Oatmeal in the crockpot

My family loves this recipe so much, I double it.

As I write this, today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day to remember and reflect, and and a bonus day for us to spend together as a family. Of course, by the time you get this post, it will be the day *after* MLK Day. I hope you were able to take at least a minute to reflect on the legacy of Dr. King and all that he did.

We had to laugh the other day when our youngest came home from school and informed us that today was Dr. Martin “Looter” King Jr.’s birthday and it was a sad day because “he got shooted.” As I listened to her speak though, I was impressed and pleased that she retained so much of what she’d heard in the story they read in class, and I was glad that they took the time to remember him.

The recipe I’m sharing with you is one that my family loves. I found it last year on Weelicous, a foodie website I follow. It’s a recipe for Overnight Oatmeal in the Crockpot. It’s fantastic for a cold winter day and I made it again just last week as the weather has begun to change here. It’s so cold right now, I’d love a big bowl of it right now! Last week on Weelicious, she even posted an update to this recipe, Pumpkin Spice Crockpot Oatmeal. To see that recipe, click HERE. I haven’t tried it yet, but I plan to! In the meantime, below is her original version of the recipe. As an added piece of information, Steel Cut Oats tend to be expensive in the bigger stores. However, last week a friend of mine found them at Aldi’s, and other friends have found them at Ocean State Job Lot, so look around for the best price before you buy.

Oatmeal in the Crock Pot (Serves 4-6)

1 Cup Steel Cut Oats (not instant)

2 Cups Water

2 1/2 Cups Milk

1 Tsp Cinnamon

Desired accompaniments: honey, maple syrup, walnuts and or raisins, etc.

1. Place the first 4 ingredients in a crock pot and stir to combine. (I add diced apples to mine as well.)

2. Cook the oatmeal on low heat for 6-9 hours (the amount of time can vary depending on your crock pot. Some crock pots that don’t have non stick surfaces can get hotter then others).

3. Stir in desired accompaniments and serve.

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Resolutions and Recipes: Shrimp Scampi

12 Jan
Shrimp Scampi

Tonight's dinner, one of my favorite new recipes.

So many of the recipes I post are recipes I grew up on. Today’s recipe is not. Today’s is a recipe shared with me by my friend Donna. We often have the “so what are YOU having for dinner tonight” conversation and one day her answer was Shrimp Scampi, a recipe she promised was super easy and delicious, my top two qualifiers for a recipe. We tried it for the first time as a surprise dinner I made for our anniversary and it got all thumbs up from everyone in our crew. Even if someone doesn’t like part of it, they all like something in it.

To start with you’ll need to assemble your ingredients because the recipe is a quick one. Have everything ready.

Ingredients for Shrimp Scampi

Get your ingredients ready while your oil and garlic are sauteing.

Here’s the recipe:

SHRIMP SCAMPI
INGREDIENTS

1 pound shrimp (we keep a big bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer.)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup cut up tomatoes (If I have them, I slice grape tomatoes just in half, it’s faster and they hold their shape better.)
3/4 stick butter
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp Parsley (otherwise known as What’s That Green Stuff Mommy?)

DIRECTIONS

Simmering scampi

Simmer until the shrimp is pink and the tomatoes are soft.

Put olive oil in pan and saute garlic three minutes.

Add wine, lemon juice and butter and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes

Add shrimp and tomatoes and saute until shrimp is pink and tomatoes are soft.

Pour over rice or pasta (we use pasta.)

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Chicken Soup and a Food Processor for the soul

11 Jan
clip art box of tissues

We should take stock in tissues!

Those of you who know me and have known me for a while, know that my family seems to always be sick. We get hit with colds, sinus infections, ear infections, ear drum infections, the dreaded stomach bug (at least four times a year), and so on and so forth. This year, like years before, we started at end of November, went through all of December and into January, starting with Alex being sick before Thanksgiving all the way through Caroline being sick with a bad cold still today. I’m usually right there with them. It lasts through about, I don’t know…April?

Last week was Elizabeth’s turn again. She started with her cold while we were away for Christmas vacation, even though she was still on antibiotics from her sinus infection, and by the end of last week she had hit the wall, as they say, and I let her take a sick day on Thursday.

Almost any time they’re home sick with a cough and a sneeze, no matter who it is, they always ask me for chicken soup for lunch to soothe their noses and throats. They want me to make it “from scratch” which for me is not quite accurate since I keep chicken broth in my pantry at all times for requests such as this one. And, they’re always very honest with me regarding my soup, reminding me how good Daddy’s soup is (which usually IS from scratch) and that mine is almost as good, but not. In fact, last year when Elizabeth was sick and she told me about Daddy’s soup being the best, she actually thanked me for even trying to compete.

This time though, when Elizabeth asked for soup, I was actually excited! The reason is that I..okay WE… got a new Cuisinart food processor from my mom and dad for Christmas this year!

Cuisinart Food Processor

A Christmas gift from my parents that I was dying to use!

Now I could say, “How could they have known how badly I wanted a food processor?” but really, I told them when they asked for a wish list for Christmas this year. I really, really wanted one. We’d had one for a long time and then it broke and we never replaced it. I used to be “that mom” who made all my own baby foods for my kids and we used that thing to death. But I have especially missed it when I have made my chicken soups for my sick kids.

Therefore, last week when Liz put in her request, I jumped at the chance to open up my new gift. I must say, it was stunning.

Cuisinart 7 cup food processor

Look how beautiful it looks with the fresh veggies inside!

I was a little bit nervous to have such a nice food processor in my possession, “the mother of all food processors,” as my cousin Val said on Christmas Day. I didn’t want to break anything so I read the directions VERY carefully and so far, it’s all still in tact! (We’ve been known to break a few things on the very first day we’ve owned them.)

I must say, the food processor chopped my veggies so nicely and SO quickly! In my soups I usually put in celery, carrots and an onion. Last week, it turns out we were out of onions so it was just carrots and celery and then of course…chicken. For the chicken I pulled about six chicken tenders out of my freezer, thawed them cooked them, cut them up really small and put them into the soup.

Now here’s a funny story for you: take a look at this photo of my ingredients from Aldi’s:

Aldi's chicken broth and pasta

If you look closely maybe you'll see what I missed!

When I made the soup last week I went down to my pantry and grabbed a box of elbow pasta and three boxes of broth and started cooking. Do you see on the box where it says that it’s a TWO POUND box of pasta?? Nope. Neither did I. Turns out, two pounds is A LOT of pasta!! And, it makes A LOT of soup. But, that’s good, because it keeps well leftover for a few days and all of my kids like it. It also makes for a good lunch in their thermoses, which they like to take to school for a hot lunch when they can. Makes life easier for Don in the morning, that’s for sure.

pot of chicken soup

It was when I poured the pasta in that I thought to myself, "Hmmm that's a lot of pasta!"

All in all, my first experience with the Cuisinart Food Processor was great and I can’t wait to use it again!

I loved that in addition to the detailed instructions provided, there was (gasp!) a recipe booklet!! Lots of recipes for food processing! I cannot wait! In the meantime, I’ll be using it to keep on making soup for my babies to help them through another season of sicknesses and stomach bugs, knowing that my soup is not *quite* as good as Daddy’s!

I can't wait to use my new food processor again!

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Resolutions and Recipes: Flounder with Lemon and Dill–or not

9 Jan
Flounder with Lemon and Dill (Tilapia)

We are lucky, all our kids like fish.

The title of this post is a bit misleading, and I’ll tell you why. The recipe that I wanted to feature is one I grew up loving: Flounder with Lemon and Dill. It was one of our regular Friday night dinners. The only thing is I didn’t have Flounder this time, I had Tilapia, so you have to change the name to Tilapia with Lemon and Dill. Except we were out of Dill, so the green is parsley flakes instead. So now the new name of this recipe could actually be Tilapia with Lemon and Parsley, but I’m going to share the real recipe with you anyway because it’s basically the same method as we used to make tonight’s dinner.

This is an easy recipe and for us it’s inexpensive because we buy our Tilapia or Flounder flash frozen and individually packed in a family pack at Aldi’s for about $4.99 a pack, and keep it on hand until we need it. The white rice we buy in bulk and the broccoli is either fresh or frozen (tonight was frozen) depending what we have on hand. Altogether the meal that doesn’t cost more than $6 or $7, which is great for a seafood dish. I am thankful that our kids all like fish. This is one of three different ways we typically make it (poached like this, pan fried or baked-stuffed,) and no matter which of the three ways we choose, the bag of fish works well.

Flounder with Lemon and Dill

Whether flounder or tilapia, this is a delcious dish.

FLOUNDER WITH LEMON AND DILL

INGREDIENTS

3 Tablespoons Margarine or Butter

3/4 tsp. Dill

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pound flounder

DIRECTIONS

In a frying pan over medium low heat combine butter, dill, lemon juice, wine and salt until butter is melted.

Add flounder last and simmer until fish is cooked through.

Serve on a bed of white rice.

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Resolutions and Recipes: Chicken Marsala

5 Jan
chicken marsala

Tonight's dinner!

Chicken Marsala is one of my favorite meals. Don makes a great one. Each time I had a baby, the night before we went to the hospital (or in Alex’s case the night before the first of four times we thought we were going to the hospital) he asked me what I’d like for my “last meal” and it was Chicken Marsala every time.

Chicken Marsala is also one of those cheap meals that we keep in our rotation of meals. We don’t make it every pay period by any means, but maybe once every month or two. Did I mention it’s one of my favorite meals?

Here’s what we spent on tonight’s meal at PriceRite and Aldi’s:

Mushrooms: $1.99

Whole wheat spaghetti at Aldi’s: $1.09

Bag of frozen chicken tenders at Aldi’s: $5.99 but we only used six of the tenders, not the whole bag, which is usually about 18 tenders, so we used about $1.99 worth of tenders.

TOTAL: $5.00 plus we had a salad so add another dollar or so.

For our Marsala wine, we use Holland House Cooking Wine that I keep on hand all the time (I keep both Marsala and Sherry cooking wines on hand.) We used about 1/4 cup tonight.

Here’s the thing about Don though: he’d make a great video blogger chef or a great webinar blogger chef because he cooks without a recipe. He’s a fantastic cook but it’s almost always out of his head.

So tonight, we did our best to get his recipe out of his head and onto a piece of paper (rather, onto a paper napkin) so that I could pass it along.

Here it is:

Step one: cook the chicken.

Take 6 chicken tenders (or however many you think you need) thawed and cubed, and cook them. You can bake them, fry them or saute them. He fried them tonight, which in my opinion is the best, but not the healthiest way (shocker.) Tonight before frying them, he rolled them in flour first and added a little salt and pepper too.

Technically they don’t even need to be cooked all the way through because they’re going to go back into the pan in a little while.

Take them out and set them aside. He puts them in a dish that has paper toweling on it, to catch the grease.

In the same frying pan, saute the mushrooms in either butter or olive oil. We buy fresh, whole mushrooms and either slice them as we did tonight, or cube them, depending on what we’re cooking.

Put the chicken back in and saute together.

Next, de-glaze the pan by adding in the 1/4 cup of Marsala and 1 cup of chicken stock.

While the pasta is cooking, add the Marsala Wine and the Chicken Stock.

You can be cooking your pasta at the same time.

Cook chicken, mushrooms, marsala and chicken stock together until it boils.

Cook the chicken, mushrooms, Marsala and chicken stock together for a minute or so until it comes to a boil.

Season with salt, pepper, garlic and basil.

At this point Don likes to thicken up the sauce to just how he likes it. In his words, “I take pats of butter and roll them in flour and add in enough pats of butter and flour until it’s the way I like it.”

He said you can also make a rue of butter and flour if you would like, or you can just add the flour to thicken.

Once the pasta is done, we toss it all into a serving bowl with the chicken and Marsala on top. He sprinkles parsley on top for looks.

We used to always make a bed of rice for under the chicken, and sometimes we still do, but when we lived in New Jersey, one of our favorite Italian restaurants served it over pasta, and ever since then, that’s an option for us as well. That’s the way the kids like it best. Using the wheat pasta makes it a bit healthier too.

Enjoy!

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