Tag Archives: eating on a budget

Mother’s Week Day 4: Blueberry Cake

10 May

This cookbook has literally hundreds of recipes using blueberries.

As you know, we’re celebrating moms all week long here on The Whole Bag of Chips! Today we’re celebrating with a recipe I tried recently and immediately knew it’d be perfect for the week leading up to Mother’s Day. It’s from a cookbook we received from my parents back in 1999 when they visited Maine.

On this one particular day last month, I was in the mood for *something* but I didn’t know what. I didn’t want something chocolate, which is a little unusual, and I was scanning all the cookbooks and recipes I had until I found something that struck my fancy. I’ve used this cookbook a couple of times for muffins and crisps, but I had not done this cake before. It calls for fresh blueberries but I only had a bag of frozen, which increased the baking time but other than that, worked out great.

Caroline wanted to help me so I put her to the task of making the topping for the bread, which was listed as optional, but not to me!

This would be perfect for a brunch, a dessert for a hostess or just to have with a cup of coffee or tea. It was delicious and I’d make it again. So far I have not found a recipe in this cookbook that I would not make again! They’ve all been good.

Enjoy this recipe and enjoy the last couple of days of Mother’s Week!

Caroline was in charge of the topping, and she did a fabulous job!

INGREDIENTS

Blueberry Cake from “The Maine Wild Blueberry Cookbook”

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup margarine (I used butter)

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups blueberries (I used a pack of frozen which increased our cook time by about another 20-30 minutes.)

This made a delicious dessert on a cold, rainy day!

DIRECTIONS

Mix dry ingredients together.

Cream margarine and sugar.

Beat in egg.

Stir in milk and add dry ingredients.

Add vanilla and berries.

Bake in greased 11×7 pan at 375 for 40 minutes. (Or til knife inserted into center comes out clean.)

Thumbs up for blueberry cake!

Topping:

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. cinn

1/4 cup margarine (I used butter)

Mix to coarse crumbs and sprinkle over top before baking.

The proof is in….the powdered cheese packet

3 May

A double batch, even!

A few weeks back I did a blog post about the convenience of using the Knorr sauce mix packets and I mentioned that yes, even I make hot dogs and mac & cheese, and that I actually love hot dogs with mac & cheese. I promised to prove it to you by taking a photo of my meal the next time we had that for dinner.

Well, today’s the day.

Dinner!

We had the meal this week for dinner and I did remember to take a picture. Here is my dinner table ready for one of the easiest dinners ever. You’ll notice though, I assuage my guilt by putting out a big veggie tray to go along with the mac & cheese and hot dogs. This particular tray had fresh green beans on it, which my kids love, but by the time I took the dinner table photo the beans were gone. They were there though.

So there you have it.

Hot dogs, mac & cheese and veggies. My house. Dinner.

I love hot dogs grilled on the stove top griddle!

New dinner recipe: Butter Cream Chicken

2 May

This was a new recipe for us, and the entire family liked it!

I’m going to apologize right off the bat here: although I know that this recipe came from a blog called Jamie Cooks It Up, I have no idea how I happened upon the recipe, so I apologize to whomever found it first and passed it on to me.

It was delicious.

Very rarely do we have a meal that absolutely everyone likes. There’s just too many varying tastes in our house. However, this one, everyone liked it, even Alex. That’s saying a lot.

That all being said, it’s probably not the healthiest recipe, so kind of like my Chicken a la King recipe, it’s best had on occasion only.  I served ours with Rice Pilaf and my new favorite way to make asparagus: roasted. The sauce was so good though, I even put it on my rice. I would’ve put it on just about anything I could find, I liked it that much.

Here for you now, is Jamie’s recipe. Any modifications I chose to do are in parenthesis. The rest is as she wrote it.

Time: 30 minutes start to finish  (It did take me slightly longer on my first try. Like, 30 minutes longer.)
Yield: 6 servings
Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

Simple ingredients!

INGREDIENTS:

4 chicken breasts (I used a bunch of tenders)
1 1/2 sleeves Ritz Cracker, ground into crumbs
Olive Oil
1 C chicken broth
4 T butter
1 C  + 2 T half and half, divided
1/2 t thyme, dried
2 T cornstarch
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
 
1. Cut your chicken up into chunks with some kitchen scissors. I usually cut each breast into thirds or sometimes fourths depending on the size of the breast. (*Because I used tenders I did not have to do steps one and two.)
2. Place your chicken into a gallon sized ziploc bag and seal the bag. Pound the chicken flat with a meat mallet. 
3. Grind the Ritz Crackers into crumbs in a small food processor. (*I put them in a ziploc bag and used a rolling pin to crush them up. Then I put the chicken right into the bag to coat with crumbs.) Place them in a shallow pan, I find a loaf pan to work best for this step. 
4. Press each chicken piece into the crumbs, being sure to coat both sides generously. Place each coated chicken piece on a plate. “Don’t they look lovely, June. Love the feathers.”…name that movie, anyone?
5. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Once it is good and hot, pour about 5 tablespoons Olive Oil into your pan. 
6. Let your oil heat up just for 30 seconds or so, and then put the chicken carefully in the pan. Don’t crowd it now. You’ll need to cook the chicken in two batches. 
7. Let the chicken cook until it’s nice and golden brown on the bottom, should take about 3-4 minutes. Turn each piece with a fork and allow it to cook on the other side. The chicken is done when it’s no longer pink inside. 
8. Remove the chicken to a separate plate and cook your second batch of chicken, adding another few tablespoons of oil to the pan before you add the chicken.
9. Once you have cooked all of the chicken you’ll have some beautiful crispy treasures left in the pan. Add 4 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup chicken broth to the pan allowing the butter to melt. Whisk the mixture around a bit, scraping the bottom of the pan to break the crispy pieces loose.
10. Add 1 cup half and half and 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme. Whisk it around to incorporate and allow it to come to a boil. 
11. Into a small bowl pour 2 tablespoons half and half and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Stir it around until smooth.
12. Pour the cornstarch mixture into your pan and stir it with a whisk. Allow it to return to a boil…as it heats it will thicken into a nice smooth sauce of wonder and bliss…here comes your kiss. 🙂
13. Remove it from the heat, give it a taste and add a bit of salt and pepper to you liking. 
14. Serve it over the crispy chicken and enjoy!

Another great recipe from The Budget Gourmet Mom

1 May

Do you ever get tired of the same old thing?

I love asparagus! I found out earlier this year that most of my kids like asparagus, so I was so thrilled when Aldi’s started carrying it in their frozen veggies section because it meant that we could afford it and afford to have it any time we wanted to.

I bought it by the boatload. We had it all the time.

I’m tired of asparagus now.

Well, not tired of asparagus so much as I am tired of cooking it the same old way every time, which everyone likes: sauteed with oil and garlic in a frying pan on the stove, which is also the same way we make our green beans because it’s everyone’s favorite way.

I was happy to see a new cooking suggestion a few weeks back from The Budget Gourmet Mom blog that I follow. It was a recipe for Roasted Asparagus with Red Onions and Garlic and it made me wonder why I’d never thought to roast my asparagus before.

Sometimes you just need it to hit you over the head, I guess.

It also reminded me that I have another recipe for preparing asparagus that my mom used to make, so when I make that one, I’ll post it as well. I haven’t made it in years and years.

So here is Krista’s recipe for you for Roasted Asparagus with Red Onions and Garlic. If you’d like to see her beautiful photography to go along with her preparation of the asparagus, head on over to her blog. I go there EVERY day and I always love her posts.

Thank you Krista!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 lb asparagus
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • a few thin slices of red onion
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400°
  2. Wash and trim the asparagus. Lay out on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
  3. Mince the garlic and sprinkle over the asparagus. Top with red onion rings.
  4. Bake 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

If it’s free, it’s for me

30 Apr

Recently I’ve taken up couponing, as many of you know. I’ve written about it in both February and in March. I’ve loved being able to save lots of money for my family with coupons and with additional money-back rebates, and I’ve loved the challenge of it all. I’m a bit obsessed.We’re not rich by any means, but we’re saving more money than we were before, and that’s important to me.

However, I’ve always been about saving money, even before I discovered the couponing obsession. I’ve always been good about taking advantage of a good deal or even better, a free deal. My motto is always “if it’s free, it’s for me,” which is not something I made up, it’s just something I tend to live by, especially when trying to save money for my family.

As a mom who has chosen to give up a full time job in order to be home to raise my family, I’ve always considered it my personal responsibility to be as frugal as possible to make up for the income I do not bring into our budget. I feel that it’s important for me to be home, and therefore it’s just as important for me to work hard to make money and equally as important to work hard to save money, and I always have.

Today in the mail I received our free Kodak photo book of our April Vacation activities. In fact,  just about all of the photo books in my cabinet were free.

This week I also received our free sample of the new Quaker Oatmeal cookies and a free magazine to start my year-long free subscription. We gave up all paid subscriptions when we cut back on our budget a few years back.

Yesterday I received a free makeup bag full of make up and coupons from Target and free lotion samples from another offer.

Our dog’s been eating free dog treats on and off for weeks and I’ve been drinking free Gevalia Coffee mixed in with my Price Rite brand coffee.

Next weekend we’re taking a free family photo to replace the free family photo that’s been on our wall since my youngest was a toddler.

When we visited family in California two years ago, our whole family got into Disney for free.

Our kids all got into Legoland on that same trip, for free.

It can be done.

Now obviously everything in life isn’t free, but there’s lots of opportunities out there to have fun for free, and to get a few items here and there for free as well. And in this economic climate, free is good. Many of us are struggling, so every little bit helps.

Summer is coming and there are lots of things out there you can do for free. There are some free things we take advantage of every year.

I’ve already signed my family up for the AMF summer bowling program where you can bowl free all day every day from May to September.

I’ll sign up for the free summer programs for my kids at our local library and we’ll frequent the free music concerts that are held all summer long across the state.

On Wednesday afternoons we’ll try to make it to AC Moore for their free craft every week throughout the summer and should we want to take in a movie, there will be several theaters that offer them free throughout the summer.

We’ll check out the list of museums that offer free entry on Fridays and maybe do a day trip.

Doing things for free will give us more money in our summer budget to do special things as well, like getting ice cream after those free music concerts or maybe purchasing the featured craft at AC Moore if they especially love it, with a coupon of course!

What kinds of free things do you take advantage of during the year?

Jacob’s Cookbook

27 Apr

A brownie recipe from Jacob's new cookbook

I know I’ve mentioned it in the past, but I meet some amazing people in my job at the newspaper, and I mean really amazing. So often I come home after a story, completely stunned by what I’ve just learned about the person I’ve just interviewed. Two weekends ago I had an interview that completely blew me away both as a parent and as someone who loves food and cooking.

Two weekends ago I met Jacob.

Jacob is 14. He’s an eighth grade student and he’s about to publish a cookbook as part of a project he has to do for school. The proceeds from his cookbook will benefit the local community food bank.

That in itself is amazing, but that’s not what blew me away, actually.

Here’s what did: when I interviewed Jacob I asked him where he got all of his recipes from for his cookbook.

His answer: he made them up.

Jacob has not only created a cookbook at age 14, which will benefit a worthy cause, but he created all of the recipes himself from scratch, including how much of each ingredient for each recipe. He created the cookbook page layouts, made all of the recipes, took all the photos of all the foods, and typed them all up himself.

I just about fell out of my chair.

I said to Jacob, “That. is. amazing.”

Jacob with his cookbook before it goes to print.

Jacob said he knew that, but I don’t think he REALLY knew that. I mean I don’t think I could just MAKE UP a recipe (never mind a cookbook full of them) and figure out all the stuff that has to go in it, all by myself and I am FORTY YEARS OLD-I’ve been cooking for several of his lifetimes and I couldn’t do that!!

I sat and interviewed Jacob for about 45 minutes or so, and my article about him can be seen here.

More importantly though, I have one of Jacob’s dessert recipes right HERE on my blog!  That’s right, he was kind enough to share one of his recipes with me and one with the newspaper. I am so glad that the one I have is a dessert recipe, since apparently Jacob and I both have a sweet tooth.

Here it is, Jacob’s recipe which he created himself for Orange Zest Brownies.

**************************************************************************************************************************************

“As most people know, opposites attract. Well it is the same for flavors in food. A citrus flavor will go great with a sweet and creamy flavor. That is why orange chocolate brownies are perfect! Enjoy!” -Jacob Gebhart,  Amazing Appetizers and Decadent Desserts

Easy ingredients!

INGREDIENTS

BROWNIES

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1/3 cup shortening (I used 1/3 cup butter instead.)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 TBSP orange zest
FROSTING

3 oz. cream cheese

1-2 TBSP milk

2 and 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 TBSP orange zest

The orange zest gives it a great flavor.

DIRECTIONS

BROWNIES

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8×8 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Heat chocolate and shortening in a 2 quart sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly until melted.

Remove from heat, add sugar, eggs, vanilla, mix well. Then add remaining ingredients and stir until combined.

Spread batter in prepared pan evenly.

Bake for 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Make sure to cool completely before cutting and frosting.

FROSTING

With an electric mixer, on medium speed, combine cream cheese and 1 TBSP of milk.

Add sugar, a little at a time, beat after each addition. (I added the last TBSP of milk halfway through as it got thick.)

Then add the orange zest and combine.

Cut cooled brownies into 9 pieces. Spread each square with orange cream frosting.

*****************************************************************************************************************************

I found the recipe very easy to follow and quick and easy to make, just how I like my recipes to be! If you’re a taster when you bake, I highly recommend tasting the batter after the sugar is added but before the eggs. SO GOOD. I also tasted the cream cheese frosting before and after the zest was added, to see just how much the zest changed the flavor, and I was amazed at what a little bit of zest can do both to the texture (it was immediately creamier) and to the taste (it did now have that hint of orange flavor in it.)

For the orange zest, I used the zest from two medium oranges and split it between the batter and the frosting. It did work out to be just about one whole tablespoon in each, I’d say.

I opted to serve my frosting “on the side” as optional because with all the different likes and don’t likes at my house,  I didn’t want anyone not to want the brownies because they had “stuff” on them.

I also took half the batch to a friend’s house one afternoon and we enjoyed them with our coffee.

Great job Jacob, thanks for sharing your recipe with me! It truly was a decadent dessert!

Anyone who is interested in purchasing Jacob’s cookbook, Amazing Appetizers and Decadent Desserts, when it’s published, please send an email to Jacob at jayg@cox.net.

Ragu Alla Bolognese

25 Apr

A couple of years back, a new extra-special meal was introduced at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

When my kids sleep over at their Grandma and Grandpa’s house they always return with tales of all the yummy things they got to eat while they were there, and although we eat pretty well over here too, they always seem to have that extra special something at their house that makes my mouth water. It makes me want to sleep over too. Maybe next time instead of dropping off, I’ll just hang out and see if anyone notices the extra mouth to feed.

A couple of years back, they started returning with tales of a new dish they’d had and loved: Pasta Bolognese. Elizabeth especially loved it and whenever anyone asked her what her favorite meal was, she’d say “Spaghetti Bolognese.” She’d constantly request the meal at home, but the only problem was, I didn’t have “the” recipe for it and I knew it was a pretty involved recipe. The last thing I wanted was to go through all the work with the wrong recipe only to have her say, “It’s good but it’s not as good….”

Until recently we didn't even have the coveted recipe for the Pasta Bolognese, much to Elizabeth's dismay.

Recently she had to submit her favorite recipe for a troop cookbook for Girl Scouts. Her first choice: Spaghetti Bolognese. I still didn’t have it. Her second choice: Spaghetti with Lobster Sauce, also a recipe I didn’t have. Her final answer: Grandma Rose’s Famous Tuna and Spaghetti. BINGO! Finally, a recipe I had! After hearing my tale of recipe woe, my mom gave me the recipe for the Bolognese Sauce they make.

One recent rainy Sunday we decided to try it out. Don’s Kitchen opened up and he went to town cooking up the recipe. The recipe itself is one my mom got from a family friend. It turned out wonderfully! We used just one part of how much it made so we froze three batches: two for our family and one for company.

Thankfully, when we asked Elizabeth for the verdict on how it came out, she said, “It’s perfect.”

Whew…

Price Rite had everything we needed to make an affordable Pasta Bolgonese meal for our last April Vacation dinner.

Ragu alla Bolognese
INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/2 stalks celery

2 carrots

1/2 of a large onion

1 and 1/2lb lean ground hamburger (or you can use a mix of beef, pork and veal. We used just hamburger our first time.)

3/4 stick butter

2 cans kitchen ready tomatoes (28 oz.)

2 cans beef broth, 2 cans water

6 TBS. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

optional: 1/2 cup red wine

The longest part of this recipe is just the simmering. The rest cooks up fast and easy.

DIRECTIONS

Dice celery, carrots and onion very fine. (Don used the food processor.)

Brown lean meat in butter and oil. Add vegetables to meat.

Put tomatoes through the blender. Add to mixture.

Add beef broth and water, salt and pepper.

Allow sauce to come to a boil and then simmer on low heat for two hours uncovered or more.

You can skim oil off the top when done.

Option: you can add heavy cream or half and half at the end if desired, for more of a pink vodka sauce.

Makes 5 meals for two with two pounds of meat.

Does that not make your mouth water?? You know what? It was even better the second day!

Five Days, One Hundred Dollars

23 Apr

Staycation on the cheap. Can it be done?

There used to be a show on TLC (I think) that was called Trading Spaces. I loved that show. Two families would renovate their homes and they’d have just two days and $1000 to do it.

Well this week was April Vacation here and we were having a Staycation, not traveling anywhere, but we didn’t have much extra money in our budget for the week’s activities either. (Technically we were home for nine days if you count the weekend before and after the vacation week but as far as days we wouldn’t normally be home already, it was five days.)

We had approximately $100. Five people, five days, $100. Twenty bucks a day divided by five people, $4 per person per day.

That’s a Staycation on the Cheap for sure.

So did we do it? Of course we did. Not a whole lot of choice in that regard, since there’s no overspending when you don’t use credit cards. If the money’s not in the account, you don’t do it.

Chinese take out: Big Splurge.

First off, we had some work we needed to do around the house which took up a couple of days at the start of the week. To reward ourselves for a job well done, and since we were too tired to cook, we decided to splurge on take out. 

Chinese take-out:  $30.

Who doesn't love lemonade on a hot day?

My kids were dying to have a Lemonade Stand at our house. They spent part of the weekend making their posters and getting their business plan in place. They worked out what hours they’d be selling, how much they’d be charging and got everything ready to go. The weather was gorgeous on their chosen day and they were outside all day long. They worked together and even stayed open an extra hour because business was so good.

Lemonade Stand: Free

The first of many dinners at the beach took place this week.

The start of the week was very hot, like summertime hot, so we opted to cook dinner at home and pack it up to eat down by the beach. We’d take a walk along the ocean and watch the sun go down. We can do that here, we’re very lucky. We even saw a wedding that night in the gazebo by the ocean.

Dinner and walk along the beach: Free

Mystery Ride to a new-to-us zoo!

Although it was vacation week, I still had to work on and off periodically throughout the week whether it was covering stories for the two papers or typing them, so we worked that into our schedule and later in the week we tried out a new zoo that was in the direction of a story I was covering. It was the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Tickets to the Buttonwoods Zoo for a family of five : $21.

Redbox is the greatest invention. You can rent movies for just over $1 per night. There were some movies we wanted to see so over the week’s time we rented three movies.

Family Movie Night times three, complete with popcorn: $3.75.

Even though we like Family Movie Night, there’s also nothing like seeing a “real” movie in a “real” theater, something we never, ever do since five people at a first run movie is expensive. Again, we decided to splurge. 

Matinee movie for five with five Entertainment Book Coupons: $38.

Last day on training wheels!

There were other things we did throughout the week like bike rides, scooter rides, eating dinner on the deck for the first time this season, watching the sunset from our own back yard, night hikes with flashlights (my favorite) and things like that, all free, all outdoors, all time spent together. Of course we ate our way through the week too, having “weekend” breakfasts every day, like waffles and crepes, muffins and pancakes, french toast. That in itself is a vacation in my book! And really, all of those things you just can’t put a price tag on.

Priceless.

Sometimes you don't even need to leave home to enjoy the simple magic of life.

A second recipe for Sue’s snack

20 Apr

No matter which recipe you use, this is a delicious treat!

Yesterday I mentioned that I had two different recipes to go along with the snack that Sue makes. This second recipe is one that my friend Pam sent me a while back on a snow day. Here it is as I posted it that February day on Facebook:

Chocolate Crack

1 box graham crackers

2 sticks salted butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups semisweet chips (1 twelve ounce package)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 10×15 cookie sheet with foil, spray with PAM.

Line the pan with graham crackers, using single pieces to fill in the gaps.

Line completely with crackers, breaking to fill in gaps.

Combine butter and brown sugar in saucepan.

Bring to boil over medium heat, boil for exactly five minutes.

Pour over graham crackers as evenly as possible and bake ten minutes.

The chocolate chips will melt upon contact with the hot butter and brown sugar mixture.

Sprinkle chips over the top and spread once they melt.

Refrigerate to chill.

Once solid, break into random sized pieces.

By popular demand: A recipe for another of Sue’s treats

19 Apr

These little bits seem like one small bite, but you can never eat just one!

Last week we had PTO and Book Club. Sure enough, my good friend Sue brought snack for us all. It was one of my faves, a chocolate/caramel/matzo snack that she makes for passover. I was so lucky, she sent some home with me (and no, she hadn’t seen the 4/13  blog post about her snacks yet!)

This photo is from the ones she sent home with me. When we took the photo the camera was accidentally on the wrong setting, so the color is slightly off. However, once we ate the snack there was no retaking the photo!

Since I wrote about Sue and all her yummy desserts, I’ve had several requests for the matzo snack. Sue actually recommended making it ahead and freezing it if you’d like to. She said it stays well.

I actually have two different recipes for it so I’m going to post one today and one tomorrow. One calls for Saltines, one calls for Graham Crackers. One uses salted butter and one uses unsalted. Although they differ slightly, the snack is basically the same overall. You can pick one and sub in the matzo crackers for the Saltines or the Graham Crackers. I have made both.

Here’s the first version for you. This one I posted on Facebook in March 2010 after seeing it in an issue of Country Living Magazine a few years back. Here’s the post:

“Mama’s Sweet and Saltines”

Not my mama this time. I got this recipe out of Country Living magazine and it’s Trisha Yearwood’s mama I guess.

I’d actually had this before, but just found the recipe for it the other day. The only thing I didn’t have on hand was the unsalted butter, which Don promptly bought after seeing the recipe.

40 Saltine Crackers (can use graham crackers for a sweeter taste.
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 cups.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Line a large-rimmed cookie sheet with foil and the forty crackers. Be sure the pan you choose will fit in your freezer and be sure you have space in your freezer for the pan!!!

In a medium saucepan melt butter and brown sugar together and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour over crackers covering them evenly.

Put cookie sheet in oven and watch closely. Bake for about 5 minutes (mine took three) until just bubbly.

Remove from oven and pour chocolate chips over crackers.

When chips begin to melt, spread them over crackers with a knife.

Transfer pan to freezer for 15 to 20 minutes or until completely cold. The chocolate covered crackers will forma solid sheet. Break into pieces and store in airtight container.