What To Make With What’s On Sale: coffee, pork loin chops, and sausage

Time for What To Make With What’s On Sale! Let’s get to work pulling together what’s on sale in Colorado Springs with what’s in our pantries from previous weeks, and plan meals for our families that maximize those sales.

Coffee

Lori asked for ideas on what to make with coffee – King Soopers has about five different brands on sale for a great price through Tuesday!  Plus, International Delight creamer is on sale there, too.

So, besides brewing it like “normal”, what else could you do with coffee?

One of my favorites is to brew it and then freeze it into ice cube trays.  Then, I put the coffee ice cubs in a blender, fill it up about 3/4 of the way to the top of the cubes with milk, some flavored creamer, a splash of heavy cream… OK, so I also put a bit of Hershey’s chocolate syrup in there, too.

Blend it up and you’ve got a yummy coffee-flavored chocolate slushie!  Paula Deen has a recipe for Icy Coffee Punch.  Haven’t tried it, but not sure how you could go wrong with coffee, chocolate syrup, and ice cream.  You can also use the coffee cubes (melted) as a substitute for the water in brownies or chocolate cake – yum!

Got any other ideas for coffee?  I once made a baked beans recipe that used coffee… but it wasn’t really that good. :)

Pork Loin Rib, Half-Sliced/Bone-In

This cut is on sale for $0.99/lb at Safeway this week.  I’ve purchased this cut before at $0.89/lb and realized… I had no idea how to cook them!  They were pretty tough when I tried pan-frying them, so I found this recipe for Pork Chops in the Slow Cooker and tried it.

Ah, much better!  They were quite flavorful in the soy and ginger mixture, and after cooking for a few hours, were finally tender.

You could also mix some barbecue sauce with a little bit of water or chicken broth and pour it on top of the chops and slow cook.  OK, so that is definitely on my menu for the week – I need some quick and easy meals right now!

Pork Sausage

If you haven’t had it yet, Sunflower Market’s pork sausage (on sale for $1.97/lb this week) is yummy. I’m not opposed to just searing in a pan with a couple of sides, but you could also try it in:

• Paula Deen’s Gumbo – the recipe calls for smoked sausage, but I’ve used a combination of both smoked sausage and fresh sausage and it was great.  I don’t really think it matters what you use; just make a good roux!  And, this is perfect for that Swanson broth that’s so cheap at King Soopers.
• America’s Test Kitchen Skillet Penne and Sausage – I’ve made this recipe many times; definitely a family favorite.  Great way to get some spinach into little tummies!  However, use a full pound of pasta – I’m almost positive that’s a misprint; I’ve always made it with a full pound and I don’t see how it would work with the prescribed 1/2 pound.

So, there’s my ideas… What are you making with what’s on sale this week?