Home & Family

What To Make With What’s On Sale: Ground Chicken and Turkey

Published January 14, 2011 by Carrie in Home & Family

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.

This week I thought we’d take a look at a deal that’s going on at Sunflower Market: both ground chicken and ground turkey are on sale for $1.97/lb. It’s not the absolute best price we’ve seen, but it’s a pretty good one, and as one reader commented, we haven’t seen a whole lot of great meat sales lately!

We are beef eaters – Jeremy would probably faint dead away if I dared to put a turkey burger in front of him. (I wouldn’t enjoy it, either!) So, I looked for recipes where ground chicken or ground turkey would be a “star ingredient”, not a substitute for beef.

I didn’t find a ton of recipes that met my criteria, but I did find some that sound delicious!

Chicken Parmesan Sliders
I sent out a tweet asking for recipes that used ground chicken as a “star” ingredient and local reader Val replied with one of her favorites. (By the way, highly recommend the use of panko bread crumbs in any Chicken Parmesan recipe.)

Chicken Potstickers
We’ve been on a potstickers kick for awhile – they are super easy to make, and I’ve had great success with making the potstickers and then freeze in a single layer and cook as directed (no need to thaw, just a little longer cooking time). I think they’d be great with ground chicken, but would recommended making a dipping sauce of soy sauce, chile sauce (or Tabasco), a splash or rice wine vinegar, and some sesame oil.

Murgh Keema (Ground Chicken Curry)
I haven’t tried this recipe, but the author starts out by saying he “usually has trouble with Indian dishes” but that this one is the exception. And, it only has 11 ingredients (all recognizable, though some of us probably don’t have turmeric in our pantries).

Pad Kee Mao (Spicy Ground Chicken and Rice Noodles)
I know, another Asian recipe – this seems to be the only cuisine where ground chicken is “native”? I’m sure you could substitute fettuccine instead of rice noodles.

Zippy Turkey Tortilla Bake
My friend Amy says that this Zippy Turkey Tortilla Bake recipe is great – but I’m suspicious that it is supposed to be a “Look! It tastes just like beef!” recipe. ;)

I haven’t bought ground chicken, but last week I got some of Sunflower Market’s chicken sausage, and we’ve enjoyed their Hot Italian Chicken Sausage in calzones, and their Cajun Chicken Sausage is awesome in gumbo.

What do you do with ground chicken and ground turkey? Feel free to share your recipes where it’s a substitute for beef – I’ll just be substituting beef for the poultry! ;)

For more sale + meal inspiration, read the What To Make With What’s On Sale archives!

Frugal Tip: Reuse Coffee Creamer Containers

Published January 7, 2011 by Carrie in Expired, Home & Family

Heather just posted this nice tip on the Springs Bargains Facebook page:

My frugal discovery of the day: I just realized that the plastic containers from the International Delight coffee creamers make excellent little sport bottles for my kids drinks and great on the go smoothie containers.

Just peel off the shrinkwrap and clean em out!! Love the fliptop lids on them!!

Great idea, Heather! Love the part about using them for smoothies!

Do you have any other uses for coffee creamer containers?

Psst – we’re giving away a $100 Groupon to Picaboo to one lucky Facebook fan – ends Saturday night!

How Do You Prepare for a Snowstorm?

Published December 15, 2010 by Carrie in Expired, Home & Family

So, it hasn’t actually snowed much here. Pikes Peak doesn’t even have snow on it, which is really weird to me!

But… I have hope. Deeply-rooted hope that it will snow before Christmas. I’m hoping that we’ll get an amazing, super-duper snowstorm of the type that cancels school and work and McDonald’s closes down (has that ever happened?).

Anyway, so as I was thinking about my hopes for a snowstorm, I wondered how I should be preparing for this amazing storm that I just know is going to come.

How Do You Prepare For Snow?

What do you do to prepare for snowstorms? Do you keep a supply of water and food on hand for such situations at all times, or are you one of the people rushing to the store right before the storm hits?

What are your winter preparedness tips? Please share in the comments!

Image credit: jvoitus

What To Make With What’s On Sale: Pineapple

Published December 10, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

Time for What To Make With What’s On Sale! It’s been forever since we’ve had a rock-bottom sale on pineapple, but this week Sunflower Market has them for 99¢ each!

If you’ve never had a fresh pineapple, you’re in for a treat. Yep, it’s a little more work than opening up a can, but the difference can’t even be summized in words. It’s kind of like the difference between fresh and canned green beans. OK, so green beans weren’t the best comparison because pineapple is much tastier…

What To Do With Fresh Pineapple

Now, for what to do with fresh pineapple: you can…

eat it fresh
freeze it
dry it
juice it
make something with it

How To Freeze Fresh Pineapple

To freeze, I just cut it up into cubes, throw it in a ziploc bag, and freeze. Some of you will be less lazy than I, and freeze it in a single layer on a cookie sheet before you put it in the freezer to keep it from sticking together. I just try to remember to shake the bag around after it starts freezing to keep the cubes separated.

How To Select A Good Pineapple

You’ll want to find out that looks fresh: the leaves should be green, not dried out. Flip it upside down to make sure there is no mold growing on the bottom.

In my experience, pineapples seem to ripen just fine at home, so you can buy one that’s green and it will be ripe in a few days. Once the skin turns yellow, it’s ripe. You’ll also likely notice a fragrant pineapple aroma when it’s ripe.

Once you get it home, you can store it on the counter while it’s ripening (if necessary). Keep a close eye on it, though – you don’t want it to over-ripen and start getting that fuzzy mold on the bottom. If that happens, you can just cut it off – that’s what I do, as long as it’s not too bad.

How To Cut Up A Pineapple

In my opinion, one of the keys to cutting up a fresh pineapple is having a good, sharp chef’s knife. If you don’t have one, head to Bed Bath and Beyond or somewhere before you go buy pineapples.

Awhile back, I did a video on how to cut up a fresh pineapple. Oh, it’s a fabulously-done video; I cut off the top of my head. But it may prove helpful to you even if you can only see my chin.

There’s also a different technique that “wastes” less of the pineapple, but I can’t remember what it’s called or find a video. Help, someone?

I recommend rinsing off the pineapple before cutting. Once you’ve cut off the skin, you’ll probably want to rinse the cutting board again before you start dicing the pineapple.

6 Recipes For Fresh Pineapple

Here’s some yummy-looking recipes that I found for fresh pineapple:

Pineapple Sherbet and Pineapple Sorbet

Pineapple Sorbet is right up there with – or maybe even above – ice cream for me (except for Blue Blunny’s Boredeaux Cherry Chocolate Frozen Yogurt). Love it, and if you need a dairy-free or fat-free alternative to ice cream, it’s perfect.

I haven’t ever made Pineapple Sherbet, but why not? It looks super easy!

Fresh Pineapple Upside Down Cake

The author of this recipe said this: “This is the first time that I have used fresh pineapple in an upside-down cake and I must tell you, it makes a huge difference. I had some super sweet pineapple… and it produced a deliciously sweet cake; a completely different taste than canned pineapple.”

cheeky-kitchen-pineapple-salad — Pineapple Sweet Potato Salad

Sweet Potato and Pineapple Fruit Salad

I think of sweet potatoes as a wintertime food, and pineapples as a summer treat. This recipe from Cheeky Kitchen combines both! Haven’t tried it, but it’s an interesting combination and certainly looks pretty! ;)

Vanilla Lime Pineapple Skewers

So, it’s the middle of December, but since there’s hnot even any snow, who says we can’t grill? These grilled pineapple desserts from Alton Brown sound fantastic.

Lime Chicken and Shrimp Kabobs

We’ve already got the grill on for those Vanilla Lime Pineapple Skewers; might as well grill supper’s main course, too. I personally don’t really follow a kabob “recipe”, but this recipe from Paula Deen sounds good, though she uses canned pineapple.

What Are Your Favorite Things To Do With Fresh Pineapple?

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

Published November 12, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

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?

What To Make With What’s On Sale: olive oil, pudding, and biscuits and gravy

Published November 5, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

Olive Oil

Sunflower Market has their liter bottles of extra virgin olive oil on sale for $5.99. This is about as low as it goes, so I’m buying a few bottles to last for a month or two until this sale comes around again.

I use olive oil in a lot of things – about the only thing I don’t use it for is deep frying and baking (though, honestly, the Sunflower Market olive oil is probably not flavorful enough to make any noticeable difference in most baked goods). It contains monounsaturated fat, which can reduce cholesterol, according to the Mayo Clinic.

You’ll definitely want to get extra virgin olive oil, as it contains the most health benefits. The “light” varieties likely contain very little advantage over other oils, but more on that soon in a Behind The Label Of Your Food post.

Here’s an easy bread dip to make with olive oil:

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 T butter
salt (kosher is nice here)
freshly ground black pepper (coarse if you don’t mind a bit of spiciness)
1 T fresh basil, sliced (can substitute about a 1/2 tsp dried)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Warm the oil and butter until butter is melted, then remove from heat and stir in spices. Serve with a loaf of chewy bread like ciabatta!

Oh man, now I’m going to have to make some bread. :) We reverse-engineered the “recipe” from an Italian recipe and it’s definitely one of our favorite ways to enjoy bread and olive oil!

Biscuit and Sausage Gravy

King Soopers has Jimmy Dean sausage for $1.50 after coupon, and Pioneer Cream Gravy Mix for $0.69 after coupon. I’m thinking some biscuits and gravy are in order! Naturally, it’s best if you make everything from scratch, and if you’re going to do that, more power to you.

But, I’m thinking the gravy mix would be pretty tasty if you use the fat from the sausage when making the gravy! You could also serve it with a side of scrambled eggs – Albertson’s has ’em for $0.79 a dozen.

Anyone have an easy, tried-and-true biscuit recipe?

Jell-O Pudding

What to do with the $0.29 Jell-o pudding that’s on sale at King Soopers? Here’s a few suggestions:

Pudding Poke Cake from AllRecipes
You could do this with all sorts of combinations – chocolate cake and chocolate pudding, chocolate cake and vanilla pudding…
Candy Crunch Pudding Pie from Jell-O
Banana Upside Down Sour Cream Walnut Cake from Jell-O

And, this is not a use for Jell-O pudding, but doesn’t this recipe for Red Velvet Bread Pudding from Paula Deen look yummy? I guess you could do something similar and use Jell-O pudding!

Oh! What if you figured out something combining chocolate pudding and that cheap coffee from Albertsons? Not exactly sure what (maybe a parfait?) or how, but that sounds like a tasty combination.

Well, that’s all of my ramblings. ;) What are you making with what’s on sale this week?

What To Make With What’s On Sale: salmon, winter squash, Honeycrisp apples, and more

Published October 29, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

Whole Chickens

Albertson’s has whole chickens for $0.69/lb (limit 2) – not quite as low as they’ve ever gone, but still a great price. OK, you guys are going to think I’m crazy, but yesterday I was thinking about this post and what to include, and was thinking I could probably share some recipes for whole chickens since they are on sale for a decent price.

Then, I dreamed that they went on sale for twenty-nine cents per pound, and though “oh my, I have to include them in WTMWWOS”! So yes, I dream about blogging.

Anyway. I want to find a good recipe for white chicken chili. When I was on a Pioneer Woman Chicken Enchilada kick for awhile, I was thinking I could probably adapt that recipe a bit and come up with an awesome chicken chili. Here’s some more good-lookin chicken chili or soup recipes:

Smoky Chicken Chili from Southern Living
Simple, Hearty Chicken Rice Soup from Pioneer Woman
Mexican Chicken Soup from Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market has chicken broth for $1/carton after coupon if you need extra broth after cooking the chicken, or are making other soups.

Salmon

Albertsons has salmon for $3.99/lb this week! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it that low, and I’m looking forward to making our favorite Brown Sugar and Mustard Glazed Salmon. I broil instead of grilling, and serve the extra sauce over broccoli (on sale for $0.49/lb yesterday at Rancho Liborio, though I’ll end up paying full price somewhere else).

This Salmon Tomato Chowder looks great for the cold weather we’ve been having. These Salmon Cakes look easy, and you’re supposed to refrigerated them for 1/2 hour before baking – I wonder if you could refrigerate them longer, like a day? I’ve been trying to “cook ahead” as I can, and like preparing things halfway and then finishing the final bit of cooking at suppertime.

I’m also thinking you could do something with the salmon and the cheap Shake ‘N Bake at Albertson’s. The challenge would be keeping the fish moist, I think. Not a fan of dry fish! :)

Winter Squash

Sunflower Market has acorn, butternut, and spaghetti squash on sale for $0.49/lb this week. I’ll admit we are not squash lovers around here (you know I’m using spaghetti and acorn squash as decoration, right?), so I’m not sure we’ll be eating that this week. But, I’m willing to try if I find a sure-fire winning recipe! Here’s a few I’m thinking about:

Classic Baked Acorn Squash from Simple Recipes (includes tips on how to choose a good one)
Roasted Acorn Squash with Pignoli Cookies from Tyler Florence
Spaghetti Squash Gratin with Walnut and Bacon from Chocolate and Zucchini
Butternut Squash Muffins from 101 Cookbooks

What do you do with winter squashes?

Honeycrisp Apples

Here’s why a Honeycrisp apple is so special (and typically pricy!):

[The Honeycrisp apple] is characterized by an exceptionally crisp and juicy texture. Its flesh is cream colored and coarse. The flavor is sub-acid and ranges from mild and well-balanced to strongly aromatic, depending on the degree of maturity. It has consistently ranked as one of the highest quality apples in the University of Minnesota sensory evaluations.

Honeycrisp fruit has shown excellent storage characteristics. The outstanding flavor and texture can be maintained for at least six months in refrigerated storage without atmosphere modification.

– from Honeycrisp.org

Whole Foods has organic Honeycrisp apples on sale for $1.49/lb today (Friday) only! I’m curious about the six-months storage thing. I wonder how long it takes these apples to get from tree to table, and how long you could store them in your home refrigerator after purchasing at the store.

Heather said these apples make the best apple crisps and dried apples – what are your favorite recipes for Honeycrisp apples specifically?

What Are You Making With What’s On Sale?

Leave a comment to ask a question, share an idea or tip, or leave a link to your favorite recipe!

What To Make With What’s On Sale: apples, arborio rice, flour, and coffee

Published October 15, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

Apples, Apples, Apples!

Sunflower Market has nine – yes, NINE – varieties of apples for $0.57/lb this week! So, clearly apples are a good addition to as many meals as you can fit them in. :)

My friend Amy has a long list of apple recipes you need to check out! I’m also liking the looks of these Fried Green Apples from Cheeky Kitchen and Lynn’s Caramel Apple Bars look amazing.

If you don’t like dipping apples in sweet stuff, you’re crazy. I’m planning on trying out this caramel recipe from Food Network soon. Someday, someday, I will make caramel without burning it. A simple mixture of cream cheese, brown sugar, and cinnamon is also a yummy apple dip, and some people have said it’s divine with some Heath bar mixed in.

So, uh, now that we have our desserts planned for the week…

Arborio Rice

Another great deal this week is the bulk Arborio rice at Sunflower Market. It’s $1.49/lb which is the absolute lowest I have ever seen it!

Arborio rice is a short-grain rice that cooks up very creamy. It’s what you use to make risotto, and trust me: there is no substitute for it.

Here’s a couple of risotto recipes: this recipe for Dirty Risotto is a great one-dish meal. There’s been some great deals on red bell peppers and Italian sausage lately, so maybe you have some in your freezer to pull this together and make it a relatively inexpensive meal. Parmesan Risotto is a simple, basic side dish that we love with fish or something like Parmesan Chicken.

Risotto has a reputation for being kind of fussy, and it can be – for it to be the absolute creamiest that it can be, it needs to be stirred nearly constantly, with the broth added just a ladleful at a time. But, honestly, you can cheat and just stir it nearly constantly instead of truly constantly. :) Here’s a video explaining how to make risotto.

Flour

Albertsons has a great price on flour this week, though it kind of got buried in the matchup with all the other deals they have! It’s $1 for five pounds, and last time they did this sale, even whole wheat was included! Hopefully we’ll see this sale often this winter.

I’m trying to get back into the habit of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day. It’s a super easy way to make bread, and while I wouldn’t say it’s 100% authentic artisan, it’s much better than what you’d buy at most grocery stores! The big disadvantage is that it does take up room in your frig, but hey – bread without having to knead it? I can sacrifice some frig room.

A big batch of cinnamon rolls would be perfect to take advantage of that rock-bottom price on flour… except, where have the butter sales been?!

Coffee and Creamer

King Soopers has good prices on both Seattle’s Best and Starbucks Coffee, and Coffee Mate creamer is free after coupon! I love iced coffee, but of course that means you have to brew it ahead of time and cool or freeze in order to have a cold drink.

Jeremy brewed me almost a gallon of decaf coffee (he’s definitely the coffee maker in this family!) and then froze it into ice cubes. When I need a mid-afternoon treat, I put some ice cubes in a blender, pour in some creamer and milk and maybe some chocolate syrup, and then blend it up for a much cheaper than Starbucks treat.

I tried doing similar with cold coffee and plain ice cubes, but it made a pretty watery drink once the ice started to melt. By freezing the coffee, it keeps the drink tasting good even after it melts!

Well, those are my ideas! What are you making with what’s on sale this week?

Check out previous weeks’ What To Make With What’s On Sale posts for more ideas!