Home & Family

What To Make With What’s On Sale: oatmeal, pasta

Published October 8, 2010 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.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is on sale a couple of places this week: Sunflower Market has rolled, quick, and steel-cut oats for $0.50/lb, and Albertsons has large containers of Quaker quick or old-fashioned oats for $1.40 (works out to $0.53/lb).

A few months ago I bought some steel-cut oats, just to try – and I am so glad I finally did. They are so creamy!

The steel-cut oats do take quite a bit longer to cook, but it’s worth it. I originally made this steel-cut oatmeal recipe from Alton Brown and used cream instead of buttermilk. Add some fresh or frozen peaches, and you’ll have peaches and cream oatmeal.

Another great way to use oats is these homemade granola bars from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship. I’ll confess I haven’t made them exactly according to the recipe due to poor planning and never having enough of all the right ingredients at once, but I tweaked it a bit when I didn’t have enough oats and it was good. I’m sure the real recipe is even better!

Barilla Pasta, Sauce, and Johnsonville Sausage

Safeway has a great deal on Barilla products: buy two sauces and get two pastas free! You can go here to see the coupon matchup, but it can be as low as $0.69 per product and a reader even reported an additional catalina you may receive!

Jeremy once had a dish called Sausage Classico at Macaroni Grill and really liked it. It was quite simple to replicate at home: roasted peppers, Italian sausage, tomato sauce, and a little crushed red pepper tossed over rigatoni. It’s one of our favorites, and simple to make.

Red bell peppers are $0.88 each at Sunflower Market, and Johnsonville Italian sausage is $2.99 at Safeway’s weekend sale. Sausage Classico is a pretty inexpensive dish to make with all these deals put together this week!

If you’re not headed to Safeway, Da Vinci Pasta is on sale for $0.79 at Albertsons (limit two).

What are you making this week?

There are lots of great sales at quite a few grocery stores this week – check them all out here. I’m stopping with just those two suggestions because we’re excited to have some great friends in town this weekend, so we’ll be treating them to Rudy’s BBQ and serving Pioneer Woman’s Enchiladas. Not necessarily what’s on sale, but friends are worth a splurge. ;)

Would love to hear your recipes, ideas, tips, and questions!

What To Make With What’s On Sale: pumpkin, chicken, pasilla peppers, steaks, and pasta!

Published October 1, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

Pumpkin

Well, it’s not really on sale, but it is appearing in stores everywhere, from King Soopers to Sunflower Market to Safeway! (For more on why this is a big deal, read about the Great Pumpkin Shortage.) So, it appears that we can stop fretting about how we’re going to stretch out those last 2 cans of pumpkin we have left over from last year and get started with the pumpkin goodness!

Joanne posted a yummy looking recipe for Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies on the Facebook page. Got any other fall pumpkin favorites?

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Albertsons has boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.88/lb. I’m often asked why I’d only rate that a 3 on a scale of 5, and the reason is simple: we see this price very frequently – probably around once every month and a half at Albertsons, Safeway, and Sunflower Market. So, in my opinion, it’s a good price, but not one worth stocking up your freezer on because it comes around so often.

But at any rate, there are lots of things you can make with chicken breasts! My favorite are Chicken Parmesan and Asian stir-fries.

I’ve had lots of compliments on my Chicken Parmesan and I’ll tell you the secrets. ;) First, use panko bread crumbs instead of “regular” bread crumbs. They fry up so crispy and crunchy – they are the key to amazing Chicken Parmesan. You can find panko at the Asian market, and Sunflower Market carries them as well. For that matter, all the other stores carry them, too, but they’re a little more expensive.

Second, pound the breasts before you coat and fry them. I just use the bottom of a heavy pan, no fancy meat pounder necessary. This definitely tenderizes them and is worth the extra work!

Pasilla Peppers (or Poblano Peppers)

These large, dark green peppers are on sale for $0.67/lb this week at Rancho Liborio. I actually bought some when I was there on Tuesday – at full price! Their regular price is only $0.99/lb, so still a great deal when compared to other stores that sell them for $2+/lb.

These peppers are super yummy when you roast them, and then stuff with some yummy goodness. I typically do a mixture of ground beef, onions, cheese, and red bell pepper, then dip in egg and then a cornmeal/flour mixture and pan fry. Then, I top with a relish of corn, black beans, red onion, jalapeno, red bell pepper, lime, and cilantro. Serve ’em up with a side of Mexican rice and maybe some refried beans.

They are definitely one of Jeremy’s favorites! I based my “recipe” on this one for Cheese Stuffed Poblanos with Black Beans and Chipotle Sour Cream, so you can read that to give you a more official recipe to follow. ;)

Petite Sirloin Steaks

They’re on sale for B1G2 free at Albertsons, which works out to about $2.66/lb if you’re lucky enough to find three packages of the same size. I’ve got no personal experience with these, but this recipe for Grilled Petite Sirloin Steaks rubbed with mustard and pepper sounds good if you were to use a decent mustard. Or, you could use some of the steak seasoning mixes we got for free earlier in the summer and get some grilling in before it gets really cold!

Pasta

Barilla whole grain and Piccolini pasta is $0.50 after coupon at King Soopers this week – hopefully you have extra coupons so you can stock up! I personally would rather be able to get their “regular” pasta for $0.50, but there aren’t any coupons out for it. :(

So, what do you do with the tiny Piccolini pasta or the whole grain? I don’t typically make real “meals” with them as they aren’t our favorites, but my husband has ahem a rather strange habit of liking pasta with ketchup (yuk), and he really likes fried pasta with ketchup, so that’s typically how I use those types of pasta.

Well, that’s all I’ve got! What are you making with what’s on sale this week? Share your tips, ideas, recipes, and questions in the comments!

What To Make With What’s On Sale: brown rice, peaches, and more

Published September 24, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

Time for this week’s What To Make With What’s On Sale post! Here’s a few items that are on sale for a good price and some ideas with what-on-earth to do with them.

Brown Rice

Long and short grain brown rice is 50¢/lb at Sunflower Market, and 2-lb bags of brown rice are 99¢ at Albertsons. I’ve known for a long time that brown rice is better for you, but it definitely takes some, um, getting used to.

However, awhile back I bought some short grain brown rice at the Asian market, and found it to be much more palatable than long-grain. I really need to research the nutritional content differences, as I’m not sure if short grain is perhaps not as nutritious as long-grain, but anyway. We really like the short grain brown rice for Asian dishes, and barbecue meatballs over brown rice (though I still use white rice for Mexican rice).

Here’s how to cook brown rice up nice and fluffy:

Rinse 2 cups short-grain brown rice until water is clear.
Place rice in pot with 2 3/4 cups cool water, and allow to sit with the lid on for about 30 minutes.
Bring rice to a boil, then turn heat to low and cover. Do not stir.
When rice has absorbed water and started to “dry out” on the top, fluff it with a fork and serve!

These were the instructions (or close to it) on the bag of rice I bought at the Asian market. It’s the same way Cook’s Illustrated recommends cooking white rice, and it seems to create nice fluffy rice.

Peaches

Peaches are 57¢/lb at Sunflower Market through next Wednesday, and I would guess this may be the last amazing peach sale of the season. I’m buying a bunch and freezing them, and we’ll be eating some fresh and making peach muffins with streusel topping.

7-Bone Beef Chuck Pot Roast

This isn’t on my menu… because I don’t know what to do with it? It’s only $1.49/lb at Safeway, but I’m not sure how to cook it.

Alaska Salmon

It seems like it’s been forever since salmon was on sale for less than about $6/lb. Albertsons has wild-caught Alaska salmon for $5.97/lb this week, and while that’s not cheap, it might make its way onto our menu this week. (Side note: wild-caught is on my list of things to research for a post in the Behind The Label of Your Food series.

Anyway, my favorite recipe for salmon is this one for Brown Sugar and Mustard Glazed Salmon by Bobby Flay. Instead of grilling (because when I first started making the recipe we didn’t have a grill!), I broil on high for about 12-14 minutes. Make extra sauce; it is awesome over broccoli.

Organic bunched broccoli is on sale for 99¢/lb at Sunflower Market

Hmm, what else?

I didn’t really see too much of anything too exciting on sale this week. :( I’ll definitely be using some ingredients from my pantry and freezer to pull together a menu plan! Last night we had potato soup, of which all the ingredients were either on sale last week, or were in my freezer and pantry.

What are you fixing with what’s on sale this week? Don’t miss last week’s What To Make With What’s On Sale discussion, there were some great tips and recipes shared!

What To Make With What’s On Sale: chicken, mahi mahi, and more

Published September 17, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

It’s the inagural week of 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.

:: Whole Chickens

Whole chickens are on sale for $0.67/lb at Sunflower Market. There are lots of things you can do with whole chickens – in fact, we discussed what to make and how to freeze whole chickens awhile back.

A new favorite recipe for our family that uses whole chickens is Pioneer Woman’s White Chicken Enchiladas. They are awesome, especially if you can still find some Hatch chiles and roast them to use in the enchiladas. And for me, the best part is that they don’t use cream of chicken soup (a no-no at our house).

Extensive testing of the above enchilada recipe has taken place at our house in the past few week – I’ve seriously made three huge batches of enchiladas – and I can say that these enchiladas are great to prep ahead. I’ve kept pans of enchiladas in the frig for several days and they were great. Just pop them in the oven for 30 minutes and supper’s on the table!

:: Mahi Mahi Fillets

Mahi Mahi fillets are on sale for $3.97/lb at Sunflower Market this week, which is a great price! I’ve only fixed it once, and while it wasn’t an instant favorite, I’ll probably buy some again to get some variety into our menu plan.

I fixed this recipe for Grilled Mahi-Mahi, Ceviche Style from Alton Brown. It was pretty good, but after having it once fresh from the grill, and once reheated as leftovers, we concluded that the sauce was much better the second time around. I think when it was fresh from the grill, the charcoal flavor overpowered the sauce.

I think I’ll be making the same recipe again this week, and maybe tweak it a bit or try to reduce it down so it’s a little thicker.

:: Bottom Round Roast

Bottom Round Roast is on sale for $1.99/lb at Albertsons, which is about as low as it goes except for maybe a store’s grand opening specials or something. Russet potatoes are on sale for $1.49 for a 10-lb bag at Rancho Liborio, or red potatoes are $0.59/lb at Sunflower Market, so maybe a good week to have a pot roast?

I’m a huge, huge fan of Cook’s Illustrated’s pot roast recipe. Their website is members-only, but they do have a free trial. Anyway, in short – sear the roast well on all sides. Mince a little carrots, celery, garlic, and onions and cook with a little oil after you sear the roast, then add in a cup of chicken broth and a cup of beef broth, put your roast back in and add potatoes and larger chunks of carrots, and cook for 3-4 hours in the oven on 300. Flip the roast every half hour or so… Or whenever you remember! Their full recipe is here.

:: Bartlett Pears

They’re on sale for $0.57/lb at Sunflower Market and Rancho Liborio (Thursday only). I’ve got a bunch of cranberries in my freezer, left from ahem last December, so I’m planning on buying a bunch of pears and making Pearberry Sauce – or maybe you could call it Cranlett Sauce.

Basically, just peel and chop the pears, then cook for maybe 45 minutes to an hour along with the cranberries and 1/4 cup sugar. When the pears and cranberries are soft and beginning to break apart, blend them up and serve as a warm side dish or cool snack.

Pearberry Sauce is also really yummy on pancakes!

:: Your Turn

What are you making with what’s on sale this week? Got a tip, question, or recipe to share? Join in the discussion in the comments!

Share your best tips for grocery shopping with kids!

Published March 12, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

I take my three kids, ages four and under, on about 75% of my grocery shopping trips. We are the family you see at King Soopers all the time, with a very loud little boy pretending to be a fire engine driver, complete with siren.

We are the family with children who, for whatever reason, actually like those hard, crunchy cookies from the King Soopers bakery.

Even with the race car carts and free cookies, shopping with kids gets a little frazzling sometimes. What do you do to keep your sanity when shopping with kids? What are your best tips for staying on your cash budget if you do that?

How do you count the number of items required for a particular promo when kids are putting stuff in and taking stuff out of your cart? Which stores have the best kid-friendly shopping carts and does it ever affect which store you shop at?

I’d love to hear your tips, questions, funny stories, and frustrations in the comments!

Related: Life As Mom has some great tips on shopping with kids! Great minds must think alike, because I’d already planned to do this post when she published hers on Wednesday. ;)

Let’s chat: what receipts do you save?

Published March 5, 2010 by Carrie in Expired, Home & Family

This past week I bought some CFL bulbs to replace a few lights that had burned out. This time, I bought name brand, since we purchased an off-brand at Walmart the time before and they only lasted as long as a “normal” bulb. I happened to think that I should keep the pacakaging in case it doesn’t last as long as it’s guaranteed to, and noticed that the receipt and UPC is required to get your money back.

I usually keep my grocery receipts in one envelope until it gets full and then throw it away. I’m always hoping I’ll find a rebate for something I’ve already purchased. ;) I’ve gotten lazy lately and just thrown some of them away, though. Like the one I needed to save for the CFL light bulbs, just in case.

I’m curious – what type of receipts do you keep, and for how long? Do you have a special storage system? A particular rhyme or reason for saving some and not others?

Please share your opinion and strategies in the comments. Last week we talked about what to do with extra milk, and I and many others learned a ton – here’s hoping we can share more great tips on thits subject! If you are reading via RSS or email, please click here to leave a comment.

Image credit: cafemama

Let’s chat: what are you making with all the cheap milk?

Published February 28, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

The cereal deal at King Soopers is awesome, but with the requirement to buy two gallons of milk for every four boxes of cereal, it’s a little different than most stock up deals. So far I only have two gallons of milk, but would like to do the deal at least one or two more times and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with all the milk!

What are you doing with your milk? I’m thinking about making yogurt – I’ve made it a fair amount in the past but have never been satisfied with its thickness. I think I might try adding pectin this time to thicken it up a bit. Here’s the instructions I use for making yogurt – really, it’s easy!

The other alternative is to give the milk away! Anyone I know (who’s not doing the deal themselves!) want some milk at church tonight? :)

I know some of you freeze it – do you have any tips to share in that regard? Anything else you make that requires lots and lots of milk?

Please share in the comments!

Note: this is an archived post, so any mentions of catalina deals or coupons are likely no longer valid.

Image credit: cafemama

As-Close-As-You-Can-Get-To-Chipotle Burritos

Published February 4, 2010 by Carrie in Home & Family

This recipe is going to rock your socks off. It’s based on a recipe for Barbacoa Beef by my friend Abby, and I’m going to claim it’s the ultimate Chipotle copycat recipe. Super easy to make for a crowd, and works great as leftovers, too.

Try it with Guerrero’s (made by Mission Foods) super-sized tortillas, just like the actual Chipotle restaurant uses!

Better-Than-Chipotle Burritos

1 London Broil roast (1.5-2 lbs)
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves
2 T whole peppercorns
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce – note: one pepper, not a whole can!
2 tsp chili powder, more or less to taste
2 packages (8 ct) Mission burrito-size tortillas
Cilantro-Lime white rice, see recipe below
black beans, see recipe below
Additional toppings as desired, such as salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese

For the Cilantro-Lime White Rice:

1 cup white rice
2-3 T minced cilantro
1-2 T lime juice
salt

For the black beans:

1 (15 oz) can black beans
1 tsp cumin

Ready? This is easier than ordering from Chipotle online.

1. Place London Broil in slow cooker, throw chopped onions, garlic cloves, peppercorns, and apple cider vinegar in on top. Add enough water to cover the roast. Cook on low for about 6 hours.

2. Remove meat from slow cooker and shred. It might seem a little dry and tough at this point, but we’re going to fix that. Remove the onions and peppercorns from slow cooker, reserving the juices. Blend the tomato sauce with the chipotle pepper and chilil powder until the chipotle pepper is very fine. Add the meat back to the slow cooker, along with the tomato sauce mixture and enough of the reserved broth to keep it plenty moist. Cook on low for another hour.

3. When you’re about 20 minutes away from wanting to eat, cook the rice according to the package directions. Once it’s done cooking, scoop it into a bowl and toss with the cilantro, lime juice, and salt (to taste). Warm the black beans with the cumin and whatever other spices you may feel like throwing in!l

4. Now that everything is ready, begin assembling your burritos! Warm tortillas are a must, and I’ve found the best way to warm them is, well, just like the Mission package says – heat them one at a time in a skillet on medium high for 10-15 seconds on one side and 10 seconds on the other.

Did I say these were just like Chipotle’s burritos? I lied. These are not just like Chipotle’s burritos. They are better! Tons more flavor, and I won’t charge you extra for the guacamole.