recipes — Page 4

Meal Plans – 4 Meals for Less than $40 Making Meals from Leftovers

Aug 14 by Paul Ivanovsky Leave a Comment

I hope you’re enjoying our weekly Meal Plans. This week, the format is a little different. We’ve planned 4 meals but you’ll be cooking only twice. Using up leftovers is a great way to save time and money! Some families don’t care to eat the same thing two nights in a row and because of that, a lot of leftovers can go to waste and be thrown away. With this 4 day plan, you can alternate nights so you aren’t eating the same basic foods 2 nights in a row.

Meal Plans – 4 Meals for Less than $40 Making Meals from Leftovers

Monday Night – Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Easy Coleslaw $12.84
As my wife says, “You don’t get any easier than Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork”. It’s a great recipe you can throw in the crock pot and forget about. After a case of the Mondays, who wouldn’t want to come home to the delicious smell of pulled pork slow cooked and ready to eat? Not only is the pulled pork easy but I’m including a quick way to make coleslaw to serve along side these pulled pork sandwiches.

Tuesday Night – Grape Chili Meatballs with Mashed Potatoes and Corn on the Cob $7.58
The recipe I’m linking to calls for turkey meatballs but we substituted with regular Great Value Italian Style Meatballs. This is a filling meal and great to add to the plan for the upcoming cooler months. Meatballs aren’t just for spaghetti or appetizers. Serve these Grape Chili Meatballs with mashed potatoes and fresh corn on the cob.

Wednesday Night – Pulled Pork Nachos $9.32
Sound like a crazy idea? Seriously, if you’ve never had BBQ Pulled Pork Nachos, your life isn’t complete! It’s a great way to use up the leftover pulled pork from Monday night’s Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork Sandwiches.

Thursday Night – Meatball Subs with Kettle Cooked Chips and Pickle Spears $9.91
Again, use up those leftovers. The Grape Chili Meatballs from Tuesday night make a great meatball sub for a new meal tonight. Keep things quick and easy and serve with chips and pickle spears.

We have the shopping list and recipes ready for you. Just right click and select print!

If you missed the Meal Plans for the last few weeks, you can check them out here!

Meal Plans – 4 Meals for Less than $40

Meal Plans – 5 Meals for Less than $50

Meal Plans – 7 Meals for Less than $70

Meal Plans – 4 Savory Pie Ideas for Dinner for Less than $40

Meal Plans – 4 Savory Pie Ideas for Dinner for Under $40

Aug 7 by Paul Ivanovsky Leave a Comment

We’ve been sharing weekly Meal Plans with you and this week’s meal plan theme is – Pie for dinner! Who could pass up that? While these aren’t the dessert pies that may first come to mind, these savory pies are just as delicious! They are also very affordable to make, easy to put together, and filling. You can make them ahead for reheating on busy week nights or any of them are perfect for Sunday dinner. Again, we’re giving you the links for each recipe, a printable shopping list, and the price break down for these great meals!

Meal Plans – 4 Savory Pie Ideas for Dinner for Under $40

Mini Shepherds Pie – $9.65

Anything made in individual servings is fun and the kids always enjoy them. This Mini Shepherds Pie is no exception. Make them in a muffin tin for perfect portions. Shepherds Pie is filling and a great all in one dish to serve the family.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie – $9.82

Chicken Pot Pie is a family favorite and while there are lots of great frozen options, there is nothing quite like a Homemade Chicken Pot Pie that feeds the whole family! There really isn’t much to making this dish but it looks as good as it tastes! This is a recipe that even works for a Sunday meal for a house full and making 2 isn’t any more work than making 1.

Homemade Pizza Pie – $8.28

We love pizza and while it’s sometimes nice to order a pizza on a busy night and have a no fuss meal, my family will always pick homemade pizza over take out or frozen! Sometimes we make individual pizzas and everyone can pick their own toppings and other times we’ll make a big deep dish pizza pie to eat as a family!

Spaghetti Pie – $9

Does your family love spaghetti and other pasta dishes? We found this great Spaghetti Pie recipe on AllYou.com. There are so many great recipes in All You Magazine and on AllYou.com. This one has become a family favorite and isn’t your typical spaghetti for dinner. It has bacon in it. Who doesn’t love a recipe with BACON?!?

The shopping list below is printable by right clicking and selecting the print option. This is not a complete list of ingredients as spices and such have been left out since most of you probably have these items in your pantry. Make sure to check each recipe to verify you have everything you’ll need.

If you missed the meal plans we’ve shared in previous weeks you’ll want to go back and check them out!

Iced Coffee Recipe! Make at Home and Save Money.

Jul 8 by Paul Leave a Comment

With summer in full swing, it’s time to reach for the cold drinks. One favorite is the iced coffee drinks that come from coffee shops and the pre-made packaged kind. Skip the drive thru and their $4.00 drinks and pass on the convenience store’s $2.00 or more drinks as well and make it yourself! Even the packets are not low cost and you get far less.

(Guest post from Christina – Walmart Specialist)

Even if you buy iced coffee in packs at Walmart, they are still near the $6.00 range for these little coffee delights and you get far less than if you made it yourself. Making this recipe also allows you to choose the flavors and come up with your own.

For this Iced Coffee recipe, you will need:

Coffee of your choice (I use Cafe Bustelo $3.88)
Half and Half ($1.58)
Sweetener ($2.58)
Ice Cubes
Water

Optional: Flavor of your choice such as caramel sauce or chocolate syrup.

1. Make your coffee a little stronger than you normally would. I made 2 pots of extra strong, or about 12 cups.

2. Put the coffee in the fridge to cool. It should be ready to use in about 1 1/2.

3. Fill a glass full with ice. (I got both this glass mug [$2.00] and carafe [$3.88] at Walmart by the way.)

4. Pour on the coffee, add chocolate syrup or other flavoring if you desire.

5. Add Half and Half. A splash will do. (Don’t you just love the way it swirls in the cup?)

6. Sweeten to taste.

You can also make this on a larger scale in the carafe or another container and keep it in the fridge. Keep in mind, though, that the mixture spoils faster than the coffee alone, so if you aren’t going to drink it up in a very short amount of time, I suggest you keep the coffee by itself in the fridge minus the ingredients.

While the initial ingredients cost more than in the store, because you are only using a portion, these servings cost less than 50 cents each. The only real expensive part (and it’s not really, you could also use milk for a lower fat version!) is the Half and Half. In one small can of Cafe Bustelo, you could get a lot of servings.

There is another way to brew the coffee, called “Cold Brewing” which is where you use cold water, leave it sit at room temperature and strain it out after. This allows you to make a stronger brew, but it can be time consuming and messy. Either way you do it will work for this recipe.

Only a Few Hours Left to Grab a Tramontina 6.5qt Dutch Oven for $39.97

May 11 by Paul Ivanovsky Leave a Comment

I know it’s a bit later in the day than I usually post the Value of the Day for Walmart.com but better late than never right? We purchased one of these the last time they ran a deal on it and just love it! It’s a great way to slow cook dinner without using a crock pot.

The Tramontina 6.5-quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven is durable and contains a porcelain interior for cooking ease. It’s a great serving piece and can go both on the stovetop and in the oven. It can also be used as a covered casserole dish. This cast iron Dutch oven can also go straight to the table after cooking to keep food hot.

Cast iron Dutch oven with red porcelain enamel exterior
Porcelain enamel interior
Can be used as a covered casserole dish
Goes on stovetop or in oven
Serve food straight from the Dutch oven to keep food hot
Cast iron Dutch oven has lifetime warranty

Check out this recipe for Paula Dean’s Gumbo using a dutch oven, YUM!

Just an FYI theTramontina 80131/003 Gourmet 6-1/2-Quart Cast-Iron Covered Casserole, Vibrant Red is listed on Amazon right now for $78.99 + $14.49 shipping!

New $1/1 Grape Nuts Coupon & Healthy Snack Recipe

May 8 by Paul Ivanovsky Leave a Comment

There’s a new high value coupon for $1/1 Post Grape-Nuts Cereal. This is both rare and high value for Grape-Nuts. You usually only see one of their coupons maybe twice a year and most cereal coupons are off multiples.

Post Grape-Nuts Cereal 24oz: $2.98
Use $1/1 Grape-Nuts coupon
Total: $1.98

(photo & recipe credit)

Ingredients:

1cup sliced fresh strawberries

1/2cup vanilla low-fat yogurt

1/4cup Post® Grape-Nuts cereal

Directions:

Layer yogurt, strawberries and cereal.

Repeat layers as desired.

Serve and enjoy immediately.

$.50 Off Auntie Annie’s Pretzel Kit & Bonus Mustard Coupon! Update: Here’s Tiff’s Recipe!

Jan 12 by Paul Ivanovsky 5 Comments

Zip 77380 Under Food

$.50 Off Auntie Annies Baking Kit. Fresh Baked Pretzels are my favorite snack in the entire universe. Lucky for me,Tiffany makes the world’s best pretzels. Unfortunately for you, you are not married to her so she can’t make them for you. You will have to make them this way. If this mix makes pretzels even close to what they do in the mall then this will be then next best thing.

There are a lot of people asking for the recipe to Tiffany’s magic Pretzel Recipe.
Nothing is better than a hot pretzel. Carb heaven.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

My spiffy oven has a bread proof setting so I used that. Took a little less than an hour but doubled.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Now is when you recruit the help. My Sister (who destroyed my Kitchen Aid) volunteered to teach the girls how to make a pretzel. Actually they taught her…

Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

They turned out AMAZING! Can you smell them now? We took some and dipped them in the water/baking soda mixture, and added cinnamon and sugar to them and they were awesome also!

Ingredients

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.