Bountiful Baskets – 1/7/2012

7 Jan

First basket of the new year!  And, I am very happy with it!  This week, I got the conventional basket for $15 and 1 extra, 1 gallon of organic olive oil for $23.50, so with the $1.5o handling fee, it was $40.

So, I got grapes, bananas, Asian pears, apples, clementines, blackberries, broccoli, tomatoes, avocados, romaine lettuce, onions, spinach, and radishes.

I have a little extra this time because a friend of mine didn’t want her radishes, onions, and avocados, so I happily took them and will find some use for them.   My girls already ate the apples and the blackberries, and a lot of the radishes.  I love that they eat so many different fruits and vegetables.  I think it’s because we get such a variety and see my husband and I eating them that they want to try them too.  The remaining radishes I will most likely use to make Radish Dip, to go perfectly with the crackers I got on sale at the store yesterday.  I considering making Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup with the broccoli, just because it was so yummy, but I may search for something different to make.  I need to decide what to make with the spinach, it’s beautiful spinach, leafy and green.  With all the onions, some onion rings might be on the list to make, but I may try to bake them instead of frying them.  With all the avocados, we will probably have Fish Tacos and Guacamole.  I still have tortillas in the freezer for the Fish Tacos, and I just got some tortilla chips on sale too. Good eats this week!

Note: The type and amount of food may vary from another basket because of geographic location and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.  I also volunteered this week and got 1 extra item for volunteering.

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Buy 4, Save $4, Tell 4, Save $4 More at Fry’s!

7 Jan

 

 

I’m a couple days late on this, but I’m just getting through my e-mails after my travel home.  This week at Fry’s (and Kroger family stores), there is a Buy 4, Save $4 sale on P&G products.  If you Tell 4 friends, you get a $4 digital coupon loaded directly on to your VIP card to be used on your next shopping trip.

So first, you go here and load a P&G coupon onto your VIP card.  After you load it to you card, it will take you to a screen to enter in 4 names and e-mail addresses.  After you enter those, it will load the $4 digital coupon VIP card.  Thank you Fry’s for the $4!

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Tiropita (Cheese Pie)

1 Jan

 

Does the name sound familiar?  Like Spanakopita that I had posted previously?  This is a cheese version of that recipe.  The assembly is the same, it’s just a different filling, and just as delicious.

 

Tiropita (Cheese Pie)

What you need:

1 roll phyllo dough (You can find this in your grocery’s freezer section with the pies and baked goods)
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

Filling for Tiropita:
1 lb feta cheese, crumbled
15 oz container ricotta cheese or Greek anthotiro cheese
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
6 Tbsp grated kefalotiri cheese or Parmesan cheese
3 eggs
1/2 c. or so fresh parsley

How to put it together:

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Combine the ingredients for the filling and set aside.  Brush bottom and sides of 12″ X 18″ jelly roll pan with melted butter.   Lay phyllo dough in bottom of pan, and brush completely with butter. (Note: Depending on the size of your pan and the size of dough you find, you may need multiple pieces of phyllo dough to cover the bottom of the pan) Repeat the process of laying dough and buttering to create 5-6 layers of dough.  Pour filling over phyllo dough and spread evenly.

Place a layer of phyllo dough over the filling, again, brushing it completely with butter. Repeat the process of laying dough and buttering until you have 3-4 layers.  Score through top layers of the pastry with a sharp knife. I cut mine in straight lines to make squares, then add diagonal cuts to make triangles.  Pour remaining butter over.

Bake for 1 hour or until pastry is golden brown (see picture at top). Remove to rack and cool for 5 minutes.  Cut and serve!

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Pastitsio (Baked Macaroni and Meat)

1 Jan

Last year for New Year’s Day, I cooked a variety of Greek dishes for my family, and continued on with that tradition this year.  It’s the best time to make all this food, lots of hands here to help with the preparations.  I really love Pastitsio.  It’s almost like a lasagna or baked Italian pasta dish would be, just seasoned a little differently.  It’s a little time-consuming to get all the parts done, but worth it in the end.  This can be made up ahead of time and frozen just before baking, then thawed and baked when you are ready to have it.

Pastitsio (Baked Macaroni and Meat)

Filling:
1 lb macaroni (supposed to be long macaroni noodles, but they are hard to find, so elbow macaroni or a noodle like penne or ziti works too)
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
Grated Kefalotiri, Parmesan, or Romano cheese
1 lb ground beef or lamb
1 medium onion
1 12 oz can tomato paste
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Cream sauce (krema):
2-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
Salt and pepper to taste

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Boil macaroni according to package; drain; return to pan.  Melt the 1/2 cup butter, beat in eggs, and stir in with macaroni.  Spray a 9″ X 13″ X 2″ pan. Add macaroni mixture to pan and press down with a piece of wax paper.  Sprinkle generously with the grated cheese.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, brown onion and ground beef or lamb; add tomato paste and seasonings.  Cook for 5 – 10 minutes.  Spread meat mixture over macaroni noodles in pan and spread evenly.

Meanwhile, make cream sauce. Melt 1/4 cup butter and pour in 1/4 cup flour; brown slowly. Beat 2 eggs with 2-1/2 cups milk, salt, and pepper, and pour into butter and flour mixture very slowly; mix well. Cook over low heat until it thickens. Pour over macaroni/meat mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 – 50 minutes, or until golden brown.

Freezes best unbaked, thawed for 1/2 hour, then baked as above.

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Happy New Year!

31 Dec

 

Happy New Year to everyone!  Thank you for reading and supporting my blog over the last few months!  I will be busy spending New Year’s Day making a Greek feast with my family for the last part of my visit, and there will be some things that I haven’t posted here yet!  On the menu, I have Spanakopita, Tiropita, Dolmathes, and Pastitsio.  I have some family that is eager to learn and others that love to help, so it will be a great day of cooking to bring in the new year!

Christmas Card Ornament Ball

31 Dec

 

 

Looking for something to do with all those Christmas cards you got this year?  This is a great way to re-use them, plus it’s an activity you can get your kids to help you with.  I remember making these quite often as a kid, in all different sizes.  Smaller ones you can hang on the tree, larger ones you can hang from a light, fireplace, entryway, or anywhere you want to decorate.  I did these with my kids on New Year’s Eve and once we hung it, it reminded me of the ball that drops in New York each year.  We used a can as our template for the circles, then I cut a triangle from a piece of cardboard.  I did find a great template online for this activity that could be used as well.  My 5-year-old helped with the cutting, and my 2-year-old helped a little too.  We also assembled them using staples to save some time and mess, and both of them helped with the stapling.

Christmas Card Ornament Ball

What you need:

Decorated half of Christmas cards
Scissors
Circle and triangle template
Glue, tape, or staples

How to make it:

Trace and cut 20 circles from the Christmas cards.

Put triangle in middle of circle and fold the circle over the edges of the triangle.

Glue, tape, or staple 5 circles together at the folded sides, all with a point of the triangle pointing up, to form the top.  Repeat with 5 more for the bottom.  Glue, tape, or staple the remaining 10 circles to form a line of the folded circles, alternating point up, point down.

Attach the top to the folded edges along the top side of the line of circles.  Attach the bottom to the folded edges along the bottom side of the line of circles.  You should now have a complete ball.

Punch a hole through one of the folded sides and put a string or thread through, then tie so you can hang it up.

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Saving with Coupons for 2011

30 Dec

 

Like I had said in a previous post, I started couponing in April 2010.  At the beginning of 2011, I decided that I would start tracking my spending and savings on grocery and health/beauty (including diapers).  One of the savings blogs I follow, The Cents’Able Shoppin, had posted a savings spreadsheet she created.  I started using that one, then started making modifications to it because I wanted to see the savings by store, and also to get a full breakdown of manufacturer coupon savings, bonus/store coupon savings, and store sale savings.  I also included rewards I’d earned on the Rebate tracking page.  These rewards included things like the gas rewards earned while shopping at Fry’s and rewards earned on my credit card from using it for purchases.  I also wanted to add in the amount I spent on getting produce through Bountiful Baskets.  I did start pricing out my produce received at the grocery store to get a comparison, but it was too time-consuming.  I did find it was about a 50% cost savings, but for calculations, I decided it would be better to estimate it to be about 40% savings overall for the year. I unfortunately did not track how much I spent on getting coupons, and since I changed the number of newspapers I would get from 4 to 3 to 2, and I don’t know at what point I did that, it’s hard to even get a good estimate.  For what I did keep track of, it breaks down like this:

Manufacturer Coupon Savings: $2,052.80
Bonus Coupon Savings: $258.18
Total Coupon Savings: $2,310.98
Total Store Savings: $4,694.07
Total Savings: $7,005.05
Total Out of Pocket (OOP): $7,412.69
Avg. Monthly OOP: $615
Percent Saved: 48.59%
Rebates & Rewards Total: $766.75

So, the amount I received back on Rebates & Rewards of $766.75, I would say that is probably about the amount I spent on getting coupons, so what I spent on coupons, I got back in Rebates & Rewards, leaving my coupon savings at $2,310.98.  I was a little surprised that amount was so high, considering I wasn’t using as many coupons for the last half of the year.   My monthly spending is still higher than I would like it to be, but is lower than it was for 2010. Additionally, by buying health and beauty items at the grocery stores and drug stores during good sales, I didn’t fall victim to what I refer to as “The Wal-Mart or Target Trap”.  No matter how hard I try to make a list and stick to it at those 2 stores, I almost always end up with more than I want or need, so I am glad to have eliminated that spending.

For 2012, I am hoping to get the spending amount even lower, although it gets tougher with the ever rising food prices.  I am also hoping that my younger daughter will be potty trained soon, so that I can eliminate a majority of the diaper expense each month.  I also have added a new tab on my spreadsheet to better track what I spend on getting coupons from the newspaper.  The spreadsheet I will be using for 2012 can be found here:

2012 Savings Spreadsheet

You should be able to download the original and modify for your own use, if needed.  For the spreadsheet, you will only enter in data in the blue shaded areas, unless you need to make modifications to store names.   If you need help making modifications or would like to see something added, please contact me.

I hope that for 2012 I can continue the savings with coupons and will be able to share some good results next year as well!

Parmesan Garlic Pull Apart Bread Update

29 Dec

You may remember a while back that I posted the recipe for Parmesan Garlic Pull Apart Bread, using Grands biscuits.  Well, tonight I wanted the bread, but didn’t have any Grands biscuits.  I found a great substitute – Bisquick biscuits.  You just make the dough according to the directions on the box, 2 1/4 cups Biquick mixed wtih 2/3 cup milk, then roll the dough into balls to drop in the pan for the pull apart bread.  Yum!

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Toffee Squares

29 Dec

While I have plenty of old favorites to bake at the holidays, I am always happy to find new ones.  And I think this is definitely a new favorite.  My mom got my sister and me a book from Hallmark this year called Very Merry Cookie Party.  I haven’t had a chance to go through it yet, but my sister did and found this recipe.  I think it will be making it into my yearly baking.

Toffee Squares

What you need:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 cup flour
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped toasted almonds or 1 cup toffee baking bits

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease a 13 x 9 pan.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar.  Beat in the egg yolk, vanilla, and salt.  Gradually beat in the flour,  just until mixed.  Pat the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan.

Bake in center of oven until pale gold on top, about 20 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and scatter the chocolate chips evenly over crust.  Return to oven for 1 minute.  Remove pan and spread the chocolate evenly over the crust.  Sprinkle evenly with the almonds or toffee baking bits.

Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

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Corn and Broccoli Casserole

28 Dec

This was our final Christmas dinner side.  My mom got this recipe from my Aunt Paula, who has also given us the Wild Rice & Sausage Stuffing and Bread & Celery Dressing.  I liked having this as our vegetable casserole instead of Green Bean Casserole for our Christmas dinner, just to have something different.  This recipe calls for Chicken in a Bisket crackers, but you could probably substitute Ritz crackers in their place.

Corn and Broccoli Casserole

What you need:

1 pound frozen broccoli, thawed and drained OR 1 pound chopped fresh broccoli
1 15 oz can whole kernel corn, drained OR 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1 14.75 oz can creamed corn OR 1 10.75oz can cream of chicken soup plus 1 cup milk
1 8 oz box Chicken in a Bisket crackers OR 8 oz Ritz Crackers (2 sleeves of crackers)
1 stick butter or margarine, melted

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Crush crackers; stir into melted butter.   Combine remaining ingredients and all but 1/2 cup of the cracker crumbs into a greased 2 qt casserole dish.  Top with the reserved 1/2 cup cracker crumbs.

Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

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