New Printable Coupons Tomorrow

With all the business of Vacation Bible School this week I haven't had much time to think about coupons and grocery deals. I did go to the grocery store this week, but just for a few essentials and, (*gasp!) I didn't even take my coupon box - I'd forgotten and left it at home.

It suddenly occurred to me that tomorrow is the first of a new month. That means there should be a whole bunch of new printable coupons available.

Be sure to visit Coupons.com and SmartSource.com and get yours tomorrow.

My tips for printing coupons:

1. If you've never done this before, you'll need to download the software. Both Coupons.com and SmartSource will prompt you how to do this. The software enables you to print the bar codes that come on coupons.
   
2. You can print 3 to a page. I generally try to pick coupons in multiples of threes or if I've only got one, then flipping the paper around to print the second copy on the back side.
   
3. You can print more than one copy of most coupons. You only need to click on your browser's back button and it will initiate a second printing of the coupons. If you have a second computer in the house (like a laptop) you may be able to print more copies.
   

Also, CouponsInc. has an ongoing list of "bricks" coupons and links that are currently available. These can also be printed twice by clicking your browser's back button.

Turkish Hats; a.k.a. Black Eyed Susans; a.k.a. Peanut Butter Blossoms

Today's recipe swap at LifeAsMom is for "Christmas Must-Haves".

When I think Christmas recipes I always think cookies first. We have a strong tradition of Christmas cookies in my family. I remember Christmas cookie marathons as I was growing up. My mother, an aunt and their best friend would gather together and bake cookies all day from early in the morning until late in the evening.

The absolute must-have, it's-not-Christmas-without-them, cookie in our family is Chocolate Crinkles. But, since I've already posted that recipe, I decided I should post the second most must-have cookie recipe.

Growing up we always called them Turkish Hats - because that's what they look like. But, I've since discovered they have several names. I think most people call them Peanut Butter Blossoms. You can find one recipe with that name on the back of the bag of chocolate candy kisses. But recently I heard another name - Black Eyed Susans.

So whatever you call them -- here's our recipe.

Turkish Hats
(printable recipe)
 

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ Cup flour
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ Cup sugar
• ½ Cup packed brown sugar
• ½ C shortening
• ½ Cup peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• extra granulated sugar
• 72 chocolate candy kisses

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except extra granulated sugar and chocolate kisses in mixing bowl.
2. Mix at low speed until dough forms.
3. Shape into balls - about 1 round tsp each.
4. Roll balls in granulated sugar.
5. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake at 375° for 9 minutes.
7. Remove from oven; top each with an unwrapped kiss, press firmly so cookie cracks around the edge. Remove to cooling racks.
8. Let cool.

Notes:
The original recipe said it makes 4 dozen. I've gotten as few as 3½ dozen and as many as 6 dozen - it all depends on how big you make your cookie.
I always find a small cookie scoop to be helpful when making cookies that get rolled in granulated or confectioner's sugar.
Some recipes call for returning the cookies to the oven; we have found this step to be unnecessary.

I'm curious - what do you call these cookies?


For our Chocolate Crinkle Recipe go here.

For more Christmas Must-Have recipes visit LifeAsMom.

You can also find lots more great recipes at:
Family Recipe Fridays at VanderbiltWife.
Recipe Swap at TheGroceryCartChallenge
Food on Fridays at AnnKroeker.
Friday Feasts at MomTrends.

Glazed Carrots

This is a family favorite at our house. I found the original recipe in a church cookbook (one of my favorite sources for recipes), and adapted it a bit for our tastes. I make it about once each week. It's one of those recipes that can be adapted a bit to fit your family's preferences. But honestly, brown sugar and butter - how can you do better than that??

Glazed Carrots
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups carrots, sliced (about 3-4 carrots)*
• 2 Tbs butter
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1/3 Cup pineapple juice**
• 1 tsp cornstarch

Directions:

1. Add carrots to boiling water. Boil 2-4 minutes depending on desired tenderness.
2. While carrots are boiling, blend cornstarch with pineapple juice. This is an ideal time to use one of these.
3. Drain carrots, remove to separate bowl and pour off water.
4. In the same pot, melt butter and brown sugar together over med-low heat.
5. When butter has fully melted, add pineapple juice/cornstarch mixture, stir constantly and bring to boil.
6. Return carrots to pot. Stir. Continue cooking to desired tenderness.

My Notes:
This makes enough for my family of 4, including 2 small children.

* To solve the problem of conflicting tastes I learned to cut veggies such as carrots in varying sizes - some large, some small. This way I can boil the carrots until the small ones are soft and my kids are happy, but the large ones are still firm which makes me happy.

* In the past I bought pineapple juice in a can for this recipe. A more frugal method is to save the pineapple juice when draining canned pineapple. It can be stored in the frig for quite a while or I think you could freeze it, though I've never tried this.


For more great recipes visit:
Tempt My Tummy @ Blessed With Grace
Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Tuesdays at the Table @ All the Small Stuff

Menu Plan 07/26/09

Last week I told you about my new menu planning method.

We didn't use as many of the dishes as I had planned this week because I forgot about a pot-luck (to which I took this salad) we were attending and hubby surprised me with belated anniversary dinner one night.

Here's where we are for main dishes at this point.

• Chicken Tetrazzini
  
• Slow Cooker Roasted Chicken (planned for tomorrow)
  
• Leftover Roasted Chicken
• Steak on the grill x2 (1 down, 1 to go)
  
• Sweet Vidalia Onion Chicken Breasts - in the Slow Cooker
• Spaghetti x2 (1 down, 1 to go)
  
• "Go To" Chicken Casserole
• Slow Cooker Pork Roast
  
• Sweet & Sour Chicken
• Sesame Ginger Chicken Breasts - in the Slow Cooker
• Homemade Pizza (with this dough and this sauce)
• Vidalia Onion Pie
• Potato Spinach Sausage Casserole

We're definitely having the Slow Cooker chicken tomorrow. I've already got it thawing in the frig. I'm expecting lots of Slow Cooker meals this week because we're in Vacation Bible School this week and I won't have much time for meals. I'm probably going to swap out Eggplant Penne Pasta for the Potato Spinach Sausage Casserole this week. I found eggplant on a pretty good price and I really want to try this recipe. It looks delicious.

Other meals this week:

Breakfasts:
banana pancakes & blueberry pancakes
Whole Wheat Banana Choc. Chip Muffins & scrambled eggs
grits or oatmeal with raisins or blueberries
creamed chipped beef over whole wheat biscuits
cereal

Lunches
leftovers, PBJ sandwiches, turkey & cheese sandwiches, smoothies

For many more menu plans visit the Organizing Junkie.

Broccoli Salad

FishMama is hosting a Salad round up today. I confess. I'm not big on salads. I'm not sure what it is. It may be a leftover from my childhood when I believed it was world-ending-awful if different kinds of food touched each other. On the other hand it may be my anti-mayonnaise thing. As a result, this round-up is a bit of a challenge for me.

It took me a while to figure out what to post. I'm posting a recipe you probably already have. I sort of have a hard time believing anyone doesn't already have this recipe. I've seen so many variations of it over the years.

Anyway, just in case you're one of the few who hasn't tried this recipe, this is one of my family's favorite recipes. It makes enough for a small army, unless your family is a small army, then it makes enough for a family.

Broccoli Salad

(printable recipe)

Ingredients for Dressing:

• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• ½ Cup sugar
• 1 Cup mayonaise

Ingredients for Salad:

• 8 slices bacon
• 4 large stalks broccoli (cut into small flowerets; ~8 cups)
• 1 Cup raisins
• ¾ Cup pecans, chopped
• ¼ Cup onion chopped

Directions:

1. Cook and crumble bacon; reserve until 1 hour before serving.
2. Combine ingredients for dressing and set aside.
3. Prepare salad ingredients. Add to large bowl.
4. Pour dressing over salad. Toss. Cover. Refrigerate.
5. One hour before serving, add bacon and toss salad. Return to refrigerator.

Notes:
Don't add the bacon too soon, it tends to become soggy in the refrigerator instead of staying crisp.
I've seen many variations of this salad. My sister makes it with less raisins and more onions. She also adds shredded cheese.
That's one of the nice things about this salad. You can alter it to fit your family's tastes.


For more great salad recipes visit the Ultimate Recipe Swap at LifeAsMom.

Crying over Spilt Milk?

So, Monday I'd planned to make yogurt in my Crock-pot. (I really need to learn to start sentences without the word "so", but not today.)

I really like making yogurt. It's easy. It's nutritious. It's cheap.

However, I do not like it when the milk ends up all over the kitchen.

I did not cry over the spilled milk.

I screamed.

It was therapeutic. I felt better.

The kids came running to see what had happened and then my daughter declared, "We're going back into the other room now!"

She's a smart one that girl.

Next time the milk spills, I heartily recommend screaming. It works for me.

July Kids' Picks - Reading

This summer I instituted a new rule for library visits. I told the kids they each had to pick 1 new book they'd never read each time we go to the library. Hopefully, along the way we'll find some treasures. Here's what we've been enjoying recently.


Joseph & Cora recommend:
Today I will Fly! by Mo Willems. We love Mo Willems' books. They are always fun. Go get one. Read it. Now! Enough said.

Joseph (age 7) recommends:
Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman by Marc Tyler Nobleman. This non-fiction picture book explains the beginnings of Superman and the struggles of his creators, Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. It's a wonderful story of persistence and following your dream. My little super-hero loved this book. We're now on the third round of checking out this book from the library.

The Curse of the Bologna Sandwich by Greg Trine. We recently discovered the "Melvin Beederman" series. Melvin is a kid who's just graduated from Superhero Academy. He's been assigned to Los Angeles and is learning to cope with his ability to see people's underwear (x-ray vision) and his difficulty in flying (it takes him several tries each time.). Joseph is really enjoying these fun and funny books; they're right up his super-hero alley.

Cora (age 5) recommends:
Eliza's Kindergarten Surprise by Alice B. McGinty. It's Eliza's first day of school. She misses her mommy and gradually collects various items that remind her of Mommy throughout the day. At the end of the day she discovers that Mommy missed her too! Cora, who starts kindergarten in the fall, has asked to re-read this book at least 4 times since we checked it out.

Chicken said, "Cluck" by Judyann Ackerman Grant. This "I Can Read" book features a chicken that annoys Pearl and Earl as they are trying to grow pumpkins until they discover Chicken is good at chasing away the grasshoppers. A great book for emergent readers learning sight words.

You can find these books at your local library or under, "I Recommend" in my sidebar.

For more children's book recommendations visit 5 Minutes for Books.

Meatball Mix

I found this meatball recipe in "Make-A-Mix Cookery", one of my mother's cookbooks that I recently re-discovered (You can find this book in my right side bar under "I Recommend"). I used it with the ground beef I recently bought on sale.

Meatball Mix
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. lean ground beef
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 C breadcrumbs
• ¼ C onion
• 1 T salt
• 2 T cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. Combine all ingredients in large bowl.
3. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls.
4. Place meatballs on ungreased baking sheet and bake 10-15 min.
5. Remove immediately and drain on paper towels.
6. When cooled, put about 30 into 1-quart freezer bags.
7. Freeze.

Notes:
The original recipe was double this amount and says it makes about 144 meatballs. I used 2 lbs of ground beef and I got about 120 meatballs. My meatballs must be smaller.
If you are a stock-piler or you like to Make-Ahead meals, these meatballs would work well in spaghetti, meatball subs, Sweet & Sour Meatballs and several other recipes.

For more great recipes visit:
Tasty Tuesday @ BalancingBeautyandBedlam
Tempt My Tummy @ BlessedWithGrace.

Making Ahead - Ground Beef & Improvising

I had a plan for today. I was going to make yogurt in the Crockpot, finish prepping some ground beef I'd bought on Friday and make a batch of jam from juice in my Dad's freezer.

Yogurt:
I started the day well. The kids were well occupied while I prepped ½ gallon of milk for yogurt (recipe here). The milk was heated and cooled and just waiting for me to mix in the yogurt and put it in the Crockpot. When...

Crash.

The bowl hit the floor and milk went everywhere!

Milk on the floor, milk on the cabinets, milk splattered all over the counters. Ugh. What a mess.

That spill put me an hour behind schedule.

After a planned trip for errands, including the grocery store (I added milk to the list), the library and lunch, the next thing on the schedule was to make the jam.

Blackberry Jam:
While cleaning at my Dad's last week I found two large bottles labeled "Blackberry for Jam". The two bottles together looked like enough to make a batch of jam. I brought it home and put it in the frig to thaw.

After our errands today I pulled out a bowl and my sieve and poured the first bottle in. I let that drain and then poured in the second bottle. But something was a bit off. The smell was a bit different. Not bad, but different Then I looked again, and discovered my dad had marked through the "Blackberry" label and written "Grape". Uh oh. I now had blackberry juice/pulp mixed with grape juice/pulp. Hmmm. What to do?

I checked the pectin label, and the Ball Blue Book and discovered that both the blackberry and grape called for the same ingredients except the fruit.

With that I decided to improvise. I had about 2/3 blackberry and 1/3 grape juice/pulp in the bowl to use. Everything else was the same as the recipe. I cooked and canned the jam. It should be a quite interesting combination. I haven't tasted it yet.

Who knows, maybe I've just discovered a new flavor of jam: Blackberry-Grape.

Ground Beef:
I found ground beef on sale Friday and bought 10 pounds with the intention of putting it into the freezer the same day. Unfortunately I'd forgotten an engagement that night and since we were going to Fort McHenry on Saturday for fee-free days I didn't have a chance to do anything with it until today. This morning when I checked the "Sell By" I knew I had to get it into the freezer today.

Here's what I did with my 10 pounds of ground beef:

4 lbs made into hamburgers (stored stacked in a bread bag!)
3 lbs cooked and frozen in 1 lb bags.
1 lb frozen as is - to be used for meatloaf at a later time
2 lbs made into meatballs - recipe here.

The meatballs were a new experience. I've never made meatballs before and I was looking for a good general recipe - one that could be adapted with sauces for Italian or other recipes. After searching several websites and several cookbooks I finally found one in "Make-A-Mix Cookery", a cookbook of my mother's that I recently re-discovered (You can find this book in my right side bar under "I Recommend"). They took longer than I anticipated; I think that's because my meatballs were smaller and I cooked them before freezing them.

It was quite a day but the end results were really good.


To see what other people are tackling visit Tackle It Tuesday.

Menu Plan - My way

For a long time I have been resistant to menu planning. At least what most people think of menu planning. I've tried it a few times and it just didn't work for me. Invariably I'd plan a menu for the week and then, something would change -- our family schedule, my husband's schedule, or it would be too hot (or cold) to fix what I'd planned. A hard and fast week-long menu plan just didn't work for us.

Then I came across a different method of menu planning -- planning a month of meals and then just plugging them in as they fit and the mood strikes.

"Ah-ha. This is more my style; this might work for me," I thought. I could make a list of main dishes and I could pick and choose depending on our schedule. I wouldn't plan veggies and side dishes. Those would be based upon what was on sale that week at the grocery store.

So, I tried it. At the beginning of June I looked over our freezer and refrigerator and planned out 30 days worth of main dishes. I included a bunch of family favorites and a few new recipes I wanted to try. It was wonderful. It worked great. My husband even commented that he liked seeing what the options would be, and even made a request once or twice.

When we returned from our vacation I decided to do it again. I made a list of possible meals for the rest of July.

So, here are our Main Dish options for the month of July:

• Chicken Tetrazzini - we had this last night it was wonderful!
• Slow Cooker Roasted Chicken
• Leftover Roasted Chicken
• Steak on the grill x2 (from my Dad's freezer)
• Sweet Vidalia Onion Chicken Breasts - in the Slow Cooker
• Spaghetti x2
• "Go To" Chicken Casserole
• Slow Cooker Pork Roast
• Sweet & Sour Chicken
• Sesame Ginger Chicken Breasts - in the Slow Cooker
• Homemade Pizza (with this dough and this sauce)
• Vidalia Onion Pie
• Potato Spinach Sausage Casserole

This list is mostly meats that are already stockpiled in our freezer as well as a few new-to-us recipes. It even includes a no meat meal (Woo Hoo!). I'm trying to include more "no meat" meals, but not being a fan of beans this is rather challenging.

Each main course will be supplemented with two veggies and/or fruits and will include a grain or starch. Spaghetti and Pizza, obviously, already include a grain; the Baked Chicken Breasts will be served with brown rice and the Slow Cooker Chicken & Pork Roast will probably include biscuits from the freezer (I made them a few weeks a go and froze them. They're ready to pull out and bake in the toaster oven at a moment's notice.)

Other meals this week:

Breakfasts: french toast & cantaloupe; pancakes, bacon & bananas; pineapple muffins & scrambled eggs; grits or oatmeal with raisins or blueberries; creamed chipped beef over whole wheat biscuits, cantaloupe; cereal

Lunches: leftovers, PBJ sandwiches, turkey & cheese sandwiches, smoothies

For many more menus visit OrganizingJunkie.

Finer Things - July 10

My daughter recently brought me these lovingly picked flowers.
She loves picking flowers fresh from our yard.

I love that she loves bringing me flowers (even clover).

Definitely a Finer Thing in this Mom's life.

For more finer things visit Amy @ the Finer Things in Life

Symbol Code

A few months ago, Amy @ theFinerThings posted some symbol codes which have been very helpful for me.

I recently discovered a new one that I really like:

While holding down the ALT key, press:

• 0190 = ¾

The fraction codes are very helpful when posting recipes like this one or this one. Now if I could just remember to use them all the time.

­I"m still looking for a code for 1/3 and 2/3. I've done a few Swagbucks searches, but haven't had any success. Anybody know?


Visit We Are THAT Family for more WFMW.

Whole Wheat Pineapple Muffins

I came up with this muffin recipe as a way to use up leftover crushed pineapple. I'd been making this recipe fairly often, but it only uses about 2/3 of a 15 oz can. So, then I had to figure out what to do with the leftover. I've found that making muffins is a good way to use up some fruit leftovers.

Whole Wheat Pineapple Muffins
(printable recipe)
 

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
• 1 C all-purpose unbleached flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 tsp salt (optional)
  
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 C pineapple juice, reserved from draining pineapple
• 3/4 C milk
• 1/4 C canola oil
• 1 egg
  
• 1/2 Cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. Drain pineapple, reserve 1/4 cup juice.
2. Preheat oven to 375°.
   
3. In a medium size bowl, combine flours, baking powder, salt, spices.
   
4. In small bowl whisk milk, oil, egg, brown sugar and pineapple juice together.
   
5. Combine dry and wet ingredients.
6. Fold in drained pineapple
   
7. Grease muffin tins. Fill tins 2/3 full (~1/4 cup each).
8. Place muffin tin in oven. Raise oven temperature to 400°. (Here's why.) Bake 20 minutes.
9. Turn out of tins immediately onto clean dishtowel. Cool upside down.
   

Notes:
Makes 12 muffins.
These freeze well.
I think these could be really good with coconut added, but hubby doesn't like coconut so I've never made them that way.
The general muffin recipe found in the Tightwad Gazette is very helpful in creating your own muffin recipe, like this one.

Find more great recipes at:
Tasty Tuesday @BalancingBeautyandBedlam
Tempt My Tummy @ BlessedwithGrace.

Blog Vacation

I'll be a bit sparse around the blogosphere over the next 10 days as I'll be enjoying some time with my family. We're headed to the land of Pioneer Woman and Rocks in My Dryer.

Enjoy your families!

School Supply Sales Around the Corner

If you have children in school or you are a teacher, this is the weekend to begin finding great sales on school supplies.

Many stores, like Walmart, will have sales going on this weekend. But, not all sales will be advertised. In previous years I have found spiral notebooks for $0.05 and sewn composition books for less than $0.50.

Be alert and happy Shopping!

For more frugal ideas, visit Life As Mom.

13 Things About Me

1. My favorite color is purple.
2. I love pansies, but can't seem to grow them very well.
3. I've lived my whole life in one state. Oh, except for 2 months one summer - does that count?
4. I once played Peter Pan in a school play.
5. Macaroni & Cheese grosses me out, but I feed it to my kids.
6. I spent 9 1/2 years working as a secretary.
7. I've been married almost 14 years.
8. "Fried Green Tomatoes" & "Steel Magnolias" are two of my favorite movies (even though I'm not from the south!).
9. I remember when School House Rock was on Saturday Morning TV.
10. I passed a 12th grade Civics test because of School House Rock - "The Preamble".

For more random 13s, visit 3 Moms Thursday Thirteen.

Whole Wheat Peach Muffins

This recipe took me a while to figure out. I tried two different recipes, made several bad attempts and several bad revisions before finally getting it right with this recipe. My husband and I love them. (I know it's a bit early for peaches in my neck of the woods, but I thought some of the southern gals might like these.)

Whole Wheat Peach Muffins

(printable recipe)

Ingredients

• 1½ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 egg
• ½ cup + 2 Tblsp sugar
• 1½ cup peeled, pitted, chopped peaches (3-4 med.)

Directions:

1. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix with large whisk.
2. In small bowl mix milk, oil, egg and sugar.
3. Mix together dry and wet ingredients. Do not stir too much; batter should be lumpy.
4. Fold 1¼ cup peaches into batter, reserving ¼ cup for tops.
5. Heat oven to 375°. Grease muffin tin very well.
6. Fill muffin cups approx. 2/3 full (about 1/3 cup)
7. Sprinkle reserved peaches over tops.
8. Place in oven. Raise temperature to 400°. (see why here) Bake approx. 20 minutes.
9. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto dishcloth. Keep inverted while cooling.

My Notes:
This recipe makes 12 muffins.
Be sure to grease the tin VERY WELL as they have a tendency to stick.


For more great summer recipes visit Works for Me Wednesday at WeAreTHATFamily.