Tempt My Tummy Tuesday: Chili Recipe

With the Superbowl just over, this recipe was fresh in my mind, so I thought I would share it with you today.  My husband loves this chili recipe, and I love that it is so easy to make!  This chili is great with crackers and cheese, and is also wonderful atop a taco salad!  You should make a pot today!

 Ingredients:

1/2 lb fried and drained Ground Beef (or turkey if you want)

1 diced Onion
1 large Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 medium Green Bell Pepper, diced
1 can Pinto Beans, rinsed (or 1 cup crock-pot cooked beans)
1 can Great Northern Beans, rinsed (or 1 cup crock-pot cooked beans)
3 large cans Diced Tomatoes (or 1 Qt + 1 pt home canned)
1 can Chili Seasoned Diced Tomatoes (I get my from ALDI)
1-2 pkts McCormick Mild Chili Seasoning

1. Fry ground beef (or turkey) with onion, drain fat.
2. Add beef/onion mixture to crock-pot with peppers, beans, tomatoes, and seasoning.
3. Cook on low for at least 2 hours and up to 8.
4. Serve with shredded cheese, and crackers.  Refrigerate leftovers.

Linking up to Tempt your Tummy Tuesday!

Menu Plan Monday: 02/04/2013

This week I am planning on doing a lot of paperwork sorting, filing, and organizing.  It should be a nice quiet week here.  We had a good flea market on Saturday, and made enough for groceries for this month, plus some, so that was nice!  Here's what's on the menu for this week...

Breakfasts: Cold or Hot Cereals, Waffles, and/or Bagels with Cream Cheese

Lunches: Leftovers, PB and J Sandwiches, or Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Dinners:

Sunday - Nachos - Superbowl Sunday!

Monday - Zuppa Tuscana with Foccacia Bread

Tuesday - Pork Chops in the Crock-pot with Mushroom Gravy over Rice, with a Vegetable

Wednesday - Salsa Chicken Bake with a Vegetable

Thursday - Homemade Shrimp Alfredo with Garlic Bread and a Vegetable

Friday - Homemade Pizza 

Saturday - Out :-)

Extras: Brownies leftover from last week, and maybe some new-recipe cookies later in the week.

For more AWESOME menu plans, visit Org Junkie!

Weekly Spending Report: 01/27-02/02/2013

Here's this week's spending totals...

• Monday's Shopper's Trip (1 box Baking Mix): Zero oop, used gift card to pay
• Thursday's ALDI Trip (2 dozen Eggs, and 3 cans Chili Diced Tomatoes): $5.07 oop
• Thursday Giant Trip: Zero oop, cashed in coins for a gift card, and used that to pay

• Friday's Dollar Tree Trip: $16.92 oop (used $3.50 in coupons!)

• Saturday's Shopper's Trip (2 newspapers, PB, and Doritos): $11.98 oop

Total OOP: $33.97 - I LOVE gift cards!

Frugal Finds Friday: Slower Cooker Beans

I have discovered the joys of freezer cooking, and I am finding new ways to get food into the freezer without a lot of work.  Cooking beans in the crock-pot is not only cheaper than buying canned, but healthier as well, and so easy!

I sorted 3 cups dried Pinto Beans, and washed them thoroughly.

I put them in the crock-pot with enough water to cover them, plus a little more, and a little salt. 

I let them cook on low for 8 hours, and then let them cool until I could touch the crock.

I measured the beans out into freezer bags, by the cup, I ended up with 5-1 cup bags for the freezer (which equals about 5 cans), plus 2 cups to use in my 2 lbs of taco meat.

Healthy, easy, and FRUGAL!

What kind of frugal finds did you discover this week?

Linked to Works for Me Wednesday!

Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday: Crock Pot Pork and Baked Potatoes

This is one of my favorite recipes, easy, simple, and delicious!  It is my go to recipe for pork roast.

1. Put pork roast in Crock-pot with a little bit of water.  Then I shake some Worcestershire sauce over the top and 2 tbsp of butter.

2. I wash the potatoes and place them on top of the roast in the Crock-pot.

3. Cook on low for 8 hours.

4. Eat a delicious meal!

Linking up to Tempt your Tummy Tuesday!

ALDI Deals Starting 01/30/2013

Here are some of this week's awesome ALDI deals...

• Weds. 01/30 ONLY: Smithfield Fresh St. Louis Spare Ribs $2.49/lb
• Kitchen Living Baking Pans 6 cup Bundt, Flower, or Heart, or 12 cup Muffin Tins $3.99 ea
• Boulder Valentine's Paper Tableware $0.99 ea
• Little Salad Bar Greek Yogurt Dips Spinach, Spicy Red Pepper, or Tzatziki 8 oz $1.99 ea
• Happy Farms Cheese Block 8 oz $1.79 ea
• Yancey's Buffalo Wing Cheese 7.6 oz $3.49 ea
• Nature's Path Love Crunch Organic Granola Dark Chocolate and Red Berries 11.5 oz $2.99 ea
• Beaumont Caramel Creme or Cinnamon Spice Ground Coffee 12 oz $4.99 ea
• Celery $0.79 ea
• Baby Carrots 16 oz $0.69 ea
• Avocados $0.59 ea
• Grape Tomatoes $1.29/pint
• Cucumbers $0.39 ea
• Multi-Peppers $1.99/3-pk

For more information about ALDI, visit their homepage!

Menu Plan Monday: 01/28/2013

This week I tried to keep the menu simple since Joe and I are going to be super busy.  We have a flea market to get ready for, a house to clean, Christmas to finish putting away, plus the every day regular stuff that still needs to be done, like laundry and dishes.  So, here's the plan for the week...

Breakfasts: Cold Cereal, or Waffles

Lunches: Leftovers, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Mac and Cheese, or Hot Dogs

Dinners:

Sunday - Fried Potatoes and Onions with Eggs, Bacon, and Toast

Monday - Leftover Potatoes with Pancakes and Creamed Chipped Beef Gravy

Tuesday -  Fresh-take Chicken Tenders with Rice and Broccoli

Wednesday - Sausage Spaghetti with Garlic Bread and a Vegetable

Thursday - Homemade Foccacia Sausage Pizza

Friday -Snacky Dinner/Leftover Buffet

Saturday - Flea Market Day, Out :-)

Extras: Brownies

For more AWESOME Menu Plans, visit Org Junkie!

Pantry Challenge Update #4: 01/20-26/2013

I am hoping to do a little better this week with cleaning things out of the freezers.  Last week I got busy, and caught up in other things; I want to be a little more focused this week.  I have a kick-butt menu plan lined up, so as long as life doesn't throw me a nasty curve ball, we should be good.  I will post my progress for each day this week below...

Day #20: Sunday I had those horrible stomach cramps again, can't wait to go to the doctor on Tuesday.  By afternoon I was feeling some better, so I did get some straightening  done around the house, as well as some laundry and coupon filing/clipping.  We ate pretty good too.
B - Scones for Joe, none for me
L - Homemade Pepperoni Pizza and Apple Slices
D - Salsa Chicken Bake

Day #21: Monday the museum was closed, so Joe and I took the opportunity to sleep in.  We also did our weekly house cleaning; I LOVE a clean house!  I even got some organizing done for Joe in the storage room.  In other words, it was a great day, and we ate good too!
B - None, slept in
L - Waffles for me, Buffalo Chicken Wraps for Joe
D - Crock Pot Baked Potatoes, Crock Pot Pork Roast, and an Alexia Veggie Saute - Yummy!

Day #22: Tuesday, well you know that curve ball I mentioned above, I caught it about 9 am.  After my doctors appointment, where my miscarriage was finalized, to put it mildly, I was sent to the ER to get blood work done stat-like, and a sonogram to make everything was ok inside, something about maybe needing a shot, which I ended up not needing, so a 20 minute appointment turned into not getting home for another 6 hours - ugh!  So that kinda wreaked havoc on our menu.
B - Granola Bars
L - McDonald's on the way home
D - Leftover Salsa Chicken Bake for Joe, and Pretzels for me

Day #23: Wednesday I was still feeling rough, plus I picked up a head cold along with everything else.  But, my everything else is feeling pretty good.  The plumbers came today to fix our shower, and we just relaxed and watched movies. 
B - None
L - Waffles with Syrup for me, and PB and J style for Joe
D - Burgers and Fries

Day #24: Thursday my head cold went south into flu territory, so Joe worked on some things around the house, and I tried not to die from a sneezing fit or a coughing spell.  I survived, but Joe was starting with a cold now too - Ugh, it's gonna be one of those kind of winters, where we just keep passing the same cold back and forth. 
B - Waffles
L - Pizza
D - Scrambled Eggs with Toast for me, Joe had a leftover Pork Sandwich

Day #25: Friday snow came to Westminster, yeah!  Joe ran out to the store to pick up a few things we needed before all the crazy people got there.  You know the ones of which I speak, buying arm fulls of milk, bread, and TP, thinking that they will need enough sustenance to survive the ice age instead of just the inch of snow were getting.  But anyway, we ate through some more leftovers, so it was a good day.
B - Waffles
L - Scrambled Eggs with Toast for Me, Leftover Pork Sandwiches for Joe
D - Leftover Pork Sandwiches with Baked French Fries

Day #26: Saturday Joe ran some errands while I straightened up the house.  I was still feeling a little under the weather, but I was also getting sick of living in a messy house, so order won.  We also watched some comedians on Netflix to relax in the afternoon.  We ate pretty good too.
B - None
L - Waffles with Syrup for Me, and PB and J style for Joe
D - Grilled Bacon Cheese Burgers with Baked French Fries - Yum-o!

All in all it was a good week.  We ate through some freezer food even though we were both feeling pretty rough.  Linking up to Good Cheap Eats!

Weekly Spending Report: 01/20-26/2013

This week I again tried to be good in regards to staying out of the stores,  Next week starts February, and a new budget for the month, always a good thing.  Here's how the shopping went down this week...

• Sunday's Giant Trip (2 apples, 2 boxes waffles, 1 box pop-tarts and 1-24 pk H2O): $17.05 oop
• Thursday's Wal-mart Trip (2 pks TP, 1 twin pk stomach med): Zero oop, paid with giftcard
• Friday's Giant Trip: $23.44 oop

• Saturday's Shopper's Trip (2 newspapers): Zero oop, paid with gift card

Total OOP: $40.49, Not great, but not bad either, thank God for gift cards :-)

Frugal Finds Friday: Reusing = Cotton Balls

I am always looking for a way to take things that normally make their way into the garbage and use them for something new.  This item only needs a few scissors snips to be transformed from garbage into cotton balls. 

 You know those strips of cotton that are stuffed into the tops of medicine bottles for no real reason, well I save them.  I cut them into cotton ball-sized pieces, and my husband uses them to apply his toner.  

They work great, they're free, and I've saved something from going to the dump!

What about you, what are your frugal finds from this week?

Linking up to Works for Me Wednesday!

Linking up to Homemade Mondays.