Spicy Goulash. YUM!

I adapted the recipe from the Taste of Home Slow Cookers book which, by the way, is such a great book!  Using a slow cooker is a great way to save time at night.  All I did was brown the meat the night before and combine all the ingredients in my slow cooker pot and turned it on the next morning.  EASY!

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
• 3 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained (recipe calls for 4)
• 3 cans (16 ounces each) (1) kidney beans, (2) chilli beans rinsed and drained (recipe calls for 2 kidney and no chilli beans)
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce*
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules*
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Directions

• In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Stir in the tomatoes, beans, water, onion, green pepper, vinegar, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon and seasonings.
• Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until heated through.
• Stir in macaroni; cover and cook 30 minutes longer or until macaroni is tender. Yield: 12 servings.

*subsitutions:
I used A1 sauce to subsititue the Worcester sauce because we're out.  For the beef boullion, I used a packet of beef seasoning from Rice A Roni that I previously just used the rice from.

The recipe also called for 1 medium green pepper and 1 medium onion - I opted out of the green pepper because I'm not sure my son could handle all that heat yet and I opted out of the onion because I don't like onions and I chose diced tomatoes that already had them included.

In conclusion, this dish was so yummy!  I served it with vanilla - honey, cornbread muffins (boxed cornbread with 1 tbsp each honey and vanilla).  My son loved it!  I will upload his 'lovin' it' picture later.

Suzie's Weekly Menu Plan.

This is just a basic post, but I will share recipes and whether or not it was a success throughout the week.

Monday: Spicy Goulash
recipe adapted from Slow Cooker Recipes.

Tuesday: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccoli and Garlic Toasts
my own easy peasy creation.

Wednesday: Buttermilk Pecan Chicken with Buttery Bowties and Peas
recipes from 5 Ingredient Fix and Rachel Ray's Look & Cook

Thursday: Tuna Casserole
recipe adapted from Homemade with Love
(I usually do my mom's Tuna Casserole, but I decided to try something new.)

Friday: Sausage Pizza!
another easy peasy from yours truly.

Saturday: Steven will have to be on duty because I start classes and am meeting up with the Fab Five afterwards

Sunday: Slow Cooker White Bean Chicken Chili
recipe adapted from Slow Cooker Recipes

The reason I put 'recipe adapted' is because I usually make changes to a recipe I find in a book; sometimes a recipe I find is just right, but not always!

Details to come!  Have a happy week, everyone!

Harris Teeter Trip #2

Harris Teeter

1 2L Diet Pepsi
1 Classico Alfredo Light
1 Almond Milk
3 Peter Pan PB
2 Prego Sauce
3 Campbells Healthy Request canned creams
1 Smuckers Grape Jelly
1 box angel hair pasta
1 box lasagna noodles
2lbs ground beef
1 Tribal Hummus
1 loaf wheat bread
2 Aunt Jemima Frozen Waffles
1 Pepperidge Farm Garlic Bread
1 Jimmy Dean D-Lights
2 Chicken Cordon Blue
1 Buittoni Fettuccini
1 Country Crock butter tub
1 Kraft Parmesan cheese
1 Sargento string cheese
1 Kraft 2% cheese slices
18 ct eggs
1/2 gallon Silk chocolate milk
1 gallon Shendoah Pride Vitamin D milk
1/2 gallon 8th Continent milk
2 Hillshire Farm Cracked Black Pepper Turkey
1 Land O Frost Ham
1 Excedrin
1 Desitin

Total Before Coupons: $125.64
Total After Coupons: $74.41
HT Savings: $13.54
TOTAL SAVINGS: $64.77

I have successfully cut my grocery bill in half and I'm just getting started.  I do not plan to make multiple trips to Harris Teeter during a pay period, but I wanted to take advantage of the super double savings.  In fact, I probably won't have to go the next pay period with all the stuff I got this time, with the exception of produce and maybe some more red meat.

My total spent this weekend was $204.13 which is my usually budget, but I bought twice the amount of stuff I normally get - maybe even 3 times the amount.  My total savings was $251.21.  INSANE!  I can't imagine that I'll ever go grocery shopping without coupons again.

I've had a successful weekend!

Harris Teeter & CVS Shopping Trips

my stuff!

Harris Teeter

1 box of Truvia
2 Lysol Wipes
1 Tyson Grilled & Ready Chicken Strips
5 Snack Packs
2 Special K Bars
2 Campbells Chunky
2 Diet V8 Splash
2 Trop 50 Orange Juice
2 McCormick Grinders
5 Chef Boyardee
5 Healthy Balance Juices
3 Packages of HT Fresh Chicken
2 lbs of bananas
3 Green Giant boxed Veggies
1 Dole Frozen Fruit
10 Light & Fit Yogurt
2 Pillsbury Grands
2 Pillsbury Pizza Crusts

Total before coupons: $135.22
Total after coupons: $62.39
HT Savings: 45.43
TOTAL SAVINGS: $118.26!

CVS

4 Planters Assorted Nuts Packs
2 Special K cereal
1 Frosted Mini Wheats
1 Quilted Northern (12 rolls)
2 Emerald Almond canisters
2 Revlon Nail Polish
2 Softsoap
1 Rembrandt White
1 Colgate Maxfresh
1 Listerine Total Care

Total before coupons and Extra Buck deals: $101.10
Total after coupons and EBs: $50.34
Total savings: $50.76
EB Back: $6
I have to admit, I was a little disappointed to learn that EB offers are totaled after coupons, so I missed out on $15 EBs that I was expecting.  But now I know for the next time!

UPDATE:  CVS Trip #2
Okay, I am no longer mad at CVS.  I didn't realize that you don't have to do one transaction to get the EB rewards, so I went back, used the EBs I earned earlier and a couple I found in my file, and bought this:

1 Special K cereal
1 Quilted Northern (12 pack) toilet paper
2 CVS Brand 'D' battery packs
2 Diet Coke (20oz)
1 Desitin (4oz)
1 CVS Green Bag

Total OOP (Out of Pocket): $16.99
Total Saved: $17.42
EB Rewards: $14!
So, I get $14 towards my next trip!  AWESOME!

I can't believe I saved $186.44 and only spent $129.72.  This is so exciting!  I have two more trips planned tomorrow - one to Safeway and one to Harris Teeter (again because they only double 20 coupons a day).  I don't intend to go to HT twice in a weekend normally, but they're doubling coupons up to $1.99 this week and they normally only double up to $0.99, so I feel like I have to take advantage of it.  I don't expect to spend more than $60 tomorrow, but I will definitely post details.  At the end of the weekend, I will have bought twice what I normally buy.

I have officially declared myself a 'couponer' and am HAPPY about it.  I can't wait to get the paper tomorrow!

The Thursday Push.

So, we're almost through the week!  I find that Thursdays can be a little bit difficult to get through because it's not early in the week when I have most of my 'work' energy.  When I'm feeling weary, I start to really miss my son and get the 'ho, hums.'

I started thinking about how many other people get the weekday blues and what I could do to make everyone (myself included) feel a little bit better.  A commercial came on that reminded me where all of my strength really comes from, so I thought I'd share:





⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight
                                    -Proverbs 3:5-6

Sometimes I forget that every 'time' in my life is beneficial and essential to personal growth.  In hindsight, there is no 'bad' time; it's just a time.  A time to learn, nurture, and eventually teach.  Personally, I struggle with being away from my son the majority of the day, but I know there are many many many many other parents out there who have the same struggle.  Learning to trust that there is some bigger plan, a plan that's much bigger than mine, is hard but it makes me feel better.  No matter what you believe, doesn't that just make you feel better?

Happy Thursday!

down home sausage gravy and biscuits.

this is a PERFECT warm weather fix.  there's nothing better than biscuits and gravy.

recipe:
1 pkg Jimmy Dean sausage crumbles
1 tbsp butter
1/2 c milk
1 c flour
1/3 c water
1 pkg of your favorite biscuits

first, brown sausage with butter in a frying pan on medium heat.  add milk.  in a separate bowl, mix the flour and water together.  when flour hits heat, it tends to become lumpy, so this helps to make it a smooth texture to start with.  when milk comes to a boil, slowly add flour mixture stirring constantly.  remove from heat when desired consistency is reached.  the more heat, the thicker the gravy will be.

it's THAT easy.  see?  you can do it, too!

personal favorite substitution:  replace the sausage with budding beef (cut up into small pieces) and you have my mama's delicious chipped beef and gravy.



for more great country recipes, check out Taste of Home: The Complete Guide to Country Cooking:
Taste of Home: The Complete Guide to Country Cooking

11 can-do resolutions for 2011!

who says you have to make 1 boring new years resolution?  i decided to compile a list of 11 things i want to implement in my life this year:

1.  make weekly menus.  not only will making weekly menus every sunday make my life easier during the week, but it'll help me narrow down my grocery list to things i really need for the week, as opposed to getting caught up in all the 'deals.'  remember, it's not a good deal if you don't actually need it or won't actually use it.
2.  use coupons more!  with the help of weekly menus, i can 'study' the sales at my two grocery stores (harris teeter & safeway) and match up coupons that i already have to get the best price possible.  this actually REALLY excites me.
3.  cash only grocery shopping.  i've made a vow to myself, starting with my first paycheck of  2011, that i will use ONLY cash for groceries.  i will leave behind credit cards and debit cards to ensure that i don't go over my cash allotment for the week.
4.  learn to cook fish.  ::sigh::  this is a resolution i'm not looking forward to, but it's totally necessary.  i loathe cooking fish because i just can't get it right!  fish has so many healthy benefits and is really essential for a proper diet, so this is a must-do and certainly a can-do.
5.  maintain an awesome GPA.  i start school this month for nursing; i am extremely apprehensive about it because i understand the juggle is going to be tough with work, baby, and school.  my biggest worry is that i'll 'forget' to study with so much going on and i won't get into the nursing program in a reasonable time; therefore, i've resolved that i will do what i can it takes to 'make the grade,' so to speak.  even if this means i have to drop a course to do better in another, i'll do it.  "it's not how fast you get there, but how long you stay."
6.  get together with girlfriends (aka the fab five) once a month.  this is SO important to me because we lost touch for so many years and i realized how fullfilling being with them has been in the last couple of months.  it's also a great release from all the stresses of life.  there is nothing like a good friend and a glass of wine!
7.  visit a winery at least once every other month.  speaking of good friends and a glass of wine, i need to experience more types of wine!  i love the atmosphere of a winery and i love just tasting new types of wine.
8.  perfect the chocolate chip cookie.  i haven't done it yet, but i think i'm getting close!
9.  stay active.  i want to continue to do cardio at least 5 times a week, not only for weight loss, but for heart healthy purposes, too!
10.  calm down.  everythingn doesn't have to be urgent or done immediately, and that's something i'm learning.  everything doesn't have to be a big deal, i.e., tracking dirty boots all across the house.  my new motto for 2011 is NBD (no big deal).  there are more important things in life than freaking out about clean carpets and floors.
11.  spend more time with my son.  (saving the most significant for last)  not as in being in the same room with him, but really being there with him and playing with him and teaching him.  the first year of his life has gone by so fast and i don't want to miss anything.  my goal this year, and every year going forward, will be to do what it takes to spend as much time with my son as possible.  i don't want to lose these moments.

what are your resolutions?