Ridley's and BiLo's (Associated Food) Deals11/30 - 12/06

The Holiday baking season is upon us, so it's a good thing that the baking supplies sales are also upon us! Now is the time to watch your local grocery store ads, and take advantage of the low prices on baking staples. If you have the storage space available it is worth stocking up on a few basics to sustain you until baking supplies go on sale again (usually around Easter time). Watch for:

• Flour
• Granulated, Brown, and Powdered sugar
• Cooking oil and shortening
• Spices and Extracts
• Butter and Margarine (both can be frozen safely for six months)
• Eggs ( although perishable, eggs will stay fresh in your fridge for at least a month)
• Baking chips (can be frozen for 12 months if double wrapped)
• Marshmallows and Marshmallow Creme
• Canned Pumpkin and Canned Pie Fillings
• Frozen and Refrigerated Pie Crusts (can remain frozen for 3 months)

Anyway, there are some define take advantage of sales prices this week at Ridley's. Be sure to check your local Associated Foods store for similar deals! This week's great buys are:

• W.F. Brown or Powdered Sugar $.97 each (this is an excellent price)
• W.F. (10 pound) bag All Purpose Flour $1.95 each 
• Pillsbury Cake and Brownie mixes (assorted varieties) $.75 each
• Guittard (11.5 - 12 oz) Baking Chips $1.59 each
• W.F. Marshmallows (mini or regular) $.97 each
• W.F. margarine $.45 each
• W.F. (6 oz) yogurt cups $.39 each
• W.F. (12 oz) cans Evaporated Milk $.63 (Also a good price. Evaporated milk can be used in place of half and half or heavy cream in many recipes.)
• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast $1.37 pound (in the Super Saver Pack) (This is a fabulous stock up price!)
• 81% Lean Ground Beef $1.59 pound (in the Super Saver Pack)
• Kraft (4 pack) Macaroni and Cheese $2.35 each
• W.F. (29 oz) can of Pumpkin $1.45 each
• Fuji of Granny Smith Apples $.67 pound
• Roma Tomatoes $.67 pound
• Small Texas Grapefruit 4 for $1.00

Don't forget, Harper's Home Made bread is still  $1.25 a loaf!

Nel's BiLo is a great place to stock up on Citrus fruit for the Holiday. You can buy them by the pound or case. They always have excellent produce. They are also a great resource for your Holiday catering, as well. They roast a to die for Ham or Prime Rib. There prices are very reasonable!

This Week's Menu 11/29

I'm a little late posting this week's menu, but the Holiday craziness has already begun at my house! I am happy to report all edible parts of the turkey will be used up by Tuesday night's dinner. I even made stock out of the bones.  I still have a few leftover mashed potatoes that I am going to use to make Potato Refrigerator Dough. Having bread dough ready to go at a moments notice (well, not quite, but pretty close) is wonderful! Hopefully, having a menu will help keep me on task this week. Here is what we are having for dinner at our house:

Monday: 

Turkey Enchiladas

Refried Beans

Leftover Thanksgiving Pie

Tuesday:

Turkey Pot Pie (from One Crazy Cookie)

Jello Salad

Baked Butternut Squash

Wednesday:

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese (from the Cutting Back Kitchen)

Green Salad

Green Beans

Thursday:

Chili 

Baked Potatoes

Cornbread

Friday:

Hash Browns

Scrambled Eggs

Home Canned Peaches

Saturday:

French Dip Sandwiches

Homemade Buns

Veggies and Ranch Dip

Now it's time to start planning out all the Holiday Goodies I want to bake!
What's your favorite Holiday Goodie to make, or eat, or both?

Check Out This Fabulous Advent Calender!

The majority of the turkey at our house has been consumed. There is just enough left to make a few more sandwiches and a delicious turkey pot pie! Now that the leftovers from our holiday feast are disappearing it's time to start thinking about Christmas (where has the time gone?). As I was blog stalking this morning, I came across this super darling Advent Calender!

 (photo courtesy of Jaimie Cook's It Up)

 I just love Advent Calenders. It's a fun way for the kids (big and little) to count down to the big day! Jamie at Jamie Cooks It Up (One of my most favoritest blogs, by the way! She's a kindred spirit, don't you know!) shared this great idea, and I couldn't stop thinking that it would be a fun and frugal gift for some lucky person on your Christmas list! Bake ware is always on sale this time of year for cheap, so keep your eyes peeled for mini muffin pans! Of course, and candy can always be bought in bulk! So, all you crafty bloggers out there, go take a quick peek at this cute Christmas Creation at Jaimie's place!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The sun is shining today! The storm has blown over, and although the temperatures have plummeted into singledigits, the snow has stopped. Snow really is beautiful when the sun is shining on it! We gave our kid's an early Christmas gift of sleds and waterproof gloves (the kid's have been previously wearing mismatched sets of gloves, because like socks, one always gets lost!). They are planning on a grand sledding adventure with the other neighbor kids, as soon as everyone's chores are done. We are lucky that our neighborhood is six blocks (more or less) away from the local municipal golf course. A golf course that is gloriously peppered with hills that are perfect for cross country skiing and sledding. Oh, life's  simple pleasures!

As for myself, I will be doing some holiday prep work and baking today! Our plans of leaving for the Thanksgiving holiday changed at the last minute, do to time, financial, and weather constraints. I am okay with that, because this is the first time in seventeen years that it will be just my little family enjoying the holiday together. I am going to treasure the whole weekend, because my babies are growing up and Child #1 will be leaving the nest soon. The just keep growing up, despite my best efforts. Tomorrow's menu will consist of:

Roast Turkey

Turkey Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Stuffing (from a box)

Green beans

Homemade Rolls

Pumpkin and Apple Pie

You can see that I follow the "No Carb Left Behind" rule when it comes to Holiday cooking!

I hope all of my Bloggy friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! I am very grateful for each one of you! I have made so many lovely friends over this last year. I enjoy and treasure the comments you leave me, and I appreciate your support of my silly little venture! Thank you!!!!!!

ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY EVERYONE!!!

Merry Christmas?

I was going to post this week's specials at Ridley's this morning, but they have not updated their ad. I am assuming that most of last week's specials will continue through the holiday. I had really great intentions this week of getting some shopping,baking, and jelly making done for the upcoming Christmas holiday. This year I am going to be organized and on top of my game the whole holiday season ( If  I say it out loud, it will happen.....right?)!  In fact, I have a daily to do list written and prioritized. Unfortunately (for me, my children are quite happy about it), our region has been blessed with  continual storm fronts for the last 3 days. We are currently under a storm watch and blizzard advisory until 11:00 pm tonight. My children have gotten a much prayed for (by them) snow day.Right now  the state police have cautioned driving only as necessary. We are in the mist of blowing snow (30mph winds), falling snow (2 - 4 inches more accumulation), and icy road conditions. If you have ever been to Idaho or the North Western United States, you will know that you take the weather seriously, because it can turn on a dime!
I had planned on going to Costco to buy a few grocery items (and a Christmas gift or two). Now I am on to plan B. You can not sneakily buy Christmas gifts when your children are with you at Costco. I guess today will be all about snow clothes, hot chocolate, and keeping the peace amongst the citizens here in Barretpotamia! Maybe, a little jelly making and house cleaning will get done, too. Anyway, I thought I'd share some of our snow storm with you (at least through photos)!

 (it really is pretty if you don't have any where to go)

 (here's are total accumulation, so far)

 ( Here's Child #1's pride and joy. He is very sad that he is not allowed to drive today because of the nasty conditions)

 (it beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in my neighborhood)

(this picture doesn't do it justice, but the wind is blowing so hard it is coming down sideways)

(it just keeps getting snowier and snowier)

 This is the first time I can remember in years that we have had a White Thanksgiving. Maybe this storm is a blessing in disguise? I'll have to get back to you on that!!

Look For Extra Savings During The Holidays

Lately, I have noticed on my weekly grocery shopping trips that there have been a lot of displays of seasonal products in the aisles. Many of them have had manufacture's coupons attached to the displays. I do love a good coupon, so I have snagged a few (okay, a lot!). This week I took advantage of quite a few of those coupons, matching coupons with sales and promo prices. This week I got all of these items for great prices:

 

• 14 large boxes of Jello. On sale for $.79 each. After using coupons for $1.00 off 3 boxes; final price $.46 each. The best part is Jello was running a promotion that if you bought 3 large boxes of  Jello you go a free Jello jiggler mold. I ended up with 5 free Jello jiggler molds.
• 6 large boxes of Jello pudding mix. On sale for $.79 each. After using coupons  for $1.00 off 3 boxes; final price $.46 each. These will come in handy for making my own pudding packs for school lunches.
• 8 boxes of gallon Ziploc holiday edition bags and 8 boxes of quart Ziploc holiday edition bags. On sale for $1.48 each. After using 5 coupons for $1.00 off 2 boxes; final price $.98 each. I love stocking up on Ziploc bags when they are cheap! The gallon bags will be great for storing freezer meals in the freezer.
• 17 bricks of cream cheese. On sale for $1.16 each. After using coupons for $1.00 off 2 boxes; final price $.66 each. I know that is a ton of cream cheese, but I am already committed to baking 4 cheesecakes this holiday season ( that's 12 bricks spoken for already!). Plus my kid's love flavored cream cheese on their toast and bagels.

It's definitely worth watching the aisles at your local grocery store for great coupons and deals, while you do your holiday shopping this weekend. Don't forget that November and December are the two months when most baking supplies go on sale for cheap. Be on the lookout for sales (especially loss leader prices) on flour, sugar,brown and powdered sugar, oil, shortening, baking chips, eggs, butter, spices, cooking extracts, yeast, cake mixes, and baking mixes. Most of these supplies can be stored for up to a year. I usually buy 6 months worth of basic baking supplies to get me by until the next great sale!

Check Out This Great Blog!

Many of you know how much I love Bountiful Baskets! Every week I am amazed at the variety of produce $16.50 can buy! However every so often Bountiful Baskets throws me a curve ball by including fruits and veggies I have never cooked (or even seen in person) before. Today, my friend Julie, gave me a heads up about a great blog, Basket 411, that gives you all sorts of ideas and recipes for using each weeks bounty. So, if you are a Bountiful Basket regular, or just a veggie lover who wants to find new and exciting ways to use seasonal produce; this is the blog for you!

Ridley's and BiLo's (Associated Food) Deals11/16- 11-22

Holy cow....can you believe Thanksgiving is just a week away! Where has the time gone?  This week's Ridley's has some great prices on Thanksgiving Dinner essentials. It 's worth stocking up on a few things. Here's this week deals:

• W.F. (16 oz) frozen sweet corn or petite peas $.54 each
• W.F. (8 oz) whipped topping $.64 each
• Swanson (15 oz) chick broth $.48 each
• Stove Top Stuffing $.94 each
• Celery 2 bunches $.89
• Yams $.59 pound
• Sugar Tree Bone in spriral cut ham $1.17 pound
• 2 liter Coke products $.77 each
• 12 pack Pepsi products 4 for $11.00
• W.F. (29 oz) cans pumpkin 2 for $3.00
• W.F. (10 pound) bags all purpose flour $2.59 each
• Pictsweet (14-16 oz) frozen vegetables(assorted varieties) $.89 each
• W.F. one dozen large eggs $1.08 each
• W.F. (1 pound) box of butter $1.94(this is the cheapest in town this week,so stock up)
• Meadow Gold half pint whipping cream $.67 each
• Jimmy Dean sausage (12-16 oz) rolls $1.99 each
• Philadelphia cream cheese (8 oz brick) $.99 each (also a great deal)
• Lay's Potato chips Buy 1 Get 1 free
• Wisk (96 load) laundry detergent $11.98 each
• Reynold's (turkey size) oven bags 2 for $3.00
• W.F. (8 oz) cans water chesnuts 2 for $1.00
• W.F. (15 oz) can medium black olives $.97 each
• 15 pound bag russet potatoes $1.79 each
• Don't forget Norbest Turkey's are $.9 pound with a $125.00 purchase
• Harper's homemade bread is still 4 for $5.00 everday

Check out Nel's Bi Lo Market this week, too. They usually run in store specials for the holidays, and there meat is to die for. They are also a great resource for catering this time of year. If you are in charge of a family, community, or church holiday dinner check out the delicious ham, turkey, and roasts. They will do all the cooking,and have it ready to go on the night of your event!

Make Your Own Pumpkin Pie Spice

With Thanksgiving (and holiday) baking just around the corner, I like to go through my spices and replace or replenish what I am running low on. I'm lucky to have a bulk food section at my local grocery store that carries a good selection of basic spices.  I can usually stock up on spices for dirt cheap! However pumpkin pie spice is not one they usually carry, and if they do it's kind of pricey. I really like using pumpkin pie spice in my fall baking. I decided I could probably make my own fairly inexpensively. I found the original recipe for it on Living On A Dime. I tweaked the ratios and increased the quantities to make a larger amount (it's just as easy to make a little as to make a lot!). It is quick and easy to stir up a batch, and now I'm ready to start my baking frenzy! I store my  pumpkin pie spice in an old peanut butter jar (just make sure to label your jar, so you know what's in it)!

Pumpkin Pie Spice

(this makes one teaspoon of spice)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

Pumpkin Pie Spice

(this makes 40 teaspoons of spice)

3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon nutmeg

5 teaspoons ginger

5 teaspoons ground clove

Mix ingredients together and store in a cool, dry place.

This Week's Menu

Who knew that planning menus for the last two weeks would really help to keep me organized and on task! Many have preached it's benefits to me, but I never fully believed until I really tried it for myself. I have been plowing through some pantry inventory that has really needed to be used, and my weekly food waste has shrunk down to barely anything. Plus, it has been really nice to know what I will be making for dinner each night, instead of staring down a pound of frozen hamburger at 5:05....willing it to tell me what it will morph into for dinner that night! All benefits in my mind! I would really like to continue posting my weekly menu plan for awhile. Hopefully, committing my menu's into print, for you all to read, will help me to continue my new "habit"! Here's this week's menu:

Sunday

Sausage

Hashbrowns

Country Gravy

Fried eggs

Monday

Cream Cheese Chicken

Rice

Corn on the Cob

Green Beans

Tuesday

Taco Soup (from Jamie Cooks It Up)

Cranberry Almond Muffins

Fruit Salad

Wednesday 

Lasagna

Bread Sticks (from One Crazy Cookie)

Baked Acorn Squash

Leftover Fruit Salad

Thursday (busy night at our house)

Leftover Lasagna

Green Salad

Leftover Bread Sticks

Friday

Home made Pizza

Green Salad 

Home made applesauce

Saturday

Leftover Night

I would love to hear what all my bloggy friends make for dinner. What are your families dinner favorites?

Potato Refrigerator Dough

Awhile back I was reading the Tightwad Gazette, and came across Amy Dacyczyn's entry for having a stash of refrigerator dough in the fridge for last minute baking needs. I thought this was a genius idea! The only problem was she did not include the recipe. She only mentioned that the recipe could be found in any pre 1986 Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Drat! My BH&G cookbooks is a 2003 edition. I searched in vain at the library, but no dice! There oldest edition was from the late '90's. I had almost given up hope, but when my Grandmother passed away I inherited her BH&G cookbook. Grandma's edition of the BH&G cookbook was copyrighted in .......1953! Can you tell that Grandma loved her BH&G cookbook, as much as I love mine?

I flipped to the bread section, and there was the recipe I had been searching in vain for! Hurray! Of course, being a busy gal, I put my treasured cookbook keepsake on the shelf, and forgot to try the recipe (Silly me!).

That is until this week!  Since I am still participating in The Eat From Your Pantry Challenge, and I knew the recipe required ingredients that are pantry staples at my house, it was time to give it a try!!!! I whipped the dough up on Monday night and put in the fridge. On Tuesday I rolled out half the dough and shaped them into rolls to go with beef stew. I really wanted to post this recipe on Wednesday, but the troops ate all the rolls before I could take a picture (they are that yummy!). On Thursday, I turned the other half of the dough into rolls to go with Baked Potato Soup (and photographed them right out of the oven before they were snatched up!). The last roll went into Child #4's lunch today, as a PB&J. The beauty of this recipe is that the dough will last in the fridge for a week, so you do the work once and enjoy the benefits all week long! I couldn't wait to share the recipe with all of my favorite bloggy friends!!!!!

  

Potato Refrigerator Dough

2 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast 
1/2 cup warm water 
1 cup milk scalded 
1 cup hot mashed potatoes ( I used instant that I made from package directions)
1/2 shortening or butter; softened
1/4 cup sugar; divided
2 teaspoons salt
2 beaten eggs
5 to 6 cups all purpose flour

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over warm water. Add yeast to warm water and set aside until yeast is bubbly. Combine milk, potato, shortening, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Let sit until wet ingredients are lukewarm. When ingredients are lukewarm, add in yeast and beaten eggs. Mix in 1 1/2 cups flour and beat until mixture is smooth. Cover bowl and let mixture stand in a warm place for one hour; until mixture is full of bubbles. Stir in 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups more flour to make a fairly stiff dough. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 - 10 minutes). Place dough into a large greased bowl with a lid. Grease the top of the dough. Place lid on bowl and refrigerate dough overnight before using. The dough will stay good in the fridge for one week. 
To use the dough; remove the desired amount of dough out of the bowl (punch down remaining dough and return to the fridge until ready to use). Let sit on a lightly floured surface for 7-10 minutes. Lightly flour dough and roll out. Shape dough into desired shapes and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover dough with greased wax paper and a dish towel. Let raise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until double in size. Remove wax paper and towel. Bake at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes. Yield 3 dozen rolls.

This dough could also be use to make:

• Breadsticks (Roll dough into a rectangular shape and cut into strips. Place dough strips on a greased baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese. Let raise and bake at 400 for 10 -15 minutes)
• Cinnamon rolls (Roll dough into a rectangular shape. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Roll up jelly roll style. Cut into 1 inch rolls. Place close together in a greased baking pan. Let raise until double. Bake at 400 for 15 - 18 minutes.
• Let your imagination run wild. Use could use this dough in a ton of different ways!

No baking post would be complete without a couple of frugal tips! Here are a few items I used to make this project easier!

 

• A electric heating pad works great for providing a warm place for your dough to rise. Just set your bowl or baking sheet on the pad and turn the temperature control to low. Works like a charm! 
• An empty Parmesan cheese container filled with flour works great for flouring surfaces. Flip the lid open to the sprinkle side and gently shake out the amount of flour you need.
• Wax paper sprayed with cooking spray and laid over the dough as it raises will keep the dough from drying out, keep your dishtowel from getting grease stains, and it lifts off the raised dough easily without ruining it.
•  A pizza cutter works great for cutting dough. It rolls easily without stretching the dough out of shape.

This is the perfect make ahead recipe for those of you who will be making rolls for Thanksgiving dinner this year!

Ridley's and BiLo's (Associated Food) Deals11/9- 11-15

Sorry I am a day late posting this week deals at Ridley's. I rented a carpet cleaner yesterday to do a little carpet cleaning, and it sort of snowballed into a ginormous project! I am happy to report I did survive my project. The carpet in the whole house is clean and smelling springtime fresh. Hopefully, I burned a few calories in the process.... I think carpet cleaning counts as an aerobic activity!

Anyway, here are this week's deals:

• 12 packs of Coke products 5 for $14.00
• W.F . boxed stuffing mixes $.75 each
• Progresso soup $.89 each
• Land o Frost (10oz) packages lunchmeat $1.99 each
• W.F. (2 count packages) refrigerated pie crusts  3 for $5.00
• 18 pack W.F. large eggs $1.57 each
• W.F. evaporated milk $.59 each
• Gold Medal flour (10 pound bag)$2.88 each
• W.F. (8 oz) cans tomato sauce 3 for $1.00
• Boneless skinless chicken breast $1.47 pound (in the Super Saver pack)
• Sugar Tree spiral cut hams $1.17 pound
• 5 pound bag of potatoes $.67 each
• Jazz of Braeburn apples $.67 pound
• Bell peppers $.39 each
• Leaf lettuce $.79 each
• Cucumbers 2 for $.89

This Week's Menu

This week starts the second week of Around My Family's Table  Pantry Challenge. I did end up going to the grocery store for milk and sour cream (what I thought was extra sour cream in the garage fridge was actually cottage cheese. Oops!). I did split my usual Bountiful Basket with my friend. I have to admit that I enjoyed having a menu planned last week, and once I worked out the bugs, it did help keep me organized in the kitchen!

My menu for this week will be:

Sunday

Soft Tacos

Refried Beans

Lettuce and Tomatoes

Monday

French Dip Sandwich

Jello Salad

Fresh Green Beans

Tuesday

Leftover Roast with Brown Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Carrots

 Pumpkin Apple Muffins from One Crazy Cookie(using up some leftover pumpkin and an abundance of apples)

Wednesday

Chili Cheese Baked Potatoes

Leftover Muffins

Home canned peached

Thursday

Baked Potato Soup from The Frugal Girl

Green Salad

Potato Rolls (recipe coming soon!)

Friday

Pigs In Blankets

Assorted Leftovers

Saturday

We are having an early Thanksgiving dinner with my family

I have been assigned a salad and dessert (I'll be making Easy Pumpkin Pie and macaroni salad)

My Baby's Going To A Dance

Tonight Child #1 is going to his High School Co Ed (it's a girl ask boy semi formal dance). I might be a little bit prejudice, but isn't he cute all dressed up? It seems like just yesterday I was wiping his nose, tying his shoes, and tell him to stop riding his bike in the street (and stop hitting golf balls through the living room windows)! Now he's ALMOST grown up and DATING GIRLS! SNIFF! SNIFF!

Of course, I had to make a corsage for his cute little date (she's looking very lovely, herself)! Here's how it turned out.

 

 

Have fun, son............but not to much fun!

It's Oven Cleaning Day!!!!

Today I conquered the monumental task of cleaning my oven.  I have not cleaned it since it bought 1 year and 11 months ago. Cleaning my oven has not been high on my priority list, because I am really the only one who sees all the grossness. However, my Dear Sweet Friend has "borrowed" my oven several times lately (her oven was on the fritz and the repair man had not come yet). Having someone else seeing my filthy oven (even though she loves me despite my failings) shamed me into tackling the project! It's not like it should be a huge production....it is a self cleaning oven (my previous oven was not self cleaning, so I am a newbie here)..........right. This is going to be a full disclosure post, so here is what it looked like before:

 

 

 

Once I started prepping the oven for it's cleaning ( I even dug out the owner's manual and followed the instructions to the letter) it sort of snowballed! I pulled the oven out of it's little cubby (Caution: more embarrassing photos to follow):

It appears that there was a dust bunny convention going on under the stove, and why is there a q tip under the stove(maybe I don't want to know the answer to that question)? Nothing a good sweeping and scrubbing couldn't fix! 

I forgot I left this this piece of wallpaper up for posterity!

 

Have I mentioned that whoever built this house had horrible taste!!!!!!!  Who wallpapers a kitchen (and dining area) with feather wallpaper?  As I was giving the stove a good vaccumming and scrubbing (the dust bunnies had decided to take up residence around the storage drawer, as well) I discovered some treasures:

Two quarters and the schematic for the stove (I'm sure this will come in handy when it time to start repairing the stove). While the oven was doing it's self cleaning thing. I pulled off  knobs and let them soak in some soapy water for awhile.

 

The instructions were adamant that you could not leave the racks in the oven during  the cleaning cycle. I placed them in the bathtub filled with hot soapy water (that I had added dish soap and ammonia to). I let them soak for a couple of hours. It worked like a charm. All the baked on gunk wiped off easily (Woo Hoo)!

After a quick wipe down once the cleaning cycle was finished; the oven it now a beautiful sight to behold!

 

 

My project did take a good chunk of the day to complete, but now that  I'm done I think it was time well spent. It bright and shiny clean! All ready for a holiday baking marathon! Oh, and did I mention I love my self cleaning oven? Whoever invented them is a genius......pure GENIUS!

Changes To This Week's Menu And A Yummy Dessert

I have decided that I am a Plan B(or C or D) kind of gal! I have good intentions of being organized and keeping it all together, but life in veritably gets in the way!  I had every intention of following my menu to the letter, and it went pretty well until Monday night when I discovered someone had eaten the sausage that I had left in the fridge to put together the Sausage Biscuit Casserole. I threw frozen chicken breasts in the Crock pot for Tuesday's dinner (I did cook extra for Thursday's meal. Score a bonus point for me!), but that robbed Wednesdays mashed potatoes, causing another last minute substitution (are you starting to see a pattern here?).Making one substitution has led to a major Trickle Down effect. Therefore, the revised menu for this week's menu will be as follows ( Hopefully!):

Monday:

Went off without a hitch

Tuesday:

Chicken Fricasee

Mashed Potatoes

Steamed peas

Pineapple slices

Wednesday:

Meatloaf 

Cheesy scalloped potatoes(recipe coming soon!)

Green Beans

Pumpkin Pie Dessert (a new recipe I needed to try out before Thanksgiving!)

Thursday:

BBQ chicken sandwiches

Leftover cheesy scalloped potatoes

Lime jello with pears

Leftover Pumpkin Pie Dessert

Friday:

Hopefully Date Night

Kid's are eating Corndogs and Macaroni and Cheese (still from a blue box)

Saturday:

Spaghetti with meat sauce (cubing up the leftover meatloaf in the sauce)

Garlic Bread (we ate biscuits with the soup on Monday, so that I could make extra for the casserole that I didn't get to make. GRRR!)

Green Salad

One good thing came out of this, though. I tried a really fabulous pumpkin recipe! I have a family party next weekend that I need to make a dessert for. I found this recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, Better Homes and Garden's 9x13 The Pan That Can. This dessert also made great use of a lot of basic pantry staples. It tastes very similar to Pumpkin Pie without the work of rolling out a crust; plus it feeds a crowd with little effort. Just half the recipe if you don't need to feed an Army. The family gave it a two thumbs up!

Pumpkin Pie Dessert

1 (29 oz) can of pumpkin (or 2 1/2 cups)

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 

(I substituted 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice for the above)

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, beaten

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk 

1 package (2 layer size) yellow cake mix

1 cup chopped nuts (I used chopped almonds)

3/4 cup melted butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, spices, and salt. Mix until combined. Add in beaten egg and mix until just combined. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk. Mix until it is thoroughly blended. Pour pumpkin mixture into a greased 9x13 cake pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture. Evenly sprinkle nuts over dry cake mix. Drizzle melted butter evenly over cake mix and nuts. Bake for 50 minutes until edges are firm and top is golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack, and then chill for at least two hours before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator. You could easily omit the nuts if they are an issue.

Ridley's and BiLo's (Associated Food) Deals11/2 - 11-8

There are some really great deals this week at Ridley's (or your local Associated Foods store)! This week is also their Baking Sale! Don't miss out on stocking up for Holiday baking season! Here are this weeks fabulous deals:

• Malt O Meal assorted bagged cereals (42-50 oz) $2.35 each
• 12 pack Shasta soda (assorted varieties) $1.29
• Angel Soft toilet paper (assorted varieties)$3.99 each
• Don Julio (10 count) flour tortillas $.87 each
• Swiss Miss cocoa (10 count package) $.95 each
• Kraft macaroni and cheese (4 pack) $2.39 each
• Sugar Tree (bone in) spiral cut hams $1.17 pound
• Norbest frozen turkey breast $1.29 pound
• Norbest frozen turkey $.09 pound (with a $125.00 purchase)
• Lean ground beef $1.79 pound
• W.F. soft cream cheese (8 oz container) $1.49 each
• Green cabbage 3 pounds for $1.00
• Fresh pineapple $.79 pound
• Yellow onions 3 pounds for $1.00
• Fresh baking potatoes 3 pounds for $1.00

The Baking Sale includes:

• W.F. brown or powdered sugar $.95 each (this is a great deal so stock up!)
• W.F. 12 pack large eggs $.69 each
• W.F. evaporated milk $.63 each
• W.F. graham crust pie crusts 4 for $5.00
• W.F. all purpose flour (10 pound bag) $2.29 each
• White Satin granulated sugar (10 pound bag) $4.38 each (this is a great deal, too!)
• W.F. shortening (butter flavor or vegetable) $.3.49 each
• W.F. cooking oil (assorted varieties) $2.49 each