Budget Cooking

Bargain Hunting Moms are always looking for ways to stretch their family's dollars. One way to do that is in the food budget. Check this Budget Cooking page on a regular basis to find ideas to save on your grocery bill, fun recipes and even contests related to all things food! Even if you don't use coupons at the grocery store, you'll still save just by cooking at home from scratch!

Cake Mix Cookies

I made these cookies today from a cake mix. Yes, a cake mix! I'd heard about Cake Mix Cookies for a long time, but never made them. My friend Debbie, posted a recipe for them though and as I was cleaning out my cupboard, I noticed I had a cake mix, but no frosting. What good is a cake without frosting? Not much if you ask me!

So I decided to try out her recipe. I used a yellow mix and before I baked them, I sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar mixture. I thought they tasted a lot like snickerdoodles, but I should have used more cinnamon sugar!

Here's the recipe.

• 1 pkg cake mix, any flavor
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 eggs

Directions Mix everything together, drop by spoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Do you have a favorite cookie recipe you'd like to share?

Pillsbury.com Sign Up for Coupons

Go to Pillsbury.com through the graphic above to sign up. You'll get access to money saving coupons, recipes and more. I told you about some the Grands recipes I found there and now you can find them for yourself.

Grands Overload!

Would you believe that is Strawberry Shortcake made on a PIllsbury Grands biscuit? It looks unbelievably yummy and I found the recipe on PIllsbury.com while searching for some ideas to use up my stock of Grands from the Kroger deal. I'm planning on buying more because when you can get Grands Biscuits so cheap, it's worth it. I just have to find ideas to use them up.

While we like to eat biscuits at breakfast and sometimes for dinner, I'll have so many stocked up by the end of this sale that I was looking for some other ideas. Some things we already use them for are:

• Mini pizzas: Roll them out and top with pizza sauce and your favorite toppings. They make a great lunch idea or after school snack.
• Dumplings: They're perfect in your favorite chicken & dumplings recipe.
• Cinnamon Rolls: Just add butter, cinnamon and sugar. There are recipes at Pillsbury.com
• Calzones: Roll them out and fill with ham, cheese or any filling you like. Press together to seal and bake.

I thought I had some great ideas already, but after searching Pillsbury.com, I was surprised to find all these recipes. Now I'm sure to use up all the Grands in my refrigerator and then some! If you have a recipe, please share. I can't wait to try that strawberry shortcake!

My Kroger Deals 8/17!

I had a great time this morning shopping at Kroger! Almost nothing thrills me as much as a good deal and they are plentiful this week at Kroger. General Mills and PepsiCo sent me a $30 Kroger gift card so I could show you all the great deals going on now. The items in the photo above were $30.49 (including tax) after my Kroger card and coupon savings, so the total out of MY pocket was just .49!

Want to win your own Kroger Gift Card? Go here to enter!

Since it's hard to see what some of the items are in the photo, here's what I bought. I hope I'm right on all the prices because I'm going by memory on the coupons! For every 10 items, I saved $5.

• 2 Boxes of Trix Swirls Cereal .94 each after coupons and savings
• 2 Boxes of Fruity Cheerios .99 each after coupons and savings
• 2 2-Liters Sierra Mist .49 after savings
• 1 2-Liter Mt. Dew .49 after savings
• 2 2-Liter Diet Pepsi .49 after savings
• 4 Grands Biscuits .49 after coupons and savings
• 2 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls .49 each after coupons and savings
• 2 Pillsbury Crescent Rolls .49 each after coupons and savings
• 2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudels .99 each after coupons and savings
• 10 Cans of Green Giant canned vegetables .75 each after savings
• 1 Trix Yogurt $1.49 after coupon and savings

I also did this Unilever deal. When you spend $15 on certain products, you save $5. So I bought:

• 4 Ragu Spaghetti Sauce
• 6 Ragu Pizza Sauce
• 2 Lipton Tea Bags

I had .60/2 Ragu Coupons and $1 off 1 Lipton coupons, so my total for all of that was $7.70!

• Man Coupon Savings: $7.45
• Bonus Coupon Savings: $2.60
• Kroger Plus Savings: $48.68
• Total Savings(66%): $58.73

• Total Amt Due: $30.49
• Paid by Gift Card: $30
• Paid by Cash: .49

That was for 42 items!

Most of the coupons I used were printed from the banner over to the right. (See the one that says "print coupons?") I have some more Pillsbury coupons so I'm going to hit Kroger again before this sale is over!

Starkist Tear Into Flavor & Win Contest

 Everyone loves to win! Starkist has a new sweepstakes called “Tear Into Flavor & Win.” Enter to win by "tearing" open your own virtual tuna pouch. You can win either $500 cash(1 per day) or a FREE Starkist Tuna Pouch Coupon(100 per day!)

StarKist Tuna Creations Pouches come in flavor packed flavors like Herb & Garlic Tuna, Hickory Smoked Tuna, Sweet & Spicy Tuna, Zesty Lemon Pepper Tuna, Tomato Pesto Albacore Tuna. and Mango Chipotle Salmon. Tuna Creation Pouches offer taste, convenience and nutrition! No draining or mixing required. Forget plain old Tuna salad and go for some new flavors!

Even if you aren't a winner, you'll be directed to a page to print a coupon so you can save on your next purchase of Starkist Tuna Creatons.

All You Magazine - Are you Subscribed?

All You Magazine is kind of one of my secrets to coupononing. You'll only find the magazine on sale at Walmart, but you can order a subscription from Magazines.com. The subscription cost is $19.97 and you might think that sounds expensive, but trust me, you will get your money back and more!

All You Magazine is FULL of coupons for products you'll use every day. By the time you clip the coupons and use them at your local store, the magazine will definitely pay for itself and then some. Aside from the fabulous coupons, All You Magazine also offers recipes and articles on fashion, fitness and more. It's one of those magazines you'll be happy to get in the mail each month.

Think of it as another coupon source.

Do you already get All You Magazine? Tell us what you think about it!

Polenta with kale and Portobello Mushrooms

  
Polenta with kale and Portobello Mushrooms ($2.10/person)
Every Day with Rachael Ray, April 2009
SERVES 4 PREP 45 min BAKE 20 min

Ingredients:

• Salt and pepper

• ¾ cup instant polenta
• 3 ½ tablespoons butter
• 4 ounces Portobello mushroom caps, coarsely chopped
• 1 bunch kale (about 12 ounces), stems trimmed and leaves chopped
• 1 ½ tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 3 ounces provolone cheese, shredded (about ¾ cup)

Directions:
Grease an 8-inch square baking dish. In a heavy, medium saucepan, bring 3 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat. Add the polenta in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring constantly, until thick, 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Spread evenly in the prepared baking dish. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water, then add the kale in batches, allowing each batch to wilt slightly before adding the next. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 8 minutes; season with salt and pepper. In a small saucepan, melt the remaining 1 ½ tablespoons butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 3 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking, and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes; season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 400°. Top the polenta with the kale mixture. Spoon the cream sauce evenly over the kale mixture and top with the provolone. Bake until warmed through, about 15 minutes. Increase the temperature to 450° and bake until golden, about 5 minutes.

Hot-Sauce Chicken with Grilled Beans (Rachael Ray)

I love Rachael Ray's recipes from her magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray. I admit, I don't get to try them all, but I wanted to share a few with you. You can make this one for just $2.31/person!

Hot-Sauce Chicken with Grilled Beans ($2.31/person)

Every Day with Rachael Ray, April 2009

SERVES 4 PREP 15 min (plus marinating) COOK 20 min

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, smashed and peeled
• Strips of peel and juice of ½ lemon
• 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, halved
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1 red onion, thickly sliced crosswise

Directions:

• In a measuring cup, stir together 3 tablespoons olive oil, the garlic, lemon peel, lemon juice, hot sauce and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
• Pour all but ¼ cup of the marinade into a large bowl. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and to the bowl and toss to coat. Cover and let marinate for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, cook the green beans until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes; drain.
• Heat a frill pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches, grill the chicken, turning once, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and drizzle with the reserved ¼ cup marinade; toss to coat. Cover to keep warm.
• Heat the grill pan over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, drizzle the onion with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Grill the onion, turning occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes; transfer to the platter.
• Add the green beans to the grill pan and cook until lightly charred, about 2 minutes; transfer to the serving platter. Lightly toss the chicken with the vegetables and season with salt and pepper.