Ground Turkey Meatloaf

After a busy and hot day last week, the last thing that I wanted to do was cook. All that I really wanted to do was order some good Chicago-style pizza...but my budget and my thighs wouldn't allow it. So after searching the internet for something to make with the ground turkey I got at Jewel buy one great one free (besides the obvious chili), I came up with my own little version of turkey meatloaf.

1 lb ground turkey

pinch of salt

2 teaspoons pepper

2ish teaspoons dried basil

3 cloves chopped garlic

1 egg

1/2 cup of milk

3/4 cups of fresh bread crumbs (the crust that I've been saving from Louie's bread)

1/2 cup of grated fresh parmesean cheese

1/4 frozen spinach

1/2 cup of BBQ sauce

I mixed everything in a bowl with my hands except for the cheese and spinach. When it was at the consistency  that felt right for a meatloaf (this was my first time so I just kinda guessed), I put it in a casserole dish and flattened it a bit. Then I added the spinach and cheese to the middle and wrapped the loaf over top to seal it into the center. I formed it into a loaf shape and spread the BBQ sauce on top. Cooked for 1 hour on 400 degrees.


I must say...it was delicious!!! So proud of myself.

Easter Cake Recycle

I know, it's been ANOTHER month since I've posted anything! We are really close to being done with our kitchen now, just a matter of some more trim and paint touch ups. Pretty soon I'll be much more organized and ready to start some serious couponing...especially because I need to build up my stock piles before the new baby comes in the fall!

I hope you all enjoyed your Easter, we certainly had a great time with our family at my sister-in-law's house. The kids had a blast with their Easter egg hunt, even Leo found some! :) I decided to make an Easter egg cake since I had some bright colored fondant leftover from Louie's cake that I wouldn't need for the boys' upcoming birthdays as it was mainly pink and purple. It wasn't anything too spectacular, but it turned out ok and tasted great.

The best part was that I had some white cake leftover from cutting out the egg shape and had an idea for a dessert that my mom used to make. I had strawberries that needed to be eaten and vanilla pudding that I got at Aldi at some point for like $0.30. The strawberries were going bad so I cut them up and soaked them in water with a little sugar overnight. Then I picked up cool whip at Jewel (on sale for $0.89 thankfully!). The dessert is a layer of cake pieces on the bottom, then the pudding, then strawberries, and then cool whip on top. It was SO good and I was happy to not waste the cake or the strawberries!

Meal Deal of the Week 1/16

Pot roast is one my favorite things to make, especially in the winter! I love the smell, the ease of letting it sit all day, and its deliciousness! This week at Jewel Beef Chuck Bottomless Roast and Hormel Always Tender Center Pork Roast is on sale for $3.99/lb, which is not the cheapest ever...but when you buy 3 lbs of either, you get Farm Stand Carrots, Sleeved Celery, and a 3lb bag of Green Giant Klondike Rose Potatoes for FREE!  Check out Couponing For 4 for the rest of the Jewel deals right now!

Usually we eat about 2lbs for dinner and get leftovers (for two adults and 2 small kids). So 3 lbs should get 2-3 dinners out of it with all the leftovers!! My mother-in-law taught me how to prepare it and I sort of improvised from there! Here's how I do it:

Ingredients:
1-1.5lbs beef or pork roast
2-3 chopped carrots
3-4 chopped potatoes
1-2 celery stalk
2 cloves of garlic chopped
Seasoned salt
Oregano
Pepper
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 bay leaf (optional)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup of water

Directions:

1.Place the roast in bottom of crock pot
2. Pour water over roast.
2. Sprinkle vinegar over roast (helps tenderize the meat)
3. Season meat with seasoned salt, oregano, pepper (to your liking)
4. Place chopped garlic over roast
5. Poor chopped veggies over roast
6. Season veggies and sprinkle with Olive Oil
7. Set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours or more

Enjoy!

Meal Deal of the Week - 1/9

I wanted to try something new this week (and hopefully every week) called "Meal Deal of the Week" where I give you coupon matchups for a specific meal that you can make extremely cheap!

This week it's tacos!! I love tacos, the meat is so easy to make, the kids love them, and they are delicious! This week at Target you can get most of the supplies you need for really cheap!

Ortega products are on sale at Target this week and there is a coupon here for $1/2 Ortega Products (click back botton twice to print twice).

After coupon prices:
Taco shells yellow corn 12 ct, whole grain 10 ct $0.75
Taco sauce or green chiles sauce $0.50
1 Taco Seasoning $0.19,  or 3-pack taco seasonings $0.50

1lb ground beef is $2.99, or Jennie-O ground turkey 20 oz is $2.99

Check out Totally Target for the rest of Target's deals this week.

Buy 4 Ortega products to use 2 of the $1/2 coupons! You can also get reasonably cheap cheese, limes, avocados, rice, or beans, but Aldi generally has the best prices if there is not a sale or coupon somewhere else.  Even with those items this meal will cost you about $10 for probably 4-6 people! YAY for cheap meals!

Cheap Rice Krispies

With Christmas approaching I needed to find a creative and cheap treat to make. I found this really cute idea for rice krispies that look like ornaments from Amy's Finer Things:



I planned to buy everything at Target as I had a coupon for free marshmallows when I bought 2 Rice Krispies cereals here, $0.50 off 2 package of marshmallows here, and $2/2 boxes of Rice Krispies cereal here. To sweeten this deal, Target does price matching when you bring in another stores promotion print ad and Walgreens had their cereal on sale for $1.99! So, I ended up getting 2 boxes of cereal and 2 10 oz bags of marshmallows for less than $3! Can't wait to make them!

New Take on Chili

It was getting late and we were all hungry. I wanted something hot and filling and not too difficult to make. I had ground turkey and black beans and decided to try a new take on chili with a few other ingredients I had on hand.

3 cans black beans
1 lb ground turkey
2 tablespoons chili powder (to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cans of tomato soup
1 cup medium salsa

I was a bit nervous about it...but it was DELICIOUS!

Best part was that everything I used I had bought previously for free or super cheap with coupons!