food

9/30/19 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

I bought a few things yesterday to sort of “round out” what we’ve got on hand, and I think I’ll hit up Sprouts on Wednesday for Double Ad Day to get produce, but other than, we’ll be eating a lot of the stuff in the freezer I recently meal prepped this week. I don’t feel really great (Big kid brought home the new germ du jour from school and it’s felled us all).

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done, so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian, but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Breakfast: Coffee with heavy cream for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix).  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and Bitty. The big kid takes his lunch to school, but once in a while, I can convince him to buy his lunch.

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot (I am picking up my new crockpot this week) in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

  • Monday: Soup, Grilled Cheese sandwiches, green grapes
  • Tuesday: Aunt Linda’s Mess (It’s a skillet casserole)
  • Wednesday: Baked potatoes with vegetarian chili (from the big batch of vegetarian chili I made last week), green salad.
  • Thursday: Pizza Night
  • Friday:  Date Night!
  • Saturday: Leftover night
  • Sunday:  Taco Salad (recipe will be posted later this week)

 

Talk Back: What are you planning to cook this week?

Freebies: 9/29/19 is National Coffee Day!

Abby H.

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Sunday is a high holiday in our house: 9/29/19 is National Coffee Day. To celebrate, here are a smattering of freebies and deals.

7/11: Score any size Coffee for $1.00- Just make sure to scan your 7Rewards loyalty app at checkout.

Corner Bakery: Get any size brewed coffee or cold brew for free (with any purchase)  at participating locations from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1.

Caribou Coffee: They are celebrating on 9/29/19 with a medium size hot coffee for $1, a medium Cold Press Black for $2 or a Nitro Black coffee for $3.

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf: Get a free 16-ounce hot or iced coffee when you spend $2 or more on a bakery or food item.

Dunkin’: America Runs on it, and Sunday 9/29/19, anyone who purchases a regular hot coffee at participating Dunkin’ restaurants nationwide will score another hot coffee (the same size or smaller) for free.

And the best one for the year: Krispy Kreme! Through 9/29/19, participating shops nationwide will give away one Koffee Cream doughnut and one free cup of coffee to customers, no coupon or app needed!

Cinnabon is offering a free 12-ounce coffee all day on Sunday, 9/29/19

If your local Barnes & Noble has a cafe inside, stop by! Customers get a free hot or iced tall coffee with the purchase of any bakery case item on Sunday, September 29, 2019.

If your local mall has a Godiva Chocolatier, here is an awesome deal: September 27 through 29, get a free 12-ounce hot or iced coffee at GODIVA Café locations with any purchase.

 

 

 

9/23/19 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

I’m trying to use up a lot of what we have on-hand before I do any shopping for the week. We are running low on milk and veggies, so I’ll hit up Grocery Outlet (I have a $5/$20+ coupon), and Sprouts today after the gym.

I’ve got two melons (watermelon and cantaloupe), so we’ll be having melon a lot this week.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done, so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian, but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Breakfast: Coffee with heavy cream for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix).  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and Bitty. The big kid takes his lunch to school, but once in a while, I can convince him to buy his lunch.

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot (I am picking up my new crockpot this week) in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

  • Monday: Chicken and rice soup (from scratch), grilled cheese sandwiches, melon slices
  • Tuesday: homemade breakfast sandwiches ( Bagels with sunny side up eggs, cheese, and sausage patties), Melon slices
  • Wednesday: Vegetarian Chili, melon slices
  • Thursday: Pizza Night
  • Friday: Homemade Pasta sauce, zucchini “noodles” (We didn’t end up having it last week
  • Saturday: Leftover night
  • Sunday:  Pasta Free Lasagna, and you guessed it- Melon (if there is any left)

 

Talk Back: What are you planning to cook this week?

9/22/19 New Savingstar Coupons!

Abby H.

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SavingStar has some awesome new rebates available.

If you are new to SavingStar, it’s different from traditional couponing!

What makes SavingStar different is that you don’t receive money off at the register.  The savings in held in your SavingStar account, and once you reach at least $20.00 in savings you can transfer it to your Paypal Account or donate your savings to charity!

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SavingStar is the first national, fully digital, grocery eCoupon service, available for free at www.savingstar.com and on iPhone and Android mobile apps. There’s nothing to clip, nothing to print. Chose offers, shop, and save! SavingStar is currently available at over 70,000 locations!

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And it gets better: SavingStar members who redeem 2 offers per month (not counting any Healthy Offers) will unlock a full month of Healthy Offers for the next month! That’s money savings on fruits, veggies, and more!

Here are the latest offers:

SAVE $0.75 on ANY Sprayway® product (15.oz. or larger).Expires 11/30/2019.Save $0.75.

SAVE $2.00 on ANY BODY FORTRESS® protein powder.Expires 11/15/2019.Save $2.00.

SAVE $0.50 on any ONE (1) Country Crock® Plant Butter (16 oz. stick or 10.5 oz. tub) product..Expires 10/6/2019.Save $0.50.

Save $1.00 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) King Oscar Skinless Boneless Olive Oil Sardines. Valid on 4.38 oz..Expires 10/23/2019.Save $1.00.(Only at Bakers, City Market, Dillons, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s/Fry’s Marketplace, Gerbes, JayC, King Soopers,

Save $0.50 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Land O Lakes® Pumpkin Pie Spice Butter Spread. Valid on 6.5 oz..Expires 11/27/2019.Save $0.50.(Only at Albertsons, Albertsons, City Market, Harris Teeter Food Markets, Jewel-Osco, King Soopers, Kroger, Metro Market

Save $1.25 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) Talenti Gelato or Sorbetto. Any Variety..Expires 10/30/2019.Save $1.25.

Save $0.50 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) ORE-IDA Frozen Potatoes. Valid on 5 lb bags or larger..Expires 10/30/2019.Save $0.50.

Save $1.00 when you purchase ANY TWO (2) belVita Breakfast Biscuits. Valid on 8.8oz or larger, any variety. Items must appear on the same receipt..Expires 10/30/2019.Save $1.00.

Save $1.00 when you purchase ANY ONE (1) EatingWell® Frozen Meal. Any Variety. Valid At Walmart and Target..Expires 10/16/2019.Save $1.00.(Only at Target, Walmart)

Houseparty by Ripple Street: Host a Kikkoman® Holiday Party

Abby H.

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Houseparty by Ripple Street has a great new party!

Host a Kikkoman® Holiday Party
This holiday season, invite your friends over and show them how Kikkoman can help you create easy, amazing side dishes and lets you brine a juicy bird to bring great flavor to your holiday meals for great entertaining all season long.

This event is only open to residents of the USA. Party Date: 11/9/19

If you’re selected and confirmed as a host, your exclusive Party Pack will contain:

  • Gift Card
  • Kikkoman T-shirts
  • Kikkoman recipe booklets
  • And more

To apply for the party, click here.

9/20/19: Weekly Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.

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Woo Hoo! Friday means Freebies and deals- It’s a light week this week, but there are still some pretty cool freebies.

Samples/Goodies:

Free Batman Comic Books on Saturday

Free Sample of Nio Teas

Au Bon Pain – Free Travel Mug, Birthday Lunch & More

Free Sample of Red Star Platinum Instant Sourdough Yeast

Bitmo – Free $5 Chili’s Gift Card

 

Free In-Store/Event:

Free Item at Pressed Juicery

Free Riviana Mahatma Ready to Serve Rice at Walmart

Free Dino Fossil Charm Craft at Lakeshore Learning

Free Safe Interactions with Dogs Seminar at PetSmart

Home Depot Free DIY September Workshops

 

Free Magazine:

Complimentary 1 Year Subscription to Golf Magazine

Organic Shoppers Rejoice! BerryCart is here to help you Save!

Abby H.

You may have seen my post on Smartphone Apps mention BerryCart, but I haven’t posted about it specifically, so, let’s dive in and I’ll fill you in on all the deets.

berrycart-logo-300x73.pngFor those of us who are Organic/Healthy Shoppers, a lot of the shopping apps can be a bummer because there are not a lot of choices.

BerryCart to the rescue! With BerryCart, you can find Cashback deals on the best Organic, Gluten-Free, non-GMO, Vegan foods and more.

What I really like is that you can combine BerryCart savings with other savings apps (like Ibotta, Checkout51, and Fetch Rewards) to double and triple dip! BerryCart can be used at any store that sells the items in your BerryCart list!

You can also use coupons and other savings (like your Target RedCard to save an extra 5%) to bring down your out of pocket costs!

What I love about Berrycart is that a lot of these brands are carried at stores that don’t accept coupons like Grocery Outlet and 99 Cents Only.

Examples of items I have seen for sale at our local Grocery Outlet in the past week:

BerryCart is a game-changer for those of us who want to eat better, but have a budget.

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All Cashback rebates are redeemed through the BerryCart iPhone or Android apps. To get started, click here to check out the website and download the app.

Stockpile Cooking: Yummy Strudel Pumpkin Muffins

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2019-09-15 at 7.35.48 PM.pngAs part of my “use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without” mantra, I’m trying to bake more out of the cupboard. It helps us use up what we’ve got on-hand, and it’s also a lot healthier than buying store-bought muffins.

While I was digging in the very back of the cupboard, I found

These muffins were amazing. The recipes makes 1 mini muffin pan (24 mini muffins), or regular sized muffins.

 

Low Fat Pumpkin Muffins

  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour (you can also use whole wheat flour, or a 1 for 1 gluten-free flour blend if you prefer)
  • 1/4 cup flax meal (You could also use almond meal if you prefer)
  • 1 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 can canned pumpkin puree (approx. 30-ish ounces)
  • 3/4 cups light brown sugar
  • 3 oz. container of fat-free Greek vanilla yogurt (or use 3oz. of fat-free plain Greek yogurt and 1 T. vanilla extract)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup milk (whatever kind you like)

DSC00551.jpgStrudel topping

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room temperature butter
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 c. oatmeal
  • 1/4 cup Flour (you can also use whole wheat flour, or a 1 for 1 gluten-free flour blend if you prefer)
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 Tablespoon ground ginger

Directions:

Muffins-

  1. Mix dry ingredients together, set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all the wet ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and combined.
  3. Add dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredient mixture and mix until smooth and combined.
  4. Pour batter into greased muffin tins (or use cupcake liners).

Strudel-

  1. Mix all strudel ingredients together in a small bowl.
  2. Option one: Spoon about a tablespoon of the strudel onto the uncooked muffins right before putting to the oven.
  3. Option two: Fill the muffin tins halfway with muffin batter, drop in the strudel mix, and top with more muffin batter to make strudel surprise muffins.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

 

 

 

9/16/19 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

stemarie_1650skitchen

I just finished shopping for the week, and Boy do I have some awesome meals planned!

This week I’ll be making another big batch of fruit salad! It was a very popular addition to our meals last week. 

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done, so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian, but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Breakfast: Coffee with heavy cream for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix).  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and Bitty. The big kid takes his lunch to school, but once in a while, I can convince him to buy his lunch.

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot (I am picking up my new crockpot this week) in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

  • Monday: homemade breakfast sandwiches ( Bagels with sunny side up eggs, cheese, and sausage patties), fruit salad
  • Tuesday:  Cheese and tomato tortellini with pesto sauce, steamed broccoli,  cheese toast
  • Wednesday: Sea Salt & Olive Oil Seasoned Chicken Breasts, cheesy herb cauli-rice
  • Thursday: Homemade Pasta sauce, zucchini “noodles”
  • Friday:  Grilled Cheese sandwiches and soup
  • Saturday: Pizza Night
  • Sunday: Leftover night

 

Talk Back: What are you planning to cook this week?

9/16/19- Free Guacamole Day!

Abby H.

Thanks Rubios!Screen Shot 2019-09-13 at 10.55.10 PM.png

To take advantage of this deal, show or print the coupon here. This would make a great snack with a beer or fresh lemonade.