BLINKIES AND PEELIES

Grocery shopping with Mother’s Little Helpers can be a challenge. During the school year, it may be easier to escape to the market to shop. Summertime shopping requires stealth will-power when extra sets of eyes are ogling the shelves.

Summertime shopping requires a strategic plan. The grocery list is set. Check. Match the blinkies and peelies and catalinas to the list. Check. Load Little Helpers into the car. Check.

Blinkies, peelies and catalinas? Those are types of coupons! Peelies are those coupons that are affixed to a box that you peel off for today’s shopping or a later shopping trip.

Blinkies are coupons found in the refrigerator section but will occasionally be attached to a shelf in the aisle in a little black box.

Catalinas are the coupons the cash register churns out with your receipt. It is a manufacturer coupon that can be used at any store, not just the store that gave you the coupon. Sometimes, I can find awesome catalina coupons left behind at the self-check out. Between the Sunday newspaper, internet coupons, and the ones obtained at the grocery store, my coupon box contains a variety of money saving coupons of shapes and sizes!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip! I find using a plastic 4 x 6 index card box great for sorting coupons. By sorting according to month, January through December, my coupons won’t expire!

                                                                 MY COUPON BOX

 

 

 

THE SOUS CHEF

Due to an ineptness on my part to find my way around a stove-top and oven when I got married, it was a personal goal of mine to raise Mother’s Little Helpers who were, well, not as inept as their mother when it came to meal preparation.

For them to be self-sufficient, kitchen organization was key to my grand plan.

First, the kitchen dishes had to be at a level they could reach which meant I was the only mother that stored kitchen dishes in the bottom kitchen cabinets. Every kitchen where we lived had dishes in the bottom cabinet.

Second, the pots and pans had to be within reach as well. They, too, found a home on the lower bottom shelves.

It defeated my purpose of raising self-sufficient Mother’s Little Helpers if I had to always retrieve the dishes and the pots or pans for them.

One of the helpers loved to bake. Another helper liked to make pasta. None of the helpers liked to clean up the mess.

It was out of utter frustration that one day I was forced to call in late to work. The kitchen cupboards were bare of pots and baking pans. The counter-top and sink was full to the brim and overflowing with dirty kitchen equipment.

I found a large cardboard box in the basement. All the pots and pans were ferociously scrubbed; then the pots and pans from the kitchen counter were loaded into the sink so they had a turn at getting scrubbed and rinsed. Once dried, everything went into the box. The box went into the trunk of the car.  Off to work, leaving one small pot and one small frying pan for the Mother’s Little Helpers.

Outrage was the expectation from all. Instead, not a peep! The box remained at work for days while I waited for the outrage. I was so disappointed. The box was hauled back home. Pots and pans were restored to their prior shelves. In the end, Mother's Little Helpers did grow up to be self-sufficient in the kitchen. Except now, the pots and pans are in their sinks and on their counter tops!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: If you live near a pick-your-own berry farm or fruit orchard, involving Mother’s Little Helpers is a great way to purchase fresh fruit and save money. A bounty of berries can be frozen, made into a fresh jam or berry sauce for ice-cream, even smoothies for great snacks….while they last!

 

MEATLESS MONDAY

How many remember Wednesday night as “Prince Spaghetti Night”?  Now, nobody is talking about meatless Wednesdays. It’s all about Meatless Mondays.

It was launched in 2003 in the United States and Meatless Mondays is now a global phenomenon. It expanded beyond the US in 2009 to Belgium and then to England. Currently, Meatless Mondays exists in 34 countries around the world.

When trying to reduce costs in your weekly grocery budget, designate one day a week as meatless, you will see savings.

Pasta, beans, vegetables and combinations of any two are of lower cost yet nutritious alternatives to meat consumption. The cost of these items are less than meat as well. 

It was a hard sell to Mother’s Little Helpers. All those vegetables! I learned early on that the less desirable the dinner, the more desirable the dessert had to be in order to get them to eat dinner.

When making chicken cacciatore, I always add more green peppers, onions and mushrooms to the recipe. I know there will be leftover veggies. For a meatless meal, the vegetables served over a plate or bowl of spaghetti are filling and nutritious. Should I mention it “meets” my cook once, eat twice mantra?

For variety, toss cubes of peeled eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, fire-roasted canned tomatoes, onions and garlic with your favorite Italian seasonings to simmer in a pot for a delicious ratatouille. Dinner can be ready in 20 minutes.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Store leftover vegetables immediately in the freezer. Summer and winter soups are a versatile way to use leftover vegetables for a meatless meal. Corn from the cob, with zucchini, garlic and onions, fresh tomatoes make a light and delicious summer meal. If you need an extender, add pasta or rice to the soup bowl and a roll or slice of bread to round out the meal.

                                                         STUFFED ZUCCHINI
                           

 

BLACK EYE PEA SALAD

 

                    ARTICHOKE AND FIRE ROASTED TOMATOES OVER PASTA

 

RED BEANS AND RICE

 

SPINACH PESTO

 

CREAM OF POTATO AND BROCCOLI SOUP

MUCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING

Roughly seven years ago, coworkers clued me in to the strategic way to use credit cards to collect points. When a designated credit card accumulates a certain number of points, the points could be converted into a gift card. The selection of gift cards varies from movie theaters, gas, hotels, retail or grocery stores and restaurants.

I have this type of credit card. Every December, I check to see how many points have been accumulated over the course of the year. Some years, I have accumulated enough points for a $50 gift card and some years a $100 gift card!

The gift card that I would purchase would be to any store that sold groceries, with Target and Walmart being my “go to” gift cards.

When I had a month that I was short on money but long on month, I’d pull out my emergency gift card to supplement my budget for the remainder of the month. Usually, it was a month with 5 weeks and I’d only budgeted for 4 weeks. I may need only $10 or $20, but it was a great resource to have and to use when I needed it.

Another source of discounted gift cards would come through Groupon. I’ve been able to purchase $20 cards for $10. I have not tried Gift Card Granny yet, but I understand one can buy and sell discounted gift cards through that website.

When using my credit card, much like food, I want to be able to get the most from it.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Familiarize yourselves with the benefits of a customer appreciation store card.  For example, with a Kroger store card, the grocery store will reward 4X points towards fuel when purchasing gift cards during special promotions. Combining customer appreciation card with a credit card that rewards with points is much ado about something!

 

HOW BURGERS MUSHROOMED

There was an awesome sale on Jennie-O ground turkey two weeks ago and I purchased two packages because I had two great coupons. One package made a tray of Caribbean turkey/black bean sliders while the other tray was saved for ground turkey stuffed mushrooms and turkey mushroom burgers.

After the stuffed mushrooms were prepared, the stems were set aside for turkey burger dinner. The weight of the mushrooms was 5 ounces. The weight of the ground turkey was 10 ounces. Adding an extender of mushroom stems increased the weight of the mixture to almost a pound.

By doing this, my yield of burgers “mushroomed” and it did not cost any additional money. The mushroom stems in some households may have been considered garbage but in this household, every last bit of food is used to some good.

Another healthy addition to ground turkey for burgers or sliders is pre-cooked black beans. I have tried them whole but in the future, I’m going to consider a rough mashing before mixing into the ground turkey. Sliders were too small for whole beans; they may work better for the larger burger.

With meat being the most expensive part of your dinner entrée, nutritious extenders make a little meat stretch a long way.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Use your imagination when adding extenders to ground meats. Chop green peppers, minced onions, or shredded carrots are other options that can add flavor, nutrition and volume to ground meats.

                                                    GROUND TURKEY

 

DICED MUSHROOMS STEMS

                              TURKEY MUSHROOM BURGERS FOR THE GRILL

                                       TURKEY BLACK BEAN SLIDERS

 

COOKED SLIDERS

 

ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION

My mother never owned a meat mallet or any object other than her hand to pound flat a piece of meat.

There were countless evenings when I watched her lay her hand out flat and pound a piece of chicken flat using the heel of her hand. As she got older, she would use a wide knife to lay flat atop the chicken and make a fist to pound the chicken thin.

I’m a wimp by comparison. I bruise whenever I do that, so I purchased a meat mallet. It’s another utensil to wash during the clean-up process but it’s either the meat mallet or my hand that takes the pounding. Rock…paper…scissors. The mallet lost.

I use a cereal box liner of wax paper to place over the piece of chicken and hammer until it reaches my desired thickness.

What piece of chicken gets hammered?

If you hold a chicken breast that has been removed from the rib cage, underneath each chicken breast there is a piece of meat that loosely dangles from the breast. Detach it from the breast. The grocery stores sell these as chicken tenders. Like all cuts of meat, they are mighty expensive too.

Before grilling or cooking your chicken breasts, remove all tenders. It doesn’t require much effort, just a knife to slice it off the breast. It helps you along, implying it really doesn’t want to be there by loosely hanging from the undercarriage of the breast. If you have several breasts, you can easily make another meal from all those chicken tenders. By subtracting the tenders, this adds another meal to the menu!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Tenders cook quickly and are very versatile. Dredged in flour and sautéed in a skillet, once cooked remove from skillet and add orange juice and honey to the skillet for a sauce to coat the tenders. Served with rice and a vegetable, you have dinner in a jiffy! They can be coated in bread crumbs and baked, then served with honey mustard or BBQ sauce, just as you  could buy at a fast-food restaurant. They will be healthier (baked not fried) and at no additional cost to your family.

                    DANGLING CHICKEN TENDER ON A CHICKEN BREAST

 

SAMPLE OF TWO CHICKEN TENDERS SITTING ALONGSIDE A BREAST

                                    
                                         VARYING SIZES OF CHICKEN TENDERS

 

IF YOU DON'T HAVE A MEAT MALLET ON HAND, USE YOUR OWN!

 

 

A BOW TIE AFFAIR

Summer holiday season is just around the corner and it will soon be time to take out the bow ties.

Elbows will be bumped as my hands rearrange the boxes. Winter boxes will be moved to the back and summer time boxes to the front.

I keep my bow ties in boxes. For variety, I have two sizes. Regular sized bow ties and minis. Each style is fragile; they have to be handled with care to avoid crushing them.

Mother’s Little Middle Helper is a bow tie fan too. If there is a good sale on bow ties, I keep her in mind. She is busy these days with work and her own Mother’s Little Helper. It’s just a matter of time before he is introduced to bow ties as well.

My favorite summer dish is a bow tie salad with raspberry vinaigrette to accompany a grilled meat.

Wait….we are talking about pasta, aren’t we? Orzo I thought!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Pasta salads are a great way to use up leftover vegetables. The transformation into a new dish is not only delicious but appealing to the eye with the bounty of colors incorporated into the bowl. As a side dish or the main entrée, cool pasta salads are a great meal on a hot summer night.

                                 LEFTOVER MIXED BEANS and CARROTS FOR PASTA SALAD