Browsing Category

Recipes

Put-It-In-There Chicken Pot Pie!

 

IMG_0067

Hello again, savvy savers! Today I wanted to post a recipe I have for night when I am running low on time, energy, and the ambition to move, let alone cook! Here is my go-to put-it-in-there chicken pot pie. Why put-it-in-there pot pie? If you have it on hand, and its organic, put-it-in-there! Leftover chicken, check! Produce needing to be balanced, awesome! A little cheese, cream cheese, or butter, lovely! Assuming you actually need to go to the store, another version can be made with canned chicken, frozen veggies, and the like from the Dollar Tree for around $5.00 for a family of 4! It will be wonderful, promise!

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups fresh or frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup cut-up cooked chicken, per four people
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup Bisquick baking mix
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Directions:
1) Preheat your oven to 400ºF.
2) Mix vegetables, chicken, and soup in ungreased glass pie plate, or covered cassarole dish.
3) Stir together remaining ingredients with fork until blended. Pour into pie plate. Spread evenly.
4) Bake 30 minutes, or until golden brown; if you can smell the baking mix, its done!

Enjoy!

Too-Tired-To-Bake Trifle Pudding!

Trifle-Pudding-Recipe

Good afternoon, savvy savers! Today’s recipe is for one of my families favorite any time of the year, my classic Too Tired To Bake Trifle Pudding! I can make this dessert from ingredients solely from the Dollar Tree, use frozen cake, cupcake, and cookie scraps crumbled to save money, and aside from the berries which I often buy on buy-one-get-one-free sales from Winn-Dixie, I can make this dessert for under $4.00, which consists of fourteen 1 cup servings. The Trifle dish itself was purchased at Walmart for $4.98! This is a favorite recipe, and one that I find works best made the night before, which allows the juice, pudding, and layering-medium of choice to meld together!

Trifle Pudding Ingredients:
2 dozen cookies, lady fingers, cake slices, or cupcake crumbles (6 cups of crumbles, if used)
1 lg. container (12 oz.) whipped topping
2 lg. pkgs. vanilla instant pudding
2 pts. fresh or frozen strawberries
1/4 c. orange or pineapple juice
Maraschino cherries & pecans, or cookie toppings; to taste and whatever you have on hand!

How to make Trifle Pudding:

1) If using fresh strawberries, hull, wash, slice and add sweetener to taste; a good rule of thumbs for making a simple fruit glaze is one tablespoon of water to 1/4 cup sweetener. Once the fruit is glazed, let stand ten minutes.

2) Line a trifle bowl with whatever cookies, lady fingers, cake slices, or cupcake crumbles you have on hand.

3) Make the vanilla pudding according to instructions on the package.

4) Sprinkle the cookies, lady fingers, cake slices, or cupcake crumbles with orange or pineapple juice, then put a layer of pudding, strawberries and whipped topping.

5) Repeat step 4 with a second layer and end with the whipped topping.

6) Maraschino cherries and pecans may be added, if desired.

7)I sometimes use a homemade hardening shell instead, which I make with one packet hot cocoa mix, a pat of butter, and a touch of milk, layered on the dessert, and chilled until hardened.

8) Refrigerate to chill before serving.

9) Enjoy!

Freezer-Friendly Frittatas!

Good morning, savvy savers! On this fine Saturday morning, I wanted to share with you my recipe for Freezer-friendly Breakfast Frittatas! What’s awesome about this recipe is its versatility, as it can be cooked quiche-style in a terrine pan, an omelet pan, or in a mini-cupcake wrapper style! Everything for this recipe you will more than likely have on hand. My version, the delicious morsel you see below, its ingredients came solely from the Dollar Tree; I use frozen trinity mix, frozen peppers and onions mix, frozen spinach blocks, and canned tomatoes all from the Dollar Tree. This recipe will cost $5.00, and will feed six! Keep in mind, this recipe, using disposable pans, can be made ahead of time, frozen, and served later, or prepared ahead, and then baked-off right before eating. In addition, I wanted to add that I pair this with fresh fruit and juice for a breakfast, or brunch, worth getting up in the morning for!

Brunch Frittata

Freezer-Friendly Frittatas:

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
1/8 cup red pepper, diced
1/8 cup green pepper, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
1/2 package frozen spinach, thawed
1/4 cup cubed cooked ham (or bacon)
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk, or half and half
Pinch of parsley
Salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Beat eggs with wire whisk; add rest of ingredients to taste.

2 Spray 8- inch skillet, pan, or glass baking dish with butter-flavored Pam and heat over medium flame.

3 Combine eggs, seasoning, and milk. Set aside two minutes to rest.

4) Fold in peppers, onions, spinach, tomatoes, ham, and cheddar.

5) Do not stir mixture.

6) Cook on stove top, on medium flame, for two minutes, then transfer to over for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

7) Remove frittata from pan when sides are a golden, bubbly brown.

8) Carefully slide frittata onto plate. Serve with picante sauce, if desired.

9) Enjoy!

Coconut Mango Chicken Crockpot Curry

 

curry recipe

As a curry connoisseur, especially love Thai, Southern Indian, Malaysian, and West Indian I love making curries! Especially in the crockpot. This is a crowd-pleaser, and the leftover curry, drained of sauce, makes out of this world wraps, salad topping, and quesadillas!

Coconut Mango Chicken Crockpot Curry:

Ingredients:

2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, cubed; rotisserie chicken leftovers can be used as well
5 large carrots, capped, peeled, and diced
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 large green bell pepper, washed, seeded, and chopped
1 (5 oz ) can tomato paste
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk, or half a box of similar brands, such as So Delicious.
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp curry powder
1 cup mango juice concentrate
1 jalapeno, seeded and halved or 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:

1) Grease your slow cooker oil or pam; I used coconut oil.
2) Place the chicken, peppers, and carrots on the bottom of the slow cooker.
3) Place the rest of the ingredients, excluding the water and cornstarch, in a food processor, blending until the mixture is creamy and somewhat smooth.
4) Pour the sauce over the chicken and carrots, mix well, then cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
5) An hour before serving, make an instant roux by mixing cornstarch and water together, in a small bowl, until cornstarch is dissolved. Pour the roux into the slow cooker, fold into the curry, and cook for 1 additional hour.
6) Serve curry over rice, with flatbread, or nan, and accompany it with peas.
7) Garnish with fresh mint and cilantro, if available.
8) Enjoy!

Homemade French Dressing!

 

DSCN0256

Good afternoon, savvy savers! Its Throwback Thursday! So, today I want you all to remember the not so distant past, the days when the height of sophisticated family dining was going out to the Sizzler or Ponderosa! How I remember those days! So may eisles, so many choices, only one plate!

For me, my first stop was always the salad bar, and my topping of choice, the Orange Stuff! That’s right, the old school Orange French Dressing; the tangy sweetness of this topping always brought a smile to my face! But why let the fun end with adulthood? So, for this edition of Throwback Thursday, I’ll be posting my recipe for homemade Orange French Dressing!
Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup ketchup
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
Directions:

1) In a one quart jar, combine sugar, ketchup, oil, garlic, vinegar, hot sauce, celery seed, and liquid smoke.

2) Cover and shake well.

3) Refrigerate until serving.

4) This recipe makes 1 quart dressing; I save mine in a mason jar, secured, and stored in the refirdgerator up to three months!

5) Enjoy!

Neapolitan Trifle Recipe!

unnamed

Good afternoon, savvy savers! Today’s recipe is for one of my families favorites, my Spring and Summer Neapolitan Trifle! I can make this dessert from ingredients solely from the Dollar Tree, use frozen cake, cupcake, and cookie scraps crumbled to save money, and aside from the berries which I often buy on buy-one-get-one-free sales from Winn-Dixie, I can make this dessert for under $4.00, which consists of fourteen 1 cup servings. The Trifle dish itself was purchased at Walmart for $4.98! This is a favorite recipe, and one that I find works best made the night before, which allows the juice, pudding, and layering-medium of choice to meld together!

Neapolitan Trifle Pudding Ingredients:

10 cake slices, or cupcake crumbles (6 cups of crumbles, if used)
1 lg. container (12 oz.) whipped topping
2 lg. pkgs. vanilla instant pudding
2 pts. fresh or frozen strawberries
1/4 c. maraschino cherry juice
Maraschino cherries & pecans, or cookie toppings; on this trifle I used Breyer’s chocolate sauce from the Dollar Tree!

How to make Trifle Pudding:

1) If using fresh strawberries, hull, wash, slice and add sweetener to taste; a good rule of thumbs for making a simple fruit glaze is one tablespoon of water to 1/4 cup sweetener. Once the fruit is glazed, let stand ten minutes.

2) Line a trifle bowl with cake slices, or cupcake crumbles, if that’s what you have on hand.

3) Make the vanilla pudding according to instructions on the package; add 1 tablespoon cherry juice.

4) Sprinkle the cookies, lady fingers, cake slices, or cupcake crumbles with maraschino cherry juice, then put a layer of pudding, strawberries and whipped topping.

5) Repeat step 4 with a second layer and end with the whipped topping.

6) Arrange quartered strawberries on the top of the trifle, seed-side out.

7) Add chocolate sauce around the strawberries; the sauce will spread out.

8) Refrigerate to chill before serving.

9) Enjoy!

Cleverly Couponed Crawfish Etouffee!

 

imag2140

 

Good morning, savvy savers! I hope this weekend is shaping up to a wonderful time for you! With that said, its time for another recipe! Today, I will be sharing the Lady Prefers To Save’s Crawfish Etoufee! I make this recipe whenever I can, as my husband, a fan of all things emanating from the Crescent City, loves crawfish more than chocolate, sports, and napping, with the exception of New Orleans Saints Football!

With that said, and with all of my recipes, I buy what’s in season, and as we are entering crawfish season, there is no time like the better that to make my husband’s favorite Etouffee recipe! Also, crawfish buy-the-pound is currently on a B1G1 free special this week at Winn-Dixie. The seasonings are from Dollar Tree, the butter is bought in bulk at Sam’s Club, and the trinity mix, the celery, onions, and bell peppers, are by way of discounted produce from SavingStar.com, previously bought, blanched, and flash-frozen!

I can make this recipe for under $8.00, which will feed six people.

I will be diverting from my normal recipe today in only one way, we will be using the crock pot!

Cleverly Couponed Crawfish Etouffee Recipe:

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 pound crawfish tails, shelled and deveined
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
1 cup tomato, diced
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
hot sauce to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 cups white rice
4 additional cups chicken stock or broth

Directions:
1) Make a roux by melting the butter in your crockpot, on high heat, and cook until it starts to brown.
2) Sprinkle in the flour while mixing and simmer until it turns a dark brown, about 10-20 minutes.
3) Then add the chicken broth, and whisk into the roux, and wait for it to boil; this takes about 10 minutes before straining the solids from the broth combine.
4) Add the onion, celery and peppers to the roux and cook, on low, for 6 hours.
5) Once your roux and trinity mix has cooked down, add the garlic, thyme, tomatoes, creole seasoning, and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.
6) Fold in the shrimp, and cook 20 additional minutes, on low.
7) Season with hot sauce, salt and add pepper to taste.
8) In a separate rice cooker, cook two cups white rice, with 4 cups chicken broth; add a pinch of salt as well. Cook for 20 minutes, then cut off the rice cooker, and while it is covered, let it sit for an additional half hour.
8) Back to the crockpot, mix in the butter, lemon juice, green onion and parsley, and again taste for seasoning.
9) Plate this dish by ladling two scoops of Etoufee onto a bowl, then add one large ice cream scoop of cooked rice to the center of the dish.
10) Garnish with additional parsley and lemon juice.
11) Enjoy!