Frugal Menu Mamas

I have taken a loooooooong break from blogging.  Just felt like I couldn’t make time for blogging and still be the wife and mom I want to be.  So, I started checking my stats today and couldn’t believe that my blog still gets hits every day, even when I haven’t been writing.  I am flattered!  I hope you all are finding fantastic tips on how to save money shopping and cooking and I hope you are finding delicious, frugal recipes!

As I think about starting to blog again, I would really like to give the blog a makeover.  If you have anyone to recommend to help me with this, please let me know!

I know I have neglected my faithful readers for far too long.  Amazingly enough, I get new subscribers every week!    My priorities right now just haven’t included my blog much.  I’m sorry.

So, here is a short post with a recipe you will want to try.  I have made this no less than 3 times in the past month.  It is superb and delicious and thanks to my awesome brother-in-law, Chris, for sharing it with me!

It is actually from Paula Deen of the Food Network.  You may be suprised to know that I don’t actually watch the Food Network all that much.  Mostly for lack of time and some because I don’t think about it and a little because the shows remind me of my Pampered Chef show days. 

Anyway, here is the delicious recipe.  Super easy and the butter mixture freezes well when you have extra.  Try it this week!

Zesty Roasted Garlic Bread

Part of my success in being a frugal menu mama is the fact that I read so many money saving blogs.  Many many other people do all the hard work for me!  They find the deals, coupons, and freebies and I just cash in on them.  Lots of them do more than that though.  They provide great quality content that teaches and encourages folks in their frugal journey.  So, here a collection of a few recent posts that caught my eye and may be helpful to you as well.

Shop at More than One Store- This series is rather interesting.  I typically shop at 2-4 stores every week, so I definitely know it helps.  What do you think?       

How Gardening & Preserving Can Save You Money- This post stuck out to me because we are gardening this year!  Our first garden in GA and we are trying Square Foot Gardening.  We also discovered a few local farmers markets that I hope to try this year.      

Cutting Coupons:  You’re Not Too Busy- I LOVE this series and hope you’ll seriously read it.  I got lots of great ideas from it and I already clip coupons!        

Paper Towel Alternatives- Now, I have tried to make this move.  It is hard.  I still buy paper towels, but I definitely use them less than I did before.  Perhaps, I’ll get there eventually.

Happy Friday!

Doesn’t the title make you want to eat this NOW?!  I happen to love the Parmesan-Crusted Chicken at Longhorn Steakhouse and have had something like it at Olive Garden, so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it.  The recipe is from Kraft Foods and I will be making it again!

The chicken was super flavorful and the cream sauce was delicious!  I changed the ingredients a bit based on what I already had at home.  I used regular cream cheese instead of the chive & onion, probably would have had a little more flavor with that.  I also could not find the Ritz crackers that I knew I had so I used plain bread crumbs.  Guess what?  Found the Ritz crackers a few days ago.  :)  And I made the brown rice according to the Kraft directions….did NOT work, I ran out of liquid and it got crunchy.  Next time I will just follow the package directions substituting 1 can of chicken broth for some of the water.

Oh well, you live and learn, right?  I now know what to do for this recipe and it will probably be fairly regular around here.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken in Cream Sauce

You are going to love this!  Perhaps I am becoming somewhat of a “copycat” recipe person.  But you know?  Its rather random.  I don’t copycat super famous recipes.  They are just recipes that I love and start to get a craving for.  And I can’t just go out to eat all the time to get the recipes.  So far, I have perfected (I think) my version of Longhorn Steakhouse’s Strawberry Salad.  I am still working on finding and perfecting Garfield’s Restaurant’s Loaded Baked Potato Soup.  (I am trying another recipe tomorrow.)  And this week we tried a new one…and it was delicious!

We have a Greek deli next door to the building where our church gathers.  When some of our friends suggested we eat there, me, being a picky eater, turned my nose up.  The only thing Greek that I know I like is Greek salad.  :)  The gyros idea did not appeal.  Well, we went there and I tried this thing called something like “Greek Salad on a Pita”.  I ordered it like this, “I’d like the Greek Salad on a Pita.  I don’t want onions or olives or tomatoes or peppers.  So, basically I just want the lettuce, chicken, and dressing.  Oh and the feta…I LOVE feta!”  The gal smiled and brought me exactly what I ordered with extra feta and it was fabulous!  I basically have been craving it ever since (and I’m getting hungry now, just typing about it).  So, I made my own.  But the Greek deli used these “pitas” that were more delicious than any I’d ever eaten.  So, first I had to find those.

I found them at Publix and they looked like this:

When using them, I suggest using the method on the back of the package where you heat it in oil in a pan.  It made the pitas more pliable and they didn’t tear apart.

Then, I bought a bottle of Kraft brand Greek Vinaigrette Dressing.  I cut some chicken breasts into strips and marinated them in the dressing.  Then I cooked them in a skillet until done.  Then, I warmed the bread.  I piled on chicken, feta, lettuce, and dressing.  It was delicious!  I think my husband would have appreciated some black olives, onions, and peppers, so we’ll have to do that next time.

Super easy meal!  You could freeze the chicken in the dressing and have it ready to go at any time!  It was delicious…try it!

If you’ve been reading for awhile you probably know what a Frugal Menu Mama is, but if you’re new…this should answer your questions.

A Frugal Menu Mama is someone who values saving money on groceries while eating delicious food.  She or he (I guess he could be a Frugal Menu Papa…the ring to it isn’t there though) is trying to reduce the grocery budget with tasty recipes.     She (or he) may use coupons or sales to save money.  She (or he) is creative in money saving methods.

Starting this blog made me accountable to the practices that make up a Frugal Menu Mama.  Since beginning this blog, I have reduced our monthly budget for groceries, pet food, toiletries, and cleaning supplies by $75 per month!  I am very proud of that!

Money Saving Mom has a great series on 31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget.  Check it out, it is a great start to becoming a Frugal Menu Mama.

My husband rarely asks for anything.  He usually defers to what I want.  I have to encourage him to go shopping and he eats whatever I fix.  On the rare occasion he asks for something, I usually try to make sure he gets it because he doesn’t do it often.  This makes gift giving a challenge for me.  :)  So, part of his Christmas gift his year was a little something I created called “The Dessert of the Month Club”.  I told him he could pick a dessert, any dessert once per month and I will make it.  I encouraged him to pick things I don’t normally make.  So, his first request was “Chess Squares”.  I had never heard of them, so I emailed my mother-in-law to find out what in the world he was talking about.  She sent me this recipe:

Chess Squares

1 pkg. butter cake mix

1 stick butter, softened

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 box confectioners’ sugar (1 lb.)

3 eggs, slightly beaten

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

-Combine cake mix, butter, and egg and pat into 9 x 13 pan.

-Mix sugar, eggs, and cream cheese, and pour on the crust mixture.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until browned.

EASY!  The hardest part was patting the first mixture into the pan, it kept sticking to my fingers.  And licking the beater for the second mixture was quite tasty. 

I got it all prepared and popped it in the oven while we ate dinner one night and then surprised my husband with it when he had finished his dinner.  He tasted it, said it was delicious, gave me a kiss, and thanked me for making it.  Then he said, “This isn’t what I thought it was.  But thanks for making it!”  I’m so glad he was appreciative.  :)  Want to know why?  In MY opinion, dessert should always be something with chocolate in it, so I wasn’t too excited about this one.  In MY opinion, the batter was tasty, but I didn’t like the gooey way the second mixture tasted after it was baked.  And in MY opinion, I love that guy and the way he can make me feel great even when it wasn’t the dessert he was expecting.  He was even sweet enough to take the photo for this post (thought it was hard to get a good photo).  I think I’ll keep him.

Hope you all had a good weekend.  I had a fantastic time celebrating the first birthday of my niece who is nothing short of a miracle.  Hailie was born 9 weeks early and she turns 1 in two weeks.  She has 7 teeth and is so much fun to be with.  This weekend I also enjoyed attending the musical “Annie” in a town near my parents’ home.  This was my favorite movie as a kid and it was really fun to share it with my daughter.  Thanks Mom for taking us!

Anyway, my mom made some FABULOUS cookies that the kids and I will try to re-create this week.  You WILL want to try them so keep checking back.  And thanks to great readers I have 2 more potato soup recipes to try and a “tweak” to the cheddar bay biscuits.  I will keep you updated. 

I thought you all might enjoy a post from a blog I read.  It was full of freezer tips, so enjoy!

Freezer Tips

I also plan to try a few new recipes in the coming weeks…so keep coming back.

However, my once a month menu plan is taking me way longer than I thought, so that will be awhile before I share. 

Have a good day!

I think cold weather (aka winter) equals soup weather.  I have several favorites that we make often.  And did you know, soup freezes well?  When I make soup, I usually double or triple the batch and freeze the extra in a Ziploc freezer bag.  I also read that you can freeze individual portions in cups and cover with foil or plastic wrap and a rubber band.   Looking through my archives, I found a soup I made last year that we like, but I haven’t made yet this winter.  So, Hubby, you’ll be seeing it soon.  It is for Chicken Tortellini Soup.  Delicious!  I hope you enjoy it, too!

So, I thought I’d look for some recipes to try in the soup department.  So, I google “everything soup”.  A few hits came for recipes called “everything soup”.  I didn’t even look at them because as you know, I am a picky eater.  It is doubtful that I will eat or like most of the items in a soup called “everything soup”.  However, I will be scanning All Recipes website and the Food Network site today for new recipes to try.

I will also make Green & White Lightning Chicken Chili this month because it is still one of my FAVORITE soups.  Which is odd, considering it contains green salsa and jalapeno peppers….two foods I would never try on their own or maybe ever again.  Speaking of chili, if you are thinking of whipping up some fantastic chilis this month, why not invite some friends, neighbors, or co-workers over for a “Chili Weather Get Together”.  Hubby and I did that a few years ago and it was a lot of fun.  Hoping to do it again this year.

And the last thing I need to mention is that we tried a new Potato Soup this week for my Quest.  The verdict to come next week.  I hope you can stand the anticipation.

Have a great weekend!

Interesting reads from around the blogosphere:

**I love this post on  iheartpublix about saving money on produce.  I learned so much from this post and even if you don’t have a Publix, there are still good tips for you too.

**Once a Month Mom referred to this in one of the parts in her series on Creating You Own Once a Month Menu Plan.  It is a chart of the sales cycles.  I’ve seen these before, but this one has a link at the bottom that sends you to a forum with monthly detailed lists.   It is a great resource.

**Tip about storing food in the freezer from Cents to Get Debt Free.

**Ever heard the term “food storage”?  I stumbled on this site and thought it was fascinating!  It’s all about emergency preparedness and creating a storage of non perishable food that could last you awhile if there were a catastrophic event.

Happy Reading!  Let me know what you think!