Iron Chef Mom Challenge

March 8th, 2007

Meredith, over at Like Merchant Ships, emailed me to tell me how much she has enjoyed my new blog. For her though, Aldi Supermarket is a bit of a hike and she believes that she can do just as well by buying the loss leaders at her local grocery stores and planning her menu around the sale options. She decided to offer up a friendly challenge and see who could save the most money, an Aldi Shopper or a Sales Shopper. I told her I was up for the challenge and am excited to see how well we both can do.
The game will begin this Monday and I will be posting my meals each day, but include a daily total for the day versus the weekly totals that I normally do. I will also include some tips for shopping on that particular day, as part of the challenge. Meredith will also be doing the same thing on her blog and I will include a link to her entry too.

Here are the rules of the game:

I will purchase everything from Aldi Supermarket.

Meredith will be doing a freestyle menu with no coupons and only using the grocery sales current from that week. She will not be using any items from her stockpile, only items purchased that week.

A daily breakdown will be given each day. The breakdown will include the menu, recipe, and cost breakdown.

The menu will serve four people. In larger recipes, we will be adjusting the cost to estimate a four person meal, or split the cost if one meal actually will be used in two different ways.

The menu will include a main dish and sides. Desserts and drinks will not be included in this challenge.

Staple ingredients under a ½ cup are “negligible,” for example in the case of flour, sugar, salt or pepper. Otherwise, these will be figured in as price per ounce and multiplied by the number of ounces used.

There will be a wrap-up at the end of the week and you, as readers, can feel free to critique our strategies, or offer up some of your own strategies.

Just for the record, I do want to say that this is just a fun and friendly competition. The idea behind it is not to see who will do better than the other, but more to share techniques for two different ways to shop. Both of these options do not require any coupon cutting and will show you ways that you can plan affordable meals for your family using two other types of techniques.

We are both very excited to be doing this contest and our families are excited to be eating so well this week.

Thanks to Meredith for posing such a great challenge! I hope that it will be as much fun for you as it is for us!

Amy’s Notebook 03.08.2007

March 8th, 2007

I thought I would share a few of my favorite posts for this week…

Get Rich Slowly has a great article called, “An Introduction to Making Money Selling Digital Photography” authored by one of their readers, Mike Panic. There are a lot of really excellent tips in this post on how to decide whether or not this could be a good business for you to try.

Instructables has a neat post on how to make homemade laundry detergent. One thing that I truly love about this site is the photo tutorials, as this can be particularly helpful to those of us who are visual learners. I love the pink soap that was chosen, however any Ivory soap will do.
This is one of my projects on my to-do list.

One Money Dummy Getting Smarter has a great post on what her goals for life really are and how others achievements make her feel because her goals are so different. It is beautiful and heartfelt- I adore this post!

Home Ec 101 has some great tips for getting the bottoms of your pots looking shiny & new again.

One Hour Craft shares a new tutorial on how to make a super cute hand puppet with the kids. These are really cute, and according to One Hour Craft, highly addictive!

Paper Palate shares a review of Ina Garten’s Double Chocolate Layer Cake and how to decide whether or not to make a boxed cake mix or the real deal.

Scribbit shares a how-to for making Sugar Easter Eggs. These are absolutely beautiful!

The Frugal Duchess shares some ways to see those Broadway shows for absolutely nothing.

Frugal for Life shares 30+ ways to save a dollar a day. There are loads of great tips in this post!

The Simple Dollar shares some spring cleaning tips and ways you can clean your house with cheap homemade cleaners. Lots of great recipes and ideas are in this post!

Creamy Chicken Burritos

March 8th, 2007
Creamy Chicken Burritos (Serves Four to Six)

3 chicken breast halves cooked and cubed
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
1 Cup Salsa
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 15 oz can pinto beans drained
1 ½ Cup shredded cheddar cheese
6 flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Add cream cheese and salsa to large sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until cheese is melted and blended with salsa. Add garlic, beans and chicken. Mix well. Fill tortillas, roll up and place in baking dish. Mixture will be a bit runny so be careful not to burn yourself filling tortillas. Sprinkle burritos with cheese, cover with foil and bake 20 minutes.
Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with the rest of the salsa & tortilla chips

Fun Ideas for This Meal:

Make a Mexican topping bar with all of your favorite toppings (sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, & salsa). Each family member can dress their burrito in their own special way. Yet another great way to get some veggies on their plates!

A yummy chip dip can be made by simply blending one brick of softened cream cheese with a jar of salsa. Blend with your hand mixer and serve with the tortilla chips. If you are in a time crunch, simply pour the salsa over the brick of cream cheese and serve with a spoon.

Scalloped Potatoes With Ham

March 8th, 2007

I am posting two recipes that we actually did not eat this week. I have had strep throat the past two days so I haven’t been cooking like I had hoped. I will be back to cooking again today though, but here are two dinner ideas in the meantime!

Slow Cooker Night: Scalloped Potatoes with Ham
Serves Six

3 lbs potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups chopped cooked ham
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Place potatoes in slow cooker. Mix cheese with ham. Mix with potatoes. Mix together soup and water. Add garlic powder and spices to taste. Pour over potato mixture. Cover, cook on high 4 hours.

*This can also be cooked in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours.*

Makes four servings.

Serve with a tossed salad & bake-off biscuits.

Amy’s Tips

Make sure those potatoes are sliced thinner than thin or you will have uncooked potatoes in this dish. If you can’t get them thinly sliced (maybe you are knife deficient like me?) then diced small will also work well.

Thrift Store Finds

March 8th, 2007

Earlier this week, I went to the thrift store and found a couple of great things for our house.

The first item I found was a small bench. It was covered in a shiny & very ugly polyester, which was frayed and torn. The pictures of this fabric don’t do it justice. It was much more hideous in real life than what is pictured here. The piece itself was really nice though so for ten dollars, I took it home and got to recover it. I still had some fabric leftover from when we recovered our dining chairs so I used some of that. The vinyl is nice because it could easily be wiped off, which is important in a house with a four year old and a one year old.

Originally I had planned to put it near our front door, but the sizing didn’t seem right. I think a bench larger than that needs to be there, but we did have a corner in our bathroom that I had been trying to decide what to do with. I had one of my dining chairs down there and when we needed it for company, I would have to walk downstairs to get it and haul it up. The bench seemed to fit perfectly and I love the worn legs on it and how well it goes with the decor in our bathroom.

I also ran across these beautiful table linens. Now that you all are aware of my table linens obsession, you can imagine how excited I was about this! I had no idea if the tablecloth was the right size, but I was willing to take a gamble on it for $2. It had six napkins at a quarter a piece, and it is very rare to find a tablecloth and napkins all together in a matching set. I also found a few vintage floral-printed napkins too, all in various colors.

I washed the linens and placed them on the table. The tablecloth is a beautiful baby blue and it is soft just like a blanket. When washed, I did notice a small spot in the center, but it could easily be disguised with a napkin centerpiece. One of the floral napkins was perfect for resting our centerpiece on it. Do you happen to recognize this centerpiece?

I am always amazed at what one can find in their local thrift store!

Fighting The Continous Battle of the Cheerios

March 6th, 2007

I have no idea how I ended up with such a messy kid, but my daughter is the messiest eater ever. She has grown accustomed to dumping a plate of pasta on her head and throwing dishes in protest. Her main protest is that she wants to be removed from her high chair. When this kid wants out of her high chair…She. Means.. Right. This. Second. Not a moment less than that!

Every day I bust out my Shark Cordless Sweeper and go to town cleaning up the mess. That sweeper has been a Godsend to a mother who doesn’t have the energy (or inclination) to whip out her sweeper four times a day.

Imagine my dismay when my two year-old Shark decided to stop working. I figured it might need to recharge so we plugged it in. For two days. Nothing happened…and so I began the quest to find a replacement.

I love cordless sweepers, but the fact is, very few are made very well. If you look on Amazon, you will usually find a bunch of unhappy reviews about cordless sweepers. It just doesn’t seem like anyone can get it right.

Determined to replace our old sweeper, I headed over to Target and pulled every single sweeper down. I pushed it around through the aisle (Yes, I do know this is weird) to test the weight of them and the design. I read through all of the descriptions on the boxes and aisle tags. After careful reading and buzzing through the aisle like a maniac, I made my choice. My mind settled upon the Dirt Devil Vibe Cordless Sweeper.

It needed to charge overnight and I couldn’t wait until I could test run this. Lucky for me, my daughter is a willing participant and she just let me have at it today. She threw her plate and tossed crumbs, her mashed sandwich, and a hundred Cheerios all over the floor.

This sweeper has two settings- the carpet or the hardwood setting. To be perfectly honest, I find the carpet setting worked best in both location so I just used that setting rather than switching back and forth.

I zoomed over to Emily’s high chair and watched in amazement as it scooped everything up. I have included before and after pictures (please ignore the fact that my hardwood is in need of a good cleaning!) of what the results were.

All in all, I am really happy with this purchase and I am hoping that this sweeper lasts me a little longer than the last one. The cost on it (currently) at Target was $49.99.

If you are thinking about purchasing a cordless sweeper, I have a couple of suggestions for you:

1. You will be much happier with whatever you are purchasing if you can test drive it. Borrow one from a friend or just take them through a spin in the aisle. It would be ideal if you could use it, but if you can’t just try pushing it around to see if it glides easily.

2. Pick a store that has a good return policy. I knew that Target is pretty good about returns, so I picked that store. In the case of the Shark, I read a story of one lady who had went through three in a month so it is good that the return policy would allow her to do that.

3. Online stores are great and might have more affordable pricing on these, but the pure and simple fact is, if it is defective or you just plain hate it, you have to ship that back. Who wants to be running a sweeper over to the post office? Physical stores are better in this case.

4. Sometimes extras (which cost extra) aren’t worth it. Stick to the basic functions and look for ones that offer the best sweeper for your money.

5. Just like all things, the highest price does not make it the best. Some of the higher priced models had a lot less power than the one I purchased.

Do you have a cordless sweeper? What has been your experience with these?

Italian Turkey Burgers & Italian Spiced Oven Fries

March 6th, 2007

Italian Turkey BurgersItalian Turkey Burgers
Courtesy of Taste of Home Magazine.
Makes Four Patties

1/4 cup spaghetti sauce
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pound ground turkey
4 buns (use leftover buns from when you had the Chicken BBQ)
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (meatless variety)

In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Curmble turkey over mixture and mix well. Shape into four 3/4-in.-thick oval shaped patties. Coat grill rack with nonstick cooking spray before starting the grill. Grill patties, uncovered, over medium heat for six to eight minutes on each side or until meat is no longer pink. Place each patty on a bun and top with spaghetti sauce.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals 306 calories, 12 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 92 mg cholesterol, 680 mg sodium, 24 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 25 g protien. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1-1/2 starch, 1 fat.

(Amy’s Notes- I prepared these on my indoor grill. The patty is very delicate so you have to be careful when flipping these to make sure that they don’t fall apart. If you are worried, you could throw in a handful of bread crumbs to keep them together. These taste like a giant meatball!)

Italian Spiced Oven Fries

Prepare the oven fries as directed, but this time spice them up with 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1-2 tsp oregano. These could be dipped in the sauce, but we just served them with a generous shake of Parmesan cheese.

A Tutorial On Painting Kitchen Cabinets

March 6th, 2007

We are going to be refinishing our cabinets and I happened upon this great tutorial on how to update them. Has anyone had any experience in this? Have any tips to share?

Calculating Nutrition

March 6th, 2007

I originally had planned to include a nutritional analysis of the foods posted, but due to time constraints, I am not able to keep up with both the blogs, the website, moderating the forum, and writing articles for the site & other publications. Something had to give, and the inputting of each recipe into the nutritional software is what is going to have to be put off for now. I hope everyone can understand!

If you are interested in calculating the information yourself, the program that I purchased is the Shop ‘N Cook Software. It is an excellent program for creating grocery lists & storing your recipes. It also computes the nutritional analysis on each of the recipes.  They do offer a free 45 day trial and the cost for the program is $34.95.

I will continue to provide nutritional information for the recipes that are already stored in the software, but newer recipes may not include this information.

Thanks, everyone!

Worthy of a Double Post: Chocolate Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Frosting

March 5th, 2007


I know that I have posted these over on my other blog, but these were just too good not to post here too. After watching an episode of Barefoot Contessa, I was inspired to make a batch of these cupcakes. I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand to make her recipe, but I was able to dig up these recipes from Recipezaar.com to create something similar.

These cupcakes were chocolate cupcakes, but they do not have a rich chocolate flavor. If you wanted a really chocolaty treat, you could add an additional amount of cocoa powder.

What sets this cupcake apart from other cupcakes, is this amazing peanut butter frosting. I could have licked the bowl and skipped the cupcakes altogether. It is just so heavenly and light!

I am going to be mixing up the dry ingredients for these to have on hand just like I have my other mixes in our cupboard. These will be great for a last minute treat or for those countless potlucks & school functions we have. Just mix up your dry ingredients and write the wet ingredients and baking temperatures on the outside of the bag.

I hope you can enjoy this sweet treat!

Easy One-Bowl Milk Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes
Courtesy of Recipezaar.com

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa (sifted)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 cup milk or half-and-half cream
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup salad oil (use Canola or vegetable oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Set oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 regular size muffin tin with paper liners.
In a medium-size mixing bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, sifted baking cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon (if using); mix with a wooden spoon to combine.
In a two-cup measuring cup or bowl whisk together the milk, egg, oil and vanilla.
Add the milk/egg mixture to the dry ingredients; mix very well with a wooden spoon to combine well. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Divide the batter evenly between the lined muffin tins. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (don’t overbake!). Cool, and frost with favorite frosting

Peanut Butter Frosting
Courtesy of Recipezaar.com

1/2 cup peanut butter, smooth
5 tablespoons margarine, softened
1 cup powdered sugar (or more, to taste)
1-3 tablespoon milk (only if needed to thin) (optional)

Beat butters together with electric mixer, add sugar. If too thick, add a little milk.