Red Plum and Smart Source Recipe Inspirations-7/11

To skip my commentary, scroll down to the recipes written in bold.

If you are like me, you might feel disappointed with this Sunday's coupon inserts. Each week I learn new things about the couponing game. Lesson learned-not every insert has a ton of food coupons that you will actually use!

I read an article recently about the top US cities for couponing. Apparently there are pockets of the country which have a larger number of Penny Pinchers than others. In the article, research shows that those who coupon actually spend $4 more per month than their non-coupon counterparts. What? So what's a tight wad to do? After all, if my only option for using coupons is to buy hearing aid batteries and Pepcid AC, what's the point?

This is where the bigger coupon lesson comes into play: saving money using coupons requires long term planning and organization. Each week, cut out any coupon you think you might use, either that week, or in the future. Some weeks, you'll cut out a lot. Some weeks, you'll find the "Refrigerated" tab is bursting at it's seams in the mini-expandable file, while all other categories are almost empty. Don't lose heart!

The trick comes from watching weekly sales. I may feel like I can't make any great meals based off of what's available from the Sunday paper's Red Plum and Smart Source insert. Put I'm thinking too small. I do most of my shopping at Hy-Vee and Aldi, so I wait until Wednesday to plan my weekly menu because Wednesday is when Hy-Vee changes their specials. There may be a sale for something that I have a coupon for from 3 weeks ago! Save those coupons! Sure, you may be well stocked on Yoplait yogurt cups right now, but in 3 weeks, you may not. The coupon will most likely still be usable,  and there may be a store sale for that yogurt. I'll say it again: Save those coupons!

Now, all that to say, some of you are part Penny Pinchers and part Yuppies.  I'll call this breed Pinchies. You enjoy the thrill of getting a discount, but you may have the means to pay for it at full price anyways, and some weeks all you have time for is the actual coupon clipping itself. You are the kind of person that can head to the store with a fistfull of coupons, and no real menu. That's ok! If this is you, then here is my recommendation for a few recipe ideas for this week:

**Note: All coupons mentioned below are from the 7/11/2010 Red Plum or Smart Source insert in your local  Sunday paper.

Going to a party?
If you are hosting a party, or headed to one and need a dish to bring, make the classic Little Smokies appetizer. Heat up some sausage links in a crock pot and drizzle a good amount of your favorite bar-b-q sauce. This week there is a coupon for $.55 off any 1 package off Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage links.   

From Scratch Items
For some reason, there is a fair amount of butter coupons this week. I also found a coupon for $.45 off any Daisy Cottage Cheese tub. Butter and cottage cheese. Butter and cottage cheese. What can you do with butter and cottage cheese?

Cottage Cheese Bread (Bread Machine recipe)

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Add the ingredients to your bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer, and start. You can use up to 1/2 cup more bread flour if the dough seems too sticky.  


Cottage Cheese Pancakes 

• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• cooking spray 

Combine cottage cheese, flour, oil, and eggs in a large bowl Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/3 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side. 

Amazing what you can do with cottage cheese! The pancakes could be a meal idea-every kid loves it when Mom says that it's "Breakfast for dinner" night!


Yogurt Parfaits 
Use one of the many Yoplait yogurt coupons to make a yummy parfait. Just add blueberries and granola, or your choice of fruit.


Main dish 
Use the HIllshire farm $.55 off any 1 package of Deli Select Hearty Slices Lunchmeat for this recipe:

Tortellini and Ham in Cream Sauce

• 2 (9 ounce) packages refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup cubed fully cooked ham (cut deli meat into slices-works the same!)
• 1 3/4 cups whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
• Shredded Parmesan cheese
• Dash of sugar
• Dash of garlic salt/parsley combination

Drain tortellini and put back in pot. Stir in sliced ham, cream, butter, Parmesan cheese, sugar and garlic mixture; heat through. 

This would make it a heavy carb meal, but, you can also serve Rhodes Warm-N-Serve rolls. The coupon from this weeks insert is for $1 off.
Tomorrow I'll be posting recipe ideas inspired by Hy-Vee deals and coupon match ups. If I'm feeling brave, I might attempt another store. Any suggestions? What stores are your area that you need help matching up coupons with good recipes?

Hy-Vee Weekly Match Ups 7/7-7/13

Click here to see the Hy-Vee Weekly Match Ups.


And here are my recipe recommendations:

Salsa Verde Chicken Wraps
Use this link or this link to view the recipe.
4 of the 7 ingredients are ON SALE this week!

• Hy-Vee sour cream- .$.50 with coupon from last week's ad.
• Tyson Grilled Chicken Strips, 2/4$
• Green bell peppers-$.50 each (recipe calls for red peppers, replace with green for a cheaper meal!)
• Avocados are on sale for $1.50 (and honestly, I think I saw them cheaper recently so this price might not be right)

Total Spent: $6
You'll need to make sure you have lettuce and tortillas on hand as well, or head to Aldi to get them even cheaper!


BLT's-A Summer Classic
All but the tomatoes are on sale this week!

• Earthbound Farm Organic Iceberg Lettuce Heads-$1.48 (or you can use the .99$ non organic head of lettuce)
• Farmland Sliced Bacon 12 - 16 oz. or 2.1 oz. fully cooked $2.98
• Hy-Vee Split Top Wheat bread-$.99

Total Spent: $5.46
Make sure you have tomatoes on hand. Serve with $.97 California Green Seedless Grapes or Kandy Honeydew Melons on sale for $1.99 each. I always love chips with my BLT's too!


Loaded Potatoes
This meal should cost close to nothing because you are combining ingredients from other meals!

• 2 for $1 Butter Kernal Corn ( 14.5 or 15 oz can)

As long as you have potatoes, shredded cheese, salt and butter on hand you are set to go! Just make as many baked potatoes as your family needs, then place the following ingredients in small bowls to load those potatoes:

• Crumbled, cooked bacon (left over from BLT)
• Chopped peppers (left over from Salsa Verde Chicken Wraps)
• Corn (see above)
• Sour cream (left over from Salsa Verde Chicken Wraps)
• Chopped white onion (I'm assuming this is something most will have on hand)
• Shredded cheese

Total Spent: $1
Keep eating healthy by using all of that fruit you are buying on sale this week!

Recipe-Coupon Match Up-June 23-June 30

Here's my first week of making meals based on what I have in my cupboards and fridge, plus items on sale combined with coupons. Remember, I'll be shopping at Hy-Vee and Aldi for these items. You can follow along and make these meals using the same coupons, or just make the recipes without! Let's see how little I can spend!

Menu:
Tuesday-Broccoli Ham Ring served with lettuce salad
Wednesday-Lasagna served with lettuce salad and garlic crescent rolls
Thursday-Broccoli and Chicken in Noodles, side of Fruit
Friday-Grilled hamburgers and hot dogs with baked beans and chips
Saturday-I'm out of town with the kids so Hubby will enjoy the lasagna leftovers!
Sunday-Still out of town for lunch, but I'll probably do homemade pizza for supper.
Monday-Scalloped potatoes and Ham with frozen veggies

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GROCERY LISTS

Hy-Vee(Only using Sunday paper coupons or printable coupons. If the bottom line price is still more expensive then Aldi's, I will NOT buy the item at Hy-Vee. I'll wait until I head to Aldi)

• 2 cans refridgerated crescent rolls-$1 off 3 Pillsbury (use 3rd as side dish on lasagna day)
• Cottage cheese-.50 off 24 oz. Roberts dairy(will use in broccoli ham ring and lasagna)
• Cooked ham-$1 off 2 packages of cubed turkey or ham (Farmland), or $1 off Farmland select ham
• 1 lb sausage- $1 off Odom's Tennesse Pride sausage plus ground beef (You'll use that ground beef on Friday!)
• Hot dogs-$1 off Oscar Meyer package
• Yogurt-I have a bunch of printable coupons. This is just for our general snack food.
• Sugar-$2 off when you buy 10 Kool-aid packets. I've been wanting lemonaid and now I'll have it!
• Pepperoni slices

Aldi:

• 2 Broccoli crowns(use in Tuesday's and Thursday's meal)
• Onions (Broccoli Ham ring, and I'm out and usually have these on hand)
• Lasagna noodles
• Tomato paste(Lasagna)
• Parmesan cheese(Lasagna and Alfredo Sauce)
• Eggs(Lasagna and general use)
• Lettuce(I love serving salads with my meals if you can't tell!)
• Cream cheese(Alfredo sauce)
• Hot Dog buns
• Cheese(mozzarella for lasagna as I used my last on Broccoli Ham Ring-I'll shred it myself!)
• Potatoes(Monday's meal and general use-I'm out!)
• Butter(General use)
• Grapes(General use)
• Chips and snack items we're out of

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RECIPES

Broccoli Ham Ring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium size bowl, mix the following:

• 1 cup cooked meat (ham, turkey or chicken)


• 1 cup chopped broccoli


• 1/4 cup chopped onion


• 1/3 cup cottage cheese


• 8 oz shredded cheese (I'm using mozzarella this time)


• 1 tsp of dry mustard or just squirt in some regular mustard like I usually do


• Squirt of lemon juice or squeeze some out of a lemon


• 1 tsp parsley

Open 2 cans of refridgerated crescent rolls. Roll out triangles in a circle so the widest end faces the middle of the baking stone. They will overlap each other. Using scoop or 2 spoons, carefully place the ham/broccoli mix evenly around ring. Fold over pointy ends of the triangles and tuck under the wide ends. Sprinkle a bit of dill weed on top and put in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. Serves 2-4 adults.

Recipe from my mother-in-law via Pampered Chef.

Lasagna with salad and garlic bread

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brown meat, drain. Add onion, garlic and cook a few minutes more. Stir in tomatoes and paste, water, salt and oregano. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Stir occasionaly. In other dish, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley. Grease 9x13 pan. Put noodles on bottom layer. Spread 1/2 of cottage cheese mixture, 1/2 of mozzarella, and 1/2 of meat sauce. Repeat. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, then uncovered for another 30 minutes.

Recipe from my mother-in-law, tweeked by me.

Broccoli and Chicken in Noodles

• Boil water for noodles and follow package directions.


• Cut chicken breasts in bite size pieces then place in skillet with oil. Sprinkle your favorite herbs (I'll be using thyme, rosemary and basil) on chicken as they cook.


• Steam broccoli.


• Make alfredo sauce last: 1 stick butter, 1 8 oz. cream cheese, 1/4 c. milk, 2/3 Parmesan cheese. Melt butter and cream cheese. Wisk until smooth. Add Parmesan cheese and milk and whisk til smooth. Serve immediately. Thickens quickly!


• You can either leave the broccoli as a side dish, or mix it in with the chicken and noodles.

Alfredo recipe from Jenny Kuphal.

Grilled hamburgers and hot dogs with baked beans

I think you know what to do with burgers and hot dogs! Make your favorite baked beans recipe.

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

5 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 quart heavy cream (I always use milk)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place the potatoes, onion, garlic, Cheddar cheese, and ham in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Gently stir until well combined. Pour the cream over the potato mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven until the potatoes are tender, about 1 hour.

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I'll let you know if I can do all of this for under 50$! If anyone tries this same menu, let me know how much you spent. I'll shoot for another coupon/recipe match up next week too and try and cut my grocery bill even slimmer!