Friday Finds - Coupons, Recipes & Contests

Happy Friday! Here are some weekly finds for 3/4/11

MANUFACTURER WEBSITE COUPONS
Wheaties $1.00 off Wheaties Fuel Cereal
Special K Cereal $8.00 in a variety of coupons
Alaway Eye Drops $4.00


DAILY DEAL
BuyWithMe is offering an awesome online deal (go to Dallas or Los Angeles for link) - $39 gets you a 16x20 gallery- or museum-wrapped canvas and a 5x7 mini canvas roll of the same image ($104 value). 5 days left for deal. Click here to view.



RECIPE CONTEST
Post Natural cereals is holding a recipe contest for all you cooks out there. You can win a $1,000 prize. Hurry - deadline for submission is 3/17/11. Click here for online entry form.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

APPLESAUCE BRAN CEREAL MUFFINS

Here's a quick and simple muffin recipe that contains only 140 calories! You might be surprised to find that you already have most of these ingredients in your cupboard. Click here for recipe.



Have a great weekend!

~

Feeding Your Family For Less

Meat First...Recipe Second!

I recently purchased a nice family-size pack of sirloin at my local Kroger market. For those who have a Kroger (Fry’s) market (or any other local market for that matter), do try to take advantage of their weekly meat special. The past four weeks I have purchased one family size pack of whatever has been on sale – sirloin, corned beef, pot roast (chuck), etc., and have saved over $56! That buys a lot more groceries. Unless you have a special occasion or dinner party to break out a particular recipe for, try to do your weekly cooking in reverse — buy the meat special first, find the recipe second.

I was able to find a quick fajita recipe from Pillsbury for my sirloin that I bought this week. I have 3 lbs, so 1/2 will be used for this, and I’ll be on the lookout for a second recipe for the other half.


Click here for this simple Chipotle-Beef Fajita recipe





Take Advantage of Ingredients On Hand

Another easy way to save money, thanks to the internet, is to use your search engine to type in ingredients you may have on hand. It so happens that I have cream cheese and a cake mix in my cupboard, and by entering those two key words into the search, I found this yummy sounding cake. Not tried yet, so no guarantees, but I’ll get back to you once I’ve made it.
From Recipe Lion, Simple Gooey Butter Cake

Quick Recipe – Slow Cooking: Southwestern Chicken

When the boss has piled more work on your desk than you can handle, sometimes taking the time to cook meals can add to the stress when all you want to do is relax when you get home. Here is a very simple crockpot recipe that should help. It’s one of my son’s favorites. And instead of the suggested chicken? Try using the leftover turkey or ham!

Easy Southwestern Chicken (serves 4)

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 cup salsa (thick works best)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz)

In a crockpot, layer beans, corn, 1/2 c. salsa, chicken breasts and top with the last 1/2 c. salsa. Cook on high for 3 hours. Slice cream cheese and layer on top of other ingredients. Cook 1 hour longer. When done, gently blend cream cheese with the other ingredients. Serve over rice, noodles or tortillas.

I am a big fan of crockpot recipes — in the winter to provide comfort food and delightful kitchen smells, and in the summer to keep the house cool while cooking.

Do you have any simple crockpot recipes you’d like to share?

Disclaimer: I do not remember who sent this recipe to me years ago, but I have seen several versions of it on the internet. If you are the rightful creator please let me know so I can give credit where it is due!