Coconut Blueberry Muffin in A Mug

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It’s about time for a recipe around here.  And there’s nothing like a contest with a $2000 prize to motivate a little cooking :).  We sure could use the money on our kitchen project, but the lack of a kitchen makes testing recipes more of a challenge.  Ah, who doesn’t like a challenge?

I was hungry for a healthy snack this week while working on the menus.  As part of my job, I look at hundreds of pictures of food.  And it makes me hungry.  Even if I’m stuffed, 5 minutes of looking at gorgeous yummy pictures will convince me that I’m starving.

This little muffin filled me up and let me focus on working and had a nice healthy nutritional profile as a bonus.

With blueberries as the main ingredient, it’s full of antioxidants. It’s also dairy free, gluten free, sugar free and low carb. Has a good amount of protein.  And is ready in just 2 minutes. Are you in love yet?

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Coconut Blueberry Muffin in A Mug

Coconut Blueberry Muffin in A Mug

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbs Coconut Flour
  • 2 Tbs Almond Flour
  • 1 Tbs Coconut flakes (opt.)
  • Dash of pure stevia extract (like nunaturals) or 2 packets of truvia
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp coconut oil (up to 1 Tbs)
  • 2-3 Tbs milk or water
  • 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Instructions

  1. Combine everything in a large greased coffee mug, stirring in the blueberries last.
  2. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, or just until the center is set. Do not over cook.
  3. Serve with a dollop of coconut whipped cream or cream cheese frosting.
https://www.groceryshrink.com/coconut-blueberry-muffin-in-a-mug/

P.S.  Today is the last day to use your 50% off coupon for Freezer Week and Mix Week

 

 

Ever Been Overwhelmed?

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The feeling your eight year old self got when Mom said, “Go clean your room?” The feeling you get when you pick up the kids from school and realize it’s ballet night, soccer night, and your turn to provide snacks, and you still aren’t sure what’s for dinner?

The feeling you get when 2 foundation companies concur that 23 piers not 15 are necessary to repair your house and that the bad news you thought would cost you $20,000 is really going to cost you $30,000. You know, stuff like that.

Do you want to cook healthy, affordable food at home, that your family will love but have other things to  think about too?

Do mixes and frozen prepared foods sometimes fill in the gap on the table?  And while the family seems to love them, they come with a side serving of guilt?

I’ve got the perfect thing for you!

Focus on a small boy-dinner was in progress.

First of all, no more feeling guilty for providing food that allows your family to sit down and eat together.  It doesn’t matter what the food is, family dinner is a win!

But there’s more. Two of the menus from my popular Grocery Shrink Plus program are dedicated to helping you fill your pantry and freezer with healthy homemade mixes and pre-made meals.

Everyone needs some simplicity once in a while. You can give that gift to future you!

Introducing:  Mix Week and Freezer Week!

Each week includes recipes for homemade mixes or freezer recipes that you prepare to use right away and enough to use again in the future, saving time and giving you peace of mind.

What you’ll get:

  • • More than 27 recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks
  • • Adjustments for gluten free, dairy free and weight loss
  • • A categorized shopping list
  • • A one page week at a glance menu
  • • A one page action plan at a glance—never forgot to turn on your slow cooker again!
  • • Recipes pre-adjusted for servings of 2, 4, 8, or 12
  • • Bonus sections with homemade recipes for commonly used items like pitas and spice mixes
  • • A taste of what GSP subscribers get EVERY week.  We’d love to have you join us!

Each weekly plan will eventually run $5 each, but for a limited time:

Buy them both and save 50% With the coupon code: 23Piers

EXPIRES NOVEMBER 11, 2013

$10

$5

Add to Cart

 

It’s a foundation repair fund raiser sale.  Buy now!  Our sanity thanks you 🙂

Pumpkin Everything Is Here

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I’ve had a lot of pumpkin type of recipes on my blog over the years, including:

 

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

(Last year a gray pumpkin gave us the best flavor–sweet like  a melon and darkest color.)

We still have a freezer full of gorgeous puree.  It’s no longer recommended to home can pumpkin, so freezing is the way to go.

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Pumpkin Sugar Cookie Cutouts

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Easy Pumpkin Cake

 

 

Pumpkin Bagels–These are the BEST

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

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Pumpkin Granola

Pumpkin Donuts (no special pan needed)

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I also have a Pumpkin Recipe Ebook:  Called Perfectly Pumpkin with these recipes and many more of our favorites like pumpkin biscotti, chili, oatmeal, smoothies and more!

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Mac

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I can’t wait to tell you about this recipe!  Sunday, I stayed home from church to kick the last bit of an infection, but still needed to have lunch on the table for 8 of us (and a young guest.) So around 8 am, I snuck up to our attic kitchen and threw 2 (24 oz) cans of spaghetti sauce, 1 frozen 2 lb log of lean ground beef, and a cup of water (which I used to rinse out the sauce cans) in a large oval slow cooker on high.  Then back to bed for me.

At 11:30, I took the lid off, and smashed the now cooked beef into crumbles with the back of a fork.  (A potato masher would have been handy…but which box did I pack that in?)  (The beef had taken on all the yummy flavors of the sauce.) And stirred in 1 lb of dry macaroni noodles.  Then I replaced the lid and waited for the family to come home.

Darren found some lettuce, cottage cheese and pineapple to make it look something like a meal.  But oh, that spaghetti mac was yummy. We had 1 serving left over and I packed it into a lunch kit for a lucky child.  I’m going to say this serves 8-10 of a mixed age and gender family or 6 growing boys.

I imagine this recipe would work with gluten free noodles, or low carb Dreamfields pasta too. The pasta shape is important though.  Full size macaroni takes longer to cook than thin spaghetti which would have turned to mush in the crock.

Oh the bliss of not thawing meat or standing over hamburger browning in the skillet.  Imagine it, you pregnant ladies who can’t stand the smell of cooking meat!  Imagine it, you busy working mom’s or homeschoolers who don’t have an extra moment in the day.  This is a life changer.

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Slow Cooker Spaghetti Mac

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Mac

Ingredients

  • 2 cans 24 oz each of spaghetti sauce
  • 2 lbs uncooked ground beef
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 lb of macaroni shaped pasta, uncooked

Instructions

  1. in a large slow cooker combine the sauce, water (use it to rinse your cans first), and ground beef. Cook on high for 3-4 hours.
  2. Smash beef with a fork or potato masher until it is crumbled.
  3. Stir in pasta and cook for 1 hour longer or until pasta is tender and sauce is quite thick.
https://www.groceryshrink.com/slow-cooker-spaghett-mac/

Skillet Shepherd’s Pie

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Monday, I came home from my teacher meetings (Which were amazingly wonderful for reals.  It is very possible that I have the best job in the world.) And Darren met me at the door with a huge silly grin on his face.  Then he grabbed me and swung me around and said, “How was YOUR day?”  As if he wanted me to ask, “How was YOUR day?” Right back.

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Heather’s official birthday is tomorrow–the first day of school. So she ate on a leftover plate from Darren’s party.

So I did.  And guess what?!  Yep.  Our kitchen passed inspection and we got the thumbs up to put up dry wall.  So Wednesday after my last round of teacher meetings, we hooked up the utility trailer and bought 12 huge sheets of drywall.  They are stacked in my kitchen right now waiting for Saturday’s installation :).

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So when do we eat?

 

 

So along with this great news is a super easy recipe for you.  It’s perfect for an emergency speedy family dinner–and works even if you only have an electric skillet and microwave to cook in. If you want to reduce the carbs use the glucomannan option and top the dish with parmesan mashed cauliflower instead.  If you have extra time and a kitchen, you can top it with real mashed potatoes instead of instant.

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Skillet Shepherd’s Pie

Skillet Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Beef Broth
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 lb frozen vegetables
  • 1 Tbs glucomannan powder or 2 Tbs corn starch
  • 2 cups instant potato flakes
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 Tbs butter
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar blend cheese

Instructions

  1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef and drain (I used my frozen bulk cooked ground beef from the slower cooker.)
  2. Stir in broth (whisked with glucomannan or corn starch); and frozen veggies
  3. Cook and stir until thickened. Turn heat down to warm.
  4. Meanwhile, heat water, milk, salt and butter together (I used the microwave.) Then stir in potato flakes and 1 cup cheese.
  5. Top beef mixture with cheesy potatoes and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with a lid for 3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with tossed salad.
https://www.groceryshrink.com/skillet-shepherds-pie/

 

Bulk Cooking: Slow Cooked Ground Beef

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As the weeks drag on without a kitchen, I’m starting to loose it a little.  Our project was delayed in an unforeseen scheduling conflict with one of our professionals and our finish date is two months in the future…..sigh.  But when it’s all said and done it will be worth it.

Part of holding it together, is making sure my family still eats while sticking to our tiny food budget, which DH lovingly raised to $500 a month (for the 8 of us) at least while our kitchen project drags on.  This allows me to buy a few more convenience items to make meal prep in our alternative kitchen space a little easier.

“If only I had a bunch of cooked up ground beef in the freezer!” I thought to myself last week.  That would make life so much better.  So I did a search on all the ways to cook large batches of ground beef–only I don’t have a stove, so it can’t use a wok, lol.

Finally I decided to try it in the slow cooker.  And it worked, beautifully–though until the very end I was sure I had wasted 6 lbs of meat.  Here’s how it played out.

I unwrapped three 2 lb logs of frozen ground beef and stuck them into the slow cooker.  Then I added 6 cups of water, because I wanted beef broth.  To make the broth and hamburger taste good, I added 2 finely chopped onions; 1 Tbs of salt; 1 tsp of garlic salt; and 1/2 tsp black pepper.

The lid wouldn’t close.  No worries.  I covered it as well as I could and cooked in on low overnight.  After about an hour, I could push the lid down.  That made me feel better.

In the morning I had 3 logs of cooked hamburger–oh no!  I was hoping for it to form crumbles automatically while I slept. But the broth looked delicious.

I chopped up the meat into huge chunks and then used a colander and bowl system to drain out the broth.

It had great color and smelled amazing.  I was surprised what little fat hardened on the top after it cooled.  This was grass fed beef direct from the farmer.  I could see the quality when cooked this way.

I was pretty sure at this point that it was all a waste.  But I decided to try the two fork shred method that I use on my pulled pork. I ended up mashing it with the back of a huge fork.  It worked beautifully–and fast. Perfect fine crumbles of ground beef!

I divided up the meat into 5 freezer bags.  Each one weighed about 1.4 lbs. And pressed them flat.  Once they were cool, I put them in the freezer.  

I got about 2 quarts of broth also.  It smells and looks so yummy.  I’m definitely doing this again.  No more thawing meat, no more standing over a hot stove.  Win win win.

 

 

 

 

 

Protein Rich Fudge Cookies

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Protein Fudge Cookies

 

Things are super busy around here.  I’m trying to finish my menus today so I can join the family in 4th of July celebrations tomorrow.  But I thought I’d take a break and tell you I have a yummy recipe over at my fitness blog.   There are two version of these cookies, each with slightly different nutrient profiles depending on what your goals are.  But they are both sugar free and loaded with protein for a great snack that will support your fitness goals.

Big Question

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I’m posting every day over at my other blog Centsably Fit and have a yummy healthy waffle recipe over there:

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Your plate will look like this:

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Please don’t look too hard at the paper plate.  I know it’s not frugal at all, but sometimes being sane is the most frugal thing, lol.  Hospital bills are crazy expensive….ok, so enough excuses….

Our remodel project is on schedule.  Wahoo!  The plumber came yesterday and the electrician is due later this week.  I still have some wallpaper and ceilings to scrape down, but there will be plenty of time for that later.

Anyhoo, I have pictures and stuff to show you another day, but for now here’s a burning question:

In the comments below tell me one thing you have been doing without for frugality sake and how you have coped.  Have you decided to do without forever or is there a date on the horizon when you will have it again?

 

3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Biscuits and Gravy

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This recipe is a man pleaser.  It’s not Fit Yummy Mummy approved or Trim Healthy Mama approved.  It’s not gluten free or dairy free–it’s just yummy.  It’s easy–so easy a child could make it and get tons of compliments.  And if you are hosting an early morning breakfast rehearsal for High School men, definitely bring it.  Even if the center biscuits are not quite done, they will eat it all and one of them will lick the pan and then ask you to bring a double batch next time.

3 ingredient Slow Cooked Biscuits and Gravy

 

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3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Biscuits and Gravy

Ingredients

  • 1 lb breakfast sausage (in a bulk log)
  • 2 cans refrigerator biscuits (I used the small ones that come 10 to a can)
  • 2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Instructions

  1. Brown and drain the sausage
  2. Layer 1 can of biscuits in the bottom of a greased slow cooker.
  3. Top with half the sausage and then 1 can of cream of mushroom soup.
  4. Repeat the layers once more.
  5. Set on time delay to cook on high for 2 hours just before time to serve breakfast.
  6. Or 4 hours on low. (An outlet timer works great for this.)
https://www.groceryshrink.com/3-ingredient-slow-cooker-biscuits-and-gravy/

I anticipate the most frequent question asked will be, Is it safe to leave a slow cooker out on the counter this long before cooking?  I’m not sure. We did it–twice.  And no one got sick.  I think it would be more dangerous if it sat a long time AFTER cooking since the cooking process will kill any bacteria.

If the thought bothers you, you can keep it in the fridge and get up a few hours early to turn on the cooker and go back to bed.  (Allow an extra hour for a cold crock.)  Or you can bake this in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes or until golden.

The first time I made this, I used homemade biscuit dough and homemade gravy made with milk and flour and baked it in the oven.  It was wonderful too.  I haven’t tried the slow cooker method with homemade gravy.  With the 2 hour cooking time, it might make it through without curdling.  If you try it, let me know.  And now some photos my hubby took of the process.

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3 ingredient biscuits and gravy outlet timer

Homemade Push Pop Review

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Last Fall we bought these:

And finally got around to trying them.  They are sturdy silicone and flexible.  The lids go on and off easily.  We filled ours with Great Value brand strawberry yogurt, the kind that comes in a 32 oz container at Walmart.  We laid them on their side in the freezer and since it was thick stuff, nothing leaked. If I were using juice, I’d prop them up in a glass or vase just to be safe.
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The lids came off easily.  My 5 year old could do it without help.

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The pops were hard to push up until the heat from our hands softened the outside a little.DSC_0555 DSC_0554

Yummy.  Mess free.  And I know what’s in them.DSC_0562

“Do I get one too, Mommy?”

 

Cosmos ® 10-Piece Pink/Light Blue/Violet/Green/Orange Food Safe Silicone Ice Pop Maker Molds Set with Cosmos Fastening Strap