Monday, June 18, 2012

New Day New Giveaway.... Coming Soon.

The winner's have been chosen for my Honey Bunches of Oats giveaway. Thank you to all that entered & congrats to the winners!

 Keep an eye out for a new giveaway to be posted later this week.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

SavingStar New Ecoupons

Do you have a Savingstar account? Savingstar is totally free and a great way to save extra money with ecoupons! 

 Savingstar coupon's are "added" to your store cards such as Giant Eagle Advantage Card or Shop N Save Perks Card. The best part is, they aren't actual manufacturers coupons so that means you can use these plus your coupons. Plus if you are shopping during a sale, you save even more. 

 Right now you can sign up for SavingStar and they are offering a great deal if you purchase Huggies! 

***Now through June 13, 2012 get $5.00 back when you spend $35.00 on any HUGGIES® Diapers, Baby Wipes and LITTLE SWIMMERS® Swimpants. Offer does not include GOODNITES® Brand and PULL-UPS® Brand products.

Other coupons include:

Save on Cheerios, Yoplait, Fiber One Bars, Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bars, Wanchai Ferry Frozen Entree, Gogurt, Trix, & Splitz yogurt, Kix cereal, Trix Cereal, + Betty Crocker/Ocean Spray/Mott's/Sunkist flavored fruit snacks

Dry Idea Sweepstakes Enter Now

As a Purex Insider I have been given a new link to share with my readers to enter the Dry Idea sweepstakes for over $1000.00 in prizes! 


If you would like to enter the sweepstakes or read more you can click the link here.

You can check out the Dry Idea Facebook page here. 




Great Deal on Yes To Products!

Plum District has a GREAT deal on Yes to Carrots! You can get $35 to Yes to Carrots for just $15.00 and even better, Plum District is celebrating their Birthday through tomorrow 6/13 and you get a 20% off with code PDBDAY!

 The final cost will just be $12 for $35 worth of goodies!



And the deal gets even better…. Yes to Carrots is celebrating their Birthday (on their site) with FREE shipping on orders over $35.  So that means you will score $35 worth of stuff for only $12 shipped!



**If you are new to Plum Disctrict you can get a $5 new member bonus making the deal only $7!

 So you can sign up for Plum District here. 

 Then you can find the Yes To deal here.

 Enter coupon code PDBDAY for 20% off. 

 Happy shopping. Let me know if you scored this awesome deal! 

Did you get your Target Beauty Bag?

I was excited to share the awesome freebie that arrived in my mailbox today, a Target beauty bag from Target Style. Love these little bags & the free samples too! My favorite part of the samples this time had to be the travel size sunscreen. I love to have these smaller sized samples to toss in my purse or bag wherever we go! 

 Did you get one?

Monday, June 11, 2012

Monday Menus

What's for dinner at your house tonight? Do you have a menu plan for this week? 


 I just picked up a bunch of fresh veggies at our local fruit market now time to cook! 

 This isn't anything fancy or too special but we have been hungry for some good old fashioned macaroni salad! Along with burgers on the grill and maybe some homemade french fries as a side! I am always on the lookout for new macaroni salad recipes and Pinterest is full of them. I will be using my traditional recipe today but feel free to share your recipes with me! 



 A quick menu for our house this week :

Monday: Burgers on the grill with Macaroni Salad & French Fries. 

Tuesday: Spagetti & Salad or ???

Wednesday: Citrus Grilled Haddock with red roasted potatoes & a side salad and veggie.

Thursday: Garlic Chicken and ??? 

 Friday: Chicken wraps

 Saturday: Out :-) 


Now back to making macaroni salad! 
 

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Blackberry Cobbler for Dessert

I am not usually successful with new recipes for dinner but one thing I can do (sometimes) is bake. So after reading my other new cookbook (can you tell I am really trying to find some new recipes & get better at meal planning :-) ) I found a yummy new blackberry cobbler recipe. I had never made it but I had just picked up some blackberries & red raspberries since they were on sale and they don't keep very long.

It seems as though everyone has a different opinion of what "cobbler" is. Last week I made a Southern Peach Cobbler that was totally different from this cobbler. Either way sweets & fruit together, can't go wrong in my book. 

Love my new cookbook with step by step pictures & instructions! Perfect for a beginner cook or one that likes lots of direction! So absolutely perfect for me. In honor of The Pioneer Woman & her awesome cookbook, I decided to do a little step by step of this Blackberry Cobbler recipe. 

All the ingredients ready to begin. 


Melt the butter.

Add one cup of sugar. 

Add one cup of self rising flour. Or if you are like me & didn't have any self rising flour, you can substitute with one cup flour & one third teaspoon salt & one and one third teaspoon baking powder. 

Add 2 cups milk. 

Stir.

Add melted butter. 

Mix all together.
The berries, yep there are red raspberries in there too! It wouldn't be me if I actually had all the ingredients. :-)


Butter the baking dish. 

Pour it in your baking dish.




Drop the berries on top & sprinkle with a little sugar. 

Doesn't it look yummy?

The finished product, maybe not perfect but perfectly delish. 



Blackberry Cobbler Recipe
Ingredients

  • 1 stick Butter
  • 1-¼ cup Sugar
  • 1 cup Self-Rising Flour
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 2 cups Blackberries (frozen Or Fresh)

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish.
Now rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top.
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. If you desire, sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.




Do you have a favorite cobbler recipe? What is "cobbler" like in your family?

It's here!

I have been waiting for the arrival of my new cookbook. Today is the day :-) 



It's here! 


  So, you won't here much else from me today. Looks like a perfect day for enjoying some sunshine on the porch swing with my new book, after I get my work done. 


Did you get your own copy? Let me know what you think! 


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Rainy Day Comfort Food

Another rainy day here, hope it's sunny somewhere! With the rainy cool weather, I thought it was the perfect day for some comfort food. Who doesn't love comfort food? 


I decided to try a new recipe, well new to me, although it's a classic. The recipe I found here for Shepard's Pie, is the lightened up version I found on Pinterest. 


Nothing fancy just super simple & yummy. As you can see the steam was still rolling out! 

I have to say, I was supposed to put Paprika on top and guess what, I didn't have any! After our recent trip away at camp for the weekend, I realized I left my Paprika as well as a few other spices there! :-( 




Shepard's Pie, Lightened Up
from Gina's Weight Watcher RecipesPotatoes:

  • 1-1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, diced
  • 3/4 cup fat free chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp fat free sour cream
  • salt and pepper
  • paprika
Filling:
  • 1 lb 95% lean ground beef
  • 1 tsp oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 celery stalk, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced
  • 8 oz mushrooms, diced
  • 10 oz frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, green beans, baby lima beans)
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 1 cup fat free beef broth
  • 2 tsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp freshly chopped rosemary leaves
  • 1 tsp freshly chopped thyme leaves
  • salt and pepper

Boil potatoes in water until cooked and soft. Drain and mash with chicken broth, sour cream, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400°.

In a large saute pan brown meat. Season with salt and pepper. When cooked, set aside on a plate. Discard any fat in the pan, add oil, onion and garlic and sauté on medium heat about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and celery and sauté another 3-4 minutes. Add flour, salt and pepper and mix well. Add frozen vegetables, beef broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme, chopped meat and mix well.Simmer on low about 5-10 minutes.

Spread the meat mixture on the bottom of a 11x7 glass baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes, using a fork to scrape the top to make ridges and sprinkle with paprika. Bake20 minutes or until potatoes turn golden. Remove from oven and let it cool 10-15 minutes before serving.



 Very easy to make!

What's for dinner at your house tonight? 

Monday, June 4, 2012

And... the Flat Apple Pie results.

So I did say I am totally new to pie making right? 

 Well, I made Pioneer Woman's Flat Apple Pie recipe & it turned out delicious! Could have been a little better but as the Pioneer Woman says the more rustic the better haha. Well if rustic means kinda falls apart a little and one of the two pies the juice drained out all over my cookie sheet, then it was really rustic! 


Here are my two pies, minus our taste test slices haha. 

The crust was yummy too. Maybe with a little tweak, I will be making this again. 

 Now I need to find a much healthier dessert! Any suggestions? 

A little twist on Apple Pies

Lately this blog has become more about recipes & food than coupons & deals but I try to keep a little of both! 


I have been on a mission to cook different meals & plan ahead! As you can see from my older posts. I have searched different blogs and find so many yummy recipes! So now, my goal has been to actually make some of these recipes! Not just read about them! 

 For today I am trying The Pioneer Woman's Flat Apple Pie with Perfect Pie Crust. (Well hopefully perfect :-) ) I have only made a few apple pies so I am new to this! But when searching for a dessert apple pie is the first dessert my hubby suggests. So apple pie it is.  Not a healthier choice, I know, but sometimes we are just hungry for a good old fashioned comfort food dessert. Wish me luck. 

 Sorry, I am a dessert first kind of person :-)

 For dinner I am going to try something super simple tonight, Garlic Chicken. Now let's hope it is actual super simple. Again, wish me luck! 

 What is everyone else making for dinner? 

***Feel free to share any recipes with me that I really should try :-) I am always looking for simple recipes to add to my recipe binder as well as some that are just too good not to try.  

So excited...

For June 5th, the release date of the new cookbook Dinner A Love Story 
by Jenny Rosenstrach.

I stumbled on this blog a while ago just searching some new recipes! This girl has kept a dairy of every recipe she made/wanted to make for the past 14 years! How awesome! I love the stories she tells with every recipe! I was so excited to see she had a cookbook but... it wasn't released yet! So I searched around on her blog & read a bunch of different stories/recipes & all about her main goal or idea of having everyone sit around the table at dinner together everyone night!

This is something we always did in our family growing up. Everyone in our family had to be at the table for supper every night. (Unless there happened to be a day when we weren't all in the house or away at an event ect...) Another thing our parents instilled in us was telling about our daily Hi & Low Points. Yep, every night we went around the table & everyone told their hi point for the day & their low point. It was a fun way to recap our day but still giving everyone a chance to talk. If you have ever sat around the Cousins' family dinner table, you know that you really have to try for a chance to talk! Being that there were usually about 11-14 of us at every meal. Now with our family, my hubby & I always stick to the idea of having dinner at the table together daily, whether it is a home cooked meal, frozen meal or takeout. 

 Anyways, back to this cookbook, Dinner A Love Story comes out tomorrow (June 5th) but you can preorder it today! I ordered my copy on Amazon last week! If you want a little sneak peek, check out this "trailer" of the new cookbook.

One more thing I had to add, I love this post about getting out of your dinner rut or no ideas for meal plans! Jenny spells it all out for her friend who has already tackled the biggest challenge, getting her family to sit down for dinner together every night.

 So what is everyone having for dinner this week??

Friday, June 1, 2012

Honey Bunches of Oats Review & Giveaway

****Congratulations Brianna & Emily ~ 
Please contact me within 48 hours to redeem your prize ****



Honey Bunches of Oats Review & Giveaway 




Honey Bunches of Oats is one of America's favorite cereals, is it yours? I love Honey Bunches of Oats mostly for the flavor but also because it is a healthier choice! I am not a health food expert or even a real foodie, but I always need a good quick breakfast and Honey Bunches of Oats is my favorite! 

A little bit about: 


10 Grams Whole Grain
Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted contains 10g of whole grain per serving.
6 Grams Sugar
Compares to Honey Nut Cheerios at 9 grams.
9 Essential Vitamins and Minerals

Heart Healthy


0g Trans Fat
0g Saturated Fat
0mg Cholesterol

Check out the Honey Bunches of Oats Facebook page for a $1.00 off coupon. 

To Enter: Leave a comment for each entry. 
Mandatory Entry -

Like Honey Bunches of Oats on Facebook
Follow My Adventures in Treasure Hunting on GCF or let me know if you already follow my blog. 




Post provided me a free sample of their Honey Bunches of Oats - Honey Roasted so I could review them. However, all of my opinions are my own. 
Enter to win..... 

A subscription to Ladies Home Journal by clicking here.