Aldi Gourmet

Pastitsio - Aldi-style

2012-01-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

Oh. My. Goodness. One of my passions is Greek food. One of my favorite recipes, that I remember from a high school friend's Mom, is Pastitsio. I love the meat and pasta layers (not a huge fan of the bechemel layers, so I've omitted for this recipe). In my craving for greek food this evening, I decided to make an Aldi friendly version. And, it was DELICIOUS. TOO delicious NOT to share!!!

I know this recipe is SIMILAR to the Spaghetti Pie....but I guarantee the taste is soooo different. :)

I hope you enjoy as much we did.

Pastitsio

1 box Reggiano Penne Reggatte pasta
1 container Friendly Farms Cottage Cheese
1 lb Fit & Active Ground Beef (or ground turkey, which ever you prefer, I used Turkey)
1 8oz block Happy Valley Farms Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/4 Cup Friendly Farms Fresh Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 Jar Reggiano Pasta Sauce (choose your favorite brand)
2 Tsp Stonehill Classics Italian Seasoning Blend
1 Golden Hen Egg
1 Tbs dried minced garlic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare pasta according to directions on the package. Drain & set aside to cool.

Brown ground beef (or turkey) on the stove, drain any excess fat. Add minced garlic and pasta sauce. Stir until mixed well and remove from heat.

While meat is browning, in a large bowl, mix together cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and egg. Stir in Italian seasoning blend.

Stir the cottaqe cheese mixture into the cooled pasta. Mix very well.

Press this mixture into a 13 X 9 Lasagna pan. Pour beef/sauce mixture over the pasta. Cover with foil and bake for about an hour until very bubbly. (you can remove the foil at about 45 mins and bake uncovered).

Allow to sit about 5-10 minutes before diving into - and oh yes - you will dive!

Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-12-23T09:31:00.001-08:00

These could also be renamed "Santa Bait" but, quite frankly after you taste them, you're gonna tell the Fat Guy in the Red Suit to fend for himself - let him know the Oreos are in the cabinet. :)

Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 Sticks Country Creamery Butter
1 Cup Benton's Creamy Peanut Butter
2 Cups Grandma's Best Sugar
2 Golden Hen Eggs
1 Tsp. Stonemill Classics Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Grandma's Best Flour
1 Tsp. Baker's Corner Baking Soda
1 Tsp. Sebree Salt
1 package Baker's Corner MILK Chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°

Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add Vanilla and continue to mix well.

In a small bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Add slowly to peanut butter mixture. Continuing to stir until well combined.

Add in chips and mix well.

Drop by tablespoons full onto a greased cookie sheet (I use a cookie scooper to make this easier). Bake 10-12 minutes until just lightly browned and crispy on the outside. Allow to cool on cookie sheet 2 or 3 minutes before removing to cooling rack. These cookies taste best when they are cooled.

Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

2011-12-15T17:19:00.000-08:00

I love holiday baking. I love that during this time of year Aldi carries some specialty items and baking chips that make Christmas Cookie baking SO FUN!

One of my absolute favorite cookie recipes is a mesh between a Rachel Ray and a Sandra Lee recipe for a sugar cookie that sports coconut, white chocolate and macadamia nuts. USUALLY, I cannot make these cookies exclusively "Aldi". That all changes for the month of December when Aldi not only sells sugar cookie dough but also white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts AND coconut!!!

It's a very easy recipe, and Kristy (my friend), it does NOT start with a cake mix BUT a cookie mix! Pardon the short cut, but I've got enough other cookies to bake that take LOTS of time and energy. It's nice to have a go to, quick recipe that tastes great and works well as a quick gift!

Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

1 Pkg Baker's Corner Sugar Cookie Mix
1 Stick Country Creamery Butter
1 Golden Hen Egg
1 Cup Baker's Corner Coconut
1 Cup Southern Grove Macadamia Nuts
1 Cup Baker's Corner White Baking Chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Place sugar cookie mix, coconut, macadamia nuts and white baking chips into a large bowl. Melt butter and allow to cool to warm. Beat egg in small bowl. Add melted butter and egg to dry ingredients and mix well.

Bake one of two ways - drop by spoonfulls 2" apart on a greased cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown OR spread into a 13 X 9 pan and bake 20-25 minutes - until edges are golden and center is cooked.

ENJOY!!!!

Pink Peppermint Ice Cream Pie

2011-12-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

I've been doing the rounds of the Christmas Parties. Friday, we had our homeschool group Christmas party and we took Cheesecake Truffles. Friday night I took a Peanut Butter version of the truffles. Tomorrow night, my homeschool friends and I are having a Mom's night in at another mom's house. We're going to chow down on some yummy goodies. My contribution is dessert, of course. My favorite part of any meal.

I decided to make a variation of my Pink Peppermint Ice Cream. This time of year, Aldi sells a Candy Cane Cream Cookie - it's an oreo like chocolate wafer filled with mint cream that has piece of candy cane in it. Oh. Yum. So, the crust is made out of them. They also sell Peppermint Extract and food coloring this time of year!

You WILL need an ice cream maker for this recipe. I own a Cuisinart Electric Ice Cream Machine and recommend it highly. This is so worth the effort of making your own ice cream!

Pink Peppermint Ice Cream Pie

1 Pint Container Friendly Farms Heavy Cream
2 Cups Friendly Farms Half and Half
3/4 Tsp. Stonehill Classics Peppermint Extract
1 Cup Sugar
7 to 8 drops Stonehill Classics Red Food Coloring
Bentons Candy Cane Creme Cookies
1/4 Cup melted Country Farms unsalted butter
4 Candy Canes (I think they're by Excitemint - you can use their starlight mints also), crushed.

Mix heavy cream, half and half, peppermint extract, sugar and food coloring together. Chill in refrigerator for one hour. Pour into ice cream maker and process according to directions.

Process all but 4 cookies into crumbs. Add melted butter to the crumbs and mix together. Press mixture into a 9" spring form pan, come up the sides a little.

When ice cream is soft serve consistency, add the crushed candy canes and allow to mix in. Stop machine and pour soft serve ice cream into crust. Cover and freeze about 4 hours or until firm. Defrost about 10 mins and cut with a warm knife.

ENJOY!!!!

Hamburger Rice Soup

2011-12-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

Friday evening, one of the moms from the gym had a little holiday soiree at her house. We all dropped our gymnasts off at the gym and headed to her house for dinner and goodies. It was a delicious night. So many delectable goodies to sample! One of my favorites of the night, by far, was a Hamburger Rice Soup she made. It was so warm and comforting on a cold almost-winter's evening. Warmed me all the way to my toes. She graciously (thanks Christine!) gave me the recipe and I feel I MUST share it with you!!!! I made it for my family for dinner tonight and served it with Bakehouse Crescent Rolls.

Hamburger Rice Soup

1 pkg Fit & Active 92% Lean Ground Beef
3 Chef's Cupboard Beef Boullion Cubes
6 Cups Hot Water
1 28 oz can Crushed Tomatoes
1 Envelope dry Onion Soup Mix
1/4 Cup diced Celery (about 1 stalk)
1/4 Cup uncooked rice
1/4 Cup diced Carrots (about 1 carrot)
1/2 Tsp. Oregano
1 Tsp Parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste.

Brown ground beef in a saucepan over medium heat. Drain any grease. Add all remaining ingredients and simmer for 1 hour.

EASY! And really inexpensive!!!!

Creamy Carrot Soup

2011-11-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

A freak October snow storm has hit the north eastern coast of USA on Saturday. Our yard looks like a tornado hit, with downed trees and large limbs, they cannot bare the weight of snow on them due to still having most of their leaves. We did lose power, but for only a short time compared to most. Thankful for a gas cooktop on Saturday, I was able to make some soup to keep us warm. We put candles all around the house, we put a log in the fire, and we buckled down for what felt like a long winter's night. I will say, it was one of the most rewarding family nights we've had in a long time.

Well, OUR power was not out a long time, but a good friend's power was out. And still IS out. And WILL BE out until at least Thursday. Being fellow homeschoolers, and a fellow family of 5 trying to live with no heat, no water, etc for that long would just be too difficult. Now, they are cozy warm and staying with us. I confess that I sorta hope they really don't get power back anytime soon. Kind of enjoying having them all them here.

Last night was their first night here and I took out the ham I got on sale at Christmastime last year. We also had Aldi's Three Cheese Potatoes and asparagus. YUMMY. Our schedules were very opposite today, all of my stuff was cancelled, all of her stuff was on, so they were running like madmen, while I was home. It was lovely. I made a ham salad with some of the leftovers and wracked my brain on what to serve with it.

Something my husband said the night of the blackout came back to haunt my tastebuds...."Remember that really good Cream of Carrot Soup?". Oh yes. Creamy, sweet, warm, delicious? Fall in a bowl. Yeah, I was craving it.

I thought I'd share, in case there are other carrot fans out there.

Creamy Carrot Soup

2 lbs Carrots, sliced into coins
1 medium onion, sliced thin
2 cloves Garlic
6 Boullion Cubes
4 Cups Water
Salt & Pepper to taste.
1 to 2 Cups Half & Half

Combine everything together in a slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 5 or 6 hours. Puree with a stick blender until very smooth, slowly adding cream. Start with half cup increments and use only to desired consistency. The water level of the carrots will determine how much you'll have to add.

This is excellent with a dollup of the Greek Yogurt that Aldi has recently started selling. Oh. YUM.

Aldisbury Steak

2011-10-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

Growing up, one of my favorite TV Dinners was the Stouffer's Salisbury Steak and Macaroni & Cheese. I know, it's not fine dining, it's not high brow cuisine. But it's darn good, and it's so easy to just throw something in an oven and come back later and have dinner, voila!

A few weeks ago, I threw some ingredients in a crock pot, and made Salisbury Steaks. I will confess, I used premade, precooked steaks from a local deli - they were on sale REALLY CHEAP. BUT, they could easily be made with the premade burgers sold at Aldi - I recommend grilling them first so that they are cooked.

I did them again this evening, but did them in the oven vs. the crockpot. I adjusted the recipe a little to make it a little more to my liking. It was very good. Very good indeed. Since we're doing South Beach (mostly), we did not have mac and cheese with it, but Stouffers would have been proud! This second way was much better.

Feel free to serve with Mac & Cheese!!!

Aldisbury Steak

8 frozen burger patties, cooked
1 Can Fit & Active Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Can Fit & Active Cream of Chicken Soup
1 packet Chef's Cupboard Onion Soup Mix
1 Soup Can-full Friendly Farms Milk
1 10 oz package of white mushrooms, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a 13 X 9 baking pan, mix soups, soup mix and milk together. Add in cooked burger patties, flipping to cover with sauce. Top with sliced mushrooms.

Bake for about 40 minutes until the sauce is very bubbly and the mushrooms are browned.

Zucchini Lasagna

2011-10-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

So, I do not have a picture of this one folks because, well, quite frankly it was so good that my husband and I ate most of it! :)

Recently we started the South Beach Diet and have cut out most pastas and quick carbs. I confess, this has made my journey into cooking quite difficult. I've always relied on a starch in the meal: pasta, bread, potatoes, rices, corn, etc. All of these foods are now taboo. I mean, even when I did 2 years in the gluten-free world, I was still allowed all non-gluten versions of these foods. I even grew to like them and adjusted to their taste and texture.

But living WITHOUT them? COMPLETELY? Well, lets just say that's been an adjustment, and I'm just now getting the hang of it.

Anyway, I had been thinking of how to make a lasagna without using noodles. I'm a huge fan of zucchini, my husband is not however. So I've had to tread very lightly including it in our diet. I've slowly introduced him to the amazing way to saute it with red peppers, olive oil, garlic and italian seasoning. In recent years he's consented to (and even ASKED for it) grill it in the summer when grilling is hot hot hot! But...he's rejected all things ragout like and saucy like ratattouille. So, I was concerned when I decided to try this.

Let me just say it was so yummy that I didn't even miss the pasta!!!!

Zucchini Lasagna

1 lb ground meat (beef, chicken, turkey, pork - choose your favorite)
1 Can Italian Style Diced tomatoes (they're in right now!)
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic
2 cups cottage cheese
1 egg
1 LARGE Zucchini
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Brown ground meat until no longer pink, drain grease if using a higher fat meat. Add dice tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic cloves. Cook and allow flavors to marry well, and garlic flavor to mellow.

While this is cooking mix cottage cheese, egg and italian seasoning together in a bowl.

Using a vegetable peeler, cut very thin slices down the length of the zucchini. Creating at least 15 or so ribbons. Lay out on paper towels over a cookie cooling rack to drain excess moisture from the zucchini.

In a bread pan or meatloaf pan, layer a small amount of the meat/sauce mixture. Layer over zucchini. Spread over a layer of half of the cottage cheese mixture, Sprinkle with 3/4 cup of the mozzarella. Repeat layering ending with a meat layer. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Add last 1/2 cup of Mozzarella during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.

Allow to rest about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Enjoy with a good salad and garlic bread (okay, if you're not on South Beach have the garlic bread.)

Spaghetti Pie

2011-07-12T06:02:00.000-07:00

As I was saying: Cook Once, Eat Twice. This recipe is so easy to adapt to this idea. One recipes worth makes enough for 12 people, so, if you divide it between two pans, it's a perfect freezer meal.

Several years ago, we lived in sunny Phoenix, AZ. To this day, I still miss it. I had a very good friend there, and this meal was her go-to to give to folks when they had a baby, were going through hard times, etc. It was so easy to make, so freezer friendly, and so easy to complement with bread and salad. You almost craved times when you would be in need so that you would get some of this pasta-goodness for yourself!

When I was gluten free, and had a blog, I adapted this to gluten-free goodness, so if you are gluten free, make sure to adjust the ingredients to safe ones - it still works fabulously!

Spaghetti Pie

1 Box Reggiano Spaghetti
1 Cup Happy Valley Sour Cream
1 Jar Mama Cozzi Spaghetti Sauce
20 oz Fit & Active Ground Turkey (feel free to substitute with another ground meat if you prefer)
2 Cups Happy Valley Farms Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2 8" Foil Cake Pans (our Aldi does not sell, but I got mine at the dollar store - 3 pans for $1)
Carlini Cooking Spray

Prepare pasta as directed on the box.

Meanwhile, brown ground meat and add sauce. Allow to cool slightly.

When pasta is cooked, drain well. Add sour cream and mix to coat all the noodles with the sour cream. Spray the foil pans with cooking spray. Divide the pasta between the two pans. Press down firmly. Sprinkle 1 cup of the shredded cheese on top. Top with half of the meat mixture.

For one pan, bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350. For the other pan, allow to cool and cover with foil. Label and freeze. It is best if you defrost before cooking - then cook at 350 for 30 minutes - if you do from frozen it will take closer to 1 hour, and keep covered for the first half hour.

You may add additional cheese on top if you desire. :)

Yeah, where've I been?

2011-07-12T05:47:00.000-07:00

Not going to make a lot of excuses. Let's just say Spring got away from me this year! FINALLY coming to the surface and having a little bit more time for the things that give me great joy (well, aside from my family). Cooking.

Many of you know that we are homeschoolers. My children and I have been on this journey for seven years, and my oldest is about to be in 7th Grade. I can hardly believe that I've made it through all the elementary years with one of my children. Life is busy in this house and sometimes dinner is an afterthought. So, I started to investigate Once A Month Cooking. There are so many great sites on this subject, it's unreal! I have found some amazing recipes, read a lot the last few days on it and have decided it's just not going to work for ME! Surprise there. I do this with our homeschooling curriculum, I just cannot follow someone else's schedule! (I know, you're thinking I'm a control freak - well, I am) If I don't have 30 minutes to cook dinner each night, how in the world am I going to set aside an entire weekend to shop and prepare a month's worth of meals? That was what kept coming up.

What I DID like, is that many of the recipes are to make 2 dinners worth. So, instead of Once a Month Cooking - I'm (of course) adapting it to fit our lives. I'm going to start doing a "Cook Once, Eat Twice" type method. So, be on the look out for some upcoming recipes that will be easy to make double, and freeze half for a meal later in the month. If you do this just three times a week, you'll have a month's worth of meals in NO time flat! Or at least have some easy grab-and-go-to meals for those crazy busy nights. (Well, something other than take-out and hot dogs!!!).

I will continue to post regular recipes using Aldi's awesome ingredients, as well as reviews of some of our favorite Aldi products as well. I hope to see you around!

Focacchia Bread

2011-04-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

Oh Baby, to quote Anne Burrell of Food Network Fame.

Now. Let me start by saying I am not a big fan of hers, but happened to catch the show the other day because I was trying to have some "downtime" for myself.

She was making this bread, and she made it look SO EASY. So...I'd been dreaming about making bread. I mean, I have a Kitchen Aid. I have a dough hook. I have flour. I can do this, right?

So, today was the day. I knew I'd be around the house long enough from start to finish to make it. I am so very glad I tried.

Using ALL Aldi ingredients (including the yeast which I bought when they had it at the store earlier this year - it's seasonal for them, so it might not be there right now - this is the only ingredient you may need to buy at a regular store). I used Grandma's Best Flour, Sebree Salt, Carlini Olive Oil, Baker's Corner sugar and yeast. Wow.

This recipe is just as easy as it looked, maybe even easier. I highly recommend giving it a try.

The only adjustment I made was instead of sprinkling with salt on top I sprinkled with Stonehill Pizza & Pasta Grinder. Another good Aldi addition.

I hope you try it, and I hope you enjoy it. Me? I'm looking forward to dinner tonight where I get to have some more with Meatballs & Sauce (from Aldi of course!).

Anne Burrell's Focaccia Bread

Potato Onion Cheddar Soup

2011-04-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

I've been soooo busy lately, I'd like to say I've been cooking, but I haven't! Nothing new, anyway. Same old same old. And using a lot of convenience foods in pretty normal recipes.

Hubby got called out of town suddenly. And I miss him. :( But when he's out of town I'm relieved of cooking duties and we "fend" for our dinners.

Tonight, I was sorely in need of a comfort food, so I threw together this soup. It turned out soo sooo yummy, and filled a need in me.

Potato & Onion Soup

4 medium Red Bliss Potatoes, peeled & large diced(about $.80 worth of the $2.69 bag)
1/2 White Onion, quartered & separated (.25 - from the mixed 3 onion pack for $1.69)
2 stalks Celery, large dice (.10)
2 Carrots, large dice(.10)
1 32 oz carton Fit & Active Chicken Broth
2 Garlic cloves, smashed & skins removed
8 oz Friendly Farms NY Sharp Cheddar (1.69), shredded
1 Cup Milk
Salt & Pepper
Tuscan Garden Real Bacon Bits (1.49)

In a large soup pot bring Chicken Broth, potatoes, onions, celery, carrot and garlic to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook, covered, on low heat until the vegetables are soft. Add Salt & pepper to taste. Using an immersion blender, or a regular blender, blend until very smooth. Return to pot (if using a regular blender). Over low heat, stir in milk. Slowly add and stir in the shredded cheese.

Top with Bacon Bits before serving.

Yummy.

Million Dollar Waffles

2011-03-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

I know. You've all missed me and have been wondering what happened to me. I've been trying to come up with a way to tell you all what I've been doing. So...here are few options:

1. We won the lottery and have been traveling around the world;

2. My kitchen exploded and I have not been cooking AT ALL because I'm living off hotel food;

3. I've locked myself in the kitchen, ignored laundry, children and all else because I was trying to come up with the perfect waffle recipe.

4. I've had a freak accident and am in a full body cast and have just learned to type with my tongue.

First, I have to give it up for my friend Jennifer who made all of this possible. A few years back our families spent a weekend together at the shore. Not only did her husband and three kids come to the shore house, but she brought all the makings (and appliances necessary) to make an all out waffle extravaganza for breakfast for us one morning. She was cleaning out her kitchen and decided to part with one of her waffle makers. And being the amazing friend she is, she immediately thought of me and gave it to me. (I think I mentioned this back when I tested the Pumpkin Waffles that were available for a time at Aldi).

Anyway, I digress, onto what I've been doing. My children and I have been on a quest that started with our studies of Europe. We are slowly making our way through My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures. When we exploring Norway, one of their books recommended a recipe to try for Norwegian Waffles. And we gave them a try. They were NOT a hit in our house - and everytime I make waffles now, my son will mention how much he hated them. I did too...they were gooey and not crusty. My quest became to find or create a recipe for waffles that would make them really crispy on the outside but light and airy on the inside. Not too sweet, and not bland. I've been experimenting and eating my results (my waistline is a tad annoyed at this, but....perfection has consequences).

After many failures, and not-so-muches, and even a few this-is-close's....I think today we have finally arrived. I'd be so tickled if you'd try them too and let me know what you think. Oh...and by the way, don't be a stick in the mud and only try these with Maple Syrup - I melted 2 Tbs of Vanilla Frosting in the microwave tonight and drizzled it overtop instead of syrup....OH MY GOODNESS...so goooooood!!!! Should be illegal!

Million Dollar Waffles

3 Cups Baker's Corner Baking Mix
2 Tbs. Grandma's Best Sugar
2 Tsp. Spice Corner Cinnamon
Pinch of Sebree Salt
1 1/2 Cups Milk
2 Golden Hen Eggs
3 Tbs. Carlini Vegetable Oil

In a large bowl mix together baking mix, sugar, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, mix together milk, eggs and oil. Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until blended (careful not to over mix, but mix until most of the clumps are gone).

Cook in a waffle iron according to waffle iron's directions.

:) ENJOY!

Superbowl Treats #2 - Pepperoni Pinwheels

2011-01-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

Instead of ordering a bunch of pizzas, how about making a couple of hand held pizza treats for your Superbowl party guests? These are incredibly easy to make, and even easier to eat!

Pepperoni Pinwheels

2 Pkgs Bueller's Crescent Rolls
1 Cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 Cup diced Priano Pepperoni Slices*
1 Cup Priano Traditional Spaghetti Sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix shredded cheese and diced pepperoni together in a medium bowl.

Open crescent rolls and separate into two large rectangles (each one made up of 4 triangles). Seal edges together. Spread 1/4th of cheese and pepperoni mixture on each rectangle, leaving about 1/2" at the long edge of each one. Roll up lengthwise and seal edge. Cut each rectangle into 6 pinwheels. Place cut side down on a prepared cookie sheet (cover with tinfoil and spray with Carlini cooking spray). 12 should fit on each cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

While baking, heat spaghetti sauce to serve for dipping.

Superbowl Treat #1 - Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites

2011-01-23T14:32:00.000-08:00

This recipe is loosely based on a Paula Deen recipe. In Paula's original recipe, she coats the bites in a brown sugar and chili powder coating before baking. Hers are really good, I had to adjust for dietary concerns for us. I get around the coating by marinating the chicken in hot sauce and a little bit of brown sugar.

I made a homemade honey mustard dipping sauce, and they were, in a word, Ahhhhh-mazing....they got eaten even by the kids! YUMMY!

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites

2 lbs Kirkwood Chicken Breasts (5.00)
1 lb package Appleton Low Sodium Bacon (2.69)
1/4 Cup Burman's Hot Sauce (.99/btl - .15 worth used)
1 Tbs Grandma's Best Brown Sugar (.05)
Box of toothpicks

Mix together hot sauce and brown sugar. Cut chicken breast into 1" cubes, marinate for about 1 hour (or even up to overnight) in hot sauce mixture.

When ready to bake them, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Soak about 50 of the toothpicks in water. Cut bacon strips into thirds. Wrap each piece of chicken in bacon and secure with toothpick.

Place chicken bites on an aluminum foiled broiler pan. (cut the aluminum foil at the slats so that the fat can drip off). Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.

Serve with Honey Mustard Sauce:

1/2 Cup Burman's Mayonnaise
3 Tbs Burman's Spicy Brown Mustard
2 tsp Honey (or more to taste)

Mix together well and serve on the side.

Makes about 40 to 50 chicken bites.

SUPERBOWL IS COMING!!!

2011-01-19T12:59:00.000-08:00

We don't know who's playing yet. But we know that it's coming, and that with the Superbowl, comes parties. And what is a Superbowl Party without awesome food??? WHAT???

Well, the next few recipes will be dedicated to nibbles to have at your Superbowl feast!

Here's hoping Green Bay makes it in...at least for Hubby's sake!

:) Keep a look out they'll be a comin!

Hello All! Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T15:31:00.000-08:00

Well...The holidays are over, the decorations are packed away and even PUT away! WHOOOOOOHOOO. Well, aside from the house looking a little bare, my middle is quite full....gained a little bit this year!

I'll be trying to highlight and critique and create some recipes for healthy, light, cooking. :) Hopefully! :)

Fit & Active goodies are lined up on all of the shelves and in the special sections of the store. This is a great time to stock up. They go away around late January, early February, and don't return until folks are prepping for swimsuit weather. Some things are popular enough that they're in the store all the time. There's a lot of stuff right now that's not usually there because they're taking advantage of all of us and our New Year's Resolution to lose weight and get healthy.

Been trying a few new products the last few days, as soon as I can get some pix, I'll be a-postin' .

Day 12 of 12 - Turkey Cranberry Wreath

2010-12-26T20:50:00.000-08:00

(pictures forthcoming, I promise!)

Well, we made it. Twelve Days of Christmas....it's over, and today is the day of leftovers. Thanks so much for sticking with me through the season. I hope you were able to try some of these recipes, I hope some of them were new. I hope some become your favorites and ones that you'll want to do for years to come. So, the day after Christmas, the eternal question is "What will you do with your leftover turkey?" How will you eat it. Turkey Noodle Soup, Turkey Tetrazzini, plain old turkey sandwiches (don't forget to use the leftover Cherry Berry Mold on the bread.... yeah....). This one thing that we do every year. I only make it once a year, I don't know why. I'm imagining it's because we don't often have turkey leftovers!

Something you may not know about me is that I was a Pampered Chef Consultant for a while - this recipe is one that was in a very old catalog (2000 I think). And one of the reasons I continue to love their recipes! IF you have a pizza stone, great. If not, a large round pan - or lay out in one long loaf instead of a wreath.

Turkey Cranberry Wreath

2 pkgs (8 oz) Bueller's crescent rolls
1/2 cup Tate's mayonaise
2 Tbs Tate's honey dijion mustard
1/2 tsp coursley ground black pepper
2 cups cooked turkey, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
3 Tsp dried Parsley
1/2 cup Southern Grove dried cranberries
4 oz shredded cheese (they recommend swiss, I use cheddar b/c I hate swiss)
1/4 cup Southern Grove walnuts
1 egg separated

Preheat oven to 375. Unroll crescent dough and spearate into 16 triangles. With wide ends of triangles toward center, arrange 8 triangles in a circle on large round stone (or large round baking sheet). Corners of wide ends will touch and points will extend 1" beyond the edge of the stone. Match wide end with each remaining triangle to wide end of each outer triangle. Seal center seams using Dough and Pizza Roller. Points will overlap in center DO NOT SEAL.

In large bowl, place turkey, celery, parsley, cranberries, cheese and walnuts. Add mayonnaise, mustard and pepper. Mix well.

Scoop filling over seams of the dough. Fold triangles over (in order) over the filling. This creates the "wreath" Tuck the last end under the first when all the way around.

Separate egg, beat white. Brush over the dough. Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Instead of doing as a wreath, you can also do as little pockets...use two cresents and seal together as rectangles. Fill in the center and pull edges up to create a packet. Seal edges together.

Enjoy

Day 11 of 12 - Cranberry Sausage Stuffing w/ Walnuts

2010-12-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

(no pictures yet, I promise soon!!!

I created this recipe many years ago. It was our first Christmas in this house. It was the first Christmas that I hosted my whole family. I cooked a big turkey that year, and was thankful for an Aldi right around the corner. I believe we had 16 or so people that first year. It was amazing, and a lot of fun. I came up with the following recipe because I wanted to have an "it" stuffing. The one that everyone remembered. The one that the kids would crave when they were grown up and missing home. The one that put my Christmas on the map. It was my first time hosting "the family" Christmas dinner. The torch had been passed to me, even though I was not the oldest, because I was a cook...I loved to cook and loved to entertain. And it was true. It was a lot of fun to host that first year, and in subsequent years. And on the menu each year is this favorite, as requested by my husband. It is now officially not Christmas dinner without it! :)

Cranberry Sausage Stuffing

1 1lb tube pork sausage (bulk)
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 Tbs Butter
2 box Cornbread Stuffing Mix
2 1/2 Cups Fit & Active Chicken Broth
1 cup Southern Grove dried cranberries
1 cup Chef's Cupboard French Fried Onion Strips
1/2 Cup Southern Grove chopped walnuts

Saute onion & celery in butter in a large stock pot (4 qt at least). After 5 minutes, add bulk sausage and brown. In a saute pan, brown sausage. Add chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add cranberries and walnuts. Turn off heat and add stuffing mix and fried onion strips. Stir well and cover pot. Allow to cool completely if you're stuffing into the bird. If serving without cooking in bird, fluff with fork first.

This will stuff about an 18 lb bird.

YUMMY!!!!

Day 10 of 12 - Pumpkin Pie Dessert Squares

2010-12-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

Another gem from Joyce. We would have this dessert every year at Thanksgiving. My husband and I would drive the 12 hours to spend Thanksgiving at their house every year. Up until we moved to AZ. And now that we're back, we go every year again to visit Joyce. Dad is not there anymore, and we miss him very much. But the joy that he brought, and the memories of him live on in our relationship with Joyce.

This recipe takes me back to the first Thanksgiving we spent there. What an amazing spread we had. I was so stuffed, I could barely move. I had never been a fan of pumpkin, and dessert came out and I was scared. The obligatory small piece, I could suffer through it and not offend. Well, the joke was on me. This was pumpkin like I had never had before! OH MY GOODNESS. So creamy and rich, crunchy and gooey, and oh. My. You just have to make it and try it for yourself.

My oldest daughter LOVES this dessert, and so, for her, I make it every year. I lie. I make it for me. :) And for the memories it brings back. Of a man and his wife, who would open their home every year for our visit. Kill the fatted calf, and share the bounty with us. Joyce, we love you!!! Dad, we miss you.

Pumpkin Pie Dessert Squares

1 Pkg Baker's Corner Yellow Cake Mix
3 Golden Hen Eggs (divided)
3/4 Cup Country Creamery Butter (divided)
3 Cup Happy Harvest Pumpkin (about 2 cans)
2 Tsp Cinnamon (divided)
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
1/4 Tsp Clove (if you like that flavor)
2/3 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Baker's Corner Sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease bottom only of a 13" X 9" pan.

Reserve 1 Cup Cake mix for the topping, set aside in a bowl and mix with 1/4 Cup Sugar, 1 Tsp. Cinnamon and 1/4 Cup Butter.

Combine remaining cake mix, 1/2 Cup butter, and one egg in a medium bowl. Mix well. Press into the bottom of the pan.

Mix pumpkin, spices, 2 eggs and milk in a separate bowl. Stir well to remove all lumps. Pour over crust.

Crumble reserved topping over the pumpkin layer.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted at the center comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream, or ice cream. Some kinda cream. C'mon, you need that! :)

Day 9 of 12 - Cherry Berry Mold

2010-12-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm straying a little from Aldi here - just one ingredient. I know, I've been sneaking them in a bit lately. I'm trying REALLY hard not to. I like to do as much as possible at Aldi. Well, they don't sell Cherry Jello - and they're not always stocked with whole berry cranberry sauce. THANKFULLY, they do have the cranberry sauce this time of year. If they don't have the whole berry, you CAN use the jellied - the texture will just be a little different. But the taste is just, unbelievably out of this world.

I got this recipe from my husband's step-mother, Joyce. What a wonderful woman. I love to hear her stories of growing up in Michigan. I love the stories she shares about her deceased husband, my father-in-law. I love the way she cooks. She would never exalt herself as a chef, and never take credit for the simple that she makes fabulous. It's not her style. But she makes a mean holiday spread! And this was always at the table, and now is on ours. And will be as long as I am alive to make it.

And lets just say, this makes a perfect spread for your after Christmas turkey sandwich!!!

Cherry Berry Mold

2 3 oz packages of Cherry Jell-O (you can use the Strawberry at Aldi, if you want to instead)
1 1/4 Cup Ice Cubes
1 Cup Boiling Water
1 Cup Happy Valley Sour Cream
1 Can Happy Harvest Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

Dissolve Jell-o in boiling water and add ice. Stir until thickens. Remove any unmelted ice. Break up cranberry sauce with a fork and stir into gelatin. Fold in sour cream until the jell-o is marbled. Pour into a prepared mold, chill for at least 4 hours.

Day 8 of 12 - Grandma Foster's Chocolate Squares

2010-12-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

I have never met Grandma Foster. But she is an image in history I strive to emulate. A God-fearing woman, who knew how to feed the masses. With chocolate. There's the legendary Grandma Foster's Chocolate Cake, which is, apparently so rich it must be served in a bowl of milk. There's Sketties - where the pasta is cooked in tomato juice imparting a certain essence to it that cannot be imparted in water. There are others....too many to name, I think. But, by far, the favorite are these Chocolate Squares.

The recipe is done in stages, so I'll abandon my normal procedures and type it out exactly as it's written on the card, which was dictated to me over the phone by my mother-in-law. This recipe is one of procedure, so follow it!

For those of you who live in the north, you will know these by another name: Nanaimo Bars. Nanaimo Bars have a rich history, wonderful story, kinda an icon, really. Yeah, she stole 'em. And apparently she was unashamed. But, to her grandkids, they will forever be known as....

Grandma Foster's Chocolate Squares

Melt 1/2 Cup butter in a saucepan, add 1/4 Cup Sugar, 1/3 Cup Cocoa, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 egg, 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 Cup coconut and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Press mixture into 12" X 8" pan or 9 X 9 pan. Set aside.

Cream 1/4 Cup butter, blend in 2 Tbs vanilla instant pudding powder, 3 Tbs milk, 2 Cups confectioners (powdered) sugar. Spread this over the chocolate layer.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt 3 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips with 2 Tbs butter. Spread over cream mixture.

Chill (literally, and figuratively), then cut in squares.

Don't expect leftovers. Make another pan, and just don't take it. :)

Day 7 of 12 - Almond Poppyseed Biscotti

2010-12-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

We live right down the street from Byer's Choice. If you don't know Byer's Choice, they are figurine and collectibles company that specializes in Carolers and other things. We are going into our 5th Christmas in this house, and while this factory is a 1/4 mile from my house, I've NEVER EVER been there! I threaten every year to visit their Christmas Museum. In order to make it happen this year, I decided to invite a couple of my other homeschooling families to tour the museum and factory, and come back here for hot chocolate and cookies.

I'm a huge, huge fan of biscotti! Perfect for dipping in tea, coffee, hot chocolate, etc. I do recommend dipping, because it's so crunchy that you might just break a tooth! Well, if you have weak teeth like mine, you would! I've altered this recipe a little to suit MY needs. I added the poppy seeds - but you can definitely make it without if you want a strictly Aldi recipe. It's delicious, and it would make a great gift as well.

So, while the kiddies are drinking hot chocolate and downing chocolate chip, peanut butter and ultimate snickerdoodles, the ladies and I will be dipping our biscottis in tea!

:) Enjoy!!!

Almond Poppy Seed Biscotti

1 Cup Southern Grove Raw Almonds (purple bag), chopped
1 tsp Baker's Corner Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Sebree salt
2 Cups Baker's Corner Flour
3/4 Baker's Corner Sugar
3 Large Golden Hen Eggs
1 tsp Stonemill Classics Vanilla Extract
1/2 Tsp Stonemill Classics Almond Extract (only available this time of year)
1 Tbs Poppy Seeds (not available at Aldi - but I got mine at CVS for .99)

Preheat oven to 300, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix together eggs and extracts and set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer, mix together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Slowly add egg mixture. Pour in almonds and poppy seeds.

Turn out onto a counter and form into two long thin log. Place on parchment paper. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes.

Transfer logs to cutting board and cut into 1/2" slices on the diagonal. Arrange evenly on a cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes, flip over, then bake 10 minutes more or until firm. Allow to cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Day 6 of 12 - Almost Chocolate Wonders

2010-12-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

A friend, and subscriber to my blog, makes these wonderful treats called "Chocolate Wonders". Now, technically, these are also called Haystacks. I believe the story goes that someone gave them a gift of Haystacks, but when her husband tried them, his response was "What are these Chocolate Wonders?" (Jennifer - please correct me if I'm wrong on the story!). The original recipe calls for chow mein noodles, which are not sold by Aldi. Well, not until Chinese New Year time rolls around! So, to keep this as close to Aldi as possible, I replace the chow mein noodles with broken mini pretzel pieces.

They are delicious, and they are wonders, but until Kevin tries them, I won't know if they officially pass! I also altered the level of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips because of the consistency called for it.

These would make wonderful (no pun intended) gifts!

Almost Chocolate Wonders

1 Cup Baker's Corner Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Baker's Corner Butterscotch Chips
1 Cup Southern Grove Unsalted Peanuts
1 Cup Clancy Mini-Pretzels, broken up

Melt chips in microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Stir in peanuts and pretzel pieces. Drop on wax paper covered cookies sheets using a teaspoon. Place in refrigerator or freezer until firm. Serve. Eat. Hide them so no one else can eat them.

Day 5 of 12 - Ultimate Snickerdoodles

2010-12-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, so.....I'm knee deep in baking. I took a little break yesterday to watch my oldest in her gymnastics meet, and the evening off to enjoy a date with hubby. We went to dinner at a friend of his house, the company and dinner was amazing. I'm hoping to get some of the recipes to share here on the blog. Dinner was, in short, amazing. :)

Well...after resting all day, I'm back to baking. I bake quite a few kinds of cookies for the holidays. My husband likes to take a tray to work to spoil his co-workers, and in recent years, likes to take them to his cigar shop buddies.

This cookie is my personal favorite, it's a snickerdoodle BUT it's jacked up a little with cinnamon in the batter as well as on the outside.

I hope you enjoy!

Ultimate Snickerdoodles

Batter:
2 sticks Country Creamery Butter, softened
1 1/2 Cup Grandma's Best Sugar
2 Golden Hen Eggs
2 3/4 Cup Grandma's Best Flour
2 tsp Cream of Tartar * (not at Aldi :( )
1 tsp Baker's Corner Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Sebree Salt
1 Tbs Cinnamon

Sugar mixture:
2 Tbs Spice Club Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Grandma's Best Sugar

In a large mixing bowl cream butter, sugar and eggs until fluffy, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and 1 Tbs cinnamon. Mix well. Add slowly to creamed butter mixture. Mix until well blended.

Refrigerate dough 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Roll dough into about 1" balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place on a cookie sheet about 2" apart. Bake about 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack and cool about 10 minutes.

The cookies will puff at first, and then flatten during baking. :)

Day 4 of 12 - Christmas Cookies

2010-12-17T17:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm cheating here a little bit. Just a little. This is borrowed from an earlier post...but used a different way. So, hoping that you won't be too upset with me and will let it count!

I tried, in vain, several ways to make these "cut out" cookies, but the dough was too soft, and was having no parts of being cut in any way. It much preferred being rolled into little balls and baked. :) Well worth it. The kids and I still had a blast frosting and decorating them today. Christmas memories, that's all I really care about. 20 years from now, they are not going to remember that these cookies were just circles. They'll remember Mom was with them, we did something fun together, and that they loved the cookies when they were done. I'll remember that I had moments with the 3 greatest gifts I've ever received. My children.

Christmas Cookies

1 Box Baker's Corner White Cake Mix (.89)
2 Eggs (.11/ea)
1/3 Cup Oil (.20 - sells for 2.29/quart)
1 container White Frosting (1.19)
1 container baker's Corner Holiday Sprinkles ($2.99 for a 6 way canister - but you use VERY little)

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix cake mix, eggs and oil together with an electric mixer. Mix well. Shape into 3/4" balls and place about 2" apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until they are puffed and golden.

Allow to cool completely.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt about half of the frosting. Gently spoon about a teaspoon and spread around on the top of each cookie. Immediately after, add sprinkles. When the frosting runs low, warm up the other half.

They taste DELICIOUS. And if you want an easy way of making Snickerdoodles, skip the frosting all together, but roll in cinnamon sugar before baking.

Day 3 of 12 - Cranberry Pecan Bark

2010-12-16T16:12:00.000-08:00

I've been experimenting with candies this year (can you tell???), so I thought about what I'm going to give friends and such. I usually give some sort of food gift. I also make a cookie tray for my husband's work, and his cigar shop buddies. I thought it'd be fun to decorate with some homemade candies too.

This was a "using up" of ingredients I've used in other recipes (or will use, as we get closer to Christmas, I'll post my Cranberry Sausage Stuffing....so I'm saving some of the dried cranberries for that!).

This is an adaptation of an Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa recipe, using only Aldi ingredients of course!

Once broken in bits, it would looks so nice in a little candy box...

Cranberry Pecan Bark

4 bricks Baker's Corner White Almond Bark (.80)
2 Tbs. Southern Grove Chopped Pecans (.50)
2 Tbs. Southern Grove Dried Cranberries (.50)
1 brick Baker's Corner Chocolate Almond Bark (.20)

Chop white almond bark into small pieces, melt the in microwave in 30 second intervals until smooth and melted (stirring after each break). Pour chocolate onto wax paper lined cookie sheet and spread out to about 8 X 10 rectangle. Immediately sprinkle chopped pecans and dried cranberries on top.

In a separate microwave safe bowl, melt the 1 brick of chocolate almond bark the same way you did the other. Drizzle over the white bark.

Allow to set before breaking into bite sized pieces.

Day 2 of 12 - Grandma Normie's Apple Cake

2010-12-15T18:40:00.001-08:00

(day late, dollar short - tomorrow I should have TWO recipes for you!)

Well, the holidays are fast approaching, and the household is buzzing. The tree is up (and even decorated!), the lights are outside, the stockings are hung over the fireplace, the Nativity is on the mantle. The countdown begins!

I love how Aldi obliges this time of year and gathers together the greatest, yummiest and easiest ingredients to make super cookies and confections! I had a hard time containing myself on my last shopping trip!!!! All the types of chips and chocolates and nuts and dried fruits, oh my.

One of my favorite memories of Christmas is baking cookies in my Grandmother's kitchen. Christmas began and Grandmom's and ended at Grandmom's. Christmas Eve started at church where I sung the Christmas Carols in the children's choir, then it was off to the nursing homes in the area to sing and bring cheer, then back to church for the midnight services. We were always allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve, and it was always our ornament from Grandmom. She was always so good at picking something that really represented that year. Then we'd vainly tried to sleep while waiting for the sounds of Santa and his sleigh on the roof. I always fell asleep before I heard a thing. Grandmom would get up Christmas morning before we did - I always suspected that she loved the magic of Christmas morning even more than we did, we weren't allowed down the stairs unless the tree was lit, and the smell of coffee and breakfast was filling the air. And she was always downstairs at the crack of dawn, donned in her apron slaving over the bird.

This year is very bittersweet for me as we moved my Grandmom into an assisted living facility in April. She turned 87 this year in July. The transformation in her countenance since moving in there is remarkable. She is colorful and full of life again, she's even flirting with the gents. The only thing she misses, she says, is her kitchen.

My grandmother's kitchen was a magical place at Christmas time. I can still smell the burning oil of the motor and the bakealite cord of her Kenmore mixer, I can still hear it whirring away while creaming the butter and the sugar (a crucial step in most holiday baking!) Of course we made Chocolate Chip. Gotta be honest, I don't remember making any other cookie!!! I'm sure that we did, because it is hard for me to believe that my Grandmom with her many talents was a one-trick pony. But, I can't bake or eat a chocolate chip cookie without thinking of her. And well, we also need to face the fact that Aldi's got a pretty darned good recipe for these on the back of their chocolate chip bag, so it'd be kinda pointless to do a chocolate chip. So, the other thing I always remember making was the apple cake. Hours slaving over peeling apples are another memory of the kitchen. She sang the whole time. I believe that we baked at least a dozen of these leading up to Christmas Eve, possibly even more. It was a tradition that my mother kept up, and now, in her passing, my stepfather. Dense, rich, chewy, appley, delicious. It calls out to be eaten with tea, or coffee (sorry, can't stomach the stuff!), or even hot chocolate. We always called it "Jewish Apple Cake", but I'm not even sure why, and Gram can't remember either (well, she IS 87).

Grammy - this one's for you, I love you. Merry Christmas.

Grandma Normie's Apple Cake

3 Cups Grandma's Best Flour
2 Cups Baker's Corner Sugar
1 Tbs. Baker's Corner baking powder
1 tsp. Sebree Salt
1/4 Cup Happy Valley Orange Juice
4 Golden Hen Eggs
1 Cup Carlini Vegetable Oil
2 1/2 Tbs. Baker's Corner Vanilla

Apples:
5 medium to large apples
1/2 Cup Bakers Corner Sugar
2 tsp to 1 tbs Spice Club Cinnamon (or to YOUR taste)

Preheat oven to 375.

Peel, core and slice apples into sections - should get 12 sections per apple. Cover with sugar and cinnamon and marinate while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. Add eggs, orange juice, oil and vanilla and mix well. If too dry, add more orange juice. The batter will be very thick...but you should be able to stir it!

Prepare a 10" Tube pan by buttering & flouring the sides (or using the Carlini baking spray which has both oil & flour already).

Pour about half of the batter into the prepared tube pan and top with about half of the apples, add remaining batter, add the rest of apples (if it looks like there's too many apples, you can hold some back....I prefer it with SOME apples, but not overflowing - my mom used to us 7 or 8 apples and you barely had enough cake to hold it together! but that's how she liked it! - my version is more to my Grandmother's actual recipe).

Bake for 2 hours. After about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours, make sure to loosely cover top with foil so that the top does not burn.

Remove from tube after about 10 minutes. You can leave on the base until ready to serve.

It is best enjoyed with tea or coffee.

Day 1 of 12 - Mock Turtles

2010-12-13T05:44:00.000-08:00

The official kick off of 12 Days of Christmas Recipes begins today. It had to begin with a favorite of mine, it just had too. :)

I've been trying to find a way to Aldify this recipe for about a year now. I think I've done it, but I've called it Mock Turtles instead of Turtles, because, well....you'll see!!!

They're a little gooey, a little sweet, a little crunchy and a little salty. They are also, a little messy since the chocolate covered caramels available at Aldi have a slightly creamier caramel than a Rolo would. :) But...even though they are a little messy, they are well worth the time, effort, and wait for cool down.

Even though I used the paper mini-cupcake liners, I recommend using the tin-foil ones...I believe they will release more easily, and the oils won't soak into the paper.

Mock Turtles

24 Clancy's Mini Pretzels (.10)
24 Chocisserie Chocolate Covered Caramels (2.49 for bag of about 35 - so I'm going to say 2.00)
24 Pecan Halves (2.49/bag right now! - and you only use about half - so 1.25)

Preheat oven to 275.

Line a mini-muffin pan with foil mini-muffin cups. Break a pretzel up into the bottom of each cup. Unwrap and place a chocolate covered caramel over pretzels.

Place in oven for 5-7 minutes - or until the caramels seem glossy and oozy. (that's a culinary term!)

Remove from oven and immediately press one pecan half in each cup over the melty caramel. Let cool approximately 24 hours before attempting to eat! I swear! You'll be in for a mess if you try any sooner. :)

They work out to be about .14 each - which, again, is still cheaper than Godiva

P.S. Packaged in a pretty box or bag, these make wonderful gifts!

Chocolate Cheesecake Truffles

2010-12-07T08:40:00.001-08:00

I am a part of an online Homeschooling community. This year we decided to host a virtual cookie exchange. Each mom is adding a tried and true holiday recipe. This one was added by MamaKittyCat. Hers were officially titled "Oreo or Nutter Butter Truffles". And while they are very truffle like, I used neither Oreos or Nutter Butters (partly because I refuse to pay full price for something I can get cheaper at Aldi!!!).

I retitled them after tasting, and my kids agreed, they have much more of a Cheesecake taste. I decided then not to name them after the cookie used, but after what they tasted most like. :) Feel free to substitute the cookie with a preferred creme cookie of your choice (make sure to only use about a lb of cookies, though so that you get the right texture for the inside). I would very much like to try these with a peanut butter creme cookie....I might do that soon!!!

Cheesecake Truffles

8 oz Happy Valley Cream Cheese (.89)
Benton's Duplex Sandwich Creme Cookies (1.49)
Baker's Corner Almond Bark (1.99) (I used both white and chocolate - these are only available this time of year)

Remove 14 cookies from the package and eat like a piggie (no, seriously, set aside to eat another time...you only need about a lb of the cookies).

In a food processor, pulse cookie in batches into fine crumbs.

Combine cooking crumbs and softened cream cheese until very smooth. (I used my KitchenAid Mixer on 4 until it was a very thick, smooth batter).

Roll into about 3/4 to 1" balls.

Melt 4 bricks of your choice of almond bark coating. (I used 4 bricks of chocolate, and 4 bricks of white in separate bowls). You will have a lot of leftover chocolate bark to use for other projects - some will be forthcoming on this blog! :)

Roll the truffles in the melted coating and set on a wax paper lined cookie sheet until the chocolate sets. We also sprinkled a little bit of sprinkles on some, and on others I dipped in the chocolate and then drizzled the white bark over top.

This makes about 48-60 truffles depending on size.

Due to the fact that you have cream cheese in them, I do recommend refrigerating. Oh...and btw...they cost about 6 cents each - so - a lot cheaper than Godiva (and better tasting in my opinion!!!).

Coming soon....

2010-12-06T03:11:00.001-08:00

....I'll be counting down the last 12 days to Christmas with recipe each day for holiday enjoyment!

Each one will be a memory, old and new.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah (which by the way I hope you're enjoying!), or Kwanzaa....I hope you tune in for the treats!

Pumpkin Muffins

2010-11-18T07:52:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love this time of year. The crunch of the leaves in fall, the colors, the anticipation of the coming season. I know for many, Christmas is their favorite holiday. I can honestly say that, for me, Thanksgiving is even greater.

We have a tradition where we travel to Michigan to visit my husband's stepmother. The past couple years, instead of cooking, we've gone to the Thomas Edison Inn for dinner. It's so nice, to have some one else cook, have some one else clean, and just to be able to focus on the ones you love. As much as I was just a little worried about it the first year, I'm so grateful that it's become our tradition. So relaxing and fun. I also love the 2nd day, Black Friday to most of you nuts. To us, it's Frankenmuth day. For those of you who are not from, near, or have never been to Michigan, Frankenmuth is Michigan's Little Bavaria. It is like stepping into a German town. All buildings have the Bavarian architecture, most of the waiters and waitresses in the restaurants wear laderhosen (sorry if I butchered that). And, well, it's just a wonderful day. Our stops include Bronner's, the worlds largest Christmas store (picture 3 Home Depots); The Cheese Haus; and The Bavarian Inn, where we gorge ourselves on the best chicken dinner available in the world! We also manage to take a horse drawn carriage ride around the city every year. And if we time it right, we drive through the town just after they've lit the lights for Christmas. And lets just say, they go ALL OUT. Sigh. We leave next week. And I'm so excited.

Another great thing about this time of year is that Aldi starts to stock their shelves to the gills with all the holiday necessities! Canned Pumpkin, Whole Cranberry Sauce, French Fried Onions, Turkeys, Hams and the like. All at wonderful prices. They also have special treats, giftables and toys at very reasonable prices. I try to stock up on things I know I'll use all year long.

Okay, back to the muffins. As I sit here typing, they are baking in the oven. My house smells like pumpkins. It smells like Thanksgiving. It takes me to the people I love, and the places I love to be. I hope it does the same for you, no matter where you are. I really wish you could smell my house right now.

To give credit where credit is due, this is NOT my personal recipe. It was given to me from a friend on a homeschooling forum named "Monkey Mama". It's actually a pumpkin bread recipe that I adapted to muffins so that it'd be easier to take on our road trip.

Pumpkin Muffins

5 Golden Hen Eggs (.89/dozen this week! so... .37)
1 1/4 Cups Carlini Canola Oil (.72)
1 15 oz Can of Baker's Corner Pumpkin (.79)
2 Cups Grandma's Best Flour (.50)
2 Cups Baker's Corner Sugar (.50)
1 tsp. Baker's Corner Baking Soda (.05)
2 tsp. Spice Club Cinnamon (.03)
1/2 Tsp Sebree Salt (.01)
2 3oz packages of Baker's Corner Vanilla Pudding (.75)

Preheat oven to 325.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add oil and pumpkin. Beat until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and mix well. Gradually beat into the pumpkin mixture.

Pour into prepared muffin pans (you can either spray well or use muffin liners, I use the liners! Makes travel easier!).

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

This makes approximately 30 muffins at .13 each! :) ENJOY. They're fairly sweet, but if you like a little frosting, you could melt about 2 tablespoons of the Baker's Corner Vanilla Frosting in the microwave and drizzle over top. :)

BTW...they freeze and travel very well! :)

Harvest Hayride Breakfast

2010-10-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

a.k.a. Pumpkin Waffles with Apple Cider Syrup.

I have this really great friend who gave me a used waffle maker. I just got it about two months ago, and I've been experimenting with waffles, mixes, etc.

Imagine my surprise when I walked into Aldi the other day and saw Millville Pumpkin Pancake & Waffle Mix. And in the refrigerated section near the orange juice was Nature's Nectar Apple Cider. Of course, light bulbs start going off in my head, and my mouth starts watering, and I do believe I drooled - just a little bit (no one saw, at least I don't think they did). Oh well, even if they did...wasn't going to stop me from having my "Fall on a Plate".

So, this recipe is ONE PART review of a seasonal Aldi Product, and a recipe using another seasonal product. Stock up while you can! You won't regret it.

Pumpkin Waffles - follow package directions. $2.79 for a box which makes about 9-10 6" waffles.

The waffles were VERY easy to make, smelled delicious baking in the waffle maker, and turned out crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Very nice taste and texture.

Apple Cider Syrup

2 Cups Apple Cider ($2.39 for 56 oz)
3 Cups Brown Sugar
2 Tbs Butter
1 tsp cinnamon (or if you have on hand, float a cinnamon stick while cooking)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Bring all contents to a boil on the stove. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Allow to cool slightly before serving. This makes about 24 oz of syrup. So it makes A LOT. :) And it's only about 5¢ a serving!

Raspberry Breakfast Treats

2010-10-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

So. I haven't been around much. For that, I'm TRULY sorry. But...life has gotten quite busy here. School has started, and being a homeschooler, it takes much of my time! And my daughter's gymnastics season has now started...and being the wonderful mother that I am, I took over the Concessions and food for home meets. Last week was my first ever meet. It was my daughter's first meet of the season. It was a great day all around. And it's been so fun planning, buying, making, getting ready, etc. A whole new adventure for me. I have an incredible team of ladies that I'm working with, who were incredible for this first meet!

My focus lately has been in trying to find inexpensive things to make that would be easy for the Judges or Coaches to eat at a meet. This evening, I tested something that I've been dreaming about for weeks. So...here goes.

Oh...btw...if you're dieting...DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT MAKE THESE!

Raspberry Breakfast Treats

1 Tube Bueller's Crescent Rolls (1.39)
8 tsp. Berry Hill Raspberry Spread (2.39/8 oz - .50)
2 Tbs Baker's Choice Vanilla Frosting (.99/12 oz - .10)

Preheat oven to 375.

Open and roll out tube of crescent rolls. Separate into 8 triangles. Spoon about a teaspoon of Raspberry Spread in the widest part of the triangle, spread down to about halfway down. Roll into crescents and bake according to package directions.

Allow to cool.

Heat frosting in microwave for 10-15 seconds and drizzle over crescents.

Sit down, enjoy with a cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, pretty much, anything!!! Only 25¢ each!!!

Zucchini Bread

2010-08-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

For those of you with green thumbs, and over abundance in your garden, wanting something to do with all that zucchini that is growing like weeds...this recipe is for you.

I, however, have a black thumb and kill everything I try to grow save children and a larger waistline. I have to buy my zucchini from Aldi. Thankfully, it is so reasonable! A few weeks ago I got 3 good sized zucs for $1.39!!! WHAT? Okay, not as good as free - but easier than me trying to garden (and far less amusing to the outsider!) And they were fine specimens too, large and quite weighty! I still have one left after making this treat!

Also, there is no picture because it did not last long enough to be photographed. I briefly considered taking a picture of the mangled aluminum foil with crumbs abounding, but figured that would be cruel. :)

I hope that you enjoy.

Zucchini Bread

3 Golden Hen Eggs (.25)
1 Cup Vegetable Oil (.40)
2 Cups Baker's Corner Sugar (.20)
2 Cups Grated Zucchini, drained well (about 2 med-large) (.93)
1 Tsp Vanilla (.10)
1/2 Tsp Sebree Salt (.02)
3 Cups Grandma's Best Flour (.50)
1/2 Tsp Bakers Corner Baking Powder (.02)
1 Tsp. Baker's Corner Baking Soda (.01)
3/4 Teaspoon Spice Market Ground Nutmeg (.01)
1 Tbs. Spice Market Ground Cinnamon (.02)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix eggs, oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla together well in a very large bowl.

Sift together salt, flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Stir well, but do not overmix.

Pour into two 8 X 5 (or 9X5) loaf pans. Sprinkle the top with a light coating of sugar, if desired (this makes for a crispy top crust!) Bake for 45-55 minutes - or until top springs back. Let cool completely before removing and slicing (this will be tough I realize!)

The cost is $1.23/loaf - and that means about .12 a slice! Tasty, inexpensive treat! :)

Chinese Cabbage & Eggs

2010-08-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO TRY THIS!!!

For the last few years we've been blessed with the opportunity to host Chinese Cultural Immersion Students. It's always such an enriching experience for us as a family, and for me personally. The gist is, they come here for "American Camp" and visit a few typical American cities (she's been to Las Vegas, Los Angeles & Philadelphia, and after she leaves us will spend a few days in NYC), they also live with American families and immerse themselves in the language and the culture. She's been here almost 2 1/2 weeks already. They do typical "American" things, tour our schools, firehouses, farms, etc. And learn about American culture. As well as sharing their own with us. The students spend half the day in class learning about America, then they spend the other half of the day on a field trip. As a host family, we get to attend as many of the field trips as we like. We've done quite a few with this group this year! But, one of my favorite parts of this exchange is that usually they teach me how to make an authentic dish or two while they are here.

This year, our student Ya Xian (yah sheeahn), aka Angela is 14, and a true delight. Ya Xian has an English name, Angela, because we Americans are complete doofuses when we try to pronounce Chinese names. I'm not kidding, you haven't lived until you've had 20 Chinese teenagers laughing at you trying to pronounce their names!. Angela and her classmates are from a town about 45 mins south of Hong Kong. They are definitely more like American teenagers than we've experienced before. She came with a laptop, MP3 player and cell phone. She texts with one hand - now the keyboard on her phone is English alphabet, when she types on the screen, though, it's in Chinese characters! WHAT??

I might be a little biased, but, we've got the best student on the trip! What strikes me about her character is that she, unlike most female Chinese Immersion Students we've encountered, is not afraid of anything! She was the first (and only) of the girls to swim during our welcome party, she's tried fishing, she walked barefoot in the creek and threw rocks with us, she's tried on a fireman's suit, she's played American games even though she didn't know the language well, she's played in the rough waves of OCNJ. Not only that, but she lets me take her picture! I'm surprised she's not blind from all the pictures I've taken. All the other girls hide from me when I bring out my camera and say "no, no, I'm ugly!" Not Angela, she turns towards me and smiles broadly. She's just great! Her bravery, and courage when facing new things is truly inspiring. She seems to have a true sense of who she is, and how valuable she is to her family, and this world. I am slightly concerned, however, that my youngest is going to stow away in her luggage and run away to China with her. They've gotten quite close. Here is our Angela:

Anyway, I digress, not to be one to shy away from a challenge, Angela wanted to cook dinner for us. Her father gave her a recipe and told her - over Skype, of course - how to prepare it (I want you to keep in mind that she NEVER cooked this recipe before, nor is it something she has at home often....I told you, BRAVE!). Tonight was the night. She prepared one batch and we ate it so fast, she had to teach me how to cook the dish and we ate the 2nd batch down equally as fast. Inhaled would be a better word. As odd as the words cabbage and eggs might sound in the same recipe, but PLEASE try it, I know that you won't be disappointed.

Oh, and the bonus? Not only is it delicious, but it is CHEAP!

Chinese Cabbage and Eggs

1/2 head of cabbage, shredded (.85)
3 eggs (.30)
Salt & Pepper to taste (.01)
1-2 Tbs Oil (.10)

In a small bowl, mix eggs with pinch salt & pepper.

Heat oil in large skillet or Wok over medium heat. Add cabbage and saute until tender crisp. Add a pinch of salt.

Add egg mixture and cook until eggs are fluffy and cooked. Sprinkle top with pepper. Serve immediately.

Aside from chopping, cook time takes about 5-10 minutes all told. Seriously EASY supper for 32 cents a serving!

* If you need to make more, I suggest making it in two batches so that the cabbage sautes and doesn't steam.

Suicidal Blondies

2010-08-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe they're not suicidal, but they are definitely depressed. They wish they were chocolate brownies, but what they don't understand is that they're awesome, just the way they are. I do know that a few delicious, inexpensive ingredients gave their lives for them to be so delicious. I think it's only fitting, and honoring, to eat them with gusto, and a glass of milk. And be thankful!!!

Feel free to eat these in excess (i.e. INXS).

Suicidal Blondies

1 Cup of Country Creamery butter, melted ($1.00)
2 Cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar (.45)
2 Golden Hen eggs, lightly beaten (.20)
1 teaspoon of vanilla (.10)
1 teaspoon Bakers Corner baking powder (.05)
1/2 teaspoon of Baker's Corner baking soda (.05)
1/4 teaspoon of Sebree salt (.01)
2 cup of Grandma's Best all-purpose flour (.50)
1 package of Baker's Corner Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (1.69)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Lightly butter and flour an 13 X 9 pan.

Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix well. Add the chocolate chips and mix well again.

Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool. (if you can handle it!!!)

Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 18 blondies @ .23 each!

SALES ALERT!

2010-07-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone...I was in my local Aldi the other day and picked up the new flyer! I'm sooooo excited!!!!

A large variety of Fit & Active products will be coming back to the stores starting July 14th. Shakes, Egg whites, low sodium bacon, and snack bars just to name a few!

Also, Sundae Shoppe Juice Bars are coming! $1.99 for 12. These are the like Minute Maid push-popcicles. But cheaper. And, well, in my opinion, tastier! :)

ENJOY SHOPPERS!

I PROMISE more recipes are coming...

2010-07-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

School is over, portfolios turned in. First gymnastics camp is almost done....cooking will commence!

I've been working on a few recipes to share, for sure....I even took pictures of them, I just need the 10 minutes it takes to type up the recipes and get them into the computer!

The most exciting Aldi News I can share right now is that Aldi has started selling FRESH Chicken! YAY!!!! Boneless Skinless Breasts for $2.59 a lb! WOW. Also, they have a good selection of bone-in legs and breasts and thighs. Truly become a one stop shop for me now!

Be on the lookout for some recipes using these newly available items!

:)

Stuffed Pepper Rings

2010-06-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Last week, I IM'd with my husband at work. I was trying to figure out, yet again, what to have for dinner. He was craving Stuffed Peppers, but I didn't have the ingredients. I haven't been able to get it off my mind since then, so here goes!!!

Stuffed Pepper Rings

1 package Green Peppers (2 in a package) (1.69)
1 package Multi-Color Peppers (2 in package, usually 1 red one yellow) (1.99)
1 20 oz package Fit & Active Ground Turkey ($2.49)
1 cup cooked rice (I used from leftover Chinese Takeout from the night before) (.25)
1 egg (.10)
2 slices whole wheat bread, crust removed (.20)
Milk (just enough for bread to soak up) (.20)
1 28 oz Jar Reggiano Spagetti Sauce (1.09)
Salt
Pepper
1 Tbs Garlic Powder (.08)
1 Tbs Onion Powder (.08)
1 Tbs Italian Seasoning (.08)
8 oz Happy Farms Mozzarella Cheese Block, shredded (1.79)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare peppers. Cut tops and bottoms off, then cut at least two rings out of each pepper (about 1" tall). Using caution, cut seeds and membrane out of rings. Set aside.

In a small bowl, place bread slices. Cover with milk and set aside.

In a large bowl, add ground turkey, rice, egg, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning. Add soaked bread and milk. Mix together well.

Place a small amount of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 13 X 9" baking pan. Spread out. Lay rings evenly in the pan. Scoop meat mixture and press into each of the rings. Cover stuffed rings with the remaining spaghetti sauce. Bake, covered in foil, for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes. Add shredded mozzarella cheese the last 5 minutes.

Let stand about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy this with a green salad and garlic bread!

I would say that this serves 6 (it served us, a family of 5, with leftovers) making it $1.64 per serving. There are ways you could make this a little less expensive per serving, also. Using the ground turkey in the tube for .99/lb would reduce it. Also, check for peppers more in season, or use all green peppers would also reduce the cost.

Zucchini Pancakes

2010-06-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

I know. I haven't been around in a while. Life has been just plain crazy around here! Dinner has been from the 4 OTHER food groups: Order In, Take Out, Frozen and Canned. :)

FINALLY, I got to cook something. Something I've been dying to try, actually. I think I was watching a show on Food TV when I started drooling (of course, isn't that how it always starts????). I've had to adapt, of course, to Aldify it. But, the end result was just plain delicious. :)

I love zucchini. I didn't always love zucchini. When I was a child, I ate like a child and didn't like it. I was 21 before I had zucchini in a way that just was delicious. I have since that time loved all things zucchini and have tried many different things. These are YUMMY. I hope you enjoy. And if grow your own, or have a Mom who does, all the better!

Zucchini Pancakes

2 large zucchini, grated (1.39)
1 cup Baker's Corner All-Purpose Baking Mix (.20)
1/2 medium onion, diced small (.30)
2 Golden Hen eggs (.20)
2 large cloves garlic, minced (.10)
1 tsp Spice Club dried Parsley Flakes (.05)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup canola oil (.40)
1/2 cup sour cream, for serving (.20)

Directions
Grate the zucchini. Place the grated zucchini in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze well to remove the excess water.

In a large bowl combine the zucchini, baking mix, onion, eggs, dried parsley and garlic and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Mix well to thoroughly combine. Let sit about 15 minutes (this allows the parsley to soak up some liquid and not have the "dried" texture).

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. I used my cookie scoop to make consistently sized pancakes. Place in the oil and flatten slightly. Cook about 2 minutes on each side. Move cooked pancakes to paper towels to drain. Makes 12-14 pancakes.

Serve warm topped with a dollup on sour cream.

.48/serving....cheap tastes good!!!

Grilled Pork Loin w/ Grilled Potatoes

2010-05-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

I really cannot take credit for this recipe, simply because it's too easy. AND because, my husband did it. I am, admittedly, afraid of the grill. Whether it be the fire, the heat, the uncontrollable cooking (I AM a control-freak), etc. But, my husband is a grill-master extraordinaire. I do not joke. He can take an awful cut of meat and turn it into the most delicate, delicious grilled fare to be devoured. Um, I mean enjoyed!!!

Anyway, the Roseland Boneless Pork Tenderloins have always intrigued me. I've never cooked pork tenderloin before and was apprehensive. After I defrosted it yesterday, I realized the directions gave an option for grilling. And the weather was perfect for grilling. "Oh Honey.....how do you feel about grilling out tonight?" He jumped at it!!!

Grilled Pork Loin w/ Grilled Potatoes

1 Roseland Boneless Pork Tenderloin (they are 2.99/lb - mine was $4.10 and about 1.3 lbs)
1 Cup Fit & Active Light Honey Dijion Salad Dressing ($1.69/bottle)

Marinate pork loin for several hours in the salad dressing.

Heat coals on grill (or heat gas grill to med-high heat). Grill pork loin for 25 minutes in a covered grill, or until the internal temperature reaches 160. My husband did turn it a few times to make sure it got good "bark" on it.

Grilled Potatoes

4 Red Potatoes (about 1 lb - $2.49/3 lbs)
Olive Oil (about 1 tbs)
Salt & Pepper

Cut potatoes in half. Coat in olive oil, salt and pepper. Place potatoes cut-side down on grill for about 10 minutes, make sure grill cover is closed for cooking). Turn potatoes over and grill for another 15 minutes.

I added a salad made from garden-grown salad greens from my friend.

This meal serves 4 nicely, and only costs $1.45 per serving!!!

Sunrise Surprise!

2010-05-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hello folks!

I know, it's been a while. Lets just say, 2 root canals, and tender gums and teeth had changed my diet drastically in the last few weeks! Factor in a crazy busy schedule, and well, food is catch as catch can.

BUT...will be more faithful. Things are STARTING to slow down, and even though my diet still looks like that of an 87 year old nursing home patient, I will be cooking more.

I thought I'd share an economical tip today.

As you know, Aldi's cereals are cheap, cheap, cheap. We don't do sugary cereals much in this house. The one exception being Vacation, I will buy the junk food cereals. Anyway, while shaking the plethora of boxes in my cabinet to prepare for my shopping trip yesterday (and erroneously thinking we had tons of cereal because there were at least 14 boxes in the cabinet), I realized that there was less than 1 serving in each box!!!! Not to be one to waste a buck, I combined them all into a fancy IKEA container and created what I call "Sunrise Surprise". All the interesting tidbits of leftover cereal created their own culinary heaven.

My two oldest ate it for breakfast today, and loved it!!!! Now they're going to be asking me to make this all the time, aren't they???

An easy Mother's Day Breakfast...

2010-05-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

Are you nervous? Mother's Day is SUNDAY! Did your order flowers? Send your card? NO? Well...wait....I have an Aldi Product Review that is VERY TIMELY!

How about make your Mom something delicious for breakfast?

I bought this, Breakfast Skillets, for $1.99 in the freezer section at my local Aldi. I chose the Sausage version because my family is partial to sausage. They also have Ham.

VERY EASY TO DO, add 6 golden hen eggs (they were 1.25 this week for a dozen!), and I added about 4 oz of shredded Happy Farms cheddar cheese.

For the most part, it was very yummy. The only comment from my hubby was that there were a lot of potatoes. I would add that the over-abundance of potatoes necessitated adding salt and pepper liberally. But it was overall yummy, quick, easy and very inexpensive!

Hope you enjoy!

And Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommies out there!

Aldi Peach Crisp

2010-04-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

I think I've mentioned that when I'm stressed, I bake. Well, lately I've been under a considerable amount of stress. On Sunday night, I had to bake something.

This recipe harkens back to a peach crisp I made in OCNJ in 2006. My step-father had rented a house down in OC for us to have our vacation. During one of his visits to the shore house, he brought fresh Jersey peaches that were just perfectly ripe. And they were delectable! Of course, my stepfather being the generous man that he is bought about a bushel of them! There was no way to eat them before they'd go bad! So...necessity being the mother of invention, this recipe was born.

To Aldify (I'm working on adding this to the dictionary!) it, I had to alter the peaches, but it turned out really well.

Hope you try, hope you like it, and don't forget to add the whipped cream or the ice cream!

Peach Crisp

1 Can Fit & Active Peach slices in light syrup
1 Cup Millville Quick Cooking Oats
1/2 Cup Baker's Corner Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Grandma's Best Flour
pinch of Sebree Salt
6 Tbs. Country Creamery Unsalted Butter

Open and drain peaches well. Pour in to a shallow 8" or 9" pie plate.

In a bowl mix together flour, brown sugar, oats and salt. Melt butter in microwave or slowly on the stove. Mix into flour/sugar mixture.

Sprinkle/spread this over the top of the peaches.

Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes (until oat mixture is browned and crispy looking).

Allow to set for about 5 minutes before digging in!

NOTE: I'll come back later to add the cost, I need to dig out some receipts since some of the ingredients have been in my pantry a while!

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

2010-04-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!

You got your chocolate in my peanut butter?

I mean, really, is there a more perfect combination that chocolate and peanut butter? I LOVE BOTH. And if you knew me in person, this would be quite obvious when you see the size of my bottom. Oh well.

This weekend, we had dinner with good friends. No, great friends. No, family. LOL :) In this certain circle, I've been labeled the dessert goddess, and usually people secretly wish I'm bringing dessert, even if I don't say I will. In all fairness, these people were friends before I knew I could bake well...so they got to eat a lot of my experiments.

Baking for me is very cathartic. It's the only thing I want to do when I'm stressed out. I used to work at a REALLY high stress job (pre kids, and even part of it pre husband). I'd work 20 hour days, come home and bake for 3 hours before I could go to bed. My co-workers loved it because I would bring my baking creations in the following day. My one boss used to joke about finding ways to stress me out so that I would bake something to bring in. :)

This recipe is a conglomeration of a few recipes I'd tried in years past.

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

Cake:
1 Box Bakers Corner Yellow Cake Mix
1 1/4 Cups Water
3 Golden Hen Eggs
1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 Carlini Vegetable Oil (or Canola Oil)

Filling:

1/2 Cup Country Creamery Butter, softened
1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup Friendly Farms Half and Half
2 to 3 Cups Powdered Sugar

2 Tubs of Baker's Corner Milk Chocolate Frosting

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Using and electric mixer beat all cake ingredients together. Start slow for 30 seconds until combined. Then beat for 2 minutes on medium speed, scrape sides as necessary.

Pour into two round cake pans with parchment paper cut to fit the inside. Bake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center come out cleanly. Cool for 10 minutes. Using a knife, loosen cake from sides of pan, cool for 1 hour before proceeding.

Prepare Peanut Butter Cream Filling. Cream together peanut butter and butter. Add half and half. Add powdered sugar in 1/2 cup at a time until the frosting is creamy and thick and desired sweetness.

After cakes are completely cooled, gently cut each cake in half horizontally (you'll end up with 4 thin circles of cake). Spread half of the peanut butter filling between two of each circle of cake.

Top one cake with a generous helping of chocolate frosting. Place 2nd cake on top. Frost top and sides with the rest of the chocolate frosting.

Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until ready to serve.

Aldi Springs Chicken

2010-04-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

I LOVE Outback Steakhouse. I love a good steak, and good potatoes, and a good bloomin' onion! BUT, I LOVE their Alice Springs Chicken. A few years ago, for Mother's Day, my husband made a replica of it for me. It was just as good, if not better. And lets face it, who wants to lug all the kids to a restaurant, shell out $13.99 for a plate of chicken that you know you can make at home for a fraction of the price?

Tonight, for dinner, I tried my hand at Alice Springs Chicken, and so as not to steal the name, I've renamed it "Aldi Springs Chicken". I don't believe there truly is an Aldi Spring, but we can pretend for a delicious recipe, right?

Aldi Springs Chicken

1 1/2 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breasts (about 3 large or 4 small) ($6.49/2.5 lbs)
1 16 oz bottle Fit & Active Light Honey Mustard Dressing (1.69)
1 16 oz package Fit & Active Lower Sodium Bacon (2.49)
1 8 oz package Happy Farms Monterey Jack Cheese, sliced thin (1.79)

Place 1 cup of salad dressing and the chicken in a large resealable bag. Marinate for 4 hours or overnight.

Prepare bacon. I prefer to bake mine on a cookie sheet. This makes for easier clean up and it doesn't destroy the stove, either.

Grill chicken. I have a table top grill (like a George Foreman), but you could certainly grill outside or pan fry. Grill until ALMOST done - you don't want to overcook the chicken, and you will be baking it for a few minutes.

Move chicken to a baking dish or cookie sheet. Cover each breast with bacon (I find about 3 strips per breast works well, this will leave you a few left for snacking or BLT's tomorrow). Cover bacon with cheese. Bake at 350 until the cheese melts and chicken finishes cooking (about 5 minutes). Serve immediately with the remainder of the honey mustard dressing for dipping.

Serves 6 (cut the breasts in half if using 3 large) for $1.62 per serving. To keep with the steakhouse theme, serve with a baked potato and a wedge of iceburg lettuce, this adds only about .15 per serving! MUCH CHEAPER than going to Outback.

(I made my own honey mustard for dipping because I wanted to try my hand at it. I used a recipe from www.allrecipes.com, but did not use Aldi ingredients which is why I'm not sharing).

Philly Cheesesteak Pasta

2010-03-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

Miss me? Sorry, life around here has been so unbelievably busy! Homeschooling 3 kids, trying to maintain (and failing miserably) a 4 bedroom house, working to get my grandmother into assisted living facility, playing taxi to my kids many activities, and climbing Mount Washmore on what seems to be a daily basis, well...I just have been slacking off in the cooking department.

The other day, I spent the day in the kitchen, cooking and creating a recipe that had been in my mind for weeks. I LOVE Philly Cheesesteaks. And if you live in Philly, the fight is Pat's vs. Geno's - usually. Of course, out here in the suburbs, we have plenty of GREAT places to choose from. Personally, I prefer one on an Amoroso's steak roll, using FRESH meat and REAL Provalone or American cheese - no Cheese Whiz for me (sorry Pat's). Lots of green peppers, mushrooms and onions.

I've been having a tooth issue which makes it very hard to chew. And as delicious as a cheesesteak sounds, the pain of chewing it is a huge deterrent (I know, I'm going to the dentist...I promise). So...pasta's soft! So here goes!!!

I do warn you, this is not any healthier than eating a true Philly Cheesesteak. I never claimed that ALL the food I made would be healthy. :) I hope you try it, and enjoy it.

Philly Cheesesteak Pasta

12 oz Reggiano Penne Pasta (.99)
1 Tbs. Country Creamery Butter (.05)
1 Tbs. Olive Oil (.11)
1 Box Philly Gourmet Sandwich Steaks (1.99)
10 oz box of White Mushrooms, sliced thinly (.89)
1 green pepper, diced (.80)
1/2 large onion, diced (.30)
2 cloves garlic, minced (.10)

Sauce:
2 Tbs Country Creamery Butter (.10)
2 Tbs. Grandma's Best Flour (.10)
1 8oz package of Happy Farms Provalone Slices, julienned (1.99)
8 oz. Great American Slices, julienned (3.49/lb - so 1.75 for half)
2 Cups Milk (.45)

Prepare Pasta as directed on package. Drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large saute pan, melt butter and oil together over medium heat. Saute diced onions, diced peppers and sliced mushrooms together until tender/crisp. Add minced garlic and continue to cook until mushrooms are soft. Cut sandwich steaks in strips (I cut them in half, THEN in strips). Add to veggie mixture and cook until beef is cooked through. Drain as much fat as possible. Set aside.

In a large sauce pan, melt butter. Stir in flour and whisk for 2 minutes to cook out the "raw" taste of the flour. Add milk slowly. Bring milk just to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Continually stir over low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Stir in cheeses until melted.

In a large bowl mix together vegetables/beef, pasta and cheese sauce. Pour into a 13 X 9 Inch baking pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes @ 350 degrees until cheese sauce is bubbly.

Makes 12 servings @ $.80 each! Please enjoy responsibly (like add a salad or something to make it redeeming!)

Sausage Meatball & Gnocci Soup

2010-03-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

The start of this soup was a knock off of an Olive Garden soup. Of course, it didn't have sausage in it. What actually happened is that I wanted to make the Olive Garden Soup knock off, but didn't read the recipe before I went to Aldi, so I didn't get all the ingredients right! Oh well. Sometimes accidents happen for a reason. And this, I think, was much better than any Olive Garden soup I could have had (sorry, OG...it's true).

Priano Potato Gnocci
1/2 of 1 lb package Roseland bulk sausage
1/2 of package of Ground Turkey
2 Golden Hen eggs
2 slices of L'Oven Fresh wheat bread
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbs Spice Club onion powder
1 Tbs Spice Club garlic powder
1 Tbs Spice Club Italian Seasoning
2 Tbs Carlini Olive Oil
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
2 large stalks of celery, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 Tsp Oregano
1 quart Friendly Farms Half & Half
1 quarter Fit & Active Chicken Broth

In a large stockpot, add olive oil. Place heat to medium. Once the oil is warmed up, add carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Saute until onions are starting to get translucent. Add bay leaves, and oregano. Mix well.

Add Chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Prepare the meatballs as follows: In a small bowl add bread, cover with milk and let sit and soak up the milk. In another large bowl, add ground turkey and sausage, two eggs, onion powder, garlic powder and italian seasoning. Once the bread is soaked with the milk, add bread and any leftover milk in the bowl with ground meats and spices. Mix well. Form into 1/2" - 3/4" meatballs.

Drop the meatballs into the simmering broth. Cover and cook another 15 minutes. Add the half & half and mix in well. Uncover. Add in Gnocci and cook until they are soft and cooked through - about 5 minutes.

Serve. And enjoy.

I'll add calculations later! gotta go find my receipts!

Okay, I can see you're all holding out for....

2010-03-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

....chocolate.

:)

I'll try to bake you something special over the weekend. Okay????

Biscuit-topped Chicken Pot Pie

2010-03-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

I know that I recently did a Chicken Pot Pie Stoup. Well, this one is ACTUAL Chicken Pot Pie. Made a little differently, so, I don't feel TOO repetitive! :)

I had some leftover grilled boneless/skinless chicken breast in the fridge from a grilled chicken pizza dinner I made the other night. The chicken was not from Aldi, but you could easily use their IQF Chicken. I'm basing my price per serving on using their chicken.

Biscuit-topped Chicken Pot-pie

2 Cups Cooked Chicken Breast meat, cubed ($6.49/2.5 lbs, this was 1 large breast) ($1.00)
1 Cup Season's Choice Frozen Peas, thawed (.49)
1 Cup Season's Choice Frozen Corn, thawed (.49)
1 Carrot, medium dice (.10)
1 Celery Stick, medium dice (.10)
1/4 medium onion, medium dice (.15)
1 garlic clove, crushed (.05)
1 Tbs olive oil (.15)
1 Tbs Country Creamery Butter (.05)
2 Tbs Flour (.10)
2 Cups 2% Milk (.45)
1 Chicken Boullion Cube, crushed and mixed into the milk (.05)
2 1/4 cups Baker's Corner Baking Mix (.43)
2/3 Cup Milk (.14)

Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add Olive oil and butter. Add diced onion, celery and carrots and "sweat" until just about soft. Add peas, corn and chicken meat and stir until warm. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and chicken and mix in well. Pour in milk laced with boullion. Reduce heat to low, bring to a boil and let simmer until sauce thickens.

While chicken & veggies are simmering mix and form biscuits according to package directions (you may use as "drop" biscuits and not form them, just drop on top)

Pour chicken and vegetable mixture into a deep dish pie pan - or another 2 quart baking dish. Place biscuits on top (or if dropping, drop in even amounts around the top of the pan.

Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes (until biscuits are golden brown and cooked through).

Serve immediately, and don't expect many leftovers! :) Made 6 servings @ .63 each!

Turkey Tacos

2010-03-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

If you ask my oldest child any time of day or night what she would like to eat, she'll respond with a resounding "tacos". It is her favorite food. I've mentioned many times that we lived in Phoenix for 4 years. I credit Phoenix with my oldest's love of Mexican Food. She likes it all, but tacos are, by far, her favorite. If she could have tacos every day of the week, she would. For both lunch and dinner.

A few years ago, I was disappointed by the ingredients in our favorite taco packet. Not to mention how much sodium was in it, and the MSG. MSG gives me headaches, and I know that it does to many others as well. I searched for a spice mix that I could use and found one at Recipe Zaar. I have adapted it to suit our tastes. I use this for Tacos and Fajitas, as well as any time I want to add a little Mexican twist to any thing. I prepare this large batch and save in an emptied spice container so that I have it on hand anytime I need it.

Last year, at our co-op, I was the cooking teacher and we made fajitas for the "dinner" class. Many students (and their parents) still tell me that they use this recipe exclusively when making Mexican Dishes. That, to me, is the highest compliment.

I'll share the mix recipe first, then how to use it in tacos.

Taco/Fajita Seasoning Mix

5 Tbs. Spice Club Chili Powder
5 Tsp. Spice Club Ground Cumin
2 Tsp. Spice Club Ground Black Pepper*
4 Tsp. Sebree Table Salt
1 Tsp. Spice Club Paprika*
2 Tsp. Spice Club Dried Oregano
2 Tsp. Spice Club Garlic Powder
2 Tsp. Spice Club Onion Powder
1/2 Tsp. Spice Club Red Pepper Flakes*

*add more of these ingredients if you like it even spicier.

Mix all ingredients together well and store in an air-tight container. This entire container costs about $1.25.

Turkey Tacos

1 20 oz package of Fit & Active Ground Turkey ($2.49)
3 Tbs Taco/Fajita Seasoning Mix (above) (.25)
1 8 oz can Happy Harvest Tomato Sauce (.29)
1/2 Cup Water
1 Package La Mas Rica Flour Tortillas (1.49) - you may use the corn or the crunchy corn...whatever YOUR pref
Half of 8oz brick Happy Farms Colby Jack cheese, shredded (.89)
2 Cups finely shredded lettuce (.33 - I use about a half a head of romaine hearts which is $1.99/3 heads)
1 Cup Happy Farms Sour Cream (.49)
La Mas Rica Salsa (choose type and heat - prices will vary - for means of calc, .50 avg of used salsa)
La Mas Rica Guacamole (.82) (this is 3.29 for two internal packages...we use about half of on package in a meal)

Brown ground turkey. Sprinkle spices over and cook for one minute until you can smell the aroma of the spices. Add tomato sauce and water. Bring to boil, then reduce to a slow simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes stiring occasionally.

Warm up tortillas as instructed on packaging.

This makes about 12 tacos @ about .63 per taco.

Serve topped with your favorite ingredients.

Using Aldi Convenience Food for Inexpensive Yumminess

2010-03-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

Hi there.

I'm taking it a minute to thank those who have chosen to follow me, and to comment, etc. It means the world to me.

The other night for dinner we had something that is not technically a recipe, more using the Aldi convenience items for yumminess. If you have not tried the Bremer Cheese Ravioli ($2.99/60 - I used half), Reggiano Traditional Pasta Sauce ($.99) or the Mama Cozzi Meatballs ($1.99/30 meatballs), give them a whirl! I cooked the meatballs in the crock-pot with the sauce on low for about 5 or so hours. I prepped the Ravioli as directed on the package. I served the meatball sauce over the ravioli. It was very yummy. Very easy. And a great, inexpensive meal (six servings @ $0.75/serving!!!) for a rushed and busy night. You might question the logic that pasta sauce is a vegetable, but, on busy nights it is to me!

Before I start the next statements, I want to assure everyone (and those that know me in real life know this), I DO NOT WORK for Aldi, nor do I get paid to sing their praises.

While at the store the other day, I grabbed the circular that starts March 7th, I'm happy to annouce that the Priano Italian specialty items will start appearing in Aldi's . These are wonderful to stock up on while they last. Unique sauces and frozen pastas that make for a quick dinner prep. There are great snacks and appetizers, too. I believe it is the season of Lent that brings it on, folks having meatless Fridays and all.

Just be on the look out and stock up while it's here. I'll hope to post some recipes using these fun products in the coming month.

THANKS!!!

Chinese Pork & Peppers

2010-03-02T05:46:00.001-08:00

Well, Aldi does not normally carry a lot of chinese food items. They do have things in their freezer case. Once a year, around the Chinese New Year (Lunar Festival), they bring in items under the label "Asian Specialties". During this time of year they carry soy sauce, simmering sauces, rice noodles, etc. This is a great time to stock up. Seeing these in my local Aldi this week gave me the desire for a dish we haven't had in a very long time.

Three summers ago, we hosted our first Chinese Exchange Student for three weeks. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Julia (her Americanized name) loved to cook, and showed us how to make a few authentic dishes while she was here. This was one of them.

You need to know ahead of time that there are two ingredients that are not available at Aldi (at least at mine, if they're available in yours...more power to ya!). Corn Starch and Scallions. The prices I included were from a local grocery store, Acme.

Chinese Pork & Peppers

1.5 lb. Roseland Boneless Pork Loin Chops, julienned very thinly, in about 1" lengths ($4.49)
1 large green pepper, julienned (.99/2) (I quarter it and then slice in thin 1" long strips)
1 scallion, thinly sliced on the bias (.99/8 stalks)
2 tbs corn starch ($1.19/1 lb)
2 tbs Asian Specialties light soy sauce (.99/btl)
3 tbs oil

1 Cup White Rice (.99/1 lb)
1 Tbs Butter ($1.99/lb)
2 Cups Hot Water

Prepare the rice as follows: in a 2 quart pot with tight fitting lid, melt butter. Add 1 cup dry rice and saute in butter until coated in butter and "nutty" smelling. Be careful not to burn rice. Add 2 cups water, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 20 minutes. Turn off heat. Let sit, covered, until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the thinly slice pork strips, corn starch and soy sauce together. Mix well to coat ALL of the pork. Set aside for 5 or so minutes.

Using a LARGE wok or LARGE skillet, heat the 3 tbs. of oil on HIGH heat. When the oil is hot, add the pork, reduce heat to medium high. Stir fry meat in the oil. When the meat is ALMOST done, add the peppers. Stir around in the pan just to quickly cook the peppers. They need to be tender crisp. Sprinkle on sliced scallions just before serving, stir in.

Serve over rice.

This makes 6 servings @ $.92/serving. :)

***I know we Americans would very easily lose the oil in the hopes of good health, BUT don't miss the awesome opportunity to taste the food the way it was meant to be.***

Aldi Party Mix

2010-03-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's not holiday time. It's not time for party mixes and finger snacks. Well, sorry, I live in a house where the party mix is a particular favorite. It's an easy grab, easy pack snack that is super cheap, and very easy to make. You can pretty much use the Chex mix recipe using Aldi ingredients and it turns out fine. I've created a mix that works well for our family. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy it.

Aldi Party Mix

9 Cups Millville Rice or Corn Squares ( or a combination) ($1.89/box)
2 Cups Corn Chips (the curly kind like Fritos) (.99/bag)
1 Cup Savoritz Sharks (1.09/box)
1 Cup Savoritz Oyster Crackers (.89/bag)
1 Cup Southern Grove Deluxe Natural Almonds (3.89/1 lb. bag)
1 stick Country Creamery unsalted Butter, melted (1.99/lb)
1 Tbs. Spice Club Seasoned Salt (.99/jar)
1 Tbs. Worchestershire Sauce (our brand right now is Tate's @ 1.29/btl)
1 Tsp. Spice Club Garlic Powder (.99/jar)
1 Tsp. Spice Club Onion Powder (.99/jar)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a LARGE bowl, combine rice or corn squares, corn chips, Sharks, oyster crackers and almonds. Melt butter and add in seasoned salt, Worchestershire sauce, garlic powder and onion powder. Mix well. Pour over cereal mixture and stir well to coat evenly.

Pour mix into large roasting pan and place in the oven. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Once out of the oven, pour out on to paper towels to cool. Store in an airtight container. Makes 14 1 Cup servings @ $.30 each! :)

Slow-Cooker Meatball Stew

2010-02-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

Thursdays are a big day around here. In the mornings we have a homeschool science class on the Human Body. In the afternoon/evening we have gymnastics for both girls. My poor son is dragged to the gym. Well...the white stuff was pounding us again and science class was postponed (AGAIN). Gymnastics still happened in spite of the snow. Thankfully, my husband stayed home for the day and spared my son from sitting at the gym for 2 1/2 hours!

I have, however, put my planned dinner in the crockpot and regardless of what happens, we had hot, warm, comforting dinner in the midst of the snowicane (yes, a real word they have coined this year, sad).

The highest compliment food can receive in this house is that it is "blogworthy". This received HIGH praise! :) So, for you, here it is!

Slow-Cooker Meatball Stew

1 Bag Mama Cozzi Original Style Meatballs ($1.99)
1 lb. Baby Carrots (.99)
1 stalk celery, chopped (.10)
1/4 Large onion (or half small) (.10)
1 green pepper, chopped (.99/2)
3 to 4 medium sized red potatoes, quartered ($2.49/5 lbs)
2 Cans Fit & Active Cream of Chicken Soup (.69/can)
1 clove garlic (.05)

Starting with the onions, layer in a 4 or 5 quart slow-cooker. In this order: onions, carrots, celery, pepper, potatos, garlic. Place meatballs on top (make sure still frozen). Pour the soup over top. Cover and cook on low 7-9 hours. RESIST THE URGE TO STIR TO OFTEN!!! The meatballs soften quite a bit, and if you stir too much you'll break them up.

Makes 6 servings @ .94 per serving.

Texa-Mexa Black Bean & Corn Chili

2010-02-24T17:25:00.000-08:00

We lived in Phoenix for 4 years, which only further solidified our absolute love for good Mexican food. In Phoenix, there are Mexican restaurants on every corner (sort of like pizza shops in Philly). Tacos, chili, tortilla soups, enchilladas, and women selling tamales out of the back of their cars! This chili is a blend of flavors, less "americana" due to the choices of beans, etc.

I do need to give my husband credit, he was the first to "beef up" our chili by adding black beans and corn. So yummy!

Texa-Mexa Black Bean & Corn Chili

1 20 oz package Fit & Active Ground Turkey ($2.49)
1 15 oz Can Dakota Black Beans, drained (.55)
1 15 oz Can Happy Harvest Diced Tomatoes, drained (.55)
1 8 oz can Happy Harvest Tomato Sauce (.25)
Frozen Corn, thawed (I fill one of the empty 15 oz cans with corn to measure) (.99)
3 Tbs. Spice Club Chili Powder (.10)
1 1/2 Tbs Spice Club Cumin (.05)
1 Tbs Spice Club Onion Powder (.02)
1 Tbs Spice Club Garlic Powder (.02)
Pinch salt

Brown ground turkey in skillet. Drain black beans and tomatoes and add to browned turkey. Add tomato sauce and corn. Stir in spices cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Stirring occasionally. This makes 6 servings at $.84/serving!

I like to serve with shredded mild cheddar cheese and sour cream as condiments. This increases the per serving cost minimally! :)

ENJOY!

Coconut Macadamia Biscotti

2010-02-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

The idea for this recipe originated from Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee of Food Network fame. The episodes aired within a day of each other, if I remember correctly (we're going back a few years here!). Rachel Ray's version was a bar cookie using prepackaged sugar cookie dough, coconut, macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips. Sandra Lee's used the same ingredients, but hers were a drop cookie, and instead of including the white chocolate chips INSIDE, she melted and drizzled on top. Either way, I can't think of a more perfect combination of flavors for a cookie and a sweet treat.

Record-breaking snow falls this week have turned my mind to baking, again. It keeps the kitchen warm, keeps my hand busy. Lets face it, hot chocolate tastes so much better with cookies to dip into it, right? Well...tea, coffee, hot chocolate, you NEED biscotti. Using the flavor profile of the Ray/Lee cookies, I set out to create a biscotti that would satisfy.

The added benefit of these being a great treat for your sweet coming into Valentine's Day!

Coconut Macadamia Biscotti

2/3 Cup sugar (2.29/4 lb bag - .20)
2 large eggs (1.29/dozen - .22)
1 tsp vanilla extract (.99/bottle - .10)
1 teaspoon baking powder (1.19 - .05)
1/4 teaspoon salt (.01)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (1.99/5 lb bag - .15)
1/2 cup Southern Grove Macadamia Nuts, chopped (4.99/2 cup package - $1.25)
1/2 cup Baker's Corner Coconut (1.29/3 cup bag - .22)

Glaze:
1 bag Bakers Corner White Baking Chips (1.69)
1 tsp Carlini Canola Oil (.05)
1/4 cup milk (3.59/gallon - .06)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the sugar and eggs on high speed until thick, pale, and fluffy (about 5 minutes). (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall off the beater in slow ribbons.) At this point beat in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and beat until combined. Fold in the chopped macadamia nuts and coconut.

Transfer the dough to your parchment lined baking sheet and form into a log, about 12 inches long and 3 1/2 inches wide. You may have to dampen your hands, or coat with cooking spray to form the log as the dough is quite sticky. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Transfer the log to a cutting board, using a serrated knife cut into 3/4 inch slices. Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, turn slices over, and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before glazing.

To glaze the biscotti, melt the white baking chips, oil and milk in a double boiler until smooth. Dip biscotti in the mixture and place on parchment paper do "dry". Refrigerate if you just can't wait!!! With the leftover white chocolate - pour in a container and refrigerate until solid but soft. Scoop by tablespoonful and roll into balls....white chocolate truffles as a bonus!!!

Makes about 10-12 biscotti (cost per biscotti - .33 - .40, I think we can agree that's better than a Starbuck's Biscotti!!!)

Pork Chops in Dijon Mustard Cream Sauce

2010-02-09T07:23:00.000-08:00

A way back when my oldest was still a bun in the oven, and I subscribed to all the baby things i could get, I received a monthly mailing from Carnation called "Very Best Baby" magazine. Every month they would send recipe cards with delicious, healthy recipes using Carnation products. One of my favorite recipes was the pork tenderloin in mustard cream sauce. I have long since lost the recipe, so I set out today hoping to recreate it using some of my favorite Aldi ingredients, I did have to sneak an non-Aldi ingredient, but it can be omitted OR purchased at another store rather cheaply.

Pork Chops in Dijon Mustard Cream Sauce

1 1/4 - 1/2 lbs of Roseland Bonless Pork Chops (2.89/lb - this package was $4.28) - used it all
3/4 Cup Friendly Farms Evaporated Milk (.39/can) - used .22
1/4 Cup Fit & Active Chicken Broth (.59/can) - used .08
1 Tbs. Dijion Mustard (our brand is currently called "Tate", but it used to be "Briargate", 1.19/btl) - used about .05
1 clove garlic, crushed (.69 for 3 full bulbs!) - used about .05
2 or 3 scallions (green onions), sliced thinly on the bias (.99 for 15) used .12

Place pork chops between plastic wrap sheets and pound to about to about 1/4" thickness. Salt & pepper lightly.

Heat skillet over medium-high heat and and spray pan with Carlini Canola Oil Spray ($1.39/can!).

Add two pieces of the pork to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes per side. Remove from pan and cover to keep warm, repeat with remaining pork. Remove 2nd set of pork. Add evaporated milk and chicken broth to the pan and scrape pan with spatula while warming it up to loosen the pork drippings into the milk, this process is called deglazing (fancy term for scraping up the extra bits, huh???) Add dijon mustard, stir in well. Add crushed garlic and allow to thicken slightly. Return pork to pan, turning to coat in the sauce. Sprinkle scallions over top and serve immediately. Makes 6 servings. This is $.80/serving!

I like to serve with Fit & Active Quick Brown Rice ($1.49 for a 10 serving box) and steamed green beans (.99 in Frozen section). Add these, and it's still about $1.10 serving!

I hope you enjoy this one! A comment or two wouldn't hurt so I know you're all out there! ;)

Cranberry Orange Muffins

2010-02-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we had the delight to travel with our oldest daughter to Scranton area as she competed in the Janet Rothenberg Memorial Gymnastics Meet. We stayed in a BEAUTIFUL Raddison hotel. If you have the chance, check it out - and get a salad because they have the most incredible citrus champagne viniagrette, I could have drunk VATS of it!!!

Anyway, due to the time in the morning that we needed to report for the meet, we ordered room service for breakfast. One of them included cranberry orange muffins. They were good....but not worth room service prices for sure.

I've been smelling, tasting, and desiring for the last few weeks, I decided to raid my pantry stock of Aldi goodies to see if I could recreate - or rather reinvent - these delicacies.

As it turns out, I actually had the Southern Grove Dried Whole Cranberries in my cabinet leftover from Christmas baking! Therefore, doctoring up the blueberry muffin recipe on the Baker's Corner All Purpose Baking Mix made these tidbits more than possible. A reality, in fact!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

2 Cups Baker's Corner Baking Mix ($1.89/box - has about 10 cups per box - .38)
1/3 Cup Sugar (2.29 for 5 lb bag - used very little....going to guestimate .20)
2/3 Cup Milk ($3.59/gallon - .08)
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil - ($2.49 for 32 oz - .21)
1 Tbs Sugar (.01)
1 Tbs Vanilla Extract (1.99/2 oz - .40)
1 Large Egg (1.29/dozen - .11)
3/4 Cups Dried Cranberries (I got this package on sale for 1.29 when Aldi was clearing out - so basing on that - .97)

Preheat oven to 425.

Mix together baking mix and 1/3 Cup sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg. Add to dry ingredients and mix well. Gently fold in dried cranberries. Place in greased muffin tin (or line with paper liners), fill almost full, using the 1 tbs of extra sugar, sprinkle the tops of the filled muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes. (watch that you don't overbake as that will dry them out).

I calculate the total to be $2.36 for this whole recipe. You can get 6 (for filled almost to the top) or 10 (filled about 1/2 to 2/3 way to the top). So that works out to be $.39 to $.22 per muffin.

Take that Otis Spunkmeyer!

:)

Aldi-way Cocoa Cookies

2010-01-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

Growing up in Pennsylvania, you become attached to foods. Philly Cheesesteak, fresh pretzels (sold on street corners by homeless people no less), Funny Cake and Shoo-fly Pie, Tasty Kakes and Archway cookies. I spent 4 years in Phoenix and could not find an Archway cookie to save my life. My favorite are the Dutch Cocoa cookies. A 3 1/2" across chocolate sugar cookie. The outside is crunched with sugar crystals, and the inside is soft and chewy like a brownie. Chocolatey and sweet goodness causes you to go to another world.

The unfortunate thing about Archway cookies? Well, they are $3.59 for EIGHT COOKIES!!! If I'm going to pay that much it's going to be for Girl Scout Cookies!

I think I was about 13 years old when I came across this recipe. It's officially called "Cake Mix Cookies". I've made them with lemon cake, vanilla cake, carrot cake, pumpkin cake....but my favorite, by far, is with Devil's Food Cake. I'm concerned that I might get sued by Archway because Cake Mix Cookies made with Devil's Food Cake Mix are so similar, I have to be breaking a law SOMEHOW! And, the price tag....lets just say you get a lot more for a lot less!!!

ENJOY!

Aldi-way Cocoa Cookies

1 Box Baker's Corner Devil's Food Cake Mix (.89)
2 Eggs (.11/ea)
1/3 Cup Oil (.20 - sells for 2.29/quart)
1/2 Cup sugar in a shallow, wide bowl
Flat Bottomed Glass

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix Cake mix, eggs and oil together well (I use the paddle attachment on my KitchenAid). This will be a thick dough.

Use a small cookie scoop (1 Tbs) and portion out. Roll into balls and place 2" apart on a cookie sheet. Dip the glass in sugar and press each ball into 1/4" thickness...redose with sugar for each one.

Bake 6-8 minutes. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for one minute and then move to a cooling rack.

This recipe makes 2 dozen cookies plus a few! You can also allow dough to rest and spread out and use cookie cutters with this and sprinkle the sugar on top instead.

And it you're REALLY in the mood for a treat - put a big scoop of ice cream between two cookies! I DARE YOU!

Mexican Egg Bake

2010-01-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

Some nights for dinner, we cheat and have breakfast. I love this! My family also loves this. Having breakfast for dinner is an inexpensive way to feed your clan.

I experimented with a new recipe tonight, and it was just too good not to share! I love making something new, and unexpected, and having my family be attracted to the kitchen purely by smell. It's also fun to hear "YAY, we're having breakfast for dinner!". Even my picky and reluctant 4 year old ate her piece up without complaining!

Mexican Egg Bake

8 Golden Hen Eggs (.88 - based on .11/egg)
1/3 Cup Fit & Active Non-fat Plain Yogurt (.14 - based on 1.69 for 4 Cups)
1/3 Cup Casa Mamita Salsa (I used mild, but feel free to use whatever heat you like) (.17 - based on 1.68 for 3 cups oz)
1 Cup Happy Farms Shredded Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese (.57 - based on $2.29 for 4 Cups)
1 Cup Crushed Clancy White Corn Tortilla chips (crush BEFORE measuring) (.25 - this is a total GUESS!!! It's .99/)

Preheat oven to 325.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Allow to sit for 15 minutes. Pour into a greased deep dish pie plate OR 9" Cake pan.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the center is set (not too wiggly...a little wiggly is okay b/c it will set up as it is pulled out the oven)

Serve with Appleton Brown & Serve Sausage (.99 for a 10 pack of links)

That is $3.00. The casserole serves 6, the sausages serve 5 - 2 links each. Now...for the servings that include 2 sausage links - that's .50/serving! WHAT???? I also, as you can see in the picture, put a dollup of salsa on to of mine. My kids used Frank's Red Hot Sauce instead. :)

Enjoy dinner, knowing you saved a BUNDLE!

Chicken Pot-pie Stoup

2010-01-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been really cold here lately. So much for that global warming, thing, huh? I always have a hankering for soup or stew when it's cold. Something warm and comforting to take the edge off the bitterness of the cold. I have stolen a word from Rachel Ray (as much as I hate to do that), but a "stoup" is not quite thin like a soup, and not quite thick enough to be a stew. So "stoup" is not a mistype. I also have a terrible cold, or possibly a sinus infection. Spending a lot of time cooking in the kitchen is really just not appealing to me today. I still need to feed my wonderful family, no matter how sick I am.

We had chicken for dinner a few nights ago, and had leftovers. I bought this chicken at another store for $1.88/lb - boneless skinless. I have tried the IQF (individually quick frozen) Boneless/Skinless Chicken at Aldi, and it is VERY Good, so feel free to use that here. I happen to be lucky enough to live near a deli that sells B/S Chicken Breast for $1.69-$1.99/lb as long as you buy it in over 10 lb bags and break it down yourself. For comparison the IQF Chicken at Aldi is about $2.49/lb. All that was just to say that you can use any leftover chicken and it will be yummy and delicious.

Soup:
2 Cans Fit & Active Cream of Chicken Soup (.69/ea)
1 Can Fit & Active Chicken Broth (.59/can)
1 Can Cut Green Beans (.39/can)
1 Can Sweet Whole Kernel Corn (.39/can)
1 Can Sliced Carrots (.39/can)
1 Cup Frozen Peas, thawed (.99/16 oz bag)
2 to 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed

Pot-pie Dumplings:
2 Cups Baker's Corner All Purpose Baking Mix ($1.69/box)
2/3 Cup Milk (our 2% is currently $3.15/gallon)

Mix all soup ingredients except chicken in large soup pot and bring to just about a boil. Add chicken and stir in. Reduce heat to a simmer and prepare dumplings.

Mix baking mix and milk together until a soft dough forms. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto soup (be careful to not allow them to drop INTO soup). Cook uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes.

This soup made about 8 servings. By my calculations that made each serving approximately $.50 per serving. :) ENJOY!

Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Soup

2010-01-05T12:01:00.001-08:00

I'm going to admit, first and foremost, that this first recipe is kind of a cheat. It currently appears on another blog I did for a while called In The Kitchen with Krista. In fact, it was an Aldi post on that blog! Well, I've been playing and tweaking this recipe for a while now and have it where I just adore it. And so does my oldest daughter (who, mind you, would snub a tomato and a red pepper in any other state of existence). And last night, my 8 year old son said "Mom, you make the best soup".

This recipe originated from my desire to preserve some grape tomatoes that were on sale at Aldi for 99 cents. I have adapted to make it with the Roma Tomatoes that they sell there, simply because they are cheaper and because the actually have a more balanced taste in the soup this way.

Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Soup

2 lbs Roma Tomatoes
2 cloves Garlic
1 Red Pepper, sliced in strips
1 half medium onion, cut in 8ths
1 stalk celery, sliced in 1" chunks
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Chef's Cupboard chicken bullion cubes (can use beef or veggie too)
2 Cups freshly boiled water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut an "X" into the bottom of each tomato and place in a pot of boiling water for about 2 to 3 minutes, until the cut edges start to curl up. Immediately place in an ice water bath (this is called "shocking"). Peel off and discard tomato skins. Cut tomatoes into quarters and place in roasting pan. Remove skins from garlic cloves and add to tomatoes. Add red pepper, onion and celery to the pan. Pour olive oil over vegetables, sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Place vegetables in oven and roast for 25-30 minutes - until vegetables are soft and just starting to brown A LITTLE (carefully, if you burn even one...it will make it yucky). While the veggies are roasting, boil some water.

When the vegetables are done, pour into a blender or food processor (depending on the size of blender or food processor, you may need to do this in batches). Liquify the vegetables. Open blender/food processor and add the bullion cubes and boiling water. Cover blender/food processor with lid, liquify again. Add more water if necessary. You may add salt at this time too, if you feel the need. If you do need to process in batches in your blender and food processor, you can put 1 boullion cube, and 1 cup water in each batch, then mix together before serving. OR...if you have one, pour all the roasted vegetables into a big pot and use an immersion blender.

Either way you choose, process until very smooth and creamy in texture. It really has a creamy taste and texture without the fat of adding cream. Now...if you want to add cream, milk or half and half for the richness, you can do that instead of the water.

Serve, and enjoy! Top with croutons, cheese, fishies, saltines....whatever you like in your tomato soup.

Now. For the tally of ingredients. My most recent batch, which would make 6-8 1 cup servings, cost $5.34. That makes it $.89 to $.67 per serving.

NOTE: When using a blender to blend hot liquids it is BEST to leave the center cap off the lid and cover with a towel. Secure the towel with your hand while the blender is running. If you do not do this, pressure from the steam can build up and cause harm or injury. So don't do that, it will ruin your dinner.

ANOTHER NOTE: If you add less water when processing, this is more of a "sauce" and would be great over pasta.

Aldi Shopping Tips

2010-01-05T12:00:00.001-08:00

Before you GO to Aldi, here are some tips to make the trip go well.

1. Take a quarter with you. One of the ways that Aldi keeps their prices low is they don't pay out oodles of money to have employees chasing carts in the parking lot for rude people who won't return them to cart corrals. The carts are usually near the front (inside or outside) of the store, linked together by a clever little box where you insert a quarter and it releases the lock. Now....don't worry, when you put your groceries in your car and return the cart to the corral, you place the lock in the back and it releases your quarter. Sometimes a newly arrived shopper will give you THEIR quarter and take your cart for you :D.

2. Take bags with you. Another savings is not paying a teenager to bag your groceries for you. You bag your own. In this day and age where the recyclable/reusable bags are all the rage, you probably already have some. I have a TON of them. You can also buy bags at Aldi, too. It's 5 cents for a paper bag, 10 cents for a big sturdy plastic bag and $1.99 for a LARGE reusable fabric bag.

3. Get to know the manager of your store and find out when they stock things like bread, meats and produce so that you shop on a day when it's the freshest possible. (or for things like bread, they're only allowed to keep on the store floor for 5 days, so that 6th day they sell the bread left on the floor for .25 for .50 a loaf!) My local Aldi stocks their produce on Thursday mornings, so I try to shop on Thursday or Friday, if possible.

4. Prepare yourself to be blown away by their prices and not understanding how grocery stores can get away with what they charge for the same things!!! For example, I often buy the three pack of romaine hearts (I just adore romaine lettuce) for $1.69-$1.99 ($1.69 in the summer, $1.99 in the winter). My local big chain store sells them regularly for $3.99 for the same size package. AND...even if it goes on sale, it's still cheaper at Aldi. Don't even get me started on cereal!!!

5. Don't be afraid. Try the stuff. I know a lot of folks are scared on non-branded things. Don't be. My children PREFER Aldi stuff. I've had great coupons, matched with great sales and bought up a deal at a big chain, only to find that my kids prefer eating the Aldi version of the same food and snubbing the name brand stuff!

Okay, hope this makes your first (or your millionth trip) to Aldi a good one!

MORE TO COME!!!!

Do you like to save money?

2010-01-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

I do. I do a lot.

How do I feed my family of five? Aldi. Plain and simple. If it weren't for Aldi, I'd starve. I like a coupon as much as the next person. I do still shop at major chains, for sales, with coupons in hand, and walk out saving 60-80% because I only buy what I walked in for. They really don't like me at my local grocery stores b/c they pay me to shop there. Doesn't make them THAT happy.

Okay, so what happens when you can't live off mayonaise and shampoo and you actually have to buy FOOD and lots of it to feed your families???

Aldi.

If you've never heard of Aldi, please visit www.aldi.com to check them out. They're not your normal grocery store. There aren't 18 brands of something you get to choose from. You want toothepaste, you buy toothepaste. You want ketchup, you get ketchup. They keep about 2500 items on hand at all times, held in palates, easy to grab, easy to load, easy to store. They don't advertise. Well, I take that back...between infomercials at 3:00 a.m. you'll catch an ad for Aldi. They also carry special items seasonally that you can purchase for a limited time.

What does all of this mean to YOU, the consumer? Unbelievable savings that don't require you to clip coupons, shop ads and travel to 5 different stores to go grocery shopping AND save money. Can you do ALL your shopping at Aldi? No...I can't lie there. They don't have fresh herbs. They don't have exotic cheeses, etc. BUT, you can do MOST of your shopping there - if not all - MOST of the time.

What I hope to do with this blog is to break the stereotype of the discount grocery store.

If you don't have an Aldi close enough for you to shop, consider purchasing store brands rather than national brands, and see for yourself that they can be delicious, and more economical. Often, store brands are made by the national brands, just packaged for the store. You pay less and get the same thing without even knowing it. Ahhh, the big lie: that you need to buy the higher priced national brand to get the same taste and quality. OFTEN, you can have a great coupon, and the item's on sale BUT the store brand is still cheaper. It happens. It happens a lot.

Okay...so...doors are open. Be on the lookout for great, economical recipes. I'll try to share the cost savings when possible.