I made this slightly healthier version of the Pinterest recipe tonight. My husband said it was the best chicken he has ever tasted! It came out so moist and there were so many flavors bursting in our mouths. MmMm good!
Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup bbq sauce.
1/4 cup turkey bacon bits
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 14 oz can tomatoes with green chilies
sliced green onions
pepper
3-4 sweet potatoes
spray butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut chicken breasts in half and season with pepper. Grill chicken till no longer pink (I put them on my George Foreman) and place on baking sheet covered with foil. Top each chicken breast with 1 tbsp bbq sauce, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/4 cup tomatoes, green onions and 1 tbsp bacon bits. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted (about 10 minutes)
Beforehand, bake sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until done (while preparing and cooking chicken.) While hot, cut in half and spray with butter and top with brown sugar. DELICIOUS!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Swim Diaper Savings
My good friend, Melissa told me this cool tip over the weekend:
All of us with babies know how expensive swim diapers are. Last time I bought them I think they were $10.00 for the small package and I about croaked. This tip I learned could save you money this summer!
Swim diapers are reusable! You just carefully take the diaper off, rinse it off, and hang it out to dry! (As long as there are no surprises in them of course!) We figure that the chlorine does a good enough job killing the germs and yes, the diaper will have chlorine in it when you reuse it but the baby is just going to be swimming in it agan anyway.
I am not sure if that methodology is proven science but hey-- I will do whatever it takes to save a little more money : )
All of us with babies know how expensive swim diapers are. Last time I bought them I think they were $10.00 for the small package and I about croaked. This tip I learned could save you money this summer!
Swim diapers are reusable! You just carefully take the diaper off, rinse it off, and hang it out to dry! (As long as there are no surprises in them of course!) We figure that the chlorine does a good enough job killing the germs and yes, the diaper will have chlorine in it when you reuse it but the baby is just going to be swimming in it agan anyway.
I am not sure if that methodology is proven science but hey-- I will do whatever it takes to save a little more money : )
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Budgeting for Gas
It is always hard to know how much to budget for gas. Then, whenever my husband gets a new job or a new school schedule and consequently changes his route, we are forced to change our gas budget allowance. We love using the website: Cost 2 Drive. You enter the year, make, and model of your car and then your start and end location. It will figure the cost to drive based on current gas prices in your area. We will then take that amount and multiply it by the number of days in the month that my husband will be driving to that particular destination. Then we add them all together and add $20 or so (for miscellaneous errands) to give us our monthly gas budget. This is also great if you are trying to budget for a family road trip!
Chicken Roll-Ups
This recipe is so yummy and really fun to make! You can serve it hot or cold. I made my own crescent roll dough to save money but you could also buy cans of it on sale.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken (shredded or cubed)
8 oz cream cheese (I used fat-free)
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. parsley
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup broth
Mix all ingredients together well. Spoon onto rolled crescent rolls, roll up, and dip into melted butter and roll in bread crumbs. Bake 20 minutes at 375. (I rolled my dough out into a big rectangle, spooned all of the filling onto the dough and rolled it up into a big log. After it was cooked, we just sliced pieces off.)
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken (shredded or cubed)
8 oz cream cheese (I used fat-free)
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. parsley
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup broth
Mix all ingredients together well. Spoon onto rolled crescent rolls, roll up, and dip into melted butter and roll in bread crumbs. Bake 20 minutes at 375. (I rolled my dough out into a big rectangle, spooned all of the filling onto the dough and rolled it up into a big log. After it was cooked, we just sliced pieces off.)
Chicken Cabbage Salad
This recipe is also from my friend Dixie. It is super easy,inexpensive, and it makes a huge bowl full. The cabbage just magically expands. This is my husbands favorite salad!
Ingredients:
1 large cabbage
7-9 green onions chopped
4-6 chicken breasts (cooked--shredded or cubed)
1/3 c. butter
2 pkg. Chicken flavor Top Ramen Noodles
Dressing: 1/3 cup oil, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 tbsp. soy sauce
Melt butter in pan. Stir in noodles and fry until golden brown. Add flavor packet. Take off heat. Mix with cabbage and dressing just before serving.
Ingredients:
1 large cabbage
7-9 green onions chopped
4-6 chicken breasts (cooked--shredded or cubed)
1/3 c. butter
2 pkg. Chicken flavor Top Ramen Noodles
Dressing: 1/3 cup oil, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 tbsp. soy sauce
Melt butter in pan. Stir in noodles and fry until golden brown. Add flavor packet. Take off heat. Mix with cabbage and dressing just before serving.
Monday, February 18, 2013
$5 Veggie Pasta Pie
I saw this recipe on Dr. Oz and knew I had to try it. It is both inexpensive and extremely healthy. It was so yummy! It tasted like a cross between veggie lasagna and an omelet. This is a must for your recipe collection. *Note make sure you have enough egg to hold your "pancakes" together.
Ingredients
Serves 4 (I doubled the recipe)
3 oz whole-wheat macaroni
6 large eggs
2-3 carrots, finely grated
2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 14.5-oz can low-salt diced tomatoes
10 oz frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
3 oz reduced fat cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil and cook the macaroni according to package directions. Drain the pasta and set aside.
Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl and add 1/3 of the grated carrot and 1/3 of the cooked macaroni. Season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a non-stick skillet, add the egg mixture and cook over medium low heat until the eggs are set but not dry. Slide this noodle “pancake” onto a greased cookie sheet and keep warm. Repeat this process two more times to create a total of 3 noodle layers.
Add 1 teaspoon oil to the skillet and sauté 1 clove garlic until soft. Add the canned tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook until the juice has evaporated and the tomatoes are almost dry. Set aside and repeat the process with an additional teaspoon of oil, the remaining clove of garlic and the spinach.
Add the first noodle pancake, browned side down, to a greased pie plate. Top with the cooked spinach and add 1 ounce of the shredded cheese. Add a second noodle pancake and top with the tomatoes and 1 ounce shredded cheese. Top with the final noodle pancake, browned side up, and remaining shredded cheese.
Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve hot or cold.
Ingredients
Serves 4 (I doubled the recipe)
3 oz whole-wheat macaroni
6 large eggs
2-3 carrots, finely grated
2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 14.5-oz can low-salt diced tomatoes
10 oz frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
3 oz reduced fat cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil and cook the macaroni according to package directions. Drain the pasta and set aside.
Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl and add 1/3 of the grated carrot and 1/3 of the cooked macaroni. Season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a non-stick skillet, add the egg mixture and cook over medium low heat until the eggs are set but not dry. Slide this noodle “pancake” onto a greased cookie sheet and keep warm. Repeat this process two more times to create a total of 3 noodle layers.
Add 1 teaspoon oil to the skillet and sauté 1 clove garlic until soft. Add the canned tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook until the juice has evaporated and the tomatoes are almost dry. Set aside and repeat the process with an additional teaspoon of oil, the remaining clove of garlic and the spinach.
Add the first noodle pancake, browned side down, to a greased pie plate. Top with the cooked spinach and add 1 ounce of the shredded cheese. Add a second noodle pancake and top with the tomatoes and 1 ounce shredded cheese. Top with the final noodle pancake, browned side up, and remaining shredded cheese.
Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve hot or cold.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
An App that Pays you to Work Out!
So I just discovered this app that rewards you for working out. It is called Gympact. Apparently you set a goal for yourself and put up a bet against yourself like $10. If you meet your goal, you get paid. If not, you lose your stakes.
This might give me an incentive to work out more often and meet my goals I have set for myself. I think it really would work on me because I hate losing money so much! This is a super cool concept. I will have to try it out and let you know how it is!
This might give me an incentive to work out more often and meet my goals I have set for myself. I think it really would work on me because I hate losing money so much! This is a super cool concept. I will have to try it out and let you know how it is!
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