Honey Garlic Chicken ($1.05 per serving)

Here's a great chicken dish that pairs wonderfully with white rice. Once the sauce is thickened it reminds me of sweet and sour sauce. Very tasty! This also makes a great freeze ahead meal. Simply mix all ingredients in a freezer bag and lay flat to freeze. Thaw overnight.

You'll need:

8 pieces chicken thighs, legs or 4 of each (approx. $2.80)
1/2 cup ketchup ($.17)
1/2 cup honey ($.80)
1/2 cup brown sugar ($.14)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar ($.15)
2 tsp soy sauce ($.04)
2 tsp minced garlic ($.05)
1 tsp garlic salt (pennies)
1/4 tsp dry mustard (pennies)
1/4 tsp salt (negligible)

Mix all ingredients and pour sauce over chicken in baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes covered and then another 30 minutes uncovered. Also cooks very well in the pressure cooker (my prefered way!) for 12 minutes on high pressure.
Remove chicken and thicken sauce with cornstarch. Serve with white rice. Makes 4 servings for only $4.18!!

Mama's Bean & Bacon Chili Bake ($1.27 per serving)

There's an epic combination out there that is hard not to love. When put together in a dish they provide a hearty rib-sticking meal that makes you feel all warm and bloated inside - in the best possible way. I'm referring to the 3 B's... Beans, Beef and BACON! There are many flavors you can use to bring each one of these 3 ingredients together in perfect harmony. This one is my favorite way. It's a little tangy and a little smokey, a little sweet and a little savory. The flavors are just plain awesome. It's definitely a more expensive recipe if you go out and purchase all of the ingredients specifically for this recipe. It's frugal to me because it includes items that I almost always have on hand on any given day. This recipe is definitely like a chili so if you'd rather just let it simmer on the stovetop rather than bake it in the oven then that'd probably work out okay! If you don't like the tanginess effect of the cider vinegar you could leave this out as well.

You'll need:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (approx. $4.48)
1 tbsp onion powder ($.08)
1 tsp salt (negligible)
2 cans pork & beans ($1 on sale)
1 can Rotel (Mild, Regular or Hot... I like Mild for our family), drained ($.98)
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, drained ($.63)
9 oz of your favorite BBQ sauce (about half of a standard bottle) ($.50 on sale)
1/2 cup ketchup ($.15)
4 Tbsp brown sugar ($.25)
2 Tbsp mustard ($.05)
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce ($.05)
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar ($.03)
12 oz package of bacon ($1.99 on sale)

Brown the ground beef with onion powder and salt, In a separate pan cook the bacon then set aside. Drain off fat from the ground beef but then add back in about 2 Tbsp of the bacon grease. This sounds counterintuitive but it adds a yumminess factor! Once the beef is browned all all remaining ingredients, except for the bacon, and simmer for 10 minutes covered.
Pour all into a greased (why not use bacon grease?!) 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes covered and then another 10 minutes or so. Let it sit about 5 or 10 minutes before eating because it will be super duper hot.
Serve with cornbread or put it on top of some cornbread waffles! Makes 8 servings for $10.19!

Cornbread waffles you say? Why yes, they are a fantastic pairing! I go simple and use a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix. Add 2 Tbsp melted shortening, 1 egg and 1/2 cup milk and cook on a waffle iron! One box makes about 2 big 'ol belgian waffle size waffles which works well for a family of four. Just throw this chili bake right on top of that bad boy and enjoy!

I can explain...

What a super busy 12 months I've had! Posts have been non-existent. Apologies!

Excuse #1: My husband came home from a 13.5 month business trip - without a break in between I might add! When he got home we took an amazing vacation to the Dominican Republic and then spent the majority of the summer of 2014 cuddling and loving each other. I gave him and my family undivided attention.  :-)

Excuse #2: I was PREGNANT! I found myself doing numerous things around the house to prepare for our little bundle of joy... when I wasn't suffering from morning sickness that is!

Excuse #3: I HAD A BABY!! We welcomed our newest baby boy mid-March 2015. So blessed to have our little Woodchip! :-)

Taking care of a newborn is a super busy job but I'd like to attempt to begin posting regularly again! We'll see how that goes... but for now I'm excited and am enjoying life immensely!

Tip: Reading coupons and buying small!

Here's a seemingly basic yet frequently overlooked tip for using coupons..

Read the coupon and buy small!

What this means, in a nutshell - is there any size or product restrictions on the item that your coupon is good for? Reason being because more times than not... it is almost always better to buy the smaller size or quantity with the coupon to get the best deal. Always keep a calculator handy!

Example:

Ruffles Potato Chips

Coupon for $.50 off one (restriction: 7 oz or larger)

There's a Regular 9 oz bag on special sale for $1.99 and a Family Size 13 oz bag normally priced at $3.79. Instinct might tell you to buy the significantly larger bag (which only has 4 oz more inside) and pay only $3.29 HOWEVER if you look at the price per ounce you'll see that the smaller bag is the better deal.

9 oz bag (price w/coupon) $1.49 or $.165 per ounce.

13 oz bag (price w/coupon) $3.29 or $.253 per ounce.

Always have your calculator handy... it'll pay off at the cash register!

Slim your waistline and your budget!

*Photo Credit: Changingmydestiny.wordpress.com

I never realized before how much my family overate. When we started trying to eat better and our portion sizes shrank I began to notice how our food was stretching further and further. It's such a simple concept!

At first, I had the idea in my head about how great leftovers are. You make lots for dinner and when everyone's tummies are full... there is still plenty leftover for a couple lunches throughout the rest of the week or maybe even enough to eat again for dinner a few nights later - saving Mama some work! But that's not really how it would happen. Instead that wonderful idea turns into food in the trash because it doesn't get eaten (because there was SO many meals leftover in the fridge) or we end up eating it all that night because it's so yummy!

Making enough for leftovers is still a fantastic idea but I realized that I was going about it all wrong. Rather than cooking it all and having it out for everyone to eat... try making two pans of something and cook one the night of and put the other straight in the freezer! You've done the work once but you'll get a second meal out of it when all you've got to do is thaw and cook.

As a mother who has struggled financially in the past, I never want to think about my kids going to bed hungry... ever! There have been nights where in order to make sure there was enough for them that I ate last and I was the one who didn't get enough... Never. Again.

I definitely started to overcompensate for that fear by preparing too much food for dinner. I doubt that I'm the only one! Once I began making smaller meals I suddenly noticed that everyone was still satisfied and if someone was hungry before bed then a snack of peanut butter on a slice of bread or a piece of fruit was more than enough to fill them again. Packages of meat were stretching further because rather than using a whole pound I'd only use maybe 12 ounces. Milk went further because I'd only fill glasses about 3 inches high every time and give more to the kids when they asked. I even stopped buying so much cheese because I realized that I didn't need to pile as much in dishes to make it cheesy! This was awesome! The use of a kitchen scale definitely helps with the portion control as well. Only eating textbook servings of expensive items such as meat and cheese lets you see how much you are overeating. At first you might be left a little hungrier than you'd like but after about a week your tummy adjusts and textbook serving is more than enough! Adapting the concept.. start with a little and you can always add more.

Aside from stretching all the groceries a little further, I personally started losing a couple inches in areas all over my body. BONUS!

Frugal Bean & Bacon Soup ($.70 per serving)

When we got married, my husband was nearly obsessed with Campbell's Condense Bean & Bacon Soup. Now this isn't a bad thing... but have you seen how expensive canned soups have gotten??!! So I did what any determined wife would do to try to save a buck - I made my own! Only thing better than the taste is how quick it is to throw together!

Note: The bacon's purpose in the soup is mainly for flavor and small bites throughout. So buying the cheaper more fatty packs of bacon is more than sufficient! :-)

Ingredients

4 - 15 oz cans Pork & Beans, drained not rinsed ($1.60 on sale)
4 - cups chicken broth (approx. $.24 homemade or from bouillon cubes)
2 - 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, drained (approx. $.92)
1/2 tsp onion powder (pennies)
8 - strips of bacon (approx. $1.39 on sale)

Cook bacon in a large pot and remove when fully cooked and set aside. Drain all but 3 tbsp of the bacon grease from the pot and add all other ingredients back to the pot. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Use a potato masher to smoosh up some of the beans. Crumble the bacon and add back to the pot and simmer soup for another 5 minutes. Serve immediately with bread for a filling meal!

Makes 6 hearty one cup servings. Only $.70 per serving!!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole ($.97 per serving)

So I've seen variations of this casserole all over Pinterest and since Papa Woody and I have a deep love of Chicken Cordon Blue... surely a casserole would be right up our alley! So I had to try it. I adapted it to fit our family's taste and size... And went as frugal as I could!

I love the idea of casseroles as much as I love crock-pots. Something about throwing all your ingredients into a pan and putting it into the oven to cook at convenience makes for a very happy Mama. You can even assemble the night before and keep casseroles in the fridge until the following night's dinner time. Genius!

Adapted from MadeFromPinterest.net

Ingredients

Meats and Cheese
1 lb cooked chicken, pre-cooked weight ($1.58 on sale)
4 oz Deli Ham, about 4 large slices ($.62 on sale)
4 slices Swiss Cheese ($.55)

For Sauce
2 Tbsp Margarine (approx. $.04)
2 Tbsp Flour (penny)
1.5 cups milk (approx. $.30)
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice (approx. $.12)
1/2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard (approx. $.04)
1/2 tsp Salt (penny)
1/4 tsp Paprika (penny)
1/4 tsp Pepper (penny)

For Topping
1 cup Stove top stuffing mix, ground ($.40 on sale) Note: you can also use breadcrumbs!
3 Tbsp Margarine ($.06)
2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese (approx. $.13)

Cook up your pound of chicken and shred or rough chop. Lay in the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Dice up deli ham and layer on top of that. Then top meat with the slices of swiss cheese.

On stove top over medium-high heat melt the 2 tbsp margarine then whisk in flour. Cook for about 30 seconds whisking constantly. Slowly add milk while whisking to blend out any lumps. Turn heat to high and whisk until the sauce begins to boil and the sauce will be thicker. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt, paprika and pepper. Then top the meats and cheese with the sauce mixture.

Melt 3 Tbsp margarine in the microwave. Add in the ground dry stuffing and parmesan cheese and mix well. Use to top the casserole.

Bake casserole at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving to allow it to thicken!

Makes 4 servings at only $.97 per serving!