The other day I realized I needed to do some cooking or I’d soon be pitching some food. I had a pie crust (the rolled up, 2 crust, in a box kind) in the fridge waiting to be turned into a pot pie. I looked in the freezer and soon realized  I had ham, ham broth, onions, chopped celery, baby carrots, corn, and mushrooms in there waiting to be used up as well.  So I decided to make ham pot pie. Never done that before!

But doesn’t it look good!  I’ll tell ya it was GOOD! …and warmed up the next day was maybe even better!  {NOTE: I did not know for sure at the time that I was going to share about this on my blog, hence the lack of photos and the not-so-pretty crust job.}

So, being the non-measuring, risk-taking kinda cook I am here’s how I made it (or as close as I can recall)…

• I sauteed my chopped onions, added the mushrooms and cooked a bit. While this was going on I was boiling my frozen baby carrots and chopped celery until it was soft enough to easily cut or mash into small pieces.

• Then to the onions and mushrooms I added 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup (like 10 oz cans)  and cooked. I think I added the corn to this and poured it all into a large bowl.

• If memory serves me correct (I know I forgot about this when sharing on Facebook- don’t want my Aunt Donna to think I was holding back on her ) I cooked up the ham broth and my small pieces of ham in the same skillet I used for the onions, etc so I could scrape up the good stuff still stuck to the pan and then added it to the bowl.

• I drained my carrots and celery and in the drainer just cut them up easily into smaller pieces. {Remember I was using baby carrots.} And added it to the bowl with the other ingredients.
  

Now I left the mixture in the fridge overnight because I decided I didn’t want to bake it that day. So the day I did bake it I first heated the bowl of ingredients in the microwave for about 10 minutes or so while the dough-crust was warming up a bit towards room temp.

• Next I lined an ungreased casserole (deep round) dish with one crust, filled the inside with the bowl of ingredients and then topped with the top crust. I baked it for about 30-40 minutes following the instructions on the crust box. HOWEVER, since everything had been cooked once (the mixture) and I didn’t want the crust to burn I did turn the temp down to about 350 degrees somewhere towards the end. You can also make sure the rack is up a little higher in the oven and fold aluminum foil over the edges of your pie crust to avoid burning.

Again, this was delicious and I think it was even better the next day warmed up. I noticed the “gravy” wasn’t runny like shown in the pic either. Must have thickened up I guess. Yum!

I think if I make this again, which will likely be a more purposeful-planned event versus  a “clean out the freezer event” I will omit the celery and mushrooms and instead use potatoes and green beans. What do you think?

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I came across this recipe for  Pumpkin French Toast Sticks during one of MoneySavingMom’s Freezer Cooking Day link ups. I had to try it and they were good.  (I’m making them for this Freezer Cooking Day too).

But…

I experimented today and I really like my version better. I prefer to cook them on an electric skillet instead of baking them in the oven also.

Sorry, that pic isn’t better. And I’ll add, I’m not much for measuring other than eyeballing it. Thats the freedom in experimenting

I mixed about 8 oz of  canned pumpkin (about half of a 15 oz can), 6 eggs, about a cup of milk,  generous shaking of cinnamon and  pumpkin pie spice stir it up good, about 3/4 cup of sugar and then add some molasses. For the molasses I just used the “smell” method (hehe). I added enough molasses till I thought it smelled perfect (did NOT take alot). Mix it all up. Preheat your electric skillet to 350 degrees or if you prefer the oven to the same. Spray your skillet or pan with a little cooking spray.

I got about 15 pcs of bread cut in thirds (about 45 sticks) out of that mixture. I ran out of eggs, otherwise I could’ve made more or I could have diluted the mixture also.  Dip your bread pieces in the mixture to coat and I left them in a bit longer (don’t over do it) to soak it up. This may be why mine turned out so moist

They took a little while to cook, several minutes at least, just watch them. My main concern is to get the egg part cooked well enough so I may have overdone them a little bit but they turned out so moist and delicious that I ate some without any syrup. They were that good!

But of course, they were so much better with some syrup to dip into!

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I hadn’t realized (or did I forget?) that MoneySavingMom was doing a link up for this again during this week, of which I was already planning to do some freezer cooking (see one of my other freezer cooking days)! Here are the few thing I’m planning to be stocking the freezer with this week:

1-  lasagna with wheat pasta and meat sauce

2- bagging up fresh fruits and vegies for my yummy healthy smoothies! I will be experimenting with carrots and pineapple this time too

3- pumpkin molasses french toast sticks! I made these today already I tweaked a recipe I’ll share later into the one I made today. So the ingredients are not all the same, nor is the cooking method and I REALLY like my version better   I’ll share my recipe later.

4- ham & potato soup

If you want to join in on the fun check out MoneySavingMom’s post here. If you’re blogging about it you may want to add your link when she has that post up too.

I’ll try to post pictures and more info after I make the other items too!

I just love this smoothie. Its my own and its easy to make. Not only does it taste good, but its healthy and makes me feel better knowing I just had maybe 3-5 servings of fruit in one drink! I’m not sure what a serving is regarding each of these items and I don’t use exact measurements. Here’s how I make it.

I use:

one banana, broke into about 3 pieces

frozen strawberries (which I cut and sugar up some fresh strawberries and freeze ahead of time)

a small container of yogurt (vanilla is my favorite) about 3.5-6 oz. container for a one serving smoothie

a handful of frozen whole cranberries

a little bit of orange juice to get things moving

I put it in my Rocket (Bella) blender you see there (like the Magic Bullet but cheaper I believe) and let it do the dirty work.

The Rocket cups have rings to put on the  mixing cup so you can drink right away without dirtying another cup!

Drink and enjoy!

I’m tentatively planning to start a series of giveaways this Monday. I hope you will subscribe to my email or RSS updates so you don’t miss out!

My husband and I started writing down all our expenses this year starting January 1st- we have a notebook just for this. I tape a business size envelope inside the back of the notebook cover to quickly stash our receipts.

So, January was a great month of great deals at Giant Eagle (double coupons!). I was able to do some stocking up. Add to that the Freezer Cooking Day I joined in on  and we’ve had an easy February. I’ve done very little grocery/ household shopping. Very little. In fact, it looks like I’ve spent about $97.00 on groceries this month so far (for a family of 4).

Being creative…

I shared a different Twist on a Taco that was delicious and I used items from my stock/freezer. I want to share another taco combination that I tried out.

I used some frozen taco meat I had in the freezer, a bag of the microwavable Old El Paso Fiesta Rice, Kraft cheese and Ortega Whole Grain Taco Shells (note, I didn’t have any lettuce on hand).  Just fill your tacos normally layering in your desired order.

These were DELICIOUS! I had at least 2 for lunch and  a couple more later on   The Fiesta Rice really made it extra-special.

Planning ahead…

My stockpile is dwindling and my freezer is getting down a bit too. Though we are still doing good on freezer items.

I’d really encourage anyone to spend part of  a day doing some meal-prep cooking. You could drag out your crockpots (I have 3- not all the same size) get your rice cooker if you have one (I do, got it New! for $5 at a garage sale) and let those items do the cooking for you.

But even if you don’t have all that, you can just brown a few pounds of hamburger, mix up some taco meat, bake a whole chicken…etc.. This past week I used one of our snowed-in (no school days) to cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker and then I deboned it before bedtime. I save the broth for future homemade chicken or vegetable soups and the shredded chicken for cream of chicken sandwiches, chicken soup or maybe I’ll make another pot pie

Personally speaking…

During my daily devotions I’m reading in Proverbs right now and came across these verses that I’ve read countless times before but I felt it really applied to these past couple of weeks of enduring snowstorm after snowstorm in our area (and we may be getting another one this Sunday/Monday).  Though I don’t advocate hoarding, I do believe in being prepared when we are able to do so.  By being diligent in my coupon use and deal matching I am able to stock up on items we will use when the prices are at their lowest. Sometimes FREE! Can’t be that with a stick, can you?

Proverbs 6:6-11

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

Provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest.

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

So shall they poverty come as one that travelleth, and they want as an armed man.

My point is this, I plan and prepare for what my family needs as best I can when the timing is best. When the bad weather struck, I didn’t have to fret about driving through it to pick up more groceries. We were prepared.

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What do you get when you get some turkey, Jack Daniels, Paul Newman and Old El Paso together?

A bbq-turkey soft taco with ranch dressing! And it was delish!

Don’t you get tired of eating the same old things? Sometimes I feel like there isn’t anything else I know how to cook but spaghetti, hamburgers, hot dogs, mac’n cheese – probably because I have picky eaters in the house.

Back around Thanksgiving I grabbed a nearly 20# turkey when it was about .40 or so per pound. Later I cooked it and divided it for the freezer. Then at the end of January I took some of that turkey meat  and added a healthy portion of Jack Daniels barbeque sauce that I had also bought when the deals were right ( paid about .40 per bottle) and let the crock pot do the work. Then that was bagged up in Ziplock baggies and put in the freezer.  This was part of my Freezer Cooking Day meals.

Click here for coupons from Newman’s Own website.