Recipe of the Day - Monterrey Chicken!

I actually first saw this recipe on the back of an Uncle Ben's converted rice box, so they get the credit, but I've made a few adaptations. The recipe for Easy Monterey Chicken is below. It's easy to prepare, inexpensive, and creates little mess. In my book, that's a win, win, win!

Monterey Chicken

Ingredients: butter, 1 lime, 1 avacado, 1/2 white onion 1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders, 1 can of blackbeans, 1 can of pinto beans, salt, pepper, cumin, cilantro, 2 cans of chopped tomatoes with liquid. 1 box of your favorite rice (whole grain, white, yellow, anything works! I used Uncle Ben's boil in bag rice.)

Butter a casserole dish. Arrange chicken breast or tenders evenly around the bottom of your dish. Salt and pepper chicken breast, sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of cumin and about a palm full of fresh chopped cilantro (or one cube of frozen cilantro - you can find these at Trader Joe's.) Sautee chopped onion until traslucent. Sprinkle cooked onion evenly over chicken breast. Empty contents of both bean cans including liquid onto the top of chicken, onion mixture. Empty contents of tomato cans on top including liquid. Bake at 350 degrees about one half hour, or until chicken is cooked through. Prepare rice according to package directions. Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Garnish with lime wedges, and sliced avacado. Serve with hot crusty bread for dipping the sauce.

This dish was so easy, and both of the kids loved it, especially squeezing the limes. The best for mom: it onlly dirties two dished, and you can feed your family for under $10, unless you have like more than 4 kids, and then you need a personal chef at this point!

God Bless.

Great Deals of the Day

Last night I did my weekly shopping sprint for groceries (the last time I went grocery shopping was last Saturday night.) Having scanned the sales circulars and clipped coupons both in the ads and online, I decided Target was the best place to go. I got the ingredients needed to feed my family of 4 for the week for $48! (Now, we do have staples in the pantry, so these were fresh ingredients and anything else we had run out of during the week, including laundry detergent, hair gel, and shampoo!) I'll say it again, $48! The total before my coupons was $91 dollars, which means I nearly cut my grocery bill in half. Some of my favorite deals of the day:

Kellogs Low Sugar Strawberry Poptarts (I don't buy these often, but the kids think I'm a hero when there are poptars in the grocery bag, and the low sugar ones aren't so bad.)
Regular Price: $2.19 My price: 24 cents! (new store special for $99 less 75 cents manufacturer coupon.)

Large bag of Fritos Scoops for popcorn night:
Regular Price: $2.75 My price: 75 cents! (on sale for $1.75 less my $1 off store coupon)

5 lb bag of Green Giant Russett Potatoes:
Regular Price $3.19 My price: 49 cents! (on sale for $1.49 less my $1 off store coupon)

160 Pack of Huggies Sensitive Wipes:
Regular Price $6.19 My price: 49 cents! (on sale for $5.99 less $5 off huggies manufacturer coupon printed from website, less 50 cents store coupon.)

Fiber One Bars:
Regular Price $3.19 My price: $1! (on sale for $2.25 less $1.25 store coupon.)

Gold n Plump Farm Raised Chicken Breast = 1.25 lb pack of boneless skinless
Regular Price$3.49 My price $1.50! On sale for $2.50 less $1 store coupon from sales ad

California Pizza Kitchen BB@ chicken Pizza:
Regular Price: $5.49 My price: $1.99 (on sale for $3.49 less $1 off store coupon, less 50 cents manufacturer coupon.)

There were many more great deals, but those are the ones that really made me smile! I do love a great deal. I also had a $5 off a $50 purchase coupon, and I got a $10 gift card for transferring a prescription, so I still have $10 left to go back and purchase some more FREE stuff!

Saving $$$ while you Save the Planet!

In the current economy, advice on how to save money is cropping up everywhere. Cheap is suddenly the new chic and the blogging world has gone crazy with soccer moms becoming experts on how to save your family hundres of dollars per year. (Something the greatest generation knows we should have been doing all along.) Admist the frenzy of all this clipping and saving, there is a tiny little nagging voice in our heads about not forgetting to be responsible about how we take care of our planet, the foods we feed our kids, etc. Let's call it a "bargain hangover" created by the guilt we feel when shopping at the big name stores, forgetting the little local grocer who depends on us, buying stuff you wouldn't normally feed your children because it's nearly FREE, abandoning organic because of the hit it takes on your wallet. Well I love it when I find a way to still make the best choices, be "green-minded", wholesome, and still save $$$. The following shopping guide from Kelli B. Grant of SmartMoney.com will show you when it's good to buy organic, and when it really isn't necessary!

Organic Produce
Sure, buying organic makes you feel like you’re doing the right thing, but it isn't always the best choice for your wallet. Fruits and vegetables like kiwis, sweet corn and broccoli require very little pesticide to grow. Others -- like avocados, onions and pineapples -- have thick or peelable skins that reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals. “Any pesticide that remains is not getting through,” says Lempert. For a handy reminder as you shop, download the Environmental Working Group’s wallet-sized organic produce guide.
Potential Savings: Organic broccoli costs $2.99 per pound at online grocer FreshDirect, which also offers conventional broccoli for $1.49. A pound of navel oranges is $4 for the organic and $2 for conventional. Someone buying a pound of each item weekly could save $182 over the course of a year.

Read Kelli's whole article here: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106780/7-Things-You

Siblings

Ok, so I wasn't adbucted my aliens or savagley chased down by some wild turkeys at the library (don't laugh, this happened to Beth!) Now that Emalee is getting close to 2, I am learning to survive two toddlers. It's interesting, and we'll leave it at that for now. I'm not here to bitch about my job, on most days I love it, and I am totally grateful that I get to stay with my kids.

My favorite thing this week (maybe i should rename the blog) is watching the relationship grow between Emalee and Cayden. They are so funny when they are making each other laugh. Most of the time, they are even funny when they fight. I love the way Cayden is so protective of her when we go somewhere, and the way he always wants to speak up for her, and let me know what she wants. He's always quick to make sure she doesn't get left behind in a crowd. I love the way Emalee looks up to him, but not too much. She's definitely her own person, and can put her big bro in his place when he's trying to boss her around. She's going to be a tough one, for sure. She may be a little peanut, but there's a big wild woman in there waiting to come out.

Nothing warms a mother's heart like seeing her siblings looking out for each other. I'm sure this doesn't change no matter what age your children are. I think my hubby's mom would say she is still so proud when her kids (all in their 30's) are helping each other out or laughing over something together. I guess at the end of the day, there's nothing like Family, and watching the one within your own four walls develop is really a gift from God.

God Bless you all, and your own families too.