Recipe: Chicken and Veggie Brown Rice Casserole for Instant Pot

This year, I got myself a Christmas Present. An Instant Pot. I've been hearing about them for a while now and the people who have them absolutely love them. To be honest, I was skeptical. Could an Instant Pot really be THAT great?

Turns out, it is. I've actually started calling it my Magic Pot. So far, I really have not had any major fails, and it is saving me a lot of time on both the cooking and the clean-up. It's actually helped us to cut down on ordering out because I can go work out and still get dinner ready in a reasonable amount of time. Mostly I have tried other people's recipes, but once I got comfortable I started trying to create some of my own, like this one.

This recipe came about because I was trying to find a good chicken, veggie, and brown rice casserole, and everything I found had white rice. The first time I made this, I loved how it came out! I couldn't believe it worked! I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I have now made it 3 more times and also had a friend make it with a different brand of pressure cooker. It turned out great for her, too!

The true test... will the rest of the family eat it? My kiddo loves it!

I love that she is getting a protein, a healthier carb, and three veggies (onion, carrots, and broccoli)! The rice in this casserole really has a great texture-- it's very creamy, almost like a risotto.

I've posted the recipe below, but I wanted to give a few notes.

First, I'm sure you could adapt this to use white rice. You'd probably need to really adjust the cook time since white rice cooks a lot faster. However, I use mostly brown, so I haven't tried white rice.
Second, I'm sure you could add the broccoli to the Instant Pot before starting the cooking. However, I think after 25 minutes, it would become mush. So I use this handy pot from Pampered Chef to steam mine in about 4 minutes in the microwave. I use frozen baby broccoli florets. I steam them the last 3 minutes of the cooking and after I release the steam, I add the broccoli. (Side note... that little steamer pot is a STAPLE in this house. I bought it on a whim and it is something I use at least 3-4 times a week.)

Hope you guys enjoy the recipe! Man, it's been a long since I posted a recipe, and I'm trying a new plug-in to add the recipe card here. Let me know what you think!

Yield: 6 ServingsAuthor: Liz @ Confessions of a Former Couch Potato

Chicken and Veggie Brown Rice Casserole for Instant Pot

prep time: 10 MINScook time: 25 MINStotal time: 35 mins

This super-easy casserole combines brown rice, veggies, chicken breasts, and cheddar cheese to create a meal that is both filling and healthy!

ingredients:

• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 TBSP butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of chopped carrots
• 2 2/3 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups brown rice
• 2 large chicken breasts (fresh or frozen)
• a few splashes of Worcestershire Sauce
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 cups broccoli florets, steamed
• handful (about 2/3 cup) of shredded cheddar cheese 

instructions:

1. Select the saute button on your Instant Pot.  When the pot is hot, add the oil and butter. Wait about 30 seconds for oil/butter to heat up.
2. Add diced onion to pot and cook for about 2 minutes.  
3. Add garlic and carrots and cook until garlic is fragrant.
4. Add chicken broth and stir to release any brown bits on the bottom of the pot. 
5. Add the rice and stir.  
6. Add the chicken breasts.
7. Add salt, pepper, and Worcestershire Sauce.
8. Press "Cancel" to end the saute feature.  Manually select the High Pressure button and set the timer for 25 minutes. Make sure to set the vent to "Sealing."
9. While the casserole is cooking, steam the rice in the microwave.
10. Once the time is up, Quick-Release the steam and then open the pot.  Stir to combine all the ingredients.  The chicken should fall apart easily, but you can use forks to shred.  
11. Add steamed broccoli and shredded cheese.  Stir once more to combine.
12. Enjoy!

Created using The Recipes Generator

-Liz

So, Does “Clean Eating” Cost More?

So… this turned out to be a long post.  There are several sections here.  Feel free to read it all or scroll down to what interests you:

1.  Whole30 Update

2.  Discussion on Clean Eating and Cost

3.  A Meal Idea

Ahhhh… Saturday.  It’s a rare kind of Saturday here at the Confessions house.  First of all… we really don’t have anywhere specific to be today!  (Well, the hubby has a quick work activity that he has to do this morning… but I don’t have anywhere specific to be!)  It feels great to be IN TOWN and to have a Saturday morning to enjoy my coffee and breakfast while blogging!

Whole30 Update:

It is hard to believe that I am on Day 21!  Only 9 days to go until my Whole30 is technically over.  I imagined that this would be the hardest thing I have ever done, as far as eating goes, but it has actually been so much easier than I thought!  One cool thing that has happened is something in my 2 crisper drawers.  (Side note: way back when, I used to keep BEER in the crisper!  Ha!)  Anyway, each week, when I make my regular grocery runs, I always buy lots of veggies with the intentions of eating all of them all week.  However, I always would end up throwing out so much each week because I would forget about it or decide not to eat it.  What a waste!  But since starting the Whole30, I have been cleaning out the veggie drawers every week!

I have now been off of my joint supplement for 3 weeks and my knees feel great!  I have drastically cut back on the Motrin!  I am also sleeping better than I can remember in years.  Seriously, my head hits the pillow and I am DEEP sleeping until the alarm or a 4-year old climbs over me in the morning.  (This  morning, it was the latter.)  I used to wake up throughout the night and many mornings I would not feel rested.  But I feel rested every single morning!

I am not having any severe cravings anymore.  Occasionally, I will crave something for a minute if I see it on TV or if it is in my face.  Like last night, I made mac n cheese for my husband and kiddo when I made dinner, and as I was stirring it, I kind of wanted to put a spoonful in my mouth.  But I resisted.  And as soon as it was out of my sight, it was forgotten.

I’d like to change the focus now to a topic that I wondered about before starting Whole30:

Does Clean Eating Cost More?

(gratuitous Sadie picture)

I think the answer is yes and no.  There are several factors that come into play, like whether you are buying organic foods and meats, where you are shopping, and how you are shopping.

Organic: Sometimes organic food costs a good bit more than the regular counterparts.  However, I am going to show you a meal idea that was VERY affordable for me, and almost the whole meal was completely organic.  You can use this list to help you decide what you really need to purchase organically.

Where you are shopping: This week I did most of our shopping at Earth Fare, which I don’t normally do.  Now, keep in mind that we had some meats in the fridge, so I didn’t have to buy as much protein.  But I was able to get a cart full of groceries, plus 3 proteins (chicken thighs, ground chicken, and grass-fed beef) for about $50.  My cart included lots of veggies, almond butter, and some water and Kombucha.  I consider a $50 grocery trip pretty great!  I also love going to Trader Joe’s.  They offer a lot of organic items for way less than a traditional grocery store would.  Most of my shopping is done at Harris Teeter, which I would say is a more high-end grocery store featuring really great deals.  I also like hitting our local farmer’s market when I can.  I can get a whole grocery cart of locally-grown produce for less than $20.  (I have joined a CSA for June and July, so I am really looking forward to getting my produce that way very soon!)

Earth Fare Find:  This week I discovered “tubes” of organic ground chicken and pork in the freezer section at Earth Fare for about $5 each!  I never knew these were there, but I love using ground chicken (especially organic) for breakfast or for chilis and soups!

How you shop: When I say “how you shop,” I mean whether or not you gravitate towards the deals.  I tend to form my meals around what is on sale or special.  That is how I put together the meal you’ll see below.  When frozen veggies are on sale, I stock up.  Even though these aren’t usually organic, they’re usually free of preservatives.

A Note About Coupons: Unfortunately, if you are a “coupon-er,” it is going to be difficult to eat this way.  There just aren’t a lot of coupons for meats and produce.  Sad, but true.  As a former coupon-er, it is sometimes hard for me to pass up a great deal.  But I have had to remind myself—just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean I have to eat it.  Many of the items that regularly feature coupons are, unfortunately, full of preservatives and chemicals.  It’s sad but true.  Read your labels.  It was eye-opening to me, too.  Want a shocker?  Read the ingredients on your coffee creamer.  Or your mayo.

I was lucky this week and a friend at work who raises chickens brought me 2 dozen farm-fresh eggs for $1 a dozen.  That’s cheaper than any grocery store and way fresher!  Win!

So, how about a meal idea?

 

Chicken and Bok Choy Skillet Meal

This meal comes together quickly!  The key is to chop your ingredients while the chicken is browning.  I also think some coconut aminos would be a good addition to this dish, but I was out.   Total cooking time is only about 10-15 minutes, and that includes prep time! I paired mine with sauteed mushrooms on the side.

Ingredients:

-one pound of organic ground chicken (found in the freezer section at Earth Fare for $5)

-one whole head of organic Bok Choy, chopped (about $3)

-one quare of frozen ginger (maybe $0.10-0.20?)

-organic green onions (clipped from my kitchen windowsill—free!)

-about 15 organic baby carrots (maybe about $0.50?)

-one to two TBSP of EVOO  (probably about $0.20 or less)

Preparation:

Brown the chicken in a saute pan in EVOO.  When chicken is fully cooked, add bok choy, ginger, onions, and carrots.  Cook on medium heat until Bok Choy is wilted and carrots are tender.  Serve hot.  (Serves about 3 people—2 if you want seconds.  He he.)

Total cost for the meal: $9.00 

I ate half for dinner on Thursday and took the rest for lunch on Thursday.  Now, in my opinion, that is pretty affordable—especially for an organic meal!

Question for YOU: Do you think “clean eating” costs more?  What tips do you have on how to save money on groceries on either a Paleo or “Clean” diet?

Packing Breakfasts and Lunches, Earth Fare Win

I know I have been away for a few days.  To be perfectly honest, I just haven’t had much blog-worthy activity.  It’s been pretty ho-hum here at the Confessions house.  So I thought I would just show you a couple of pics, just to show you what I’ve been up to.

Made an excellent batch of Easy Chili on Saturday which led to several lunches and snacks this week…

I like to serve chili over noodles—whole wheat noodles.  But I also like to eat my chili with baked tortilla chips, like a salsa.  Either way… yum. 

So. On to the breakfast and lunch packing.  I have to be at work pretty early.  I also drop off my little girl on the way.  That means that I have to be out the door in the morning pretty early.  That means that I don’t have time to make breakfast and eat at home.  So I pack it and take it with me.  I like to take items like:

• oatmeal
• fruit (see fruit find below!)
• ham and cheese slices
• grits (instant individual packets)

I made an awesome breakfast discovery that I want to share with you: Del Monte Fruit Naturals!

(click for source)

I bought the red grapefruit cups the other day just on a whim and I LOVE them.  It is seriously like biting into the juiciest, freshest grapefruit ever.  These are a lifesaver for breakfast.  I just throw them in my lunch bag and I have a healthy breakfast without all of the mess and cutting that grapefruit sometimes involves.  They also make cups of blueberries (hello cereal topping!), peaches, mixed berries, and mixed fruit!  I plan to try them all.

On to lunch…

I’ve been enjoying Potpourri Platters for lunches lately. 

These are the best kinds of lunches.  A little bit of everything.  Some of the things I like to throw in are (the goodies vary from day to day):

• hummus (topped with tomatoes and/or feta cheese and/or cucumber)
• pita rounds or pita chips
• olives
• turkey slices
• clementine oranges (gotta enjoy them while they are in season!)
• string cheese
• almonds (I make my own mini packs of these.  I buy them in the bulk bins at Earth Fare and then count them out into small portions.  I just grab one of my premeasured portions and throw it in my lunch bag!)

Having ingredients like these on hand really has helped me to get through Eat-In Month.  It has helped me avoid spending extra money on lunches this month, and of course I can eat healthier when I am prepared.

Now, on another note, check out this haul of groceries from Earth Fare that I got for just $15!

I got an awesome coupon via text this morning (Click here to find out how to get coupons texted to you from EF) and I couldn’t wait to use it!  (If you get this coupon, hurry—it expires on Friday!)

I got:

• veggie burgers
• bananas
• cheese puffs (like cheetos but a little healthier)
• pesto
• grapefruit
• 2 Chobani yogurts
• 3 healthy Ramen Noodle packs
• tri-color quinoa (from the bulk bin)
• almonds (bulk bin)
• banana chips (bulk bin)

I love shopping the bulk bins.  It’s fun to pick out something new to try each time.  And I love being able to decide how much I want to buy of a product.

Wow.  What a boring post.  Listing my lunch ingredients?  My grocery list? Oh my goodness.  I better cook something fast so I have a better post next time!

Apps for Techies and Leftovers Reinvented!

Today was a hard day, friends.  Since December 13, I have been sleeping in until 8:00 or later.  It’s been nice.  Sleep, get up, drink coffee, catch up on the DVR episodes… but today it was back to reality!  Yes, school started back again and it was hard to drag myself out of bed at 5:45 a.m.  Did any of you start back to work today after a holiday vacation?  How was your day?

One thing that kept me going was knowing that I had leftovers and a way to reinvent them tonight, PLUS a free afternoon/evening to do whatever I wanted!

I have two apps to tell you about today that I think are awesome.  If you are currently exercising or trying to lose weight, I thought these might be helpful to you!

Now, I am an iPhone user, after many years of owning a Blackberry.  As a BB user, I would always get frustrated when the cool apps weren’t available to me.  So I am going to apologize in advance to any of you who can’t access these apps.  I don’t know if they are available on the Android or Blackberry (or other) Markets.  These are definitely available to you iPhone users, though!

1. iMapMyFITNESS

I am absolutely loving this app!  This is great to have if you are a runner or a walker.  My favorite thing is the “record workout” feature.  When I go out for a walk, I tell it to record my workout.  It finds my location via GPS and then tracks my walk.  I can see a map of the streets and it records my route, how fast I am going, how much time has elapsed, and more!

At the end, you can view a summary of your workout and save it for another time.  This is helpful when you are walking different routes in your neighborhood and you get home and you think, “Wonder how far I went?”

By the way, it also allows you to pause and resume a workout.  Today, I walked about 1 1/4 miles, and then needed to make a stop at the grocery store.  I paused my workout when I entered the store and resumed it when I left!

It was a little awkward to walk with this bag, but it was a great afternoon for a walk/run!

2.  Weight Watchers Bar Code Scanner

This is for any of you out there who are WW members.  If you are a paying member of WW (pay for monthly pass, online membership, or e-tools) then you can download this app and use it for free.  You can scan the bar codes of the foods you have at home (or while you are grocery shopping).  Within seconds, you get the product information with the points values! 

Plus, everything you scan is saved in your history, so if you need to record that food option more than once, you’ve got it!  Almost everything in my pantry (with the exception of private brands—such as Harris Teeter brands) was in the database!  So cool and convenient!

Now, on to the leftovers. (If you are just joining me, I am participating in Eat-In Month during January, so you’ll be seeing a lot more cooking and cost-effective meals this month!)

You may remember my pork shoulder roast from yesterday that I slow-cooked all day.  Well, seeing as how we are only a family of 3, we didn’t finish all of it yesterday!  But… I have found that we (i.e. the husband) are not great at eating our leftovers.  So I started thinking about a way to reinvent the leftover pork into a new meal.  Suddenly, it came to me: barbecue on rolls! 

The only problem?  We had no BBQ sauce in the house.  I started wondering… I bet it wouldn’t be difficult to make my own BBQ Sauce.  After a little searching, I came across this recipe on www.allrecipes.com.  It had great reviews, and we had almost all the ingredients on hand, so I gave it a whirl.

The verdict?  Delicious!  Hubby and I both agree completely that this was better than any store-bought sauce we could have bought!  I threw the leftover pork+sauce in the crock pot, turned it to HIGH, and in just a few hours, we had sweet and tangy BBQ Pork!

We served it up on hot dog buns.  Somehow we always have extra because Sadie always opts to have hers sans bun, so this was an easy way to use up the buns and not spend extra money.

I ate mine open-faced with peas and leftover collards.  :)

YUM!  If you’ve never made your own BBQ Sauce, you should give this one a try!

I like to think about cost effectiveness.  This pork roast cost $9 (on sale—score!).  We still have leftovers, so I figure there were 3 meals from that meat.  That’s $3 a meal.  The steamed peas were under $1 (also on sale) and the BBQ Sauce cost about $0.75 for the amount I made.  The buns and collards were leftover, so I count them as free.  That’s a meal for a family of 3 for under $5.  Sweet!

If you want to read more about how I grocery shop, click here to view my post on how to spend less on groceries.

Cheeseburger Lettuce Cups (Take That, McDonald’s!)

Happy Sunday, friends!  This has been a great, relaxing weekend!  I’m reading a new book… The Hunger Games.  It’s SO GOOD!  Have you read it?  It’s very suspenseful.  It’s actually more of a young-adult book, but lots of adults are reading it.  I’ve always liked futuristic books.  The beginning of this book actually reminds me of a really creepy short story I read once called “The Lottery.”  Anyone else read that???  Talk about disturbing!

On to other (less-disturbing) things… let’s talk food.

Yesterday I wrote about my new school lunch idea: Lunchtime Lettuce Cups.  You see, I am going back to work and I now have to think ahead and prepare healthy (and, more importantly, tasty!) lunches to take and keep at work.  My first lettuce cup that I shared was the pimento cheese and tomato lettuce cup.  Today, I would like to feature a seriously delicious Lettuce Cup idea…

The Cheeseburger Lettuce Cup. 

This idea was inspired by a recipe from Hungry Girl a.k.a. Lisa Lillien.  She’s a genius when it comes to giving unhealthy food a makeover.  I got addicted to her cheeseburger quesadillas a summer or two ago.  But the problem is… I can’t exactly whip up a quesadilla at work.  I have access to a fridge and a microwave… so anything I make has to be simple.

The ingredient list is simple and you probably have most items on hard, with the exception of the veggie burgers.  Tonight we cooked our veggie burgers on the grill, but the fabulous thing about both Boca and Morningstar Farms Veggie Burgers is the fact that they can be cooked in the microwave in under 2 minutes!

Make things simple for yourself.  The night before, dice up some onion, tomato, and pickle.  Place these in baggies.  (You could even make 2 days’ worth—and have these two days in a row!  I also diced up some cheese, but you could easily use pre-shredded.  Also, make sure you’ve got large lettuce leaves on hand.  Iceburg, Bibb, or Romaine works well.  (I used Romaine for these.)  In the morning, pack your lettuce, fixins, and box of frozen veggie burgers.  You may also want to pack a plastic knife for cutting your veggie burger if you don’t have access to plastic ware at work. 

At lunchtime…

Start by nuking your veggie burger.  When it’s done, let it cool for a minute and then dice it up.  (Pieces should be smaller than dimes.)  Sprinkle over 2-3 lettuce leaves.  Next, sprinkle desired amounts of cheese, diced tomatoes, diced dill pickles, and diced onion.  If you like, add ketchup!  (Lucky for me, we have this condiment on hand in the school cafeteria… but if you have a shared fridge, this may be on hand.)

AND now… ENJOY!  This Lettuce Cup is no joke!  It’s filling and tasty!  The diced onion and pickle will remind you of those tiny little McDonald’s cheeseburgers… but this is WAY better for you.  And it’s so pretty!

I’m planning on doing another post soon on foods I like to keep on hand at work—stay tuned for that!  Does anyone have any favorite products that you like to keep on hand for workplace munchies?  Favorite lunches?  Snacks?  I’d love to feature some of your ideas when I do that post!  Leave a comment by clicking the “comments” section.  If I feature your suggestion, I promise to give you credit!

Have a wonderful Sunday evening and have a WONDERFUL week!!!

Potpourri Platter, Anyone?

We have a local restaurant called the White Horse.  It’s really well-known for this sandwich called “Charlie O’Chicken.”  (Which, oddly enough, is made with turkey… go figure.)  However, one of my favorite things about the White Horse was this fabulous menu item called the “Potpourri Platter.”  Basically, it was just an assortment of goodies… chicken salad, celery and carrots, cheese cubes, pickles… you never really knew what goodies might be on your plate when the server set it down before you. 

Well, I’ve been trying to do a better job of packing my lunches so that I don’t have to buy them from the cafeteria.  The meals there aren’t bad… but they aren’t always the healthiest choices.  However, I have this problem where I pack something for lunch… and then when it’s lunchtime, I no longer want to eat whatever I brought.  Does that ever happen to you?

This morning, I had an idea.  Why not start packing “Potpourri Platters” for myself for lunch?  My friend Mandy says she likes to have a lot of “things” for lunch.  And I think that’s the beauty of the Potpourri Platter.  You get to sample a whole bunch of goodies.

You know what?  This was one of the best lunches I have had in a long time! 

Celery sticks (sounds like diet food but it’s one of my favorite raw veggies), cucumber-dill dip (made with light sour cream), 2% cottage cheese (honestly… I LOVE cottage cheese), pickles, and turkey slices.  YUM!  And it was very low in the points values, too. 

I also have been drinking a lot of water and it makes me feel so much better.  Every time I make an effort to drink more water, I can tell a difference in how I feel.  WHY do I fall off the wagon???  I flavor my water with lemon and mint.  It’s so refreshing!

So I thought I would share one other food find that I am loving… Puffins Cereal.  It’s my new favorite. 

It makes a great pre-workout snack, especially when you add in some fresh fruit.

Tonight after Zumba, I was a lucky girl.  I took longer to get home than I thought, so hubby made dinner for me!  Go hubby! 

Salmon, Trader Joe’s potatoes, and edamame.  I wish you guys could watch Sadie devour edamame.  She LOVES to eat it from the pods.  Like mother, like daughter, I guess!

 

Reader Question:

So… what do you do for lunch?  What are your “go-to” foods for lunches on the go?  Or do you buy your lunch? 

True Love and Noodle Love

Happy Monday!!!

I am ending the night with some true love… The Bachelor finale.  Do you watch the Bachelor/Bachelorette?  I just can’t help myself.  I am a sucker for that show.  I can’t wait to see who Brad chooses! 

Today, I want to talk about convenience foods.  Lately, my life has been so busy that I am doing a terrible job of planning ahead and cooking meals for myself and my family.  I think that poor planning is one if the biggest pitfalls of getting (and staying) healthy.  Some nights I am coming home at 9 p.m. and I am starving… so I eat whatever is quickest. 

Sometimes it’s frozen convenience foods, like this lasagna we had last night. 

Good, yes.  Best ingredients?  Probably not.

But today I cooked two meals that only took a few minutes, but turned out pretty tasty!

Today, I had several meetings with teachers planned, so I decided to make chili. 

I planned to make this into chicken chili, but the grocery store was out of those convenient packages of grilled chicken strips.  Grrrrr…  So at the last minute, I added Morningstar Farms crumbles to the chili.  I love all the Morningstar Farms products.  This chili was delish with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream mixed in.  And it took me just FIVE minutes to prepare this in the slow cooker!  Now, these directions are to prepare the soup in a slow cooker for a lunchtime meal.  But you could definitely make this on the stovetop, too!  (Much quicker!)

Sorta Homemade Slow-Cooker Veggie Chili

• 1 pack Bear Creek “Darn Good Chili” Soup Mix
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 12-oz package Morningstar Farms “beef” crumbles

Preparation: Fill slow cooker with 7 cups of hot water.  Turn on high for an hour.  Add tomato paste and stir so that it breaks up.  Add the chili packet.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes.  Add crumbles and cook 2 more hours on high.  Serve with chips, cheese, and sour cream!

Then tonight, I decided to try something new.  My friend Diana over at The Chic Life is constantly making these Noodle Stir Fry dishes, like this one.  I’ve been wanting to try this!  So tonight I did! 

I cooked Udon Noodles, and then drained them and set them aside.  I stir-fried my broccoli and edamame in a skillet with a little canola and sesame oil, and some reduced-sodium soy sauce.  When everything was almost cooked through (to crisp-tender) I added the noodles to the skillet and added a sprinkling of sesame seeds. 

And wow… this was so good and took only a few minutes to prepare!  The longest part was cooking the noodles!  I will definitely make this again… SOON!  SO much better than getting takeout!

OK… the Bachelor is getting INTENSE!  I’m gonna have to give it my full attention…

Good night!

Cheesy Beefy Chili Mac

Hello, all!  The weekend is here!  And sadly, it is almost halfway over... :(  But at least we get an extra hour of sleep time tonight! I bet my sisters, who are living it up at the Carolina Game, will appreciate that extra hour. 

Last night, I finally got to make that spaghetti squash.  I tried something different.  I tossed it with a little butter, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and parmesan.  It was... eh... just ok.  So I won't share that recipe with you tonight.  It tasted much sweeter this time, and I think that was the problem.  Maybe it was more ripe than last time.  We had some steamed peas and rotisserie chicken with it. 

Isn't it sad how we often pack all our chores into a Saturday afternoon, when we should be enjoying ourselves?  Today we had a lot of projects to tackle:
-- hitting the gym (Zumba for me, weights and treadmill for Ryan, play time for the munchkin)
-- unearthing our dining room table (We haven't seen the tabletop since around July, but now it's back!  Woo hoo!)
--meal and recipe planning (Good eats coming soon!)
--grocery shopping for the week (and a dinner party we've got coming up)
--putting away laundry (I HATE putting clothes away.  I would love, just once, for all laundry to actually BE in our drawers.  I don't think it's ever happened.)
--dusting, vaccuuming, etc.

So now I need another Saturday to rest up from today.

Tonight, I wanted to make a one-pot meal.  Something warm and comforting because it's been cold outside the past couple of days.  (Finally, the electric bill is going down!  The air conditioner can take a rest!)  I decided on Cheese Beefy Chili Mac.  I had this can of Ro-Tel sitting in the pantry and it was just calling out to me. 

This recipe passed the family test.  Ryan liked it, and so did Sadie.  They both asked for seconds, so that's a good sign!

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 can Ro-Tel (I used mild for the fam, but if it had just been me, I'd have gone for full strength)
1/2 can of Mexican corn
1 packet of taco seasoning
8-10 oz dried macaroni noodles (we used whole wheat)
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Directions:
Cook noodles according to directions for al dente pasta.  While noodles cook, brown ground beef in a large skillet.  Drain fat.  Mix in Ro-Tel, corn, 1/2 cup of water, and seasoning packet.  Allow to cook, uncovered on medium, until sauce has thickened a bit.  Remove from heat.  Mix in sour cream.  Drain pasta and add to the meat mixture.  Mix well.  Top with cheese and mix well once more.  Serve hot.  Top with more cheese if desired. 

We served it with mango slices and a Pomegranate Martini-- you know-- just to test it out for the POM dinner...

How to Spend Less on Groceries!

So, today I had to do some grocery shopping.  This used to be a mindless task for me.  I sometimes made a list, and sometimes I went with NO list, wandering around the store and purchasing whatever looked good to me at the time.  Times, they have a-changed in the Bridges Household.  About a year ago, I started keeping track of my grocery receipts and found that, for our family of 3, I was sometimes spending as much (or sometimes MORE than) $500 a month on groceries.  And we went out to eat a few times a week, too!  Many of you with children know that they are EXPENSIVE.  Worth every penny, but once you have a day care expense of $600-$800 a month, you have to start finding ways to save.  Plus, as a part of all the school budget cuts, my husband's job was cut and he took a job that cost him about 1/3 of his salary.  That hurt.  And then came the furloughs... you heard me mention those yesterday.  But... things happen, and you have to find a way to deal. 


That's why I use the Southern Savers website.


This website is couponing and grocery deals for dummies.  Jenny, the creator, has all kinds of tutorials to help you get started and understand how couponing works.  Click here to find some of her video tutorials.


Now, I am still not able to go and buy a cart of groceries for $5.  But Southern Savers has helped me to DRASTICALLY cut our grocery bill.  How drastic?  I cut it in HALF.  I went from spending an average of $100 a week to $50 a week.  I will tell you that a shopping trip takes a lot more time and effort than it used to, but to me, it's worth it.


First, I have to menu-plan.  Today, this involved me checking the freezer to see what we actually had and thinking about what dinners could be created with those ingredients.  (This is the obvious part of the game plan.  We all do this, right?) 

As you can see, there is a serious organization problem going on here! 
Does anyone else's freezer look like this?

For example, today I pulled out a top-round roast, potatoes, onions, and celery.  Well, that's easy.  Add some carrots and you've got crock pot beef stew.  So carrots went on my list.  And lucky for me, they are on sale this week!


Then, I hit up the Southern Savers site to see what the grocery deals are that week. 

I shop at either Bi-Lo or Harris Teeter, depending on who has the best deals for that particular week.  For me, Bi-Lo won this week.  Now, the Southern Savers site has this great feature where Jenny lists all the items that are on sale AND the coupon match-ups.  She also has check-boxes so you can check off everything you want and then print your personalized list.  You can even add your own items to the list. 

Then, I go and find my coupons that I can use.  This week, I have several that will help bring down the total.  I clip and check my list before heading out. 

Then, we hit the stores.  Now, I am taking a chance today, because grocery stores change their deals on Wednesdays.  Today is Monday, so there's a chance that they may be out of some of the things on my list.  But I've got my little shopping helper with me, and we're enjoying some Mommy-Sadie time today.

So... how did I do? 

I usually aim to try and get my savings to equal what I spent.  I came pretty close today.  I saved $36 and spent $38.  I am pretty happy if I come in at under $50 a week. 

Basically, this has changed the way I shop.  I used to start with a menu and then shop for the ingredients, and whatever they cost was what I paid.  Now I plan our menus based on what is on sale or what I bought previously on sale.  It seems so simple... I don't know why it never occurred to me before!

So... how do you shop for groceries?  Do you coupon?  Leave me a comment with your ideas, thoughts, insights...