Apple Crisp

Photo by MrLunch

Ingredients

4 medium apples, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish, spread the apples and sprinkle with sugar, lemon juice, and honey.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture crumbles.
4. Spread flour mixture over the apple mixture.
5. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is browned.

Easy S’Mores Recipe

You don’t need a campfire to make these super easy S’mores.

Ingredients

Graham crackers
Marshmallow creme
Chocolate chips

Directions

1. Place one cracker down.
2. Spread cracker with marshmallow creme.
3. Top with chocolate chips.
4. Top with another cracker.
5. Microwave until chocolate is just starting to melt.

YUM!  Some fun additions to the traditional s’mores are Reese’s cups and bananas.

Beef Roast + Leftover Tacos Recipe

For this week’s HEB Bargain Meal, we are going to get two meals out of one! Tomorrow Beef Shoulder Roast goes on sale for $1.97/lb. That’s nearly half off so its a great time to buy.

Beef Roast

To cook your roast, line the bottom of your crockpot with a chopped onion. Place your roast on top of the onions. Sprinkle with taco seasoning, a 4 oz can of green chiles, 2 tsp minced garlic (or a bit of garlic powder), salt, and pepper. Add 1/2 cup beef broth to crockpot and cook all day on low.

Leftover Tacos

Shred leftover roast and use to make delicious tacos on night two!

Posted as part of $5 Dinner’s Bargain Meal of the Week. Additional Clever Homemaking Recipes.

Beef Carbonade Recipe

Beef chuck steak goes on sale tomorrow at HEB. This is a good cut of meat to use when making Beef Carbonade - this week’s “Bargain Meal of the Week” in affiliation with $5 Dinners.

2 slices bacon
1 1/2 lb beef chuck steak, cut into small pieces
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup onions, chopped
3 cups mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup beef broth
1 cup beer
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 325.

Cook bacon, remove from skillet (reserve), and use the bacon grease to brown your beef chuck steak. Remove beef from skillet. Add butter to the skillet and saute the onions until tender. Add mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add half the beef broth and all of the remaining ingredients other than the flour. Cook for 2 minutes. Mix the beef into the skillet mixture and pour into a baking dish and bake for 75 minutes.

Mix the flour and the remaining beef broth. Mix into the casserole and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve over egg noodles and top with crumbled bacon.

Kid Friendly Recipe: Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 slices bread
Butter
Peanut Butter
Banana, sliced

Directions:

Spread one side of a piece of bread with butter.  Place in a medium heat skillet buttered side down.

Spread top of bread in skillet with peanut butter.  Layer top of peanut butter with banana slices.

Spread one side of the remaining bread with peanut butter.  Place peanut butter side down on top of banana slices.

Butter the top of the sandwich.

When bottom bread starts to brown, flip the sandwich.  Continue cooking like a grilled cheese until both sides are golden brown.

Homemade Italian Dressing

Mix together the following dry ingredients:

2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp garlic salt
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp celery salt

In a separate container, mix together the following liquid ingredients:

2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 Tbsp water

Add 2 Tbsp of the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients. Mix together.

Store the remaining dry ingredients for future dressing.

Homemade Easter Egg Dye

If you already have food coloring in your pantry, there is no need to pay for Easter Egg Kits.  Simply dip your hard boiled eggs into a solution similar to the following:

• 1 cup of hot water
• 1/2 tsp white vinegar
• food coloring

Add food coloring one drop at a time until you achieve the desired color.

When the valentine’s clearance reached 90% at CVS, I picked up a bunch of Disney/Pixar stickers for $.29.  My 2 year old will be using these stickers to bring our homemade easter eggs to the next level!

Homemade Chili Seasoning Packet

You can save money when seasoning your food by eliminating the prepared seasoning packets and seasoning blends. This is our standard “Chili Seasoning Packet”.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp minced garlic

If you don’t use fresh onion in your chili, you can add a couple of Tbsp of minced or chopped dried onion to your seasoning packet.

Directions

I usually make a “packet” as I’m fixing my chili. I mix all the ingredients in a bowl and then add the seasoning to my chili. These packets are very easy to make ahead of time, however, and store in your pantry to save you some time. Simply portion out each “packet” on to a square of foil and seal. Store your packets in a ziplock bag or glass jar until needed.

Make Ahead Freezer Potatoes

Photo by _neona_

Ingredients

6 baked potatoes
2 Tbsp melted butter
8 oz. sour cream
4 oz. shredded cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt

Directions

After baking potatoes, cut in half and carefully scoop out the potato into a mixing bowl.  Reserve skin.  Add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix well.  Spoon the potato mixture back in to the potato skins and refrigerate until chilled.  Wrap potatoes individually in plastic wrap and freeze.

On serving day, bake thawed potatoes at 400 for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

2×4 Minestrone

With all the great deals on Progresso Soup lately, I thought it would be a good idea to post my Minestrone recipe. It’s so sinfully easy, but it will taste like you’ve been slaving in the kitchen for hours.

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef, browned
2 cans Progresso Minestrone Soup
2 cans Ranch Style (or pinto) Beans
2 cans Rotel tomatoes

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a pot and heat thoroughly. I prefer to combine all ingredients in my crockpot and cook on low all day, but you can certainly heat on the stove for a last minute meal.

This soup is easily scaled down, but it makes excellent leftovers and is perfect for the freezer.