Thai Peanut Noodles

Photo Courtesy of Pillsbury.com

Ingredients:

8 ounces spaghetti

1 bunch green onions, sliced (white parts only)

2 cups shredded carrot

1 cup broccoli florets, cut into tiny pieces

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup hot water

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until done. Drain.  Meanwhile, combine oil and onions, carrot, and broccoli in a small skillet. Saute over low heat until tender. Add ginger; cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes. Mix in peanut butter, soy sauce, water, vinegar, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Remove from heat.  Toss noodles with sauce, and serve warm or cold.  

  

Grocery Item	Weekly Sale at Econo Foods (12/9/12-12/16/12)
Broccoli	Birds Eye Frozen Veggies (10-16 oz.) on sale 4 for $5.00 Eat Smart Fresh Broccoli Florets (10-12 oz.) on sale 2 for $4.00
Pasta	Creamette or Ronzoni Pasta (12-16 oz.) on sale 10 for $10.00

Grocery Item	Weekly Sale at Cub Foods (12/9/12-12/15/12)
Peanuts	Planters Peanuts (16-20 oz.) on sale for $2.99
Pasta	Free Barilla Pasta Sauce (24 oz.) when you buy 4 Barilla Pastas – with coupon in Cub Foods Weekly Ad Creamette Pasta (32 oz.) on sale 2 for $4.00

Baked Italian Sausage Rotelle

Photo Courtesy of Favorite Family Recipes

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 pkg. uncooked ground Italian Sausage (I used 16 oz. ground turkey and added 1 Tablespoon of Italian Seasoning)

1 pkg. curly, bowtie, or wagonwheel noodles, cooked

1 jar (24 oz.) four cheese spaghetti sauce

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 cups mozzarella cheese (divided)

Directions:

Roll the ground Italian sausage into small balls. In a large fry pan, brown the garlic in olive oil. Then add sausage balls and cook until browned on the outside and completely cooked through (this will take about 10 minutes – cut a meatball in half to determine if they are fully cooked).  In a large bowl toss together the sausage with all the other ingredients reserving 1 cup of cheese.  Pour pasta mixture into a 9x13 inch pan lined with cooking spray. Bake at 375 for 25 min. Top with remaining cheese and bake 5 more minutes.

Grocery Item	Weekly Sale at Cub Foods (12/2/12-12/8/12)
Ground Turkey	Jennie-O 93% Lean Ground Turkey (16-20 oz.) on sale 2 for $7.00
Pasta Sauce	Newman’s Own Pasta Sauce (24 oz.) on sale 2 for $4.00 Prego Pasta Sauce (24 oz.) on sale for $2.00 Francesco Rinaldi Pasta Sauce (24 oz.) $1.29 with coupon (limit 6)
Pasta	Creamette Pasta or Healthy Harvest Pasta (12-16 oz.) on sale 10 for $10.00
Cheese	Essential Everyday Shredded Cheese (6-8 oz.) $1.99 with coupon (limit 4)

Grocery Item	Weekly Sale at Econo Foods (12/2/12-12/8/12)
Ground Turkey	Honeysuckle White 93% Ground Turkey (1.2 lb) on sale for $3.49
Cheese	Our Family Shredded Cheese (6-8 oz.) on sale 4 for $5.00
Pasta	Barilla Pasta (12-16 oz) on sale 4 for $5.00

Orange Chicken Stir Fry

Photo Courtesy of Live Better America

Ingredients:

1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups chopped veggies (carrots, bell pepper, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, pea pods, etc)

Directions

In a small bowl combine the orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, salt, ginger, red pepper flakes, garlic and brown sugar. Mix well.  Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. When oil begins to bubble, add chicken. Saute until cooked through (no longer pink inside), about 7 to 10 minutes.  Add vegetables to pan and saute until tender crisp.  Add orange sauce mixture to chicken and cook until sauce begins to bubble. Add flour, a little bit at a time, until sauce has thickened to your liking.  Serve over rice.

Grocery Item	Weekly Sale at Cub Foods (12/2/12-12/8/12)
Chicken	Gold’n Plump Split Chicken Breasts (32 oz., bone-in) for $3.99 with coupon Fresh Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts on sale for $2.99/lb
Orange Juice	Use fresh squeezed orange juice if you want! Oranges on sale for $3.48/4 lb. bag Dole Orange Juice or Orange Juice Blends (59 oz.) on sale 2 for $6.00
Veggies	Baby Carrots (1 lb. bag) on sale 2 for $3.00 Baby Portabella Mushrooms (8 oz. package) on sale 2 for $4.00

Grocery Item	Weekly Sale at Econo Foods (12/2/12-12/8/12)
Orange Juice	Florida’s Natural Orange Juice (59 oz.) on sale for $3.99 Our Family Orange Juice (128 oz.) on sale for $4.99
Veggies	New Grimmway Micro Carrots (13 oz.) on sale for $1.99 Baby Bella Whole Mushrooms (8 oz.) on sale for $1.99

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

Still have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving? Turn it into a delicious meal with this recipe for Turkey and Wild Rice Soup!

Photo Courtesy of Taste of Home

Ingredients:

1 package (6 oz.) long grain and wild rice mix with seasoning
2 cups leftover turkey or chicken (can also use cubed chicken breasts)
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups diced carrots
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) chicken broth
½ teaspoon dried tarragon
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons flour
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

Directions

Prepare rice mix according to package directions, omitting butter.  Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, sauté the onions in oil until translucent.  Add garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes longer.  Add the broth, tarragon, thyme, pepper, carrots, and turkey to the onions and garlic.  Bring to a boil and simmer until carrots are tender.  Add the prepared rice to the pot.  In a separate bowl, combine ½ cup of the evaporated milk with the flour and stir until smooth.  Add the flour mixture to the pot and simmer until thickened. 

**Soup will thicken over time as the rice absorbs some of the moisture.  Feel free to add additional chicken broth if soup becomes too thick.

Grocery Item	Weekly Sale at Cub Foods (11/18/12-11/24/12)
Chicken	Fresh Chicken Thighs (family value pack) on sale for $0.99/lb. Perdue Oven Stuffer Roaster on sale for $0.99/lb. Cub Fresh Rotisserie Chicken (32 oz.) for only $1.48 when you buy 10 Knorr Sides (need coupon) Fresh Whole Cut Up Chicken on sale for $1.89/lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (family pack) on sale for $2.99/lb.
Onions	St. Pauli Boy Sweet Yellow Onions (3 lb. bag) on sale fo r$.248

Grocery Item	Weekly Sale at Econo Foods (11/25/12-12/1/12)
Chicken	Rotisserie Chicken on sale for $6.99 each Gold ‘n Plump Value pack (67 oz.) on sale for $5.99 each
Carrots	Peeled Baby Carrots (1 lb.) on sale for $1.29

Pumpkin Pie (From Scratch!)

This recipe is just for fun.  I'm back home for Thanksgiving which means lots of time to spend cooking and baking! I've always wanted to try making a pumpkin pie from scratch (aka, from a real pumpkin instead of from a can).  It turned out really well!

 

Paula Deen’s Perfect Pie Crust:

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
1 ½ Tablespoons white sugar
2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening
6 Tablespoons butter, cold and cubed

¼ cup ice water

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the shortening and break it up with your hands as you start to coat it all up with the flour. Add the cold butter cubes and work it into the flour with your hands or a pastry cutter. Work it quickly, so the butter doesn't get too soft, until the mixture is crumbly, like very coarse cornmeal. Add the ice water, a little at a time, until the mixture comes together forming a dough. Bring the dough together into a ball.

When it comes together stop working it otherwise the dough will get over-worked and tough. Roll dough into a ball and flatten it slightly to form a disk shape. Wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. On a floured surface roll out into a 10 to 11-inch circle to make one 9-inch pie crust (double recipe if you need two pie crusts).  Line pie pan with pie crust, trim edges.

Pumpkin Pie:
3 cups of pumpkin puree (from approximately one pie pumpkin)
1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
1 cup white sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

To make the pumpkin puree, cut open the pie pumpkin (or regular carving pumpkin) and scrape out the insides, making sure to remove all of the stringy flesh and seeds.  Cut pumpkin into large chunks (these can be large chunks – think 5 inches wide by 5 inches long).  Place pumpkin chunks in a large steamer basket with water and steam for 20-30 minutes or until tender.  Let cool.  Separate flesh from the skin of the pumpkin by scooping out the pumpkin with a spoon.  Place pumpkin in a food processor and process until smooth (can also use a blender or immersion blender).  Place pureed pumpkin in a colander, strainer, or cheesecloth and let the water drain out for at least 1 hour (you can even let it sit overnight).  Now your pumpkin puree is ready to use in muffins, pies, and breads!