Who is ready for Football Season?!? (non-coupon related post!) :)

Oh I know that I am! I am in a girls Fantasy Football league going on I think 5 or 6 years now and I absolutely love it! There are 10 of us and most of us have been in the league since day one.  I have not won yet but who knows maybe this year.  :) I feel like I have a pretty good team and I did win the first week so we will see how this week goes.  I am sure everyone feels the same way in the beginning until some of their players get injured or don't do as well as they thought they would.

I have had Aaron Rodgers as my Quarterback for a few years now, I dont know how I managed that however this year I had to give him up as I was 7th pick but I did manage to pick up Drew Brees. 

I am sad to lose Aaron but I am happy to have Drew as my Quarterback as well.

Here is the dinner that we had to kick off the Football season...one of my hubby's favorites!

I actually got it from my friend who runs our Fantasy Football League, 

she made them for us a few years back and found the recipe on good old Pinterest.

Homemade Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Mexican Rice

& Bean Dip.

Here are the ingredients for the Taquitos

1/3 Cup Cream Cheese

1/4 C Green Salsa

1T Fresh Lime Juice

1/2 t Cumin

1 t Chili Powder

1/2 t Onion Powder

1/4 t Garlic Powder

3 T Chopped Cliantro

2 T Sliced Green Onions

(I always chop enough Cilantro & Green Onions for a few

meals & already bag them up and freeze them per meal. So I 

mix 3T of Chopped Cilantro & 2T Sliced Green Onions in 1 bag

and freeze them, makes it easy for the next time!)

2C Shredded Cooked Chicken

1C Grated Pepperjack Cheese

Small Corn Tortillas 

(however I always use the regular flour tortillas, my kids prefer them better)

Kosher Salt 

Cooking Spray

Here are the directions for the full recipe:

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

(Not the best picture! I am sorry about that)

Anyways, I hope you all have a great weekend! 

Are there any football fans out there?!?

Apricot Fruit Leather

Sorry I have been MIA the past week. We took a trip up to my husbands parents house and came home with 10 bags of apricots & 7 bags of cherries. Needless to say I have been busy over here making jam, fruit leather, apricot cobbler and trying to get rid of the fruit before it goes bad.  It has been a process & my son also ended school so we've been trying to keep busy as well.  Anyways, I posted this picture and had several requests for the recipe that I used so here it is:

Martha Stewart's Fruit Leather Rolls <----Click for full recipe
Ingredients

• 2 cups dried apricots
• 3 cups boiling water
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup sugar

This recipe was extremely easy and super YUMMY.  A few tips... my oven didn't go down to 160 degrees it only went down to 170 and it worked out fine. Also yes Martha used plastic wrap...I have heard a lot of people say that it would either melt or stick to the fruit leather. It worked out fine and the fruit leather peeled right off. Just make sure the plastic wrap is not coming over the edges of your cookie tray or folding up over your fruit leather. 

Hope you guys all enjoy this recipe! 

Christmas Goodies!

Usually every year I get together with my sisters, sister-in-law and mom and we make all kinds of Christmas goodies to deliver to friends in the area however this year we all got a little too busy so I took it on myself and made at least 8-9 dozen cookies and some Christmas bark (that was so good I think I will make year around!)  I had made all the dough the night before and just refrigerated it and then baked the next day for about 8 hours! It was very time consuming doing it alone but I enjoyed it even though by the end of baking we were so sick of sweets in this household it took us a few days to be able to eat some more. They were all new recipes that I tried and I learned a few things on each of them so that it will be a lot easier next year.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Christmas Bark

Peppermint Crunch-Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Noel Cookies

Monster Cookies

The finished product!

They were all soooo yummy!

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

This is a super easy recipe & I usually ALWAYS have all the ingredients in my stockpile! I have found that the cheapest place to buy Vinegar is at Costco and I use Vinegar for everything whether its to cook or clean with! The Ketchup & Soy Sauce is another cheap find that I can usually get for under $0.99 and always have a lot of bottles in my stock pile.

Here is what you need:

3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

1 Cup Cornstarch

2 Eggs, beaten

1 tsp. Garlic Salt

3/4 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Distilled Vinegar

4 tbs. Ketchup

1 tbs. Soy Sauce

Salt & Pepper 

1/4 Cup of Vegetable Oil

I then get 3 bowls

Bowl #1 - 2 Eggs, Beaten

Bowl #2- 1 Cup of Cornstarch

Bowl #3- Garlic Salt, Sugar, Vinegar, Ketchup, Soy Sauce- Mixed

Preheat the oven to 375 & spray a 9x13 baking dish.

I usually thaw out my chicken in the microwave & then cut into cubes and salt & pepper to taste.

I put the 1/4 Cup of Vegetable Oil in a skillet and heat it on the stove and then I dip the chicken into the cornstarch and then into the egg and brown it but don't cook it all the way through. And as it browns I move it into the baking dish. Once all the chicken is done browning I then pour Bowl #3 over the top.

This bakes for 1 hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 min.

This is super yummy, we eat it over white rice and usually green beans, the kids even like it!

The picture below is what it looks like before I bake it.

I found this recipe on Life as a Lofthouse

Easy Pizza Recipe

Pizza is a big hit in our family! We usually make Pizza for dinner every Friday night or if we head up to the in-laws for the weekend I whip out like 4 of these! This recipe came from my sister and it is super easy!  

Since we make it so frequently in our house I usually stock up on the toppings when they go on sale.

Usually everything freezes pretty good. I freeze cheese, pepperonis & ham.  I wont buy olives unless I can get them for $0.99 or less and the pizza sauce you can always get for cheap! You can make any kind of

pizza with this doe whether is BBQ chicken, Ham & Pineapple, the works or just Pepperoni!

We have tried it all and its a big hit in our family!

Recipe:

Mix 1 teaspoon and 1/4 of teaspoon of yeast in a small bowl with 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/4 cup of warm water and set aside to activate the yeast. (TIP: I have found buying the yeast in bulk is cheaper. I get mine at Costco & keep it in mason jars in my fridge...it last FOREVER!)

In a bigger bowl 

(TIP: You can either just mix this by hand or use a Mixer, I have gotten really good at it so it is easier to mix it by hand for me b/c I know what the consistency is suppose to look like)

Mix 

2 1/4 cups of Flour

2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon of Salt

2 Teaspoons of Sugar

then once the yeast has activated add the yeast mixture to this mixture and add about 1 Cup of warm water.

Now you just need to mix it to the right consistency of what doe should look like. You may need to add a little bit more flour or water depending on if it is still sticky. However do not over mix it or your doe will be really stiff & hard.

I then spray or put flour in another small bowl and put the doe in this bowl to let it rise. I put a towel on top of the bowl.   I have let it rise for as little as 30 min. to as long as a few hours. I have also let it rise and then refrigerated it over night to cook it the next day. If I do refrigerate it I will pull it out of the refrigerator a few hours before I need to roll it out.

When I am ready to roll it I just roll it out to shape the size of my pizza pan. You will need to add a small amount of flour so that it doesn't stick while you are rolling it out.  I use a pizza stone, but have also used just a pizza pan and have had a friend use a cookie sheet.

Make sure you flour your stone or spray your pizza pan or cookie sheet.

Once its on your stone, pan or sheet I spread a small amount of olive oil on the doe and shake it with Parmesan cheese and garlic power. Cook for 10 min. on 350.

Pull it out at after the 10 minutes and put all your toppings on it.

I put it back in and cook it for an additional 20 min. total however when there is 5 min. left

I pull it out and I make this Italian sauce to put around the crust to give the crust some flavor.

(in a bowl melt some butter add Italian Seasoning and Garlic Powder to taste)

I just use a brush to brush the sauce around the crust then let it cook for the remaining 5 min. 

Then you are done and have a delicous pizza to eat!

Please let me know if you try this recipe and how you like it as we LOVE it in our family!

 

Has anyone ever made Homemade Refried Beans?

 (picture taken from Near to Nothing) I forgot to take my own pictures probably because I was so excited that I was actually making refried beans lol, next time I will!

I had found a recipe for Homemade Refried Beans on Pinterest and yesterday I gave it a shot! It was super easy to make and a great hit in our home! It makes a lot, and freezes great! I find that this is cheaper & healthier than buying the canned refried beans.  I made the fat free recipe.

Click here for the recipe from Near to Nothing

$5.00 dinner

Tonight I pulled from our stockpile and was able to make up some yummy turkey burgers, sweet potato fries and celery sticks for about $5.00! I LOVE cheap dinners like this! 

Sorry I don't have my sister Brittany's picture taken skills.