What's Cookin' Wednesday: Erica's Stuffed Mushrooms

 

 

This is my husband's cousin's recipe. Erica is a great cook and gave me her recipe a few years ago. Lots of my friends beg me to bring these to their parties... they're a great hit!

 

Erica and my beautiful niece, Elin.

 

 

Erica's Stuffed Mushrooms

 

Ingredients

• 2 packages mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed
• 1 can chopped clams
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 package saltines
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• block of sharp cheddar ( cut into pieces about 1/4 inch thick)
• bacon
• garlic powder
• black pepper

Directions

Melt butter in a bowl and add saltines, onion, clams with juice, garlic powder and black pepper. Dice about half of the mushrooms stems and add to mixture. Fill mushroom caps with mixture. Top with a piece of bacon and cheese and secure with toothpicks. Bake at 375 degrees for approx. 35 to 40 minutes.

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

What's Cookin' Wednesday: Portuguese Biscoitos (Biscuits)

Portuguese Biscoitos (Portuguese Biscuits)

courtesy of Auntie Elaine

Biscoitos (sounds like bish-kurts) are delicious little biscuit-cookies. Dunk them in coffee or milk and they'll melt in your mouth. Eat them by themselves and you'll keep sneaking them 'til they're gone. These are a Portuguese delight and I'm a Portuguese girl at heart, despite my new Irish last name!

 

Thank you, Auntie Elaine, for this great recipe!

 

Ingredients

• 3 C flour
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick butter/margarine
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 C sugar

 

Directions

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.

Beat eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients and mix well.

Roll into balls. You may need extra flour to do this (IT'S SO STICKY!)

Break into small balls and shape/roll into circles (like donuts with a hole in the middle).

Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes.

*Brush with beaten egg before baking.

Makes about 3 dozen.



Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

What's Cookin' Wednesday: Easy Banana Cream Pie

Introducing a new series: What's Cookin' Wednesday!

Easy Banana Cream Pie (adapted from Kraft Recipes)



Ingredients

•  2 medium bananas, sliced (I drop into lemon juice really quick to keep from browning)
• 1 ready to use graham cracker crumb crust (6 oz) OR graham cracker crust recipe (see below)
• 2 1/2 C milk
• 2 pkg instant vanilla pudding
• 1 container of cool whip (thawed) (8 oz)

Directions
Place half of the banana slices on bottom of crust.
Pour milk into large bowl, add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended.
Gently fold in half of the cool whip.
Spoon half of the pudding on top of banana-topped crust.
Top with remaining banana slices.
Cover with remaining pudding mixture.
Refrigerate 3 hours or until set. Serve topped with remaining cool whip.

You can substitute the vanilla pudding with chocolate (or any flavor you think goes well with banana). You can also substitute the cool whip with any flavor cool whip you think goes well with banana (they have cinnamon, french vanilla and chocolate out now!)

Graham Cracker Crust Recipe

1/3 C melted butter
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
1/4 C sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar until well combined. Press into a 9 or 10 inch pie pan, making sure to bring crust up towards sides of pan. Bake approx. 8-10 minutes. Let cool before filling.

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

Tangy Slow Cooker Pork Roast Recipe (and what to do with the leftovers!)

So my husband and I realized last week that our kitchen hardwoods were starting to bow pretty severely in front of our fridge. After 3 hours of taking apart our refrigerator, we finally discovered that our fridge evaporator tray was cracked and leaking. I guess the freezer slowly drips water (I'm guessing the defrosted water) into a tray underneath the fridge, but the tray had somehow cracked at one corner and was leaking water all over our hardwoods.

In order to search for this problem, I had to empty out my entire freezer! It's packed to the gills, as is my basement freezer. So my husband made one request: start using up as much of the stuff in the freezer as possible over the next few months... which is why I made a huge 2-3 lb pork roast just for the two of us!

Tangy Slow Cooker Pork Roast

 

 

 

 Ingredients

• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin roast
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Directions

1. Arrange onion slices evenly over the bottom of the slow cooker, and then place the roast on top of the onion. In a bowl, mix together water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, and hot sauce; pour over roast.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours, or on High for 3 to 4 hours

Got Leftovers?

Since our roast was pretty big for just the two of us, we had some leftovers. We're not big on eating the same thing day after day, so I try to revamp my leftovers into something new. We took the pork roast and juices, shredded it and covered it in a bbq sauce (we used an asian spicy bbq sauce). Then we turned it into burritos! A little bit of rice, some beans and cheese with this yummy "pulled pork" made for a great dinner tonight!


Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

Meet My New Friend & Cherry Zucchini Muffins

So my husband and I are celebrating our one year anniversary on Monday the 13th. We're leaving for vacation on Friday, so we decided to exchange our gifts last night.

My hubby did a good job. I got my very own gloriously beautiful tangerine colored Kitchenaid mixer!

So, I got started right away today baking. I needed to clear out some cherries and zucchini I didn't want to go bad while away on vacation. I found a recipe for Cherry Zucchini muffins. I like they, my husband isn't a huge fan. They aren't very sweet, so if you're looking for sweetness, I'd add some chocolate chips or some more sugar when making these.

Check out the recipe here.


Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

Got Zucchini? Make Zucchini Muffins!

I've been reading all over the blog world that people's gardens are booming and as a result they are up to their ears in delicious veggies. This is my second yeard veggie gardening at my own house and things are faring all that well.

My zucchini just don't want to bear fruit. I'm guessing it's a pollination issue and sadly, I'm just not into veggie sex.

Nevertheless, a local farmer down the road has a bountiful crop of zucchini and summer squash that I buy for 3/$.25!!

So now I have zucchini coming out of my ears!

So, I made scrumptious zucchini muffins. Not only do I find them delectable, but it's one more way I can sneak vegetables into my veggie-loathing husband.

Here's a recipe I love using from About.com. My substitutions are in red. And supposedly, if you make them as shown on the original recipe, they are only 172 calories per muffin. Or, if you change things like I do, they're probably more than 1720 calories per muffin! :-)

Low Fat Cooking: Zucchini Muffins

Cook Time: approx 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour   I used 2 cups of wheat flour because that's all I have at the moment, but you could totally use 2 cups of all-purpose or whatever combination you like between the two.
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg   I used cinnamon instead; my husband HATES nutmeg.
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup shredded zucchini, packed
• 1 tbsp lemon zest    I omitted this simply because I didn't have it.
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup fat-free milk   
• 1/3 cup raisins        Instead of raisins and walnuts, I used left over chocolate candy (think leftovers from Easter) that I chopped up into chunks. I'm too cheap frugal to buy chocolate chips!
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cases or spray pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and sugar. In a medium bowl, combine zucchini, lemon zest, canola oil, egg and milk, stirring well.

Make a well in the dry ingredients; add zucchini mixture, raisins and walnuts. Stir until just moist. Do not over mix. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Per muffin: Calories 172, Calories from Fat 40, Total Fat 4.5g (sat 0.4g), Cholesterol 18mg, Sodium 185mg, Carbohydrate 29g, Fiber 2g, Protein 4g

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

Easy No Bake Mini Cheesecakes

I scored a great deal today wandering through Shaws. Tuesday seems to be the day that they do their highest markdowns. A few months ago, I found loaves of bread for a quarter and tons of pre-packaged produce for $.50!

Today's score was 8 oz. tubs of Philly fat free cream cheese for $.50 a tub! Mmmm. My tastebuds prefer full fat cream cheese, but my extra meaty tuckus has an affinity for the fat free version.

I plan on turning my super inexpensive tubs of cream cheese into easy no bake mini cheesecakes! Mmmm.

Ingredients

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened   (I wonder if you could use that new chocolate stuff Philadelphia makes?)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip (or whipped topping), thawed

12 chocolate sandwich cookies (or any other round cookie

Directions

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping.
2. Place cookies on bottom of 12 paper-lined muffin cups.
3. Spoon cream cheese mixture into muffin cups. Top with whatever topping you'd like (multi-colored sprinkles, cherry or strawberry pie filling, homemade strawberry sauce, chocolate sauce, etc.). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

Scrumptious Beer Bread

My husband's away this week, but I still go over my in-laws' house for family dinner Sunday nights. This Sunday we just happen to be celebrating Jon's Uncle Matt's birthday so we're having more than just take out pizza. I've been put in charge of an appetizer.

Months ago I had some delicious beer bread from Tastefully Simple. I wanted to make some of my own so I checked out their prices.... My jaw hit the floor with incredulousness... who the heck can afford to pay $6, $7, $8 for a boxed mix of bread?! I don't even pay that much for an entire meal for my family!

My mission was to find a recipe that tasted just as good but didn't cost an arm and a leg. I succeeded and will be bringing this awesome bread tonight! I typically serve it cut into cubes with some yummy dip. For tonight, I have some store-bought onion dip!

Beer Bread - makes 1 loaf

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 bottle (12 ounces) beer

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted (You can reduce to 1/4 cup.)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-x-5-x-3-inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer into the dry ingredients until just mixed.
4. Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter. Slide a baking sheet onto a lower rack to catch any butter that might overflow from the loaf pan.
5. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Recipe and picture from Ezra Pound Cake.
Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

BH&G Shrimp Bisque

Living in New England, I'm a super sucker for New England clam chowder. It's warm, delicious comfort food that hits the spot, no matter what time of the year it is. But despite my love for clam chowder, I'm always up for trying different types of milk-based chowders and bisques. Perhaps it's because I'm constantly on a diet and my food-deprived brain screams "MUST. EAT. HIGH-CALORIE. FOODS!" but I tend to low these creamy, thick concoctions more than the typical broth-based soups.

As I was flipping through the March issue of Better Homes & Gardens, one my favorite mags and I was lucky enough to snag a free subscription from a previous deal, I noticed a recipe for Fast Shrimp Bisque. This stuck out to me for three reasons. It's fast, notice the title? It's got shrimp, one of my favorite types of seafood. And it's a bisque - signal the fat cells to get moving straight to my hips!

And lucky for me, I had almost all the ingredients right in my pantry. I did have to go and buy anchovy paste, but I figure I'll find another use for it at some point. I also later realized, after I already started the recipe, that I did not have bay seasoning, so I improvised and it came out yummy.

This recipe did prove to be very fast and extremely delicious. It even made my husband happy and he's not a liquid-for-dinner kinda guy. That is unless one of the main ingredients is hops.

Here's the delicious recipe so you can try this great bisque. You'll notice my substitutions in red.

Fast Shrimp Bisque, courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens
Makes: 4 servings

Serving size: 1 1/4cup
Start to Finish: 25 mins
 
 

Ingredients

2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning or other seafood seasoning     I used herbs de provence, because I didn't know what a close substitution to Bay Seasoning was. I also put a bunch of salt in, too, because I didn't find it salty enough
12 ounces fresh or frozen medium shrimp in shells, thawed
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced (1 cup) I used frozen celery that I had cut and froze previously; I didn't thaw it.
1 12 ounce can evaporated milk
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons anchovy paste or 1 or 2 anchovies, finely chopped
Seafood seasoning (optional)


Directions

1. In a 4-quart Dutch oven combine 2 cups water, Old Bay Seasoning, shrimp, and celery. Cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat for 5 to 8 minutes, until shrimp shells turn pink and shrimp are opaque. Remove shrimp with slotted spoon or tongs; set aside to cool.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together evaporated milk, milk, flour, and anchovy paste; stir into liquid in Dutch oven. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Meanwhile, peel shrimp. Chop about half the shrimp. Add chopped shrimp to soup. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until heated through. Ladle into bowls. Top with remaining peeled shrimp. Pass additional seafood seasoning.

Nutrition Facts (Fast Shrimp Bisque)


Servings Per Recipe 4,Calories 224,Protein (gm) 20,Carbohydrate (gm) 16,Fat, total (gm) 9,Cholesterol (mg) 138,Saturated fat (gm) 5,Monosaturated fat (gm) 2,Sugar, total (gm) 12,Vitamin A (IU) 534,Vitamin C (mg) 2,Thiamin (mg) 0,Riboflavin (mg) 0,Niacin (mg) 2,Pyridoxine (Vit. B6) (mg) 0,Folate (µg) 40,Cobalamin (Vit. B12) (µg) 1,Sodium (mg) 973,Potassium (mg) 501,Calcium (DV %) 353,Iron (DV %) 1,Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

Yummy Chicken Enchiladas

Earlier in the week I took out some ground turkey to defrost. Usually I use my ground turkey to make turkey burgers or turkey meatloaf. Since I didn't have any mushrooms on hand for the meatloaf (my husband, who typically hates mushrooms, now DEMANDS them in my meatloaf!), and I didn't feel like eating too many burgers myself, I decided to split the ground turkey and make a few burgers and turn the rest into some yummy chilli.

I ended up having extra chilli leftover and I wasn't sure what to do with it; my husband will NOT eat chilli or soup or stew on its own and call it a meal. He's too damn picky if you ask me. And I'm too nice to tell him that it's not an a la carte menu. You get what I put on your plate!

Anyway, since I had some leftover chilli, I had to figure out what to do with it. What goes better with spicy chilli than some delicious Mexican-inspired food!? I've never had an enchilada before but the photos of enchiladas always make my mouth water.

I found this delicious recipe at Food.com and my husband actually said he felt like he should be having a Dos Equis at Fiestas (an amazing Mexican restaurant down the road).

I actually pulled out split chicken breast with skin on. I deskinned it before roasting it, then roasted it bone on. After it cooled a tad, I stripped it from the bone and shredded it before adding it to all the seasonings and other ingredients. When I bought my enchilada sauce, I got the green one. I just grabbed the Target brand, as it was the cheapest when I ran to the store quick.

SO SO SO YUMMY! It's not become a meal that I will make again and again!

Have any yummy recipes you want to share?

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

Superbowl Menu

To be honest, I couldn't care less about football. However, my husband's family eats, breathes and lives football. Sunday Dinner is no longer Sunday Dinner during football season. Instead, it's become everyone crowd around the television and scream at the men who run across the screen while trying to inhale delivery pizza and throw back beers.

The most amusing part of this obsession with football, particularly with this year's Superbowl lineup, is my mother-in-law and brother-in-law are diehard Giants Fans, while the rest of the Shannon clan are diehard Pats fans... And I don't mean the polite, root for your own team and be a good sport kinda fans. I'm talking the get-in-your-face, screaming and gloating kinda fans.

The night of the Pats/Giants respective play-off games I thought an all-out brawl was going to happen.

Somehow through it all, my husband and I ended up volunteering to host a Superbowl party for his friends. This is a bonus for both of us. Jon loves parties and his friends. I love cooking and baking.

Here's a run down of my current menu plan, including some great frugal finds I picked up over the last few weeks.

2 Helluva Good onion dips (clearanced for $.75 each and I had a $1/2 coupon) = $.25 ea!
-I will use one of the dips with chips
-I will use the other dip with this super yummy Beer Bread

1 Athenos Roasted Garlic hummus (clearanced to $.99)
-I will use these with baby carrots and celery sticks (I got a 2 lb bag of baby carrots for $.50 and a package of celery for $.50, both on clearance at Shaws)

1 Paresan Artichoke Jalapeno Dip
-I will use this with chips

3 bags of Wise Chips - at one point these were buy 1, get 2 free!

2 bags of Perdue boneless wings (I paid a ridiculous $5.99/bag, but my husband begged for these)

Nachos
-I found Perdue ground chicken for $2.99 and it had a $1.50 sticker, so I paid $1.49 for a pound!)
-I turn the ground chicken into sloppy joe/sloppy janes, then toss it on top of tortilla chips, throw some cheese and salsa on top and voila! (I got the salsa for only $1!)

Pepperoni Stromboli


And I plan on doing more, but my husband's not home to finalize our menu!

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday

Family Dinner - we visit my husband's family every Sunday. I made Brownie Pizza for dessert, but I included fresh strawberries, canned pineapple and maraschino cherries because that is what I had on hand. Yum!

Monday

Chicken sausages
Leftover mashed potatoes for my husband (I won't touch mashed potatoes with a 10 foot pole)
Sweet potato mash for me (my husband won't touch these with a 10 foot pole)
Salad
Broccoli/cauliflower

Tuesday

Chicken tacos
Chicken fried rice (Knorr sidedish)
Sliced strawberries

Wednesday

Chicken in mushroom garlic white wine sauce
Broccoli/califlower

Thursday

Cheese ravioli

Friday

Cheddar burgers
Homemade steak fries for my husband
Sweet potato mash for me
Corn

Saturday

Out to eat


I am participating in I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday


Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday

Family Dinner - we visit my husband's family every Sunday. I actually made peanutbutter bars with a chocolate glaze.
This was the plan, but I didn't feel well, so we ended up ordering take out calzones. And now we're stuck with a tray of peanutbutter bars that I have to somehow disperse so we don't eat them!

Monday
Pork chops
Sauteed portabellos
Caesar salad with homemade croutons

Tuesday
Apple Cider Chicken
Baked potato
Salad

Wednesday
Ham Tetrazzini
Broccoli

Thursday
I'm babysitting - Jon will eat leftovers

Friday
I'm babysitting - Jon will eat leftovers

Saturday
Out to eat


I am participating in I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday


Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama Massachusetts

Clearing out my stockpile: using up my free cake mix

I'm always getting free or nearly free cake mix, but rarely ever any frosting! Who eats cake without frosting?!? Okay, I guess maybe I'm a cake/frosting snob, but I won't eat cake that doesn't have some kind of topping all over it. But I still needed to use up all of those cake mixes just sitting in my stockpile, especially the ones with expiration dates that are coming up or just past.

So I made some Poke Cake! Super duper easy!

Ingredients
1 box of cake mix, usually white, yellow or funfetti & ingredients needed to make
1 box of jello, any flavor, & ingredients needed to make
cool whip/whipped topping
berries of your choosing

Make the cake as directed in a pan that you don't mind leaving it in. I tend to use my pyrex. Let the cake cool completely. Poke the heck out of the cake with a straw or a toothpick or a skewer until there are tons of holes in it. Make jello as directed. Poor jello all over cake, letting it soak into the holes. Put in the fridge for several hours to let the jello set. Serve with whipped topping and berries. Yum!

This is not my picture - we ate all of our cake before I could snap a photo.

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama

Addictive Healthy Smoothie

I'm ADDICTED to this smoothie. I've found it hard to get the recommending daily servings of fruits/veggies, so I'm trying to find clever ways of consuming them without having to eat them plain.

This fruit smoothie is under 200 calories if you make it as listed here!

1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup orange juice (you can use up to 1 cup, to get consistency you want)
1 small - medium fresh banana

Super easy directions! Stick all of your ingredients in a blender and blend away! :-) YUM!

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
1 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories		199.8
Total Fat		1.0 g
	Saturated Fat	0.3 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.3 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.2 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		5.2 mg
Potassium		857.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate		49.8 g
	Dietary Fiber	5.8 g
	Sugars	30.3 g
Protein		2.6 g

Vitamin A	4.9 %
Vitamin B-12	0.0 %
Vitamin B-6	34.6 %
Vitamin C	185.9 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	4.6 %
Calcium	4.2 %
Copper	11.4 %
Folate	16.7 %
Iron	9.1 %
Magnesium	14.9 %
Manganese	30.8 %
Niacin	7.9 %
Pantothenic Acid	6.6 %
Phosphorus	5.3 %
Riboflavin	10.8 %
Selenium	3.2 %
Thiamin	14.4 %
Zinc	2.8 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Happy Couponing!
-Coupon Mama