Crockpot Chicken & Stuffing Dinner

This yummy “comfort food” dinner is a snap to make, but looks and tastes gourmet!

Suggested Menu: Crockpot Chicken & Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Frozen Veggies

2 large chicken breasts (thawed)
1 box stuffing mix such as “StoveTop”
1 jar gravy (turkey or chicken flavor)
 
Place chicken in slow cooker and cover with HALF the jar of gravy.  Cook on low at least 5 hours.  At least 15 minutes before you plan to eat, cut each chicken breast in half (leave in crockpot). Make the stuffing according to package directions; then spoon it into the crockpot on top of the chicken.  Continue cooking on low and let flavors blend while you mix up the mashed potatoes and microwave the frozen veggies.  Use the remaining half jar of gravy to top individual servings of mashed potatoes.  Serve everything up; (use a large spoon to serve chicken/stuffing dish).  Serves 4

Aldi Shopping Guide: Finding the Biggest Savings

I’ve posted already about Aldi and why it’s such a great store that can save you lots of money!  If there a downside to Aldi, I would say it’s that they don’t carry everything that might be on your grocery list.  I have yet to see them carry cranberry juice, unsweetened applesauce, or whole-grain hamburger rolls, for instance. So sometimes I have to hit more than one store to get my week’s groceries.  Which, I’ll admit, can be a little annoying.  Although, I’ll be honest with you, the way prices on food (heck, prices on EVERYTHING) have gone up lately, I’m sure I’m not the only one whose budget requires each item to be purchased at the best price possible!

So which items offer the steepest discounts at Aldi?  Here are some of my top picks:

1)      Pantry staples such as basic baking ingredients and canned goods.  For example, stewed tomatoes are regularly 59cents a can.

2)      Paper towels/napkins/paper plates.  A large package of paper plates (comparable to Dixie) is $1.89.  The paper towels and napkins are perfectly decent quality; a 3-pack of paper towels is also $1.89

3)      Condiments including specialty mustards ($1.19),  salad dressing, salsa etc.

4)      Tortillas – 99cents for a package of 10!

5)      Butter spread – their store brand tub version is 99cents and tastes exactly like “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”!

6)      Dairy – with the exception of my 2-year-old, we aren’t huge milk drinkers, so I normally buy the ½ gallon container which costs $1.99.  A full gallon is priced at $2.99.  Half&Half is $1.49 per quart.  They also have a good selection of cheeses that are priced lower than what I find at Giant or Target.

7)      Breads – today I scored a loaf of whole-grain bread for 99cents!  Usually it’s a bit more than that, but still very reasonable.  Bagels run between $1.49 and $1.69 for a bag of six, which is good news for me, because my kids and I LOVE bagels.  I couldn’t believe it when I went to Safeway with my mother-in-law a couple weeks ago, and a package of bagels was more than $4!  Sadly I haven’t seen Aldi carry blueberry bagels (my favorite!) yet, but they do normally carry plain, whole-wheat, cinnamon-raisin, and “everything”; earlier this month they even had pumpkin bagels, which were delish!

8)      Snack items including chips, crackers, and cookies are very affordable at Aldi compared with other stores.  I don’t tend to buy a ton of these types of foods, but the ones I have tried have been just as good as their name-brand competitors.  A few items I’ve purchased include the tortilla chips (comparable to Tostitos) which are $1.19 a bag, and sandwich cookies just like Oreos priced at $1.79 a package.  This time of year you can also get a very yummy summer sausage for just $3.49!

9)      Diapers (sizes 3, 4, and 5) are just $4.99 a pack, every day.  Wow!  With two kids in diapers, this alone would make Aldi a great place for me.  The diaper quality is fine – actually I prefer the Aldi diaper quality to some other store brands (such as Target brand).  If you’re only familiar with name-brand diapers, I would say that Aldi diapers are most similar to Huggies.   My toddler needs special overnight diapers in order to last all night, but other than that we use Aldi diapers pretty much all the time.

10)  Coffee – I like the “donut store” variety of coffee, which runs $3.99 a bag.  Amazing!  Just today I noticed that Aldi has begun to carry K-cups as well. 

11)  Produce – the produce at Aldi is somewhat hit-and-miss, as they don’t tend to have a huge variety, and the items available can vary from week to week.  The quality, also, depends on the item – but just look before you buy, and you’ll certainly find some great deals!  Today I got a 4-pack of delicious sweet pears for $2.19, avocados for 89cents each, a Caesar salad kit for $1.99, and a bag of baby carrots for 69cents.  (They consistently have baby carrots in stock at a great price!)

12)  Frozen meals & snacks.  While certainly not the healthiest option, I appreciate having a frozen dinner or two on hand; I’ve found that on super hectic days if I don’t have something I can just pull out of the freezer and heat up for dinner, we end up hitting a drive-thru (which is probably even MORE unhealthy – and definitely more expensive!)  Aldi’s frozen pizza and frozen Chinese selections have come to my aid on more than one occasion!  My husband is also a fan of their midnight snack options, including taquitos and pizza rolls (yuck); hey, at least I don’t have to spend a lot of money on that! :)

13)  Soda/bottled water/juice.  As previously mentioned, Aldi does not have a lot going in the way of juice.  But if you like good old apple juice like my kids do, you may as well get it for $1.69 (for a 64 oz plastic container).  My husband is a fan of Diet Coke.  I am not a fan of Diet Coke.  But I am even LESS a fan of how much Diet Coke costs: $4.79 (or more) for a 12-pack?  Are you kidding me?  So we have ended up with a sort of compromise: I buy him the Aldi diet cola which is a much more reasonable $2.29 (for a 12-pack).  He likes it and says it’s very close to “the real thing”.  Whatever. :)  For water, I use a Brita pitcher at home, but find bottled water super convenient for when I’m on the go.  A large flat of 24 bottles runs $2.29.  Works for me!

14)  So, there you go – 13 great categories of savings!  Don’t you feel like you deserve a treat for saving so much money?  I know I do. :)  Many times as I finish my Aldi shopping, the last thing in my cart is a fabulous little package from the freezer section containing 2 pieces of cheesecake.  So. Tasty.  And for $1.99, really, who can resist? :)

Caramel-Frosted Pumpkin Bread

This pumpkin bread has been a holiday favorite in my family for years!  It’s not the easiest recipe ever, but if you move quickly you can get it in the oven within 10 or 15 minutes.  And it is DELICIOUS!  It’s a perfect treat to take to a Christmas party, and I bet your family will also want some at home for breakfast, snack, or dessert.  Try making some up in muffin tins for an easy breakfast the kids can help themselves to! 

One year I baked these in decorative mini loaf pans (purchased at Michaels for $1 each) and gave them to my co-workers as Christmas gifts.  Yummy homemade baked stuff like this is a great gift option for colleagues, church friends, or others for whom you are not sure whether you need to get a gift or not.  It’s affordable and a small enough gift that the recipient won’t feel bad if they didn’t get you something in return.  Besides, everybody appreciates yummy food!

Note: this recipe makes 2 medium-large loaves.

4 eggs

15 oz can pumpkin
1 cup oil
2/3 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups whole-wheat flour
3 cups sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
            In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin, oil, and water; mix well.  Add dry ingredients and mix lightly just until combined (stir to remove lumps, but don’t overmix).   Spray two loaf pans with non-stick spray, and divide batter evenly between pans.  Bake at 350 for about 1 hour (test with a toothpick).  Cool for 15 minutes, then run a table knife around edges of pan to loosen loaf before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Frost when cooled.

Frosting:

3 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons half-and-half
~ 2/3 cup powdered sugar
¾ tsp vanilla
            In a small saucepan, combine margarine, sugar, brown sugar, and half-and-half.  Heat on the stove over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugars seem to be mostly dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Transfer to a small mixing bowl and add powdered sugar (start with ½ cup) and vanilla; mix well with a fork.  Add more powdered sugar as needed for frosting to reach desired consistency (you want to be able to drizzle it without it being too runny).  Drizzle generously over loaves.  YUM!

Crockpot Meatloaf

This super-easy recipe makes a small meatloaf (serves 4); if you want to make a larger meatloaf, increase the meat to 1 ½ pounds, the breadcrumbs to ¾ cup, and add a little more onion and salt.  Yum!

1 lb ground beef

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon bread crumbs
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
2 tablespoons ketchup
¼ cup chopped onion (or 2 tablespoons of the dehydrated kind)
1 tsp salt

            Spray crockpot with non-stick spray.  Stick all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix up thoroughly with your hands (Ew!)  Shape into a loaf and place in slow cooker.  Cook on low about 5 hours.  Remove from slow cooker and slice carefully with a serrated knife.  I like to top my serving with barbeque sauce, but my stepson prefers ketchup and my husband likes his plain!

Barbeque Baked Chicken

This is SO easy, it scarcely qualifies as a recipe.  Let’s just call it a dinner plan.  Serve alongside microwaved frozen veggies and maybe some rice or cornbread or mashed potatoes, and you’ve got yourself and your family a respectable and yummy dinner with very little effort.  Now you have a little more time and energy to love on your precious ones, or maybe just take a breath yourself! J  You’ll need:

·         Fresh or frozen (thawed) skinless chicken pieces – I prefer boneless, but you can use whatever

·         Bottled barbeque sauce

Line a baking pan with foil and place chicken pieces in a single layer.  Pour barbeque sauce over each piece of chicken.  Bake at 450 degrees.   Bake breasts for a total of 40 minutes; smaller pieces may cook more quickly (maybe try 30?)  Halfway through cooking, turn pieces over and coat with more barbeque sauce.  Yum!  No one needs to know how easy that was. J

Best Crockpot Dinner

This favorite dinner recipe is probably best described as a “stoup” (to borrow a term from Rachael Ray) – it’s halfway between a soup and a stew.  Delicious – especially on a cold fall/winter evening!  (And leftovers re-heated the next day are just as tasty…)

1 lb ground turkey (or ground beef)

28 oz can stewed tomatoes
15 oz can pinto beans (rinsed and drained)
1 handful baby carrots, sliced
½ a green bell pepper (chopped) or a few ribs of celery, sliced
4 cups beef broth (I use 4 beef bouillon cubes stirred into 4 cups boiling water)
1 generous handful uncooked macaroni or rotini or other small pasta

Brown ground turkey in the microwave and drain.   Put in slow cooker and add everything else except the macaroni.  Cook on low at least 6 hours (or if you’re like me and forget to get it started until after lunchtime, cook on high for at least 3 hours).  About 20 minutes before serving, add uncooked macaroni and stir.  Serve when pasta is tender.  Serves 4-6

Why you should shop at Aldi

If you don’t shop at Aldi, you’re missing out!  In my experience it is, hands-down, the best store for making your grocery dollars go the farthest. 

Now if you’ve never been to Aldi, there are a few things you should know before you go.  It’s not a fancy store.  There’s no deli or bakery or pharmacy department.   There are very few name-brand items.  You need to have a quarter handy so you can access a grocery cart (but you’ll get your quarter back when you return the cart after shopping).   You’ll need to bring your own grocery bags (if you forget, you might be able to snag an empty box somewhere - or bags are available for purchase).  The checkouts are very quick and efficient, but the cashier will plop all your purchases right back into your cart, leaving you to bag them yourself after paying (there is a large countertop available for this purpose).  Oh – and speaking of paying, they don’t accept credit cards, but you can use your debit card or good old cash.

The amazing thing is that by scaling back on some of these little “services” that other stores offer, Aldi is able to scale back on something far more important: their prices.  And that’s the exciting part!  You don’t need to spend time and effort couponing, you just get phenomenal prices every day.  Like their soda which is $2.29 for a 12-pack.  Or tortillas, which are 99 cents a package all the time.

So check Aldi out and see what you think!  And stay tuned for a future post about my top favorite items to buy at Aldi.

Scrambled Bacon & Eggs

Love the protein and goodness of eggs, but find them a little boring?  Try scrambled bacon and eggs!  Whisk together eggs with 1 tablespoon of milk for each egg; pour into frying pan and sprinkle generously with real bacon bits (I get them cheap at Aldi).  Scramble as usual... yum!

Look, I have a blog!

Welcome to Yummy Easy Affordable!  In this blog I hope to share meal ideas that are (you guessed it), yummy easy and affordable! (oh, and mostly healthy too.)  I welcome your ideas as well!