Shopping Sales & Looking Beyond The Coupon — The Thrifty Gourmand

Couldn’t agree more with this post.

Growing up with a mother who couponed like a fiend made me forever averse to creating a grocery list centered exclusively upon sale items. Not only is the process tedious and time-consuming, but it also forces you to buy larger quantities of food than you need. All of these extra items then must either be […]

via Shopping Sales & Looking Beyond The Coupon — The Thrifty Gourmand

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Cajun-Style Grilled Foil Packets

You can’t go wrong with foil packets. They are a complete meal in one package.

These are especially tasty.

A week in review – #recipes in our #menu

It was hot this week, really hot. I am so glad we have been focusing on our “Summer Electric Plan.” We had one oven baked dish this week. All the other dishes fell within the cooking methods the meet our “Summer Electric Plan” methods. (No Cook, Grilled, Slow Cooker, Microwave, Quick Stove Top)

Unfortunately, we had a really crazy weekend and had to skip grilling. The good news is, the meat we were going to use is in the freezer. So no worries. We can grill this week or next.

Guess #whatsfordinner tonight 7/20/2016 its #food

Last night we mentioned we got a ‘critical alert’ from our ‘Smart Hours’ thermostat. Between the hours of 2 and 7 p.m. we were told the electric rate for this evening would be 42 cents per kwh.

That is why we adjusted our menu so that we could prep a delicious meal using a crock pot. The great thing about cooking in a slow cooker or crock pot is that most of the cooking is done well before the higher rates start. Once they do start, a crock pot only used a tiny bit of electricity and generates very little heat, at least when compared to an oven.

Black Beans with Rice

This is a truly delicious way to make use of the last bit of a bone in ham.

The ham bone create a wonderfully flavored broth. The beans make it thick and hearty.

Guess #whatsfordinner tonight 7/19/2016 its #food

 

That doesn’t look much like Black Bean Soup with Rice. Your right.

We’ve mentioned before that we participate in our electric companies ‘Smart Hours’ program. Between the hours of 2 and 7 p.m. the adjust their rates based on demand. This evening that rate was  18 cents per kwh. If they predict what they call a ‘critical’ rate they notify us in advance. Tonight they predicted the rate for tomorrow to be 42 cents per kwh 

Guess #whatsfordinner tonight 7/18/2016 its #food

Tonight we had probably one of the easiest recipes ever.

If you like Taco Bell you will really like these.

Tonight we had a copycat version of a Taco Bell classic Mexican Pizza.

It really turned out great.

Could be a new family favorite.

Mexican Pizza

Mexican Pizza it one of the quickest, easiest dinners that can be had. The whole family loves them.

This is a great faux version of the Taco Bell version of Mexican Pizza.

Guess #whatsfordinner tonight 7/17/2016 its #food

So this evening we tried a couple of new recipes.

Unfortunately, we thought the servings would be a little bigger than they turned out to be. In reality they both made great side dishes.

Originally we thought we would make sandwiches to put with them but instead we stopped and picked up some chicken tenders. They were a better match for the 

Crock pot Bacon Cheese Potatoes

I was a bit dubious of this dish when I  first saw it.

Actually it turned out to be great. Should have know it has bacon in it. 🙂