Picture from Sprouts and used with permission.

Note from NerdMom: This is a guest post by Shauna Fleuridor who was a lucky Sprouts Spree winner!!! I appreciate her guest post!!! I will write my thoughts on Sprouts soon!

Fresno has a brand new Sprouts Farmer’s Market, and the grand opening celebration included a Sprouts Spree – 2 contestants, 2 minutes to fill their carts, the one with the highest total at checkout wins a $500 gift card.

It’s not everyday when an everyday mom like me gets a chance to win something big … So, I put on my lucky tennis shoes, picked out a well-oiled shopping cart, and made sure my cheering squad (my two kidlets, mom, and cousin) were there to well, cheer me on.

My strategy – pick a good spot and get as much as I could in the cart. I avoided the local fresh fruits and veggies, bakery, seafood, cheeses, freshly ground beef, nuts, spices, oils (off limits were alcohol, vitamin/supplements, bulk foods) and, I definitely avoided the grand opening $1 sale of pineapples, watermelons, eggs, and coconut water … and went straight for the pet section. That’s right, I loaded my cart with $50 bags of dog food. And kitty corner to that was a shelf of $20 camelbak bottles. Ka-ching! I was the clear winner and, they say I broke the record of sprees at other store openings. Gotta love it!

Bean and Rice Bowl

What is the formula? Well the basic formula for a meal always seems to have certain components:
1)Protein (this is always #1 in our house;)
2)Starch
3)Vegetable
4)Optional sauce

That is it. That is all a good, healthy dinner really breaks down to. So to in order to have easy dinners you need to stock the components. Then (looking at math;) you will have multiple different meals in a snap! Here is my ledger of components!

Proteins (usually in meal sized portions in the freezer):
1)Chicken (batch cooked in the oven or BBQ’ed)
2)Shredded pork (out of the crockpot)
3)Shrimp
4)Beef (batch roasted, BBQ’ed or crock pot cooked)
5)Beans

Starch:
1)Jasmine Rice
2)Brown Rice (that can be cooked ahead and stored in the fridge or freezer)
3)Bean Threads
4)Rice Noodles
5)Gluten Free Penne
6)Gluten Free Macaroni

Veggies:
1)Frozen Broccoli
2)Frozen Chopped Spinach
3)Corn
4)Asparagus
5)Zucchini

Sauces:
1)Red Pasta Sauce
2)Alfredo Sauce
3)Pesto Sauce
4)Butter and Garlic Sauce (I just melt butter, add garlic with salt, pepper & paprika. If I have an extra minute I might add white wine and let it reduce. And if I happen to have parsley on hand toss it in at the end;)

If you have some or all of the components you can whip up dinner in no time at all!!! This is so much better for you than fast food and cheaper too! It also doesn’t take an over or a lot of prep time at all! You don’t even have to have a meal plan!!!

I love hard boiled eggs. They are a great source of protein and just plain delicious! Whether you boil them or bake them (325 degrees for 30 minutes) I am sure that we will all be rolling in hard boiled eggs by next weekend! After the baskets and the egg hunts, what are we to do with all those eggs?

1)Deviled Eggs! This is the most common hard boiled egg recipe. Peel, cut in half, scoop out the yolk. Mix with mayo, salt, pepper, a little mustard and paprika. Put the mixture back into the whites. There are many variations but this is the basics.

2)Egg Salad Sandwiches: Chop up the eggs, mix with mayo and mustard. Add celery, paprika, salt and pepper. Put on your favorite bread!

3)A regular salad (Cobb style) is a perfect use of hard boiled eggs. Lettuce, bacon, chopped eggs, tomatoes, cheese, carrots and what more do you need?

4)Spring Asparagus that has been lightly blanched. Then top it with chopped egg with a splash of vinegar along with salt and pepper. The crispness of the asparagus with a touch of fat and acid is just decadent.

5) A shredded brussel sprout salad. You can either shred the brussel sprouts or peel the leaves. Then lightly saute them (with bacon if you like) then pull it off the fire. Add it to chopped eggs, slivered almonds, corn and season it with salt and pepper! A yummy and great way to eat brussel sprouts!!!

There are my 5 ways. What recipes do you have to utilize hard boiled eggs? Share the links!!!

 

This year I hit the gingerbread gold for our family!!! The house I got for me from Costco was already built and the frosting was made. Score! Then I found a kit that is made exclusively for Michaels with 4 little houses in it. They are small but perfect for the kids to each decorate and eat. It also came with premade frosting too! Oh, did I mention that mine came with a tree too?

(By the way, I am back!!! I will be posting some new great recipes on this, my much abandoned food blog;)

Click on the picture to get a chance to win this coupon holder!

We all know that I love a good coupon! Coupons can be an integral step in any smart living strategy. A little thought and planning means that you can make coupons work for you with very little effort!!!

Guidelines for good coupon use

* Compare prices! Coupons don’t always make it cheaper, look at the store brand.

* Make sure it is something you will use! A deal is only a deal if you would have bought it anyway!

* Wait for sales but keep an eye on expiration dates on family favs.

* Hold on to coupons for things you might want to try.

* Carry your best coupons with you! You never know when you are going to pop into the grocery store or see something unexpected on clearance.

Sources for Coupons

* Extra Bucks (CVS) & Register Rewards (Walgreens) are post purchase coupons.

* Sunday Paper

* Various Websites Like: , Store Sites, Manufacturer sites

* Blogs: MoneySavingMom, Saving The Family Money & various others have matchups

Note: Printing coupons & clicking through on freebie offers are a great way to support your favorite bloggers! Also, looking for specific type of coupons? Let me know & I will do a post with them!

Ok, fall is almost in full swing here. and I need to get back on the meal planning band wagon!!! I also am going to be posting more! They may not be complicated recipes but delicious!!!

Monday: Mom & Dad have a date night!!
Tuesday: Tri tip, rice, broccoli, spinach/blueberry salad
Wednesday: BBQ baked chicken thighs, fried potatoes, broccoli, Brazilian cheese rolls
Thursday: Chicken rice bowls with pinto beans and baked chicken breasts
Friday: Leftovers!

I can’t believe that I only have a little over a week until I leave for New York to attend BlogHer!!! I am going to have a fairly busy week, as usual, and I need to prep the kitchen and freezer for my absence. So some of my planning will be fast food and super easy stuff;).

Monday: I have a meeting so NerdDad will pick something on the way home;).
Tuesday: Steak, Cheesy Potato Stacks
Wednesday: Homemade pizza
Thursday: Steak and Rice bowls
Friday: Baked Chicken with cheesy potato stacks, Brazilian cheese rolls and broccoli

There are great dining out deals this week!!!

Chili’s is doing another kids eat free deal!!! Just print off the coupon and then you can take in your kids for free meals from now through July 11, 2012. You can get 2 free kids’ meals for every 1 adult entree.

In other big dining out news…. Friday is Dress Like a Cow Day! If that doesn’t mean anything to you don’t worry. It is a big deal at Chick-Fil-A. Every year you dress up as a cow and get free food! How dressed up you are determines how much free food. A partial costume gets you a free entree while a full outfit gets you an entire meal!

I don’t know what the temperatures are like where you are but it is very hot here! A perfect time to take advantage of these deals and stay out of the kitchen!

Bean and Rice Bowl

So how was everyone’s 4th? Ours was pretty calm and pretty fun! But now we must move on;). So this week is pretty chilled and I am going to try a little something new! What are you planning on eating this week?

Monday: Bean and rice bowls for the kids, date night
Tuesday: Baked chicken, cheesy potato stacks, broccoli
Wednesday: Pizza! Homemade gluten free and regular for the kids.
Thursday: Steak, Brazilian cheese rolls, broccoli
Friday: Chicken & rice bowls

To celebrate the Fourth of July and to encourage togetherness, Starbucks is giving away coffee! This is part of their #Indivisible campaign that is asking everyone to come together in spite of party or affiliations. Just go in July 4th and receive a free 12 ounce hot brewed coffee! They as if you tweet that you use the hash tag #indivisible amplify our collective voices.