Sesame Chicken and Fried Rice

I love Chinese food! Especially sesame chicken! However, I had to leave the sesame seeds out of this recipe because my husband had diverticulitis. But it is JUST as good without them! Of course, you can always sprinkle them on at the end. I wanted to make this a little healthier, so I decided to try and find a healthier version of chicken nuggets  I came across one on Pinterest that used Bisquick and cooked right in the oven. So I gave it a try, and it worked out perfect for this recipe. I also avoided the fryer, which was my actual goal. Below, I will give you recipes for the chicken, the sweet and sour sauce to put on the chicken, and the link to my fried rice.  Then all you have to do is put it all together! What a great alternative to eating out at the Chinese Restaurant and spending a fortune! Ok, here we go..

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1.5 teaspoon Soy sauce

3/4 cup water

2 Tablespoons corn starch

1/3 cup vinegar

1/2 cup ketchup

Few drops of red food coloring (it will be brown if you leave this out, and I was worried the kids would freak out, so I made it red like the restaurant!)

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and whisk till thick. Set aside until later. Taste to see if you need to add anything. This was more of a taste and see kind of recipe.

Baked Chicken Nuggets:
8-10 chicken tenders, thawed and cut into small nuggets
2 cups of Biquick
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1-2 eggs 

Place chicken nuggets in a large zip bag with beaten egg. Shake well. In another large zip bag combine Bisquick, paprika and garlic salt. Shake well. Place egg coated chicken nuggets in the Bisquick bag and shake to coat. Place the coated nuggets on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes, turning halfway through.

Fried Rice: 
http://thehawkinsfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/easy-hibachi-dinner-night.html

Paprika, Bisquick and Garlic salt

Use large zipbags, it will make your cleanup much easier!

Coat the chicken in the mix!

Bake at 450 degrees.

Cook the Sweet and Sour sauce.

Coat the chicken in the sweet and sour sauce.

Serve over the fried rice!

Saving Money - Part 3 "Get your stuff together!"

Okay, so here is yet another installment of my saving money tips. Of course, I don't have it all together, and I don't know all the tricks of the trade.. but I do have ideas and things that work for us and I want to share them with others in hopes of helping out in some small way. Now, I'm call this "Get your stuff together" because when it comes to bills and long term saving, there is no better way to start than sitting down, writing down, and organizing where your money goes and how you can save more. I suggest a monthly printable calendar  I have been using this method since 2008 and it works wonderfully for paying bills on time and budgeting your monthly finances. I use a printable calendar from the Print Shop program, but you can find them free online too. It's very simple. First, gather up all your bills. Write down which bill is due on what day.  Write it directly on the calender. I circle payday dates as well. Don't forget semiannual payments like insurance as well. Once you figure out how much money is going out each month, you can see how much potential you have to save. You may not have any to save. That's ok, but you need to do something about it. As Dave Ramsey says, sell what you can and pay off debt. As soon as your debt is down, you can start saving. Sell whatever you can find. Use craigslist, ebay, any way you can find. The goal is to pay off your debt, and then start saving. Decide what you're going to save for.. paying off your car, planning a trip, buying a house... whatever it is! Make a chart. Your chart should lay out a plan : 3 month, 6 month, 12 month... whatever you chose. Just make sure you map out how you are going to get there on the big chart. Stick it somewhere you look at everyday! Use it as a reminder to stay on your budget, follow through and get your reward! I placed ours in the pantry! When I feel like pulling my hair out with the budget,  I go look at the chart and remember why we are saving! I hope this post will encourage you on your path to saving!

Here is an example of my monthly bill calendar.

Our big chart maps out what things get paid, the order they get paid in and the date they will be paid off. It's very rewarding to mark off the debt as it goes away!

Cheeseburger Potato Logs

I was looking for a new ground deer recipe (ground beef for you non-deer people). I stumbled upon a recipe called Cheeseburger-And-Fries Casserole on the Better Homes and Gardens website. I decided to tweak it just a bit and the end result was delicious! I liked the idea behind this recipe, but I had no frozen french fries (which is what the original recipe called for). I did, however, have a bag of potatoes. So I decided to cut the potatoes length wise into big wedges, or "logs" as I call them. So, if you want, you can sub out the real potatoes for the frozen crinkle bag. I suggest this way though, because the big wedges made it much tastier. The whole family loved it, which is always a challenge! Okay, here is the recipe and the picture play by play.

Cheeseburger Potato Logs:
8 medium potatoes
olive oil
salt/pepper
1 lb. ground meat (deer, turkey, beef)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup shredded cheese

Quarter potatoes longways. Place them on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and cover with salt and pepper. Mix well to coat the potatoes. Use plenty of olive oil to avoid the potatoes sticking. Bake for 45 mins at 400 degrees or until crispy and done. While potatoes cook, brown the ground meat. Add 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and the 2 cans of soup. Mix well. Place cooked potato wedges in 9x12 casserole dish. Pour the ground meat mixture on top. Top with cheddar cheese and place in oven on broil for 3-5 mins until cheese is melted. 

Cut potatoes and place on pan. Coat with olive oil.

Brown ground meat.

Add soups and stir well.

Place potatoes in pan.

Cover with meat and shredded cheese.

Broil for 3-5 mins!

Enjoy!! 

Wall of Fame

If you have children, you know that with the children comes artwork. Tons of artwork. Like, each child will bring home hundreds of pieces of artwork over the course of their lives. Artwork from school, artwork from Bible School, artwork from Mema's artwork from church, artwork they just made in their rooms because they were bored... the list goes on! Now don't get me wrong, I love to see there work. I have a strong passion for creativity and art, but with 4 kids, it can become unruly. Here is the bad part... you can NOT throw away all their precious, hard work! But, you sure as heck can't keep it all either! So, I had to find a way to keep the house de-cluttered, and the kids happy too. We started a "Wall of Fame." After talking with another mother who had 3 girls, she told me that they hang their artwork up in a certain place. After a few months, they take a picture of it, take all the artwork down and trash it and then start over again. The picture goes in a folder of all the other artwork pics, and no one gets their feelings hurt and you get to remain clutter free! I thought WOW! What a great idea! So, I set out to attempt the same task. However, as I began to hang the artwork as it would come home from school, I began growing attached to it on the wall. I loved looking at it. I just kept adding to it, and adding to it. I have been adding to our wall for over 3 years. There are pictures on top of pictures on top of pictures! Everyone who walks through my kitchen loves it! I told the kids it is their wall. Their famous wall. Their "wall of fame" so to speak. We just use a stapler to hang it all. The small pin holes will easily be painted over when they are grown and no longer care about their artwork. But until then, I will continue to enjoy their Wall of Fame as much as they do!

Skillet Chicken Parmesan

I made this for dinner tonight. I have never tried Chicken Parm before. This recipe is very easy and very delicious! I was surprised how well it turned out! The kids all loved it too! You can make this a little easier by using italian bread crumbs and omitting the homemade bread crumbs. You can also use whatever cheese you like, I used the pizza blend. Feel free to use regular spaghetti noodles if you like. Make it your own!

Skillet Chicken Parmesan:

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked and drained
1 1/2 to 2 cups marinara 
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup shredded Provolone or Mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat the broiler on the oven. You'll need a large nonstick skillet and a large stainless steel or cast iron skillet for this recipe.

2. Combine 3 tablespoons Parmesan, breadcrumbs, oregano, basil and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a shallow bowl. Place the egg white in a separate shallow bowl. Heat the butter with the olive oil in your nonstick skillet over medium heat. Dip each piece of chicken in egg white, then coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Add the chicken to the pan and cook 3 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

3. Place the cooked pasta in your oven-safe skillet. Place the cooked chicken on top of the pasta. In a medium bowl, mix marinara with balsamic, pepper and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt. Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining Parmesan and Provolone cheeses. Broil 2 to 4 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately- a generous portion of pasta with chicken and sauce on top.

Dip chicken in egg white.

Then coat with breadcrumb and parmesan mix.

Cook for 3 mins on each side in skillet on med in butter/olive oil or until done.

Remove from pan when done.

Wipe pan out and placed cook noodles in skillet.

Mix marinara with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar.

Place chicken on noodles. 

Spoon marinara on top, then sprinkle with parmesan and shredded cheese.

Broil for 2-5 mins in the skillet in the oven, or until cheese is bubbly.

Enjoy!

Saving Money Part 2 "Coupons"

There are several places to find coupons. The key is stay organized with your coupons. Because coupon expiration dates last for several weeks or even several years, you have to keep them organized. I have tried several methods and finally found one that works for me. Coupons are 75% of the "saving money game". Each newspaper will have several inserts. Not always, but most of the time. These"inserts" are like coupon books. One is called Smart Source, one is called Red Plum, and there are also Procter and Gamble inserts once a month.  I will go over places to get coupons, and how to organize them and what to do with them.

Where to find them:

1. Newspaper- Now, here is the catch to the newspaper coupons, you have to find the biggest newspaper closest to you if you want the most coupons. For example- I live in Concord. If I were to rely solely on the Griffin Daily News for my coupons, I would lose the saving money game every week! The smaller newspapers only offer a few coupons. The best thing to do, is find the closest place to get a big city newspaper at a reasonable price. I buy the AJC (Atlanta Journal Constitution) at a gas station in Griffin for 2.50 every Sunday. Before I go buy it, I check Southern Savers website for the list of "inserts" and see what coupons will be in this weeks paper. Click HERE for the link to check inserts in the paper. 3 or 4 times a year, there will be NO coupons in the paper, and it will save you time and money to know that before you drive all the way to get a paper! If you live in a larger city, it will even cheaper for you get your coupons. You will have a close gas station to purchase it at, or can probably save even MORE money by subscribing to your paper (only for Sunday). The AJC does not offer delivery in my area unfortunately. Not only will you want to pull out the coupon inserts, but you will want to check other places in the newspaper for coupons too. Sometimes the "Parade" magazine will have coupons in it. You will also want to pull out the flyers from your local stores. Publix, Rite-Aid, and Walgreens usually have multiple store coupons in their adds. Just make sure to scan your paper well each Sunday so you don't miss out on any savings!

2. Printable Coupons- There are hundreds of places to print coupons online. From the actual manufactures website, to coupon printing sites. It seems endless! An especially useful site to sign up with is Procter and Gamble. Not only will they mail tons of great coupons, but also free samples of your favorite products! Check coupons.com and redplum.com for great printables.

3. Magazines- All You magazine (available only at Walmart or via subscription) has tons of coupons! Also, I have seen coupons in Better Homes and Gardens, Ebony, and many more! I get subscriptions to over 12 magazines a month for free! Just watch websites and blogs for all the info on getting a free magazine subscriptions. Usually you just need to fill out a short survey.

4. Load to Card- Many stores offer coupons that you can load directly to your store card. Ingles, Kroger, CVS, and Rite-Aid to name a few. Visit the stores websites to start loading. There are also load to card websites available. Sites such as Cellfire.com allow you to load coupons to cards as well. The only negative to this option is that stores like Kroger, will not double your card coupons. They will only double paper coupons. So I have to be careful what I load to my Kroger card.  

5. Other websites- SavingStar and Ibotta are websites that offer coupons in a different way. They offer coupons that THEY redeem the money for. Not the store. When you have reached 5 or 10 dollars in savings, they will deposit your money straight to your Paypal account! The great thing about these sites is that you can stack these with manufactures coupons AND store coupons! So you have the potential to buy an item on sale for $5.00, then use a Rite-Aid $1.00 off coupon, a manufacturer $2.00 off coupon, AND a saving star coupon for $1.00 making your item FREE!! Using websites like SouthernSavers.com will help you figure out where to stack coupons at each week.

6. On your stuff! Keep an eye out for coupons in and on all your groceries! I find coupons on batteries, deodorant, diapers, dryer sheets, detergent, and loads of other places! Check the shelf in the stores for coupons too. I always keep an eye out for coupons and clip them as soon as I see them and add them to my coupon stash!

7. Coupon Services- There are several coupon services out there. They will send you multiple coupon flyers or stacks of coupons for the week. You will pay for this service, but if you play the game right, you will still save a ton of money! Ebay also sells coupons for very cheap and allow for great savings for you! thecouponclippers.com is a site that offers this service.

What to do with all these coupons?

Now, you have TONS of coupons! Just keep collecting them. You should start saving all your coupons. Find a way to organize them that you like. I keep all my inserts just as they are and don't clip them. I simply write the date on the outside of the flyer and save it in a folder with all my other inserts. All my other coupons I keep in a coupon organizer. The reason I don't cut up the ones in the newspaper flyer is because the website I coupon from (southernsavers.com) tells me exactly where to find the coupon I need for a sale item. It will tell you the date and the flyer it comes from. So it's easier for me to find them if I just keep the flyers in a folder by date. Some people chose to cut them all out and place them in a folder with clear pocket organizers. There are all sorts of ways to do this, so do what works for you. Couponing can be a very time consuming thing, so start small and see what works for you. You may want to start buying several papers each week, or multiple coupons as you get better at this. Sometimes, the best deal is to buy 5 of one item and you will get it much cheaper or free! Once you have a collection of coupons, you will be able to start cashing in on the savings each week! Look for more to come on my money saving tips!

Broiled Salmon with Marinade

I love fresh salmon. I usually cook it with just a little butter and lemon pepper. But I found this recipe to marinade the fillets in for a couple of hours before cooking, and I though I would try it out. It turned out wonderfully and I really enjoyed it! Not to mention it was very easy. Simply mix all the ingredients, and dump in a zip bag. Marinate for 2-3 hours and throw in the oven!

Broiled Salmon with Marinade:
4 Salmon fillets
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
Garlic salt (about 1 teaspoon)
Lemon pepper season (about 1 tablespoon)

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. Place salmon fillets in large zip bags or shallow pan. Pour marinade on salmon and allow to sit for 2-3 hours. Put fillets on well greased broiler pan and cook for 15 mins at 400 degrees. Turn the broiler on the last 2-3 mins if needed. Serve with rice!

Saving Money Part 1 "Websites"

I am a savvy shopper. I have lots of tips and tricks to save money. I am also good at spending the money I save! But with a family of 6, it's important to save money anywhere you can. I use coupons, and definitely search online for good deals before making any purchase. I will never just walk into Walmart and purchase an item I need without researching it out and finding where to get the best deal at. I almost never get groceries at Walmart either, not when my local Kroger will double my coupons! I get all my paper goods, and cleaning supplies at either the drug stores or Sams. I have learned that it's cheaper that way. I have several resources I use to help me. I also buy the Atlanta Journal newspaper every Sunday for coupons. But in my first money saving blog installment, I will simply go over the websites I use. Here are the top websites I find the most helpful in saving money and what each site will help you do.

1. Southernsavers.com This site is amazing. If you only use one site to save money, this is it. Most of you know about this website, but I'm sure you don't take full advantage of it. It has the sales for most local stores each week with coupons available to use on each sale item. This is called "coupon match-ups " Every week, you will find coupon match-ups for CVS, Rite-Aid, Walgreens, Publix and Kroger. Plus several more. I check this website every day. Not only will you find the sales and coupon match-ups, but you will find many other money saving opportunities. Free magazine subscriptions, hot printable coupons, cheap toys, free shipping... you name it, she finds it and posts it. So I check this website every night. I also use the coupon database on this website. If I need an item at the grocery store, I search for it in the coupon database and find it. It will quickly tell me if a coupon is available either online to print, in a coupon insert from the newspaper, or if an e-coupon is available. This site really is amazing!

2. Coupons.com This site has lots of printable coupons to use. Most of them can be printed 2 times each per computer. New coupons are released all the time, so check every week.

3. E-coupons: Cellfire.com , Shortcuts.com , Kroger.com/digitalcoupons , ibotta.com , savingstar.com ... to name a few of the best. These are coupons that can be loaded digitally to a stores card to save you money. The only negative thing about these coupons is that they can't be doubled. And I save a lot of money at Kroger with double paper coupons, so load wisely. I usually use the e-coupons for Rite-Aid and CVS.

4. Amazon.com - This website is a huge money saver. For all your electronic needs, your Christmas shopping, and even baby deals. I always look here first. Not only do that have incredibly cheap prices, but usually free shipping! And if you join Amazon Prime (which has a host of other benefits) you get free 2 day shipping! Many people look over there used items as well. Especially for video games, DVD's and other electronics. There are no auctions to wait on, you simply pick out the used item you want and one click order it. I have saved hundreds using amazon for Christmas shopping over the years. Most items on Amazon are 20% cheaper than Wal-mart, etc.  and you don't even have to leave your house to get it! You save even more with free shipping. And even MORE not paying tax on the item! We purchased our 50 inch TV from Amazon, got free shipping, a cheaper price than any other store, AND saved $35 in sales tax. So next time you are purchasing an item other than clothes/groceries, etc. check Amazon first!

5. Coupon Codes-  Retailmenot.com , Couponmountain.com , Couponcabin.com. These websites will help you find any and all coupon codes for almost ever retail store online. I never pay shipping on my online purchases, and almost always save 20% or more with codes. Before every online purchase, make sure you search for a coupon code to cut down on your cost.

6. I Heart____.com - iheartriteaid.com , iheartcvs.com , iheartwags.com . These sites will allow you to look at ads way before they are released to the public. This will assist you in beating other couponers to printable coupons that sometimes reach their limit before you even know about them! I will also help you decide whether or not you are getting the best deal, or if you should hold out another week or two. This site usually has comments under the sales flyers with coupon matchups, which will help you get ahead in the game!

7. Facebook pages- Bluegrass Savers , Smart Couponing , and Saving Centsably are just a few of my favorites that I follow on Facebook. These type of pages post deals, coupons and savings everyday! Ask your friends for their favorites and follow those too. The more saving pages you follow, the more you can save!

8. Groupon - This is a really neat website. It offers a wide variety of discounted goods, trips, activities and restaurants. They will email you deals often, but I usually just check in once a week to see what they have to offer. You can save quite a bit of money on activities using there site! Just watch and wait.

9. Swagbucks - This is THE best way to search the internet. When all else fails, just search for a deal. And there is NO better way to search than with Swagbucks. It's like any other search engine. Use it every single time you search. When you sign up will you get "swagbucks". They are like points. You save your points and get free stuff!! The best thing to use your swagbucks for are Amazon card. For 450 swagbucks, you can get a free $5.00 amazon card. I have searched my way to over $200 in FREE Amazon cards! That's a LOT of money. Just search and earn. 

Okay, so those are my top websites that I use to save money. I plan on having several other blog posts about money saving tips, so don't forget to check back! Please feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer!

Beef Tips and Gravy

A friend of mine showed me this recipe. The original recipe was cooked in the oven, but I went for a crock-pot version. This turned out so great! It was delicious! The meat was tender, the gravy was fantastic, and it was so easy! This could be served over mashed potatoes, rice or noodles. The kids voted noodles, but I would have preferred it over rice. Of course the kids won, and I cooked the only noodles I could find in the pantry- bow-tie pasta. But even with the bow-tie pasta, the tips and gravy were fantastic!

Crock-Pot Beef Tips:

2 lbs of stew meat/beef tips
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can water
1 package of dry onion soup mix (I strain out the dry onions for my husband)
1 package of brown gravy
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

Combine water and mushroom soup, whisk together. Add soup and gravy mix. Continue whisking until well mixed. Add worcestershire sauce and beef tips. Stir until all the beef is covered. Cook on low 6-8 hours or until beef is tender (depending on the size of your tips). I started mine out on high for 2 hours, then low for 4 hours). Serve over rice, noodles or mashed potatoes!

Whisk together ingredients.

Add in beef tips.

Cover and cook for 6-8 hours.

Perfection!

Serve over rice, mashed potatoes or noodles!