Casserole and more Target shopping

My girlfriend gave us a chunk of velveeta and my husband was hungry for tuna casserole, so I mixed up a velveeta sauce and made this tuna, spinach and rice casserole.

Today I used my 5% pharmacy rewards from Target and did a big shopping order of about $250 worth of merchandise that I paid less than $200 for.

Subtotal: after coupons: $241.03
Team member discount: - 24.71
Rx rewards: -11.09
Red card: -10.26
Tax: $2.64
Total: $197.61

What I bought:
- Clorox 2 stain remover, $1.75 - 55 cent coupon
- Doritos, 2 bags cool ranch, $3 each
- pirate booty, veggie flavor, 2 bags at $2.79
- tortilla chips, $2.99
- Juicy Juice 100% juice juice boxes, 4 @ $2.55
- organic spring mix, $2
- fresh express romaine garden salad, 2 bags at $2
- fresh red potatoes, $2.29
- asparagus, fresh, $1.99
- fresh broccoli, $1.79
- fresh cauliflower, $1.79
- Smuckers blueberry preserves, $3.09
- agave nectar, $3.99
- Dickinson wild berry preserves, $3.87
- market pantry strawberry preserves, big jar, $2.89
- market pantry Mac and cheese, 6 @ 67 cents
- tomato sauce, 4 cans at 67 cents
- Archer Farms raspberry salsa, 2 @ $2.99
- mild salsa, $2.49
- wheat pasta, 2 @ $1.07
- Barilla plus multigrain pasta, 2 @ $1.14
- market pantry pasta, various shapes, 5 @ $1
- better oats, blueberry muffin instant oatmeal, 2 boxes at $1.79
- Quaker oatmeal to go banana bread squares, 3 @ $7.50
- Bush's vegetarian baked beans, the big cans, 3 @ $1.99
- 12 ounce can of chunk light tuna, 4 at $2.34
- market pantry sugar, $2.79
- unbleached white flour, $1.99
- old orchard juice concentrate, 4 @ $1.59
- welches 100% grape juice concentrate, $1.50
- 2 archer farm frozen pizzas, $4.99 each
- Thai vegetable blend, $2.29
- cilantro lime rice blend, $2.29
- frozen peas, 2 bags, $1.02 each
- sweet potato fries, $1.97
- dannon strawberry yogurt parfait, $1.99 minus 50 cent coupon

Now for the household items:
- Nads facial wax strips, $4.49
- two big bottles of up and up cetrizine, $13.19 each
- up and up toothpaste, on clearance, 2 tubes at $1.95 each
- Scott natural toilet paper, 12 roles, $9.99 - $2 coupon
- 2 boxes tampons, $4.94 each minus $1 coupon

And the cats:
- 28 pounds cat litter, $8.92 minus $1 coupon
- 20 lbs Iams, $23.74
- Purina one salmon and rice, 14 pounds, $10.99
- beyond chicken cat food, 7 pounds, $7.69 minus $1 coupon

Other coupons:
- $1.50 off $10 in fresh produce
- six reusable bags, 30 cents

Salsa festival

As I mentioned a while ago, Wegmans phased out their organic mango salsa and I haven't been to Wegmans lately to see if they rolled out their new salsa line.

We made nachos tonight with canned refried beans, cheddar, velveeta (a gift), and black olives on Archer Farms blue multigrain tortilla chips with flax seed. (These chips very much hurt my broken tooth, somehow chip ended up over there when I hadn't chewed on that side.)

I had a coupon for $1 off if I bought one 16-ounce Archer Farms salsa and one bag of Archer Farms chips. Hence the chips mentioned earlier. The chips were $2.99 before my discount(s) and coupon. The salsas were between $2.99 and $3.31 a jar. Odd price range.

I opted for two jars: one mild (raspberry with jalapeño, pineapple and red bell peppers) and one medium (corn, black bean & roasted red peppers with roasted jalapeño, red bell peppers and green chiles).

Both are tasty. Now the cheap salsa from Aldi has 10 calories per 2 tablespoons, 180 mg sodium, 2% RDA of vitamin A and no protein or other vitamins/minerals.

My favorite Wegmans mango salsa has 15 calories, 105 mg sodium, no protein, but 8% RDA of A and 15% vitamin C. Much more nutrition.

Archer Farms? Well...

The mild raspberry has 15 calories, 120 mg sodium, 1 gram protein, 4% vitamin A and 6% vitamin C. So it has some punch, but not like the mango. And the corn/black bean also has 15 calories, 220 mg sodium (holy cr*p), 1 gram protein, 2% vitamin A and 10% vitamin C.

Each year I plan my garden hoping to grow enough herbs and ingredients for homemade salsa. Hopefully this summer I'll learn to can and if I don't grow enough, I'll be visiting local farms and farmers markets. Let's make salsa!

Mommy's five cheese mac

I made Betty Crocker's mac and cheese recipe last night with some classic Angel modifications. I don't have the recipe with me, and I didn't measure as I cooked. So this is a post based on memory.

It tasted incredible. The original Betty Crocker recipe is probably easy to find via the Betty Crocker label under this entry.

I started with about three tablespoons butter melting over medium-high heat with about two tablespoons chopped chives that I froze from my herb garden last summer. After three minutes of hearty swirling, I added about three tablespoons flour, trying not to let it degrade into a solid flour dumpling.

I added some fresh ground pepper and sea salt. Then lowered the heat to extremely low and added one cup heavy cream.  (I discovered I had no milk in the house.) I added a pinch of nutmeg. Once my flour and cream mixture had blended, I added three cups of plain soy milk. (And I am completely aware of how silly it must seem from a culinary perspective to have heavy cream and soy milk in the same dish. I am a big believer in "use what you got" cooking.)

Once that blended, I added the cheese. I probably used four ounces of velveeta (a gift from a friend), three ounces cheddar, and three or four ounces of mozzarella. Then I added the remaining fresh spinach I had on hand (about one cup, ripped into small slivers) and about a cup of frozen peas (again what I had on hand.) I wish I had some broccoli, but I didn't.

I made 16 ounces of small elbow noodles and it made two small casserole dishes full. Before baking at 375 for 30 minutes (and then cooking at 400 just to brown the top), I sprinkled each liberally with grated romano and then shredded asiago.

Fabulous. Truly fabulous. And probably a good thing, since it looks like my cooking might eliminate dairy for the next month to help with the fluid in my daughter's ears. I can survive without milk. Cheese hurts, but I can do it. How on earth am I going to cook without butter? I have a plan...

Pasta days

Last night, my husband made spaghetti with herbs from the garden (basil and oregano) and morningstar vegetarian sausage. It was incredible.

During half time of the French/South Aftica game, I whipped up savory baked mac and cheese. Since it's going to be another hot day, I thought I'd turn the oven on for lunch.

I used my basic Betty Crocker recipe, but altered it to use as the cheese about 3 ounces sage derby, about 2 ounces monterey jack, and about four ounces Velveeta. And I used chives from the garden, fresh ground garlic salt and fresh ground four color peppercorn instead of onion for the base.

I'm baking it in the Le Creuset skillet with a heap of broccoli.

cheesy bread

I found myself hungry with no real plan for what to do for breakfast. So, I took a big slice of homemade bread, topped it with shredded Jarlsberg, velveeta and white cheddar and toasted it under the broiler.

Quesadilla

I wanted to make cheddar and bean quesadilla with my homemade guacamole last night but I didn't get there... We had salads with guac and chips instead.

Today for lunch I made the quesadillas: cheddar, velveeta, black beans and black olives, garnished with romaine lettuce, homemade guacamole, and mango salsa. And a side of strawberries.

The little one loves it, and while she insists at restaurants she does NOT like guacamole, she sure loves mine.

She even said to me when I served her, "This is guacamole?"
And I replied yes.
"But I don't like guacamole, but I love this!"

Salad wrap

I offered my daughter a salad and hummus wrap and she declined, so I added three types of cheese to the mix instead: emmental, velveeta and cheddar. Topped with Wegmans Creamy Ceasar dressing. But no hummus.

Sides of applesauce (no sugar added) and plump, fresh california strawberries.

Grilled Cheese in Le Creuset?

Is it sacrilegious to make a grilled cheese sandwich in a Le Creuset skillet?
(Probably, but I'm a rebel.)

• Multigrain sandwich bread from Giant (yes, I've been ill so no homemade bread)
• Velveeta (a gift from Gayle)
• Neufchâtel cheese
• perhaps some shredded cheddar
  
• lots of butter
• honey
• a hint of garlic pepper
• a hint of extra virgin olive oil

Step one: lightly grease the skillet with olive oil, sprinkle with about 1/8 teaspoon garlic pepper and heat the pan on extremely low heat.

Step two: generously butter bread on on one side. Put one slice of bread from each sandwich in the skillet, butter side down.

Step three: spread a thin layer of neufchâtel or cream cheese on the unbuttered side of the lid of the sandwich, the piece not in the pan.

Step four: cut enough thin slices of velveeta to cover the bread in the pan. Go ahead and put the cheese on the bread.

Step five: increase heat in skillet to medium.

Step six: put the cream cheese-laden lids onto the sandwich.

Step seven: sprinkle each with a pinch of garlic pepper.

Step eight: frequently press down on the sandwich with a turner/spatula. After about three minutes, flip the sandwich and press down more. Let the bottom brown, flip again. When the other side is brown, smear about 1/2 teaspoon of honey on each sandwich side. Let the honey cook on the bread for about 30 seconds. More than that and it will burn.

Note:
The skillet heated slow and evenly AND fit two whole and one half-sandwich at the same time. It made a beautiful sandwich, though I did burn some honey to the pan.
Served to my family with juice diluted with selzter, raw carrots and dip, and the sandwich.

Mac N Bacon

Oh, the evils...

I never made it to the store to get the remaining ingredients for zucchini/crabbiless cakes. Although ironically, my friend Gayle made them at her house. Tomorrow here I hope...

We have no vegetable in the house, except the 4.5 pound zucchini. We have no flour. No fruit. Very limited resources. I have $70 in my wallet designated for grocery shopping but I haven't made it there.

Oops.

So we made our last box of spaghetti and made mac and cheese by adding a pack of generic cheese mix from a box of mac and cheese I stole the noodles from a while ago, our last tablespoon of real butter, some raw milk, and (gasp!) Velveeta. Someone gave me the Velveeta. I did not buy Velveeta. Let me repeat: I did not buy Velveeta.

That would have been bad enough, from a nutrition standpoint but... I added smoked bacon. Also from the farm. 1/3 of the package went in the pasta, 1/3 in the fridge for sandwiches later, and 1/3 in the freezer.

We topped with garlic pepper and served.