recipes Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Atlantas Frugal Mom

Sauteed Greens w/Corn & Mushrooms

12/22/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

It may be pretty clear by now I love cooking with spinach, but almost a year ago, I discovered Kroger’s “power greens” mix of spinach, chard, kale, and mizuna. It’s a great way to mix it up and still pack a powerful, nutritious punch. And, well, you may recall I’m trying to clean up my act in the kitchen a bit.

So back in the spring, I saw this recipe on the inside of the Simple truth Organic power greens container, and have been wanting to try it -obviously- for a while now. Recently I had the chance, and was amazed by its versatility. More on that later. First, the recipe – I made a few variations of my own, because, well that’s how I roll.

Sauteed Greens with Corn & Mushrooms

You’ll need:

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil (“EVOO” if possible)
1 1/2 tsp garlic, finely minced (I used extra, like 3-4 cloves)
2 1/2 c fresh mushrooms (I minced mine, the original recipe calls for 1/4″ thick slices)
2 1/2 c vegetable broth
1 1/4 c corn kernels (I use frozen, but leave it out at room temperature when I begin gathering ingredients)
5 oz power greens mix (I prefer finely chopped)
salt and pepper to taste

[Read more…]

Keep on saving! :o)
--Barbara
**Remember, y'all, this post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Filed Under: health and fitness, recipes

Bacon Cookbooks

10/23/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

If you just can’t get enough bacon, and have already checked out all the great bacon-related products floating around out there on the interwebs, then try out a plethora of bacon-inspired dishes, with these bacon cookbooks!

Top Bacon Cookbooks

Bacon Nation: 125 Irresistible Recipes by Peter Kaminsky and Marie Rama – So this may be the Bible of all bacon cookbooks. I mean, 125 recipes ….with bacon… I’m salivating just reading it!

101 Things to Do With Bacon by Eliza Cross – There’s a recipe for bacon chocolate chip cookies. Need I say more??

Seduced by Bacon: Recipes & Lore About America’s Favorite Indulgence by Joanna Pruess – A celebration of bacon, filled with gorgeous photographs and seductive new recipes both savory and sweet.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: books, recipes

Spinach pancakes {Picky Tot Pleasers}

06/25/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

This post originally appeared as a guest post on another site about two years ago, but that site is no longer around. :/ SO, I’m re-claiming it and adding it to my Picky-Tot Pleasers series. Lemme know what’cha think!

Call me Popeye. What can I say? I love to cook with spinach. Up until recently, it’s been in just about any dish I made with chicken or ground turkey. However, I crossed the line the other morning when I (deliberately) baked spinach in to my pancakes. That’s right, my daughter and I made spinach pancakes. On purpose. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Frugal Parenting, health and fitness, parenting, picky tot pleasers, recipes

Vitamix Applesauce with a Twist

06/20/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

So I’m really loving my Vitamix these days. Juicing for breakfast, and sharing with my son. (Say goodbye to his multivitamin!) Warm Vitamix Chicken Tortilla soup on a cool evening. And now, Vitamix Applesauce, with a twist.

As you may recall, my goofy kids enjoy applesauce and frozen peas. I don’t know why, they just do. I’m not complaining, since they don’t normally volunteer to eat anything green. So, when I set out to make Vitamix appleasauce, I was determined to fuse other healthy foods in to the mix as well.

Here’s what I did:

I found a bunch of pre-sliced apples on clearance at Kroger, so that’s what I used. You can use whatever kind of apples you have on hand, but I recommend you stick with the sweeter, rather than tart apples. Also, I use all organic ingredients whenever possible.

First I made a batch that was JUST apples, lemon juice, and cinnamon. I used too much cinnamon, and my daughter was not a fan. So I made another batch, using other ingredients to blend with the cinnamon-y batch, to tone it down.

Vitamix Applesauce and the cinnamon debacle

Remember my meatball debacle from a while back? Yeah, ^^^ this brings back fond memories.

Vitamix Applesauce with a Twist

You’ll need:

2-3 sweet apples
a splash of lemon juice
a small handful of baby carrots (I have small hands, sooo, I’d approximate about 1/2 cup.)
~ 2/3 c frozen strawberries
1 spoonful of sugar or sweetener (optional)
1 tsp cinnamon

Blend all ingredients, starting with slowest speed, working your way up. If you have a tamper*, use it to help push ingredients down. If mixture seems too chunky or not “smooth” enough, add small doses of water, as needed. I believe I ended up adding about 1/4 c water all together. Blend to desire smoothness and enjoy!

One thing I want to try with my next batch is to freeze it in small containers, or fill an ice cube tray and freeze that way – then I’ll have applesauce handy, and can toss in kids’ lunch bag in the morning, and it’ll thaw by lunch time. Also, I’m going to try adding a bit of spinach with this recipe. I’d also like to try a batch with dates, or other nuts, as inspired by The Blender Lady. What other ingredients would YOU add to Vitamix applesauce?

* I don’t have a tamper so I had to improvise. (What can I say? When you get a $9 Vitamix, you don’t always get all the cool accessories!) When ingredients looked “stuck”, I’d turn off and open the top and push down with long plastic spoon. Yeah, a tamper would be SOO much easier!

Sweet Bananas and Honey Dessert

04/09/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

As you may know by now, my goofy kids are quite picky eaters. (Okay, fine, so are their parents. After all, apples don’t make peaches, right??) I’ve already shared how the enjoy applesauce spiked with frozen peas. But a secret favorite treat of theirs is one that’s actually quite healthy for them: bananas and honey. (or as my otherwise quite articulate 2-year-old son calls them “gananas”.) It’s a simple, kid-friendly recipe that they gobble up every. single. time. [Read more…]

Filed Under: picky tot pleasers

Alpha-Bits Snack Mix

04/03/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post from Post Alpha-Bits cereal and the Little Free Library. I was given a form of compensation in exchange for this post.

Ever have one of those moments when you realize YOU are in charge of snack for your child’s class, and you only have an hour to throw something together? Yeah, I’ve been there more times than I care to admit. And the idea of plying my child and her classmates with junk food just because it was easier simply doesn’t sit well with me.

So when I found myself in this quandary about a week ago, I was lucky to have a good supply of pantry items I could mix together to make a snack mix. Thanks to the good folks at Alpha-Bits, it was something the kids seemed to really enjoy, too! Bonus: it’s so easy, even my five year old can make it, but not without sampling it as she goes.

This really is simple. Like not even really recipe-worthy. But I’m going to recipe it up for y’all anyway.

Alpha-Bits Snack Mix

1-2 part raisins
2 parts pretzels of choice
1-2 parts marshmallows (I used the very same ones I used for Peppermint Chocolate Popcorn)
2 parts Alpha-Bits cereal

Peas and the Sauce – An Unlikely Combination

02/05/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

So my kids are a little weird. First, my son -who just turned two- didn’t initially seem to be a fan of sweet peas. He would literally rather shove them up his nose than eat them. Yeah….

But a friend mentioned a trick to me, and my kids have been eating it up ever since. Frozen peas. Yep. Frozen. Peas. I serve them in fancy little ramekins, and they gobble them up like candy.

One day, I happened to serve frozen peas at the same meal with applesauce, and -wouldn’t you know it!- a new, weird marriage was formed. My 4 year old daughter got the genius idea to dunk her peas in her applesauce. It’s been a strange hit ever since.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Frugal Parenting, picky tot pleasers

Homemade Pita Pizzas – A Surprise Treat!

01/24/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

I have made quite a few mini homemade pizzas over the years with my daughter, most with mixed results at best. In the past, we’ve used tortillas or a few layers of a flaky biscuit, and I’d sneak in some sort of veggie -either in pureed form, or very finely chopped.

But this week, I tried something a little different. I’d bought a package of pita bread (on clearance, of course), and had ONE left. My kids apparently are big fans of the pita bread. Sometimes I’ll make pita PBJs, or toast a little turkey and cheese inside one. Or just slap some honey butter on it, and they’ll go to town.

So, I thought I’d give it a whirl turning it in to pizza. Wow! Was I surprised! Here’s what we did, and why I think one secret ingredient helped make them super-relish! Best of all, it’s such a simply process, my 4 1/2 year old daughter was able to create her own, with minimal assistance. [Read more…]

Filed Under: picky tot pleasers, recipes

Vitamix Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

01/01/2014 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Vitamix. Chicken. Tortilla. Soup. Recipe. Well, first, I have to brag. My husband is -without a doubt- the luckiest sunnuvagun I know. He was perusing through Goodwill a while ago, and found a variable speed Vitamix blender for just under nine bucks. Yep. A true-to-life Vitamix. For nine bucks!!

We immediately put it to use, playing around with different fruit and veggie combos. And then we stumbled upon this recipe for Tortilla Soup. The rest -as they say- is history. I’ve been making -and thoroughly enjoying!- my mom’s chicken tortilla soup recipe for a few years, even though I know it’s more “comfort” than “healthy.”

To be honest, when we first made this soup, I was skeptical. But once it was made, I was hooked! And my recipe for the baked tortilla strips compliment it nicely, too!

“Vitamix Chicken Tortilla Soup”

This is based heavily on The Blender Lady’s recipe for Tortilla Soup, but I had to tweak to make it work for my family. [Read more…]

Filed Under: health and fitness, recipes

“My Mom’s” Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

12/31/2013 by Barbara

**This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase from my links, which I"ll totally blow on waffle fries and sweet tea, y'all!**

Ok, just putting the words “chicken” and “tortilla” together make me salivate. So, when I had the opportunity to create two different versions of chicken tortilla soup, it was like sensory overload, y’all!

First, I wanted to share the recipe my mom has been making for a few years. I’m not going to lie, it’s not the healthiest recipe, but OH-MY-GOODNESS! Is it ever so delicious! Talk about “comfort food” – this one is packed with “comforting” goodness in every bite!