Broccoli Salad and Baked Potatoes

I have heard one of the ways to save money on grocery is to meal plan around the weekly sales adds. I do my meal planning once a month because it is hard for me to get to make multiple trips to the store. This week I was able to take advantage of a sale Fred Meyers was having.  Broccoli was .69 a pound and baked potatoes for .10 a pound.


I converted another recipe from my friend Managing Chaos.

Broccoli Salad
2 heads raw broccoli, stems trimmed
10 slices crisp bacon, chopped ( I omit the bacon to make it vegetarian)
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tb white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup raisins

Rinse the broccoli, cut into bite size pieces.
Mix sugar, white vinegar and raisins together for dressing.
Mix all together and chill.
I find this salad will only last over night in the frig. The broccoli begins to get soggy but some of my friends really like it a couple of days later.

Then baked potatoes and dressed them up with shredded cheese, green onions, some salad crunchy mix, and sour cream. It made a filling meal and it was cheap.

Homemade No Bake Granola Bars- Just like Quaker Chewy Bars

This year I am on a quest to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from our diet. Most of the granola bar have high fructose corn syrup. I found this No Bake granola bars but of course I had to mess with the recipe to eliminate the corn syrup.  I am also excited to play with the ingredients to make chocolate chip granola bars. Here is how I altered the recipe:

2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup rasins
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

My alterations to the recipe

1/2 cup Agave Nectar
1/2 cup Sunflower nut butter
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Cardamom ( my favorite new spice)

1. In large bowl, combine cereal, rolled oats, cinnamon, cardamom and raisins; set aside
2. In small saucepan, combine brown sugar and Agave Nectar.
3. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly
4. Stir in Sunflower nut butter and vanilla, blend until smooth.
5. Pour over cereal mixture; mix well.
6. Press into ungreased 13"x9" pan.
7. Cool; cut into 24 bars.

Notes: This batch did turn out a little crumbly because the Agava Nectur does not crystalize like corn syrup or honey. I will try honey next time to see if it creates a firmer bar.

Homemade

In an attempt to eat less processed food and more homemade I have been taking the time to makes the following recipes.

A few years before my Dad passed away he started making these pickles. We both fell in love with them. Since I was working full time he would make a double batch and bring them to me whenever he made them. I am not sure where he got the recipe so if there is some one out there I can give credit for these fabulous pickles I would love to know. My favorite way to eat them is to make a cheese bagel sandwich with turkey pastrami, with melted provolone cheese over the pickles so that they don't fall off the sandwich.

So-Sweet-Squash Pickles:
3 small yellow squash thinly sliced
1 medium onion chopped
1 large sweet red pepper cut into stripes (1/4 inch)
1 Tbl salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup white vinegar
3/4 tsp mustard seed
3/4 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp ground mustard

In a large bowl, combine the squash, onion, red pepper and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour; drain. In a large saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Add squash mixture; return to a boil. Remove from heat; cool.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 4 days before serving. Maybe stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Makes 4 cups.



Before I quit my gleaning job I was able to get 4 pounds of strawberries and borrow my Sister-in-Laws dehydrator. I sliced the strawberries all up and put them on the dehydrator for about a day and half. Freckle Foot loves these. I was getting freeze dried strawberries, apples and banana's from Costco but these work great.