Meal Plan Monday 11/1

It has been a full weekend. Running here and there and everywhere! I'm hoping for a nice quiet week at home, but I know it won't be that way. :)

Last week, we had Cheesy Mexican Skillet that was really, really good. And it came together in about 15 minutes which makes it a keeper in my book!

The roast I talked about turned out to be a pork roast. I believe that is the last of them. I ended up fixing it in the crockpot, I seasoned with with BBQ seasoning, cooked it on low for 6 hours, shredded it, covered it with BBQ sauce and cooked it on low for an hour more. I served it on these rolls. It turned out amazing. So good in fact, that the leftovers were eaten for lunch the next day - by the boys! 

We ended up having leftovers twice - (I ate Healthy Choice meals - man those things are good!), the boys had cereal, and hubby cleared out the fridge. :)

This week we're having:

Chuck Roast, Mashed Potatoes & Carrots at my mom's house - it was awesome!! (Thanks mom!!)

Chicken Pot Pie

Spaghetti

Chicken Curry with Potatoes (crock pot)

Cheeseburger Soup

Harvest Party @ Church

Leftovers

What are you eating this week? I'd love to come check out your menu!

Make sure to check out 100's of other menus at OrgJunkie.com

Groceries for the Week 10/30

Well I think I did pretty darn good this week. We didn't really need anything. The boys wanted something different than pears and apples to snack on. There was a pretty good deal on the butter, yogurt and Healthy Choice. Oh yea, I did need to pick up some candy for C to throw in the parade and at $0.75 a bag, I said why not? The other stuff was just great deals!

Produce - bananas (where the heck are they?? They disappeared again!) grapes and strawberries

Meat - $0.69/lb Perdue Chicken, $0.79/lb split chicken breasts

FREE - coffee mate (for my momma) Italian Bread and 3 of the Healthy Choice Meals

Other good deals - $0.09 for the Brownie Bowl, $0.50 butter, $0.50 Activia yogurt

Total OOP - $31.19

So I went a little over budget this week. But I have already received next weeks ad and I'm not impressed. So I'm thinking it's going to be a low grocery week next week.

Did you score any great deals this week?

Banking Cord Blood

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of CryoCell International. All opinions are 100% mine.


If there was a way you could help protect your child from possible disease and help ease possible future transplants, wouldn't you want to learn more about it? When your child is born, the umbilical cord is usually just discarded. Inside that cord is blood - blood that is filled with stem cells. What if there was a way that you could preserve those stem cells for the possible future medical benefit of your family?

"Stem cells are the master cells responsible for producing all of the mature cells in our blood and immune system. They form the white cells that fight infection, the red cells that carry oxygen, the platelets that promote clotting and the cells of our immune systems." If you were to save your baby's cord blood, it could be used to help fight - and possibly cure - many diseases such as cancer, leukemia, sickle cell disease, various forms of anemia, and more. In addition, if your little one was to need a transplant someday, transplants using cord blood from a relative are twice as successful as transplants using cord blood from a non relative.

Nowadays there are quite a few companies that offer cord blood services. The one I would like to tell you about today is Cryo-Cell. Cyro-Cell is one of the world's largest and most established cord blood banks in the world. They have over 215,000 clients. While the cord blood banking is a bit pricy, Cyro-Cord offers a variety of payment plans. They also have a Client for Life Program whichs lets you lock in todays pricing for your future children.

Cyro-Cell provides a $50,000 quality guarantee and also provides a $10,000 Cryo-Cell Cares program. As you can see, there are many benefits to choosing Cyro-Cell over the competition. In addition, Cyro-Cell is a Upromise partner! Earn 2% for college just by banking cord blood!

Find out the top 10 reasons to choose Cyro-Cell, plus the answers to all your questions by visiting their site through the link below.

Whats For Lunch 10/29

Need some inspiration for your children's lunchbox? I will be sharing what I have packed in C's in the hopes that it will help you when you struggle! (C has school Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday, so I will be sharing 2 to 3 times a week)

Today he took : a whole apple, yogurt, a tootsie roll, halloween pretzels, rasins, grapes, a turkey and cheese wrap with mayo and mustard.


I kind of figured it wouldn't all get eaten, which it didn't. But a good bit was gone!

 
He said the pretzels tasted stale and he ate the rest of his wrap and another apple for snack.

What are your kids eating for lunches?

Where & How To Get FREE Coupons

I have gotten tired of buying my papers and there being one measly insert with no good coupons. Or going to buy my coupons and there being no good coupons - or worse, NO coupons - in the paper. I started nosing around our recycling bin and noticed there was a few inserts thrown in with the newspapers. (We have a separate bin just for newspapers). So hubby and I took recycling on different days every week trying to find the best time to grab all the Sunday inserts. The past two weeks, we've hit the jackpot.

You really can only see about half the stack here. We've found Mondays the bins are stuffed full (not so good for us trying to empty our recycling, but I get tons of inserts!) And the inserts are from our local paper and from papers in the surrounding counties. Which means different versions of the same coupon (it may be $0.75/1 in one paper and $1.00/2 in another) or even different coupons all together.

So check your recycling bins! You might just score some free coupons!

It's Mega Swagbucks Friday!

Need some extra cash? How about making money to surf the web! Seriously, it's that simple. Sign up for Swagbucks and get points when you search the web. Turn those in for prizes! My favorite prize is an Amazon.com Gift card!


Every Friday when you use Swagbucks to search the Internet you could win anywhere from 50-5000 Swagbucks! An $5 Amazon gift card is worth 450 Swagbucks. So get searching and earn some Swagbucks!  (You can earn Swagbucks any day of the week, on Fridays you have the chance to win extra!)

New to Swagbucks? Sign up HERE and get 30 Swagbucks just for signing up!

Don't forget to become a fan of Feeding Four on Facebook - I share Swagbucks codes there that are worth extra Swagbucks!

Home Made "Potato" Rolls

7One of the things I have been trying to replace is hamburger rolls. I will not pay $3 for a pack of "good" rolls and the cheapo Giant brand ones taste gross. Once again, hubby is the one who is so very picky with the change. First the roll was too heavy. My first few attempts were "not to be fixed again". He would come in the door disappointed when he saw homemade rolls. Not anymore! These rolls passed his scrutiny and are pretty easy to make! And they taste wonderful!

Hamburger Buns

(please ignore the "5 pounds of flour" I went a little heavy when rolling them out :)

You'll need:

1 cup of warm milk

2 tsp active dry yeast

3 tbsp sugar

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup cooked, mashed squash (or potato)

4 cups flour

Combine milk, sugar and yeast in mixing bowl. Let stand 10 minutes or so, or until mixture is bubbly and has doubled in volume. Stir in egg yolk, butter, salt and squash. Mix in flour one cup at a time until all the flour is mixed in. Knead for 10 minutes, I use my Kitchen Aid. Cover and let rise for about an hour. Once dough has doubled in size, you have two options.

Option One (great for hamburger buns)- Roll dough out on a well floured surface. Use a biscuit cutter (or a clean tuna can, I used a wide mouth canning jar) to cut dough into equal sized circles. Stack 2 circles on top of each other on a greased baking sheet. Continue until all dough is cut and stacked. Allow to rise while you preheat your oven, roughly 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.

Option Two (makes a thicker roll) - divide dough into equal sized balls. Place balls onto greased baking sheet. Allow to rise roughly 30 minutes while you preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake 15 minutes.

Tonight, I used option two and served BBQ Pork Roast.

Guest Post - Getting Started With Cloth Diapers

Today we have a guest post on cloth diapering from Michelle at The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom. Thanks Michelle!

First, thank you so much Keli for letting me be a guest blogger! My name is Michelle. I am the writer of the blog, The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom. I am 23 years old. I am married to Brian and mommy to Noah. One of my favorite things to talk about is cloth diapers. I love telling other moms about how I got started using them and I know a lot of moms have questions about them, so I love to help get those questions answered. Today I’m going to give you some tips and suggestions on how to get started cloth diapering on a budget. Some cloth diapers aren’t cheap, and up front costs can get up there. But with a little patience and work, you can start a great stash and start saving money sooner than you think!!
One of the most cost efficient types of diapers is prefolds and covers. Prefolds are the old fashioned diaper your mom used on you way back in the day and were pinned on your bum with big ugly white plastic pants to cover them. Luckily, today prefolds are nice and trim and the covers are colorful, trim, and don’t require pins! Prefolds average around $2 or less each and covers are usually $9-$11.

But if you’re like me, prefolds just don’t cut it for you. I have an 18 month old that pees A LOT! Plus I could never get the hang of prefolds very well. (Although I do hope to try again with next baby). So this is how we built our stash of pocket and all-in-one diapers without breaking the bank. We were able to start out with about 3 diapers. I used them, and then when he went through those 3, put him back in disposables. Then about a month later we were able to get 4 more diapers. So 7 diapers were about a days worth and I would just wash every night. Then every paycheck I would buy one or two more diapers, depending on what we could afford. It takes patience but it’s worth it!
Now we have a full stash of about 24 diapers. I wash them every other night with a few always left over for the next day. Here’s the great part….we are saving probably around $50 or more a month not having to buy disposable diapers! We buy a big box of disposables about one every 3 to 6 months and keep them on hand for just in case. It’s so nice compared to buying diapers every couple of weeks!!

So as you can see, being on a budget and cloth diapering is very possible! It takes a little longer and may be a little extra work at the beginning but it is SO worth it in the end! If you’re interested in learning more or have questions please come check out my blog! Thanks again Keli!

What's for Lunch? 10/27

Need some inspiration for your children's lunchbox? I will be sharing what I have packed in C's in the hopes that it will help you when you struggle! (C has school Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday, so I will be sharing 2 to 3 times a week)

Today he requested: turkey, cheese, mayo and mustard on white bread, broccoli, strawberries, a whole apple and a water bottle. Not quite as full as previous lunches ;)

It came home completely eaten except for the broccoli - which he ate for a snack.

Cheesy Mexican Skillet

I'm all about the quick and easy dinners lately. It's been gorgeous outside and I'm trying to soak up the last warmth of the season with my boys before it turns cold. We had this just last night and it took 20 minutes from start to finish - and that includes browning the ground beef. Hubby remarked [on his third helping] "This stuff is good". The ultimate compliment. :) (Well, second to "This is better than my mom makes it!" ;)  )

Print Grocery List

You'll need:
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 t chili powder
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t garlic powder
5 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup salsa
1/2  box pasta
Brown ground beef. Drain. Meanwhile, cook pasta. Stir spices into browned hamburger. Stir in cream cheese, sour cream and salsa. Let simmer until cream cheese is completely melted. Add cooked pasta to the hamburger mixture and combine. Serve and enjoy. :) Hubby would have loved it even more if I had sprinkled cheese on top and let that melt. I think I'll try that next time!

Friendly Wednesday 10/27

Welcome to Feeding Four's Friendly Wednesday Blog Hop! I'm glad you're here!


Thank you to all the bloggers who linked up last week!

Please feel free to grab the button (located in the right side bar) and add it to your blog to get more bloggers to participate in the blog hop!!


How to Participate:




Follow the hostess - Feeding Four. If you want me to follow you back, please leave a comment letting me know that you are a new follower and leave a link to your blog.





Create a new Friendly Wednesday blog post on your own blog and be sure to use the button provided on the side bar so we can get more bloggers to join! The more blogs that join, the more fun it is for all of us!

Enter your information into the linkup below.

Follow all the other blogs you want. This is a great way to get more followers!

Friendly Wednesday will be posted once a week. Your link must be added every week so be sure to come back to linkup!

Tostadas

This meal comes together in about 10 minutes and is so tasty! I usually place all the toppings in bowls on the table that way everyone can build their own. A surprised me and added black beans to his! And then spent the whole dinner saying "mommy, know what? I like beans! I like beans!"  :)

You'll need:
tortillas (homemade - $0.20)
2 TBSP taco seasoning ($0.05)
1 lb ground beef  ($1.99)
black beans ($0.15)
spinach (free from garden)
tomatoes (free from garden)
shredded cheddar cheese ($0.20 - hubby uses a lot of cheese)
salsa (homemade - free from garden)
sour cream ($0.10)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake tortilla shells 5 to 7 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Brown hamburger. Add taco seasoning and cook for a few minutes longer, to blend flavors.  Load the tortilla with taco meat and your favorite toppings!

Total Meal Cost : $2.69

Giant Food Store Coupon Matchups 10/24-10/30

Here are the best deals and coupon matchups I see at Giant this week!


Perdue Oven Stuffer Roaster - $0.69/lb after in ad coupon (and $25 purchase)

FREE Italian Bread - after in ad coupon (and $25 purchase)

Pork Tenderloin - BOGO


Round Roast/London Broil - BOGO


Chicken Legs - $0.79/lb

California Red Seedless Grapes - $1.49/lb

Campbell's Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup - $0.50
$0.40/2 coupon (8/29 SS)
$0.10 each after coupon when you buy 2

Duncan Hines Cake Mix - $1

$0.75/1 coupon (9/26 SS)
FREE after coupon

Green Giant Boxed Vegetables - $1
$0.60/3 coupon (10/3 GM insert)
$0.60 each after coupon when you buy 3

Nestle Nesquik Milk - $1
$0.50/1 (8/1 RP)
FREE after doubled coupon

Quaker Chewy Granola Bars - $2
$1/2 coupon (9/19 RP)
$1.50 each after coupon when you buy 2

Heluva Good Dip - $1.50
$0.50/1 coupon
$0.50 each after coupon

Coffee-mate Creamers - $1.50
$0.75/1 coupon
FREE after doubled coupon

Healthy Choice Meals - $2
$1/2 coupon from (10-17 SS)
$1.50 each after coupon

Best Life Spreads $1.50
$0.50/1 Bestlife Buttery Spread or Spray, (10/17 RP)
$0.50 after doubled coupon

Libby’s Gourmet Vegetables $0.79

$1/3 Libby’s Canned Vegetables, (8/29 RP)
$0.46 each when you buy 3 after coupon

 Part of the becentsable Grocery Gathering

Meal Plan Monday 10/24

Last week, the meals turned out great! (Don't you love being able to say that? :) Hubby and I got another date night (thanks mom!) although this time we spent the evening at home watching Criminal Minds and playing Scrabble. :)
One of the highlights from last week was the Hot Dog Spaghetti. It was so good that we shared the last serving of leftovers for snack that night.

I also fixed something like Rotisserie Style Chicken that turned out amazing. I normally don't like Rotisserie Chicken, but this was so good. I made chicken stock and was planning on using the leftover chicken to make Smothered Chicken & Veggies another night, but I left the shredded chicken on the table [in a closed contatiner]. Parker knocked the container down and chewed on the lid until it opened. I guess ziploc isn't puppy proof.  ;) He had a tasty snack that day. And I got to use shredded turkey that I found in the freezer instead.

We also enjoyed apple crisp and homemade icecream every day this week. :)

The Tostadas were great. I fixed the tortillas in the oven instead of the skillet this time and it turned out wonderful! Look for that recipe, as well as the Smothered Chicken & Veggies Recipe this week!

This week we're eating:

Pizza (we went to Pizza Hut with the family)

Creamy Mexican Skillet *new*

Chicken Fajitas (carryover from last week)

Some kind of Roast - I found this in the freezer today and it's simply labeled "roast". I'm hoping it's a beef roast because I'm planning on fixing it with some carrots & potatoes. :)

Cheeseburgers

I'm thinking of trying these Carnitas with leftover roast for the filling.

Leftovers

What are you eating this week? I'd love to come check out your menu!

Make sure to check out 100's of other menus at OrgJunkie.com

Groceries This Week 10/23

So I didn't exactly stay out of the store for 2 weeks, but I did do darn good at what I got. I couldn't pass up the free Hungry Man at Giant for hubby. I thought we were out of rice, but turns out I had a box in the pantry. Ooops.

Giant:

I also got bananas, not sure where they were when I took this picture.

Total OOP: $ 3.17

CVS:

 The twix was a filler, I used a B1G1 coupon. :)

Total OOP: $0.24

Rite Aid:

 (the goldfish was a filler)

Total OOP: $ 0.49

Total for the week : $ 3.90

Total for the past two weeks : $ 49.67

Whew! $0.33 UNDER BUDGET! Woohoo!

It's Mega Swagbucks Day!

Need some extra cash? How about making money to surf the web! Seriously, it's that simple. Sign up for Swagbucks and get points when you search the web. Turn those in for prizes! My favorite prize is an Amazon.com Gift card!
Every Friday when you use Swagbucks to search the Internet you could win anywhere from 50-5000 Swagbucks! An $5 Amazon gift card is worth 450 Swagbucks. So get searching and earn some Swagbucks!

New to Swagbucks? Sign up HERE and get 30 Swagbucks just for signing up!

Don't forget to become a fan of Feeding Four on Facebook - I share Swagbucks codes there that are worth extra Swagbucks!

Lunch Box Ideas 10/20

Need some inspiration for your children's lunchbox? I will be sharing what I have packed in C's in the hopes that it will help you when you struggle! (C has school Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday, so I will be sharing 2 to 3 times a week)

Today he requested : whole wheat wrap with turkey, cheese, mayo and mustard, peaches, goldfish, raisins, marsh mellows, a whole apple, and a water bottle.

The peach juice leaked into the goldfish which is why he didn't touch the goldfish. Can you blame him? He ate everything else, no requests for a snack after school and he ate all of his dinner.

Home Made Apple Crisp

The boys and I picked a little more than 2 bushels of apples last week. We're down to a bushel and a half. I have made apple sauce, apple butter and apple crisp. YUM. The apple crisp I have been eating with homemade ice cream for breakfast and snack every day for the past week. :)

(photo credit - my camera is temporarily out of commission

and the photo my blackberry took is blurry)

Apple Crisp
You'll need:
3-5 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3/4 c. melted butter
1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. oats
3/4 c. flour
3 tsp. cinnamon plus 1 TBSP cinnamon (divided)

Mix apples and 1 TBSP cinnamon in a baking dish (any size will do, I use either an 8X8 or 9X13). Combine the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl. Crumble over the apples. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Serve topped with homemade ice cream or cool whip.

Hot Dog Spaghetti

When I posted our meal plan for this week, I got lots of interest in the Hot Dog Spaghetti. I have to be honest, I was interested in how it would turn out. Hubby has talked about this "dish" since we started dating. When he first moved out of his parents house, he had a very low grocery budget and virtually no cooking skills. Hot Dog Spaghetti was something he could fix himself that didn't bust his budget but still tasted good.

This "dish" is so easy to make and is a kid pleaser! Both my boys gobbled it up. When hubby warmed up the one serving that was left for a snack later, the boys ended up eating most of it. From the one bite I managed to grab, the leftovers tasted even better than the original.

You'll need:

hot dogs (I used 5 hot dogs for the 4 of us) $0.50

spaghetti noodles FREE

spaghetti sauce $0.45

oregano, garlic powder, & Italian seasoning - to taste $0.05

Cook hot dogs (I nuked them in the microwave). Cut them up into bite sized pieces. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti noodles as directed on package. Add spaghetti sauce and spices, warm over low heat until heated through. Add hot dogs and stir. Serve with homemade bread ($.50?).

Total Meal Cost : $1.50

Friendly Wednesday 10/20

Welcome to Feeding Four's Friendly Wednesday Blog Hop! I'm glad you're here!


Thank you to all the bloggers who linked up last week!

Please feel free to grab the button (located in the right side bar) and add it to your blog to get more bloggers to participate in the blog hop!!





How to Participate:

Follow the hostess - Feeding Four. If you want me to follow you back, please leave a comment letting me know that you are a new follower and leave a link to your blog.

Create a new Friendly Wednesday blog post on your own blog and be sure to use the button provided on the side bar.

Enter your information into the linkup below.

Follow all the other blogs you want. This is a great way to get more followers!

Friendly Wednesday will be posted once a week. Your link must be added every week so be sure to come back to linkup!

Lunch Box Ideas 10/18

Need some inspiration for your lunchbox? I will be sharing what I have packed in C's in the hopes that it will help you when you struggle! (C has school Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday, so I will be sharing 2 to 3 times a week)

My camera is out of commission at the moment, so there is no picture today. The picture from last week's lunch and today's lunch are on my camera. I just can't get them on my computer. :(

Anyway, for lunch today, C took : a turkey, ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread, homemade apple sauce, marsh mellows, a whole apple, a cheese stick, some pretzels and a water bottle.

It came home from school almost empty. He didn't eat the cheese stick or the apple sauce; and there was a few pretzels left.

Hopefully my camera and computer will repair their relationship and let my upload some pictures here soon!

Giant of PA Coupon Matchups 10/17

Here are the best deals and coupon matchups I see at Giant this week!

Giant Ground Beef $1.59/lb with in ad coupon (with a $25 purchase)
Giant Peeled Baby Carrots $.59 with in ad coupon (with a $25 purchase)

Giant Pepsi 2 Liter $.59 with in ad coupon (with a $25 purchase)


Giant Tote Bag Apples $.99/lb.
Maier’s Italian Bread $3.29 BOGO

Giant Split Chicken Breast, Drumsticks or Thighs $1.00/lb.


Giant 5 lb. White Potatoes or 3 1b. Yellow Onions BOGO

Contadina Tomato Paste, $0.50
$1/3 Contadina Product 9/26 RP
3 for $0.50 after coupon

Hungryman Dinner, $2

$2/1 Hungry Man Dinner
FREE after coupon

Hot Pockets, $2

$1/1 Hot Pockets SlideShots Sandwiches
$1 after coupon

Pepperidge Farm Garlic Bread, $1.99
$0.55/1 Pepperidge Farm Toast or Frozen Loaf Bread 10/17 SS
 $0.89 after coupon

El Monterey Tornados $2
$1/1 El Monterey All You Oct 2010
$1 after coupon

South Beach Snack or Cereal Bars, $2.50
$1/1 South Beach Living or Protein Fit Bars
$1.50 after coupon

Del Monte Tomatoes, $0.80
$1/5 Del Monte Product 9/19 RP
$0.60 each when you buy 5 after coupon

Good Earth Dinners, $2.99
$1/1 Good Earth Dinner Kit
$1.99 after coupon

Barilla Plus Pasta, $1.50
$1/1 Barilla Plus
 $0.50 after coupon

Del Monte Fruit naturals, $1
$1.00/2 Del Monte Fruit Naturals Cups 8/15 RP
$0.50 each when you buy 2 after coupon

Barilla Pasta Sauce, $1.67
$1.25/2 Barilla Pasta Sauce 8/29 SS
$1.04 each when you buy 2 after coupon

Green Giant Fresh Steamers $1.79
$0.40/1 Green Giant Frozen Bagged Vegetables, 9/12 GM
$.99 after coupon

San Giorgio Pasta $1.00

$0.55/1 San Giorgio Quick Cook Pasta, 10/3 SS
FREE after coupon

Theraflu $4.49

$2/1 Theraflu Max-D Severe Cold & Flu, 10/17 SS
$2.29 after coupon

Arm & Hammer Dryer Sheets (40 ct), $1
$1/2 Arm & Hammer Laundry Product 9/19 SS
$0.50 each when you buy 2 after coupon

Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner, $1.79
$0.50/1 Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner
$0.79 after doubled coupon

See any deals I missed? Leave them in the comments!

Tuesday Blog Hops

Welcome to my blog! These are the hops I am participating in today.




      

I hope you'll stay a while and have a look around. Maybe check out some recipes?

Mac & Cheese

Cheeseburger Soup

Ziti - minus the cottage cheese

Be sure to come back tonight to link up to my blog hop, Friendly Wednesday!

Progresso Soups Review & Giveaway

Choosing select Progresso® Reduced Sodium soups may help lower cholesterol² when eaten with other heart healthy, soluble fiber containing foods.

Progresso has made it even easier for you to stick to a heart healthy diet by adding a "May Help Lower Cholesterol" banner and the Heart Healthy logo on certain varieties of Reduced Sodium soups. Five Progresso Reduced Sodium favorites - Italian Style Wedding, Minestrone, Garden Vegetable, Beef and Vegetable, and Chicken Gumbo - contain hearty vegetables and legumes to provide 1g of heart healthy soluble fiber in every bowl. Progresso has introduced an all new soup - Tomato Parmesan Reduced Sodium - that has a unique blend of flavors in every bowl. This gives you many flavors to choose from - making it easier than ever for you to stick to your healthy diet!

Progresso sent us two of their reduced sodium soups - the Chicken Gumbo and Tomato Parmesan to try out for ourselves. They are quite good! They do not taste any different than the "regular" soups. When you're in a pinch and need a quick dinner that will fill you up for a while, soup is the way to go. Usually we make ours from scratch, but that takes some time. The other night we were running behind so I opened up the can of Chicken Gumbo. I made some bread to make it a dinner and it was a great quick and tasty meal! Hubby didn't even know it was out of a can until I told him. He didn't believe it could taste that good and be healthy for him!

One lucky reader will receive a prize pack that will include everything shown above. Two soups - Chicken Gumbo and Tomato Parmesan, a soup mug, and fitness ball with bag.

To Enter:

• Tell me one tip you have for helping to lower cholesterol through your food choices.
• Which variety of Progresso Reduced Sodium soup would you most like to try?
• Follow Feeding Four via RSS, Google Friend Connect, or E-mail. (If you are already a subscriber, just let me know!) (3 entries - leave 3 separate comments!)
• Like Feeding Four on Facebook
• Follow Feeding Four on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (leave a link in your comment)
• Grab *NEW* my button and add it to your sidebar or blog roll (3 entries) (top of the page)
• Blog about this giveaway. (Comment back here with the blog address so that your entry can be verified) (3 entries)
• Enter one of my other giveaways and let me know which one.
• Leave a comment telling me where you heard about this giveaway
• Like Progresso on Facebook - let them know Feeding Four sent you!

Every entry will be verified. If your entry can not be verified it will be deleted.


This giveaway ends on November 13th at midnight EST. I will pick a winner using Random.org. The winner will be notified via email and has 48 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, I will pick a new winner.
 
Thank you to Progresso who provided me with the product, information, and prize packs through MyBlogSpark for my review My opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

Meal Plan Monday 10/18

Last week the meals turned out so good! The bourbon chicken was amazing, as usual. The only draw back to that meal was the rice was mushy. We ended up going to my mom's house for dinner Friday night, she fixed lasagna and I made bread. That's one thing I miss about living at home - dinners with my family. Saturday night, hubby and I enjoyed a (much needed!) date night at Olive Garden (thanks mom!). It was made even better because we had a gift card that covered it. :) We haven't had meatloaf in months, so we were all glad that I found a ready to cook meatloaf in the freezer. C had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Pizza

Hot dog Spaghetti *new* (recipe coming Wednesday!)

Chicken Fajitas

Roast Chicken (in the crock pot ; carryover from last week)

Tostadas

Smothered Chicken & Veggies *new*

Leftovers

What are you eating this week? I'd love to come check out your menu!

Make sure to check out 100's of other menus at OrgJunkie.com

Mega Swagbucks Day!

Need some extra cash? How about making money to surf the web! Seriously, it's that simple. Sign up for Swagbucks and get points when you search the web. Turn those in for prizes! My favorite prize is an Amazon.com Gift card!

Every Friday when you use Swagbucks to search the Internet you could win anywhere from 50-5000 Swagbucks! An $5 Amazon gift card is worth 450 Swagbucks. So get searching and earn some Swagbucks!

New to Swagbucks? Sign up HERE and get 30 Swagbucks just for signing up!

Don't forget to become a fan of Feeding Four on Facebook - I share Swagbucks codes there that are worth extra Swagbucks!

Ziti - Minus the Cottage Cheese

So I told of my ziti tales on Monday. How I wanted to have ziti but had no cottage cheese. I improvised and created this new family favorite. It comes together in about 10 minutes - in less time if you have already cooked ground beef hiding in your freezer.

You'll need:

1 pound ground beef

1  can (at least 8 ounces) tomato sauce (I used homemade)

leftover macaroni and cheese (or 1 box made)

1 to 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tbsp oregano*

1 tbsp garlic powder*

1/2 tbsp Italian Seasoning*

*because I used homemade tomato sauce with no added spices, I added a lot here

Brown ground beef and drain. Combine beef, tomato sauce, macaroni and cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, and spices in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

WFMW - Fitting Blogging In Everyday Life

Life gets busy. There are a lot of things that need your attention - kids, pets, work, the hubby, dinner, dishes, laundry and lots of other things. Where in the world do you fit blogging in? At the end of the night, when I finally get the kids in bed all I want to do is grab a bowl of ice cream and watch my TV shows. But I love my blog. I love knowing that I'm helping people - even if it's just one or two people. So when there is a night that I have some extra energy to sit up on the computer for a little while, I will write up some extra posts. I will then click "post options" at the bottom of the text box and choose to schedule my post. I can pick any date and time and blogger will automatically publish my post!

Friendly Wednesday 10/13

Welcome to Feeding Four's Friendly Wednesday Blog Hop! I'm glad you're here!
Thank you to all the bloggers who linked up last week!

Please feel free to grab the button (located in the right side bar) and add it to your blog to get more bloggers to participate in the blog hop!!





How to Participate:

Follow the hostess - Feeding Four. If you want me to follow you back, please leave a comment letting me know that you are a new follower and leave a link to your blog.

Create a new Friendly Wednesday blog post on your own blog and be sure to use the button provided on the side bar.

Enter your information into the linkup below.

Follow all the other blogs you want. This is a great way to get more followers!

Friendly Wednesday will be posted once a week. Your link must be added every week so be sure to come back to linkup!

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

I finally found a macaroni and cheese recipe that our family has approved! It does take a bit longer than boxed mac and cheese does to make, but the end results are worth it.

You'll need:
1 lb macaroni
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups milk
1 and 1/2 cups extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cook macaroni according to package instructions. Drain and set aside. In the same pot you cooked the macaroni in, melt the butter, over low heat. Add flour and pepper; whisk into melted butter until smooth. Slowly add milk and whisk into butter mixture. Bring to boil and then simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup cheddar cheese and stir until cheese melts. Add macaroni and stir until coated. Pour into a baking dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.