Aunt Jemima: Breakfast Made from Scratch

March 19, 2013 By 1 Comment


Sunday wasn’t a normal Sunday for us. We are used to cooking for two families on Sundays and basing our afternoon on that. We didn’t have that task this past Sunday. Instead I played catch up on errands which included grocery shopping and meal planning for the week. We are JUST starting to get back to a routine around here after Brian’s multi-week bronchitis episode. After hours of errands and driving around on my own with three kids plus unpacking all of the groceries on my own, I realized it was dinner time. ugh. I didn’t plan dinner.

I decided breakfast for dinner was easy and I would make pancakes. I had to clean the kitchen to make pancakes though so I cleaned the kitchen. I was then too tired to make pancakes but what was I going to feed the kids? It was now past dinner time and I still had no food ready! Then I remembered buying Aunt Jemima Lil’ Griddles at Harris Teeter. Grace was so excited they had blueberry ones as that is her favorite kind of pancakes! 

I admit I wasn’t sure about them being in one big bag but it worked out well for feeding the kids in bulk like I did for dinner. What was the best part of this dinner (besides the kids cleaning their plates of course?) … the back of the Aunt Jemima Lil’ Griddles box! I loved the “Every batch made from scratch” message. That was my plan but it didn’t happen. Thankfully Aunt Jemima had a plan and had already made the pancakes for dinner this night! 

Oh and the kids, they were pretty happy with the idea of mini blueberry pancakes for dinner. Breakfast for dinner is one of their favorite dinners. To show her excitement for this new purchase, Grace has managed to have these pancakes every day this week so far. Now that she knows that there are Aunt Jemima Lil’ Griddles in her favorite blueberry variety, I think they will be a staple at our house and she wont’ have to wait for the special days I have blueberries and time to make pancakes from scratch!

 

Can Aunt Jemima’s breakfast from scratch help your morning schedule … or save your dinner? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Thank you to Aunt Jemima Frozen Breakfast for being a sponsor. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

 

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My Janaury Paleo Inspired Breakfast Norm

January 31, 2013 By 15 Comments

Brian and I tried out eating a paleo diet this January. We have decided we like the term paleo inspired as we did have a few non-paleo items during th months … like the cookies I would give in an eat one about once a week. But it made me think about eating out the cookies so it was a nice change for us. I was happy eating the one cookie instead of eating four of them … you know one each time you walked through the kitchen on a mission to do something else? Yeah that was what I used to do.

So this became a common breakfast for me … an wanna-be omelet with fruit and maybe half a glass of orange juice. Some days I would add in a turkey sausage and some days like this day I didn’t. (We really love the Jimmy Dean’s Turkey Sausage patties that Sam’s Club sells.)

Eggs. We at a lot of eggs in January. We need chickens now. I am only half kidding when I say that. When the kids get older, we may actually get chickens to have fresh eggs. We have the space but I just refuse to feed another person or animal right now. Anyway back to breakfast, I have to admit that it being January, I seriously missed my warm oatmeal and Grape Nut breakfast meals. It was especially hard to make Grape Nuts for little dude every other morning. (Doesn’t your three year old ask for Grape Nuts for breakfast?! No? Well this one does and I love that Grape Nuts is his favorite cereal.) I think that come February that I will give into a bowl of Grape Nuts but not every morning. I have learned that it doesn’t really take that much time to make my wanna-be omelet and still get a warm breakfast that will fill me up and that is a good thing.

Did you try a new way of eating in the new year? How did it go for your? Leave me a comment and let me know what you learned!

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Great Value Holiday Party Treats

December 9, 2012 By 9 Comments

December means lots and lots of holiday parties.  Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, any number of other winter holidays, or even December birthdays, providing treats for all of the celebrations can strain your budget in a month when presents alone can empty your wallet.

Thankfully, you have help!  Great Value refrigerated dough is here to the rescue once again.  You might remember us posting about some Great Value Thanksgiving goodies, but here are a couple of easy options for the holiday season that you could use in addition to the ones we’ve shown you before.

 

Great Value Cinnamon Roll “Cake”

In our house, we celebrate Christmas, or Jesus’ birthday.  Therefore, we celebrate with “Happy Birthday, Jesus!” signs and birthday cake.  This year, we decided to try out making a breakfast birthday cake out of Great Value refrigerated cinnamon rolls.  Really, this couldn’t be a simpler way to celebrate.  The center is lovingly gooey and poking holes into the “cake” lets the icing flow throughout the entire thing.  Cutting it into wedges means that the pieces separate in the greatest way as you eat it.  YUM!!

Ingredients

2 cans Great Value refrigerated cinnamon rolls
Really…that’s all!!

Directions

Grease a 9-inch round cake pan.  Place the rolls from one can around the edge.  You’ll fit about 7 around the edge and one in the middle.   Keep them pretty close, but not touching.  Place the rolls from the next can on top of the first set of rolls.  Place them where the bottom rolls meet and slightly closer to the center.  This will give the “cake” a little structure.

Bake according to package directions.

When you pull the rolls out of the oven, flip over onto a plate and then flip back over so that the top is face up.  Use a skewer to poke holes all throughout the “cake”.  Pour both icing containers over the top and spread evenly.  Cut into wedges and serve!

 

Great Value Frosted Cookie Bites

Sophie’s birthday is in December and, with all of the parties that she has (friends, grandparents, preschool, etc.), it’s nice to have something besides birthday cake for her party.  These little snacks are great two-bite treats that are sweet, chocolaty  and just cute as can be.  Oh, and most importantly, they are cheap and ohhhh so easy!  Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 package Great Value refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1 package frosting (I used a package of Duff Goldman Red Icing that I got at the Mixed Conference)

Directions

Cut the log into 24 approximately equal pieces (roughly one-inch slices cut in half).  Spray mini-muffin pan(s) with cooking spray.  Roll the pieces into little balls and place into pans.

Bake according to package directions.

Let cool for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.  Allow to cool completely before decorating.  Enjoy!!

 

For more great holiday recipes and budget friendly ideas, make sure you check out Great Value on Twitter:  #GreatValue

What are some great dishes that you’ve make using Great Value or other store brand refrigerated dough?  Leave us a comment and let us know!

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Great Value Goodies for the Thanksgiving Holiday

November 13, 2012 By 10 Comments

Thanksgiving holiday meals can get expensive pretty quickly if you aren’t careful.  The dinner itself needs lots of attention, but, if you are hosting family, you’ll want something for breakfast too.  Who wants to spend time making breakfast for a crowd when you know that you’ll just be spending the whole day making dinner?  Thankfully there are products out there to help!  Walmart’s Great Value refrigerated crescent rolls, biscuits, and pie crusts are some great shortcuts for making delicious dishes.

Before posting recipes for our readers, I always like to make sure that I try them out first.  In this case, I had a couple of events coming up that were perfect opportunities.  First, I had a Thursday evening Bible study that needed snacks.  Mini Pecan Pies fit that bill perfectly.  On Friday morning, I had a breakfast with a few guys from the church.  We meet every two weeks or so for breakfast and we all contribute a little something.  This time, I contributed Easy Monkey Bread and Breakfast Pigs in a Blanket.

Here are the recipes and some pictures of the prep.

Mini Pecan Pies

This recipe comes from my Great-Grandmother’s Pecan Pie recipe.  I love it, but so few people that I cook for really eat pecan pie.  In Louisiana, you had to make two pies just to barely meet demand.  You might not get all that you want, but everyone would get some.  In Central Virginia, we won’t even finish one.  I don’t know, maybe it’s just too gooey.  I’ve taken that yummy classic recipe and I reduced it down into a tasty two-bite treat.  The result is crunchy pecans floating in a slightly gooey and oh so sweet filling all wrapped up in crusty pie shell.  So delicious!

Ingredients

1 package of Great Value pie shells (you’ll use both shells)
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup Karo dark corn syrup
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Using a 2 1/2 inch ring, cut the pie shells into small discs (I got 40 rounds by keeping them close and rerolling the crust).  Push the discs into mini muffin tins and fill with approximately 1 Tbsp of pecans per shell.

Combine remaining ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir until well combined and bubbly.  Carefully pour syrup mixture into pie shells so that pecans are mostly covered.  Careful not to overflow the pie shells.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until filling has set (they will appear bubbly and inflated, but will settle as they cool).  This part just takes practice.  Either way they taste good…all the more reason to practice often!  Allow to cool in pan for about 5 minutes before attempting to remove.  Use a butter knife to turn around the edges until the pies release.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Serve with whipped cream and enjoy!

 

Breakfast Pigs in a Blanket

These are super easy and are all the better as a breakfast helper because they can be rolled out the night before and just tossed in the oven in the morning.  The maple sausage really makes this tasty without all of the morning mess of syrup.  If you do make ahead, make sure that you cover them with a towel before putting them in the fridge for the night.

Ingredients

2 cans of Great Value crescent rolls
16 pre-cooked maple flavored link sausages

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Roll sausages into individual crescent rolls.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Serve and enjoy!

 

Easy Make Ahead Monkey Bread

This was quite a leap of faith.  I wasn’t sure how the biscuits would work sitting overnight.  Let me tell you, these worked out way better than I could have imagined.  I wound up with this great extra cinnamon syrup that really helped keep the whole thing super moist.

Ingredients

2 cans Great Value jumbo biscuits
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

Cut each of the biscuits into 4 pieces.  Toss into a gallon-sized zip top bag with the white sugar and cinnamon until each of the biscuit pieces are well coated.  Seal the bag and place in the fridge overnight.

The next morning:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Pour all of the biscuits into a 12-cup tube or bundt pan.  Combine brown sugar and butter and pour evenly over the biscuits.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until all of the biscuits are cooked through.  The syrup should be goopy, but the biscuits should not be.

Allow to cool for just a few minutes before putting a plate on top of the pan and carefully inverting.  Tap the pan a few times until it drops onto the plate.

 

For more great holiday recipes and budget friendly ideas, make sure you check out Great Value on Twitter:  #GreatValue

What are some great dishes that you’ve make using Great Value or other store brand refrigerated dough?  Leave us a comment and let us know!

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Meatless Monday: Hashbrowns and Eggs

July 9, 2012 By 11 Comments

Next week, we are off on vacation.  That means that this week is all about using up the stuff that we have so that we don’t have to throw it out.  In this nation’s current economic situation, I think many of us are trying to find ways to use what we have.  When you can’t make any more, it becomes imperative to use and spend less.  Potatoes, onions, eggs, and bread can be gotten pretty cheap, particularly if you frequent those big box stores.  That’s just about all we used in this week’s recipe.  But don’t stop here.  Feel free to incorporate any leftover veggies into your hash.  Carrots, celery, zucchini, or even leftover greens would be a fabulous addition to our humble offering.

For Meatless Monday this week, we are keeping it super simple.  I just cut up about 10 baby red potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes (roughly) and boiled them in salted water, until slightly tender, but still a little tough, about 10 minutes.  Next, I diced up a medium yellow onion and minced two cloves of garlic.  I sauteed them over medium-high heat in some olive oil until translucent and added the drained potatoes.  I let that go for another 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally and adding plenty of salt and black pepper.  I served with an egg cooked over medium and a toasted roll.  The yolk from the egg drenched over the hash just works on so many levels.

 

How are you using your leftovers to stretch your dollar on Meatless Monday? Have a Meatless Monday experience, recipe, or request? Leave us a comment and let us know what you’re up to!

 

Meatless Monday, a national nonprofit public health initiative, is all about incorporating more vegetables and less meat into our diet. It’s about moderation, just one day a week, cutting down on meats high in saturated fat and increasing protein-rich plant-based foods — good for personal health and good for the planet.

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Honey Bunches of Oats

May 31, 2012 By 78 Comments

Details …

Honey Bunches of Oats has 10 grams of Whole Grain and 6 grams of sugar per serving. Honey Bunches of Oates Honey Roasted proved 9 essential vitamins and minerals!

Heart Healthy – Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and as low as possible in trans fat, may reduce the risk of heart disease.  Honey Bunches of Oats has:

  • 0 g Trans Fat
  • 0 g Saturated Fat
  • 0 mg Cholesterol

My Thoughts …

This cereal is know as a “daddy cereal” here in our house. It is one of the few cereals that I actually enjoy eating. Where Beth grew up eating cereal for breakfast almost every morning, that isn’t what I generally think of for breakfast. I found it hard to find a cereal I really liked as I am not big into sweet cereals (still weekend cereals to Beth) or the many that taste like cardboard. Honey Bunches of Oats has a sweetness to it but it isn’t like eating a bowl of sugar plus there is no cardboard taste. So yes, this is a daddy cereal and I am always thrilled when my kids ask for a bowl of my cereal to start their day as I know they getting a healthy start to their day!

We are excited to offer a giveaway to our readers! TWO (2) of our readers will each receive TWO (2) coupons for free boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats!

 

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New 2 Box Cheerios

May 22, 2012 By 59 Comments

What’s so exciting?

  • New 2 box Cheerios contains two individual boxes, making them easier to store and easier to pour!

Not to mention…

  • By reducing the amount of air in each individual bag, these enhanced containers fit 10% more cereal than before and use less packaging
  • While each box contains more cereal, packaging material has been reduced by over 200,000 lbs, saving 1,000 trees and taking 130 Cheerios trucks of the road, decreasing CO2 emissions

 

 

We love Cheerios at our house. I admit I don’t buy a lot of cereal at Sam’s Club (where we are members) because of the cereal box sizes. So I was thrilled to see this exact packaging at Sam’s Club on a recent trip there! I hope this packaging continues with other cereals as my cupboards just won’t hold those big boxes!

We are excited to offer one of our readers (2) new 2 box Cheerios packaging (four boxes)!

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Disclosure:  Cheerios® cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

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Friday Favorite: Grape Nuts

April 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Friday Favorites is another almost weekly feature here at Simply Budgeted. The whole point of this feature is to share some of our favorite finds. Anything is game. Food. Cleaning supplies. Kid stuff. Garden favorites. Recipes. Anything that I really like and want to randomly post about.

Reminder/Disclaimer/Whatever: Everything in Friday Favorites is something that we use and bought on our own.

 

Description …

Post Grape-Nuts is a 100% natural cereal made from natural whole-grain wheat with barley. Delicious whole-grain foods like Post Grape-Nuts (with 52g whole grain per serving)* provide naturally-occurring fiber (7g per serving) and nutrients that you need every day. But what truly makes this cereal unique? It’s the naturally-sweet, unique crunch baked into each and every one of those tiny nuggets!

Our Thoughts …

This is probably a lame Friday Favorite in many’s opinion but Grape Nuts are a staple at our house. Two of our three kids will fight me for my bowl of Grape Nuts if they see I have one. The other kiddo enjoys them but doesn’t run up and try to steal my spoon!

Now we always eat our Grape Nuts warm. You can add water and “cook” them in the microwave or add boiling water and just stir. Oh and I love to add a dash of brown sugar too.

Coupons and sales for Grape Nuts are super rare so this one of the few items I buy at Walmart on a regular basis. The Post Grape Nuts website actually has several recipes that use Grape Nuts so I will have to add these to my ever growing recipes to try list!

Have you ever had Grape Nuts? Leave us a comment and let us know!

 

 

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Meatless Monday: Quinoa Pancakes

September 6, 2011 By 10 Comments

Meatless Monday is a day late this week (hey, it has been a hectic couple of weeks around this household, plus it was Labor Day!).  We are still on a bit of a quinoa kick, so we were looking for something interesting to do with it.  I came across this recipe for quinoa pancakes from Everyday Food, one of Martha Stewart’s magazines, and I just knew that I had to try it out.

The great thing about these is that they are pancakes (I mean, who doesn’t love a good pancake), but they are pancakes that are full of all of the goodness of of quinoa.  So lots of nutrients, protein, fiber, etc and the kids eat them all up.  I made some silver dollar sized ones and our three kids ate three pancakes each!  I was worried that there wouldn’t be enough for me!

Now, I love breakfast for dinner.  It was something that I grew up having from time to time and every now and then I have to get back to those roots.  It being Meatless Monday, I couldn’t start adding bacon or sausage to the meal.  So, to up the breakfast quotient a bit, I had to add a couple of eggs.  Now, before the Meatless Police gets on me here, eggs are not really a meat until Mr. Rooster comes along.  I also know that conditions at the big egg farms are deplorable.  I do know, however, that you can get fresh local eggs from very humane farmers.  If the idea of eating eggs turns you off, don’t eat them.  The pancakes will be fine all by themselves.  All of that having been said, for me, eggs are healthy, rich, and tasty and they certainly add to the pancake experience.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe reprinted from the Martha Stewart site without their permission (if you see it down all of a sudden, you’ll know that I got a “nasty-gram” from some corporate types).

Quinoa Pancakes

Quinoa Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa or brown rice
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus more for skillet
1/4 cup low-fat milk
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, plus more for serving
Fresh fruit or fruit preserves (optional), for serving

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together quinoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together egg, egg white, butter, milk, and syrup until smooth. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and whisk to combine.

Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle with butter and heat over medium-high. Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls into skillet. Cook until bubbles appear on top, 2 minutes. Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside, 2 minutes. Wipe skillet clean and repeat with more melted butter and remaining batter (reduce heat to medium if overbrowning). Serve with maple syrup and fresh fruit or preserves if desired.

I hope you enjoy these!  I know that we did.  Tell what you use to top these.  We used syrup like we normally would for pancakes, but surely we can be a bit more interesting.  Any ideas?  Let us know!

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Fiber One 80 Calories Cereal

August 18, 2011 By

I am excited to work on this review with General Mills and MyBlogSpark!

The wait is over – brand new Fiber One 80 Calories cereal is on store shelves now! Each crunchy wheat and corn puff square in every bowl of Fiber One 80 Calories cereal has a light honey flavor – a delicious way to start your day. Fiber helps satisfy your hunger and helps you feel full, making it a great tool to help manage your weight.

  • With 40 percent of the Daily Value of fiber in one 80 calorie serving, Fiber One 80 Calories cereal can help curb your hunger, which can help you stick to your weight loss plan.
  • With great-tasting Fiber One 80 Calories cereal, there is a new breakfast option that helps you feel satisfied without sacrificing flavor

 

I was sent a gift pack that included:

  • 1 box of Fiber One 80 Calories Cereal
  • 1 sensor pedometer with USB connector to chart walking progress
  • 1 neoprene iPod/smartphone holder with arm strap

This is a great get healthy gift pack to introduce you to Fiber One 80 Calories cereal. I wasn’t sure how this cereal would taste. Brian tried it first and said it was really good. I still wondered if he was waiting for me to try it tell me what he really thought. The morning I ate it, Little Dude saw me getting breakfast. If he sees me eating a bowl of cereal, that is his cue to have me share my bowl of cereal with him. This means that I get half of my bowl of cereal and he gets the other half. I though I might be safe with this cereal as maybe he wouldn’t like it. HA! He loves it. I do too. It is really tasty and filling at the same time. I wonder why I thought it might not be good because I love other Fiber One products like their granola bars and brownies!

I am excited I have been offered the opportunity to offer one of my readers a Fiber One 80 Calories gift pack!

This drawing will end Thursday, September 1st at 11:59pm EST.  The winner will have 48 hours to reply with their address. You must include your email address in the comment form so you can be contacted if you are a winner!  You must complete the Mandatory Entry for the additional entries to count.

This giveaway is open to US residents!!!

So how do you enter?

Mandatory Entry: Why do you want to try Fiber One 80 Calorie cereal? (keep it simple!)


Additional Entries:
1) Follow us on Facebook HERE. Worth two entries so leave two comments here! (Psst … we love comments on Facebook so maybe you can leave us one!)
2) Follow SimplyBudgeted AND This_Cookin_Dad on Twitter. Leave a comment with your twitter name. (worth 5 entries!)
3) Tweet about this giveaway with this tweet:

RT #Win a Fiber One 80 Calories cereal gift pack @simplybudgeted http://bit.ly/rncsQt #giveaway #cereal #myblogspark ends 9/1

Leave a comment with the URL for your tweet. (One Tweet per day until end of giveaway!!)
4) Follow us publicly through the Google Friends Connect on the footer. Leave a comment with your name that you subscribe with.
5) Subscribe to the daily email here at Simply Budgeted. It is at the top of the sidebar!;) Leave a comment. (worth 5 entries!)
NOTE: I was sent a gift pack in support this review by General Mills through MyBlogSpark. No other compensation was received. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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