After dinner, I'm more apt to pull out some cookies or scoop some ice cream for the kids if they want a treat. I do like to bake and make desserts, but I just don't think to do it all that often (which I suppose isn't necessarily a bad thing for my waistline!) For this month's Breaking out of the Dinner Rut feature, I wanted to come up with a dessert recipe to help you turn an ordinary day into an extra special one. I knew I wanted a delicious and "pretty" recipe, but one that would be quick and easy to make. I perused Grocery Outlet's aisles for a little inspiration .... something fun, unique.... And then I found this:

 

 

Danish Wedding Cookies for $1.49! I can't say that I've seen these anywhere else, but I have seen them a few times now at Grocery Outlet and have been curious to try them. And what could be more fun than eating a cookie supposedly reserved for a wedding in a foreign country? I definitely had to take these home. Here's what they looked like, upon opening:

 

 

Yes, they were good. VERY good. Kind of like a little chocolate chip cookie surrounded by a sugary coated goodness. I decided I should continue to eat a few more while I came up with a recipe....

 

 

After some pondering, I decided to trifle these cookies. Now, I've never made a trifle before, but I have eaten a trifle! It's kind of a lasagna of desserts, because you layer fruit, pudding, and usually cake. But instead of cake, we're going to use the Danish Wedding Cookies. Ingredients: 16 Danish Wedding Cookies, chopped 1 package instant vanilla pudding, prepared to package directions 1 banana, sliced thinly Fresh berries (I used blueberries) Whip cream Mint leaves and additional cookies for garnish (optional) Makes enough for 1 regular trifle dish or 2 pint-sized Mason jars Start by gathering all your ingredients. I made the mistake of putting the pudding together only to realize it sets very fast and I was not ready. Don't be like me. Get everything set and ready to go!

 

 

Now I don't own a trifle dish, and it seemed rather silly to go out and buy one! So I came up with the idea of using Mason jars. I think wine or margarita glasses or clear mugs would work well, too. Be creative and don't feel that you can't do this recipe if you don't have a trifle dish. Start by putting in four crushed cookies in the bottom of each pint-sized jar.

 

 

Next, top with a good dollop of the vanilla pudding, a few sliced bananas, some whipped cream, and a few berries.

 

 

Very simply, you'll repeat these layers, in the same order: four crushed cookies, the pudding, bananas, whipped cream, and berries. Allow to set in your fridge for about 3-4 hours.

 

 

Just before serving, top with the garnish of your choice! I opted for a fresh sprig of mint from my garden and another Danish Wedding Cookie. I would think fresh shaved chocolate would also be delightful. This dessert is exactly the kind of thing I want to eat in the evening out on the deck after a long day.

 

 

This dessert sure looks fancy, but would you believe I only spent $4.27 on the ingredients I needed to make it? (I already had the milk, berries, and mint at home.) The best news is you don't have to wait around for a Danish Wedding to enjoy this pretty dessert. Bon appetit!

Download just the recipe by clicking here: Danish Wedding Cookie Trifle Recipe

For more ideas, check out my other posts for this series:

• Cactus Tacos
• Sundried Tomato Pesto Chicken Stuffed Manicotti
• Stuffed Pasilla Peppers
• Asian Mung Bean Salad

Make sure to come back next month for another fun installment!

Angela Russell blogs at The Coupon Project, a site that encourages families to live well for less. She lives in Tacoma, Washington with her firefighter husband and two small kids. In her spare time, she likes to read, garden, and has recently taken up canning.

 

 

I recently happened upon a different item at my local Grocery Outlet store and I knew instantly that I had to bring it home for a fun dinner creation.....

 

 

Organic Sprouted Mung Beans for $2.99. Now I'm definitely familiar with bean sprouts, but not sprouted mung beans. I flipped over the package and it read:

These tiny fresh-tasting beans have a rich creamy texture and nutty-sweet taste.

Suggested uses included salads, pilafs, soups, purees, and sandwiches. Turns out, these are quite nutritious too! One serving (1/4 cup dry) contains 7 grams of dietary fiber and a whopping 10 grams of protein. It's also high in iron and vitamin C and low in fat. I'm thinking this would be a wonderful superfood for vegetarians to explore!

 

 

I decided to try these sprouted mung beans for the first time in an Asian-inspired salad. Today's recipe is quick, easy, and delicious! It's enough for 2 large servings, or 4 sides.

Ingredients:

Salad
1 cup dry mung beans
2 cups mixed salad greens
couple sprigs cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup chopped sweet peppers

Dressing (from Once Upon a Chef's Asian Slaw recipe)
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
small piece of ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
dash sea salt

Start by prepping your mung beans. Add 1 cup of dry beans to 3 cups of boiling water. Let boil for 5 minutes before removing from heat, covering, and allow to set 4-8 minutes.

 

 

While my mung beans were rehydrating, I got to work on the rest of the salad. I found some lovely salad ingredients at my Grocery Outlet store yesterday - organic baby kale, organic mixed Romaine, a big bag of sweet mini baby peppers for just $3.99, and a bunch of fresh cilantro.

 

 

Have you ever tried these peppers? If not, I recommend them! They are perfect for dipping in hummus, slicing on sandwiches, or great when your recipe just calls for a little bit of pepper.

 

 

Prepare your dressing by mixing all the ingredients listed above and stirring. This is one of my very favorite Asian dressings I've come across on the web, and I make it often. Incidentally, I found a 1 lb bag of ginger at my Grocery Outlet for $1.99 and the garlic for $0.33 each. If you can't use up all the ginger before it goes bad? Consider chopping and freezing leftover portions or making ginger tea!

 

 

By now, your mung beans should be cooked and your salad ready to assemble! Toss the greens in the dressing, top with the peppers, scoop on some mung beans and sprinkle on the cilantro. I did have a decent amount of the prepped mung beans leftover, so I will refrigerate them to use in another recipe in the next day or so.

 

 

The warm mung beans added a nice touch to this salad - and they had such a mild, pleasing flavor! I could see how well they'd work on any number of recipes. While researching their use for this post, I also learned that some people even enjoy turning them into a cake! Now how would that be for a nutritious alternative for your kids?

If you're looking for new, fun ingredients to make cooking fun again without breaking the bank? You need to visit Grocery Outlet!

For more ideas, check out my other posts for this series:

• Cactus Tacos
• Sundried Tomato Pesto Chicken Stuffed Manicotti
• Stuffed Pasilla Peppers

Make sure to come back next month for another fun installment!

Angela Russell blogs at The Coupon Project, a site that encourages families to live well for less. She lives in Tacoma, Washington with her firefighter husband and two small kids. In her spare time, she likes to read, garden, and has recently taken up canning.

 

 

I always find unusual and inspiring ingredients at my Grocery Outlet. This helps me avoid the much-dreaded "dinner rut" and keeps my meals fresh and fun. Recently, I found this item on my Grocery Outlet store shelf:

 

Hmmmm. Jarred tender cactus.

I can't say that has ever graced my dinner table and I think it was just the ticket to keeping my menu creative this week. At $1.79 for a large jar, it would hardly break the bank to give it a go! That's another thing I adore about Grocery Outlet - I get to try new ingredients, but without having to spend a small fortune!

I did a little research, and it turns out this can be a pretty versatile ingredient. You can serve it as is, use it on salads, incorporate it into Tex-Mex dishes, or toss it with beans and rice for a side dish. I decided to try it a couple different ways. But first, I was super curious about the smell and taste...

 

Time to pop the lid!

The smell was totally pleasant. It reminded me of a cross between jarred chilis and green beans. I was excited to give it a try! I decided to do a spin on tacos with the cactus. You could use chicken or pork, but I opted for a pound of thinly cut ribeye steak that I picked up at Grocery Outlet for $7.

 

Here are the ingredients you'll need to complete this recipe:

• 1 lb thin steak, such as ribeye or flank steak
• 1 tbsp cumin
• ground pepper
• 1 cup prepared salsa (your choice)
• 1 cup jarred cactus
• cilantro, to taste
• corn tortillas

Start by rubbing the steak with the cumin and ground pepper. Then top with the salsa. I had a verde salsa on hand, so that's what I used. Cover and allow to marinate in your refrigerator for an hour (or more!).

 

Preheat your broiler when you're ready to assemble the tacos.

How long you will cook the steak depends on two things: 1) the thickness, and 2) your preferred "done-ness" level. I personally have come to enjoy mine just slightly pink, so the meat remains tender. This steak was pretty thin, so I found broiling for 4 minutes on each side (8 minutes total) was perfect. I would encourage you to start with less time on the timer versus more. You can always cook a steak more (but not the other way around).

While your steak is cooking, drain and rinse your cactus.

I then warmed my cactus in a skillet. I didn't add any extra oil or seasoning, but I suppose you could do that if you wanted to. I wanted to enjoy the flavor on its own this time. If you are feeling creative, you might add garlic, peppers, beans, onion, or jalapenos at this point, too.

Here is my steak resting after being broiled. I let it sit on this cutting board for about 5 minutes before cutting it in thin strips across the grain. These two things will help keep your steak nice and tender. (Just like the sliced tender cactus, right?)

Assembling the taco is pretty easy: add some steak strips to the middle of a warmed corn tortilla and layer on the cactus. I topped with plenty of cilantro.

 

This recipe was delicious! (Yes, I did manage to down BOTH of the tacos pictured above for dinner.) Except for the time spent marinating your steak, it takes relatively short time to cook and put together too.

If you feel you always make the same tacos with plain old ground beef, sour cream, and flour tortillas, try this cactus version instead! And here's a bonus idea for you:

Quesadillas!

The next time you find yourself in a dinner rut, explore the shelves of your local Grocery Outlet store. You might just find some unusual, fun, or inspiring ingredient to get you excited about creating meals again. In case you missed them, you might want to check out the meals I've previously shared for this series:

• Stuffed Pasilla Peppers
• Sundried Tomato Pesto Chicken Stuffed Manicotti

Make sure to come back next month for another fun installment!

 

Angela Russell blogs at The Coupon Project, a site that encourages families to live well for less. She lives in Tacoma, Washington with her firefighter husband and two small kids. In her spare time, she likes to read, garden, and has recently taken up canning.

 

 

It can be so easy to grab for the same ingredients to make the same recipes over and over, can't it? That's why I love hunting for interesting foods at Grocery Outlet. They can help keep me from getting in those dinner ruts! Last month, you might recall how I discovered these pasilla peppers at my local Grocery Outlet store and used them to put a spin on traditional stuffed peppers. This month, I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful new Maple Valley store in Washington and did I ever find some delicious treats!

 

They had beautiful organic pasta for just $1.50. I rarely venture beyond plain old spaghetti (and maybe penne when I'm in a mood!), largely due to the cost. Sure, it would be fun to try some new pasta - but who wants to spend $4 or $5 a bag? Not this gal! But $1.50? Now I'm game to change things up at the dinner table a bit! I decided to poke around and see what else I could find to put together a fun new pasta creation.

 

 

Check out these beautiful pesto varieties: garlic galore; basil, garlic & sundried tomatoes; and bail & garlic. I decided to pick up the basil, garlic & dried tomatoes. After that, I decided to see what I could find in the cheese section to complete my meal.

 

 

If you like cheese of any kind, you really need to make Grocery Outlet your stop. Check out these tubs of shredded Asiago, Romano and Parmesan cheese - all for just $1.99 each. I've seen similar tubs for $4 or more at other stores! It's all good quality stuff, too.

Taking my Grocery Outlet ingredients, I decided to do a spin on this beautiful Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells recipe I discovered a couple weeks ago. Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients: 1 package manicotti
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded (optional: plus more for garnish)
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cubed and cooked
1 package cream cheese (I opted for fat free)
1/2 cup sundried tomato pesto (OR other pesto of your choosing)
Fresh ground pepper & salt, to taste
2 tsp minced garlic
1-tsp fresh chopped Italian parsley (optional: plus more for garnish)
One batch Bechamel Sauce

Start by making your filling. Place the cream cheese in a bottom of a mixing bowl and add the garlic.

Next: the pesto! I was really excited to give this a whirl. You can mix it to your taste, and I wanted a really pesto-y taste, so I ended up adding about 1/2 of this container.

Add the cooked, cubed chicken. Make sure the pieces are not too large, because you are going to be stuffing your pasta. If you would prefer, you could omit the chicken for a vegetarian take on this recipe. OR, you could swap Italian sausage for the chicken for a different flavor combination.

Mix in 1/4 cup Parmesan, freshly ground pepper, salt, and a good measure of fresh chopped parsley. If you wish, you could add some other Grocery Outlet cheeses into the mix! I think a little mozzarella would be rather tasty.

Mix it all together. This might not look pretty, but trust me - take one whiff and you'll be wanting to just spoon it right out of the bowl like this! Heavenly!

At this point, I set aside my filling mix to chill while I worked on cooking my pasta and prepping the Bechamel Sauce. Here's one more look at the beautiful organic pasta I ended up with:

I cooked the entire package until al dente in salted water. While the pasta cooked, I made the sauce. Now, I'd never made a Bechamel sauce, but I figured - why not? The whole idea is to get out of a rut, try something new!

To make the sauce, I followed this recipe at Epicurious. Turns out, I had everything I needed in my fridge already and it took mere minutes. Easy peasy!

You can get the full details at Epicurious, but it basically involves melting butter, adding a little flour and watching it bubble, adding hot milk, waiting for it to thicken and seasoning with salt and pepper. Really, really easy.

At this point, you should have the filling, the pasta, and the sauce done. It's time to assemble! I started by adding a small portion of Bechamel to the bottom of a baking pan, to prevent sticking. My manicotti was a "mini" version, so I found roughly 2 tablespoons of the filling did the trick. I worked to get two pieces of chicken into every noodle.

Here are all my manicotti noodles nearly ready for the oven!

I topped with the Bechamel, making sure to cover each noodle evenly and topped with a little more Parmesan for good measure. Then I popped this dish into a 350° oven for about 20 minutes.

The finished product! Yes, this dinner took a little more time, but I promise, it's worth the effort! Delicious!

Serve with plenty of fresh green salad and maybe a loaf of crusty Italian bread or garlic breadsticks. This recipe should serve 4-6, depending on appetites.

If you've been in a dinner rut, can I recommend paying a stop to your local Grocery Outlet? I guarantee you'll find some new ingredients to jazz up your meal plan this week without breaking the bank. Make sure to come back next month and see what new creation I've come up with. If you missed it, check out my Stuffed Pasilla Peppers recipe from last month, too.

With thanks to What's Cookin, Chicago? and Epicurious for today's recipe inspiration.

Angela Russell blogs at The Coupon Project, a site that encourages families to live well for less. She lives in Tacoma, Washington with her firefighter husband and two small kids. In her spare time, she likes to read, garden, and has recently taken up canning.

 

 

It can be really easy to get stuck in a dinner rut, can't it? We stock our pantries and refrigerators with the same items, gravitate to the same recipes, and plan our meals around the same foods.

Over the next several months, I'd like to show you how Grocery Outlet can help you get out of a rut and get inspired to create beautiful meals that won't break the bank. Unlike other stores, you never truly know what you're going to find at Grocery Outlet! I like to think of it a bit like treasure hunting. So what better place to visit to find creative ingredients that will get your imagination going?

Yesterday, I visited my South Tacoma store and found this beautiful bag of pasilla peppers for just $1.49. They sold them individually for $0.50, but the bag of four was a better bargain (works out to $0.37 each).

Now I'd never cooked with these before, but the price was right and I was completely intrigued. How could I use this ingredient to make a delicious meal? I was determined to find out.

After a little hunting on the internet, I learned that I could stuff them - much as you would green bell peppers. I loved the idea of a Mexican-inspired stuffed pepper recipe!

Here's what you'll need to recreate my stuffed Pasilla Pepper recipe (serves 4):

• 4 Pasilla Peppers, cleaned and whole
• 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, undrained (fire-roasted would work well, too!)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup onion
• 1-2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tbsp cumin
• salt, to taste
• freshly chopped cilantro, to taste (I used about 1/4 cup)
• 1 1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese (or Monterey Jack)
• freshly chopped tomatoes, sour cream, etc. to serve (optional)

The first step is to broil your peppers. This took about 10 minutes and I flipped them every 2-3 minutes. They will start to char up, and this is OK!

When done, allow to sit and cool for a few minutes until you can handle them without burning yourself. While waiting, you can prepare your filling.

Start by sautéing the onion in a little olive oil. Once the onions turn translucent, add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.

At this point, I added the can of tomatoes, the can of black beans, cumin, and salt. I let the mixture simmer for a couple more minutes.

Next, I added the cup of frozen corn and cooked for another couple minutes, until everything was warm. Finally, I added the chopped cilantro. I like a lot of cilantro flavor, so I went with about 1/4 cup, but of course, any of these seasonings could be done to taste.

By this point, your peppers should be cool enough to handle. Very carefully, make a small triangular slit just below the stem. Then, remove the stem and the seeds. Take care with the seeds and make sure to wash your hands immediately after! You do not want to forget and then rub your eyes after working with them (speaking from experience here!).

You can also remove the charred parts quite easily at this point.

Continue the process for all four peppers. This took me several minutes to complete.

Now it's time to stuff these babies. Just prior to stuffing, I added 1/2 cup of the cheese into the mix. I don't know about you, but I like cheese mixed through, not just on top. Make sure to stuff the entire pepper. A regular tablespoon did the trick for me!

Finally, top with more cheese and bake in a 350° oven for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Serve and enjoy immediately!

I have to say, I loved this recipe. I had a second helping and it got two thumbs up from my husband. It was a nice spin on the traditional green peppers and would definitely spice up your meal plan this week.

While I was preparing it, it occurred to me you could easily create variations to suit your diet, tastes, and/or what you have on hand. Here are a few other ideas I came up with for the stuffing ingredients:

• Rice
• Quinoa or other whole grain(s)
• Ground meat (I would think chorizo would be excellent!)
• Dairy-free by omitting the cheese or using a vegan "cheese"
• Mexican-style cheese, such as Cojita (see what your Grocery Outlet has in stock!)
• Different vegetables - squashes, bell peppers, tomatillos

I hope I've inspired you to check out your local Grocery Outlet and see what new and interesting ingredient you can find to help get you creating in the kitchen this week!

Have you ever cooked with pasilla peppers? What have you found at Grocery Outlet recently that surprised you?

With thanks to Tasty Kitchen, City Mama, and  SparkRecipes for today's recipe inspiration.

Angela Russell blogs at The Coupon Project, a site that encourages families to live well for less. She lives in Tacoma, Washington with her firefighter husband and two small kids. In her spare time, she likes to read, garden, and has recently taken up canning.

by Amy Sherman, of Cooking with Amy

The holidays mean friends, family and, of course, food. Lots of food.

While it may seem like a lot of cooking, many holiday dishes can become the base for great meals the day after the holiday and all weekend long. Best of all, you’ll be saving money and trips to the grocery store too.

Instead of a cold turkey or ham sandwich, I like grilled cheese sandwiches with ham or turkey. These versions don’t feel like leftovers, but something special that everyone will enjoy. With people stopping by to drop off gifts and visit, it’s nice to have something warm on the stove to serve. Split pea soup or turkey rice soup are warm and soothing and can be served for lunch or a light supper. For bigger appetites, serve soup and a sandwich.

 

 

Shopping at Grocery Outlet, you will find lots of special ingredients that can help add pizzazz to your holiday meals without adding a lot of expense, whether you are serving a holiday meal or dressing up leftovers. To make a festive holiday salad, I used a pomegranate that was only 69 cents and some roasted salted pepitas, which were also a great buy. While there is a lot of rich food at the holidays, look for dried fruit, nuts and pies on sale.  They are all wonderful choices for dessert and will give your holiday table a traditional feel—all while saving you money.

We like to partner with local chefs and experts to illustrate how you can use the bargains you find at Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in your everyday life.  We've been honored to work with Sam the Cooking Guy, whose take on easy, affordable cuisine is one we greatly admire.

A little about Sam
Sam Zien, known as Sam the Cooking Guy, is a Canadian-born television cook (not a classically trained chef) and author, based in San Diego, California. His show, Sam the Cooking Guy, started on local television stations before moving to a Fox affiliate and thence to Discovery Health. He has won multiple Emmy awards, including one for an episode on Jewish cuisine. Zien started his television career doing travel shows, but reconsidered after the World Trade Center attack. in the decade following Zien has taken his television cooking show on the road, producing multiple shows across the world in places like Hong Kong, Fiji, New Zealand and Vancouver. (from Wikipedia.  For more about Sam, check out his bio here.)

Source: Sam the Cooking Guy

Grocery Outlet
Sam agreed to partner with us in launching our East Village San Diego location.  He cooked for a couple of events we hosted at that store, and in the process, created these five videos for us about the amazing values he found at Grocery Outlet, checking out the deals by scanning them on his phone.  He even made some spicy steak and corn soft tacos.  Check out our videos below for more.

Sam the Cooking Guy - Introduction

Sam the Cooking Guy - Prices

Sam the Cooking Guy - NOSH (Natural, Organic, Specialty, Healthy)

Sam the Cooking Guy - Wine & Beer

Sam the Cooking Guy - Sam Cooks Spicy Steak and Corn Soft Tacos

Thank you Sam, for showing us you can make a healthy and delicious dinner easily and inexpensively, by shopping and saving at Grocery Outlet!

A 12-Month Series by Guest Blogger Julia Wessels, from The Frugal Find

If you're sending kids to school, likely you're making the decision between hot lunches at school or sending a cold lunch.  We have four kids all in school this year and a hot lunch costs $2.50 x 4 that's a whopping $10 a day!  I've talked before about our ENTIRE family grocery budget being only $75/week.  This would seriously eat into our budget so the decision for our family was an easy one to make.

 

Of course, finances aren't the only factor that plays into sending a lunch with our kids to school.  Knowing they'll actually EAT the food I send with them is even more important.  I wanted to share a few examples of lunches we send with our kids each day.  First of all, we invested in a few containers with snug lids to put inside their lunch boxes so that we could cut back on the cost of Ziploc bags.  I also scoured local thrift stores and found a few Thermos containers so that I could send hot lunches from time to time.  Sending hot lunches is a great way to stretch your budget if you have leftovers from dinner.  For example, today my daughter is taking a bowl of White Bean Chicken Chili to school today—I think that beats a PB&J any day!

Cost of food varies greatly from state to state, but I think you'll find that hands-down, eating at home (or prepared at home) food is always cheaper.

Here are just a few ideas to get you thinking about creative (and frugal!) lunchbox meals:
Bagel & Cream Cheese
Homemade Uncrustables (PB&J or Grilled Cheese)
Salami, Cheese, and Crackers - substitute ham, turkey, etc
Peanut Butter and Apple "Sandwiches"
Homemade Pumpkin Muffins
Soups and Chilis

 

There are also a few tools that make packing lunches a breeze for me.  The first one is the Apple Wedger which works great for pears too! When packing hot liquid lunches (soups, etc) the Thermos Leak Proof Stainless Steel Food Container is a must!  Of course if you're packing a cold lunch and actually want it to stay cold you'll need a couple Blue Ice Packs.  Also as I mentioned above, a good set of plastic containers are very useful and in the end will help you to save money by cutting out Ziploc bags. I like The Container Store Klip-It Lunch Cubes but there are many different products on the market, the key is to make sure they don't leak especially if you're putting fruit or yogurt into the containers.

Lastly, I thought I'd share one of my family's favorite recipes: Homemade Granola Bars!  They're actually very simple to make and a lot heartier (and healthier) than your average Quaker granola bars. This recipe comes from my friend Sumiko who blogs at Near to Nothing.  She guest posts on The Frugal Find each week in our From Our Pantry on a Budget series!

Granola Bars
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 to 3/4 Cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ*
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup mix-ins (see below)
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix-ins:
Dried cranberries
Chocolate chips or peanut butter chips
1/2 Cup peanut butter (plus some chocolate chips, of course!)
Nuts
Dried fruits (apples, bananas, cherries, blueberries, etc.)
Pretty much anything your heart desires!

 

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 baking pan and set aside. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; pour wet ingredients into well.  Mix until combined, then spread into the prepared pan. Using your hands, press it evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until they begin to turn brown around the edges. Cut bars while still warm then cool completely. Store in an air-tight container or zip-top bag.

A 12-Month Series by Guest Blogger Julia Wessels, from The Frugal Find

Could you feed your family on a $4 per person per day budget?  For some, that might seem impossible; for others, that would be an increase in their current budget.  I'll share our personal budget in a bit more detail shortly, but I wanted to touch on what the Grocery Outlet executive team is doing this month.  They're each adopting the $4/day challenge for themselves personally and sharing their stories here on the Bargainista Blog.

 

 

So when Grocery Outlet asked me to take on this challenge—as serious as it is—Mr. Frugal and I did chuckle a bit.  We wondered who would be sending us the extra $93 for that week's budget.  You see, for our family of 6 (2 adults and 4 elementary-aged children) our budget is $75 - $100 per week.  That is right around $2 per person per day.  I'm sure you're wondering just how we're able to accomplish this.  You may assume we eat processed food, indulge on the $1 menu at fast food joints, and subside on the cheapest white bread we can find.  However, it's actually quite the opposite here in our home. Let me try to explain how we manage this budget but giving you a peek into 6 different ways we save money on a weekly basis.

1. Stock up when prices are low. I practice the stock pile method of buying several weeks/months worth of an item when it’s at it’s rock bottom price so I never have to pay retail. While also always staying within our weekly grocery budget. The way we shop means that we may not have a certain item in the house for a long time, if it’s not on sale – but when I find it at my “Buy It Now” price I’ll stock up.

Here are a few other Meal Planning Resources for you…
Free Printable Freezer Inventory Form
Meal plan for the YEAR in one weekend!
Sample Weekly Grocery Shopping Trip for a Family of 6 – $78.70 Spent

3. Eat in season fruit and veggies. When produce is in season, it’s cheap and a deal is easy to come by. I like to eat grilled asparagus all year ’round though, so when it’s cheap I buy a lot and freeze it! I know this might be super obvious but it is something I’ve done for years and it allows us to eat whatever veggie or fruit that sounds good regardless of whether it’s in season or not. It’s also another trick to keeping our weekly grocery budget so low. I stocked up on strawberries and we’re still using them 6+ months later in smoothies. They’re deliciously sweet and nothing like the ones we would have to buy in the middle of the winter, plus we made amazing Homemade Strawberry Jam with them too!

4. Shop Grocery Outlet and often. Grocery Outlet is a staple in my weekly shopping budget, you can see a few of the deals I spotted last week below. Grocery Outlet is like a treasure hunt, you never know what deal you’re going to find! The prices and stock change out often, making room for more great deals each and every time you shop!

5. DIY or Homemade Household Items for less! Any chance you get to make something you normally pay a pretty penny for at home from scratch instead is almost always going to cost you significantly less. Check out our previous post on DIY for a few homemade/DIY recipes that we've tried with great success.

Of course this is just the tip of iceberg, but for those of you frugalites out there I am certain if we put our heads together we could come up with a wide variety of money saving methods. The goal isn't just to save, but to LIVE WELL on less. It is possible and whether you need to or have to, it can be done on $2/day or $4/day.

Hi, I’m Mark, the Marketing Director for Grocery Outlet at our home office in Berkeley, CA.   I’m going to share with you my experience this week in eating on only $4 a day, which is going to be interesting since I can occasionally blow $20 on just one lunch!  My wife told me I was on my own this week, so I’m having a “bachelor” menu.

Eating in Berkeley isn’t cheap, unless you shop at Grocery Outlet.  I’ll be doing all my shopping there, so I’ll be paying about half price for my food which will put me at a big advantage versus people who shop at regular grocery stores.

So here’s my story, hope you enjoy it, I’m sure I’m going to learn a few things!

Monday
I had planned it all out, I would do my shopping on Sunday and have everything ready to fix during the week. Then family came in from out of town and we had to travel on Sunday and all of a sudden it was Monday morning and I hadn’t shopped. Now what do I do? I looked at my “rough” meal plan and went downstairs to our store to strategize. I had planned eggs ($1.49/dz) and hash browns (only $2.49 for ten Lindens hash brown patties!) for a couple of breakfasts, then I saw some Jimmy Dean Maple Sausage sandwiches for only $5.99 for a 20ct box (only 30 cents a serving!). Sounds good! However, as I picked up the box and looked at the ingredients, it struck me that I was making some less than healthy choices. Hmmmm….


So I started my Monday with oatmeal and frozen blueberries mixed together which was very tasty. Lunch was two yogurts (3 for $1 at GO) and a “Nimble” peanut butter nutrition bar. Ok, Nimble is supposed to be for women, but the price was right ($ .33/bar) and it has 5g of fiber, 10g of protein plus Calcium, Iron, Vitamins C, D, E & B6, Lutein and Beta-Carotene! Dinner was my one vice with a salad with two pieces of Red Baron 4 meat pizza (only $ .50 a slice!). I normally drink water for most meals and the savings will help me save up for some wine with dinner later in the week!
Final tally for Monday; $3.35
$16.65 left for the week

Tuesday
I scrambled three eggs and added some fresh fruit for a nice breakfast that only penciled out to $.62. I started to adjust my plan for the week and observed that healthier choices (salad, fruit, etc,) were actually bringing my costs down! Lunch was a nice green salad with a Nimble bar. You can get a lot of salads out of a head of lettuce! In fact I got a little “heady” and decided I could have a glass of wine for dinner the last four nights with a $3.99 bottle of Newman’s Own Merlot, a great wine that sells for up to $9 elsewhere. With Newman’s Own, I’m also benefiting the charities that they donate their proceeds to so it’s a “win-win”. A 750ml bottle is 25.4oz which translates to four 6oz glasses. Cheers!
I’ve got this figured out!
Final tally for Tuesday ; $3.45
$13.20 left for the week

Wednesday
Felt a little hungry this morning so I grabbed for breakfast one of my yogurts I was originally going to have for lunch.
When I got to lunch, I found to my dismay that my lettuce was going bad! Rats! I had pre-washed it and put it in an airtight ziplock, but I hadn’t dried it properly and didn’t put it in the “crisper” drawer in the fridge (yes honey, I know!). So, I had some slightly rusty salad for lunch along with a Nimble bar and some “humble pie” (cost: “priceless”). Then for dinner, with my 2 slices of pizza I had to substitute fruit for the salad (in addition to the grapes from the wine of course!
With my lettuce gone, I need to start re-strategizing the rest of the week now.
Final tally for Wednesday; $4.11
$9.09 left for the week

Thursday
Take a look at a very nutritious breakfast bowl! This is oatmeal ($ .28), with frozen blueberries ($.83) , plus a light showering of an anti-oxidant trail mix ($ .25). I usually get off to a good start with breakfast, then it’s all downhill the rest of the day! Lunch was yogurt ($ .66) and a Nimble bar ($ .33).

My wife and I have our bocce ball league tonight and I’m meeting her there, so I’ll have to grab something before I leave. A two pack of mini burritos ($ .79, $1.49 elsewhere) looked good (remember what I said above about going downhill the rest of the day?) so I had those along with a banana ($ .20) for some extra potassium.

While looking through our NOSH (Natural-Organic Specialty-Healthy) section I noticed Clif Mojo bars for only $ .50! With all the “Nimble” bars I’ve had this week I figured I could use a little extra “Mojo”!
Final tally for Thursday: $3.84
$5.25 left for Friday!

 

CHEATER ALERT!!!
When I ventured into Melissa Porter’s (VP of Marketing and my boss!) office I caught her eating a full size salad bowl! We sell these pre-packaged salad bowls (complete with proteins, cheese, veggies, etc., even a fork!) for only $2.99, but that still would bust a $4-A-Day budget. I think there’s something fishy going on here!




Friday
I’m in the home stretch and have a whopping $5.25 left for today! My only question left was, “what would Lois Prices do?”. I went to my old standby, 3 scrambled eggs with fruit for breakfast ($ .62). Lunch was yogurt, a Nimble bar and a banana ($1.20). So, $3.43 left for dinner… let’s see, what would I like?
Friday is always pizza night at our house, so I went for 2 slices of pizza ($1), some salad (ok, I had to borrow it!) for $.25 which left me with $2.18 for...hm, I guess that means I can have an extra glass of wine! Cheers!

Total tally: $19.82
$3.96/day
Not bad!

Looking back on the week, I was surprised at how cheaply you can eat with careful planning, preparing and of course, shopping at Grocery Outlet for the best prices! I do have a new found respect for those who face a tight food budget every day as it does require considerable thought up front as well as planning and preparation for a family. I look forward to using the things I’ve learned this week to eat for less money as well as eat healthier (and store my lettuce properly!).

What about you? What have you learned on your $4-A-Day Challenge? Leave us a comment on Facebook and let us know!

Steve Wilson is our VP of Purchasing.  He supervises all our buyers that make product decisions every day.  He's doing the $4-A-Day Challenge along with all of our executives, and wrote up how he's doing the challenge for us. 

 

 

 

Here’s his meal plan and shopping breakdown for the week:

Day 1
I did my shopping for the week and here’s what I bought:
Jumbo eggs (12ct) - $1.39
Lettuce - $0.99
Green grapes - $1.99
Tuna (2) - $0.79 ea
FMI Chicken Breast 4# - $6.99 (12-14, 4-5z pieces/bag) 
Tomatoes (2) - $0.50
Naked Juice, 32 oz - $1.99 +crv
Total - $16.03                

For Day 1, I had free coffee for breakfast and a huge salad with chopped chicken for lunch.  $1.99 combined for breakfast and lunch.

 

Day 2
Dinner last night was 2 chicken breast, salad and 20 grapes...needless to say my stomach was on empty this morning, but I only spent $1.60.

Breakfast was 3 jumbo scrambled eggs, 18 grapes and 8 oz of strawberry banana Naked Juice. Did you know that 32 oz has 47 strawberries, 3 bananas, 3 1/2 apples and a hint of orange?  All of that was $1.04.

Lunch will be a can of tuna with a chopped hardboiled egg, lettuce and 20 grapes for $1.09.

I also bought today:
Bag of carrots                $1.29
Roma Tomatoes (2)            $.40
So far total spent for the week        $17.72

Dinner: 3 chicken breast, lettuce and tomato salad 5 mini carrots and 6 grapes. $2.20

 

Day 3
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 chicken breast, 12 grapes and 4 oz of Naked Juice. $1.15

Lunch will be left over tuna with chopped hardboiled egg, 1 roma tomato, 4 mini carrots and lettuce. $1.36

Bought today:
Roma tomatoes (2)                $.80
Nectarine    (1)                $.33
So far total spent for the week            $18.85

Dinner: 2.5 chicken breast, lettuce and tomato salad, 2 mini carrots and 9 grapes. $1.82.

 

Day 4

Breakfast: 2 eggs and 1/2 a Roma tomato, 3 oz of Naked Juice and 10 grapes. $.90

Lunch will be tuna...again! If anyone wants to try the FMI chicken breast I have one for sale at $.70. Really good but after 4 days I need something different.

Dinner TBD.  

The hardest part is variety.  It’s really tough to eat the same stuff day in and day out.

Michael Thomas, VP of Distribution, oversees our warehouses and distribution, making sure that our product gets from our suppliers to our distribution facilities, and then on to our stores.  Originally from Liverpool, England, Mike has a very interesting perspective on what it takes to make the $4-A-Day Challenge work:

"Leftovers are a big part of eating on a budget. Another big part is planning, buy in bulk, make a lot of something and just keep going till it’s gone. It is far easier to think about $28 per week for four people than $4 per day. The ground beef ($2 off last week) came around again for lunch yesterday, this time on top of a couple of potatoes. Pretty easy, about $1.65 by my reckoning. It's penultimate iteration will be tonight in a chili over squash and yellow beans and it will go through to Thursday lunch over a couple more potatoes.

Dinner last night was a throwback to the old days in the UK. Meat in the UK is (and was) way more expensive than in the USA so people of modest means used to use other proteins and have meatless meals at least a couple of times a week. My parents generation went through ten years of rationing during the war and into the Korean war so meat was actually scarce. The answer - CAULILFLOWER CHEESE - ingredients one cauliflower, 4oz strong cheese. Make a cheese sauce, pour over cooked cauliflower, eat. Cost about ($1.60 per head).

I have to say that the teetotalers have it easy. I could have killed a beer night. If I am a bit snappy at the office today this could be a clue."

We're kicking off our $4-A-Day Challenge week with a personal account of weekly grocery shopping from Melissa Porter, VP of Marketing at Grocery Outlet.

I did my shopping today for the $4-A-Day Challenge. I found some great buys at Grocery Outlet that will make it possible for me to eat pretty well this week:  2.5 pounds of Foster Farms boneless skinless chicken breasts for $5.99. That's six or seven nice servings of high-quality protein. Another great buy was a big pack of Campari Tomatoes for only $1.50 and also a BIG pack of Romaine Lettuce also for only $1.50.  So my meals this week will be:

• Oatmeal, $0.20
• Polish sausage, $0.35
• Sauerkraut, $0.40
• Salad, $0.70
• Apple, $0.50
• Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry, $1.50 
• Apple Cinnamon Snack Bar, $0.16

Total for the day = $3.81

I know I will want a pre-bedtime snack and the apple cinnamon snack bars were only 6 for $0.99.  I hope they're pretty good, because if not, I'm stuck with them!

Wish me luck!

It's the perfect time for picnics!  Picnickers often head out with complicated dishes, but you can keep it simple and inexpensive by picking up your picnic at Grocery Outlet! Here's how:

Fruit Salad - We have the best of the season in our produce aisles.  Slice berries, melons, pineapples, and citrus for a delicious and refreshing fruit salad.  All it takes is a little time, plus it's healthy and great for your family.  To jazz it up, thread fruit chunks onto skewers for fruit kabobs.

Deviled Eggs - A classic, and totally inexpensive.  There are hundreds of different ways to make them, but give them a twist by replacing some of the spices or fillings.  Check out this article for Deviled Eggs with Pesto, Bacon & Cheddar or Tomato & Capers.

Cold Cuts - Sure, you could make the classic picnic staple of Fried Chicken, but why fuss?  Pick up a bunch of cold cuts from Grocery Outlet's deli section, some cheese, bread, and other sandwich fixings and let everyone make their own sandwich.  Or you could slice salami and cheese, and add olives and tomatoes for a great antipasto platter. 

Looking for something a little different? Check out this article on easy picnic food you can make in 20 minutes from the New York Times: 101 Picnic Foods in 20 Minutes or Less.

Don't forget to pick up your picnic at Grocery Outlet during the month of June! We have lots of great picnic items at extremely low prices.

Saving Money by Meal Planning
I love that the New Year means new resolutions, new goals, and a fresh start! What I don't love is the feeling we get when I realize I've not kept up with my resolutions, and I find myself slacking big time. The simple fact is that often times we set ourselves up for failure from the get-go by taking on way too much all too quickly. I want to help you tackle saving money in the new year in a way that is managable and that will make a difference to your bottom line when 2013 rolls around.

I'd encourage you to break up your resolutions and goals into bite size chunks, and spread them out over time. Statistics show that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. With this plan you'll add one new resolution to your plate each month of the year thus forming great habits all year long! Trust me - it's a lot less painful this way, and at the end of the year you'll be in much better shape financially, which will feel great! Today I'll share the money saving tip for January, and in the months to come we'll tackle topics such as budgeting, how to know when a sale is really a sale, when to stock up on a particular item, why you shouldn't treat your tax return like a savings plan, and much more!

This month I'd like to encourage you to tackle meal planning. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Basically, it is as simple as you make it. I try to sit down each week, usually on Saturday or Sunday with the store ads to see what is on sale, then I make my meal plan based on these deals. Of course I use whatever I have in my pantry and freezer first then buy as needed the extras. Also, if there is something I see that is a “stockpile price,” I will add that to my list for future week’s meals plans.

Why Meal Plan?

• It’s healthier. Meal planning allows you to think in advance about preparing a meal adding a key ingredient from each food group instead of throwing something together last minute that is maybe carb laden.


• Saves money. If you go grocery shopping with a list, you will be more likely to avoid impulse purchases. Also it gives you the time to organize and sort your coupons BEFORE you shop.


• Saves time. I can’t stress this enough. While it may seem tedious to sit down and plan out your meals for the week. It is much more time efficient than standing in front of the fridge or pantry blankly staring at the shelves of food, while you think “There is nothing in this house to eat!” Either you will just grab something out to eat, or you will end up making several small weekly trips to the grocery store to grab key ingredients that had you meal planned you would have already had on hand.

Tips for successful Meal Planning:

• Use those leftovers! Plan it into your Meal Plan. I enjoy cooking, but the truth is at the end of the day sometimes I am just not in the mood or I am just plain tired. I try to plan ahead for these nights, if I know I will be working until 6 on Wednesday, I will plan a meal on Tuesday that can carry over. Or I will double up on cooking the ground beef the night before so we can use it in another meal.
  
  From Love Food Hate Waste I found the following statistics:
  
  Each DAY we waste…
  
  1 Million Slices of Ham
  1.3 Million Yogurts
  7 Million Slices of Bread
  5.1 Million Potatoes
  1.6 Million Bananas
  4.4 Million Apples
  2.8 Million Tomatoes


• Use Rice/Potatoes/Pasta as the base for your meal. If you can build the main part of your meal around a grain, you will save money and fill up on less. Use small amounts of meat, poultry, fish, or eggs. Of course I would suggest whole wheat grains to get the maximum nutritional value.


• Plan snacks around nutritionally sound choices. This helps your budget because as we know, typically fruit, veggies, granola, etc enable your body to go longer stretches between meals as opposed to it’s sugar enemy – fruit snacks, candy, juice, etc. The denser the snack the more bang for your buck and almost always this is the cheaper option anyway!


• Eat before you shop. Do not go grocery shopping when you are hungry. The best time to go is after you have had a good meal, or at least a snack to hold you over. When you are hungry, you are much more likely to pick up impulse purchases which can just throw your food budget out the window!

Let’s Practice.

Step 1: Make 3 Lists; Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Breakfast
Monday – Cereal, OJ, and Fruit
Tuesday – Oatmeal, Milk, and Toast
Wednesday – Scrambled Eggs and Toast, Milk or OJ
Thursday – Cereal, OJ and Fruit
Friday – Bagels & OJ
Saturday – French Toast and Sausage
Sunday – Cereal, OJ and Toast

Lunch
Monday – Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Tuesday – Tuna & Crackers/Sandwich, Fruit and Yogurt
Wednesday – Bean/Cheese Burritos with Chips & Salsa
Thursday – PB&J, Fruit, Pretzels and Yogurt
Friday – Macaroni & Cheese and Fruit
Saturday – Leftover Pizza
Sunday – Smorgasbord, what sounds good?!

Dinner
Monday - Lasagna, Corn and Garlic Bread
Tuesday - Grilled Teriyaki Chicken, Pot Stickers and Chinese Fried Rice (make extra rice)
Wednesday – Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish Rice (using extra rice from Tuesday) (make extra chicken)
Thursday – Shredded BBQ Chicken Sandwiches and Potato Salad (make extra)
Friday – Pizza (Eating Out)
Saturday - Hotdogs, Potato Salad and 5 Bean Salad
Sunday - Broiled Salmon, Brown Rice and Asparagus

Step 2: Prepare Ingredient List and head to your pantry & fridge. Cross things off as you find them or leave the ingredients on your list, you now have your shopping list! Make sure to pull out any coupons you have and put them all together in a place where you can find them easily.

Step 3: Go shopping and save! The best part is because you've planned ahead, without even trying you'll have saved money. You won't head to the store on a weeknight at 5 pm for a "few ingredients" and come home having spent $50 or worse. You're saving loads of time because everything you need is accessible when you need it, no more wasted trips to the store or to a restaurant for takeout.

Now, it's your turn. Please share your best meal planning tips. And resolve to save money in 2012!

Grocery Outlet loves Thanksgiving because it's a holiday focused on family and food.  All year long, we are helping families save money so they can prepare bountiful meals for their families.  And we can't think of a more bountiful meal than Thanksgiving. Here are some ideas to help you save time and money as you prepare.

Tips to Simplify Your Thanksgiving and Save Your Sanity:

• Share a slice of the pie! Ask your guests to bring the dessert. Sometimes the cost of the desserts winds up being more expensive than the main event!
• Ask visiting relatives to prepare breakfast that morning, so you can focus on the turkey.
• Plan your menu and stick to your list. You’ll save money.
• Quality over quantity. You don’t need seven vegetable sides and six pies. Really, you don't. Keep it simple.
• Dice your fruits, vegetables and herbs for cooking the day before and place them in plastic bags or storage containers. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Fake it. Not everything needs to be made from scratch. Delicious cookies, desserts and candy can be bought pre-made.
• Organize your grocery list by department to save time at the store. Shop your own cup- boards first to see what you already have.

Then sit down and enjoy the American tradition of gathering your favorite people and sharing your gratitude. Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Grocery Outlet!

We've got less than a week to Thanksgiving and we're here to help you Simplify the Season with our $3 Thanksgiving Menu. Check out the latest Bargain TV to help you save your money and your sanity!

 

You can download the Thanksgiving menu that Christopher mentions in the video by clicking here: Download Thanksgiving Menu.

What's your favorite holiday movie? Leave a comment below.

With the chillier weather, Crock-Pot recipes are high in demand.  In our latest episode of Bargain TV, Chris announces the winning Crock-Pot recipe from last week's contest (which we're posting below). Also, look for sneak peeks of Doug the bobblehead and Chris's favorite wine picks for our upcoming 20% Wine Sale!

Jeana's Winning Crock Pot Recipe

1 & 1/2 lbs meat (usually ground beef) of your choice from the fresh Grocery Outlet Meat Case
1 yellow onion
2-3 carrots or bag of GO baby carrots
2 large russet potatoes
2 cups beef or chicken broth
1 cup water (or red wine)
2 cans kidney beans
splash of Lea and Perrins
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut up veggies and meat into sizeable chunks, throw in the crockpot
2. Add liquid ingredients and beans
3. Add salt and pepper
4. Cook for 4(high)-8(low) hours (the longer it cooks, the better the flavor!)
5. Enjoy!

Whether we like it or not, we live in a fast-paced society. It's especially tough for those of us with families, but we're doing our best to keep up. At Grocery Outlet, we can provide fast, easy and nutritious meals for families on the go. Check out this week's Bargain TV and let Chris show you just some of the quick and easy meals that you can save big money on at Grocery Outlet Bargain Market.

Fall is full of bold, intense flavorful foods!  No matter whom you are cooking for or what type of dinner party you happen to throw, you should always be prepared to amaze your food critics.  We have a recipe for a rustic home dinner, a game day side dish, and an adorable fall dessert.  Enjoy!

Sausage Ratatouille
The classic French ratatouille is made by simmering eggplant with other vegetables and herbs. It's often served as a side or appetizer with bread, but our addition of Italian sausage turns it into a hearty meal for cooler months.

Ingredients
3 to 4 links (about 3/4 pound) Italian sausage
4 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium-size eggplant, peeled and cut into a 3/4-inch dice
2 small zucchini, halved and sliced
1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1 medium-size green bell pepper, halved, seeded, and sliced
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups canned diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon tomato paste
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Instructions
1. Bring a medium-size pot of water to a boil. Puncture the sausage links in several places, then cook them at a low boil until they're no longer pink in the center, about 14 minutes. Transfer the links to a plate to cool, then slice them into 1/4-inch-thick rounds.
2. Over medium-high heat, warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven. Add the eggplant and zucchini and sauté them, stirring often, until they are lightly browned but not soft, about 7 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a plate.
In the same skillet over medium heat, warm the remaining olive oil. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté them for 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sliced sausage and sauté, stirring often, for 3 minutes more. Stir in the tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini.
Partially cover the skillet and gently simmer the ratatouille for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, along with salt and pepper to taste, and simmer 5 minutes more. Stir in the parsley and half of the basil. Serve hot, sprinkled with the remaining basil. Serves 6.

Mini Football Subs
You can expect a high number of interceptions when you pass these individual-size meatball sandwiches during halftime festivities.


Ingredients
Meatballs
Spaghetti sauce
Shredded Cheese
Individual-size rolls

Instructions
1. To make a batch, first prepare your favorite meatball recipe, shaping each meatball into a mini football before cooking. Once they're cooked, add the meatballs to a skillet of spaghetti sauce and warm them through.
2. For each sub, cut a V-shaped notch from the top of an individual-size roll, place a meatball in the roll, and top with cheese shred laces. Finally, get the sandwiches in a huddle on a cookie sheet and place them in a warm oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

The Apple of Our Eye
A cute cupcake dessert to bring to fall birthdays or grace the table at autumn parties.

Ingredients
Cupcake batter
Red frosting
Red sugar sprinkles
Tootsie Roll Midges
Green Tootsie Fruit Roll
White frosting

Instructions
1. Mix your favorite cupcake batter and divide it evenly among cupcake wells lined with red paper or silicone cups, filling each one about three-quarters full. Bake the cupcakes according to the recipe directions and let them cool.
2. Carve a shallow, dime-size well in the top of each cupcake, then cover the tops with red frosting and coat them with red sugar sprinkles. Mold a small piece of a Tootsie Roll Midge into a stem shape. Form a leaf from a small piece of green Tootsie Fruit Roll, pinch it against the stem, then insert the stem into the cupcake.
3. To make a bitten apple, spoon a small well from the side of the cupcake and line it with white frosting. Press tiny bits of Tootsie Roll Midge in place for seeds.

 

All recipes courtesy of Disney's Family Fun website.