I stuffed...

green peppers last night.

Cut the top and core out of the peppers. You can use a spoon to get the pithy part out, rinse well to get all the seeds out.

Brown the ground beef...you don't have to cook it to death. I added the chopped onions and cooked til they were translucent.

Put your peppers in boiling water or use a steamer. Cook just until they get a little tender, about 10 minutes. Remove and drain. Place in a baking dish.

I seasoned the ground beef with a little Worcestershire sauce, pepper and garlic, then added about a cup of my salsa.

Put the seasoned ground beef mixture in each pepper, gently packing down as you go. NOW...this is where Hubby and I don't see eye to eye. I think ketchup should be one of the seven basic food groups. He, on the other hand, does not share my fondness. I would have put ketchup or a ketchup mixture on top of this like you would on a meatloaf. But in the interest of not seeing him curl his upper lip at the sight of baked on ketchup on the peppers, I left them plain. You can use your favorite barbecue sauce if you like.

I added a little water to the baking dish and cut up some new potatoes and laid around the peppers, baked them at 350 degrees until the potatoes were done.

When the peppers and potatoes were done I sprinkled them with american and white american cheese and returned to the oven just until the cheese was melted. They don't take very long to cook since everything is already cooked before assembly.

Some people like rice in them, some like them with Italian seasonings, some people like a little tomato sauce or drained canned tomatoes in the meat mixture. These would have been good with Spanish rice as a side but I just didn't have it in me. Fresh tomatoes were pretty good with them.

It's supposed to be dangerously hot today...guess I'll stay in and pout.

May groceries!

We didn't do too bad...I got $157.24 worth of groceries from Country Mart and Warehouse foods for $103.75...a savings of $53.49. I had $18.50 worth of coupons and by using my Country Mart card I saved an additional $31.19. We also had $3.80 worth of "Magic Coins".

We used almost all the in store coupons at Country Mart and got free Oscar Mayer Jumbo Franks, Velveeta, Miracle Whip, Kraft Ranch dressing, 2 bottles of barbecue sauce, 10 lbs of 80/20 ground beef for $1.99 a lb., packaged into 5 packs of 2, 1 lb pieces, bacon for $1.79 a pound, 3 pkgs. boneless skinless chicken breast @ $1.99 lb, 1 pkg. chicken leg quarters @ $5.90, and a whole chicken.

At Warehouse Market we got Best Choice stewed tomatoes for $.25 each (I got 8 cans), and 2 bottles of vegetable oil for $1.29 each using the coins, a large pkg. of pork steak, a boston butt roast, assorted chops, 2 pounds of breakfast sausage, 20 lbs. potatoes for $4.99 (that comes out to $.25 cents a pound), fresh mushrooms for $1.19 a pkg., and lots of other food items for which I had coupons.

All in all, we ended up with plenty of ground beef, chicken and pork to last a good while - our freezer is full.
I also got the stuff to make MORE CAKE BALLS! Onions are still outrageous...I think there's been an onion blight. And as I sit here typing would you believe I forgot to get eggs. Oh, well, as Scarlett says, "tomorrow is another day."

Cheapo Hashbrown Casserole

We had hashbrown casserole last night...I got it all put together and ready for the oven early so we could spend some time outside. We kept thinking rain was coming in, but it never did. Back to the casserole...

I browned one pound of my $1.89 ground chuck, drained it and returned it to the pan. Next add a can of drained corn and two undiluted cans of  cream of "something" soup - I used cream of celery and cream of chicken. Stir to combine and add one package of hashbrowns with onion and peppers (coupon item) and mix all together.

Cover and refrigerate to bake later or bake at 350 degrees until potatoes are done and mixture is bubbly.

You can add cheese if you like. My cost: ground beef $1.89, corn $.49, 2 cans soup $.78, and hashbrowns $1.23 after coupon, for a total of $4.39. It was pretty tasty and we have enough left over for another meal.

Groceries!

I finally got to the grocery store today. My totals from 3 different stores were $47.80, $39.87, and $25.89. I got a 9 pound butt portion ham, 10 pounds of 80/20 ground beef packed in five 2 pound packs, 20 pounds of chicken leg quarters, 2 pounds of bacon, 6 large pork steaks, 2 dozen eggs, bananas, 3 bags of cheese, and other assorted grocery items. The total came to $113.56, $16.56 of which was non-food items.

My coupons totaled $20.50, and I got 6 free cans of dog food and a free bottle of "Big Red" pop valued at $4.90.

Hubby just yelled...he was bagging the chicken leg quarters for me and found a whole chicken in one bag. That was a bonus! We bought quite a few frozen steam pack vegetables - I had coupons for all of them. The bacon was $2.68 per pound, but with my $1.00 off coupon on two packs, it came to $2.18 a pound. The one store that has the magic coins had barbecue sauce for $.29 with 7 magic coins plus it had a save at the register coupon for $.25, making the barbecue sauce a grand total of $.04. The free pop came with the purchase of 2 dozen eggs. I had a coupon for 1 free can of dog food which I got at one store, and a $3.00 off coupon on 5 cans at another store. The dog food was $.58 each for a total of $2.90 so I got it free.

We got two bags each of chicken legs, two bags each of thighs, the whole chicken, and 5 leg quarters which we are cooking on the grill tonight.

When we shop for groceries, we take a calculator and keep up with everything we put in the basket. I only buy what is on sale at a specific store. The non-food items I purchase at WalMart, and I usually have coupons for them. I buy fresh fruit that is in season or on sale. When I get potatoes, I can usually find a bag with a few of baking size in them. Right now onions are terribly high, but I had some in the refrigerator so I didn't get any. Shredded cheese is usually more expensive that block cheese, but today it was on sale and was cheaper the buying the whole block.

This probably won't carry us through the entire month, but it at least got us enough meat to last. We shouldn't have to buy anything for a while but bread and milk.

Have a happy Easter weekend!