Pumpkin Ravioli

I am really loving Autumn this year - it is so cool outside in the mornings, and the leaves are beginning to change, it is SO beautiful! Truly my favorite time of year.
I love eating lots of pumpkin-flavored treats this time of year, so tonight I tried a new recipe from Jessica Seinfeld ~ Pumpkin Ravioli.

This is from her new cookbook, Double Delicious! She uses pureed fruits and veggies to up the nutrition in all types of foods, from breakfast to dessert. I love her ideas, but instead of pureeing veggies and fruits, I use organic baby foods (which are really just pureed fruits and veggies!) like sweet potatoes, green beans, etc. I usually add them to tacos, casseroles and other dishes. This recipe called for canned pumpkin puree, white beans and ricotta cheese for the filling.

1 can (15 oz) low-sodium white beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c canned pure pumpkin
1/2 c part skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 large egg
40-50 wonton wrappers
1 1/2 cups jarred Marinara sauce (I used a vodka sauce - it was perfect with the savory ravioli!)


Set a large pot of water on to boil. Place beans, pumpkin, cheeses and garlic powder in food processor, process til smooth. In small bowl, beat egg with about 1 tbs water. Set wonton wrappers on a cutting board (I lined mine with foil for easy cleanup.) Place 1 tbs of the pumpkin mixture in the middle of each wrapper. Brush egg wash onto edges of the wrapper.




Here's where you can decide for yourself which you'd prefer - either
fold the wrapper over the filling and pinch the edges closed, or you can use a cutter to make a circle shape, then top with another circle of wrapper. I just folded them over and though a couple lost their filling during boiling, most were fine!




Place them in boiling water, cook until they rise to the top, about 4 minutes. Top with sauce, more grated parmesan if desired. I only made about 40. There was still puree left, so Randy will use it as a spread on bread tomorrow ~ I was thinking how good it would be to smear it on crusty bread - yum!

The ravioli was a hit with my husband and I enjoyed them too! But the kids - no way. Katie took one bite and was done. David wouldn't even try one! Oh well, can't win them all!! I'll probably make them again. The flavor is hearty, the filling is very rich, and overall they are well worth the effort required to make them!





What is your favorite food for this time of year?

The amazing Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta

Fernbank Museum of Natural History is one museum you can't miss if you have kids and live in Atlanta. Heck, even if you don't have kids it's still a cool museum!! There is something for everyone to see or do there.

We lucked out and got a great deal on a family membership through Groupon earlier this year. We've only been 3 times so far, but our visits have more than paid for the cost of our family membership!! Today we took the kids to see the new Exhibit called "Water". We also used a mailer they sent us for $2 off IMAX member priced-tix for the family - we paid $24 for 4 tickets versus $50 regular price tickets. More on that later!

The exhibit was fantastic. We started out by walking through what appeared to be a misting sign ~ but it was an optical illusion - it was really fog!



Inside were many displays related to water. Everything you can imagine!! One display had a block of ice, which melted into one part of the display, then turned to vapor in a third section! It was really cool.


The kids really had fun with the hands-on, interactive displays:



They had a microscope set up with a screen to check out some little creepy germs and microscopic creatures....



David & his dad learned about wells & pumping water at this display


Katie saw how you could build up sediment with a dam.

So much fun stuff for kids and parents to check out! I almost forgot - there was even a polar bear to meet!!



Then we went to the Star Gallery & Shells room to wait for our IMAX movie. They have the prettiest shells in there. It's one of my favorite rooms in the whole museum! The Star Gallery has an amazing fiber optic ceiling, and very cool movies playing - we watched the top 10 discoveries of the Hubble telescope while we were waiting which was pretty amazing.







The IMAX movie we watched was called Grand Canyon Adventure ~ River at Risk. It was really good, and after watching the crazy rafting that went on in the movie, the other three members of my family want to try rafting one day. I'm gonna stay home and enjoy the solid ground below me! lol We wanted to see the other movie playing ~ it's about the Nile River, but it didn't start until much later.

We will be going back soon for Pirates Weekend, and the upcoming Winter weekends that will feature cultural and holiday traditions, music and more.

I'm linking this post with Mailbox Monday so my email subscribers list can grow!! Feel free to link yourself up too by clicking here and heading over to This Mama Loves Her Bargains! Click on the individual blogs, sign up as an email subscriber,then leave a comment saying you are a new subscriber from Mailbox Monday! And don't forget to add your blog to the list so you can grow your readership as well!

Stick to your list to save big $$!

This week, I've made several small trips to Publix, and one to CVS. I love going to Publix a few times a week because I can use a Rite Aid or Kroger $5 off $25 or $5 off $45 coupon each time with my other coupons and sales to really maximize my savings! I make a list of the best sale items, pair each up with my coupons, store or competitor coupons, and try to always have a $ off $ coupon to use as well! Sticking to your list (which will be the best sale items) is how you can really save big - no impulse buys, just the best prices, matched with coupons so you can pay the least amount of money out of pocket!

This week Publix has one of the best deals I've seen on Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks. As part of the B1G1 sale, they are 2 for $2.59. Pair that with a 50 cent off 2 mfr coupon that doubles to $1 off, each box is about 80 cents! David eats these for school snack several days a week, so I'm stocking up!!

The Hillshire Farms smoked sausage is one of my husband's favorites. They were on sale 2 for $5, paired with a store coupon for $1 off 2, and a mfr coupon for 75 cents off, making it $3.25 for 2 packages of smoked sausage.

The Sargento cheese was on sale 2 bags for $4. Pair it with the store's $1 off 2 coupon, and I paid $1.50 per bag. That's rock bottom pricing for cheese!! And don't forget - you can freeze cheese, so stock up when it is super cheap like this!




The total spent out of pocket for the items in the picture was $13, the savings were $27. I got 3 boxes of Kleenex, 2 sodas, 1 Vitamin Water, 2 bags of Sargento reduced fat cheese, 4 packages of Hillshire Farms sausage, and 4 boxes of Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks. (The retail cost for those alone would be over $12 usually!)

Next up is my CVS trip, which I made on the way home from Publix!
I got:
Dawn dishwashing liquid on sale for 99 cents, used 25 cent off coupon
2 Colgate Total toothpastes used 2 75 cent off coupons, got $5.98 ECB back (@2.99 each)
2 boxes Quaker True Delights Oatmeal on sale 2 for $5, plus $2 ECB back, used 2,
$2.oo off coupons
1 family size Herbal Essence Shampoo on sale for $6.49, plus $2 ECB, used $1 off coupon
2 bags Brach Candy Corn on sale for 99 cents each - used 2 99 cent off coupons from the CVS scanner machine
1 kids ibuprofen - no coupon, but we needed it! $3.00





I used $2 in ECB to help pay for this, but out of pocket I only paid $10 and change! AND best of all, I got $9.98 back in ECB to use later. In the words of my 16 year old - "how beast is that?!!!"

So again, I have to say how important it is to match up sales, coupons, store coupons, and deals that give you ECB back. I only get things we will use - the toothpaste will go in my stockpile, the shampoo is for my Katie-bug, and the oatmeal is something the kids eat all the time! It was a great deal because I needed it, had high value coupons, and they paid me ECB on top of it all! There were similar deals on makeup, facial products, and body wash, but I didn't need any of those, so I didn't get them!!!! So if it's a good deal, but you don't need it, don't waste your money!! : ) You're not saving $$ if you are buying things you don't need or use.

What was your best deal this week!?

How I stock my Spooky Halloween Pantry...

With some gross preserved things, of course!

Here's what you will find in my Spooky Halloween Pantry:

Preserved Brittle Bones
Brains in Skulls
Pickled Finger Food





Here are the details for these super easy "treats"!

I saved jelly, mason & pasta jars with lids for these. I got a bag of bony skeleton hands, a bag of "severed" fingers, and a plastic skeleton at the dollar store. The fingers went in a jelly jar with water and several drops of red food color dye. The hands went in the pasta jar, and I cut up some of the longer bones from the skeleton and added them in. Then some water and lime green dye to finish it off. Finally, I found a bag of skulls at Michael's for $1.99 ~ they went in a large mason jar with water & teal food dye! (I need to get one more bag - these all float up to the top!)

Our dollar store is sold out of all of the things I bought there, but Michael's still has the severed fingers for $4.00 and the skulls. Next year, I'm hitting the dollar store EARLY for more!!

I made the labels on my computer, cut them with my scrapbooking scissors (deckle edge, I believe), and colored them a bit with David's pastels to add some interest. I had a funky, fall colored tie dye print fabric so that went on top. I'm not sure where they will end up in the house, but for now they are on my Ikea cube book shelf in the living room - but they look rather lost with all those cubes!!

Are you decorated for Halloween yet? What's your favorite decoration this year? I think this little grouping just may be my favorite!

I'm linking this craft up at:

Hookin up With HoH #20

and

Fun Follow Friday

and



and

Toot Your Horn Tuesday

Another great shopping trip!

Had another great trip to Publix today! Next week we have to take snack/drinks for 10 hungry little soccer players, so I stocked up on the B1G1 Nabisco multi packs, and the $1.79 Capri Suns for that. I got my husband a Medium Shrimp Platter for 1/2 price (only $6!) thanks to B1G1 sale. 10 cent Buitoni fresh pasta after B1G1 & coupons, $2 Wesson oil, $2 Italian salad blend, $1.99 Propel six pack, and so much more!! Publix actually paid me 21 cents per pack to buy 10 packs of Japanese noodles after my coupons, and they paid me 30 cents for the Hidden Valley Ranch dressing (it was B1G1 and I had a $2 coupon!!) Here's the breakdown:

Spent $23.49
Saved $55.20

Bought 29 items
used $5 off $25 purchase Rite Aid coupon
&
Had mfr coupons for most everything except sweet potatoes, Lysol cleaner, Salad, Propel, Wesson oil & 3 Capri Suns. BUT - all but the sweet potatoes were either B1G1or on sale for great prices.

After this trip I still have $176 in my grocery budget for the next two weeks!!

How to make Turkey Bacon Cheeseburgers in your crockpot

HoosierHomemade had a great recipe to share earlier this week - and I knew it would be perfect tonight with some sweet potato fries on the side! My husband was told last week that he needed to change his diet and exercise more if wants to avoid a stent due to blockages that he has in his arteries, so I'm making changes in our diet, too.

This bacon cheeseburger crockpot meal sounded fantastic, but I changed it around to make it suit our needs right now. Instead of the ground beef, I used 1 1/2 lbs of ground turkey breast, and I used turkey bacon crumbles instead of regular bacon. For the homemade cheese sauce, I used shredded 2% cheddar and fat free cream cheese, plus skim milk. The result? Delicious - you'd never guess that a lot of the fat and calories are gone!




Crockpot Turkey Bacon Cheeseburgers

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
8-10 slices turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or garlic salt
a few shakes of McCormicks Maple Smokehouse seasoning

Cheese Sauce (recipe below)
Hamburger Buns
Directions:

Cook bacon in oven on a rack over foil. Cook ground turkey, McCormick seasoning & garlic, drain and place in Crockpot. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Cook cheese sauce and add to crockpot. Crumble bacon and stir into meat mixture, heat through, about 2 hours on low.




My turkey meat looks like ground beef once I'm done doctoring it up with worcestershire & seasonings!

 

Bake the turkey bacon on a rack (dollar tree!) over foil at 400 degrees, flip, bake til done.

DRAT! I finished off the bottle with this dinner.  Time to stock up again - this is my favorite seasoning!

Turkey meat with the crumbled turkey bacon in the crockpot.  I love Reynolds slow cooker liners ~ they make cleanup a breeze!

Homemade Cheese Sauce

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 – 3 cups skim milk, depending on how thin or thick you want it
8 oz of cheese, I used a mix of shredded 2% milk cheddar and fat free cream cheese, cubed

Melt butter in saucepan on stovetop, wisk in flour and cook a few minutes, being careful not to get the flour too brown. Slowly add the milk and continue wisking. Add cubed cheese & shredded cheddar, slowly, stirring after each addition until cheese is melted. Let sauce come to a little bit of a boil, wisking until thick. Add to crockpot. Stir well, cook as directed above.

I made a thicker cheese sauce (with 1 1/2 cups milk) this time - yummy!

Serve on buns ~ delicious!

Hooking up with Slow Cooker Squad's Monday linky and

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a recipe I found on tasteofhome.com and tweaked to fit what I have on hand!!



1 cup butter (I used Best Life Buttery Blend)
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups self rising flour, less one tablespoon
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch sea salt
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars, mix in egg and vanilla. Blend in flour, flax seed, oatmeal, and seasonings. Combine with pumpkin, then stir in chocolate chips. Drop by spoonful on prepared baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 9 - 12 minutes. These are cake-like and absolutely delicious!! I drizzled them with cream cheese frosting for a little extra sweetness, but they are great without too!

The recipe is supposed to make 4 dozen cookies - but I made them larger so I got about 30 cookies. Yummmmmmmy!!

Linking up to Mouthwatering Monday here &

and to

Another super-easy Dollar Tree craft

I wanted a jar for the pumpkin candies I bought at CVS a few weeks ago, so I looked at Goodwill. Nothing! Then at Dollar Tree, I found a smaller vase, and grabbed a candle stick holder ~ voila! I wish I'd found something with a lid, but this works for now. We aren't eating the candies, they are just there for a pop of orange on the left side of the mantle.

I used Dollar Tree super glue to attach the vase to the center of the candle stick holder. It's a great shape, and I love how it looks with those candies. Already thinking of Christmas, when I can fill it with mini glass balls, or red and green skittles or m & m's!

How I play the Drugstore Game

Every Sunday morning I make the rounds - maybe an 8 mile trip in all - to the three chains near us: CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid. The game is to use the rewards they give me to spend as little as possible each week, while earning more rewards to use the next week!!

Here's the list of what I bought/paid and what I left with rewards wise:

CVS:

2 boxes of movie candy (D and I are using our PopTarts freebie movie tix today!) 99c each

1 marshmallow pop for D 99 cents

4 Revlon nail polishes $3.99 each

Double AJC papers - $3

Used 4 Revlon $1 off coupons
1 CVS store coupon for $7 off $15 Revlon purchase
used $5, 99 cents, $2 & $2 Extra Care Bucks from previous weeks
paid $1.04 out of pocket, received $1 ECB for using my own bag & scanning my green tag, and $12 ECB for the nail polish ($3 ECB for each one) So now I have $13 to spend next week for free!

Walgreen's -
3 Nivea Lipglosses - $1 each
1 EOS lip balm $3
4 small boxes Pepperidge Farm milano cookies 99 cents each (perfect for the kids lunches!)

used 4 60 cent Pepperidge Farm coupons
used 3 $1 off Nivea coupons

Paid $5, got $3 Register Rewards for the EOS balm. (I can use this RR at Publix as a competitor's coupon!)


Rite Aid

2 Glade cinnamon apple candles $2.50 each
2 bags Mellowcream pumpkins for my mantle jar $1 each

used 2 B1G1 glade candle coupons, which made both candles totally FREE!

paid $2.34, got $1 UP rewards for the candles - can use on my next visit

so I spent less than $9 for ALL THAT STUFF! LOVE playing the drugstore game!

I'll try to take a pic soon - can't find my camera charger right now!

An Amazing Shopping Trip to Publix!!

Finally had one of those AMAZING shopping trips you only see on tv or some article about an extreme couponer! I have to share it - so y'all on the fence about the value of couponing will see that it IS worth your time and energy to do it!!

I went to Publix with a list based on the B1G1 sales, plus my coupons. I also had a $5 off $25 purchase from Rite Aid, and a $5 Walgreen's Register Rewards. Because I am a member of several sites that let you preview their new products, I had a coupon for a free bag of Perdue whole grain chicken nuggets, plus coupons for free boxes of Wheat Thin Sticks and Triscuit Flat Crisps.

I paid, used the above coupons, plus various mfr coupons for everything else (except my double Atlanta Journal Constitution Sunday papers).

My total? $1.44
My savings? $56.24
That included: $24.22 in vendor coupons, $10.50 in store coupons, and $21.52 in special price savings (B1G1's).

I bought 19 items, including Snyder Pretzels, 2 packs of Tollhouse Cookie Dough, 3
4-packs of Yoplait Fiber One yogurt, 4 boxes of Superpretzels, a Sara Lee Carrot Cake, 3 boxes of Krusteaz Pancake mix, plus the papers, chicken, and two boxes of crackers! Granted - this was just a supplemental trip to add to my stockpile - none of this is our regular food (except the yogurt!), but it is nice to have treats in the fridge and freezer for after school snacks - especially if it cost under $2 for all of it!

Best. Shopping trip. Ever!!

What's been your best shopping trip savings?