Coupons and Old Memories

This is all the craze right now. Everywhere I look I see a coupon frenzies and ultimate coupon shows. I love it, I don't know how to do it but I love it. I started researching how to do this because our grocery bill has just gotten out of hand. We are spending around 800.00 a month for a family of five. I feel quite guilty about this,guilty about spending my husbands' hard earned money incorrectly. I have tried in the past and failed miserably at it. I failed because I was going about it the wrong way.

I remember when I was a little girl and I would go to the store with my mom. I was always so embarrassed when we would approach the register and right then and there I knew what was coming. It was almost as if the sound of her unzipping her purse would echo through my head, the rustling of the coupons in her hand like old crumpled leaves tortured me at the worry of how many coupons she would drop and ask me to pick up .I would search rapidly around darting my eyes back and forth and praying none of my friends had decided to join their parents that day at the store. I hated it it made me feel poor. I never understood why she would sit for hours clipping coupons and sorting through them quietly at the dining room table.


I understand now. My mom was preserving my dads' hard earned money just as I am trying to do with my family. I recently found two sites www.Iamthatlady.com and http://www.raininghotcoupons.com/ that have been really helpful to me. For those of you like me who sit and worry about what I am going to cook for dinner, come up with a recipe and then end up at the grocery store several times a day, really need to use coupons. We all want to eat healthier and there are ALOT of coupons that can help accomplish that good luck!

Apple Pie and Picket fences

I have always wanted to make an apple pie. They always look so good in the movies. The scene starts with a picture perfect yard and a white picket fence. The house is right out of a magazine, the windows crystal clear. One of the windows is open just a bit, but just enough to see a sweet apple pie resting on the ledge. Clearly someone has taken their time slicing the apples and creating that beautiful lattice design.



I can't say mine turned out quite like that but it was pretty darn close.

Ingredients:

Crust:1 box refrigerated pie crusts

6 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (6 medium)

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions: 

Heat oven to 425°F. Place 1 pie crust in ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Press firmly against side and bottom. In large bowl, gently mix filling ingredients; spoon into crust-lined pie plate. Top with second crust. Wrap excess top crust under bottom crust edge, pressing edges together to seal; flute. Cut slits or shapes in several places in top crust. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cover edge of crust with 2- to 3-inch wide strips of foil after first 15 to 20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours before serving.

My Results:

 My Filling

 Pre Bake

 End result

Much to my dismay,no beautiful house appeared and my white picket fence didn't sprout up from the ground, But my son did come over open his mouth wide and said: "Do I see apple pie?"

Homemade Pot Pies

My husband said to me the other day,: honey we really need different dinners. I'm tired of the same ole' thing." I didn't want tho admit it but I was too. I had been wanting for a while to try and make potpies but the task of making the dough was quite daunting for me. However I found a very easy way to make these without all the work.Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients

4 cups chicken broth
1 bouillon cube
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large carrots cut in 1/2-nch rounds
1 rib celery, sliced
3 tablespoons chopped chives
2 chopped fine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 store-bought 2-pound rotisserie chicken,diced
1 (7-ounce) bag frozen veggies
2 (9-ounce) packages store-bought rolled out pie dough
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large saucepan heat chicken broth and bouillon cube over medium heat until hot.

In a Dutch oven,melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, chives and garlic, and saute until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the flour and stir together until it becomes pasty and lump-free, about 2 minutes. Stir in the hot broth, heavy cream, sherry, chicken and frozen onions and peas. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

With a ladle, fill 6ovenproof ramekins or bowls with the filling. Place on baking sheet.

Sprinkle flour on countertop. Roll out dough an extra inch. Using a biscuit round or mold, cut out dough to cover the tops of your oven-proof bowls, with about 1/2-inch hangover, depending on their size.Crimp the dough over the edge of the ramekin. Brush with the egg wash and make 4 small slits on the top. Sprinkle with kosher salt and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

This came out soo delicious and it was quite easy to make. This was a great way to get my family ready for fall!