Frugal Menus

Soup in a Flash

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Too tired to cook?

No time?

There’s some new products out from Bertolli that fills the pot, and fast! Think soup in a flash!

Real Italian meals full of fresh veggies, perfectly cooked chicken (or beef) and filling pasta. Restaurant quality right in your own kitchen!

They’re ready in minutes! Four flavors, Chicken and Rotini Pasta, Tomato Florentine & Tortellini with Chicken, Chicken Minestrone and Tuscan Beef & Vegetables.

AND now they even have soup! You’ll find the Bertolli® soups can be found in the freezer section of your local grocery store.

I received a box in the mail from Bertolli and inside was a shiny new stainless steel soup ladle and some coupons for FREE soup!!!

I hightailed it down to my little country store…. but they didn’t have it yet… it’s on order!

In the meantime YOU can enter to win the same package delivered to your door!

To enter just tweet something about this post using this url: http://www.frugalityonline.com/frugal-menus/uncategorized/soup-in-a-flash ***OR*** write a post on your own blog and link back to that same url.

Then just let me know ‘where’ I can find it. Come the end of the week, I’ll pick someone randomly to win.

You can let me know by either posting a comment, OR email me at frugal at frugalityonline.com!!!

Here’s to Bertolli!

bertolli-soups

bertolli-soups

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Chili-man on a Diet

Monday, September 19th, 2011

EVery now and then, more now than then, we start Chili-man up on another diet. He’s supposed to be low carbing it.

His blood sugar fluctuates and I know that a low carb diet would immensely help him.

He wants to go the easy route though. He’s researched top diet pills but, in my mind, they’re more focused on women.

It has seemed to me, from past experience that men tend to loose weight much easier than women, that is, if they focus on their diet.

That’s part of the problem ladies, we are the grocery shoppers. We are the menu planners. We need to plan all our meals, and ‘goodies’ in the house around the dietary needs of our family members.

That can certainly be hard, especially if your household has different types of people. Active teens need carbs. Husbands sometimes don’t. You might have a vegan in the house, and all those different family members have to be taken into consideration.

Tonight, the menu is salad and soup.

I’ve bought several different salad dressings and an abundance of different veggies to make the salad tonight different from the last salad he ate.

Here’s crossing my fingers that he can stick to it!

small-salad

small-salad

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Been Into Family Dollar Lately?

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Family Dollar for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you been in Family Dollar lately?

You don’t know what you’re missing!

I pass by one every week when I visit my folks, and this week I decided to stop in, and boy was I surprised.  The food section now carries their own line of products called Family Gourmet.  They aren’t just cheaper than the national brands, they’re just as good!

You can save money by checking out some of the items you can now find.  Does you family love Velveeta Shells and Cheese?  Well Family Dollar as a comparable product thats fifty cents cheaper! Now how fast can that add up for you? On average, Family Gourmet saves customers over 30% versus national brands!

It doesn’t stop there.  There’s a Cheeseburger Macaroni mix, ranch dressing, cheddar crackers, apple juice and a whole lot more.

Their products, while cheaper, also come with a 100% money back guarantee (within 30 days) so there’s no risk in trying them.  Savvy shoppers will also want to check their website for printable COUPONS!

There’s no easier way to save money than in your grocery budget.  Shaving a little bit of money off a lot of your regular grocery purchases can help pay for  the high price of gas!  You can’t always cut back on driving as you still have to go to work, and soccer practice, and scouts and everywhere else.

Saving money is smart, and Family Dollar makes it easy with their new line, Family Gourmet.

Visit Sponsor's Site

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Simple and Delicious - Campbells Recipes

Sunday, February 20th, 2011

Do you know what one of my old favorites is? It’s a recipe that Mom made all the time growing up. It’s tuna casserole.

She probably made it because it was frugal, but I SO looked forward to meals with tuna casserole. I loved the creaminess, the feel of my tongue on the pasta, the warm smooth texture.

I continued the tradition, having that same tuna casserole once a week or so, for my own family.

Daughter called last week asking for the recipe! Some things just never go out of style!

The secret to the creaminess is a can of Campbells cream of mushroom soup.

I like to start my tuna casserole with a little chopped onion sauteed in some organic extra virgin olive oil. When the onions are translucent, I add in a can of albacore tuna, a can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom, a little shredded cheese, or velveeta depending upon what I have on hand, and cooked macaroni.

Our family likes the shell macaroni for this dish. Mom used to take hers, add bread crumbs to the top and bake for a few minutes to brown the crumbs. This casserole is good either way!

It’s a great last minute meal, as are the many different campbells recipes you can make when you have canned soup on hand.

Tuna casserole is so versatile. You can add a veggie like peas or broccoli. You can try a different shape of noodle or even exchange the pasta for rice.

I keep Campbells mushroom (and others) on hand. That way I can whip something up in no time!

Cream of mushroom is great cooked with pork chops, and just as good over rice and chicken. It’s a staple in quick chicken and rice. Great in a meatloaf recipe and great as a sauce base. I wouldn’t be without it in my pantry, and I’m not!

campbells cream of mushroom

campbells cream of mushroom

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Heat Up Game Day

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TABASCO® Original Red. All opinions are 100% mine.

I pulled into the parking lot at Sams yesterday only to discover that the place was PACKED!  Then I realized why.   It’s all the smart shoppers, the planners, that are out buying their super bowl weekend food on schedule.

Then I thought, oh no.  Hope Sams still has everything I need.

I shouldn’t have worried.  There was enough of everything to go around. I like to serve a variety of food when we have get togethers, don’t you? And I make sure that I always have enough  TABASCO® Original Red on hand.

The guys like it on everything! TABASCO® Original Red is a game day tradition! It enhances the flavor of food so you can get the best of every bite. Try it on pizza instead of those little shaker peppers.  TREMENDOUS!

Try it on fried chicken livers!  OUT OF THIS WORLD!   Of course you can put it on anything but I like to use it anytime you might consider using jalapenos or salsa.   (IN WHITE CREAM GRAVY)

You can get further inspiration and game day party menus at

Game-Day Party Menu

- Don’t forget the Pizza Perfected page as well:

Pizza PerfectedPizza Perfected

Original Red has been around since 1868 and was the first sauce introduced by the McIlhenny family and continues to be their most popular sauce of 6 total sauces.

LOTS of Tabasco

LOTS of Tabasco

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Quiznos Coupon

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

Something about being snowed in,,,, you get hungry for the things that you can’t have.

Like Quiznos….. I like the turkey, bacon and guacamole on wheat…. yummmmm.

If you’re where there’s no snow. Get your Quiznos coupon and go!

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Grillin’

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Earlier this year, we bought a grill. A big old honkin’ grill.

Then we started cooking all our meals outside.

Today it reached 70 here although it felt a little cool to me and I seriously considered firin’ up the grill!

How many people cook outside all year long?

Quite a few actually. There are groups devoted to cooking outside, barbeques, and grilling and smoking foods.

Have you ever had your favorite cut of meat cooked over hickory? How about apple? Or maple?

Oh man, you don’t know ‘what’ you’re missing!

Once you start, you can’t stop! You’ll start cooking everything on the grill and I mean everything.

How about smoked eggs?

smoked_egg

smoked_egg

You can find recipes galore like ‘how to smoke eggs’ as well as a ton of grilling tips online.

Try it!

How about smoked holiday ham?

My mouth’s watering already!

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Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 25th, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

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Leftover Soup

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

How’s this for leftovers?

Chicken broth, a little oregano, and all the leftover veggies in the fridge. Well, don’t go TOO crazy - the leftover veggies must still be good….. a great way to do that is to stash them in a container in the freezer after every meal. When the container is full, make soup!

For this soup, it was chicken broth, oregano, carrots, rice, hominy and chicken.

ckn-rice-soup

ckn-rice-soup

Delish! Filling! Cheap!!

Leftover Soup

Leftover Soup

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Blake’s Always Hungry

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Blake’s food disappeared too fast for me to get a shot. So how about just the third basket of cheese biscuits?

Cheese Biscuits

Cheese Biscuits

The ‘last’ time we took Blake into Red Lobster he and his little cousin ordered the most expensive thing on the menu. He did a little better this time. But it was LUNCH and he ordered the steak.

Guess it’ll be another year or two before I let him back inside Red Lobster!

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