They want to be just like us…..

Blogging marathon #5….  This is Maggie playing with my expired coupons.  They really are not interest in toys.  We’ve given our children way too much stuff in their lifetime.  One thing I’d change if I could do over.  Now we’re getting better, but still need improvement.  But much much much better than before.

Homemade Salmon Cake Salad

Last week I had lunch out, which is rare for me.  I ordered exactly what I wanted:  Salad with crab cake.  It was $12 not including drink.  It was at a very nice restaurant so my expectations were high.  Yes, I was very disappointed.  The crab cake was frozen in the middle.  I guess they take it from the freezer to the frying pan and just stick on a bed of greens.  I could do that with a costco trip.  I sent the crab cake back and it returned a rubbery heated ball.  I just said thanks and let it go.  Some things are not worth the fight and I was focused on other stuff at the time.

This week I reinvented the salad and mine was 500% better.  I had leftover cooked/seasoned salmon that I crumbled into a bowl.  I added one egg, a few capers, lemon juice, 1/2 sleeve of crushed ritz crackers, a couple of huge spoons of mayo and pepper.   About one cup of salmon made 4 medium sized cakes.  I fried them in a little veggie oil.

For the salad, just fresh tossed greens, sliced bell peppers, green onions and goat cheese.  I used a red wine vinaigrette for the dressing.  I topped the salad with the hot salmon cakes and lemon wedges on the side.

Husband thought he had died and gone to heaven it was so good.  I made two salads with two cakes each for much less $ than the one I had out (which only had one cake).  You just can’t beat eating at home.

Gotcha day anniversary

4 years ago we were in China to meet our new daughter.  What a joy.

Frozen Key Lime Ice Cream Dessert

This is one of my favorite summertime desserts and great for brunch.  And so simple with 3 ingredients.  I’m trying to keep the oven usage down to only a few times a week, so this is one more treat that doesn’t heat up the house when being prepared.

You only need key lime ice cream (blue bell is my favorite), whip cream and granola.  Layer icecream, granola then whip cream in the bottom half of your glass.  Next more ice cream, whip cream and top with granola.  I used homemade coconut granola in my treat.

Doctored Chocolate Cake from a Mix

This has been a cooking week.  I try to keep desserts around the house and my family has a fondness for chocolate.   I get a ton of cake mixes for very little $$$ using coupons.  But I think a cake mix just with oil, eggs and water tastes boring.  You can, however, doctor it up and make it taste gourmet.

I start my cakes with a mix (almost free with coupon) then doctor them with other ingredients to make them taste purely homemade.  These are so good I cannot justify doing it totally from scratch.   Some of the best ingredients to use in cake doctoring are mayonnaise, buttermilk and sour cream.  This week I used mayonnaise.  It is a great use for mayo if you need to rotate this item through your pantry before it expires.

One of my favorite cook books is “the cake doctor”.  Here’s a recipe similar to the one I used from my cookbook, mine also had vanilla as an ingredient.

I almost never use store bought icing b/c I can taste the difference between this and homemade.  If you save time with a cake mix, then use the extra to make frosting from scratch.  It will make all the difference.  For the icing I used two use dark chocolate bars (thanks for leaving these Melissa), butter and powder sugar.   The icing was too sweet for me, but the family thought it was great.  We had extra icing, so we also dipped strawberries… yum yum.

Check out this cake:  And see www.lifeasmom.com for other great cakes.

Clearance meat galore

This week I crowned myself the clearance meat queen.  I went to Randall’s at 9 am to shop for their reduced price meat.  I scored.  My freezer is full.   I think Randall’s is one of the best places to get meat and they mark down their stuff big time.  I got all this (pic below) for $106.   Full price would have been $425.  About $75 of this was for meat items and will last my family of 5 at least 2 months.  And 4 of us eat at home 3 meals a day.

I have a few strategies when I purchase clearance meat.

• I shop after holidays for meat because grocery stores over stock for  the holiday crowd.  For example, the day after Christmas is the best. Other ladies hit the mall for after Christmas sales.  Instead I hit the grocery stores the day after Christmas.  I get up early and visit at least 4 grocery stores.  Last year I got 7 butterball fresh turkey breasts for almost nothing, regularly $16.  We eat this for about 3 months after Christmas.  I do it again at Easter.  And then after July 4th.

• I buy meat that was already on sale as a loss leader,  which has been additionally marked down for quick sale.  Randall’s had a sale on Ribeye’s (ended Tuesday midnight).  They had gotten a ton in for 4th of July.  I purchased at least 10 huge ribeye steaks.  I also got pork ribs, Italian sausage, chicken, and 6 corned beef briskets for 49 cents a pound (regularly 3.99 a pound).  Many other items, but I won’t bore you with a list.

• Whenever I buy marked down fish, I always take it to the butcher and ask that they double check it for me.  Once I had a butcher check it and he said don’t buy it and he tossed it.  I’m not an expert on seafood, so I defer to them.  And I talk to the butcher, not the young stocker who is working in the department.  I have never gotten a bad fish.  This week we ate a huge piece of Salmon for $3.99 (marked down).  It was enough for two meals.

• I never buy anything that has already expired.  That should not even be on the shelved.

• I’m selective on which stores I will trust in this area.  I know this is controversial, but I think very highly of Randalls and will also buy Kroger’s marked down meats.  I do not at HEB or other smaller local grocers.

• I also check their shelves for products I like but are hard to find on clearance.  For example, I love the organic chicken apple smoked sausages that are $6 a pack for 4 sausages.  Whenever I see these are going to expire in a couple of days I take them to the butcher and ask that they mark them down to 99 cents.   I’ve only been told no once.

• When I get home it goes straight to the freezer.  I don’t let it sit in my fridge for hours before I transfer the meat.  Or I cook that day.

• Iit helps if you look and act like a lady when you shop.  If you show up with sweats, messy hair, no makeup and screaming kids you don’t get the same response when you’re asking for favors.  I’m not saying you go in an evening gown with jewels, but go looking nice.  Both males and females respond more positively to someone who is presentable.