Penny Pinching Peach

For the semi crunchy, homeschool friendly and totally frugal!

Tag Archives: family dinner


by 10 Comments

10 Family Friendly Crockpot Meals

10 Family Friendly Crockpot Meals

Most busy, penny pinching moms that I know are fond of fun family friendly crockpot recipes. I have had a hard time keeping up with the house and cooking for awhile now, with a new baby and one injury or sickness after another, so my slow cooker is my best friend. I decided to get together a list of 10 great crockpot meals to share with y’all! Read and drool! 😉

Next time you want a comfort meal without all the hassle I hope you give this Crock-pot Beef Stroganoff {Gluten Free} a try. Serve it over hot white or brown rice or GF noodles with your favorite vegetable for an easy dinner. #crockpot #recipe Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

An easy, inexpensive crockpot chili recipe. Hide all kinds of veggies for the picky eaters, and mx your own chili seasoning to control your flavor!
Mom’s Healthy Crockpot Chili

21 freezer meals fit for a family! Who couldn’t use this kind of help with dinners?
How To Make Easy Freezer Meals

Crock-Pot BBQ Orange Pork – A sweet and tangy, super easy, healthier Crock-pot version of a classic family favorite. #recipe #crockpot
Crockpot BBQ Orange Pork

Tastes like a gourmet meal, but without all the gourmet hassle. Serve this to impress the neightbors (or you inlaws!) This recipe is picky eater approved.  Slow Cooker White Wine Chicken

“Penny Pinching Peach is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com”

Need a new slow cooker? This looks like the newer version of mine, which was a wedding gift. I still use it all the time! Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker

Loaded Potato Soup in the Crock-pot – A potato soup loaded with all the things you like on your baked potatoes. I’m talking bacon, cheese, broccoli, and more! #crockpot #recipe
Loaded Potato Soup

Crock-pot Tex-Mex Steak and Beans – An easy meal to throw together; full of tender, juicy steak, black beans, onions, garlic, and spices. #texmex #crockpot #recipe
Crockpot Tex-Mex Steak and Beans

Not Your Usual Black Beans and Rice! Try this great recipe!
Not Your Usual Black Beans and Rice

Make a delicious crockpot peanut chicken without a huge hassle!
Crockpot Peanut Chicken

Crock-pot Red Beans with Pork – a hearty, easy, crowd pleasing, inexpensive dish that is perfect on any night. #crockpot #recipe Crockpot Red Beans With Pork

To make clean up a snap, I love using Crock Pot Liners. Trust me, huge time saver!

That’s our list, y’all! Don’t they make your mouth water?? Which are you eager to try first? Need more dinner ideas? Try my easy peasy Weeknight Dinners!

Please sign up for my Mailing List for a weekly update, coupon codes, and extra savings!


by 5 Comments

Grandma’s Sunday Special Ritz Cracker Chicken

A Family Favorite!

A Family Favorite!

This is a treasured family recipe, dating back at least to my great-grandma. My mom told stories of going every Sunday to her grandma’s house for this Ritz cracker chicken and a good time with her huge, close-knit clan of kinfolks. This was one of her stand-by meals for our family growing up, and one we looked forward to every time. When I was dating my now-husband, I fixed this chicken for him. He had a fit over it, and insisted on taking me to his parents’ house and having me fix it for him. Maybe it brought on a proposal? 😉 He requests it from time to time, and my little Princess Peach and her baby brother are already in love with what she also calls Grandma’s Special Ritz Cracker Chicken. She thinks it is a “recipe from Heaven”, though, because it is so yummy and she knows it is a recipe I learned from her Grandma, whom she never met ’cause she went to live in Heaven before Princess Peach was born. This recipe has so many good memories attached to it for me, in addition to being delicious! I’m happy to share it with you, and hope you can make memories with your own family while feeding them this scrumptious chicken treat.

We don’t always make this with chicken breast, for the record. You can use any pieces you want. We just like breast meat better in our house, so I buy huge packs when we find it on sale. I also frequently add chicken liver, made the same way, in with our chicken breast. It stretches the budget, and  the hubby and I love liver. I usually serve this chicken with mashed taters and either green beans, corn, baked beans or mac & cheese, but it would go well with just about anything. It is truly that good! 🙂

With no further ado…

Grandma's Sunday Special Ritz Cracker Chicken

Grandma’s Sunday Special Ritz Cracker Chicken

♥Grandma’s Sunday Special Ritz Cracker Chicken♥

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into large strips

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix crushed Ritz crackers, melted butter and black pepper until all is moistened.

Coat each piece of chicken well with the Ritz cracker mixture, and place in medium sized baking pan.

 Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through and lightly browned.

Enjoy!

She was enjoying her chicken and wouldn't stop to pose. :)

She was enjoying her chicken and wouldn’t stop to pose. 🙂

This recipe doubles well, and I usually do at least double the recipe so we can eat it

Chewing his chicken with a cheesy grin

Chewing his chicken with a cheesy grin

multiple times. You just have to cook it a few minutes longer for the extra chicken. The pan shown is about double the recipe, for reference. We love it so much that we’re always happy to eat the leftovers the next day!

No coupons this week, but this is a super frugal main dish.

So, now that I’ve shared one of my favorite family recipes with you, what’s a dish your family has long term ties with? If you don’t have a recipe like that, what dish do you fix that appears to have the potential to become “Grandma’s special recipe” for your own future generations?

For more recipes, please click the Chef’s hat!


by 2 Comments

Cheesy Spinach Enchiladas

When I Became a Spinach Addict

When I Became a Spinach Addict

As someone who is addicted to both cheese and spinach, and loves Mexican food, this is a fantastic recipe! I’ve been a lifelong lover of cheese, but spinach has become a consistent craving for me ever since I got pregnant with my now one year old son. Weird, random, but true, especially since I was barely a mediocre fan of all things green and leafy until then. I’m drooling right now just thinking about these Cheesy Spinach Enchiladas! I want these right now, seriously! This is an awesome meal for a vegetarian or someone like me who can do without meat easily…or the guy whose wife can sneak in a meat-free meal when there’s enough cheese and sauce involved. 😉 It’s also very inexpensive, so who can complain about this one? If you’ve got someone who can’t do without meat at even one meal, just add a sprinkling of shredded chicken to each enchilada (or just his), so everyone will be happy. If you want to double the recipe and freeze one before you finish cooking, usually enchiladas freeze well, although I can’t guarantee them, of course. There are also coupons available to go with this delicious dish, which makes an inexpensive dish even cheaper. Can we say woohoo here?? 🙂

~*~Cheesy Spinach Enchiladas~*~

1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach , thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
10 (6 inch) corn tortillas
1 (19 ounce) can enchilada sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook for a few minutes until fragrant, but not brown. Stir in spinach, and cook about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat, and mix in ricotta cheese, sour cream, and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese.

In a skillet over medium heat, warm tortillas one at a time until flexible, about 15 seconds. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the spinach mixture onto the center of each tortilla. Roll up, and place seam side down in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the remaining cup of Monterey Jack.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned at the edges.

Go to this site: http://www.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=MKRU3JAAR6CCY

Print these coupons: $1.00 off 2 Las Palmas Products and 50 cents off one Sargento cheese

I’m in love with this recipe, but I have a meat addict for a hubby, so I’d probably have to add some shredded chicken to mine, or at least make some beans with it. Does anyone else have a meat junkie in their household? Did anyone else crave something during pregnancy, and never lose the newfound love for a food which wasn’t a favorite before? My weakness is cheese. I could live as a vegetarian, if necessary, but being vegan would probably send me into withdrawals. 🙂

For more recipes, please click the Chef’s hat!


by 2 Comments

Throw-Together Casserole

Diapered dude and discount diva proving frugal is cool!

Diapered dude and discount diva proving frugal is cool!

Lately life has been moving right along at a busy pace, and I don’t always have time to prepare alot of dishes, desserts or anything special at all. This one dish meal is very simple to throw together, though, along with having some great coupons to go with it this week. You mix it up in the casserole dish, too, so clean-up is quick and easy, as well. It covers all of the food groups in that one dish, too, so…woohoo for health! On the days when my kiddos are more-than-usually underfoot and thinking my every moment revolves around their every sneeze and whim, one dish dinners are almost literally lifesavers. 🙂 What more could a busy person want from a hearty family dinner?

Throw-Together Casserole

1/2 pound sausage, fried and drained

1/4 cup sliced black olives

1/4 cup  sliced green olives

1 cup whole kernel corn

1 cup chopped canned tomatoes

1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 cup cubed Cheddar cheese

1 cup cooked white rice

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
~In a 2 quart casserole dish, combine all ingredients. Mix together well.
~Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.
There are a few coupons to go with this recipe. For the coupons, go to: http://www.coupons.com/coupons/Food-Coupons-107/
Print these coupons: Bob Evans Sausage, Hinode Rice, Contadina Canned Tomatoes
Who else is in love with one dish meals? I love the simplified preparation and snappy clean-up.


by Leave a comment

Spicy to Sweet: Dinner & Dessert Discounted with Coupons!

Penny Pinching Peach

Penny Pinching Peach

I love the kind of meal you can throw together all in one dish. It means less clean-up and it’s easier to keep an eye on one dish while watching my munchkins destroy the housecleaning I just finished than it is to babysit multiple fancy dishes. I can do it, but the headache is sometimes not worth it or I just plain don’t have time to do that and everything else I’ve got going on. With a nice coupon available right now for sausage, and taters always being cheap, this Sausage Potato Dinner in a Dish fits right in with my laidback frugal mommy vibe. My family also has a super duper sweet tooth, so if I find a simple dessert that uses ingredients I usually have on hand, I’m tickled pink. With strawberries being in season right now, they are always in my fridge, so the Strawberry Yogurt Pastries were perfect for this time of year!

I’m putting the savings information after the recipes. There are double savings this time, which makes this a really sweet deal! 😉

Sausage Potato Dinner in a Dish

4 small red potatoes, cubed
2 small zucchinis, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound Hillshire Farms smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper

*Place potatoes in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
*Meanwhile, sprinkle zucchini & onion with garlic salt. In a small skillet, stir-fry zucchini in butter until crisp-tender. Add sausage; cook until browned.
*Drain potatoes; add to skillet. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese and pepper; heat through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
*Yield: 4 servings.

Strawberry Yogurt Pastries

1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated Pillsbury crescent rolls
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) Yoplait strawberry yogurt
1 1/3 cups strawberries, halved

*On a baking sheet coated with cooking spray, separate crescent dough into 4 rectangles; seal perforations.

*Bake at 375° for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown.

*Cool on a wire rack. Spread yogurt on each pastry; top with strawberries. Serve immediately.

*Yield: 4 servings.

Now for the savings part of the menu! 🙂

Got to http://www.coupons.com

Select and print Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage, Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and Yoplait Yogurt coupons.

If you have joined SavingStar, Pillsbury and Yoplait also have coupons available with that program right now, which will double stack your savings together on those two items. If you haven’t joined, please check out my blog on SavingStar under Sites for Savings to learn more. It’s a great program! 🙂