Last Night's Dinner- BLT-rific Mac 'n Cheese Online Recipe

Yes. Bacon. Cheese. Pasta. Good.

I'm not sure that I really need to say more except that I am a huge fan of Kraft Mac, so for me to stray...no...convert to Hungry Girl's BLT-rific Mac 'n Cheese, you know it must be phenomenal. Somehow, we had already consumed the squash that's supposed to be in this dish before last night so I simply omitted it, but that, I'm sure, would simply enhance it and make it even more filling. Try it. Find the recipe here.

Dahubby says, "So good! Mmm (nummy noises here, but manlier than 'nummy')."

Dahoney's Chocolate Coconut Bites

Ingredients:

1- 7oz bag of Sweetened Flaked Coconut (or about 2 1/2 cups)

2 egg whites

1 TBSP of Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix it all together and drop by spoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheet (or spray with non-stick cooking spray if you don't have parchment paper.) Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely before eating- if you can!

Makes 12 cookies- 62 calories per cookie

Tip: I have also made these sans-egg whites, formed them into little nests with craters in the middle and stuck some candy eggs in the middle for Easter. Works best if you adhere them with a dab of frosting. Enjoy!

DIY Tutorial- $1 Diaper Box Upcycle

I have seen a lot of tutorials on making diaper boxes into fabric covered lovelies. However, I don't have the money for fabric. If I did, I'd just buy the stinkin' things at Target and call it a day. SO, what to do with a bunch of empty diaper boxes lying around? Here's a quick and easy AND CHEAP tutorial on how to up cycle them into custom storage boxes:

Supplies: 1 diaper box

1 roll of shelf paper (I got mine at the Dollar Tree and it was more than enough for one box)

Scissors

Box cutter

Use the box cutter to take off the flaps at the top of the box. Using the scissors, cut the paper to fit the 2 shortest sides of your box with a little extra for wrapping around the edge- about 1-2" extra. For my Huggies box, the length was 11" total. I just cut across the whole roll like I cutting wrapping paper and didn't trim it anymore than that. This will be a piece that you wrap from the top to the bottom of your box. Peel the backing off the paper and stick your box right on it with a 2-3" allowance on top. Cut out all 4 corners as shown above so that you don't have to fold.Stick it to the box, wrapping the excess into the box, around the corners, and under the bottom. It's pretty forgiving stuff, but try to stick it down flat the first time. Trying to push out wrinkles doesn't work too well though, so just lift and restick if needed.

Do this to the other side as well. Now both "handle ends" are covered. Don't worry about getting the edges perfect, they will be covered by the next two pieces. You will cut the handle section out last. Next, cut pieces to go over the longer sides. These need to be exactly the length of your box so that there is no side wrapping. For my Huggies box, I cut 13". Again, just cut across the roll like you're cutting wrapping paper and use the piece as-is. No need to cut out the corners this time, just start inside the box and wrap out, down, and around.

Use a box cutter to cut out the handle holes if desired. Voila! For just $1, you've made a cutie-pie storage box. The Dollar Tree often has a lot of different patterns of shelf paper that would be great for this project- toile, faux wood grain, checks, etc. Be warned, though, a light colored paper will allow the print on the box to show through. For me, this is ok since these will be used in my craft closet, but if you wish to go this light and don't want anyone to see the diaper label, just cover it in a solid paper first.

Happy Crafting!

Last Night's Dessert- Upside-Down Pineapple-Applesauce Cake

Well, last night I made Sloppy Janes for dinner from my Hungry Girl cookbook, and they were awesome...messy, but awesome. Since I cooked dinner from the cookbook, I thought I'd make dessert from the Hungry Girl website and show you what it looked like. Enter the Upside-Down Pineapple-Applesauce Cake. You can find the recipe here. I did not have the maraschino cherries (bummer), so I just omitted them. But, please, could this be any more delicious? Even if it had cherries? So good I really felt like I was doing something wrong. An eighth of this cake is only 189 calories (less without the cherries I guess), and I served it warm with a bit of Fat Free Reddi-whip. Yum! Try yourself. You'll be glad you did.

Dahubby says, "Yes. Perfect. Love it. So good. Keep making this."

Last Night's Dinner- Online Recipe for Chicken Taquitos

Woohoo! Last night, we tried another wonderful Hungry Girl recipe that can be found here for Exploding Chicken Taquitos. So good! You might be surprised to hear that these use canned chicken. What?!? Yes. Canned Chicken. But, trust me, if you use the all white-meat cans, you are still making a healthy choice while making your life a lot easier. Although, hey, if you've got leftover chicken breast in the fridge, by all means, use that. These were designed to be an appetizer- hence being only 197 calories for 2!!!!- so I added some carrots sticks and a cup of corn chowder to round out the meal. All in, we were at about 400 calories for an amazing dinner. Follow the link and try them for yourself!

Dahubby says, "What's the catch? These are seriously good. They can't be as healthy as we've been trying to eat." No catch, sweets, just no oil!

Last Night's Dinner-Noodlicious Zucchini Pancakes

So, this week, I've decided to try out some of Hungry Girl's online recipes so that if something looks good to you, you can easily go and try it yourself without having to buy the cookbook. First up...last night's dinner was Noodlicious Zucchini Pancakes found here. I thought they were fantastic. Simply delicious! As easy as grating some veggies and mixing up batter. And a big dollop of fat free sour cream put it right over the top! Now, I super love croquettes, latkes, as well as zucchini and mushrooms which star in this particular dish. If you don't like those things, this may not be for you. Dahubs was not a fan, but that's ok. More for me! And, at 50 calories a pancake, why not have a few? They're just tofu noodles and veggies for heaven's sake. ;) Happy Chewing!

P.S. Aren't you glad I finally figured out how to do a hyperlink? Hehe

Dahubby says, "Not my favorite. I ate it to be polite. I think it was the texture. I like a dough-ier feel to my pancake."

Target Trip- Spent $19.13, Saved $25.82

Man! This was a great morning to be out couponing! Maybe the rainy weather kept my competition at home? Target was awesome! I spent $19.13, and saved $25.82. That's a 57% savings! Woot! Here's what I got and how:

(2) Up and Up single roll paper towels, $0.99 regular price

Used $1/1 Up & Up paper towel coupon from Target.com

Paid $0.00- Free!!

(1) Merona tank top, $3.60 on clearance

Used $3/1 Merona clothing item coupon from Target.com

Paid $0.60- pretty stinkin' close to free

(4) Power Bar Bites, $1.27 each regular price

Used 2 BOGO coupons from Target.com (may no longer be available)

Paid $2.54 for all four bags (or $0.64 each)

(8) Happy Tot Organic Smoothies, $1.79 each regular price

(8) Happy Tot Organic Squeezable pouches, $1.19 each regular price

Used 2 $1/4 Happy Tot items from Target.com (should still be available)

Used 7 BOGO coupons from Happy Tot (This is a Bricks coupon. I would use the coupon database at www.saveathomemommy.com to find the link.)

Paid $9.31 for all 16 "squeezies" as we call them ;) (That's $0.58 each!!)

(2) Up and Up squeezable food pouches, $0.89 each regular price (can you tell we like 'em?)

Used 2 $0.25/1 Up and Up baby food pouches from Target.com

Paid $1.28 for both (or $0.64 each)

(5) Bic Pens, $1.00 sale price

Used 5 $1/1 Bic stationary product fm SS #2 1/08

Paid $0.00- free pens (these are earmarked for my friend K who has been looking forever)

(2) Up and Up Unscented Wipes boxes, $1.57 each regular price