July 2011 « One Megacoolmama... One Megacoolmama…

One Megacoolmama…

…with fun and healthy ideas for kids!

Jul 31

Kid-friendly (and budget-friendly) healthy pasta recipe! 7/31

by megacoolmama

So, I know I’m not the only one who struggles with getting her kids to eat their veggies, right?  Well, I have gotten into the habit of steaming and pureeing a lot of my veggies and adding them to recipes, which you have seen in my Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe before.  However, this time, we will be adding more veggies to a pasta sauce!  I said this recipe was on a budget because I bought my pasta sauce and pasta in bulk at Costco.  I used the Whole Grain Rotini pasta from Barilla and the 100% natural HeartSmart Prego Traditional Italian sauce.  Also, I used Jennie-O Sweet Italian turkey sausage that I purchased as a Buy One Get One Free Item at my local Jewel (it is still on sale at this moment!).  So, here is the recipe:

Ingredients

One package Jennie-O Sweet Italian turkey sausage

One 13.25 oz. box of Barilla Whole Grain Rotina pasta

One 4 lb. 3 oz. jar of Prego 100% natural Heart Smart Traditional Italian Sauce

One cup of cauliflower puree (to make this, just steam one frozen bag of cauliflower and puree in food processor- frozen steamable Birdseye vegetables are on sale 10 for $10 at Jewel right now!)

1.  Boil turkey sausage in a medium sized pan for about 30-40 minutes on medium high.

2.  As turkey sausage is boiling, put water on high for pasta in a large sized pan.  Once water is boiling, add entire box of pasta.  Let boil and drain according to instructions.  Return pasta to pot and cover.

3.  Empty Prego sauce into another medium sized pot.  Add once cup of cauliflower puree and stir until well-blended.  Simmer sauce on low for 15-20 minutes.

4.  After 30-40 minutes, remove turkey sausage from water and slice into about 1/4 in. slices.  Brown these in a pan coated with Pam non-stick spray.  Add turkey to sauce when done browning. 

5.  Simmer sauce for another 5 minutes or so and add to pasta.  Stir it all up and serve! 

Feel free to do steps 1-3 simultaneously…I just had no better way to order it for a recipe format!  Also, remember, the ingredients I use here are ALL NATURAL and GOOD FOR YOU!  Plus, you have the added bonus of more veggies in this recipe and you cannot tell AT ALL that there is a cauliflower puree in the sauce…it adds no weird taste or anything- I promise! 

 This recipe served my family of 4 (2 adults and 2 small children) for 3 meals!  I like to eat it the night I prepare it, the next night for leftovers, and then freeze the 3rd helping for later use!

ENJOY and LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! :)

 

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Jul 31

Office Max freebies and Starbucks coffee at CVS! 7/31

by megacoolmama

If you are a teacher or work at a school, you are in luck!  Today and tomorrow, Office Max is giving away a free reusable tote bag, stuffed with free samples and coupons!  I went today and asked about my bag, and the gentleman working there kindly directed to me to my bag.  He didn’t even ask for an i.d., but I told him where I taught!  Anyway, my bag (which is a nice size; big enough for a quick grocery trip) came with a sample of 100 paper clips, labels for printing nametags, etc., a 2011-2012 planner (stuffed with coupons for every month of the year to use at Office Max-woohoo!), and a sample of notebook Post-its!  I also picked up two boxes of the 1 cent crayons (24 ct. Schoolio brand) and two of the 1 cent wooden rulers!  To top it off, I received a 20% off coupon for my entire purchase today, so I snagged a nice binder to organize all of my coupons in!  What a deal!

 

I also made a trip to my local CVS today in order to get my coffee fix!  They had a good deal there with the 11 or 12 oz. ground coffee variety being on sale for 6.49 a piece.  To make the deal a little sweeter, I used the $3/2 11 or 12 oz. bagged Starbucks coffee coupon that I found in the July 17 SmartSource coupon insert in the Sunday paper.  And, to top it off, I used $4 worth of Extra Care Bucks that I earned from my first purchase (a Revlon lip gloss on sale for $5.79 that I also had a coupon for {$1 off Revlon color cosmetic product from the July 17 SmartSource insert} and the Oral B Cross Action Battery toothbrush {also had a coupon for $3 off 1 Oral B battery toothbrush from the July 31 P&G coupon insert, so I ended up paying 1.99 for a normally $7 toothbrush}).  Soooo….the final price for TWO bags of Starbucks ground coffee (12 oz. a piece) was $7.22 with tax!!! This is such a deal because these bags usually go for around $8.49!  And, don’t forget that when you finish your bags of Starbucks coffee, take the empty bag to any participating Starbucks for a FREE tall brewed coffee!  What a treat!

Hopefully, you can have some of the same luck I did…don’t forget, Office Max deal is over tomorrow and CVS should go until August 5!

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Jul 30

Target Treasures, Old Navy Clearance, Gordmans gift, etc. 7/30

by megacoolmama

Well, today was just a spectacular day in the Megacoolmama household!  I was able to snag a lot of cool deals and some good freebies today!

 

First of all, I went to Gordmans, which was having its grand opening in my area, and got a FREE $10 gift card just for going to Customer Service and saying that I am a Facebook fan of theirs!  How cool!  I will be spending that soon on back-to-school clothes!

Next, I went to Old Navy and did some good bargain shopping.  I bought a nice yellow boys’ polo and two pairs of girls leggings for $1.97 a piece off of the clearance rack.  Then I snagged some nice socks (4 pair a piece) for my son and daughter, at 4 pr. for $5.  After that, I headed to the Toddler boys’ section where I found the Loose style (adjustable waist- yay!) blue jeans for $8.  They are originally $16.50!  So, I got a pair for my son and a pair for my nephew for Christmas!  Then a got a polo for $4 to go with the jeans for my nephew’s Christmas gift.  Oh, and I scored a v-neck t-shirt in charcoal gray for myself for $2.49!  Nice!

Then, off to SuperTarget!  They now have some of their toys marked at %75 off, so I got two edible jewelry kits for $1.74 a piece to give as gifts for Christmas, and I also bought a ZhuZhu pet handheld game for $2.48.  Target also had my favorite Dark chocolate Hershey’s chocolate chips on clearance at $2.24, so I picked up a couple bags of those, too!  Gotta stock up when stuff is on clearance!

After SuperTarget, Meijer!  They had a great 10 for $10 sale going on, so I, of course, only picked what was healthy for my family and went with the following items in the sale:  24 oz. Hunt’s natural ketchup (no high fructose corn syrup), Kraft macaroni and cheese organic and veggie pasta meals, organic baby carrots, and Ajax dish soap.  All of this was $1 a piece! 

My final stop was Jewel, where I picked up some more items at their 10 for $10 sale:  6 packages of Birdseye steamfresh frozen vegetables and 4 cans of Bumblebee albacore white tuna in water.  I used my $3 off Jewel purchase coupon that I received during my last shopping trip there to make for extra savings!

I, of course, had more items on my grocery list to pick up, but these were just the highlights.  How, you ask, do I know where and when all the sales are?  Well, you know those seemingly worthless mailers you get in your mailbox during the middle of every week?  I used to throw those straight to recycling, but, believe it or not, they are what you need to be looking at!  Those mailers detail all of the sales and specials for the week for your area stores.  It takes some time to get your list organized and going, but once you do it, you will thank yourself!

Also, I subscribe to The Grocery Game, which is a service that lists and groups all of the local sales and coupons in one website and tells you exactly which coupon insert to cut your coupons from.  This has been a great help, but I have found that actually looking at the mailers gets me better results because I can see the products for myself. 

I hope this post can inspire you to start saving money on your grocery bill, too!  :)

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Jul 29

Good for you and the Earth!

by megacoolmama

So, one of the deals/freebies I was able to snag today was a free sample of Kashi’s new dark chocolate peanut butter bar!  Yay!  Thanks hip2save.com!  If you would like a free sample of either the dark chocolate peanut butter bar or their cinnamon harvest cereal, just go here and then decide which one you would like!  It’s that easy!  While you are on Kashi’s website, explore a little bit to find out some really cool information.  For instance, this page offers up the 10 most kid-friendly snacks that Kashi makes, and this page tells some really neat ways to re-use your old coffee grounds.  I love Kashi’s products because they are all natural, made with REAL ingredients that are good for you.  I don’t feel bad giving my kids their cereal bars knowing that many other national brands are still using artificial sweeteners and ingredients in theirs.  Kashi makes it easy for me to feed my family and feel good about it!

And, speaking of re-using old coffee grounds reminds me of two things I wanted to share:

1.  Re-using is great for the Earth, and I have found a place that makes it easy for you to do many other things that are good for the Earth and get rewarded for it!  Recyclebank is a website that offers rewards to registrants for taking various recycle-based challenges.  I have already racked up enough points in a few weeks to get a high value $2 off any Kashi product coupon!  Nice!

2.  Starbucks is my choice for coffee when I can’t get it directly from Colombia (lucky me gets spoiled with good coffee from my husband’s family who lives there!).  Anyway, I buy my ground Starbucks coffee to brew myself at home in the mornings and have made an awesome discovery- for each bag of Starbucks coffee that you use, you can turn it in for a FREE tall cup of coffee at participating Starbucks locations!  Doing this at my local SuperTarget (which has a Starbucks inside) made my shopping trip a whole lot more tolerable!  :)

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Jul 28

My “Philosophy”

by megacoolmama

So, here’s the deal.  None of the stuff I post on this website is going to be “bad” for you, generally speaking. :)   What I mean is that my recipes and all of the deals I post for great bargains on groceries will be put through my “test”, so to speak.  Just what is this test, you ask?  Well, before I buy ANY food, I READ THE INGREDIENTS!  I don’t care if it says it is a granola bar on the front of the box, I am reading the ingredient list to see just what other stuff is in there.  So, my pledge to you is that I will make sure that none of the foods I use in my recipes and grocery bargains have any of the following: 

     hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils

     high fructose corn syrup

     enriched white flour 

Also, I will try to search for as many foods that have the fewest artificial additives as possible.  Read more about what Dr. Oz (from the Oprah show) has to say about these “Hall of Shame” foods. 

I, personally, have virtually eliminated these ingredients from my diet, and I have been able to shed 50 lbs. after having my second child (I am actually 20 lbs. lighter than my “average” weight pre-baby), AND I feel simply great!  NO migraines, NO sluggishness, NO chronic aches and pains. 

This is my pledge to you!

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Jul 27

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

by megacoolmama

Chocolate chip cookies that are good for you!

 

 

So, I’ve made these cookies for so many get-togethers, and I always get tons of compliments and requests for the recipe.  We love them at my house, and I don’t feel guilty giving them to my kids because they have some good stuff in them!  Read on for the recipe…

1 c. unbleached white flour

1c. whole wheat flour

1/4 c. flaxseed meal

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 small tub of SmartBalance butter (the regular kind works best)

1 single serving container of all natural applesauce

2-4 tbsp. squash/carrot puree (I make this ahead of time and freeze it for future use…just peel, chop, and steam some squash and carrots, run them through the food processor until mushy, and separate into containers)

1 12 oz. bag dark chocolate chips (I make sure mine have NO hydrogenated oils and NO high fructose corn syrup)

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine both flours, flaxseed meal, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir until combined.

Soften butter in microwave.  Combine brown sugar, sugar, butter, applesauce, and squash/carrot puree in mixing bowl.  Mix with electric mixer until well blended.

Add vanilla and egg to butter mixture.  Mix again with electric mixer until well blended.

Add 1/2 of dry mixture to wet mixture.  Mix with electric mixer until well blended.  Add the other 1/2 of dry mixture and do the same.

Add chocolate chips and mix with a spoon.

Drop by the tablespoon onto greased cookie sheets (with Pam).  Bake for 10 minutes.  Makes around 50 cookies.  Cool and enjoy!

Note:  these cookies have NO ingredients that have hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup.  They have more fiber than traditional chocolate chip cookies and less fat and calories due to the butter replacement with the puree and applesauce.  They taste great and are just all-around better for you!

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Jul 27

Very Vegetable Salad!

by megacoolmama

For my first “In the Kitchen” post, I will share a recipe that I like to make ahead for myself for a nice, light summer lunch.  It has a good protein and fiber content because of the chickpeas and also lots of good stuff from the walnuts and all the vegetables.  I call it “Very Vegetable Salad”!  The following is a list of vegetables that I use, but you can really use whatever you have handy!

For the salad:

  1. chopped Romaine lettuce (about five leaves)
  2. 1/3 c. rinsed, prepared chickpeas (from the can is fine, but I like to rinse mine to lower the sodium content)
  3. 6 chopped baby carrots
  4. 1 stalk of celery, chopped
  5. 2 tbsp. chopped red onion
  6. 1/4 of a green pepper, chopped
  7. 1/4 of a large cucumber, peeled and chopped
  8. 7 or 8 grape tomatoes, halved
  9. 1-2 tbsp. dried cranberries
  10. 1-2 tbsp. unsalted walnuts
  11. shredded cheese for garnish on top if you wish
     

For the dressing:

  1. juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 lime
  2. 1 tbsp. olive oil
  3. dash of vinegar
  4. 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
  5. 1/2 tsp. dried basil

Just throw everything together for the salad in your salad bowl, mix ingredients together for the dressing in a separate small bowl, and drizzle over the top of the salad.  Enjoy!

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Jul 26

Target Treasure Box 7/26

by megacoolmama

So, today I left the house, armed with over $20 in coupons for good ol’ Target and was able to save a total of $20.49 on my purchase, mostly with the Target printable coupons!  Yay!  The best part is that I ran into some “treasures” while I was there.  For instance, a lot of Infant and Toddler clothes are on sale for 50-75% off, leaving many articles of clothing priced at $1.75 or less!  I snagged a t-shirt a piece for my four-year-old boy and two-year-old girl, and then also got a short outfit, a cute onesie, and an adorable shirt for my brother’s unborn daughter, all for around $1.75 a piece!  Also, I figured that it’s never too early to start stocking up for Christmas gifts, so I purchased a play toolbox set with tools for $7.48!  This will make a good gift for our two-year-old nephew!  By the way, there are lots of toys on sale for 50% off right now, too!

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Jul 12

Hola, amigos!

by megacoolmama

Well, here it is!  The first page of what I hope to be a place to fuse all of my ideas and share what I love to do with the world.  On this blog you will find a variety of things, including healthy recipes, ideas for greener living, ways to stay fit, frugal living tips and deals, and pages dedicated to being a mom with awesome kids!  I hope that whoever visits my site will be able to take a little something away to make their day easier or brighter.  Have a wonderful day and thanks for visiting! :)

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