Got Biscuits?

One of the products that I never seem to lack in my stockpile is Pillsbury biscuits (and crescent rolls and pizza dough and cinnamon rolls - you get the picture).  I love to keep them on hand, because they are so quick and easy.  However, they can get a little boring if you just use them "as is" all the time.  I decided one night to make some Bacon Quiche Biscuit Cups  that I found on the Pillsbury website.  We love mixing it up and having breakfast for dinner, and unfortunately, I am embarrassed there are some nights when a bowl of cereal is all I can manage to squeeze in. 
 
This was more fun than a bowl of cereal and basically only required ingredients that I had on hand.  I did need to make a few substitutions since I had about 10 containers of sour cream that I had gotten for nothing, and no cream cheese, only cheddar cheese, etc.  Once I have used up my sour cream, I'm going to make the recipe as it's listed, but this was a tasty alteration.


So here's the slightly modified recipe:
5  slices bacon
1  package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

2  tablespoons milk

2  eggs

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 oz)

2 tablespoons chopped green onions (2 medium)

1 can (12 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® refrigerated biscuits

1.  Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 10 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray. In 8-inch skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon; set aside.

2.  Meanwhile, in small bowl, blend sour cream, milk and eggs, beating at low speed until smooth. Stir in cheddar cheese and onions. Set aside.

3.  Take a few layers from each biscuit to create 12 separate dough rounds. Press or roll each to form 5-inch round. Place 1 biscuit round in each muffin cup; firmly press in bottom and up sides, forming 1/4-inch rim. Place half of bacon in bottom of dough-lined muffin cups. Spoon cheese mixture evenly into cups.

4.  Bake 21 to 26 minutes or until filling is set and edges of biscuit cups are golden brown. Sprinkle each with remaining bacon; lightly press into filling. Remove biscuit cups from pan.

These little quiches were really yummy and a great way to use up some of the stash of biscuits before they expired.

I would love to have "plated" these so that they looked more impressive, but since I was headed out to bring my sweet little cheerleader to practice, this was more of a grab and go kind of dinner.  They are even good reheated in the oven the next day.

I'm going to bring these to our family's Easter brunch for something a little fun and different.  Enjoy!

Here's What I Have To Use This Week

Ok, so my pantry and refrigerator are overflowing with a few things that really need to be used up.  I have more egg noodles, biscuits, sour cream, rice and rice mixes, and cake mixes than I know what to do with.  My goal this week will be to make a dent in those items, in order make room for the new.  :)  


I'm a little exhausted from being at Harris Teeter every day last week, so I haven't decided if  there is anything this week that will draw me in (aside from the Breyer's ice cream mmmmmm.....).  We may have to make a quick trip in to see if there are any good short dated meats that need to be added to my freezer.  I'm thinking I may need some to add to my noodle, rice and sour cream supply.


Do you have any recipes you want to share that use some of my overstocked items?  I'd love to hear from you.

Crazy Coupon Lady

Welcome!  I have been a crazy coupon lady for several years now.  You know, the one with the big three-ring binder brimming with coupons perched atop her grocery cart.  Yep, that’s me.  I love saving money, and it has become a weekly challenge for me to see how little I can spend to feed my family.  And I’m not talking ramen noodles seven nights a week.  My goal is for them not to know the difference between what they eat now versus what they used to eat when I paid full price for the food.  

Let me give you a little background on myself.  Many, many years ago, when I was single with no responsibilities and more money than I needed, I was a grocery snob.  If I may be perfectly transparent, I would notice people buying the generic brand of anything and there would be a little reaction in my mind - I don’t really remember the exact sensation, but there was a stigma that I placed on any “no name” item.  Just writing this, I’m feeling a rush of shallowness - how embarrassing to admit!  

So much has changed since that time.  Marriage, children, becoming a stay-at-home mom, husband’s job moving to China without him, husband deciding to change careers and go back to school and the subsequent three and a half years of living on our savings.  Through that stretch of time while my husband was in school, we got to experience first-hand God’s loving faithfulness in so many areas of our lives.  Coupons were one of the tools He used to provide for us.  He hand-picked people to come into my life to educate me on how to best use them and to understand the cyclical nature of grocery store sales, then use that “system” to stockpile products when they are at their lowest price.  You may think it’s nuts to have a dozen containers of sour cream in your refrigerator, but hey, it was FREE, so now comes the challenge to figure out what to do with all of it!  

That situation is really the inspiration for this blog.  Many of you are probably coupon users, and some of you are likely employing varying degrees of the stockpiling method.  So what do you do with all those FREE No Yolks egg noodles you may have gotten last week at Harris Teeter? (Note:  I live in NC in an area that doesn’t have a grocery store on every corner, so since I have to drive a distance, I have chosen to make Harris Teeter my “store-of-choice”.  I know there are deals to be had at other stores, and if I lived closer, I would jump right on them, but for the most part what I write about will focus on those deals that I have found at Harris Teeter).  This is a picture of the groceries that my daughter and I bought that we, after the free milk coupons) were "paid" to buy.

My goal is to scour cookbooks and websites and maybe do a little kitchen experimentation of my own to come up with meals that you can make with the deals that  can be found at the grocery store on any given week.  What good is free or nearly free food if it sits in your refrigerator until it becomes a science project.  I will encourage you that if you have over-purchased your frugal food or have decided you don’t like an item you bought, please bring the items to the local food bank.  In this economy, there are many people in need of help and they would be blessed by your donation.

So, come on back from time to time to see how you can utilize what you have in your pantry, in order to make room for the next set of deals that come along!  Happy couponing!!