Pink Collar Divas

Spinach and Feta Wontons

2011-12-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

I am back! After some hacking problems I had last month, I have everything back up and running. I have really missed swapping recipes and coupon business with everyone.

So after becoming super addicted to Pinterest, like I know so many others are...right?!?!, I have finally found a place where I am able to roam for hours for new recipes or at least new ideas. Last night I tried out a new idea, Spinach and Feta Wontons. Now before we start on feta cheese, it is probably one of my most favorite cheeses. My oldest son loves it, well after the initial 2 minutes of a variety of "Mom this stuff really stinks" comments. This recipe is so healthy and a great alternative to store bought, frozen raviolis. Lets get started!!

So I always keep these wonton wrappers in my refrigerator, you never know when you could use these. You can find them in the produce section of any grocery store.You can use them for savory or sweet wontons or raviolis.

So here are the ingredients for the wontons.

1 pack of Nasoya Wonton Wrappers

1 box of frozen spinach, defrosted and drained of all water

1 package of cream cheese, softened

1-4oz. container of feta cheese

1 onion

2 zucchinis

2 cloves of garlic

1 egg

1 tbsp of water

3 or 4 tbsp of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

So in a saucepan heat up the olive oil on medium heat. In a large pot, fill with water and get it boiling. This will be used to cook the wontons. Once the oil is heated, add the onion, chopped garlic and sliced zucchinis.Add salt and pepper to taste. Saute them until they are nice and soft, probably about 10 minutes. While these are cooking away, crack the egg into a bowl and add 1 tbsp of water to it. Mix it up and set aside. This will be our egg wash that will help seal the wontons.

Now to the wontons. In a bowl, mix the spinach, cream cheese and feta in a bowl. Salt and pepper the mixture to taste and mix away. Take out a wonton wrapper. Lay it flat on counter. Add only a teaspoon of mixture in the middle of the square. Any more and once they are folded the mixture will burst out the seams! Egg wash the entire outside rim of the wonton. Take one corner of the wrapper and fold it over into a triangle. Now press the seams together tightly. Now you can either leave them like that or you can add one more step. I personally leave them in the triangles, the less steps for me the better. But if you want them to look just like a wonton, take the two bottom sides of the triangle and fold together (look at the diagram below). To keep the two edges together, egg wash each and press them together firmly. There you go, a nicely filled wonton. This mixture made about 30 wontons.

When the water is boiling add the wontons about 10 at a time. Let them cook for about 2 or 3 minutes, until they float to the top. scoop them out, drain off the water and toss them in the saucepan with the veggies. When all of the wontons are cooked and in the saucepan, let them cook in the veggies and oil for about 2 minutes. Guess what, they are done. Plate them up and eat them! Here was my finished result:

I am not going to lie, I ate 2 whole plates of them. Both of my boys, 5 and 2, loved them and so did the hubby!! I hope you try them out. If you do leave a comment and tell me what you thought of them. AND if you decide to change up the filling, let me know. I love hearing about new ways to change up a dish!

Help make the holidays brighter for the Troops overseas this year!

2011-09-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

Imagine spending the holidays in a cold, barren mountain side, or patrolling the dusty desert or a small abandoned town. The men and women who fight for our country spend their holidays exactly like that. Last year was the 4th Christmas that my husband spent away from our family. He was in a small region in Afghanistan that not even I know the name or location. Many of you have gone through or will be going through the same thing this year. While our husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, moms, dads, neighbors and complete strangers are risking their lives for us, why not help out to make their holidays better. In your copy of your Sunday paper the PARADE insert has a form from the USO asking for gifts to help them prepare for the holidays for our troops. With a $10 donation they will send you a 3X5 American Flag that you will be able to fly proudly on your house or place of business. The USO provides so much to our troops and to their families, lets try to help them out too. Your gift will help them provide:
-Holiday Enetertainment Tours
-thousands of pre-paid phone cards so that the troops can call home
-and to help keep the USO Centers in Forward Operating Bases open 24/7 to provided a chance to escape from the war and enjoy a warm Holiday welcome.

This is a magnificent group to help out. I have used their services many times as a military wife, especially the beds and child rooms they provide in many of the airports while we traveled to our new homes. When my husband returned from Afghanistan in January, the USO and many veterans were to welcome them home. Men who had fought in this countries many wars, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, both Desert Storms and one man who had just recently returned from a tour in Iraq, shook their hands, gave them hugs and told them how proud they were of them for what they were doing for their country. If you could spare the extra money this upcoming holiday season, here are some men and women who deserve our thanks and hospitality. If you do not have a copy of this weeks paper

Where do you find coupons?

2011-08-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

Coupons are all over the internet. I am sure there are many many sites floating around but I have certain sites that I check quite often. It is always good to become a follower or register on a site for the brands that you use most frequently. For example, I have a 20 month old. We go through many diapers and wipes a month. I have a particular favorite brand of diapers that I use, where as wipes, I usually buy anything that is on sell. I have registered on the particular diapers manufacturers website and periodically receive updates and newsletters that have coupons either available to download and print or sent to my house. I usually get about one packet a month in email and in the mail with a range of 3-6 coupons each.

As you find certain blogs to follow, they usually will have their own database of coupons. Here it will link the coupon to the particular item that is on sell. Now, do not get hung up and constantly printing coupons. I usually only print out the coupons that I know that I will use so I am not running out of ink all the time. If you have never printed coupons before, you will be asked to download a "coupon printer app"to your computer so that you will be able to print out correctly working barcodes on the coupons. Here are some of my favorites coupon sites:

The Krazy Coupon Lady
She has a database for almost any coupon you could ever want
Coupons.com
Couponbug
Pillsbury
There is more here than just biscuits :)
Coupon Network
Campbell's Kitchen
Again there is more than just soup coupons
Southern Savers
This is a blog/website that links many of the grocery stores in the South to available coupons on items that are on sell in the current ad. But the coupons that are available on the site can be used at any grocery store.

What is your favorite website/blog to print out your coupons? Leave a comment or some feedback on facebook and let everyone know!

Chicken Taco Salad

2011-08-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

This is one of my family's favorite dinners and its so simple to make. If you have leftovers you can always turn them into tacos another night or use the shredded chicken in a casserole, omelet or chicken salad!

Lets start with the chicken:

4 chicken breast
2 tbsp of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves of garlic
1 small can of green chiles
4 cups of chicken broth if you don't have that you can just use water.

Heat a saucepan on medium heat with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Chop the garlic and add to the pan. Let it saute for about a minute. Then add the chicken, chiles, chicken broth and the salt and pepper. Let it come to a simmer and cover. Do this step in advance because you want the chicken to become so tender that it shreds into pieces. Cook the chicken for about an hour. Once the chicken has finished, put it in a bowl and you will be able to shred it with just a fork.

Now the rest is very simple. You can use any ingredients that you would put on a taco. Here a my favorites:

1 bag of shredded lettuce
2 tomatoes
1 cup of shredded Monterrey jack cheese
2 cups of mashed black beans
2 cups of Spanish rice
sour cream
cilantro
4 green onions
some sauteed onions

Put the lettuce on the bottom of the plate, like a bed that all the other ingredients will go on top of, then layer away in what order you would like. Enjoy!

This should make about 4 salads and you will definitely have leftover chicken to make something else out of.

Know your stores coupon policy

2011-08-26T11:43:00.001-07:00

This is something that you should print and keep in your coupon binder because every store, grocery and drug, are different. Before you start your couponing adventure, go online to the stores website and read their coupon policy. It will state what types of coupons you are able to use, if they double coupons and to what value, which type of internet coupons are accepted and which ones are not, if you are able to use one or more coupons per item. Personally, I often will go back and re-read the policies to make sure they have not changed.

Knowing the policy of your store will save you the hassle of getting to the register and learning that some of the coupons that you have, you will not be able to use. If you keep a printed copy in your coupon binder it will allow you to share the policy with the checker or a manager if they do not have extensive knowledge of the policy.

If the store that you are looking for does not have an online policy either ask the manager of the store if they have a copy that you may have or you could always write a letter to the corporate offices of that store requesting a copy. If you are requesting a copy make sure you ask that the policy be mailed to you so that you can have a hard copy of it. A hard copy is a lot more useful to you if the stores employees do not know it. Here is a sample letter that you could email to a store requesting a copy of their policy:

To whom it may concern at ______________________,

My name is ___________________.

I’m looking forward to shopping in your store with coupons but before I begin, I would like to request a copy of your coupon policy. Can you please clarify your policy and answer these questions?

What kinds of coupons do you accept?

manufacturer coupons, printable coupons, e-coupons on my loyalty card

Do you offer store coupons? Where may I find them?
May I use a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon on one item?
Do you exclude any coupons? Ex: above $5 off, BOGO offers, coupons for free product?
Do you accept Internet Printable Coupons? May I print them in black and white?
Do you match competitor prices or take competitor coupons?
What is your policy on overage: when the value of the coupon exceeds the value of the product?
If the coupon exceeds the item’s value, do you adjust the price of the coupon down? Ex: $1.00 off coupon on $0.97 cent product.
Do you limit the number of coupons I may use per transaction?
Do your employees understand “one coupon per purchase=one coupon per item”, not “one coupon per transaction”?
Does your store ever double or triple coupons?
Concerning Buy One Get One offers: if your store runs a BOGO FREE promo, may I use 2 manufacturer coupons for the 2 products? Or may I only use one?
Are individual stores allowed to impose their own rules or vary from this policy?

Thank you for taking the time to educate me on your store policies. Will you please mail your response to : {provide your name and address}
Sincerely,

_____________________________________
(Thanks to the Krazy Coupon Lady for providing such a detailed letter)

I hope by reading the policy for the store(s) that you are going to be shopping at helps you better understand how you can use the coupons on your next visit there.

Couponing 101

2011-08-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

Now I know that there a hundreds of couponing websites out there today, but personally after reading a few I felt very overwhelmed and decided to teach myself. I have taken tips from online and other coupon-loving mommas and have found a mix that helps me understand this coupon world better. I have 5 tips that I feel will help all beginning couponers get into the game.

1. Set up an alternate email address! For me, I think that this is one of the most important steps. I HATE getting spam mail in my personal email. Since most websites make you "sign up" to receive emails/coupons/newsletters, to stop the hounding of mail to my personal email I made a junk email. Everything I have to sign up for goes to this email. With having a separate email, it also helps you keep all your couponing business separate from everyday things.

2. Even if you only start out with 8 coupons, start a coupon binder. You will not believe how fast you will accumulate coupons. Here is a link to a fabulous and very popular website that will teach you how to make and organize your coupon binder.

3. Choose the main stores that you will be shopping at. Personally I use only one grocery store. This particular store always has a great selection, doubles coupons everyday and are very coupon friendly BUT I do run into a problem every now and then. As I am not the only couponer in my area, there are times when I go to the store and they are out of an item. Thankfully there are about 6 of this particular store in my area. If the store that you normally shop at does not have the item you want in stock you have two options, 1) get a raincheck. Just go to your customer service, tell them the item that you are looking for and that it is out of stock on the shelf and they will issue you a “rain check”. This will allow you to buy the item later at the advertised price or 2) call the alternate stores in your area to see if they have the item in stock.

When it comes to drug stores, I shop them all! CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid. I am lucky and have all 3 stores in about a 10 mile radius.

4. Once you have figured out which stores you will shop at, make a list of the stores and the dates when their new ads/sales come out. The drugstores sales run Sunday through Saturday and usually will have their new weekly ads up online late Saturday afternoon early evening. My grocery store runs their ad from Wednesday through Tuesday. I keep this sheet in the front of my binder. It is just another reminder to me every time I open my binder when the sales will change.

5. Find about 5 good websites that help you keep up to date with what is on sale that week. Some of these blogs/websites even have email reminders that can be sent to you everyday to remind you of that weeks sales or alert you when a good deal is found. Also many of the websites/blogs can be followed on facebook too! The pages on facebook are constantly being updated with great deals. Here are some of the websites that I frequently visit.

The Krazy Coupon Lady
Southern Savers
Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid. I use these websites to have a digital copy of that weeks ad.
Regular Mom. This a a great website of freebies!

There are many other things that could be added to this list but I feel these are the 5 best starter tips. I hope this helps you get a start to the world of couponing and if you have any websites or can think of any great tips for beginners please comment below and share your thoughts!

1 roast....3 dinners

2011-03-05T19:07:00.001-08:00

I do not know about you by every night I cook dinner I have to cook meat for my husband. Trying to add tofu or going meatless for a night does not work for him. He kindly eats the food but 2 hours later he is hungry for more. I have found something that satisfies him, yet it can make 3 WHOLE dinners. Yes, I said it...cook for one night, have enough for 3 dinners. I took this recipe from my husbands Mens Health magazine, it is for cooking a pork shoulder roast.

1 pork shoulder roast about 6lbs in size
1 white onion
6 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
2 tbsp. of crushed red pepper flakes (you can omit this if you want)

Place all the ingredients into a crock pot at night. Cover with water until it almost comes to the top of the roast. Turn the cooker on low and let it cook overnight. When you get up in the morning check the pot roast. if it does not shred easily with a fork let it cook just a couple more hours. After about 12-15 hours place the meat into a dish so you can shred it. The bones should fall right off and you should be able to shred the meat with a regular fork. After the meat is shredded, divide the meat into 3 equal part.

(This amount of meat feeds a family of four)

Here is your meat for the next three days! This week I will be posting all of the dinners you can make with the shredded pork.

The Advantages of Whole grains

2011-03-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

So here is the question....why is whole wheat better for you? Here is the answer.

All types of grains are good sources of complex carbohydrates, various vitamins and minerals, and are naturally low in fat. But grains that haven't been refined — called whole grains — are even better for you. Whole grains are better sources of fiber and other important nutrients, such as selenium, potassium and magnesium. So whenever you can, choose whole grains over refined grains.

Whole grains vs. refined grains

A slice of commercially prepared white bread has 66 calories, 1.9 grams protein and 0.6 grams fiber. A slice of whole-wheat bread has 69 calories and provides 3.6 grams protein and 1.9 grams fiber. It isn't hard to see which one is the better nutritional bet.

Whole grains haven't had their bran and germ removed by milling, making them good sources of fiber — the part of plant-based foods that your body doesn't digest. Among many health benefits, high-fiber foods also tend to make you feel full longer.

Refined grains, such as white rice or white flour, have both the bran and germ removed from the grain. Although vitamins and minerals are added back into refined grains after the milling process, they still don't have as many nutrients as whole grains do, and they don't provide as much fiber naturally.

Choosing whole grains

Eat whole-grain versions — rather than refined grains — as often as possible. Whole-grain versions of rice, bread, cereal, flour and pasta can be found at any grocery store. Many whole-grain foods come ready to eat. These include a variety of breads, pastas and ready-to-eat cereals.

Examples of whole grains include:

Barley
Brown rice
Buckwheat
Bulgur (cracked wheat)
Millet
Oatmeal
Popcorn
Whole-wheat bread, pasta or crackers
Wild rice

When in doubt, check the label. Look for the word "whole" on the package, and make sure whole grains appear among the first items in the ingredient list. Try to choose items with at least 3 grams of dietary fiber per serving.

Our new go to Breakfast....whole wheat blueberry pancakes.

2011-02-28T18:19:00.000-08:00

I don't know about your house but one of my kids favorite breakfast food is pancakes! My four year old probably asks for pancakes for breakfast about 3 or 4 times a week. Pancakes though can be quite unhealthy. From the toppings you put on top of them, to the refined white flour and the butter that most of us use to cook them in, makes this breakfast time staple a whopping 600-800+ calories. Pancakes though was probably one of the easiest foods to transform into a food that is nutritious and healthy for you without losing their yummy taste!

Here is my no fail plan to changing those old pancakes!

-1 1/2 cup of organic whole wheat flour
-3 1/2 tsp. of baking powder
-1 tsp. of salt
-1 tsp. of sugar
-1 1/4 cup of organic skim milk
-1 egg
-3 tbsp. of homemade salt-free butter
-1 tbsp. of ground flax seed
-1 cup of fresh blueberries

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Heat your pan, I use a non-stick electric griddle so I can make more pancakes at once, to medium-low to medium heat depending on your stove top. Pour the batter into circles on the pan, no bigger than a DVD! When you start to see bubbles in your circles its time to flip. Cook them about another 2 or 3 minutes and they are ready to eat!

You can add what you want as a topping but I prefer to give them to my family without anything on them. The blueberries make the pancakes sweet and moist. This recipe makes about 12-15 pancakes.