What to do with Tomatillos? Enchilada Sauce.

These are tomatillos. They kind of look like small green tomatoes with a husk.

I had no idea of their wonder before last year when Buy Low had them on some crazy sale and I determined to find a use for them. I stumbled on this recipe below and my life will never be the same.

I harvested my 1st batch of tomatillos yesterday and was super excited to make Enchiladas.

This is such a yummy recipe and I just feel like a Fancy Jane making the sauce.

I use this recipe here from allrecipes and LOVE it. It's not too complicated and tastes way better than the canned stuff. Their recipe also has directions for cooking the chicken and making the whole enchilada if you're interested. It turns out really flavorful.

Enchilada Verde Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed
• 2-5 serrano peppers (depends on how spicy you like life. I've also used jalapenos in a pinch but the serrano is pretty fabulous.)
• 1/4 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• pinch salt
• chicken broth, about 1 1/2 cups

Directions:

1. Place tomatillos and peppers in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until the tomatillos have changed to an army green color.
2. Strain. Put in a blender and add the onion, garlic, and salt. Add enough broth to cover the veggies plus an inch. Blend until pureed.
3. Heat sauce in pot.

I heated corn tortillas in oil, softened them in the enchilada sauce, filled them with chicken and mozzarella, and topped them with more sauce and cheese, avocado, cilantro and fresh salsa.

We had these Egg Deliciousness this morning with the leftovers.

You could also cook chicken in this sauce in a wok and serve it over rice.

Yum.

Ease of Preparation: A-

• Pretty easy

Taste: A-

• Pretty good.

Overall: A-

Maceys: Real Cheap Chicken

Total Spent: $5.81

I used a couple of coupons from the Maceys coupon book I got in the mail a few weeks ago: the $3 super saver pack of meat and the $1 off hard rolls. With the super saver meat coupon, try and go for the smallest pack possible- it gives you the best price/pound.

I totally intended to make my own bread today but the doctor appointment for my baby threw me off. Apparently he has an ear infection. Poor little guy. I was next door picking up his meds and ran here really quick.

compiled my list from pinchingyourpennies.

This sale ends Tuesday night.

Money Left for the Month: $108.52

I'm Making Some Changes...

Ok, I am pathetic. I spend SO MUCH TIME typing out prices for this blog so that I can accurately gauge my percent off. WHO CARES?!! Really, what am I trying to prove? Way to go Joy. Wow. You are a great shopper. Now brag all about it and use up all of your precious baby-free time. Good job. Get nothing else done. Way to go.

After much thought I have decided to stop keeping track of all that. I will link you to the place on the web that I got the prices for my deals and let you know if I've found a deal that's not listed anywhere.

I will still shop the same, take pictures and keep track of my budget here, just not break down every single item's price. What is so amazing is that shopping this way is no big deal. It's just posting about it. Crazy, huh? If I'm shopping at a store that says the percentage on the receipt like Smiths I'll still post that.

I'm sorry if this is annoying to you. I really wish I could do everything but alas, I cannot. Darn.

As a side note, I've got some new ideas in the works for this blog that I hope will be more beneficial for everyone. Stay tuned.

Menu, baby.

Between the super cheap produce at Buy Low and the stuff that's managed to grow between all the weeds that is my garden, I am loving life! I'm growing tomatillos this year for the first time. Kind of fun. And I can I just say that bell pepper plants are amazing? These tiny plants have huge peppers- it's crazy!

Main Course:

• Grilled Tilapia and Mango Salsa
• Turkey and Swiss Sandwich on homemade bread with Avocado Chimichurri spread
• Chicken Enchiladas with Authentic Verde Sauce
• Brazilian Chicken with Coconut Milk
• Beef Stroganoff over noodles
• Pork Taco Salad

Extras:

• Avocado icing. Looks interesting.
• Brazilian Limeade. Again and again and again. mmmm.
• Homemade salsa with chips
• Pear Crisp. Didn't make this last week, darn it.

Need to Buy for the Menu:

• Besides the fresh fruits and veggies I got today, nothing! I menu plan on purpose around what I already have stockpiled in my house. That way, I can afford to eat well.

Buy Low: 2 Day Produce and Meat Deals

Wow, Buy Low has made me a happier woman. They have extended their extra sales for produce from just Wednesday to Wednesday and Thursday and their extra meat deals now go Friday and Saturday. So nice. There was hardly anyone there when I went this morning. Pretty easy shopping.

Total Spent: $15.24

Would you be mad if I lazily just attached the link to the ad for you to see the prices? I just am too tired to type it all out. I am certain that I got well over 50% off today, but what can I say? I am lazy.

Here's the ad.

The only stuff on extra sale today are the avocados (5/$1), plums (3lb/$1) and onion (4lb/$1). The rest of the stuff ends Tuesday night.

I love Buy Low!

Money Left for the Month: $114.33

Smiths 88% Off: FREE Pringles, $.38 Popsicles, $.49 Dog Treats!

My baby has been so sick with a temperature of over 103, poor little guy. I ran out last night to pick up some more meds for him and snagged a few deals.

I think he's doing better today, thank goodness. It's been a long couple of days.

Smiths

Retails: $43.60

Total Spent: $5.31

Percent Off: 88%

How did I do it?

I paid with $8 in catalinas I got the last time I shopped at Smiths.

Smiths has an Add Up the Savings Promo continuing this week: Save $4 when you buy any combination of 8 participating items, basically $.50 off each items. Everything I bought is in this promo except the meds, the pringles, the raisinets, and the popsicles.

Great Deals:

Pringles, reg. $1.65

- used FREE coupon I won from Smiths Spin the Wheel game

- FREE!!!

Popsicles, reg. $1.79

- on sale $.78

- used $.40 ecoupon

- $.38!!

Ceasar Dog Treats, reg. $3.99

- on sale $2.99/$2.49 when you buy 8 participating items

- used $2 coupon from newspaper

- $.49!!

Kroger Deluxe Ice Cream, reg. $2.08

- on sale $2.08/$1.58 wyb 8

- used $.50 ecoupon

- $1.08!!

Good Deals:

Raisinets, reg. $3.39

- on sale $2.79

- used $1.50 coupon I got from the catalina machine a few weeks back

- $1.29!

Ok Deals:

Meds, reg. $4

(they were out of the infant stuff so the nurse told me the dosage to give him from the childrens. Did you know they are the same thing, just the infant stuff is more concentrated? Good to know.)

For details on the cheese (the catalina has ended on this. sad.) and the sobes look here.

This sale ends Tuesday night.

thanks utahdealdiva!

Money Left for the Month: $129.57

Am I in Shrimp Heaven?

Oh. My. Goodness.

This shrimp was delicious. Delicious. Did I mention it was Delicious?

Because it was Delicious.

If you have this stuff to make this, do it now. You will wonder why any other recipe involving shrimp exists (except maybe Coconut Shrimp- come on, it's like fried candy!)

I basically made this recipe here from allrecipes but tweaked it a little- shocker, I know- for what I had on hand.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/2 c chopped fresh parsley or a couple Tbsp dried
• 1 lemon, juiced or 2-3 Tbsp bottled
• 2 Tbsp tabasco sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• skewers (I grilled 1/2 of this last night and the rest today for lunch and used 3 very full skewers both times)

Directions:

1. In a gallon baggy, mix everything besides the shrimp together. Reserve a small amount, a few Tbsps, for basting later. Add shrimp, seal, and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
2. Preheat grill for medium-low heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.
3. Grill those yummy little guys for about 5 minutes per side or until opaque (wow. that's a fancy word), basting frequently with the reserved marinade. Or twice if you're me.

I served it over white rice and it was perfect. The original recipe says pasta, so whatever floats your boat will work. We had it with Alton Brown's Oven Roasted Broccoli, a loaf of bread that's new to me that will add another 5 pounds to my hips that I will post about later, and another limeade drink. I really did not want to stop eating. Matt even did the dishes last night! Who needs restaurants?

Recipe Review:

Ease of Preparation: B+

• Anything involving shrimp just takes longer. My shrimp were deveined, but I still had to remove the shell and tails on each one and that just plum takes time. Maybe if I were to actually get the large shrimp instead of these little things? Huh.
• After that though it goes really fast.

Taste: A+

• Matt has dubbed these "The Best Shrimp I Have Ever Had." This is big. I tend to agree, excluding the afore-mentioned Coconut Shrimp with which I have an unnaturally strong affection.

Overall: A

• The only thing I would warn you about is the tabasco sauce. I'm a medium salsa lover and I could definitely taste that tabasco. It wasn't hot for me but if you're a ketchup-salsa kind of person (Mom) then you might want to think about decreasing the tabasco by a bit.