Weekly Groceries & Smoothie Recipe!

My Kroger Store is CLOSING... GRRRR
I wasn't able to get a few items I was going to get
because many shelves were already bare.
I still have a Kroger 9 miles North of me and 15 miles South of me but there are no towns left that have a Meijer and Kroger. BLAH!!!!
Anyway I only spent $38.31 this week...

At Kroger I spent $21.18 for 30 items saving 49%
and $16.50 at Meijer for 31 items saving $29.94
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Totals
$38.31 for 61 items or .63 cents per item.
I stocked back up on icecream.
We were actually completely out which is a NO-NO at our house! Hubby and the kids NEED it almost every night! Well and I'll admit I LOVE IT too but I don't eat it but maybe once a week!!
***
Lately I've been indulging in Fruit Smoothies!!!
I have tons of fruit in my freezer and the peaches are still from last year!
SO Here's a Really EASY Smoothie Recipe...
3 Handfuls of Frozen Fruit.
I used Strawberries, Peaches, and Blueberries
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
Water to fill blender about 3/4 full
***
Blend for about 1 min.
(sometimes I add a little more water if it's too thick)
and Enjoy!! See EASY!!!

Cool & Easy Pie & Share Your Recipes!

Cool & Easy Strawberry Pie

This pie really was super easy and
absolutely delicious!
Hubby wasn't sure about it,
but after he tried it he was sold and wanted more!!

All you need is
2/3 cup boiling water
1 pkg (4 serv. size) Jello brand straw. flavored Gelatin
Ice Cubes
1/2 cup cold water
1-- 8 oz. Tub Cool Whip
1 Graham Cracker Crust

Stir boiling water into dry gelatin mix in bowl. Stir at least
2 minutes or until dissolved.
Then add enough ice to the 1/2 cup cold water to make it
measure 1 cup. Add it to the Gelatin mixture.
Stir until slightly thickened then remove any unmelted ice.

Add Whip Topping and stir with a
whisk until well blended.
Refrigerate 15-20 min. or until mixture is
thick enough to mound

Spoon it into the crust.
Refrigerate for 4 hrs. or overnight.
Serve with extra whip topping if desired!
Store leftovers in the fridge.

Enjoy a Cool, Light, and Delicious
Summer Treat!!
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Something new!!
Do you have Oven Free Recipes on your blog?
Go ahead and let us know about them.
Check your Recipe History and
Link up your recipes below in Mister Linky!
Feel free to list several if you want!!
(Just remember to link directly to your recipe not your homepage.)
If you don't have a blog feel free to let us know in a comment!
***
Have fun Blog Hopping and getting
lots of recipe ideas!

Oven Free Treats

Here is a SIMPLE Favorite that we love but

sometimes forget all about!

I'm sure you've had these before,

but have you recently??

All you need is graham crackers and frosting!

What's easier??? What's cheaper???

Spread it and enjoy!

I can almost guarantee it will produce....

Lots of smiles!

Here's Micah enjoying his 4th!

***

My 3 yr. looked at me after trying it and said...

"Mom, I wuv dese"

For more recipes visit...

Blessedwithgrace
Inpassionatepursuit
Grocery Cart Challenge -- Fridays

Grilled Pizza -- DELICIOUS!!!

More OVEN FREE!!!

Okay we tried Grilled Pizza and it was a total success!

We LOVED it!

Here's how to do it...

I used Frozen bread like shown.

I'm sure you could use homemade, bread machine, or whole wheat. I would think any bread dough would work!

I used 2 loaves. I think 1 loaf would feed us with no leftovers. So two was PLENTY for our family of 6 with lots of leftovers!

I put them in sprayed loaf pans at 8 am in the morning.
I also sprayed the saran wrap with cooking spray and put it over the top.
By 3:30 pm this is how they looked.
***
I got a picture of me rolling them out but it disappeared. (nice huh)
Anyway, put some flour on the counter and take half of one loaf and spread it out with a rolling pin. They don't have to be perfect shape as you can see mine are very odd shaped! I rolled mine fairly thin. Do the same with the other half of the dough.

Either spray one side with cooking spray or I brushed a very thin layer of olive oil on one side. Take them out and plop them on the grill, sprayed side down of course. We did everything on low setting. We left them on for around 4-5 min. or until they look like this on one side (below).....
***
Note while hubby was grilling this set, I was rolling out the other set of dough and then just switched. While he was grilling the 2nd set of dough I was putting the toppings on the 1st set. It worked really slick with 2 people. In the end we had 4 small to medium pizzas.

Bring them back in and spray or olive oil the doughy side.
You will put your toppings on the grilled done side.

Put your sauce and toppings on just like you would a normal pizza.

Make sure it's on the grilled side!

Take them back to the grill and grill the doughy side. Make sure to close your grill so the cheese melts. We tried a pizza stone but ended up not using it because it wasn't cooking. We just put them right on the grill and it worked great. It took about 5-7 minutes and they were done.

Oh my goodness were they good. The crust was so filling I ate about half what I usually eat when I make homemade pizza (I normally have a super thin crust).

Half eaten but you get the idea! I couldn't wait to eat it.

This one we used ranch dressing as the sauce and put grilled chicken, mushrooms, and cheese on it! Absolutely Wonderful! Experiment with what toppins and sauses you like. We thought about doing a BBQ sauce and chicken too!

**

So there you have it!!

You don't even have to start your oven in the summer for pizza! Thanks for the recipe Mom, we'll be doing this again very soon!

**

If something doesn't make sense or

if you have a question please ask!!

Magic Milkshakes and Slushies

Two Ice Cold Summer Treats!!!!

Of course no oven needed!!
Don't have icecream???
Well maybe you can still make these milkshakes. No icecream needed!!
Magic Milkshakes (aka Wendy's Frosty)
Ingredients needed
1 1/2- 2 cups cold water
1 1/2 Cups nonfat dry milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1 - 1 1/2 trays ice cubes
1 TBLS canola or corn oil
5 second spray of nonstick cooking spray
Place all ingredients in blender. Use less water for thicker shakes and more for thinner shakes. Blend for a full 2 minutes. This is where I messed up the first time. They were very icy. I just blended until it was mixed. It's very important to do it for 2 minutes.
ENJOY!!
***
You can even add variations. The 3rd time we did this we added oreos! YUM!!!
Thanks MomAdvice and Hillbilly Housewife!
This is a new favorite around here!!

I think I found what to do with all those kool-aid packets I have...

Homemade Slushies!

Oh they were soooo good and took 3 minutes to make!

Simple Ingredients needed...

2 cups cold water

1 packet Kool Aid

2/3 cup sugar

1 tray or 4 cups ice
Blend in blender for full 1 minute.

Stir and blend another minute if you still see ice chunks

**

Pour and enjoy!

Thanks MomAdvice and Hillybilly Housewife,

I've always loved slushies but

rarely ever get them... until now!!!

For more wonderful recipes visit

Blessedwithgrace

Inpassionatepursuit

Grocery Cart Challenge

WFMW - We are That Family

Patriotic Dessert Recipe

I'm planning to try this dessert later in the week, but wanted to post the recipe in case anyone else needs something for 4th of July parties!

The actual recipe is for a patriotic pie like shown above.

You can see that recipe here.

***

I am changing it a bit and putting it into this dish

in order to serve more people!

My simple plan is to layer pie ingredients in this dish.

If you'd like to try this here's exactly what I'm doing...

You'll need

2 small packages red jello

2 small packages blue jello

1 Large container cool whip

1-2 graham cracker crusts or use crumbs

***

***Make red jello and blue jello separately according to package directions and let it set up completely. I'm guessing I'll need two small packages of each

***Next make the Graham cracker crumb crust according to it's package. Not sure if I'll need one crust or two. I'll just put it in a 9x13 pan kinda crumbled up to bake.

*** When it's done baking let it cool. Then crumble 1/3 of it to the bottom of the dish.

*** Next add a little less than half the red jello

*** Add a layer of cool whip

*** Add a layer of blue jello

*** Then repeat the 4 layers one more time topping with a touch of cool whip!

***

That's it!

Really I think it will be simple to make and hopefully look festive and be yummy! I wish I had a done picture but I don't so you'll have to use your imagination!

Maybe I'll post one on Friday for you if I have time!

What are you making for the 4th???

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Have a great week!

Pudding No Bake Oatmeal Cookies

Pudding No Bake Oatmeal Cookies

an alternative to regular no bake cookies

***

Only 5 ingredients needed

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cups butter

6 oz. (which is half a can) sweetened condensed milk

1 box (3.4 oz) instant pudding -- chocolate, butterscotch, your fav

3 1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal

***

I forgot to only use half the can of cond. milk and poured the whole thing in (opps). So I ended up doubling the recipe. It worked pretty well since I don't know what I would have done with a half a can of sw. cond. milk anyway!

Next time If I double the batch I will reduce the

butter to 1 1/4 cup and see if they set up better?

Combine sugar, butter, and evap. milk in sauce pan

bring to boil and then boil 2 minutes.

Mix oatmeal and pudding in big bowl
I used chocolate pudding...
(remember the pic shows the recipe doubled)
Pour in the sugar/butter mixture and mix well.

Drop onto cookie sheets lined with waxed paper.
Allow to set. Mine were very sticky and not very set so I popped the tray into the freezer. Turns out we like them better frozen.
Awesome summer treat!
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I actually liked them better than traditional no bakes. Hubby loved them too but thinks regular no bakes are still a touch better. It's nice to have more options!
***
We can't wait to try these with butterscotch pudding
I'm pretty sure they'll be my favorite!
**
I made these during dinner and it still only took me about 20 minutes for a double batch!
Anyone know what the substitute is for sweetened condensed milk? That's the only ingredient that I don't always have on hand...

Granola Snack Bars

Several times a week for the next month, I'm going to try to post a new oven free snack recipe!

Today's is...

***

Granola Snack Bars

Quick and easy

took me 15 minutes to make and clean up!!

***

ingred. needed

2 1/2 cups rice cereal

2 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup raisins or chocolate chips or m&m's or your fav!

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

1 T. butter

Stir together rice cereal, oatmeal, salt, and choc. chips (or your fav.)
set aside
Grease 9x13 pan with cooking spray
In saucepan combine brown sugar, honey, and butter. Cook on Med. heat until it boils. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Pour over cereal mixture and mix well.

Pour it into the greased 9x13 and smash with greased spatula
Allow to cool and cut into squares
***
They were hit at our house.
especially when I allowed the kids to eat them for Breakfast!
Sound good???


For more wonderful recipes visit
Blessedwithgrace
Inpassionatepursuit
Grocery Cart Challenge

Oreo Icecream Dessert

I love icecream, so a lot of desserts I make involve icecream.

Here's one of my favorites...

It's EASY!!! (I love that too)

The bottom is a oreo crust.

I take 1 package of oreos and crush them up.

(To crush them I put them into a ziplock bag and smash them up. You might have a better way!)

Put them in a 9x13 pan and pour 1/4 cup of butter over it.

It helps it stay together. You could probably skip this step since it's frozen.

Next add 1/2 gallon of icecream.

I used vanilla here but

Mint Choc. Chip is Wonderful! Use any kind you like.

*Use thin dips so it goes over the whole pan*

Pour chocolate syrup over it.

Depending on what icecream you use you may not need to add this.

Top with small tub of Cool Whip
I add a little more chocolate syrup!
Freeze... It's Delicious!!!
***

For more wonderful recipes visit
Blessedwithgrace
Inpassionatepursuit
Grocery Cart Challenge

No Bake Chocolate Cookies

I often overlook this yummy recipe. It's one of my favorites, yet I don't make them very often....I'm not sure why since they only take 7 simple ingredients and all the ingredients are things I almost always have on hand!

I guess it's time I made some! **yummy**
**No Bake Chocolate Cookies**
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
*Combine all these ingredients in saucepan. Heat to boiling, stirring until dissolved.
*Boil 2 minutes.
*Remove from heat
***then add
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
Stir in chocolate mixture until well blended.
***
Drop onto wax paper or baking sheet. Let cool until firm

**Makes 4-5 dozen**
For more recipes here go to "Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap"