Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

My Closet~ Weekend Wardrobe

by Katie Haller

Here are a few of my outfits from the past 2 weekends! 
Last Sunday
Denim Jacket- Jessica Simpson (similar)
Red Jeans- Kohls (similar)
Black Lace Top- Express (similar)
Shoes- Target (exact)
Saturday
White Pants- Target (similar)
Striped Tank Top- Old Navy (similar)
Sweater- Old Navy (similar)
Leopard Flats- Old Navy (similar)
Sunday
Maxi Dress- Target (similar)
Sweater- Old Navy (same as above)
Belt- Target (This belt is from a dress I bought for $2.06, you can read about it here)

Fall Recipes~Apple Crisp

by Katie Haller

 

Since this is my last Michigan fall, I have been indulging in all my favorite fall recipes.  The last few weekends I have been busy in the kitchen making all of my favorite fall baked goods. Last weekend, Kevin was home from training for a visit.  I wanted to be a good wife and spoil him with a delicious dinner, followed by a yummy homemade fall dessert. 

Kevin has always liked my recipe for apple crisp.  He calls it “apple chunks”.  My mom always made apple crisp as a treat in the fall.  The smell of baked apples and cinnamon would fill the house with such delicious autumn sent.  I love to make this recipe! It’s similar to an apple pie but much easier to make and less expensive.  The ingredients are simple and most likely, you have most of them in your pantry already.
I started out with finding a great sale at the grocery store on locally grown Michigan apples. They were only $.59 per pound.  You really can’t beat that price!  I didn’t need to buy anything else, because I already had the rest of the ingredients in my baking supplies at home.

My favorite recipe for apple crisp is from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  It’s the same way that my mom made it as a kid.  You should definitely give it a try. It’s the perfect fall treat! 

Fall Recipes~ Apple Pulled Pork Sandwich

by Katie Haller

The weekend before my husband left for his training, I let him pick anything he wanted me to make for him for dinner that week. He suggested I make him pulled pork in the crockpot. He always tells me that he loves meat from the crockpot served on bread or a tortilla (easy enough for me).

I absolutely love my crockpot. It’s the best invention ever, especially for working women. I use it as much as I can, especially during the colder months. Kevin’s request for pulled pork was simple, but he has high standards. He doesn’t like it drenched in sauce. The night before, we were watching America’s Best BBQ on Netflix. So I decided to go with what I learned on the BBQ show and make up my own pulled pork. 
In a small bowl, I combined the following…
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
In a separate bowl, I combined…
2 Tbs Olive Oil
2 Tbs Worcester sauce
2 Tbs Cider vinegar
 
After both mixtures were combined, I placed the roast in the crockpot. (I just bought a pork roast on sale at Kroger for around $5.50. You could really use any kind of pork, shoulder, loin, chops… I just went with what was on sale.) I poured the liquid mixture over the roast, then covered it in the seasoning. After that I set the timer for 10 hours and let it cook on low. 

To go with the pork I created 2 sides…coleslaw and baked apples. 
Baked apples are a fall favorite for me! They are super easy to make and go perfectly with pork. Here is all you need to make baked apples…
Apples (I used one granny smith, one red delicious and one gala apple on this day).
Cinnamon- 1-2 Tbs
Brown or white sugar- 1-2 Tbs
All you need to do is slice the apples, sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar on top, mix it up and bake for an hour at 375. It’s as simple as that.

My coleslaw recipe came from my Pinterest page. It was a delicious healthy coleslaw made with greek yogurt and apple cider vinegar. I definitely recommend this recipe. Check it out below!

http://cathe.com/healthy-recipecreamy-coleslaw-with-greek-yogurt-dressing

 

After all my side dishes were completed, I layered my pork, apples, and coleslaw on a bun to create the perfect fall pulled pork sandwich. This is definitely one recipe that you will want to try this fall! Enjoy!

A Weekend of Zucchini!!

by Katie Haller

Last week at work I was having a conversation with one of my co-workers. We were talking about recipes and I mentioned something about zucchini. She told me “whatever I do, do not spend money on zucchini”. She said she had a ton of zucchini in her garden. She wasn’t joking about that. On Friday morning a ginormous zucchini was sitting on my desk.

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Healthy Fish Tacos

by Katie Haller

I haven’t done a recipe post in a while, so I thought I’d share a healthy, delicious and of course an affordable meal that I love to make.
I always wanted to try fish tacos, and when I finally did, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed. The fish was deep fried and greasy, I just wasn’t impressed. I was still intrigued with fish tacos. I wanted to try them again, this time not fried. So, I looked around for a good recipe for fish tacos. I realized it wouldn’t take much to make them myself. So I came up with my own little recipe.So how do I make my taco’s? It’s really a simple recipe. I use a mild fish, like tilapia or flounder, season it, then bake it in the oven. I like to top my taco with shredded cheese and a mango avocado salsa. Yum!

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Crock Pot Freezer Meals

by Katie Haller

I love to cook! I always have enjoyed making a home-cooked meal for my husband and me.  My only problem is that Monday through Friday I am so busy, cooking is the last thing on my mind.
On Pinterest, I’m always finding these great crockpot meal ideas that you can prep and keep in your freezer, then when you’re ready, you pop it in your crockpot and a few hours later you have a homemade meal.  Back in January, I decided to finally give this idea a try.  I prepped about 5 or 6 meals and it ended up working out really well.  It was perfect with my busy schedule.  My husband would put the meal in while I was at work so when I got home everything was all ready to go.  All I had to do was make the side dish and we had a delicious homemade meal on a weeknight.
Last time I made my freezer meals it was more of an experiment to see how they would turn out.  This time around, I felt like I had it down.  Before I picked out my recipes, I went through my pantry and refrigerator to see what kind of ingredients I had on hand.  I wanted to make these meals last a month or so, but I also didn’t want to spend more then I would on a normal weekend grocery shopping trip.  I ended up still having to buy a few ingredients, but it wasn’t bad. I pretty much had all of the ingredients I needed at home.  I just had to buy a few items like salsa, taco seasoning, pineapples, and an onion.
Meat is always the most expensive part of making dinner.  Before I left for the store I looked on my Kroger app to see what kinds of meat they had on sale.  Lucky for me, the chicken was on sale for 1.99 per lb.  The pork and beef were also on special.  I ended up getting all this meat for under $20.  That’s not bad at all!  The chicken recipes I used called for 2 lbs of chicken breast.  I am only feeding two people, so I like to split the chicken up and only use about a pound for each recipe.  Instead of 3 chicken recipes, I was able to get 5 chicken recipes out of the 6 lbs of chicken I bought. Anything to stretch my dollar.
So here are my crock pot freezer meals that I made…

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