Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

Quick and Easy Week Night Meals

by Katie Haller

It’s that time of the year when kids are going back to school and life is getting busy.  Cooking for your family is probably the last thing you feel like doing, yet you can’t wait around for mom to make dinner because guess what?  You are the mom!  That’s why today I wanted to share some of my favorite quick and easy meals that I like to make for my family. 

There used to be a time when I enjoyed cooking, but now with a toddler, a full-time job and a blog that I like to keep up with, cooking is my least favorite thing… just behind cleaning my house.  The problem is, we don’t like to eat out all the time.  It can be really expensive and it’s not that healthy to always eat out in restaurants.  Not to mention, going to a restaurant with a 2-year-old is not very enjoyable for us right now.  We do go out to eat once or twice on the weekends, but most of the week we eat at home. 
Every weekend, I try to put together a meal plan for the week.  I typically go to the same 3 grocery stores every week.  For my everyday shopping needs, I like Smith’s, because I’m familiar with the store, it’s convenient and they have great prices.  I use their app to load up my mobile coupons and save extra on almost everything I buy.  I also like to do my big weekend grocery shopping trips at WinCo. WinCo is great because they have great prices, unique local brands and ethnic foods.  The only downfall for me is that WinCo doesn’t accept credit cards, which I earn cashback rewards for shopping at grocery stores, so I have to forfeit my points when I shop at WinCo.  The last grocery store that I regularly shop at is Trader Joe’s.  I look forward to my Trader Joe’s trips because I love that store!  I usually spend a little more when I do a trip to Trader Joe’s, but it’s worth it, because they have so yummy frozen meals and premade meals, that they keep my family fed for a while. 
Today, I want to share 6 quick and easy meals for you.  No difficult recipes, just simple meals for you and your family.

Trader Joe’s Clam Linguini 

This is a go-to meal for me.  The frozen bag of Clam Linguini is really yummy and it takes under 10 minutes to cook.  I always like to have a salad with my pasta and bag salads are the best to go with weeknight meals.  I love this Chopped Mediterranean salad from Taylor Farms, but I usually just buy whatever is on sale.  I usually make some garlic toast to go along with our meal, because my husband always likes it.

Trader Joe’s Turkey Meatballs 

After making these Trader Joe’s meatballs, I don’t know if I’ll ever make homemade meatballs again.  Well, maybe one day if I have a lot of free time, but these meatballs are delicious!!  I just microwave them for 2 minutes and I serve them with angel hair pasta and marinara sauce.  Again, I like to serve my pasta with a bag salad and some garlic toast.  Since it’s only my husband and me who eat the salad, I split the bag so it will last us for more than one meal.

Avocado Pasta

Avocado pasta was one of the first Pinterest recipes that I ever tried.  I love avocados and this is the perfect way to use them in a pasta.  I’ve been making this meal for so many years that I have simplified my recipe.  In my hand blender measuring cup, I add 1-2 avocados, depending on the size, 2 Tbs of Olive Oil, 1 tsp of minced garlic, a splash of lemon juice and some Morten seasoning.  I blend it all up with my mixer and serve it over whole wheat spaghetti noodles, with salad and bread on the side.  It’s an easy way to get kids to eat a vegetable too!
Mediterranean Chicken Wrap

I love Mediterranean food.  This wrap is the perfect fix when I feel like some sort of chicken wrap.  I buy all the ingredients at Trader Joe’s.  This pre-cooked chicken breast is the best.  It’s all-white meat, fresh and perfect for wraps and salads.  I use hummus to line the pita with, then add chicken, feta, and tabouli.  It makes for a nice fast summer meal.  Plus there is no cleanup since there is no cooking involved.

Fish Tacos

I love fish tacos and these fish tacos are so easy.  I buy the fish nuggets at Trader Joe’s.  For a topping, I buy some kind of slaw in a bag.  This Tahini, Pepita and Apricot Slaw Kit from Trader Joe’s was the perfect veggie toppings with these.  For cheese, I usually like to use feta with fish.  I made my tacos on a corn tortilla, but my husband prefers flour, so you can use either or depending on your preference.

Bean and Rice Burritos

This meal is pretty much poor college student food, but it’s so easy and it tastes good too.  I use refried beans, Spanish rice, cheese, avocado and salsa.  For this meal, I grilled my burrito, but if you want to make it really easy, you can just pop it in the microwave.

So there you have it.  Those are 6 easy meals that you can make for your family within 30 minutes.  Let me know if you try any of them.  For more quick and easy meals, follow me on Instagram and watch my instastories where I will share more recipes as I make them.

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5 Favorite Inexpensive Pinterest Recipes

by Katie Haller


I joined Pinterest in the spring of 2012.  Since then, I have pinned hundreds of recipes.  I’ve also tried the majority of the recipes that I’ve pinned.  I’ve pinned so many recipes that I’ve had to create more and more recipe boards just to keep up.  Pinterest has been a wonderful resource for me when it comes to cooking and baking.  This is a great thing, and it’s definitely saved me money by finding me some low coast recipes to make at home.

I like to keep it simple when I pin recipes.  I try to stick with easy recipes that have simple ingredients.  I also try to look for healthy recipes, at least somewhat healthy.  (Sometimes pictures can look so delicious, I just have to try them!)  And of course, I’m always keeping in mind price. 
I wanted to share with everyone 5 of my favorite Pinterest recipes! 

1.) 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta– This is by far one of my favorite recipes.  It’s so easy to make and delicious. It’s perfect for a weeknight meal!  I’ve adjusted the recipe a bit, leaving out the fresh basil and lemon zest, but you really could make it however you like.  I top mine with Parmesan cheese.
2.) Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Black Olives, Garlic and Feta Cheese– This is another favorite pasta recipe of mine.  I tend to make a lot of pasta dishes because of the price of pasta.  It’s so cheap to by a box of whole wheat pasta.  Plus, pasta is so easy to make.  This pasta dish has a great Mediterranean taste to it with the black olives and feta.  It’s another great weeknight meal. 
3.)  Lemon and Dill Chicken– I forgot how good this meal was until I made it the other night.  It’s super low in calories and delicious.  I like to make it with mash potatoes and steamed green beans (I buy the frozen bag from Trader Joes for $1.99 and they last me a long time).
4.) Balsamic Roast Beef- This is a great crock pot meal.  I love using my crock pot!  Especially when it comes to cooking meat.  This is a delicious recipe if you are looking for some new flavoring for your roast beef. 
5.) Crock Pot Chicken Tacos- This recipe changed the way I make tacos.  It’s so easy and I love the way the meat turns out!  If you only try one recipe from this list, try this one for sure!

 Those are just a few great recipes I’ve discover. If you’re looking for more ideas, feel free to follow my recipe boards on Pinterest.

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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