I pork butt, 3 meals...

 I like big butts and I cannot lie...

A 7+ pound pork shoulder for 99 cents a pound. Booyah!

This a great example of how freezer cooking doesn't have to take 10 hours in a kitchen.  I prepped 3 bags of slow cooker pork dinners in 20 minutes.  Easy breezy.

I trimmed the shoulder into thirds.  Then I simply added the pork, spices and veggies to freezer bags.  Marked with my trusty Sharpie and I am free from cooking for 3 nights of my choosing.

The recipes I bagged are:

Slow Cooker Pork Carnadas
Smoky BBQ pork Sandwiches (recipe coming soon!)
Creamy Ranch Pork Chops  (recipe coming soon!)

Simply remove them from the freezer ONE DAY before you want to use them.  Place in slow cooker the next day. Voila!  Dinner is served!

Homemade Cream Of Chicken Soup

Cream of chicken soup is almost a staple in slow cookery.  But the sodium levels and fat levels may be concerning for some.  I make my own homemade version. Even though teh canned version is fairly inexpensive, I STILL save $$ by making it at home. This recipe yields about the equivalent of 2 cans worth of soup.  I know that normally you don't want to freeze milk items but I find this freezes beautifully!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk
1 can chicken broth (or 1 1/2 cups homemade)
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of paprika

3/4 cups flour

Instructions:

In medium sized saucepan, bring chicken broth, 1/2 cup of milk and seasonings to a boil. Boil for 1-2 minutes.  In a bowl whisk together remaining 1 cup of milk and flour. Add to boiling mixture, whisking constantly until lumps are gone and mixture has thickened.  Store in refrigerator up to one week or freezer up to 6 months.

Slow Cooker Pork Caranadas

I love my Slow Cooker. Some weeks it's all I use. This week I did a minor freezer prep with a beautiful .99 cents a pound pork butt I purchased. ( Don't be grossed out, pork butt is not an actual BUTT, there is not squiggly pink tail on it, it's part of the shoulder blade)

This is my new favorite pork recipe. I am proud to say I actually created it myself!  I love to serve it over rice.

Ingredients:

2 pound pork shoulder or pork butt
1 medium onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1-4oz. can mild diced green chiles
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons Thrifty Rose's Homemade Adobo Rub:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1  teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt (optional)
• (This will create more than 2 tablespoons of rub, store remaining rub, sealed in a dated, labeled, container or plastic bag in a cool dry place for future use)

Directions:

Mix spices for Adobo Rub. Season pork with rub. In a medium sauté pan on medium-high heat, brown pork on all sides for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Pour chicken broth in the crockpot, add bay leaves and onion. Place pork ontop of onions and cover. Cook low for 8 hours. After 8 hours, shred pork using two forks and combine well with the tasty juices that accumulated at the bottom. Remove bay leaves and adjust salt and pepper as needed (you will probably need to add more). Let it cook another 15-30 minutes. 

Serving Suggestion: Wrap in warmed tortillas with shredded cheese, tomatoes and avocado or simply over rice!

From Shaving Cream to Fairy Foam

Turn a plain dollar store bottle of shaving cream into fun messy play. I f you haven't experimented with shaving cream play, you are missing out SERIOUS mess-o-rific fun!  Dress it up for girls by adding a simple piece of construction paper, glittery stickers and a sharpie!

Pretend Pizza Parlor

I love pretend play.  No reason you have to spend a lot to have a good looking pretend pizza parlor. Forget those WE B TOYS kind of sets, you can get the same fun with inexpensive felt and dollar store goodies.

I bought felt sheets at the craft store for 39 cents.  The rest of the goodies came from the dollar store or my pantry.

You will need:

2 sheets red felt
1 sheet green felt
1 sheet dark red felt
1 sheet brown felt

From dollar store:
2 sliver serving trays
picnic themed napkins, table runner and plates
yellow string or yarn
paper plates

From my home I used cafe themed towels, shirt boxes for pizza delivery boxes, storage bags labeled with the 'ingredients', spatulas and empty spice jars (oregano and basil).  The nice thing about the spice jars is they still smell like the spice but there is no mess), a notebook for taking orders.

Take the lighter red felt and cut into circles, then glue each circle onto paper plates.  I cut them into fourths for serving.  Cut little circles from the darker red felt for pepperoni, cut brown felt into mushroom shapes, green felt into small strips for peppers, yellow string or yarn into cheese. Store in plastic bags and label with a sharpie. Bon Appetit!

Cloud Dough Recipe

Oooh MESSY...

This is a super fun, SUPER MESSY outdoor activity for the kids.  It's so soft, but it can form into ball shapes for mushing.  And it smells heavenly too!  Very easy and THRIFTY to make! We used it t=for pretend ice cream parlor day

For the Dough you will need: 

8 cups of Flour

1 cup of Baby Oil

I mixed this in my kitchen aid until everything was incorporated.  The I put them in plastic shoe box storage bins and let the kiddos go to town!

Thrifty & Creative 1st Birthday Gift

A sweet friends baby turned one recently and as I thought about what to get, toy or clothes of course, I thought why not give Mom and Dad a gift?  The party was a Beauty and The Beast theme.  So I made an invitation for the little one to spend a fun night with me while Mom and Dad got to do stuffy grown up stuff.

THIS is why I try to SAVE money in pennies and nickels in every aspect of my life so when I SPEND money on full price items, I don't have to worry about it or feel guilty or even worry about budget.

I purchased 2 gift cards, one for Chili's and one for movie tickets and simply printed out this invitation I made in publisher. Mounted it on a piece of card stock, added ribbon and placed in a dollar store gift bag. 

(I BEG you, why would you pay $3.99 or more on a gift bag when $1 stores have so many sizes, colors and occasions??? Promise me you will never waste money on a gift bag that is more than $1!!!)

This can be used for any party theme.  Also, you can eliminate the gift cards and simply give the gift of your time. I'm sure Mom and Dad would be very appreciative!

Princess Theme:

BE MY GUEST

Ms. (Birthday Girl) is cordially invited to a night with (Grown up giving gift)!

An evening full of princess patty cake and glittery play dough.

(While Mommy and Daddy go to a yucky grown up dinner and boring old person movie)

Any one Saturday night that Mommy and Daddy choose, at my castle or yours.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl.

Cowboy/Cowgirl Theme:

Giddy Up Li'l Pardner!

That rascally rancher (Birthday Child) is hereby called to a round up with (Grown up giving gift)!

A night full of cowboy vittles, rodeo ridin' and general cowboy/girl mischief!

(While Maw & Pop head in to town fer a yeehaw cityfolk kinda good time)

Hitch yer horse on any one Saturday night that Maw and Pop pick, at my ranch or yers)

Have a Rootin' Tootin' Birthday Cowpoke!

Space Theme:

Blast Off!

Col. (Birthday boy or Girl) is invited to reach for the stars with (Grown up giving gift)!

An evening full of moon munchies, and out of this world fun!

(While Mommy and Daddy stay grounded for an Earthy meal and training tilm )

Any one Saturday night that Commander Mommy and Special Agent Daddy choose, at my space station or yours.

Happy Birthday!

Let me know if you use other themes!

Mexican Adobo Rub Recipe

I am making Slow Cooker pork Carnatas tonight and my recipe calls for adobo rub.  Sounds intriguing!  Until I got to the store and see the adobo rub is $4.99.  Looking on the back of the bottle I see it's mostly spices I have in my pantry. And pantry cooking is free cooking in my book. So I asked my friend Google to help me find some recipes.  This is what I adapted for my own liking and taste.  Purists will no doubt not be happy with the lack of lime and tumeric but I am not a fan of either of those flavors. I think it's delish and an nice combination of spices I have not used before! (Oregano in Mexican flavors?  That's a new one for me!)

                         

Thrifty Rose's Pantry Made Adobo Rub

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1  teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt (optional)

Make sure you save those empty spice bottles and tubs to reuse and make your OWN rubs and flavor mixes in. Upcycling is the ultimate Thrifty Nifty. Saves money AND the Earth!

REMEMBER! When you use this you donlt need to add SALT & PEPPER because it's already in the mix .