Date night

This week's date night started with the drink. I found limes on sale 20/$1 last week at my ethnic market. Woohoo! So, for our drink, we had Texas margaritas (a tiny bit of orange extract makes them Texas style). That salty rim is soo good.

To go with our virgin margaritas, we had these fabulous nachos. They turned out really well. The avocado pushed it over the top. Yum!

Drink of the week

Because we had an honest to goodness, out of the house, all day, date last Saturday, I didn't make any fancy meals Saturday night. I think we made do with canned soup and Ramen!

But, on Sunday afternoon, I did make this fun drink that everyone enjoyed. We're definitely from the south, and every sweet drink is called "coke" in my house. My three year old dubbed this one "coke tea." I think that means he liked it.

Everyone else knows it as iced red zinger tea. And, Will was right. It's good stuff.

Date Day!

Last Saturday, we enjoyed a rare day without our wonderful, fabulous, full-of-energy children. It was great!

Much thanks to my parents for both babysitting and giving up the tickets so that we could both go to the game. We had so much fun!

Pumpkin soup

I've got a lot going on this fall, so I am planning on moving away from specific Publix/Kroger bargain meals, and I'm just going to focus on some of the frugal meals we eat during the week. I tend to shop several stores, not just what is on sale at one store in one particular week, so this will be a more true representation of what we eat and how I shop.

If you are a Publix or Kroger bargain meal reader, I hope you'll stick around for some of my more generic frugal meals. Still the same great food, just not tied to the specials of the week!

This week, we had a true fall special, pumpkin soup. This meal was inspired by my friend Dana. Her family thinks it is great, and it's a favorite here as well.

Pumpkin Soup
3/4 pound Italian sausage (I used homemade from pork butt)--$0.63
1 can pumpkin--$0.79 (Aldi)
2 cups chicken broth--free
1 onion, diced--$0.25
1 cup heavy cream--$0.75 (Aldi)

Brown onion and sausage in soup pot. Drain if needed. Add pumpkin and broth, and stir to combine. Heat through. If the consistency is too thick, add water (you want a thick soup consistency). Add cream, adjust seasonings (salt and pepper), and heat through. If too thick, add water to desired consistency.

We served this with stuffed mushrooms (with that other 1/4 pound sausage) and salads. So good! It was a really nice fall supper.

And, total cost? 2.42! Add the salad ($1.50/head of lettuce) and mushrooms, and the total cost was under $5.

Date night

For us, part of what makes date night special is a splurge here and there. We eat lots of beans during the week, and sometimes I leave off the cheese or nuts, especially if I think that we won't miss it (and we rarely do). We feel like we eat really well, and we're usually excited about supper.

But, for date night...

We're even more excited! This salad had two of our favorites...avocado and black olives. Yum!

We enjoyed old school pink lemonades. Lemonade flavored with maraschino cherry juice, topped by one of the cherries.

And delicious grilled steak, baked potatoes, and asparagus! We're usually local, in season, eaters (trying to be trendy and all....hahaha....really, I'm just cheap), so asparagus in November is a BIG treat. One that we enjoyed to the very last bite.

Thanks for dropping in on our modest little splurges! Splurge on someone you love this week. That cherry in their drink might be just the thing to tell someone you love them!

Kroger Meal November 1

This week, we enjoyed corn chowder. Perfect for chilly weather and long, dark evenings.

Potato corn chowder
3 potatoes, chopped--approx $0.30
water
1 package frozen whole kernel corn--on sale--$0.88
1/2 lb bacon, diced fine--approx $1.50
1 onion, diced--$0.25
1/4 cup flour--$0.20
2 cups milk--$2.39/gal--$0.30

Boil potatoes in salted water to cover until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, fry bacon in a large pan. Remove bacon and reserve. Add onion to bacon grease, and cook until transluscent. Add flour to bacon grease/onions, and whisk until smooth (making a roux). Add milk, whisking constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Add potatoes to mixture, mashing slightly as you stir. Add potato cooking liquid until desired consistency. Season to taste with onion and a genersou amount of black pepper. Serve with bacon bits on top.

Total cost of this bargain meal--$3.43

And, as always, check out $5dinners.com for more cheap supper inspiration!