Fresh fruit and yogurt go well togetherin my latest recipe video, Strawberries and Yogurt.
Pre-mixed yogurt with fruit is too sweet for me. It is easy enough to mix a handful of sliced strawberries into yogurt. Of course, remove the bitter green stems.
This fruit and yogurt mix will keep a couple of days in the refrigerator -- if you can resist finishing it off in one sitting! This isn't so much an original recipe as a recipe reminder of how easy and nutritious it is to add fresh fruit to yogurt.
Anytime I find fruit on sale at my local 99c only Store, I immediately think of a light breakfast. My most common homemade yogurt with fruit includes strawberries, pineapple, sliced mango, blackberries and blueberries.
Fresh frozen fruit mixes nicely into yogurt, although the texture is mushy when defrosted. Some canned fruit works well, I like canned pineapple and peaches in natural juice.
As for yogurt I just use plain. Vanilla and other flavors are usually too strong and often have added sugar. But, if you like a certain type on sale then use it.
Sometimes an unusual brand will show up on sale like this creamy French-style yogurt called "oui" made by Yoplait. It was so good I got half a dozen jars. They also had a lemon-flavored that held up well with the addition of raspberries.
"Oui"is advertised as "French Style," whatever that means. But it is milder tasting - less sour than typical yogurt, with a slight almond flavor. And the glass jars are collectible too.
As with any new find at a 99c only Store, I will try it in the car parking lot, and if it's good then I will go back and get a whole bunch more. I've learned you gotta be impulsive there or it may be gone an hour later -- snooze you lose!
So do check out my latest stop-motion animated video. There's really nothing to this recipe and anyone can make it. Sometimes less is more, for a perfectly delicious recipe.
Strawberries & Yogurt - Video
Play it here. The video runs 42 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.
My colorful and easy-to-makerecipeuses Bell Peppers stuffed with a couple sauteed veggies, some uncooked rice, and ground meat.
I guess you can call this a Meatloaf wrapped in Bell Pepper. Roasted, Bell Peppers are tender, tasty, and almost sweet. This is a light meal if you use ground turkey or chicken.
When you bake the covered Stuffed Bell Peppers for an hour and a half, they steam uncooked rice until tender. The rice plumps up and absorbs surrounding flavors for a delicious entree.
I like to bake a few at a time to freeze for later. Serve one of them with a favorite side and you have a satisfying meal. Or just eat one on its own as there is plenty of protein, veggies, and carbs, all in one bite!
I often find Bell Peppers on sale at regular grocery stores, and especially at my local Latin market.
Red, yellow and orange Bell Peppers usually cost more for some reason. I usually make this recipe with cheaper green bell peppers, but this time I went for it to introduce color into my video recipe.
To stuff a Bell Pepper I slice around the stem and pull off the top. Most of the seeds will come out. If needed slice out any that hold on to the interior. I also cut away the white part of the inside "ribs." It doesn't have to be perfect, just remove most of the seeds and top stem.
You can use any color on sale. Red, orange or yellow Bell Peppers are a little sweeter than green ones. But anytime you roast or saute a bell pepper it will sweeten up, even green ones.
The most expensive items are mushrooms and ground meat. But even these come on sale from time to time. Ground meat, I can freeze and defrost when mushroom shows up at my local 99c only Stores.
I even find small amounts of ground meat (let's say for one or two Stuffed Bell Peppers) at my local Dollar Tree. You can use low-fat ground turkey or chicken.
Click on any photo to see larger.
Mushroom are almost always at my local 99c only Stores. They come in 4 or 5-ounce packages. You could just pick out a couple of whole mushrooms from your fave grocery store. Add more or less or just leave them out. The sauteed onion and garlic with rice are enough stuffing.
Rice is cheap at any store, you can use white, brown or any type you can find on sale. If you have leftover cooked rice then use that.
I add an egg or two and a little milk to dampen the stuffing, so the raw rice will steam tender. The main thing when baking Stuffed Bell Peppers are to cover them well, so the rice will cook through without drying out.
You will have a few crunchy rice kernels on top of Stuffed Bell Peppers, but that's okay, it's just a little extra texture. But you can be sure the interior will have cooked and flavorful rice. If you have leftover cooked rice it's okay to use it, too.
My latest video recipe is a favorite of mine and I make it when bell peppers and ground meat comes on sale. It's an easy and cheap way to extend more and more expensive ground protein. So make a batch of my Stuffed Bell Peppers, and go ahead a freeze them for later, too.
Stuffed Bell Peppers - Video
Play it here, video runs 3 minutes, 17 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.
Ingredients (1 or 2 per serving)
1 pound ground beef, pork, turkey or chicken.
4 to 5 bell peppers - medium to large any color. Green Bell Peppers are cheapest.
Mushrooms sliced - a small package of about 5 ounces. Okay to use any type mushrooms you like.
1/2 cup rice - okay to use 1 cup cooked rice.
1/2 onion - chopped
1 large egg - or 2 small eggs.
Worcestershire Sauce 1 teaspoon - optional. Okay to use Soy Sauce.
Garlic 1 teaspoon - chopped, from the jar, fresh or even dried.
1/4 cup milk - cream or favorite broth.
Black Pepper to taste - Worcestershire and Soy Sauce have enough salt for me.
Directions
Slice onion and mushrooms. I use garlic from a jar, so it's ready to cook, okay to use fresh garlic.
Add a little oil to a frying pan and saute chopped onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Next, add the sliced mushrooms and saute another 5 minutes, stirring. Finally, add garlic and saute for just a minute.
In a large bowl add the raw ground meat. Add sauteed veggies, uncooked rice, one or two eggs, and milk or broth.
Season with black pepper, I find Worcestershire Sauce and Soy Sauce are salty enough. Mix all the ingredients together. This is the stuffing for Bell Peppers.
I used four to five large Bell Peppers. Depending on the size, I find that is enough with one pound of ground meat. Mainly you want to make sure all the Bell Peppers will fit in a covered baking dish. You can use a pan, just make sure to wrap or cover the peppers with foil.
While you are sauteing veggies you can prepare the Bell Peppers.
To stuff a Bell Pepper, I slice around the stem and pull off the top. Most of the seeds will come out. If needed slice out any that hold on to the interior. I also cut away the white part of the inside "ribs." It doesn't have to be perfect, just remove most of the seeds and top stem.
Fill up Bell Peppers with the sauteed veggies and ground meat. If you have any leftover stuffing you can wrap it in foil and freeze for later, or just wrap it in foil and bake it with Bell Peppers, kinda like a Meatloaf.
Cover the Stuffed Bell Peppers and bake for 1 1/2 hours (90 minutes) at 350 degrees.
That's it, just remove from oven when done. I let them sit covered for 5 minutes or so to cool down a little.
Deals Deals Deals - come and get 'em! 2019 was a great year for my budget food foraging finds, everything from Vegan Chao Slices of vegan cheese to old school Velvetta.
Well, if you are a frequent visitor, you have seen some of these photos illustrating my delish recipes, and special Deal of the Day reviews like below (click on names to see the original cheap$kate review.)
I get comments all the time how awful dollar and 99 cent stores must be. I can't argue with that, they carry an abundance of dross and Frankenstein foodstuffs -- hey, you get what you pay for. But I am a bottom feeder on a budget, with over a decade of blog experience picking out the best for less. But don't come down on me too harshly, I do highlight plenty of organic food-stuffs that Dollar Trees and 99c only Stores now wisely stock.
Click on any photo to see larger - to read ingredients or descriptions.
Hey, I'll admit to eating, from time to time, a few preservatives and cooking with unhealthy oils like generic vegetable oil -- gotta keep my liver exercising! Of course, do substitute healthier ingredients in my cheap$kate recipes...if you have a Whole Food budget, or can even find any untainted ingredients in the food desert you may reside in.
I gotta give it up to my local 99c only Store and Dollar Tree. Without them, my food blog would be anemic and barren. When I'm low on food, I will go to a regular grocery store for coffee and freshly baked bread, veggies on sale, fresh seafood and specialty cuts of meat, but I always make time for a quick stop at my fave cheap$kate 99 cent and dollar stores for many food deals.
99 thanks budget stores and keep stocking the shelves for starving students, hardworking minimum wage earners, retirees on a budget, single-parent families, and everyone else without much change to spare and just plain old penny-pinchers.
For my Best Food Finds of 2019 I've learned to be an impulsive shopper - walk past one of these cheap$kate deals below, and by the time you get home, change your mind and return to get the deal, well, it will likely be gone.
Here's what you're missing all you naysayers and snooty gourmands. Sometimes you gotta bite the budget bullet, but don't worry all my fellow penny-pinching gastronomers, the 99 Cent Chef has your back, or at least your stomach!
Best Cheap$kate Food Finds of 2019
The first meal of the day for your tiny tot can be found at budget prices if you know where to look!
For adults, nothing beats a cup of joe first thing in the morning
World famous chef Wolfgang Puck shows up on the shelves.
Slow-cooked White Beans are in my fave French recipe Cassoulet.
