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Valentine’s Day “From Scratch” Brownies
February is known for two holidays, Ground Hog Day and Valentine’s Day, but only one of these tempts our sweet tooth (and our pocketbooks). Valentine’s Day is known for its expensive indulgences: eating out, flowers, alcohol, and chocolate. For this Valentine’s Day, try some low-cost and healthier ways to celebrate like opting for a romantic homemade dinner rather than eating out or baking low-fat chocolate treats instead of buying expensive chocolate candy.

After School Hummus
Hummus is an inexpensive treat to make at home, and it is easy, tasty and good for you! The main ingredient is garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas). Hummus contains iron, protein and fiber, plus other nutrients depending on the ingredients you include.

Try Mint to Track your Grocery Spending
The SpendSmart.EatSmart web page and Facebook have been running a poll asking What do you think saves you the most money on your grocery bill? Here is the breakdown from the 315 people who responded:

Can I Go Too?
As I was reading the blog Peggy wrote about tracking expenses last week, one line stood out to me more than any other, “I really need to follow my own advice.” After my most recent trip to the grocery store, I was thinking the same thing.

Easter Eggs Make Great Creamy Egg-Salad Sandwich
We always hid Easter eggs when I was a kid. I think my parents must have hidden the eggs before we got up, but with seven kids the eggs got hidden several more times before they finally were stored in the refrigerator. The next few days we ate lots of egg salad, deviled eggs, creamed eggs on toast, etc. As I look back I wonder if we followed the USDA rule that Hard-cooked eggs should be refrigerated within 2 hours of cooking and used within a week. Maybe not…have food safety rules gotten stricter??

Splendid Table – Good Cooks Top Five
Last Monday I attended a lecture by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, who hosts the weekly radio program called The Splendid Table, on American Public Media and is the author of several award winning cookbooks. I have to admit that I am a bit intimidated by the ingredients, recipes, cooking and wine experts I hear when I listen to the radio program (it’s on Saturday from 2-3 pm and Sunday from 11 am – 12 pm on Iowa Public Radio).

Meatless Meals – What about beans?
A couple of weeks ago, I posted about meatless meals on our Facebook page. Choosing to go meatless for a meal or for an entire day is one way to save a little money on your grocery bill. This can be easy at breakfast and lunch, but tends to be a little more difficult at supper time. Even with a husband and a son who like to have meat with their meals, our family enjoys a meatless supper together once or twice each week.

Easter Baskets Don’t Have to be Filled with Candy
According to the National Retail Association about 90% of us will have candy on our shopping list for Easter and our total spending will be about $2 billion. WOW.

Beef Product Unfairly Slammed
I’m disappointed/dismayed/disgusted that boneless lean beef trimmings are being driven off the grocery shelves. The result is likely to be higher priced hamburger, protein wasted that could be used for human consumption, less innovation, several thousand people losing their jobs, and a bankrupt company.

Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Bake
Our featured recipe this month is Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Bake. It is a very easy recipe that costs about $.80 a serving. You can use any combination of 4 cups of meat and beans that you have. The recipe also calls for salsa. I use medium, but if you want a little more heat you could use a spicier salsa, add a hot pepper, or add a little hot sauce. Be sure you save a little of the enchilada filling to spread on top of the enchiladas.

Have you Fired your Grocery Store?
Consumer Reports says that one-third of their readers have switched grocery stores in the past year. The main reason was to get better prices, but their readers also switched in search of better selection, shorter lines, or more courteous staff.

The Touching Heart, Touching Minds Project
The Touching Heart, Touching Minds project poses an important question for all parents.