Extra Savings: Coupon Code for DisneyOutlet.com

DisneyOutlet.com has some bargains, all the time, but I wanted to pass along this code for an extra 20% discount, sitewide.

Take an Extra 20% Off Sitewide at DisneyOutlet.com with Promo Code: OUTLET20

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Extra Savings: Coupon Code for DisneyOutlet.com

Chiles Rellenos Casserole (Recipe)

I mentioned this on Menu Plan Monday and promised to post the recipe.  Here it is!

We like chiles rellenos from the Mexican restaurant.  Who wouldn't like a mild chile pepper that's stuffed with cheese, battered, and deep fried?  But to save money and "healthify" the dish a bit, we decided to try making it at home.  This is adapted from a recipe I found online years ago. I'll list the ingredients from the original recipe, then list the changes that worked well and those that didn't. :)

4 cans (4-ounce) whole green chiles
4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese with jalapenos
2 cups cooked turkey
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
2/3 cup shredded cheddar

Changes that worked:

• Until this time, I've always made this with cooked chicken instead of turkey.
• I don't use the pepper Jack cheese, but regular Monterey Jack or mild cheddar, about eight ounces total.
• We like this with a little red sauce, so I make that right in the bottom of the baking dish.
• I made two dinners' worth so I could freeze one of them.  I omitted the batter on the frozen dish; I'll add it before baking.  It was convenient to assemble, but I haven't tried baking the frozen one.
• Since I was making a double batch, I used only 8 ounces of cheese for both trays.  I used it all inside the peppers and omitted the sprinkling on top.  It was less indulgent but still good!

Changes that didn't work:

• This time I used cooked ground beef instead of the chicken or turkey.  It tasted fine but is harder to stuff into the peppers.
• This time, also, I added chopped garlic and onion to the meat mixture.  What we found is that the dish doesn't bake long enough for those to mellow; they would have to be cooked in advance.

Lightly grease an 11x7 baking dish. (I think a 9x9 would work, as well, but I haven't tried that.)

If you want the red sauce, pour about 4 ounces of tomato sauce (plain) in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle some chopped onion and minced garlic over the sauce, and add black pepper and cumin to taste. (I used about 1/4 of a medium onion, 2 cloves of garlic, about 1/2 tsp. cumin, and a little pepper.)




Drain and rinse the chiles.  Cut them up one side, seed them, and open them flat.  Arrange in the baking dish.  (I find it easier to fill them before arranging them in the dish.)

Cut the cheese and chicken into 1/2-inch strips.  Fill each chile with cheese and chicken strips.  Fold over edges of chiles and place seam-side down in dish.  (I forgot the seam-side down part, but fixed them before I moved on to the next step.  And my photo won't match this description because I used beef this time.)




I had some extra beef/onion/garlic mixture left over, so I just added it to the top.




In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a small bowl, whisk the milk and eggs.  Slowly add egg mixture to flour mixture, beating until smooth.  Pour over prepared chiles. (My batter isn't smooth because I mixed the ingredients all in one bowl. It turned out fine after baking, though.)




Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. (Or, about four minutes less than I did.) Remove from oven and turn off heat. Sprinkle shredded cheese over top and return to oven for one minute to melt cheese. (I skipped this step.)




It's not beautiful, but it tastes so good! It could probably be baked in individual dishes for a better presentation, but I haven't tried that.




This isn't the most frugal dinner we make (each can of chile peppers costs about a dollar, then add the cost of cheese and meat), but it's much cheaper than going out to eat!

Chiles Rellenos Casserole (Recipe)

Bluegala Party Dress Giveaway

Have you seen the Cocktail and Party Dresses at Bluegala?  Right now Bluegala is featuring prom dresses, but they also offer dresses--both long and short--for many other occasions.

Now, my prom days are long behind me, and the Mother of the Bride dresses are more my style.  But even if I can't wear them, I like quite a few of the other dresses on the Bluegala site.  Some of them are a bit revealing for my preferences, but there are a lot of good choices, and the selection is hard to beat!  And everyone who signs up for the Bluegala email list will be entered to win a $500 Bluegala shopping spree!

Thanks to the team at Bluegala, one lucky Frugal Creativity reader will win a belted black dress like this:




Here's how to enter:  Sign up for the Bluegala email list.  This is a required entry and will be verified by Bluegala.  Then leave a comment here.  (If you signed up with a different email address from the one in your profile, let me know.)  Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you.  Limit 1 entry by this method.  This must be done in order to qualify for extra entries.

Here's how you can earn additional entries (please leave one comment per entry):

• Follow both Bluegala and me on Twitter, and tweet about this giveaway ( RT @FC_Melissa Enter to win a party dress from @Bluegala http://www.frugalcreativity.com/ #party #prom #giveaway) (1 entry per day)
• Become a fan of Bluegala on Facebook. (1 entry)
• Enter this giveaway in another blog's current giveaway linky list. Leave a comment here with a link to the post. (3 entries - mention Entry #1, Entry #2, Entry #3)
• Subscribe to my feed in a feed reader. If you already subscribe, leave a comment to let me know. (1 entry)
• Subscribe to my feed by email. Subscriptions must be verified to count. If you already subscribe, leave a comment to let me know. (2 entries - mention Entry #1 and Entry #2)
• Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post. Leave a comment with a link to your blog post. (2 entries - mention Entry #1 and Entry #2)
• Add my blog to your text blogroll, and send me a link to your blog. (2 entries - mention Entry #1 and Entry #2)

More details:  Open to residents of USA, age 18 or older. Giveaway ends 4/12/10 at noon (Eastern time). Winners will be chosen by the random number generator at Random.org. Each winner will be contacted by email and must claim the prize within 48 hours, or another winner will be chosen. Void where prohibited.

Disclosure:  I have received no compensation in any form for hosting this giveaway.  Bluegala is providing the prize, which will be shipped directly to the winner.

Click here to see the entire Giveaway Blog Hop List....

Bluegala Party Dress Giveaway

Credit Counseling 101

National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) just launched a new podcast series called "Credit Counseling 101."  This series breaks down some of the most common questions and misconceptions individuals have concerning their credit.  Regardless of the economic climate, who wouldn't benefit by being more educated about personal finance?  Click through to learn more about the podcast series.

 

I've mentioned the NFCC Consumer Tools in the past, but it's worth mentioning again.  Through the NFCC website, you can access free tools such as these:

• A budget worksheet
• Calculators (such as, "How long will it take to pay off my credit card?")
• A database of consumer tips
• Videos on topics such as mortgage scams and credit scores
• Share your own story

Hope you find this information useful!

Disclosure:  I have received no compensation in any form for sharing this information.

Credit Counseling 101

Comment-Love Letters

Last week Kerri tried something new and fun:  she collected all of her blog comments for the week, then arranged them in the form of a letter.  The result was hilarious!  This week she's done it again, and she's encouraging other bloggers to link up their own Comment-Love Letters.

Without much notice, I decided to give it a try.  I couldn't use every comment, but maybe you'll see one of yours.  Let me know what you think!

Dear Melissa @ Frugal Creativity,

I just realized I wasn't following you...not sure how that happened because I know I had you in my dashboard at one point...oh well, you're back there now!  Yeah, these weeks in March tend to get crazy don't they?  Cheers! :)

Chiles rellenos sound great!  I am looking forward to the chile rellenos recipe!  Mmm...the chicken fajitas sound delish!!!!  Chicken fajitas are a favorite in our house and I'm going to try your BBQ pork recipe!  Everyone seems to be doing BBQ this week.  Yummmm oven-fried fish!  I added my burrito recipe to my blog if you wanted it.  Sometimes we just end up with the meat of the meal because I've forgotten everything else...  Do you ever blog about anything other than food?  [Okay, I added that last one.]  I ask this question all the time! All the time!

Seriously cute aprons!!! :)   Oh man Love those! My goal when I loose more weight to get one, right now they don't look so flirty on me ... lol  [Maybe if you stopped blogging about food so much ... ]

I'm getting antsy with the warmer weather.  Oh man I can't go with out my coffee ... lol it's so bad :)  Thank you for such an honest review!

I'm with ya..this week has been exhausting.  I love weekends. Saturday is my sleep in day... no setting the alarm clock, no hour trip to work and an hour home. I can just piddle around the house all day if I like.  Get some rest this weekend.  Good for you to take a little down time I forget to and then I get slammed with a cold or just exhaustion that takes it all out of me.  Every day is new chance for something beautiful!

I so hate advertisements. My hubby is even worse than I on that subject. I've heard him say at least 100 times, How can they say that!  I think regulations are made for the little people so the regulators can say they are controlling things. It's really just a distraction from what should be controlled!  Oh dear I say that is well deserved!

Oh, wow that is great! I like your thoughts.  I'm definitely going to be following along on that. I really enjoy your blog :)

Hope you had a wonderful day!

Sincerely,
Your Biggest Fan

If you'd like to give it a try, or if you just want to read more silly compilations of blog comments, click through to Kerri's post.  Oops ... I forgot to include the MckLinky Blog Hop code!  Here it is:

Comment-Love Letters

Canvas Print Giveaway from UPrinting.com

Thanks to my friends at UPrinting.com for the opportunity to give away one of these Canvas Prints!  The samples shown on the website are just beautiful, and I think these would be perfect for a portrait.

You're probably familiar with UPrinting for their Promotional Printing, but did you know that they also make window clings, greeting cards, and folders?  I wasn't aware of the canvas prints until just recently, either!

So would you like to win a 16 x 20 Rolled Canvas from UPrinting.com?  This giveaway is open to US residents only, and includes one business-day turnaround and free UPS shipping.

Here's how to enter: Leave a comment to tell me how you would use this canvas print. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you. Limit 1 entry by this method. This must be done in order to qualify for extra entries.

Here's how you can earn additional entries (please leave one comment per entry):

• Follow both me and UPrinting on Twitter. Tweet about this giveaway ( RT @FC_Melissa Enter to win a rolled Canvas Print from @UPrinting http://bit.ly/9875GQ #giveaway ).  Leave a link to your tweet. (1 entry per day)
• Become a fan of UPrinting on Facebook. (1 entry)
• Enter this giveaway in another blog's current giveaway linky list. Leave a comment here with a link to the post. (3 entries - mention Entry #1, Entry #2, Entry #3)
• Subscribe to my feed in a feed reader. If you already subscribe, leave a comment to let me know. (2 entries - mention Entry #1 and Entry #2)
• Subscribe to my feed by email. Subscriptions must be verified to count. If you already subscribe, leave a comment to let me know. (2 entries - mention Entry #1 and Entry #2)
• Blog about this giveaway with links back to this post and UPrinting.com.  Leave a comment with a link to your blog post. (4 entries - mention Entry #1, Entry #2, Entry #3, Entry #4)
• Add my blog to your text blogroll, and send me a link to your blog. (2 entries - mention Entry #1 and Entry #2)
• Comment on a non-giveaway post on my blog.  (1 entry per comment; limit 5 total)

More details: Open to residents of USA, age 18 or older. No P.O. Box addresses. Giveaway ends 3/24/10 at noon (Eastern time). Winner will be chosen by the random number generator at Random.org. Each winner will be contacted by email and must claim the prize within 48 hours, or another winner will be chosen. Void where prohibited.

Disclosure:  I will receive a comparable product from UPrinting.com, at no cost to me, for hosting this giveaway.

Click here to see the entire Giveaway Blog Hop List....

Canvas Print Giveaway from UPrinting.com

Monday Meanderings

Is it just me, or does it seem that the need for eyeglasses runs in families?  I'm fairly sure that there's a hereditary factor to it, but it's interesting that some family portraits depict every member with glasses.

When I was growing up, everyone in my family wore prescription glasses.  I got my first pair when I was in second grade, and my sister started wearing glasses when she was in kindergarten.  It was always assumed that we'd need glasses at some point.  Interestingly, by eighth grade, my sister and I were both wearing contact lenses ... and now we're both back to wearing glasses.

My husband's family was similar, and my son was lucky enough to make it to age 11 before he needed to wear glasses.  Now that he's been wearing them for a while, though, he's happy to wear them.  I think he hadn't realized just how blurry his world had been, until it was clear again.

Now that my family doesn't have vision insurance, we're trying to stretch the time between new pairs of glasses.  My last pair of glasses--now that I've, er, graduated to progressive lenses--cost more than $400!  And these are definitely not designer frames.  These discount eyeglasses are looking very appealing!

Sorry if I'm rambling; it's been a hectic day and I'm worn out.  I hope to have a more restful day tomorrow.  I'll talk to you then, and we'll start the day with a new giveaway!

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by GlassesUSA, but all of the content is my own.  I received this opportunity through a contact made at The Product Review Place.

Monday Meanderings