Do you have a Yoplait kid?

I sure do.  In fact, I have 3 Yoplait kids.  My kids LOVE Yoplait for Kids yogurt.  They love Go-gurts, they love Trix Yoplait and they love the Yoplait for Kids.  They think they’re getting a yummy treat, but *I* know that they’re also getting something healthy and nutritious, something that is providing Vitamin D and calcium to help build strong bones.  THEY think it’s a snack.  I look at it as a snack with benefits!

Living in an apartment complex, my kids don’t get out and stay as active, particularly in the cold months, as I’d like them to.  But in the summer, I encourage them to get out as soon as they’re finished with their breakfasts! LOL     ANOTHER problem, though, with livingin an apartment complex is that they don’t have a lot of outdoorsy toys to play with.  The ones that they do have, mysteriously disappear if they’re left out overnight.  So imagine their excitement when they opened the box from my friends at MySpark and found THIS incredible prize pack!

The Yoplait Get Active Prize Pack includes a travel cooler (to take your yogurt on the road), a jump rope, a water bottle and an outdoor game set that includes a beach ball, paddle ball, Jai-Ali and a Frisbee, PLUS a coupon for a FREE package of my choice of Yoplait! 

   They FREAKED!

And I’ll bet the kid(s) in your life will freak when you win yours!  Yes, I have not one, not two, but THREE AWESOME Yoplait Get Active Prize Packs to give away to 3 lucky readers!

As always, I have a variety of ways for you to win!

    Leave a comment  for each of the things you decide to do:

  Blog about this giveaway.    Leave your comment WITH your url to the post.
    Tweet about this giveaway.  In your comment, be sure to include a link to your actual tweet.  You can do this once a day, every day until the end of the contest (May 3rd).

    Share this on your facebook profile!  Just click below – and of course, make sure you send me the link to that in your comment.
    Become a fan of My Tasty Space on Facebook!  Just let me know in your comment what your Facebook name is.

    Become a follower on blogger.

    Send me lots of money.   KIDDING!

  Stumble this post.  In your comment, leave your SU Name.

Leave a comment here telling me how you like to get your family to get active and have fun.   

 *This coupon offer for a free six pack of Yoplait for Kids yogurt is not valid in some states, including Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota and Tennessee.   However, you’re still more than welcome to enter to win the rest of the prize pack!

Also, if you sign up to join my Facebook group, you’ll get a code for $1.50 coupon off Yoplait!

So, what are you waiting for? Get entering!

[This offer is valid in the US only]

[Entries without a valid email address will be deleted.]

Super Easter Dinner

Happy Easter everyone!

We typically have the standard ham dinner for Easter.  This year, however, I felt like changing it up, so I took advantage of an excellent sale and bought a 6.5 lb rib roast.  I’ve always been leery of trying to make a prime rib because they’re NOT cheap, and if I screw it up, that’s a lot of money wasted.  But last night, I went online and found a very easy, very basic recipe at  RecipeTips.com and decided to try it.  I wanted an easy dinner without tons of prep work, and without a lot of  fuss.    The prime rib recipe was exactly that.

You  take it out and let it sit on the counter until it becomes room temperature. 

You sprinkle salt & pepper all over it, rubbing it in to make sure it sticks.

You put it in the pan.

You preheat the oven to 460.

You place the roast in the oven at 450 for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, you reduce the heat to 325.

You bake it for 11-13 minutes per pound.  I’d figured on 2 hours.  I was mistaken LOL

After about 30 minutes or so, you place your sweet potatoes (see below) in the oven as well.    Do it quickly so as not to let the oven cool off too much.

Then after about an hour – an hour and a half (from when you put it in), check the temperature with a meat thermometer.   Depending on how well done you want the roast, you then make the decision whether it needs to stay in.  The recipe said

 

 

My meat thermometer read 160 so I took it out quickly and tented it with foil while I hurriedly made the veggies LOL

After it had sat for about 10-15 minutes, I removed the foil and sliced.

Voila!

It was tender and absolutely YUMMY!!!!!

Baked Sweet Potatoes

As easy as it sounds.  Peel your sweet potatoes.  Wrap them individually in foil.  I typically put myine on a baking sheet because the natural sugars inside the potato will come out and drip and smoke, otherwise.  I bake them while I am baking the meat – whatever I might be making.

TI baked them for approximately 1 hour, but your time will vary, depending on the oven temp.  When you unwrap them, they will be “juicy” – from the natural sugars that have been released.  I put them in a bowl, cut them up with a butter knife, sprinkle with brown sugar and then butter.

 

Finally, I also made approximately 1/2 a bag of frozen green beans.  To make those, I put  2 cups of water in a pan, along with a couple of teaspoons of chicken bouillon.  I add the green beans and bring to a boil , then  I let simmer until they are tender.

 

Oh, and can’t forget the rolls!

The best part of all of this is that it doesn’t have to be for a holiday.  Although I spent about $32 on the roast, it will easily feed 4-6 people (adults) or more with kids! 

4 for $15?

4 15.  That’s Shaw's new “thing” to entice people.  Four meals for under $15.  Not whole meals – 4 servings.  So you can feed your family of 4 for under $15.

Isn’t that big of them!

For $15, I can make 4 FULL dinners.  Because we’ve always had to live rather frugally, this new era that Americans are finding themselves in, the one in which they can’t be hitting MdD’s 4 times a week – is really nothing new to me. 

The trick, really, is to know how to shop.  You don’t buy things based on need. You buy things based on sales.  You stock up on things when they’re on sale, and then you don’t have to pay sometimes double the price when you need them.

This works particularly well with meats, although, obviously, you need a freezer large enough to accommodate good sales. 

Here’s an example:

Yesterday, I bought 1 lb of Butterball ground turkey.  It was on sale for $1.99 – it’s normally $3.99 or higher.

I would typically buy 2 or 3 of them, because I use it quite frequently.  (I didn’t this week because I have no room in my freezer.)

I also bought a pound of egg noodles that were on sale.

I went home and cooked the turkey up, with some salt & pepper.  I combined it with a jar of spaghetti sauce (Spinach & Cheese Florentine is awesome!), boiled the egg noodles, and voila.  I had a meal for way more than 4 people – for way less than $15! 

$1.99 – turkey

$1.99 – sauce

$1.29 – egg noodles

$5.27  - and enough for dinner for 5 and more than enough for lunch the next day for all of us.  So figure it, in total, fed 8 (at least).   $.65 for a meal is much more acceptable to me than $15!

I’ve already noticed that Shaw's also has boneless chicken breast on sale this week.  $1.88/lb is an excellent price, so I will buy 2 or 3 packages of it. 

There are tons of things I can make with boneless chicken breast, so I am not worried that I’ll put it in the freezer and it won’t get used.  In fact, one of the recipes I made with turkey, http://nhmom.blogspot.com/2008/12/turkey-pot-pie-with-corn-bread-stuffing.html, I will just substitute chicken for turkey with.  So figure $5 for the chicken, $1 for the box of stuffing, $1 for the gravy (if I’m feeling lazy and don’t make my own).  I got the pie crust for free with a coupon. 

Simple recipe, and delicious.  WAY less than $15.

What are some of your favorite recipes that are budget conscious?