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A quick and easy meal including reader submitted recipes for Mexicali Pork Chops, Cottage Cheese Salad and a delicious Easy Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe!
Easy Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe, Mexicali Pork Chops
Tips:
To save money at the grocery store, try to only shop the perimeter of the store. In other words, make a circle around the outside edge. You can find most of what you need there – meats, vegetables, fruits, dairy, bakery and sales items. Don’t wander up and down each aisle. Only go down an aisle if there is something you really need there. Every couple of weeks (or better yet, once a month) or when there is a good sale, stock up on your canned goods and the other things found on the aisles.
With school started in most places and the temperatures dropping, many of us are dragging out the cookie sheets. Here are some helpful cookie hints to make your cookie baking easier:
- If you prefer chewy cookies, bake them only until the edges are golden brown. The centers will look a little under baked. You will need to let them cool for a minute or two before removing from the pan.
- Use shiny cookie sheets and not dark or burnt ones. In the same way that dark clothes and car upholstery absorb heat, dark baking sheets cause cookies to burn more easily.
- If you have a small amount of dough to bake or if you don’t have a cookie sheet,turn over a regular baking pan (like a 9×13 or 9×9) and bake your items on the bottom.
We get some very yummy recipes submitted by our readers and I have decided to share a couple from our archives for this meal plan. I hope you enjoy them! TheEasy Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe is especially yummy!
Meal Plan:
Mexicali Pork Chops*
Boiled Potatoes
Peas and Carrots
Cottage Cheese Salad*
Easy Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe*
Recipes:
Mexicali Pork Chops
(from Jacqui D.)
Taco seasoning mix* (see below)
Pork Chops
Oil
Rub a package of taco seasoning mix onto pork chops and fry in a little oil! They are really good (not bad for only 3 ingredients)!
Cottage Cheese Salad
(from Sheila H.)
This would make a pretty Christmas salad and is great for barbecues, too. I thought of our Australian and New Zealand readers who will be celebrating Christmas in the heat of their summer.
Cottage cheese (16 oz.)
Pimento, 1 small jar
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2-3 green onions, chopped
Mix everything and serve.
Easy Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups baking mix
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat milk and peanut butter until smooth. Add baking mix and vanilla. Mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten with a fork. Dip fork in flour to prevent sticking. Bake 6 to 8 minutes at 375 degrees.
We are so often asked what kinds of recipes and tips are included in the Dining on a Dime cookbook. There are so many good old-fashioned basic scratch cooking recipes in the cookbook but at the same time we have included many harder to find recipes, too. This recipe is from Dining on a Dime. There are also recipes for Italian Seasoning, Seasoned Salt, Pumpkin Pie Spice and so much more.
*Taco Seasoning Mix
6 tsp. chili powder
4 1/2 tsp. cumin
5 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. oregano
3 tsp. onion powder
2 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/8-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container. One teaspoon of homemade taco seasoning equals 2 teaspoons of store bought taco seasoning.
For more homemade recipes like this easy peanut butter cookies recipe, check out our cookbooks!
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Reader Interactions
Comments
- deborah
Just wanted to thank you for these newsletters. They certainly are a blessing to me. I raised 6 kids and many of your ideas i have been implementing for years. It’s nice to know others are “living on a dime” too! Going to try the cottage cheese salad today.
Reply
- susan
sorry you are not feeling well,Hope you feel better soon! don’t worry about the news letter after all we are human!. Thought I would share something with you all. As I was getting things together for a baby shower I thought I would tell you what I did, It was done for me years ago and I have been doing this for family members ever since! When I find out some one is going to have a baby I start “looking” I fix a book with news paper clippings some serious,some funny( I lameate them) for the year they will be born and then I start looking for a dollar bill, a quarter, a dime ,a nickle and a penney with that year on it. I put it all together in a book and at the end I put a note that I will save the entire local paper for the date that the little comes in the world so that when they get older they will know what was going on at that time.
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- Jill
What a great and different idea Susan. Love it.
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- Sidney
Jill,
I have used taco seasoning on chicken and baked it. I call it Taco chicken. Also, if you are watching calories you can bake the pork chops instead of frying them.
ThxsReply
- Jill
Yes you can bake them. I don’t usually bake them just because I never use grease or anything when I fry my pork chops so it really is the same as baking them as far as calories go plus I save heating up the oven which in the summer can really heat up the kitchen.
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- DANNIE
I sprinkle chicken breasts with taco seasoning and saute in a small amount of oil/butter Then I add a can of corn, a can of drained and rinsed black beans and a can of Rotel tomatoes. Add about 1 cup of water (may need more) and simmer until heated through. Serve over rice. Use leftovers rolled in flour tortillas with cheese.
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- Beth in Mammoth Cave KY
Thanks for the wonderful Taco Seasoning recipe! I buy the packets every time I am at the grocery store, I am thrilled to get a recipe.
Great website and newsletters!!!
BethReply
- Linda
Hi Tawra , I clicked on your “sick” part and it went to a fibromyalgia site. I too, have it and was just hoping someone as young as you does not have to live with this monster.
Thank you for the newsletter. I too love it and appreciate every tip.
Reply
- Tawra
Yep, I’ve had FM for 22 years now.
Reply
- Nancy Miller
I have had it since the 1990’s. It is one of the most misunderstood illnesses, even though the AMA recognizes it as serious. I always hated to mention it because of some of the looks I got. Hope you feel better.
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- Denise
Even easier peanut butter cookies:
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 eggMix all together well. Roll into 1 inch balls. Spray bottom of glass with nonstick spray or rub with a little oleo, dip in sugar and use to flatten cookies a bit (need to keep dipping in sugar between each cookie). Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until done.
Along with being flour-free — which is an issue for some — these are the best pb cookies I’ve ever tasted. If you want a softer, less crumbly cookie, add two eggs. (what I often do is use 1/2 cup each sugar and pb and 1 egg — makes a softer cookie AND makes just a dozen, Perfect for when you need A plate of cookies — not a whole big batch)
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- Trish Kingsford
Hi Tawra,
I used the homemade laundry detergent and laundry softener. They are both working fantastically! On the laundry detergent I found you have to make sure the water is HOT and then it all jells together fabulously! Thanks love them both!Reply
- Bea
These recipes sound yummy.
Reply
- Tracy
Wanted to mention that with gas prices high in our area.
I was able to cut our monthly food bill by 50 dollars this pasted month. We get our produce and eggs from a local farm.
I found two three low cost grocery stores in our area. Compare sales and will shop at one or the others depending on there sale listed in there store flyers. Also can find them listed on-line. If you own a computer access to the internet.
Try to use less beef .I will make meatloaf with cheapers cuts like turkey and mix with some beef or sausage.Make dishes using beans ,and soups with using leftovers. Buy whole chickens on sale.Freeze them and or roast them . They will last for a few meals and lunches. Freeze the bones for soups and broth .To use at a later time.
Freeze any leftovers and label them with a date .And try to not spend all day in the store. Make your list and stick to only buying those items. Bake your own snacks and deserts .And do not eat out while you shop.Eat before.
We have enjoyed receiving your newsletters .It is full of good food and tips to save $$$ .Thank you TracyReply
- Carole
The boiled potatoes reminded me that my mother used to fix a lot of boiled potatoes for one meal and then fry the leftovers for a later meal.
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- Jill
I had forgot about that Carole you can use them to fry for leftovers or use in potato salad. You can fry up left over baked potatoes too. My mom always bakes up a huge batch of potatoes when they go camping to cube and fry for breakfast that first morning. They cook faster because you just need to warm and brown. Another thing too is my nieces bring dehydrated hash browns camping. They take up less room to pack and again cooks quickly.
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- annie
Hi Jill, How long do you fry your pork chops without grease or anything? Also, do you use a lid to cover them while cooking?
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- Jill
I put them in a non stick pan and fry them 2-3 minutes on one side then flip and 2 minutes on the other side. No lid. Actually pork chops now have very little fat in them at all. It is frustrating because I love pork chop gravy and I can’t get enough drippings to make gravy any more. You healthy eaters don’t have a heart attack. :) No pun intended. :) Any way fried pork chops are one of the easiest meals to make.
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- annie
Thank you Jill. It’s been years since I fried any pork chops and I’m pretty sure that I added some grease or something to them. Wonder if it would work if you added a little water or something to them? Although you’re right, they don’t have much fat to them. I’m surprised since some pork steaks and bacon have plenty of fat. Bacon gravy sounds good. Of course I like just about anything that has bacon in it. LOL. Just don’t like to heat up the oven during the hot weather. With winter around the corner I’ll be using the oven more than I do now. Thank you again.
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- Jill
You are welcome Annie. You probably did fry them in grease. Years ago I use to fry them and everything in bacon grease but of course have cut back some now. I will sometimes use 1/2 =1 teaspoon of bacon grease to fry them in sometimes for flavor but you don’t have to. I’m like you – keep the oven off in the summer. Too hot.
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- Nancy Mugridge
I enjoy all of your posts about everything. Thank you. Today, I really like the recipe for the Taco Seasoning Mix, as I don’t buy pre-made seasoning mixes. Thanks again.
Reply
- Rose Mary agee
Tawra or Jill,
Do you have a scone recipe?Reply
- Jill
Yes Rose this one isn’t in the book but it is Tawra and my favorite
Scones
3 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup milk*Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine first 4 ingredients. Cut in butter. Add egg and milk. Knead briefly – roll into 1/2 inch thick circle. Cut into 8 wedges and place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
*When I make these I usually make my own clotted cream and use the liquid from that to replace all or part of the milk. It is to die for.Reply
- Linda C Montoya
How do you make clotted cream Jill. I have heard the term but don’t know what it is. Is it whipped cream?
Reply
- Jill
It is different from anything we have here in the States but I really love it. You just take heavy whipped cream (not whipped up) and pour it in an ungreased glass pan or baking dish. It will be about 1/2-1 inch deep and bake in the oven at 170-180 degrees for 12 hrs. I usually stick it in in the morning then let it cool at room temp, cover and put in fridge over night. In the morning it is ready to go. It will have a little crust on top which is fine – it is ready to spread on a scone with jam. Sometimes there is liquid in it which I love because I pour the liquid off and use it to make my scones and it adds a sweeter even yummier taste to the scones. Keep covered in the fridge for 5-6 days although I have frozen it before and it seems to be fine doing that too.
Reply
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