While supplies last – stop by BettyCrocker.com and sign up for one of their great newsletters and pick up your “Let’s Bake a Moment” Betty Crocker 2010 Calendar!  If I know Betty, their will surely be coupons included as well!

I love pumpkin!  Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, pumpkin pudding, pumpkin latte,  pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin bagels and the list goes on.  It seems though this is the only time of the year that I seem to have it.  Considering the health benefits of Pumpkin, I should be eating it a lot more!

According to  The Hub Pages , Pumpkin is rich in anti oxidants.

Beta carotene—The rich orange color is a dead give away to the nutrients present in pumpkin. Research shows that people who eat a diet rich in beta-carotene are less likely to develop certain cancers than those who fail to include beta-carotene-rich foods in their diet.

Loaded with Potassium—Studies show people who have a potassium rich diet lower the risk for hypertension. Potassium rich foods include bananas, broccoli, avocados, pomegranate and many others.

Zinc—Not only is zinc a major boost for your immune system, it also aids in bone density support for people at risk for osteoporosis.

High in Fiber—Diets rich in fiber may prevent cancer, heart disease and other serious ailments.

I need more Potassium & Fiber in my diet!  I have to take prescribed Potassium supplements and those things are huge!  If you have ever had to have IV Potassium,  you will absolutely want to be sure you get plenty of it naturally!

Other health benefits include being linked to a healthy prostrate, anti-inflammatory benefits for people with Arthritis & it’s also said it helps your skin look younger!

With all that being said, here is how I am helping my self and my family to be healthier!

EASY PUMPKIN MUFFINS

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…as if I am not hungry all the time!  The holidays are much worse though because it’s almost like it has been ingrained in my head that  “I must eat, I must bake, I must eat more”…I must gain weight.  Well, I am trying to change those thoughts and this year I am going to do it a little different.  No, I am not going to start a full on diet right at the holidays but I am going to help myself rather than do more harm!  Today I will share a few of the recipes I will be trying out on my family this year.  It’s a good thing they don’t read my blog or they would know what they were really eating!

Other than the obvious Turkey, I am going to throw in these simple Weight Watchers “Simply Filling” recipes shared on one of my favorite sites, BootCamp Buddies – Thank you to all who contributed to these recipes.  I wish I could personally thank you but I am not sure who the credit goes to!

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients
1 serving cooking spray (5 one-second sprays per serving)
1 1/2 pound sweet potato(es), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks or Canned Sweet Potatoes in water
8 oz canned crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
3 tsp  Splenda (R) No Calorie Sweetener
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (I like Pumpkin Pie Spice)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Coat a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
Place potatoes in prepared dish. Combine crushed pineapple, Splenda and cinnamon in a small bowl; add to potatoes and toss until well mixed.
Bake, stirring after 30 minutes, until sweet potato mixture is bubbly, about 45 minutes. Yields about 1/2 cup per serving.

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I can’t wait to try this one!

Cranberry Relish

Ingredients
1 bag of cranberries
2 small apples cored and diced
1 can mandarin oranges
1 can crushed pineapple, reserve juice
1 small box SF Cranberry or Raspberry Jello
Splenda to taste

Instructions
Place cranberries and chopped apple in food processor and pulse until fine but not pureed. Pour pineapple juice in measuring cup and add water to make 1 cup. Add drained oranges and pineapple and pulse until mixed. Transfer to large bowl. Microwave the juice/water to boiling and add jello. Stir until dissolved. Add to fruit mixture and stir well. Add a bit of  Splenda if you want it a little sweeter. Chill for several hours.

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Cranberry Sauce (I did this one last year – it was yummy!)

Ingredients
1 cup Splenda
1 cup water
1 12-ounce package Ocean Spray® Fresh or Frozen Cranberries

Instructions
Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil; add cranberries, return to boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover and cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate until serving time. Makes 2 1/4 cups.

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Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
1/3 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

Instructions
Place potatoes, garlic and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a large saucepot. Add enough water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes and garlic are fork tender, ten to twenty minutes depending on the size of the cubes. Drain, then place potatoes and garlic in a mixing bowl.
With an electric mixer at medium speed, blend potatoes and garlic until just mashed. Add sour cream, milk, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper. With mixer at high speed, blend just until smooth. Stir in parsley. ——————————————————————————————————————

We will also be having deviled eggs that I will make with Fat Free Mayo and sugar free pickle relish.  For the sweetness I will add a dash of Splenda, a veggie tray with FF Sour Cream & dry Ranch dip mix.  Now as I said in the beginning of this post, I am not going full on Fat Free & tasteless so of course we will have pies & rolls.  What would Thanksgiving be without those?

Hope you find these recipes helpful to you if you are on the same track I am!

Enjoy & Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Today I took my 14 year old daughter along with me to CVS & Walgreens because she needed some make up and she didn’t think I could choose the appropriate color for her.  It was fun for her to tag a long anyway since I want both of my girls to get a taste of frugality in it’s finest form!  Our trip to CVS was fairly simple.  We picked up the following items

(1) Arm & Hammer Spinbrush 1ct. – $6.99 get $2.00 ECBs back
used -$1 off Arm & Hammer Spinbrush Powered Toothbrush 10/18/09 SS

(1) Complete Contact Solution $8.99 – get $8.99 ECBs back
used -$1 off Complete Multipurpose Solution, 12oz   10/25/09 RP

(2) Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kit – $5.99 (Regularly $12.00)
used 2 -$5 Air Wick Freshmatic Starter Kit, any SS 11/15/09

1 Newspaper – $3.00

I had a $5.00 off $30.00 in my email and it expired today so I used it.

My total before coupons was $30.96  and after $13.96.  I handed the cashier $14.00 in ECBs from last weeks shopping trip (I thought I handed him a $10 and a $3 but I realized while typing this I handed him the $4.) and my total was $0.00 and after tax (don’t ask me…haha) I paid a whopping $.03 cents out of pocket and I earned $10.99 in ECBs.  That was when my daughter looked at me and said my husband was right…I was a thief…lol.    I loved it!

I knew that my trip to Walgreens was going to cost me since I had to buy some bigger ticket items and didn’t have any RRs to spare so I was happy to walk out of CVS for pennies!

My Walgreens trip went something like this –

Transaction #1:

2 Theraflu – 2/$10.00 get $3 RRs back
I used the following coupons – $3.00  off any 2 Theraflu 10/18/09 SS  and $2.00 off Theraflu from the Healthy Savings coupon booklet at the cash register for a total of $7.00 off.

2 Triaminic – 2/$10.00 get $5 RRs back
I used the following coupons – $3.00 off any 2 Triaminic 10/18/09 SS and $2.00 off Triaminic from the Healthy Savings coupon booklet at the cash register for a total of $7.00 off

1 Rimmel Pressed Powder make up – $5.49 – $1.00 off any Rimmel Cosmetic 09/13/09 RP

My total OOP – $10.61 RRs earned – $8.00 (like getting all that stuff for $2.61!)

Transaction #2:

2 Carefree Panty Shields 22ct – 41.49 each (.99 with coupon from Walgreens November Savings book)
1 gallon Schepps milk – $2.29
Werthers Coffee hard Candies – B1G1 -$2.29
Riesen Chocolates – free
Jolly Rancher Doubles – $2.39
Revlon 1875 Watt Hair Dryer – $9.99
Kitchen Gourmet Single Burner – $9.99 (w/ coupon in WAGs ad $6.99)

I used 2 $1.00 coupons from Carefree samples & the $8.00 RRs from 1st transaction for a total OOP of $17.06!  Not too bad considering the Burner & Dryer would have been more than that!

So all in all, today wasn’t too terrible even having to purchase a few things I wouldn’t normally have had to purchase.  My total OOP was $27.70 for $88.67 (really more if I wouldn’t have used the sale prices to figure my total) worth of merchandise!!

Now, if you want to get even more detailed since I got back $12.99 in ECBs it only cost me $14.71!  Now that’s the kind of shopping that I love!!