2010 August — A Southern Fairytale

I have a secret to tell y’all.

Come on, lean in close… closer… closer…

I love grocery shopping

There, I said it! Not the stressed out, rush shopping done after school with exhausted kids kind of grocery shopping; I’m talking about the kind of grocery shopping that involves a good list, quiet time, able to browse and check out deals and gain inspiration from said deals kind of grocery shopping.

That kind of shopping, I love. I have a feeling that if the HEB Plus in town were closer to my house, I might spend an indecent amount of time there, just sayin’

Also, I can be swayed by a good deal… and my HEB has a LOT of good deals! They don’t double coupons or have crazy coupon clubs or anything like that but, they have these amazing combo loco deals that usually involve things I already use, like this one:

Buy one bag of frozen chicken breasts (I already use these: roughly $9.00)

GET FREE:

F-R-E-E!!!!!!!!!! (speakin’ my language)

Knorr rice or pasta sides
H-E-B Creamy Creations Fruit Bars (6 ct) Oh hello Lime Bars (nom)
Venetian Blend, Bagged Salad Mixings
Hill Country Fare Brown and Serve Wheat Rolls, 12 ct

With this major win combined with another in-store coupon, buy 3 ro*tel and get one free!! (oh hai, have we met? I have a serious crush on ro*tel and I’m a Texas girl.. Ro*Tel in the pantry is like Sweet Tea, Hot Summer Days and sayin’ Y’all… it’s what we do and who we are)

This awesome Combo Loco deal inspired me to make Crockpot Shredded Chicken which is perfect for nachos, tacos, wraps, salads, eating straight off the fork or using your fingers and so many more plus, did I mention?, it’s EASY!

Recipe: Crockpot Shredded Chicken

Summary: Zesty Shredded Chicken made in the Slow Cooker

Ingredients

7 (or so) frozen chicken breasts
4 cans RoTel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
1 pkg Taco Seasoning (optional if you want it to be a bit more Southwestern-ish and zestier)

Instructions

Put the chicken breasts in the crockpot
Pour the RoTel over the chicken breasts
Sprinkle the Taco Seasoning over the chicken and Ro-Tel
Cook on low for 8 hours
Shred with fork and let sit in the juices for a bit
Serve as you like

Quick Notes

* One of the reasons this rocks so much for busy school days, pop it in before you take the kids to school and when y’all come home after a long, busy day your house smells ridiculously delicious and dinner is already pretty much done. Just set out a make your own bar with your family’s favorite goodies and y’all are good to go!

For the salad and the wraps I used the salad blend that came with the combo loco, added in some black beans and some cheese and then we had the lime bars for dessert, quick, easy and delicious FTW!

The leftovers are going to be divided into use for more wraps and sandwiches and salads and baked potato topping and I’m going to use some of it to make a super delicious southwestern chicken salad with celery and mayonnaise and onions and maybe even some dried cherries or red grapes!

So, now I want to know… do you ever let a super grocery deal sway you or inspire you to create a meal right then and there? Or, do you stick to a menu plan no matter what?

I’m one of the HEB Meal Maker Challenge Bloggers and as such I’m participating in a challenge hosted by HEB and ConAgra to use in-store coupons and Combo Locos and special online coupons to create quick and unique back to school lunch and dinner recipes. Throughout the course of the program I have $50 goody packs to give away as well as a chance to win an amazing shopping spree to HEB with Phil Lempert, the Super Market Guru . My time and participation will be compensated but, as always, all opinions and ideas are completely 100% my own