Making BLT's & Smore's Ice Cream With Kraft

This post is about Kraft’s printable coupons. This post is part of the #PackedWithSavings #shop hosted by #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. All opinions are my own.

As I mentioned in my last post, our family is smack dab in the middle of a kitchen renovation. If you’ve ever redone your kitchen before, you already know that things rarely get done on time, or stay within budget. In our case, our tiny renovation has gone way past it’s scheduled time frame and a wee bit over budget. So to help save some money while we wait for our kitchen renovation to end, I started printing out some online grocery coupons.

This is a first for me because to be completely honest, I’m not much of a grocery coupon user. I have no idea why. But after using some printable coupons from Kraft at my local Walmart this week, I’m kind of hooked. I was really surprised to see how many coupons were available for products that we already stock in our home. I was even happier when I realized that the available coupons would help me create some easy-to-prepare meals for my family with very little clean up.

Since I’m starting to go a bit bonkers without a kitchen sink, easy clean up is a must right now. Even though I’m having a tremendous amount of fun squashing all of my dishes into my teeny-tiny bathroom sink (or better yet, the cooler out back that has now become a yellow jacket’s paradise), I’d rather prepare meals that involve as little dishes as possible. For my sanity, and everyone else’s, paper plates are a way of life for us right now. And as much as I’m dying for a piping hot casserole right out of the oven, it’s just not going to happen… yet.

As with most online coupons, they’re only available for a limited time, so you should snatch them up while you can. I was only too happy to see coupons for cheddar cheese, cream cheese, peanuts, coffee, graham crackers, and bacon – YES, bacon! To see some of the great savings on Kraft Summer essentials products, click here.

RUSTIC BLT SANDWICHES
Makes 4 sandwiches.

Ingredients:

16 pieces of bacon, cooked to your liking (We used a coupon for OSCAR MAYER Butcher Cut Bacon)
4 pieces of American cheese, if desired (We used a coupon for KRAFT Singles)
1 ripe Avocado, sliced into pieces
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1 large vine-ripened tomato, or 2-3 smaller ones, cut into slices
1 loaf of rustic, whole grain bread (Our local bakery makes some awesome bread!)

Directions:

Step 1: Heat your grill. When hot, cook the bacon according to package directions, or to your liking (I like mine CRISPY!!).

Step 2: While the bacon is sizzling away, wash and slice your vegetables. Arrange them on a pretty platter so the kids will want to gobble them up!

Step 3: Cut your bread into nice, hearty slices. Assemble your BLT’s and enjoy!

HOMEMADE SMORE’S ICE CREAM
Makes approximately 1 quart.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups milk
1 cup half-and-half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped milk chocolate bars (We used a coupon for HERSHEY’s.)
1 cup mini-marshmallows (We used a coupon for JET-PUFFED.)
1 cup chocolate graham crackers (We used a coupon for HONEY MAID.)

Directions:

Step 1: In a mixer, beat the sugar into the eggs until thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the flour and salt. Set aside.

Step 2: Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly beat the hot milk into the eggs and sugar. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl.

Step 3: Allow the custard to cool slightly, then stir in the cream and vanilla.

Step 4: Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight. (My kids have never let me chill anything overnight, so I speed up the cooling process with an ice bath. Just make sure your mixture is completely chilled before adding to the ice cream machine.)

Step 5: Stir the chilled custard, and then freeze in 1 or 2 batches in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Step 6: When the ice cream is semi-frozen, add the chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers to the machine and let the ice cream machine mix them in thoroughly.

Step 7: When finished, the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.

*This recipe is adapted from The Ultimate Ice Cream Book by Bruce Weinstein by Bruce Weinstein.